Comments on: Hoosier Hysteria kicks off the season

By: kelin

kelin — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 17:12:45 +0000

I think I saw Tom Pritchard there last night also…he was in IU gear and he is a BIG BOY…..I cannot get a feel from Mike White just yet, I love his size, his athletic ability but I am not sure where he will fit in but he does give depth and play D. Ahfeld is a great dancer…..youtube that!

By: river

river — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 15:47:11 +0000

I was highly impressed with how talented and quick Jordan Crawford looked last night. After hearing from a lot of the players that he was the most improved, he really convinced me as well.

By: nealE

nealE — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 15:44:39 +0000

the night was just amazing. as everyone said, jordan crawford and brandon mcgee were both amazing athletes. eli is going to be an absolute beast around the basket, and ej will be ej. i’ve never seen anyone jack up a 3 with more ease. it’s just looks so natural for him.

the best part of the night for me was when the players were introduced. before coming out, when they were all inside the tunnel, the players started an eric gordon chant. then, when dj was introduced, the place went NUTS, and all the players got on their knees and started bowing to him. it was great to see.

By: leight

leight — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 15:41:04 +0000

i thank you for goimg to all the games but why does it cost
so much money to go too games and cable is blackout
the games here in town of bloomington indiana cable need to be
with us not so far away thank you on this why is basketball
and football pay for all of the sports on indiana university
campus here and why does the big ten network just want
basketball and not the other sports that we have here
to be on tv or cable can we go for free again too
and why sdoes we have a band to play here in the football
place too see thank you

By: kelin

kelin — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 15:39:28 +0000

I don’t think EJ has an off switch when he is on the court. When he picked JE pocket at midcourt last night it was as if he took the game as serious as an actual game and wanted to lock him up defensively…..in a pick up scrimmage game

By: Mike M

Mike M — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 15:20:12 +0000

I agree with the ‘04 grad. Mcgee was better than I expected. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him get a lot of minutes. DT is going to be fun to watch.

By: Tim

Tim — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 15:16:05 +0000

That crowd was larger than 13,000, I’m estimating ~15,000. The place went nuts whenever DJ and then Sampson were introduced. You also had to love Ellis urging the crowd on for more when he was introduced and then he just stood there a basked in the cheers.

Believe it or not, I was impressed with the every single player. Some observations from HH:

- DJ is fit and built this year, stronger than we’ve ever seen him.
- Armon is bigger and somehow more athletic this year. Plus, he won the 3pt contest in 4 straight rounds.
- Anyone who doubted DeAndre’s mile time when Hutch posted it should quite down. Most athletic 299lb player I’ve ever imagined. He’s quick and can jump at that weight, what if he loses 20 more pounds like is his goal?
- Everyone of the freshman is physically bigger and stronger than I thought. Eric, I’d seen of course, but Jordan looks almost as strong as him. Brandon and Eli look strong for freshmen too, but as bigs, especially Eli, they still need to get stronger.
- Brandon McGee really impressed me. I was under the false impression he was coming in here raw, ala Joey Shaw, and might redshirt. But he looked better in the scrimmage last night then Shaw did at points last year when he was a rs sophomore.
- Eli Holman is just a freak. He is 6-10 with the athleticism of a wing player. And he doesn’t really jump, he sort of floats off the ground like Drexler. He did all these amazing athletic things last night and never looked like he was even trying. Plus, he just never stops grinning, got to love that kid.
- Eric may have disappointed last night since he didn’t cure cancer or bring world peace. Actually though, he missed his first dunk in the “layup” line, but on his second attemp he threw down a behind the head dunk so vicious I think the rim actually cried. His intensity in the game is just at a whole other level, more than DJ, Wilmont, even Coverdale. But as soon as play stops, he is a calm as Guyton or Strickland, it’s amazing. Let’s hope that intensity infects the whole team.

It was a fun night, and a great start to the basketball season, which I hope doesn’t end for a long time and without a few championships first.

By: kelin

kelin — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 14:32:42 +0000

I was very impressed with Jamarcus, cause I can see him just fitting in any and everywhere on this team. At one point he ran the point guard position, I saw him grab a couple of off. rebounds….he just does all of the little stuff.

KS may very well have to find some time for B-MAC. He is active.

I am glad to see the excitement come out of two reasonably quiet people ….EJ and Jamarcus, JE really opened up during the introductions.

Finally, AJ ratliff should be worried cause Jordan Crawford is a PLAYER.

As I wrote in my other post, I think it was Ebanks who was really enjoying the festivities quite a bit along with D.Elston….I saw a lot of current players mingling with him and strickland. K.Jones is BIGGER than I thought and he would fit in great at IU.

By: 04grad

04grad — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 14:22:29 +0000

Brandon McGee impressed me the most last night, as well as DeAndre Thomas.

Strictly because of his weight loss, everyone should have been impressed by Thomas from the beginning. Then he showed how he can run the floor, as well as get off the ground to dunk and go after rebounds. He should be a big help down low for the Hoosiers this year as well as a crowd favorite.

I wasn’t expecting to be as impressed with McGee as I was, since he got probably the least attention of all the incoming players. During the scrimmage he stepped out and hit a 3 as well as went inside for a dunk and played pretty well otherwise. People might be surprised by the amount of minutes he could see this year.

By: Zach

Zach — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 14:07:46 +0000

The crowd was great last night–easily the most packed I’ve seen Hoosier Hysteria/Midnight Madness in my four years here.

All the recruits were right to the left of where I was sitting tonight, and they were definitely loving the attention as they ALL got their names chanted by the crowd at one point.

Eli Holman is definitely going to be my favorite player; he seemed to be eating this all up last night. He looked great in the scrimmage and drills. He’ll be a huge presence for us on both sides of the court this season–that was absolutely huge to hear he’s cleared tonight by Sampson.

And what I saw on here earlier this week about DT being an x-factor for the Hoosiers could be true–seeing him on campus and last night, he’s slimmed down BIG TIME from when I first saw him at the Adidas May Classic. He had no problem running the court in the scrimmage; I don’t think his weight will be a concern at all.