You're listening to the back home network, presented by home
field apparel. Hi folks, welcome back to
Crimson Cass. Scott here with you along with
gaalan and a remote location. Possibly with some birds, the
background. You'll hear in a second.
But real quick. We're going to bang out the the
business up front, home field, apparel Nat.
Now. We can all take a breath and now
you can buy the UCLA gear. So it's Scott gives you approval
by the new you CL. Are you Cala gear that they
dropped? Hopefully, UCLA beats st.
Mary's and, you know, kind of avenges the loss.
We just had. Last night.
But first purchase use home for 15 percent off.
Your first purchase home field apparel.com., It's a great
business started by a Kelly grad.
You're supporting IU. IU is still one of their top
brands on their site, you know, they have hundreds of sites.
So check that out. And if you're still have a shot
and your March Madness pool, maybe you're doing a knockout.
I'm doing a knockout. I was knocked out yesterday, but
I'm learning from my lessons. I took Alabama today because I'm
like, hey, that East Coast to East Coast trip which we'll talk
about here in a second that stuff.
So maybe Notre Dame after a double overtime game and flying
to San Diego. Maybe they're not going to look
to to freshen spry. So pick them a knockout but if
you want to do better in your knockout pools, definitely check
out Ed Fang, he wrote the book and how to win your pools and
that's, you know, win the bet that you're doing all throughout
the next couple of days, his daily podcast series, the
bracket wisdom has been going on the football analytics show.
Check that out. You can get onto his newsletter,
using the power ranking. Calm /, AC to subscribe.
Go to the power rank.com /. AC.
So thank you too. Ed Fang in the power Rank and is
always home field apparel. This is Crimson cast.
We have a game and kind of a season to recap Galen my friend.
How you doing? I'm fine.
You know, it were it's Friday morning of the tournament and
Indiana. Unfortunately no longer playing
basketball this season, but you know, we're in a reflective mood
on things and I think it's a good time or at least as good.
Good. A time as any apps to talk about
what we witnessed and just our overall thoughts and feelings on
things. So, yeah, I'm doing well.
Thank you. Yeah, so last night that was
rough, man. That's that was what the I think
the worst tournament loss, the 99 lost St.
John's was also pretty bad. As I saw on the screen.
I would say the one positive coming out of it.
As I was watching with some friends and my wife as I'm like,
well, I think we made Shining Moment, it's going to be the
cheerleader, getting the basketball off the top of the
backboard, but I think, I think we're going to be in One Shining
Moment this year. I think that's our main
takeaway, right? Yeah, that seems to be
inevitable, you know, just just not for the reasons that one
might have hoped. But yeah, it was a rough one.
Gosh, you think about the way that this team played on Tuesday
against Wyoming and you know, there was a spark there that
we'd seen in the Big Ten tournament that made you think
well, hey, you know if they can deal with the travel issues and
if they can get their heads wrapped around this.
Ares team, we had some questions about how good st.
Mary's actually was. And it looked like Indiana,
might be able to come into the game and have a shot and I would
say that through the first minutes or so.
Yeah, Indiana played pretty well.
And then the bottom just absolutely fell out of.
It was one of those games just got away so quickly and you know
it to some degree. You could point the finger at
The Usual Suspects with The line change substitutions, kind of
blunting, the momentum, but I just don't think this team had
much left in the tank. Not just physically, but like
mentally and emotionally like we do, when Mary's really started
to get into the swing of things on offense.
I, you just couldn't figure out how to defend them.
And, you know, I think there's a lot of reasons for that.
But when you combine that with the regular officer problems
this as those started to get exacerbated as well.
And you ended up with a situation that almost became
like an unrecoverable scenario as quickly as halftime.
And I think everything about what happens during the rest of
the game really bore that out. It's unfortunate because I think
everybody had talked themselves myself, included into this team,
having a little more left in the tank than they did.
But the reality was, what we saw out.
There was the absolute dying Embers.
The fumes of the fuel that had fired this team for the last
month or so. So yeah, I mean at one point st.
Mary's goes on a 34, 25 run to end of the first half to start
to basically 10 minutes into the second half and by then it's 67
to 35 and that's it. And yeah, I mean, I don't I'm
ready to kind of talk a little more big picture stuff because
it's, I don't want to dig into the game too much because the
numbers are bad. Everything, look, bad, but it,
you have to look at it within a context.
Like, if you just saw that it's like, man, they sucked.
It's like well, Everything went wrong.
Like I was telling my wife, like this was, this was a flawed
team. It's going to be remembered as
like a flawed season in my mind. It's like this is where just
everything went wrong. But you have to look at those
travel factors that played into it.
Like, this is a team that was just looked like they were
tired, they were worn out and then they didn't even know, they
couldn't flip the switch nor could they and again, it's not.
You probably should be with a little closer and some of these
games. It's not a justification, but it
is a Factor that has to be brought up that like they were
just given a incredibly tough deal.
And again if they don't want to be handed it, don't put yourself
in a position where the n-c-double-a can kind of screw
you like that, but they were given a really tough travel
situation. They played a tough schedule,
you know, tough game, couple nights before against Wyoming.
It's just it everything. Conspired against them in.
This was like the worst possible outcome on all if you had 10
different factors, like all of them like this is the worst one
you could possibly want. And you get what you saw
unfortunately, but hey at least least, Kentucky lost.
That was fun. Like 10 minutes later.
Well, yeah, not look. I mean, I don't think you can
uncouple the the larger issues that this IU team has had all
season from the result of the game.
And, you know, Mike Woodson talked about this a little bit
in the postgame press conference about how the ultimately what
made his team look. So.
Good in the NCAA tournament, see me in the Big Ten tournament.
And even in that first game of the tournament was that they
were playing with a sense of urgency that you just didn't see
for a lot of the regular season, you know, because they knew
coming into the Big Ten tournament that they had to win
at least one as we found out two games in order to even get in
the field, then there in the playing game and to get into
like the final 64, they have to win that game.
I don't think that same sense of urgency was there in this game
and I Blame them because as you said very difficult turn around.
Not even necessarily the physical stuff, but just the
reality that there's I mean, st. Mary's is a very specific style
of play that you have to Scout. And you know, Trace Jackson
Davis talked about this in the press conference, like the
defensively, they were not up to par in this game.
They were letting st.mary's drive by them.
They were, they were letting them do sexually, whatever they
wanted on offense. Once that initial ten minutes
who's gone through you. Started to see threes dropping
and Indiana just looked like they were not going to be able
to figure out the basics of playing the st.
Mary's team. You look at the overall game
scores, which we talked about on tormek.
And we talked just a couple of days ago about how they had
played like five or six of their best games of the Season here in
the last few weeks. That game last night.
Game score wise was tied for the Stole season with the Michigan
game and there were a lot of similarities, the first Michigan
get, there were a lot of similarities where that was a
game that they got down early. Their defense fell apart, their
offense couldn't compensate at all, and they just essentially
kind of lost the plot and you know, what's shocking to some
degree but also maybe not surprising at all.
Is if you line up Indiana's, offensive efficiency games.
That was the worst one that they played in the whole season.
Last night, they scored Point 78 points per possession.
If you line up all of Indiana's defensive performances in terms
of defensive rating. That was their worst game.
Last night. They allowed over one point two
points per possession, which is actually worse than that first
Michigan game. So, you know, look, it's not
just the travel and fatigue. It's also the preparation, but
it's also when that sense of urgency leaves and this team
loses Focus, I think we've seen this as being a problem for them
all year. So I'm I'm not surprised.
I wasn't even that upset. Like I was, I was frustrated
watching the game until it just became clear.
Probably with about four minutes left in the first half that they
just, they just didn't have it. And, you know, you could make
arguments that. Hey, it's the NCAA tournament,
you can have it. But you're basically trying to
squeeze blood out of a turnip that point.
Like, there's only so much in the reservoir, mentally,
emotionally physically and I just don't think that they had a
chance against what we have to admit was not only a very good
singer. Team, but clearly a very
motivated one as well. No, I agree 100%.
I was not mad either. It's not fun game losing by 30,
but on the flip side, I understood it.
I got it. I wasn't mad, you know, in we
never gave up a fight, like they still kept on going, but you
could just see. It's like they just didn't have
any more in the tank is a way coming out of halftime.
Like all right, you've got to if you're going to get back in
this, you've got to basically go on like a 10-0, run to get back
here, but this is also again, kind of the flaws.
Cause of this, this year's team is, you know, some of those
creamy years, you could have a game or it's just like, you're
going to hit 12 threes and just like, wow.
Like, all right, and that, and that covers up a lot of
problems. This team doesn't do that.
I'm even in the even in the winds that we had against
Michigan, Illinois, you know, the great game at the end
against Purdue. It's like, it's a very specific
type of effort this team. You have to give it all all the
time, every possession and that takes a lot of mental and
physical. Out of you and you're not going
to win by 15. You're not just gonna have a
bunch of shots go down, think you've got to bust your ass
every single possession. You're gonna, you know, be up by
two and down by one like it's always going to be nip-and-tuck.
And I do think there was also just a, like, you said, a mental
fatigue. It's like you get down by 10 or
12. It's like you're thinking if
you're on the team, it's like shit.
We gotta, we gotta go double hard to get back, just to even
and, you know, it's not going to happen by a flurry of Threes
because this team just even in the Wii games.
We've won. It hasn't happened.
So I think you know, that's yeah, that's kind of game.
That's the end of the game. In my mind last night, believe
it or not, was the fewest shots. Indiana made all year.
They made 16 two pointers and two three-pointers and their
next lowest output in terms of shots.
Made. They made 18 in that game at
Michigan State. I mean it is the offense just
wasn't there and look Mike Woodson talked a lot.
The postgame press conference about.
But when he was asked, what is the team need to work on in the
offseason? One of the things that he
specifically mentioned was getting better at shooting and
you know, last night agreed. I agree.
I got diagnosed the problem there.
Last night was interesting because this was, it was a, it
was a great example of how a team that is dedicated to Taking
away, Trace Jackson Davis can really just derail this Indiana
team and I think that that's been such a problematic element
of IU basketball for so long because it's always been if I
could. We can stop Trace Jackson Davis
or if we can stop Juwan Morgan or we can stop Romeo Langford,
we can stop Indiana and you know, you what made the last few
games before this special, I think was that people were able
to step up. Up and contribute and help.
Take some of the pressure off of Trace Jackson Davis, but a lot
of the problems that you had with this team during February,
that led to so many losses really came because nobody was
able to step up and guys, whose job it is to score to stretch
the defense. Just, you know, weren't
contributing. And I think that everybody knew
that once you got about halfway through the Big Ten season that
this was a flawed team, That didn't have the offensive
ability to do what needed to be done to win these types of
games, where you have a dedicated opponent, that's got a
good sense of what to do with you.
And so look, there's going to be a lot of work that has to be
done as a result of it. I don't think we learned
anything new about Indiana in the loss last night.
It's unfortunate to me that they lost by as much as they did.
Because, you know, I think if if Indiana loses that game last
night, Six or seven points. Then everybody's like, well,
that sucks. But you know, hey was a good
season and they gave a game effort and it was quite a bit to
get to this point. You know, there were a lot of
people even saying that even with the margin of loss that
Indiana had but losing by essentially 30 points.
That that really does complicate The Narrative for some people.
I think because all they're going to be able to focus on is
that Indiana lost by the worst margin in their history in the
NCAA tournament. And you know, look it is what it
is, but I don't know that the actual outcome and what we took
out of it, in terms of where the programs that would have been
different if they lost by six versus losing by the 29 that
they did. Yeah, I mean it kind of is like
your car ran out of gas whether you're ten miles from the gas
station or two miles. Like that's kind of what
happened. Look at this.
This team just ran out and they just they happen to run out 10
miles away from the gas station. If you don't mind, I'll go a
little bigger picture. Sure you do.
It's been interesting. The one thing I will say that I
called as Kentucky was losing, which was awesome like to flip.
We actually flip downstairs. We have a main TV, you know,
projection and then a TV on the side.
We Five minutes to go, I flip the games because like, all
right, I you can go side screen, but I want to see Kentucky lose
and I will say I called it when when Kentucky's losing.
I was telling my friends, like there will be people like
legitimately who are calling for Calipari to be fired in the
Kentucky fan base and I'm already seeing tweets about it.
It's awesome. Anyway, but you know using that
larger kind of Twitter narrative that there was kind of to bigger
picture things that were happening.
A bit of a scarecrow argument here.
But some people were, you know, say is a great season, you know,
fantastic. And I think Got maybe a little
bit too positive on the flip side.
I saw a couple people on Twitter being like, you know, you know,
the play-in game isn't where we should be and then getting you
know destroying the first rally. This is not a successful season
things have to change. It's like, all right, that's
also to - like I again look at it.
Like it's a flawed team. It was a flawed season, but you
know the goal at the beginning of the year was making the
tournament you made the tournament.
The beginning of this weekend. I said if we could, you know,
win, you know, we win, Wyoming and we Beat st.
Mary's to me. That's a fabulous March.
We didn't quite get there, but we got halfway there and that's
not awful and I'm not trying to be too positive, but I think his
fans it. I'm happy.
We're doing this the day after a little bit of reflection.
I don't want people to get to polarized one way the other.
Like it's not too positive. Like yeah, it wasn't great.
We have a lot of work to do, but on the flip side, you know, we
kind of met the expectations this year, which is something,
you know, that was always the problem under Archie, as we were
always just right below it. Meditations of where they needed
to be. Like this was an uneven season,
but it was uneven team, you can fix that, but you made the
tournament and you you you want a game in the tournament and a
lot of reasons like you said, you can't uncouple kind of the
timeline and the travel in the second loss.
So I know that that's how I will kind of remember this season,
but those are about my larger, big picture takes, and then kind
of reacting to some people, you know, seeing it on Twitter.
What are your thoughts? I mean, look, it was
unquestionably a step forward for a program that desperately
needed any kind of forward momentum.
And look at, you know, Woodson made a big point in the press
conference afterwards about You got to give you guys a taste of
the NCAA tournament. So they know what it feels like
and I do think that that is absolutely true.
You do, you know, you wonder is the trajectory of I use program
different though. If I you does make the
tournament in 2020, you know, or do they still go out and lose
all the games that they lost in 2021?
I don't know. I mean, I think if Indiana makes
the field in the covid year, I don't know that the group of
Years that have been assembled would have necessarily had much
of a different outcome in 2021 and we all know the 2021 while
it was a weird year. Was also just very unacceptable
year in terms of the way that the program was and then how
they played in the games. You know, I think ultimately as
much as the tournament experience was important and as
much as this season was important for getting some
identity attached to the program that was sustainable and that
identity being I think on defense That's the reality is.
I think most observers of IU basketball realized that this is
still a very limited roster. It's it's a roster that has to
be upgraded from a talent perspective particularly in
terms of offensive talent, but also in terms of Edge and
motivation and focus and drive. And that that's a piece that
Woodson has not addressed yet. And I think the jury is still
out as to whether he will be able.
Able to address it. Obviously the recruits that are
coming in this next year. A lot of people are excited by
but people have been excited by recruits coming in IU every
year. Yeah, you know, so the, you
know, it's kind of like you have to wait till the rubber hits the
road and see how guys actually are going to perform what they
do and how they conduct themselves in terms of being
ready to play night after night, you know, what was so
frustrating about January and February Worried for this team
was that they played that Purdue game and it almost felt like
the, you know, the team felt like they won something more
than just a game and it was an important game.
But they really, really felt like after that game.
They took their foot off the gas in a major way, and really
didn't put it back on the gas until the set of the last 10
minutes of the Michigan game in the NCO, the Big Ten tournament
and then we saw a team that everybody wanted to root for and
everybody could get excited for And you know what happened in
the st. Mary's game is kind of
notwithstanding that, you can certainly look at that from a
coaching perspective and it is, but it's also a who is playing
and what are they doing. And that to me, is ultimately
going to be the big question are covering over this offseason.
Not just because it's very difficult to restock or to it.
Maybe not restock with just stock the roster with the right
types of players, but also, it's very difficult to To get your
head wrapped around, even who's going to be on the roster next
year. So, you know, the with the
transfer portal with the potential of one or two guys
leaving for professional basketball with recruits coming
in, you know, this is not like maybe five or six years ago,
Scott where we could sit there at the end of the season and
say, well, you know, very likely.
We're going to have this core of players coming in and they're
going to we're going to be able to rely on these guys to get
better. I don't You know who's going to
be here next year and either to you.
And I think anybody who would project who's going to be on or
not on the roster. It's pretty speculative at this
point. So that's the one confounding
variable to me that I'm a little bit concerned about is it's not
like this straight line thing where hey Indiana got
progressively maybe, you know, maybe you know, they got better
on defense. They got a little bit better in
terms of finally understanding what they need to be doing.
You know, the the Flip side issue, I guess that I am
concerned about. Is this idea that I you we don't
know who's going to be there? We don't know how the pieces are
going to fit together as much as this year.
Was a year where I called it. Like I was just a mismatched
roster. It was an incomplete roster.
I don't know if the roster is any more complete next year
because we don't know what kind of nucleus They're bringing
back. So I do worry a little bit that
the games I you had this year. It's not going to matter as much
of a bunch of those people leave.
And now you got to start all over again with the fresh group
of people. And it looks not just Indiana
that faces the It's a lot of other programs, but I do worry
about where we're at with all of that at this point.
You know, I think that's a couple of great points there.
Like I you are right. It did feel like after Purdue.
They took the foot off the gas and then it's like they came
back at the end and like those that Michigan second half,
Illinois, Iowa Wyoming Game. It's like, that's a, that was a
fun team to root for. I think that's what kind of was
missed the season as like, I, I wish you would have had that fun
team to root for all year, as opposed just a couple of weeks.
Weeks or gosh, a week and a half.
But no, you're right. It.
I've joked a lot. Like, I keep up with college
basketball. I have a podcast about it.
I don't know where anybody stands on their eligibility or
their transfer. I assume everyone's got an extra
year and everybody can transfer. Like I just I'm assuming I
really don't know. I mean, I do know that you are
100%, right? Like, we're in a weird spot
because it's not the time now to get into, like, roster,
prognostications who's going to stay who's going to go.
But you're right in that, like, this isn't like The year we lost
a Kentucky in the sweet 16 with the, you know, the Zeller
Oladipo year, where I was thinking.
God, if this team stays together, this is a top ranked
team next year, because all the pieces are there.
We just need to get a little better around the edges.
We're in a spot where it's like, you know, we don't have any
seniors on this team. If you just said, and I know
everybody can't come back because you have three incoming
freshmen. Let's like let's pretend a game
that three guys are willing to give up their scholarships.
Like even if everybody comes back, I don't know, like this
still is an incomplete T. So it's like, I don't, I don't
want everybody back because we need to improve in some areas.
But then to your point, if we take some pieces out and, and
then it's like, are we losing now?
We're losing, something was good here.
Like if we add other pieces, like, it's weird and odd spot.
Where, I don't think bring everybody back, is the right
answer. I think some guys are going to
leave based on wanting to transfer, wanted to go
professional but it's like we can't bring everybody back
because we'd still be primarily in Wait, but if we start adding
New pieces, are those pieces going to work?
Because you're right. This is always been.
My thing is like every offseason.
I find it kind of comical where it's like, no.
No, this is the year that this transfer is good.
Like this is the transfer. Like this is the transfer.
It's like, all right, every year we say that's like a no, this is
the Freshman. I do know.
These guys are going to bring it and they're going to be the
Freshman to take over the team as a guy like everyone needs to
pump the brakes, but we'll get there.
You'll be you. People will be saying that come
July, August September. Just wait.
Well, look, it means going to be it's Going to be an interesting
offseason. I with the last thing I'll say
is like you're you're going to have lower expectations against,
you're going to the positive is you're going to be able to kind
of out kick your coverage. So to speak because I don't see
this team being picked in the top, six of the Big Ten based on
just what you're going to see kind of roster wise.
I mean so much is in flux. It's hard to say, you know, you
just you just don't know and because I use not the only team
facing those issues. There's going to be many other
teams in the conference facing those.
Shoes as well. I will say that this offseason
will be different than last offseason because you've got
now, the coaching staff in place, you know, they didn't
have the full coaching staff in place last year until what
mid-may or something like that. It was felt late.
Maybe it wasn't quite that late. But I think it was, you know,
Woodson as he talked about before.
And after this game spent a lot of time.
Just trying to get guys to Come back, and we know nobody knew
what the roster was going to be at least among the guys coming
back until pretty late in the game.
I think will be a clear sense of that going into this offseason.
So I do think that will help. And look, I don't think that you
can help. But me, really excited by how
Jordan Geronimo played over the last couple of weeks and not,
you know, look at him and say, wow, that's a guy that looks
like he's ready, not just to contribute, but maybe step into
a starting role. You can look at a guy like Tamar
Bates who ended up playing 16 minutes, which was by far, you
know, as many minutes as we've seen in play in a while, in that
game against st. Mary's yesterday and say, okay.
I'm starting to see some things. He really needs a full offseason
of figuring out his offensive game.
If Xavier Johnson's back, you've got a point guard who has a lot
of experience and then you kind of fill in the pieces from there
and you just you hope that you're able to find some people
that can contribute and combine them.
With people that can come in and contribute it even higher
levels. And so a lot of the offseason I
think now is going to be about going back and looking and
figuring out. Okay.
What went right, what went wrong and what does everybody need to
work on throughout the offseason and then realizing that who
there's not going to be a coaching change.
There's not going to be a shift in philosophy.
This is now the new identity and I think that's there's some
optimism. And they can be drawn from that.
It's just a really at this point.
A matter of, okay, as we watch this process unfold, what is IU
able to do in terms of getting its players on the same page
with each other more than what we saw throughout most of the
season and what are they able to do about getting the energy and
effort levels up for the entirety of the Season?
Rather than just when it absolutely matters, you know,
it's not just let's play hard at home against Purdue or let's
play hard when we're in the Big Ten.
Tournament have to win a couple of Of games.
It's like, where is that when you're playing, you know, in the
middle of February and things are starting to drift a little
bit. Like, do you know, those are the
kinds of things that with this IU team?
They just have to figure out. The what makes this program tick
and where is the, where's the motivation?
Level coming from? And how, how do they perceive
themselves within the game of basketball?
And I just, I feel like for so long now, IU basketball has
taken almost like a secondary stance, you know, you just you
clearly know that there are Elite teams in college
basketball and I use and one of them, they're just another
program and that's really ultimately.
The mentality that has the change.
I think a small step got taken this year.
Now. It's a matter of.
You know, I would rather guys left and you had a less
experienced roster, even then he had this year.
If it meant bringing in guys who are able to better, not just
subscribe to that mentality that we're talking about but also
execute that mentality, you know, there has to be an
increase in both Talent level and mentality.
And I think that that's going to be the big interesting.
Thing to watch in the big challenge for Mike.
Woodson and his staff. Moving forward, you 100% agree
with you on Geronimo. You hope he can lead that off.
I will say this and I've been guilty of this as well.
So I blame myself. But I've heard a lot of people
when things were going rough kind of be like, hey man, Mike
which has been here a year. Like you've been here a year,
you know, when things are getting rough at the end of the
year, but I would say like, it's your point like he got hired in
the early April. He didn't fill out his staff
until Aimer, he's then trying to re-recruit the team.
Look at the transfer portal, you know, going from the MBA to
college is different like putting together a staff,
understanding what he has to do with IU, you know, getting his
401k set up like there's just a lot of you'll get, make sure
he's on the insurance plan. Like there's a lot of stuff you
got to do. It's like next thing, you know,
it's like May June July and then all of a sudden, it's like, hey,
it's August. My guys are on campus and now
it's like you can't do offseason workout stuff and he doesn't
know kind of what guys need to really do to get better.
This. Be an offseason where we see,
you know, this is what I'm going to be hoping to see is that we
really see Improvement in guys to you know, play guys like a
Geronimo can take this and then now would sit in the staff have
had a full year and now they have the luxury of some time to
put together an offseason plan of like hey Jordan, here are the
5 things you need to work on based on me having like been
with you for 12 straight months where they just didn't have that
last year. And you also had a guy who was
trying to learn just what it what encompasses being a
college. Coach.
So I think that's another real positive.
This offseason is, I think now we can unlock the knowledge that
Woodson has haven't grown, you know, NBA players and just
having a staff that has everything in order to, you
know, this is what this is. My coaching changes or so tough.
So I'm I'm excited for that and I agree with you, you know,
that's what we can look at to be positive but it's really tough
to look too far ahead to next. Season's we have no idea who's
here who's not? But you, this is at least the
Are the pieces here of turning this into a building block.
Now? It's just a matter of this, this
coaching staff and the players to go out and execute.
Yeah, and look ultimately it's just not a foregone conclusion
that this is going to go the direction that everybody hopes
it will. I think it's got a better chance
but not for all the reasons you just highlighted but it look the
enough positive things happened this season.
If you took the whole thing imbalance that you can't help
but say, even though there were a lot of irritating parts, and a
lot of negative parts that occurred at various times.
This season was more of a success.
So that anything else and winning an NCAA Tournament game
was a level of success that we just haven't seen.
And that's a very low bar. And I think that, you know, if
you're still of the mindset that Indiana basketball is in the 80s
or early 90s, you're going to look at that and say, how have
we lowered our standards so much?
And the fact is, we've lowered our standards because we haven't
succeeded, you know, the program has just not done the bear.
Our minimum needed to be viewed as a top-level program.
This was a sorry about the plan, you know for people who are like
hey, that's so beneath us and so down.
I mean they're you know, imagine a world where we just get a 12
seed and we lose the st. Mary's by 30, like take the
Wyoming Game out of it. Like what if we just got it?
12C. We just got blow our doors blown
off in the first round. I think everyone has a bit of a
different feel like I I'm gonna try and take the kind of flip
side. Positive approach.
I think the playing game was great.
We got to play in the kind of a semi, you know, home venue a lot
of fans. Got to go experience.
The NCAA tournament experience in Dayton and we want a game.
So it's like, you can't take that away.
We were part of the tournament. I think this was a net positive
and I'll see your point. We haven't been super successful
program over 20 years. This is what a program like this
needs is kind of a back door into the tournament, so to
speak. But I think this is a way better
way. Better turnout than if we had
just played a first. Ground game and lost by 22 or
something. Yeah.
No, I mean, I think that's that's the case and ultimately
this has to be the beginning of something, not the not the
plateau. And that's the big question mark
and so, you know, all of those questions will get answered as
we move forward, you know, and I think as we reflect and kind of
marinate in the results and how everything goes it's there.
There's just this clearly a lot that's gonna have to happen.
But I think yours there's a bunch of other programs that
have been through a similar process and they all start with
something similar to what Indiana has done here where you
make the NCAA tournament as a low seed, maybe win a game, but
you have to build on it for the next season, and you have to
like, continue this cycle of getting people in, who can do
the things that you want to do. It's not always like what
happened with Indiana, a decade ago, where you go from not being
in the field to being a five seed and making the sweet 16.
This idea that there are a couple of intermediate steps to
even get to that point is a more more true than not and happens
more often than not. But also be I think highlights
how far away from competitive. This IU basketball program,
really was when Mike Woodson took over and time will tell if
he's the right guy to do it, but you can't help but look at this
results this season and say alright.
That was a step in the right direction.
Yep. I totally agree.
Any, any final thoughts on what you saw yesterday?
Overall. I mean, I've already tried to
erase a lot of it from my memory.
So, no, it's look, ultimately there.
Any other games you saw, like, I mean, you know, again, you want
well in Kentucky, Iowa looking for Big 10 calls, that weren't
there. They say, there's a lot of calls
that maybe should have been called, but yeah.
Yeah. Well, that's the thing.
I mean, I don't have any sympathy for Iowa at all.
I just don't, I mean, that was a, that was a team that team
shouldn't have. You know, I was joking about
Bohannon consistently losing your consistently missing shots
in the games after that shot that he had against Indiana.
So I don't really have a whole lot of sympathy.
But no, I mean, you know, Iowa was a bad defensive team.
And I think one of the things that's been interesting is, I
think with the exception of Kentucky, who was I think 25th
coming in every higher-seeded team that lost Yesterday, how
did defensive rating on Ken Tom under 35, or something like
that, like or above 35? And that's kind of an
inescapable reality. I'm really fascinated to see
what happens to Purdue because of all of the remaining High
seeds Purdue has by far the worst defense.
And I don't think they're going to lose to Yale.
But I am really curious to see how all that plays out.
I think they might have some real problems against Texas for
instance, you know, as far as the rest of it, Kentucky loses.
Saying, I mean, it's tremendous that was a really good Kentucky.
Team from a numbers perspective, one of the best offenses in the
country and to lose to a Saint Peter's program.
That is probably the worst program from a reputation and
funding perspective in their conference.
I mean, you just don't see that that often is very reminiscent
of Duke, losing the Lehigh about a decade ago or whenever that
happened. And so, do you think that was we
had this discussion? Should like obviously the, the
loss to Duke and, you know, the, the regional with the Laettner
shot like, that's a tough tough loss.
But is this the worst loss for them in the tournament?
Like, I think this might be that guy they've never lost as a one
or two. So to me, it smells are just
devastating losses if you lose the one or two if we're only
counting. Well, yeah, that's true.
Because I mean there's so few, you see, so if your team's
losing at that seed level and look I Kentucky in my final
four, so I think what what makes it more devastating than Than
anything for Kentucky is they had a gilded path to the final
four and they just lost and that game that game was wild because,
you know, you look at this statistically speaking, Kentucky
was, I think they as late as the four and a half minute, Mark of
the second half. They had a 97.1% chance of
winning the game. And even in overtime they had a
like a ninety two and a half percent chance, you know, it was
much as we bagged on Indiana all year for having these high win
percentage probabilities and then losing the game.
I don't think Indiana had a single game that is going to
look as bad statistically in a few years as Kentucky's will
when you go back and look at how many chances they had to put
away a pretty pedestrian, Saint Peter's Team all told and they
just couldn't do it and Nothing's games to wherever you,
and I have seen it for four years, you know, normally in
those games if it goes to overtime doesn't happen.
Doesn't happen a lot, but you're like, all right.
Well, they say Peters, miss their shot.
It's like you had them on the mat.
You needed a knockout blow. Like, now, is when Kentucky is
just gonna over athlete them and they didn't do it it.
But I was like, damn, like they lost their shot to beat,
Kentucky, because, like, normally those overtimes, don't
go well for upsets. Yeah, the, well, look at
ultimately, I mean, Indiana lost and That is that's the headline.
That's the main thing. But it would mean Kentucky
losing Iowa, losing those routines.
That had legitimate shots talent-wise Road wise to get to
the final four and they both fell on their face and I think
it just some degree. It does highlight how important
it is to keep in mind that this stuff is the stuff is difficult,
and it is, you know, we've seen Indiana teams that were very
good lose unexpectedly earlier. In the tournament than than we
thought that they would. So I do feel a little bit of
Sympathy For Those fan bases. But I also don't, you know, it's
one of those deals where as the tournament goes, is defense and
defense. He's really going to carry the
day. It's going to be a very weird
bracket. By the time we get to the Sweet
16 or the elite eight. And so obviously this it was it
was exciting to see Indiana back in the field and get a chance to
watch them be part of the madness.
And yes, they ended up exiting about 16 minutes into her game,
realistically speaking, but it was cool to have Indiana in the
mix again, and I'm looking forward to hopefully, that being
something that is now a consistent thing as opposed to
just a, you know, once every five or six years kind of thing.
Thing. No agree to my last thought in
Kentucky is like seeing him lose was great.
But you have that realization like oh damn, like that was the
2 seed in the Purdue bracket just like like why can't why
can't they be another like why? Why did that also have to give?
Purdue it easier? Path of the final four, but no,
I agree with you. It was fun yesterday.
You know, I've always had friends over Thursday Friday at
my house for these first couple days.
I love it. And, but it was weird yesterday
being like, this is the first time in a while, you know, where
it's like, I'm nervous about my game or normally Like there to
watch upset since like I just feel chaos is fine because who
cares? But it was like, all right.
We got a plan to get pizza. Like I got to be go get pizza
6:30 because I got to be ready at set is just it was it was fun
being part of. It was fun, seeing our logo when
they, you know, go to the CBS studio and you see all the logos
the teams up there. It's like there's I you like
we're in the mix and yeah, that was all fun.
And again, 23 years from now. This is not the way that I want
to see our tournament experience happen, but this is the last
thing I would say, Say, is that he got to take steps and the
first step is you make it and you win a game and maybe it's
not the game you want to win but you do win a game and yeah you
exit not the way you want to but it's like you got to take steps
and your first tip can't just be a final four run or a sweet 16
run or winning an upset. Like this was a tough path.
A lot of things were not working in our favor and that ended but
this was a first step. And this was a positive step.
And now let's build in the offseason and let's make it.
So this doesn't, you know, we don't have the same kind of
experience next year. So yeah, I think that that about
covers it, we will be back throughout the offseason to talk
about some things and then get geared up again for another year
of crimson, cast talking football and basketball as
always Scott a pleasure. And, as always, folks, a
pleasure with you all here, listening.
And, yeah, we'll see what happens with the offseason and
look forward to talking with you again, in the future on things.
Tell us. What do you want to bring back?
I'll let you finish off. What do I want to bring back?
I'm sorry. You faded on me there for a
second. Then.
What do I bring back? The, what you got to do?
You want me to bring back the Bison?
I thought you were hosting? That's your line here.
I know. I'm right.
There we go. Gales, bringing back.
The Bison. I'm messing up my clothes anyway
for Galen, this is Scott messing up as always for Crimson, cast
signing off.