My Two Cents: On Easy Schedule, Overreacting To Few Good Minutes of Bench Play and More

Several random thoughts on Indiana basketball during finals week, with discussion on the schedule, the roles of Jordan Geronimo and Khristian Lander and the final Crossroads Classic.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — It's finals week, so things are quiet at Indiana, with no game until Saturday when the Hoosiers hook up with Notre Dame in the last Crossroads Classic in Indianapolis. Indiana is 8-2 thus far, but there's still a lot that we don't know about this team.

While we're waiting for Saturday, there's a few things that are on my mind. It's the holiday season, so I've been trying to be nice too, although the rampant negativity of this fan base can really get to me some days.

• BREAKING NEWS: Indiana and Kansas have set a home-and-home series. The two college basketball bluebloods will play in Lawrence in 2022 and in Bloomington in 2023. The games are basically replacing the Crossroads Classic. Here's the story, and series history. CLICK HERE

Here's a few quick thoughts:

Just deal with the schedule

I don't get how people who call themselves rabid IU basketball fans would refuse to watch last Sunday's game with Merrimack at Assembly Hall simply because they don't know anything about the Massachusetts school. This is how college basketball works, so just get over it already.

Would you rather, for instance, play South Dakota, Toledo, East Carolina, Murray State, Morehead State, Davidson, Miami of Ohio and Xavier? That's who Mike Woodson opened his four seasons with as a player at Indiana when Bob Knight made the schedule.

Woodson inherited the vast majority of this schedule, and it's the tweener year between good holiday trips. Last year it was the Maui Invitational — moved from Hawaii to Asheville, N.C. because of COVID — with games against Providence, Texas and Stanford. Sure, that was better, and they'll take another trip next year, with the early lean being an event at Madison Square Garden.

Sure, the schedule hasn't been overwhelming, and I even like more challenges. But Indiana isn't going to play Kentucky, that ship has sailed. In Woodson's first year, with his team learning new offensive and defensive schemes, this isn't a bad idea.

Sometimes when Indiana wins big, you blame the level of opposition. They beat Merricack by 32, but No. 5-ranked Gonzaga only beat them by 25. Rutgers, who's in the Big Ten with Indiana and just beat then No. 1-ranked Purdue, was LOSING to Merrimack at halftime before winning by 12. 

They are still games against college kids. There were still things to learn on Sunday, mostly getting another 40 minutes of work against a zone defense. There were things to gain. It's OK. 

"We're still learning how to win. When you start trying to build a team and you put different pieces in place, you don't know how long it's going to take,'' Indiana coach Mike Woodson said. "We're still a work in progress. We're still learning each other as players, me being the coach and the staff that I have around me. We just got to continue to work. That's all I can tell you.

"I think I've seen some good play from our ball club, I've seen some bad play. Again, that's a part of it. And each practice we just got to keep improving. I mean, that's the name of the game when you're talking about building a team. And even though we've lost two games, those two games were winnable games.''

All of these games so far against Syracuse and St. John's and Marshall and Louisiana taught the Hoosiers something that will help them down the road. So just relax, and enjoy it as it is. January will be here before you know it, and the Big Ten will be brutal night after night once again. Play catch with your dog every day instead of kicking him.

Jordan Geronimo still a work in progress

It's easy to look at the numbers and say Jordan Geronimo should be playing more after he scored 13 points and had 13 rebounds in the Merrimack win. But the sophomore from Newark, N.J., is still a major work in progress, and fans need to remember that.

He still gets lost in Woodson's offense far too often, and makes far too many mistakes. Sure, he has amazing athleticism and he showed that against Merrimack, but he also had five turnovers in a game (Louisiana) and had two turnovers almost immediately when he came off the bench against Marshall and Syracuse. Woodson had to yank him off the floor quickly.

In other words, you're not going to see Geronimo at crunch time in Big Ten games. Trayce Jackson-Davis and Race Thompson are always going to get the important minutes up front and don't even think that Geronimo should be starting on the wings ahead of Miller Kopp and/or Parker Stewart. That is NEVER going to be an option, not this year. He's not a good enough ballhandler or decision-maker to be playing out there on the wings.

He'll have moments like Sunday, but that will be that. He'll keep getting better, so just be patient with him.

Patience with Khristian Lander

Speaking of patience, you guys hear me talk all the time that Khristian Lander really is just a true freshman point guard in my book. And those who have seen practice since the summer are adamant that point guards Xavier Johnson and Rob Phinisee have been better in practice all along.

Lander is still very young. I think the worst thing that could have ever happened to him was getting bumped up to a five-star recruit after he committed to Indiana and then decided to enroll a year early.

He's still got a lot to learn about the college game. Johnson is much faster, and a much better scorer. Let's not forget that he's scored 1,254 college points. And Phinisee, though he's struggling with his shot, is a far better defensive player.

For this year, Lander is the third-string point guard and Woodson will only call upon him when foul trouble or injuries are an issue. Woodson and his staff are investing a ton of practice time in getting him better, but they don't have faith in him running the show right now on a regular basis. His mistakes in overtime at Syracuse really bothered Woodson, and that's hard to overcome.

So quit demanding that he play AHEAD of Johnson and Phinisee. That's not realistic, and it's not going to happen anytime soon. 

Farewell to Crossroads Classic

Saturday is the 10th and final Crossroads Classic at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, and I hate to see the event go. I know it's gotten stale to many fans, but I've loved the Indiana, Purdue, Notre Dame and Butler doubleheaders every year. It's been great to see all four teams play on the same day.

This year, No. 3-ranked Purdue will play Butler at Noon ET, with Indiana taking on Notre Dame in the nightcap at 2:30 p.m. Notre Dame is 4-4 on the season, but did beat then No. 10-ranked Kentucky on Saturday in South Bend.

Notre Dame lost to St. Mary's and Texas A&M in the Maui Jim Maui Invitational in Las Vegas in November, and then lost to Illinois in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. They also lost their ACC opener at Boston College. Their four wins thus far outside of Kentucky were against Cal State-Northridge, Chaminade and High Point.

See, everyone does it.

See you Saturday.