YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! WOO-HOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
They did it! They pulled it off! What a great win for the Hoosiers! What I really like about it is that they took Wisconsin's best shot and still came out victorious. Well, maybe not Wisconsin's best game of the year, but Tucker was outstanding as always and Taylor kept hitting 3s down the stretch, but IU responded every time. Ratliffe was spectacular in the second half -- hitting 3s, taking it to the rim, hitting pull-up jumpers. He was on fire! I think he had 18 points in the second half. D.J. was solid as always and I thought Calloway had a really good game (except for one really bad turnover with about 3 1/2 minutes to go). Overall, it was a great team effort and the crowd was going crazy. What a great win. Tomorrow will be the only day of the year that I will look forward to getting to work!
Go Hoosiers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Pre-game commentary:
I must admit that I am not only concerned about tomorrow night's game against # 2 Wisconsin, but I am also concerned about this whole stretch of the schedule. After Wisconsin, the Hoosiers play 3 out of 4 games on the road and all of those games are against decent teams (@ Iowa, Illinois, @ Purdue, @ Michigan). The good news is that they finish with the bottom 3 teams in the conference within their last 4 games (Minnesota, @ MSU, @ NW, Penn State).
So, if you look at the remaining schedule in those 2 stretches….if IU can go 3-2 over the next 5 games and go 3-1 in the final 4 games, they should be in great position to be "the best of the rest", meaning 3rd place behind Wisconsin and Ohio State.
Or even if they would go 2-3 over the next 5 games and 3-1 in the final 4 games, they would would still be 10-6 in the conference and have 20 wins heading into the Big Ten tournament.
But wait, Mike Davis is no longer our coach, which means we no longer have to look at a stretch of games and think it would be OK to win 2 of the next 5 games just because we have some road games. No sir, that's a loser's mentality.
Instead, I think Sampson has this team focused on one thing and one thing only -- tomorrow night's game against Wisconsin. And if they do pull off the victory against Wisconsin, then Hoosier fans don't have to talk about "the best of the rest". Instead, we can talk about contending for a Big Ten title. Of course, the team still has to take it one game at a time, but the fans can talk about whatever they want.
Even though I wouldn't put money down in Vegas on this prediction, I do believe in the power of positive thinking. And that is why I am predicting a buzzer-beating Hoosier victory! IU 67 Wisconsin 66.
Tucker is a true star and I think he will have a good game, but I think our shooters really like Assembly Hall. The 3-point shooting will be the difference and the Hoosiers will pull out a close one. And then I get to bring donuts into work and send out an email that says "all of you Badger fans without any pride can stop over for some verbal abuse and a donut." The sad thing is that they do actually stop over (I have done this in previous years).
Go IU!
REMINDER: Eric Gordon on ESPN2 on Thursday!
So, if you look at the remaining schedule in those 2 stretches….if IU can go 3-2 over the next 5 games and go 3-1 in the final 4 games, they should be in great position to be "the best of the rest", meaning 3rd place behind Wisconsin and Ohio State.
Or even if they would go 2-3 over the next 5 games and 3-1 in the final 4 games, they would would still be 10-6 in the conference and have 20 wins heading into the Big Ten tournament.
But wait, Mike Davis is no longer our coach, which means we no longer have to look at a stretch of games and think it would be OK to win 2 of the next 5 games just because we have some road games. No sir, that's a loser's mentality.
Instead, I think Sampson has this team focused on one thing and one thing only -- tomorrow night's game against Wisconsin. And if they do pull off the victory against Wisconsin, then Hoosier fans don't have to talk about "the best of the rest". Instead, we can talk about contending for a Big Ten title. Of course, the team still has to take it one game at a time, but the fans can talk about whatever they want.
Even though I wouldn't put money down in Vegas on this prediction, I do believe in the power of positive thinking. And that is why I am predicting a buzzer-beating Hoosier victory! IU 67 Wisconsin 66.
Tucker is a true star and I think he will have a good game, but I think our shooters really like Assembly Hall. The 3-point shooting will be the difference and the Hoosiers will pull out a close one. And then I get to bring donuts into work and send out an email that says "all of you Badger fans without any pride can stop over for some verbal abuse and a donut." The sad thing is that they do actually stop over (I have done this in previous years).
Go IU!
REMINDER: Eric Gordon on ESPN2 on Thursday!
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