1 00:00:08,119 --> 00:00:10,520 Hello and welcome back to another episode of the Crimson 2 00:00:10,520 --> 00:00:13,560 Cast Women's Basketball Podcast. As always, I'm Amanda Foster 3 00:00:13,560 --> 00:00:16,360 here alongside Kevin Barrett, bringing you all things Indiana 4 00:00:16,360 --> 00:00:19,120 women's basketball related. Now, it's been a while since we 5 00:00:19,120 --> 00:00:22,120 last recorded an episode. Kevin and I were talking like 2 6 00:00:22,120 --> 00:00:24,120 1/2 weeks or so. It was right before then Indiana 7 00:00:24,120 --> 00:00:27,800 went to go play Maine. Because of the craziness of 8 00:00:27,800 --> 00:00:30,640 finals in the last few weeks of the school semester. 9 00:00:30,640 --> 00:00:32,880 We haven't really had a chance to sit down, but we're here now, 10 00:00:33,160 --> 00:00:36,480 both at home, so doing this virtually on our computers, Not 11 00:00:36,480 --> 00:00:39,400 quite the same as sitting across from each other in the podcast 12 00:00:39,400 --> 00:00:41,840 studio at the media school, but we'll take it. 13 00:00:41,840 --> 00:00:45,200 And we're really at kind of the perfect point for an episode 14 00:00:45,320 --> 00:00:48,120 because the non conference schedule is now over officially 15 00:00:48,120 --> 00:00:49,920 and Big 10 play is about to start. 16 00:00:50,480 --> 00:00:52,680 So of course, before we get into that, Kevin, I have to ask how, 17 00:00:52,960 --> 00:00:55,280 since we always do in the beginning of every episode, How 18 00:00:55,280 --> 00:00:57,280 have you been in the last few weeks? 19 00:00:57,280 --> 00:01:01,080 How have things and since we last recorded our last episode 20 00:01:01,120 --> 00:01:02,840 for you. I'm good. 21 00:01:02,840 --> 00:01:04,879 I'm good. It, it's like you said, it's 22 00:01:04,879 --> 00:01:07,960 been a while. Apologies to all our dear fans 23 00:01:07,960 --> 00:01:09,800 out there. I know you guys have missed this 24 00:01:10,240 --> 00:01:12,320 very much in these past couple weeks. 25 00:01:12,320 --> 00:01:14,800 But no, yeah, I mean, it's been crazy. 26 00:01:14,800 --> 00:01:18,280 The semester ended for me, I guess a week ago now, a week ago 27 00:01:18,280 --> 00:01:21,840 in a couple days. But I mean, it's that time of 28 00:01:21,840 --> 00:01:24,280 the year for us. Amanda words, literally. 29 00:01:24,280 --> 00:01:27,000 Basketball's in full swing. And I mean finals and 30 00:01:27,000 --> 00:01:28,680 everything. And I mean, we got to also worry 31 00:01:28,680 --> 00:01:32,080 about our families or whatnot. But I'm in Saint Louis now. 32 00:01:32,160 --> 00:01:34,960 Good to be back here in the beautiful city of Saint Louis. 33 00:01:34,960 --> 00:01:35,680 But yeah. How are you? 34 00:01:35,680 --> 00:01:36,800 How are you, Amanda? How are you? 35 00:01:37,560 --> 00:01:41,680 I'm doing well. My semester ended a little. 36 00:01:41,680 --> 00:01:43,760 A while ago. A while ago, yeah. 37 00:01:43,800 --> 00:01:47,080 So I came back. I I've been back at home up in 38 00:01:47,160 --> 00:01:52,520 in New York for a while. I left like the first say no. 39 00:01:52,640 --> 00:01:55,360 When did I leave? The week before finals week, So 40 00:01:55,360 --> 00:01:56,840 whatever. I've been home for like 2 weeks 41 00:01:56,840 --> 00:01:59,880 already because I didn't have any in person finals, which was 42 00:01:59,880 --> 00:02:01,440 very nice. It's been great to be back home 43 00:02:02,240 --> 00:02:05,080 as well. I did get questions from both my 44 00:02:05,080 --> 00:02:07,800 mom and my sister about whether or not we recorded a podcast 45 00:02:07,880 --> 00:02:10,479 episode last week. So they are two fans that are 46 00:02:10,479 --> 00:02:13,040 going to be happy to hear this. They could probably hear me 47 00:02:13,040 --> 00:02:16,520 recording this right now because I'm sitting in my bedroom, but 48 00:02:16,520 --> 00:02:19,120 there are a couple people out there who who were waiting and 49 00:02:19,120 --> 00:02:23,040 so now we are going to have a very packed episode, a long 50 00:02:23,040 --> 00:02:27,440 episode to to kind of fill that need and fill that want, I 51 00:02:27,440 --> 00:02:29,040 think. Yeah. 52 00:02:29,200 --> 00:02:32,280 And I mean, look, again, apologies for the wait guys, but 53 00:02:32,280 --> 00:02:36,880 I mean 2024 is coming. So we got 1000 more episodes on 54 00:02:36,880 --> 00:02:38,880 the way, not 1000, but you get my point. 55 00:02:38,880 --> 00:02:42,120 So we'll we'll we'll be back in in the full swing of things. 56 00:02:42,600 --> 00:02:44,280 Yes. Well, so let's get into it. 57 00:02:44,760 --> 00:02:48,520 A bunch of games happen that we should at least touch on before 58 00:02:48,520 --> 00:02:51,360 we kind of really get going into talking about Big 10 play. 59 00:02:51,760 --> 00:02:53,120 So let's start with a quick rundown. 60 00:02:53,880 --> 00:02:57,960 Indiana had a close kind of unexpected win, close win over 61 00:02:57,960 --> 00:03:01,560 Maine 67 to 59 that people were a little iffy about as it was 62 00:03:01,560 --> 00:03:04,200 going on because that was uncharacteristic, not when 63 00:03:04,200 --> 00:03:08,920 people expected quite so much. 7234 win over Stetson after that 64 00:03:09,240 --> 00:03:12,960 6656 win over Rutgers, and that was Indiana's first conference 65 00:03:12,960 --> 00:03:16,720 win, obviously. Then went on to beat Evansville 66 00:03:16,720 --> 00:03:20,880 109 to 56 and that was when Garden Garzone dropped a 30 67 00:03:20,880 --> 00:03:24,280 piece. And then the game right after it 68 00:03:24,280 --> 00:03:28,200 was kind of the Sarah Scalia game at 8435 win over Bowling 69 00:03:28,200 --> 00:03:31,080 Green. Sarah had eight three pointers, 70 00:03:31,280 --> 00:03:34,200 scored 32 points. The the most points she's ever 71 00:03:34,200 --> 00:03:36,840 scored in an in in an Indiana uniform. 72 00:03:36,840 --> 00:03:40,400 Excuse me. So a very good couple of games 73 00:03:40,400 --> 00:03:43,360 for Yarden and Sarah and Kevin. We don't have to talk about 74 00:03:43,360 --> 00:03:46,320 every game individually since that would be going back a while 75 00:03:46,320 --> 00:03:48,440 ago and that's a lot of games to talk about. 76 00:03:48,440 --> 00:03:51,640 So what kind of stands out to you the most about this stretch 77 00:03:51,640 --> 00:03:56,400 of games, about these few games? That's a good question. 78 00:03:56,440 --> 00:04:01,080 Honestly, I think the biggest thing for me is Indiana's looked 79 00:04:01,080 --> 00:04:04,320 a lot more Polish these past couple weeks, a lot more 80 00:04:04,800 --> 00:04:07,200 comfortable in their own skin, especially offensively. 81 00:04:07,200 --> 00:04:10,080 Offensively, it's kind of started to click for a few 82 00:04:10,080 --> 00:04:12,440 players. Obviously Sarah's been the 83 00:04:12,440 --> 00:04:15,560 biggest storyline these past couple weeks yard, and I mean 84 00:04:16,000 --> 00:04:18,880 not every day you see a sophomore drop 30 points just 85 00:04:18,880 --> 00:04:22,560 casually like Terry Morin said, a quiet 3030 points. 86 00:04:23,160 --> 00:04:24,720 And I mean Sydney Parish as well. 87 00:04:25,680 --> 00:04:28,640 She hasn't been lighting up the box score, but she's giving the 88 00:04:28,640 --> 00:04:33,000 team a nice 10/12/15 points a night, you know what I mean? 89 00:04:33,000 --> 00:04:36,320 And those performances add up and they definitely don't go 90 00:04:36,320 --> 00:04:40,200 unnoticed to someone like me and obviously to someone like Coach 91 00:04:40,200 --> 00:04:42,280 Morin. But I I think that's the biggest 92 00:04:42,280 --> 00:04:45,240 thing is just simply they're finding a little bit of a 93 00:04:45,240 --> 00:04:46,600 groove. They're a lot more polished 94 00:04:46,600 --> 00:04:49,040 right now. They're they're playing good 95 00:04:49,040 --> 00:04:52,520 quality basketball defensively. I think they're also looking a 96 00:04:52,520 --> 00:04:56,080 little bit better. I mean they only gave up 35 97 00:04:56,080 --> 00:04:58,880 points against Bowling Green, which is, I mean it doesn't 98 00:04:58,880 --> 00:05:01,120 matter who you're playing that's, that's that's not a lot 99 00:05:01,120 --> 00:05:04,000 of points. But yeah, I mean it's it's been 100 00:05:04,000 --> 00:05:06,360 a good couple solid weeks for this team. 101 00:05:07,960 --> 00:05:11,120 Some these type of performances are the type of performances you 102 00:05:11,120 --> 00:05:16,320 want going into Big 10 play. We we saw it yesterday across 103 00:05:16,320 --> 00:05:19,520 the landscape of college basketball that this week can be 104 00:05:19,520 --> 00:05:22,760 somewhat of a dangerous week for programs just because it's 105 00:05:22,760 --> 00:05:25,240 you're coming off the finals or you're finishing up finals and 106 00:05:25,240 --> 00:05:27,320 and you're you know you're going into the holidays. 107 00:05:27,320 --> 00:05:30,200 So I think Indiana should be very happy with where there are, 108 00:05:30,280 --> 00:05:33,480 where they're at right now. And yeah, I mean, you just got 109 00:05:33,480 --> 00:05:36,080 to carry in the momentum. Yeah, I was. 110 00:05:36,160 --> 00:05:38,080 I was thinking that right after the Bowling Green that that's 111 00:05:38,080 --> 00:05:41,600 kind of the best scenario Indiana could have had going 112 00:05:41,600 --> 00:05:44,760 into conference play in a way. Because like you said, you only 113 00:05:44,760 --> 00:05:48,120 give up 35 points and then you have somebody like Sarah Scalia 114 00:05:48,120 --> 00:05:52,040 come on and play the best game that she's played in an Indiana 115 00:05:52,040 --> 00:05:53,760 uniform. And she was talking about just 116 00:05:53,760 --> 00:05:56,280 the confidence that that that brought her. 117 00:05:56,280 --> 00:05:59,280 And you could, you could tell as we were watching. 118 00:05:59,280 --> 00:06:02,560 She like she started smiling on the court after she made some 3 119 00:06:02,560 --> 00:06:04,320 pointers which we know doesn't happen very much. 120 00:06:04,960 --> 00:06:07,400 And she was like smiling on the bench and she was taken out and 121 00:06:07,400 --> 00:06:09,680 it was a very good game. Because you you also need 122 00:06:09,680 --> 00:06:14,720 somebody like Sarah to be as confident as she possibly can be 123 00:06:14,720 --> 00:06:17,720 kind of when you're going into Big 10 play for that exact 124 00:06:17,720 --> 00:06:19,920 reason. And I think she is feeling that 125 00:06:19,920 --> 00:06:21,960 and I think she's also established herself. 126 00:06:22,200 --> 00:06:24,640 This is one thing that has stood out to me as they played in 127 00:06:24,640 --> 00:06:28,560 their non conference games that she's established herself as one 128 00:06:28,560 --> 00:06:31,000 of the top three-point shooters in the conference. 129 00:06:31,000 --> 00:06:35,960 By far she's shooting almost 48%, which leads the Big 10. 130 00:06:36,000 --> 00:06:38,920 And if she can continue doing that, I mean like that's kind of 131 00:06:38,920 --> 00:06:40,040 indispensable. That's you. 132 00:06:40,040 --> 00:06:42,840 You can. It's hard to put into words kind 133 00:06:42,840 --> 00:06:46,080 of what that can do for a team when you have somebody shooting 134 00:06:46,080 --> 00:06:49,160 like that willing to shoot the ball whenever and then also 135 00:06:49,160 --> 00:06:52,080 who's going to make it almost, you know, 50% of the time? 136 00:06:53,320 --> 00:06:58,600 Yeah, and look, I I got to be careful with with this next 137 00:06:58,600 --> 00:07:02,120 statement because I don't want people to take it out of 138 00:07:02,120 --> 00:07:03,960 context. But I think it's fair to say 139 00:07:03,960 --> 00:07:07,240 that Sarah's been Indiana's best player this year. 140 00:07:07,680 --> 00:07:11,360 You know, I think, look, I mean, obviously Mackenzie's right 141 00:07:11,360 --> 00:07:14,040 there. You know, Mackenzie is Mackenzie 142 00:07:14,040 --> 00:07:15,800 Holmes and she's the All American. 143 00:07:15,800 --> 00:07:19,320 But I I, I, I'm confident in saying this that Sarah's been at 144 00:07:19,320 --> 00:07:23,040 least Indiana's best offensive threat this season and we're 145 00:07:23,040 --> 00:07:25,040 sort of seeing that now. I mean, she's coming off a 146 00:07:25,040 --> 00:07:29,240 couple few weeks where she's really sort of found herself in 147 00:07:29,240 --> 00:07:30,400 the game. You know what I mean? 148 00:07:30,720 --> 00:07:35,160 The conversation in this season, in this offseason was, OK, 149 00:07:35,560 --> 00:07:38,560 Sarah's had a little bit of a down year in her first year with 150 00:07:38,560 --> 00:07:41,680 Indiana, right? Can she sort of turn things 151 00:07:41,680 --> 00:07:45,160 around and be that type of point guard that we saw when she was 152 00:07:45,160 --> 00:07:48,680 playing over at Minnesota? And look, I mean, there's still 153 00:07:48,680 --> 00:07:53,120 the entire conference, late, left to go in the tournament, 154 00:07:53,560 --> 00:07:55,600 the conference tournament, and then obviously March Madness. 155 00:07:55,600 --> 00:07:58,520 But I mean, right now, Sarah's been Indiana's best player. 156 00:07:59,240 --> 00:08:02,320 Yeah, and I did. So I kind of noted some other 157 00:08:02,320 --> 00:08:06,000 things to to talk about. In the last stretch of games 158 00:08:06,000 --> 00:08:08,200 that we've seen, you mentioned the defense improving a lot. 159 00:08:08,200 --> 00:08:12,080 That was evident in the Bowling Green game, especially Chloe 160 00:08:12,080 --> 00:08:14,400 Moore. McNeil has been doing a lot, not 161 00:08:14,400 --> 00:08:16,560 in terms of things that are necessarily going to show up on 162 00:08:16,560 --> 00:08:19,480 the stat sheet, kind of like Sydney Parish in that way, other 163 00:08:19,480 --> 00:08:22,640 than the the double figures that Sydney's often, more often than 164 00:08:22,640 --> 00:08:24,280 not putting up. But Chloe is everywhere 165 00:08:24,280 --> 00:08:29,040 defensively, but then she's also all of her off fall movements 166 00:08:29,040 --> 00:08:31,080 that she's been doing like Terry Moore and talked about that's 167 00:08:31,080 --> 00:08:33,799 where she excels and I feel like you've been able to see that a 168 00:08:33,799 --> 00:08:37,200 lot more recently, which is also just as important for this team 169 00:08:37,200 --> 00:08:40,000 heading into Big 10 play. One thing I did want to touch 170 00:08:40,000 --> 00:08:43,240 on, You mentioned Mackenzie Holmes the last two games to me 171 00:08:43,240 --> 00:08:45,680 at least, and again like this is something that I feel like you 172 00:08:45,680 --> 00:08:49,720 do have to be careful saying. But she she's looked a little 173 00:08:49,720 --> 00:08:53,880 bit off in terms of like she had a couple turnovers against 174 00:08:53,880 --> 00:08:55,760 Bowling Green last night. She was missing some free 175 00:08:55,760 --> 00:08:58,360 throws. She wasn't necessarily making 176 00:08:58,360 --> 00:09:00,920 lay UPS. That seems like she would have 177 00:09:00,920 --> 00:09:07,000 made or she is able to make. I like Indiana had two players 178 00:09:07,000 --> 00:09:09,480 in two separate games score 30 plus points. 179 00:09:09,800 --> 00:09:12,360 So that says a lot about the team and the makeup of the team 180 00:09:12,360 --> 00:09:15,720 itself that they don't need Mackenzie to be putting up, you 181 00:09:15,720 --> 00:09:18,560 know, double figures every game. But I think it is something to 182 00:09:18,560 --> 00:09:22,760 kind of just keep an eye on maybe as we head into Big 10 183 00:09:22,760 --> 00:09:25,880 play, just to see obviously don't want to make like 184 00:09:26,080 --> 00:09:28,280 assumptions about anything or or speculate at all. 185 00:09:28,280 --> 00:09:31,280 But to me at least, she's looked kind of a little bit off 186 00:09:32,440 --> 00:09:34,640 recently. So I just wanted to kind of 187 00:09:35,000 --> 00:09:36,480 bring a little bit of attention to that. 188 00:09:36,480 --> 00:09:38,720 But also like, there's no need for an overreaction. 189 00:09:38,720 --> 00:09:42,640 There's no need to, you know, freak out about anything. 190 00:09:43,560 --> 00:09:47,080 Yeah, I I mean, I think bringing that point up is very fair, 191 00:09:47,920 --> 00:09:50,840 especially after Terry talked about it. 192 00:09:50,880 --> 00:09:54,040 I mean, Coach Bourne talked about it after the Evansville 193 00:09:54,040 --> 00:09:56,640 game. I actually, I mean, you're 194 00:09:56,640 --> 00:10:02,320 smiling because I shot you a text right after, she said in 195 00:10:02,320 --> 00:10:05,280 her press conference after Evansville saying, hey, I just 196 00:10:05,280 --> 00:10:08,400 need Mackenzie to be better. There was some things that make 197 00:10:08,400 --> 00:10:13,280 or that Coach Morin saw that she didn't like about Mackenzie sort 198 00:10:13,280 --> 00:10:16,040 of getting beat down the court. I remember that was one of them. 199 00:10:16,040 --> 00:10:19,560 I don't remember all of them. But you know if if your coach is 200 00:10:19,560 --> 00:10:25,560 right there criticizing you, I think it's it's it's if you're a 201 00:10:25,560 --> 00:10:28,520 player like Mackenzie Holmes. I think the criticism is fair 202 00:10:29,240 --> 00:10:34,280 coming from your head coach and look, you can get AI don't want 203 00:10:34,280 --> 00:10:37,520 to say you can get away with it right now because you you got to 204 00:10:38,760 --> 00:10:41,840 take every game seriously. You got to take every game one 205 00:10:41,840 --> 00:10:45,120 game at a time, but you know you win. 206 00:10:45,320 --> 00:10:49,160 It's not going to fly here come December 31st, right? 207 00:10:49,400 --> 00:10:52,240 You can maybe get away with it against Evansville, maybe get 208 00:10:52,240 --> 00:10:54,840 away with it against Bowling Green, Again, no disrespect 209 00:10:54,840 --> 00:10:57,480 right there. But when you go up against 210 00:10:57,480 --> 00:11:00,240 Illinois, when you even go up against the team like Nebraska 211 00:11:00,240 --> 00:11:03,360 that they have and for their third conference game or 4th I 212 00:11:03,360 --> 00:11:06,840 should say conference game of the year, you know that's not 213 00:11:06,840 --> 00:11:08,760 really going to fly. And and look I don't think it's 214 00:11:08,760 --> 00:11:13,480 something to worry about. I the thing that stirs my mind 215 00:11:13,480 --> 00:11:17,080 is is there something we're not saying behind the scenes? 216 00:11:17,080 --> 00:11:20,440 Right is is Mackenzie fully percent healthy is there 217 00:11:20,440 --> 00:11:23,240 something in that sort of area that we don't know. 218 00:11:24,320 --> 00:11:27,760 Look we're probably not going to get an answer to it but you 219 00:11:27,760 --> 00:11:29,600 know, I don't I don't think there should be a worry of 220 00:11:29,600 --> 00:11:33,880 concern. But I it it is I I didn't notice 221 00:11:33,880 --> 00:11:35,600 it as much to be quite honest with you. 222 00:11:37,200 --> 00:11:40,320 I mean I've watched this team this is my third season of 223 00:11:40,320 --> 00:11:42,040 covering the team. I've watched McKenzie these past 224 00:11:42,040 --> 00:11:48,000 two years and and I think McKenzie is in a similar spot I 225 00:11:48,000 --> 00:11:51,880 would say. But I I understand the point of 226 00:11:51,880 --> 00:11:56,480 concern from coach Warren but look I mean it's it's just 227 00:11:56,480 --> 00:12:02,760 something that I I think we have to see sort of a few more weeks. 228 00:12:02,760 --> 00:12:07,360 I just it it it's just the the thing that's interesting to me 229 00:12:07,360 --> 00:12:11,680 about it and this is what I I told you is it's not so much her 230 00:12:11,680 --> 00:12:14,280 on the field. It's more to her on the court. 231 00:12:14,480 --> 00:12:18,640 It's more Terry bringing it up. Because I I had. 232 00:12:18,640 --> 00:12:24,720 I have yet to see Coach Moran go out not go after but sort of 233 00:12:24,720 --> 00:12:28,160 send a message to her top player in these past two years that 234 00:12:28,160 --> 00:12:30,000 have been around the team 2 1/2 years. 235 00:12:31,200 --> 00:12:34,040 That was what was really interesting to me. 236 00:12:34,680 --> 00:12:36,080 Yeah, well, we've talked about it before. 237 00:12:36,080 --> 00:12:38,920 Terry can be blunt. She's not afraid to to say 238 00:12:38,920 --> 00:12:41,160 things in press conferences. And so, you know when she says 239 00:12:41,160 --> 00:12:44,000 something like that, she means it and she's OK. 240 00:12:44,080 --> 00:12:46,880 So that also shows that she's OK saying it, which means that 241 00:12:46,880 --> 00:12:49,920 she's also already already more than likely talked to Mackenzie 242 00:12:49,920 --> 00:12:51,480 about it. And it's like a well known thing 243 00:12:51,480 --> 00:12:53,200 that like, hey, you just need to be better. 244 00:12:53,520 --> 00:12:55,920 And it's not like it's not a knock on her necessarily. 245 00:12:55,920 --> 00:12:58,640 It's just backs. It's just the truth in in their 246 00:12:58,640 --> 00:13:00,200 mind. And so it is. 247 00:13:00,240 --> 00:13:02,960 I mean it's a well, it's not OK, not like that. 248 00:13:02,960 --> 00:13:05,760 But like they, you know, it's it's not like a point of 249 00:13:05,760 --> 00:13:07,920 contention. If you're gonna bring it up for 250 00:13:07,920 --> 00:13:10,000 Terry, if she's gonna bring it up in a press conference, like 251 00:13:10,000 --> 00:13:13,680 that's not something that's like super crazy out there for her to 252 00:13:13,680 --> 00:13:16,480 say. So your point though. 253 00:13:17,040 --> 00:13:19,480 Yes. Yeah to your point is I mean 254 00:13:19,800 --> 00:13:23,360 with Terry bringing it up us to the media and pushing that out 255 00:13:23,360 --> 00:13:27,360 publicly or saying that saying that publicly that that that 256 00:13:27,360 --> 00:13:30,480 shows you two things that shows you what the relationship that 257 00:13:30,480 --> 00:13:34,720 Terry and and Mackenzie have. They both trust each other on a 258 00:13:34,720 --> 00:13:38,360 level where with something like this popping up they can both 259 00:13:38,360 --> 00:13:40,960 handle it in a mature setting, right. 260 00:13:41,200 --> 00:13:46,040 You know, because it's not easy as a how 2122 year old. 261 00:13:46,960 --> 00:13:49,840 Yeah. To I mean you're you're an all 262 00:13:49,840 --> 00:13:54,480 American and then for your coach to criticize you against a knock 263 00:13:54,600 --> 00:13:59,160 off, a knock off a non conference win that was 50 plus 264 00:13:59,160 --> 00:14:00,480 points. You know what I mean? 265 00:14:01,600 --> 00:14:05,520 And to it, it just goes to show you the the stability that Terry 266 00:14:05,520 --> 00:14:08,920 has in that locker room, which is a very important factor. 267 00:14:09,000 --> 00:14:12,680 And I mean you're right you said it that they've probably been 268 00:14:12,680 --> 00:14:15,160 over this. They've probably had after 269 00:14:15,160 --> 00:14:18,480 practice or before practice, had a moment between themselves of 270 00:14:18,480 --> 00:14:22,200 say of Terry saying something along the lines of, hey, look, I 271 00:14:22,200 --> 00:14:26,480 know the type of player you can be and for whatever reason, 272 00:14:26,480 --> 00:14:28,560 whatever reason that may be, there might not even be a 273 00:14:28,560 --> 00:14:31,680 reason. But you just haven't been to the 274 00:14:31,680 --> 00:14:34,600 level that I've wanted you to be these past few games. 275 00:14:34,600 --> 00:14:38,280 And I and I think if I was Mackenzie, if I was a player 276 00:14:38,280 --> 00:14:41,200 like Mackenzie and I had a coach come up to me and and say that 277 00:14:41,200 --> 00:14:44,200 to me in that sort of setting like she'd been in that press 278 00:14:44,200 --> 00:14:49,040 conference, I think I would take it very well saying like, hey, 279 00:14:49,040 --> 00:14:52,800 look, I I got to take it up a notch, you know what I mean? 280 00:14:52,800 --> 00:14:56,720 I got to come on and and just simply be better. 281 00:14:57,400 --> 00:15:00,600 Right. And yeah, it's we'll see how it 282 00:15:00,600 --> 00:15:01,800 shakes out in the next two weeks. 283 00:15:01,800 --> 00:15:03,760 I think, like you said, it is something that we're just going 284 00:15:03,760 --> 00:15:06,520 to have to. It'll figure itself out because 285 00:15:06,600 --> 00:15:09,000 she is Mackenzie Holmes at the end of the day and she knows 286 00:15:09,000 --> 00:15:11,160 what she's capable and everybody else knows what she's capable 287 00:15:11,160 --> 00:15:12,160 of. And it's not like that's just 288 00:15:12,160 --> 00:15:15,440 going to go away and not come back or anything like that. 289 00:15:16,280 --> 00:15:17,680 So just something to kind of keep an eye on. 290 00:15:17,680 --> 00:15:20,320 We could keep talking about that probably for a very, very long 291 00:15:20,320 --> 00:15:22,080 time. But we do have to kind of keep 292 00:15:22,080 --> 00:15:25,400 things rolling a little bit. So we can now kind of get into 293 00:15:25,560 --> 00:15:28,320 sort of the the core of this episode, which is Big 10 play. 294 00:15:28,360 --> 00:15:29,840 And we've touched on it before obviously. 295 00:15:30,520 --> 00:15:33,520 And I want to 1st talk about kind of just the Big 10 as a 296 00:15:33,520 --> 00:15:36,680 whole, the conference as a whole before we get into who Indiana 297 00:15:36,680 --> 00:15:39,720 will play starting out here. So in some ways, it seems like 298 00:15:39,720 --> 00:15:42,760 the conference is shaping up kind of just as expected, and in 299 00:15:42,760 --> 00:15:45,720 other ways, not so much Iowa at the top of the table. 300 00:15:45,840 --> 00:15:49,640 So no one's surprise at all because Caitlyn Clark is making 301 00:15:49,640 --> 00:15:51,320 headlines every single day, as she should. 302 00:15:52,040 --> 00:15:54,760 They are 12 and one. And interestingly enough, the 303 00:15:54,760 --> 00:15:58,400 one loss came at home in Iowa City to Kansas State. 304 00:15:58,400 --> 00:16:01,600 And that game was, I believe, in the like it was in the first 305 00:16:01,600 --> 00:16:04,760 week of play and kind of shook everybody. 306 00:16:04,760 --> 00:16:07,040 But then Iowa obviously bounced back and they've been perfectly 307 00:16:07,040 --> 00:16:09,640 fine and Caitlyn Clark is getting triple double S and 308 00:16:09,640 --> 00:16:11,480 double double S all over the place. 309 00:16:12,360 --> 00:16:14,240 But it's also interesting because you know you do look at 310 00:16:14,240 --> 00:16:18,440 their schedule the like Iowa's major non conference opponents 311 00:16:18,440 --> 00:16:21,360 seem to have only been like for me when I look at it, Virginia 312 00:16:21,360 --> 00:16:25,600 Tech and Kansas State and then they play sort of like middle of 313 00:16:25,600 --> 00:16:27,960 the pack teams. Nobody else really jumps out. 314 00:16:28,960 --> 00:16:31,960 Obviously, Iowa is very, very good, in large part thanks to 315 00:16:31,960 --> 00:16:34,280 Kent and Clark. But something to kind of keep in 316 00:16:34,280 --> 00:16:38,000 mind maybe just down the road as we get closer into March and 317 00:16:38,000 --> 00:16:40,400 selection, whatnot comes into play. 318 00:16:40,400 --> 00:16:42,120 Just something that I noticed when I was looking at their 319 00:16:42,120 --> 00:16:44,840 schedule. Minnesota is also doing pretty 320 00:16:44,840 --> 00:16:46,080 well. They only have one loss and 321 00:16:46,080 --> 00:16:48,960 that's to U Conn and obviously UConn is is U Conn. 322 00:16:49,520 --> 00:16:52,000 But again, they also haven't played a whole lot of other 323 00:16:52,000 --> 00:16:54,120 major teams. Indiana has that one loss as 324 00:16:54,120 --> 00:16:58,240 well to Stanford and then Ohio State is 10 and two with losses 325 00:16:58,240 --> 00:17:01,120 to USC and UCLA. So you've got Iowa, Indiana and 326 00:17:01,120 --> 00:17:03,680 Ohio State, which everybody was kind of expecting. 327 00:17:03,680 --> 00:17:05,119 Minnesota was a wild card for me. 328 00:17:05,119 --> 00:17:07,599 I didn't think they were going to start out as well as they 329 00:17:07,599 --> 00:17:10,119 did, but I also didn't really have a grasp on what their 330 00:17:10,119 --> 00:17:13,040 schedule was going to look like. So looking at that, it makes a 331 00:17:13,040 --> 00:17:17,000 little bit more sense. Illinois, which Indiana, we'll 332 00:17:17,000 --> 00:17:20,400 see Illinois very soon. Somewhat of a surprise for for 333 00:17:20,400 --> 00:17:25,640 people because they're six and five and coming into the the 334 00:17:25,640 --> 00:17:28,480 season and in the preseason people expected Illinois to be 335 00:17:28,480 --> 00:17:31,040 pretty solid. They haven't been going up 336 00:17:31,040 --> 00:17:34,720 against you know super high level opponents either like like 337 00:17:34,720 --> 00:17:37,560 most of these teams because it is non conference play, they 338 00:17:37,560 --> 00:17:40,320 lost to Notre Dame and Notre Dame is very, very good. 339 00:17:41,080 --> 00:17:43,280 But it also seems like they just haven't been able to kind of 340 00:17:43,720 --> 00:17:47,080 close it out and and come back in close games. 341 00:17:47,080 --> 00:17:51,640 A lot of their their losses have been fairly close and Indiana is 342 00:17:51,640 --> 00:17:55,840 Illinois or next opponent. So like I said, we'll get to 343 00:17:55,840 --> 00:17:57,240 them more specifically in a little bit. 344 00:17:57,760 --> 00:18:00,120 Kevin, I first wanted to ask kind of what, what do you think 345 00:18:00,120 --> 00:18:03,200 about the Big 10 so far? What do you think we can expect 346 00:18:03,200 --> 00:18:05,400 in kind of the whole of conference play? 347 00:18:05,560 --> 00:18:08,280 What do you hope to see in the whole of conference play now 348 00:18:08,280 --> 00:18:12,120 that we've kind of seen how some of these teams look and how they 349 00:18:12,120 --> 00:18:16,840 play? I think it's Iowa's conference 350 00:18:16,840 --> 00:18:20,800 to lose. I think it's clear cut that Iowa 351 00:18:20,800 --> 00:18:25,160 is the top team at least going into conference play. 352 00:18:26,840 --> 00:18:28,520 You know there were some conversations at the beginning 353 00:18:28,520 --> 00:18:32,600 of the season about Iowa or excuse me Ohio State being 354 00:18:32,600 --> 00:18:35,240 possibly the top team in the conference just because of the 355 00:18:35,240 --> 00:18:36,880 sheer talent they were bringing back. 356 00:18:36,880 --> 00:18:40,880 They were they're the most veteran roster in the in in the 357 00:18:40,880 --> 00:18:46,000 Big 10 you could say. But Iowa right now because of 358 00:18:46,440 --> 00:18:49,800 Caitlin Clark obviously, right. I think, you know it's it's 359 00:18:50,160 --> 00:18:55,480 weird to say that Caitlin Clark took a step forward this year 360 00:18:55,520 --> 00:18:58,880 because you can be like all right well how much better can 361 00:18:58,880 --> 00:19:02,360 she get? But it's kind of seems exactly 362 00:19:02,360 --> 00:19:04,440 it kind of seems like that right now. 363 00:19:04,440 --> 00:19:07,240 But again we still have all of conference play to go. 364 00:19:07,240 --> 00:19:10,960 We still have March. But I mean Iowa is the team to 365 00:19:10,960 --> 00:19:13,240 beat right now. It's their conference to lose. 366 00:19:13,520 --> 00:19:20,880 I think I would go, I think I would go Iowa, Ohio State, 367 00:19:20,880 --> 00:19:23,480 Indiana. I think that's that's the route 368 00:19:23,600 --> 00:19:25,920 or excuse me the the ranking I would go. 369 00:19:27,240 --> 00:19:32,760 I think it could very easily be Iowa, Indiana Ohio State come 370 00:19:33,160 --> 00:19:37,560 last week of February. But right now I mean we just 371 00:19:37,560 --> 00:19:40,880 have yet to see how Indiana pairs up against a bit against 372 00:19:40,880 --> 00:19:43,720 the Big 10 opponent opponent other than Rutgers obviously. 373 00:19:44,120 --> 00:19:46,600 But look, I mean it, it should be a fun year. 374 00:19:46,720 --> 00:19:51,120 Again, there's there's like you mentioned, there's a few things 375 00:19:51,120 --> 00:19:55,840 that we knew what was going to happen with this team or I'm 376 00:19:55,840 --> 00:19:58,480 sorry, with this conference. But there's also a few 377 00:19:58,480 --> 00:20:00,000 questions. You know what I mean? 378 00:20:00,280 --> 00:20:02,840 Like can like, I mean, let's just think of Iowa for a second. 379 00:20:02,880 --> 00:20:09,160 Can Iowa hold it together this entire season with relying as 380 00:20:09,160 --> 00:20:10,720 much as they have on Caitlin Clark? 381 00:20:11,400 --> 00:20:14,080 I think the answer is yes. I think that is what's going to 382 00:20:14,080 --> 00:20:15,960 be the case. But you know, there's a lot of 383 00:20:15,960 --> 00:20:18,840 questions. That have yet to be answered, 384 00:20:18,840 --> 00:20:21,560 but should be a very fun, fun season. 385 00:20:21,560 --> 00:20:27,320 I think a little bit more surprises are going to come out 386 00:20:27,320 --> 00:20:30,200 of the Big 10 than these past two years, is what I would say. 387 00:20:30,720 --> 00:20:33,440 Yeah, well we've seen in the past. 388 00:20:33,560 --> 00:20:36,600 Granted this is has not really been this year with the 389 00:20:36,600 --> 00:20:37,840 exception of the Kansas State game. 390 00:20:37,840 --> 00:20:41,960 I guess we've seen when Caitlin Clark doesn't play as well as 391 00:20:41,960 --> 00:20:45,240 she, she usually does and she is shut down. 392 00:20:45,240 --> 00:20:48,280 She's averaging 30 points per game, which is crazy when you 393 00:20:48,280 --> 00:20:49,960 when you think about it, that's just ridiculous. 394 00:20:50,280 --> 00:20:53,480 But there are going to be teams out there that are just going to 395 00:20:53,480 --> 00:20:57,040 have the physicality or the capability probably to limit 396 00:20:57,040 --> 00:20:58,560 her. And so it is going to be 397 00:20:58,560 --> 00:21:01,960 interesting like you said with the way that that Iowa plays and 398 00:21:02,080 --> 00:21:04,760 and they kind of they're relying Caitlin Clark and Caitlin Clark 399 00:21:04,760 --> 00:21:07,560 is the one like she can pick them back up and give them 400 00:21:07,560 --> 00:21:10,640 momentum with those ridiculous 3 pointers that she makes. 401 00:21:10,640 --> 00:21:15,320 It's going to be interesting when if people are able, able to 402 00:21:15,320 --> 00:21:19,240 shut that down, you know, Ohio State once again if they can. 403 00:21:19,320 --> 00:21:22,240 And I was watching them play the other day, I don't remember who 404 00:21:22,240 --> 00:21:26,160 they were playing. But that full court press is, 405 00:21:26,360 --> 00:21:27,840 you know, that's the staple of their game. 406 00:21:27,840 --> 00:21:30,240 Everybody knows that they've been doing it for so long, but 407 00:21:30,240 --> 00:21:32,280 people have such trouble breaking it. 408 00:21:32,840 --> 00:21:34,880 It was when they were playing UCLA and that's what stood out 409 00:21:34,880 --> 00:21:37,920 to me because UCLA beat them and UCLA is very good. 410 00:21:38,280 --> 00:21:41,720 But the chaos that that full court press causes is going to 411 00:21:41,720 --> 00:21:45,560 be something that I'm excited for, but then also I'm not 412 00:21:45,560 --> 00:21:50,360 excited for because Indiana has not been great at breaking those 413 00:21:50,360 --> 00:21:51,800 full court presses. We saw that in the Big 10 414 00:21:51,800 --> 00:21:54,200 tournament last year. But that's going to be something 415 00:21:54,200 --> 00:21:55,880 for Ohio State. I think like if you're looking 416 00:21:55,880 --> 00:21:59,240 at how Caitlin Clark controls the gate for Iowa, for Ohio 417 00:21:59,240 --> 00:22:01,800 State, it's going to be if people can figure out how to 418 00:22:01,800 --> 00:22:04,680 break their press or not. And then if they can't, then 419 00:22:05,000 --> 00:22:09,720 Ohio State is pretty well set up to be very, very competitive in 420 00:22:09,720 --> 00:22:13,080 the conference like you said. That that's the team that I'm 421 00:22:13,080 --> 00:22:15,880 going to be very focused on this season. 422 00:22:16,000 --> 00:22:21,000 It's just how well can because it kind of seems like if if 423 00:22:21,000 --> 00:22:25,280 there's a year that Ohio State can come on top of the 424 00:22:25,280 --> 00:22:29,000 conference, it's going to be this year just with with the 425 00:22:29,000 --> 00:22:32,400 people they have on the roster, with the the veteran presence 426 00:22:32,400 --> 00:22:36,200 they have on their roster. And I mean look it's only time 427 00:22:36,200 --> 00:22:38,440 will tell. You know it's going to be fun. 428 00:22:38,440 --> 00:22:43,080 It's going to be I mean Indiana also like like this is a very 429 00:22:43,800 --> 00:22:48,200 like yeah, I mean Indiana as well is is a team filled with 430 00:22:48,200 --> 00:22:52,320 questions come Big 10 play just because you're missing Grace 431 00:22:52,320 --> 00:22:58,880 Burger and you you have a very young not even young but just a 432 00:22:58,920 --> 00:23:05,280 very a group that has not played a lot together in environments 433 00:23:05,280 --> 00:23:09,040 as chaotic as they're going to see come big time play. 434 00:23:09,040 --> 00:23:11,600 And we saw it against Stanford and everybody knows what 435 00:23:11,600 --> 00:23:13,920 happened against Stanford in that game. 436 00:23:14,480 --> 00:23:19,120 But you know I mean look I mean Indiana could also very easily 437 00:23:19,120 --> 00:23:21,640 take the top spot in the it's it's kind of AI don't want to 438 00:23:21,640 --> 00:23:25,440 say a wild card because I think if I was a betting man if I had 439 00:23:25,440 --> 00:23:30,480 to put money on it now December 23rd I would put Iowa wins the 440 00:23:30,480 --> 00:23:33,680 conference. But all three of them could very 441 00:23:33,680 --> 00:23:36,120 easily take that top spot. Right. 442 00:23:36,120 --> 00:23:38,360 When we haven't, we also haven't even talked about like Maryland. 443 00:23:38,360 --> 00:23:40,120 We barely mentioned Michigan. Like that's. 444 00:23:40,320 --> 00:23:43,800 With this, with this conference, and you say it every year, but 445 00:23:43,800 --> 00:23:47,800 it rings true every year, is that anyone can win on any given 446 00:23:47,800 --> 00:23:52,280 day and anyone can go on a run and be like remember Ohio State 447 00:23:52,280 --> 00:23:54,520 last year they were so good and then they completely dropped 448 00:23:54,520 --> 00:23:56,600 off. And so it's just this, there's 449 00:23:56,600 --> 00:23:58,600 so many questions. You could go down the line and 450 00:23:58,600 --> 00:24:02,120 bring up questions for every team, but then also point to to 451 00:24:02,120 --> 00:24:06,000 the possibility that almost every team could compete and and 452 00:24:06,000 --> 00:24:07,960 come away with at least like a high-ranking spot. 453 00:24:07,960 --> 00:24:11,000 Obviously not every team is going to have a chance to to win 454 00:24:11,000 --> 00:24:14,680 the conference, but a lot of teams do and a lot of teams can 455 00:24:14,680 --> 00:24:18,000 can impact that. And so it is just there are so 456 00:24:18,000 --> 00:24:20,840 many things about women's basketball that make it so fun. 457 00:24:20,840 --> 00:24:24,520 And I think the fact that you can raise so many questions 458 00:24:24,520 --> 00:24:27,880 about teams and and point to so many teams that are capable of 459 00:24:27,880 --> 00:24:31,040 winning makes it even better because you you never know 460 00:24:31,040 --> 00:24:33,480 what's going to happen. And if you are a betting man or 461 00:24:33,480 --> 00:24:36,320 a betting woman, you really are just kind of like throwing it 462 00:24:36,320 --> 00:24:39,440 out there and saying please, like, I think, I think, but you 463 00:24:39,520 --> 00:24:41,560 never know. Yeah. 464 00:24:41,560 --> 00:24:44,280 There's there's a level of uncertainty that's that's pretty 465 00:24:44,280 --> 00:24:50,000 cool coming into the season because we all know like the the 466 00:24:50,000 --> 00:24:53,600 capabilities of these teams but there's little little factors 467 00:24:53,600 --> 00:24:57,200 that sort of change these things which which again that should be 468 00:24:57,200 --> 00:25:00,280 fun And and I'm curious one thing I'm curious is, is the 469 00:25:00,280 --> 00:25:03,480 seating come Big 10 tournament is like who's going to be the 470 00:25:03,480 --> 00:25:06,520 one who's going to be the two who's like where is that going 471 00:25:06,520 --> 00:25:10,240 to fall off And and you know, I mean that that could have some 472 00:25:10,240 --> 00:25:12,120 implications come Selection Sunday. 473 00:25:13,320 --> 00:25:15,080 Look, I don't want to get too ahead of ourselves. 474 00:25:15,240 --> 00:25:17,680 Look we're not even the 2024 yet. 475 00:25:18,040 --> 00:25:19,800 It's still December. Yeah, exactly. 476 00:25:19,800 --> 00:25:23,360 But yeah, should be very fun. I'm very excited for the for the 477 00:25:23,360 --> 00:25:26,080 conference tournament this year or conference season. 478 00:25:27,040 --> 00:25:28,520 Yeah, all of it. All of it's fun. 479 00:25:28,520 --> 00:25:29,640 All. Of it exactly. 480 00:25:29,840 --> 00:25:31,960 All of it, Yeah. You're allowed to be excited for 481 00:25:31,960 --> 00:25:33,360 the conference tournament, I know I am. 482 00:25:34,600 --> 00:25:37,240 But so let's get into to talking about Illinois a little bit more 483 00:25:37,240 --> 00:25:39,760 specifically. Both teams get a nice holiday 484 00:25:39,760 --> 00:25:44,880 break and then Illinois will come to Bloomington at 12:30 in 485 00:25:44,880 --> 00:25:46,720 the afternoon obviously on December 31st. 486 00:25:46,720 --> 00:25:50,480 So right before we we ring in the New year, like I said 487 00:25:50,480 --> 00:25:53,120 earlier, Illinois will come in six and five and looking for 488 00:25:53,120 --> 00:25:56,640 their first Big 10 win because I lost to Michigan 84 to 48 489 00:25:57,000 --> 00:26:00,040 earlier in the season. They do have four players who 490 00:26:00,040 --> 00:26:01,680 average double figures in scoring. 491 00:26:01,920 --> 00:26:04,880 Genesis Bryant leads the team with 15.2 points per game. 492 00:26:05,280 --> 00:26:08,240 They average around 75 points per game, but obviously have 493 00:26:08,240 --> 00:26:11,080 been held to less than that in some of their losses. 494 00:26:11,360 --> 00:26:14,360 And they make between 5:00 and 6:00 threes and most of them do 495 00:26:14,360 --> 00:26:18,360 come from Genesis Bryant. I was watching, I believe it was 496 00:26:18,360 --> 00:26:22,760 when they were playing Missouri, and I think I texted you about 497 00:26:22,760 --> 00:26:24,280 this. Yeah, you did. 498 00:26:24,280 --> 00:26:27,360 Where she was just, yeah, she every, it was like every time 499 00:26:27,360 --> 00:26:30,040 she held the ball and she was on the perimeter, she shot it and 500 00:26:30,040 --> 00:26:31,880 she made it, which was really impressive. 501 00:26:33,080 --> 00:26:36,440 And Illinois ended up losing that game in the last few 502 00:26:36,440 --> 00:26:38,960 seconds, I think, and that was kind of that goes back to what I 503 00:26:38,960 --> 00:26:42,000 was saying earlier is that they don't necessarily seem like they 504 00:26:42,000 --> 00:26:45,280 have all the capabilities of pulling out close games. 505 00:26:46,520 --> 00:26:49,160 But with that being said, obviously they still do have a 506 00:26:49,200 --> 00:26:52,360 great deal of talent coming and they were ranked highly in the 507 00:26:52,360 --> 00:26:55,640 preseason. So with that kind of Kevin, what 508 00:26:55,640 --> 00:26:58,800 do you think we should expect for this game, especially that 509 00:26:58,800 --> 00:27:02,600 both teams will be coming in on a on a pretty hefty break where 510 00:27:02,600 --> 00:27:04,440 they're all going to be, you know, at home with their 511 00:27:04,440 --> 00:27:07,920 families and not necessarily maybe in the gym every single 512 00:27:07,920 --> 00:27:12,120 day? First thing I mean I wish I was 513 00:27:12,120 --> 00:27:15,840 there. I I I hate that this game is on 514 00:27:15,840 --> 00:27:19,880 December 31st. I wish I could be there, but I 515 00:27:19,880 --> 00:27:24,120 think you just got to expect a little bit of sloppiness from 516 00:27:24,600 --> 00:27:28,600 the start from both sides. I mean the the break that that 517 00:27:28,600 --> 00:27:33,640 students get this time of year in any sport really I think goes 518 00:27:33,640 --> 00:27:36,920 unnoticed. I think the the the amount of 519 00:27:36,920 --> 00:27:39,640 time off that they have is a good thing, don't get me wrong. 520 00:27:39,640 --> 00:27:44,440 But I mean it plays a big factor come your first game off that 521 00:27:44,440 --> 00:27:48,200 break. But look, I mean here's the 522 00:27:48,200 --> 00:27:52,200 thing about Illinois is that at times they look like a top 523 00:27:52,200 --> 00:27:56,160 three, top five team in the conference and then at times 524 00:27:56,560 --> 00:27:58,840 they don't. I mean, just to put it 525 00:27:58,880 --> 00:28:01,720 blatantly, they just don't look like the team they're supposed 526 00:28:01,720 --> 00:28:05,000 to be. You know they that the loss 527 00:28:05,000 --> 00:28:08,200 against Michigan. I understand. 528 00:28:08,200 --> 00:28:11,400 Michigan's also in that conversation about what being 529 00:28:11,400 --> 00:28:15,000 one of the top teams in the conference this year. 530 00:28:15,200 --> 00:28:18,880 But that was a bad loss just simply because I was a near 40 531 00:28:18,880 --> 00:28:22,720 plus point loss. You know what I mean it it's 532 00:28:22,720 --> 00:28:27,560 just I think from here on out what I need to see from Illinois 533 00:28:28,120 --> 00:28:30,160 is I need to see some sort of stability, some sort of 534 00:28:30,160 --> 00:28:34,000 consistency I should say. Because when they're on their, 535 00:28:34,080 --> 00:28:38,640 when they're on their game, they can be right up there with Iowa, 536 00:28:38,640 --> 00:28:40,720 Ohio State and Indiana in this conference. 537 00:28:41,000 --> 00:28:43,000 But when they're not you know what I mean? 538 00:28:43,000 --> 00:28:47,160 They're towards the bottom. And and I I'm kind of going 539 00:28:47,160 --> 00:28:50,800 around your question just simply because I don't know what the 540 00:28:50,800 --> 00:28:54,240 Illinois team is going to show up to come December 31st, right. 541 00:28:54,480 --> 00:28:57,800 You have to take in all these factors and the fact that they 542 00:28:57,800 --> 00:29:00,760 haven't necessarily, in my opinion haven't played up to the 543 00:29:00,760 --> 00:29:02,920 level that they have or that they can. 544 00:29:04,080 --> 00:29:08,560 It's it's a little bit of a toss up right now because you know, 545 00:29:09,520 --> 00:29:12,440 we're still more than a week away from from that game. 546 00:29:13,320 --> 00:29:15,200 Yeah. Well, and I like that you said 547 00:29:15,760 --> 00:29:20,280 kind of Illinois is not playing how they're supposed to or have 548 00:29:20,320 --> 00:29:23,200 like they're not kind of doing what they're they're supposed to 549 00:29:23,520 --> 00:29:27,040 because it shows the potential that they have to be a very 550 00:29:27,040 --> 00:29:29,120 skilled, high level team in this conference. 551 00:29:29,120 --> 00:29:32,920 And I I kind of wonder if that is going to play a role. 552 00:29:33,400 --> 00:29:36,200 You know, you have this break and you kind of get your mind 553 00:29:36,400 --> 00:29:39,080 right and you think like, hey, we should be winning some of 554 00:29:39,080 --> 00:29:41,720 these games and you know, we need to start winning some of 555 00:29:41,720 --> 00:29:44,560 these games. And you know, why not go play a 556 00:29:44,720 --> 00:29:49,320 top 15 or top 20 team in Indiana and make that kind of, you know, 557 00:29:49,320 --> 00:29:52,120 like start out our run that way So it is. 558 00:29:52,120 --> 00:29:54,480 And then on the flip side, obviously Indiana has that break 559 00:29:54,960 --> 00:29:58,320 and there's a lot that they have to work on to, to prepare for 560 00:29:58,320 --> 00:30:01,440 Big 10 play as well. Given just kind of the the 561 00:30:01,440 --> 00:30:05,120 difference in the the level of the the play and the 562 00:30:05,120 --> 00:30:06,720 physicality. And you know, all that stuff 563 00:30:06,720 --> 00:30:09,480 that you can talk about about how the Big 10 is different from 564 00:30:09,480 --> 00:30:11,440 non conference opponents. But there's going to be a lot 565 00:30:11,440 --> 00:30:15,040 that I think both and all of the players in both teams can kind 566 00:30:15,040 --> 00:30:18,680 of sit with with this break to prepare themselves for this 567 00:30:18,680 --> 00:30:21,480 game. Well, people got to remember 568 00:30:21,480 --> 00:30:25,640 with Illinois is they were one of four teams that were in the 569 00:30:25,640 --> 00:30:30,000 AP pool start the season. Look, I understand the AP pool 570 00:30:30,120 --> 00:30:34,560 is it doesn't matter at all in the first week, right. 571 00:30:34,760 --> 00:30:36,400 You know what I mean? Like it doesn't matter if you're 572 00:30:36,400 --> 00:30:37,760 the number one team in the country. 573 00:30:37,840 --> 00:30:41,680 It it plays a little, very little factor in in your season. 574 00:30:41,880 --> 00:30:46,160 But it was Iowa, Indiana, Ohio State, right. 575 00:30:46,160 --> 00:30:50,040 I'm sorry, one of five Iowa, Indiana, Ohio State, Maryland 576 00:30:50,040 --> 00:30:54,760 and then Illinois was #25. So there is some expectations 577 00:30:54,760 --> 00:31:00,560 there for this team, right? And and you got to realize that 578 00:31:00,560 --> 00:31:03,560 they just haven't been playing that well and and look in 579 00:31:03,560 --> 00:31:07,360 Indiana's favor it's it's it's a good thing that it's going to be 580 00:31:07,880 --> 00:31:10,240 at home. I think there's going to be a 581 00:31:10,240 --> 00:31:14,120 very I was very surprised by the crowd that showed up against 582 00:31:14,120 --> 00:31:15,840 Evansville. I was on the call for that game 583 00:31:15,840 --> 00:31:19,800 on the radio good for Hoosier nation to show up. 584 00:31:19,800 --> 00:31:23,520 I I It was very surprising to see to see a nice crowd, Terry 585 00:31:23,520 --> 00:31:26,520 Moore and talked about it too. But I think that's going to play 586 00:31:26,520 --> 00:31:30,280 a big deal. But yeah, I mean, it's just, I'm 587 00:31:30,280 --> 00:31:34,600 curious what team we're going to get from the Illinois side come 588 00:31:34,600 --> 00:31:37,440 that game. Yeah, well I will say I think 589 00:31:37,440 --> 00:31:40,680 this game has the potential to be played a lot from the 590 00:31:40,680 --> 00:31:44,720 perimeter if both teams, if they're 3 point shooters, can 591 00:31:44,880 --> 00:31:47,840 can get hot and stay hot. Like if Sarah comes in and she 592 00:31:48,200 --> 00:31:51,800 shoots even, you know, half as well as she did against Bowling 593 00:31:51,800 --> 00:31:54,480 Green, you know, puts up four or five three pointers and Genesis 594 00:31:54,480 --> 00:31:57,240 Bryant does the same thing. You know that that drives a lot 595 00:31:57,240 --> 00:31:59,480 of the game and so that and that's also obviously going to 596 00:31:59,480 --> 00:32:01,560 change a lot of the inside game, especially for Indiana. 597 00:32:01,960 --> 00:32:04,320 So I think that's another thing is that you don't even know how 598 00:32:04,320 --> 00:32:07,640 the game's going to be played because it just depends on who's 599 00:32:07,640 --> 00:32:11,160 feeling it that game and who comes out and who is the most 600 00:32:11,440 --> 00:32:15,000 ready and the most prepared, I guess, which is, you know, it's 601 00:32:15,000 --> 00:32:17,640 just a whole other thing of you just like you said, have have 602 00:32:17,640 --> 00:32:19,920 really no idea what's going to happen. 603 00:32:21,200 --> 00:32:25,120 So after that, obviously that's going to round out the 2023 604 00:32:25,400 --> 00:32:29,400 season for Indiana because Indiana well, then the calendar 605 00:32:29,400 --> 00:32:32,680 year, not the season, the well, so the 2324 season, but the 606 00:32:32,680 --> 00:32:36,640 year, yeah, So Indiana will play Michigan January 4th at home and 607 00:32:36,640 --> 00:32:38,520 then they're going to travel to Nebraska on the 7th. 608 00:32:39,520 --> 00:32:43,440 And so you're kind of, if if you can look at it from the 609 00:32:43,440 --> 00:32:46,160 perspective of Indiana's not necessarily playing the toughest 610 00:32:46,160 --> 00:32:48,280 teams in the conference to start out. 611 00:32:48,280 --> 00:32:51,200 You know there's there's no Ohio State, there's no Iowa, there's 612 00:32:51,200 --> 00:32:53,920 no Maryland. But like we said, The thing is 613 00:32:53,920 --> 00:32:56,440 that anybody can win on any given day. 614 00:32:56,440 --> 00:33:00,200 And Michigan and Nebraska are certainly teams that pose very 615 00:33:00,200 --> 00:33:02,880 significant threats, I think especially as you get into Big 616 00:33:02,880 --> 00:33:05,560 10 play and everybody gets a little bit more comfortable with 617 00:33:05,560 --> 00:33:06,760 the way the game is being played. 618 00:33:08,200 --> 00:33:10,800 Yeah. First of all, correction. 619 00:33:11,000 --> 00:33:15,200 Illinois was 23 in the AP pool to to start. 620 00:33:15,240 --> 00:33:19,360 The 1st 25. But I checked the 23, but yeah, 621 00:33:19,360 --> 00:33:22,440 I I mean you you have a good point right there saying that 622 00:33:22,440 --> 00:33:25,080 they don't start off. I mean they could have, I don't 623 00:33:25,080 --> 00:33:26,680 know how easy it would have been, but they could have 624 00:33:26,680 --> 00:33:30,280 started off with going to Columbus or you know having 625 00:33:30,280 --> 00:33:33,200 their first game of the conference season. 626 00:33:34,040 --> 00:33:37,880 But I think it's a good good couple games where we can see 627 00:33:38,160 --> 00:33:41,160 where Indiana might be come conference play. 628 00:33:42,480 --> 00:33:45,480 I think this is a good. I think the Illinois and 629 00:33:45,480 --> 00:33:49,440 Michigan back-to-back is a really good test just because I 630 00:33:49,440 --> 00:33:53,920 think those are two quality teams right there or teams that 631 00:33:53,920 --> 00:33:59,320 can show Indiana a fight. You know what I mean if we, if 632 00:33:59,320 --> 00:34:03,720 we look I I if any Michigan fans are listening out there, I I 633 00:34:03,720 --> 00:34:05,200 apologize for this next statement. 634 00:34:05,200 --> 00:34:08,639 But if you want to talk about an inconsistent basketball team 635 00:34:08,639 --> 00:34:12,920 these past couple years, it is the Michigan Wolverines and and 636 00:34:12,920 --> 00:34:14,320 May. I mean, we've seen that in the 637 00:34:14,320 --> 00:34:15,159 past two. Years. 638 00:34:15,159 --> 00:34:17,239 It'll hold that, Kevin. Yeah. 639 00:34:17,239 --> 00:34:22,400 It it's it's just a team that has had so much potential but 640 00:34:22,400 --> 00:34:24,159 hasn't been able to capitalize on it. 641 00:34:24,159 --> 00:34:26,560 And this year they have a couple losses where it's like really 642 00:34:26,560 --> 00:34:30,560 it's like Dang, like you you those are bad losses. 643 00:34:30,560 --> 00:34:33,639 But to go back to what I was saying is, I think, I think this 644 00:34:33,639 --> 00:34:35,400 is a good test. I mean, Nebraska is not a small 645 00:34:35,400 --> 00:34:38,560 task either. Nebraska's got 2/2 of the top 646 00:34:38,560 --> 00:34:41,760 players in the in the in the conference and you know that's 647 00:34:41,760 --> 00:34:46,239 their first true away game of you know, to start Big 10 play. 648 00:34:46,760 --> 00:34:49,520 Yeah you went to Rutgers. But right now you know come 649 00:34:50,000 --> 00:34:53,679 January 7th, you know that's that's that's their true test. 650 00:34:53,679 --> 00:34:57,800 And look it's not I've I've talked to a few a lot of people 651 00:34:58,120 --> 00:35:01,600 in and around the Big 10 conference and they all say the 652 00:35:01,600 --> 00:35:04,680 same thing that it's hard to go and play it in Nebraska just 653 00:35:04,680 --> 00:35:08,440 simply because it's a long trip. It's and especially at this time 654 00:35:08,440 --> 00:35:10,000 of year it's a long trip. It's cold. 655 00:35:10,760 --> 00:35:12,640 You know getting there is not the easiest. 656 00:35:14,640 --> 00:35:17,880 So you know it. I think these three games right 657 00:35:17,880 --> 00:35:24,880 here to start the count to start 2324 Big 10 season is is going 658 00:35:24,880 --> 00:35:27,480 to be a good spot for Indiana. See where they're at. 659 00:35:27,480 --> 00:35:33,040 I think win or loss, Terry's going to take a step back and 660 00:35:33,040 --> 00:35:36,360 and analyze, really analyze this team and and I have a feeling 661 00:35:36,360 --> 00:35:39,800 that after these three games we might be able to see, I don't 662 00:35:39,800 --> 00:35:43,400 want to say lineup changes, but maybe a new style moving 663 00:35:43,400 --> 00:35:46,360 forward. It's somewhat, you know, you say 664 00:35:46,360 --> 00:35:48,360 that and it's a little bit reminiscent maybe of the 665 00:35:48,360 --> 00:35:52,240 Stanford game of kind of like a a litmus test, if you will, just 666 00:35:52,240 --> 00:35:56,120 to see where the team is at. If they have the the capability 667 00:35:56,120 --> 00:35:59,200 and the mindset to withstand the pressure that's going to come 668 00:35:59,560 --> 00:36:02,280 with the the travel. Like you said, going all the way 669 00:36:02,280 --> 00:36:05,600 out to Nebraska, the amount of games that you're playing and 670 00:36:05,600 --> 00:36:07,200 the level of the teams that you're just going to play 671 00:36:07,200 --> 00:36:10,040 back-to-back to back-to-back. You know, there there are a lot 672 00:36:10,040 --> 00:36:13,160 of players on the team for Indiana who haven't really seen 673 00:36:13,160 --> 00:36:15,560 that level of pressure in the group that they're in. 674 00:36:15,560 --> 00:36:17,160 And that's what people talk about after Stanford. 675 00:36:17,160 --> 00:36:22,160 It's just like you have to kind of get thrown into the fire and 676 00:36:22,480 --> 00:36:25,240 figure it out, you know, and then the coaches will help you 677 00:36:25,240 --> 00:36:26,880 figure it out. But you just have to go and you 678 00:36:26,880 --> 00:36:29,880 have to start and I think this is kind of like you said just 679 00:36:30,320 --> 00:36:32,680 it's that's what it's going to be in the in the beginning at 680 00:36:32,680 --> 00:36:35,440 least. Yeah, and I mean, look, it's 681 00:36:35,440 --> 00:36:39,720 going to be a again, we're going to have one or two more episodes 682 00:36:39,720 --> 00:36:41,760 before this game. And I don't want to get ahead of 683 00:36:41,760 --> 00:36:44,880 myself, but it's a quick turn around you, I mean you finish up 684 00:36:44,880 --> 00:36:48,320 Nebraska and you have Penn State, who I mean, Indiana 685 00:36:48,320 --> 00:36:51,040 should handle pretty comfortably, but then you have 686 00:36:51,040 --> 00:36:54,320 Iowa, Iowa City, right. You know what I mean? 687 00:36:54,320 --> 00:36:58,240 So it's it's going to be we're going to find out a lot about 688 00:36:58,240 --> 00:37:02,880 this Indiana team after these three Big 10 games after after 689 00:37:02,880 --> 00:37:04,760 Nebraska. You're going to find out a lot 690 00:37:04,760 --> 00:37:09,760 about what this team is going to be not just capable of doing or 691 00:37:09,960 --> 00:37:14,160 but where they can improve and sort of where they might be 692 00:37:14,160 --> 00:37:16,720 headed and and it's going to be fun to watch. 693 00:37:17,360 --> 00:37:18,720 Yeah. Oh, tons of fun. 694 00:37:18,880 --> 00:37:20,160 Tons of fun. Very exciting. 695 00:37:20,800 --> 00:37:22,800 So that'll just about do it for today's episode. 696 00:37:22,960 --> 00:37:24,720 As always, thanks so much for tuning in. 697 00:37:24,720 --> 00:37:27,000 We'll be back in the new year at some point. 698 00:37:27,000 --> 00:37:29,800 To recap, Indiana start in Big 10 play and the start of what 699 00:37:29,800 --> 00:37:32,960 they hope will be another Big 10 championship run, I'm sure. 700 00:37:33,360 --> 00:37:36,320 As always, follow along with our coverage here on Crimson Cast, 701 00:37:36,320 --> 00:37:40,600 over on X Twitter, whatever you want to call it, and on inside 702 00:37:40,600 --> 00:37:44,360 the hall from Kevin and myself. Happy Holidays and Happy New 703 00:37:44,360 --> 00:37:46,440 Year and we will talk to you in 2024.