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Welcome back to Crimson Cask ale clivia.
Joining you once again, here it is Wednesday, February 1st,
January over, not going to miss it.
Nice. Nice month to some degree for
both IU, men's and women's basketball.
Although didn't end too well for the men last night.
Big loss without a big loss, I guess.
But somewhat disappointing loss out at Maryland but maybe not
surprising. And we're going to talk about
that. We're going to obviously talk
about the big rest of the week. We got coming up here is IU gets
ready to take on the Purdue Boilermakers.
The number one team in the country.
We got, chronic Hoosier with us, we haven't had them on and try
to think the last time we had you on, man.
It's been I think a Years. So it's been too long.
It's good to have you back, man. It's so glad to be back talking
to you. It's been a covid, messed,
everything up I've ever. It's like time just got
completely turned on its head. Everything's been weird.
I work too much. I do.
And honestly, it has been these have been trying days for rui.
You fans are fans of IU Athletics over the last couple
of years and, you know, I admittedly, I am.
I don't know if anyone's noticed or gives a crap, you know, I
have kind of deliberately been a little bit more selective and
how I choose to engage with, with all things I you because
honestly, you know, and maybe it gets exacerbated during football
season, but there comes a point where it's like, you know, life
has enough pain in it inherently for me to continue to feel the
urge to dip my hands into the bowl of fire because you know
what happens, and it's not always great, but For whatever
reason I was born into a family of people who dip their hands
into bowls of fire and and some call us say this.
But you know, whatever that said though, you know, there's been a
lot of excitement. There's been a lot of a lot of
things that I've been anxiously following.
I have just kind of stepped back a little bit and followed things
a little more quietly and I'm still not sure what the verdict
is, that a good plan of bad plan or what.
But, you know, it's one of those things where We, as you
mentioned, it's February. Now, we are earnestly in
basketball season footballs almost entirely in the rearview
aside from the big game whose trademark will prohibit us from
saying it on here, for fear of being sued by The Shield.
But other than that, it's this is, this is the meet of the
Season. We've got, you know, basically
two thirds of basketball schedules behind them.
You have at this point, I feel like a very, very good
understanding of what you're working with, what the
strengths, what the weaknesses Are the liabilities obviously,
Indiana continues to be bitten by the injury bug, which is kept
a lot of this. You know, these things in flux,
I feel like you know, last night was one of those games.
And I've said this at some point almost in every game it seems
like Indiana desperately missed Xavier Johnson his, his
aggression, his leadership in that regard.
You know. I felt like they miss Jordan
Geronimo quite a bit last night, too.
And you know, race Thompson, God bless his heart.
He's out there doing everything he can, but he's clearly a shell
of what he was, pre-injury Lord knows what I you would be like,
without him back right on the floor right now, especially
considering geronimo's injury, but, you know, all that being
said, we've seen Indiana place and pretty good basketball.
We've seen Indiana place in pretty bad, basketball.
I felt like last night was one of their worst performance of
the Season both on the floor, as well as on the bench.
Quite honestly, I don't feel like we We just can't, I don't
think we played a very good basketball to game.
I don't think we coached a very good basketball game and, you
know, it's unfortunate to see a 5 game streak end.
It's remarkable how quickly you can kind of whips all the
emotions over the course of, you know, a little more than two
weeks from the sky is falling to, you know, we may run the
table out, not that any reasonable person said that, but
when you start stacking W is like that, the expectations just
continue to increase with with each passing game is that belief
grows and you No games like last night happened and they're bound
to happen to every team apparently but Purdue when they
play a Rutgers. But nevertheless, you know, here
we are kind of back now in that state of flux wondering who
exactly is this team as far as their identity, what are they
good at where they going to get, you know, what's going to
continue to get him beat, and I think you've got a pretty good
eye understanding right now of what I use about, and it's a
team that's, you know, obviously completely anchored by Trace
Jackson, Davis, You've got a pretty talented freshman and
Jalen Hood Savino. And you've got a cast of
Supporting Cast. That some nice can play pretty
good ball. Some nights can not be good
enough. And you know, there's been some
good highs, we've been some low lows and at the end of the day
you got a team that, you know, middle a big tent, it's who they
are. They're pretty middle right now.
All that said, they are still very much in the hunt for a
Friday by on the Big Ten Tournament.
Just as easily. I wouldn't be surprised if this
teams played on Wednesday, that's kind of where they are.
And this is, this is the month where all that's going to sort
itself out. So, you know, you're starting to
see it increasing with every game teams just know who you are
and what you're going to run and how you want to do it.
It's just who can do their stuff better and you know, we've seen
I you be the better team some night and nights.
Like last night you saw one of those examples where they knew
exactly where we're going to try and do.
And they did a really good job of frustrating.
It's pretty much at every turn. Before we go on, just a
reminder, that Crimson cast is part of the back home network
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order. That's Home2 home field
apparel.com lot to pick up on from all of that that you just
dropped on as chronic. So let me let's start with kind
of the, I guess, the present with the team.
I kind of expand on that a little bit.
We can go from there. I think you hit the nail on the
head. This is a flawed team, it's a
team that's got clearly a, you know, an all Big Ten player in.
Tres Jackson Davis and he has played, I keep referring to
like, what he's putting up, statistically wise, as like,
early 70s stats, because they just look like something that
you read in a book and didn't believe that that was actually
possible. Like, wait, you're averaging
like 16, rebounds and 18 points a game over this stretch, but
that's exactly what he's done. And then, you've got other good
pieces and some cases really promising, young talented pieces
of Jalen Hood Ruffino in other cases more veteran.
But Something that really struck me watching that Maryland game
last night. And it's something that I've
thought about with a lot of the games we've seen with this team.
They just lack any sense of consistency, over stretches of
time, even within games. And, you know, last night was an
example where they started off pretty good.
I mean, you look at the first 10 minutes or so of that game and
it's like, whoa, Indiana came out.
They were ready to play. It was very similar to the Iowa
game earlier in the season. It was similar to a couple of
other games and then Marilyn made adjustments and I Seem to
not know what to do and you know we you know I don't get too hung
up on road losses in the Big Ten.
I mean, I even that Minnesota wind that everybody treated like
a loss. I trying to remind people that
you go back to the Halcyon Days of the night era.
I you was playing games like that on the road pretty
regularly in the Big Ten even with what was supposed to like
the best team in the conference you know?
They mean an 87 season they nearly lost in Northwestern,
they nearly lost. It was concen, they nearly lost
at Minnesota and So, those games happen, it's just that with this
team, you just never really know outside of Trace Jackson Davis,
what you're going to get out of any of the other players either
on the bench or in the starting lineup and that really is
frustrating and it kind of it hits it.
This larger melees that you're talking about with IU Athletics,
where I think the consistency that many people banked on with
being fans of IU, just hasn't, it doesn't exist on this team
and it hasn't existed for years. This is probably the best
vintage of what we've seen out of IU basketball.
Bowl in a while. And it still feels like there's
a lot of pieces and a lot of aspects missing from where
people would like it to be. And I think you know where you
would might expect it to be given the profile in caliber of
I use program. Yeah, I mean, I think that's
that's, that's everything right there.
You know, you talk about the consistency, the only thing
consistent on this team has quite frankly, been traced
Jackson Davis just playing out of his mind at least, you know,
since the middle of December. I think, and you've seen this in
the past, with some values, very good players.
I felt like Yogi Ferrell really didn't lead that team anywhere,
close to his full capability until his senior year.
It was something he had to grow into and you very much get the
sense that, as Trace has matured here at Indiana this this year,
he's actualized, what's required of him.
If this team is going to have any shot of accomplishing, you
know, the goals that he Take elated as far as why he was
coming back here for his senior year, what he wanted to
accomplish. And he's very much doing
everything within his power. In order to make that happen,
he's been a very good facilitator for some of his
teammates at times as well. You know, the thing that strikes
me about traces play right now, is he's doing it on both ends of
the floor. I do feel like to some degree,
he's being shielded a little bit in some of the defensive
assignment. And so is to, you know, not to
threaten his availability, do two fouls, which is a whole
other podcast but something that just continues to make me, you
know, nothing short of insane. Obviously watching the way that
the Big Ten basketball is played, the outliers, you know,
and Trace has done a pretty good job of adapting credit to him.
You know, you look at how they called the Illinois game which
was literally nothing short of Barnyard.
I mean I actually literally grew up playing basketball In a barn
at my family's Farm. I know what that's like, we had
boards. They were stalled doors, but
they acted like boards and hockey.
They were in play, and you would get checked into them, you would
run screens so that they were part of it.
It was extraordinary physical, and pretty ridiculous.
In a lot of regards, I have the scars to show from it.
He did really well in a game like that, he's done really well
in games where you know, it's just wildly fluctuating.
I'm from play to play half to half frontcourt to backcourt,
but I do feel like defensively, at least on the floor were a
little bit hesitant to unleash him defensively.
Now, he competes very well at the point of the shot and
obviously Above the Rim. And that's the part to me.
That's just, I don't think people realize how hard it is.
To be a post player at this level in this conference.
Yeah, you know, not only is he pulling an absurd amount of
minutes on a night to night basis, but to have to constantly
Be getting the shit kicked out of them just banged up and still
getting off his feet and high pointing shots with a
consistency that honestly. You just it's generational.
If we're being totally honest is numbers or video game like his
dominance you don't you just don't see from post players in
this era except for guys like, you know, Zack ET, you know,
dudes. That are just ridiculous
physical specimens for all the knocks on traces liabilities due
to his size. His lack of shooting.
He's found so many ways to contribute so many ways to
compete and he usually comes out on top when he's competing like
that. All that said though there's
just not enough around him right now consistently that you can
withstand nights when you know teams do a pretty good job of
taking stuff away from him. I mean he had some pretty
ridiculous numbers last night. 18 points. 20, rebounds.
And you just kind of felt like that wasn't his best game by any
stretch of the imagination. What a very Game from him the
challenges though is when you know Ray stops and gets I don't
want to call it a quiet 11, you know, that's your next best
thing. And race is having a pretty bad
night all on all you're going to be in trouble in most games but
especially when you're playing on the road and Big Ten and
especially to places like Maryland, that's been an
extraordinarily difficult place to play in this year and I think
we saw a great example why but it really highlights.
Some of I use some of the holes in the way this roster has been
constructed and you know It doesn't help when what's been,
you know, you're second best player of the course of the
season and Jalen Hood Jaffe. No, has just a really, really
forgettable performance. I mean, probably is worse game,
maybe as a Hoosier 14, 14 from the floor.
He's just not really not really effective in any way, shape, or
form, looked really frustrated by the pressure, by The Zone.
I mean, he looked like a freshman, he just looked
freshman through and through. And there's nobody else really
stepping up, trying to make your life easier quite the opposite.
Like I you did a pretty good job of shooting themselves in the
foot whenever they had chance to see some of that momentum and
get something positive going. They always seem to find a way
to, to just kill that momentum. And that's going to happen when
you're playing one of the, you know, one of the most
experienced teams in the country, certainly one of the
most experienced teams in the conference, they're going to
penalize. You if you, if you make losing
Place such as that, and I thought Marilyn did a great job
on both ends of the floor. I thought they did a great job
game plan against Indiana. Yeah.
I mean, In the frustrating thing about last night and it happens
on the road. So again, I'm not overwrought
about it, but they actually got a pretty good defensive
performance in all together. I mean, they hold Maryland just
a little bit over a point per possession, they shot 42% from
to, they shot 22% from three, you know, that you look at IU
and you're like, gosh, being able to do that on the road
defensively. That's actually better than what
we've seen out of them. But Maryland shoots 29, free
throws and 25. Now some of that you can say
this is not being called properly and certainly I had my
complaints about some of the officiating but a lot of it was
just bad foul. Just buy you a lot of fouling
poor poor poorer talented players than warrant a foul
being suspended on them. And a lot of it's really just
Court awareness you know, and situational awareness.
And from people that I mean, look, I think a Malik renew as a
freshman, he had a good stretch of games.
This was the first game in a while where he really looked
like Lost again and it was mostly just on the defensive
end. I'll give him a pass because he
did a lot on the offensive end. But guys like Trey Galloway like
they're, you know, for a for someone with his background and
experience in the game, the number of fouls that didn't need
to be committed that ended up either.
Giving Maryland, two free throws or an extra free throw, you
know, Miller cop struggling with fouls at times tomorrow.
Bates, another one, where his athleticism just kind of
disappears. It seems like you know when he's
trying to defend He doesn't know how to use his body in his hands
properly. That is really frustrating and
it feels like as well as Indiana played for most of the, the five
games in the winning streak. It was like, they just forgot
all of those lessons. This is honestly, the kind of
game. I thought they were going to
play it Illinois and it was a shock when they played so well
throughout. But and then you see this, come
back. And again these are going to
happen, they weren't going to win out, and Maryland was a game
that had been projected as a loss on Ken pom.
You know, well before this had happened, but to watch the way
that they lost it, just felt like an opportunity that was
left behind because they didn't really seem to have their heads
in the game. And that's the inconsistency
that I think is driving so many I you fans nuts.
I mean you just you saw unfold this play what happens when
you're not. When you're outmatched point
guard spot, fouls have been a problem.
Renews has been fouling machine this season and there's no knock
on him and he's been forced into a Role where he's the team's
leaned on him and some pretty big moments here and, you know,
with with races condition right now, or his situation, I guess
you're asking a lot for a freshman to come in and fill in
that void created by your glue guy, you know, super senior guy.
Redshirted came here early out of high school so that he could,
he could grow and develop in the program and after a career full
of injuries, you know, races. I felt like their up most of the
season is struggle to find. And his role or how he best fits
in this, the chemistry of this, current roster construction
coming nowhere, close to his potential though, post-injury
that in. And of itself was a pretty big
void to expect a freshman to come in there against, you know,
some of these really seasoned really physical big men and and
especially in those Road environments, but he struggled
at home with it as well, but recognizing their stuff that
you're gonna be able to get away with and their stuff.
You're absolutely not going to be able to do And you know what?
They allow you with your torso and your legs versus what
they're going to lie you with your hands are two totally
different things in this league. And you've got to learn how to
adjust how you're defending teams.
Because quite honestly, I feel like a lot of renews development
has been hampered by the fact that he's made himself
unavailable due to due to the fouling issues, and just hasn't
got the minutes required. But, you know, I think there's
something probably broader in. In the way I use defending his
whole this season. You know, they're in rotation a
lot through late in rotation, a lot.
It's real easy to get called for fouls.
When your man just beat you and you're struggling in recovery,
you tend to get a little handsy or when you've already been beat
with the feet. That's that's your defense of
Last Resort and I use found themselves in that position far
too many times. But I think it's been pretty
glaring at the point of attack so far this season and died.
Last night was one of those games that just puts it on full
display when you're pretty much a.
Post and point guard based team when your point guards Mia, and,
you know, they're throwing, you know, alternating defenses from
Zone demand and, and doing everything.
They can to slow you down with the pressure.
Take you, no. Steal time off the shot clock,
and really Force you in the late clock situations when they know
dang. Well, what you're trying to do,
you know, there's only so much Teresa going to be able to do in
those situations and, you know, ultimately, it's going to
require somebody else. Usually somebody's else, you
know, the magic Number 4, IU. Has been getting four guys.
In double figures when Indiana's had good games, you've had a
couple of those reserves or a couple of starters going over
their averages, sometimes significantly, I just wasn't
there last night and you know, unfortunately, we've seen a
pattern where that can that can disappear in Mass with some
regularity Indiana has been really lucky over the course of
this five-game stretch while Trace have been playing out of
his mind, you know, maybe it's been fee know, maybe it's in
Galloway. Geronimo was really rounding
into a some significant contributions before he went
back out and you take Geronimo out of the mix and now you know
that that lineup gets a little bit thinner and it just puts a
bigger premium on some of these guys and quite frankly in a nice
like last night they just haven't been good enough.
Yeah. And and as you mentioned I mean
the coaching left a lot to be desired.
The rotations are questionable, it's they can again it's one of
those things where Clearly The rosters hobbled, not just by
missing a Jordan Geronimo, not just by race Thompson, not being
healthy, but there's not much depth.
Like Beyond. I mean, I you like essentially
played seven players last night and you know, they technically
played eight Banks, played five minutes, but they got 18 total
points out of their seven or 18 total minutes, sorry out of
their seventh and eighth players onto the floor.
And you know a lot of this is It's a, it's a, it's an issue
with the way, the roster has been constructed over time.
And that's not going to be a quick fix.
I don't even know what the fix is at this point, you know, I
think ideally this season, if you if you're getting a full
head of steam, out of Trace Jackson Davis for the whole
season where he's not injured and all of these parts play at
their best potential. You've got a really good team.
You've got a team that's probably the favorite for the
Big Ten, but that's not what these players are at their best.
They honestly, this group can beat anybody in the country.
I know that sounds like a tall order but between the shooting
that they've demonstrated and the abilities that race Jackson
Davis and their abilities to play defense when they're really
locked in. When all of those things are
firing, they really could beat anybody in the country, but that
almost never happens with this group.
There's always three or four players that are struggling with
X Y, or Z. There's always some breakdown
that's happening somewhere. And that, I don't A really easy
fix to that unfortunately. And as much as I have problems
in quibbles with some of the individual decisions that
Woodson's making. And I'm not, I'm not absolving
him of the blame of the way, the roster is currently constructed
realistically. It's just not as good of a
consistent of a group as I think a lot of people had hoped it
would be, it's good. That we know now, I think going
into February and March, because I think for those of us who
aren't caught up in your trying to get caught too much up in the
emotion, We can reset expectations but it's a hard.
It's a hard group to figure out, you know, what are you going to
get on a night tonight basis? And that makes for a really
frustrating experience because you know sometimes you're gonna
be overjoyed, and sometimes you're just going to be like,
what the hell happened? Why did why did it go that way?
Yeah. You know, I was having a
conversation earlier today and you talked about, are you
football and for all the ups and the Downs?
Usually, what separates, you know, the seasons that were
we're competing for Bowl eligibility versus where, we're
just kind of an afterthought. It usually it's, it's not always
the starters, a lot of times it's the second and the third
string guys and the guys that you're developing that are
coming up through the program. And you know, the way this team
It's right now you do have a lot of a lot of upperclassmen and
quite frankly. I think that's where, you know,
a lot of the issues stem from right now.
For team, that you knew was going to be flawed in a number
of different ways. You at least, had the veteran
leadership of Xavier Johnson of race.
Thompson of Miller, cop of Trace Jackson Davis, you're starting
for seniors and, you know, usually in college basketball.
That's, that's a win. In recipe in power 5 basketball,
you're going to be competitive more often than not, when you
can get old and you when you when you can stay old well.
Now, all of a sudden, you know, Xavier Johnson's out and has
been for a huge chunk of the season now, and will probably
continue to be for some time. Even though, you know, we see
him out there without the boots shoes warming up in sneakers,
you know he's not dressing for games and we don't know if he's
going to dress for games and if he does we don't know when and
we certainly don't know what condition you know, look at
Miller cop or not, I'm sorry, not Miller, couple of good race
Thompson. Um, as desperately as we needed
him back, we need him closer to what he was pre-injury than
where he is, currently, because where he is currently is just
not getting it done. And I, that's no knock against
his effort. And again, Lord help us if he
wasn't out there right now, especially with out Geronimo.
But those are a couple of pretty significant legs that you've now
taken out from underneath the table.
And, you know, for a team that initially when, you know, think
about North Carolina, the depth was what was, what was so
impressive, right? The Of talent was what was so
impressive. But you know, those situations,
you're bringing trade, Galloway Off the Bench, you know, you're
mixing tomorrow, Bateson with a lot of the starters or so, you
know, sprinkling in reserves all.
That's off the table right now because of these entries in the
availability issues, he's dealing with and it's not just
that you're missing those those key legs.
It's the guys that you're asking to fill in those minutes.
You put some guys out of spot, you're putting some guys out
there. I think just to be out there.
I mean, quite honestly, you look at how we're utilizing, Miller
cop and trade Galloway specifically in the offense and
a night. Like last night, you know, I'm
screaming. Can we get these guys?
Some some looks can we draw something up to get them off
because neither of those guys are necessarily going to get
their own shots, you know, the balls got to get kicked back out
to them, you've got to create space for them.
And if the flow of plays not allowing that run some dang
screens. Yeah, you know rather than just
Seeing them outside on the perimeter stationary.
For the entire set, waiting for the kick-out.
Let's do something to get those guys from looks because they've
proven, you know, we've made a pretty significant gain in this
team's ability to shoot is, just how do we employ that ability
and a nights like last night when the Inside Out is just not
getting it done, you got to find a way to get creative.
And, you know, we've seen this team show signs of Life against
his own, but usually, that's going to require, you know,
getting the ball to the elbows. Knocking down some open shots
when the ball swings to the the soft side of the zone and right
now, you know, you've got a bunch of guys, Fino was trying
Lord help him. He was trying he didn't look
comfortable hardly in any of those attempts.
And if those aren't dropping, you really got nothing because
Xavier Johnson by Far and Away this team's best dribble
penetrator. And you know if the shots aren't
falling in the post plays not working eventually just got
attacked the basket. Right?
And you know instead of being effective, That regard Indiana
found a way. Usually either take it really
all advice shot or turn the ball back over.
So just left with a lot of vulnerability now I don't know
that that's going to be something that's constant.
You know we've seen these guys pretty much everybody on the
team is that a couple of breakout or standout game.
So far the challenges? What can this staff do to put
those guys in position where they can really play their best
game? Because last night, you just
felt like there wasn't a whole lot of thought going into how to
get anybody. Elevated out of the funk.
They were in. Yeah.
No I think that's a really good summation of things and it's
going to be curious. I mean you know, February has
not been kind to Indiana University basketball over the
course of the last several years since the Big Ten title season
in 2016, Indiana has one February where they have a plus
500 record and that was 2018. They were four and three in
February. That year and I believe that was
the year that they lost 13 out of 14 in January.
So it was like that was almost a forgotten thing there.
But the last four February's Indiana went to and five and
2019 and that included a five-game losing streak.
They went three and four and 2020.
They went 3 and 5 and 20 21 and had a three-game losing streak.
And then last year they went two and five in February and a
five-game, losing streak. So this is not winning time for
Indiana. Basketball.
I am curious. You know?
Yes you probably at some point going to get a lesser version
Xavier Johnson back from injury and we don't know what the
status is with Jordan Geronimo. I would assume he's going to
play this weekend but I do worry about this team as hot as low as
they were mentally coming out of that Penn State game and then as
high as they seem to be coming out of the Michigan State game,
I wonder what the mentality is. If you know, coming out of this
mess, Maryland game because the balloons been pierced a little
bit what sort of resilience does this team have you know as good
as Jordan who Jaffe? No Jalen atrophy no sorry looked
in that game at home and as bad as he looked in this Maryland
game you know they got to have him at his best against Purdue
and they've got to get more consistent play out of a variety
of players. This team.
Just looks like it gets dispirited so quickly when
things aren't going their way and that's really been the case.
With a lot of the previous vinge's as a value, that's where
I get concerned. And because we've yet to see
this team really effectively bounce back from everything
going wrong. And that does concern me, you
know what happened? In January helps a little bit
but I'm now I'm still I still have trust issues, shall we say
with how things are going to go? I think it's deserve it quite
honestly, you know, you think about Not only was last
February, bad bad, you know, this was a team that went from I
think they were they're pretty similar situated last year at
the, at the end of January. I think they We were seven and
in five in conference if I'm not mistaken and then not only do
they drop those five in a row, you know, they ended up at 9:00
and 11:00 before the Big Ten season started.
So you know, in position maybe not to compete for the Friday
buys at that point, but they were certainly a Thursday
tournament team and then just trip their way to the very
bottom, really, really quickly dispirited.
I think it's a great word for how they played through that
stretch. And you saw that I think that
was the terrifying part of what happened.
After the Arizona game and the Kansas game is, you saw the
bottom fall out emotionally and it was pretty evident on the
floor. Now all the card in the world.
Do these guys for right in the ship, But that's, that's not
going to get it done, you know, just getting back to stasis.
Yeah, yeah. I mean Thursday of the Big Ten
Tournament is not this team's aspirations and I have to be
honest. There's it shouldn't be, it just
shouldn't be. Now the reality of the situation
is is, you know, when you're depleted through injury and when
you've got a lot of reserves that just, you know, and again,
they have just not been good enough at times.
Yeah, and I don't mean that as individual knocks, I mean, just
on the balance of Things. You know, you've taken some
losses to some teams in conference that you probably had
no business doing. Now, you can make the argument
that they probably had no business winning the Illinois
game, especially in the manner that they did.
But that's going to happen. When you've got reserves or
Supporting Cast members that are just in consistent and
inconsistent as Indiana is and lacking in a lot of ways that
makes them vulnerable in this league right now.
So, you know, obviously you got to get, you got to get more.
From from everybody else, in the floor, not named Trace Jackson,
Davis, and quite frankly, I think one of the team's biggest
struggles will continue to be how to manage the expectations.
I had a very, very weird feeling about yesterday's game with the
run-up to it. You've got, you know, we're back
in the AP poll, you've got the wooden list.
And, you know, all these accolades coming back in produce
number one. Coming to Assembly Hall for the
first time in history. As the number one, ranked team
Indiana's ranked then, I don't know, the Trap game was the
right word for it, but you very much felt like this was
something that Indiana could easily overlooked knowing.
How difficult, the the challenge of playing in Maryland was going
to be, maybe not looking forward to Purdue, but may be resting on
their Laurels at a point where they have no business doing that
because quite frankly, this February shapes up to be an
awful lot like last February schedule, as far as the, the
caliber of The conference opponents remaining and there's
a whole lot of risk involved and you really can't take a night
off and it's not say that, you know, it's not going to happen.
You're not going to lay a couple eggs and have some Clunkers.
It just went exactly as the, the Doom script were 24 told all
that said, I honestly believe we can produce a hell of a ball
game on Saturday and know what, this team can win if the shots
aren't falling, but I expect a whole lot more spirited effort
expecting. Absolutely Bonkers, Assembly
Hall and I expect we're going. To see exactly where Indiana
Falls at the end of the day. Produce been able to steal some,
some wins that they probably couldn't should have lost,
certainly Purdue teams of past would have lost.
This is very much one of those opportunities for Indiana to
kind of, give them self a boost in.
At the end of the day, basically erase everything that happened
yesterday, quite frankly, because a quad, one road loss
isn't really going to hurt them from a tournament standpoint.
This really doesn't change anything.
The end of the game they were predicted to lose.
Anyhow, right? That said, if you can bounce
back and show that, you know, you're not in one of these wild
swings again, where everything has to be a streak.
You know, you've really got to stem the tide when it comes to
picking up conference losses because, quite frankly, you dug
yourself a hole to begin with and you just didn't give
yourself that margin of error, you know?
But for those losses to Rutgers Northwestern and Iowa, if you
want to be a Friday team, you've got to find a way to bounce back
after a game like Last night. Yeah, couple things on that.
I mean first, I mean, I think reasonable people can disagree.
I didn't really get the sense that I you overlooked.
Maryland. Looking forward to the Purdue
game. I think that as you just said
this was going to be a tough game.
Anyway. You know, you could have been
playing Nebraska on Saturday and I think that this would have
been a game that Indiana would have likely lost.
I mean, that Maryland team is its kind of really hit their
stride and as you mentioned, it's an experienced team.
It's a team that's hard to match up against.
I don't think Great team, but they're one of those classic
Big, Ten teams. That's really good at home.
And outside of that UCLA loss that they had, which is books
completely inexplicable. That's essentially how they
played the rest of the season. You know, as far as the Purdue
game and as far as just kind of the overall setup, you know?
You you're right, I mean, none of Indiana's, losses are bad.
Even the Northwestern loss at this point, doesn't look bad at
all, you know, that's a team that's 6 and for their their,
their top 20 top 30 teams. defensively in kampong they've
certainly earned their spot and they're probably going to finish
10 and 10 in the conference but Indiana like you said just
doesn't have the margin for error and as you look forward,
Purdue Rutgers. I mean these two games coming
up. This is really kind of the sum
of all fears of IU fans right now is Indiana.
Yes, they lost at home, the Northwestern and that was a
shock, but these are the kinds of games that Indiana has
traditionally talked about traditionally, like over decades
delivered on at home for fans. You okay, your rank, you're
going to come in, we're going to beat you regardless, you know,
Rutgers not rank but they have been essentially the The curse
around Indiana's neck over the last few years in the
conference, the team. It's like, why do we keep losing
to this team? And it's because they play hard
for 40 minutes and Indiana does not always that.
I was told it was because we stole the rest.
Well, it might be it to. Yes, until they receive the
aspect. This is always going to be
Indiana's primary rival in the big tent.
Clearly the Purdue did something to them as well.
It can't just be Indiana, right? Marilyn quietly has that Persona
to Maryland loves to bring it in.
Deanna ever since they've joined the league.
They've got that Gary Williams magic that still lives in the in
the locker room over there. Indiana always seem to get
Maryland's best, they just do. Yeah, you know.
So it's so again, I'm not too hung up on that, but I do think
these next two games are really important, not just in the micro
of, well, you got to beat Purdue because I mean Purdue may not
lose another game in the Big Ten.
If Indiana doesn't beat them in this upcoming game, Indiana,
really needs this game to get its The team, the fans everybody
back in the right frame of mind and they really need to beat
Rutgers and they win those two games.
You're eight and five in conference.
You are at that point. No worse.
I think then third in Conference standings and you've jumped a
couple of really big hurdles and while the rest of the schedule
is not easy, it's also not you've gotten a lot of hard
games out of the way already. By that point, you lose one of
these games and when the other your seven and six you're still
in pretty good shape. You lose both your six and seven
and now you're questioning everything about what's going on
and where the teams at. You know, I agree with you.
I think that Indiana will give Purdue a very good game.
I think they're I think they're going to win the game.
You know I think that if as long as Indiana doesn't end up with
four guys fouled out which given how produce getting refereed
right now is a clear possibility.
It's I do think that Indiana much like they brought it at
home against Wisconsin and Michigan State.
They just seem much more comfortable at home.
That's been the case for years. And I don't think that they're
going to be afraid of what Purdue brings to the table,
because they beat this team last year and they almost beat them
twice, you know, I mean, that game at Mackey is a lot closer
than people remember. It was, you know, so and they
played two completely different games.
You know, the first game Trace Jackson Davis barely played was
out with foul trouble, almost the whole game, Rob Fitness, he
saves them, they get a great game out of Michael durable
people in and that game that they wanted Assembly Hall, but
on the road, They were in it towards the very end.
I mean, you know that was they had a shot at the end.
I think the tie it if I'm not mistaken.
So a lot of it is mentality and a lot of it now is okay the team
didn't have a good game against Maryland.
Woodson didn't have a good game against Maryland.
The team was hobbled a bit, you've got a few days to rest up
and get ready to go. You get one more day of rest
than Purdue gets since they have to play tonight against Penn
State. It's going to be really
fascinating to watch how Indiana.
Roaches that game mentally and whether they able to maintain it
for a long period of time. Because if there's one thing
about, Purdue I've found the most impressive this season,
it's how cool they tend to be for a full 40 minutes.
They really don't get rattled. They really do a good job of
imposing their will on other teams and, you know, they've
been in close games in Michigan. Have them within five Maryland
had them within three Michigan state had them within one on the
road. Ohio state had them within one
on the road and they figured out ways to win all of those.
Those games and Indiana. While they've had games where
they've played really well and they've won, they've had very
few games where they played well, for 40 minutes and that is
the one thing that they're going to have to do probably for the
first time in this game if they're going to come out with a
victory. This is one of those games where
obviously and deserve they ever be using me talking about, Trace
Jackson, Davis, and, and Zach, Ed at the end of the game.
I think the games decided by the Braden Smith, the Fletcher
lawyers, the hoof inos in the the tomorrow Bates or the
trachea Alloys. I mean, Honestly a lot like
Tracy T is going to get his. You can try to complicate it.
You can try to frustrate it. He is extraordinarily difficult
to stop, especially once he's able to establish position and
you can make the case for Trace Jackson Davis to, I mean, we've
see obviously Maryland did a lot of things last night that made
him work. Really, really hard and
frustrated Indian his offense and he still put up ridiculous
numbers. You know, the difference last
night is we didn't have guard Play, We and there is literally
nobody else to assist in a game where we desperately needed some
guards to step up and Matt Painter has done a tremendous
job with this roster. It's crazy to lose what Purdue
did and somehow find yourself as a better team.
I don't know that they're more talented than what they were or
what they were last year but they're just playing so
extraordinary well together and, you know, I think it's going to
come down to some of the supporting cast in the, you
know, we're still talking about starters for both teams.
I'm more concerned though can our guards play on the same
level as produced freshman quite honestly.
And, you know, I do like her chances an assembly hall fee
knows, one of those guys that you know, he he's got that sense
when the lights are brighter. He seems to shine a little bit
better, you know, as you would expect.
But you talk about that Rutgers game immediately following, you
know, quite frankly, that's just as consequential for Indiana.
Yeah, that's just as difficult for Indiana as what, produced
going to Isn't so and that sets the table for the rest of the
month. Where again, now we're talking
about streaks and we're that precipice where things can get
out of control pretty quick for a team like this, with the
schedule like this in the liabilities, the currently
dealing with. So we'll see.
I'm excited for it. I mean, I guess that's the one
thing that I have to keep pinching myself in.
Reminding myself. It's still a fun team to watch.
It can be an extraordinarily frustrating team to watch, but
when things are working, It's great.
Now, we can spend, you know, hours and hours talking about
what this team needs, where they need to get better at excuse me.
I could hit the mute button faster.
Um, but quite frankly, it is what it is and it's not going to
change. And you know, it could even get
worse for Indiana, you know, we're one ankle turn away.
You think about Miller cop last night when he went down and I
puckered legit. Like, as bad as things were in,
as little as he was bringing. In a game.
Like last night, it can always get worse.
So, you know, the big thing is they have they have battled back
up to this point. They have showed.
I don't think last night was a lack of fight.
I just think what they were doing wasn't working right.
You know, they're staying engaged.
They're staying competitive. There's just so much for.
They're not going to be good enough, and I think that's just
to this Indiana team is, you know, my 13 year old would say
they're just kind of mid. Yeah there and they can be, they
can be kind of minutes, like they can be super exciting.
And putting on traces rewriting, the history books.
Every time he steps on the floor and that's been awesome to
watch, you know, I still do think this team has the
potential to be a Friday team in the Big Ten Tournament, but I
think they're going to have to tighten up and a lot of
different ways and then have to get a lot more out of a lot of
different guys. If they want to be in that
Echelon of the conference and quite frankly, the conference
isn't that great this year, right?
The, the middle is massive and kind of mundane.
You know, we've seen anybody can be Pretty much anybody about
Purdue On Any Given night, you know, I think that's part of
what's frustrating is there, certainly opportunity for
Indiana to elevate themselves in the conference landscape and
they just, they're not built to do that and I'm fascinated to
see what what the future looks like.
I think Gabe cups is going to bring a lot when it comes to
competent creative guard. Play.
You know, I think he's probably going to be one of those guys
that gets better with age. Like college players should but
also recognizing. That's that's what you get.
When you put a lot of eggs in the Freshman basket, you're
going to have a lot of ups and downs and you don't want to be
too high. You don't want to be too low on
them. You just want to see them keep
getting better and you know, I think what's what's really
fascinating for me, kind of from the 30,000 foot view as Woody's
got a season in 2/3 under his belt.
Now in the college game is show me exactly what trajectory a lot
of those guys are going. Beyond because quite frankly you
know Indiana's expectation is competing with the best of the
best and as you've seen programs that are consistently putting
guys in the draft early entries, are able to replenish the
roster. They're able to plug guys in
there, able to work transfer portal and bring in the veterans
that kind of supplement that leadership that you lose when
your best players are constantly leaving.
But honestly, you bring your floor up just as much as you're
bringing your ceiling up and I think for Indiana that's got to
be the goal is you've got to get the Baseline.
Talent higher than where it currently is because quite
honestly you're just getting exposed by teams that are just a
little more athletic that are just a little more competitive
that are just a little bit more capable of doing some little
things that you need roll guys to do.
And, you know, kind of like IU football second string when your
mid that's going to make or break you quite honestly.
And that's what that's what it's going to take.
Obviously you want to see them continue to bring in Star
players, but the end of the day, you've got to get your jollies
and Those better because there's a lot of the guys and produce,
probably the best example of that of finding guys that fit
your system that play your way and play really well together
and, you know, get on the same page and get better together.
So you hate to say it absolutely irks.
You try to be more like Purdue yeah, that's a terrible way to
start cot is an exhaust. Let's let's let's find a
different way to outro this, you know, One thing, let me ask you,
do you have a favorite, you Purdue memory from all the games
that you've watched between those programs over the years,
it's really easy. I was at the, I was in the chair
game, with my Dad. We're behind the Purdue bench
below the tunnels, but not by a whole lot, but we were low
enough that the coins that were being thrown from the upper
Main. And from the balcony, were
landing around us. They're a bunch of noodle arms
behind us. And, you know, it was the most
terrifying and exhilarating being experienced in my life.
I mean, it was like every roller coaster Kings Island in one
moment as far as the fear in the exhilaration.
I remember my dad, putting me in front of them, trying to shelter
me with his body so that I wouldn't take any of those Gene
Katie's wife almost got blinded by one.
That's the obvious answer. The most fun, I probably ever
had when we went up there with Jordi and Cody and Vic and
absolutely blew their damn doors off.
I was seeded second row behind the bench in the very corner of
the floor, level of Mackey, and where we were situated, we were
right next to it. That that dividing line between
the student section, the paint crew and they're they're big
baller donors. You know, they were in the main
level and we were floor level, but the way that Mackey works,
you know, your seats are below the court because the elevated
court and the way that that kind of circles around them, There we
were right there behind the IU bench, but right next to their
biggest donors, and their student section.
And the guys in the student section closest to us, we're all
in Gold, body paint, and black body paint.
They were wearing a lot of spandex and stupid hats and all
sorts of stuff. You know, I'm already Gras beads
and we absolutely danced all over their graves that day.
And it was a, it was it was nothing short of cathartic to
see your team. Just go up there and absolutely
throttle the boys. Acres at Mackay.
And I don't know that I'll ever experience that again in my
life, but damn, that felt as good as any basketball, any
visiting basketball gym I have ever visited.
Not saying something for Indiana, because there's been a
lot of disappointing road trips to two opposing gyms, but that
one was, that was hella fun, man.
Yeah, that was a good time. I mean I was, I was absolutely
excited. I was up at that game to, I
think I was on a press credential for that way by, I
think, back on this a lot of The ones I've been to in person, my
favorite one actually ends up being what turned out to be Bob
Knight's last game in Assembly Hall, which was that game in?
I guess it would have been, like, I think late February of
2000 and they had beaten Michigan State, a few days
earlier on a Saturday and they were still in the hunt for maybe
a, maybe a protected. See like a four seed in the NCAA
tournament Purdue came in. They were ranked that was a
Purdue team with that. Would end up getting knocked out
in the Elite 8. I was confident they'd gone on a
bit of a run in the tournament but I you jumped on them from
the beginning, didn't let up the whole time.
It was like you mentioned cathartic.
One of the more cathartic victories because you were
worried pretty was going to make a comeback at some point and it
just never happened. And it was, it was a joy to
watch and little did we know everything would change
immediately after that game? Because that was followed by
the, with the game of Wisconsin, where they lost and then of
course the the tape comes out. And then everything just kind of
disintegrates from there. But I'll always have that in
mind kind of a good way to end my junior year as far as home
games were concerned. So you know, the thing is to and
even when because this series is not been that particularly great
over the last 20 years. I do think it's important to to
cherish and appreciate the moments when these two teams
play. Well, when there's expectation,
you know, the fact that he s PN chose to take game day to do
Carolina For What the Fourth in the 7th ranked team in their
conference neither of them currently ranked nationally kind
of lame, but the fact that Indiana and Purdue fans have
cause to get upset about the choice to do game day from from
Tobacco Road is it's good and hopefully it lasts for a while
and hopefully this can continue to be the norm because you think
back and you know the wealth of those childhood memories, this
was a game that you know I vividly remember.
Ember kids crying on the playground at school the
following day. Because in my school, there were
primarily IU fans, but there are a lot of farm kids that were
die-hard Boilermakers, and this was the one.
I mean, literally kids cried because it mattered so much
because the Rivalry burned so hot.
And you know, you got carte blanche to talk trash for the
entire rest of the year, and it mattered, it mattered a lot and
it feels like over the last two decades.
It hasn't always mattered, you know just because the the
competitive balance hasn't been there and you know produce out
their share of that too. Absolutely.
Under Matt Painter, they've had more good years and they've had
bad but it just the way things have lined up.
When Indiana has been good, Purdue often hasn't been that
said though. I I love the fact that they're
playing each other ranked again. I love the fact that, you know,
there's probably gonna be some kids cry this week and hopefully
it can continue because I think the Big Ten It is better when
Purdue and Indiana are good. It truly is one of the best
rivalries in the nation whether or not College GameDay wants to
visit it, but unmistakably, it's far, far better with both teams
are playing competitive basketball.
So, hopefully everybody lives up to their obligation, to brings
their a game and hopefully we get to experience.
What only Rutgers is tasted so far, and that's the ability to
strip. The number one ranking off the
Purdue Boilermakers and I think that could quickly V itself into
a top five, maybe. Three of my eye, you Purdue
experiences. If we can knock them off the
throne and put a little bit of dirt on their shine.
I would I would take that right now if it was offered, so we'll
see what happens. Should be a fascinating game to
say the least, but this was fun enjoyed talking with you.
Well, let's do it again. Sometime sooner and maybe coax
you out of out of the distance a little bit here.
I would love to, you know, I'll tell you what, if we make this
happen, Saturday, I'm going to be, I will be fully present.
We got the assembly, call crew coming in town this weekend for
the meet up. I think I'm going to be out for
that, right? Looking forward to that.
And you know, I would caution everybody.
You know, this is obviously a flawed team.
They've got their issues. They can provide a lot of Joy.
If you let them, you know, at the end of the day, there's
still a lot of basketball left to be played and I feel like I'm
part of this is a team that's clearly getting better.
You know. There's some some flaws that
just aren't going to get fixed without changing.
Significant portions of your roster construction and Lord
knows that's coming next year, whether you want it or not,
whether you're ready for it or not.
It's going to be a completely different IU, basketball team
next season. So, enjoy Trace while you got
them and let's see what they can do together because I think
there's a lot of synergy left in the tank for this team.
It's just a matter them getting it together at the right moment
and, you know, we don't play for.
There's there's no banners raised in January or February
for that matter, is everybody. He loves to remind us.
They don't happen in December either but this is a team that
should pretty safely be playing in middlemarch right now.
And it's I think it would behoove them to make the most of
this next five, six weeks because this is a team that
certainly does not want to play around with this seed line
because you could see them Behavior, an early exit.
But I also think that this is probably a second weekend team,
if they can get everybody on the same page together.
And while that's certainly not going to hang a banner for a
sweet 16 or at least I would pray woods and doesn't it's at
least a step back in the direction that I you fans want
to see the program going and coming from Dayton last year.
You've got to acknowledge there is progress, being made.
It may not be big enough. It may not be fast enough, but
it's happening. And it's not something that you
want to discard because Lord knows we've seen it, can be
fleeting and it can go away. You're really, really quickly.
And that's gonna see one of the reasons.
I don't engage as much as Often as I used to because that's just
not very fun, it's actually a pretty miserable place and I'd
rather not go there again. So, go, Hoosier, beat the
boilers, there you go. I agree with all of that, our
thanks to Chronic user for joining us here on the show.
Our thanks to all you for listening and thanks to our
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Call crew is planning on being in town this week so if you're
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