Truth = we still suck.
That's all.
Please try to enjoy Christmas anyway.
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Saturday, December 4, 2010
IU 79 Savannah St 57
I don't think we learned anything new from this game. A lot of the same old stories:
* Another slow start. IU allowed a pair of threes and a dunk to find themselves down to 1-8 Savannah State by a score of 7-8 in the early going. Even once IU got it going, they allowed Savannah St to hang around and only held a 7-point lead (33-26) with 4 minutes to go in the half. The Hoosiers closed out the half nicely and were leading 44-28 at halftime. The second half was never close.
* Same old story for Verdell Jones III. A nice scoring night with 18 points. And a great job on the boards with 8 rebounds. But still had 5 turnovers. That makes Verdell's game-by-game turnovers of 5, 6, 7, 4, 2, 5, 4, & 5.
* Bobby Capobianco was in a walking boot -- sprained ankle.
* Guy-Marc Michel was on the bench in his normal IU gear. He will be allowed to continue to practice with the team. That doesn't make any fucking sense either. If what he did was SO WRONG to warrant a 62-game suspension, I would have guessed he was also looking at jail time. I mean, he did take some college-equivalent courses after all. We can't have people like that walking amongst us. But no, the NCAA says he can do everything he would normally do, except play Division I basketball games. Makes perfect sense. Nice job, NCAA, you really fuckered this one up. But I enjoyed watching Cam Newton play today and it makes sense that Josh Selby will be able to use scholarship money to pay back the thousands of dollars in improper benefits that he received. How about some common sense?
* For the second game in a row, IU threw down some impressive dunks. Victor had a beautiful driving posterizing dunk. Pritchard had the best dunk of his career. And Sheehey had a nice dunk on a break-away.
* Creek and Hulls were hot from the arc in the first half. Creek hit 3 of 4. Hulls was a perfect 3 for 3 including a deep one with a guy in his face at the shot-clock buzzer.
* Ted Valentine officiated tonight's game. It was his first visit to Assembly Hall since "the incident". He sucked as usual.
* I will say this about our Hoosiers. They are 7-1 and are taking care of business against lesser opponents. That is a welcome sight after losses in the previous 2 years to the likes of Northeastern, Lipscomb, Boston U, George Mason, and Loyola (Md).
* IU has a week to prepare for their visit to Lexington. But I am looking at it like they have 2 years and 1 week to prepare for their next visit to Lexington.
* Another slow start. IU allowed a pair of threes and a dunk to find themselves down to 1-8 Savannah State by a score of 7-8 in the early going. Even once IU got it going, they allowed Savannah St to hang around and only held a 7-point lead (33-26) with 4 minutes to go in the half. The Hoosiers closed out the half nicely and were leading 44-28 at halftime. The second half was never close.
* Same old story for Verdell Jones III. A nice scoring night with 18 points. And a great job on the boards with 8 rebounds. But still had 5 turnovers. That makes Verdell's game-by-game turnovers of 5, 6, 7, 4, 2, 5, 4, & 5.
* Bobby Capobianco was in a walking boot -- sprained ankle.
* Guy-Marc Michel was on the bench in his normal IU gear. He will be allowed to continue to practice with the team. That doesn't make any fucking sense either. If what he did was SO WRONG to warrant a 62-game suspension, I would have guessed he was also looking at jail time. I mean, he did take some college-equivalent courses after all. We can't have people like that walking amongst us. But no, the NCAA says he can do everything he would normally do, except play Division I basketball games. Makes perfect sense. Nice job, NCAA, you really fuckered this one up. But I enjoyed watching Cam Newton play today and it makes sense that Josh Selby will be able to use scholarship money to pay back the thousands of dollars in improper benefits that he received. How about some common sense?
* For the second game in a row, IU threw down some impressive dunks. Victor had a beautiful driving posterizing dunk. Pritchard had the best dunk of his career. And Sheehey had a nice dunk on a break-away.
* Creek and Hulls were hot from the arc in the first half. Creek hit 3 of 4. Hulls was a perfect 3 for 3 including a deep one with a guy in his face at the shot-clock buzzer.
* Ted Valentine officiated tonight's game. It was his first visit to Assembly Hall since "the incident". He sucked as usual.
* I will say this about our Hoosiers. They are 7-1 and are taking care of business against lesser opponents. That is a welcome sight after losses in the previous 2 years to the likes of Northeastern, Lipscomb, Boston U, George Mason, and Loyola (Md).
* IU has a week to prepare for their visit to Lexington. But I am looking at it like they have 2 years and 1 week to prepare for their next visit to Lexington.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
IU 76 BC 88
If you are a glass-half-full type of person, then you will be pleased with the 2nd half comeback where the Hoosiers took a 14-point deficit and cut it all the way down to 1.
But I must be a glass-half-empty person (at least tonight) because I saw a lot of problems tonight. They just lost by double-digits to a team picked in the bottom half of the ACC. A team that lost to Yale on their home floor. A team that lost to Wisconsin by double-digits.
The Hoosiers dug themselves into a hole in the first half primarily due to poor rebounding and not getting to loose balls. This team is going to have its problems this year, but they can't allow it to be in the hustle-type categories.
Once you are in that big of a hole, it's almost always too difficult to get all the way over the top and win the game. IU came all the way back to only then give up a 9-0 run and the game was over. In the end, IU only outscored BC by 2 points in the second half, so a comeback is only noteworthy if you can get over the top and hang on to win. IU didn't do that.
So, why couldn't the Hoosiers get over the top? The answer is because there defense sucked. 88 points is way too many to give up to a team that was averaging 65 coming in. If we could have gotten a stop or two during key points in their comeback, they could have taken the lead. But every time we got close, BC answered and answered in a 3-point form.
* IU opens 2nd half on a 8-0 run to cut it to 6 and BC answers with a traditional 3-point play.
* IU cuts it to 7 and another traditional 3-point play by BC pushes it back to 10.
* IU cuts it to 5 (as close as they had been since the early going), BC answers with a 3.
* IU cuts it to 4, BC hits a 3.
* IU cuts it to 1, BC hits a 3.
* IU again cuts it to 1, BC again hits a 3.
* IU cuts it back down to 2, BC hits a 3.....and then a 2, another 2, and another 2. Back to an 11-point lead and game over.
Now, you definitely have to give BC credit for knocking down all those big shots. Every time IU would get the momentum, BC would deliver a dagger.
My concern is with the defense though. These were wide-open looks. IU was either getting caught needing to help out and in defensive rotations or if BC would miss, they would get the offensive rebound and kick it out for a clean look.
I was really hoping they had turned a corner on the defensive end of the floor this year. But this game looked very much like last year. Even when the Hoosiers would get their offense going, they can't get the defensive stops or rebounds to get them over the top.
Another interesting storyline in this game was turnovers. I've already seen some praise for IU only turning it over 10 times. By this team's standards, that is a huge improvement. However, as bad as IU has been at turning the ball over, they were forcing their opponents into even more turnovers. In this game, the Hoosiers only forced 6 turnovers, so the turnover story was still a negative one for the Hoosiers in this game.
Let's take a break to consider something:
* IU was only 4-18 from the arc before hitting a few at the end when the game was out of reach.
* IU had some thunderous dunks - Watford with a great move and one-handed tomahawk, Oladipo with a big-time throw-down, Pritchard with the one-handed lefty, and another plain two-hander from Watford.
* Watford played like a stud on the offensive end.
* Watford only had 2 rebounds.
* Watford had 3 steals (keeping in mind that IU only forced 6 turnovers total)
* VJIII had 4 of the team's 10 turnovers.
* After Verdell seemed to finally find his FT stroke in the last game, he again struggled tonight by going 0-3.
* Verdell's sweet mid-range pull-up game kept the Hoosiers from getting completely blown out of the gym in the first half.
* Hulls looked great. Like I said before, they need to watch Alford film and find ways to get this kid some more clean looks. How did you like that cross-over pull-up move? Very nice.
* I wish Mo Creek was 100% healthy. I put him at about 70-75%.
* 88 points is WAY too many to give up to a team like Boston College. I know I said that already. It bears repeating.
* I'm serious, somebody please tell me how the actions of the NCAA over the last two days makes any sense.
* Maybe IU really sucks at working on these types of issues with the NCAA. Their coach makes too many phone calls and IU ends up getting the equivalent of a 2-year death penalty. One of their players previously enrolled in some college-equivalent courses and played 10 minutes alongside professionals and he loses the 2 years of expected eligibility. Honesty clearly is not working for IU. Perhaps they should have said that Guy's father enrolled him in those courses without's Guy's knowledge.
The Four Factors to Losing:
While no single factor was a landslide, Boston College had the edge in all four factors:
* Both teams shot a FG% of 50.9%, but BC shot a better percentage from the arc.
* Again IU limited the turnovers tonight, but forced even fewer.
* I thought the offensive rebounding would be more lopsided, but still the edge goes to BC.
* And finally, even though there were a lot of free throws late in the game, IU is still sending their opponents to the line way too often.
Well, the Hoosiers shouldn't have any problem getting back on track when they host Savannah State on Saturday. Then, they are off for a week before they head to Lexington the following week.
But I must be a glass-half-empty person (at least tonight) because I saw a lot of problems tonight. They just lost by double-digits to a team picked in the bottom half of the ACC. A team that lost to Yale on their home floor. A team that lost to Wisconsin by double-digits.
The Hoosiers dug themselves into a hole in the first half primarily due to poor rebounding and not getting to loose balls. This team is going to have its problems this year, but they can't allow it to be in the hustle-type categories.
Once you are in that big of a hole, it's almost always too difficult to get all the way over the top and win the game. IU came all the way back to only then give up a 9-0 run and the game was over. In the end, IU only outscored BC by 2 points in the second half, so a comeback is only noteworthy if you can get over the top and hang on to win. IU didn't do that.
So, why couldn't the Hoosiers get over the top? The answer is because there defense sucked. 88 points is way too many to give up to a team that was averaging 65 coming in. If we could have gotten a stop or two during key points in their comeback, they could have taken the lead. But every time we got close, BC answered and answered in a 3-point form.
* IU opens 2nd half on a 8-0 run to cut it to 6 and BC answers with a traditional 3-point play.
* IU cuts it to 7 and another traditional 3-point play by BC pushes it back to 10.
* IU cuts it to 5 (as close as they had been since the early going), BC answers with a 3.
* IU cuts it to 4, BC hits a 3.
* IU cuts it to 1, BC hits a 3.
* IU again cuts it to 1, BC again hits a 3.
* IU cuts it back down to 2, BC hits a 3.....and then a 2, another 2, and another 2. Back to an 11-point lead and game over.
Now, you definitely have to give BC credit for knocking down all those big shots. Every time IU would get the momentum, BC would deliver a dagger.
My concern is with the defense though. These were wide-open looks. IU was either getting caught needing to help out and in defensive rotations or if BC would miss, they would get the offensive rebound and kick it out for a clean look.
I was really hoping they had turned a corner on the defensive end of the floor this year. But this game looked very much like last year. Even when the Hoosiers would get their offense going, they can't get the defensive stops or rebounds to get them over the top.
Another interesting storyline in this game was turnovers. I've already seen some praise for IU only turning it over 10 times. By this team's standards, that is a huge improvement. However, as bad as IU has been at turning the ball over, they were forcing their opponents into even more turnovers. In this game, the Hoosiers only forced 6 turnovers, so the turnover story was still a negative one for the Hoosiers in this game.
Let's take a break to consider something:
- The NCAA ruled today that Cam Newton is eligible to play in this weekend's SEC championship game even though they did find that Cam's father did try to arrange a pay-to-play scenario for hundreds of thousands of dollars.
- One day earlier, the NCAA ruled (or denied IU's appeal to their earlier ruling) that Guy-Marc Michel cannot play a single game out of the 2 years he was expecting to play because he enrolled in some college courses 4 years ago and played a grand total of 10 minutes alongside European professionals over 2 years ago.
- SOMEBODY PLEASE TELL ME HOW THAT MAKES ANY FUCKING SENSE?!?!? I mean, seriously, that is really fucked up.
* IU was only 4-18 from the arc before hitting a few at the end when the game was out of reach.
* IU had some thunderous dunks - Watford with a great move and one-handed tomahawk, Oladipo with a big-time throw-down, Pritchard with the one-handed lefty, and another plain two-hander from Watford.
* Watford played like a stud on the offensive end.
* Watford only had 2 rebounds.
* Watford had 3 steals (keeping in mind that IU only forced 6 turnovers total)
* VJIII had 4 of the team's 10 turnovers.
* After Verdell seemed to finally find his FT stroke in the last game, he again struggled tonight by going 0-3.
* Verdell's sweet mid-range pull-up game kept the Hoosiers from getting completely blown out of the gym in the first half.
* Hulls looked great. Like I said before, they need to watch Alford film and find ways to get this kid some more clean looks. How did you like that cross-over pull-up move? Very nice.
* I wish Mo Creek was 100% healthy. I put him at about 70-75%.
* 88 points is WAY too many to give up to a team like Boston College. I know I said that already. It bears repeating.
* I'm serious, somebody please tell me how the actions of the NCAA over the last two days makes any sense.
* Maybe IU really sucks at working on these types of issues with the NCAA. Their coach makes too many phone calls and IU ends up getting the equivalent of a 2-year death penalty. One of their players previously enrolled in some college-equivalent courses and played 10 minutes alongside professionals and he loses the 2 years of expected eligibility. Honesty clearly is not working for IU. Perhaps they should have said that Guy's father enrolled him in those courses without's Guy's knowledge.
The Four Factors to Losing:
While no single factor was a landslide, Boston College had the edge in all four factors:
* Both teams shot a FG% of 50.9%, but BC shot a better percentage from the arc.
* Again IU limited the turnovers tonight, but forced even fewer.
* I thought the offensive rebounding would be more lopsided, but still the edge goes to BC.
* And finally, even though there were a lot of free throws late in the game, IU is still sending their opponents to the line way too often.
Well, the Hoosiers shouldn't have any problem getting back on track when they host Savannah State on Saturday. Then, they are off for a week before they head to Lexington the following week.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Guy Ruled Ineligible
This turned out to NOT be about compensation, but instead a perfect storm of inconsequential events, unnecessarily complicated NCAA rules, and ignorant application of those rules.
I. Call. Bullshit.
I. Call. Bullshit.
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Best Lineup Combination: Victor Oladipo and Gus Johnson
There's just something about Gus Johnson that when you see that he is doing a game, you just know something exciting is going to happen. I'm starting to get the exact same feeling about Victor Oladipo. This kid certainly has a flare for the dramatic early in his IU career.
As expected, the Hoosiers let North Carolina hang around waaaaaay too long, but did eventually push the lead to 20 and secured a 72-56 victory to move to 5-0 on the season.
I personally thought IU played like crap, but they balanced the crappy play with some bright spots:
* When IU needed it most in the first half, Derek Elston provided a nice spark off the bench by hitting 3 consecutive shots and allowing IU to finally get a little breathing room that was capped off by Oladipo's buzzer shot for a 10-point lead at half.
* Christian Watford struggled from the field with a 4-14 performance, but continued to take advantage of his opportunities at the line by hitting 9 of 10 from the charity stripe.
* In addition to Elston, Jeremiah Rivers, Victor Oladipo, Will Sheehey, and Daniel Moore all did good things off the bench to help get this victory.
* Jordan Hulls can flat out shoot. Crean and Hulls should be watching Steve Alford video non-stop because I think they should be working harder to get Hulls 3-point looks.
Next Up: Typically, this is where I would simply put IU's next game which will be Friday night at Assembly Hall against Northwestern State, and then I'd be done with it. But it's not going to be a quiet week for IU. And possibly in more ways than one.
First, we have the Yogi Ferrell commitment tomorrow. This would be HUGE news for IU to keep the recruiting momentum going and to get the true Point Guard that they need. At the same time, with all the speculation that it will be IU when Yogi makes his announcement, it would be a HUGE disappointment if Yogi would choose to go elsewhere. And if you didn't see it earlier today, there has been a bit of drama around the announcement and Indy Star's reporting today.
And maybe, just maybe, Yogi's announcement won't be the only big IU news this week. I'm putting a guess out there and it is purely a guess (that has the potential of turning into a threat) that Guy will be cleared prior to Friday night's tip-off. And knowing the NCAA, it will be about an hour before tip-off. It's just a guess, but everything seems to be lining up. First, if there are only 5 games in question, then sitting out 5 games would seem to be appropriate. Second, I will just happen to be driving through Indy around noon on my way down to the game and I have a prepared message for the NCAA that I am convinced will speed along the process.
With that, I will bid everyone a Happy Thanksgiving and let's hope for some good news over the next few days and a 6-0 start come end of day Friday.
Go Hoosiers!
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Mo's 2nd Half Outburts Leads IU 67-54 Victory
Post-game thoughts:
* IU's first half serves as a reminder to keep our expectations in check.
* Same problems for the Hoosiers in the first half -- 12 turnovers and lots of fouls. Per kenpom.com, heading into this game, IU was 329th in the country in Turnover % and 297th in the country at sending their opponent to the FT line. The Hoosiers also added in some poor FT shooting (5-11) in the first half just for good measure.
* With Watford on the bench for much of the 1st half with 3 fouls and Creek not yet in rhythm, Verdell was only offensive option. He came through with 13 points but again contributed to the turnover problem.
* In fact, Watford, Pritchard, and Capo (at an alarming pace, I might add) all had 3 fouls in the first half. That led to Jeff Howard getting some minutes and he did a nice job holding his own.
* Highlight of the first half was Jeremiah Rivers only FG of the season thus far. Rivers got the ball on the left wing, took one dribble toward the top of the key, then made a low cross-over dribble, bolted down the left side of the lane, and went up for a beautiful 2-handed dunk. Not only was it a great move by Rivers, it came at a key moment. IU had just found itself in an 8-point hole with about 2 minutes to go in the first half. Rivers' dunk made it a 6-point game and IU was down 25-31 at halftime.
* Mo Creek came out on fire in the second half with four 3-point plays in the first 6 minutes of the second half. He hit 3 triples and was fouled on another where he drained all 3 FTs (he's 9-9 on the year by the way). Mo's hot stretch in those first 6 minutes allowed IU to grab a 46-39 lead. At that point, it was a 21-8 run in the second half, and 25-10 run overall.
* IU's run would continue. A little over halfway through the 2nd half, IU had dominated the half 31-8 that included a 19-0 stretch within that run and 35-10 run going back to the end of the 1st half.
* IU would build a 20-point lead at 61-41. However, in typical IU fashion, they would allow the lead to get cut back down to 10 points, but then another 3 by Creek would seal the deal.
* Creek would finish with 17 points in the second half and 19 for the game.
* Pritchard was extemely active in the game with several buckets around the rim and some really nice blocked shots. Good to see.
* Guy and Roth did not dress. Elston dressed, but did not play. Verdell took a shot to the head late in the game.
Next Up: North Carolina Central on Tuesday at 7pm ET/6pm CT at Assembly Hall
Go Hoosiers!
* IU's first half serves as a reminder to keep our expectations in check.
* Same problems for the Hoosiers in the first half -- 12 turnovers and lots of fouls. Per kenpom.com, heading into this game, IU was 329th in the country in Turnover % and 297th in the country at sending their opponent to the FT line. The Hoosiers also added in some poor FT shooting (5-11) in the first half just for good measure.
* With Watford on the bench for much of the 1st half with 3 fouls and Creek not yet in rhythm, Verdell was only offensive option. He came through with 13 points but again contributed to the turnover problem.
* In fact, Watford, Pritchard, and Capo (at an alarming pace, I might add) all had 3 fouls in the first half. That led to Jeff Howard getting some minutes and he did a nice job holding his own.
* Highlight of the first half was Jeremiah Rivers only FG of the season thus far. Rivers got the ball on the left wing, took one dribble toward the top of the key, then made a low cross-over dribble, bolted down the left side of the lane, and went up for a beautiful 2-handed dunk. Not only was it a great move by Rivers, it came at a key moment. IU had just found itself in an 8-point hole with about 2 minutes to go in the first half. Rivers' dunk made it a 6-point game and IU was down 25-31 at halftime.
* Mo Creek came out on fire in the second half with four 3-point plays in the first 6 minutes of the second half. He hit 3 triples and was fouled on another where he drained all 3 FTs (he's 9-9 on the year by the way). Mo's hot stretch in those first 6 minutes allowed IU to grab a 46-39 lead. At that point, it was a 21-8 run in the second half, and 25-10 run overall.
* IU's run would continue. A little over halfway through the 2nd half, IU had dominated the half 31-8 that included a 19-0 stretch within that run and 35-10 run going back to the end of the 1st half.
* IU would build a 20-point lead at 61-41. However, in typical IU fashion, they would allow the lead to get cut back down to 10 points, but then another 3 by Creek would seal the deal.
* Creek would finish with 17 points in the second half and 19 for the game.
* Pritchard was extemely active in the game with several buckets around the rim and some really nice blocked shots. Good to see.
* Guy and Roth did not dress. Elston dressed, but did not play. Verdell took a shot to the head late in the game.
Next Up: North Carolina Central on Tuesday at 7pm ET/6pm CT at Assembly Hall
Go Hoosiers!
AJ Moye
GREAT NEWS, AJ Moye is expected to make a full recovery from the stroke he suffered after a head-to-head collision with a teammate. AJ, we all wish that full recovery is a speedy one. Again, one of the all-time favorite Hoosiers. That's not my opinion, it's a fact.
Moye's blocked shot of Carlos Boozer's dunk attempt at the pinnacle of a 17-point second half comeback in the 2002 tournament is one of my all-time favorite Hoosier moments in one of my all-time favorite Hoosier victories.
Not only did Moye provide the everlasting poster-perfect blocked shot, but he even provided a classic Moye quote before the game even started:
Moye's blocked shot of Carlos Boozer's dunk attempt at the pinnacle of a 17-point second half comeback in the 2002 tournament is one of my all-time favorite Hoosier moments in one of my all-time favorite Hoosier victories.
Not only did Moye provide the everlasting poster-perfect blocked shot, but he even provided a classic Moye quote before the game even started:
"It's not like they're the University of Jesus Christ and we're playing the Twelve Disciples. It's just Duke. Duke is just a name on a jersey."The quote, the block, and all the game highlights are captured brilliantly in the below 14-minute youtube video. I don't care how many times you have seen this, it is well-worth watching again and again. The make of the video (etecnifibre) includes the Hoosiers movie music during the second-half come-back and then includes the Don Fischer radio call for the end of the game. Literally gives me chills every time.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Indiana 71 Mississippi Valley State 54
This was a nice win for the Hoosiers. Once again, a terribly slow start and IU found themselves down 7-0. The Hoosiers quickly answered with an 8-0 run of their own but found themselves in a dogfight the rest of the first half.
I have to admit, I thought this game was going to be a dogfight until the end. MVSU came out strong, hit several 3's, and looked pretty athletic. Also, knowing that they had a 6-point lead with less than 4 minutes to go before eventually losing to Georgia by 2, had me concerned that this team might be able to give IU game.
IU was still down by 1 with less than a minute to go in the first half, but then the tide finally turned. IU closed the half on a 5-0 run that was capped by an impressive 3 by Hulls with a few seconds left. It was a thing of beauty -- Hulls took a pass just inside half court, took one dribble while driving hard and then pulled up for a 23-footer that was nothing but net. IU was up 4 points at the half, which was their largest lead of the game at that time.
The Hoosiers came out in the second half and dominated by outscoring MVSU 22-3 in the first 10 minutes of the half, making the total scoring run 27-3. Also, it was a 49-19 run since MVSU took that 7-0 lead to start the game.
With a comfortable 23 point lead, it looked like IU would cruise to victory. And they pretty much still did, but they did give up a 17-5 run at this stage with some extremely sloppy play. This allowed MVSU to cut the lead back to just 11 points with just under 7 minutes to play.
Hulls then went to the line and I was relieved because I was sure he would hit them both to stop the run, but he actually missed them both! So, MVSU had a possession and a shot in the air to get the lead under 10. Fortunately, they missed, Watford was eventually fouled and he hit both (another impressive 8-8 FTs for him) to right the ship again.
IU then turned that into a 6-0 run to push the lead back to 17 and they were able to put this one away.
I don't want to make too much out of a win against Mississippi Valley State....wait, yes I do. I love winning. I don't care who it's against. Anyway, here are some additional notes:
* IU is 3-0.
* IU is 3-0 without a healthy Maurice Creek and without Guy-Marc Michel (I'm in such a good mood tonight that I'll skip my rant against the NCAA.)
* IU won tonight with Verdell Jones III having an absolutely horrible game. On Sunday, Verdell was terrific and it kind of left you with the feeling of "as Verdell goes, so goes the Hoosiers". However, VJIII was way off his game tonight with only 5 points on 2-10 shooting and 7 turnovers. With Verdell's 18 turnovers already combined with Hulls' outstanding play at the point tonight, it makes for an interesting argument over who should be the primary ball-handler on this team. My take right now is that I like how Crean is playing it right now with multiple ball handlers. This allows both guys to create and play off the ball at various times. I just hope Verdell gets the turnovers under control. But my original point was that IU was able to overcome the struggles of their leader and still win going away.
* Taking this beyond just Verdell, the starters were only 12-40 from the field tonight. In addition, Jones, Creek, and Watford were just 1-10 from the arc. Again, the good news here is that there was some sub-par shooting from the key players on this team which means others must have stepped up. Read on.
* IU got 32 points off the bench tonight on 11-20 FG shooting. The biggest contributions were from the two freshmen. Oladipo and Sheehey scored 9 points a piece and both provided big energy and some big moments in the game.
* In the first half, Oladipo made a nice spin move in the lane and dished to Watford for a dunk. Then, in the second half, Oladipo was involved in the play of the game. Hulls had dribbled to the elbow, picked up his dribble, and was being tightly guarded while trying to find an open man. Oladipo then cut diagonally from the opposite elbow down to the block. Hulls beautifully bounced him a behind-the-back pass that Oladipo layed in with a foul. The bench and crowd went crazy. Vic missed the free throw, though. You can't do that on a highlight play like that. Another positive note was Victor's jumper. That was the knock on him as a recruit, but he has worked hard on it and it looks pretty good. He drained his only 3-pointer and hit another 17-footer shortly thereafter. Crean is very big on the plus-minus number (as am I) and he said that Victor was +30 in only 15 minutes of play. That is outstanding.
* Sheehey jumped into the passing lane on 2 occassions and took the steal to the rack and scored on both. On the first one, he had a defender with him and he made a nice up-and-under move to score. On the second steal, he got out in front of the defense for a 2-handed dunk. In total, Sheehey had 9 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals, and 1 assist in just 11 minutes of play. Very athletic white boy.
* Jordan Hulls was outstanding tonight. The 3 before half and the behind-the-back pass were clearly the highlights, but I thought his ball-handling and passing were terrific tonight. Well played, Jordy. Well played.
* Watford was solid again with 18 points, 9 rebounds, and 3 assists. His 3-point attempts looked good, but did not fall. If he starts knocking those down, look out!
* Creek was just 1-5 from the arc. I thought he looked gimpier tonight than he did on Sunday. Perhaps the 3 games in 5 days has been a lot for his leg to handle.
* More of the same from Pritchard.
* Capobianco had his best game of the year with 6 points and 3 rebounds off the bench.
* Rivers continues to play his role well. 6 rebounds and a couple more brilliant interior passes.
* Only 8 minutes for Elston. He left the game with a knee injury and did not return. It did not appear to be serious. By the way, Matt Roth continues to sit out with a knee injury that was not deemed serious, but Crean has said "will keep him out for a while". Whatever the hell that means. Doesn't anybody want to inform us about anything?!? Uh-oh, I'm slipping into my NCAA rant. Nope, not gonna do it. Onward and upward.
* Daniel Moore's jump shot has improved each year and he showed it off tonight with a 24-footer to beat the shot-clock buzzer.
* Mrs. jdhoosier says Tom Crean looks too tan for mid-November. I agree.
Next up: Evansville makes the short trip to Bloomington on Sunday at 1pm ET/Noon CT. $50 for anyone who can make my kids disappear for 3 hours. IU Hoops AND the Packers putting Favre and the Vikings out of their misery....are you kidding me?!?
I have to admit, I thought this game was going to be a dogfight until the end. MVSU came out strong, hit several 3's, and looked pretty athletic. Also, knowing that they had a 6-point lead with less than 4 minutes to go before eventually losing to Georgia by 2, had me concerned that this team might be able to give IU game.
IU was still down by 1 with less than a minute to go in the first half, but then the tide finally turned. IU closed the half on a 5-0 run that was capped by an impressive 3 by Hulls with a few seconds left. It was a thing of beauty -- Hulls took a pass just inside half court, took one dribble while driving hard and then pulled up for a 23-footer that was nothing but net. IU was up 4 points at the half, which was their largest lead of the game at that time.
The Hoosiers came out in the second half and dominated by outscoring MVSU 22-3 in the first 10 minutes of the half, making the total scoring run 27-3. Also, it was a 49-19 run since MVSU took that 7-0 lead to start the game.
With a comfortable 23 point lead, it looked like IU would cruise to victory. And they pretty much still did, but they did give up a 17-5 run at this stage with some extremely sloppy play. This allowed MVSU to cut the lead back to just 11 points with just under 7 minutes to play.
Hulls then went to the line and I was relieved because I was sure he would hit them both to stop the run, but he actually missed them both! So, MVSU had a possession and a shot in the air to get the lead under 10. Fortunately, they missed, Watford was eventually fouled and he hit both (another impressive 8-8 FTs for him) to right the ship again.
IU then turned that into a 6-0 run to push the lead back to 17 and they were able to put this one away.
I don't want to make too much out of a win against Mississippi Valley State....wait, yes I do. I love winning. I don't care who it's against. Anyway, here are some additional notes:
* IU is 3-0.
* IU is 3-0 without a healthy Maurice Creek and without Guy-Marc Michel (I'm in such a good mood tonight that I'll skip my rant against the NCAA.)
* IU won tonight with Verdell Jones III having an absolutely horrible game. On Sunday, Verdell was terrific and it kind of left you with the feeling of "as Verdell goes, so goes the Hoosiers". However, VJIII was way off his game tonight with only 5 points on 2-10 shooting and 7 turnovers. With Verdell's 18 turnovers already combined with Hulls' outstanding play at the point tonight, it makes for an interesting argument over who should be the primary ball-handler on this team. My take right now is that I like how Crean is playing it right now with multiple ball handlers. This allows both guys to create and play off the ball at various times. I just hope Verdell gets the turnovers under control. But my original point was that IU was able to overcome the struggles of their leader and still win going away.
* Taking this beyond just Verdell, the starters were only 12-40 from the field tonight. In addition, Jones, Creek, and Watford were just 1-10 from the arc. Again, the good news here is that there was some sub-par shooting from the key players on this team which means others must have stepped up. Read on.
* IU got 32 points off the bench tonight on 11-20 FG shooting. The biggest contributions were from the two freshmen. Oladipo and Sheehey scored 9 points a piece and both provided big energy and some big moments in the game.
* In the first half, Oladipo made a nice spin move in the lane and dished to Watford for a dunk. Then, in the second half, Oladipo was involved in the play of the game. Hulls had dribbled to the elbow, picked up his dribble, and was being tightly guarded while trying to find an open man. Oladipo then cut diagonally from the opposite elbow down to the block. Hulls beautifully bounced him a behind-the-back pass that Oladipo layed in with a foul. The bench and crowd went crazy. Vic missed the free throw, though. You can't do that on a highlight play like that. Another positive note was Victor's jumper. That was the knock on him as a recruit, but he has worked hard on it and it looks pretty good. He drained his only 3-pointer and hit another 17-footer shortly thereafter. Crean is very big on the plus-minus number (as am I) and he said that Victor was +30 in only 15 minutes of play. That is outstanding.
* Sheehey jumped into the passing lane on 2 occassions and took the steal to the rack and scored on both. On the first one, he had a defender with him and he made a nice up-and-under move to score. On the second steal, he got out in front of the defense for a 2-handed dunk. In total, Sheehey had 9 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals, and 1 assist in just 11 minutes of play. Very athletic white boy.
* Jordan Hulls was outstanding tonight. The 3 before half and the behind-the-back pass were clearly the highlights, but I thought his ball-handling and passing were terrific tonight. Well played, Jordy. Well played.
* Watford was solid again with 18 points, 9 rebounds, and 3 assists. His 3-point attempts looked good, but did not fall. If he starts knocking those down, look out!
* Creek was just 1-5 from the arc. I thought he looked gimpier tonight than he did on Sunday. Perhaps the 3 games in 5 days has been a lot for his leg to handle.
* More of the same from Pritchard.
* Capobianco had his best game of the year with 6 points and 3 rebounds off the bench.
* Rivers continues to play his role well. 6 rebounds and a couple more brilliant interior passes.
* Only 8 minutes for Elston. He left the game with a knee injury and did not return. It did not appear to be serious. By the way, Matt Roth continues to sit out with a knee injury that was not deemed serious, but Crean has said "will keep him out for a while". Whatever the hell that means. Doesn't anybody want to inform us about anything?!? Uh-oh, I'm slipping into my NCAA rant. Nope, not gonna do it. Onward and upward.
* Daniel Moore's jump shot has improved each year and he showed it off tonight with a 24-footer to beat the shot-clock buzzer.
* Mrs. jdhoosier says Tom Crean looks too tan for mid-November. I agree.
Next up: Evansville makes the short trip to Bloomington on Sunday at 1pm ET/Noon CT. $50 for anyone who can make my kids disappear for 3 hours. IU Hoops AND the Packers putting Favre and the Vikings out of their misery....are you kidding me?!?
Sunday, November 14, 2010
What We've Learned After Two Games
* After missing 3 weeks of practice and both exhibition games, it's clearly a big boost to have Verdell Jones III back in the line-up. In the first game, the biggest benefit was that Hulls was able to move off the ball and drain 6-9 from the arc. In tonight's game, Verdell was a scoring machine -- 27 points on 11-14 from the field including 2-2 from the arc. He also added 6 rebounds, 3 steals, and 2 assists. The tone of this bullet point is a positive one, so we will touch on turnovers later.
* Well, now that I mentioned it, we might as well discuss the turnovers. This has to be the biggest concern for the team right now. 24 turnovers in the opener and 21 more tonight. I expect this to be a problem area all year, but 45 turnovers against Florida Gulf Coast and Wright State is ridiculous. Verdell is leading the way with 11 in two games. When IU is not turning it over, they are shooting the ball very well at around 55% after two games.
* I'm ready for Guy-Marc Michel. During tonight's game, Dakich (if you did not see the game, Dakich was doing the color commentary) said the information that he has been able to gather was that Michel was on a team with professional players for 5 games where he logged a grand total of 2 minutes. The NCAA needs to get off their ass and make a ruling. I don't understand it.
* Another reason to be anxious to see what Guy can do is because we are not getting much out of our big men. Check out these numbers:
* Pritchard - 2 points, 10 fouls
* Capobianco - 1 point, 6 fouls
* Elston - 7 points, 7 fouls
So, that's only 10 points while racking up 23 fouls for those 3 guys. It's not that they have been horrible, they have been active at times, but there just isn't much production. Pritchard does have 4 blocks total and had 8 rebounds in the opener. Capobianco has been playing the role you would expect. However, Elston did not score in tonight's game and hasn't seemed to get into the flow of the game.
* Christian Watford is going to have a big year. Watford had career highs in both points (24) and assists (4) in the opener and then had a double-double tonight with 17 points and 10 rebounds. After 2 games, he's averaging 20.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 4 assists per game.
* Only 16 minutes for Mo Creek tonight. Even though his limited minutes were primarily due to some foul trouble, I am sure Crean is fine with 36 total minutes in the first two games for Mo. Again, Creek is still working his way back but he keeps looking better each time he steps on the floor. And it's not like he's been non-existent thus far, he is averaging 11 points after two games and is 4-9 from the arc.
* There's something about Victor Oladipo. Already in his young career, he is proving to be a guy you want on the floor at the end of either half. There was the 4-point play and blocked shot to send the second exhibition game to overtime. And in tonight's game, it looked like Wright St was going to get the final shot of the half before Vic got a steal with 5 seconds, drove the length of the floor, and made a fantastic spin move to lay it in at the buzzer.
* Jordan Hulls has looked very good in the first two games. I was concerned after watching both exhibition games with Hulls handling a majority of the point guard duties. He did not look comfortable and did not do much creating for the offense. However, with Jones back in the lineup, Hulls has been able to play off the ball more and has been very effective. In the first game, he put on a shooting clinic from the arc. Tonight, he didn't shoot much, but I thought he was doing all the little things. Whether it was ball movement or getting in the lane or rebounding or hitting free throws, he was getting the job done.
* Another player that is quietly off to a good start is Jeremiah Rivers. After the first game, Crean said one of his favorite stats is to look at how players and combinations of players impact the game. He said that Rivers led the team in the first game with a +21 differential. As I mentioned before, I really like the change in role for Rivers. It allows him to use his strengths and impact the game by rebounding, playing defense, making some great interior passes, and helping out with the ball-handling when needed. So far, so good.
* Daniel Moore has been playing his role effectively when called upon. He actually operates more like a true point guard than anyone else on the team and he has 6 assists to 3 turnovers thus far.
* Will Sheehey has definitely shown some potential with a traditional 3-point play in the first game and a 3-pointer in tonight's game. I don't expect him to get a lot of minutes, but you never know what can happen over a course of a season. He does seem to have the size, athleticism, and skills to potentially compete for some minutes.
* As a team, they have not been overly impressive but they were able to eventually pull away in each game and win comfortably in both. I'd really like to see them take care of business in these first 6 games. If they can do that, it would make their ACC/Big Ten Challenge game at Boston College pretty interesting.
* Next up is their 3rd game in 5 days when Mississippi Valley State comes to Assembly Hall on Tuesdat at 7pm ET/6pm CT. Mississippi Valley State only lost by 2 points to Georgia in their opener.
Go Hoosiers!
* Well, now that I mentioned it, we might as well discuss the turnovers. This has to be the biggest concern for the team right now. 24 turnovers in the opener and 21 more tonight. I expect this to be a problem area all year, but 45 turnovers against Florida Gulf Coast and Wright State is ridiculous. Verdell is leading the way with 11 in two games. When IU is not turning it over, they are shooting the ball very well at around 55% after two games.
* I'm ready for Guy-Marc Michel. During tonight's game, Dakich (if you did not see the game, Dakich was doing the color commentary) said the information that he has been able to gather was that Michel was on a team with professional players for 5 games where he logged a grand total of 2 minutes. The NCAA needs to get off their ass and make a ruling. I don't understand it.
* Another reason to be anxious to see what Guy can do is because we are not getting much out of our big men. Check out these numbers:
* Pritchard - 2 points, 10 fouls
* Capobianco - 1 point, 6 fouls
* Elston - 7 points, 7 fouls
So, that's only 10 points while racking up 23 fouls for those 3 guys. It's not that they have been horrible, they have been active at times, but there just isn't much production. Pritchard does have 4 blocks total and had 8 rebounds in the opener. Capobianco has been playing the role you would expect. However, Elston did not score in tonight's game and hasn't seemed to get into the flow of the game.
* Christian Watford is going to have a big year. Watford had career highs in both points (24) and assists (4) in the opener and then had a double-double tonight with 17 points and 10 rebounds. After 2 games, he's averaging 20.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 4 assists per game.
* Only 16 minutes for Mo Creek tonight. Even though his limited minutes were primarily due to some foul trouble, I am sure Crean is fine with 36 total minutes in the first two games for Mo. Again, Creek is still working his way back but he keeps looking better each time he steps on the floor. And it's not like he's been non-existent thus far, he is averaging 11 points after two games and is 4-9 from the arc.
* There's something about Victor Oladipo. Already in his young career, he is proving to be a guy you want on the floor at the end of either half. There was the 4-point play and blocked shot to send the second exhibition game to overtime. And in tonight's game, it looked like Wright St was going to get the final shot of the half before Vic got a steal with 5 seconds, drove the length of the floor, and made a fantastic spin move to lay it in at the buzzer.
* Jordan Hulls has looked very good in the first two games. I was concerned after watching both exhibition games with Hulls handling a majority of the point guard duties. He did not look comfortable and did not do much creating for the offense. However, with Jones back in the lineup, Hulls has been able to play off the ball more and has been very effective. In the first game, he put on a shooting clinic from the arc. Tonight, he didn't shoot much, but I thought he was doing all the little things. Whether it was ball movement or getting in the lane or rebounding or hitting free throws, he was getting the job done.
* Another player that is quietly off to a good start is Jeremiah Rivers. After the first game, Crean said one of his favorite stats is to look at how players and combinations of players impact the game. He said that Rivers led the team in the first game with a +21 differential. As I mentioned before, I really like the change in role for Rivers. It allows him to use his strengths and impact the game by rebounding, playing defense, making some great interior passes, and helping out with the ball-handling when needed. So far, so good.
* Daniel Moore has been playing his role effectively when called upon. He actually operates more like a true point guard than anyone else on the team and he has 6 assists to 3 turnovers thus far.
* Will Sheehey has definitely shown some potential with a traditional 3-point play in the first game and a 3-pointer in tonight's game. I don't expect him to get a lot of minutes, but you never know what can happen over a course of a season. He does seem to have the size, athleticism, and skills to potentially compete for some minutes.
* As a team, they have not been overly impressive but they were able to eventually pull away in each game and win comfortably in both. I'd really like to see them take care of business in these first 6 games. If they can do that, it would make their ACC/Big Ten Challenge game at Boston College pretty interesting.
* Next up is their 3rd game in 5 days when Mississippi Valley State comes to Assembly Hall on Tuesdat at 7pm ET/6pm CT. Mississippi Valley State only lost by 2 points to Georgia in their opener.
Go Hoosiers!
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Zeller, Season Opener, and More
As I was just starting to pull together some links to all of today's Cody Zeller coverage, I saw this post pop up on Inside The Hall that is a one-stop shop for Zellerpalooza.
The Zeller commitment is big in so many ways:
For the opener tomorrow night:
The Zeller commitment is big in so many ways:
- Cody is a damn good player
- He's likely a 3-4 year player, not a one-and-done
- He's a winner (26 rebounds in a winning effort in the state final)
- He's versatile -- he can play inside and out; Crean says you can go "to" Cody or play "through" Cody
- His last name -- both older brothers were Mr. Basketball (Cody will be too this year) and IU didn't even come close to landing either of them. Mike Davis didn't recruit Luke and even though Sampson was in a decent position at one point with Tyler, it quickly fell apart when things started to unravel at IU.
- It may have sealed the deal for Yogi Ferrell.
- IU went head-to-head in a recruiting battle against UNC and finally won. It would have been tough to lose yet another top-rated big man in the state of Indiana to UNC (Montross, May, T. Zeller).
- He comes next year. So often, these recruits are committing so early that it's hard to picture what the team will even look like, but Zeller announced today and is coming next year.
- This recruitment ended up getting attention at the national level, so it was obviously good that it ended up going IU's way.
For the opener tomorrow night:
- Verdell Jones III is expected to play.
- Guy-Marc Michel is NOT expected to play. IU is still waiting for the NCAA to rule on Guy (take your own sweet-ass time, NCAA. Our season only starts in less than 24 hours). The NCAA did finally make their ruling on Kentucky's Enes Kanter. He has been declared ineligible. While Kanter and Michel's situations have been similar in that both have been waiting on an NCAA ruling on their amateur status related to playing with professionals overseas, I am hoping that is where the similarities end. We haven't heard a lot about Michel's situation and we haven't heard that he was paid (nor have we heard that he wasn't). The word out of IU has certainly been positive and makes it sound more like "when" and not "if" Guy gets cleared.
- Prediction: IU 93 Florida Gulf Coast 57
- Note on the prediction -- Usually my predictions are based on thorough analysis, but I have to admit a few things with this prediction. One, it's always tough to have any good info on the opponent (and even IU to a certain extent) when it is the first game of the season. Two, I am still flying high from CodyFest so I now believe IU is invincible and will cruise tomorrow night.
Monday, November 8, 2010
IU Needs Oladipo's Heroics to Beat D-II Ferris State
With just 7:30 to go in the game, the hapless Hoosiers found themselves down 53-40 to Division II Ferris State. That was the point where I declared the game over. IU had no life -- missing layups, missing threes, turnovers, bad defense, and getting out-rebounded. IU was shooting 31% and Ferris State was shooting 51%. I was praying that Cody Zeller was not watching. It's one thing for a 5-star recruit to dream about being a part of bringing the glory back to old IU, but this game was making those dreams look like an impossibility.
Sure, IU was without Verdell Jones and Guy-Marc Michel. And yes, Mo Creek is still trying to get back to form and was just 1-for-9 from the arc at this point in the game. But still, there's no excuse to be losing by 13 points to Ferris State in Assembly Hall.
At this point in the game, Oladipo hadn't looked great. His aggressive play on defense had led to him getting burnt a couple times and he had the rim stuff one of his dunk attempts (looked like he was too far underneath the basket). But by the game's end, Oladipo would be the hero and would finish with a mighty impressive stat line.
From the 13-point deficit with 7:30 to go, the game stayed at an 8-10 point deficit for the next few minutes. In fact, IU was still down 9 points with 2:22 left when Mo Creek finally found the range from downtown to suddenly cut the lead to 6 and IU had its first sign of life.
Immediately following Mo's trey, Oladipo got a steal, then turned it over, and then got a block in a 12-second span. Even though it included a turnover, the steal and the block really showed what Oladipo is capable of.
Still down by 6 points, Creek got a steal and Oladipo got fouled with 1:33 left. I was interested to see how Oladipo would do at the line in a late-game situation and he nailed them both to cut it to 4.
Ferris State then scored to get it back to 6 and then Oladipo was fouled again with 1:06 to go. Again, he nailed both freebies to cut it to 4.
There would be no scoring on the next 3 possessions thanks to a Ferris turnover, a missed 3 by Creek, and 2 missed FTs by Ferris.
So, IU was still down 4 points with 19 seconds left. With just 10 seconds left, Oladipo hit a 3 and was fouled! Down by 1, Oladipo went to the line and calmly hit the free throw to tie the game, but the drama was not nearly over.
On Ferris State's possession, Oladipo was defending the ball when he got screened near mid-court. His man went streaking toward the lane with Oladipo trailing by two steps and nobody else from IU stopping the ball! This guy had a wide-open lane to the game-winning layup when Oladipo came flying in out of nowhere to make the game-saving blocked shot!
But the drama still was not over. There was still 1.5 seconds left and Ferris had the ball out of bounds. They inbounded to the elbow, can't remember if there was a dribble or not, and then put a 15-footer in the air as the buzzer sounded......swish. The Hoosiers just lost to D-II Ferris State in an exhibition game. There were no replays shown on the live streaming, but I thought he got it off when watching it live. But the officials went to the replay and ended up waiving it off.
The Hoosiers had new life and they would take full advantage. OT started with a bucket by Watford, a 3 by Creek, a 3 by Hulls, 2 FTs by Watford, and a steal and dunk by Oladipo to open the extra stanza on a 12-0 run and an 18-0 run going back to regulation. The game was over at that point.
In the end, there was plenty to be concerned with the way they played the first 37 1/2 minutes of the game. The good news is that they found a way to win and hopefully will learn some valuable lessons from this one.
Additional news and notes:
Recruiting News:
Season Opener:
Sure, IU was without Verdell Jones and Guy-Marc Michel. And yes, Mo Creek is still trying to get back to form and was just 1-for-9 from the arc at this point in the game. But still, there's no excuse to be losing by 13 points to Ferris State in Assembly Hall.
At this point in the game, Oladipo hadn't looked great. His aggressive play on defense had led to him getting burnt a couple times and he had the rim stuff one of his dunk attempts (looked like he was too far underneath the basket). But by the game's end, Oladipo would be the hero and would finish with a mighty impressive stat line.
From the 13-point deficit with 7:30 to go, the game stayed at an 8-10 point deficit for the next few minutes. In fact, IU was still down 9 points with 2:22 left when Mo Creek finally found the range from downtown to suddenly cut the lead to 6 and IU had its first sign of life.
Immediately following Mo's trey, Oladipo got a steal, then turned it over, and then got a block in a 12-second span. Even though it included a turnover, the steal and the block really showed what Oladipo is capable of.
Still down by 6 points, Creek got a steal and Oladipo got fouled with 1:33 left. I was interested to see how Oladipo would do at the line in a late-game situation and he nailed them both to cut it to 4.
Ferris State then scored to get it back to 6 and then Oladipo was fouled again with 1:06 to go. Again, he nailed both freebies to cut it to 4.
There would be no scoring on the next 3 possessions thanks to a Ferris turnover, a missed 3 by Creek, and 2 missed FTs by Ferris.
So, IU was still down 4 points with 19 seconds left. With just 10 seconds left, Oladipo hit a 3 and was fouled! Down by 1, Oladipo went to the line and calmly hit the free throw to tie the game, but the drama was not nearly over.
On Ferris State's possession, Oladipo was defending the ball when he got screened near mid-court. His man went streaking toward the lane with Oladipo trailing by two steps and nobody else from IU stopping the ball! This guy had a wide-open lane to the game-winning layup when Oladipo came flying in out of nowhere to make the game-saving blocked shot!
But the drama still was not over. There was still 1.5 seconds left and Ferris had the ball out of bounds. They inbounded to the elbow, can't remember if there was a dribble or not, and then put a 15-footer in the air as the buzzer sounded......swish. The Hoosiers just lost to D-II Ferris State in an exhibition game. There were no replays shown on the live streaming, but I thought he got it off when watching it live. But the officials went to the replay and ended up waiving it off.
The Hoosiers had new life and they would take full advantage. OT started with a bucket by Watford, a 3 by Creek, a 3 by Hulls, 2 FTs by Watford, and a steal and dunk by Oladipo to open the extra stanza on a 12-0 run and an 18-0 run going back to regulation. The game was over at that point.
In the end, there was plenty to be concerned with the way they played the first 37 1/2 minutes of the game. The good news is that they found a way to win and hopefully will learn some valuable lessons from this one.
Additional news and notes:
- Matt Roth - Had his knee rolled up on and left game. No word yet, but it did not look good.
- Verdell Jones III - Did not play again due to ankle injury. Previous reports were that he would be ready for the season opener on Friday, but there hasn't been any recent updates.
- Guy-Marc Michel - Did not play due to still waiting on NCAA ruling on amateur status. Very little news or updates on this topic.
- Victor Oladipo - 14 points, 9 rebounds, 5 steals, 2 blocks, 5-5 FTs (all in final 93 seconds of regulation), game-tying 4-point play with 10 seconds left, game-saving blocked shot with 1 second left.
- Christian Watford - 25 points, 7 rebounds, 2 blocks, 2 steals, 1 assist, a perfect 12-12 from the line.
- Maurice Creek - Only 3-13 from the arc, but two of the makes were big ones -- one late in regulation to start the comeback and one early in overtime. Definitely still rusty and hobbled a bit, but I thought he was moving better in this game than the previous exhibition game.
- The devil, I mean, Jordan Hulls had 6, 6, 6 (points, rebounds, assists)
- Tom Pritchard had 6 early points followed by nothing but 5 fouls the rest of the game.
- Jeremiah Rivers was the 11th man off the bench and did not come in the game until 6:32 to go in the first half, but he did end up logging 16 minutes.
- IU was 5-25 from the arc in regulation.
- IU was 23-28 from the line. Watford, Oladipo, and Pritchard were 19-19. Elston was 0-3. Ferrist State was 20-38 including many key misses down the stretch.
- IU shot 35.7% in the first half, 28.1% in the second half, and 100% in OT. Ferris State was 51.9%, 31.8%, and 25.0% respectively.
- IU was outrebounded by 1.
- IU had 20 turnovers, but forced 25.
Recruiting News:
- Cody Zeller is expected to announce his decision on Wednesday.
- Regardless of Cody's decision, IU fans will overreact.
Season Opener:
- Florida Gulf Coast
- Assembly Hall
- Friday evening at 6:30pm ET/5:30pm CT
- TV: Big Ten Network
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
IU Wins Exhibition Easily but Guy-Marc is the Story
After Guy-Marc Michel's 14 point, 10 rebound performance in the Night of the Living Red scrimmage, I think most fans were anxious to see the big fella in tonight's exhibition opener. Unfortunately, news broke about an hour before tip-off that Guy would not be suiting up due to the NCAA reviewing his eligibility status.
After all that we have been through, I couldn't believe it when I initially saw this news. However, after reading Crean's statements more thoroughly and hearing his brief post-game comments on the topic, I don't think this is going to turn out to be a huge deal. At least, I hope it doesn't.
Here are Crean's comments on the subject:
But then again, this is the NCAA we are talking about here. While Tom Crean says that they have great respect for the process, that is one thing I am going to have to disagree with the Coach on. The process sucks or at least the timing of it does. My guess is that the NCAA has had all the relevant information on Guy for weeks, if not months, and they just take their own sweet-ass time getting these things resolved. It's rediculous. Hire more people if you need to, but there is no reason that Guy-Marc Michel should be in street clothes for the exhibition opener.
We'll keep a close eye on this story as it unfolds, but hopefully it will be resolved quickly and GMM will be declared eligible in the near future.
Also absent from tonight's game was Verdell Jones III. Verdell suffered an ankle injury, but is expected to be ready for the regular season opener on November 12th.
I was able to watch tonight's game on bigtennetwork.com for a small fee. The quality was crap, but I was pleased that when I got home well after the game had started, I was able to "rewind" and watch from the beginning. The game will be on TV Thursday night on the Big Ten Network under the listing of Student U at 9:30pm ET/8:30pm CT.
The Hoosiers did win the game easily by a score of 89-37 over Division III Franklin College. It's difficult to truly assess the team performance when it is such a mismatch, but I'll include my player-by-player observations below. The second exhibition game against Ferris State on November 8th should be a little more of a test. I believe Ferris State is Division II and features a D-II Player of the Year candidate.
Christain Watford
Watford was the clear-cut player of the game with 25 points in 24 minutes, including 12 points in the first 3:32 of the game. He hit his first 6 shots and scored in a variety of ways -- down low, mid-range, and a couple from beyond the arc. Later in the game, he also drove the lane for a nice dunk. 9-11 shooting overall that included 2-3 from the arc. If the move to the 3-spot gets Watford into favorable match-ups against smaller players and gives him opportunities to score from all over the floor, then consider me a big-time supporter of Watford moving to the 3-spot. Of course, Guy-Marc Michel getting time at the 5-spot is an important factor in making this happen.
Maurice Creek
Outside of Guy, the player that I was most anxious to see in game action was Mo Creek. There is no doubt that he is still favoring the injured leg, but I was very pleased to see that his minutes were not limited and he was not shying away from driving the lane into traffic. It almost seemed like there were either certain movements or cuts that bother him or maybe even trouble putting together a series of moves. Another telling sign was that Creek opted for a nice and easy lay-in rather than a big-time dunk after he had a steal and a clear break-away. Now, here's the best part.....even while still trying to get the rust off and get back to 100%, Mo managed 16 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 steals in 20 minutes.
Tom Pritchard
You might look at Pritch's 0 points in 19 minutes and say "uh-oh, smells like sophomore Tom Pritchard". But I actually thought Pritchard looked good tonight. It should also be mentioned that he has a heavy wrap on his left-hand (shooting hand), so he gets a pass on his 0-3. He grabbed a team-high 7 boards, had 2 blocks, and took a charge. Crean praised him in the post-game for moving well and doing the little things.
Jordan Hulls
I wasn't too impressed with Hulls tonight. Nothing glaringly wrong with the stats of 5 assists and 2 turnovers. But the 2 turnovers were both really ugly and I just didn't get a great feel for him running the show at the point. I guess I look for a point guard to CREATE and put pressure on the defense and I don't see that out of Hulls. I think he will be better served with someone else running the point and finding space to get some good 3-point looks. Hopefully that will all work out when Verdell comes back from his ankle injury.
Daniel Moore
Now that we have a full set of scholarship players, it's time for Daniel Moore to go sit at the end of the bench, jump up and down, and waive towels, right? Not so fast, my friend. Moore is going to battle and battle and battle and if some guys (like Hulls) don't play at a high level, he will be ready to take some of those minutes. Moore had 18 points in the Cream and Crimson scrimmage and followed that up with 12 points on 6-7 shooting tonight. Again, tonight's competition wasn't Big Ten caliber or even small D-I caliber, but Moore was impressive. I'm not saying Moore should start of even see significant minutes, but my point is that he is not just going to go sit at the end of the bench and be a cheerleader.
Victor Oladipo
Oladipo got the starting nod tonight without Jones in the line-up. I think Victor will see minutes if he defends and rebounds. It's too early to tell how effective of a "lock-down" defender Oladipo is (or can be), but he showed tonight that he definitely has the athleticism to get in the passing lanes and get some deflections. Crean said in the post-game that Victor has 21 more deflections in practice than any other player. He also showed some versatility on offense by draining his only 3-point attempt to go along with 2 dunks and another bucket for a perfect 4-4.
Will Sheehey
Sheehey struggled a bit. He drove in the lane on a few occassions but seemed to force it and came up empty on each try. Definitely looked like a freshman. He also missed two front-ends at the line and had a couple turnovers. However, like Oladipo, he is very athletic and was able to get into the passing lanes on a few occassions.
Derek Elston
Elston had a solid all-around effort with 9 points, 6 rebounds, 2 steals, and 2 blocks. Looking forward to a very good year out of Elston.
Jeremiah Rivers
I like Rivers out of the point guard position. He was able to get a few rebounds and easy baskets and had 0 turnovers in 13 minutes.
Matt Roth
Roth is another player that I am anxious to see how he returns from injury and to see if he can expand his game. However, even if he remains a specialist, I do think he can be very effective in that specialist role. He is always smart with the basketball and has a beautiful stroke. I hope he is able to earn regular minutes in the rotation this year. Tonight, he was 1-2 from the arc and had no turnovers.
Bobby Capobianco
Only 7 minutes from Capo. He did his thing, nothing too surprising.
Box Score
Tom Crean post-game comments:
http://iuhoosiers.cstv.com/allaccess/?media=207389
Player post-game comments:
Inside The Hall: The Minute After
Go Hoosiers!
After all that we have been through, I couldn't believe it when I initially saw this news. However, after reading Crean's statements more thoroughly and hearing his brief post-game comments on the topic, I don't think this is going to turn out to be a huge deal. At least, I hope it doesn't.
Here are Crean's comments on the subject:
"The NCAA is reviewing the status of Guy-Marc Michel.After re-reading, the specific part that gave me comfort was "the NCAA's increased understanding of the circumstances facing international student-athletes, which led to recent rule changes that permit immediate eligibility for entering freshman with the same competitive experiences as Guy." This would lead me to believe that Guy will ultimately be eligible, but it's just a matter of when.
Prior to attending North Idaho Community College, Guy participated in club basketball in France, where he finished high school and enrolled in some college courses. In three years with the French club, Guy participated as a member of an amateur team. In his third year, he was `called up' for limited participation with a team that included professional players.
Given the experiences of other international student-athletes who have participated in European basketball systems, we anticipated some extended review of Guy's status.
We have great respect for the NCAA's process, particularly because we know they have a practice of reviewing each individual student-athlete's case on its own merit, with a focus on what's best for the student. We also appreciate the NCAA's increased understanding of the circumstances facing international student-athletes, which led to recent rule changes that permit immediate eligibility for entering freshman with the same competitive experiences as Guy.
With these factors in mind, we are hopeful for a positive resolution to Guy's case within the coming weeks. While he is not eligible to compete at this time, he will continue to improve in practice, and he'll continue doing very well in the classroom, until the process is complete. We will have no additional comments until the matter is resolved."
But then again, this is the NCAA we are talking about here. While Tom Crean says that they have great respect for the process, that is one thing I am going to have to disagree with the Coach on. The process sucks or at least the timing of it does. My guess is that the NCAA has had all the relevant information on Guy for weeks, if not months, and they just take their own sweet-ass time getting these things resolved. It's rediculous. Hire more people if you need to, but there is no reason that Guy-Marc Michel should be in street clothes for the exhibition opener.
We'll keep a close eye on this story as it unfolds, but hopefully it will be resolved quickly and GMM will be declared eligible in the near future.
Also absent from tonight's game was Verdell Jones III. Verdell suffered an ankle injury, but is expected to be ready for the regular season opener on November 12th.
I was able to watch tonight's game on bigtennetwork.com for a small fee. The quality was crap, but I was pleased that when I got home well after the game had started, I was able to "rewind" and watch from the beginning. The game will be on TV Thursday night on the Big Ten Network under the listing of Student U at 9:30pm ET/8:30pm CT.
The Hoosiers did win the game easily by a score of 89-37 over Division III Franklin College. It's difficult to truly assess the team performance when it is such a mismatch, but I'll include my player-by-player observations below. The second exhibition game against Ferris State on November 8th should be a little more of a test. I believe Ferris State is Division II and features a D-II Player of the Year candidate.
Christain Watford
Watford was the clear-cut player of the game with 25 points in 24 minutes, including 12 points in the first 3:32 of the game. He hit his first 6 shots and scored in a variety of ways -- down low, mid-range, and a couple from beyond the arc. Later in the game, he also drove the lane for a nice dunk. 9-11 shooting overall that included 2-3 from the arc. If the move to the 3-spot gets Watford into favorable match-ups against smaller players and gives him opportunities to score from all over the floor, then consider me a big-time supporter of Watford moving to the 3-spot. Of course, Guy-Marc Michel getting time at the 5-spot is an important factor in making this happen.
Maurice Creek
Outside of Guy, the player that I was most anxious to see in game action was Mo Creek. There is no doubt that he is still favoring the injured leg, but I was very pleased to see that his minutes were not limited and he was not shying away from driving the lane into traffic. It almost seemed like there were either certain movements or cuts that bother him or maybe even trouble putting together a series of moves. Another telling sign was that Creek opted for a nice and easy lay-in rather than a big-time dunk after he had a steal and a clear break-away. Now, here's the best part.....even while still trying to get the rust off and get back to 100%, Mo managed 16 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 steals in 20 minutes.
Tom Pritchard
You might look at Pritch's 0 points in 19 minutes and say "uh-oh, smells like sophomore Tom Pritchard". But I actually thought Pritchard looked good tonight. It should also be mentioned that he has a heavy wrap on his left-hand (shooting hand), so he gets a pass on his 0-3. He grabbed a team-high 7 boards, had 2 blocks, and took a charge. Crean praised him in the post-game for moving well and doing the little things.
Jordan Hulls
I wasn't too impressed with Hulls tonight. Nothing glaringly wrong with the stats of 5 assists and 2 turnovers. But the 2 turnovers were both really ugly and I just didn't get a great feel for him running the show at the point. I guess I look for a point guard to CREATE and put pressure on the defense and I don't see that out of Hulls. I think he will be better served with someone else running the point and finding space to get some good 3-point looks. Hopefully that will all work out when Verdell comes back from his ankle injury.
Daniel Moore
Now that we have a full set of scholarship players, it's time for Daniel Moore to go sit at the end of the bench, jump up and down, and waive towels, right? Not so fast, my friend. Moore is going to battle and battle and battle and if some guys (like Hulls) don't play at a high level, he will be ready to take some of those minutes. Moore had 18 points in the Cream and Crimson scrimmage and followed that up with 12 points on 6-7 shooting tonight. Again, tonight's competition wasn't Big Ten caliber or even small D-I caliber, but Moore was impressive. I'm not saying Moore should start of even see significant minutes, but my point is that he is not just going to go sit at the end of the bench and be a cheerleader.
Victor Oladipo
Oladipo got the starting nod tonight without Jones in the line-up. I think Victor will see minutes if he defends and rebounds. It's too early to tell how effective of a "lock-down" defender Oladipo is (or can be), but he showed tonight that he definitely has the athleticism to get in the passing lanes and get some deflections. Crean said in the post-game that Victor has 21 more deflections in practice than any other player. He also showed some versatility on offense by draining his only 3-point attempt to go along with 2 dunks and another bucket for a perfect 4-4.
Will Sheehey
Sheehey struggled a bit. He drove in the lane on a few occassions but seemed to force it and came up empty on each try. Definitely looked like a freshman. He also missed two front-ends at the line and had a couple turnovers. However, like Oladipo, he is very athletic and was able to get into the passing lanes on a few occassions.
Derek Elston
Elston had a solid all-around effort with 9 points, 6 rebounds, 2 steals, and 2 blocks. Looking forward to a very good year out of Elston.
Jeremiah Rivers
I like Rivers out of the point guard position. He was able to get a few rebounds and easy baskets and had 0 turnovers in 13 minutes.
Matt Roth
Roth is another player that I am anxious to see how he returns from injury and to see if he can expand his game. However, even if he remains a specialist, I do think he can be very effective in that specialist role. He is always smart with the basketball and has a beautiful stroke. I hope he is able to earn regular minutes in the rotation this year. Tonight, he was 1-2 from the arc and had no turnovers.
Bobby Capobianco
Only 7 minutes from Capo. He did his thing, nothing too surprising.
Box Score
Tom Crean post-game comments:
http://iuhoosiers.cstv.com/allaccess/?media=207389
Player post-game comments:
Inside The Hall: The Minute After
Go Hoosiers!
Thursday, October 21, 2010
BIG FAT Season Preview: Your 2010-2011 Indiana Hoosiers
I was going to start with a review of each player, including a little extra on the newcomers. But you guys know the players already, so let's dive right into the good stuff like who's gonna start, who's gonna get the lion's share of minutes, and so on.
First, here's my thoughts on a traditional depth chart:
1 - PG: Verdell Jones III, Jordan Hulls, Daniel Moore, Taylor Wayer
2 - SG: Maurice Creek (once healthy), Victor Oladipo, Matt Roth
3 - SF: Christian Watford, Jeremiah Rivers, Will Sheehey, Kory Barnett
4 - PF: Derek Elston, Bobby Capobianco, Jeff Howard
5 - C: Guy-Marc Michel, Tom Pritchard
Of course, a traditional depth chart is not how Tom Crean is actually going to substitute or manage minutes. If Verdell plays 35 minutes in a game, that doesn't mean that Hulls will only see 5 minutes. So, we'll break down how many minutes per game each player will average in a moment. But first, let's take a look at some of the interesting tidbits from the above depth chart:
Jeremiah Rivers -- Not starting and not playing point guard. From Tom Crean's comments over the last several months, it certainly sounds like Rivers will be moved out of the point guard position and likely to the 3-spot. There have also been comments from Crean that Rivers will have to earn his minutes by playing the exceptional defense he was known for at Georgetown and rebounding the basketball. I think it's a smart move and I hope it works out. The move to the 3-spot would allow Rivers to continue to use his strengths (last year, he was 1st on the team in steals, 2nd in blocks, and 2nd in rebounds) while minimizing his weaknesses (sometimes out of control with the basketball, can't shoot, FT line struggles).
Verdell Jones III -- Move to point guard. If my memory serves me correctly, Verdell moved to the point for the final 3 games of last year and averaged 17.7 points, 4.7 rebounds, 5.3 assists, and 2 turnovers in those 3 games. A small sample size for sure, but those are pretty good numbers. I think we may continue to see some high turnover numbers out of Verdell, but he is going to be asked to do a lot in this offense and I think his productivity (in the form of both points and assists) will outweigh any turnovers.
Victor Oladipo -- As a direct result of Creek working his way back, expect to see Victor Oladipo get an opportunity to play some minutes early in the season. My guess is that Oladipo will have some shining moments early in the season against lesser competition, but I am most interested in seeing how Oladipo plays against top competition. If you didn't see the highlights from Hoosier Hysteria yet, you at least need to check out these Oladipo dunks posted on Inside the Hall.
Christian Watford -- Moving to the 3-spot. Last year, Watford was forced to play out of position at the 4-spot. While he admirably led the team in rebounding with 6 per contest along with 12 ppg, he was often overmatched and had many a shot blocked. Watford certainly has the offensive tools to play the 3, but Tom Crean recently said that Christian will need to be able to defend smaller players and still rebound at a high level. If Watford can do those things, I think we can look forward to a sophomore season that builds on what was a very successful freshman campaign.
Derek Elston -- Look for Elston to get the opportunity to start at the 4-spot. Elston has definitely done the work in the weight room and looks ready to have a break-out season. His defense will likely dictate whether or not he can hold down a starting spot. If he improves on that end of the floor, we might be able to expect numbers similar to those that he put up in the final 3 games of last season -- 25 minutes, 13.3 points, and 8 rebounds per game.
The Big Men Are The Big Unknown -- We plain and simply don't know squat yet about Guy-Marc Michel and we don't know if Tom Pritchard's junior season will resemble his freshman or sophomore season. If Michel can defend and rebound and Pritchard can return to freshman form, then I think many of the above things will hold true -- Elston & Capo play the 4 and Watford plays the 3. However, if Michel and Pritchard can't get the job done at the 5-spot, then expect Crean to go small again to get the best players on the floor.
With the depth chart above, I have basically shown my starting lineup (Jones, Creek, Watford, Elston, Michel). However, that lineup is what I hope to have by conference play. I think that's the lineup that gives IU the best chance to make major leaps in restoring the success of the program. That lineup is big, athletic, has a shot-blocker, and has multiple scorers. But with Creek still recovering and Michel likely needing to further hone his skills, that likely won't be the starting lineup we see in non-conference play.
My non-conference starting lineup at the start of the season is Jones, Hulls, Watford, Elston, and Pritchard. However, I really think Crean will tinker with a number of different combinations throughout the games. Here's how I see the minutes ending up on an average minutes per game basis:
31 mpg - Verdell Jones III
26 mpg - Christian Watford
22 mpg - Jordan Hulls
20 mpg - Maurice Creek
20 mpg - Derek Elston
16 mpg - Jeremiah Rivers
16 mpg - Tom Pritchard
14 mpg - Guy-Marc Michel
12 mpg - Victor Oladipo
10 mpg - Bobby Capobianco
8 mpg - Matt Roth
5 mpg - Will Sheehey
Admittedly, my first pass at breaking down the minutes per game ended up being the equivalent of having 7 players on the floor at all times. So, I think that illustrates that nobody will simply be given minutes just because there is nobody else. There will be competition for playing time this year. Creek's minutes are at 20 only because I think his minutes will be limited early in the season.
Let's switch gears now and take a look at the schedule. A quick preview is that the non-conference portion is pretty light, which I love. Right now, I think this program simply needs wins. I don't care who it is against, we need wins. Any wins.
But even if the Hoosiers take care of business in the non-conference, I wouldn't get carried away with expectations just yet. The Big Ten is going to be strong this year. Very strong. Most of last year's top players are back again this year and many of the top teams are also adding strong recruiting classes.
But let's not waste any more time, let's get down to the game-by-game predictions:
W - Florida Gulf Coast
W - Wright State (this one might be the toughest of the small school opponents)
W - Mississippi Valley State
W - Evansville
W - North Carolina Central
W - Northwestern State (holy shit, we're 6-0!)
L - @ Boston College (winnable game, but I think we lose on the road as part of Big Ten/ACC Challenge)
W - Savannah State
L - @ Kentucky
W - Southern Illinois-Edwardsville
W - South Carolina State
W - Northern Iowa (In VEGAS! Don't forget, this was a 30-win team last year that made BIG noise in the tourney last year)
L - New Mexico (against Steve Alford in VEGAS. Another option for Vegas would be to lose to Northern Iowa, but then beat Colorado. Both scenarios assume N Mexico beats Colorado)
So, that's 10-3 in non-conference play. I would definitely take that! Even if they can't pull off a win in Vegas, that's still 9-4 assuming they don't get beat by any of the teams we once had the luxury of referring to as cupcakes.
W - Penn St
L - Ohio St
L - @ Minnesota
L - @ Northwestern
W - Michigan
L - @ Wisconsin
W - @ Iowa
L - Illinois
L - @ Michigan St
W - Minnesota
W - Iowa
L - @ Purdue
W - @ Michigan
W - Northwestern (we would be 7-7 and 17-10 overall at this point)
L - Purdue
L - @ Ohio St
L - Wisconsin
L - @ Illinois
As noted above, if my predictions hold true, we would be at 7-7 in the Big Ten and 17-10 overall with 4 games to play. Unfortunately, the last 4 games are brutal and I've put them all in the loss column. But heck, if they can win 17 of their first 27 games, there might be just enough confidence to close out the season.
Regardless, I have the Hoosiers going 17-14 in the regular season with a 7-11 mark in conference play. I would be happy with that and I actually think the big leap for the Hoosiers will take place the following season. Rivers is the only senior this year and the Big Ten will finally lose some talent.
As for the post-season, I'll say the Hoosiers go 1-1 in the Big Ten Tourney to earn an invite to the NIT where they also go 1-1. That would give them a final record of 19-12.
A few quick notes on some other topics:
* Tom Crean (in general) -- This guy is doing and saying all the right things. Because of Crean doing things the right way, it's just simply going to be that much sweeter when the glory returns to Old IU.
* Tom Crean (recruiting) -- There is a TON of talent in the state of Indiana over the next four years and Crean has been making major progress with in-state recruiting. The in-state verbal commitments have been piling up and if you follow recruiting at all, you know that Cody Zeller will be making his decision soon between IU, Butler, and North Carolina. He has already taken his official visits to Butler and UNC. He will take his official to IU over Halloween weekend when IU is having The Night of the Living Red.
* I always knew that once Eric Montross signed with North Carolina, IU should have revoked Todd Leary's scholarship offer.
* If you need to get caught up on all the off-season news, I strongly recommend that you browse Inside the Hall's archives right here.
* If you want a Season Preview in magazine format, order a copy of the Maple Street Press Hoosier Tip-Off 2010-2011. I just received mine in the mail about a week ago and it is outstanding. 128 pages, all color, all Hoosiers, no advertisments. Enough said.
First, here's my thoughts on a traditional depth chart:
1 - PG: Verdell Jones III, Jordan Hulls, Daniel Moore, Taylor Wayer
2 - SG: Maurice Creek (once healthy), Victor Oladipo, Matt Roth
3 - SF: Christian Watford, Jeremiah Rivers, Will Sheehey, Kory Barnett
4 - PF: Derek Elston, Bobby Capobianco, Jeff Howard
5 - C: Guy-Marc Michel, Tom Pritchard
Of course, a traditional depth chart is not how Tom Crean is actually going to substitute or manage minutes. If Verdell plays 35 minutes in a game, that doesn't mean that Hulls will only see 5 minutes. So, we'll break down how many minutes per game each player will average in a moment. But first, let's take a look at some of the interesting tidbits from the above depth chart:
Jeremiah Rivers -- Not starting and not playing point guard. From Tom Crean's comments over the last several months, it certainly sounds like Rivers will be moved out of the point guard position and likely to the 3-spot. There have also been comments from Crean that Rivers will have to earn his minutes by playing the exceptional defense he was known for at Georgetown and rebounding the basketball. I think it's a smart move and I hope it works out. The move to the 3-spot would allow Rivers to continue to use his strengths (last year, he was 1st on the team in steals, 2nd in blocks, and 2nd in rebounds) while minimizing his weaknesses (sometimes out of control with the basketball, can't shoot, FT line struggles).
Verdell Jones III -- Move to point guard. If my memory serves me correctly, Verdell moved to the point for the final 3 games of last year and averaged 17.7 points, 4.7 rebounds, 5.3 assists, and 2 turnovers in those 3 games. A small sample size for sure, but those are pretty good numbers. I think we may continue to see some high turnover numbers out of Verdell, but he is going to be asked to do a lot in this offense and I think his productivity (in the form of both points and assists) will outweigh any turnovers. Victor Oladipo -- As a direct result of Creek working his way back, expect to see Victor Oladipo get an opportunity to play some minutes early in the season. My guess is that Oladipo will have some shining moments early in the season against lesser competition, but I am most interested in seeing how Oladipo plays against top competition. If you didn't see the highlights from Hoosier Hysteria yet, you at least need to check out these Oladipo dunks posted on Inside the Hall.
Christian Watford -- Moving to the 3-spot. Last year, Watford was forced to play out of position at the 4-spot. While he admirably led the team in rebounding with 6 per contest along with 12 ppg, he was often overmatched and had many a shot blocked. Watford certainly has the offensive tools to play the 3, but Tom Crean recently said that Christian will need to be able to defend smaller players and still rebound at a high level. If Watford can do those things, I think we can look forward to a sophomore season that builds on what was a very successful freshman campaign.
Derek Elston -- Look for Elston to get the opportunity to start at the 4-spot. Elston has definitely done the work in the weight room and looks ready to have a break-out season. His defense will likely dictate whether or not he can hold down a starting spot. If he improves on that end of the floor, we might be able to expect numbers similar to those that he put up in the final 3 games of last season -- 25 minutes, 13.3 points, and 8 rebounds per game.
The Big Men Are The Big Unknown -- We plain and simply don't know squat yet about Guy-Marc Michel and we don't know if Tom Pritchard's junior season will resemble his freshman or sophomore season. If Michel can defend and rebound and Pritchard can return to freshman form, then I think many of the above things will hold true -- Elston & Capo play the 4 and Watford plays the 3. However, if Michel and Pritchard can't get the job done at the 5-spot, then expect Crean to go small again to get the best players on the floor.
With the depth chart above, I have basically shown my starting lineup (Jones, Creek, Watford, Elston, Michel). However, that lineup is what I hope to have by conference play. I think that's the lineup that gives IU the best chance to make major leaps in restoring the success of the program. That lineup is big, athletic, has a shot-blocker, and has multiple scorers. But with Creek still recovering and Michel likely needing to further hone his skills, that likely won't be the starting lineup we see in non-conference play.
My non-conference starting lineup at the start of the season is Jones, Hulls, Watford, Elston, and Pritchard. However, I really think Crean will tinker with a number of different combinations throughout the games. Here's how I see the minutes ending up on an average minutes per game basis:
31 mpg - Verdell Jones III
26 mpg - Christian Watford
22 mpg - Jordan Hulls
20 mpg - Maurice Creek
20 mpg - Derek Elston
16 mpg - Jeremiah Rivers
16 mpg - Tom Pritchard
14 mpg - Guy-Marc Michel
12 mpg - Victor Oladipo
10 mpg - Bobby Capobianco
8 mpg - Matt Roth
5 mpg - Will Sheehey
Admittedly, my first pass at breaking down the minutes per game ended up being the equivalent of having 7 players on the floor at all times. So, I think that illustrates that nobody will simply be given minutes just because there is nobody else. There will be competition for playing time this year. Creek's minutes are at 20 only because I think his minutes will be limited early in the season.
Let's switch gears now and take a look at the schedule. A quick preview is that the non-conference portion is pretty light, which I love. Right now, I think this program simply needs wins. I don't care who it is against, we need wins. Any wins.
But even if the Hoosiers take care of business in the non-conference, I wouldn't get carried away with expectations just yet. The Big Ten is going to be strong this year. Very strong. Most of last year's top players are back again this year and many of the top teams are also adding strong recruiting classes.
But let's not waste any more time, let's get down to the game-by-game predictions:
W - Florida Gulf Coast
W - Wright State (this one might be the toughest of the small school opponents)
W - Mississippi Valley State
W - Evansville
W - North Carolina Central
W - Northwestern State (holy shit, we're 6-0!)
L - @ Boston College (winnable game, but I think we lose on the road as part of Big Ten/ACC Challenge)
W - Savannah State
L - @ Kentucky
W - Southern Illinois-Edwardsville
W - South Carolina State
W - Northern Iowa (In VEGAS! Don't forget, this was a 30-win team last year that made BIG noise in the tourney last year)
L - New Mexico (against Steve Alford in VEGAS. Another option for Vegas would be to lose to Northern Iowa, but then beat Colorado. Both scenarios assume N Mexico beats Colorado)
So, that's 10-3 in non-conference play. I would definitely take that! Even if they can't pull off a win in Vegas, that's still 9-4 assuming they don't get beat by any of the teams we once had the luxury of referring to as cupcakes.
W - Penn St
L - Ohio St
L - @ Minnesota
L - @ Northwestern
W - Michigan
L - @ Wisconsin
W - @ Iowa
L - Illinois
L - @ Michigan St
W - Minnesota
W - Iowa
L - @ Purdue
W - @ Michigan
W - Northwestern (we would be 7-7 and 17-10 overall at this point)
L - Purdue
L - @ Ohio St
L - Wisconsin
L - @ Illinois
As noted above, if my predictions hold true, we would be at 7-7 in the Big Ten and 17-10 overall with 4 games to play. Unfortunately, the last 4 games are brutal and I've put them all in the loss column. But heck, if they can win 17 of their first 27 games, there might be just enough confidence to close out the season.
Regardless, I have the Hoosiers going 17-14 in the regular season with a 7-11 mark in conference play. I would be happy with that and I actually think the big leap for the Hoosiers will take place the following season. Rivers is the only senior this year and the Big Ten will finally lose some talent.
As for the post-season, I'll say the Hoosiers go 1-1 in the Big Ten Tourney to earn an invite to the NIT where they also go 1-1. That would give them a final record of 19-12.
A few quick notes on some other topics:
* Tom Crean (in general) -- This guy is doing and saying all the right things. Because of Crean doing things the right way, it's just simply going to be that much sweeter when the glory returns to Old IU.
* Tom Crean (recruiting) -- There is a TON of talent in the state of Indiana over the next four years and Crean has been making major progress with in-state recruiting. The in-state verbal commitments have been piling up and if you follow recruiting at all, you know that Cody Zeller will be making his decision soon between IU, Butler, and North Carolina. He has already taken his official visits to Butler and UNC. He will take his official to IU over Halloween weekend when IU is having The Night of the Living Red.
* I always knew that once Eric Montross signed with North Carolina, IU should have revoked Todd Leary's scholarship offer.
* If you need to get caught up on all the off-season news, I strongly recommend that you browse Inside the Hall's archives right here.
* If you want a Season Preview in magazine format, order a copy of the Maple Street Press Hoosier Tip-Off 2010-2011. I just received mine in the mail about a week ago and it is outstanding. 128 pages, all color, all Hoosiers, no advertisments. Enough said.
Friday, May 7, 2010
Tijan Jobe, Part Two?
Guy-Marc Michel signs with Indiana. So, apparently, this Mark Michelle guy (he's gonna need a nickname) is a 7-1 center from North Idaho junior college. Last year, he averaged 7 points, 7 rebounds, and over 3 blocks per game. That's the part that sounded familiar to Jobe -- although Guy's 7 & 7 is better than Tijan's 4 & 4, they still aren't staggering numbers out of junior college.
That being said, the reality is that there just aren't that many big men out there that are skilled all-around players. When you do find a skilled all-around big man, he's typically going to be a one-and-done.
So, while most Hoosier fans don't seem to be thrilled with this signing, I am going to take a wait and see approach. GMM sounds like a legitimate shot blocker -- something the Hoosiers desperately need. IU was 158th in D-1 in shot-block percentage last year. If you think that's bad, they were 342nd out of 347 D-1 teams in getting their shot blocked. Ouch!
Also, this guy Guy did grab 7 rebounds per game. That could certainly be worse.
If he can add a shot-blocking threat and grab some boards, then I think he fills a need for IU, even if he is very raw on offense. Look at our center position last year, Pritchard doesn't block shots and did next to nothing offensively. Capobianco doesn't block shots and is not a big offensive threat. Jobe and Muniru didn't play any meaningful minutes last year. So, if this guy Guy can give us any meaningful minutes even if he is only a shot-blocking presence, then it's probably a small step up from what we got out of the 5-spot last year.
Of course, the big question is just how raw is he and can his shot-blocking in junior college carry over to the Big Ten? He's only got 2 years, so I am hoping Crean and staff see somthing that makes them believe he can help this team immediately. By the way, it is believed that new assistant coach Steve McClain likely had a lot to do with this signing as Colorado was giving GMM a close look.
Jobe was signed just to be able to field a team. However, this signing isn't absolutely necessary unless he can actually help the team. If he turns out to be so raw that he can't contribute and just sits the bench, then I think this is a bad move by Crean to use a scholarship for 2 years.
So, I guess we'll have to wait and see on this one.
Additional coverage on Guy-Marc Michel:
Also, in case you didn't hear that Armon Bassett got arrested, here's that link too (Xavier Keeling too).
That being said, the reality is that there just aren't that many big men out there that are skilled all-around players. When you do find a skilled all-around big man, he's typically going to be a one-and-done.
So, while most Hoosier fans don't seem to be thrilled with this signing, I am going to take a wait and see approach. GMM sounds like a legitimate shot blocker -- something the Hoosiers desperately need. IU was 158th in D-1 in shot-block percentage last year. If you think that's bad, they were 342nd out of 347 D-1 teams in getting their shot blocked. Ouch!
Also, this guy Guy did grab 7 rebounds per game. That could certainly be worse.
If he can add a shot-blocking threat and grab some boards, then I think he fills a need for IU, even if he is very raw on offense. Look at our center position last year, Pritchard doesn't block shots and did next to nothing offensively. Capobianco doesn't block shots and is not a big offensive threat. Jobe and Muniru didn't play any meaningful minutes last year. So, if this guy Guy can give us any meaningful minutes even if he is only a shot-blocking presence, then it's probably a small step up from what we got out of the 5-spot last year.
Of course, the big question is just how raw is he and can his shot-blocking in junior college carry over to the Big Ten? He's only got 2 years, so I am hoping Crean and staff see somthing that makes them believe he can help this team immediately. By the way, it is believed that new assistant coach Steve McClain likely had a lot to do with this signing as Colorado was giving GMM a close look.
Jobe was signed just to be able to field a team. However, this signing isn't absolutely necessary unless he can actually help the team. If he turns out to be so raw that he can't contribute and just sits the bench, then I think this is a bad move by Crean to use a scholarship for 2 years.
So, I guess we'll have to wait and see on this one.
Additional coverage on Guy-Marc Michel:
Also, in case you didn't hear that Armon Bassett got arrested, here's that link too (Xavier Keeling too).
Monday, March 22, 2010
Sounds Familiar, eh?
Mike Freeman of cbssports.com had an interesting article today on Calipari.
Some of it sounded very familiar. Take a gander at these closing comments:
Regardless of which threat they choose, the beauty of it all is that they react that way because they know it's all true.
House of cards, Kentucky fans. House of cards.
Some of it sounded very familiar. Take a gander at these closing comments:
Kentucky fans will flame message boards and threaten to burn down my house but in their blue and white hearts they know what I'm saying is true. They're holding their noses and enjoying the ride just like many others are.Sounds familiar, right? Actually, Kentucky fans didn't threaten to burn down my house, they only wished me dead in a plane crash. Innocent enough, I guess.
Put on a surgical mask and take a deep breath, Kentucky fans. It's your turn to root for your for-now hero while looking over the shoulder and waiting for the NCAA to knock at the door.
Regardless of which threat they choose, the beauty of it all is that they react that way because they know it's all true.
House of cards, Kentucky fans. House of cards.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Say It Ain't So, Mo
Say it ain't so or say it is so, but just say something, Mo. If you haven't been following the recruitment of Moses Abraham, let me just tell you that the last 48 hours have been very interesting.
I'll attempt to recap it for you now. Please be aware that I am going by my recollection only. Mainly because I am lazy, but also because most of this story is based on fan comments, rumors, and unnamed sources. In fact, it's my belief that many of the IU blogs are now referring to each other when they say "a source close to the situation tells me...." Regardless, if you are a junkie for any IU basketball related content, then the last 48 hours have actually been fun.
So, Moses Abraham is 6'9" and 235 pounds. He was virtually unknown 6 months ago. He came to the United States from Nigeria about 5 or 6 months ago and played his senior season in the D.C. area. The word on the web is that he has a huge wing span and is an excellent shot blocker. Good size and athletic. Somewhat raw on the offensive end. I even read "not Tijan raw, but still raw". I've seen anywhere from 4-stars to not rated. His recruitment heated up the last couple of months and he took visits to Georgetown, Maryland, and Tennessee. His visits to Seton Hall and IU (senior night against NW when we actually won) were cancelled due to Moses having the flu. Cancellations of visits regardless of the reason provided usually means that the kid is no longer interested in that school, but all reports were that Moses was truly sick.
Even with the IU visit cancelled, IU was still considered a contender with Georgetown being the leader. Then came this past Sunday. Reports from IU outlets were that Abraham was down to two schools -- IU and Georgetown. However, as I started reading more on Sunday, I came across an article in the Washington Post that also said he was down to two schools, but those two schools were Maryland and Georgetown. Regardless of which schools, all outlets were reporting a decision on Sunday night around 7 pm.
So, like many IU fans desperate for some good news, I logged on to Inside the Hall, The Hoosier Scoop, Hoosier Hype, and Peegs and started refreshing each site one at a time and kept doing it over and over and over and over again. I know it sounds pretty pathetic, but each site had a lot of fan comments and chatter, so it was actually entertaining to read all the new comments that would pop up. 7pm came and went with no news, but eventually there were "sources from the Abraham camp" that said the decision would come at midnight.
For me, no problemo. I'm a night owl anyway and they're talking Eastern Time to boot. So, I took a break and then re-started my 4-site refresh routine. Nothing but comments from fans and word from a Georgetwon site that Moses attended the Hoyas Selection Show party, which obviously would be bad news. Then there was a lot of commentary about whether he could be there during a "no-contact recruitment period", followed by news that it was a public place, blah, blah, blah. It should also be noted that Crean was in D.C. on Sunday to watch Oladipo play, but also a lot of speculation whether he was going to try to see Abraham, followed by the no-contact stuff, blah, blah, blah. But I couldn't help myself and stayed online until 1:30am CT (2:30am ET). Still no news.
Monday comes and IU fans are still clamoring for information....anything they, I mean we, can get our hands on. On Monday night, I felt like I was in an episode of Seinfeld when I joined a live blog/chat to discuss the lack of news. It was put on jointly by Inside the Hall and The Hoosier Scoop and they said they had more people join that discussion about nothing than their live blogs/chats of IU games during the year. At this point, it was pretty clear that this whole situation had taken on a life of it's own.
At some point in the night, Hoosier Nation got word from the Abraham camp that there would not be a decision on Monday night. With that, I think most Hoosier fans went to bed thinking that this must be good for IU. If the decision was truly down to IU and Georgetwon and the final decision was Georgetown, then most thought the decision would have been announced Sunday or Monday. Many thought the longer this takes, the better chance for IU.
Today's news has been a confirmation of that line of thinking. There have been some reports today that the delay in the decision has been mainly due to IU still being in the picture. And now, as of tonight, it appears that Abraham will visit IU. That news is very good news for IU fans and now I just hope that it leads to even better news in the form of a commitment. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.
There's still two schools of thought here. One is that this is IU's golden opportunity to close the deal. The other is that Mo might just being doing this to appease certain people in his "camp" who might be pushing him to at least visit IU before making a decision.
Another interesting thing about this is that this kid is not The Savior even with a name like Moses Abraham. My concern with this recruitment getting this much attention, people might think he is supposed to be a savior. Don't get me wrong, I hope IU lands this kid, but I would see him coming in and competing with Capo and Pritchard and Bawa. Competing is the key word. I don't see him coming in as a guaranteed starter by any stretch of the imagination. But anything that can potentially help IU get better, I am all for it. And if the 5-spot is going to give you little to no offense, then it would be nice to at least have a shot-blocker on the defensive end. I'm just sayin'.
And the final angle in all this is that IU would have room on the roster next year, but it would make them oversigned by 1 the following year. Or something like that. I actually haven't been looking at the scholarship numbers all that closely because I do expect at least one transfer this off-season, so it probably won't matter in the end.
Now that I've taken the time to type this, I should probably go check some other sites to make sure I haven't missed any comments from "kelin blab" or "4guards" or "Chronic Hoosier".
Moses Abraham....you have to love that name.
I'll attempt to recap it for you now. Please be aware that I am going by my recollection only. Mainly because I am lazy, but also because most of this story is based on fan comments, rumors, and unnamed sources. In fact, it's my belief that many of the IU blogs are now referring to each other when they say "a source close to the situation tells me...." Regardless, if you are a junkie for any IU basketball related content, then the last 48 hours have actually been fun.
So, Moses Abraham is 6'9" and 235 pounds. He was virtually unknown 6 months ago. He came to the United States from Nigeria about 5 or 6 months ago and played his senior season in the D.C. area. The word on the web is that he has a huge wing span and is an excellent shot blocker. Good size and athletic. Somewhat raw on the offensive end. I even read "not Tijan raw, but still raw". I've seen anywhere from 4-stars to not rated. His recruitment heated up the last couple of months and he took visits to Georgetown, Maryland, and Tennessee. His visits to Seton Hall and IU (senior night against NW when we actually won) were cancelled due to Moses having the flu. Cancellations of visits regardless of the reason provided usually means that the kid is no longer interested in that school, but all reports were that Moses was truly sick.
Even with the IU visit cancelled, IU was still considered a contender with Georgetown being the leader. Then came this past Sunday. Reports from IU outlets were that Abraham was down to two schools -- IU and Georgetown. However, as I started reading more on Sunday, I came across an article in the Washington Post that also said he was down to two schools, but those two schools were Maryland and Georgetown. Regardless of which schools, all outlets were reporting a decision on Sunday night around 7 pm.
So, like many IU fans desperate for some good news, I logged on to Inside the Hall, The Hoosier Scoop, Hoosier Hype, and Peegs and started refreshing each site one at a time and kept doing it over and over and over and over again. I know it sounds pretty pathetic, but each site had a lot of fan comments and chatter, so it was actually entertaining to read all the new comments that would pop up. 7pm came and went with no news, but eventually there were "sources from the Abraham camp" that said the decision would come at midnight.
For me, no problemo. I'm a night owl anyway and they're talking Eastern Time to boot. So, I took a break and then re-started my 4-site refresh routine. Nothing but comments from fans and word from a Georgetwon site that Moses attended the Hoyas Selection Show party, which obviously would be bad news. Then there was a lot of commentary about whether he could be there during a "no-contact recruitment period", followed by news that it was a public place, blah, blah, blah. It should also be noted that Crean was in D.C. on Sunday to watch Oladipo play, but also a lot of speculation whether he was going to try to see Abraham, followed by the no-contact stuff, blah, blah, blah. But I couldn't help myself and stayed online until 1:30am CT (2:30am ET). Still no news.
Monday comes and IU fans are still clamoring for information....anything they, I mean we, can get our hands on. On Monday night, I felt like I was in an episode of Seinfeld when I joined a live blog/chat to discuss the lack of news. It was put on jointly by Inside the Hall and The Hoosier Scoop and they said they had more people join that discussion about nothing than their live blogs/chats of IU games during the year. At this point, it was pretty clear that this whole situation had taken on a life of it's own.
At some point in the night, Hoosier Nation got word from the Abraham camp that there would not be a decision on Monday night. With that, I think most Hoosier fans went to bed thinking that this must be good for IU. If the decision was truly down to IU and Georgetwon and the final decision was Georgetown, then most thought the decision would have been announced Sunday or Monday. Many thought the longer this takes, the better chance for IU.
Today's news has been a confirmation of that line of thinking. There have been some reports today that the delay in the decision has been mainly due to IU still being in the picture. And now, as of tonight, it appears that Abraham will visit IU. That news is very good news for IU fans and now I just hope that it leads to even better news in the form of a commitment. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.
There's still two schools of thought here. One is that this is IU's golden opportunity to close the deal. The other is that Mo might just being doing this to appease certain people in his "camp" who might be pushing him to at least visit IU before making a decision.
Another interesting thing about this is that this kid is not The Savior even with a name like Moses Abraham. My concern with this recruitment getting this much attention, people might think he is supposed to be a savior. Don't get me wrong, I hope IU lands this kid, but I would see him coming in and competing with Capo and Pritchard and Bawa. Competing is the key word. I don't see him coming in as a guaranteed starter by any stretch of the imagination. But anything that can potentially help IU get better, I am all for it. And if the 5-spot is going to give you little to no offense, then it would be nice to at least have a shot-blocker on the defensive end. I'm just sayin'.
And the final angle in all this is that IU would have room on the roster next year, but it would make them oversigned by 1 the following year. Or something like that. I actually haven't been looking at the scholarship numbers all that closely because I do expect at least one transfer this off-season, so it probably won't matter in the end.
Now that I've taken the time to type this, I should probably go check some other sites to make sure I haven't missed any comments from "kelin blab" or "4guards" or "Chronic Hoosier".
Moses Abraham....you have to love that name.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Untitled
The most troubling thing about this loss is that now we leave it in the Selection Committee's hands. If the committee screws us on Selection Sunday by shipping us out west or something like that, we only have ourselves to blame.
The second most troubling thing was that the Hoosiers led this game for the first 32 minutes and then it turned into a complete laugher and they lose by 15 points! If this season wasn't the second season of our worst nightmare and if we weren't so used to complete collapses at the end of games, I would be devastated right now. Actually, I am devastated right now, but not as much about this single game, it's more related to how far we've fallen and how much of a long struggle it is to return the glory to old IU.
I can't say I was ever too confident in this game even though IU got out to that hot 8-0 start. That opening 8 point lead was their largest lead of the game. Even though Northwestern never led in the first 32 minutes, they were staying close even while they were shooting horribly from 3-point range. I believe they were 2-22 at one point. So, in my mind, I knew that if they starting hitting from downtown, this game would turn in a hurry. It's almost like I can see the future.
The Hoosiers also looked very shaky against NW's half-court 1-3-1 and the turnovers proved to be costly. After NW's 1-3-1 helped them come back and get the regular season finale into overtime, IU knew they would see plenty of it in this game. Therefore, you know they worked on it extensively in practice. Unfortunately, the best weapon against those types of defenses is experience. Experience or supreme talent. The Hoosiers have neither.
I have to tell ya that I like Verdell Jones at the point. Verdell was only responsible for 1 of today's turnovers and he had 6 assists. In fact, in the last two games at the point guard position, Verdell put up 38 points, 12 assists, and 5 turnovers. VJ III may have some turnovers, but I think his productivity at the point far outweighs any turnovers.
Also, if playing 3 guards, I think Rivers is actually better at the 3-spot and flashing to the middle. From there he has the ability to get some layups or quickly feed another player as he did a couple times today.
If only playing 2 guards, then Christian Watford needs to be at the 3-spot. I think Watford is far more effective at the 3 than he is at the 4. Far more.
I'll have much more on these types of things before we call it an offseason. Still to come before the blog takes a break:
The second most troubling thing was that the Hoosiers led this game for the first 32 minutes and then it turned into a complete laugher and they lose by 15 points! If this season wasn't the second season of our worst nightmare and if we weren't so used to complete collapses at the end of games, I would be devastated right now. Actually, I am devastated right now, but not as much about this single game, it's more related to how far we've fallen and how much of a long struggle it is to return the glory to old IU.
I can't say I was ever too confident in this game even though IU got out to that hot 8-0 start. That opening 8 point lead was their largest lead of the game. Even though Northwestern never led in the first 32 minutes, they were staying close even while they were shooting horribly from 3-point range. I believe they were 2-22 at one point. So, in my mind, I knew that if they starting hitting from downtown, this game would turn in a hurry. It's almost like I can see the future.
The Hoosiers also looked very shaky against NW's half-court 1-3-1 and the turnovers proved to be costly. After NW's 1-3-1 helped them come back and get the regular season finale into overtime, IU knew they would see plenty of it in this game. Therefore, you know they worked on it extensively in practice. Unfortunately, the best weapon against those types of defenses is experience. Experience or supreme talent. The Hoosiers have neither.
I have to tell ya that I like Verdell Jones at the point. Verdell was only responsible for 1 of today's turnovers and he had 6 assists. In fact, in the last two games at the point guard position, Verdell put up 38 points, 12 assists, and 5 turnovers. VJ III may have some turnovers, but I think his productivity at the point far outweighs any turnovers.
Also, if playing 3 guards, I think Rivers is actually better at the 3-spot and flashing to the middle. From there he has the ability to get some layups or quickly feed another player as he did a couple times today.
If only playing 2 guards, then Christian Watford needs to be at the 3-spot. I think Watford is far more effective at the 3 than he is at the 4. Far more.
I'll have much more on these types of things before we call it an offseason. Still to come before the blog takes a break:
- Outlook for next year and beyond
- How good is Maurice Creek?
- BAWA
- The rumor mill
- Any updates on recruiting or the new assistant coach
Monday, March 8, 2010
Timing of McLeod Firing is More than a Little Odd
In case you missed, Assistant Coach Roshown McLeod missed Saturday's NW game and was fired on Sunday.
Crean is being very vague about it and McLeod has been tight-lipped but plans to issue a statement tomorrow.
The Hoosier Scoop captured Crean's comments from his radio show. In typical Tom Crean fashion, he talked for a little while, but didn't really say much.
Obviously, Crean is trying to downplay the timing, but I have to admit that the timing does seem very odd. There has been speculation that Crean was not happy with McLeod's recruiting and his handling of the big men (I know, a picture of Tom Pritchard popped into my head too). However, if McLeod's performance is the ONLY issue, then you simply wait until the season ends on Thursday or Friday. So, I think there has to be more to it than that.
Since this blog has absolutely no journalistic integrity, let's FUEL SOME SPECULATION:
Crean is being very vague about it and McLeod has been tight-lipped but plans to issue a statement tomorrow.
The Hoosier Scoop captured Crean's comments from his radio show. In typical Tom Crean fashion, he talked for a little while, but didn't really say much.
“I want Roshown to be successful,” Crean said. “I think what happened with us is it became abundantly clear that I needed to make a change. It became clear to our staff that we needed to make a change. The only thing that’s worse than looking at the time was being indecisive. I wasn’t going to be indecisive. That’s where it’s at. Frankly, I’d like to keep it there. I really don’t want to have to go any further than that. I want to continue to coach this basketball team this season the best way that we can, Continue to recruit the way that we are, get this program pulling in the same direction in every area in what we’re trying to accomplish, what we want from Indiana, what Indiana deserves from us, certainly with the recruiting. It’s gotta be pulling in the same direction and that’s what I want to focus on, and I’m going to do my best to leave it at that and focus on that. I’m not being evasive, but that’s where I’m leaving it…. The decision’s been made. That’s the way it is.”
Obviously, Crean is trying to downplay the timing, but I have to admit that the timing does seem very odd. There has been speculation that Crean was not happy with McLeod's recruiting and his handling of the big men (I know, a picture of Tom Pritchard popped into my head too). However, if McLeod's performance is the ONLY issue, then you simply wait until the season ends on Thursday or Friday. So, I think there has to be more to it than that.
Since this blog has absolutely no journalistic integrity, let's FUEL SOME SPECULATION:
- Maybe Crean has his eye on a new assistant and wants to be sure he can act as soon as the season ends.
- Perhaps Crean has his eye on a recruiting target or targets and has an assistant in mind that can help him land said target(s).
- Could it be disciplinary? McLeod was not at the game on Saturday, then fired on Sunday. Hmmm.
- What if McLeod made too many phone calls? Wouldn't you just shit a [insert your answer to the poll question here]!?!?!?!
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Things Are Right in the World Again, IU WINS!
Indiana beats Northwestern.....finally, things feel normal again.....even it is only for a brief moment.
The best part about this game was that it was four freshmen that led the way:
* Jordan Hulls - A career-high 24 points on eight 3-pointers in just 12 attempts. Only Matt Roth and Roderick Wilmont have made more triples in a single game. Hulls also added 4 assists.
* Derek Elston - A career-high 17 points, 8 rebs, 1 stl, 1 blk.
* Bobby Capobianco - A career-high 8 points, career-high 7 rebounds, 2 stls, 2 blks.
* Christian Watford - A double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds, 2 stls, 1 blk.
The only other player that truly contributed was Verdell Jones with 18 points, 5 rebounds, and 6 assists. Nice numbers by Verdell, but he struggled with his jumper today and had some tough turnovers in crunch time. However, it was interesting to see him running the point today. I liked it.
Coaches always say that it is not who starts a game that is important, it's who finishes the game. Especially a close game. Well, today, it was the four freshmen noted above along with Verdell that played in overtime and they were fantastic. While the 11-game losing streak was extremely painful and included an average margin of defeat of more than 20 points per game in the last 8 games......forgot where I was going with this point. See what happens when I merely mention the previous 8 games, I get too distraught to even finish a thought. Ah, now I remember, my point is that we saw some very positive things from 4 freshmen and a sophomore today. And from a fan's perspective, we sure needed that.
A few plays that stuck out in my mind from today's game and all 3 involve said freshmen:
* Watford with a great defensive rebound and quick outlet pass to Hulls who pushes the ball up the floor and deep into the lane. Hulls makes a nice pass behind him to Elston who finishes with a tomohawk!
* This one isn't just one play, it's eight of them. That's right, the eight 3-pointers from Jordan Hulls including one fairly late in regulation to answer a NW three and he nailed another in the overtime.
* The final one came with 1:26 to go in OT when Bobby C grabbed an airballed desperation three from Hulls and laid it in to beat the shot clock buzzer and got fouled. The team and fans went crazy. He made the freebie to put IU up by 7. In fact, Capabianco was 4-5 from the line in the final 1:26 to help seal the victory.
And so it was, an 11-game losing streak that looked worse than last year. But on this day, Senior Day I might add, the freshmen made this day a very good one for the Hoosiers.
Now, if they can just string together an 11-game winning streak, then the Hoosiers will be NCAA champions for the 6th time.
GO HOOSIERS!
The best part about this game was that it was four freshmen that led the way:
* Jordan Hulls - A career-high 24 points on eight 3-pointers in just 12 attempts. Only Matt Roth and Roderick Wilmont have made more triples in a single game. Hulls also added 4 assists.
* Derek Elston - A career-high 17 points, 8 rebs, 1 stl, 1 blk.
* Bobby Capobianco - A career-high 8 points, career-high 7 rebounds, 2 stls, 2 blks.
* Christian Watford - A double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds, 2 stls, 1 blk.
The only other player that truly contributed was Verdell Jones with 18 points, 5 rebounds, and 6 assists. Nice numbers by Verdell, but he struggled with his jumper today and had some tough turnovers in crunch time. However, it was interesting to see him running the point today. I liked it.
Coaches always say that it is not who starts a game that is important, it's who finishes the game. Especially a close game. Well, today, it was the four freshmen noted above along with Verdell that played in overtime and they were fantastic. While the 11-game losing streak was extremely painful and included an average margin of defeat of more than 20 points per game in the last 8 games......forgot where I was going with this point. See what happens when I merely mention the previous 8 games, I get too distraught to even finish a thought. Ah, now I remember, my point is that we saw some very positive things from 4 freshmen and a sophomore today. And from a fan's perspective, we sure needed that.
A few plays that stuck out in my mind from today's game and all 3 involve said freshmen:
* Watford with a great defensive rebound and quick outlet pass to Hulls who pushes the ball up the floor and deep into the lane. Hulls makes a nice pass behind him to Elston who finishes with a tomohawk!
* This one isn't just one play, it's eight of them. That's right, the eight 3-pointers from Jordan Hulls including one fairly late in regulation to answer a NW three and he nailed another in the overtime.
* The final one came with 1:26 to go in OT when Bobby C grabbed an airballed desperation three from Hulls and laid it in to beat the shot clock buzzer and got fouled. The team and fans went crazy. He made the freebie to put IU up by 7. In fact, Capabianco was 4-5 from the line in the final 1:26 to help seal the victory.
And so it was, an 11-game losing streak that looked worse than last year. But on this day, Senior Day I might add, the freshmen made this day a very good one for the Hoosiers.
Now, if they can just string together an 11-game winning streak, then the Hoosiers will be NCAA champions for the 6th time.
GO HOOSIERS!
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Nothing Left to Say
Honestly, I don't have anything to say that I haven't already said ten times over. Also, I'll be traveling for both work and leisure for the next week, so this blog is officially on a hiatus.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Perspective
Chris forwarded me a pretty good article from Bob Kravitz of the Indy Star today.
Of course, Chris had some of his own comments. And of course, I had some of my own. Followed by more from Chris. That exchange is below.
Chris:
Hey, Kravitz wrote a sensible article in the IndyStar. Pretty much looks like he’s reading your blog.
I don’t know why I read the comments. So many idiots are in love with Painter and Purdue. Its not a fair comparison on any level.
I can’t wait until Crean gets it turned around. There is a reason that he asked for, and got a 10 year contract. Its monumentally messed up.
If he doesn’t have it back by 2012 then maybe you start to question if he’s the guy for the job.
At any rate, we can only get better from here.
You know what I mean?
I just keep thinking that the program must have been more damaged that I even thought. I knew it was bad from Sampson’s sanctions, but when you really think about it (which I do a lot), it must have been decaying from the inside out for much longer that we realized. There’s your book Jeff.
What are the components/ingredients of a successful program? Recruiting pipeline (in-state/out-of-state). Recruiting system/sources (strategy, assistants, high school, AAU, Elite Teams, Foreign).Coach’s name recognition. Offensive/Defensive System. System Continuity Fresh-Soph-Jun-Sr.-redshirt, JUCO, one&dones. Locker Room. TV/Radio/Internet exposure. Facilities. Academics. Athletic Administration. University Administration. NCAA compliance.
You could investigate all of this issues and compare them to best in class, such as UNC/Duke/Kansas to understand the true scope.
Keep in mind, Knight ran the Basketball program autonomously from the Athletic department for 20 or more years. The AD had no skill in running the bball program. There was not succession planning or brain trust in place for post-Knight. Don’t be fooled, RMK wanted it that way. He wanted to be all powerful. I think his secret plan was to hand it off to Pat.
Its all history now, but its certainly a cautionary tale for how to f@ck up an athletic organization.
Jeff:
At least we have our football program to model it after…..oh, wait, we have made sucking at football a tradition.
At the end of this basketball season, I wonder where we would rank among BCS schools for a combined football and basketball record this season. We would have to be last or very close to it. The last two seasons…..definitely last.
I hope Fred Glass is good. I think it is very difficult for fans to judge an Athletic Director. There’s just too many ingredients. Heck, look at all the stuff you listed just for a successful basketball program. For an AD, you now have to mix in multiple athletic programs and add in some type of budget and financial situation.
Speaking of the financial situation, that’s another hangover or black cloud that is still hanging over the IU athletic department. Obviously, we don’t know the exact financial situation, but we know it’s bad. My point with all this is that it is easy for fans to say that Glass needs to get rid of Lynch and bring in a big name coach. But exactly how is he supposed to pull that off. First, I don’t think the program has the dollars to lure a big name coach. And even if we did, why would a big name coach want to come to IU? And even if a big name coach would want to come to IU, he’s not automatically going to start getting big time recruits. It might help a little in recruiting, but it would probably take several years to turn around.
Just like Tom Crean and the basketball program, recruiting is a several year process. As you mentioned, there is a recruiting pipeline and a recruiting system and long-term recruiting relationships with coaches.
I underestimated the recruiting impact and mess when Tom Crean took over. I think most people generally say that IU lost one year of recruiting. That statement is completely inaccurate.
If you really think through it, when Tom Crean took over last year, the entire team was wiped out with the exception of a couple walk-ons (Taber and Finkelmeier). So, with that, you did not have a recruiting class of Seniors, you did not have a recruiting class of Juniors, you did not have a recruiting class of Sophomores, and the entire recruiting class of freshmen went elsewhere (Ebanks, etc.). The freshmen that were in that recruiting class were pieced together at the last minute and it looks like Verdell Jones is the only quality player. So, there’s 4 recruiting classes that were completely wiped away and Crean was lucky enough to land Verdell Jones in the final hour. Then, Crean did a good job to land a quality class with this year’s freshmen, but now that we have seen them play, that class was ranked more on quantity than it was quality. I’m not knocking that class because I still think that class is the foundation of some good teams in 2-3 years, but if Crean only had 3 open scholarships and landed say Creek, Hulls, and Muniru, that would not be a top ten recruiting class.
And I think we are still seeing the recruiting impact for the next two classes. IU has gotten in late on a couple 5-star point guards in Kyrie Irving and Josh Selby, but both have now decided to go elsewhere and it sounds like IU was never truly in the running. As for big men, there just aren’t many quality big men that are not committed for the next two years. So, I think you are looking at the class of 2012 that will be the first opportunity that Crean and staff were probably able to fully execute their recruiting strategy.
So, that is 3 recruiting classes that were completely wiped off the face of the earth, 1 recruiting class that was pieced together at the last minute after that original entire recruiting class bolted (Ebanks out, Verdell in), and 3 recruiting classes hampered by nothing in the pipeline and the current staff not able to execute their full recruiting process. Now, that’s a mess that is going to take time to re-build.
I am extremely busy right now and honestly had intentions of only responding with that first sentence, but I just can’t help myself. Like you said, I think about this stuff a lot. A LOT.
Chris:
Totally on the money, JD. When Crean says its unprecedented, he’s really saying “you can’t really understand this until you immerse yourself in it and then you still can’t believe the size of the job.”
What bothers me is all the negativity in the chat rooms and in some media outlets about Crean. If anything, this guy should be commended for stepping into a minefield. I can only believe that he wants it more than anyone because he’s the one who stepped up when he got the call. He’s taking a beating on behalf of IU fans everywhere. I think it confuses people when you see quick turnaround jobs at Kentucky, Kansas, and UNC (Calipari, Self, Williams) and we think we’re in that class. Its different in every way. Those were easy transitions and Calipari smells. I can’t believe all the IU fans who are admiring Purdue right now. I liked how Crean said “I'm not here to be close to Purdue,” IU coach Tom Crean said. “I'm here to beat them. We just didn't do it.” Doesn’t that say what we need to know about Crean?
I never admired Purdue even during the Keady days. I hated them. Felt a little sorry for them when they recently sucked. Liked that Davis and Sampson owned them. Admire? Nope.
Kravitz finally at least got part of this story out in the mainstream media. He could probably write a 5 part series about the situation.
Anyway, I can see why people look at the way the team is losing and wonder if TC’s getting the most out of them. You can wonder if another coach would get more. How much more could you really get from this group? How can anyone say he sucks at recruiting when 2 of his guys are out with injury and the rest of the team is comprised of young guys who aren’t NBA bound players?
I mean, I’m not surprised that MSU and OSU and UW, all ranked NCAA bound teams with upperclassmen and some NBA talent, are MOWING down a team that’s at the bottom of the league.
Isn’t that what we used to do with cellar dwellers? I mean, there never was any magic in the INDIANA name. It was talent, great coaching, and solid recruiting. Nothing mystical there.
None of this makes me feel any better about it, but at least I understand the gravity of it.
If Creek, Watford, and VJ3 continue to improve on their trajectory.
If Hulls and Elston gain strength, wisdom, and confidence.
If Roth, Capo, Pritchard, Rivers, and Bawa learn how to play their role confidently.
If they learn to trust each other on defense.
If you sprinkle in a couple new faces with legitimate D-1 talent.
We’ll emerge to be a team and a program once again.
We’ll never be this bad again. The guys will improve over the summer.
The league, as a whole, will cycle down over the next two seasons and we’ll be cycling up.
Of course, Chris had some of his own comments. And of course, I had some of my own. Followed by more from Chris. That exchange is below.
Chris:
Hey, Kravitz wrote a sensible article in the IndyStar. Pretty much looks like he’s reading your blog.
I don’t know why I read the comments. So many idiots are in love with Painter and Purdue. Its not a fair comparison on any level.
I can’t wait until Crean gets it turned around. There is a reason that he asked for, and got a 10 year contract. Its monumentally messed up.
If he doesn’t have it back by 2012 then maybe you start to question if he’s the guy for the job.
At any rate, we can only get better from here.
You know what I mean?
I just keep thinking that the program must have been more damaged that I even thought. I knew it was bad from Sampson’s sanctions, but when you really think about it (which I do a lot), it must have been decaying from the inside out for much longer that we realized. There’s your book Jeff.
What are the components/ingredients of a successful program? Recruiting pipeline (in-state/out-of-state). Recruiting system/sources (strategy, assistants, high school, AAU, Elite Teams, Foreign).Coach’s name recognition. Offensive/Defensive System. System Continuity Fresh-Soph-Jun-Sr.-redshirt, JUCO, one&dones. Locker Room. TV/Radio/Internet exposure. Facilities. Academics. Athletic Administration. University Administration. NCAA compliance.
You could investigate all of this issues and compare them to best in class, such as UNC/Duke/Kansas to understand the true scope.
Keep in mind, Knight ran the Basketball program autonomously from the Athletic department for 20 or more years. The AD had no skill in running the bball program. There was not succession planning or brain trust in place for post-Knight. Don’t be fooled, RMK wanted it that way. He wanted to be all powerful. I think his secret plan was to hand it off to Pat.
Its all history now, but its certainly a cautionary tale for how to f@ck up an athletic organization.
Jeff:
At least we have our football program to model it after…..oh, wait, we have made sucking at football a tradition.
At the end of this basketball season, I wonder where we would rank among BCS schools for a combined football and basketball record this season. We would have to be last or very close to it. The last two seasons…..definitely last.
I hope Fred Glass is good. I think it is very difficult for fans to judge an Athletic Director. There’s just too many ingredients. Heck, look at all the stuff you listed just for a successful basketball program. For an AD, you now have to mix in multiple athletic programs and add in some type of budget and financial situation.
Speaking of the financial situation, that’s another hangover or black cloud that is still hanging over the IU athletic department. Obviously, we don’t know the exact financial situation, but we know it’s bad. My point with all this is that it is easy for fans to say that Glass needs to get rid of Lynch and bring in a big name coach. But exactly how is he supposed to pull that off. First, I don’t think the program has the dollars to lure a big name coach. And even if we did, why would a big name coach want to come to IU? And even if a big name coach would want to come to IU, he’s not automatically going to start getting big time recruits. It might help a little in recruiting, but it would probably take several years to turn around.
Just like Tom Crean and the basketball program, recruiting is a several year process. As you mentioned, there is a recruiting pipeline and a recruiting system and long-term recruiting relationships with coaches.
I underestimated the recruiting impact and mess when Tom Crean took over. I think most people generally say that IU lost one year of recruiting. That statement is completely inaccurate.
If you really think through it, when Tom Crean took over last year, the entire team was wiped out with the exception of a couple walk-ons (Taber and Finkelmeier). So, with that, you did not have a recruiting class of Seniors, you did not have a recruiting class of Juniors, you did not have a recruiting class of Sophomores, and the entire recruiting class of freshmen went elsewhere (Ebanks, etc.). The freshmen that were in that recruiting class were pieced together at the last minute and it looks like Verdell Jones is the only quality player. So, there’s 4 recruiting classes that were completely wiped away and Crean was lucky enough to land Verdell Jones in the final hour. Then, Crean did a good job to land a quality class with this year’s freshmen, but now that we have seen them play, that class was ranked more on quantity than it was quality. I’m not knocking that class because I still think that class is the foundation of some good teams in 2-3 years, but if Crean only had 3 open scholarships and landed say Creek, Hulls, and Muniru, that would not be a top ten recruiting class.
And I think we are still seeing the recruiting impact for the next two classes. IU has gotten in late on a couple 5-star point guards in Kyrie Irving and Josh Selby, but both have now decided to go elsewhere and it sounds like IU was never truly in the running. As for big men, there just aren’t many quality big men that are not committed for the next two years. So, I think you are looking at the class of 2012 that will be the first opportunity that Crean and staff were probably able to fully execute their recruiting strategy.
So, that is 3 recruiting classes that were completely wiped off the face of the earth, 1 recruiting class that was pieced together at the last minute after that original entire recruiting class bolted (Ebanks out, Verdell in), and 3 recruiting classes hampered by nothing in the pipeline and the current staff not able to execute their full recruiting process. Now, that’s a mess that is going to take time to re-build.
I am extremely busy right now and honestly had intentions of only responding with that first sentence, but I just can’t help myself. Like you said, I think about this stuff a lot. A LOT.
Chris:
Totally on the money, JD. When Crean says its unprecedented, he’s really saying “you can’t really understand this until you immerse yourself in it and then you still can’t believe the size of the job.”
What bothers me is all the negativity in the chat rooms and in some media outlets about Crean. If anything, this guy should be commended for stepping into a minefield. I can only believe that he wants it more than anyone because he’s the one who stepped up when he got the call. He’s taking a beating on behalf of IU fans everywhere. I think it confuses people when you see quick turnaround jobs at Kentucky, Kansas, and UNC (Calipari, Self, Williams) and we think we’re in that class. Its different in every way. Those were easy transitions and Calipari smells. I can’t believe all the IU fans who are admiring Purdue right now. I liked how Crean said “I'm not here to be close to Purdue,” IU coach Tom Crean said. “I'm here to beat them. We just didn't do it.” Doesn’t that say what we need to know about Crean?
I never admired Purdue even during the Keady days. I hated them. Felt a little sorry for them when they recently sucked. Liked that Davis and Sampson owned them. Admire? Nope.
Kravitz finally at least got part of this story out in the mainstream media. He could probably write a 5 part series about the situation.
Anyway, I can see why people look at the way the team is losing and wonder if TC’s getting the most out of them. You can wonder if another coach would get more. How much more could you really get from this group? How can anyone say he sucks at recruiting when 2 of his guys are out with injury and the rest of the team is comprised of young guys who aren’t NBA bound players?
I mean, I’m not surprised that MSU and OSU and UW, all ranked NCAA bound teams with upperclassmen and some NBA talent, are MOWING down a team that’s at the bottom of the league.
Isn’t that what we used to do with cellar dwellers? I mean, there never was any magic in the INDIANA name. It was talent, great coaching, and solid recruiting. Nothing mystical there.
None of this makes me feel any better about it, but at least I understand the gravity of it.
If Creek, Watford, and VJ3 continue to improve on their trajectory.
If Hulls and Elston gain strength, wisdom, and confidence.
If Roth, Capo, Pritchard, Rivers, and Bawa learn how to play their role confidently.
If they learn to trust each other on defense.
If you sprinkle in a couple new faces with legitimate D-1 talent.
We’ll emerge to be a team and a program once again.
We’ll never be this bad again. The guys will improve over the summer.
The league, as a whole, will cycle down over the next two seasons and we’ll be cycling up.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
A Slightly Less Embarrassing Loss
Well, at least the Hoosiers competed a little bit in this one, but it was another ass-kicking none-the-less. IU played pretty good in the first 10 minutes of the game, but then let the margin slip to 10 points at halftime. The second half mostly stayed in the 10-16 point range with the Hoosiers never truly threatening to make a game of it.
IU's defense and general resistance was again pathetic. Michigan State was easily getting layup after layup after layup. IU allowed the Spartans to shoot 60% from the field and forced only 8 turnovers. Everything was easy for Michigan State and everything was difficult for IU.
The only thing that kept IU hanging around was an impressive 25-28 effort from the free throw line.
The Hoosiers put together some more impressive statistics in this one. Here were my three favorites:
IU's defense and general resistance was again pathetic. Michigan State was easily getting layup after layup after layup. IU allowed the Spartans to shoot 60% from the field and forced only 8 turnovers. Everything was easy for Michigan State and everything was difficult for IU.
The only thing that kept IU hanging around was an impressive 25-28 effort from the free throw line.
The Hoosiers put together some more impressive statistics in this one. Here were my three favorites:
- When IU took the 2-0 lead in this game, it was their first lead in 120 minutes. ESPN kindly pointed this one out, but if you watched the previous 3 IU games, you were very well aware that IU not only trailed wire to wire in those games, but the double-digit deficits were immediate.
- IU went the first 12 minutes of this game without a defensive rebound. Amazingly, IU was only down by 2 points at that point.
- IU went 13 minutes and 14 seconds without a field goal. The streak included the last 10:16 of the first half. This statistic is not quite as bad as it sounds because IU did go 15-16 from the line during this stretch, so it wasn't like they weren't scoring at all. However, the game was tied at 19 at the 10 minute mark and then 40-30 at halftime, so it was still a costly stretch.
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