I'll keep this short because I think you all know what I typically say after games like that and that's "at least they won". At the end of the day, that's what is important. A home loss to Illinois would have been devastating. With the win, they have won 10 in a row, they should be ranked in single-digits later today, and IU & Wisconsin are now the only two unbeaten teams in the Big Ten. That leads me to the biggest news of the weekend in the Big Ten and that was Michigan State's performance (or lack thereof) at Iowa. The Spartans only scored 36 points and lost 43-36. That's pathetic, but it sure is good news for IU's conference title hopes.
I thought the clear-cut player of the game for IU was Armon Bassett. He scored all 11 of his points in the 2nd half with 3 big treys including one with 40 seconds left and then sealed the game by sinking a pair of free throws in the final seconds. I also thought he played well defensively in the 2nd half by applying good ball pressure.
As a team, it was the defense once again that got them into trouble in the 1st half. You are playing against an Illinois team that has lost 4 in a row and can't throw it in the ocean. But IU's lazy defense allowed Illinois to shoot 50% in the 1st half and they only forced 3 turnovers. IU's defense was doing absolutely nothing to force turnovers or force tough shots. In turn, their offense wasn't looking good and part of that is because they did not force turnovers to get extra possessions and/or easy baskets.
After going down by 7 early in the 2nd half, IU finally turned on the switch and turned up the defensive intensity. If IU wants to be one of the better teams in the country, they need to play with that intensity on defense for 40 minutes. But once they did turn it on, they started forcing turnovers and tough shots and they were able to turn a 7 point deficit into a 6 point lead. I thought IU might put them away when Crawford had an open look for 3 that would have put them up 9, but he missed and Illinois hung around until the final possession. It was a crazy final minute with a lot of loose balls and chaos, but IU was able to hang on to the victory.
DJ was solid with another double-double (15 pts, 10 rebs), but I thought Bassett was the difference maker. Illinois was playing great defense on Gordon and DJ had his hands full with Pruitt, so IU really needed someone to step up. It was a pleasant surprise for Bassett to come through because we weren't even sure if he would be able to play with his ankle injury.
I thought Ratliff played a little bit better (not a lot better, but a little). It looks like he is getting into the swing of things. He made a couple nice defensive plays and went 2-6 from the arc. Sure, I'd like to see a better 3-pt shooting percentage than 33%, but in a game like that, the two that he did make were big ones.
Gordon had his typical game. Struggled at times and had his share of turnovers, but also made some great plays. Illinois put Randle on him in the 2nd half which is a tough match-up. He still found a way to lead the team in scoring with 17 points by getting to the line 10 times.
Ellis didn't stuff the stat sheet as much as he has in past games, but he still made some great plays. Both JuCo guys also got into some scrums with Randle and Pruitt. Ellis kind of lost his cool and pretty much gave up his 4th foul and put Randle on the line at a key moment down the stretch. Not the smartest play, but I still like the fire. This guy fights hard and want to win.
I wish someone would have lost their cool and sucker-punched Bruce Weber. He has to be the most annoying human on the planet. I think there is something wrong with him.
Next game is at Minnesota and I think that will really be a tough one. IU better come out playing with defensive intensity in that one. If they don't, they will suffer their first conference loss. One thing I like about Sampson is that he always analyzes the game and speaks to the problem areas. He always talks about the team learning from every game and striving to get better. In his post-game comments, he clearly identified the effort in the first half as the issue. Hopefully, they will watch the film and see how the game changed when they turned up the intensity in the 2nd half. One thing I like about this team on the road is the way they get to the FT line. If you can score some easy points at the FT line of the road, you have a great chance to win. So, I am predicting another road win for the Hoosiers:
IU 77 Minnesota 72
Go Hoosiers!
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Going into Sunday I was thinking about the Colts / IU back to back CBS lineup and after some hard deliberation I decided that if the day was going to shake out 1-1 I'd rather see the Colts lose. That probably sounds really strange, but I have my loyalties, plus after losing to NE earlier in the year and with Freeny and Harrison gone for the year (basically) I came to grips with the fact there would be no Super Bowl repeat several months ago. If all they were playing for yesterday was a chance to lose next week, then I'll take the IU victory.
That said, never once in my head did I consider the fact both teams could lose, and my day was looking to go from bad to worse real fast. Especially since I work in Chicago and I've been giving the Illinois alum crap about Gordon all season. So I was extremely happy they came out in the second half and got the win.
My reference sample on the season is still somewhat small, so it is hard to make comparisons, but I was very happy with Bassett. They aren't the same team without him. He, along with Ellis, really seem to keep the offense moving. DJ continues to impress and be what I expected after his big summer on the international team.
All week long Gordon claimed he was loose and this was just another game, but I have trouble believing that. I can still remember when I was going through the recruiting process, and you meet these guys, scrimmage with them, party with them, follow their season, and then to have to face them for the first time after changing your mind and walking away from them has to be tough. Hopefully it was a one time thing, he's over it now, and he hangs 40 on them in Champaign!
Thanks to the Big Ten Network I have yet to see Minnesota play this season, but given their record and their coach, IU better jump on them early. The Barn is a tough place to play. In the first loss poll earlier in the year, this was the game I picked, so I'm a little apprehensive.
Chris Said:
I didn't see the whole game b/c of a work tradeshow. I was sitting in a conference room "refreshing" my cell phone constantly down the stretch. I'm not sure what the guy at the podium was saying, but I know that IU won.
Then the guest speaker was Joe Theismann so I went from IU win to Joe Theismann, to a Dallas defeat. What a great day!!!
Glad to see Ratliff calm down and make a few shots. Sean is right, the Barn has been a house of horrors for IU. Can Mr. Gordon get them over the hump?
It may just be me, but Gordon's expression after Ratliff blew the layup on the break late in the second half seemed like he's frustrated with Ratliff not getting it done. Granted he got the foul call on the play, but it seemed like a light foul on the replay and that thing wasn't close to going down. Maybe he was more frustrated with the fact that Ellis (or Bassett, can't recall which) chose to give it to Raliff on the break instead.
I'd like to keep saying that AJ just needs a few more games to get back in the flow, but there hasn't been much since he's freshman year to make me think it's going to get a whole lot better. I watch this guy play and I can't believe he was Mr. Basketball. Maybe Gordon is thinking the same thing.
I've noticed that Gordon reacts to everything that doesn't go his way. Whether he gets called for a foul or whistled for a turnover or IU doesn't execute, he almost always has brief, but negative, initial reaction. He usually quickly calms down and it's no big deal. But he does turn to the ref with either a look of anger or disbelief every single time he has a whistle against him.
Now that I have sort of become accustomed to some of his spectacular plays, I would say that he is not playing nearly to his ability level right now. You know that teams are going to defend the hell out of him in the Big Ten, but he has the talent to rise above that and I'm not sure that he has been doing that just yet.
Even though the IU offense has been scoring enough to win games, it does still seem that they are struggling to find a rhythm.
It's true that Ratliff has been one of the most frustrating IU players in recent history, but I still think he could play a big role on this team. DJ is going to continue to receive double-teams so spot-up shooters could find themselves open. And I am hoping that IU's guards can start to do a better job of penetrating and kicking to open shooters. One thing that I have noticed is that teams will not leave Gordon no matter what. Therefore, I think IU should have Gordon spotted up on the wing and then Bassett, Crawford, or Ellis should drive to that side. If they can get a step on their man, they won't see any help from Gordon's defender and they could get all the way to the basket. Or the help comes from DJs man and you dish to DJ for a dunk. They have done that a few times, but not enough.
Honestly, I still don't know what Sampson's offense really is. It just seems like this team scores but there really isn't any design behind it. Personally, I'd like to see every possession go through DJ or Gordon. But I think this team has enough talent that Sampson just lets them play and encourages them to try to make things happen. The result has been a lot of FT attempts which I really like, but not a lot of solid offensive sets.
I still would like to see a game where Gordon gets 20+ shot attempts. If there is a team that does not have a lock-down defender, I'd love to see them just keep going to him on every possession. Of course, this is not really based on what I think is the best strategy for IU, it's more that I would love to see an IU player put up 40+ points and he is capable of doing that.
I am starting to come around to Jeff's idea that this team may not be as good as we hoped they would be. The offense is looking more and more like Mike Davis basketball. Sampson is supposed to be tough on defense, but we look lost out there.I am not sure that AJ should even be on the court. Aside from one great half against Kentucky last year, what has he ever really done?
Illinois was fired up to play us, and maybe Iowa is better then people thought after what they did to Mich St. I am holding onto my dreams for a great year, but there are some things that need to change and fast.
I did not get see the game. I was at a work tradeshow as well. We were supposed to have Joe Theisman as our guest speaker. He said their was a death in the family and he couldn't make it. We had Jim McMahon instead. He showed up drunk and without any pants on.
I too work with a bunch of Illinois fans. They definitely felt they got hosed. They point to one play in particular. I could not comment on it since I did not see it. It seems there was a loose ball kicked out of bounds. Neither ref could tell who it went off of. The replays showed it went off an IU foot. Since it was not clear to either ref, the Illinois fans said it should have been a jump ball. I guess IU was awarded the ball instead of it being a jump ball. They were also griping about the two no calls on IU after the loose balls at the end of the game. The Illini fans said the first one was when Ratliff pushed someone as the ball was going out of bounds and they just called it Illinois basketball out of bounds. They were also upset that there was not a foul call when the ball got loose with 3 seconds left. I saw that play. Bassett picked it up and then got fouled.
I have a tough time arguing when I did not see the play. I did love seeing Webber walk off the court after the no-look handshake to Sampson. I sure hope IU beats Illinois in Champaign.
As good as this team is, I don't think they can win the Big Ten or do much in the tourney without a healthy Bassett. They think he's going to be battling injury all year don't they? He's key. Just be thankful that we are running Sampson's offense rather than Davis. What's UAB ranked? Is Vaden looking to be an all-american this year?
Tom, to address some of the Illinois whining, here's my take on the plays you mentioned.
On the out-of-bounds call, it is true that two officials came together with both of them shrugging their shoulders. I could see the argument for a jump ball in this case. However, even on the slow-motion replay, I thought it went off an Illinois player but it was tough to tell.
One play I am surprised they aren't mentioning was Ratliff's foul on a break away layup. He clobbered the guy across the head and it could have been called intentional, but they just called it a regular foul. You could argue that Ratliff was trying to swipe at the ball and accidentally came across the head. But knowing that Ratliff is a little hot-headed in an already heated game and his academic suspension shows he may not be the brightest, it probably was an intentional foul.
Now, all the whining about the final minute is just sour grapes. This is the final minute of a Big Ten basketball game and Big Ten officials are known for swallowing their whistles at the end of close games. Even so, there was a lot of contact both ways. Also, we are talking about loose balls. This wasn't as if Illinois had the ball in hand and then there was a shove. It was loose balls that both teams were frantically going after.
Bottom line is that Illinois fans are a bunch of whiners just like their coach. I'm sure they all had a good cry Sunday night. Once they get a diaper change, they'll be fine.
The Ratliff foul was pretty bad, but the on the out of bounds call I thought the replay made it pretty evident that it went off of Randle's knee.
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