It’s a father-son bond, methinks.

If he has a very good year this team makes the dance. I really do believe that.

No pressure Pritch!

Watch the scrimmage on the link above, you will see Pritchard rolling to the basket with purpose. He scored on a dump down from Will one play where Tom did an excellent job of shielding off Cody to catch the pass and make the lay up. Another play he got it in the post and went right up with a nice hook attempt. He missed it but I think his confidence is very high.

I just can’t wait for the season.

Finally time to dust off our dancing shoes!

The injury to DE was a shocking surprise to learn AFTER the season ended. Almost seemed to me like it was a crutch to lean some poor stats on. Why not make an announcement about his injury and have him rest a few games..it’s not like our record was going to suffer. Shoot, we did that with Jones and Watford, so i’m buying the BS about how we needed his size.

Bottom line: EVERYONE will compete for time on the court this year since our roster is deeper and more talented. If DE takes minutes from TP, it’ll be because he simply improved in areas we need and TP did not. Or…the other way around. In an uptempo offense one still needs to get defensive rebounds to kick start the fast breaks. I think this actually bodes well for TP.

Last season TP, DE and BC avg 8.4 ppg and 8.7 rpg collectively.

YIKES

So it’s official, your man-love for The Pritch has your brain believing he can hang with Cody. Now that, my friends, is true love.

Let’s be real here.  DE was hurt last year and struggled down the stretch with a hernia, but he avg 4.9ppg and 3.7 rpg.  TP, HEALTHY, only gave us 2.5 ppg and 3.8 rpg.  DE stands to gain the most this year.  We need Elston’s athleticism in the game.  The only thing TP has on DE is defense.  TP is far superior, but if CTC can coach, DE will be remarkably better on D this season.

Last season TP, DE and BC avg 8.4 ppg and 8.7 rpg collectively.  The addition of CZ this season should increase the scoring by 10 ppg.

As long as DE doesn’t play Hack Attack basketball this season, he could work well with CZ on the floor and in the post since they both have solid jumpers.

IU will run more 3 and 4 guard offensive sets this season since CW is 6’8″ and the team wants to push the tempo. This doesn’t bode well for TP.

Agree completely, I said this last season and it applies this season, but the only thing on TP’s mind entering every game should be ‘post defense and lead the Big Ten in rebounding’. That’s all he should worry about, if he focuses on those two things then everything else will take care of itself. 

He’ll should get points off of o-boards and dishes from Hulls/Zeller or anyone else. But, all he should ever be concerned with is rebounding and defense. I think if he does that then he could have a very solid and successful senior season. 

Cody indeed ran the floor well however on at least 2 breakaway baskets he was out by the 3 pt line , not blocking out or competing w TP for the defensive rebound. Watch the scrimmage again.

Don’t know about you but I want my bigs to defend and compete for the rebound first , then run the floor.

I donot recall him scoring on TP at all from the field. Once he scored as TP was forced to defend a driving Jones and then the 2 foul shots on the bad call where TP takes a charge. His other FG was on Howard.

I recall TP may have blocked his shot and a foul called

TP hit a jumper on CZ out by the 3pt line and also beat him on a pick and roll.

Both players set some picks that worked.

I think whoever you heard things from may not have watched the scrimmage and noted where guys when they scored

I have watched that game several times and every time I swear that tongue is downright blue ………….. deserves all first team Cirque de Freak anyway

You mention his FR year and the reason he had success. But I don’t agree with that. TP looked very skilled as a FR. He was dominant in the post, confident and was very exciting to watch.

We really haven’t seen that since. Every category has fallen with better talent around. He has the ability and I really hope he harnesses it this season.

Indeed.  Weird to see a guy play his best during freshman season conference play and never reach that height again.  

Indeed. I keep trying to make sense of The Pritch and it’s not easy. That 233 shots as a freshman is a glaring statistic.The simple math tells you if he takes 233 shots instead of last years 61 and shoots 59% again, he is a double digit scorer. Is there enough shots to go around? Maybe not. But it sure is puzzling to see a guy shooting that high of a percentage taking so few shots.

I think so too- of course I want/hope Pritch to have more success offensively but staying on the court for defensive & rebounding is absolutely necessary for IU. With such thin depth on the front line, TP is a huge component for this team.

A whole lot better.  Although, if Creek played as well as he did against Kentucky for two full seasons, he might be in the NBA by now.