IU 79 Iowa 76

Well, only because IU did end up winning this game, I am going to start by giving some props to an opposing player. This game was tied at 34 at halftime and it was still tight midway through the 2nd half. Then, IU had a really good stretch and had finally built around a double-digit lead with 5 minutes to go. At this point, the game appeared to be over as IU went up by 13 with only 2 minutes to go. But then Justin Johnson for Iowa started to look like Reggie Miller at Madison Square Garden. Going back to 1:55 in the game, he scored an amazing 19 points by hitting 6 straight 3-pointers that included a 4-point play. Even more amazing was that he scored 16 points in the final 1 minute of play. Here's how that final minute went.

• IU up 71-60 with exactly 1:00 to go, Johnson hits a 3 to make it 71-63.
• IU up 73-63 with :41 seconds to go, Johnson converts a 4-pt play to make it 73-67.
• IU up 75-67 with :20 seconds to go, Johnson hits a 27-footer to make it 75-70.
• IU up 77-70 with :14 seconds to go, Johnson hits a 3 to make it 77-73.
• IU up 78-73 with :04 seconds to go, Johnson banks in a 3 from 5 feet inside half-court to make it only a 2-point game.
• IU hits one FT to make it 79-76 with :03 to go, Iowa rebounds the missed 2nd FT and has a chance to tie, but fortunately DJ stole the outlet pass and time ran out. And it's a good thing DJ stole it because the pass was headed toward Johnson at half-court. Even though he would have had a tough time getting a shot off in time, this guy could have thrown it over his head from half-court and it would have gone in.

Fortunately, IU made most of their FTs down the stretch. They went 8-10 in the final minute. Of course, the two misses were on the last 2 possessions, but 8-10 down the stretch was still good enough to hold off one of the most amazing shooting performances I have ever seen.

All in all, I'm not really sure what to make of this game. As this game was playing out during the first 30 minutes and it stayed a close game, I was obviously concerned. But what really concerned me was that I didn't think IU was actually playing that bad. The reason this concerned me so much was that it made me wonder if maybe we just aren't very good. If we are playing decent yet we are still tied with a bad Iowa team, then either we really aren't that good or it really is that tough to go on the road in the Big Ten.

The good news is that IU ultimately did wear down Iowa and did finally build a double-digit lead. If it hadn't been for Johnson catching fire, IU would have cruised to a double-digit win. And this is a team that they should have easily beat by double-digits. Iowa had lost a starter to injury last week and lost another player to injury in the early part of this game. So Iowa did not have much of a bench and I think IU's depth was probably the key factor in IU eventually pulling away in the 2nd half.

Overall Team Performance: B-

I'm still not sure about this team. The defense is still giving up way too many easy baskets. I still don't understand why IU has their big men hedge so far on ball screens. It seems to be the main factor that leads to the easy baskets. And I don't blame the players for this because it is pretty clear that is how they are being coached to do it. But I don't see why it's a good thing for DJ to defend the guard on the dribble out to 30 feet from the basket, then the IU guard finally recovers and DJ has to go find his man who is usually all the way in the lane by now. Any good guard is finding the big man who then has an easy basket or IU rotates but then they kick out to a wide-open 3.

I just don't understand it. If anyone else does, please let me know. With the way IU is defending the ball screen, they would probably be better off just straight switching. It may lead to some mismatches, but at least they would have defenders in place rather than allowing wide open shots. But I think the real answer is that the guards need to do a better job getting through the screens. They know it's coming, so they need to see it and then either go over the top or go around, but they have to fight like hell to get through that screen. And every once in a while, you may need to go through the screen and if your elbow accidentally catches a rib or your knee accidentally catches a groin, so be it. But unless some guard is using the ball screen and nailing a bunch of 3s, I don't see the benefit of having our big men hedge like that.

D.J. White: A-

DJ didn't have his 10-ft jumper going like he has been, but still had another huge double-double with 16 points and 15 rebounds. In fact, it seemed like he had 20+ rebounds. He has been owning the glass lately and I believe this makes 8 out of the last 9 games that he has had a double-double. DJ also had back-to-back dunks during that key stretch for IU to get them to a double-digit lead. I would have docked DJ for some defense, but I think he is playing the way he is being coached, so I'm not going to put that on him.

Mike White: C

Didn't do much of anything.

Armon Bassett: C

I had an F for Armon, but I just read on peegs.com that he has an ankle injury that he aggravated. He played the first 3 minutes and looked horrible, especially on the defensive end. I thought he got benched because of his defense but apparently it was an injury. Anyway, he did not return after those 3 minutes.

Jamarcus Ellis: A+

Check out this line: 15 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists, and 5 steals.

And not only that, I thought this was his best game on defense. This is going to sound strange because Johnson had 29 points, but he actually did an outstanding job defending Johnson. He held Johnson to 10 points for most of the game. Then, in that final minute, I don't even know if Jamarcus was in the game the whole time. I do know it was Ratliff who fouled him on the 4-point play and Gordon was right in his face on another and then two of them were from nearly half-court. So, those 19 points weren't on Ellis.

Ellis continues to be a great all-around player. Tonight was a bonus because he added some scoring.

Eric Gordon: B

Gordon is really tough to grade. I mean he only set another IU record tonight by scoring 25 points in his Big Ten freshman debut. It was good to see him hit a couple 3s because his shot had really been off in the previous 2 games -- he shot only 20% FGs and 19% 3PT against Coppin St and Chicago St. Of course, in those same 2 games, he did manage to go 24-24 from the FT line. His FT streak ended at 25 straight, but he still went 9-11 tonight.

Tonight, Gordon did play a big role in the 2nd half when IU started to build its lead. Sampson got the ball in his hands more and he made some things happen including a spectacular 3-point play.

Unfortunately, he is still struggling with the turnovers. He gets going too fast and is either loose with the dribble or fires a pass too hard. However, it's hard to tell him to slow down because he does draw so many fouls and makes some great plays by using that burst of speed. He kind of reminds me of Brett Favre in that respect -- how do you reign him in just a little bit to prevent some of the turnovers while still allowing him to use his abilities to make great plays. In years where Favre was able to successfully do this, he won 3 MVPs and a Super Bowl and he has done it pretty well this year and has my beloved Packers sitting as a #2 seed in the playoffs. If Gordon can do this, he will be the Big Ten's Player of the Year and IU will be Big Ten Champs. So that's the question, can Gordon play more under control but still play with power, explosion, and aggressiveness?

Also, I think Gordon needs to be doing more. And I think Sampson needs to contantly challenge him to be the best he can be. Gordon is an incredible athlete, but he is really only using his athleticism right now for 2 things -- scoring and defending the ball. With as great of an athlete he is, he should also be rebounding and should be everywhere on defense. Right now, he does a lot of standing around if the ball is not in his hands or he is not defending the ball. This is not uncommon for a freshman of his caliber because he has spent his whole life playing offense with the ball in his hands 99% of the time.

I think a lot of IU's success this year depends on how much Gordon can improve throughout the year. When you watch a freshman score 25 points and don't even think twice about it, the upside is limitless.

In my opinion, I think they need to get the ball in his hands more often and just ask him to create. With the way he can score and draw fouls and shoot from long range, I can live with some turnovers. I also think he will start to be more effective at dishing for assists as the year goes on.

DeAndre Thomas: B-

Only 6 minutes, but had a nice post move and rattled in both his FTs. Because of his size, he definitely gets called for some cheap fouls. There is a lot of bumping in the Big Ten that does not get called, but when DeAndre bumps someone, they tend to go for a ride.

Jordan Crawford: B-

Definitely did some good things, but he had 0 assists in 30 minutes at the point guard position. With Bassett out, Crawford played only at the point, but he never really created a whole lot. Come to think of it, I think the box score is wrong because he had a great pass to DJ for a dunk to give IU a double-digit lead. Anyway, he didn't do a whole lot to create offense for his teammates. But you do have to like that he does find a way to get some points and added another 12 points tonight.

A.J. Ratliff: C+

Definitely a little rusty, but AJ will help this team a lot, especially if he can have a good year shooting the 3. I really think IU needs another good 3-pt shooter besides Gordon. You know that Gordon is not going to get many open looks all year long. Gordon is going to have to either hit tough 3s or he is going to have to keep blowing by people and drawing fouls. But teams are not going to let him just stand there and shoot.

However, with all the attention that Gordon and DJ get, other guys on the team can make a nice living by just spotting up and shooting open 3s when the shot comes to them. I think Ratliff could really help this team in that category. Bassett started on fire, but has since cooled off and has been plagued by suspension and injury. Crawford did hit 6 treys in an exhibition game, but he is not really known for his 3-point shooting (he now has 8 made 3-pointers on the year). Stemler is actually knocking a few down this year, so hopefully he can keep it up (he's now 14-40 for 35% on the year, not bad). Ellis will shoot a few, but defnintely not his strength. So, if Ratliff can knock some down, he could see some significant minutes. He took two tonight and missed them both, but his form looked good so I expect him to get it going.

The problem with Ratliff is that there are so many games that he doesn't do much else. Another great athlete but doesn't rebound well. Tonight, he had 1 rebound, 0 assists, 0 blocks, and 1 steal in 15 minutes. I remember games last year where he would play 20+ minutes and not have any stats in the hustle categories. I think we need better coaching at North Central because both Gordon and Ratliff came to IU with an ability to score, but you can tell that they were not asked to do much else.

Anyway, it was good to finally see AJ in uniform. Oh yeah, he did also manage to foul out in just 15 minutes.

Lance Stemler: A-

Tonight, I thought the team clearly looked better when Stemler was in the game versus when Mike White or DeAndre was in the game. When IU is playing their stupid aggressive hedge on the ball screen that is followed by a feable attempt to scramble and recover for the rest of the defensive possession....[this is starting to feel like a run-on sentence]....anyway, I think Stemler is a lot better at the scrambling than the big guys are. Lance also hit 1-2 from the arc and pulled down 5 rebounds which is all we need out of him. Hit the open jumper and hustle your ass all over the floor and we'll be happy. Miss 10 straight wide-open 3-point attempts and that's when Hoosier Nation starts to get a little frustrated with good ole Stemler.

Shon Morris: A

Former NW player, Shon Morris, was the color-man for the game tonight and I think he does a great job. He's definitely the best the Big Ten Network has to offer and he is a million times better than Laskowski. I'm hoping that they keep Laskowski in Bloomington all year and maybe we will get some different announcers on the road. After one time that DeAndre bowled someone over, Morris said "DeAndre Thomas is as subtle as a hard kick to the head."

Big Ten Network Camera-work: F

This has been a problem all year for the Big Ten Network. They are slow to put up their replays, so you end up missing live action. In fact, on some occassions, they have just simply missed some action because the camera is slow to catch up with the ball. Also, tonight, they had a camera angle from the floor. A lot of stations will flash to that camera angle to give you some perspective as the ball is being dribbled up the court, but then they go back to the traditional elevated side angle for the possession. However, the BTN was doing some full possessions from the floor tonight and you could not see what in the hell was going on.

Some of the camera-work is bad, but I still love the Big Ten Network. After the game, you can watch Big Ten Tonight where they break down the game, show a full set of highlights, and usually have postgame interviews.

All in all, it wasn't pretty for 30 minutes, then it looked to be a nice double-digit win, then it got really scary, but in the end it is a win on the road and the Hoosiers move to 1-0 in the Big Ten and 12-1 overall.

Next game is on the road again, but it is in 6 days and it is at Michigan. Wisconsin went into Michigan tonight and had no problem, so hopefully IU can get a nice big win over the Wolverines next week.

Go Hoosiers!