IU Hoops

Indiana Wins, Purdue Loses

noreply@blogger.com (jdhoosier) — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 02:45:00 +0000

Honestly, I'm so pumped that all I can remember is Remy's 3!!!!!! What a shot by an unheralded freshman!

I guess I remember Purdue's crazy 8-40, 0 turnover first half performance. That's just crazy. 40 shots in a half of a game that was not up-tempo! What's even crazier, 0 turnovers and 40 FG attempts and only 22 points. IU wasn't exactly lighting it up, but that was some putrid shooting by the Boilers. And they weren't just misses, there was brick after brick after brick, followed by an airball. Even Hummel was sending shots off the backboard like he was trying to break it.

After falling behind 13-8 early, IU finished the half with a 25-9 run to have a nice 11 point lead at the half. But, as I was texting Tom at half, if PU starts hitting, it could be trouble. As predicted, Purdue came out on fire -- they were nailing 3s after going 0-11 in the first half. However, the Hoosiers kept scrapping and kept finding a way to score. The lead would dip to 7, but IU would answer to keep the lead at 9 or 10. IU even pushed the lead to 13 at one point, but then Purdue made their run. The Hoosiers were impressive at the line, but Zeller and Elston missed back to back front ends and left the door open for Purdue. The Boilers took advantage and cut the lead to 5.

Somewhere near the 4-minute timeout, it looked like the Hoosiers might completely collapse. Hummel hit 2 freebies to cut the lead to 4, which was the closest the game was since the early-going. After a couple more possessions, the lead was 6. That's when somebody found Remy in the corner, the freshman caught and fired with confidence.........BUCKETS, IT WAS BUCKETS! (Pretty sure that's how Daryl Thomas described Keith Smart's shot). What a shot by the freshman from Kentucky. I love this kid. He could really, really be a good one.

From there, the Hoosiers buried them! After PU only turned it over 1 time in the first 36-or-so minutes, they suddenly started turning it over every possession. Next thing you know, IU is up 17 and clearing the bench. Beautiful, just beautiful.

Another big rivalry win and I am back inside, safely off the ledge.

Go Hoosiers!!!!

P.S. - I forgot to mention that Victor was outstanding. The most athletic player on the floor used his superior athleticism to a big-time advantage. Nicely done, Vic! He even hit a 3 for the first time in who knows how long and was outstanding at the line. And his sophomore running mate came back to form as well. It was great to see Sheeladipo back in form!

Indiana/Michigan according to Twitter

noreply@blogger.com (jdhoosier) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 04:29:00 +0000

@IUSportcomIUSC

Turnovers and threes have been the story so far. Mich 4 threes, 0 TOS; IU 0 threes and 5 TOs.

@peegsMike Pegram

Indiana shooting just 27.3% with five turnovers here in first nine minutes

@IUSportcomIUSC

@CrimsonCast maybe Crean likes the zone because it makes his offense look so bad in practice?

@ChronicHoosierChronic Hoosier

That #iubb offense that scored 103 against Iowa is on track to score 27 against Michigan.

@AssemblyCallThe Assembly Call

That was just some terrific off-ball defense by Watford. This is some extreme sarcasm by me.

@AssemblyCallThe Assembly Call

Is Will Sheehey drunk?

@CrimsonCastCrimsonCast

Verdell is a master of the old "go behind your back 20 feet from the basket and then stop your dribble" move.

@ids_sportsIDS Sports

The lead keeps growing in Ann Arbor. Michigan leads 27-8 with 7:36 left in 1st half. Still no timeout has been taken by IU to stop the run.

@ids_sportsIDS Sports

Michigan has 6 assists and 0 turnovers. IU has 0 assists and 7 turnovers.

@AssemblyCallThe Assembly Call

Early start, so I was going to watch without beer today. Made last second decision to grab 6-pack. Best decision ever.

@ChronicHoosierChronic Hoosier

Well, this is a hot fucking mess, isn't it?

@AssemblyCallThe Assembly Call

Coach Crean's clapping seems as enthusiastic as normal, so it's not that...

@IUSportcomIUSC

Crean hasn't yet called a time out.

@BtownBannersBtownBanners.com

Indiana goes on a run, Michigan calls a Time-Out. #GroundBreaking idea right there... #iubb

@IUSportcomIUSC

Maybe Crean was waiting for Beilein to call timeout first... you know, mental advantage?

@AssemblyCallThe Assembly Call

Based on what I've seen so far in this game, there is little reason for Watford to play again.

@ChronicHoosierChronic Hoosier

From his 1/23 radio show. RT @DustinDopirak: Crean "The greatest feeling when you win a game and have timeouts in your pocket."

@AssemblyCallThe Assembly Call

How come they never show Dusty Keil at IU basketball games? Oh...

@CrimsonCastCrimsonCast

Brilliant set of plays there at the end

@ids_sportsIDS Sports

Michigan still with just 1 turnover at half

@AssemblyCallThe Assembly Call

Positive: IU committed only 2 fouls in the 1st half. Negative: We were rarely close enough to a Michigan player on D to commit one.

@CrimsonCastCrimsonCast

Why is sheehey still in?

@insidethehallAlex Bozich

Even John Beilein can't believe this call and it's in his favor.

@kbikoffKen Bikoff

There is no situation where a made basket + a block equals a basket and possession. It's just not the call.

@AssemblyCallThe Assembly Call

THe officials have decided we're now going to play make it-take it.

@AssemblyCallThe Assembly Call

I love how Victor has responded to becoming the 6th man, but I'd be okay with him not shooting anymore 3s. Maybe ever.

@CrimsonCastCrimsonCast

Two huge possessions, two empty possessions. Our offensive plan is laughable

@ChronicHoosierChronic Hoosier

Time to sack the fuck up & finish this one, boys.

@ids_sportsIDS Sports

Hardaway Jr. hits a big 3 from the left corner and Elston misses the front end of the one-and-one. IU down 55-50 with 2:25 left.

@insidethehallAlex Bozich

Hoosiers leaving too many points on the foul line.

@bigtengeeksJosh and Mike

That was Michigan's 3rd offensive rebound all game. Nice timing.

@AssemblyCallThe Assembly Call

Two straight 3s for Michigan. Slipping away. 58-50 Michigan.

@CrimsonCastCrimsonCast

All those timeouts will sure come in handy now

@CrimsonCastCrimsonCast

Great timeout, gives us a chance to set up another watford foul

@ChronicHoosierChronic Hoosier

So, we saved all those TO's to plot a desperate comeback rather than use them to stop a runaway start, w/o which we wouldn't be here. Got it

@AssemblyCallThe Assembly Call

Looking more and more like the quick 13-0 start by Michigan will be the difference in this one.

@bigtengeeksJosh and Mike

IU defense continues to show cracks. Just a roller coaster of expectations this year for the Hoosiers.

@insidethehallAlex Bozich

Hulls hit 4-of-5 from behind 3-point line. Everyone else? 1-of-9.

@IUSportcomIUSC

Sheehey played 7 minutes in 1st, 3 in the second. No points, two fouls, 3 TOs.

@indianauniverseIndianaUniverse.com

Crean on the post game interview, "Our starting line up was a joke. An absolute joke." He's not wrong.

@CrimsonCastCrimsonCast

How do you not have your team ready for a crucial road game against an opponent you already played down to the wire?

@insidethehallAlex Bozich

Fischer just said that's as negative as he's ever heard Crean talk about his team.

@peegsMike Pegram

Crean: "Our players came out like they had seen a ghost"

@DustinDopirakDustin Dopirak

Crean: "I'm looking for guys in February that are playing with a warrior spirit."

@ids_sportsIDS Sports

Crean on waiting for the first media timeout: "It was all us. It wasn't anything that a timeout was going to correct."

@DustinDopirakDustin Dopirak

Crean: "They're human beings, young ones. I'm not going to make an excuse for them. They just weren't very good tonight."

@ChronicHoosierChronic Hoosier

If Crean shares the opinion that tonight's starters were an "absolute joke," why'd he wait so long to pull them? Can't wait for media TO's.

@ids_sportsIDS Sports

Crean complimentary on freshman Remy Abell. "He will play more there's no question about that."

@DustinDopirakDustin Dopirak

Crean: "We stayed in front of the ball (after the first five minutes.) we were over-helping big time."

@DustinDopirakDustin Dopirak

Crean: "We didn't move very well on offense. We were very stand-still on our cutting game."

@ids_sportsIDS Sports

Crean: "I'm not real interested in motivation. I'm interested in playing the guys that are going to come in and be fearless."

@ChronicHoosierChronic Hoosier

How many points allowed w/ subs at the table? RT @peegs: Crean: on the bad start: "It wasn't anything a timeout was going to correct"

@ChronicHoosierChronic Hoosier

Let's be honest with ourselves, Crean coaches like 15 yr olds fuck: just a mess of frantic activity without ever hitting the right spots.

Inexcusable, Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (jdhoosier) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 01:35:00 +0000

I know it's tough on the road in the Big Ten but you have to at least show up to give yourself a chance.

13-0. Game over.

Or if you're the type to think maybe the start was a fluke and they can come back....

28-8. Officially game over.

I don't care that they got it down to single digits. I don't care that they got it down to 2 with a 29-10 stretch and still had 13 minutes to play.

This team down by 20 on the road is game over. I knew they'd fuck with me. I knew they'd make a run. I knew they'd get my hopes up. And I even knew they were still going to lose. Yet, I still fell for it. I got back into the game. I got my hopes up. Only to have those hopes shattered.

It happens all the time. They fight all the way back but can't get over the hump. A couple bonehead plays followed by a couple horrible calls. Next thing you know, down by 9 again. Game over, again.

Then it happens again. Another mini-run. Back down to a 2-point game with 3:20 to go. But the same ole shit cost the Hoosiers again. Missed FTs down the stretch (Cody 1-2, Watford 1-2, Elston missed front end). Allowing offensive rebounds -- not going to get key stops if you give them multiple opportunities. Bad defense -- not stopping the drive leading to a pair of wide-open 3s that were daggers.

Let's take a closer look at the final collapse of the Hoosiers:
* IU cuts it to 52-50 with 3:20 to go
* Horrible defense allows a wide-open 3, 55-50, 2:50
* Elston misses the front-end
* IU allows MI to get an offensive rebound, 2nd opportunity leads to wide-open MI 3, 58-50, 1:40
* MI hits 10-12 at the line to win by 12

Note to Coach Tom Crean -- timeouts don't help when your down by 8 points with only a minute left. Maybe consider using one while you are absolutely getting your ass handed to you. Just a thought. But you're the one getting paid millions of dollars to not win a conference road game outside of Penn State in 4 years.

Inexcusable....AGAIN!

Inexcusable

noreply@blogger.com (jdhoosier) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 02:10:00 +0000

An 11-point lead with about 6 minutes to go to the worst team in the conference and you blow it.

Turnovers.
Bad shots.
Pointless possessions.
Bad coaching. (9 secs on shot clock after a TO and you end up with Roth going 1-on-1?)
Missed front-end in the clutch.
Horrific defense all game long.
The shots to win the game included hitting the underside of the rim and throwing something up falling out of bounds.

3 losses in a row.
A losing record in the Big Ten.
Haven't won a conference road game outside of Happy Valley in almost 4 years.

From Top Ten in the country to a team that looks like it may not even make the tournament.

Pathetic.
Shameful.

I wrote this to try to feel a tad bit better. It didn't work. I'm out.

Ask the Idiot

noreply@blogger.com (jdhoosier) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 05:42:00 +0000

Two questions from a reader in Cincinnati, OH:

Q: Now that we are 1/3 of the way through the Big Ten season, what are your predictions for IU's finish in the Big Ten regular season and their possible seedings for the Big Ten and NCAA tournaments?

A: I had predicted IU to be 3-3 at this point in the season even though I wrongly predicted the first OSU game and Minnesota game. At this point, I don't see any reason to change my original prediction of 11-7. Going 8-4 over the last 12 games in the grind that is the Big Ten conference seems daunting, but two things still have me believing in this team -- Cody Zeller and their ability to shoot the basketball. There are concerns with this team, but I choose to focus on the positive.

Good question on the possible seeding in the Big Ten tournament. Right now, it looks like they could very well finish in an 8-way tie or something like that. I'm going to go with a #4 seed in the Big Ten tournament.

As for the NCAA tournament, I'm going to go with a #4 seed there as well. I was surprised that we only dropped to #11/#13 in this week's polls. I thought the pollsters would use last week as an opportunity to say "told you so about the Hoosiers". But considereing where the Hoosiers are right now, if they can go 8-4 the rest of the way, they will probably hang in the teens in the rankings. Then, those two huge wins should treat them well on Selection Sunday.

Q: Will I ever recover from the sports disaster that I witnessed on Sunday, January 15, a day that will live in infamy?

A: No, you'll never fully recover. Time heals, but I am pretty sure that we share a common bond of puking a little in your mouth anytime someone says "4th and 26" and even after old-age, dimentia, and alzheimers fully set in, you'll still remember the name "Brendan Plavich".

Question from Kokomo, IN:

Q: Is it "Opposite Day"?

A: Today is Opposite Day. Of course, if this statement is true and today is indeed opposite day, then that statement must be interpreted as "today is NOT opposite day".

A series of questions from Wauwatosa, WI:

Q: When is it appropriate to use the on-side kick in a home playoff game?

A: Only when it works.

Q: When is it appropriate to call time out on 4th down with 11 seconds to go in the half?

A: When you have the ball and it is 4th and Goal inside the 1-yard line and you want to decide whether or not to go for it. Probably not the scenario you had in mind.

Q: Do you like the State Farm commercials as much now that the Packers have lost?

A: If you are talking about the one where Jerry drove his car up a pole and regrets dropping his State Farm insurance, I never really liked that one.

Q: How many points is the home court advantage really worth in the Big Ten?

A: Vegas will tell you 3-4 points, I say more. The Indiana/Ohio State sample says about 10.5, but I would say 6-7 points in the Big Ten.

Q: The Hoosier woes are front page news today (Monday) on the IndyStar website.

A: Not really a question, but I'll comment anyway. To me, this just is another example that we're back. We're relevant again and the Hoosiers rule the state. Any news -- good or bad -- is going to be big news right now.

Another K-town reader asks:

Q: Why does my boy Slick Vic Oladipo Makesha take a bonehead 3 or a runner in the lane with under 3:00 min to go? This bothers me idiot.

A: Vic's going to be fine, just going through some growing pains right now. There's no doubt that Oladipo has greatly improved this year, but he needs to make some adjustments to his game for conference play. A guy like Vic looks like an NBA player against the cupcake schedule -- he gets steals from weak ball-handlers and drives right around poor defenders for dunks. However, it's a different game in the Big Ten. Every possession is a war and you have to be sound in every area to win the war. On the defensive end, Oladipo needs to take fewer chances and focus on playing solid D for the entire shot clock. On the offensive end, he needs to let the game come to him and focus on his strengths such as slashing to the basket, finding open spots in the defense, getting offensive rebounds, and dunking everything possible. Word is that he worked incredibly hard on his jumper this past off-season, so I am sure he is very frustrated that it's not falling right now.

I think that's all the Ask The Idiot questions for this go-round. Perhaps we'll do it again later in the season.

Go Hoosiers!

IU's First Disappointing Loss of the Season

noreply@blogger.com (jdhoosier) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 05:26:00 +0000

I think we all knew this was coming. I don't think any of us truly believed we were a top 10 team in the country (or top 5 if we would have been ranked appropriately). But man, it has been a fun ride to this point and I was certainly hoping the fun would not be paused with a home loss to the 0-4 Minnesota Gophers. With a road game at Ohio State coming up this weekend, I had planned to get a win in tonight's game and likely lose at OSU and possibly even hang onto a top 10 spot. Now, with tonight's loss, IU needs to shock the world yet again to avoid dropping like a rock in the rankings. I don't see that happening, but heck, I didn't even think they would win at Evansville. Or against Butler. Or at NC State. Certainly not against #1 Kentucky. Maybe not against Notre Dame. Probably not at Michigan State (which they didn't). And no way against #2 Ohio State. So, my lack of faith has a pretty good record so far.

So what the hell went wrong tonight? For starters, here's a list:
* piss-poor defense (a disturbing trend in conference play)
* Watford & Jones 1-13 with 7 turnovers
* Giving up way too many offensive rebounds, especially in key moments down the stretch
* 6 assists to 16 turnovers

But I think the biggest thing that went wrong tonight was the thing that had fueled them to a 15-1 record. IU was just 4-18 from the arc and 2 of those makes came late in the game by Roth. The strange thing is that I looked at one stat before this game that gave me supreme confidence that we would win the game -- IU leading the nation in 3PT% against Minnesota's 289th ranked 3PT defense. That just plain and simply did not come to fruition tonight. I thought Minnesota defended the 3 well and IU did not knock down the shots when they had them.

Of course, some of the bullet points above also play into this. Another stat that looked to be a big IU advantage heading in was Minnesota 231st in Offensive Turnover % against IU's 34th ranked Defensive Turnover %. Yet, IU only forced 11 Gopher turnovers. IU's defense has fueled the offense all season, but it just wasn't there tonight. They gave up open 3s early and gave up way way way too much penetration all night long. The penetration led to help defense, which in turn led to giving up offensive rebounds and failed to provide transition opportunities for the offense.

Then, there was the 6 assists to 16 turnovers. Terrible! The passing was atrocious all night long. There must have been 15 bounce-passes that didn't bounce 10 inches up off the ground. Cody bailed out a few of those and IU had a few fortunate bounces or the turnover number would have been even worse. And even if it's not a near turnover, one bad pass can slow the ball movement and not allow the opportunity for the next pass to lead to an open shot. The offensive flow has to be crisp and passes need to be on target. When I start my new business -- Next Level Statistics -- passing accuracy will be one of the key stats. I think it is incredibly important in basketball and it's not measured. To me, one bad pass in an offensive possession in basketball is just like an incompletion in football. Obviously, a turnover is like an interception. But even a bad pass that does not directly lead to a turnover is like an incomplete pass and loss of down. You still have the ball, but it suddenly has become exponentially more difficult to score because of one bad pass.

In the end, it's an incredibly disappointing loss, but the Hoosiers sure built up a lot of goodwill with that 15-1 start. Maybe they shock the world again this weekend, maybe they don't. I'm more concerned with making sure they take care of business the following week at Nebraska and home to Penn State. The Big Ten is going to be a grind, this IU team still has some serious flaws, but they have put themselves in a prime position to have a hugely successful year if they simply take care of business and win the games they should win. Yes, tonight was one of those games, but at least they had banked some unfathomable wins against #1 and #2.

A few more notes in closing:

* Cody is frickin' awesome. Without him, I'd have my hand hovering over the panic button. With him, I truly believe we are a good team. We may have some ups and downs, but we have Cody Zeller, so we're not going to disappear.

* In IU's 2 losses, I've at least liked the fight. Came back from down 18 against MSU and made the final minute tonight very interesting when this game should have been over.

* Hated the final play -- at least give yourself a chance. Watford blindly threw a baseball pass that was deflected out of bounds, then blindly threw another baseball pass that was nowhere near an IU player. That was it? I'd prefer to get it in bounds and at least get a heave in the air (in fairness, if that happened and failed, I'd bitch that we didn't try a baseball pass to get it past half-court). Note: the term "baseball pass" sounds completely bizarre to me right now. So much so, I had to google it to see if that was an actual term. That makes no fucking sense. There aren't any passes in baseball. And it's not like Watford went into a windup before throwing the pass. If anything, it's more like a football pass.

* IU's 22-25 from the line kept them in striking distance (Cody 9-9).

* Late in the game, IU was full-court pressing. After an IU make, Minnesota inbounded and Oladipo deflected it out-of-bounds. As Minnesota went to inbound again, the Gopher player clearly moved his feet while trying to inbound. Sheehey went crazy indicating travel, but no call. I saw it immediately and was also going crazy. Am I not understanding that rule correctly? Once the previous play had been run and it went out of bounds on Oladipo, Minnesota no longer has the right to move on the baseline -- that rule is only on the play immediately following a made basket, not after a ball is knocked out of bounds, right? What am I missing? This was so obvious and right in front of the official with Sheehey literally making the traveling signal to the ref. My only thought is that maybe there is a rule that if the ball is not possessed in the court of play, then the move on the baseline after made basket rule still applies for the next inbounds pass. Anyone know? Because if that was just a plain missed call, it was worthy of throwing a chair across the floor.

* A couple feast or famine players -- Hulls and Oladipo. At times, Hulls seems completely out of sorts with bad decisions that you just don't expect out of him. But then he'll hit a big shot. How about those two plays toward the end of the game? Those were sweet. But we really need him to be rock solid. As for Oladipo, he's supposed to be our defensive stopper, but his men are getting way too much penetration. Yes, he has been fantastic at getting some big turnovers and turning them into points, but there are certain times in the games where you just know you need a defensive stop. You don't need the gamble, you need solid defense and a stop. Seems like Vic is letting his man get a step and get into the lane which in turn breaks down the entire defense which in turn breaks down rebounding position and assignments. We were the better team tonight and if we would have simply played "solid" on both ends of the floor, we should have been able to easily win this home game.

* Word was that Watford was sick earlier in the week and that ankle twist probably didn't help. Not making excuses, just thought it was worth noting.

* We haven't talked much about Remy Abell, but definitely seeing some positive things out of the freshman. Looks like a very promising player.

* Matt Roth needs more shots. I don't care how they do it, just find a way to get more looks for Matt Roth. What an amazing shooter.

* Great to see Will Sheehey back. 12 points and 6 rebounds in only 15 minutes was outstanding. Just wish it could have been in a winning effort.

Let's get back on track, Hoosiers.

We're back. No, Seriously, we are back!

noreply@blogger.com (jdhoosier) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 05:14:00 +0000

Hi there, how ya doin? It's been a while since we chatted. Not really much going on, though. I mean, sure, we beat #2 Ohio State on New Year's Eve, but what's the big deal after you already beat #1? Yeah, we played like crap tonight and still managed to beat a team that was ranked just below us, but the national morons will say it was another home game. Obviously, there are a lot of teams that have beat #1, #2, and now #13 or #15 or whatever the hell Michigan was ranked. There must be at least 11 teams that have accomplished at least that much already in the season, right? Or perhaps voters are just idiots who look at preseason rankings and adjust a couple spots up or down based on whether teams won or lost that week. Here's an idea -- look at the actual results and rank accordingly. I know, a radical idea that is probably way before it's time, but I'm just putting it out there.

Listen, I honestly don't care about the rankings at this point in the season. They are meaningless right now. I just think it's fun to talk about because I am a fan of college basketball. A fan of INDIANA BASKETBALL.

The reality is that I am ecstatic to be sitting hear bitching about not being in the Top 10 because it means we are playing Top 10 caliber basketball. We. Are. Back. No, seriously voters, we are back. If you took your job seriously, we should be #2 next week. Of course, that's only if we hold up our end of the donkey and win at Penn State this Sunday. A feat by which Purdue failed miserably at tonight (65-45 PSU).

I'm all in on these Hoosiers. ALL IN. I was talking to Tommy Boy this evening as he was driving down 37 approaching Bloomington -- what a great IU fan, in the Hall on a Thursday night and he'll be back next Thursday night against Minnesota. Anyway, I told him that I am "at risk" for tonight's game because I'm all in and if they lose tonight.....well, I just might not take it so well. But.....they didn't! At times, it looked like they were trying to lose, but in the end, it's another big win over another ranked team.

Truly amazing. Briefly, looking back at the NYE win over OSU, they did that without Sheehey and only 4 second half minutes from Cody. You have to love this team. You have to.

Tonight, they looked great building the big first half lead, but then it was turnovers, missed FTs, and horrible defense. But you know what, good teams find a way. They find a way to hang on at home. Christian Watford was fantastic yet again. I'm pretty sure he has not missed from "the spot" since "the shot".

Pinch yourselves, Hoosier fans. IU opened conference play against 3 straight ranked opponents. A key player in Will Sheehey was out for all 3 games. They lost the first of those games. But here we sit, 2-1 after a brutal 3-game stretch.

Now, it's time to win on the road in conference play. Trust me, I love it that Purdue got dropped by 20 by Penn State, but Purdue is no slouch. So, I don't think there is any guarantee that IU goes on the road to Happy Valley (doesn't quite sound right after the scandal, does it?) and get an easy win. BUT, it is a game they should win and a game they need to win. Get the W, and we will be Top 10 -- probably not #2 like we should be, but it should be Top 10.

Let's go get it.

Ho Ho Hoooollllyyy Shit, 12-0!

noreply@blogger.com (jdhoosier) — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 20:28:00 +0000

A gift from the Indiana Men's Basketball team to you:

12-0

Good ole Santie Claus is going to have a hard time topping that.

I, for one, did not see this coming.

Game 3 @ Evansville, I was giving us a 50/50 shot of winning. What reason did we have to believe that IU could go on the road and win a game? It had only happened once or twice in the past 3 years. Evansville had already beat Butler -- a Butler team that has now recently beat Purdue (ha ha ha ha ha HAAAAAAAA-ha) and Stanford -- so I figured it was at least a decent Evansville team and they were opening a brand new arena to boot. Wait, before I go on, one more "ha" for that Purdue choke-job against Butler -- HA! I know, I know, that was a little obnoxious, almost like the IU fans that I thought might storm the floor when Butler tipped in the game-winner with 1 second to go against Purdue. But hey, it's a rivalry.

Anyway, back to that early season road game at Evansville. I think there were valid reasons to wonder if IU would win that game. Not only did they win, it was a blowout from the get-go. The Hoosiers easily pass their first test.

Next test -- the aforementioned Butler Bulldogs. No, this Butler team is not the caliber of their NCAA runner-up teams of the past two seasons, but you still knew they were going to play hard, play smart, and be a tough test for the Hoosiers. The first half was tight and appeared to be the exact style of game that Butler wanted. But then the Hoosiers blew them out of the gym in the second half. Mission accomplished for the second test.

Next would be a road game in the B1G/ACC Challenge at NC State. Down by 7 with 7 minutes to play, I considered this game over. This game was all too familiar to games of the past 3 years -- IU plays tough for about 30 minutes, but then fades late. But wait, in this case, the exact opposite happened. The Hoosiers found another gear and stomped on the Wolfpack. They quickly erased that 7-point deficit and then went on to win by double-digits (by the way, 11 of their 12 wins have been by double-digits and I think you are familiar with the only one that wasn't).

Ok, Hoosiers, now you have my attention. An 8-0 record with some nice wins that were done in impressive fashion. Zeller is every bit as good as advertised. Sheeladipo has made HUGE strides from their freshmen to sophomore seasons. Hulls is an assassin from downtown. Verdell is not forcing things. Watford is heating up after a slow start. Elston is playing good off the bench to round out a very solid top 7. The Pritch is finally playing a role that suits him -- a big man off the bench for some spot minutes.

Color me might impressed so far. But here comes #1 Kentucky. Honestly, 1 week out from this game, I gave IU a 0% chance of winning the game. But then, I saw students camping out on Tuesday for a Saturday game. Camp Crean would be shut down later that day due to cold weather and finals week, but many of the die-hards got photos with Crean and were handed vouchers to be first in line on Saturday morning. From that Tuesday leading up to the Saturday game, the buzz in Bloomington, online, and all throughout Hoosier Nation kept building and building and building until it was an insane atmosphere inside Assembly Hall even before tip-off. The buzz and atmosphere shot my confidence all the way up to a 1% chance of winning. Assemply Hall was absolutely electric the ENTIRE game and then deservedly went apeshit when Watford hit that ever-so-sweet buzzer-beater. Keith Smart's shot has to be #1 because it was for the NCAA title, but I now rank Watford's shot as #2 all-time in Indiana basketball history. I still love the Haston shot and it was a similar circumstance to knock off the #1 team in the country, but two things stand out to elevate the Watford buzzer-beater. One, it was Kentucky. Two, that single shot allowed us to finally rise up from the depths of the hell that we had been living in and back onto the national stage. It was the official turning of the corner and it was glorious.

The post with the highlight videos and pictures from the Kentucky game are still posted below if you still just can't get enough. I've only watched that shot a couple hundred times.

Then it was off to the Crossroads Classic in Indy. It wasn't IU's best game, but they avoided the let-down and beat a down Notre Dame team by double-digits.

IU has even been impressive in their beat-downs of the cupcake teams on their schedule. It wasn't long ago that we were losing to the likes of Lipscomb, but IU handled their two opponents this week with an impressive 99-point margin of victory, including a 57-point drubbing of Howard.

Clearly, nobody saw this good of a start coming and unfortunately that actually hurts IU in the rankings. I don't understand why the fact that the voters didn't have IU anywhere on their pre-season radar should mean that IU has to slowly climb the rankings. They should be ranked according to their body of work. It doesn't make sense to me. If voters thought Cody Zeller was going to be the best basketball player to ever play the game of basketball and therefore they voted IU as pre-season #1, then IU would be #1 right now. Or, if IU was preseason #15, they would probably be #4 right now. Or if they were pre-season #25, they would probably be #10 right now. Or if they were even getting pre-season votes at all, they would probably be about #12 right now. But because they weren't even on the radar, they have only made it to #17/#18 even though they are one of only 6 unbeaten teams in the country and they have beaten the #1 team in the country!

To be perfectly honest, my concern is that our conference schedule is brutal at the outset. Because we aren't getting the love in the rankings right now, I fear we may even drop out of the rankings if we have a rough start to conference play. And I happen to really, really, really like seeing that little number in front of 'Indiana' again. We've missed you, my friend.

But the question remains -- exactly how good is this team? I still think it's a tough call and the grind of an 18-game B1G conference schedule will help clear that up. So, why don't we go ahead and make some predictions on conference play.

It should be noted that the injuries have suddenly become a huge concern for this team. Both Sheehey and Elston missed last night's game and then Verdell also slipped and went down awkwardly. He left the game and did not return. Elston is expected to be back with a facemask for his broken nose. But Sheehey was on crutches and looks like he might miss some games. Word on the interwebs was a severely sprained ankle, but IU only described it as a "lower leg injury". I guess the good news is that Crean did not think it was a long-term injury, but no Sheehey against Michigan State, Ohio State, and Michigan could mean trouble. As for Verdell, he took an awkward spill that looked to be a groin or hip injury. I haven't read much today on his status, but Crean's post-game comments did not make it sound severe. But if Verdell does miss some time on top of Sheehey being out, that could really be problematic.

As long as these injuries are short-term and the Hoosiers don't panic if they take a couple losses to open conference play, I think they'll be just fine long-term.

Before I get to the game-by-game predictions, I will state that I do think this is a really good team. They have an extremely skilled, talented, and smart big man in the middle. They have wing players that can slash, get to the rim, shoot mid-range, get to the foul line, and shoot the 3. They have a player in Christian Watford that hit the big shot and is capable of big games. They have a guy in Jordan Hulls that simply does not miss. Check that, Hulls streak of 58 consecutive free throws ended last night. It was the longest streak ever in the Big Ten and 10th longest of all-time. Nicely done. Here's to starting a new streak. Hulls is a big reason why IU is leading the nation in 3-point percentage, but IU has several guys that can shoot from the arc and that's the perfect complement to Zeller in the middle. Most importantly, this team is playing hard and they are playing as a team. The ball movement has been outstanding, which leads to high percentage shots, and they are knocking those shots down. That will get a lot tougher against Big Ten defenses, but you have to have guys that can put the biscuit in the basket.

So, here we go, my predictions for conference play:

Loss @ MSU. Perfection comes to an end at the Breslin Center.
Loss vs. OSU. Would be quite a statement to knock off another top-ranked team, but I ain't seeing it.
Win vs. Michigan. If they do lose the first two, this one would be critical.
Win @ Penn St.
Win vs. Minnesota
Loss @ OSU
Win @ Nebraska
Win vs. Penn St.
Loss @ Wisconsin
Win vs. Iowa
Loss @ Michigan
Loss @ Purdue
Win vs. Illinois
Win vs. NW
Win @ Iowa (then a non-conf win against NC Central to give IU a 13-0 non-conf record)
Loss @ Minnesota
Win vs. MSU
Win vs. Purdue

So, that would be 11-7 in conference for a 24-7 overall record heading into the Big Ten Tourney. Ho Ho Holy Shit! That would be fantastic! Solidly in the Big Dance.

Basically, the above predictions mean winning at home (except OSU) and beating the bottom-feeders on the road. I'm sure there will be a couple disappointing losses along the way, but I also think this team is capable of some more big wins as well, so I feel good about the 11-7 prediction. The great news is with this incredible 12-0 start, even 9-9 should be safely in the NCAA tournament.

Let's get it done!

Hoo- Hoo- Hoo- HOOSIERS!

Indiana 73 Kentucky 72

noreply@blogger.com (jdhoosier) — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 01:41:00 +0000

Multiple angles and fans reacting from New York to Bloomington to San Diego (set to "This is Indiana"):

Video with Don Fischer's call:

Fans go crazy at Nick's:

Fans celebrate on Kirkwood:

Another angle from a fan:

Easy caption for this one: #1 Kentucky Goes Down!

Tweet, tweet:

@ChronicHoosierChronic Hoosier

Dear Kentucky, SUCK IT. -signed, Karma.

@IUMopLadyMarthaMartha the Mop Lady

Yes but I have no idea where I am, or where my clothes are. @hoosierhoops23: @IUMopLadyMartha u alive this morning

@Justin_AlbersJustin Albers

Glass: "IU basketball is back. There couldn't have been a bigger signature win." #iubb

RT @yahooforde: Story filed from Bloomington. Time to go outside Assembly Hall and see if the town is still standing.

@IUMopLadyMarthaMartha the Mop Lady

Anyone have my bra?

@DShulman_ESPNDan Shulman

Not sure Ive ever been at a scene quite like the gm at IU today. If I have, not many. Fantastic atmosphere, unforgettable finish. #hoosiers

2014 verbal commit RT @TreyMambaLyles Best game I've ever been to in my life #IUBB

#iubb RT @SethDavisHoops: Christian Watford 3 at buzzer wins the game for Indiana. Might be best regular season game I have ever seen.

@DwyaneWadeDwyane Wade

woooooooooow what a shot. And the walk off by Coach Crean was Swag. #Indiana basketball is back ppl..

RT @YahooForde: Been coming to games at Assembly Hall since 1990. Never seen a scene like this.

@ErinAndrewsErin Andrews

ARE U SERIOUS AMMMMMMMERICA!!!!! Great win Hoosiers.

In case you missed it.....
BTN will replay the game Monday night at 7pm ET/6pm CT as an Instant Classic.

Look Who's 7-0!!!

noreply@blogger.com (jdhoosier) — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 17:52:00 +0000

Where to begin? How about the ending? More specifically, let's start with the final 7:38 in the game at NC State in the B1G/ACC Challenge.

With 7:38 to play on the road, the Hoosiers found themselves down by 7 at a score of 63-56. It was NC State's largest lead of the game and their arena was rocking. In fact, it felt even worse because IU had jumped out to an 11-point lead in the early-going, so NC State had outscored out Hoosiers by 18 in the middle part of the game. To this point, NC State had absolutely dominated IU on the boards. Also, I don't recall the specifics but I know the Wolfpack had hit their first 10 free throws while the Hoosiers had barely been to the line at all.

So, Indiana down 7 with 7 minutes to play on the road.....game over, right? That's what I thought. In fact, there was no doubt in my mind. This game was over. My goodness, IU had only won their 2nd road game in their last 31 tries just a couple weeks ago at Evansville. Now they're trailing by 7 at the under-8 timeout on the road (no magical FLAGS coming out to save the day) against an ACC opponent.

This game was over. But then this happened on their final 17 possessions of the game:

1. Watford 2-2 FTs
2. Zeller 2-2 FTs
3. VJIII turnover

Ok, big deal, we hit 4 straight free throws which is good, but then a Jones turnover halts any momentum. So, what's the big deal? Read on.

4. Zeller DUNK
5. Oladipo DUNK (not a typo, 2 straight dunks for your Indiana Hoosiers)
6. Zeller spin move in the post and double-pump layup
7. Zeller hangs in the air for a beautiful tip-in (this Zeller kid is good)
8. Watford 3-pointer
9. Watford 2-2 FTs
10. Oladipo 1-2 FTs
11. Hulls 2-2 FTs

Let's pause and take a look at the above info. At this point, IU had given up a few buckets as well, but turned that 7-point deficit into a 6-point lead with a 20-7 run. They scored on 10 of 11 possessions, including 2 dunks, a 3-pointer, and going 9-10 from the line. Zeller had 8 points and Watford had 7 points during that span. This is also the time where these two guys started holding their own on the glass as well.

But even with that turn-around and a 6-point lead, it certainly was not over yet. NC State made a free throw and then tipped in the missed 2nd FT to cut it to 3. IU's next possession would be their only other empty possession of the final 17 possessions.

12. Oladipo dunk blocked (great move, but even greater block by CJ Leslie)

On the other end, Watford went up for a block of his own but was whistled for goal-tending.....1-point game. Uh-oh. Have the Hoosiers run out of steam? A big question remained -- could the Hoosiers win a close game in the final two minutes on the road against an ACC team? Well, the most surprising part of that answer was not only could they pull off the win, but they finished so strong in the final two minutes that the final score wouldn't even indicate that it was indeed a close game down the stretch.

Clinging to a 76-75 lead, here's how the Hoosiers finished the final 1:37.

13. Hulls for THREE!!!!! (this shot was a thing of beauty, pure beauty)
14. Sheehey 1-2 FTs
15. Oladipo 2-2 FTs
16. Hulls 2-2 FTs (his 51st & 52nd in a row, by the way)
17. Oladipo EXCLAMATION POINT! (click here to watch the reverse dunk)

Ho-hum, just a 10-0 run to put this one away and give the Hoosiers their 7th straight double-digit win to open the season.

Let's summarize those final 17 possessions that started with a 7-point deficit and ended with an 11-point victory:
* Scored on 15 of 17
* 14-16 FTs
* 2-2 from the arc
* 3 dunks
* 30-12 over final 7:38

Mighty impressive.

Jordan Hulls was outstanding -- not just shooting the basketball, but he had command of the team and this game. 20 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds, 2 steals.

Watford didn't look great early on, but came up huge in the second half. He was the biggest reason that IU finally kept NC State off the glass down the stretch. His late 3 was big and he hit his free throws in the clutch. 16 points and 9 rebounds.

And, of course, there was Cody Zeller. This was easily the most formidable front line he has faced this year. While there were certainly times he looked like a freshman (which he is, by the way) including one difficult stretch early in the 2nd half, but this kid adjusts and always finds a way to contribute to #winning. As noted above, his best stretch came when the Hoosiers needed it most. 19 points, 7 rebounds, 2 blocks, and a steal. As far as the Zellers go.....WE GOT THE BEST ONE!

Note to Mike Patrick: It's Oladipo, not Odalipo. Say it with me....O-LA-DI-PO. In fact, you can chant it. Go ahead, chant it, clap 3 times, repeat.

And a final note, it was great to see some Carolina Hoosiers make it out to this game. In fact, I know one reader of this blog was there.....facebook told me so. Good work, McDoogz! I haven't seen you in over 20 years, so I clearly thought now would be the time for a cheezy nickname. That's why I have a blog.

**********************************

If we needed more of a reason to be excited about this team, let's backtrack a bit further for a brief look at the Butler game.

This game wasn't exactly pretty, especially in the 1st half, but it was another indication that this team may have actually turned the corner. The final 7 minutes of the NC State game proved a lot to me, but I was already excited following the Butler game.

The Butler game was electric and I don't know that I have ever seen two teams play harder. Of course, that effort and excitement led to some extremely sloppy play. It seemed every possession included a loose ball and bodies flying all over the place. The scary part of that was that it looked just like the Butler tournament games of the past 2 seasons. I was concerned that this favored Butler and the Hoosiers could be in trouble in this one.

IU held a 3-point lead at half, but this looked like the exact way that Butler wanted to play. Butler was playing incredibly scrappy and seemed to be their exact formula for their style of winning basketball.

HOWEVER, the Hoosiers not only matched Butler's intensity, they exceeded it. And then something happened in the second half that made it clear the balance of power in the state of Indiana has shifted back to Bloomington. That something was that IU simply had more talent. Yes, finally, we have a talented roster again and I believe it was the difference against Butler. Both teams were playing hard and getting after it, but IU simply had the superior talent and it clearly showed in the second half.

And again, IU didn't just grind this one out against Butler, they stomped on their throat in the second half and pushed the lead over 20 points. It was impressive.

The clear-cut star of this game was Will Sheehey with 21 points off the bench. Sheehey also came up big on the defensive end of the floor by shutting down Chrishawn Hopkins in the second half after Hopkins lit it up in the first half (primarily against Oladipo).

Oh yeah, that Zeller kid did not have his best game. But even when he struggled at times, check out the stat line he still puts up -- 16 points, 8 rebounds, 2 blocks, 3 steals, and 8-10 from the line. And there was this:

One final note related to Butler -- you have to have respect for Brad Stevens and what he has done at Butler. HBO's Real Sports recently did a segment on Brad Stevens.....it's a must watch if you have HBO On Demand.

**********************************

Coming up:

IU hosts Stetson on Sunday and it sure is nice to now be able to chalk these types of games up as victories. That certainly has not been the case the past 3 years. The most interesting part of this game is that IU will be honoring the '87 Championship team. It sounds like most of the big names will be there -- Alford, Smart, Garrett, Thomas, and even Calloway who later transferred to Kansas. One notable that will likely be missing.....the man in the red sweater. Man, it seems like right now would actually be the perfect time for Knight to return. With the fan base at a fever pitch right now about this year's team, that place would go berserko if Knight came strolling out. Glad that the two biggest stars appear to be able to make it -- Alford and Smart -- especially given their coaching schedules.

Then, you know what's next. That's right, Kentucky. They look to have a decent squad this year and may be carrying the #1 ranking into Assembly Hall. Terry Hutchens provides this:

* Indiana has played 17 games against the No. 1 team in the nation. Indiana is 5-12 in those games.

* The last time IU played a No. 1 team was Connecticut in the 2005-06 season. IU lost that game, 88-80 at home.

* The last time IU beat a No. 1 team was the 2001-02 Sweet Sixteen when the Hoosiers knocked off Duke in Rupp Arena, 74-73. The year before that, IU beat Michigan State on Kirk Haston‘s 3-pointer at the buzzer, 59-58.

* IU has played Kentucky six times when the Wildcats were No. 1 in the nation and Indiana is 1-5 in those games.

***************************************

Rankings and Ratings

* Two weeks ago, IU received 2 votes in the Coaches Poll. Last week, IU received 3 votes in the Coaches Poll. Nothing yet in the AP Poll, but I would guess the Hoosiers will be getting a few more votes in both polls next week (assuming a win over Stetson on Sunday).

* SI's Luke Winn has IU at #24 in his most recent Power Rankings.

* IU is 17th in Pomeroy's Ratings.

* IU is 15th in Sagarin's Ratings.

* In the cbssports RPI, the Hoosiers are 45th.

* RealTime RPI has IU 43rd.

* Strength of Schedule - Seeing anything from 193rd to 305th. Regardless, time to cheer for the teams we've beaten to help this number a bit. I suppose playing #1 Kentucky will cause the SOS # to move a lot.

* Indiana is listed as "First Four Out" in Joe Lunardi's Bracketology.

* IU is 8th in the nation in FG%.

* IU is 9th in the nation in 3PT%.

* IU is 10th in the nation in Scoring.

* IU is 22nd in the nation in Steals per game.

* Cody Zeller is 10th in the nation in FG%.

* Jordan Hulls is 23rd in the nation in 3PT%.

* Jordan Hulls does not have enough FTs to qualify for the nation's leaders, but he is 11-11 this season and has made 52 in a row!

*******************************************

Tweet, tweet:

Here are some recent #iubb tweets, most coming after the big win over NC State:

@grosensteinGreg Rosenstein:

Zeller joking about his parents leaving early: "Maybe they shouldn't have come at all. We might have won by 20." #iubb

@dj_white3DJ White

Yessssir Hoosiers. We are back. Big Win

@insidethehallAlex Bozich

RT @kbikoff: Hoosiers showed a lot of fortitude tonight, the kind I didn't know they had.

@ids_sportsIDS Sports

RT @sean_morrison IU made a statement in the state against Butler. They made a statement nationally tonight. #IUBB

@ReggieMillerTNTReggie Miller

Tom Cream has the Hoosiers back, very nice......young kids play HARD!!!

@pdiprimioPete DiPrimio

In case you've forgotten, and Purdue students haven't, they end every timeout with the chant -- "IU sucks!" Then they cheer. Rivarly lives

************************************************

Full Games of Yogi Ferrell and Hanner Perea:

I haven't had time to check these out myself, but saw these links and thought I would pass them along. If anyone has time to watch them, I'd love to hear a report.

Yogi: http://www.highschoolcube.com/schools/imagine-college-prep-high-school-st-louis-missouri/video/2011-state-farm-tournament-of-champions-varsity-basketball-imagine-college-prep-vs-park-tudor-school-201236

Hanner 1: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL072756E15249A78A&feature=viewall

Hanner 2: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLE2C468B927FCF31B&feature=viewall

******************************************

Online IU Post-Game Shows:

Just can't get enough IU coverage on a game? Check out these two post-game shows -- available to listen (or watch in one case) live or recorded.

* Assembly Call IU Postgame Show: http://assemblycall.com/

* Spreecast IU Postgame Show from Crimson Cast: http://www.spreecast.com/events/crimsoncast8

I've checked both of these out after the last two games and both are good and usually have some guests like Alex Bozich from Inside the Hall to talk about the game.

*****************************************

GO HOOSIERS!

Hanner Perea

noreply@blogger.com (jdhoosier) — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 13:48:00 +0000

Ryun just commented on what we have coming next year, so I thought it would be a good time to post this video that Brad forwarded to me.

WARNING: If you don't like dunks, do NOT watch this video!

Thoughts After 3 Games

noreply@blogger.com (jdhoosier) — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 05:54:00 +0000

The first thought that comes to mind....I heart Cody Zeller. This kid appears to be as good as advertised and makes this team better in so many ways. The best news of all....he's only going to get better. He notched a double-double in his debut, marking the 3rd time in 4 years that an IU player has had a double-double in their college debut (Pritchard, Watford). I don't think I'd be going out on a limb to say that Cody will have many more than Pritchard and Watford combined when it is all said and done. My vision for Cody is to stay all 4 years, stay healthy, re-write the record books, 2 Big Ten titles, and a 6th banner. Sure, that's asking a lot, but the key point is that it isn't out of the realm of possibility. He's that good.

Again, his best attribute is how he helps this team in so many ways and makes everyone around him better -- he scores, he rebounds, he gets steals, he gets blocked shots, he makes a decent percent of his free throws, he runs the floor, he doesn't get frazzled, he gets hit in the nuts and still blocks the shot and then calmly tells his coach and the ref resulting in an ejection and 4 free throws that sparked a huge IU run, he gets a steal and dribbles coast-to-coast for a dunk, he catches the ball when thrown to him, he draws double-teams, he passes to the open shooter, and the most refreshing quality of all.....he knows how to put the biscuit in the basket.

Let's take a look at his numbers so far:

* Game 1: 16 pts (5-6 FG; 6-8 FT), 10 rebs, 2 assts, 2 blks, 3 steals

* Game 2: 7 pts (2-3 FG; 3-5 FT), 5 rebs, 0 assts, 1 blk, 6 steals

* Game 3: 14 pts (6-7 FG; 2-3 FT), 9 rebs, 1 asst, 2 blks, 1 steal

That's right, 6 steals in Game 2. The last Hoosier to have 6 steals in a game was Earl Calloway. And take a look at that FG shooting, that's 13-16 on the year for 81.3%. 12.3 ppg, 8.0 rpg, 1.0 apg, 1.7 bpg, 3.3 spg. Pretty damn good.

Now, looking at Zeller with a little more critical eye, I think his biggest fault right now is that he has been beat badly on a couple 1-on-1 post moves by the opponent. Once we play some teams with legitimate big men, I think they will try to go right at him to either try to get him into foul trouble or because they simply like the match-up. Cody is making up for some of those deficiencies with some blocked shots, a lot of steals, and a ton of deflections. He will get better defensively, but I do think some teams will really try to go right at him.

Ok, I'm done with my Cody lovefest (for now), how about the team as a whole? I have to tell ya, after last night's game, I am pretty damn excited. I was predicting a win for IU last night, but considering it was a road game (last road win was 22 months ago) against an Evansville team that had already beaten Butler, I was predicting a close game throughout and a 4-point victory. But this game was never close, IU beat the shit out of them from the outset and held a 24-point lead at halftime! If you did not watch the game live online, you can still watch the replay on espn3.com. I strongly recommend that you at least watch the first half, it's one of the better halves of basketball of the Tom Crean era. The Hoosiers built the lead to 30+ in the second half and the scrubs got plenty of PT in the 94-73 win.

NCAA Basketball Stats

From a team perspective, a few things are jumping out at me:

+ Different guys stepping up and leading the team to victory. Last year, if Watford had 7 points, VJIII had 7 points, and Hulls had 4 points, that would have been a guaranteed loss, no matter who we were playing. Well, that's what happened in the opener against Stony Brook, but thankfully our Super Sophs and Fantastic Freshman came through. Oladipo was sensational with 16 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 steals. Sheehey poured in 13 points and added 5 rebounds in just 10 minutes of play (did not play in second half due to the flu). And we've already talked about Zeller's double-double. We also got nice contributions from Elston (11 pts), Roth (8 pts), and Etherington (8 pts).

NCAA Basketball

In Game 2, a 78-53 win over Chattanooga, Oladipo was terrific once again with 21 points and 5 rebounds. Verdell had a nice night with 16 points and 4 steals, but the turnover bug got him again with 5 turnovers. The good news is that Verdell has been pretty steady with the ball outside of this game. However, Game 2 belonged to Jordan Hulls. He caught fire from the arc with 6-9 from long distance for 18 points.

College Basketball Stats

Then, in the Evansville game, it was Watford that stepped up. After struggling with his shot in the first two games, Watford really sparked the Hoosiers in this game. He had 15 points (5-7 FG, 2-3 3PT, 3-3 FT) and 8 rebounds. Verdell was also outstanding in this one with 17 points that was sparked by a perfect 4-4 from the arc. Verdell added 7 assists against 3 turnovers, 5 rebounds, and 2 blocks. Also, Hulls was really good again with 14 points (5-7 FG, 2-3 3PT, 2-2 FT). In this game, I thought Oladipo and Sheehey were pressing and forcing the issue a bit (both 3-8 FG). I think both those guys are at their best when they play with high energy, but still let the game come to them and take advantage of those opportunities.

NCAA Basketball Stats

I love that we don't have to rely on any one or two guys to have a great game or we're screwed. Between Verdell, Watford, Hulls, Oladipo, Sheehey, and Zeller, I think we have 6 guys that can have big nights and lead this team to victory.

Hot Shooting - Through 3 games, IU is shooting 57% from the field, 47% from the arc, and 74% from the line.

Defense - I thought the defense was terrible in the opener against Stony Brook, but greatly improved the last two games. It's tough to tell against lesser competition, but these guys have been getting after it on defense, getting steals, and a ton of deflections.

NCAA Tourney? Yes, it's very very early, but I'm feeling like my 16-17 predicted wins may have been selling this team short. I still think the tournament is a stretch, but I think this team has potential to be on the bubble. The biggest questions that remain are whether they can win close games and whether they can win on the road in the Big Ten.

Other Notes:
* Tom Pritchard has just 23 minutes, 2 points, and 2 rebounds this season.
* Elston is off to a nice start with 10-14 from the field and 2-3 from th arc.
* Jordan Hulls only has 2 rebounds in 3 games (81 minutes), Daniel Moore has 7 rebounds in 3 games (30 minutes).
* Assist-to-turnover: Jones 16:9, Hulls 11:6, Moore 5:1
* Cody Zeller leads the team in rebounds, blocks, and steals
* Oladipo leads the team in scoring (15 ppg). I didn't even have him on the poll question.
* FG Shooting: Zeller (81%), Elston (71%), Hulls (68%), Oladipo (62%)
* Our "pure shooters" are 13-20 from the arc -- Hulls 8-13, Roth 3-5, Etherington 2-2
* Jordan Hulls has made 43 consecutive free throws. Problem is that he's only shot 2 this year. You make 'em at that rate and you have to find ways to get to the line more often.

Next Up: Savannah State on Saturday night at 8pm ET (7pm CT) on BTN.

Prediction: IU 81 SSU 60

Go Hoosiers!

IU 96 Stony Brook 66

noreply@blogger.com (jdhoosier) — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 23:43:00 +0000

Open for comments.

Are You Ready?

noreply@blogger.com (jdhoosier) — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 05:25:00 +0000

Indiana Basketball: 5 Things to Watch This Season

noreply@blogger.com (jdhoosier) — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 03:00:00 +0000

The season is here! IU's one and only exhibition game is Saturday evening (BTN.com, re-aired on BTN on Tuesday at 2pm) and the season opener is just one week away (next Friday vs. Stony Brook).

Here's 5 things to watch for this season:

1. Go Whitey!

* Cody Zeller - There's no doubt about it, Cody is the clear-cut #1 thing to watch for. If the Hoosiers make a significant leap this year, it will be because Cody Zeller is as good as advertised.

* Will Sheehey - Lots of offseason buzz that Will Sheehey is ready to have a breakout season. I think he has the length, athleticism, and attitude to do just that. Of course, I might still be riding high on him because I can't help but think of that incredible dunk last season.

* Jordan Hulls - Hulls made huge progress last year, can he build off that and take another step forward in his junior campaign? I say yes. Outstanding work ethic and I could see him playing very well with Zeller -- both feeding Zeller for opportunities and also getting more open looks from having a true big man threat.

* Derek Elston - No doubt about it, Elston had a rough sophomore campaign. Heck, I almost forgot he was on the team. Rumor has it that he is healthy and showing that bounce in his game that we all liked in his freshman season.

* Tom Pritchard - So what if his best 2 games were almost 100 games ago! Let's go out with a solid senior season, Tommy Boy! Grab some boards, get some garbage buckets, foul hard when you foul, and a few more of these would be great.

* Matt Roth - Probably still too one-dimensional to see a lot of playing time, but it never hurts to have a deadly 3-point shooter on the bench.

* Austin Etherington - With all the focus on Zeller, could Etherington surprise some people? I'm guessing he's not quite ready for the big-time, but sounds like he has the tools and well-rounded game to make an impact in his Hoosier career.

* Daniel Moore - On a team that still does not have spectacular ball-handlers and often lacks energy, Moore may still find some minutes.

2. Sheeladipo
We already mentioned Sheehey, but his fellow classmate Oladipo is also rumored to have made progress in his game. The Oladipo/Sheehey recruiting class was unheralded, but I love the athleticism and energy that these guys bring to both ends of the floor.

3. Surprise Me!
At this point, you feel pretty confident in what you have with Verdell Jones III, Christian Watford, and Tom Pritchard. Every off-season, you hear about improvements here, added strength there, defensive focus, blah, blah, blah.

We know Verdell will have some nifty moves, get some points, and probably struggle with turnovers and on the defensive end of the floor.

We know Watford will put up solid points and rebound statistics, but he will frustrate us with his slow-motion and getting his shot blocked.

We know Pritchard will have some moments and will be one of our better defenders, but he will foul too much and miss more than half of his free throws.

What we really need this year is for one of these guys to surprise us on the upside! We need some upper-classmen leadership, clutch plays, improvements in key areas, and a big year from one of these guys.

4. STOP FOULING!!!!
IU fouled at a ridiculous rate last year and it cost them several games. Out of 345 D-1 schools, IU was 333rd in opponent FT Rate. That ain't gonna cut it. Move your feet!

5. Win a close game!
And I'm not talking about playing like shit and pulling out an OT win against the likes of Stony Brook. I'm talking about one of those knock-down drag-em-out Big Ten battles against a decent team. This team still needs "the man". Until they find one and keep fouling down the stretch, they're going to continue to struggle in close games.

With Cody Zeller getting ready to make his debut and a top 5 recruiting class on the way, things are finally looking up in Bloomington. But the question is, how big of a step can they make this year?

Fingers crossed.

Let's go HOOSIERS!!!!

Holiday Truths

noreply@blogger.com (jdhoosier) — Fri, 24 Dec 2010 02:42:00 +0000

Truth = we still suck.

That's all.

Please try to enjoy Christmas anyway.

IU 79 Savannah St 57

noreply@blogger.com (jdhoosier) — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 02:22:00 +0000

I don't think we learned anything new from this game. A lot of the same old stories:

* Another slow start. IU allowed a pair of threes and a dunk to find themselves down to 1-8 Savannah State by a score of 7-8 in the early going. Even once IU got it going, they allowed Savannah St to hang around and only held a 7-point lead (33-26) with 4 minutes to go in the half. The Hoosiers closed out the half nicely and were leading 44-28 at halftime. The second half was never close.

* Same old story for Verdell Jones III. A nice scoring night with 18 points. And a great job on the boards with 8 rebounds. But still had 5 turnovers. That makes Verdell's game-by-game turnovers of 5, 6, 7, 4, 2, 5, 4, & 5.

* Bobby Capobianco was in a walking boot -- sprained ankle.

* Guy-Marc Michel was on the bench in his normal IU gear. He will be allowed to continue to practice with the team. That doesn't make any fucking sense either. If what he did was SO WRONG to warrant a 62-game suspension, I would have guessed he was also looking at jail time. I mean, he did take some college-equivalent courses after all. We can't have people like that walking amongst us. But no, the NCAA says he can do everything he would normally do, except play Division I basketball games. Makes perfect sense. Nice job, NCAA, you really fuckered this one up. But I enjoyed watching Cam Newton play today and it makes sense that Josh Selby will be able to use scholarship money to pay back the thousands of dollars in improper benefits that he received. How about some common sense?

* For the second game in a row, IU threw down some impressive dunks. Victor had a beautiful driving posterizing dunk. Pritchard had the best dunk of his career. And Sheehey had a nice dunk on a break-away.

* Creek and Hulls were hot from the arc in the first half. Creek hit 3 of 4. Hulls was a perfect 3 for 3 including a deep one with a guy in his face at the shot-clock buzzer.

* Ted Valentine officiated tonight's game. It was his first visit to Assembly Hall since "the incident". He sucked as usual.

* I will say this about our Hoosiers. They are 7-1 and are taking care of business against lesser opponents. That is a welcome sight after losses in the previous 2 years to the likes of Northeastern, Lipscomb, Boston U, George Mason, and Loyola (Md).

* IU has a week to prepare for their visit to Lexington. But I am looking at it like they have 2 years and 1 week to prepare for their next visit to Lexington.

IU 76 BC 88

noreply@blogger.com (jdhoosier) — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 02:26:00 +0000

If you are a glass-half-full type of person, then you will be pleased with the 2nd half comeback where the Hoosiers took a 14-point deficit and cut it all the way down to 1.

But I must be a glass-half-empty person (at least tonight) because I saw a lot of problems tonight. They just lost by double-digits to a team picked in the bottom half of the ACC. A team that lost to Yale on their home floor. A team that lost to Wisconsin by double-digits.

The Hoosiers dug themselves into a hole in the first half primarily due to poor rebounding and not getting to loose balls. This team is going to have its problems this year, but they can't allow it to be in the hustle-type categories.

Once you are in that big of a hole, it's almost always too difficult to get all the way over the top and win the game. IU came all the way back to only then give up a 9-0 run and the game was over. In the end, IU only outscored BC by 2 points in the second half, so a comeback is only noteworthy if you can get over the top and hang on to win. IU didn't do that.

So, why couldn't the Hoosiers get over the top? The answer is because there defense sucked. 88 points is way too many to give up to a team that was averaging 65 coming in. If we could have gotten a stop or two during key points in their comeback, they could have taken the lead. But every time we got close, BC answered and answered in a 3-point form.

* IU opens 2nd half on a 8-0 run to cut it to 6 and BC answers with a traditional 3-point play.
* IU cuts it to 7 and another traditional 3-point play by BC pushes it back to 10.
* IU cuts it to 5 (as close as they had been since the early going), BC answers with a 3.
* IU cuts it to 4, BC hits a 3.
* IU cuts it to 1, BC hits a 3.
* IU again cuts it to 1, BC again hits a 3.
* IU cuts it back down to 2, BC hits a 3.....and then a 2, another 2, and another 2. Back to an 11-point lead and game over.

Now, you definitely have to give BC credit for knocking down all those big shots. Every time IU would get the momentum, BC would deliver a dagger.

My concern is with the defense though. These were wide-open looks. IU was either getting caught needing to help out and in defensive rotations or if BC would miss, they would get the offensive rebound and kick it out for a clean look.

I was really hoping they had turned a corner on the defensive end of the floor this year. But this game looked very much like last year. Even when the Hoosiers would get their offense going, they can't get the defensive stops or rebounds to get them over the top.

Another interesting storyline in this game was turnovers. I've already seen some praise for IU only turning it over 10 times. By this team's standards, that is a huge improvement. However, as bad as IU has been at turning the ball over, they were forcing their opponents into even more turnovers. In this game, the Hoosiers only forced 6 turnovers, so the turnover story was still a negative one for the Hoosiers in this game.

Let's take a break to consider something:

The NCAA ruled today that Cam Newton is eligible to play in this weekend's SEC championship game even though they did find that Cam's father did try to arrange a pay-to-play scenario for hundreds of thousands of dollars.
One day earlier, the NCAA ruled (or denied IU's appeal to their earlier ruling) that Guy-Marc Michel cannot play a single game out of the 2 years he was expecting to play because he enrolled in some college courses 4 years ago and played a grand total of 10 minutes alongside European professionals over 2 years ago.
SOMEBODY PLEASE TELL ME HOW THAT MAKES ANY FUCKING SENSE?!?!? I mean, seriously, that is really fucked up.

Sorry about that, back to the game. Let's go quick-hit style:

* IU was only 4-18 from the arc before hitting a few at the end when the game was out of reach.

* IU had some thunderous dunks - Watford with a great move and one-handed tomahawk, Oladipo with a big-time throw-down, Pritchard with the one-handed lefty, and another plain two-hander from Watford.

* Watford played like a stud on the offensive end.

* Watford only had 2 rebounds.

* Watford had 3 steals (keeping in mind that IU only forced 6 turnovers total)

* VJIII had 4 of the team's 10 turnovers.

* After Verdell seemed to finally find his FT stroke in the last game, he again struggled tonight by going 0-3.

* Verdell's sweet mid-range pull-up game kept the Hoosiers from getting completely blown out of the gym in the first half.

* Hulls looked great. Like I said before, they need to watch Alford film and find ways to get this kid some more clean looks. How did you like that cross-over pull-up move? Very nice.

* I wish Mo Creek was 100% healthy. I put him at about 70-75%.

* 88 points is WAY too many to give up to a team like Boston College. I know I said that already. It bears repeating.

* I'm serious, somebody please tell me how the actions of the NCAA over the last two days makes any sense.

* Maybe IU really sucks at working on these types of issues with the NCAA. Their coach makes too many phone calls and IU ends up getting the equivalent of a 2-year death penalty. One of their players previously enrolled in some college-equivalent courses and played 10 minutes alongside professionals and he loses the 2 years of expected eligibility. Honesty clearly is not working for IU. Perhaps they should have said that Guy's father enrolled him in those courses without's Guy's knowledge.

The Four Factors to Losing:

NCAA Basketball Stats

While no single factor was a landslide, Boston College had the edge in all four factors:

* Both teams shot a FG% of 50.9%, but BC shot a better percentage from the arc.

* Again IU limited the turnovers tonight, but forced even fewer.

* I thought the offensive rebounding would be more lopsided, but still the edge goes to BC.

* And finally, even though there were a lot of free throws late in the game, IU is still sending their opponents to the line way too often.

Well, the Hoosiers shouldn't have any problem getting back on track when they host Savannah State on Saturday. Then, they are off for a week before they head to Lexington the following week.

Guy Ruled Ineligible

noreply@blogger.com (jdhoosier) — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 02:43:00 +0000

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.

Best Lineup Combination: Victor Oladipo and Gus Johnson

noreply@blogger.com (jdhoosier) — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 06:24:00 +0000

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!

Mo's 2nd Half Outburts Leads IU 67-54 Victory

noreply@blogger.com (jdhoosier) — Sun, 21 Nov 2010 20:50:00 +0000

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!

AJ Moye

noreply@blogger.com (jdhoosier) — Sun, 21 Nov 2010 16:29:00 +0000

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:

"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.

Indiana 71 Mississippi Valley State 54

noreply@blogger.com (jdhoosier) — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 04:27:00 +0000

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?!?

What We've Learned After Two Games

noreply@blogger.com (jdhoosier) — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 04:40:00 +0000

* 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!

Zeller, Season Opener, and More

noreply@blogger.com (jdhoosier) — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 04:59:00 +0000

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:

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.

Now that Zellerpalooza is over, let's not forget that the season opens tomorrow evening against Florida Gulf Coast and Game #2 is Sunday evening against Wright State (who might not be a cupcake).

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.

Go Hoosiers!