A Look Back at Northwestern State, A Look Ahead to Maryland, A Look Back to the Last Time We Played Maryland, A Look Way Ahead to a 2010 Hoosier Christmas in Las Vegas, and Not Necessarily in that Order

Christmas in Vegas with the Hoosiers (2010):
There is no "teasing" on the IU Hoops blog, so let's good right to the good stuff.  If you haven't heard already, the Hoosiers will be playing in Vegas next year right before Christmas.  It sounds like a tournament where they will play 2 home games and then head to Sin City for 2 more games.  Crean didn't have the dates when he was doing his radio show, but I thought I read elsewhere that it would be December 20-22.

My family just finalized plans for Xmas 2010 to take place at my parents house in Florida, but what could be a better Christmas present than Vegas and live IU basketball.  On second thought, I don't think I could handle it.  That would just be too much for me.  But it does sound a lot like my Christmas wish list -- a trip to Vegas and anything related to IU Basketball (especially tix in Vegas).

I also heard the Hoosiers might be headed back to Hawaii sooner than later, like maybe even within the next 2-3 years.  Just a rumor at this point, but I have promised myself that I will be going to Hawaii the next time IU plays there.  I did hear that the tournament may move to Honolulu in the future, rather than it's current venue in Maui.

A Look Back at the NW St Game: 

• Sloppy and ugly -- Neither team could get a handle on the damn ball, guys were running into each other, falling over each other, throwing balls off heads (Capo off a NW St head), throwing balls out of bounds (Jobe), and fouling the shit out of each other.
  

• Speaking of fouls, the good news was that the Hoosiers went to the line 44 times and made 34 of them.

• All in all, the Hoosiers got the job done against a lesser opponent.  The game was never in doubt, but IU didn't exactly run them out of the gym.  The game was in single-digits briefly with 12 minutes to go in the game, so definitely not a blow-out right from the opening tip.  Eventually, IU made a run to put the game away and the BTN cut away from the game with 6 minutes to go because all the fouls were making the game run extremely long.  Still not sure why we had to get to the opening tip of Ohio St versus Podunk U.

• Christian Watford had a pretty good all-around game with 17 points on 5-7 FGs and 7-8 FTs.  He added 5 rebs, 2 assts, 2 stls, and 1 blk.  Watford has certainly been effective against the cupcakes, but has struggled against the better opponents.  It would be great to see him play well during the upcoming 3-game stretch against Maryland, Pitt, and the Inbreds.

• Tom Pritchard showed some very brief signs of life, but was in foul trouble the entire game.  They were cheap fouls, but he has to stop putting himself in that position.

•  Maurice Creek had another hot start with 13 early points and then cooled off a bit to finish with 17 points.  Although he has been a little inconsistent within games (hot starts and cool finishes), he has had amazing consistency with his production in the first 6 games of his career.  He has made at least 2 three-pointers in each of those 6 games and finished with point totals of 17, 14, 18, 17, 15, 17.  That's pretty damn good.

• Jeremiah Rivers led the team in both assists and rebounding with 10 assists and 7 rebounds (all defensive).  Those 10 dimes are really good to see.  He certainly wasn't without mistakes as he did have 5 turnovers, but he played 36 minutes and that's still a 2:1 assist-to-turnover ratio.

• Not a great game for Verdell.  I thought he made some really poor decisions with the basketball in the first half, but then played a little better in the second half.  He finished with 8 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, and 4 turnovers in 21 minutes.

• Here's a not-so-great stat from your back-up centers -- Jobe, Capobianco, and Muniru combined for exactly 0 rebounds in 25 minutes of action.

•  Jordan Hulls didn't exactly help the case I was making that he should be playing in front of Moore.....Hulls did next to nothing in 7 minutes while Moore was a scoring machine with 6 points in 6 minutes plus a steal.

• Derek Elston played really well with 12 points on 5-7 FG shooting, including 1-2 from the arc.  He also added 6 rebounds and 4 steals in just 18 minutes.

• It was good to see Dumes find his scoring again with 11 points.  At the very least, IU needs its returning players playing at the level they were last year, most notably Dumes and Pritchard.

• And then you have big Tijan Jobe.  I love the big fella, but I'm not yet sold on him seeing serious minutes.  Gavin sent me the following email:

I was listening to the Tom Crean show tonight and he gave some interesting 
insight into Tijan's playing time.  He mentioned the he is trying to get more 
minute with Elston and Watford on the floor at the same time.  This would 
require getting some minutes filled at the 5 spot.  Thus Tijan has gotten some 
time time and he has observed that our opponents have the lowest shooting 
percentage when Tijan is in the line up.  
 
He said that Tijan is our most relentless defender and that he is earning his 
minutes.

I'm not sure that Elston and Watford on the floor at the same time requires minutes filled at the 5 spot.  If the other team does not have a dominant big man and IU really wants to force the up-tempo game, why not go with Rivers, Creek, Jones, Watford, and Elston for a stretch?  I'm not saying you would use that line-up all the time, but why not give it a try and really try to run and play up-tempo.  This might be a better option when Pritchard gets in foul trouble.

I'm also surprised at the stat that opponents have the lowest shooting percentage when Tijan is in the line up.  He is an intimidating specimen just to look at and it does hurt if you bounce off him (just ask his teammates), but he just doesn't play like a 7-footer on the defensive end.

Tijan did have 2 nifty moves under the bucket for 2-2 FG shooting, but he also dropped a good pass that could have been another easy basket and he lost the handle on another one that went flying out of bounds.  So, he really had an opportunity to easily be 4-4 from the field and I am pretty damn sure that would have been a career high. 

He also had 2 blocked shots and one of them was a swat, but we need even more.  And if he's going to commit 4 fouls in 12 minutes, then I want him thinking the opponents head is the ball and taking someone's head off.  You can tell he has been learning from Pritchard on the "excuse me" fouls.

And the 0 rebounds in 12 minutes, I just can't live with that.

All in all, like everyone else, he has to make sure the good outweighs the bad.  If he can keep making strides, he is an imposing figure to have out there.

A Look Ahead to Maryland: 

• Tuesday at 7:30pm ET (6:30pm CT)
• TV:  ESPN2 (sweet, no Laskowski)
  
• "White Out" at Assembly Hall
  

Maryland struggled a little bit in Maui after heading in there as a ranked team.  They were able to beat Chaminade, but lost to Wiscy and Cincy.  Hell, IU was able to do that last year.  But, as usual, Wisconsin already looks better than everyone expected and I think Cincinnati has a pretty good team this year (now ranked and only loss this year has been to Gonzaga in OT).  So, even though Maryland dropped out of the polls today, they are still clearly the better team in this match-up.

Prediction:  IU 64  Maryland 72


Do you remember the last time IU met Maryland in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge?  Of course you do, but you can re-live it with the following links:

• Recap 
• Box Score 
• Big Ten Chronicle:  Where Are They Now? Tom Coverdale (2007)
  
• Dickie V:  Coverdale wills Indiana to classic win over Terps
  

Tom Crean talks Maryland courtesy of the IU Athletics channel on youtube:

Indiana vs. Northwestern State - Saturday at 3:30pm ET (2:30pm CT) on The Big Ten Network

Last year, IU beat Northwestern State by a score of 83-65.  I would love to sit here and say "if we beat them by 18 last year, then I expect us to beat them by at least 36 this year".  But, I ain't feelin' it.  So, instead, I think I will go with the following prediction:

IU 83  Northwestern St 65

A Different Way to Remember the Puerto Rico Trip

Ask The Idiot -- The Answers

Wow, great questions.  Keep the questions coming and I'll continue to provide my thoughts.  I thought it might be easier to read the Q&A in a new post, so here we go with the questions that have been received thus far:

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TheCoach said...

why is dan moore playing in front of hulls?

The Idiot's Answer:  I have no fucking idea.  Hulls is the better player right now.  Hulls has 100 times more upside potential. 

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TheCoach said...

with capo having a break out game, is it about time to sit jobe and muniru both other than mop up time?

The Idiot's (very long) Answer:  Not so fast, my friend.  Great to see Bobby contribute with 7 points and 10 rebounds in just 17 minutes against George Mason, but one game does not earn you a permanent spot in the rotation.  But Capo's game on Sunday morning was certainly a step in the right direction.  While he did have a couple awkward putback attempts, he did play with a physical presence that this team desparately needs.

So, Capo certainly earned more minutes, but I'm not ready to send Jobe and Muniru to the far end of the bench just yet.  At least, not both of them (more on this in the next paragraph).  My concern is that I think a big part of the defensive problems on this team is that they do not have a shot-blocker underneath that can help erase some of the defensive mistakes.  Right now, the guards get beat, then our bigs try to step up and help out and they either commit a foul or the other team makes an extra pass and we get dunked on (man, we get dunked on A LOT).  We need someone that can protect the basket and force the other team to at least pull up for a contested mid-range jumper or if they do make that extra pass, we need a big guy with wing span that can recover and challenge that dunk or contest a shot.  In addition, right now, we are giving up offensive rebounds and also giving up easy put-backs.  If you do give up offensive rebounds, those put-backs at least need to be contested by a shot-blocking threat or possibly even start a fast break by blocking a shot and heading the other way.  Right now, we have no threat of blocking shots and it's hurting us in a bad way. 

Now, are Jobe and Muniru the answer to that problem?  No, not right now.  But I say we give Bawa as much on-the-job training as possible.  I don't see the point in playing Jobe (a senior) over Bawa (a freshman).  Just from a timing standpoint, Jobe's upside is limited whereas Bawa's is unlimited.  I think Bawa needs to get 4-8 minutes in most games to get a feel for the game and learn as much as possible.  Also, I don't think Bawa's minutes would necessarily be solely for the purpose of learning.  Just one drop-step and dunk in an exhibition game and 3 offensive rebounds in 3 minutes in a regular season game showed me that he can contribute while he is in there.  It won't all be pretty and there will be mistakes, but that's the case with the whole team right now.  I think Bawa could really be the key to future success, so I want to see the coaching staff doing everything possible to develop this guy.  I love Tijan Jobe, but I think his role needs to be the most intimidating cheerleader in all of college basketball.
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TheCoach said...

isn't this zone defense the worst attempt at playing D you've ever seen at the D1 college level?

The Idiot's (very short) Answer:  Yes.

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TheCoach said...

who would you start tomorrow if you were the coach?

The Idiot's Answer:  Right now, I would stick with Crean's starting lineup of Rivers, Creek, Jones, Watford, and Pritchard.  I see significant minutes every game off the bench from Hulls, Elston, and Dumes (more on him in a Q&A below).  With Capo's break-out game on Sunday, I think he definitely gets minutes over Muniru, but as noted above, I would still like to see a handful of minutes for Muniru if at all possible.  I only see Moore and Jobe in mop-up duty.

I would have definitely seen Roth as a part of the rotation, but now that he has a broken foot, he is out until at least conference play and may end up as a medical redshirt.  Roth probably wasn't going to help the defensive struggles, but he typically plays mistake-free basketball and he can flat-out shoot the ball.

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TheCoach said...

NOW how many wins do you think we'll get?

The Idiot's Answer:  12

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Dumas has made some really dum-as plays this year.

Outside of the couple of nice 3's he really hasn't done anything of consequence.

Does he look completely disinterested and how much more PT does he deserve?

Is he pissed that he isn't the go to guy?

Is he becoming groin elbowing Dumas again?

Thanks. Long time listener first time caller.

Gavin

The Idiot's Answer:  Excellent questions and I was definitely hoping to touch on this topic.  I don't think he is disinterested and I do think he still deserves significant playing time.  He might be pissed that he isn't the go-to guy, but I think it is more that he is trying to find his role on this team.  Keep in mind that he sat out most of the pre-season with a knee injury, so he's probably coming in and trying to do too much.

The crazy thing is that I think he might be the key to an increased level of success this year.  The thing is that he is a very good defender which this team desperately needs in any capacity.  The problem has been that he has been horriffic on offense.  Especially with the increased talent on this team, I think Dumes needs to focus on just being a 3-point shooter.  If he can get his shot going again, it would be a major boost to this team.  Remember that the best stretch for IU in conference play last year was fueled by Dumes getting hot.  He had 27 points on 5-5 3PT shooting in IU's only Big Ten win.  Two games earlier, he had 26 points on 6-10 3PT shooting in a 2-point loss to NW.  And in the game prior to that, he had 19 points on 4-6 3PT shooting in a 4-point loss to Minnesota.

So, with this year's team, he should be able to spot up and get even better 3-point looks than he did last year.  If he can stop turning the ball over at an alarming rate and get hot from beyond the arc, you can add that to his defensive efforts and this team could win some games.

Keeping the injury in mind, I definitely think Dumes needs to continue to get minutes to see if he can find his rhythm and get going. 

Interestingly, Dumes saw exactly 0 minutes in the second half against George Mason on Sunday, so I think that's an indication of how Tom Crean thinks he is playing right now.

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Chris Asks:

Do you have any doubts about Tom Crean's coaching?

The Idiot's Answer:  Yes.  That said, I absolutely still believe he is the right man for this job right now.  He is doing everything possible to rebuild this program the RIGHT way and that is great.   I think Crean is a very good coach, but I would not consider him to be a great coach right now.  I have found it tough to analyze him as a coach because the the team is so young and had to completely start over. 
I think Crean is a good recruiter, good at getting the team ready to play, a great motivator, a great PR guy for the program, but my only minor doubts are with the half-court offense and the in-game coaching and adjustments.

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Chris Writes:

Is the "our team is young" line still valid in today's College Hoops? (so many upperclassmen leave early.)

Could this be mental crutch?

The Idiot's Answer:  In this case, yes it is a valid line.  What Crean had in year 1 was really unprecedented in major college basketball.  What he has in year 2 is still what would be considered one of the largest re-building efforts.  Even when teams lose their 5 starters or anything like that, they still at least have solid role players coming back as juniors and seniors to step in.  In those cases, you can supplement with a good freshmen class. 

In IU's case, you still have a team where the 12 players that are getting minutes include 7 first-year players (with 6 being true freshmen) and 5 second-year players in the program (3 true sophomores and 2 Juco transfers).  This is completely starting over.

The Fab 5 are known and still remembered as The Fab 5 because it was so unique for a group of freshmen to come in and have that level of success.  There are freshmen that come in and significantly contribute to a team or even lead a team (Carmello Anthony), but they always have 3 and 4 year players in the program on that team with them.  Even The Fab 5 had veteran players coming in off the bench.  So, when an entire team includes first and second year players like IU's current team, it is truly unprecedented.  Then, you also have to add in the fact that a full recruiting year was lost and subsequent recruiting years were negatively impacted.

So, in IU's case, I do think it is a valid line and I don't think it is a mental crutch at this point.

********************
Chris Writes:

What is Tom Crean's half court offensive philosphy?

The Idiot's Answer:  This is why they call me the idiot....I don't know.  I can't seem to figure it out.  It seems that it is to do nothing for the first half of the shot clock and then set up a high screen that takes place well outside the 3-point line and then it's a crap shoot off that high screen.  That's the way I see it and I have to say that I don't like it.  If this is Crean's half-court offense, then I really hope he gets even more serious about playing up-tempo because that half-court offense does nothing for me.

Tom Pritchard had clearly struggled so far this year, but what happened to trying to feed him in the post?  Last year, especially early, Pritchard proved that he had some nifty and effective moves in the post.  I thought he would have even more room to operate with the increased talent on this year's team, but he really hasn't even been given a chance.  Part of that is his own fault because he has had his head up his ass and gotten into foul trouble, but a larger part has been that Crean has not called his number or tried to get the ball inside at all.  Pritchard is currently shooting 65% from the field, so he has been effective with limited opportunities.

I do understand Crean's philosophy of drive and kick and I do like that philosophy, but it can't be the only thing you try to do.  This is where Rivers needs to step up and deliver.

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Chris Writes:

Purdue's recent success, ranking, and level of play causes me to seriously hate Sampson, Greenspan, the NCAA, Knight's anger issues, and our lack of a 4 star big man in the recruiting pipeline.

This is more of a statement, or hatement, rather than a question.

The Idiot's Thoughts:  I agree on all accounts.  And I am very concerned about the lack of a true big man in the recruiting pipeline.  That's why I see Bawa as the key to our future success because he is the only guy with future shot-blocking potential on the team and there is nothing in the recruiting pipeline right now.

Kelvin Sampson is a jerk-off.

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B-Healy said...

Why does this year seem to be headed down the same path as last year? Weren't we promised visible improvements this season? No defense, spotty FT shooting, guys going in and out like there is a revolving door at the end of the bench. Seems the same to me.

The Idiot's Answer:  If you wanted to, you could make the argument that this year's team is off to a worst start than last year's team.  In both years, they started the year by beating two cupcakes before heading off to a pre-season tournament.  Last year, we won a game in Maui.  This year, nothing in Puerto Rico.  I personally would not make that argument, I'm just saying that you could make that argument.

My real answer is that the main reason that this year's team is resembling last year's team is because we are barely leveraging last year's experience.  Even after the transfers of Malik Story and more importantly Nick Williams, we still had a core of Dumes, Jones, Pritchard, and Roth returning this year.  Outside of Jones, we are getting nothing out of our returning players.  Pritch is averaging only 5 pts and 3 rebs, Dumes is averaging 3 pts and nearly as many turnovers, and Roth now has a broken foot.  So, essentially, we are adding a transfer and a bunch of freshmen to a still skinny true sophomore.

Bottom line is that we need more out of Dumes and Pritchard.  Right now, we are forced to live and die with our freshmen.  Freshmen are going to be inconsistent, that is a given.  I was hoping we would have the option of periodically putting in a lineup of Rivers, Dumes, Jones, and Pritchard to hopefully steady the ship.  That's not happening right now.

That said, this team is considerably better than last year's and we just aren't seeing it yet.  I think hope that the FT shooting will be better and the worst is behind us for this season.

I also don't think that opening the season with 5 games in 9 days does a young team any favors.  This team needs more practice time to improve and I think we will start to see those improvements in December (well, probably not during the Maryland, Pitt, Kentucky stretch).  Regardless, if you listened to Tom Crean's last two postgame press conferences, he is not a happy camper and he is identifying exactly what is wrong with this team right now.  So, I do trust that these issues are being addressed in practice and we will start to see improvements.

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andy.dart said...


Dear Mr. Idiot, I want to know if this team is going to compete or if they are going to fold up their tent and go home. Right now, it is very easy for fans to think that this is as good as it is going to get and this will be a repeat of last year but with more talent. So, we need your opinion on whether or not IU will show signs of hope and life this year (please be positive, Mr. Idiot. I fear i might jump from my roof if there is not hope)........

Mr. Idiot's Answer:  This team will absolutely compete.  My concern is that their youth is going to lead to a lot of inconsistency, a lot of bad defense, and some streaky shooting from the field, the line, and the arc.  The good news is that their talent level will show flashes of brilliance that includes scoring in spurts, steals on the defensive end, and even the occassional dunk.

I have no doubt that they will compete.  But as I have said before, I think this team will both play in a lot of close games and will unfortunately lose a lot of close games.  Puerto Rico is a perfect example.  The Boston game shouldn't have been close, we actually should have pulled away and won that game easily.  Unfortunately, we didn't play well in the second half, allowed the game to stay close, and then failed miserably at the end.  The George Mason game was different in that it was a close game the entire contest and IU even did many things that would normally deliver a win.  In this case, they fell victim to a piece-of-shit-banked-in 3-pointer.  Is it just me or has that happened to IU a lot in the past decade (Brian Butch, freakin' Brendan Plavich, and a few others)?  Anyway, even though IU played better against George Mason and were definitely unlucky, it was still another close game that they lost.

So, they will compete, they will show signs of life and cause for hope, but it might not translate to as many wins as we were hoping for this year.

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andy.dart said...

Mr. Idiot, Also, I would hate to jump from my roof into one of my bushes, only to survive and see another 6-25 season. We need hope Mr. Idiot.

Mr. Idiot's Answer:  Your roof to your bushes should result in nothing more than a few scrapes and maybe a bruise, so you're going to be OK.  And the good news is that the Hoosiers will have 6 wins by the time the conference season rolls around and they will definitely win more than one game this year in the Big Ten.

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Westlake said...

Dear The Idiot,

Have you heard anything about Morrison entering the NBA dunk contest this year?

The Idiot's Answer:  No

Update:  I have to admit that the first time I read this, I was thinking why the hell is Westlake asking me if Adam Morrison is entering the NBA dunk contest.  So, since I was reading Adam and that would be both an absurd and unrelated question, I dismissed it as Westlake just being drunk.

And now, even though I am probably right about Westlake being drunk, I do realize this question was related to Mike Morrison of George Mason who dunked on us like a mad-man.

So, I don't know if I would change my answer from "No", but I would agree that our defense did not offer any resistance at all when Morrison was going up for dunk after dunk.

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andy.dart said...

Maybe it should Dr. Idiot. And I mean that as a sign of respect. Does anybody agree?
Also, what does the Roth injury do to the rotation? Has anybody asked this yet? I like the fact that we have somebody on the team that can make 9 three pointers in 1 game. But does he give up 27 points on the defensive end?

Dr. Idiot's Answer:  Tough to really say what Roth's injury does to the rotation because it has been hard to identify any real rotation thus far.  Also, Roth only played 11 total minutes in the first 2 games of the season, so he wasn't seeing much action anyway.  However, I am wondering if that was due to the broken nose.  It's not that you can't play with a broken nose and facemask, but I wonder if Crean was just easing him back and wanting to see more of the freshmen in those opening 2 games.

I do think the injury hurts.  Yes, his defense is bad, but I don't think it is as bad as others think.  He is definitely slow of foot but he is also a smart player who is usually in the right position.  Defense, especially off the ball defense, is as much about positioning as it is about athleticism. 

I didn't see Roth getting a ton of minutes this year, but his shooting does have the ability to very quickly turn around a stale offensive performance. 

********************

Thanks for the questions and go Hoosiers!

Ask The Idiot

I apologize for the lack of a recap following the George Mason game.  Sunday was a busy day and I seemed to have a case of writer's block after that tough-luck loss and a deflating 0-3 trip to Puerto Rico that included an injury to Matt Roth just for good measure.

I have read everything available on this team and definitely have my opinions on where these players and this team is at right now.  And without another game until Saturday, I thought it would be a good idea to try the Ask The Idiot segment again.  We did this once before a couple years ago and it turned out to be interesting and fun.

So, go ahead, ask anything from the impact of Roth's injury or why Tijan plays more than Bawa or what's the deal with Dumes or is it time to panic or anything else you can think of.  And I (aka the idiot) will attempt to answer.  Ask as many questions as you want.

Go Hoosiers!

Another Close Game, Another Loss -- Indiana 66 George Mason 69

I'll have more later tonight., but to lose on a banked-in 3-pointer is certainly a tough pill to swallow.

Tom Crean's Saturday Press Conference in Puerto Rico

If you haven't yet listened to the Tom Crean postgame audio, I would start with listening to that before watching today's press conference video.  The link for the postame audio is in the post below.

Part 1:


Part 2:

Indiana 67 Boston U 71

This game was exactly my worst fear.....and no, I am not talking about the lack of TV coverage.  My fear with this team was that they would not only play in a lot of close games, but unfortunately they would lose a lot of close games.  With last night's game, that fear was definitely realized.

Definitely disappointing to lose a game to an 0-3 Boston team, especially considering that IU had the lead the entire game until the final minute.

I don't have a ton of comments without being able to watch the game, but here are a couple items of note:

• Maurice Creek was sensational to start the game.  He had 14 early points on three 3-pointers and a dunk.  He had 17 points in the first 14 minutes of the game.  However, he had 0 points in the final 26 minutes.
• IU got outrebounded by 20.

Andy posted a comment about Tom Crean's post-game press conference and it is definitely worth a listen.  Click here for a link to the audio on Inside the Hall.

This game was so disappointing that I keep thinking of Bob Knight being disappointed.  Click here for Bobby's disappointment.

Box Score

The Hoosiers close out the Puerto Rico Tipoff with a Sunday morning game against George Mason.  The game is at 10:30am ET (9:30am CT) on ESPNU.

Recap and Report Card: Indiana 71 Ole Miss 89

Well, that was pretty much what I expected (prediction was a 67-83 loss).  However, what I didn't expect was the outstanding start by IU. 

The first half was a half of runs.  The first few minutes were played to a deadlock at 11-11 and I was pretty happy with that.  Then, the Hoosiers went on a 9-0 run to take a 20-11 lead just 6 minutes into the game.

But then Ole Miss went on a 14-0 run of their own to take the lead 25-20 midway through the 1st half.  During this run, the second team came in and looked horrible.  Hulls was out of sorts as were the rest of the subs and they completely lost any rhythm.  Midway through this Ole Miss run, Crean put the starters back in, but the mo-jo was lost.

Unfortunately, even after IU ended their scoring draught, the Ole Miss run extended to an overall 30-5 run over a 10-minute span to turn IU's 9-point lead into an Ole Miss 16-point lead at 41-25 with 4 minutes left in the half.

Then, some resiliency by the young Hoosiers as they go on an impressive 11-2 run of their own to cut the lead back down to just 7 with under 30 seconds to go in the half.  However, a few bad notes on this run.  First, this run could have cut the lead to 3 or 4 if they could hit some damn free throws (a major problem throughout the entire game).  Also during this stretch, Bobby Capobianco had a nice offensive rebound on one of those missed free throws and had a point-blank layup and missed it.  And finally, the Hoosiers could not close out the half on this run as they gave up an offensive rebound and put-back right at the buzzer.  So, the halftime score was 45-36. 

The second half started out promising with IU scoring the first 4 points of the frame and the lead was down to 5 less than one minute into the second half.  Then, after trading baskets, Ole Miss went on an 8-0 run to push the lead back to 13 points at a score of 55-42 with 15 minutes to go.

The lead seemed to stay right around the 10-13 point range for the next 8 minutes.  Missed FTs and lack of any type of resistance on the defensive end prevented the Hoosiers from making any dent in the lead during this stretch.

Then Devan Dumes actually had a nice stretch.  He hit a 3 to cut the lead from 14 to 11, then he got a steal that led to IU making 1 of 2 FTs to cut the lead to 10.  IU got the ball back and Rivers made an acrobatic layup and suddenly the Hoosiers had something cookin' by cutting the lead to just 8 points.  The score was 69-61 with 5:53 to go.

Then came the key play of the game.  Dumes got another steal and Dumes and Rivers had a 2-on-1 fast break.  The defender jumped to Dumes, so Dumes made the pass to Rivers for what would have been an easy layup to cut the lead down to just 6 points.  But Dumes and Rivers could not connect on the pass and the ball went off Rivers hands out of bounds.  I've already read some other articles/blogs that are referring to this as "an errant Dumes pass", but I thought the pass was on target and Rivers simply mis-handled it.  I don't recall for sure and I guess it doesn't matter because it turned really ugly after that point.

Next thing you know, Dumes is bricking 3s and Ole Miss is going down for layup after layup after layup after dunk after offensive rebound and layup and so on.  Next thing you know, you blink your eyes and the lead is up to 20 and this thing was over.  Final Score: 89-71.

Overall Team Performance:  C
A lot of games, all it takes is a bad performance in just one area and it will cost you the game.  Tonight, the Hoosiers had multiple areas that were horrible.  Take your pick:

• Defense - Tonight's defensive performance is what I like to call the o-lay defense.  It was pathetic.  There was no resistance what-so-ever by IU.  Giving up way too many layups, dunks, and wide-open looks.  And if Ole Miss would miss, they would get the offensive rebound and put-back.
• Free Throws - I really, really, really, really hope this team does not turn out to be as bad of a free throw shooting team as they showed tonight and in their last game because it drives me fucking crazy.  I have come a long, long way in keeping my temper in check when watching IU games, but I cannot stand to watch them go up there and repeatedly miss free throws.  Again, it was the entire team that was horrible tonight.  I could live with Pritchard struggling from the line, but your guards go up there and knock them down.  But this was the whole freakin' team.  The free throws looked promising in the two exhibition games and the opener, but this has been really bad the last two games.
• Turnovers - 21 total.  14 of them were in the 1st half, so it was at least good to see a respectable 7 in the second half. 
• Getting their shots blocked - Ole Miss had 12 blocks.  Not too surprised by this as the freshmen are used to making certain moves and scoring.  They just do it by instinct because they are so used to it, but this is another level that they are going to have to adjust to.

On the good side, I was certainly impressed with the hot start and jumping out to the 20-11 lead in the first 6 minutes of the game.  I was also impressed with the way the team faught back on multiple occassions.  At the end of the first half, they went on a run to get the lead down to single digits at halftime.  They came out strong in the second half to get the lead down by 5.  Then, after allowing the lead to swell back up to 15, they made a second half run where they had a golden opportunity to get it down to 6.  I guess all of that is meaningless when you still lose by 18, but at least they made some runs and didn't get completely blown out of the gym. 

Another bright spot was offensive rebounding.  Although the Hoosiers gave up a lot of offensive rebounds to Ole Miss, at least they crashed their own offensive glass and pulled down 24 offensive rebounds.

And finally, I thought they ran the break effectively.  In most cases, they were under control and converted on a lot of fast breaks.  In the first 2 minutes of the second half, the Creek and Jones combo converted on 3 fast break opportunities.

Christian Watford:  D+
Watford clearly struggled in this game.  But I use the word "struggled" because you had the feeling that he was just a little off and couldn't get into the flow of the game.  Nothing to worry about here, I expect him to bounce back soon....with soon being tomorrow.  He opened his career with two double-doubles, but he only got halfway there tonight with 5 points and 5 rebounds.  2-10 FGs, , 0-2 3PT, 1-3 FTs, and 3 turnovers.

Tom Pritchard:  B-
I thought Pritchard was pretty solid tonight with 8 points and 8 rebounds.  Pritch had a straight "B" going until he air-balled that free throw, so I had to add the minus to his grade.  Like the rest of the team, his defense could be more stout.

Maurice Creek:  B
The thing I liked most about Mo tonight was that he was extremely active and involved in the game.  Did he make some mistakes?  Yes.  Did he take some bad shots?  Yes.  That said, did he make some big shots?  Yes.  Did he end a couple IU scoring draughts?  Yes.  Did he have a couple steals and run the break?  Yes.  Led the team in scoring with 18 big ones.  I like Mo.  I just get the feeling that he is playing to win.

Jeremiah Rivers:  B+
The B+ does not indicate mistake-free basketball by Jeremiah because it was far from it.  However, the aggressive, explosive, acrobatic drives to the basket are exactly what we need from Rivers.  Taking it coast to coast is exactly what we need from Rivers.  And that's what he did tonight.  6-6 from the field so he was either finishing or getting fouled.  Now, what he does at FT line after drawing those fouls is a completely different story.  Good lord, son, you grew up with this game.  Watch some Steve Alford footage or something -- socks, shorts, 1-2-3, swish -- it's that simple.

But back to the good part of Jeremiah's game, I did really like how he drove to the basket and he needs to continue to do more of that.  The stat line was pretty darn good too -- 14 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, 4 turnovers.

Verdell Jones III:  B+
Verdell looked like the Verdell that we saw at the end of last year.  A sneaky scorer.  I thought Verdell was effective at finishing on the break and playing his mid-range game in the half-court offense.  17 points on 8-15 shooting.  And then the free throws....just 1-4.  Combine that with Rivers and your two main ball-handlers were 3-10 from the stripe, that's not good.

Jordan Hulls:  D-
Oh man, I'm a big fan of Hulls, but that was rough.  I was having a hard time watching it.  When he first came in the game, it was a train wreck.  Unfortunately, he couldn't get a shot to fall either.  He'll settle down as we get further into the season, but it was a rough welcome to big-time college basketball.  0-3 from the field including 0-2 from the arc, 1-2 from the line, and 3 turnovers in 12 minutes.

Daniel Moore:  B
Came in and got a nice hustle offensive rebound.  And that was really it in just 4 minutes of playing time.

Bobby Capobianco:  D
Something tells me that Bobby is going to break out with a few buckets in a game soon.  But so far this year, he cannot buy a break in his limited playing time.  He's had a few shots that have been half-way down and then pop out.  He'll get it going soon though.

Derek Elston:  C
Elston came down to earth in this game after starting his career with two outstanding games.  Elston was still active and did a decent job on the glass with 5 rebounds in 17 minutes, but he couldn't get his shot to fall tonight and was just 1-6 from the field.

Devan Dumes:  C
Dumes had the one nice stretch that I mentioned above where he hit a 3 and then got 2 quick steals to fuel the late IU run, but he did not play well other than that.  Even at the end, with the game out of reach, he missed two 3s from the same spot in a single possession.  Just prior to that, he badly missed an ill-advised long 3 and finished 1-6 from the field.  But he was the sole bright spot from the FT line by going 2-2.

Tijan Jobe:  C
Just 6 minutes of playing time.  One authoritative rebound, but nothing else besides that.

Tom Crean:  C-
After IU did a great job to build an early 20-11 lead, Crean allowed Ole Miss to rattle off a 14-0 run before he took a timeout.  Unacceptable.  And especially unacceptable with such a young team.  I really think Crean should use timeouts throughout the games this year and not save them for the end of the game.  He needs to use them any time the other team is making run to try to change that momentum.  Young players are so much more susceptible to letting those things snowball.  If you get burned one game because it's close at the end and you don't have any timeouts left, so be it.  I'd rather have a possession at the end of a close game with a chance to win it and no timeouts, rather than being down by 15 at the end of the game because you allowed scoring runs earlier in the game without stopping the action with a timeout.

I did like the switch to some zone defenses.  That seemed to work for a little while at the end of the first half and the beginning of the second half.

Next Up:  Boston U
When:  Tomorrow (Friday) at 6pm ET (5pm CT)
TV:  IU's website is not listing TV right now, but I am pretty sure it will be on ESPNU
Update:  Multiple sources are now reporting no TV for tomorrow's game.  Sons of bitches.  The crew is there, what's the deal with not showing the damn game?!?

It appears Boston has been competitive, but they have lost all 3 of their games by about 10 points:

• 73-82 loss to Iona
• 59-69 loss to George Washington
• 70-80 loss to Kansas State in tonight's Puerto Rico Tipoff

So, on the surface, it would seem like a pretty even matchup for the Hoosiers.

Prediction:  IU 69  Boston U 65
I think Watford is going to bounce back with a better performance and the Hoosiers will perform better at the charity stripe.  It won't be pretty, but the Hoosiers will win.

As for Sunday's game, it looks like it will either be Georgia Tech or George Mason.  Right now, the game is listed at either 10:30am ET (9:30am CT) or 12:30pm  ET (11:30am CT) on ESPNU.

Go Hoosiers!

Puerto Rico Tipoff: Day 1 Video and My Prediction

It always pains me to pick against our beloved Hoosiers, but here's my prediction for Game 1:

IU 67  Ole Miss 83

....or we could say the young Hoosiers pull off an early season upset by the score of 74-73!!!  Yes, your memory is correct, that was the score of the 1987 championship game.

Unfortunately, I am going to have to stick with my original prediction that this one ends up in the L column and it really won't be that competitive.  Prove me wrong, Hoosiers.  Prove me wrong!

Here's some good stuff from Tom Crean on the IU Athletics channel on youtube:

Puerto Rico Tipoff -- Early Start on Thursday!

I can't say the USC Upstate game left me filled with excitement, but the bottom line is that the Hoosiers are 2-0 as they head to Puerto Rico.  I am excited to see how this team responds to the big step up in competition that they will see in the Puerto Rico tipoff.

Even with the long trip to Puerto Rico, we still don't have to wait long to find out as IU takes on Ole Miss and the game is at 5:00 ET (4:00 CT) on Thursday.  So, if you can't get out of work on time, make sure to set your DVR.  The game is on ESPN2. 

Ole Miss also heads to Puerto Rico with a 2-0 record and they have rolled easily over Ark-Little Rock (92-64) and Alabama St (90-53).

In IU's second game in Puerto Rico, they will take on either Boston U or Kansas St.  That game will be on Friday at either 6:00 ET (5:00 CT) or 8:30 ET (7:30 CT).

Have you noticed that I always list the times in ET and CT.  That's really just for my own benefit so I don't confuse myself and end up missing the first hour of the game.  Hey, I have a lot of shit going on, all right!?!

IU's third game in Puerto Rico will be on Sunday.  Time and opponent are TBD and the game will either be on ESPNU or ESPN2.

ESPNU -- You may want to check and see if you are currently getting ESPNU.  Right now, I am getting 2 months free of the "Sports Pack" through DirecTV for being a loyal customer and that includes ESPNU.  My fear is that it has been right around 2 months already and it will probably shut off on Friday afternoon.

If you forced me to make a prediction for the Hoosiers in Puerto Rico, I would predict that IU comes home with 1 victory and that victory comes on Sunday.  TBD is not very good this year. 

If they come home empty-handed....well, that would be pretty damn disappointing.  If they win two games, I would be extremely excited with a 4-1 start.  If they win the Puerto Rico tipoff, I'm buying Final Four tickets.

Go Hoosiers!

Inside the Numbers: Indiana 69 USC Upstate 61

• IU outrebounded Upstate 23-12 in the 2nd half after getting outrebounded 18-16 in the 1st half.
• IU 16-30 from the line.  The poor FT shooting was really spread throughout the whole team and not just one guy having an awful night.
• IU 5-11 from the arc, even with Dumes going 0-3.  The freshmen were 5-7 from the arc led by Creek's 2-2.
• This team needs to get some type of leadership from their upper-classmen or experienced players, but Rivers, Dumes, Jones, Roth, and Pritchard were just 8-26 from the field.
• Watford, Creek, and Elston combined to go an impressive 15-23 from the field.
• Watford recorded another double-double with 17 & 10.  Elston was not too far off with 10 & 8.
• Bawa Muniru had 3 offensive rebounds in just 3 minutes of play.  That's an impressive pace of 40 offensive rebounds in a single game if Crean would just let the big fella play.  Of course, none of those offensive rebounds materialized into anything, but still an impressive stat.
• Tom Pritchard had 0 rebounds in 10 minutes.
• Jordan Hulls had 0 assists in 18 minutes.
• At the end of the night, the 2-0 record is the important stat after those 2 opponents.

Highlights: Indiana 69 USC Upstate 61

Lasting Impressions: Indiana 69 USC Upstate 61

• Christian Watford is going to be a special, special player.
• Derek Elston has been mighty impressive in these first two games.
• Tom Pritchard looks more like end-of-last-season Tom Pritchard rather than beginning-of-last-season Tom Pritchard and that worries me.
• Tonight, Devan Dumes looked more like "bad Devan" from last year.  We need "good Devan" like the one that led us to our sole Big Ten victory over Iowa last year.
• Jeremiah Rivers and Verdell Jones need to be better.  Plain and simple.
• Really liking what I am seeing out of Mo Creek.  A lot to learn, but the tools and desire are there.  We learned last year that desire is not enough by itself, but Mo definitely also has the tools.
• Overall team performance was very poor.  Even keeping in mind how young and how many newcomers we have again this year, I still think this was a poor performance.
• That said, it's pretty clear that this team has not gelled at all.  "Gelled?"  That can't possibly be right.  At least, it doesn't seem right, but I can't think of how else you would spell that.  Anyway, good individual efforts aren't yet resulting in a good overall team effort because there are just too many negative plays in between.
• Really, the team just had one good stretch in each half and that was it.
• Crean needs to get this offense to play better.  I think it starts with Rivers and Jones.  They should be driving and getting into the lane to make things happen.  They both have the size that they should be able to finish if they get deep enough or kick to shooters if they the defense collapses on them or make a nifty pass to a big guy for a dunk or easy bucket.
• Very frustrating that they couldn't take the 20-point lead and completely run away with it.
• FT shooting was not good.
• Hey, it's a 2-game winning streak!

Player Postgame Interviews: Indiana 69 USC Upstate 61

Game Notes: Indiana 69 USC Upstate 61

Here are tonight's Game Notes for IU vs. USC Upstate.

A few notes before the actual game notes:

• Tonight's beverage = Diet A&W Cream Soda.  Wow, that's about 67 steps down from Friday night's Three Floyds Alpha King Ale, but I guess that's the difference between a Friday night game and a Monday night game.
• I fear the above beverage choice may impact the idea of these Game Notes being an unedited, unfiltered streaming flow of partial consciousness, but I will try not to let that happen.  I mean, I will make damn fucking sure that won't happen.

On to the action.....

• Ummmm....my eyes have to be failing me.....am I really seeing the end of a women's basketball game instead of the start of the IU game?!?!?  And this is a blow-out too, it's not even a close game.  The BTN never ceases to amaze me.  Don't get me wrong, I like the BTN for airing all the IU games and getting to see Big Ten coverage that you normally wouldn't see, but man, they really do a shitty job.  It's like a third world network.  New nickname is the TWN.
• Ok, here we go, the IU game with only 21 seconds missed.....not so bad, but still makes me angry.
• Wow, that's one big German.
• Oh good, Laskowski again, my fav.
• Ugh, the first thing we see is Creek missing both free throws.  Come on, rook!
• .....and we're losing to USC Upstate.....flashbacks of last year.....hurry, make it stop.
• Pleasant surprise....Pritchard hits both freebies.  2-2, 19:00
• Great pass by Rivers to Creek for two, but then horrible pass and turnover by Rivers after Watford had a nice steal at the other end.  Rivers TO leads to Upstate 3-pointer.  Upstate 5-4, 18:18.
• Doc Rivers in the house....looks good in the IU hat.
• If I didn't know that Doc was Jeremiah's dad, I would say that Jeremiah Rivers is the most athletic white guy to play for IU in a long time.
• Good lord, those 2 FTs did not look like a professional basketball player's son -- Rivers almost airballed the first and then threw up a horrible brick on the second. 
• IU now 2-6 from the line with Pritchard making the only 2.....What The Finkelmeier is going on here!
• 2nd quick foul on Pritchard against the big German....and here comes Tijan Jobe....that will be interesting against the big German.  Upstate 9-4, 16:20.
• 1st TV Timeout -- we look HORRIBLE.  Losing 9-4, 15:24.  Upstate currently on a 7-0 run.  Watford has had his shot blocked twice and missed a 3, Jones had his shot blocked and a turnover, Rivers a turnover and 2 awful FTs, Creek 2 missed FTs, and Pritchard 2 quick fouls.  Not too fucking good out of your starters.
• Jones, a nice steal out of the timeout.
• Dumes -- never shy about getting his first shot in the air, but this was a good one in the lane and ends the Upstate scoring run.  I was really hoping I wouldn't have to use the phrase "Upstate scoring run" tonight, but let's see if the Hoosiers can now get on a run of their own....
• Jobe with some good solid defensive -- disruptive, but not fouling.
• Verdell just literally threw a bounce pass at Jobe's ankles in traffic.  Went out of bounds and still IU's ball, but that's just a horrible pass by VJIII.
• Hulls -- first offensive possession, hits a 3 at the shot-clock buzzer.  Nicely done!  Also, have to give credit to Dumes -- the ball was swung to Dumes at the top of the key with 3-4 seconds to shoot and he could have shot a contested 3, but he made the extra pass to a wide-open Hulls who calmly knocked it down.  9-9, 13:13.
• And Derek Elston continues to be IU's all-time leader in 3-point percentage! (3-3 for his career)  IU 12-9, 12:54.  IU on an 8-0 run.
• 2nd foul on the big ugly German
• Creek -- nice offensive rebound and left-handed put-back
• Watford - a couple nice rebounds in the last minute, including this latest one on the offensive end and draws a foul.  And he continues with his hot hand at the line by hitting both.  IU 16-9, 10:44.  12-0 run now, including the last 10 points by freshmen.
• Upstate 3-ball ends the run.
• I will never call Hulls by the name "Jordy".  Never.
• Rivers redeems himself by hitting 2 at the line.  IU now 6-10 from the stripe.  IU 18-12, 9:15.
• Jones finally in the scoring column with a nice drive and bank-shot.
• .....and Rivers just threw it to nobody.  I mean there was nobody even in the area.  It would have been called intentional grounding in football.
• I don't like how they are letting Upstate hang around right now....just a 5-point lead and Upstate has the ball.
• Pritch - turnover followed by quickly committing his 3rd foul with 6:49 to go in the half....dumbass.
• Jones misses front-end of 1-1....dumbass.
• The lead is down to 2 and now we get called for a 5-second violation against the full court pressure....dumbasses.  Really ugly since the 12-0 run.  Upstate just missed a 3 that could have taken the lead.  They missed, but still....
• Matt Roth into the game.  I like this substitution.  Everything is just ugly right now, but maybe Roth can knock down one or two shots to get things back on track.
• Creek hits 2 FTs.  IU 8-13 from line. IU up 22-18 with 5:35 to go.
• Big ugly German with a nice jump hook to cut it to 2, but then makes a big ugly foul on the other end. 
• Roth hits both FTs.  After a rough start from the line, IU now 10-15.  Still not great, especially since it includes a missed front-end, but getting to be respectable after a slow start.
• Upstate 3 makes it just a 1 point game.  Now an Elston charge gives the ball to Upstate with a chance to take the lead.  Crean takes a timeout.
• Sorry, this post is really boring because this game sucks.
• Jones with a drive, a bucket, and a chance at a 3-point play.  Tries to get the crowd going, but you really need to make more than 1 play in the last 8 minutes to get the crowd going.  And you really need to hit your FT to finish off the play.  Jones gets his own rebound, but misses that too.  Missed opportunities.  Not good.
• Wow, Upstate has 14 turnovers and there is still 2 minutes to go in the half.  Yet, we are only beating them by 3 points.  Pathetic.  I fucking hate Kelvin Sampson.
• There we go, that was the first thing that resembled a true offensive play that unfolded as it was designed and it worked.  Rivers to Elston in the high post, Elston with a nice high-low feed down to Watford and Watford nicely converts.  IU 28-23, 1:50.
• Jones with steal and takes it coast to coast!  IU 30-23, 1:05.  Crowd now into it and IU defense has a little more energy. 
• IU calls timeout with 15 seconds to go.  Crean calls Watford's number and Watford delivers with a nice turn-around shot in the post.
• Halftime:  IU 32  USC Upstate 25
• Enjoyed the halftime interview with Doc Rivers.  Sounds like Doc is a big fan of Crean and strongly encouraged Jeremiah to go to IU once he mentioned that he was thinking about it.  As for Jeremiah, we are seeing flashes every once in a while, but not consistently.  I think he needs to really be trying to get into the lane -- from there, he can finish with his size and jumping ability or he can draw defenders in and then kick to open shooters.  Not seeing nearly enough of that type of thing.  Also, not quite seeing what I was expecting out of him on the defensive end.  So far, I haven't really seen anything special on that end of the floor, but sometimes that can be a reflection of the overall team defense, which has been poor.
• No Capo or Bawa in the first half.
• Got outrebounded 18-16 in the first half.  Inexcusable.
• Interesting.  Elston and Dumes start the second half instead of Pritchard and Creek.  That puts Elston on big ugly German and big ugly German misses a shot on opening possession.
• Jones with a nice drive and bucket, so VJIII now leads the Hoosiers with 8 points.  Good start to second half.  IU 34-25, 19:24.
• Ok, here's exactly what we had hoped to see out of Rivers.  Big ugly German had just gotten an offensive rebound off a bricked FT (absolutely nothing Elston could do about it), Rivers strips him, grabs the ball, quickly heads the other way and feeds Jones on the wing for an easy lay-in.  Jones has 10 and IU has their first double-digit lead of the ballgame.  IU 36-25, 18:50.
• Watford draws 4th foul on big ugly German
• Watford hits both FTs.  This kid could score A LOT of points in his IU career if he keeps getting to the line and hitting FTs like this.  IU 38-27, 17:17.
• Ok, here's what we've been waiting for -- Jones defensive rebound, pushes it up to the floor, finds Watford on the baseline for a DUNK.  That's what Crean says he wants to do more, but it hasn't seemed like IU has been trying to force the pace as much tonight as compared to Friday night's game.
• Speaking of dunks, I have added an "unofficial dunk tracker" over on the right-hand side of the blog.  I will do my best to keep it as updated as I can.  I sure do love  the "dunk shot".
• So, why the hell do you need to wait until halftime to make adjustments????  How about some 1st TV timeout adjustments instead of waiting until halftime.  It's pretty clear that Crean told Rivers and Jones to be more aggressive, push the ball, get into the lane, and make things happen.  The last play was another good example of things we just weren't seeing in the first half -- Rivers drove hard into the lane, then kicked to Jones who also drove hard into the lane, then kicked to a wide-open Creek who knocked down the triple.  But why did we have to wait until halftime to get this point across?  Sorry, didn't mean to complain after IU just opened up their biggest lead of the game.  IU 45-31, 15:32.
• We have our first Bobby Capobianco sighting.
• Elston 1-2 FTs.  IU now 13-20.
• Elston with an acrobatic lay-in.  Elston having another nice game.
• Sweet!  Hulls into Elston, who turns and throws cross-court to Mo Creek for another pure 3-ball.  IU 53-35, 13:04.
• Elston finally misses a 3, but still turns it into a positive play by getting his own rebound and putting it back in with the left hand to avoid big ugly German.  IU 55-38, 10:45.
• Elston above the rim with a beautiful follow.  Actually, that had to be goal-tending and Elston even put his arms in the air and shrugged his shoulders on his way down the floor because they didn't call it.  Regardless, a very nice athletic play and I think it will be added to the dunk tracker.  I'm not sure if it was a dunk or not because he really babied it and pulled off a bit as it looked like he knew he was goal-tending.  However, I think his hand touched the rim as he softly laid it in, so I guess that would be a dunk?  That's 7 points for Elston in the last 3 or 4 minutes.
• Elston strips big ugly German.
• Elston comes out and gets a big ovation from the crowd.
• Oooh, Dumes got fouled and it looked like he wanted to let the elbows start flying again.  Looked like Dumes gave him a little forearm and the Upstate player reacted and got T'd up.
• Hulls makes 1-2 technical free throws and Dumes misses front-end, so the Hoosiers left 3 points at the line on that trip, but still lead by 20 with 9 minutes to go.
• And it's our first Bawa sighting.
• Bawa - nice offensive rebound, but got stuffed on his put-back attempt (not by big ugly German) for a jump-ball.
• Was that a replay?  Bawa, another offensive rebound, but this time his put-back was swatted away by big ugly German.
• IU Gorilla on the floor with the cheerleaders for the 8-minute timeout ("the flags").  That jerk, I can't believe I didn't think of that gimmick.
• Watford with a put-back of his own miss.  He has to be approaching another double-double.  Thank you, Gus Johnson, who just said Watford has 14 & 9 right now.
• Dumes getting a lot of 2nd half playing time even though he looks like shit.  On cue, he comes out.
• First sighting of Daniel Moore.
• Elston back in and immediately committed a turnover -- he definitely looked overexcited to see if he could keep his hot hand going.
• Really sloppy again right now.  Rather than building on that 20-point lead, they have let it get back down to 13 points with a little over 5 minutes to go.
• Creek side-steps big ugly German, flips it up with english off the glass and in.  Fouls out big ugly German.  Students chant "right-left-right" as big ugly German walks toward bench.  Big ugly German milks it a little bit and refuses to sit down.  Finally, he takes the final 3 steps to the bench to the chant of "right-left-right".  He sits down and claps to the crowd with a smile on his face.  I kind of feel bad for calling him ugly now, but hey, I just call 'em like I see 'em.  Creek does not convert 3-point play.
• Moore 1-2 from the line.  I've lost track of overall FTs, but it's been a bad stretch as of late.
• Watford missed both FTs after making his first 9 FTs of the year.
• Not good, this is down to a 10 point game with 3 minutes to go.  These guys needed to get their heads out of their collective asses and finish this game off.
• Down to 8 with 2:20 to go.
• "Ohhh!" says Gus Johnson after Watford nails a 3 at the shot-clock buzzer!  IU ran the clock all the way down, Rivers was trying to drive with under 10 to shoot but was cut-off and kicked to Watford with a mediocre-at-best pass, Watford had to tip the pass to himself and gather it in, then he squared up and nailed it.  In fact, they could have called a foul as he was knocked to the floor on the shot.  Regardless, that was a big-time shot!  This game should have been over several minutes ago, but after Upstate clawed all the way back into this one to cut it to 8, that shot may have been the dagger.
• Now Watford blocks a shot at the other end and gathers it in.  Another double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds.
• By the way, IU has been horrible the whole game against the full court press.  Not that they have had a ton of turnovers against it, but they have made it harder than it needs to be.  They have struggled to get the ball in-bounds almost every time because they don't have any good plays and the guards are not breaking hard to get open or coming to get the ball.
• Jones makes 1-2 FTs.
• Upstate scores quickly and it's still just an 8 point lead with 33 seconds to go.
• After IU breaks the pressure, Upstate decides not to foul.  Heck, with the way we were shooting FTs down the stretch, I probably would have tried to foul at least one more time.
• Final Score:  IU 69  USC Upstate 61
• The end.  

Indiana vs. USC Upstate

What:  IU (1-0) vs. USC Upstate (0-1)
When:  Monday at 8:30pm ET (7:30 CT)
Where:  Assembly Hall
TV:  Big Ten Network

USC Upstate lost their opener to Nebraska by a score of 76-49.  USC Upstate did hang around for quite a while in this game as they were only down 34-30 early in the second half, but then got outscored 42-19 the rest of the way.  They did not have a single player score in double figures.

The most interesting player on the USC Upstate roster is Nick Schneiders, a 7'3" 260 pound senior from Germany.  Schneiders had 8 points, 8 rebounds, 3 blocks, and 5 turnovers in their opener.  Last year, Schneiders averaged 9.5 ppg, 6.5 rpg, and 2.6 bpg.

Prediction:  Our point guard Jeremiah Rivers is going to throw a dunk down in the face of this 7'3" German.

Score Prediction:  IU 87  USC Upstate 62

Here are some thoughts from Tom Crean courtesy of the IU Athletics channel on youtube:

Highlights: IU 83 Howard 60

This includes Laskowski using the always popular term "dunk shot".  Also, at the end, he says another game on Monday and then the Big Ten season.....huh?  My schedule shows the team heading to Puerto Rico after the game on Monday, but maybe I have unknowingly suffered a blunt force head trauma.

Player Post-Game Video: IU 83 Howard 60

Courtesy IU Athletics on youtube:

Inside The Numbers: IU 83 Howard 60

• Christian Watford -- double/double with 14 pts and 11 rebs.  also 5-5 FTs
• Tom Pritchard -- 5-6 FGs
• Mo Creek -- team-leading 17 pts including 2-4 from the arc
• Jeremiah Rivers -- mixed results with 6 pts, 4 rebs, 4 assts, 1 stl, 1 blk, but also had 4 TOs and just 2-8 from the field
• Verdell Jones -- Just 4-12 from the field
• Jordan Hulls -- 5 assts, 0 turnovers
• Bobby Capobianco -- not even looking at the numbers, but there will be better days ahead
• Matt Roth -- 1-1 in just 7 minutes.  We have to find a way to get him on the floor and in position to knock down the 3-ball.
• Derek Elston -- 6-7 from the field and a sensational overall effort
• Devan Dumes -- 3-5 FGs in limited time
• Jobe and Munirue -- both played, but nothing major to report.

Lasting Impressions: IU 83 Howard 60

Without looking at the box score or talking with my fellow fanatics, here are my lasting impressions from the 1st regular season game of the year:

• You notice when Mo Creek and Christian Watford are both out of the game
• Derek Elston was outstanding
• Team defense is horrible
• Offensive sets or half-court offense is reprehensible, you can't even decipher what they are trying to do
• Depth was great
• Energy was great
• Future is bright
• THIS IS STILL CLEARLY A REBUILDING YEAR

Game Notes: IU 83 Howard 60

What the hell, let's try something new at the IU Hoops blog with some game notes.  The idea of "Game Notes" will be an immediate re-gurgitation of what I just saw -- no editing, no spellchecking, no thoughts of if I just offended Mom -- these are my thoughts as the game unfolded:

• I went with the 3 Floyds Alpha King Ale for tonight's beer.  The poll question is usually for your opinion but this question actually had a right answer and it was the AKA.  You see, it's a manificant beer and it's brewed in the great state of Indiana, so it was the correct (and somewhat obvious) answer.
• Tip goes to IU,  pass, pass, Pritchard DUNK.  Outstanding start.
• 2 mins, 42 secs into the season and we have our first sighting of Hoosier, the IU Gorilla. 
• Pritch - 2 quick buckets and 2 quick early fouls -- interesting to see that Capo is the first sub (I thought it would be Elston, but also understand that Capo is more of a banger/bruiser)
• 13-10 IU lead at first TO -- offense looks great and defense looks pathetic
• Hey, it's one of my top 2 favorite brothers calling -- it's Andy and he has forgotten to DVR the game even though I talked to him an hour ago.......best brother in the world gets his DirecTV login and records the game for him......your welcome and I expect regular comments on the blog all year....
• Anywho, back to the game, Tommy Crean goes to 2-3 zone after TO.....might as well because the man-to-man looks like ass.
• Hulls into game - def reb on 1st possession, then great move on offensive possesion but couldn't get the runner to go.
• Hullls great pass to Capo, Capo miss, but great follow by Elston
• Capo -- not looking so good in first few minutes of action -- TO, foul, airball, posterized on a dunk and fouled the guy, missed 3, but I still really like Capo, he will find his way.
• Commentary that is so incredibly horrible that I will have to cover in another post
• BTN -- can't even get their score right on the TV screen....this is actually embarrassing for the entire midwest region
• 13-10 IU at the first TV timeout - good offense, horrible defense.
• 3F AKA = DELICIOUS
• I have no ideal why delicious was in all caps, nor do i have aNY IDEA WHY THIS PIECE OF SHIT BLOG IS UNDERLINING AND NOW IN ALL CAPS AGAIN....FUCKING DAMNIT!
• I shall press on.....and all seems to be better without any frickin reason why.....I guess I will keep going, but I will no longer take credit for any misspellings, or whatever....onward.....
• BTN - a joke of a network....only redeeming quality is that they show us games that we wouldn't otherwise see.....other than that, it is a complete pile of shit.
• 13-10.....that is the score that the BTN is still showing even though both teams have scored since the last TO.....probably all goes back to hiring Gene Keady last year....that man's whole family has a face for radio.
• 15-12 at second TV TO -- now that was some ugly b-ball.  really, really  ugly.
• BIG HEAD = JARED JEFFRIES
• BIG HEAD = ERIC GORDON
• BIG HEAD = ANGRY BLACK MAN THAT I SHOULD KNOW BUT CAN'T PLACE HIS NAME (PLEASE HELP)
• Half Court offense = horrible, no purpose, no nothing
• Dumes - missed shot after coming in right away, then missed both FTs, I hate guards that miss FTs.
• Such a horrible job by Laskowski and the play-by-play guy that I am going to have to make it into a whole separate post.....more to come....
• getting sleepy.....this is not a game note....just a note from the 3F AKA as I am typing....I shall press on......
• switching to Miller Lite.....not really a wothy note, but thought it might make those of you that voted for ML feel a little better (even though it was the wrong answer)....back to the action.....
• Stretch from roughly 16:00 to go in half to 8:00 to go was extremely ugly.  puke in your mouth ugly.  Definitely brought  back visions of last year, even if you thought you had buried those visions.... this was not a pretty stretcch of basketball.....players will be running some bleachers and some lines for this effort during this stretch.
• BTN finally apologized for the score on the screen being updated every 15 minutes instead of every made basket.  JACOAPS (Jesus Aged Christ On A Popsicle Stick), we've been able to display the score accurately since 1968, WTF is your problem!!!!
• Sorry, WTF = What The Fuck
• I know you already knew that, but it's fun to stay. LMO.... = Let's Move On
• Jobe in the game, that makes 12 players in 12 minutes.  Long-term, should be to our advantage, but right now, everything feels out of sorts and helter skelter.....I feel a little sick right now (but you feel better if you sing U2's Helter Skelter in your mind......then, if you want, you can transition to Johnny Cash's In Your Mind......
• Finally! Watford rebound, outlet to Hulls, Hulls pass to Creek, and Creek for 3 -- that's what I'm talkin' about!
• Ugh, it's now 20-18 with 7 minutes left in the half.....not exactly a dominating performance.
• Mo Creek - another 3!
• Jones - forced 3, airball
• Lots of subs -- good news = depth; bad news = no flow
• Editor's Note: Switching to Miller Lite -- not during game, but during the typing of this dribble....and after the first sip, I would have to side with the "less filling" side of the age-old argument because it sure as shit don't taste great.  But it tastes good enough and we shall continue...
• Rivers nice drive and kick to a slashing Elston for an easy 2
• Rivers to Elston for 3....GOOD!
• Enter Derek Elston.....crowd going wild and rightfully so, back to back nice plays from Elston that show the full skill set from Elston....bright, bright future.
• sticking with 2-3 zone for a few possessions.  Translation = D sucks
• Roth to Rivers ally-oop.....not so good (is it ally- or alley-?)
• Elston - another nice def rebound
• Elston - dribble drive, spin move, off the glass and in, this freshman is making an impression!!!!  4-4 FGs
• Creek -- has looked really good, but has had 2 possessions with 2 missed FGs each.....all attempts looked good but rimmed out.  Overall, Creek has looked great thus far even if these 4 FGs don't make the final stats look that good.
• Pritch - nice offensive reb and put-back
• Dumes -- def reb and 14-ft pull up
• Finally some separation.....35-20...with 1:30 left in half
• Half 2....Rivers with a freaky reverse layup
• Watford for 3 - GOOD
• Suddenly, 40-22 with 30 secs left
• 40-33 Half
• IU Band -- sounds absolutely fantastic, I can't wait to get down to a game.
• BIG HEAD = Alan Henderson, 1974 Laskowski, Tony Dungy, Stewie (Family Guy), and someone that looks familiar but I can't place.....please help
• To start the 2nd half, Pritch just gave his best Moses Malone impression.....fortunately, that ends with a made basket, so nice job Tommy boy.
• Jones steal, ahead to Creek for a DUNK!  It rattled a bit, but Mo threw one down!
• 42-23 with 19:25 left
• Hulls long pass to Jones for lay-in.  Hulls has looked very good.
• Pritch takes charge.
• Pritch takes another charge.
• Creek -- catch at elbow, dribble to wing, goes up for shot.....I initially think it's a bad shot....., banks it in from 15 ft out.....the lost art of the bank shot and Mo Creek just executed to perfection....I am now bowing to Mo Creek......I'm a sucka for the long-range bank shot.  Nicely done, young man.  May you channel Larry Bird for years to come.
• 50-26 with 16:15 left
• Dumes - pull-up 14-footer, nice.
• Fast break - Dumes to Watford for a gliding lay-in......and one!  Crowd and bench and Tom Crean go wild as we head into a time-out.....
• ......and what I like about Watford is he hit the freebie which makes him 5-5 FTs for the game and 21-22 FTs if you include the exhibition games.
• I "heart" Tijan Jobe
• Elston is out of his mind -- just hit another 3! That's 5-5 FGs and 2-2 3PT for 12 pts
• BIG HEAD = Vince Vaughn, Brick
• Faces In the Crowd = Mario, Luigie, Waldo, IU Gorilla, Ketchup (did not see Gavin, Mellencamp, Tom, or Kent Benson)
• Elston - OMG....takes pass at top o' key, jukes, drives, 2 dribs, up-and-under.....and IN!  This guy is playing out his a-hole in his Hoosier debut.
• DE-Rek   EL-Ston, clap, clap, clap-clap-clap.....repeat
• Creek.....hell yes
• 62-38 with 11:45 left
• BIG HEAD = George Clooney, Vince Vaughn
• BIG HEAD = Geraldo Rivera, John Madden
• I love the BIG HEADs, I hate the pinwheels
• Watord = DUNK
• Creek = DUNK
• Creek with 17 pts, Watford & Eston have 14 pts each
• Final:  IU 83  Howard 60
• The End

More to come.......

Go Hoosiers!

Buckle up Hoosier Fans, It's Go Time!

If you have been as anxious as I have been to get this season started, then you should get your fill over the next 9 days.  The Hoosiers play their first 5 games in a 9-day span.  I don't know if that is necessarily a good thing for a young team, but it's a good thing for fans that can't wait to see how this team and young players are shaping up.  I'm also anxious to get the taste of losing 21 of 22 out of my mouth.

We start the season with a Friday night contest against Howard at 8pm ET (7pm CT).  The game will be on the Big Ten Network.  Then we have USC Upstate on Monday at 8:30pm ET (7:30 pm CT) also on the Big Ten Network.  I am not sure if USC Upstate is a real college.  In fact, I am pretty sure it is the university that was in the movie Old School.  So, I wouldn't be surprised if Jackie Moon makes an appearance.

Then it's off to Puerto Rico for 3 games in 4 days.  The thing I really like about the Puerto Rico trip is that the field is stacked with good but not great teams.  So, it will be very interesting to see how this team competes in the Puerto Rico Tipoff.

If your interested, here' video of Crean talking to the media today:

Victor Oladipo Signs National Letter of Intent

As expected, Victor Oladipo signed his national letter of intent today to play for IU next year.  Oladipo is 6'5" and 185 pounds out of the Washington D.C. area.  Victor is a 3-star guard and is currently ranked #133 in the 2010 class.  He is known for his jumping ability and his defense (translation = he can't shoot).  Here's what Tom Crean had to say about Victor in the official release from IU Athletics:

"We targeted Victor as a young man that we wanted to pursue as a part of our restoration of the Indiana program. He comes from two great programs in DeMatha Catholic High School and Team Takeover, and has been well-coached and more importantly well-raised. We feel Victor will provide athleticism and skill, but most importantly a toughness and will to compete that enhances our program from the moment he steps on campus."

"He made a name for himself with his ability to defend other elite players in the country and we feel that defensive mindset, along with his ever-improving offensive skills, will help him have a very strong career at Indiana. That toughness and will also applies academically, and we feel he will be an asset to IU as well."

See below video of Victor in a dunk contest (note: he is the second dunker in the video).


Oladipo was the only signee for IU today.  David Williams is not going to sign with IU, which had been rumored for a few weeks now.  That commitment was kind of strange right from the get-go.  Williams was unknown, IU offered, and he accepted that same day.  This is a good thing for IU because there are some bigger fish out there that Crean needs to be going after.

After Further Review...

Now that I actually got to watch the game, here are some additional impressions:

• Creek was definitely impressive and opportunistic.  He was active with several nice rebounds and took advantage of some opportunites for some easy baskets.  A much better showing than the first exhibtion game.
• Rivers really looked good.  If we want to use his skills to the fullest, this team will truly need to play up-tempo.  There is a lot of talk from Crean that this team will play a fast paced style of basketball, but that's often tough to dictate against good defensive teams.  Anyway, I think Rivers is easily the best athlete on this team.  When he gets a seam, he can be explosive to the basket.  He has a little bit of that Eric Gordon type of explosiveness when he sees an opening.  Of course, Gordon would explode and finish with a tomahawk, whereas Rivers seems to glide and do some double-clutch layins.  Rivers continues to be the guy that I am most interested in seeing a larger sample size of playing time, but I think if he can use his 6'5" size, his strength, and his athleticism to get into the lane, good things will happen.
• Elston had a nice dunk.  He grabbed a defensive board, then made a nice outlet pass to Jones, ran the floor, filled the lane, Jones hit him with a nice pass, and Elston threw down the one-handed dunk.
• Muniru definitely showed some potential.  Still not sure that he will make any significant contributions this year, but if he can constantly improve, he could be a major piece to the puzzle of some very good teams in the future.  It's been well documented that he is raw and he is, but I thought he looked ahead of Jobe on the offensive end.  On the defensive end, he was definitely slow to react, and doesn't play as tall as he is.  Even though he was credited with 3 blocks in 8 minutes, these were more an outcome of the St. Joe's player just throwing it off his arm.  I'm not taking anything away from Bawa, but it wasn't as if he skied and swatted those shots out of there.  On the flip side, Bawa did have a dunk in the closing minutes that was mighty impressive.  He took the pass, did a dribble and drop step, and then threw it down with two hands.  The crowd and the bench loved it. 

IU 95 St. Joe's (IN) 67....and bigtennetwork.com sucks

To say I am not happy with bigtennetwork.com would be an understatement.  Even though I knew I could watch a better quality and free version of the second exhibition game by recording tomorrow's re-airing on Student U, my excitement to see the game caused me to pay the $2.99 for the online version.  The online games are archived so that you don't have to watch them live and can watch them at your convenience.  My plan was to fire up the computer after the kids were in bed and watch the Hoosiers kick the shit out of St. Joe's.  Well, when I went to log-in and watch, the game wasn't there.  My purchase of the first exhibition game was still there, but not tonight's game that should have just ended by the time I logged in.  As I type this with the time past 11pm, the game is still not there. 

So, for tonight, I had to rely on reading IU sites and blogs and checking out the box score. 

I will still be recording the tomorrow afternoon's airing on the BTN and watching it tomorrow night.  For now, I will provide my impressions from the box score and other articles that I have read.  If anything else jumps out at me after watching the actual footage, I will put up another post.

Here are my impressions from the second exhibition game:

• FTs by Freshmen:  After a perfect 13-13 from the line in the first exhibition game, the freshmen followed that up with 23-26 in the second (Watford 7-8, Creek 7-8, Hulls 4-4, Maniru 3-4, Elston 2-2).
• Allowing Offensive Rebounds:  The Hoosiers allowed St. Joe's to grab 21 offensive rebounds....not so good.
• FG Shooting:  IU was 17-26 (65.4%) in the first half, including 3-5 from the arc.
• Maurice Creek:  After a sub-par performance in the first exhibition, Creek bounced back with an impressive overall effort -- team leading 16 pts (4-5 FGs, 1-2 3PT, 7-8 FTs), 7 rebounds, 2 assists, and 0 turnovers.

• Bawa Muniru:  Good to see Bawa in a Hoosier uniform.  7 pts, 2 rebounds, and 3 blocks in 8 minutes.  I'm not sure yet if he is going to be ready to play meaningful minutes this year or not, but the one area that this team desperately needs him is shot-blocking.  This is another guy that you absolutely have to love.  Postgame quote: "I enjoy every bit of it and I wouldn't change it for nothing."  See youtube video below for postgame player reactions -- Bawa is at the end.  What a specimen this guy is.
• Jordan Hulls:  Pretty much played a perfect game in the first exhibition game, but had a rough outing in the second with 5 turnovers and only 1 assist.
• Jeremiah Rivers:  Impressive with 15 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 block, and only 1 turnover.
• Verdell Jones:  Needs to get those turnover numbers down.  5 more TOs in this game.  I understand that he tries to make things happen and is often successful, but he still needs to learn to take better care of the basketball.
• Christian Watford:  Not as spectacular as the debut, but another solid effort.
• Tom Pritchard:  His FTs look uglier than last year....0-4 in this game.
• Derek Elston:  Not stealing any headlines, but I have liked his activity and production in the two exhibition games (18 pts and 15 rebounds in 35 minutes in the two games).
• Matt Roth:  I said this a lot last year....if you are a shooter, you are going to be measured by how well you shoot the ball.  Matt Roth, 2-2 from the arc, nice job young man.
• Devan Dumes:  Good to see him get a few minutes after sitting out the first game with a sore knee.  Hopefully, he will be close to 100% for the season opener.
  

REGULAR SEASON OPENER:  Friday at 8pm ET (7pm CT) on the Big Ten Network.




Photo Credit: IDS