Two Words

He traveled.

IU 43 Iowa 58

Unfortunately, between last year and this year, there are plenty of disasterous performances to choose from, but this one takes the cake in my eyes.  

No excuse for it.  Especially against a bad team on your home floor.  Also, the Hoosiers had the opportunity to really gain some momentum and feel good about a 3-game winning streak, a winning record in the Big Ten, and a winning overall record.  But they pissed all of that away with that performance.

The number of offensive rebounds and second chance points they gave up against Iowa was truly offensive.  And IU's offense looked like it did in the 2nd half collapse against Illinois and the whole game at Michigan.

Against the better teams in the conference and/or on the road is difficult to watch, but somewhat understandable in this rebuilding process.  But that effort at home against Iowa was simply inexcusable.  I was going to get into some of the pathetic stats, but I am already starting to repeat myself because I don't know what else to say about that horrific performance.  So, instead, I am going to stop here and try to get my mind back to that impressive Colts victory and enjoy the fact that Indy is headed back to the Super Bowl.  I am sure there will be plenty of links popping up on the right side of this here blog that will go into full detail of the unsightly numbers.

Go Colts!

Game Notes: Victor Oladipo

Victor Oladipo is a 6-4 recruit out of Maryland for IU's 2010 class.  He is known as a tremendous athlete who is known for his dunking abilities (search "Victor Oladipo" on youtube for evidence).  On Tuesday night, ESPNU televised one of Victor's high school games.  The game was #4 Dematha (MD) against #13 Mater Dei (CA).  Those are somewhat different names for high schools.....at least compared to my perspective of growing up with the very creative Northwestern, Western, Eastern, and Taylor.  It's also interesting to have a match up of two teams from opposite coasts.  We certainly weren't ranked at Northwestern, but we didn't even play schools from the Indianapolis area, which is less than an hour from Kokomo.  Even thinking back to the ranked teams in the early 90's, they might and I mean might play a school from the Chicago area and that would have been a big deal.  Oh, the times they are a changin'.

Many of you may have already watched the game or read about it elsewhere.  Me, well, I recorded it and I just got around to watching it tonight because I have had more important things to do like watch the Hoosiers win their second straight conference game!  While that sounds incredibly pathetic to be excited about, I am extremely fired up about these two wins and the strides that the program is taking.  Look for my "Return to Glory" book to be released in 2013 as the release date is scheduled to be immediately following the Hoosiers 6th national title.

Just to set the stage.....I am listening to Pandora radio right now (Pete Yorn on at the moment), watching this game, obviously typing up these game notes, and enjoying Three Floyds Alpha King Ale.  I strongly endorse all of these things:

• Pandora radio -- if you haven't tried it, go to pandora.com and give it a try.
• Pete Yorn - good stuff.  In fact, you could type his name into Pandora and see what happens.  Or, if you prefer, you could go to itunes and I would suggest starting with Strange Condition.  Life on a Chain, Burrito, Bandstand in the Sky, and the one my oldest bro just recommended to me (I can't remember the name so the rest of you are shit out of luck unless you take my recommendation and start listening.  If you do, you'll eventually run into it.  And you'll like it.)
• Three Floyds Alpha King Ale -- my top 10 favorite beers have historically been like my top 10 favorite songs -- the rankings move around all over the place but you typically see some very familiar faces.  Well, the Three Floyds Alpha King Ale has been holding the top spot for several months now.  It should be noted that I went to Colorado over the holidays and sampled several excellent beers.  This included the Great Divide brewery tour and a visit to the Falling Rock - a bar that had so many (and by so many, I literally mean approximately 100 beers on tap and all good stuff) beers on tap that it made you long for more hours in a day.....and a higher tolerance.  Anywho, even after sampling many of this country's finest brews, I still go back to the 3F AKA.  Sure, there's a part of me that gives them the edge because it's an Indiana brewery, but their beers truly do stand up to any in the nation.  I will be paying that brewery a visit in the near future, let me know if you're interested in joining me (not far from Chicago).

Game Notes:

• VO feeds the post perfectly so that his teammate could spin for a dunk.  VO - 1 assist (7:03 left in Q1).
• VO gets an offensive rebound on an airball, but gets his shot blocked on his put-back attempt.  VO - 1 assist, 1 rebound, 0-1 FG (6:12 left in Q1).
• Loose ball or defensive rebound (I'll count it as a rebound) tracked down by VO.  2 rebounds, 1 assist, 0-1 FG (5:45 left in Q1).
• Announcer keeps calling him OlaPido, but his name is spelled OlaDipo, so I have to assume that this announcer is simply a moron.
• VO with a steal.  After the steal, he dribbled the length of the floor -- looked capable of dribbling but did not appear 100% comfortable and he gave it up as soon as he had the chance.  The ball came back to him and he shot a 3-pointer.  Missed off the back rim.  Form looked OK as he squared up nicely and had nice form as he went up for the shot, but the release was kind of forced or pushed.  And immediately back on the defensive end, VO made a weak close-out on a potential shooter who shot-faked and went right around him for a layup.  So, all in all, an interesting sequence to see a lot of different aspects of VO's game.  2 rebs, 1 asst, 0-2 FG (0-1 3PT), 5:25 left in Q1.
• Initial impression -- a great athlete.  Lots of bounce and gets up and down the floor quickly.  If you can picture how Christian Watford currently kind of slowly gathers himself and takes a little hop before jogging down the floor.....Victor Oladipo is the other end of the spectrum where he seems to bounce off the floor, burst into motion, and quickly get up and down the floor.  Not knocking Watford here, just trying to paint a picture.  Other impression is raw -- not a very good dribbler or shooter.  Overall initial impression is that I think this kid could really add some things to the IU program, especially after 1-2 years under Tom Crean.  We'll need him to contribute immediately, but he could blossom into a star as an upper-classman.....and as part of a great team.
• Lost my remote.
• Found it.
• Game on.
• Announcer now has his name right.  That's why you're doing high school games, Biff.
• VO has a good frame.  Should be B10 ready with some college-level weight training.
• VO definitely unselfish....doesn't try to do things he can't and looks to be a good team player.
• VO with a steal, then they looked to get an alley-oop to him and he was fouled.  Hits both FTs.  2 pts, 2 rebs, 1 asst, 2 stls, 0-2 FGs (0-1 3PT), 2-2 FTs, 2:10 left in Q1.
• VO steal.  2 pts, 2 rebs, 1 asst, 3 stls, 0-2 FGs (0-1 3PT), 2-2 FTs, 1:25 left in Q1.
• VO with a nice def rebound, but started to fall down and tried to make a pass that went straight to a Mater Dei player for an easy layup.  2 pts, 3 rebs, 1 asst, 3 stls, 1 TO, 0-2 FGs (0-1 3PT), 2-2 FTs, 1:05 left in Q1.
• VO sits rest of 1st Qtr.
• VO back in game with 7:00 to go in Q2.
• Minor thing, but a 3 was put up from right wing, VO had the block out on the right block.  In theory, the block-out form was good, but he did not try to push his guy back.  He just sealed right at the block.  Because it was a 3, it turned out to be a long rebound that he allowed his man to get.  When those long shots go up, it is even more important to move your guy out so that you have inside position for those long rebounds.  Easier said than done, but when done with the proper technique, it is one of the more physical and contact moves that is allowed in basketball.  Assholes and elbows -- that's how my best coach ever taught us to do it.  Assholes and elbows, fellas.  And then we ran suicides. Lots of them.  And I loved it.  I'm not sure why.
• VO offensive rebound.  Fouled on put-back attempt.  Makes both.  4 pts, 4 rebs, 1 asst, 3 stls, 1 TO, 0-2 FGs (0-1 3PT), 4-4 FTs, 4:05 left in Q2.
• VO steal and fouled.  Going to the line for a one-and-one.  Misses badly on the first.  4 pts, 4 rebs, 1 asst, 4 stls, 1 TO, 0-2 FGs (0-1 3PT), 4-5 FTs, 4:00 left in Q2.
• VO had ball stripped in the lane.  Honestly, it was more the result of a bad pass that put VO in a tough spot.  VO did a great job getting back on defense and stopped Mater Dei's fast break by taking a charge.
• VO with a 3-point attempt, in and out.
• VO with a great blocked shot.  4 pts, 4 rebs, 1 asst, 4 stls, , 1 blk, 1 TO, 0-3 FGs (0-2 3PT), 4-5 FTs, 2:00 left in Q2.
• Interesting play -- VO and teammate trap a Mater Dei player in the half-court near mid-court with the shot clock winding down.  As the shot-clock is expiring, VO eventually controls the steal.  At the point he controls the ball, he hears the shot-clock buzzer and reacts by shooting a beyond half-court shot that goes in, but does not count because the officials ruled a shot-clock violation on Mater Dei.  Crazy play to say the least.  Great to see VO drain the thing from beyond half-court, but also wondering what the hell he was thinking to shoot based on the opponents shot-clock buzzer.  Had the officials ruled that the steal happened before the shot-clock violation, then that would have been a legitimate shot.  Granted, in this case, it would have been one helluva 3-pointer, but still a head-scratcher.  Anyway, it ended up as a shot-clock violation, so no steal and certainly no beyond half-court 3-pointer for VO.  Although, we will put that one in the memory bank for when VO does that in a Hoosier uniform.
• Just watched the replay a few times.  Even though it may not have been the most heady play, VO should have been credited with a steal and a crazy 3-pointer.
• Halftime - VO's team down 36-31.
• First possession of second half, TO by VO.  He went baseline and got cutoff with nowhere to go.  4 pts, 4 rebs, 1 asst, 4 stls, 1 blk, 2 TO, 0-3 FGs (0-2 3PT), 4-5 FTs, 7:50 left in Q3.
• VO steal and hard drive to the basket, went up for the dunk and missed.   Couldn't really tell if he was fouled, or if the defender knocked it loose on the way up, of if he just plain missed it.  Regardless, I liked the way he went aggressively to the hoop and tried to throw it down.  I wouldn't change a thing about how he attacked after that steal.  4 pts, 4 rebs, 1 asst, 5 stls, , 1 blk, 2 TO, 0-4 FGs (0-2 3PT), 4-5 FTs, 7:50 left in Q3.
• By the way, the bottom line just scrolled the Top 25 and Pitt is #11 with a 15-2 record.  Hmmm.....seems like one of those 2 losses came against IU.  This is a Pitt team that has beaten #5 Syracuse.  I might be wrong, but I believe Pitt lost this week since this HS game aired on ESPNU on Tues night, so they will probably drop, but that win over Pitt is looking like a very high quality win and we beat them convincingly.
• Over the past few minutes, VO had 2 defensive rebounds, had his shot blocked, badly missed a 2-pointer, and played poor close-out defense on a 2-point shooter.  4 pts, 6 rebs, 1 asst, 5 stls, , 1 blk, 2 TO, 0-6 FGs (0-3 3PT), 4-5 FTs, 2:00 left in Q3.
• VO def rebound. 
• DUNK!  VO takes the feed on the break and throws it down with two hands.  6 pts, 7 rebs, 1 asst, 5 stls, , 1 blk, 2 TO, 1-7 FGs (0-3 3PT), 4-5 FTs, 6:30 left in Q4.
• Announcer says Oladipo now has 8 points, so either he is a moron or I missed  a basket -- both are very possible.
• VO def rebound.  I honesly thought I was keeping accurate stats as this game went along, but I have VO now with 6 pts and 8 rebs.  However, the announcer says 8 pts and 13 rebs.  I feel like I could have missed a basket for the point differential but I don't think I missed 5 rebounds.
• VO 1-2 from the line.  So, adopting the ESPNU stats....9 pts, 13 rebs, 1 asst, 5 stls, , 1 blk, 2 TO, 2-8 FGs (0-3 3PT), 5-7 FTs, 3:30 left in Q4.
• DUNK!  VO with an awesome follow slam!  He went over everyone to slam that one back in!  11 pts, 14 rebs, 1 asst, 5 stls, 1 blk, 2 TO, 3-9 FGs (0-3 3PT), 5-7 FTs, 2:45 left in Q4.and
• VO misses layup and then commits 4th foul.
• DUNK!  VO slips down the middle of the defense, takes pass, and another 2-handed jam!  3rd dunk of the quarter.  13 pts, 14 rebs, 1 asst, 5 stls, , 1 blk, 2 TO, 4-10 FGs (0-3 3PT), 5-7 FTs, 1:45 left in Q4.
• Off rebound and bucket.  15 pts, 15 rebs, 1 asst, 5 stls, 1 blk, 2 TO, 5-11 FGs (0-3 3PT), 5-7 FTs, 9 seconds left in Q4. And that would be his unofficial final stat line in a loss.

Overall Thoughts:
Oladipo certainly has all of the tools to be a great defensive player.  So, if he takes well to Crean's coaching, then I think he could see some minutes next year off the bench to play defense, rebound, and get the Hall rockin' with some big-time dunks.  The form on his shot looks pretty good until the actual release.  It doesn't look like he is too far away to making some improvements to his shooting, but I really don't expect him to be shooting too many jumpers next year.  He will definitely be more of a slasher that tries to find open space for some dunks and close range shots. 

He does have the size and athleticism that he could become a great player as an upper-classmen if he does improve his outside shot.  Even if his shot never develops, he will definitely be able to make significant contributions to the program.  I'm excited to have him coming to Bloomington.

IU 67 Penn St 61

Well, well, well.  Let's take a look at where we stand after tonight's win:

• IU's first road win
• 2 conference wins in a row
• 3-3 conference record
• Tied for 5th in the Big Ten

Pretty damn good.  Some might say that we just beat a team that is winless in conference play, but I really don't give a shit about that right now.  They had to get their first road win at some point and there was no better time than tonight in my eyes.

I thought this was a great team win tonight.  IU got contributions from several players.  The Hoosiers looked ready to play and broke out to a 23-12 lead.  That would turn out to be the biggest lead of the game and I believe there was only one possession with a double-digit lead.

IU held a 35-28 lead at halftime and their balanced scoring in the half was pretty amazing:

• 6 - Watford
• 6 - Jones
• 6 - Rivers
• 6 - Hulls
• 6 - Elston
• 5 - Dumes

IU's toughest stretch came early in the second half.  After an IU bucket on their first possession, Penn State went on a 12-3 run and tied the score at 40.  But that would be the only tie of the game and IU would immediately answer in a big way.  The Hoosiers rattled a quick 10-2 run of their own that consisted of a nice bucket from Verdell, a Dumes 3, Verdell 1-2 FTs, a Dumes driving bucket, and a Dumes jumper. 

As you can see, Dumes came up big when IU needed to answer and that run pushed the lead back to 8 points at 50-42 with 10 minutes to go.  Dumes then had a turnover and a bad shot and the lead quickly shrank to 4 points.  But then Dumes answered again with another bomb.  So, even with a couple bad plays mixed in there, the good Devan greatly outweighed the bad Devan.

The lead would mostly stay in the 3 to 7 point range the rest of the way.  There was one more stretch with about 5 minutes to go that started to look scary for the Hoosiers.  A couple turnovers and several stupid fouls were the problem.  One play really stood out when Verdell had a bad turnover way out top that led to a break-away for Penn State.  And then wouldn't you know it, who else but Tom Pritchard comes in and commits a pussyfoot foul that leads to a 3-point play.  The lead was again down to 3 at 58-55 with 4:38 to play.  I appreciate Pritchard's hustle, but if you are going to foul in that situation, you can't let them get the basket too.

From that point forward, I was impressed with how the Hoosiers closed out the game.  The Nittany Lions helped with several missed 3-pointers, but the Hoosiers made the following key plays down the stretch:

• Watford with a nice post-up bucket
• Watford offensive rebound
• Verdell Jones 3-pointer (created by the Watford offensive rebound)
• Watford offensive rebound
• Verdell with one of his patented sneaky moves where he gets into the lane then pivots for the little fade-away (again, created by the Watford offensive rebound)
• With just a 4-point lead and 40 seconds to go, Daniel Moore gets fouled after just entering the game for ball-handling purposes and it's only a one-and-one.  He hits BOTH!

Interestingly, it was the two Watford offensive rebounds that led to two buckets by Verdell that sealed the victory.  However, it was IU giving up 18 offensive rebounds to Penn St that allowed this game to stay close.

Verdell did mix in a travel in the final minutes, but for the second game in a row, Verdell has hit 2 big shots late in close games to lead the Hoosiers to victory.

It should also be noted that Christian Watford just missed his second straight double-double with 11 points and 9 rebounds.  The great news for Hoosier fans is that Watford can improve and will improve in so many areas and he's already putting up some pretty nice numbers.  He's leading Big Ten Freshmen in both points and rebounds.

Looking at the stats, the key to victory for the Hoosiers tonight was 3-point shooting.  IU was 9-20 and Penn State was just 4-22.  That's really good to see with both Creek and Roth out of the lineup.  The 3-point shot is so big in college basketball and I was really concerned when this team had a stretch of 2-26 against Illinois and Michigan.  But tonight, they hit 9 three-pointers with 5 different players making one or more -- Dumes (3), Hulls (3), Jones (1), Watford (1), and Elston (1).

The Hoosiers have Iowa at home on Sunday (game moved back 1 hour to 6pm ET to try to avoid too much overlap with the Colts game).  My concern heading into tonight's game was obviously the fact that it was a road game, but also whether the Hoosiers could string together two strong performances.  Well, they did.  So now let's see if they can string together 3 and move to a winning record in conference play.

A couple additional notes that I didn't seem to work in above:

The first note is the play of Jeremiah Rivers tonight.  He opened the game by hitting two 16-foot jumpers very early in this game.  It was very promising and Doc was in the crowd and loving it.  By the way, I love it when Doc is in the crowd.  Unfortunately, the fact that Jeremiah hit those two early jumpers gave him some confidence to keep shooting.  He missed his next 4 jumpers.

Jeremiah was also saddled with foul trouble.  He picked up his 3rd foul late in the first half.  Then, he picked up his 4th early in the second half and his 5th shortly after coming back in the game after sitting for 10+ minutes.  So, he only played 17 minutes total and only 4 minutes in the second half.  In those limited minutes, he was doing his typical thing and had 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block.  The block was another one of Jeremiah's now patented left-handed blocks.  It seems like once a game there will be an opponent that thinks they have a clear line for a right-handed layup and then Jeremiah comes flying in for a left-handed block.  It's a beautiful thing.

Bawa Muniru saw a couple minutes of action in the first half.  He was able to pull down an offensive rebound.  Now, it wasn't an authoritative rebound, it was more chasing down a long rebound, but it led to a 3-pointer by Elston late in the first half.  Bawa then got whistled for an offensive foul when setting a screen.  To be honest, he got hozed.  It was a good solid screen.  Anyway, I liked seeing him in there even if it was just for a couple minutes.  Shockingly, the main reason he was in there was because Tom Pritchard already had 3 fouls.

Here's to 5 straight hours of sporting bliss on Sunday.  It sure would be a fine day if both the Colts and the Hoosiers would win on Sunday.  Enjoy.

IU 81 Minnesota 78 (OT)

Wow, this one was starting to look all too familiar.  IU had another 15 point lead in the second half and once again they blew it. The Hoosiers were still up by 11 (68-57) with under 6 minutes to go, but they would score just 2 points in the final 6 minutes and 38 seconds of regulation.  After IU literally led this game for 39 minutes and 51 seconds, Minnesota tied the score at 70 with 9 seconds to go.  Watford had a good look at the end of regulation, but he missed and we went to overtime.

This game played out almost identically to the Illinois game.  The difference was that this one went to overtime.

The OT started and it quickly looked like IU was indeed going to blow another big lead and lose.  Minnesota hit 3's on their first two possessions and IU was down by 5 in the extra session.  They looked like they were done at this point.

Verdell Jones stayed aggressive and the Hoosiers battled back.  Verdell had been effective from the FT line all game long but then lost his stroke in overtime.  He was just 3-7 from the line in OT, but he hit two big jumpers in the final 1:15 of overtime to first cut the lead to 1 and then to give IU the lead on a beatiful shot where he fell to the floor as he was fouled.  He did miss that FT so IU had a 1 point lead with 32 seconds to go. 

Rivers had swithced to defend Joseph who hit the 2 big shots to send the game to overtime as well as a 3-pointer to start overtime.  Rivers played solid defense and forced him into a contested fadeaway that he missed. 

Watford grabbed a strong rebound with 4 seconds to go and was fouled.  He calmly hit both FTs to give IU a 3-point lead with 4 seconds to go in OT.

IU played good defense, but Minnesota did get up a good shot that bounced off the rim and the Hoosiers pulled out the victory!

Obviously, you hate to blow a 15-point second half lead for the second time in 3 games, but I was impressed with how IU pulled this one out after being down by 5 points with just 2 minutes to go in overtime.  They kept fighting and got it done.

IU was able to build the big lead by finally hitting some 3-pointers.  I believe the Hoosiers had been 2-26 from the arc against Michigan and the second half against Illinois.  Dumes came in and played well with 13 points in the first half including 3-5 from downtown.

The other big factor for IU was their rebounding.  IU was outstanding on the boards.  So, even though they started the game with 8 turnovers in the first 8 minutes, it didn't cost them too much because they were out-rebounding Minnesota 15-3 at one point.  IU did clean up the turnovers as they had very few the rest of the game.

I thought Bobby Capobianco played his best game of the year.  He contributed offensively with 5 points that included a 3-pointer and a jumper where he had to grab a weak bounce pass and quickly shove up a shot to beat the shot-clock buzzer....swish.  So, the offense was nice, but I really liked his toughness and the way he went after loose balls and rebounds with aggression.

We also saw a little bit of life out of Tom Pritchard.  Of course, both Pritchard and Capobianco continue to foul at alarming rates and both of them fouled out of this game.

Watford came up with some nice rebounds including the important one at the end of overtime.  He also looked more aggressive which is really good to see out of him.  A very nice double-double (16 points and 10 rebounds) for the freshman.  Watford also had 2 dunks in this game including a one-hander that he threw down with authority over a defender.

Rivers had a good all-around game with 7 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks, and just 1 turnover.  He continues to struggle at the line as he was just 1-4.

Hulls was solid and hit a couple treys as IU built it's lead.

Dumes had the great first half as IU built the lead, but he disappeared in the second half.  In the second half, he did not score, missed all 3 of his 3-point attempts, missed an important front end, and got a technical foul.  In his defense, it was a double technical foul for jawing with another player and I actually didn't see Dumes say anything at all on the replay.  Seemed to be an over-reaction by the official.  Another interesting part of that play was that Dumes had been fouled to go to the FT line.  Then, the double technical was called which was Minnesota's 10th team foul before Dumes went to the line.  However, he still only received a one-and-one.  I guess because when he was actually fouled, it was only the 9th team foul. 

This team definitely needs a go-to guy and Verdell stepped up as that guy today.  It would have been nice if he would have hit his FTs in OT, but he did hit two HUGE jumpers late in overtime.  Verdell finished with 24 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 assists.

Even though the Hoosiers were able to impressively pull out this victory in overtime, you still have to be concerned with the way they are finishing games.  That's now 3 straight games where they have only scored 2 or 3 points in the final 6 minutes of the game.  A rather disturbing trend.  Two of those draughts caused them to blow double-digit leads at home and the other one resulted in them getting blown out on the road after they were in the game for 34 minutes.

I'm not sure about the other 2 games, but in this game it was pretty clear that IU stopped being aggressive.   They stood around and did nothing for 25-30 seconds and then with the shot clock running down, they would have to force something.  Crean can't let that happen.  You can play smart and still be aggressive.  You could hear the crowd repeatedly trying to urge them to get moving into some sort of offense.  So, if fans at Assembly Hall and at home know this, why don't the coaches and players?

I'm not going to focus too much on those final 6 minutes of regulation and that disturbing trend because they did win and now have the same conference record as Purdue (losers of 3 straight).

Man, now would be a great time go and get that first road win.  On Thursday, they are at Penn State, who is off to a rough 0-5 start in conference play.  Then, on Sunday, IU hosts Iowa.  I smell a winning streak!

Go Hoosiers!

IU 45 Michigan 69

I really don't have a lot to say about this game.  Once again, IU was atrocious on offense.  A ton of unforced turnovers, 1-15 from the arc, and 6-12 from the line.  They scored 7 points in the first 10 minutes, 21 points in the first half, and 45 points for the game.

The interesting thing about this game was that even as bad as IU was, they were right in this game until Manny Harris finally woke up and took this game over.  This was a 5-point game with just 6:30 minutes to go in the game at a score of 48-43. 

Hmmmm.....let me do some quick math.....yep, a whopping 2 points by the Hoosiers in the final 6:30 of this one.  Outscored 21-2 to close out the game.  That means that IU has been outscored 39-5 to close out the last 2 games.  And on that note, I really don't feel like talking about this anymore.  Goodbye.

Guest Post: Crean is the Right Guy

Chris writes:

You know, there is so much negative energy around the program on the message boards. Seriously, this is not Indiana from 1987. Myles Brand, Herbert, and Greenspan destroyed the athletic department and let the basketball program decay. TC isn’t going to fix it in two seasons.

These guys on the floor are showing flashes, but its not always going to be an incremental improvement every time they play. There will we be lapses. We have also lost two of TC’s recruits to injury so we’re not even at a full roster.

I firmly believe the Crean is the right guy.

There is no one else out there that is going to do a better job. There is no silver bullet coach that can turn around the program in one season. For the most part our players are 18 years old and they have the pressure of living up to being 1976 Indiana. The PROBLEM with that is that they’ve been cut off from the IU legacy by Brand, Herbert, Greenspan & Sampson’s ultimate failure.

The current class of players didn’t get to learn from 4 and 5 year seniors who can teach them the Indiana way…show them the ropes. They don’t have someone to mentor them on Big Ten refs, life on the road in the B10, and how to juggle all of it. This class will be the players that have to learn the ropes on their own and then they will be expected to teach subsequent classes how to play Indiana Basketball as Crean teaches it. That is no less than a 4-5 year rebuilding job.

I think its OK to question the coaches decisions, but I’m not going to question whether we have the right guy. We hired a quality coach with a pedigree and successful track record in a major basketball conference. We hired a coach that likes to play up-tempo. We didn’t hire a motion offense guy so we shouldn’t expect to see motion offense. Crean is positioning IU Basketball to recruit up-tempo players and by extension, NBA caliber talent. This is something that many of us wanted when we used to say that today’s player doesn’t want to play in a motion offense. He will never be Bob Knight, but who can be? RMK is a one-time-in-history guy. If there were a basketball Mount Rushmore, you can debate that he’s the second face on it right after Naismith. I’d put him first, but you can argue that RMK wouldn’t be there if Naismith hadn’t invented the game. But the point is that the IU will not be RMK’s IU. No one can dominate like that in today’s game. Its just too different in terms of game rules and talent parity.

We have to trust that TC can get IU to be a Top 10 program year over year, compete and win B10 titles, and make some runs in the NCAA. I hope that he’s tough enough to endure the scrutiny that comes with this job.

IU 60 Illinois 66

Most people will talk about the Free Throws in this game -- Indiana's inability to make them (10-18) and the fact that Illinois went to the line more than twice as many times as IU (27-39).  However, I felt it was the fact that IU's offense completely disappeared in the 2nd half.

After playing an outstanding first half that resulted in a 41-28 halftime lead, the Hoosiers managed only 19 second half points and gave up an 18-3 run to close out and lose the game in devastating fashion.

In the first half, everything was going right.  Jordan Hulls was on fire and hit his frist three 3's.  Even though I still couldn't really figure out the purpose on most of the offensive possessions, it was working and IU was making good passes and knocking down shots.  IU led by as many as 15 points in the first half.

With a 41-28 halftime lead, I really felt that if IU could simply score at a decent rate in the second half, they would win this game.  You knew IU's defense wouldn't give up 50 second half points because it just wasn't that type of game.  So, I was thinking that even if IU would give up 40 in the second half, they would only need to score 28 points themselves to hang on to the win.  Well, Illinois scored 38, but IU couldn't even manage to hit the 20 point mark, which is just flat out dreadful offense.

Only 4 or 5 minutes into the second half, you could feel IU was already pressing and this game took an all too familiar turn.  IU was able to keep the lead in double-figures for a little while, but then the offense completely disappeared.

Take a look at IU's shooting stats between the two halves:
1st Half FGs:  14-25 (56%)         
2nd Half FGs:  8-28 (29%)

1st Half 3PT:   5-6 (83%)
2nd Half 3PT:  1-11 (9%)

1st Half FTs:  8-12 (67%)
2nd Half FTs:  2-6 (33%)

If Tom Crean is going to run sets in the offense, then he needs to find some that work.  This team has no "bread & butter".  It's tough because there just isn't that go-to guy.  Right now, I would say it's Verdell, but you can't just give him the ball and tell him to go.  You have to get creative with some plays to get him the ball in different ways and in good positions.

Right now, when you lose a game like that, I really don't want to hear about the youth and inexperience.  However, you simply can't avoid it.  Looking at the FT disparity, I think you can point to inexperience.  Were there some bad calls against IU and a lot of ticky tack fouls?  Yes.  However, Illinois also got some of those calls early and they adjusted.  IU kept playing the same way and kept getting whistled. 

I will say that I was at least happy that IU was at least playing aggressive and tough.  That's more than we can say for the OSU game.  But now they need to learn to play tough and aggressive without fouling.

Just saw a comment from Tom on the "I Sure Do Hate Illinois" post.  Here's what Tom had to say:
"What a kick in the balls."

Exactly. 

Extremely frustrating.  Even after Illinois came all the way back, IU had a 60-59 lead with 2:18 to go.  So, it was looking like this game might come down to a final shot or something.  The sad part was that Illinois scored the last 7 points of the game and IU didn't even have a chance to win under 30 seconds.  Just bad, really bad.

One big complaint that I have is why wasn't Jeremiah Rivers guarding Demitri McCamey in the second half?  It became clear that Illinois was just putting the ball in McCamey's hands and having him make things happen.  We had Hulls on him, Verdell on him, Dumes on him, and I think Daniel Moore may have even been on him on one possession.  Why not Rivers?  I understand not having Rivers on him at the start of the game and in the first half because of the other match-ups.  But once Illinois basically went to a 2-man game with McCamey and Tisdale, it became clear to me that you should have your best defender on McCamey.  I'm not sure how Tom Crean can sleep tonight with McCamey scoring 13 points and dishing out 7 assists in the 2nd half and never putting your best defender on him.

At least Bruce Weber left us with another gem -- did you see that 2-year old temper tantrum he had on the sideline?  That was great.  He was literally crying, stomping his feet, and shaking his whole body as he sat in a chair and shook the chairs next to him.  A grown man stuck in the terrible 2's.  Pathetic.

It's a little bit of a helpless feeling right now.

I believe we head to Michigan next and you can be assured that we'll see a much better effort out of Michigan in Ann Arbor. 

I Sure Do Hate Illinois

Man, I sure do hate me some Illini.

It has to be Bruce Weber.  He is the most annoying mo-fo around.

As for the Hoosiers and their chances against Illinois.....hmmm, that OSU game certainly didn't leave me brimming with confidence.  I guess it's good news that the game is at the real Assembly Hall.

Win or lose, I wonder if Bruce Weber will still be crying about Eric Gordon in the post-game conference.  He's such an assface.

Prediction:  Even though Illinois has struggled at times this year (bad losses to Utah, Bradley, and Georgia), they are still clearly the better team in this contest.  They are a balanced team with 5 players scoring in double-figures and both their big men are very skilled.  So, even though this one is in front of the home crowd, I fear the Hoosiers will lose this one by a score of 76-67. 

Links:

• Some great audio of Verdell Jones talking about the practices since the OSU debacle, includes some humor related to Jobe and Dumes roughing him up a little and how he retaliated (can't retaliate immediately, have to be sneaky about it).  Courtesy of The Hoosier Scoop.
• Tom Crean video - some good stuff here, courtesy of IU Athletics on youtube.
• Know Thy Opponent, courtesy of Inside the Hall.

Go Hoosiers!

IU Sucks, Ohio State Doesn't

I am so sick and tired of being embarrassed.  I didn't have any delusions of going into Ohio State and winning, but I sure was hoping we could compete for a while and make the Buckeyes earn it.  We just gave this one to them.  Matta certainly could have rested Evan Turner and he probably could have gotten away with resting Lighty, Buford, Diebler, and Lauderdale if he wanted to.

This game was 31-8 after 15 1/2 minutes of play.  That's right, we had 8 points with less than 5 minutes to go in the first half.  Absolutely horrible.

In those first 15 minutes, the whole team was obviously horrible, but Christain Watford was standing out (in a bad way) amongst the horribleness.

But then, after the team had managed just 8 points in 15 1/2 minutes, Watford scored 8 points in 1 1/2 minutes with back-to-back 3s and a pair of free throws.

Unfortunately, after that impressive stretch, Watford went right back to looking completely out of sorts and had back-to-back turnovers. 

Speaking of turnovers, IU had 14 of them in the first half.  They were struggling just to get shots in the air.  And on the rare occassion where they got a good look -- Verdell was missing mid-range shots that he normally makes, Hulls couldn't buy a 3-pointer, and when you hoped maybe Dumes could provide a spark, he threw up an airball.

Does anybody miss Mo Creek yet?

Does anybody wonder if the glory of old IU will ever return?

I couldn't wait for this game to be over.  It seemed to last forever.  I hate this feeling.

In my mind, the true mark of being truly pathetic on offense is scoring less than 20 points in a half.  The Hoosiers looked to have that locked up.  After Watford's 8-point spurt got IU to a whopping 16 points with 4 minutes to go.  Then, with less than 10 seconds to go, the Hoosiers were still stuck on 16.  But Verdell went to the line with 5.6 seconds, hit both, stole the inbounds, and layed it in to get IU to 20 points at the half.  Hooray.

Not that it really mattered because we were still down 38-20 at the half.

14 turnovers and 30% FGs at halftime.  The Hoosiers really handled their first road game well.

At halftime, Tom Crean told Charissa Thompson that "we played like we were in quicksand".  Well, Tom, you are spot-on with that observation, but now go fix it!  You are getting paid millions of dollars!

It must have been one hell of a halftime speech because OSU came out and scored 17 points in the first 5 minutes of the second half.  At that point, this game became an even bigger laugher at 55-26.

Diebler kept hitting 3 after 3 after 3 over Jordan Hulls.  Hulls couldn't guard anyone and he couldn't throw it in the ocean on the offensive end.

It pains me to watch Jeremiah Rivers shoot a jump shot.  He probably shot 5 jumpers in this game and none of them had a chance, I mean not even a prayer, to go in.  What the hell, Doc?  You make a very nice living in the game of basketball, but you can't teach your son the basic concept of shooting the basketball.

Verdell picked it up with some nice offensive plays in the second half.  At that point, it was kind of padding the stats, but he finished with 22 points.  That gives him 20-plus in his last 4 Big Ten games.

Can anyone tell me what's going on with Tom Pritchard?  I know he's always in foul trouble, but it seems to me that Crean isn't calling his number and even giving him a chance to get some offense going.  Pritchard had some decent post moves last year, but we don't ever feed him in the post this year.  I don't know, but somehow we need to get more out of Pritch.

If looking for a positive, we did have 3 dunks.  Jeremiah Rivers opened the game with a nice drive and dunk on IU's first possession.  Actually, that may have been the worst thing to happen for IU.  Thad Matta called a timeout after OSU's pathetic defense on that possession and then they were in lock-down mode the rest of the half.  Pritchard also had a nice two-handed dunk, but the best dunk came from Derek Elston where he took a feed, took one dribble, went up off one-leg, threw it down with two hands, and swung on the rim a little.  It was good to see, especially since Elston had just missed a point-blank layup.

I want more Bawa!  In the garbage minutes, Bawa had a nice jump-hook and a blocked shot.  But then Crean took him out with a minute to go.  What's with that? 

Just got my first peak at a box score and here are some interesting (or troubling) stats:

• IU 4-18 from the arc.  I miss Mo!  Hell, I miss Matt Roth's 9 treys he hit against OSU last year.
• Jordan Hulls 0-5 from the arc.  Jon Diebler (guarded mostly by Hulls) was 5-8.
• Rivers (6), Watford (6), Jones (4), and Hulls (4) combined for 20 turnovers.
• Tom Pritchard was 1-1 from the field.  His only FGA was that dunk.  I want to stick with this one for a moment.  Tom Pritchard is shooting 64% from the field on the year.  Look it up, it's true, he is shooting 64% from the field.  Doesn't that tell you that we need to get him more opportunities?  Yes, he is shooting 64% because most of his shots have been dunks or put-backs, but I still argue he needs more opportunities.  Whether it's feeding him in the post or finding more ways to drive and dish to him for dunks, it needs to happen.  Especially in a game like this where you have only scored 8 points in the first 15 minutes of the game.  Just a thought, but I'm not getting paid millions to coach this team.  Tom Crean in on my nerves right now.  We better have a good showing at home again versus Illinois on Saturday night.

I'm depressed.  I don't even have the energy to blame Kelvin Sampson, so I guess that's it for tonight.

Catching Up

Happy New Year, Hoosier fans!  I hope everyone enjoyed the holidays.

It's been a while since I posted and there's a few reasons for that:

1. That Loyola game disgusted me to the core.
2. I was driving all over the country for a week-and-a-half over the holidays.
3. I thought a little break after I said it was my last post ever would add to the drama.  Not really, but I said I had a few reasons and I think that means three.

It has been a roller coaster ride for the Hoosiers the last couple of weeks.

First, following the horrible loss to Loyola, IU responds and takes care of business against one of the worst teams in the country in Bryant.  But they beat them like you are supposed to beat a team like that -- they beat them by 50.

But the win over Bryant and any good play by individual players was completely overshadowed by one single play.  That play was obviously the freak play that resulted in a fractured knee for Maurice Creek -- IU's leading scorer, best player, and one of the leading freshmen scorers in the country.

I was devastated by the news of Mo's injury.  The loss to Loyola followed by the Creek injury really made it feel like a dark cloud continues to hang over this program.  I hate Kelvin Sampson.

It's painful for any team to lose their leading scorer.  But it's devastating to a team that is completely rebuilding their program.  The Creek injury is going to hurt this team big-time.  Ignore for a moment that they beat Michigan.  The Michigan win certainly helped ease the pain, but don't let it fool you into thinking we're going to be all right.  It was going to be tough in the Big Ten with Maurice and there is no doubt that is going to be exponentially more difficult without him.

The Creek injury even makes the Roth injury more painful.  Now your two best 3-point shooters are out.  Not good considering what a major factor the 3-point shot is in college basketball.

But let's move on to when the roller coaster ride started going back up.  That win over Michigan in the Big Ten opener was fantastic.  And it was exactly what this team, the fans, Tom Crean, and the program needed.  The first place Hoosiers.....I like it.

It took just one game for IU to equal their conference win total from last year.  Now, the question is how many more games will they win?  See the poll question to make your prediction on how many conference games they will win.  According to Ken Pomeroy's statistical analysis, the Hoosiers will win only one more conference game and that will be at home against Iowa.  There are a couple interesting notes about Pomeroy's statistical predictions.  One is that I wouldn't think the Creek injury would be factored into the statistics in any way, so that's a bit scary.  The other is that Pomeroy also provides a prediction of overall conference record where the Hoosiers come away with 5 wins.  I don't know all the details of the statistical analysis, but it would appear that the Hoosiers don't look very good on paper in individual matchups (outside of a home game against Iowa), but the cumulative statistical analysis would suggest the Hoosiers will find a way to win 5 games.

Even with the Creek injury, I think IU will definitely lean more toward the 5 wins, if not more.  I think this team has shown consistent improvement with the Loyola game being the outlier.  The win over Pitt looks even more impressive after they beat a Top 10 Syracuse team and also just knocked off Cincy.  Michigan has been struggling, but it was still an impressive win for a Hoosier team that had to still be in shock from Mo's season-ending injury.

More thoughts on the big win over Michigan:

• Great stat line by Verdell Jones -- 20 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 steals
• Jeremiah Rivers played the type of defense on Manny Harris that we have been reading about for the last year-and-a-half.  He did an outstanding job shutting down one of the best players in the conference.  Admittedly, Harris had a bit of an off game and appeared frustrated by foul trouble, but Jeremiah made everything extremely difficult for him.
• Devan Dumes came up big.  He hit 3 big treys in the first half and played tremendous defense.
• I like Watford's mid-range game and his upside is huge.  19 points for the freshman.
• I am still excited about the way that Jordan Hulls stepped up and hit all 6 of those free throws in the final 28 seconds.  I continue to envision Hulls at the free throw line and sealing more and more wins in the future.
• After Rivers missed two more important free throws with about 3 minutes to go, it was good to see him come through with that acrobatic 3-point play with 1:12 to go in the game.  It was a big-time play at a clutch moment and he hit the free throw.
• I think it is really cool when Doc Rivers is in the crowd (and I ain't just talkin' a big head).
• Tom Pritchard had a great blocked shot where he came flying out of nowhere to reject a Michigan fast break.  This happened in the middle of IU's 15-0 run and the crowd was going wild.

I'm sure there will be times where Creek's absence will be glaring.  But if Hulls and Dumes can play as well as they did against Michigan, this team will be able to compete and pull out a few more wins this conference season.

Tomorrow night, they head out on the road to Ohio State and that will probably be a completely different story.  With or without Evan Turner, I just don't see the Hoosiers having success in Columbus, but I am anxious to see how they respond to the road environment.

Go Hoosiers!