Ask the Idiot

Terry Hutchens has Ask the Expert and now the IU Hoops blog has Ask the Idiot.

So, go ahead, ask the idiot (me) anything you want to about IU basketball and I will give you an answer. The answer may be factual, it may be my opinion, or it might be total bullshit, but I will give you an answer.

Ask anything as long as it relates to IU basketball. You could ask if IU is going to win at Michigan State or you could ask how IU is going to win at Michigan State or you could ask how many points Haston had in the game where his buzzer-beater beat #1 Michigan State or you could ask who IU's next coach is going to be or you could ask what's up with Eric Gordon or if DJ will make it in the NBA.....

You get the picture. See also picture above for more idiots.

Go Hoosiers!

IU 72 Ohio State 69

This game got started and I was pretty happy and I thought we were going to cruise to victory in this one. 3 minutes into this game, IU was 0-5 from the arc, but they were still leading 7-3. Not only were they 0-5 from the arc, but Eric Gordon got off to a horrible start (which never changed throughout the rest of the game). He had 2 turnovers and was 0-2 from the arc. But as I was shaking my head at Gordon....BOOM BABY, he nails a 3 and IU has suddenly rattled off a 10-0 run to take a 10-3 lead. IU was getting offensive rebounds and Ohio State was looking NIT-bound. And so it went for the rest of the first half, IU could not hit anything from the arc, but they were still able to build a 13-point lead. The lead was fueled by Bassett who scored 7 straight points to build that 13-point lead. But regardless of the coach at IU (Knight, Davis, Sampson, Dakich), they can't seem to close out a good half. That, and giving up 4-point plays seem to be IU tradition. After leading 30-17, Gordon had 2 more turnovers and had his shot stuffed on a fast-break in the final minutes of the half. OSU took advantage and cut the lead to 30-21 at halftime. IU really should have been leading this game by 20 at half. I saw Cook's halftime comment that once we start hitting our 3s, this game will be a blow-out. I felt the exact same way. Even though they gave up that little 4-0 run at the end of the half, I still felt very comfortable about this game. But then OSU starts the 2nd half with a 5-0 run to make it only a 4-point game and a 9-0 run across the halves. The game then stayed pretty tight until the end. In fact, OSU had a couple possessions to tie or take the lead, but they did not convert. D.J. started the game strong, but really did not look good in the 2nd half. In the first 9 minutes of the 2nd half, Kosta Koufus scored 15 points and was keeping this game close by himself. In the second half, Gordon continued to struggle, DJ didn't look so hot, and Stemler couldn't throw it in the ocean. A perfect formula for an IU loss. But fortunately, Bassett continued to play great and hit the big shots. Crawford likes to make layups a lot more difficult than they need to be. He missed a couple, but he also converted a couple. He also hit a little fade-away in the lane off of one foot that made me laugh. But it was a big bucket at the time. Ellis was shy to shoot all night, but made a nice driving shot at the 5 minute mark. DeAndre didn't do a whole lot, but did have a nice feed to DJ for a big dunk. So, even though it wasn't a pretty 2nd half, the Hoosiers were making some plays here and there to keep a hold of the lead. Right about the 5:00 mark to go in the game, the Hoosiers were up by 2 and D.J. had picked up his 3rd foul. I was feeling very uneasy at this point, but then came Armon Bassett again for 3! He was awesome tonight. Shortly thereafter, Stemler got an offensive rebound and put-back to account for his entire offensive output on the night, but it was still a big 2 points with less than 4 minutes to play. That gave IU a 7-point lead. OSU cut it back to 4. Then, Stemler missed his 6th 3-pointer of the night, but Gordon came flying in for a put-back dunk with about 1:30 to play. This was probably his worst game of the season tonight, but that put-back dunk is why you don't sit the kid on the bench. Then, my favorite part of this team took over once again -- FT shooting. I love how this team hits their FTs, especially at the end of the game. 19-24 (79.2%) on the night, but more importantly, 9-10 in the final minute to ice the game (Gordon 4-4, Bassett 4-4, Ellis 1-2). The reason this team has not been upset by a lesser team this year is because of their FT shooting. There have been plenty of games this year that they could have lost if they missed some FTs down the stretch. This one quality of this team could come up big come NCAA tournament time. I'm pictureing an NCAA title game against Memphis. The game is close and Memphis is clanging FTs while we are hitting 90% or ours. Hang the banner. You know how the Illinois fans, coach, and players like to whine about Eric Gordon. They say that the records would be reversed if Gordon would have stayed with Illinois. Well, first of all, there is no way IU would be as bad as Illinois is this year. We would still have DJ, Bassett, Ellis, and Crawford would probably be making a run at Freshman of the Year. Yes, Eric Gordon does make IU a helluva lot better team, but there is no way IU would be as pathetic as Illinois is this year. But that actually wasn't the point I was trying to make. The point is that if Illinois would hit their FTs like IU and if IU would miss their FTs like Illinois (especially at the end of games in both cases), then that would be a much better case for the 2 teams having their records flipped. I hate those Illinois whiners and I am loving their horrible season. By the way, Tennessee and Vanderbilt are playing right now....both coaches have been mentioned for the IU job. But then again, who hasn't? Overall Team Performance: C They should have put this game away in the 1st half and then just struggled in the 2nd half. However, you have to be happy any time you win a game where Eric Gordon was horrendous, DJ White was mediocre, and the team minus Bassett goes 1-17 from the arc. It sets up a HUGE game in East Lansing this weekend. Eric Gordon: D- The box score I am looking at shows 7 turnovers. That can't be right, it had to be double-digits. He also had his shot blocked 3 times. He made a bad pass that directly led to a Bassett turnover. Twice, he had two rebounds in his grasp but then fumbled the ball away. 4-16 overall FGs, including 1-8 from the arc. He just plain sucked tonight. On the positive side....that put-back dunk late in the game, 3 steals, 6 rebounds, and 8-9 from the line. D.J. White: C Well, if you get a C when you go 7-13 from the field to finish with 16 points and 8 rebounds, it just shows how great of a year that DJ is having. I just thought that DJ looked a little out of it tonight. Apparently, he had a pretty bad case of the flu for the NW game on Saturday. But sometimes, the aftermath of the flu can leave you pretty tired. Maybe that was it. I don't know, but I'm not worried about DJ. Look for a big game against Michigan State. Armon Bassett: A Clearly, the player of the game for the Hoosiers. 7-11 overall from the field, 4-8 from the arc, and 5-5 from the line for a team-high 23 points. He came up big when they needed him tonight. I also thought he was doing a great job penetrating the zone. Jamarcus Ellis: B Looked a little gun-shy tonight, but had a pretty solid game. 7 boards. Lance Stemler: D- 0-6 from the arc. I don't know if I have ever seen a guy that goes as cold as Lance Stemler does. These are all wide-open, squared-up, toe-on-the-line looks at the basket. I guess we just hope that he has a hot month of March. Avoided the F by grabbing 6 boards and scoring his only 2 points at a key point late in the game. Jordan Crawford: B- I don't think I could ever coach Jordan Crawford. He would drive me crazy, but he did make some things happen tonight. Even though I made the point earlier that you don't put Gordon on the bench because he can do something great at any moment, I do think that Gordon could have had a seat for a little while and Crawford could have played a little more. Gordon had 40 minutes and Crawford had 22. Kyle Taber: B I'm a big Taber fan. 4 boards in 11 minutes. Had a point-blank tip-in that he missed, but I think Taber gives solid minutes when he is in the game. DeAndre Thomas: C Had the nice pass to DJ for a dunk, but did nothing else. Dan Dakich: B+ Tough situation and the team is 2-0. They haven't been the best games, but they were able to win these 2 games with the whole Sampson situation still very fresh. Dakich also seems to be saying all the right things to the media and has even shown a good sense of humor. As was talked about in tonight's telecast, the last time Dan Dakich was put into an extremely difficult situation, he became the only player to ever shut down the greatest basketball player in history. Let's hope ole Dan has another such miracle up his sleeve. Go Hoosiers!

IU 85 NW 82

Whew! This was definitely a game where you don't care how they won, all that matters is that they won. The last 48 hours have been crazy and I'm sure the players are mentally and physically exhausted. I'm just glad they came together and found a way to win. Winning this game is a big step in moving on. Had they lost this one, it would have been tough for this team to rebound. I'm sure there will be a lot of articles talking about the coaching change, the emotional state of the players, and so on. And I'm sure all those things had a major role in this game being so close. However, I also think that Northwestern is just a tough matchup for this Hoosier team. If there is one thing this team has struggled with all year, it was been defensive focus. Northwestern's Princeton-style offense gives this Hoosier team fits. Let's remember that NW played IU extremely tight in Bloomington and that game was tied with about 8 minutes to go before the Hoosiers pulled away at the end. So, it was reasonable to believe that IU may struggle in Evanston where they had lost 3 of the last 4 trips, even without all the chaos of the week. In the Bloomington game, Sampson went to the 2-3 midway through the 2nd half, NW went cold, and that game was history. My fear for tonight's game was that Dakich would be stubborn with the man-to-man. But Dakich did go to the 2-3 on several different occassions. The only problem was that tonight, NW was hitting their open 3s whenever IU would zone. Northwestern was working that Princeton-style offense to perfection tonight. They just kept getting back-door layup after back-door layup. Now, on some of them, it was just horrible defense by IU where they would just get toasted on the back-door cut. But others were just perfect passes by NW. They were dropping dimes like I've never seen before. Then, NW's Kevin Coble was absolutely on fire. This guy poured in 37 points and was hitting everything. IU tried Stemler, Ellis, Crawford, and Taber on this guy and they all failed miserably. So, looking back on it, the Hoosiers were fortunate to get out of there with the win. The big reason that IU was able to get out of there with the win was the play of Armon Bassett and Jordan Crawford. Bassett had 24 and Crawford had 21. Oh, and a couple guys that go by EJ and DJ also pitched in with 18 and 16, but it was Bassett and Crawford that were the difference makers. Bassett was hot early and Crawford came into the game hot and stayed that way. Crawford went 4-5 from the arc and added another traditional 3-point play. He was also 5-5 from the line and added 4 rebounds and 5 assists. Jordan can be frustrating at times, but he has also played a huge role in several big wins this year. Let's not forget that he's just a freshman. Gordon only had 2 FGs and even missed a pair of FTs plus another FT earlier in the game. But down the stretch, he was going to the line and hitting all of them. He ended up 13-16 from the line to still end up with 18 points. However, he nearly cost the Hoosiers the game. IU was up by 1 with 13 seconds to go when he received the inbounds pass and traveled. Fortunately, it didn't end up costing IU the game. D.J. had another double-double and altered NW's go-ahead shot with 5 seconds to go, grabbed the rebound, got fouled, nailed both FTs, and the Hoosiers hung on for the win. After the game, DJ talked about being a leader and that he fully plans to continue to lead this team. He said the circumstances of the past week have been tough, but the team is ready to move forward. Gotta love DJ! At one point, tempers flared. IU was on offense when a foul was called. After the whistle, Crawford continued toward the basket for a layup when a NW player put a hard foul on him (again, this was after a whistle for a foul on the floor). Crawford hopped up and took exception to it, but DJ and the officials quickly stepped in. However, while Bassett and DJ were holding Crawford back, Ellis was still jawing with another NW player. Ellis ended up getting a technical foul. It kind of looked like a cheap technical, but Jamarcus was kind of running hot the entire game, so it wasn't too surprising. Once again, you have to love the way this team shoots FTs, especially down the stretch. I don't recall them missing one is the last several minutes of the game and I know Bassett, Gordon, and DJ all went 2-2 in the final minute with the score at just a 1-point game. The BTN also televised most of the postgame press conference. The players and Dakich all said the right things. They basically just said it has been an extremely tough week, especially the last 24-48 hours and they are just happy that they got the win. And finally, with Memphis losing tonight, it looks like our Hoosiers remain the last team to ever go unbeaten. Wow, what a week. Go Hoosiers!

Saturday Update

Good news -- the entire team left for Evanston this morning and it's my understanding that the entire team participated in last night's walk-through. Although I have not seen confirmed reports, it is believed that Sampson talked to the team and/or key players and strongly encouraged them to finish the season strong. Also, Devin Ebanks is not making any quick decisions at this point, so that's good news as well. Again, Sampson put himself in this mess, but I do wish him the best. It's kind of crazy that in less than 2 years, Sampson got this team back into the national spotlight, but also may now be setting the program back if they lose players, recruits, or receive a post-season ban. Or worse, if IU makes a bad hire for the next coach, the set-back could be longer-term. Dear Kelvin Sampson, In parting, I wanted to let you know that I am appreciative of the following: 1. Eric Gordon -- I very much enjoy having EJ in a Hoosier uniform. And almost of equal enjoyment, I enjoy seeing Bruce Weber and the Orange idiots cry about it. 2. Thanks for those last 2 wins over ranked opponents including our arch rival to get us back into the Big Ten title race. You had to know your fate once the NCAA made the "major" allegations, but you kept the team focused and those last two wins were a couple of the more enjoyable victories this program has had in a long time. With all the ugliness of this situation, at least those two victories are how we will remember you as a game coach. 3. Thanks for reaching a settlement and not dragging this out into an ugly lawsuit. All parties are better off this way. 4. Thanks for convincing DJ White to stay. In previous years, DJ was never even my favorite player on the team, but after this year, DJ is going down as one of my all time favorite Hoosiers. 5. Thanks for talking to the team and encouraging them to finish out this season strong. They needed to hear that from you. So, for these reasons, I thank you and wish you all the best. I wanted to get these "thank yous" out of the way because in the coming 6 months or so, I will probably be cursing your name as IU has to deal with these NCAA allegations. And if there ends up being a postseason ban, I will probably curse your name for a very long time. For now, we will part ways on a positive note. As for our Hoosiers, I would love for them to go into Evanston and continue to play the way they have been the last couple of weeks. However, I think that is a lot to ask and I'll be happy with a victory in any shape or form. These players have been through a hell of a lot in the last 24-48 hours and are an emotional wreck. As fans, it's a crazy roller coaster ride and I was literally exhausted by day's end yesterday, but it doesn't come anywhere close to what these players are going through. To many of these guys, Sampson was a father-figure, a friend, and one of the few people they trust like their own family. And you can tell that these guys geniunely liked playing for him. So, it's going to be tough to play with a lot of energy tonight, but I think that's where we can be thankful that today's game is against Northwestern. As long as they can find a way to win, it will be a very big step in the post-Sampson era. Then, they will be able to get a couple of Dakich-led practices under their belt before they finish out the rest of the season. Man, I love the Hoosiers.

Sampson Era is Over

To recap:

• Sampson resigns
• Agrees to $750,000 buyout
• Agrees not to sue university
• Dakich will be the interim head coach
• 6 players skip practice today -- DJ White, Armon Bassett, Jordan Crawford, Jamarcus Ellis, DeAndre Thomas, and Brandon McGhee
• Key players that attended practice -- Eric Gordon, Lance Stemler, Kyle Taber, Mike White

What's next:

• Get the players back and on the airplane to play Northwestern tomorrow night. Hopefully, Sampson carries through on the earlier report to talk to the players and urge them to play tomorrow night.
• This year's team now needs to re-focus and finish what they started, which is a very successful season to this point.
• Search for a new coach and hire someone that can win and do it the right way.
• New coach has to re-recruit both current players and incoming recruits.
• IU still has to respond to NCAA allegations and go through the hearing process.
• Wait on the final NCAA ruling.

The immediate question is whether the full team will show up tomorrow morning to head to Evanston? I think they will. I understand that they are very upset right now and don't understand why Sampson couldn't be allowed to coach the rest of the year. But now that this appears to be a done deal, the players have absolutely nothing to gain by not playing. They are in a Big Ten title race and would greatly regret throwing that away if they decide not to play tomorrow night and the team would lose to last-place Northwestern. They are also a team that is a threat to go deep in the tournament and they are not going to give that up.

So, I do think the full team will come back together, but you have to wonder if it will be somewhat of a divided locker room? Again, I don't think so. I think today's practice was just a case where these guys didn't feel that they could go practice while their head coach had his neck on the line and the final decision was expected to come at any minute. I can respect that. Well, I should say that I can respect that as long as they show up tomorrow.

As for the Sampson buyout, I know some you think that IU didn't owe him a single penny, but I like the buyout just from the fact that it is the cleanest break possible. There won't be any lawsuits down the road. There will be plenty of things happening with a new coach and the NCAA hearing.

It's unfortunate because I really liked Sampson and think he is a really good coach, but he screwed up and IU's hands were tied. Obviously, the hope is that this year's team can move on and the program and school can get back to the glory years of being the best, like way back when all of us were there.

There's still the question of how could Sampson let this happen? He's a smart guy. He's a good coach. How could he throw it all away on phone calls to recruits? Well, we may never know for sure, but I think I learned the answer today at work. You see, I had some stuff that I really needed to get done today at work, but I could not stop going to each of the 4 internet browsers that I had open to see if anything new had developed. I literally could not stop myself. I would try to get back to work, but then I would hit refresh just one more time and that cycle would repeat itself.

I think it was the same type of addiction or "couldn't help himself" type thing with Sampson. Some of the first words out of his mouth when he got to IU was something like "Indiana University is a place where you win championships". I think he wanted to win a title so bad and he just would get a feeling of "if I can just land this guy….". I really think he simply could not help himself and created an environment where the assistants acted the same way. Who knows.

I guess I'll stop here since this thing has already been beat to death even before anything official was ever announced, but I'd still be interested in hearing everyone else's thoughts. How does this team move forward? Will they be flat? Or will they be motivated? Or will they even show up, literally? Hell, go ahead and speculate about the next coach, that's always fun.

Go Hoosiers!

IU 77 Purdue 68

Awesome, we already have some great comments on this post, so be sure to check those out. I have to echo the comment of IU fan wearing red at Mackey Arena. I also loved the shot of Mackey right after IU had iced the game and they were all dejected. And finally, I liked the fact that Purdue packed fans into Mackey for this game -- it shows the rivalry is alive and well and its good to see the state of Indiana as a major factor in college basketball again with IU, PU, ND, & Butler all having good years. Lavin opened the IU/PU telecast by saying he means no disrespect to Duke/Carolina, but this is the heartland of basketball. My feeling after tonight's game is relief. Just a sense of relief because I know I would have been in a tailspin if they lost. It would have essentially handed the Big Ten title to Purdue and would have made the Sampson situation even more painful. I still think the Sampson thing is unfortunate. I really like the guy, but he screwed up. I'm now watching the game again and the 2nd half just started -- what a great start with back-to-back dunks by DJ and Taber. This game had some crazy stats. Purdue had 30 more FG attempts than IU. 30 more FG attempts is just crazy. IU did have 13 more FT attempts, but that's only the equivalent of 7 possessions. So, that's still basically 23 more shots at the goal. If you watched the game, which I'm sure you did, then you know a big part of that was the turnovers. IU turned it over 23 times and only forced PU into 5 turnovers. Purdue does play tough defense and forces a lot of turnovers, but many of these were just IU players making poor decisions and throwing balls out of bounds, etc. IU did win the rebounding battle 46-30. But that stat is also interesting becuase PU had 14 offensive rebounds and IU only had 9. So, the -18 on turnovers and -5 on offensive rebounds is how PU got 23 more shots at the goal. Fortunately, Purdue couldn't hit anything. That included their free throws. And IU was outstanding from the FT line at 30-34. I love that this team hits their free throws. Obviously, it was great to see DJ out there. He is awesome. 19 points and 15 rebounds on a bum knee. Bassett was key. He was 4-4 from the arc, pulled in 8 rebounds, and 4 assists. Taber continues to impress me. He is solid. Tonight he even added a dunk and a jumper to finish a perfect 3-3 from the field. Also 5 rebounds, 2 assists, and a steal. But the best play by Taber was on an offensive rebound where he tapped it back to Gordon for an easy 28-footer and a 10-point lead. I know "easy 28-footer" sounds absurd and I am probably exaggerating the distance by a couple feet, but Gordon's 3s do often look completely effortless. See also Tom's comments on Taber. As you know, I don't ask a lot of Stemler -- hit the open 3s and make hustle plays. He had a 15-second spurt where he did both. Purdue had a 2 point lead and a fast break layup in the air, then Stemler came in with a nice blocked shot and then nailed a 3 at the other end to give IU the lead. I'm not positive, but I think this makes the 3rd game in a row that Stemler has gone 1-1 from the arc. Gordon certainly didn't have his best game, but this team needs him to score somehow and he was able to do that tonight. See Mick's comments on this. Jamarcus was able to edge out Gordon and Bassett in the turnover category. Ellis logged 6 while Gordon and Bassett each had 5. Ouch. As a team, IU had more turnovers in this game than they had in their previous 3 games combined. Even though Jamarcus had some horrible turnovers in this game, he still does a lot of great things for this team. And he has even come up with some big 3s in the last two games, including a nice one pretty late in the game tonight. Finally, I've been trying really hard over the past couple of years to not let the officiating get to me and also to not use bad officiating as an excuse for a loss (i.e. WI game). So, I'm going to take the opportunity after a win to point out how rediculously bad Big Ten officiating is. In tonight's game, there was absolutely no consistency in what was called a foul and what wasn't. There were times that this game looked like a football game. Of course, we beat them in football too, so it's all good. These last two victories where BIG ONES for IU. I guess now we wait on the Sampson news and hope to hell that this IU team stays focused as they travel to Northwestern on Saturday. GO HOOSIERS!

Sampson says "DJ will play"

On tonight's radio show, Sampson says "D.J. will play".* *Note: Sampson is known to be a liar. I wish I was only referring to Sampson's truthfulness about whether or not injured players will play, but this little NCAA thing is also evidence of his truth-stretching tendencies. So, I will only believe that DJ is going to play once I see him out there. Perhaps DJ gets a $10,000 bonus if he plays in every game this year. Ok, now I am trying (unsuccessfully) to make light of a situation that cleary is not humorous. Really, what's funnier -- your coach landing you in hot water with the NCAA or your best player with a knee injury heading into the biggest game of the year? Moving on to a couple comments that actually were funny in Sampson's radio show:

• Sampson says Taber has an "Evansville vertical, which means he can't jump over the Evansville phone book."
• Continuing on Taber -- whenever Taber gets an offensive rebound outside the paint, he is intructed to dribble the ball right to Eric Gordon and he did exactly that against Michigan State.
• Sampson received a standing ovation at the radio show and he said that the Michigan State game must have been pretty good for him to get a standing ovation.

In other news, prized recruit Devin Ebanks told a NY newspaper that he will likely want out of his commitment if Sampson is fired. You just hope that the recruits and current players wait until a new coach is hired and the new coach has a chance to talk/re-recruit them (much like Sampson did with DJ when he arrived).

In that same article, a sophomore recruiting target for IU said that he will still consider IU as long as there are not any postseason bans.

That comment from the sophomore recruit tells the story. If IU can avoid postseason bans and other major sanctions from the NCAA, this won't be as disasterous as it could be. But if this leads to a postseason ban, even if its just one year, that will set the program back big-time.

Go Hoosiers!

Purdue Game and More

I didn't even know it until this morning, but the IU Hoops blog has sources with information on what is happening with the IU investigation. The source comes from one of our own blog readers who rarely comments, but the source indicates that someone on the Athletics Oversight Committee at IU has said that Greenspan has already made the decision to recommend the firing of Sampson and that the week-long investigation is just to try to avoid losing any lawsuits. I think this is probably what we all would have guessed and it looks like that it will be the case. Of course, there are other details as to whether they give Sampson the 10 days to appeal or not and a whole bunch of other stuff that I don't want to get into right now. Saturday night sure was interesting. You had IU blowing out the #9 team in the country (at that time), you had a spattering of boos when Sampson was announced but overall just a cold and quiet reaction, then you had Sampson fist-pumping and player/Sampson hugs at the end of the game, and even a "Kel-vin Samp-son" chant near the end of the game. And of course, you had your best player go down with an injury and likely out for the biggest game of the year. I thought we had some great comments on the blog from Outlaw, Tom, and Ben (and now Chris just minutes ago) following the game. I had a very weird feeling once IU was in blow-out mode and the players and Sampson were hugging. I guess I would describe the whole thing as unfortunate. I would love it if somehow this whole thing could just go away as if it never happened and we could go on cheering this team AND Kelvin Sampson. But unfortunately, we are way beyond that and only because Kelvin couldn't keep it in his pants (most men carry their cell phone in their pants pocket). And then what is really unfortunate is that this is going to be a big set-back for the program. And it's coming at a time when the program looked like it might be making its way back into the elite group that it once led. Even if Sampson gets fired this week, IU won't know its fate until late summer. And even if IU avoids major sanctions, such as postseason bans, IU will still lose this year's off-season recruiting no matter what. I think the best case scenario is that Derek Elston sticks with his verbal commitment and somehow IU is able to supplement with some other decent recruits for the '09-'10 class. As for next year's recruits, you really hope Devin Ebanks sticks with his commitment. And then you even have to worry about the current players and whether or not they will stay or not. If Robert Vaden left IU for UAB just to stick with Mike Davis, then anything is possible when Sampson goes. What if Armon Bassett and Jordan Crawford don't like the new coach? The whole thing is just troubling. As for tomorrow night's game, it really bothers me that DJ is doubtful for this game. Yes, the Hoosiers played very well on Saturday night, even after DJ went down. However, Purdue is playing the best ball in the conference and they are as hot as anybody in the country. They are playing very solid on both ends of the floor. However, the two areas where I thought IU held the advantage was DJ White down low and rebounding. Obviously, without DJ, it will be hard to realize the advantage of DJ down low. And without DJ, it will be hard to win the rebounding battle. And finally, I just have one additional thought on Purdue and many of heard me say this a thousand times before....F*@# Purdue! So, if the Hoosiers are going to win this one, they will need to do what they did Saturday night. I see the three main things as Gordon needs to come up big again, the role players need to all contribute, and the defense needs to play inspired. I think it is going to be extremely tough on Gordon. Every time Gordon gets loose with the ball, that annoying pest Kramer is going to be right there to pick it up. And when its not Kramer on Gordon, Purdue has other athletes they can throw at him. Gordon can't let Kramer get to him or it could be a long night for Gordon and IU. Hopefully, the refs whistle some quick fouls on Kramer when he's playing that tight and tough defense that looks like he is having a seizure. As for the role players, do they have another great effort in them with DJ out? Will this be another rallying cry by the players for what could be Sampson's last game? I have my doubts, but then again, I didn't see Saturday night's performance coming either. As for the defense, let's just say that they damn well better play some inspired defense. Recently, PU went into Illinois and put up 80-something and also scored 42 points in the 1st half at Wisconsin (reminder: we scored 49 for the entire game at WI). All I know is that if the Hoosiers pull it off, they are right back in the Big Ten title race. But if they lose, then you have pretty much handed your arch-rival an unexpected Big Ten title. And not to mention, all this Sampson BS is a hell of a lot more difficult to handle. So, what do you think Hoosier fans? Do you think IU can pull off the victory? Do you think there is any doubt that Sampson will be fired by week's end? Jeff's prediction: IU 70 PU 69 GO HOOSIERS!

IU 80 MSU 61

I don't know about you guys, but I really needed that. That was awesome! And the team really needed that -- they just beat the #9 team in the country by 20 points without their best player. Speaking of which, that is the scary news -- DJ White hurt his knee in the 1st half and did not return. It didn't look serious and the early reports don't make it sound serious, but they do have their biggest game of the year on Tuesday. I sure hope DJ can play in the big game against Purdue. But if he can't, hopefully the rest of guys can play like they did tonight. This game started ugly for the Hoosiers. After DJ scored the opening bucket of the game, MSU then went on a 15-2 run to take a 15-4 lead. At this point, I thought the sky was falling and that the distractions were going to be too much for this team to handle. But this team defnitely responded after the slow start and outscored the Spartans by 30 points from that point forward. Here are the things that I thought were the keys to IU's big victory: 1. Eric Gordon -- this is really the first big game that Gordon came up big and look at the outcome. He's still having trouble handling the ball and makes some very poor decisions on when & where he tries to dribble and attack. But he also poured in 28 points and looked fantastic at times. He finally got some mid-range shots to fall, he finished at the bucket, and drained some big 3s. 2A. DeAndre Thomas -- the big fella came in the game and looked great in the post. Late in the game, he missed a couple close ones. But early on, he was awesome. 2B. It wasn't just DeAndre, but Kyle Taber, Mike White, and Lance Stemler all did some really good things and gave solid minutes. The combination of these 4 guys has amounted to pretty much nothing over the past month, so it was big for all of them to play well, especially with DJ out with the injury. 3. Triples from everywhere -- 5 Hoosiers hit 3s tonight. Lately, it seems that IU has just been hoping for a 3rd guy to step up and score, but everyone got into the act tonight. 4. Rebounding -- Even with DJ out for a majority of the game, IU was able to win the rebounding battle 28-22. Again, it was a team effort with Gordon and Crawford leading the team with 5 each. I am pretty sure that early in the game, they flashed the rebounding stat and IU was getting out-rebounded by 10-2. If I have that right, that means IU out-rebounded them by a 26-12 margin the rest of the way. I guess that would go along with a 30-point turnaround. 5. Defense -- I thought the defense was improved tonight. MSU had 19 turnovers and many of those were due to an IU defender getting a hand on the ball. 6. The crowd -- the IU fan base has been pretty clear in their thoughts about the Sampson situation, but there is no doubt about how they feel about this team. That place was rocking when IU turned this game around. And finally, during the game, they showed footage of some IU students playing basketball at night in 21-degree weather. I'm almost positive it was the same court where Healy rejected a shot by Scopel so hard that it broke Scopel's hand. Go Hoosiers!

Hope this cheers you up (a little)....

IU Basketball Pride

I'm proud to have a wonderful, beautiful wife.

I'm proud to have a terrific, good-looking litter of kids.

I'm proud to have the absolute best friends & family a guy could hope for.

And finally, I'm proud to be a graduate of Indiana University and a fan of Indiana basketball.

That's it. That's all I've got. And that's all I need.

But I truly do need these things. And right now, Kelvin Sampson is tarnishing one of those things.

Actually, Kelvin Sampson is tarnishing two of those things. I just talked to Tom and he is a shell of his former self. He is physically ill over all of this. And I've heard from many of you that are simply disgusted that this is the light being shed on our university.

D.J. White is have an outstanding season and deserves to be applauded for his college career. He has overcome difficult injuries. He made a tough decision, but the right decision, to stay at IU and not follow Mike Davis. He made a tough decision, but the right decision, to stay at IU and not enter the NBA draft before he was ready. He had dedicated himself to this team and to this university and has done so in a way that IU basketball fans expect and admire. And this how he is thanked for it….an outstanding season that nobody is talking about because Kelvin Sampson is a moron.

And because Kelvin Sampson is tarnishing these things, he's got to go and he's got to go right now.

I am a fan of IU basketball and Kelvin Sampson is not IU basketball.

Go Hoosiers!

IU 66 WI 68

I have more important shit to do than update this dumbass blog.

So, hoosier fans, what did you think of the game?

What do you think of the NCAA allegations?

What do you think should happen to Sampson?

IU 59 Ohio State 53

I don't know if it was because it was the game after the double-OT chaos in Champaign or if it was because both teams played zone all day, but that game was kind of boring. That's OK though, I really didn't need to get worked into a frenzy like I did for that Illinois game. All in all, a solid victory for the Hoosiers. They took the lead and never looked back in this one. Any time OSU cut it close, IU had an answer. Of course, this is another game where I think IU's opponent played a big part in IU coming out with the win. Ohio State was getting wide open looks against IU's lazy 2-3 but they couldn't hit anything. They made a few in a row in the 2nd half to make it interesting, but other than that, they were ice cold. IU only shot 1 FT before the final minute of the game. I don't know what DJ has to do to get a call. But the good thing is that DJ played tough and had a great game even though he was getting hacked all over the place. I still think IU needs to go to DJ more. He is dominating game after game, but most of his production comes off his own effort. Very little comes from well designed offense to get him the ball in good position. Feed him. For example, in today's game, IU has the ball up by 4 points with about a minute to go. IU lets the clock run down to 8 seconds before they even start anything and then settle for Bassett throwing up a highly contested 3 that he misses. I would much rather see IU try to pound it down to DJ on that possession for a high percentage chance of pushing the lead to 6 points (even if that happens a little earlier in the shot clock). My goodness, he was 10-15 from the field. A couple notes: * Bassett and Ellis did not start today because of being late to a Saturday film session. Morons. * Ratliff did not travel with the team again due to personal/family issues. Overall Team Performance: B Another solid road win and actually IU's biggest win to date according to RPI ratings. OSU was RPI #32. Only 7 turnovers and they were able to overcome only shooting 1 FT prior to the final minute of the game. However, that 2-3 zone ain't gonna cut it against Wisconsin, Michigan State, and Purdue. The 2-3 in college basketball is really a last resort. IU's man-to-man is really bad, but there are a lot of holes in that 2-3 and a team that moves the ball well and shoots the ball well will light it up. The man-to-man has shown flashes of being good when they crank up the intensity, Sampson needs to find a way to get these guys to play that way for 40 minutes. I really don't want to see the 2-3 against Wisconsin -- at least, I don't think it should be there main defense. Maybe for a few minutes here and there, but I think it is only a matter of time before they get burnt with playing zone for most of the game. D.J. White: A Hands down, the Big Ten Player of the Year. For 3 years and the first 3 or 4 games of this year, DJ White would only get rebounds that would bounce right to him. Now he is pulling in boards that he has no business getting. How many times today did he go up and get a board while surrounded by 3 white jerseys? Several. He was awesome again. Threw down 2 dunks in Kosta Doofus's face. 21 points and 13 rebounds. Another day at the office. Lance Stemler: D Try shooting lefty. Anything is better than the way his shot is looking lately. Another 0-4 from the arc today. Kyle Taber: C+ Another 1-1 today, so that is good. But had a bad turnover and another one that he was lucky did not end up a turnover. Jordan Crawford: A- Not his best shooting day, but had a really good all-around game. Also had a spin move on a fast break that left some whitey for OSU looking really stupid. 7 assists and 0 turnovers -- you have to like that. Also had 6 rebounds and 3 steals. In addition, hit both FTs in a one-and-one situation at the end of the game. Actually, Gordon also went 4-4 from the line in late-game one-and-ones, so the two freshmen combined for 6-6 in three one-and-one situations in the final minute to keep this game at two possessions or more. You have to like how IU has converted at the line at the end of these last two games. Eric Gordon: B- Nothing spectacular, but pretty solid and mostly under control. He hit his first two treys of the game and then cooled off. As mentioned above, the FTs at the end of the game were solid. Armon Bassett: C His defense looks just flat out lazy. Get your ass to film session on time. I don't like hearing that, especially when you've already been suspended for 3 games earlier in the year. Jamarcus Ellis: B- Stop hanging out with Bassett if you two fools can't get to film session on time. I know hangovers are tough, but you're young, you can do it. Even though Ellis only had 2 assists today, I thought he did a nice job passing the ball. He made several nice entry passes into the middle of the zone and back around the horn that often led to the next pass being the assist. Mike White: D Only a few minutes and looked terrible. DeAndre Thomas: did not play. Well, now they play the three best teams in the Big Ten all in a row. Fortunately, all 3 are at home and Sampson has never lost a Big Ten conference game at Assembly Hall. Let's hope that's a streak they can continue all the way into next year. First up is Wisconsin. It will be very interesting. Go Hoosiers!

IU 82 Illinois 79

Holy crapola!!! The Hoosiers absolutely had to find a way to win that game and they somehow pulled it off. They tried to give it away at times and if Pruitt was any better than a 14% shooter, they would have lost. IU made some great plays and some horrific plays, but in the end, the Hoosiers were able to make Orange pukes shut up. I absolutely love Bassett at the end of games. I was hoping he would get the ball and go to the FT line and he delivered. Ok, I need to catch my breath because I can't even remember most of this game. So, I'll go ahead and post this so you guys can add some comments if you wish. I'll be adding to this post and re-publishing in about an hour. ************* Ok, I'm back. That game about killed me. That is definitely the most excitable I have been during an IU game this year. I know we all wanted Gordon to go in there and light them up, but it sure got off to an ugly start for the Hoosiers. IU was down 4 at half and Gordon had just 1 point. Then, it briefly looked like IU was going to have a better 2nd half. Gordon hit a 3 just 10 seconds into the 2nd half and IU was only down by 1. But then in typical Hoosier fashion, they give up an 13-2 run and suddenly were down by 12 on the road again. For the longest time, it looked like this was going to be a loss. Occassionally, IU would get it down to 5, but the lead stayed in the 5-10 range for most of the 2nd half. Finally, Crawford hit a 3 and the lead was down to 2 with 6 minutes to go. But before Tom and I could even trade text messages of "Yes!" and "Let's Go!", IU had a series of 3 horrible plays and the lead was right back to 5 in the blink of an eye. This stretch included one of Ellis' 3 missed layups on the night. This one was wide open and then he was even right there for the tip-in and missed that too. The next big shot was by Stemler when he hit a 3 to cut the lead to just 1 with 3 minutes to go. This was a shocker because Stemler's first 3-pt attempt on the night was one of the ugliest things I have ever seen. But once again, Stemler comes up with a big shot. A minute later, Gordon hits 2 big FTs to give IU their first lead since the early-going. Stemler then had a chance to be the hero, but he missed a 3 with just under a minute to play. It started looking bleak for IU when IU had a 3 point lead with only 30 seconds to play, but then Gordon shut those orange idiots up when he banked in a deep 3 to tie the game. I really don't give a shit that he didn't mean to bank it. It went in and it was HUGE. Illinois had a chance to win it in regulation when a cheap foul was called on Ellis. Jamarcus was behind Pruitt when Pruitt caught the ball and turned his shoulder into Ellis. Meanwhile, Stemler had cleanly grabbed the ball for what should have been a jump-ball. But they called the foul on Ellis to send Pruitt to the line for a 1-1. Fortunately, Pruitt is the biggest bricklayer that college basketball has ever seen. He makes Shaq look like he has a soft FT shooting touch. Needless to say, he missed. IU then ran some god-awful play with 3 seconds left and did not get a good look, so we went to overtime. At this point, I was feeling really good about IU's chances. Randle had fouled out and Frazier was injured. So, if IU couldn't muster up 5 minutes to pull off the win, then this team would be in a full-fledged tailspin. Well, they didn't manage to pull off the win in this OT but at least they forced it to a 2nd OT. IU started this OT horribly with a Gordon turnover, missed shot by DJ, missed shot by Gordon, and then 2 missed FTs by DJ. So, your two best players have come up empty on the first 4 possessions of OT. Enter Jordan Crawford. Every game, there is going to be some good and some bad with Jordan. Fortunately, there was more good tonight, especially in this OT when he hit back-to-back 3s to quickly give IU a 3-point lead after being down by 3. The second of his 3s came after Gordon dribbled the ball off his foot and it went right to Crawford for the open jumper. We'll take it. But then, IU had a very poor possession where they stood around and let the clock run down until Crawford forced up an ugly 3 and missed. And to add to it, Crawford then does not tightly guard McCamey who was on fire and he drains a 3 to tie it at 69 with 1 minute to go in OT. Jamarcus Ellis continued his tough night by missing 2 FTs (making IU 0-4 in OT) with 30 seconds to play and once again giving Illinois a chance to win it at the end. DJ does a nice job to block the jump shot by Brock and it looked like Bassett was going to be able to get the ball, but he ended up tapping the ball instead of grabbing it. The ball goes right to Pruitt under the basket who is then fouled by Gordon with 2 seconds to play this time. He did foul him, but again it was the type of play where officials often swallow their whistles. Nonetheless, it was good foul because it was a point-blank layup and Pruitt had already built half a house by now. The scary part was that Pruitt got 2 shots and I thought he was going to make one this time. Fortunately, we was dreadfully short on the first and then another solid brick on the second. Now, here's where IU got hozed. After the officials blew the whistle on IU twice in the closing seconds of regulation and OT, they then swallowed their whistle for IU. DJ got the rebound on Pruitt's second miss, turned to take one dribble and make a heave when Pruitt clearly fouls him. DJ should have had 3 FTs to win the game. Even though he missed 2 earlier in OT, I like his chances to make 1 out of 3. I was surprised when I saw the replay at how bad Pruitt really did foul him on that play. Had IU lost this game, that's a no-call that would haunt me for a long time. In the 2nd OT, Illinois scored first, but IU finally got on track with 5 straight points that included Ellis finally finding the range on a 1-footer and then a big 3 by Bassett. Bassett would own the 2nd OT with 11 points, including 8-8 from the FT line with 6 of those coming in the final minute to ice it for the Hoosiers. You have to like Bassett at the line at the end of close games. He has delivered for IU in those situations several times over the last 1 1/2 years. I also liked how he went to get the ball on the inbounds plays. Everyone else was just standing around, but Bassett wanted the ball. Of course, even when it is looking good for IU with a 5 point lead and less than a minute to play, it was still scary for IU a couple times. Illinois scores with 37 seconds to go to cut it to 3 and then Gordon gets called for a 10-second violation as he walked the ball up the floor. That was just flat stupid. He was doing this a lot at the end of the game and was barely getting it across on several other occassions. There's really no excuse for it because you know you have to cross before the shot clock reads "25". It's not like it's a referee that is silent-counting in his head and maybe he had a quick count. I saw Gordon mouth "bullshit" as he went to the huddle, but that one was just a dumb play on his part. And poor coaching by Sampson for not warning him after he had reached a 9-count a few times earlier in the game. The good news is that Gordon then played some great defense on the next possession and forced Illinois to dribble the ball off their leg and out of bounds back to IU. But even after 2 more FTs by Bassett to get it back to 5 with 10 seconds to go, it was still a little scary. Gordon played outstanding defense on McCamey and completely stuffed his first 3-point attempt, but McCamey grabbed it and then nailed a 3 with 6 seconds to go to cut it to 2. Bassett comes up big again and hits his final 2 FTs to seal a big victory for the Hoosiers! I'm not sure why I went into that much detail on a game that you probably all watched. Oh well. I think I will do a report card as well because this one had some guys all over the place. Chester Frazier: drop-out What a punk. That crap before the game where he slammed into Gordon during the handshake was total bullshit. He should get suspended for a game for pulling crap like that. It's one thing for pushing and shoving in the heat of battle, but it's completely differnt to pull a pre-meditated stunt like that. I give Gordon a lot of credit for keeping his cool. A lot of guys would have gotten into a fight right then and there or pulled a cheap shot against Frazier later in the game, but Gordon kept his cool. Bruce Weber: pathetic He's really just a pathetic figure now. Did you see the handshake at the end of the game with Sampson? Weber just extends this limp hand and then pulls away and turns around as soon as Sampson touches his hand. For the love of God man, at least man up and offer a real handshake. Kelvin Sampson: D I love the win and the Hoosiers needed a win any way they can get it, but the fact is that this team is not playing well right now. Sampson's offense is lacking and for whatever reason, he can't get these guys to play defense. The defense still really puzzles me because Sampson has a proven track record of his teams being tough defensively, but he can't get through to these guys. When they turn on the defensive intensity, they are really good, but they sure don't turn it on very often. As for offense, we know that Sampson's offensive scheme is nothing to brag about. But come on, you have Eric Gordon and DJ White. I would love to sit around and think of ways to get these guys the ball. When was the last time Eric Gordon had an open shot that was created from a well-designed play? I would be running Gordon through every screen you could imagine and have him going in and out, up and down, side to side, back-door, and anything else I could dream up. And DJ was 4-6 in a first half where IU only scored 25 points. How about getting him the ball some more?!? I was fine with IU coming out in the 2-3 zone because Illinois is a poor-shooting team and IU's man-to-man defense generally sucks. But it turns out that IU's 2-3 zone defense also sucks. Illinois was getting wide-open looks. If they play with intensity, their man-to-man can be really good and I thought it took Sampson too long to come out of the 2-3. I'd also like to see a little more fire out of him at times. There were times tonight where those officials deserved an earful but he generally just spreads his arms with his palms up with a look of "what the hell was that". Also with the players -- some of these guys need an ass-chewing from time to time, especially when you know they can play better defense. Well, the Hoosiers now play the 4 best teams in the Big Ten right in a row. It's time to get the job done. D.J. White: B Another pretty solid game for DJ. Just missed the double-double with 16 points and 9 rebounds. Had 2 nice blocked shots in the overtimes. Jamarcus Ellis: D+ Also just missed a double-double with 9 points and 11 rebounds. But it's his own damn fault because he could have had well over 10 points if he could have hit a frickin' layup or free throw! Lance Stemler: B- Missed a 3 badly, then made a big 3 with a couple minutes left, then missed a 3 with a minute left. But at least he hit one big one. Other than that, a couple hustle plays and a few fouls. Armon Bassett: A 16 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists. But the main reason for the "A" was the 11 points in the 2nd OT that included 8-8 from the line. Well done, young man. Eric Gordon: B Kind of a high grade for 3-13 FGs and 7 turnovers, but obviously there was a lot more to this than just his stat line. As previously mentioned, he kept his cool when Frazier pulled that bullshit before the game. Think about it, if Gordon turns and takes a swing at him, he gets suspended for a few of the biggest games of the year and IU's Big Ten title hopes are done. So, I give him credit for just laughing off that punk-ass move by Frazier. Also, he stayed aggressive after a horrible 1-point first half. In the second half, he poured in 18 points that included that big 3 with less than 30 seconds in regulation. But the biggest thing was that he went to the line 10 times in the second half and made 9 of them. Other than the 10-second call, I liked it when he had the ball in his hands. Even though there were a few turnovers mixed in, I still felt like that put the Illinois defense on their heals. It was good to see Gordon respond in the second half and still lead the team with 19 points. Because the fact is that even if it is mixed in with 7 turnovers and 3-13 FGs, this team needs him to put up some points somehow, some way. And he was able to do that. They don't win if he gets shut down in the 2nd half. DeAndre Thomas: F Has become completely useless. Scares the shit out of me for next year. Jordan Crawford: A- Ok, so there was getting the behind-the-back dribble stolen and there was failing to guard McCamey tightly twice even though the dude was on fire, and there was not realizing the shot clock was going down. But there were also 4 HUGE 3-balls for Jordan that played a major factor in the outcome of this game. His 18 points in this game were all big ones. Mike White: C Out of favor with Sampson right now. Just not enough good things while he is on the court. Mike White and DeAndre have not been doing many positive things lately. Kyle Taber: A- I thought Taber played well. He had that nice offensive board and put-back to go a solid 1-1 from the field. I know it doesn't sound like much, but the fact that he made the layup gives him an edge over Mike White and DeAndre (and apparently Ellis after tonight). He also made a nice hi-lo pass down to DJ where DJ ended up getting fouled. And it just looks like he is going where he is supposed to and setting screens and playing solid defense. Right now, I think he is deserving of the minutes over Mike White and DeAndre. Overall Team Performance: B This defintely falls into the "I don't care how they did it, but they won" category. This was a must-win for IU and they pulled it off. A loss would have been devastating. That said, this team is still showing many weaknesses and doesn't seem to be improving at all. They have the best two players in the Big Ten and some pretty darn good role players in Bassett and Ellis, yet they definitely are not currently the best team in the conference. The good news is that they got the win to keep pace with PU and WI who already have 9 wins under their belt. Now, it's time to beat some good teams. Can they do it? We shall see. Fortunately, the next 4 games play out favorably as far as home & away games. The worst of the 4 teams is the lone road game and then they get WI, MSU, and PU at home. So, it will be interesting to say the least. I just laughed out loud at how agonizing it must be for Illinois fans that Eric Gordon banked in a 3 to send the game to OT. And that they had every chance to win this game and they couldn't do it. And the fact that this game basically equalled a national title game in their minds because they are so bad that they have absolutely nothing else to play for this year. I think we all know that these orange fools are the reason that there is a term "FIB". Go Hoosiers!

The Answers

12 Days 5 Games February 7th - February 19th should give us a lot of answers about this team. @ Illinois @ Ohio State Wisconsin Michigant State Purdue How do you think they will make it through this 5 game stretch? See new poll question.

NW Game & More

Earlier in the year, I was preaching stuff like "a win is a win" and "as long as they put it in the W column", etc. I've also been saying to this point that I think this team will improve throughout the year....well, I'm not sure I believe all that anymore. This team seems to be getting worse. Picture this. Assume you have no knowledge of Sunday's game and outcome. If I told you that IU is playing NW at home, NW would not have a single rebound in the first 9 minutes of the game, Eric Gordon would have 17 points at halftime, DJ White would have 12 pts and 7 boards at halftime, IU would have an 11 rebound edge at halftime, what would you guess the score would be? I don't know about you guys, but I would guess at least a 15 point lead. But no, not this team. This team finds a way to dominate a game but only hold a 3-point lead at halftime. For whatever reason, this team cannot pull away. They do not have that killer instinct. I can't figure this team out. Or maybe I have figured this team out and I just don't want to admit it. Here's what I think I have figured out: 1. This team just isn't all that great. They are a talented team. They are a good team. But they are not a great team. At least, they sure as shit are not playing that way right now. 2. Defense. They're not improving. This is why they can't pull away. This is why NW is down by 2 with a 3-pointer in the air to take the lead at Assembly Hall with only 9 minutes to go in the game. This is why they appear to dominate the 1st half but only end up leading by 3 points at halftime. 3. IU's role players are not getting it done right now. I had a feeling that NW's back-door cuts would make IU look silly. There were times that the back-door cut and lay-in happened so fast that the IU defender did not even know there was a score by the time they found there man again. Seriously, the NW player would back-door Gordon, Ellis, or Bassett so bad that he would lay it in and start running down the floor before IU even knew what happened. And if it wasn't the back-door cut, it was wide-open 3s. It's no coincidence that a bad-shooting NW team finally finds the range against IU. You know Sampson prides himself and his teams with tough man-to-man defense, but he eventually had to go to a 2-3 zone because this team cannot play man-to-man defense. It was the 2-3 zone that finally made the difference and allowed IU to win.

Now, let's take a closer look at the role players. Gordon and DJ were outstanding against NW, but the role players were atrocious. Gordon had 29 pts on 6-10 3PT FGs and added 4 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals. As for DJ, just another monster game with 26 points and 13 rebounds. But would did the other guys do?

In fact, what have the role players done in the last 2 games? Keep in mind that these are the guys that are getting WIDE OPEN looks because of all the attention that Gordon and DJ are getting.

Looking at 3-point shooting the last 2 games.....Bassett was 1-8 against NW and 0-5 against WI, Stemler was 1-4 against NW and 1-6 against WI, Ratliff was 1-6 against NW and 0-1 against WI. THAT'S A COMBINED 4-30 IN THE LAST 2 GAMES!

That's just not getting it done. Again, these are the guys that are getting the WIDE OPEN looks. Sampson's lack of offense actually starts to look pretty good if these guys simply knock down those open shots. Bassett and Stemler have at least mixed in some hot streaks. In fact, Bassett is still shooting 47.5% from the arc even after going 1 for his last 13. Stemler is starting to worry me again because his misses have been really bad and he only shoots when he is extremely wide open. Even so, he's still shooting 36% from the arc.

Ratliff needs his own paragraph to describe how bad he has been. He is now 4-24 from the arc on the year. Ouch! Also, he has managed to commit 21 fouls in a total of 102 minutes on the year. That's 21 fouls in the equivalent of 2 1/2 games. Bassett has 22 fouls in 481 minutes of play. This team needs Ratliff to step it up. Last year, he averaged 9.3 points and shot 41% from the arc. It can be a huge lift for a team for a guy to come off the bench and knock down a couple 3s every game. At this point, it looks hopeless for Ratliff, but maybe he can find a way to get on track.

So, you think Sampson is happy with how Mike White and DeAndre have been playing? Kyle Taber started against NW and played 24 minutes. Mike White did not play at all. DeAndre played 2 minutes and missed another point-blank layup.

Even though Jordan Crawford can be frustrating at times, at least he usually generates some kind of production. But Crawford hurt his ankle against NW and only played 2 minutes. Not sure how bad the injury is.

My point is that some of these guys need to step it up and we need some consistency. Hopefully, Bassett can break out of his current cold spell because I think he is key. And Stemler has to hit his shots because he is going to continue to get good looks.

Again, I go back to the fact that these are the wide open shots. Teams are simply not going to let Gordon get open looks. But the shots that these guys are getting are usually a result of the offense actually working or the result of a good extra pass to the open shooter. But it's all for not if they miss the open shots.

As for Gordon, he was awesome in this game. However, he now needs to do it against tougher opponents and tougher defenses. He has absolutely dominated lesser opponents, but he has struggled against good teams and tough defenses. He needs to be unstoppable. When the jumper is going and he is driving under control and going to the FT line, he is truly unstoppable. However, against the tougher defenses, he has generally been frustrated and frustrating to watch with lots of turnovers.

Now would be a great time for Gordon to have a great game against a tough defense. It's going to be incredibly tough for Gordon at Illinois, but I would love nothing more for him to have a big game in an IU victory.

This game at Illinois really worries me. This road game at Illinois will play tougher for IU than it will for any other Big Ten team. IU really struggles to score against Illinois and they barely beat Illinois without Chester Frazier in Bloomington.

What the hell is going on with Purdue? I had them pegged as the team to beat next year or the year after, but they are getting it done this year. I just looked at Illinois' schedule and found they had held their previous two opponents to 51 points and 37 points, but Purdue just went in there and put up 83 points in Champaign.

By the way, lowly Illinois beat Northwestern 70-37. Northwestern scored 37 points against us in the 1st half and kept the game within one possession until about 8 minutes to go. We really do suck. This is incredibly frustrating, but the more I look at all of this, we really aren't that good.

But that doesn't mean I won't stick up for our beloved Hoosiers anytime and anywhere. And that includes the polls. I have no problem with our 13/14 ranking. But I do have a problem with Michigan State still being ranked higher than us. I understand that we really haven't beat anyone, but you also have to look at who you have lost to. IU has 3 losses and they are to this week's #8, #13, and #19 team in the nation. Michigan State has only 1 win over RPI Top 25 and that was Texas. They lost to UCLA earlier in the year, but now they have lost to both Iowa and Penn State. Those are 2 really bad losses when IU has no bad losses. Anyway, it's not really worth analyzing at this point in the year, but I just did it anyway.

You guys remember Bob Knight? He resigned today from Texas Tech. Good ole Patrick is taking over immediately. This is actually kind of exciting because I do actually think Bobby mellowed quite a bit over the years. But Pat has that crazy irrational intensity that could lead to some good blow-ups. In fact, he already had one earlier this year, so I'm anxious to see what he will pull as the head man.

I suppose I should put out a prediction for the game at Illinois on Thursday. The defense is going to be very tight and intense on Gordon. I'm hoping he can get to the foul line. A lot depends on how the officials call the game. If the officials let them play in this one, that place is going to be loud and the Illinois defense is going to be all over IU. That could lead to a low-scoring ugly game. I'm hoping that this is one of those games where IU's talent can get them over the top.

IU wins 60-59.

What's your prediction?