Sunday, March 18, 2007

IU 49 UCLA 54

Well, I guess you have to touch on the negatives that cost them the game, so here they are: (1) FT Shooting (2) Inbounds play (3) 13 points in the 1st half The FT shooting killed the Hoosiers. FT % was the one advantage they had over UCLA going into the game, but it failed them. IU goes 10-21 from the line and that doesn't even incorporate the missed front ends. The inbounds play -- to come all the way back and not be able to get the ball inbounds to have a chance to tie or win is extremely frustrating. They had 3 attempts at it. UCLA knocked away the first two and finally stole the 3rd one. Yes, it was a poor pass from Stemler, but you have to have better inbounds plays to get guys open. 13 points in the 1st half is inexcusable. I don't care if it's tough defense, I don't care if you're ice cold, and I don't care that you held them to 20 points. At some point, you have to DO SOMETHING. Why keep running your same offense if it's clearly not working? Granted, you don't want to panic and they ran the same offense in the 2nd half and scored 36 points. But I think there is a time where you have to sense that your team is in a draught and do something different. After the final game of the season, I hate to call out individual players. There are plenty of things that could be picked apart for all the IU players (several had horrendous FG shooting nights, several had horrendous FT shooting nights, etc.). However, A.J. Ratliff was so bad that I think it has to be mentioned. His head was completely up his ass. The box score has him listed with two turnovers which is an absolute joke. I'm assuming they are counting the back-to-back possessions were he made horrible decisions and an even worse passes. Then, there was another one shortly thereafter where he got the offensive rebound and then lost it out of bounds. I'm not quite sure how that is not a turnover. Even on D.J.'s dunk, Ratliff just got lucky that his mistake ended up in the hands of D.J. for the dunk. He also had some stupid fouls that led to 3-point plays. Just terrible. Now for some of the positives out of the game..... The effort out of IU was simply outstanding. They fought and they fought and they fought. We said before the game that they would need to play tough defense and rebound to give themselves a CHANCE. Well, they did that and they did have a chance, but in the end, they couldn't hit their shots and couldn't deliver in the final minute. But the fact that they came all the way back from a 16-point 2nd half deficit to tie the game was truly remarkable. Chris, Shana, and I were jumping around and squealing like schoolgirls. I am trying to hang on to that feeling of absolute jubilation when they made that comeback as opposed to the extreme frustration that they couldn't complete the mission. D.J. White was the man. He was playing some inspired ball. The box score is listing him with 14 rebounds and 4 blocked shots. But that can't be right, it felt more like 37 rebounds and 13 blocked shots. Stemler FINALLY hit some shots. I was pumped when he hit his first 3. But the second one where he knocked down a deep one while he was guarded was amazing. This was the point where I actually thought we were going to win the game. Stemler obviously had some bad moments as well, but the fact that he finally knocked down some shots was the main fuel of the comeback. I think I'll go ahead and stop here. Early in the 2nd half, it was starting to just feel embarrassing, but the Hoosiers kept fighting and as always, I am extremely proud to be a Hoosier. I really, really liked this team and it's disappointing that it had to come to an end. In the next week or so, I'll do a full season recap and it's impossible to not already start thinking about what is to come next year. Indiana University is still the greatest place on earth. Go Hoosiers!

11 comments:

Unknown said...

While I don't have anything to say about the game (which might make me very unpopular on this blog quickly, for which case feel free to kiss my ass), I couldn't help but say how impressed I am that as a bachelor, with a quite house and every excuse to stay up crying in his beer all night due to the loss (...there is a game point for you) our moderator is up and at'em quite early Sunday morning. I guess the alternative which I do not buy given the high quality grammar used in the post is that he still has not gone to bed....in eather case...way to go JDHoosier.

Unknown said...

Midway through the second half the lead stretched to around 12 I think and it just felt like it was about to get ugly. But then to watch them turn it up a notch again and fight back into it was awesome. When Stemler hit the 2nd three and then almost got the 4-point play (which somehow turned into one anyway), I started to believe they were going to pull it out. It was another of those IU games where you knew if one guy could heat up they'd be fine.

To me what was most disappointing in addition to everything Jeff already broke down for us, was watching the end of the game. Not the loss, but the way the lost. Just like Decemeber against Duke, Kentucky, and Butler they had a chance to get it done in the last 60 seconds and they forgot how to execute. Even after the inbounds fiasco, they could figure out to get a decent shot off.

Oh well, it was an awesome season. One that hopefully left DJ feeling unfulfilled. I think we all agree he didn't have the season we or he expected, so I'll be interested to see how the next 2 months play out. I want to get excited about watching Gordon and DJ tear through the Big Ten, but I'll keep that in check until all decisions are made.

TheCoach said...

i'm proud of jeff for posting as early as he did. i was worried he couldn't bring himself to do it. i think ratliff really let us down this season. sampson really had high expectations for him coming into the season, and i think aj is a favorite of his. i give him credit for benching him a lot last night though. wilmont let us down last night. calloway was bad for most of the game. i think we'll miss him though. the inbound thing makes me sick. on to next year: i like sampson. basset, gordon, and ratliff should be pretty solid. we absolutely have to have dj. is this holmon going to help right away? stemler will be improved. mike white should contribute. how about the other new guys? i think barring dj being a fool and jumping to the nba, we could win the big ten.

Unknown said...

Losing to a 2 seed is nothing to hang your head about, but the fact that they couldn't get the ball in bounds to give themselves a chance to win makes it a tough one to swallow.

With that said, I believe it was a successful year for the program and fans...with the future only getting brighter!

The Sampson Era has begun and I am stocking up on blue dress shirts and red ties!!

JD Hoosier...You should be commended on all your efforts and commitment to establishing & leading the IU Blog...I know your passion for IU sports (and Academics?!?!) is enjoyed by everyone!

Unknown said...

All right....I didn't read it any of your posts as of yet so I will mention it.

Why did Sampson keep calling timeouts after made baskets during the run? Stemmler would have been able to call time out instead of throw the ball away.

I know my opinion does not count much but I thought that Sampson's decision on calling timeouts dearly cost the Hoosiers in the end.

jdhoosier said...

If you need cheering up, I added some Eric Gordon highlight video clips to the "Links" section.

Tom Earth said...

For once, I agree with Troy. I was at the game asking the same thing. IU had three or four timeouts down the stretch and kept using them AFTER a made IU basket. It made no sense to me. They were not making substitutions and they were not setting up a press or anything like that. I thought maybe I was missing something because I could not hear the play by play guys. I just wantched the last 10 minutes of the game and they never mentioned it.

In the end, I think it was a terrific season. It wasn't because of the record or any particular victory. It was more about building a foundation for the next 10-15 years. I still hold firm that Davis getting IU to the championship was the most exciting two weeks of my life. With that said, that run set the IU program back 5 years (at the least). If they had a coach that was focused on recruiting in state, IU would have landed Connley and Oden. I think it is a joke that those two play for OSU. Davis really became a goof at the end. I wonder what these last five years would have been like if Sampson would have been hired then.

Enough of focusing on the past. The future is extremely bright. I got to sit next to Eli Holman at the game. He was an extremely polite kid. I told him that the team would advance deeper in the tournament next with him. He then said something I will never forget. He smiled and said "Huh? Are you talking to me?" I replyed "Amen to that." I think we were both on the same page.

jdhoosier said...

Great stuff, Tom. Especially the conversation with Eli Holman. He probably thought you were going to shoot him.

Unknown said...

The inbounds play was the gut punch. I was already believing that we had some kind of destiny playing into our hands. My mind was thinking about who should take the game winning 3. My vote was Wilmot...then I noticed that we couldn't inbound it and then we turned it over...shortly thereafter I drained my beer and grabbed some couch. I would have loved to see us get that last opportunity.

The fact that we had a chance is a testament to a tough minded team. There was no quit in these guys.

The future looks promising. We have a solid coach at the helm and some top tier recruits coming in to address the talent gap.

I hope that Sampson can build a recruiting strategy that brings in top level players at all positions. MD loved to recruit wing players, which is fine, but it would be refreshing to see new players being developed at all 5 positions.
Go Hoosiers.

Westlake said...

Dart, Great Gordan Highlights!

jdhoosier said...

I added another Eric Gordon video link. This one was from last weekend's semistate win. He had 21 points in the 1st quarter and finished with 39. I can't remember what he shot from the field but it was over 50% and he was 5-10 from the arc and 8-8 from the line.