I don't want to send mixed signals out of the gate here, so I will first say that I am really happy that they won.
However, I am extremely pissed off right now because I just spent a lot of time typing a very lengthy post and as I was finishing it, my Internet Explorer just crashed and I lost the entire post.
I had included a full section with a paragraph on each player that described their role on this team and then I included what I thought their role would be on a team in a normal year. Unfortunately, I will have to postpone re-typing that whole section for another time.
I had also included a few other random thoughts on this year's team and had finished up a pretty detailed report card.
Since it is now almost 1am, I will now just go into a quick report card:
Overall Team Performance: C
I was really happy that they won and it was probably a really good experience for this team to play and win a game where every possession was important and it came down to the final few seconds. Of course, that doesn't necessarily mean they played well -- they started the game out really bad again, they struggled shooting, and their defense was horrible in the 2nd half.
What I did like is that they were better on the boards and they had 17 assists on 21 field goals, which is really impressive.
Should we be happy that we beat IUPUI in a close game? Hell yes! This season is going to be a struggle, so we need to enjoy every single win. This season and some of these guys are going to be the foundation of IU's return to glory in the years to come. So, we need to enjoy every positive step that we see this year.
Tom Pritchard: A
Pritchard played really well tonight. He had a stretch where he had 7 points and 2 rebounds in just one minute. These 7 points started a 16-0 run that eventually resulted in a 19-2 run to finish out the half. Not too bad to start your college career with a double-double in your first two games and tonight's was with 19 points on 7-8 FG shooting.
Kyle Taber: C+
Taber did absolutely nothing in the 1st half, but then hit that huge 3 in the 2nd half after IUPUI had stormed back to tie the game. That 3-pointer moved Kyle Taber into at least a tie for first place in the NCAA record books for career 3-point shooting percentage at 100%.
I noticed Taber still favoring that knee at times, so he definitely does not look fully healthy yet. In addition, he has missed a lot of valuable practice time with a new coach and an entirely new team. So, I am hopeful that Taber will continue to get healthier and improve.
Verdell Jones: C-
Verdell is going to be one of those guys who will make a really bad play, then a great play, then a whole stretch of bad plays, then a whole stretch of good plays, and so on. I think the whole team will be like that, but I think we will notice it the most out of Jones. He took two 3-point shots tonight and both missed horribly, so I am hoping he is able to find the range.
Nick Williams: B+
I thought Williams played much better than he did on Saturday. He was active, had a couple nice conversions in the lane, and rebounded well. Just missed a double-double with 10 points and 9 rebounds. I love his attitude and energy.
Devan Dumes: D
He is being asked to be the scorer on this team, so I think he has the green light any time he has an opening. However, he needs to convert. His jumper was off tonight and he was just 2-9 from the arc. He also had some bad turnovers and some questionable decisions.
Matt Roth: B+
His specialty is shooting and he was able to go 4-9 from the arc tonight. He launched one from at least 7-8 feet behind the line and it bounced around the rim a couple times before bouncing out. That shows you that he has a nice touch on his shot because you usually don't see 27-footers bounce around on the rim. The ones he did hit were pure and a couple came at key moments in the game. He did miss an easy layup though.
Dan Moore: A
Andy hates the name Daniel, therefore he shall be known as Dan. Clearly becoming an early fan-favorite and deservedly so. He is gritty, tenacious, a good-ball handler, and a great passer. He had 6 assists and 1 turnover (box score shows 2 turnovers but one was the baseball pass just before halftime with 1 second left). He could have easily had more than 10 assists if the other guys would have hit their layups and a few wide-open jumpers. He also came through in the clutch by knocking down 2 free throws in the final seconds.
Malik Story: C+
Of all the guys that are seeing any minutes, Story is probably the one guy that I am having the toughest time getting a good read on. He has had a few boards and assists in each of the games, so I think he could be a nice all-around player, but my sense is that he still needs some polishing.
Tijan Jobe: D
3 minutes, 2 fouls, 1 turnover, 0 points, 0 rebounds, 0 assists, 0 steals, 0 blocks.
A word of warning before you sit down to watch our Hoosiers in the upcoming Maui Invitational, have some Pepto Bismol or alcohol available because we are going to get our ass kicked all over that island.
Go Hoosiers!
Monday, November 17, 2008
IU 60 IUPUI 57
I don't want to send mixed signals out of the gate here, so I will first say that I am really happy that they won.
However, I am extremely pissed off right now because I just spent a lot of time typing a very lengthy post and as I was finishing it, my Internet Explorer just crashed and I lost the entire post.
I had included a full section with a paragraph on each player that described their role on this team and then I included what I thought their role would be on a team in a normal year. Unfortunately, I will have to postpone re-typing that whole section for another time.
I had also included a few other random thoughts on this year's team and had finished up a pretty detailed report card.
Since it is now almost 1am, I will now just go into a quick report card:
Overall Team Performance: C
I was really happy that they won and it was probably a really good experience for this team to play and win a game where every possession was important and it came down to the final few seconds. Of course, that doesn't necessarily mean they played well -- they started the game out really bad again, they struggled shooting, and their defense was horrible in the 2nd half.
What I did like is that they were better on the boards and they had 17 assists on 21 field goals, which is really impressive.
Should we be happy that we beat IUPUI in a close game? Hell yes! This season is going to be a struggle, so we need to enjoy every single win. This season and some of these guys are going to be the foundation of IU's return to glory in the years to come. So, we need to enjoy every positive step that we see this year.
Tom Pritchard: A
Pritchard played really well tonight. He had a stretch where he had 7 points and 2 rebounds in just one minute. These 7 points started a 16-0 run that eventually resulted in a 19-2 run to finish out the half. Not too bad to start your college career with a double-double in your first two games and tonight's was with 19 points on 7-8 FG shooting.
Kyle Taber: C+
Taber did absolutely nothing in the 1st half, but then hit that huge 3 in the 2nd half after IUPUI had stormed back to tie the game. That 3-pointer moved Kyle Taber into at least a tie for first place in the NCAA record books for career 3-point shooting percentage at 100%.
I noticed Taber still favoring that knee at times, so he definitely does not look fully healthy yet. In addition, he has missed a lot of valuable practice time with a new coach and an entirely new team. So, I am hopeful that Taber will continue to get healthier and improve.
Verdell Jones: C-
Verdell is going to be one of those guys who will make a really bad play, then a great play, then a whole stretch of bad plays, then a whole stretch of good plays, and so on. I think the whole team will be like that, but I think we will notice it the most out of Jones. He took two 3-point shots tonight and both missed horribly, so I am hoping he is able to find the range.
Nick Williams: B+
I thought Williams played much better than he did on Saturday. He was active, had a couple nice conversions in the lane, and rebounded well. Just missed a double-double with 10 points and 9 rebounds. I love his attitude and energy.
Devan Dumes: D
He is being asked to be the scorer on this team, so I think he has the green light any time he has an opening. However, he needs to convert. His jumper was off tonight and he was just 2-9 from the arc. He also had some bad turnovers and some questionable decisions.
Matt Roth: B+
His specialty is shooting and he was able to go 4-9 from the arc tonight. He launched one from at least 7-8 feet behind the line and it bounced around the rim a couple times before bouncing out. That shows you that he has a nice touch on his shot because you usually don't see 27-footers bounce around on the rim. The ones he did hit were pure and a couple came at key moments in the game. He did miss an easy layup though.
Dan Moore: A
Andy hates the name Daniel, therefore he shall be known as Dan. Clearly becoming an early fan-favorite and deservedly so. He is gritty, tenacious, a good-ball handler, and a great passer. He had 6 assists and 1 turnover (box score shows 2 turnovers but one was the baseball pass just before halftime with 1 second left). He could have easily had more than 10 assists if the other guys would have hit their layups and a few wide-open jumpers. He also came through in the clutch by knocking down 2 free throws in the final seconds.
Malik Story: C+
Of all the guys that are seeing any minutes, Story is probably the one guy that I am having the toughest time getting a good read on. He has had a few boards and assists in each of the games, so I think he could be a nice all-around player, but my sense is that he still needs some polishing.
Tijan Jobe: D
3 minutes, 2 fouls, 1 turnover, 0 points, 0 rebounds, 0 assists, 0 steals, 0 blocks.
A word of warning before you sit down to watch our Hoosiers in the upcoming Maui Invitational, have some Pepto Bismol or alcohol available because we are going to get our ass kicked all over that island.
Go Hoosiers!
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13 comments:
cook:
seeing that we are only ranked higher than 4 teams we play all year, i'd really like to win this one, but like jeff said, i don't think it's a given. i just want to see us make our FTs, pass better, run some offense, fastbreak, and play hard!
cook:
i was just about ready to say Pritchard Mandeville is really frustrating me, but he finally made a strong move! moore actaully doesn't look too bad. dumes is a gun! we need him though. like williams. come on jones! nothing from story.
cook:
dumbass (dumes) pissed me off most of that half. can't you just hear the general calling him that in practice? i've heard the vern fleming comparison for verdell jones. i'd compare him to a middle school player so far tonight! moore is one of our best 5 so far tonight!
cook:
i recommend jim beam. pritch pleasantly surprised me right after i had cursed him. i think that role thing would be interesting. as much as i liked dan last night, he'll have a normal walk-on role next year. i do see williams as a moye, roth as a leary or hornsby, jobe as a transfer...
cook:
oh, and it makes me nervous that northeastern beat iupui. 6 wins may be a good goal!
After watching last night's game, my goal has now been adjusted to win 3 games.
Benny P:
Once again, a win is a win. First of all, did anyone else notice that IUPUI's trainer looked like Nik Henynen?!?! I like Pritchard...he has some major potential and will be a foundation for this team the next 4 years. I like the way he takes it strong to the basket...it's also nice to see him do some one-step dunks with ease. Seems like IU is able to get the ball down low to the post and driving to the basket...this is somethig that has been missing for a while.
It might just be me, but IUPUI played a good game...they were hitting their shots in the second half.
Lets put this win in perspective guys. First I am very pleasantly surprised that when the game went down to the wire this team held it together and pulled out a hard fought win. Very difficult to take a turnover from Moore with 27 seconds left but the team played some GREAT D to save the W.
I also like Moore very much and love the heart these guys show. Just remember until a few months ago our team was literally comprised of two players that were lucky to even be playing D-1 ball. This team appears to work really hard and seem to genuinely LOVE to play for IU.
It also has to be disheartening for these guys to come out and play in an empty arena. One stat line missed in the blog Dart: Attendance for the last 2 games have averaged an embarrassing 13,000. C'mon Hoosier Nation come out to the games and support this team. They deserve it in light of the fact that they are playing with everycard stacked against them. I am truly appalled by the students. The balcony was completely empty and only about half of the student seats in the main level were filled.
Gavin
sorry the last post was from me. I have been to both regular season games and the 13,000 that are at the games can still get loud.
Crean made a very classy move at the end of the game last night.
After the game eneded he took the mic from Chuck Crabb and thanked the fans for their support and went so far to say that this team doen't pull out the win last night without the support for the fans that were there and the noise they made. Then he and the team went into the student section and shook hands with and celebrated with the student section.
I REALLY REALLY like Crean!!!
Yes!! In your face IUPUI!!! Have a nice trip back to Indy!! Hope you enjoyed your butt whoopin'!!!
I figure we are not going to get many chances to gloat this year so I am going to take every opportunity I can get.
Williams, Dumes and Pritchard appear to be the most consistent "go to" guys right now and I think Jones and Taber will come around as the season progresses. Those 5 guys are probably going to be the starting 5and the main nucleus once the Big 10 season starts with Roth, Story and Moore providing minutes off the bench. Jobe will hopefully only play when Taber and Pritchard either collapse from exhaustion or foul out.
By the way, every time I see Tom Crean on the sideline, I feel both relieved and excited. They really did get the right guy this time.
cook:
i think you need a post on what role these guys would have in a normal year and what role we think they'll have next year.
cook:
will be surprised to see anything more than overwhelmed by pritchard. thoughts?
cook:
i stand corrected on pritchard. roth has to stop shooting 30 footers.
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