Indiana v. Wisconsin postgame thread

[HoosierAloha]

like Blackmon? :)

 

Completely slipped my mind.  Yes, RoJo (with progress) and JBJ with CuJo and the transfer pg or the 2017 pg reclassifying would make for a solid, solid team.  Sorry a bit off topic.

 

This was a good win against Wiscy at home.  I'm curious to see how we will play them on the road.  Will they shoot 40 FTs compared to our 2?

[rebelhoosier848891]

Late to the party with some post-game thoughts...

 

First---we showed toughness once again which I was waiting to see earlier in the year and which seemed to start with the Notre Dame game. If we play hard---even on a night like tonight when we are not hitting our shots----we can still gut out a win.

 

It's only been 3 games without JBJ and I was often one of his biggest critics because of his defensive lapses---but we definitely miss him on offense.  RoJo has been off all 3 games and Z3 to an extent as they become more of a focal point for defenses.  I now realize Blackmon's full value at spacing the floor to open up other shooters.  He is a big loss but honestly we are now going to be better defensively and we will have to focus more on that side of the ball.  It may not be popular to say---but I will say it anyway---we used to have 2 starters in JBJ and Troy who had big defensive lapses. Now we only have one. Troy has improved some and I hope he will continue to improve on D. His rebounding has been much better this year and even tonight on an off night for him he still grabbed several boards.

 

Tonight belonged to Yogi and the freshmen. Yogi did his thing and took over when we needed him. The freshmen all did some outstanding things. OG and TB were both in double figures and had the best shooting percentages on the team.  Juwan blocked shots and played good D.  OG is going to be something. He was 3 for 3 from 3 tonight. He is now averaging 10 points and 4 rebounds a game in Big Ten play in limited minutes.  He's a keeper. Prediction--all 3 freshmen are only going to get better throughout the year.

 

We were much better defensively.  We held one of the nation's top 80 offenses in the 50's and only allowed 41% shooting. I loved seeing another team finally go scoreless against our defense for several minutes in a row and have shot clock violations.  The drives to the hole for lay-ups were greatly reduced.

 

We still have a turnover problem. 19 is too many and Yogi and RoJo with 5 each is not good. We get that cleaned up and we will be even better.

 

Overall--I am happy. 13-3 and 3-0 in the Big Ten is a good start.  An ugly win is better then an ugly loss any day of the week! Let's build on it.

 

Last thought---it's only fitting that we won tonight in honor of the 1976 unbeaten team.  I like to look at it this way---IU still hasn't lost when the 1976 team is all together on the floor in The Hall!  Go Hoosiers!

[HoosierAloha]

Can anyone explain Troy's movements on defense?  Two plays in particular stand out to me.  Troy running through the lane and past his man in the first half.  Troy running behind his man after getting beat in the second half.  Those two plays really stood out to me with the "squirrel" approach he sometimes takes.

[Hoosier DaDa]

"We" caused what 3-4 clock violations!!!! Unheard of!!!

I yelled every time another one happened, then thought to myself we had more this game than the last 2 years. I think the guys played great defense tonight. I was proud that they won a hard fought game without their offense flowing. Still need to value the ball more. Not sure if anybody else mentioned this because have read the whole thread. We held them to 2 7 minutes scoring droughts. One in the first half and second. I was impressed. My excitement is mounting. Go Hoosiers!

[HoosierHoops1]

I know you're a footbal junkie but a frontcourt of De'Ron, Bryant, OG, and Morgan is going to be awesome.  Hartman will provide some senior leadership for those guys.  I think OG has the ability to play the 3 in that frontcourt and would make that a great, albeit young, group.  Still think we need a solid guard to add to next year's roster.

One more guard wouldn't hurt, but I think we could end up being decent there, depending on JBJ's situation.

 

15-16 

Yogi

James

Rob

Nick

 

16-17

James

Rob

Cujo

Newkirk

[jhoosier]

First of all, good game glad we got the win. Guys showed a lot of toughness and grit I thought.

Second, why can't Troy guard anybody? He is long, athletic, even if he gives up a little foot quickness to his man he still should be able to alter the shot of a shorter player. Two plays stick in my head where his man, a much shorter player takes him down the lane and gets a layup over him. Someone needs to work on angles and body positioning with him, he's got so much God given talent it's frustrating seeing much less talented players taking advantage of him on that end of the floor.

[GnarlyNormEllenberger]

A few positive thoughts since we won...

 

- Defensive effort. About time. Some of it had to do with who played extended minutes.

 

- I truly believe the players are doing what the coaches tell them to do. The drives into a crowded lane by Yogi, Troy and Johnson? I truly believe they're being told to force it. Just my opinion, but I'm gonna side with the kids there. They're trying.

 

- OG is a special player. Deserves increased minutes. He's proving his worth. He might end up being more of the Troy-player that we hoped for here ina  couple of season. I really think he's going to be very good.

 

-Morgan didn't score a single point last night, but played a heck of a game. Great effort. Fouled out, but made things hard on Nigel Hayes. So did OG, for that matter. I've said it before, but Morgan is one of the few players on the team that actually takes pride in playing defense. Because of that, he deserves minutes.

 

- Great deflection by Johnson at the end of the game. Play of the game in my book. Redeemed himself after another disappointing game, overall.

 

- If we had some effective half-court offense, we could be difficult to beat. And I wish we 'd slow things down a bit and do exactly that. I believe it would allow Morgan and OG to be more effective like they were last night. We'll see if it happens, though.

 

-Good to beat Wisconsin, even if this is their worst team in at least a decade.

[Naturalhoosier]

Nicky Z must find his rhythm and find it fast.

He shoots lights out when he has it, but hasn't been able to buy a bucket recently. Not that we are a 100% live by the 3 die by the 3, but he does have a green light so it would be helpful if some of those fall. I'm confident we would have won easily at Rutgers if he was on it. I'm also confident last night's game wouldn't have gone down to the wire if he was hitting those wide open looks.

[HoosierCoop]

Quick thoughts as I drove into work this morning (with a headache from one too many Chardonnay last night):

 

Rojo - Is in a serious funk.  Does not look comfortable out there at all.  Did hit a couple of shots and made a key steal last night.  I still have total faith in this kid that all will be right.  He has a good drive and motor.  Hopefully there is light at the tunnel for him after last night's W.  I am sure he and the staff know what is going on and are working to fix it.  Just seems like he is pre-occupied.

 

Nick Z - Hasn't been the lights out shooter as of late.  Again, in a little bit of funk.  The function of this line up change may be causing some extra attention on him.  Rojo needs to pick up the O and take some pressure off.

 

Yogi - Love the in game heroics.  At the same time it really scares me because now that is going to be the expectation come hell or high water.  We have all seen how that can end up.  Defense is a good start but don't forget you have other offensively minded teammates!

 

OG and Juwan - Stay golden my friends, you will shine as a Hoosier!

 

TB - Is really asserted himself in the B1G so far. So far, I think he can hold his own on the block.  I cannot wait to see how he reacts to the Boilers.

 

Colin - This is interesting.  Though some may be disappointed with his defense, I see it differently.  Since being inserted in the starting line up, he has nearly fouled out in every game.  I don't see this as a bad thing because it is not the ole' defense we have seen at the beginning of the season.  He is actually body to body with his assignment.  To me, this is the start of playing better position with some questionable calls on the officials.

 

Max - I thank you everyday for choosing the Hoosiers.  Great B1G experience.  Doing the basics and nothing flashy.  Perfect!

 

Watching IU and gin/tonic do not mix!

[MartintheMopMan]

Nicky Z must find his rhythm and find it fast.

He shoots lights out when he has it, but hasn't been able to buy a bucket recently. Not that we are a 100% live by the 3 die by the 3, but he does have a green light so it would be helpful if some of those fall. I'm confident we would have won easily at Rutgers if he was on it. I'm also confident last night's game wouldn't have gone down to the wire if he was hitting those wide open looks.

Seriously. This and the FTs are driving me crazy because they're such inexplicable and dramatic drops from last year.

 

If Z3 can't hit shots, he is a liability. His defense is very poor, and on top of that, he's taking shots away from people who might make them.

 

Last night he took 35% of the 3s in the game, but only had 14% of our 3-point-baskets. We just can't have that. He needs to watch the tape from UNLV and revert back to whatever he did that game.

[incrediboy]

Yeah, I'm happy to beat Wisky. This looked like one of Bo Ryan's old teams with not much talent but a penchant to make the game look ugly. But honestly if we'd played like this all three games we'd be 1-2 in the B1G right now IMO.

 

If Troy is thinking of going pro, I'm wondering what pro team would want him. Certainly no NBA team. Lately he's losing the ball more often than he's scoring with it, and his rebounding hasn't shown much either. With all the speculation about next year, it's looking more and more that Troy and JBJ will be back in Bloomington instead of getting paid to play as pros. And if Troy keeps playing like this, he won't be a starter much longer.

 

NZ has one role...to make 3s. If he doesn't, he needs to be on the bench. As Dakich noted, he's a great cheerleader. When is he going to start getting into his rhythm? He was better last year so far.

 

What's wrong with RoJo? Since conference play started, he's been worthless on offense and not much better on defense. It's like his head is not fully in the game. Stupid mistakes, no-look passes that go to nobody, stepping on the end line... (sighing that there's an etc. that belongs here)

 

If I were CTC, I would flat-out order "NO no-look passes." I'd estimate that 90% of them this season have resulted in turnovers.

 

The emergence of OG and Morgan, especially on defense, has given us some spark. Bryant and Max did their jobs. Yogi did what he was supposed to do. Ergo we won. 

 

We know Troy and RoJo can be quality players. If they will just emerge and be the players we know they can be, we can play with anybody anywhere. But if their funks continue, it's going to be a long season. Even without JBJ, our lineup is 20 points better than Wisky IMO. So games like this worry the **** out of me.

[mdn82]

Yeah, I'm happy to beat Wisky. This looked like one of Bo Ryan's old teams with not much talent but a penchant to make the game look ugly. But honestly if we'd played like this all three games we'd be 1-2 in the B1G right now IMO.

If Troy is thinking of going pro, I'm wondering what pro team would want him. Certainly no NBA team. Lately he's losing the ball more often than he's scoring with it, and his rebounding hasn't shown much either. With all the speculation about next year, it's looking more and more that Troy and JBJ will be back in Bloomington instead of getting paid to play as pros. And if Troy keeps playing like this, he won't be a starter much longer.

NZ has one role...to make 3s. If he doesn't, he needs to be on the bench. As Dakich noted, he's a great cheerleader. When is he going to start getting into his rhythm? He was better last year so far.

What's wrong with RoJo? Since conference play started, he's been worthless on offense and not much better on defense. It's like his head is not fully in the game. Stupid mistakes, no-look passes that go to nobody, stepping on the end line... (sighing that there's an etc. that belongs here)

If I were CTC, I would flat-out order "NO no-look passes." I'd estimate that 90% of them this season have resulted in turnovers.

The emergence of OG and Morgan, especially on defense, has given us some spark. Bryant and Max did their jobs. Yogi did what he was supposed to do. Ergo we won.

We know Troy and RoJo can be quality players. If they will just emerge and be the players we know they can be, we can play with anybody anywhere. But if their funks continue, it's going to be a long season. Even without JBJ, our lineup is 20 points better than Wisky IMO. So games like this worry the **** out of me.

Actually this wasn't our worst game of the 3. TO% was somewhat down. If we played this way at Nebraska and Rutgers we would still be 3-0. Neither of those teams would slow us down like Wisky tried to. That's not their game.

[Sota Hoosier]

It's fun to watch Yogi turn it on in the second half and make big shots but at the same its so frustrating because we'd be up by 10-12 if we would simply take care of the ball. I'll take 3-0 but I'm still not sure what to think. Trying to take this one game at a time.

 

Biggest positive right now is the emergence of both OG and Juwan. Has OG even hit the rim on any of his made threes? Kid's confidence has skyrocketed. Juwan loves defending and getting after it on D. I think these two taking pride on defense has served as a catalyst for the entire team.

 

Shots weren't falling, turned the ball over all night, played Wisconsin's style of game, and still won the game. I am impressed with the team's grit and mental toughness. I thought we would only win if we came in and sped the game up and shot them out of the gym.

[mdn82]

Those kids were getting a lot of love in the hall cause of their defense. They played their ass off on that end.

[USMCHoosier]

Also Anunoby has shown me he deserves to be starting. That kid can flat out play.

 

Yogi

Johnson

Troy

Anunoby

Bryant

 

Then bring Zeisloft, Biefeldt, Hartman, and Morgan off the bench. Morgan definitely deserves more minutes, he's one of our best defenders. 

Johnson does not deserve to start. Just like last year, he played decent against the cupcakes but he is horrible against real competition.

[USMCHoosier]

Sorry to the naysayers but so far in the big ten IU basketball is fun to watch again even with the close games against turds. Just my opinion. I'm really interested in seeing how Tom leads this team during big ten play and right now at 3-0 I have 0 complaints.

The only thing I find enjoyable about watching this team is the freshman.

[USMCHoosier]

If we eliminate the run out of bounds on the baselines and throw the ball wildly hoping someone catches it,that would cut the to's down by a few a game.

Then eliminate the drive from the top of the key where Troy tries a crossover when he is on top of his defender and a double or triple team has formed. Hell we could be down to 5 TOs a game.

[Uspshoosier]

The only thing I find enjoyable about watching this team is the freshman.

if I was in your situation about not finding anything enjoyable to watch about this team( not even Hartman?) I would probaly find a second team to watch until it started being enjoyable again. I feel bad for people who can't enjoy watching their favorite team play. While this team and coach does things I don't find enjoyable, there is also moments where I like the fight, and toughness when things are not going well. Hopefully they will play better so you can enjoy watching them again

[MartintheMopMan]

Yeah, I'm happy to beat Wisky. This looked like one of Bo Ryan's old teams with not much talent but a penchant to make the game look ugly. But honestly if we'd played like this all three games we'd be 1-2 in the B1G right now IMO.

 

If Troy is thinking of going pro, I'm wondering what pro team would want him. Certainly no NBA team. Lately he's losing the ball more often than he's scoring with it, and his rebounding hasn't shown much either. With all the speculation about next year, it's looking more and more that Troy and JBJ will be back in Bloomington instead of getting paid to play as pros. And if Troy keeps playing like this, he won't be a starter much longer.

 

NZ has one role...to make 3s. If he doesn't, he needs to be on the bench. As Dakich noted, he's a great cheerleader. When is he going to start getting into his rhythm? He was better last year so far.

 

What's wrong with RoJo? Since conference play started, he's been worthless on offense and not much better on defense. It's like his head is not fully in the game. Stupid mistakes, no-look passes that go to nobody, stepping on the end line... (sighing that there's an etc. that belongs here)

 

If I were CTC, I would flat-out order "NO no-look passes." I'd estimate that 90% of them this season have resulted in turnovers.

 

The emergence of OG and Morgan, especially on defense, has given us some spark. Bryant and Max did their jobs. Yogi did what he was supposed to do. Ergo we won. 

 

We know Troy and RoJo can be quality players. If they will just emerge and be the players we know they can be, we can play with anybody anywhere. But if their funks continue, it's going to be a long season. Even without JBJ, our lineup is 20 points better than Wisky IMO. So games like this worry the **** out of me.

Troy had only 2 TOs with 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 points (on 4 shots). He needed to push his offense and score more, but he was otherwise doing pretty much everything we could ask of him, even defending decently. Most of it came in the second half with him being absent most of the first. Outside of the points, that's some "good Troy" basketball and it bugs me that we still are dogging him when he does well rather than recognize his successes. Yogi and RoJo were responsible for over half of our TOs. Heck OG and Troy had the same TO rate.

[MartintheMopMan]

Johnson does not deserve to start. Just like last year, he played decent against the cupcakes but he is horrible against real competition.

Who do you start in his place and bring off the bench? Part of the problem is, he's a player who is better off the bench. His bad games started when he had to start. He's like Sheehey, stellar 6th man but a mediocre (at best) starter.

 

Then eliminate the drive from the top of the key where Troy tries a crossover when he is on top of his defender and a double or triple team has formed. Hell we could be down to 5 TOs a game.

Except this game of course, where it wouldn't.