IUWBB @ Michigan - Wednesday, 02.12.25 @ 7:00 on B1G+

[Class of '66 Old Fart 87,348]

After 3 Hoosiers lead  46-39.  We had an 11-0 run at the end of the quarter and Michigan was scoreless for the final 5:20 of the Q.

Lexi with a big night 9 pts and 7 reb.  Karoline our leading scorer with 14 pts.

[TheWatShot 14,781]

Scoring droughts are more fun when the opponent has one. 

[Certified Sunshine Pumper 9,915]

We're getting hosed. 3 pathetic calls, then a missed illegal screen... 3 for Michigan 

[Class of '66 Old Fart 87,348]

The checks must have cleared for the refs.

 

[Class of '66 Old Fart 87,348]

Striplin 22p and 7r and carrying the team on her back.   59-54 with 4 min left

[Class of '66 Old Fart 87,348]

Tied at 61 with 1:38 left

[TheWatShot 14,781]

Striplin had 3 and-1's this quarter and missed the free throw each time. Sure would be nice to have those 3 points right now. 

[Class of '66 Old Fart 87,348]

Hoosiers had no defensive answer in the 4th Q and Michigan scored 31 pts and take a 70-67 win.   We live by the 3 and die by the 3 hitting just 3-17 tonight.  Missed opportunity and a brutal road trip this week for the women.  Back to Bloomington where we host PUke on Saturday at noon.

 

 

[TTT 1,114]

IU Ladies focus offensively was inside.  It worked well.  

However, I noticed during some of the game players hesitated on 3 ball or passed 3 ball up (Shay) and made extra pass for a worse 3 point shot.  Focus on inside game was a very important strategy but players were not in rhythm shooting 3 ball.  And IU Ladies lost defense in quarter 4 and lost shooters.  Quarters 1, 2, 3 defense was very good for IU Ladies…. And the refs pushed Michigan over the hump.
 (towards end of game pulling IU Ladies off ft line may had negative impact on Striplin as she didn’t look in rhythm/pure…she has been reliable at the ft line).

[TheWatShot 14,781]

On Sunday, we took care of the ball but got killed on the boards. Tonight, we controlled the boards but threw the ball all over the lot. 

 

Hope we can load up in the portal this spring. I'm not a fan of regression years. 

[mamasa 15,653]

Completely forgot about this game!!

[TTT 1,114]

Attendance reported at 2677

[NatHillIV 28]

19 minutes ago, TTT said:

Attendance reported at 2677

I think it looked more like a thousand tops.  Pretty sad for a team as good as Michigan.
This one REALLY hurt.  Just a few more threes and we walk away winners.

[Aaron 4,355]

23 minutes ago, NatHillIV said:

I think it looked more like a thousand tops.  Pretty sad for a team as good as Michigan.
This one REALLY hurt.  Just a few more threes and we walk away winners.

If I am every other Big Ten team, I am using this against them with every recruit in contention for Michigan going forward. They have been on IU's level last few years and yet attendance continues to be awful. Zero excuse for their fan base and I hope it costs them top talent like Swords going forward. They don't deserve top players with that fan bases fan commitment level to program.   

Fell bad for Kim Barnes-Arico who is a great coach but the fan base just isn't catching on.  

[TTT 1,114]

54 minutes ago, Aaron said:

If I am every other Big Ten team, I am using this against them with every recruit in contention for Michigan going forward. They have been on IU's level last few years and yet attendance continues to be awful. Zero excuse for their fan base and I hope it costs them top talent like Swords going forward. They don't deserve top players with that fan bases fan commitment level to program.   

And there is a big problem for maybe a number of reasons.  Coaching style? Playing style? No beaches and winter?  Verbally emphasized defense when other teams are just as good defensively but don’t emphasize it verbally public as much?  Emphasis verbally on living in the gym beyond practice time…not sure what elite players think because they probably do this anyway? And then not sure about NIL?
IU Ladies success (including strong fan base support from NIT championship (administrative/Dolson hosting all games) and facilities forward through the Holmes era has not translated into enough elite recruiting.  
Couple excellent freshmen coming in next year but how impactful will they be?  I do expect they will play.  F.W. will be a year older but not sure what is there?  L.B. expected to return and be good but how impactful?  A couple of portal players (much more than 6’3” 10 point scorer from like Cornell or somewhere and a 10 point scoring wing from like Butler) are needed…..even though would be all in for the Butler Makalusky.…IU Ladies will struggle to win 50% of big ten games next year.  IU Ladies are recruiting challanged.
 

[Aaron 4,355]

51 minutes ago, TTT said:

And there is a big problem for maybe a number of reasons.  Coaching style? Playing style? No beaches and winter?  Verbally emphasized defense when other teams are just as good defensively but don’t emphasize it verbally public as much?  Emphasis verbally on living in the gym beyond practice time…not sure what elite players think because they probably do this anyway? And then not sure about NIL?
IU Ladies success (including strong fan base support from NIT championship (administrative/Dolson hosting all games) and facilities forward through the Holmes era has not translated into enough elite recruiting.  
Couple excellent freshmen coming in next year but how impactful will they be?  I do expect they will play.  F.W. will be a year older but not sure what is there?  L.B. expected to return and be good but how impactful?  A couple of portal players (much more than 6’3” 10 point scorer from like Cornell or somewhere and a 10 point scoring wing from like Butler) are needed…..even though would be all in for the Butler Makalusky.…IU Ladies will struggle to win 50% of big ten games next year.  IU Ladies are recruiting challanged.
 

I am talking about every team in the Big Ten vs. Michigan. My comment had zero to do with IU's recruiting but instead everyone potentially negative recruiting against Wolverines for their lack of program support. 

You took what I said in a totally different direction from what I meant. However, next year depends on finding a starting level center in portal and some player development. Confident in Shay (who could well me much better after one yr in system similar to leap Scalia took), Yarden, and Lennee as Big Ten starting level guards for three of the spots. The rest we need to see what happens in portal. Remember post Tyra Buss things looked somewhat bleak but they figured it out by bringing Patberg and others from portal.

In this day and age in college basketball we need to see what happens in offseason before we make large declarations about programs future and next season. If the current roster is what they go in with then there is cause for alarm but in this day in age that is far from likely. No different than declaring men are screwed with new coach since everyone could transfer. Until offseason "free agency" plays out in college basketball for both genders you really can't know what things will look like. College basketball teams are year-to-year businesses now and as fans we have to adjust to that.    

[TTT 1,114]

33 minutes ago, Aaron said:

I am talking about every team in the Big Ten vs. Michigan. My comment had zero to do with IU's recruiting but instead everyone potentially negative recruiting against Wolverines for their lack of program support. 

You took what I said in a totally different direction from what I meant. However, next year depends on finding a starting level center in portal and some player development. Confident in Shay (who could well me much better after one yr in system similar to leap Scalia took), Yarden, and Lennee as Big Ten starting level guards for three of the spots. The rest we need to see what happens in portal. Remember post Tyra Buss things looked somewhat bleak but they figured it out by bringing Patberg and others from portal.

In this day and age in college basketball we need to see what happens in offseason before we make large declarations about programs future and next season. If the current roster is what they go in with then there is cause for alarm but in this day in age that is far from likely. No different than declaring men are screwed with new coach since everyone could transfer. Until offseason "free agency" plays out in college basketball for both genders you really can't know what things will look like. College basketball teams are year-to-year businesses now and as fans we have to adjust to that.    

Zero to do with IU’s recruiting…Is not IU a member of the big ten? Lol. Big ten starting level guards = And IU Ladies are already struggling to win at 50% level in big ten….though they are currently a game above.  
You make some good points.

[TheWatShot 14,781]

4 hours ago, mamasa said:

Completely forgot about this game!!

Getting to be that time of year unfortunately. Mid-February is when I start forgetting there's a game if the team has been having a forgettable season. 

[Aaron 4,355]

2 hours ago, TheWatShot said:

Getting to be that time of year unfortunately. Mid-February is when I start forgetting there's a game if the team has been having a forgettable season. 

Its pretty sad we are calling a likely 20 win season and first or second round appearance in NCAA's a forgettable season. Fan base has gotten spoiled similar to post-Schwarber days with baseball where an NCAA Tourney appearance most seasons is considered "forgettable".

There is a big gap between elite and forgettable and too many people have adapted the 'if your not first you are last" mentality. This season is not like last few but definitely not forgettable. It is very similar to 2018-2019.   

[Aaron 4,355]

3 hours ago, TTT said:

Zero to do with IU’s recruiting…Is not IU a member of the big ten? Lol. Big ten starting level guards = And IU Ladies are already struggling to win at 50% level in big ten….though they are currently a game above.  
You make some good points.

Its not because of the guards mostly. Yes they have been somewhat inconsistent. However, teams largest issue stems from a lack of a starting level center. Moren's system relies on a strong center who either scores or gets double teams and gets shooters open. When you don't have that, the whole offense looks like it is in mud. The defensive intensity is usually good with a couple of exceptions like last night.

Yes there are some other minor issues similar to other seasons but this can all work with a starting level Big Ten center. It does not need to be someone on Mack's level but someone on Bostic or Markowski's level who is starting level Big Ten center. Lily has been a massive disappointment and given the offense Moren runs it effects everything.    

If you ran this system with same players and a starting level Big Ten center you would likely be 9-4 in league and around where Michigan St is. Moren knows it and has stopped playing Lily much. However, she can't address this till offseason. The margins are so thin and with that starting center you beat Harvard or Butler and probably Oregon and one of these last two road games. This puts season in whole different context and then you are on verge of hosting. Not having an elite center is worth 3-4 wins and that makes all the difference in the world. As good as Striplin was last night, she missed a huge layup late that was difference and her layups in general are somewhat awkward. You need someone who is a near automatic when down in low block instead of holding breath every time she or Lily is down there.   

You run this team back next year with mostly same players and a Bostic or Markowski level center and you are having year MSU is which no one would complain about. I'd love to get back to being top 15-20 every year but that is not realistic. Just need to be baseball in a post-Schwarber era and this year is likely to be exactly what 2015 was after that era where team spent whole year on bubble and squeaked in. Then it got a little worse before three straight better seasons that were not perfect but very good. Could easily see this trajectory and need to embrace that instead of complaining about it as has happened at times with baseball.

High expectations are great, but coming off a couple years of being elite after being a nothing program does not mean being unranked with postseason appearances is a failure somehow. To many have adapted this mentality across the board in sports.