Hoosier Hoops

[Hoosier Red]

Wow. Comparing Crean to RichRod? That's pretty rough.

It's been a tough season for sure. I think they were starting to learn to play without Jones and Watford, now that they're both back playing big minutes the team needs to adjust again. Seemed like Hulls kinda went back to not being as aggressive.

I defend Crean on a lot of things, but I don't understand that lineup he started the game with. I think that set them back. They played well at the end of the second half, I think if Crean had started with a normal lineup they may have had a chance to win that one.

I think it was an attempt to get the 5 guys who were playing best on the court at the same time. Sort of like leading off Adam Dunn, some things are out of the box for a reason.

In a lot of ways Crean's damned if he does, damned if he doesn't. He's criticized by many for not playing Sheehey early on, now Sheehey starts and plays 25 minutes, but it comes often at the expense of Victor Oladipo and people wonder why he's not playing as much.
The obvious targets are VJIII and Pritchard, but we saw what happened when they took out Pritchard, and without VJIII the offense was the least efficient it's been all season(hard to believe I know.)

[Razor Shines]

I think it was an attempt to get the 5 guys who were playing best on the court at the same time. Sort of like leading off Adam Dunn, some things are out of the box for a reason.

In a lot of ways Crean's damned if he does, damned if he doesn't. He's criticized by many for not playing Sheehey early on, now Sheehey starts and plays 25 minutes, but it comes often at the expense of Victor Oladipo and people wonder why he's not playing as much.
The obvious targets are VJIII and Pritchard, but we saw what happened when they took out Pritchard, and without VJIII the offense was the least efficient it's been all season(hard to believe I know.)

Yeah, I get that but you can't start a guy who is 6'5" 200 at the 5. It doesn't help Sheehey's development to play out of position.

[Josh]

Sorry to bust in the middle and totally go off the wall but I just have a quick question, will Guy Marc be able to play next year of is he totally out?

[Razor Shines]

Sorry to bust in the middle and totally go off the wall but I just have a quick question, will Guy Marc be able to play next year of is he totally out?

No, his eligibility will be up after this season I believe. NCAA ruled that his clock started in '06.

[Josh]

No, his eligibility will be up after this season I believe. NCAA ruled that his clock started in '06.

Werd thanks for your help!

[gilpdawg]

That is correct. He's done.

Sent from my Liberty using Tapatalk

[Hoosier Red]

My latest attempt to assuage the collective Hoosier angst. Or at least to compartmentalize it.
http://crimsoncast.com/?p=942

[Razor Shines]

My latest attempt to assuage the collective Hoosier angst. Or at least to compartmentalize it.
http://crimsoncast.com/?p=942

I agree with most that. I do not either understand why Daniel Moore plays at all. If he was a great shooter, like Roth, I'd get it, but he brings nothing that more athletic and talented guys don't already bring.

Passive attitude: Concerned- I’ve often thought that the reason the offense goes through Verdell Jones III so much, whether it should or not, is because he’s the only one who has shown any desire to be aggressive. While his determination is often a negative, because his skills don’t match up, it’s a concern that the more talented players like Christian Watford and Jordan Hulls don’t possess the same quality. There’s obviously a balance that needs to be reached. Sometimes judgement is the better of valor, but I’d like to see Hulls in particular adopt more of a “screw you, I’m scoring on this possession no matter what” attitude. In the last 4 games, Hulls has gone from taking 17 shots against Iowa to 9 shots against Michigan and Northwestern. Despite not missing a free throw since the Kentucky game, he’s only gotten to the line for more than 4 attempts once. Defensively, there’s a similar timid mindset at times. The revelation that Will Sheehey was the only one who wanted a specific defensive assignment on Saturday, says a lot about the more experienced players. I think this is what Crean is talking about in terms of accountability. No one on the team seems to want to be the guy everyone else is counting on, at least not for more than a stretch here or there. How much of that is Crean’s responsibility versus how much is the player’s responsibility? I can’t answer but I think both have some blame. More important to future seasons, is this a trait that can be developed from the current group? Even as talented freshmen come in, there needs to be a culture in which all players are comfortable holding each other and themselves accountable. Whether dictated by the coach, or dictated by each player to one another, this culture is something that has to change.

This is a tough situation for guys like Hulls and Sheehey. I can see Crean getting frustrated with Hulls. There was one shot of him the other night getting right in Hulls' face and screaming "something, something SHOOT the BALL!"

They came into this season and the rolls were pretty much set. The scorers were going to be Creek, Jones and Watford. I agree that Hulls is a better option than perhaps all of those guys and it's very possible that Crean feels that way as well. Hulls though is in the tough spot of trying not to upset or "step on the toes" of his teammates while at the same time appease the coach who thinks he should be more aggressive. The yo-yoing back and forth of the roster has probably made it more confusing.

I've been in Hulls' spot (clearly not at that level). I've been the younger guy where upper classmen where the designated scorers and at the same time a coach screaming at me to be more aggressive. All I can say from my experience is that it sucks and I'll give Hulls this season to be confused but he better be ready to be a #1 or #2 option on offense next year.

[Hoosier Red]

Good points, though I've singled out Hulls, it's really a whole team concept on both offense and defense. I remember one of Marvin Lewis' first year's with the Bengals, the mantra was "Do your job." And the general idea was that because you weren't 100% sure you wouldn't have to cover for the next guy, you weren't able to aggressively do your own job. As a result you lose either way.

I see that with IU a little bit, because there's a concern about a turnover leading to an early basket, the point guard is less aggressive going to the basket, because there's a concern that the rebounders won't be in position in case of a miss, a decent look early in the shot clock is passed up, because you're not 100% sure your guy will be able to fight through his screen, you hedge just a little bit and leave the roll option wide open, because you can't be 100% sure that the other defender will see a back cut, you take your eye off your own guy for just a second and he gets an easy look. In the games IU won, you didn't see that. Defensively, guys simply sold out 100% and didn't worry about what the other 4 guys were doing.

[Hoosier Red]

I figured out why Indiana's going to the NCAA tournament next year.
http://crimsoncast.com/?p=1005

[Boston Red]

Didn't really want to start a new thread for this (and I doubt IU and ISU are really rivals), so I just wanted to say how much I enjoyed watching the Sycamores in the Valley Tournament. I think their fans will really enjoy watching that freshman PG Odum play the next three years. He's a good one! Congrats to the Sycamores!

[Revering4Blue]

Didn't really want to start a new thread for this (and I doubt IU and ISU are really rivals), so I just wanted to say how much I enjoyed watching the Sycamores in the Valley Tournament. I think their fans will really enjoy watching that freshman PG Odum play the next three years. He's a good one! Congrats to the Sycamores!

The more teams from the Ohio Valley area in The NCAA's, the better.

[Revering4Blue]

Not at all surprising.

Pat Knight fired at Texas Tech

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/s...=ESPNHeadlines

[BRM]

I'll be curious to see where Pat ends up next.

[Razor Shines]

Not at all surprising.

Pat Knight fired at Texas Tech

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/s...=ESPNHeadlines

Tough spot. From what I understand there wasn't much recruiting done while his Dad was there.

But Pat wasn't getting a HC job anywhere else either. I imagine he'll have to be an assistant for a few more years.