Why you shouldn’t be too worried about Trayce Jackson declaring for the draft. Short Thoughts.

No reason to go scorched Earth yet people. This is all part of the process for a guy in the position that TJD finds himself in. While many are freaking out that there goes another leaving, there is no reason to be seriously worried that Trayce won’t play for the Hoosiers just yet. While throwing his name into the draft may seem like his exit from Indiana to those unfamiliar with the process, I personally don’t believe he is all in on the draft just yet.

This is all Trayce Jackson-Davis jockeying himself for the best possible position after next season. While he declared this year, he has up until June 1 to back out and retain his eligibility. But having declared allows for him to workout with NBA programs and attend the combine next month. Doing all of this allows Trayce to get insight into where he stacks up talent wise, but more importantly gives him critiques to his game straight from the people drafting in today’s NBA. These workouts will be essential towards Trayce finding out just what he needs to address in his game to prepare for the league next year.

Who can blame him. If he’s still able to retain his eligibility and participate in pre draft activities, what is there to lose for him? I imagine he will continue to work out with the team and use the Indiana facilities and when he’s not he may be training with some elite NBA trainers and others that will definitely aid him and tell him exactly where he stands to improve in order to maximize his potential. By doing this process this year, and even attending the combine, he will be able to learn even more about the draft process. A practice draft for yourself isn’t a bad thing to have.

*We need these two both steering this ship next season*!

I don’t believe there is any way that we stand to lose Trayce next season. Trayce Jackson-Davis doesn’t seem to be on many mock drafts as of late, and he and his corner are well aware of this. No way they would put him in anything other than his best possible situation. And all things considered, Indiana is just that! Indiana by all barometers (albeit not very calibrated in the days of NIL deals) Indiana stands to be a team on the national radar next year. With young talent coming in, and a wide open transfer portal Indiana could put a mean team on the floor with Trayce at the helm.

Trayce knows how much Indiana fans love him and I think he’s one of the few guys on the squad that truly gets how prestigious a role, and how great an opportunity they have playing for the Hoosiers. He still stands to make more at Indiana under the Name Image and Likeness deals than he does playing in the G League. While I believe Trayce has NBA talent, and while I may be biased, I would think he wants to take this final year to put it all together with a contender and boost his profile playing on a hyped up Hoosiers team.

All of this to say, I do not speak for TJD! Whatever his next year holds I’ll be following it for sure… but man I really, really hope it’s in Assembly Hall. Trayce Jackson-Davis has absolutely earned his pinstripes in Bloomington. Here’s to his future and here’s to it hopefully being as the chief of the Indiana Hoosiers next season.

Looking forward to tons of “I’m Coming Home” tributes when he announces a return.

LUX ET VERITAS!

April 12, 2022 0

Let me convince myself this is a good move for Indiana. Thoughts on the Dane Fife dismissal.

So Dane Fife was dismissed from duty as assistant coach yesterday, and I’m sure most of us have seen the statements made. So I won’t dive into those any further. We’ve seen visible contention and frustration between Dane Fife and Mike Woodson this year. I just had no idea it was to this extent. So here’s just a few thoughts on the matter.

I’m going to first delve into some of my reservations before allowing to let my unrelenting loyalty to this program take over and convince myself this is a good thing. At the end of the day I’m just a self proclaimed fanboy who will ride with this team until the day the good Lord calls my number… heck even then, I’ll be using my totally awesome angel magic or whatever superpowers I get to help raise the Hoosiers’ shooting 5% at the least.

But on to my reservations…

This seems flippant. This seems illogical. After a long tenure as Michigan State Assistant, Dane Fife had decided to leave what looked like the heir apparent role for Tom Izzo. I was convinced this was to help Mike Woodson redefine a once storied program looking to get back to national relevancy. That’s the type of guy I personally would ride with. That’s the type of guy who will take chances and risk it for a cause he believes in, and one close to his heart.

I know the animosity between the two was sometimes visible, but I never thought that losing Dane was even on the radar. I for one thought that his decision to leave Tom Izzo and his ever so sweet role waiting in the wings would have bought him Mike Woodson’s loyalty for life. I thought we had the Robin to Mike Woodson’s Batman. It appears this was not the case.

If Tom Izzo held him in such high regard, he must be a great addition right?

And while this does seem like a gut punch out of the blue, I am beginning to almost delusionally sell myself on the idea that this is for the best…

For one, in his year at Indiana Dane Fife was unable to secure a single recruit. Now, I can’t speak to how difficult it may have been to get the guys that Woodson may have had Dane Fife targeting, because I’d imagine as our most recognizable assistant Woodson probably had him focused on some of the top tier guys. The same guys getting offers from programs firmly established, not programs looking to reassert themselves. So to be fair that sales pitch could be more difficult. But honestly. We need the guys who can get those guys in spite of that… we need some salesmen at assistant coach.

We need assistants who can get THE GUYS. Nothing less will get us to national prominence again. RECRUITING IS KING! In today’s NCAA you need a game changer or two that can dictate the game when it’s truly on the line. And if Mike Woodson doesn’t think Dane Fife was the guy to do it for us, we owe it to him and the program to trust the vision, until we can no longer do so.

Mike Woodson deserves the freedom to establish his network of lieutenants in the manner he sees fit. This isn’t a democracy, it’s an advised dictatorship. And honestly, that is how it has to be. In his first year, he’s got us trending upward. Give him every resource and allow him any action he needs to keep that trend elevating.

We don’t need some Head Coach-Assistant Head Coach tandem to lead us too our elusive 6th banner. I mean how many true HC-AC tandems are title winners? I’m going to say coaches are like quarterbacks, in that if you have two, you don’t have THE ONE. Yeah Dane Fife was a big name assistant, but assistants come and go, a program is defined by their leader.

Also it seems like this should weirdly be seen as a win for those among us who are convinced that we need to find “the next Bobby Knight”. This action should tell you that Mike Woodson is committed to creating a program that will be held to his standards and his expectations, under his direction and vision. So honestly in this regard this is a very “Bobby Knight” move. Being ruthless in the pursuit of athletic dominance is soooo Bobby.

On an almost totally unrelated note, while I’m starting to convince myself this is a good move, one thought that I’ve been having over the course of a few years now is I may think the answer to winning in today’s NCAA is not “the next Bobby Knight”. Sadly, I feel like the Bobby achetype may have no place in today’s NCAA landscape. It seems more and more that today’s top tier recruiting game is dictated by the carrot, not the stick. Seems more and more like the slimeball coaches are the ones finding ways to win, Calipari and Coach K being my prime examples. The priorities of these top athletes now seem more focused on “their brand” than a commitment to winning. Call me the oldest 29 year old you’ve ever heard, but they just don’t have the same priorities as they did back in the days of Bobby. So while reverting back to discipline and determination is Mike’s way, I can only hope at this point that this is the answer.

I really am hoping that all of this culminates in Mike Woodson establishing a program, nay a culture of commitment to excellence. Both on and off the court. His self imposed suspensions were my personal prime evidence of him willing to cut off a leg to stop an infection of unaccountability. Which I love. It’s Mike’s way or the highway now, for better or worse. He is looking to establish accountability at Indiana, in an age that accountability seems to be less and less of a priority for others. I will rooting for him to pull that off and I have to think I can’t be alone.

I really hope we can find the guys who will recruit with the best of them. But just lastly in regards to our breakup with Dane Fife (still always a Hoosier), I’ll ask you to ponder a quote from the oft revered thespian and cultural supericon Marilyn Monroe…

“Sometimes good things fall apart so better things could fall together.“

Here’s hopin’ your right Marilyn!

LUX ET VERITAS!!!

March 23, 2022 1

“In the midst of darkness, light persists” Gettin preachy on the hopelessly negative among Indiana Fans heading into the Purdue game.

Indiana fans are a flame right now. With message boards and Facebook as devisive as ever. The division isn’t about how the teams played as of late (we all know that has been piss poor), but how we all react to that performance. The loudest among us being trolls who comment before digesting. The thing is I can’t say it hasn’t been warranted. The other thing is… what the heck is frantically retreading it going to do to help the current situation? We all need our outlets. I get it. That’s why I bought this site. So I could rant and vent long form, into the ether, on just how Indiana can destroy me week after week, but I make sure all angles are covered and I still got my team’s back.

The loudest haters have lost all hope. What is fun about sports without hope? I remember my freshman year on Bloomington’s miraculous campus. I had really hoped for team success. Wasn’t promised it, but had hoped for it. I happened to attend a game on Dec. 10th that year. 2011. And I think everyone who follows IU religiously will know whether that hope paid off or not.

Ghandi (noted civil rights leader and potentially posthumously cancelled individual) once said “in the midst of darkness, light persists”. I think no quote better exemplifies my overall sentiment heading into the Hoosiers’ bout against the Boilermakers tomorrow.

Going into this game. Indiana has been absolutely demoralized. Beaten down by the cruelest mistress in the game, squandered potentential. And as clear as it is to all of us, it is to them too. They know they are coming out slow each and every 2nd half. It’s the craziest case of program wide yips ive seen in a while. But what’s the fun in all this without hope.

You all can try to put out the hint of light remaining for this season all you want. Us real ones are gonna be here stoking it. When… and that is WHEN banner #6 comes, we’ll have the receipts. I ride with this team. Because it’s my team. May be dumb and I may be hypocritical to some extent on more knee jerk reactions. But at the end of the day the Hoosiers are my squad. And I’m going to hold onto my hope that we go into Mackey and handle our business.

In the words of the great Dr. Martin Luther King, “We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.” You don’t agree with that guy?! Get outta here.

Down with Purdue!

LUX ET VERITAS!!!

March 4, 2022 0

Michael Pittman Jr. named Colts’ most improved player this season by Pro Football Focus

Pittman Jr., who finished with 88 receptions for 1,082 yards and six touchdowns, was named the Colts’ most improved player Feb. 17 by Pro Football Focus, edging out Taylor and the likes of linebacker Bobby Okereke and cornerback Isaiah Rodgers for the distinction. A second-round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft out of Southern California, Pittman Jr. emerged as a true No. 1 receiver under head coach Frank Reich and offensive coordinator Marcus Brady in his second year in the NFL.
Josh Carney, si.com

I gotta say, not the obvious choice. But I’d say probably the best choice. I mean don’t get me wrong Jonathon Taylor had one of the greatest seasons of all time *Kanye voice*, but we all new last year JT23 was a stud. So I like them not choosing him outright. And, while really observing the Indianapolis Colts you can see why Pittman got the nod.

Pittman definitely took a leap forward in his game from last year. A 1,000 yard season is nothing to scoff at. I mean, we all knew he had special talent last year, as we all saw small glimpses of it from time to time. These glimpses have been snowballing in order to present themselves more and more each and every Sunday. While his stats improved significantly, it’s his impact on the other aspects of the game that have also begun to really shine. His growth has demanded more attention from opposing secondaries. When more and more attention is spent on 1 receiver, the rest of that receiving corp gets less and less defensive attention. Now its just a matter of getting someone to aid Michael Pittman some help in the form of a receiver who can truly capitalize on this lessening attention.

This continuing development of Michael Pittman’s game is essential to the success of the Colts’ offense this coming season. In Pittman, I believe we’ve found our 3rd down receiver. He will need to become a certified target man that demands double team attention if we want to have the rest of the field open. Like opening the deep ball if the Colts’ are able to go get the deep threat they so desperately need. His continuing development won’t only make his game better, but the game of everyone else around him better as well. While Wide Receiver remains a top priority for Chris Ballard and the Colts’ front office, we can see that we’ve got half of that position figured out when we drafted Pittman. Now its just a matter of getting the deep threat and support guys that we want.

You’ve got to love Michael Pittman Jr. getting his shine. His work over the last two years has really paid off and his game is improving each and every day it seems. Only problem is now with Carson Wentz all but out the door, the Indianapolis Colts don’t know who is our deep threat to capitalize on Michael Pittman’s attention grabbing game, we also don’t know who will be trying to throw those deep threats and 10 yard targets to Michael Pittman Jr. Time to get this figured out and really show out next season. Ballard’s job may depend on it.

February 24, 2022 0