It was a great first day of the tournament. Here are my top 5 things from Day 1 of the 2007 Big Dance:
(1) The Hoosiers win!
(2) Ben dressed just like Kelvin Sampson.
(3) Chris & Shana got a brand new flat panel TV.
(4) Duke lost.
(5) The Big Ten easily cruises to a 3-0 record.
Great game for the Hoosiers. I think all the pregame comments and analysis by everybody on this blog pretty much nailed this game. Here's what we predicted, followed by the actual outcome.
* Play tough defense....tougher defense than Gonzaga is used to seeing -- this clearly worked as IU held Gonzaga to only 57 points. I believe they average just under 80, so the Hoosiers were able to hold them 20+ points under their average. Sure, Gonzaga missed some easy layups, but for the most part, Gonzaga had that "deer in the headlights" look, thanks to IU's defense.
* Free Throws....don't send Gonzaga to the line. I would have been satisfied even if we shot 8 or fewer FTs than Gonzaga, but we actually shot the same number of attempts (16) and we hit more than them (15 to their 12). In fact, Wilmont missed IU's first FT of the game on his early 4-point play attempt and then IU hit their remaining 15 free throws. Very impressive and this is why IU was able to put this game away in the 2nd half. When it was 1-1 time in the 2nd half, IU hit all 6 of their attempts to retain a 10-12 point lead. This was huge and I have to give a shout-out to Andy for providing the play-by-play as Milwaukee CBS cut away from the IU game to show a double-digit UNC lead with 14 minutes to play. But I'm in too good of a mood to rip CBS right now.
* IU needs production from their best 2 players.....D.J. and Wilmont. Wilmont came out on fire. I think he hit 4 of his first 5 three-pointers and finished the game with 22 points and 7 rebounds. When Rod hit that first 3, I had a pretty good feeling about tonight's game. D.J. started slow with only 2 points on 1-6 shooting in the 1st half. However, they were the type of looks that you knew he would start hitting and he definitely did that in the 2nd half. D.J. went 5-7 in the 2nd half and also had a huge left-handed blocked shot that really kept the momentum in IU's favor. Final line -- 16 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 blocks, 4-4 FTs. That's what we need.
* IU needs to hit their 3s. The Hoosiers finished 9-25 (36%) which is respectable, but not outstanding. Wilmont and Ratliff came out and hit 6 of their first 8, so that was good to see. In fact, the Hoosiers first 20 points came on Wilmont and Ratliff's 6 treys and 2 FTs from Bassett. Unfortunatley, Ratliff completely stunk up the joint after that point. Also, Stemler (now nicknamed by Ben as "White Ice") came in and went 0-4. I'm not looking up stats right now, but White Ice must be 2 for his last 30 or so from the arc.
HOWEVER, other than his 3-point shooting, Stemler was everywhere tonight. He was all over loose balls, everywhere on defense, and rebounding everything. Note -- if we hand the nicknaming rights over to Ben, we also have to live with the fact that analyzing IU games starts to sound like a scene from "8 Mile" -- White Ice clearly deserved minutes over 40 Cent tonight. Stemler finished with 6 points, 8 rebounds, 2 steals, and many more plays that do not show up in the box score. We'll definitely take it. I don't know where his shot went, but if he finds it....look out UCLA and the rest of the field!
* I predicted Calloway would have a really good game -- well, not so much. He had some awful turnovers. However, he didn't let the wheels come off after any of the bad turnovers and came right back to make some good plays. Played good defense, hit all 5 freebies, had a nice drive or two, and still played an overall good game. In fact, speaking of the ugly turnovers, that was probably the main negative for IU as a team. Several players committed just flat-out ugly turnovers. We now see why Wilmont pulls up for 3s all the time -- because he is horrible at dribbling, driving, and passing. That one time, IU had a 2-on-1 fast break and he throws a 115 mph pass at Bassett's knees and 2 feet behind him. Rod's a trip. You never know what's coming next. Is he going to go on a tear by hitting 3 or 4 straight shots or is he going to throw something up that is wide-right by 3 feet. Even though there were some ups and downs, Rod simply got it done tonight. It beats the hell out of a 0 or 2 point performance.
All in all, a great game by the Hoosiers and one we should really celebrate.
Tomorrow, we'll look ahead to UCLA, but for tonight and tomorrow morning, let's enjoy this one!
Nice work, Hoosiers!
(1) The Hoosiers win!
(2) Ben dressed just like Kelvin Sampson.
(3) Chris & Shana got a brand new flat panel TV.
(4) Duke lost.
(5) The Big Ten easily cruises to a 3-0 record.
Great game for the Hoosiers. I think all the pregame comments and analysis by everybody on this blog pretty much nailed this game. Here's what we predicted, followed by the actual outcome.
* Play tough defense....tougher defense than Gonzaga is used to seeing -- this clearly worked as IU held Gonzaga to only 57 points. I believe they average just under 80, so the Hoosiers were able to hold them 20+ points under their average. Sure, Gonzaga missed some easy layups, but for the most part, Gonzaga had that "deer in the headlights" look, thanks to IU's defense.
* Free Throws....don't send Gonzaga to the line. I would have been satisfied even if we shot 8 or fewer FTs than Gonzaga, but we actually shot the same number of attempts (16) and we hit more than them (15 to their 12). In fact, Wilmont missed IU's first FT of the game on his early 4-point play attempt and then IU hit their remaining 15 free throws. Very impressive and this is why IU was able to put this game away in the 2nd half. When it was 1-1 time in the 2nd half, IU hit all 6 of their attempts to retain a 10-12 point lead. This was huge and I have to give a shout-out to Andy for providing the play-by-play as Milwaukee CBS cut away from the IU game to show a double-digit UNC lead with 14 minutes to play. But I'm in too good of a mood to rip CBS right now.
* IU needs production from their best 2 players.....D.J. and Wilmont. Wilmont came out on fire. I think he hit 4 of his first 5 three-pointers and finished the game with 22 points and 7 rebounds. When Rod hit that first 3, I had a pretty good feeling about tonight's game. D.J. started slow with only 2 points on 1-6 shooting in the 1st half. However, they were the type of looks that you knew he would start hitting and he definitely did that in the 2nd half. D.J. went 5-7 in the 2nd half and also had a huge left-handed blocked shot that really kept the momentum in IU's favor. Final line -- 16 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 blocks, 4-4 FTs. That's what we need.
* IU needs to hit their 3s. The Hoosiers finished 9-25 (36%) which is respectable, but not outstanding. Wilmont and Ratliff came out and hit 6 of their first 8, so that was good to see. In fact, the Hoosiers first 20 points came on Wilmont and Ratliff's 6 treys and 2 FTs from Bassett. Unfortunatley, Ratliff completely stunk up the joint after that point. Also, Stemler (now nicknamed by Ben as "White Ice") came in and went 0-4. I'm not looking up stats right now, but White Ice must be 2 for his last 30 or so from the arc.
HOWEVER, other than his 3-point shooting, Stemler was everywhere tonight. He was all over loose balls, everywhere on defense, and rebounding everything. Note -- if we hand the nicknaming rights over to Ben, we also have to live with the fact that analyzing IU games starts to sound like a scene from "8 Mile" -- White Ice clearly deserved minutes over 40 Cent tonight. Stemler finished with 6 points, 8 rebounds, 2 steals, and many more plays that do not show up in the box score. We'll definitely take it. I don't know where his shot went, but if he finds it....look out UCLA and the rest of the field!
* I predicted Calloway would have a really good game -- well, not so much. He had some awful turnovers. However, he didn't let the wheels come off after any of the bad turnovers and came right back to make some good plays. Played good defense, hit all 5 freebies, had a nice drive or two, and still played an overall good game. In fact, speaking of the ugly turnovers, that was probably the main negative for IU as a team. Several players committed just flat-out ugly turnovers. We now see why Wilmont pulls up for 3s all the time -- because he is horrible at dribbling, driving, and passing. That one time, IU had a 2-on-1 fast break and he throws a 115 mph pass at Bassett's knees and 2 feet behind him. Rod's a trip. You never know what's coming next. Is he going to go on a tear by hitting 3 or 4 straight shots or is he going to throw something up that is wide-right by 3 feet. Even though there were some ups and downs, Rod simply got it done tonight. It beats the hell out of a 0 or 2 point performance.
All in all, a great game by the Hoosiers and one we should really celebrate.
Tomorrow, we'll look ahead to UCLA, but for tonight and tomorrow morning, let's enjoy this one!
Nice work, Hoosiers!
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3 comments:
Awesome night with Duke going down, the Big Ten 3-0 and more importantly an IU win. I actually voted for Wilmont as MVP. He'll probably have 2 tomorrow. Where was Ratliff? Go figure! Stemler really impressed me hustle, defensive, and rebound-wise. Why can't he hit anything? Now if only Purdue would lose and more ACC teams too! Now I fully believe we'll need Wilmont and Ratliff for UCLA, and since that rarely happens, I don't like our chances!
Looks like the game is 8:25pm on Saturday (I assume that's Eastern time).
If IU wants to beat UCLA in their own backyard, they will need to play a complete game. It doesn't have to be perfect, but it will need to be close to perfect.
Ben's Kelvin Sampson shirt and tie was more than just costume. I think we was channeling Kelvin into our living room. He called for more DJ in the second half...and the first play in the second half was a DJ White turnaround jumper from 4 feet out. Good call Ben.
I loved...I mean loved...watching DJ school Mallon last night. That big bearded goofball can't guard DJ White. He thought he could, but as soon as they stopped doubling DJ, Mallon was in trouble.
Mallon thought he was a bad@ss. He killed IU last year by cleaning up on putbacks and rebounds. Its a lot easier when you have Adam Morrison and Batista to clean up after. Sorry Sasquatch, you're done. Time to go back to the hills.
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