IUBB vs Iowa - Saturday, 01.17.26 @ 2:00 on Fox TV

[Golfman25]

So I decided to look for all those complaining about the roster makeup.  Iowa spanked us at home with 5 mid-major guys and 2 freshmen.  This should have been, at worst, an even matchup.  

[str8baller]

1 hour ago, BGleas said:

I'll say I lightly disagree lol. 

What I mean is, the system is sound and I've actually been impressed with how we've been defensively, given our roster limitations. 

IU wilting in second halves IMO is largely a roster issue, not a coaching or scheme one. 

It's hard to stop runs against teams bigger, faster and more athletic. We have no size and can't stay in front of guys because we're slow. 

The reason I say "lightly disagree" is because I don't know what it will look like if/when we have comprobable size and athleticsm. I think our system and coaching is fine if we can get a solid, balanced Big Ten caliber roster. 

We don't have that right now. Of course that is the staffs and administrations fault. 

I’m with you, especially on the “lightly disagree.” 
 

When things are going well, I certainly think our defensive and offensive Xs and Os look sound (as opposed to Woody and Crean who were just lost).  
 

That’s probably what made Devries a great assistant. But big boy coaching is more than Xs and Os. And the other factors can make your Xs and Os look foolish.  
 

A good example is the end of the half play. You want to let Conerway go 1 on 1 because he’s had some success there. Except the team looks completely disoriented. Iowa looks completely prepared for it. The result is some haphazard dribbling around into one of the worst shots imaginable—a contested off balance 18footer going left launched off one foot fading away. THAT is why the crowd was booing. Just a complete unmitigated disaster of a possession going into half that reflects how poorly this staff thinks and coaches and these players think and play.  
 

Iowa stinks this year. They have many of the roster problems we have. They were physically dominated by Illinois and MSU. But at least in their losses, they played hard and made them mostly competitive. They came back against Illinois with Stirtz on the bench. But they walked into Assembly Hall and handed IU their lunch.
 

That is a problem that extends beyond roster construction. Hate to say it but if you told me Archie was on the sideline Saturday instead of Devries, I wouldn’t have been able to tell the difference.  
 

Good news for all the Patience Bro’s: we’re on to next year! Time to find our inner Zen and embrace the 40 year rebuild. Lafayette native Axel Rose said it best: “the [teams] don’t change, but maybe the names….alls it takes is a little Patience…oh yeah, Patience “

[Uspshoosier]

9 minutes ago, str8baller said:

Good news for all the Patience Bro’s: we’re on to next year! Time to find our inner Zen and embrace the 40 year rebuild

Embrace the grind. DeVries isn’t responsible for the program being a mediocre middle of the pack B1G program for the last 20 years.  He is trying to turn that around and evidently hasn’t been able to turn 20 plus years of crap into gold in 18 games.  I have 0 clue if he can turn it around but in my opinion 18 games isn’t enough data for me to wave the white flag on his time at IU.   He will either figure it out or he won’t.  If not people will be on here holding out hope they next one can figure it out.   If DeVries figures it out then people will embrace him and talk about how great of coach he is or became. 

[str8baller]

15 minutes ago, Uspshoosier said:

DeVries isn’t responsible for the program being a mediocre middle of the pack B1G program for the last 20 years

Nope.  But he’s responsible for this year.  
 

I “embraced the grind,” as told to by IU fans, for the Crean rebuild he had to have. Remember??? Just tear it all down, bro. Just start at the beginning, bro. Sacrifice 3 years of awful basketball, bro…it’ll be worth it. Crean sucked.
 

I “embraced the grind” as lil’ Archie fumbled his way through big boy basketball like a HS freshman trying to unclasp a bra for the first time. “He just needs time and the support of the fans,” they claimed. Archie sucked.  
 

I am like you. I have zero clue if he can turn it around. We’ll just have to wait until next year, won’t we?

 

 If he’s awesome and makes the Final Four, guess what: they’ll still take my money and welcome me down to cheer on the Hoosiers. But for now, I don’t feel any solidarity to make excuses for a coach who is wasting his first year falling on his face.   The only people that need to “embrace the grind” is this coaching staff. Hell, between you and me, I wish they would’ve embraced it last year…lol

[Uspshoosier]

2 minutes ago, str8baller said:

The only people that need to “embrace the grind” is this coaching staff. Hell, between you and me, I wish they would’ve embraced it last year…lol

He is known as a grinder so I’m sure he is as pissed as you that they are not winning.  This is only my opinion but for someone to be as successful as he was at Drake and to turn around West Virginia I refuse to believe the guy forgot how to coach once he stepped foot at Indiana.  Maybe IU is cursed.  I know his colleagues rave about him as coach and I know West Virginia fans were really mad when he left.  I don’t know.  I think he can coach.  I’ve watched him coach at Drake for all those years in the valley and respected the way his teams played and competed. I respected the way his teams played last year shorthanded and thought they got robbed at being in the tourney.   I hope for his sake it was as simple as missing on some evaluations.  I think the biggest problem is that a 2 time MVC player of the year and a kid that was playing like a Big 12 all conference performer before he got hurt last year has clearly lost his fast ball and doesn’t look anything near the player he once was and to make matters worse it’s his son.   Getting next to nothing out of a portal top 20 recruit isn’t helping.  I personally can be patient for rebuilds because I love college basketball as a whole and don’t need IU to be good to enjoy the college basketball year.   If IU stinks I’m still going to continue watch and enjoy the sport.  IU being good is just a bonus 

[Golfman25]

27 minutes ago, Uspshoosier said:

He is known as a grinder so I’m sure he is as pissed as you that they are not winning.  This is only my opinion but for someone to be as successful as he was at Drake and to turn around West Virginia I refuse to believe the guy forgot how to coach once he stepped foot at Indiana.  Maybe IU is cursed.  I know his colleagues rave about him as coach and I know West Virginia fans were really mad when he left.  I don’t know.  I think he can coach.  I’ve watched him coach at Drake for all those years in the valley and respected the way his teams played and competed. I respected the way his teams played last year shorthanded and thought they got robbed at being in the tourney.   I hope for his sake it was as simple as missing on some evaluations.  I think the biggest problem is that a 2 time MVC player of the year and a kid that was playing like a Big 12 all conference performer before he got hurt last year has clearly lost his fast ball and doesn’t look anything near the player he once was and to make matters worse it’s his son.   Getting next to nothing out of a portal top 20 recruit isn’t helping.  I personally can be patient for rebuilds because I love college basketball as a whole and don’t need IU to be good to enjoy the college basketball year.   If IU stinks I’m still going to continue watch and enjoy the sport.  IU being good is just a bonus 

So since you have seen a lot of the before and the current, is this team playing anything like his Drake teams?  Forget the record.  Is the scheme, intensity, and execution the same?   

[Stuhoo]

11 minutes ago, Golfman25 said:

So since you have seen a lot of the before and the current, is this team playing anything like his Drake teams?  Forget the record.  Is the scheme, intensity, and execution the same?   

The talent compared to the competition is not the same.

Sisley and Conerway are the only plus athletes on the entire roster. That’s on the staff, but that almost entirely explains the problem.

[Uspshoosier]

10 minutes ago, Golfman25 said:

So since you have seen a lot of the before and the current, is this team playing anything like his Drake teams?  Forget the record.  Is the scheme, intensity, and execution the same?   

Glimpses of it but unfortunately I think he missed on too many of the 13 spots he needed to fill to see his potential.  I recommend going back and watching some old drake games from a couple years ago where he had a big post presence or watch some of the West Virginia games last year.   Misses are on him and his staff however in my opinion he’s a good enough coach to recognize his faults last portal cycle and make the proper adjustments.  Who knows but I’ve watched him coach enough to know he knows what he’s doing. 

[str8baller]

6 minutes ago, Stuhoo said:

The talent compared to the competition is not the same.

Sisley and Conerway are the only plus athletes on the entire roster. That’s on the staff, but that almost entirely explains the problem.

Iowa doesn’t have an athletic talent advantage on us and they dominated us. Minny is 10-8 and put it on us. Hell once the scout was out, incarnate world dang near took us to the wire.  
 

I remember you telling us Enright and Devries weren’t gonna give up anything defensively because of their fight and Wilkerson was a top 5 player at IU in the last decade. Wilkerson went for 9 pts, 2rbs, 0 assts, 3 turnovers vs Iowa.  
 

If you think that entirely explains the problem it’s a reversal in attitude from a few days ago.

[str8baller]

58 minutes ago, Uspshoosier said:

This is only my opinion but for someone to be as successful as he was at Drake and to turn around West Virginia I refuse to believe the guy forgot how to coach once he stepped foot at Indiana

Drake is small time basketball. Sorry. 
 

Medved, Devries, and McCollum are all in the big ten and coached at Drake. They’re all struggling, none so much as Devries though. Literally every big ten coach could win in the Missouri valley. Archie won in  the A10. Crean in conf USA. Davis in the Southern. May in whatever conference he was in. Same with pikel. Izzo is Izzo. Gary is somewhat proven. Etc, etc…. The big ten is a different animal. 
 

On top of that the big ten isn’t even a championship conference. So it isn’t enough to compete in the big ten. You literally have to be a top 2 or 3 coach in this conference to have a chance at a title.  Probably the top coach since nobody from the B1G has won a title in 25 yrs.     
 

You wanna grind from the bottom of the Big Ten? Ok. But as the poet-philosopher Bon Scott once said, “it’s a long way to the top, if you wanna rock n roll” 

[Uspshoosier]

3 minutes ago, str8baller said:

You wanna grind from the bottom of the Big Ten? Ok. But as the poet-philosopher Bon Scott once said, “it’s a long way to the top, if you wanna rock n roll” 

Burn it down?

[Home Jersey]

Awful lot of hand wringing over what could very simply be explained by a bad portal haul. Scouting misses happen to the best of coaches. This year's roster is bad so it's gonna be a long season. Doesn't make it any better, but neither does piling on after every loss. Just gotta try again and hope the portal goes better this time. Having a full staff in place should help.

Whats one more bad season for IUBB at this point? Football is where it's at anyways. Most people ignored that sport forever at IU and eventually they got it figured out. People who don't want to watch the ups and downs should just treat IUBB like they used to treat IUFB and can tune back in if / when they start winning at the level you want again. 

[WayneFleekHoosier]

5 minutes ago, Home Jersey said:

Awful lot of hand wringing over what could very simply be explained by a bad portal haul. Scouting misses happen to the best of coaches. This year's roster is bad so it's gonna be a long season. Doesn't make it any better, but neither does piling on after every loss. Just gotta try again and hope the portal goes better this time. Having a full staff in place should help.

Whats one more bad season for IUBB at this point? Football is where it's at anyways. Most people ignored that sport forever at IU and eventually they got it figured out. People who don't want to watch the ups and downs should just treat IUBB like they used to treat IUFB and can tune back in if / when they start winning at the level you want again. 

A big percentage is doing exactly what you are suggesting. However this is a message board that usually includes the biggest and most devout of the fanbase. Weekly and game by game projections and assessments are what you are going to get from a message board.  
 

The portal haul wasn’t good enough.  The majority of our posters and DeVries thought it was.  To me, that’s the biggest actual concern (DeVries).  It makes the next portal haul feel like a hope and a prayer when the guy in charge already failed once.  Doesn’t 100% mean he’ll fail again, but you lose faith in a persons abilities by watching their results.  
 

 

[str8baller]

20 minutes ago, Uspshoosier said:

Burn it down?

Would it look any different if we did? 

[wirenuts]

18 minutes ago, Home Jersey said:

Awful lot of hand wringing over what could very simply be explained by a bad portal haul. Scouting misses happen to the best of coaches. This year's roster is bad so it's gonna be a long season. Doesn't make it any better, but neither does piling on after every loss. Just gotta try again and hope the portal goes better this time. Having a full staff in place should help.

Whats one more bad season for IUBB at this point? Football is where it's at anyways. Most people ignored that sport forever at IU and eventually they got it figured out. People who don't want to watch the ups and downs should just treat IUBB like they used to treat IUFB and can tune back in if / when they start winning at the level you want again. 

This right here for sure. When I watch IU basketball these days I have a pretty good idea how it is going to very early. 

If I dont see effort and scoring droughts for about 8 minutes, I shut it off and go on about my day. I have to assume a whole lot more people are doing the same thing that I am doing. If you dont support bad product, the product will either adapt or go under. 

This portal class was more than just a miss, it was a disaster. No one player is a great rebounder, so if the threes aren't falling, its over. It honestly reminds of the end year or two of crean

[Stuhoo]

44 minutes ago, str8baller said:

Iowa doesn’t have an athletic talent advantage on us and they dominated us. Minny is 10-8 and put it on us. 

Both Iowa and Minnesota’s bigs completely dominated Alexis, Bailey, and Tucker. And they aren’t dominant bigs against other teams. They are longer, stronger, and just plain better than Bailey and Alexis.

I said that Tucker would be a plus defensively? I seriously doubt that—though I have called Tucker “chubby,” does that count? :). Enright IS a plus defender (though foul prone). For 15 minutes a game he would be a disruptive excellent add. Stirtz went off when Enright got in foul trouble.

[Home Jersey]

17 minutes ago, WayneFleekHoosier said:

A big percentage is doing exactly what you are suggesting. However this is a message board that usually includes the biggest and most devout of the fanbase. Weekly and game by game projections and assessments are what you are going to get from a message board.  
 

The portal haul wasn’t good enough.  The majority of our posters and DeVries thought it was.  To me, that’s the biggest actual concern (DeVries).  It makes the next portal haul feel like a hope and a prayer when the guy in charge already failed once.  Doesn’t 100% mean he’ll fail again, but you lose faith in a persons abilities by watching their results.  

I think most posters actually shared most of your concerns about the roster (lack of frontcourt talent/depth particularly) but saw no point in being skeptical all offseason. The worst case scenario is proving accurate and all the time spent highlighting those concerns ultimately didn't put IUBB in any better place. Projections and assessments are fine and so is doubting him based on the first half of his first season here. I guess I just don't see how beating a dead horse is productive after a certain point.  

He will either fix it or he won't. If people have lost faith already, I guess they can use the board as an outlet or find a better use for their time and energy than IUBB fandom. Football has a lot to offer right now thankfully, at least. 

[Uspshoosier]

17 minutes ago, str8baller said:

Would it look any different if we did? 

They just need to get one of those coaches that’s standing in line waiting to coach IU or one to come in on a white horse and save the program.   Either way I’m here for the grind 

[str8baller]

6 minutes ago, Stuhoo said:

Both Iowa and Minnesota’s bigs completely dominated

Wrong.  Just completely wrong. 
 

Iowa won with their guards Stirtz (who was completely dominated by athletic teams like Illinois and MSU) and Jackson. In fact, we got more offensive rebounds than Iowa did (8-5). Alexis’s 8 boards was more than any of their bigs had and comically enough Baileys 2 offensive boards was more than any of their bigs had. 
 

Otoh, Conerway and Enright were embarrassing. Both with 4 fouls. Wilkerson too. It was almost entirely scheme and basketball IQ. Iowa is thoroughly average athletically, at best.  
 

This was a complete coaching failure on Devries part. Not the end of the world, but an abject failure. I don’t get the urge to try and obfuscate that fact. 

[Stuhoo]

2 minutes ago, Uspshoosier said:

They just need to get one of those coaches that’s standing line waiting to coach IU or one to come in on a white horse and save the program.   Either way I’m here for the grind 

Billy? Bruce? Scott? Braaaaad?!? Mark? Dusty? Jay?

I shall settle for nothing less, dammit.