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.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
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!
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