My Two Cents: Readers' Final Grades on Indiana Aren't Much Different

One of the greatest things about Indiana's fan base is that they're always willing to share their opinions, and it's no different through our "Final Grades' series.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — For the past few weeks, we've broken down all of Indiana's roster and how they performed during the Hoosiers' season that ended too quickly with a 20-12 record. The response from readers has been great, with one somewhat shocking trend.

For the most part, you all agreed with me.

Stunning. Especially with this diverse love 'em/hate 'em fan base.

There was great debate throughout the series, especially with unnerving players like Devonte Green and Justin Smith. The most criticism I got probably came from my story on Green, which was the first one in the series, in that I graded him too high. His B-plus grade was second-highest on the team when it was all said and done, and several people — especially the "Green Light'' haters — strenously disagreed with me. There was a touch of that with Justin Smith, too.

No one seemed to have a problem with Trayce Jackson-Davis getting the only A grade, must like no one minded me giving Damezi Anderson the only D. Only Jackson-Davis really stood out, and only Anderson became a non-factor by the time it was all said and done.

Here are the grades I doled out. (If you haven't read the stories yet, just click on the player's name to take you right there.)

The A group (1)

• Trayce Jackson-Davis (A-minus): Freshman forward 

The B group (7)

• Devonte Green (B-plus): Senior guard
• Al Durham (B): Junior guard
• Joey Brunk (B): Junior forward
• Jerome Hunter (B): Redshirt freshman forward 
• Justin Smith (B-minus): Junior forward
• Rob Phinisee (B-minus): Sophomore guard
• Race Thompson (B-minus): Redshirt sophomore forward

The C group (2)

• Armaan Franklin (C-plus): Freshman guard
• Deron Davis (C): Senior forward

The D group (1)

• Damezi Anderson (D): Sophomore forward

One of the great things about doing a series like this is getting all that feedback from a very  knowledgeable and passionate fan base, across a half-dozen or so different digital homes. Here's some of the best comments on a handful of topics:

Trayce getting the only A

There's no question in my mind that Trayce Jackson-Davis earned his A-minus grade. There's also no question that no one else did. There were others who had moments, but he was the only one who really stood out all season.

• "Tom, you are so right about him. I think coming into the season most fans would have said he would be IU's best player. He is the smoothest lefty I've seen play since Calbert Cheaney.'' — Keith Stum 
• "We're close Tom. As a freshman stud I gave him an A. Free throws have to improve. Plus some games he was transparent. Trayce needs fed every game." — Marty Richardson

Too high of a grade for Devonte

I said it then and I'll say it now. I was always willing to take the good with the bad with Devonte Green. Many of you weren't. He got the only B-plus, too, which seems a little odd. I pondered pushing a few up, but they didn't reach that standard. For many of you, Green didn't either. I'll politely disagree, but I'll give you your say.

• "My guess is you will get a ton of blow back from this. None from me, I think you are spot on." — Tom Jonas 
• "I have mad respect for the young guy, the way the kid handled a few of those pressers along with some of the things that were said about him. You just gotta hand it to the kid, but here's that but ... and let's be honest here folks. The kid hurt us as much, if not more, than he helped us. I'm not going to go into all that, we all watched it too many times.. I'm not railing on the young guy, he was as exciting as hell to watch when he was on, but it was equally as frustrating when he wasn't.'' — Jim Hess
• "Missed shots I can handle, even if silly selection. It’s when coupled with silly ball handling is when people went nuts on him. You can miss shots and have off nights but you can’t compound it with turnovers. Seems like a nice kid though, wish him well!'' — Keith Favre 

Frustration over Justin Smith

Junior forward Justin Smith probably deserved a better grade than a B-minus, at least based on statistics. But I dinged him a little bit for simply expecting so much more from him.'

Many fans would have dinged him even more. 

• "Justin reminds me of a Football player that also plays basketball. Athletic, good on Defense, but not a consistent jumper or touch in traffic. I still like him when he plays the game he’s good at.'' — Jon Robling 
• "First off...I really like this kid. All the athletic ability in the world. Which brings me to my biggest complaint. Why doesn't he finish hard to the hoop more? He can jump out of the gym! He was my preseason pick last year to improve the most and I think he's my choice again next season.'' — Don Bildhauser
• "He just doesnt have the killer instinct it takes to make him a special player. The writing has been on the wall for years, but we know it's not going to happen. "Too soft" and disappears way too many times throughout a game.'' — Brian Ritchie 

One last breakdown on this roster

We've broken down this group individually, but what about collectively? How do we look at this season?

This team finished 20-12 in Archie Miller's third season, which is a step up from 19-16 and 16-15 in his first two years. Had the NCAA tournament not been canceled, they would have been in it for the first time since 2016. And if you believe those simulations, they might won a few games, too.

There's no question that there's a feel of some unfinished business with this group, mostly because there were some really nice moments the past few weeks of the season. There was certainly that feel that this teams might do something special.

Or not.

The most frustrating thing about this 2019-20 team was that it had a handful of games won that they simply let slip away in the final minutes. Arkansas? Check. Maryland? Check? Wisconsin? Check. And all three on their home floor, no less. It's that negative that will always haunt this team.

It's also the thing that I really want to see change going forward. Can you imagine if those losses were wins? They should have been. And an Indiana team at 23-9 would have probably been a 5 or 6 seed.

There's plenty of potential with this group, and it's going to be interesting to see how they progress, both individually and collectively. Many of the comments through this season blamed the lack of player development on the coaches, and that's fair. 

It's the same with handling the final minutes of games so poorly. This group, especially the older guys, haven't played in a lot of games that really mattered. Now they have. Same with the young guys. Trayce Jackson-Davis is going to be a star next year, and the others will raise their games as well.

The optimist in me sees good things coming. It's also going to be a long wait until November to find out if we're right or not.

But this year? It was a blast, it really was. It was good to be back.

More than a moment.
Our memories together will last a lifetime.#OneShiningMoment | #IUBB pic.twitter.com/rfAwfh0DdI

— Indiana Basketball (@IndianaMBB) March 16, 2020