NCHoosier32

still say i'd go Leal, but we won't

loose balls and rebounds gotta be ours

absolutely gotta rebound better. just no excuse

encouraging start. hate that foul by Ware though

sadly we don't have anyone to put in that will be any better

so far our strategy of giving them 3s and hoping they miss has worked... until that one.

really really like Ware. wish we'd have him another year. i don't complain about officiating often, but i am not liking this so far.

well, i guess it's kinda like we don't have X

Another related thought and this one I claim... I still think we're screwed because the 5 guys who need to start are not the right pieces, but that we can't do anything about it. Another reason for that is I would be shocked if the coaching staff didn't use the sales pitch to MM that he would have to be a 3 in the NBA and that they would start him there and showcase him, right? Also would be shocked if when recruited Reneau to stay and Ware to come if they weren't both pretty much promised a starting role. Society and bball society is so tough these days. Long time friend of mine was both of my son's high school coaches. He won back to back state championships and decided to give it a go as a small D1 assistant. He gave that up after one season because players would cuss out the staff and when he tried to discipline that the staff told him that they just had to take it because they didn't want them to transfer. I mean, wow! He said it was every man for themselves because they all transfer in and have their own individual goals, etc. I just can't imagine.

i was pretty positive that was the case, but i wonder if it's like he is toughing it out and barely good enough to play? or is he close to 100%? or somewhere between there? that situation means a lot to me... on a related topic, my son is a huge IU fan (of course) and is in his second year of college bball. at this point, he is more analytic of the games than i am and i think he is better at it than i am. that said, he is steadfast that most of our problems have to do with X. just a take i haven't really noticed, because i don't think we have a viable alternative. he swears up and down that much of the overhelping starts with X. says people blame some of his getting out of position on Mbako because MM is the one who reacts to it trying to make up for it. thoughts on that? he also says if we were running the exact same stuff with JHS instead of X, we'd be so much better because he created so much more for teammates than X does. also points out that X isn't even very good at getting his. honestly, i'm not sure what my opinion on all that is. kind of doesn't matter i guess.

i think it's gonna be ugly, but i'm still excited for today. our first look against a good team. i hope X is 100% so we aren't left wondering what we would have looked like with him. still think 12.5 points is awful optimistic. glad it's a 1pm game, so i don't have to wait around.

getting a little more realistic. i'd still definitely take UConn and the points though.

i don't bet, but man! the line is 7.5!? good Lord i'd take UConn.

so... i am a natural when it comes to negative... they have a 7 footer that probably matches up pretty well with Ware right? they are currently ranked #5 and received 1 vote for #1 and we aren't receiving any votes to be considered in the top 25. they've played no one and blown them all out. we've played no one and struggled to pull out wins. they are a good 3 point shooting team and we are bad at defending 3s.

probably don't really want UConn to know for sure while they are prepping for Sunday

Honestly, I think it comes down to this...I said to any IU fan coming into the season that I thought Mbako was the key. Said we should know what we are getting from X and Galloway. Had a feeling we'd know pretty much what we were getting from Reneau. Figured Ware would be a little up and down, but solid. I said I thought Mbako was more of a 4 who could shoot in HS and if we were going to be like top 15-25 good he would have to immediately be a legit 3 and likely lead us in scoring.

this makes me a little more hopeful in keeping it close. thing is...the kid from Wright St was their stud and we still struggled to beat the at AH. UConn ain't Wright St and we ain't playing at the Hall.

i mean, we can hope this. maybe it is true to some extent? maybe they'll all step up.

i'm afraid you're right and afraid it will be a bad answer. that said, it could always go like this - we could get blown out and then guys either have a reality check for how hard they need to play and how smart they need to play and we improve - or - Woodson could also have a reality check and make some changes and we improve. i'm not super optimistic about any of this, but gonna hope for the best!

totally agree. it's also part of why i don't think shooting ore 3s is gonna help much. if we have the wrong guys taking them and guys taking bad ones, we end up 3-16 from there.

definitely true. the thing i keep saying though, isn't it pretty much true for most teams these days? with the transfer portal and leaving early for the NBA, not many teams bring back much of a nucleus right?

only thing i like about this game is that they also haven't played anyone good. that said, they have beaten those bad teams soundly and we have not. i don't think that means all that much, but i know i'd rather be in the other boat! the fact that they hit 3s at the rate that they do and we have looked bad defensively from 3 against bad teams scares me to death! i am excited to see this game though. i would be shocked with a win, but thrilled to even look good against them.

absolutely cannot understand leaving a scholarship open

i would assume Cupps starts at PG and Galloway plays point when he is out. Leal may get a few spot minutes when absolutely needed, but Gunn and Cupps just playing more would probably be all that is needed right?

Definitely Ware, but also like Galloway with 6 assists and 0 TOs to go along with his 15 points.