Damn, Galloway's fast.
That's enough rope a dope guys, we've got them over confident, now we can start playing.
Bring Back MIKE!
Lucky for me, I can't view youtube content at work. Judging by Razor's reaction, I probably wouldn't like what WMR posted.
From ITH.
Believe it or not, from time to time, some of you email and ask us to address something in this very space. And that’s exactly what I’m going to do with an email I got early this evening from John, who asked about the possibility of Jeff Withey or DeMarcus Cousins (pictured) coming to IU and the scholarship situation beyond this year.
Let’s start with Withey and Cousins. Withey, a 7-0 freshman at Arizona, announced his intentions to transfer shortly after Lute Olsen’s resignation. Arizona initially refused the request, but granted permission last Tuesday. Shortly after being given his release, the San Diego native named a list of eight schools he would consider and IU was among the possibilities.
Cousins is the No. 2 player in the 2009 class and originally committed to UAB. (Cousins transferred this season to LeFlore, the same school that produced current Indiana guard Nick Williams.) After UAB refused to guarantee him a release if Mike Davis is removed as coach, Cousins decided to open his recruitment back up. According to a recent statement by LeFlore coach Otis Hughley, IU is one of many schools to inquire about Cousins.
Obviously, Tom Crean would be doing himself an injustice if he didn’t pursue a player like Withey or Cousins. It’s impossible to predict the decision of an 18 or 19 year-old kid, but it would seem unlikely that either kid will come to IU and it’s not because Indiana is over-signed by one already for the 2009 class. If a high caliber player wants to come to your program, you figure out a way to get it done. In Withey’s case, there are seven other schools he’ll consider and to my knowledge, he’s never been on campus in Bloomington.
In the case of Cousins, two things stand out. There is still a possibility he’ll end up at UAB if Mike Davis remains the coach beyond this season. If Cousins opts to go somewhere besides Birmingham, the school to beat is Memphis and John Calipari with no shortage of schools jockeying for position right behind the Tigers. If you haven’t noticed, beating out Memphis for a recruit is no small feat.
Onto the scholarship situation … This seems to be a hot topic. Yes, Indiana has already exceeded its allotted scholarship limit for next season. This leads to the following question being asked frequently (in several different wording variations) on just about every IU related Web site: With IU already at 14 scholarship players for next season, does that mean someone will have to leave and who is leaving?
The answers: Yes, someone will likely leave the program and nobody knows who. Anyone who says they know who is leaving at this point is speculating. And while the season is playing out, it’s not fair to throw out names of guys that might look elsewhere. But if you look at the incoming class and the depth at a couple of positions, it’s fairly easy to see who could be on the short end of the stick when it comes to PT.
The Indiana Hoosiers - terrific defensive rebounders. Oh yes, I really said that. It's not all it's cracked up to be but the Hoosier faithful has to take whatever positive nuggets they can get at this points.
From ITH.
In a season as desolate as this, you’re bound to have some sever statistical, and Saturday Basketball Prospectus’ John Gasaway gave us a doozie. Of course, you would think the stat would be a negative outlier — proof of the Hoosiers’ historic failures this season. Not so much:
No major-conference team in the nation has dominated its opponents on the defensive glass during conference play the way Indiana has. Yes, Indiana, the same team that is 0-5 in the Big Ten, losing each game by an average of 15 points. While you’ve been looking away in Edvard Munch-level horror, the Hoosiers have in fact secured an unheard of 79 percent of their opponents’ misses in league games. Not even Michigan State in 2000 was able to match that figure.Gasaway jokes that rebounding makes you lose, but the real upshot is this: The Hoosiers are so bad, they allow very few offensive rebounds and still lose by an average of fifteen points a game. Why? Because teams are so effective at making the first shot against them, the defensive rebound isn’t really an advantage. That’s why. Like I said: mind-blowing.
The upshot is that it also portends future success. If the Hoosiers (and by the Hoosiers, I mean Tom Pritchard) are rebounding at such a high rate when they’re this bad, it’s likely they’ll keep it up when they figure out how to challenge perimeter shots and play better defense. In other words, it’s a building block. I’ll take it.
Indiana beats Ohio State today.
http://www.indystar.com/article/2009...41/1004/SPORTS
Fan support increases as Hoosiers try to stop skid
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- It has been 56 days, 11 games and 445 minutes on the floor since Indiana University won a men's basketball game.
Still, support grows.
Each of the past three home games has produced the largest crowd of the season. Saturday, 17,202 fans attended the Ohio State game, just 155 shy of capacity.
Coach Tom Crean is relying on that support tonight against Iowa (12-10, 2-7 Big Ten), as the Hoosiers (5-15, 0-8) try to avoid setting the longest losing streak in school history.
"There can't be fan support that would be duplicated like this in a situation like ours," Crean said after Saturday's loss to the Buckeyes. "I can't imagine that anywhere in America. I hope that all of our fans understand that when we lose and we don't get it done, we are as disappointed for them as we are for us."
While IU fans have endured plenty this season, especially during the current 11-game skid, history has shown fans of other prominent programs have stood by their teams through tough times.
When Kentucky slumped to 13-19 season in 1988-89, the Wildcats still averaged nearly 22,000 fans. When Duke went 13-18, including 2-14 in conference play, in the 1994-95 season, the Blue Devils still sold out Cameron Indoor Stadium with 9,314 fans per game. UCLA saw a drop of about 1,700 fans per game when it finished 10-19 in 2002-03.
North Carolina suffered at the gate when it finished 8-20 in 2001-02. The Tar Heels averaged 17,392 fans that season, almost 3,500 fewer fans than the year before. This season, IU's 10-game home average is 13,901, almost 3,000 fewer than last year.
The average the past three games, however, has been 16,456.
Former IU basketball player Adam Ahlfeld, who completed his eligibility last season, said he has been impressed with the recent support.
"I think the $5 balcony seats have helped, but I think even more than that we've just been playing a lot better lately," Ahlfeld said.
IU athletic director Fred Glass said Crean's attitude and the team's effort makes it easier to support.
"When you play as hard as they play, and coach as hard as Tom (Crean) and his staff coach, I think people will respond in a positive fashion,'' Glass said. "We're very pleased with the way our fans are supporting our team right now."
Anyone think enough is enough for Dumes' suspension now. He's been suspended two games (and kicked out of the initial game) for a cheap shot that did nothing more than knock the opponent to the bench for a relatively short period of time.
Not advocating what he did, but I think a two game suspension is more than enough.
"Boys, I'm one of those umpires that misses 'em every once in a while so if it's close, you'd better hit it." Cal Hubbard
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