How Good is Indiana?
- Thread starter EZ2BJZ
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Is Indiana a contender? No. Does their schedule make them a contender? Yes.
I am a nobody and my opinion doesn't really count. But I have been impressed with how they play. They are pretty athletic and can get after you. I have watched them play a few times and where they struggle is if they "fall in love with the 3". They have a solid big man who is a freak, if they can play through him in the post, they will be a tough out. Yogi is a good PG, the off guard seems to be an issue. They have a transfer Zygolfski (sp) who is a shooter, came in the other night and knocked down something like 4-5 threes. They beat the snot out of Ohio State.
I realize their schedule hasn't been the best, but still to start 5-0 in Big Ten Play is HUGE. Their schedule will get tougher, but to have 5 wins already sets them up moving forward. If they can protect the home court, they will be just fine. Hard to believe there are only 13 more Big Ten games left.
I realize their schedule hasn't been the best, but still to start 5-0 in Big Ten Play is HUGE. Their schedule will get tougher, but to have 5 wins already sets them up moving forward. If they can protect the home court, they will be just fine. Hard to believe there are only 13 more Big Ten games left.
That's kind of what I figured. Was just interested in reading someone's perspective who has actually watched Indiana play this season before I formed too much of an opinion either way.
Thanks for the input. Sounds like Indiana could be a contender if your analysis is fairly accurate. Ohio State has been a classic case of Jekyll and Hyde this year. Same with Wisconsin whom Indiana beat by 1 point at home.
Iowa is the only contender which IU plays twice, so they have a huge scheduling advantage. They have some really talented players, led by Yogi, and have more size this year. IU also has one of the worst game coaches IMO, and I only hope that Crean can coach them down to make up for the schedule advantage. I think they will finish in the top 4 or 5 teams. They still shoot a lot of 3s, and could contend if their shots are falling in the right games.
Without our best effort, they'll beat us. As in football, you can only play the teams on your schedule, and if you beat those teams, it's all you can do. Their schedule is back-loaded as well. I believe Iowa is better, but there will be two chances to find out.
agree with you...I think Indiana is better than last year..Bryant is really good & the Michigan transfer & anunoby add depth to the front line...
Seems like they are benefitting from the dreaded "Addition by Subtraction" rule. They lost a key player to injury (Blackmon), who was all about scoring, and played little to no defense. That rubbed off on the team, and since he's been out, their defense has improved significantly.
Wrong forum, but now that I think about it, eerily similar to their football team, all O, no D. They just hired a new DC, who has impressed me with his stats and attitude. Look for them to be much improved next year on that side of the ball.
Wrong forum, but now that I think about it, eerily similar to their football team, all O, no D. They just hired a new DC, who has impressed me with his stats and attitude. Look for them to be much improved next year on that side of the ball.
You haven't seen them play so that should tell you something. They are not elite despite their record, and the talking heads concur that they haven't been tested, and won't be until they play Iowa.
If they continue to play defense and realize that Bryant is the best talent on the team they will definitely compete for the championship because of the schedule.
If Crean lets the players sail the ship they will keep chucking up threes and are capable of losing on most any night.
If Crean lets the players sail the ship they will keep chucking up threes and are capable of losing on most any night.
I've seen them play and wasn't impressed but they have improved since then. As always, you should be able to count on Crean to coach them down. But that doesn't mean they couldn't get lucky. But I fully expect Iowa to pound them into the court.
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Keep the faith. Crean will come through in the end. He likely would have found a way to screw up with the original Olympic "Dream Team".
They aren't good enough to warrant attention (coverage), thus my rhetorical inference. Seriously, they do have some talented players but have not put things together according to the experts. They may, and may challenge for the B1G Title, but there has not been evidence of it yet. Their 5-0 start is not as impressive as Iowa's, but considering MSU twice and Purdue away, Iowa's resume is pretty strong.
WOW! Reading this thread is just like being on our(IU B-ball)board! I didn't realize the rest of the world thinks his in game coaching is...remedial. I don't like to bash Crean as much as many do because I think he deserves more credit than he gets for resurrecting the program & for his player development skills, but the truth is the truth, & surprisingly he's actually made in game adjustments that POSITIVELY impacted games a couple times this year, but that may be the 1st time I've seen that in his 8 years, so I have zero confidence that it will persist. We did however, as 1 poster hear eluded to, win the proverbial dumb luck powerball when Blackmon got hurt. Annunoby has transformed his teammates into ..wait fot it..DEFENDERS! In the end, I doubt it will be enough, but we should be somewhere around 11-7 to 13-5 in the league when it's said & done, I can't see any better than 14-4 tops.
Hoosiers are better than the 6th or 7th best team in the league. Pomeroy has them at 26th (5th in the league). Sagarin has them at 18 (again 5th in the league). They will likely finish 4th or better in conference due to their schedule. There is a very clear (so far) line of demarcation between the top 6 teams in the B1G and the bottom 8. Iowa, MSU, Maryland, Michigan, Purdue, Indiana rank in the top 18 to top 30 in Sagarin and Pomeroy. Then Northwestern, Wisconsin and Ohio State in another tier below that (can beat a team on a given night, but will struggle to win on the road), then the mediocre teams (Illinois and Nebraska) and then the rest (Rutgers, Minnesota, Penn State,
Iowa is the only team in the Top 6 that IU plays twice. Their schedule is a 1-2 game advantage minimum over Iowa and some of the other contenders. If they win all of their home games (not unreasonable), then they could still lose @Wisconsin, @Iowa, @MSU and @Michigan and still be 14-4 and right there.
I saw Indiana's schedule that got them to 5-0, and I was like dang, they must have a gauntlet at the end of the conference schedule.
But then I looked at that, and its tough but not that tough.
Road games with Michgan, MSU, Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin. Only 3 of those are really difficult.
Home against Iowa, Purdue, Maryland.
The other 5 games are against cellar dwellers.
You could make a case Indiana's 18 B1G games include only 6 real tough games.
Iowa has 9-10 by my count.
But then I looked at that, and its tough but not that tough.
Road games with Michgan, MSU, Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin. Only 3 of those are really difficult.
Home against Iowa, Purdue, Maryland.
The other 5 games are against cellar dwellers.
You could make a case Indiana's 18 B1G games include only 6 real tough games.
Iowa has 9-10 by my count.
Why am I an idiot, db? By the way, nice first post, loser. A drive by flame. I'm guessing you're either Crean himself or his mom.
Have a good friend who played college basketball and his kids go to Indiana. Basketball junkie, Hoosier fan, and very knowledgeable about the game. He texted me during the Iowa-Michigan State game in East Lansing that "Indiana is not in the same league as Iowa".
Indiana is the equivalent of Nebraska football. They have barely been relevant this century but still think of themselves as elite programs in their respective sports because of what they did in the 70s, 80s and 90s. Are they above average programs? Yes, but when is the last time each did anything of consequence? 2001 or 2002?
Sure Hoosier fans will say they are better than Iowa or talk about sweet 16 appearances few years ago but elite teams like Duke, Kansas and Kentucky make it consistently and Hoosiers aren't among the elite schools anymore.
I think this is a pretty good representation, with the caveat that Wisconsin has been underperforming and would likely be ahead of Indiana as well if they played to their potential.
Everyone on here is bashing the schedule but your 2 best wins are against a slumping MSU team, then Purdue also lost to Illinois, and You lost to Notre Dame. We did lose 3 early games and one of those was Duke but the win streak is real beating OSU by 25 the team that beat Kentucky, Destroying the same Illinois that killed Purdue, and yes we only beat Wisconsin by one due to an unguarded 3 at the buzzer the same Wisconsin team that lost by only 3 to Maryland.
Our 3 freshmen are getting more time and playing better every game, I'm not bashing Iowa but we are now playing as we were projected in the pre season there is a reason you keep playing the games
Our 3 freshmen are getting more time and playing better every game, I'm not bashing Iowa but we are now playing as we were projected in the pre season there is a reason you keep playing the games
I would argue that MSU slumping is a product of Iowa destroying any confidence they had. Having said that, I think Indiana has a very dangerous team. Offensively, they can certainly fill it up. When they play defense as well, they can play with anyone. I'll still take the team with 4 seniors leading it all day long...
Because your schedule is awful. Your SoS ratings, by any metric, are insanely high compared to a lot of the conference, and Iowa in-particular. Your best win is Notre Dame, which isn't terrible. But that's it. That's literally it.
True, but at the end of the ay, it's not going to matter much. We'll be in the tourney, the soft schedule will hurt seeding if we don't get a few quality wins before then, but you could argue that the soft sched has allowed us to accumulate enough wins that it's worth it. Plus, it's allowed the team to learn & grow confidence. I think we(IU)are playing really well right now, & I don't think it's a fluke. I think iowa & Maryland are the best teams in the Big, but with our schedule(Maryland & Purdue @ home only)we could steal the title, wouldn't surprise me. You guys are awfully good, but not as good as you've been playing recently. Same could be said for us too. I bet we split our games this year.
What is with all the posts from first time posters who have been members for up to 5-6 years? Suddenly, after never having posted before this thread they see this thread and are compelled to post even though they had never before posted?
Hate Indiana basketball, Crean just seems like a....idk slimeball. That being said, they are undefeated 5+ games conference, not much else the can do. Let's also be careful because this narrative seems eerily similar to our very own football team this past fall with the outcry about scheduling and every week we were told we were going to lose. Next thing you know 12-0. I agree this team is not one to take lightly
Hate to admit it, but he may be right......can't blame IU for conference schedule than you can blame Iowa football for theirs this year. Nothing teams can do about it, just play the games they are given. If jok and Uthoff keep this up I don't think it matters what our schedule is because if they keep this up I don't care who steps on the court, we are the better team
Their top 3 wins in the RPI are Notre Dame, Ohio St. And IPFW.
When the Mastadons are one of your signature wins...Draw your own conclusions. Though I'm happy it is because that's one of my favorite mascots around. It is the only mascot named after an extinct organism.
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A shootout against IU should be fun.
Right now I don't see any team in the conference being able to win that kind of game against Iowa.
Right now I don't see any team in the conference being able to win that kind of game against Iowa.
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