IUBB vs Lindenwood - Thursday, 11.20.25 @ 6:00 on BTN

[Home Jersey]

1 minute ago, Stuhoo said:

Do you realize that your worst case scenario would be fewer wins against Power 5 teams than the worst season by either Archie Miller or Mike Woodson as IU coach?

Like I said, we can see flaws with this team and still have a sense of reasonable reality after beating a crappy team by 'only 20'.

Sorry, I forgot that the floor is automatically 20 wins - they must not play every game on the court anymore and I missed that somehow. Haha

[Home Jersey]

3 minutes ago, Stuhoo said:

Do you realize that your worst case scenario would be fewer wins against Power 5 teams than the worst season by either Archie Miller or Mike Woodson as IU coach? Yes, that's including the year that Archie lost to both ISU and IUPU Fort Wayne.

Like I said, we can see flaws with this team and still have a sense of reasonable reality after beating a crappy team by 'only 20'.

My concern has nothing to do with "only" winning by 20. It's how we've played.

[Stuhoo]

4 minutes ago, Home Jersey said:

Sorry, I forgot that the floor is automatically 20 wins - they must not play every game on the court anymore and I missed that somehow. Haha

The year we lost to Indiana State and IUPU Fort Wayne we won ten games against Power 5 teams. Do you really think there's a snowball's chance in hell we could be worse than that? Because if we win 18 games this year that's where we're at.

[Home Jersey]

Just now, Stuhoo said:

The year we lost to Indiana State and IUPU Fort Wayne we won ten games against Power 5 teams. Do you really think there's a snowball's chance in hell we could be worse than that?

I think it makes no sense to project this season based on a team from several years ago where we have no players or staff leftover from. 

I look at the Indiana team today and see a group of basketball players (already an improvement from the last two doofuses) that have some significant athletic limitations and are playing at a higher level than they have previously, for the most part. I also see a B10 conference that's looking pretty good this year. 

[AZ Hoosier]

30 minutes ago, Home Jersey said:

Connor Enright is 3/10 from 3 this year. 

Appreciate what brings on defense and in the locker room... but the lack of shooting / ability to space the floor from him and Conerway is looking increasingly problematic. 

What if we win 17 or 18 games? Haha

I'm not writing them off at all but we've got very real limitations this year. Will probably upset some teams we shouldn't and have some fun along the way... just establish a strong culture this season and really need to build a better roster in the portal for year 2. 

Agreed. Win some games, play hard, establish the culture that DeVries wants and stay the course. And, of course, get the NIL bank lined up for next season.

[Stuhoo]

11 minutes ago, Home Jersey said:

I think it makes no sense to project this season based on a team from several years ago where we have no players or staff leftover from. 

It's a basketball-obsessed message board. My friend, this is what we do.    :)

[Uspshoosier]

42 minutes ago, Home Jersey said:

I also see a B10 conference that's looking pretty good this year. 

The top looks good however the middle looks as crowded as it has been.   I’m even too teams like Michigan are struggling.  Purdue, Illinois and Michigan State are the only 3 teams so far in the B1G that have stood out.   Others have struggled with lower competition and should be lucky they won those games and others just haven’t played anyone yet to get a gauge of where they are just yet    Feast week will give some amassers 

  

[MemphisHoosier]

My biggest concern has little to do with the box score, the team looked tired and disconnected on the court.  This can snowball quickly without an intervention.

[str8baller]

1 hour ago, Stuhoo said:

Thanks goodness for Connor Enright and Sam Alexis. Those two undertalented guys are and again  chippy and extremely motivated. Enright took three charges last night. He's undersized and looks like a lunch league hack, but he can hit an open three at a pretty high rate and he is always, always a pain in the other team's @$$.

It’s probably no surprise that those two have P5 experience and know how hard you have to play night in, night out.  
 

In that vein, I’m still optimistic that Bailey and Conerway will find their groove. They really look like they’re not adjusted to big boy basketball yet. If I were a pessimist I’d point out that they then shouldn’t struggle versus Lindwood/Incarnate World.

 

But it’s precisely that they struggled against those teams that I think it is still somewhat mental for them. They were both all conference in conferences better than those two schools come from. I find it hard to believe that last years version of themselves wouldn’t dominate those schools pretty easily. But for whatever reason it isn’t clicking for them. Being slow mentally can lead to you looking slow athletically. 

[str8baller]

5 minutes ago, MemphisHoosier said:

My biggest concern has little to do with the box score, the team looked tired and disconnected on the court.  This can snowball quickly without an intervention.

Usps touched on it, but it’s quite simply possible that our crazy first three games masked the real fact that this team of all new players needs time to gel. That would be pretty normal. 

[Demo]

https://x.com/TheHoosierNet/status/1991682688709967912
 

WTH is up with this picture? No wonder Wilkerson has had a couple of tough shooting games. Apparently he’s gained 50lbs.

[Stuhoo]

3 minutes ago, Demo said:

https://x.com/TheHoosierNet/status/1991682688709967912
 

WTH is up with this picture? No wonder Wilkerson has had a couple of tough shooting games. Apparently he’s gained 50lbs.

New nickname?

Lamar "DeAndre Thomas" Wilkerson.

[Uspshoosier]

13 minutes ago, str8baller said:

Usps touched on it, but it’s quite simply possible that our crazy first three games masked the real fact that this team of all new players needs time to gel. That would be pretty normal. 

I mean this crazed fanbase hadn’t seen an IU  team hit more than 10 threes in 3 consecutive games since 2016.   Give them that in your first 3 games of your Indiana coaching career and you are going to some hungry fans wanting more.  lol.  

[IU5355]

1 minute ago, Hardwood83 said:

I certainly hope you are right, but not sure what you have seen to date that gives you any confidence. He's supposed to be a skilled big man but has looked awkward, weak and clunky around the rim. Hasn't hit many perimeter shots and has been absolutely abused on defense/rebounding. It's early and he wasn't the only one that no-showed the last couple of games, but the clock is ticking. 

My hope is Harris gets healthy and can take Bailey's minutes and not be such an embarrassment. 

We haven't gotten to see Harris in action. But if memory serves correctly, wasnt rebounding a very strong point for him?

[FortWayneHoosier]

26 minutes ago, Stuhoo said:

New nickname?

Lamar "DeAndre Thomas" Wilkerson.

Deandre Thomas....that is a name I have not heard in ages....that kid was a biscuit shy of 315 lbs lololol. He was awesome haha!

[Class of '66 Old Fart]

23 minutes ago, Uspshoosier said:

I mean this crazed fanbase hadn’t seen an IU  team hit more than 10 threes in 3 consecutive games since 2016.   Give them that in your first 3 games of your Indiana coaching career and you are going to some hungry fans wanting more.  lol.  

[Stuhoo]

53 minutes ago, Uspshoosier said:

I mean this crazed fanbase hadn’t seen an IU  team hit more than 10 threes in 3 consecutive games since 2016.   Give them that in your first 3 games of your Indiana coaching career and you are going to some hungry fans wanting more.  lol.  

[sirhoosierlot]

[WayneFleekHoosier]

We are exactly what this roster was/is.

 Not sure why anyone would be surprised.

 The ceiling on this group was always very low.

 The floor was the question mark which seems to remain so.

 I wanted Conerway to be a better shooter. I wanted R.Bailey to be Cody Zeller extra Lite.

 Wilkerson, DeVries as anticipated.

 Alexis better than anticipated.

 Sisley better than anticipated.

Dorn, Mike’s less than anticipated.

 But it’s exactly what is was.

 

At least We have a coach that demands and knows ball. Has always wished he’d created a better roster but it is what it is.

 

My biggest concern last night was these guys are having some riffs with each other if you watch body language. It’s kinda odd. Miles wants more minutes. Dorn probably wants more. Wilkerson is in a funk. DeVries looks incredibly slow but he mostly finds a way.

 

For this team to be its best the chemistry needs to be top notch. Every player needs to be his best. We lack in size, speed, strength.

 

But we are 5-0 so far. But plenty of concerning signs emerging.

 

 

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[Uspshoosier]

Despite the 2 bad games in a row  iu is viewed as a ncaa tourney team by the national media.  From my own perspective even though it’s early and from what I’ve seen from the rest of college basketball IU is around 6 to 7 seed.   Outside of Purdue, Sparty and Illinois no other B1G team has stood out and separated themselves from IU.  Before the season there were some on here that pointed out IU wasn’t even in the Rothstein 45 and would be a border line tourney team or on the outside looking in.  Going to have ups and downs but despite 2 clunker games against low level competition you could argue IU is in a better position then most thought.   Still being top 25 kenpom team after a couple of down games is encouraging.   IU wasn’t going to have 30 games that were going to be a net positive in the efficiency category.  Bad games happen