A few thoughts with a night to sleep on Indiana’s performance last night against Northwestern and Archie’s comments after …
The time for changes is now.
Frankly, it was probably a while ago. Maybe even a year or two ago.
But here we are, in the now, incapable of changing the past, and so the time for changes is unequivocally now.
Fortunately, Archie seems to recognize this if his postgame comments are to be trusted and if whispers of his apoplectic postgame address to the team are to be believed (no reason to doubt them).
Here is the reality
Indiana has somehow worked its way to a 12-3 record despite a month of mostly poor play that has seen our KenPom ranking drop from #20 after the FSU win all the way to #43 as I type this — despite going 4-3 over that span.
Indiana has continued to rack up wins because they’ve had the opportunity to beat teams that are NIT-level or worse, but they have lost or been bludgeoned by each of the NCAA Tournament-level teams they’ve faced.
Still, 12 wins in the bank is something to work with. One is a quality win over a top-15 team. Three others are against top-75 competition. Two more are Big Ten victories. That is significant regardless of which direction the advanced metrics are trending.
So despite all the issues, we’re still sitting in a pretty good spot. The glass is absolutely half full.
But …
The current state of the team just feels more precarious than the current record reality actually is because we all know what’s coming: an intense Big Ten gauntlet that will provide a succession of the types of teams we have yet to prove we can beat consistently or even compete with away from home.
Our anxiety and consternation as fans comes more from projecting forward than simply assessing what’s happened.
Here is what needs to happen
Last year, and maybe even dating back to the year before that, Archie let problems fester until it was too late. He’s admitted this. Which is why he needs to make changes now.
And the change is this:
Let’s roll with the guys who are bought in. And let’s give that group the opportunity become the best they can be.
Now to be clear: I’m not saying we immediately give up on anyone.
All 11 guys on the roster have an important role to play on this team if they want to be a part of it. And I think all 11 guys should be given at least one more chance to show how much being an Indiana basketball player and member of this team means to them.
Which is why I think it’s ultimatum time.
It’s easy to surmise that this might have been the crux, either explicitly or implicitly, of Archie’s address to the team last night. If so, I applaud it.
Make this moment the dividing line: you’re either with us 100% and bought into what we’re trying to do, flawed as it might be, or we’re moving forward without you.
It’s not a mean or vindictive ultimatum; it’s a realistic and even compassionate one. What if some guys are actually looking for an out but can’t find a reasonable off-ramp? Give them one if they want it. Be firm, but offer grace.
“This program and this way of doing things isn’t for everyone. Maybe it’s just not for you. And that’s okay. It may just be time to forward separately.”
Most guys will take that challenge and come back fighting, ready to show that they are bought in and have what it takes. The gravity of the situation will move them. The accountability being demanded will subconsciously inspire them.
Others, perhaps not so much.
Others might say they’re ready or pretend they’re ready or even convince themselves that they’re ready, but they may show you later they aren’t. At that point, the choice is no longer theirs; it’s the coach’s. It’s yours Archie. And you better hold firm to that line. The chance was offered. A choice was presented. But it’s not indefinite.
It’s now or never.
Get on, or get off.
The bottom line
I think all IU fans would rather go down swinging and miss the tournament with guys who are at least bought in and playing together than hang onto some vague notion of the idealized version of this team ever materializing … because that doesn’t even seem possible at this point.
Now, this philosophy may not be the best way to win games in the short term, but it’s absolutely the best way to build a strong culture in the long-term. The latter is more meaningful than the former if Archie Miller’s program is ever going to be successful.
And by the way — I’m not saying it’s fait accompli that we would miss the tourney if we allowed some guys to remove themselves from the rotation or even the team. It very likely would make us better and more consistent over time, just with a lower ceiling.
But to hell with the ceiling once it starts to close in on you. Blast it open.
So I’m not here advocating for Archie to give up on anyone. I’m certainly not doing that. But I am suggesting it’s time to draw a line in the sand and offer everyone one final choice for which side they want to be on.
This season and team are still filled with potential. But right now, any reasonable assessment of the team’s overall play suggests that Indiana is closer to another season spiraling out of control than actually realizing that potential.
It’s time for the coach to do what it takes to yank this team (and program) back from the brink.
It’s now or never.
Let’s go Arch.
The future of your IU tenure depends on it.
Photo by Vladislav Babienko on Unsplash
Curious, what/who are those changes you would recommend?
I’m pretty sure Devonte is the main person we’re talking about here. And then to a lesser extent Justin , depending on if the reduction of Devonte makes good Justin show up more frequently. And then shelving the Hunter development for next year.
Well said! Identifying the reality with a glass half-full mentality.
Let’s good Hoosiers!
Seize the moment!
I hope he makes some adjustments to the rotation moving forward. I want to see Phinisee back in the starting lineup, Smith at the 4, and TJD at the 5. I know we are light in the backcourt and on the wings, but Brunk, TJD and Smith is a spacing nightmare.
I’m really not a fan of these empty, platitudinous pronouncements. And boy, I heard a lot of them on the postgame show. What is it that convinces you the problem is one of players not buying in? This is a mediocre roster, full of role players. Trayce was by far our highest regarded recruit, and not surprisingly he’s won the game ball night after night. Our upperclassmen guards are who they’ve always been. They’ve also been counted on for some of the most minutes on the team, because we only have four guards on scholarship. Of the others, one has been injured and one is a freshman. We’ve not recruited or developed anyone else to take over. The player getting the most minutes on our team might be our second most talented, but the needs of the roster are forcing him out of position. Justin would be a tremendous piece on a team that just needed him to play defense and score on cuts and putbacks. But we have two quality bigs and no one on the wing, so Justin gets pushed to the perimeter and asked to do things that don’t match his skills.
This article starts with a premise, that it’s on the players for not buying in, but does nothing to first establish that premise. The far simpler explanation to me is that this was always a limited roster, with pieces that don’t fit together particularly well and lacking in specific skills. To me, that speaks to the guy who constructed the roster more than the players within it. That we haven’t acquired or developed the skills we lack falls on the staff. Sure, player development is a two-way street, and I could see “buy-in” as a way to explain our lack of it. But then I would expect to have some examples of players who have shown development, some players who have demonstrated that good things happen if you just “buy in”. Al Durham is the only guy I might point to as having improved since he arrived in Bloomington.
I don’t know which players we agree have bought in and which haven’t. Reading multiple forums, everyone seems to have a different opinion of who those guys are. Three years in I still don’t know what Archie’s teams do well, so I don’t know what “buying in” even looks like. If we had a coach with demonstrated success at this level, I might agree with the notion that our players need to buy what the coach is selling. If “buy in” hasn’t happened after three years, that makes me question the product.
Matt, you make good points. And I appreciate you listening to the show, reading this piece, and taking the time to comment. I think everything you say is true. I think the majority of the responsibility for this team is struggling is on Archie. The reasons are myriad: we didn’t add another guard; we had some key recruiting misses (Carton, Brooks, etc); he hasn’t gotten this team to play consistent defense; his offensive gameplan seems to turn decent shooters into poor ones rather than improving them; and on and on. And you’re absolutely right that some guys are probably being asked to handle roles that their talent level doesn’t warrant simply because of how the roster is constructed.
But the reason for this post — which you can view as empty and platitudinous if you want to, but which I think actually cuts to the core of the biggest problem with Archie’s time at IU — is to highlight that Archie has exacerbated all of the above problems by not, at a minimum, establishing a baseline standard for how hard guys have to play and how focused on the team they have to be to earn minutes. There is a lack of on-court accountability that is enabling many of our players to underachieve, just as happened last year. So the ultimatum is as much on him as it is on the players. The players should take ownership of their own attitudes and efforts, but they also need a coach to help guide them and show them the boundary for what’s acceptable and what’s not. To my eye, Archie hasn’t done that. And it’s the single most important thing that needs to be established for his IU program to actually get off the ground and start producing coherent, consistent basketball. None of the other stuff will matter if this isn’t established first.
There’s nothing empty about it. I just didn’t want to call out specific players and specific examples because I didn’t think it was necessary to make the point. The vast majority of people who will read this are die-hard IU fans, and they’ll come to it with an understanding of the context in which it was written. This is everything, and it certainly seems like Archie feels very much the same way. Now we’ll see if he actually does anything about. I can’t say I’m exactly optimistic. He has not shown himself, yet, to be quick to adapt or make changes to his initial plan on the fly. I certainly think it’s needed here, or the upcoming schedule is going to expose every flaw you laid out … and we won’t have a foundation of unrelenting effort, togetherness, and commitment to a common purpose to fall back on. This team can’t win with out it.
Thanks for taking the time to reply Jerod. I’ve been a fan and listener for a while, and couldn’t imagine the commitment it takes to do what you guys do, especially these last couple seasons.
I appreciate your clarification as well, and it makes sense to me. When I hear or read comments claiming that the players need to buy in – and yours aren’t the first – too often it’s a variation on the claim that Archie needs to get “his guys”. It’s a way of throwing up your hands and saying “What can Archie do? You just can’t win with these players”. My defenses raise because it places the onus and fault squarely with the players and passes the buck from the man ultimately in charge. Your reply does a fine job of explaining what you mean, especially the second paragraph. Perhaps a better word than buy-in would be the word you used there: accountability. The connotations would make it more about the coach setting expectations and enforcing consequences. I’m still not sure I agree that this is the most pressing issue affecting the team – I would to know what specific changes you believe this would lead to, and even with everyone on Archie’s page I’m not yet sold on his overall coaching philosophy – but maybe sending such a message would give us our best shot in here in the short term.
It’s definitely all about accountability. That’s the right word to use.
I share your concerns about Archie’s coaching philosophy. I’m far from making final judgments on it, but I have many more questions and misgivings in Year 3 than I ever imagined I would. And I definitely don’t pin this all on Archie not having “his guys,” because it’s not like his own recruits have shown tremendous development either — even with injury explanations baked in.
The reason I think this is the crux of the matter is because no system or philosophy is going to work without getting guys to play consistently hard, together, and on the same page about what is trying to be accomplished. Even a subpar system can win games consistently with those elements as underlying principles of your program. But the only way to get them is to have standards and be uncompromising about them. And again, I’m not advocating giving up on anyone on our current team. But sometimes people, especially young people, need expectations and boundaries made unequivocally clear, along with the consequences for not meeting them. That, to me, is the best path for extracting the most out of this team.
We’re surely destined to be a team that has to win with rebounding, getting to the line, and playing gritty defense. It’s not pretty, and it doesn’t offer much of a ceiling. But damnit, let’s at least do it together and be as good at it as we can be. So to your point, yes, I think that gives us the best shot and building on our current record and making this season a success.
I’m not going to give coach a pass because I don’t know what goes on behind the scenes. But, Green is who he has always been. A selfish shooter and passer. I honestly couldn’t begin to count how many times he has chosen the flashy pass over a fundamentally sound pass. How many times he has taken a hero shot instead of working to get a good one. I think the Florida State game was the worst thing that could have happened to him and us. Because of the player he chooses to be, he must be on fire for him to help his team. If he was a fundamental, team oriented player, I truly believe the sky would be the limit. But, he’s not. He is who he’s always chosen to be, selfish.
Brunk is frustrating. He is awkward and clumsy in everything but rebounding. So often when he gets the ball in the post, you can tell he is dead set on putting up a shot. I believe he needs to come off the bench. He is simply not gifted enough to start for a Big Ten team. Davis…I feel bad but he looks like a 45 year old man out there. It’s a shame.
Rob looks like a shell of himself. It’s pretty obvious he isn’t 100%.
Justin Smith is on his way to becoming one of the most disappointing players I’ve seen at IU. He has all the ability in the world…he just does not get it. He does not have a high basketball IQ. I believe he’s always been so physically gifted that he’s not a student of the game. Often watching games I forget he’s out there until he makes a bad turnover or throws down a dunk. I don’t wanna hear about him being out of position. Whatever position you’re playing, play as hard as you can and play smart. He does neither.
Al…what can I say? When he’s driving the ball and playing smart, he’s awesome. When he’s out of control and scatterbrained on defense, we are not a good team.
With Hunter, maybe it’s rust 🤷🏻♂️
But, being brutally honest, he’s not been good…at all.
Anderson..how did we see that shooting form and pick him over Henry? He’s better this year and I like his occasional defensive effort but an ill advised shot or dumb turnover is always one play away with him.
Race has been a disappointment for me. What is he? What does he do for the team? I feel like he is average to below average at everything.
Franklin has been ok. I guess freshman are supposed to make mistakes but I’ve noticed when teams start cutting into our 2nd half lead, he’s often out there turning the ball over, taking and missing a bad shot or losing the man he’s guarding.
TJD is fantastic. If every player on our roster played the way he does, not from a talent standpoint but with the intelligence and intensity he does, wed be a top 10-15 team. I can’t count how often he has position in the post and guys won’t dump it to him. They make a side pass, we make 4-5 do nothing, don’t improve our position passes and take a crap shot. Honestly, we make so many passes that do absolutely nothing for us consistently. I can’t help but wonder if the older guys don’t get him the ball more in the post because of ego.
I disagree that this team isn’t extremely talented. Look at the leads we get. We get a lead and then we have our inevitable, trademark reaction. Players get lazy and nonchalant. They start jogging. They start shootings ill advised shots. They look bored and detached. They start getting lazy on defense. I feel like, unfortunately, this IU team has a low basketball IQ. I feel like they are not alphas. Some think they are but their play doesn’t match their high opinion of themselves. I cannot count how many times this year I’ve found myself annoyed and thinking “would you please at least act like you give a damn”. As someone else stated earlier, I miss coach Knight’s accountability. Do something dumb, sit. Do something selfish, sit. Go around a screen lazy so your guy hits a 3, sit.
I like coach Miller and have supported him…but…he is not getting the best out of these players. He’s just not.
All of us that have watched this team this year know, that win loss record is nice to have but it’s fools gold. We’ve been very lucky.
We also know, if the team played to it’s full potential, we could have an even better record.
I hope it gets better…but…I’m worried it’s going to get worse.
You both are right on point. This is 3 years now that the teams can’t shoot the ball. Archie seems to only want them to score in the paint. What about taking it in and throwing it back out to an open 3. You rarely see that. And the turnovers are inexcusable at this point in the season. Knight would put every player on the bench after a turnover. You do that a few times and players learn how to not do it so they can stay in and get playing time. I think we have talented players that need play to learn how to play better together and maybe we will be surprised. We have some really good Big Ten teams coming up and if we don’t change it’s going to be another long season with blow outs, especially on the road. I could go on pointing out the obvious but we all see this happening again. Is it the coaching or the recruiting? All Crean recruited was run and gun players that would score 100 points and lose the game. Now we have the other extreme at times. We need shooters to step up or we are done. Go IU
As poorly as IU appears to be performing, it’s fortunate(?) that other teams don’t look particularly good, either. I think the NBA’s raiding of top college players each year, seemingly in gradually increasing numbers, along with the added lure of playing overseas for second tier players, seems to be finally catching up and revealing a diluted talent pool of college players. It also could have something to do with the overall mindset of this up and coming generation of players (players our generation created, BTW). It seems the combination of the two factors has had a negative effect on the overall entertainment value of the product, generally speaking.
FWIW, that Northwestern game was one of the dullest games I’ve ever personally witnessed in Assembly Hall, ironically a victory. There almost seems to be an aura of apathy hovering within the place. “Ladies and gentlemen, Mojo has left the building!”