Indiana Basketball Continued

[oregonred]

The B1G is crazy this year. Will be interesting to see what happens in the tourney. Mich St, Mich or Wisconsin could make the FF (odds are one probably will) or they could flame out in the second round. Mich State is probably the best bet for a FF

Nebraska has come out of literally nowhere to be in the top half this year.

OSU. No idea, but they've put themselves in the not so enviable #8/#9 line and a best case second round exit. IU probably needs to make at least the semis of the tourney to get into the Show.

[Assembly Hall]

IU probably needs to make at least the semis of the tourney to get into the Show.

I would agree with that if they beat Michigan at Ann Arbor. But I don't see that happening, I think they need to make it to the finals, and I don't see that happening either.

[Hillsdale87]

I was at last night's game. Disappointing, but certainly not unexpected loss without Vonleh, especially when Yogi has a very cold shooting night.

One thing that drove me crazy was the fans though. When Nebraska moved to zone, IU had a lot of trouble against it, largely because Vonleh wasn't playing and so there was really no threat in the middle of the floor and Nebraska could really spread out their zone. Whenever IU pulled it out up top and the possession was slow, the crowd was booing and yelling loudly. This probably happened on 10 possessions in the second half. The team had just won two big games, so there was really no reason for boos. Also, I would have liked to see some fans draw up some plays against a zone when Devin Davis and Jeremy Hollowell are the "threats" in the post.

One last note, Troy Williams is unbelievably bad on defense. He had a great offensive game, but he makes the wrong decision on defensive switches 75% of the time. Somebody is always scrambling to try to get Troy's man off of a screen. The big 3 that Nebraska hit to push the lead to 62 - 58 was because of a Troy mistake. There really is no reason for a freak athlete with long arms to be bad on defense, so hopefully he pushes himself in the offseason because he is a liability. I've noticed in the last few games that teams are going right at him.

[Hoosier Red]

Good observations Hillsdale. I was there as well. Although I agree the booing started a little early, I think a lot of it stemmed from a perceived lack of urgency. Granted, a zone can make patience look like lethargy, but outside of about a 4 minute stretch, it just looked like they were running in quicksand.

[fearofpopvol1]

If you can't beat Nebraska at home late when you need to, you just don't deserve to go to the tournament. That's not to take anything away from Nebraska as they have improved a lot, but IU has to win that game at home.

I think unless they win at Michigan and get to the final game of the B1G, I think they're out. And understandably so.

[Hoosier Red]

If you can't beat Nebraska at home late when you need to, you just don't deserve to go to the tournament. That's not to take anything away from Nebraska as they have improved a lot, but IU has to win that game at home.

I think unless they win at Michigan and get to the final game of the B1G, I think they're out. And understandably so.

Agreed on the second point at least.

Nebraska's a legit tourney quality team but I think the combination of "bad" losses, NW and PSU at home, ILL & PUR on road make it so you have to win the otherwise 50/50 games.

[Assembly Hall]

They just got beat by a better team. Although Vonleh was out, the Husker's star was saddled with foul trouble. They couldn't hit 3's and they gave up too many. Why didn't Hanner see more minutes? After starting, why did Howard see minutes after that?

Signed,

One disgruntled fan.

[Hillsdale87]

They just got beat by a better team. Although Vonleh was out, the Husker's star was saddled with foul trouble. They couldn't hit 3's and they gave up too many. Why didn't Hanner see more minutes? After starting, why did Howard see minutes after that?

Signed,

One disgruntled fan.

Nebraska was certainly the better team Wednesday night. I actually liked a lot of what IU did, but like you said, they just couldn't hit shots.

I was very surprised to see Hanner sit the whole second half. I thought he did pretty well in the first half, besides botching an open layup at the end of the first half. Devin Davis looked good, but Hollowell played too much. I would love to see Hollowell get more involved, but he should sub in for Troy, not Vonleh. He's not strong enough to take the 5 spot. Hanner should have gotten a lot of Hollowell's minutes

[Hoosier Red]

Nebraska was certainly the better team Wednesday night. I actually liked a lot of what IU did, but like you said, they just couldn't hit shots.

I was very surprised to see Hanner sit the whole second half. I thought he did pretty well in the first half, besides botching an open layup at the end of the first half. Devin Davis looked good, but Hollowell played too much. I would love to see Hollowell get more involved, but he should sub in for Troy, not Vonleh. He's not strong enough to take the 5 spot. Hanner should have gotten a lot of Hollowell's minutes

Its funny. For as much criticism as Crean generally gets for substituting too often, I thought he did it too little in the 2nd half.

Don't have exact numbers, but it seemed as though the 5 man group Yogi-Gordon-Sheehey-Hollowell-Davis was on the court from about the 14 minute mark all the way through the under 8 time out. On the one hand, this was the group that got the game from down 10 to tied.

But after a few posessions where it was tied, I thought they had essentially spent their "collective energy" for lack of a better term, and needed at least one new player to create a spark. I thought Williams in for Gordon, but I wouldn't have objected to Hanner going in for Hollowell either.


Then at the 2 minute mark, the revolving chairs on the three consecutive inbounds plays struck me as odd as well.

[Hillsdale87]

Good observations Hillsdale. I was there as well. Although I agree the booing started a little early, I think a lot of it stemmed from a perceived lack of urgency. Granted, a zone can make patience look like lethargy, but outside of about a 4 minute stretch, it just looked like they were running in quicksand.

I get that. But IU's zone problems were really a result of Vonleh not playing. There really was nothing to do except throw it around the perimeter because there was no inside threat. Would fans have preferred a pass into the post for Jeff Howard or Devin Davis? It actually reminded me a little bit of the Mike Davis years when teams would run an extended zone. Davis couldn't coach so he would just have guys take one step back and try to bomb a 3 from there. Wednesday night they were trying to get good shots, but they couldn't fun an effective offense without Vonleh.

The thing that bothered me about the booing is that I don't think it's warranted unless there is a lack of effort, and I felt like they played hard last night.

[Hoosier Red]

The thing that bothered me about the booing is that I don't think it's warranted unless there is a lack of effort, and I felt like they played hard last night.

I agree. I'm not much on booing the home team anyway, it's just not my personality. I've always said that the only thing I'd boo is the lack of effort and even then I consciously limit myself because I realize my perception of their effort probably isn't accurate.

[Revering4Blue]

Hanner not playing at all in the second half is indefensible, no matter how you look at it. Layup after layup for Nebraska and no rim protection to be found.

The more that I think about it, the more that the Hoosiers and Reds situations, specifically, Crean and Walt Jocketty, mirror each other, IMO.

While both Crean and Jocketty were seemingly what both programs (teams) needed at the time, both have made enough mind-numbingly dumb decisions (arguably, fewer in Jocketty's case) that they do not exactly inspire confidence in me that they are the ones to take us where we want to go. This isn't 08' anymore for either team and if we are looking back two years from now and this core of Reds fails to advance in the Playoffs, that's looking at failure right in the eyes. Just as if two years from now, the highlights of Crean's tenure consists of Sweet 16s in '12 and '13, is that really acceptable given the resources at IU?

[SunDeck]

Nobody doesn't play hard on senior night. Booing = not classy.

[Assembly Hall]

I agree. I'm not much on booing the home team anyway, it's just not my personality. I've always said that the only thing I'd boo is the lack of effort and even then I consciously limit myself because I realize my perception of their effort probably isn't accurate.

What about booing the Coach? If I remember right CTC subbed for Will and I heard a chorus of boos. I doubt that was directed at the player.

[Hillsdale87]

What about booing the Coach? If I remember right CTC subbed for Will and I heard a chorus of boos. I doubt that was directed at the player.

I don't remember that, but it's possible. Most of what I remember was during the plays. I would say booing for taking out Will is unwarranted too. He played 38 minutes last night. He needs a rest at some point.