IU 71 Ball St 57

Before we get to the report card, let's cover a few odds & ends. First, the poll questions have been updated and I am interested to see some of the voting results as we head into the Big Ten. Also, I am leaving the Knight question out there for a few reasons: (1) He hasn't actually broken the record yet (2) He might say something really crass after he breaks the record (3) Some people may not have seen that poll question over the holidays Switching gears to some prized recruits -- IU recruit Eric Gordon and Purdue recruit E'twaun Moore squared off recently. Gordon netted a career-high 50 points to lead North Central to the victory. He was 17-24 from the field including 4-7 from the arc, 12-13 from the line, and added 11 rebounds. Moore had 28 in a losing effort, but he took 30 shots including 2-15 from the arc. Now, on to the game. Not exactly the most exciting game, but they've now won 4 in a row to get their record to 9-3 heading into Big Ten play. They will certainly have to play at another level when they go to Ohio State on Tuesday night. I think it will be an interesting game. D.J.'s best game this year was against Randolph Morris and Kentucky, so hopefully he can play well against Oden and Ohio State. Also, it will be interesting to see if IU's defense can hold OSU in check or will they simply have too much talent. All I know is that I am really looking forward to the Big Ten season because these last 3 Hoosier games have kind of been snoozers. A couple very scary moments in this game that I am hoping don't lead to any bad news over the next couple of days -- Ratliffe and Wilmont both took very ugly spills in this game. Ratliffe went up to try to block a shot and got twisted around and landed with all his weight on his left arm. This was only 2 minutes into the second half and he did not return. They were looking at his left wrist. They good news is that they never took him back to the locker room, he just sat on the bench with ice on it. Hopefully, he will be good to go on Tuesday. Wilmont was driving in for a layup when he got twisted around in mid-air and landed awkwardly in his leg. To me, it initially looked like a definite ACL-type knee injury. He was in some pain initially, but then got up, shot his free throws, and stayed in the game. But you never know how adrenalin can keep you going, but then it swells up the next day. So keep your fingers crossed that everyone is ready to play on Tuesday. Overall Team Performance: C- This game was tied at 22-22 with 5 minutes to go in the 1st half, but then the Hoosiers closed out the half with a 12-0 run. They followed that up with a 19-6 run to start the second half and this game was over. Ball State hit a few 3s late in the game to make it only a 14-point victory but the game was never in doubt after IU's big run. Just like the fans are ready for Big Ten basketball, it looks like the team is ready for Big Ten basketball. I'm not saying that to mean they played at a high level, more from the standpoint of they are ready to play in those intense big games. Western Michigan, IUPUI, and Ball St back-to-back-to-back were nice for the win columns, but they aren't the easiest games to get up for as a player. That said, there is no reason that they shouldn't be beating these teams by 40 or 50 and that worries me a little. If they don't starting playing a full 40 minutes of basketball, they are going to have a long year in conference play. D.J. White: B- Ball State outrebounded IU tonight and D.J. had 0 rebounds in the first half. That's unacceptable. He did bounce back with 4 boards in the 2nd half and had a pretty good night from the floor with 16 points on 7-10 shooting. A couple big dunks and a few blocked shots never hurts either. Lance Stemler: B- Had some foul trouble, but it was good to see him knock down 2-3 from the arc. He had that 3 game slump where he couldn't throw it in the ocean, but all other games he has shown that he will knock down the trey when he gets a good look. He's definitely one of the keys that could make or break this Hoosier team. If he has a hot shooting night, this team will be tough to beat. Roderick Wilmont: C+ Led the team in rebounding again with 7 and managed to get his 12 points. However, he seemed to be just going through the motions sometimes. He also gets docked for two of the biggest bricks from the line that I have ever seen. He is just flat out a horrible free throw shooter. By rule, you can do whatever you want in the half-circle to shoot a free throw as long as you do it within 10 seconds. I think Rod should try a dribble, spin move, dribble, jumper for his free throws because toeing the line just isn't working for him. A.J. Ratliffe: B- Only 13 minutes due to leaving the game with the left wrist injury. Had a decent game going with 8 points up to that point. Just did some quick internet searching to get his injury status: Sampson said after the game that X-rays were being taken and that the hand received the impact, not the wrist. The X-rays ended up being negative and he is a game-time decision for Tuesday against Ohio State. Earl Calloway: C+ Just average. Had some sloppy plays, but played decent overall. Did hit 2-3 from downtown which was good to see. If he can hit a couple outside shots every now and then, teams won't be able to play off of him. Armon Bassett: C+ Similar to Earl, just an average game with some good and some bad. Errek Suhr: D+ 18 minutes of nothin'. Ben Allen: C- Didn't enter the game until 11 minutes to go and IU leading by 25 points. There's a good chance he will have to see significant minutes in the Ohio State game and it worries the shit out of me that Sampson hasn't yet found a way to get him to provide some type of production. Mike White: C Nothing but the final 6 garbage minutes of the game. Sampson really hates this guy. Joey Shaw: B A little surprising, but Shaw also didn't enter the game until 11 minutes to go and IU leading by 25 points. However, he came in and was very active. So active that he managed to commit 4 fouls in his first 4 minutes of play. However, he also drew 3 fouls and knocked down 5 of 6 freebies. Add in a dunk and another field goal and suddenly he had 9 points and 3 rebounds in only 9 minutes of play. Xavier Keeling: B+ He was actually first off the bench when Stemler and D.J. got in a little foul trouble. Again, "X" was on the floor when the Hoosiers went on their 12-0 run to close out the first half. During that run, he forced 2 turnovers and had a nice assist on the fast break. He also had a great play where he legally screened a defender on a 3-on-2 fast break so that Shaw could get to the basket with an easy layup. Kelvin Sampson: C+ It's tough to grade a coach after 3 cupcake teams. We will quickly see if Sampson has this team ready by opening Big Ten play with OSU, MSU, & PU. Telecast: F I usually Tivo these games so that I can watch them after the boys go to bed to avoid any distractions (and to avoid being a bad father). But I now honestly think that I would rather hear "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy, Daddy, Daddy, Daddy, Daddy, Daddy, Hey Daddy, Daddy, Daddy, Watch this Daddy, Daddy, Daddy, Daddy, Daddy, Hey Daddy, DADDY, DADDY, DADDY, DADDY, HEY DADDY, DADDY, DADDY, DADDY, WATCH THIS DADDY, DADDY!, DADDY!, DADDY!, HEY DADDY!, DADDY!, DADDY!, WATCH THIS DADDY!, DADDY!!!!!, DADDY!!!!!, DADDY!!!!!, HEY DADDY!!!!!, DADDY!!!!!, DADDY!!!!!, WATCH THIS DADDY!!!!! At least then I wouldn't have to listen to Laskowski and whatever poor schlep of a play-by-play guy that they stick with him. In tonight's game, the play-by-play guy is calling the game and says "Wilmont for a wide-open 3, it's GOOD!" Laskowski follows that up with "he really likes the wide open shot" in his library-voice. Pathetic. And the play-by-play guy kept referring to Sampson as Calvin. I know it's not quite as common as John or Tom, but if you look at Kelvin and say Calvin, there's something wrong with you. Poll Questions The results of last week's other poll questions were 4 votes for IU beating Ball St by 11-20 points (CORRECT), 3 votes for a 21+ blowout victory, and 1 vote for a loss. Also, it was a unanimous vote for Testicle Tech as Ball State's new name. Go Hoosiers!

IU 86 IUPUI 57

Sorry for the delay in getting the post-game report card posted....I gave my staff the week off for the holidays. Anyway, I didn't even know that IUPUI had a basketball team. The only 5 things I know about IUPUI are: (1) It should always be pronounced "Ooooey-Poooey" (2) Kristin & Troy competed several times at their world-class pool. I believe it was called the "swimatorium" (3) We used to park near IUPUI when going to Colts games. (4) I can't remember #4. Maybe I only know 4 things about IUPUI. (5) Indiana University and Purdue University go together like Jack Daniels and sour gummi worms. Who ever thought this was a good idea. That would be like an NFL team named GBPCBR (Green Bay Packers Chicago Bears @ Racine). Anyway, on to the game. It was an easy win for the Hoosiers as they jumped out to an early 10 point lead and never looked back. Calloway and Bassett were again aggressive with the ball, which makes a big difference in the team's offensive play. Calloway continually got to the rim in the first half and scored 17 of his 21 in the first half. Bassett had a good all-around game with 20 points and 5 assists. But the best thing to see in this game was Stemler finally break out of his slump with 21 points and 9 rebounds. Overall Team Performance: B IU won this game easily but that is what you expect against Oooey-Poooey. I didn't think the defense was quite as good as they have been in other games. They only managed 1 steal and only forced 7 turnovers. D.J. White: C+ Yet another game where he just doesn't quite look like his old self. Lance Stemler: A Broke out of his slump in a big way. It is clear that the Hoosiers will need Stemler to play well if they are going to have a good Big Ten season. Roderick Wilmont: C 0-6 from the field, but he did grab 9 rebounds. A.J. Ratliffe: B- Starting to get a little more consistency out of Ratliffe, which is good to see. Earl Calloway: A- Had an outstanding first half. His best games have come against Lafayette and IUPUI. He needs to play at this level against OSU and MSU. Armon Bassett: A- This kid can flat out play. Bendeman: B+ Came back from mono and had a couple nice buckets. Joey Shaw: C- Shaw hasn't really been able to get anything going recently. Everybody else was pretty much a non-factor in garbage minutes. Kelvin Sampson: B- Poll Results Most hated team: 7 votes for Purdue 3 votes for Kentucky 2 votes for Duke 0 votes for Illinois Over/Under on IU winning by 23 points: 8 votes for Over -- CORRECT 5 votes for Under Grading team's performance year-to-date: 8 votes for C 4 votes for B 1 vote for D Go Hoosiers!

IU 77 W. Michigan 69

Well, it's a team that I think they should have beat by 20 or more, but a win is a win. Another horrible first half for the Hoosiers -- they were losing the entire half and were down 30-27 at the half. Clearly, they got it going in the 2nd half by putting up 50 points. I thought the main thing that changed the game was the aggressive 2nd half play by Calloway and Bassett. They were aggressive with the ball and that led to a lot of points. IU has been getting contributions from about 8 guys per game so far this year. But tonight, it was just 5 players that did all the damage -- Calloway, Bassett, Wilmont, Ratliffe, and DJ were all in double-figures. Nobody else scored except for Stemler and he only had 2 points on a layup. Overall Team Performace: C- Kind of a tough grade for a win, but really it's a pretty easy grade to assign because it was a clear-cut F in the 1st half followed by an A- in the 2nd half. 20 minutes of basketball just isn't going to cut it in the Big Ten. D.J. White: B+ 16 points, 12 rebounds, and 5 blocked shots. Those numbers speak for themself. He did an excellent job helping out and blocking shots, but he did a relatively poor job on his own man. That's a tough task when you're being asked to bail out your teammates, but he still needs to do a better job on his own man. Even so, this is exactly the type of performance we need out of D.J. Lance Stemler: D- Managed to make a wide open layup which is his only basket in the last 3 games. After 0-3 from the arc tonight, that makes him 0 for his last 11 on 3-point attempts. He also had 3 turnovers in just 15 minutes. Those results earned him some splinters in the 2nd half. He was brought here to shoot and just appears to be in a slump right now. Tonight's looks were good ones, he just couldn't get them to go down. He'll be back. Roderick Wilmont: B- Good numbers with 14 points and 6 rebounds, but those seemed to be the only plays where he did anything worthwhile. To say that Wilmont operates with a green light would be an understatement. After he scores a quick 5 points to push IU's 6-point lead to an 11-point lead (their largest of the game at that point), he proceeds to jack up some deep 3s on the next two possessions and misses both. It was late enough in the game that IU probably should have run some offense to take a little time off the clock and make sure they got a good shot. But then again, that's what I love about Wilmont. If he had hit one of those to give him 8 straight points and IU a 14-point lead, that place would have erupted. It didn't quite work out that way tonight, but he still had some key buckets in their spurt to take the double-digit lead. A.J. Ratliffe: A- Sampson challenged him to have back-to-back good games and he responded. What I really like to see is that you can tell he is playing with confidence. He had 4 or 5 moves tonight that were so silky-smooth, you could tell he was just playing. He wasn't over-thinking, he wasn't tentative, he was just playing. I've complained in the past that he is athletic enough and talented enough that he should be filling the b0x score. Well, how's this for a stat line -- 13 points, 7 boards, 2 assists, 3 steals, 2 blocks, and 0 turnovers. It should also be noted that Ratliffe had a nice tomahawk jam on a break-away. Earl Calloway: B+ Earl was up and down tonight, but there was definitely more good than bad. I like it when he plays aggressively. I'm willing to accept a few mistakes if he is playing aggressively and making things happen. He did just that tonight. He had his mistakes -- 4 turnovers and some over-agressive defense led to some easy W. Michigan layups. However, that aggressive play also led to 20 points, 3 assists, and 4 steals. Those 20 points included 10-11 from the line. He can stop shooting 3s though. Unless he starts hitting a couple, I think he is better off taking it to the rack even if he is wide open. Armon Bassett: B+. Wait, correction to an A- for the dunk. Along with Calloway's aggressive play, I think Bassett's effort in the 2nd half may have been the biggest factor in IU pulling out the victory tonight. All 12 of Bassett's points came in the 2nd half on 5-7 shooting. I don't have a very good memory, but I remember all 5 of Bassett's baskets because they were all big-time plays. He was nailing jumper after jumper off the dribble and they were nothing but net. And then he also got out on a break-away and had a nice two-handed dunk. He even added a little flare to it. It was "get out of the recliner" good. I played it back 10-12 times on the Tivo. To me, seeing a little guy dunk in basketball is like a triple in baseball. Something about seeing a little guy get up and throw it down is impressive. Errek Suhr: D Played 10 minutes and literally had all zeroes in the box score except 2 fouls. It almost looked like mono had caused Ben Allen to shrink by a foot. Shaw, M. White, Keeling: D Each played 5 mintues, each did nothing. Kelvin Sampson: C+ You just can't go a whole half without getting something going. A 4 or 5 minute stretch is one thing, but a whole half is a problem. Of course, the players missed a lot of wide open looks in the 1st half. I think they were 2-13 from the arc at halftime and most (if not all) of those 13 shots were good open looks. It's hard to peg that on the coach. I really liked the halftime adjustment -- he clearly told Calloway and Bassett to be aggressive with the ball. They were driving the ball and good things were happening. They would either finish themselves, go to the foul line, or kick for easy shots. This is the way they should be playing offense all the time. You have to put pressure on the defense by driving the ball. I'd like to see more of this philosophy. Telecast: F How in the world is Laskowski getting paid to do IU games? I just don't understand it. He has updated from "stuff shot" to "dunk shot". Wow, so exciting. And then you had the yahoo doing the play-by-play. I don't even know who that was, but when Mike White entered the game, he said that Mike Davis entered the game. That's not a funny thing to say to us scarred IU fans. Poll Results Favorite Hoosier on this year's team: 6 votes - D.J. 6 votes - Wilmont 1 vote - Shaw 1 vote - Suhr IU will beat W. Michigan by: 2 votes for 1-12 points -- CORRECT 8 votes for 13-25 points 1 vote for 26-plus points 1 vote for IU losing Current opinion of the Sampson hire: 3 votes for excellent hire, program is headed back to elite status 9 votes for liking it, but need to see proof on the court 2 votes for could've done better, could've done worse 0 votes for hating it Go Hoosiers!

IU 57 SIU 47

I don't care if it's ugly as long as it is a W. A solid win for the Hoosiers tonight as they knock off a pretty good Southern Illinois team. I have to admit that I was a little surprised by our poll results that had all 12 voters picking the Hoosiers to win this game. SIU came into this game at 7-1 and ranked #30 in the country. They are a team that returned all 5 starters from a year ago and have held their opponents to an average of 51 points per game. If you like defense, you would have loved this game. If you like offense, well, this one was pretty ugly. But if you're a Hoosier fan, you have to be happy. It looked like the free throw shooting might kill the Hoosiers. At one point, they were 10-21 and it looked like the poor FT shooting might cost them the game. Fortunately, as they made their run in the 2nd half, they hit 9 of their last 10 to keep the game out of reach. Clearly, the key point in the game was the 12-0 run that the Hoosiers went on after a 39-39 tie. This pushed it to 51-39 and IU finally started to hit their freebies to keep the game in double-digits the rest of the way. I had the pleasure of watching the game with my fellow Hoosier alums here in Milwaukee (Harrells, Prifogles, and Pearce/Wolf). We were calling for Wilmont to get in the game in the 2nd half. Even though he hadn't done anything until that point, it looked like the Hoosiers needed a spark to get them over the hump. Sure enough, Wilmont comes in and hits a big 3 and pulls down several boards and the Hoosiers were off and running. I don't know how big of a win this is, but I do know that a loss would have been devastating. Now, IU just needs to take care of business in their next 3 games and they can head into conference play at a respectable 9-3. Overall Team Performance: B+ Defense was outstanding. They won the rebounding battle again. They won the turnover battle -- not sure about final stats but IU was around an acceptable 10 turnovers and forced about 20 SIU turnovers. On the down side, the free throws were giving me heart failure. Also, I know SIU plays good defense, but IU's first half offense was ridiculous -- 6 points in the first 10 minutes of the game. I know Shaw hit a 3 on their first or second possession, so that means they only scored 3 points over the next 8 or 9 minutes. Of course, IU's solid defense kept them in the game during that horrible offensive stretch. D.J. White: D Only 4 rebounds in 36 minutes. 2-6 from the line. 4 turnovers (although a couple of those traveling calls were mysteries). Had 2 monster dunks on nice feeds from teammates, but only managed 1 other field goal. Also committed 2 bonehead fouls. Clearly not D.J.'s best night. Lance Stemler: D Talk about going cold. He is now gone "0-for" in his last 2 games. Roderick Wilmont: B+ By now, I am sure you realize -- I love this guy. I really think he is a game-changer and it is only a matter of time before he sparks an IU run. Tonight, he had 7 or 8 rebounds in only 19 minutes and had a big 3 to start IU's big 12-0 run. Joey Shaw: C- Hit a 3 right at the start of the game and then did not score again. Had back-to-back turnovers at the start of the 2nd half. One thing I like about Shaw is that he draws fouls. In the first half, I think he drew 5 non-shooting fouls. Unfortunately, on the one that got IU into the first half bonus, he missed the front end. Earl Calloway: B Did a really nice job taking care of the basketball tonight. Missed a point blank layup, that always drives me crazy. Even though Tatum for SIU had a big night, I thought Earl made him really work for it. Armon Bassett: B+ Not a great shooting night, but he created some things out there. In an ugly game like this, you need guys to make some things happen and Armon did that tonight. He also hit all 4 of his free throws. A.J. Ratliffe: B+ Again, on a night where nothing is going to come easy, you need guys who will step up and make some shots. Even thought he banked one in high off the glass from straight on, Ratliffe did manage to know down 3 out of 4 triples on the night. He did only go 3-6 from the line including a few that nearly gave me an aneurism. I think A.J. and D.J. combined for a 2-9 FT stretch. Xavier Keeling: B Keeling got some unexpected minutes and played pretty well. He didn't light up the place, but he was active and really showed some potential. Bendeman: no grade I had to check the box score because sometimes I think he didn't play but he actually played 25 minutes -- usually it's just the fact that he doesn't do anything, so I don't notice him. Tonight, he actually did not play. I know he had the flu when they played Kentucky, but that was 8 days ago. I didn't hear them say anything about him tonight, but Will & Drew were on a sugar-high from eating Xmas cookies, so we couldn't really here the telecast. 40 cent: no grade Looks like Mike White is back in the dog-house again. It also looks like he has been coaching the rest of the team on his FT shooting technique. Errek Suhr: no grade I'm glad to see that Sampson hasn't completely fallen in love with Suhr. I certainly like Suhr more than some (especially Cook). However, I certainly don't think he should be a starter or even get many minutes. I think he should come in the game occassionally to try to give the team a spark when nothing else is working. If this team wants to contend in the Big Ten and be a tournament team, they need Calloway and Bassett to step up and play well on a consistent basis. Again, I like Suhr and think he works his ass off, he just shouldn't be a starter or key reserve on a team that wants to get back to elite status. Kelvin Sampson: B+ I liked that Sampson looked absolutely disgusted when they were missing all those free throws. Even though they won by 10 and made 9 our of their last 10 free throws, you could tell that these guys are going to shoot free throws and run sprints all day long in practice. I also liked the move to the 1-3-1 defense in the 2nd half. At first, I questioned why change the defense when that seems to be the only thing that is going well. The man-to-man defense had only given up about 30 points in 30 minutes of play -- pretty damn good. But the move to the 1-3-1 forced some turnovers rather than just forcing difficult shots and that also played a part in the game-breaking 12-0 run. Poll Results: As mentioned earlier, all 12 voters kept the faith and accurately predicted tonight's victory. As for the Big Dance, 3 voters think the Hoosiers are a no-brainer, 8 voters think they're in as a bubble team, and 1 voter thinks they'll be on the outside looking in. I hate to look back to that Kentucky disaster, but 8 voters thought that IU's horrendous 3-point shooting was the key factor in the loss. 2 votes for easy baskets for KY, and 1 vote for the poor execution down the stretch. Next game is Wednesday evening against Western Michigan. Go Hoosiers!

Kentucky 59 IU 54

rI'll let everyone else do a lot of the commenting and analysis....I feel like someone kicked me in the "man zone". I love the 3-ball, but obviously that killed the Hoosiers today. Also, even though their defense was agressive, they had too many break-downs for easy Kentucky baskets. Overall Team Performance: F It's Kentucky. The only thing that matters is whether you win or lose. D.J. White: A This is what we want out of DJ. Too bad nobody else showed up to help him. Joey Shaw: B Some nice plays late in the game gave the Hoosiers a chance. Roderick Wilmont: C His back-to-back 3s cut tied the game in the 2nd half, but couldn't make the big plays down the stretch. Earl Calloway: C- Active and disruptive. Errek Suhr: D+ Had some nice plays on loose balls, etc. But also had some piss-poor plays. Armon Bassett: D+ Didn't really notice him doing a whole hell of a lot. Mike White (aka 40 cent): D+ Not a whole lot going on here, either. A.J. Ratliffe: D- Two nice tip-ins, but was horrible otherwise. Lance Stemler: F I'm hoping that it is later reported that he suffered another concussion in the first few minutes of the game. Kelvin Sampson: F Like I said, it's Kentucky. The coach is measured by whether you win or lose. Also, the last 3 possessions for the Hoosiers were horrible. I would have hoped that the Duke game would have served as more of a teaching opportunity on how to handle those situations. Poll Question Results Mike White Nickname:

1. 40 Cent - 8 votes
2. Double H - 4 votes
3. Tupac Sha'Block - 3 votes
4. Da Brick House - 1 vote
5. Moye 2.0 - 0 votes

IU beat Kentucky?

Yes - 10 votes

No - 6 votes

Most HATED Kentucky player

1. Tayshaun Prince - 3 votes
2. Rex Chapman - 3 votes
3. Patrick Sparks - 3 votes
4. Richie Farmer - 3 votes
5. Scott Padgett - 2 votes
6. Travis Ford - 1 vote
7. Jamal Mashburn - 1 vote
8. Antoine Walker - 1 vote
9. Tony Delk - 0 votes
10. Nazr Mohammed - 0 votes

Kentucky Pre-Game

A couple quick notes before IU's big game with Kentucky tomorrow. IU's Last Trip to Lexington The last time the Hoosiers went into Lexington was the highest point of IU basketball in the last decade. It was 2002 when the Hoosiers went into Lexington for the Sweet 16. It was the classic game where Indiana came back from a 17-point deficit to beat Duke. After beating Duke on a Thursday, all the Duke fans cleared out of town. Suddenly, a town that bleeds Kentucky blue was taken over by a sea of red. I'm sure there were Kentucky fans grabbing their shotguns….fortunately, it was cold that weekend and we all know that Kentucky fans don't have shoes. That Saturday, Rupp Arena turned into a home game for IU as they cruised to a win over Kent State to head to the Final Four. IU hit something like 15 threes in that game. Tom was in attendance for both games and then several of us joined him on the weekend. I'll never forget the time that the entire town of Lexington, Kentucky was engulfed by Hoosier Hysteria. It wasn't just a sea of red in the arena, the entire town was red -- every restaurant, every bar, the streets, the sidewalks -- all red. It was the greatest live sporting event of my life. True Story A couple weeks ago, I am riding an exercise bike at the YMCA. In walks a guy wearing a blue Kentucky Wildcats t-shirt. All of the sudden, I realize that I am glaring at this guy with the most evil stare that a good clean-cut all-American boy like myself can muster up. The funny thing was that I think I was giving him this look for a good 5-7 seconds without even realizing it. So, here I am in Wisconsin (in an IU t-shirt I might add), looking at this guy like he just personally paid me life's greatest insult for wearing a Kentucky t-shirt in a Wisconsin YMCA. Fortunately (for him), I believe he only caught a glimpse of my evil stare and kept walking. Since that time, I have seen that same guy at the YMCA a few more times. Even though he has not had a Kentucky shirt on, I still see him and think to myself "there's that Kentucky a-hole again". Admittedly, some of my stories bend the truth at times. But this story of the subconsious evil stare is 100% true. Poll Questions The poll questions are tight and the Mike White nickname is creating a buzz. You are allowed to vote once a day, so if you feel strongly about any of the poll questions, vote again today! Go Hoosiers!

IU 92 W. Illinois 40

If you don't have the Full Court Plan and Tivo….well, my friend, you are still partying like it's 1999. These are two of the greatest inventions ever. That said, I do have some complaints about the ESPN Full Court Plan. When paying good money for a college basketball package, you should be guaranteed to get every game (regardless of network) as long as there is a television camera in the building. Last year, I missed three IU games even though I had the package. I think the college basketball plan needs to be more like the NFL Sunday Ticket where they have any game that is not on local channels in your area, regardless of network. If CBS decides to show Marquette in Milwaukee (which makes sense), then the IU game should be picked up by the college hoops package in the Milwaukee area. Why does this package have to be affiliated with ESPN? Also, I missed a game last year that was supposed to be on ESPN-Plus Local but for some reason the ESPN Full Court Plan did not pick it up. Yesterday, when I saw that tonight's game was going to be on ESPNU, I started to FREAK OUT. Because I don't get ESPNU and I had my doubts as to whether ESPN Full Court would pick up the game, I was scrambling to find a solution. I picked up the phone, called DirecTV, and asked who I have to kill to watch the IU game. They responded that it would cost me my first-born child. I asked when & where we could arrange the drop. Fortunately for me, I have another one just like him that was born 45 seconds later. This went on and on….in the end, I signed up for the Sports Pack through DirecTV so that I now get ESPNU. Of course, this morning I find out that I did not need to give up my first-born nor did I need to sign up for the Sports Pack because ESPN Full Court was also picking up the telecast. It's not a complete waste though, now I can watch the Kansas Cow-Pie throwing contest. Note: The above story is not 100% true, especially the part about having "another just like him". The truth is that my twin boys are nothing alike. In fact, I am not convinced that I am the father of both of them. Much like O.J., I spend my spare time on golf courses looking for the real father. (….and Mama D is starting to disapprove of the direction this post is taking. Stick with me Mama D, I post a special note to Will & Drew in the next paragraph….read on.) A special note to Drew & Will: Boys, if you are reading this, let me be the first to congratulate you as you are the smartest 3-year olds alive. Second, the stories on this blog are embellished for entertainment purposes. Unfortunately, your Daddy knows no bounds when making lame attempts at humor. Third, I would never give you up just to watch a game on TV. In person, maybe, but not on TV. Sticking with the topic of great inventions, here's my top ten. Top Ten Greatest Inventions: 1. Beer 2. Tivo / DVR 3. Pizza 4. NCAA tournament 5. Saturdays 6. Las Vegas 7. NFL Sunday Ticket 8. Nachos or any other pub grub or deep fried anything (and Ben will tell you that dipping in ranch dressing is a must for all of these) 9. ESPN Full Court Plan 10. Holding this spot for the invention of a sure-fire hangover cure. Until then, #10 is the "stuff shot". Anyway, enough of this foolishness, let's get to tonight's report card. Overall Team Performance: A Granted, not the toughest opponent, but this is what IU teams are supposed to do to lesser opponents. There was a big difference tonight when compared to the games against Lafayette and Chicago State. Tonight, they played a complete game. After taking a 41-21 lead at half, the second half usually turns into a high-scoring slopfest that is usually something like 49-41. Well, tonight, the Hoosiers kept the pedal down and played even better in the second half. They held W. Illinois to only 19 second half points while scoring 51 of their own. The defense was outstanding and they rebounded the ball very well. As expected, defense and rebounding are becoming the trademark of this team. However, the biggest difference tonight was how they took care of the ball -- only 3 turnovers for the game with 2 of those in the last 10 minutes. They played the first 30 minutes of the game with only 1 turnover! A big difference to the 18-20 turnovers they have been averaging. The one achilles heel was again the FT shooting. Only 60% (15-25) tonight. One humorous part of the game was when the Hoosiers were leading by 45 points and Suhr missed two free throws, you should have seen the look of disgust on Sampson's face. D.J. White: B- Same story here. I'm not going to complain about 12 points on 6-10 FGs, 6 rebs, 3 blks, and 2 dunks. However, still flat-footed on some rebounds and doesn't look 100% healthy to me. I am still hopeful that he'll get back into form because he is still recovering (mentally and physically) from missing a whole season due to two foot injuries. However, now that we are 7 games into the season, I am concerned that he may never get to 100% this season. Bendeman: C I want to defend this guy, but another lacklaster performance for the big Aussie. Armon Bassett: B+ Didn't set the world on fire, but he is very smooth and poised for a freshman. I like that he can play both the 1 & 2 guard positions. The youngster also hit all 4 of his freebies. Roderick Wilmont: A 20 points, 10 rebounds. Need I say more? No, I needn't, but you know I will. It wasn't that Wilmont played a perfect game or anything (i.e. 1-3 FTs), but he was very aggressive, diving on the floor, getting steals, and 10 REBOUNDS for the second game in a row! He also had steals on back-to-back possessions, including a big-time dunk on the first one. Right after throwing it down and the place going wild, he gets another steal but only did a layup on the second one -- not sure why he didn't throw it down again, but it was an impressive stretch nonetheless. He seemed to find his jumper again tonight and put on a clinic to open the second half. A.J. Ratliffe: B I liked that he was aggressive and was able to get 13 points tonight. It sure beats those games where he just disappears. He didn't shoot the ball very well tonight 4-11 FGs, 2-8 3PT) or it could have been another big night. Earl Calloway: A- I thought Earl played a very solid game tonight. 7 assists, 0 turnovers -- that's what we want out of our point guard. Errek Suhr: C+ The officials weren't buying the flops tonight. Called for 2 or 3 blocking fouls. Also, I had a big problem with one possession where he had the ball at the top of the key with 7 or 8 on the shot clock, he held the ball for a few seconds and then tried to go one-on-one and ended up not getting a shot off. That's not his game (even though he had some nice plays in the Duke game). With 7 or 8 seconds on the shot clock, he needs to drive and kick or just pass and let someone else create their own shot. On the plus side tonight, he nailed a deep 3 and had a miraculous acrobatic shot after getting fouled. The shot was waved off, but it was an amazing shot nonetheless. He also had the 0-for from the line that I mentioned earlier. Lance Stemler: A- Another impressive 4-8 from the arc. In fact, he is the one who broke this game open. Western Illinois was hanging around for the first 10 minutes of the game. Then, Stemler came in and hit 3 straight triples to extend the lead. Unfortunately, he only went 1-5 from the arc for the remainder of the game or he could have had a huge night. He has probably been the most consistent Hoosier this season. Mike White: C+ Had some trouble getting a good handle on the ball down low and only logged 1 rebound in 12 minutes. However, he did have another Karch Kiraly blocked shot. He just seems very angry at the ball. Unfortunately, that anger includes his free throws where he seems to just "chuck it up there". Joey Shaw: A Perfect from the floor, including 2-2 on treys. 14 points in just 17 minutes. He is probably our best slasher and has a good knack for drawing fouls when he gets into the lane. Knocked down an acceptable 6-8 from the line. Xavier Keeling: B+ Saw 9 minutes of garbage time and managed 2 pts and 3 rebs. This kid has some decent size to him. Didn't finish on a fast break -- it was a tough look, but one that should have been finished. Adam Ahlfeld: B This is a first, but I truly don't have anything to say about his 3 minutes of playing time. Kyle Taber: B Made his presence known immediately with a blocked shot, but then missed a reverse layup that would have had him flirting with an A+. I tell you what, this guy vs. Bendeman in practice has to be exciting. Kelvin Sampson: A It was great to see that the team kept up its defensive intensity no matter what the lead was or who was in the game. Every player came in and played their ass off. Poll Question Results: Favorite Newcomer:

1. Lance Stemler -- 5 votes (45%)
2. Mike White -- 4 votes (36%)
3. Armon Bassett -- 1 vote (9%)
4. Joey Shaw -- 1 vote (9%)

Ratliffe Points tonight:

* 0-5 points -- 1 vote (11%) WRONG

* 6-10 points -- 6 votes (67%) WRONG

* 11-15 points -- 2 votes (22%) RIGHT

* 16+ points -- 0 votes (0%)

IU win by....

* 1-9 points -- 0 votes (0%)

* 10-19 points -- 6 votes (75%) WRONG

* 20+ points -- 2 votes (25%) RIGHT

* they'll lose -- 0 votes (0%)

Thank you for voting. New questions coming soon.

Go Hoosiers!

IU 74 Charlotte 57

A nice win for the Hoosiers tonight. This week's poll responses had all 10 responses picking the Hoosiers to win by 4-14 points, so I would say they exceeded expectations tonight. Thanks to those who placed their votes on the poll questions. I will be updating the questions regularly so check back often. While we are on the subject, I found the answers to the other poll question quite humorous and most likely honest. 4 of 7 respondents admitted that their spouse got upset with them because they are a complete lunatic while watching IU games. Another 2 repondents said their spouse got upset, but they were wrong do so -- that's a gutsy move, but the nice thing about the poll questions is that you remain anonymous. And 1 respondent said they keep their cool, so there is nothing to worry about. Again, I can't see the respondents, but my money is that one goes to Papa D. Back to the game....Sampson stuck with the 2nd half players from the Duke game as his starters for this one -- Suhr, Bassett, Shaw, DJ, Bendeman. IU played horrible the first 5 minutes of the game. Suhr hit a 3 on the first possession, but then they followed that up with 4 straight turnovers which led to an 8-0 Charlotte run. However, A.J. Ratliffe entered the game on his 21st birthday and had a great half. 16 points for Ratliffe in the 1st half helped the Hoosiers build an 11 point halftime lead. IU again came out sluggish in the 2nd half and allowed Charlotte to make it a 5 point game after IU was leading by 13. This stretch was starting to look like another double-digit lead would be completely wiped away. However, the turning point of the game was that IU came out of a timeout with a 7-0 run of their own to push the lead back to 12 with about 12 minutes to go in the game. The lead would never fall back below double-digits and IU cruised to victory from here. Turnovers were again a problem for IU with 18. I'm not actually looking up this stat, but I believe IU has been right at the 18 - 20 turnover mark in all 6 games this season. On the plus side of the 17 point victory was outstanding defense and rebounding. Add in a break-out night for Ratliffe and improved FT shooting (12-16) and you have your recipe for a nice win. Overall Team Performance: B+ Tonight, they were able to overcome a slow start and the key was that they were able to weather the storm on the one serious Charlotte run before it became too much of a threat. Actually, not only did they weather that storm, but they answered right back with their own 7-0 run to push the lead right back over double-digits. Charlotte was not at all a deep team, but they have some solid players on their starting five, so I thought this was a nice win for IU. Speaking of depth, IU continues to impress with their depth. IU's bench outscored Charlotte's 49-5. D.J. White: B+ Did he still look rusty and even awkward at times? Yes. But you give me 13 points on 4-6 FGs and 12 rebounds any night and I will gladly take it. D.J. was a monster on the boards tonight and his post moves looked better. I believe he got one easy garbage bucket and converted on 3 of 5 true post moves. I like being able to say that there is still room for improvement after a guy has 13 pts & 12 rebs. For the second time this year, D.J. gave Hoosier fans a big scare. After landing awkwardly, he came up limping, left the game, and went back to the locker room. He came back shortly and looked fine, but this guy seems to have a lot of problems with his feet and legs. You can tell be the way he is moving that he is not 100% healthy. I don't think it's anything serious or damaged, but it looks like he is playing with pain. Ben Allen (aka Bendeman): B- Had a B+ going until he missed a point-blank layup. Bendeman was feast or famine tonight -- he had one nice post move, a couple nice boards, two very impressive hi-lo feeds, and even managed 2 blocked shots. But then he missed a wide-open layup and did some other bonehead things that I can't even remember. All in all, it could have been far worse. Armon Bassett: C+ Armon came back down to earth tonight. 4 turnovers and only 2-7 shooting. He did have a killer cross-over pull-up 17-footer that was outstanding though. Errek Suhr: B- Hit a 3 on the first possession, but didn't really do a whole lot after that. For the most part, some solid minutes, but never really got that spark ignited. Joey Shaw: B- Got the start, but only played 9 minutes. The fact that Ratliffe came in and had a great 1st half was probably the biggest factor of his limited minutes. Roderick Wilmont: B Shooting: F, Heart: A+. Wilmont was 0-4 from 3-point land and none of them were even close. However, instead of getting down about his shooting stroke, he chips in with a modest 10 rebounds, including 4 of them on the offensive end. You have to love Wilmont. The box score shows 0 assists, but I specifically recall 1 offensive rebound that he kicked out to Ratliffe for a made 3-ball. If I can log this by memory, why can't a statistician do this when it is their actual job? Must be a rough life to be the statistician for IU games. I digress. A.J. Ratliffe: B+ It was great to see A.J. light it up in the first half and fuel the Hoosiers to a double-digit lead. Trust me when I say that I will take this type of performance out of A.J. any day of the week -- he was aggressive, he was looking for his shot, etc. However, this really could have been a 30 point night for A.J. He went 4-11 from the arc and at least 5 of those 7 misses were WIDE OPEN. Also, he had 16 points at half and only manage 2 in the second half. But all in all, he was much more active tonight and was finding holes in the defense to get his shots. I'd like to start to see this every time out from Ratliffe. With Wilmont, we know he is going to be hot and cold, but I think Ratliffe is the type that could elevate his game and stay there. Sampson has talked a lot about getting Ratliffe to the next level, let's hope that tonight was a break-through and not just the one good half that he had last year against Kentucky that was never to be seen again. Lance Stemler: B After missing the Duke game with a concussion and not practicing for a week, Stemler came back into action with 5 minutes to go in the first half. To be honest, in the first few minutes of action, he still looked "concussed". A few early mistakes and a missed layup had me telling the TV to take him out and rest him until the next game. Of course, the TV never listens and that was probably a good thing because Stemler improved from there and managed a quiet 10 points, including another 2-4 from 3-point range. I believe that is now 12-18 from the arc in his last 3 games. The phrase "chics dig the long ball" isn't just for baseball. Mike White: B+ This fella needs a nickname -- something like "the garbage disposal" but much more clever and witty and tough sounding. Consider it an open forum for the Mike White nickname. I really like the way this guy mixes it up. 5 points and 5 rebounds in 16 minutes. Heck, he even went 1-2 from the line. He also had 2 steals, including one near half-court where he fed Calloway for a....well, let's not get ahead of ourselves, let's save this for the Calloway section. Earl Calloway: B+ Continued from the Mike White section....where he fed Calloway for a left-handed dunk! That's right, Earl threw one down tonight. Granted, it was one of those where he was gliding in for the finger-roll and then turned it over for a dunk. I played it back several times in slow-motion on Tivo to confirm it was dunk. In fact, after watchin in slo-mo, I then played it back in full speed and it even had that sound of a dunk (oops, I'm sorry, Laskowski was doing the game so it was a "stuff shot"). After some pretty poor performances, Earl played pretty good tonight. He took a couple really bad shots (seemed to be pressing to try to get some playing time back), but then he settled in and played well. Hit a big 3 during the stretch to put the game away and tallied 12 points, 5 boards, 3 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block with only 1 turnover. In case you were tracking for this year: Calloway dunks - 1 Bendeman dunks - 0 I have a feeling this is how we will end the year in this statistical category. Kelvin Sampson: B+ He seems to do a really good job of giving minutes to the guys who are playing well and deserving to play. Nobody is playing just because they are a senior or just because they are "supposed" to be one of the best players. Also, this guy coaches, he really coaches. Thus far, he doesn't go balistic just for the sake of it and he doesn't just sit there with a confused look on his face....he coaches. I know it's a crazy thought but I think it is a good thing for a coach to coach. For those dedicated readers, this is similar to my in-depth analysis of what I think a play-by-play announcer should be. Notes: Just before tip-off, we had to re-live the painful memory of the Plavich half-court shot that beat the Hoosiers. They showed what the officials saw on the replay monitor which was the super-imposed TV clock, followed by the alternate angle (that the officials did not see) that showed the scoreboard clock at zero and the red light on while the ball was still in Plavich's hands. Still pisses me off. OSU's 34-year old freshman made his debut today. There is no way that dude is 18 years old. I'm no Greg Oden, but when I was 18, I was shaving once a month and didn't have wrinkles on my face. Anyway, 14 points, 10 rebs, and 5 blks off the bench in his collegiate debut....uh-oh. We'll still beat them though. Go Hoosiers!