Man I can't wait to watch this game. To bad we have to listen to Billy Packer though. I don't know who is worse him or Vitale.

Packer is a lot worse. At least Vitale is enthusiastic.

What's the over/under on how many times Packer mentions how superior ACC basketball is?

I'm going with 6 and of course taking the over.

Post on Peegs suggesting there may be another 3 game suspension handed out to one of our players.

Are you guys hearing anything? Hopefully just a rumor.

Yeh your probaly right Big A I just get tired of the antics by Vitale. And Mark I saw the same thing on Peegs but its hard to tell whats real or just a rumor so I guess we will find out at four o'clock today.

I'm hearing the same thing regarding a suspension...Nothing official to report, though.

Herald Times just reported that Gordon is 50-50 to play today...

http://blogs.heraldtimesonline.com/iusp/?p=1166

Thats not good...I don't see us winning if gordon dosn't play.

IS anyone tired of Kelvins Blue shirts... Just a thought. Love the guy, but kinda just came to mind

I thought I was the only one that cannot stand Billy "ACC" Packer. He should just go coach Wake Forest and let us have a decent commentator for our CBS games.

Bassett will not play today:

http://blogs.heraldtimesonline.com/iusp/?p=1168

Not good my friends....God when will all the madness stop!

At what point do we start to ask what type of control Sampson has on the program? First we have Ratliff not making his grades, the phone calls and now back to back suspensions to Crawford and Bassett. Not good, folks.

Gordon is doubtful>>> VIA seth davis who is very close with kelvin

CBS says that sampson told them that EJ is DOUBTFUL!! well i hope we can get a good team effort and another big night for DJ!!

Anyone looking for a stream of the IU feed, here it is:

http://www.1570thezone.com/player.asp

Time for the other Freshman to shine... Today will be a good test for them. I think Eli and Mcgee may get some solid minutes.

As the team warms up as we speak in the Hall, Armon is standing on the sidelines in a red sweater.

I think it is time to consider getting rid of Sampson. The guy simply doesn't get it when it comes to anything beyond the basketball court. At the end of the day, college bball players are STUDENT-athletes and IU needs a coach that recognizes that.

So if we are without Ratliff, Gordon and Basset (if all the rumors are true)... the starting 5 would look something like ... Crawford, Ellis, Stemler, White and White?

Sounds like a pretty good guess to me, Ryan.

Ellis and Crawford better be prepared to play all 40 minutes.

Sampsons fault HOOSIERFAN??? i disagree i think he is showing these young kids what it means to wear that jersey... i believe the Basset thing if he is suspended happened at the same time with Crawford he just couldnt suspend both at the same time... Kelvins fault Gordon got hurt and he is looking at the bigger picture... Ratliff being a retard and missing class and failing is kelvins fault,,, Sorry Hoosierfan i disagree.

Well at the end of the day Matt, this is Sampson's program to run and therefore he is responsible for everything regarding these kids. Now, I am not saying to fire Sampson based on these 3 suspensions alone, however, there is something wrong with this program when, 1/4 of the way through the season, 3 key players are riding pine for team violations.

Matt,

I agree with some of what Hoosier Fan said. It just seems like there is a lack of control right now and while it might not merit firing Sampson, he should take part of the blame for misbehavior on the player's part. I'm not sure what's behind Jordan or Armon's suspensions, but these types of things simply cannot be happening. We're already underneath a huge microscope.

Call me what you will, but the fact of the matter is that if you are the head of the program and those that you are responsible for act irresponsibly, then some (what %age is debatable) of the blame has to fall on you.

I just deleted a comment. We try to avoid moderating comments, but blatantly calling someone a name will never be tolerated. If you want to respectfully disagree, that's certainly alright.

Guys calm down! I will judge Coach Sampson at the end of the year, when I see the end result. It does not look good when we keep doing this prior to each game. When we put ourselves under the microscope it wit means it escalates to the IU basketball program. Believe it or not its still early into the season. Enjoy the game and lets beat the crap out of Ken tucky at Assembly Hall. I only give a crap about one thing, andthats winning a National Championship, and if this team does not produce a competetive team in march, then I'll open my mouth. Enjoy the game ladies and gentleman.

Props Big A

Just got word that EJ is now on the floor, still no word on if he'll play.

Just heard from Fish EJ will NOT play.......

On a side note....my brush with greatness today...saw Deshaun Thomas get blasted by HOwe here in Indy...OSU can have him..he didn't play well but HOwe smothered him...and as I am walking out Derek Elston walks out right beside me....

C'mon Jordan have a big game....armon get your act together...

Fish just said Basset supsended one game...

Kelin,

Armon isn't playing.

well this team is starting to sound like a miami or flordia state football team!! at least nobody from the team has gotten arrested!! haha

Any word on who will start?

I would say JC,Ellis,Stemler,MW,DJ...Ouch

Yep, thats it

i see iu winning without gordon. anyone who says that iu can't win without eric gordon isn't a true iu fan, and obviously believes that there are no other players on the squad...so you know, iu dresses more than one player.

can anyone tell me what "A little Zombie" means

today will be about iu's defense...they need to get back to playing d like there were at the end of last year...if they can do that, they'll win...dj cannot get in foul trouble

okay, it may be a challenge without armon and eric, but i still know there are other competitors on this team.

Glad Marcus WHite is starting we need him today....where is my radio NOW!

We look relaxed and running some offense today.

Good start so far.

in london and unable to watch the game...how is the crowd?

kelin,

howe just got beat last night, but they are a very solid team. i live in their backyard.

i was just thinking... how bad is kentucky?? this is not the first year gillespe wanted huh??

Verne is clueless...Marcus White, DeAndre Thompson

HoosierFan,

Crowd is pumped and most have complied with the "White Out"

who had the triple double, anyone know?

good to hear...

on another note, perhaps the only advantage of not being able to watch the game is being saved from the garbage that has become commentating today

awful help - d from dj, then it lead to a second foul and early, first half departure. not good...

we really have to make our free throws. We are going to need anything to win this game.

thomas uses the glass all the time...so it proves that the announcers know too little

23-13 at the under 8 media timeout. So far the bank is open for the Hoosiers.

i know calloway was one rebound short of a triple double, but who actually recorded one?

Not sure Ray, I'll try to check on that.

Ray....Howe should go deep into 3A, they have a helluva schedule this year....I really like their young kids and stone. I think IU is recruiting their big kid.....

Big Dre came to play today...

is iu playing good d or is ky just that bad?

Need to start knocking down the free throws.

Hoosier Fan,

IU is outworking them on the glass and not giving them any second shots. We'd be up 20 if we could make free throws. We're 8 of 14 from the foul line.

A certain poster said DT would have a BIG game..so far so good...good minutes Eli, would like to see you get some more run today...

aj white???? more proof

how many times has packer talked about the ACC?? i dont think once, but hes all in memphis' pants!

DAMMMMMNNN FOUL SHOTS COMON YOU GUYS AER AT HOME

8 Free throw missed...dicey.

Anyone else catch the "booger eater" chant last time Patterson shot free throws?

Yep knew that was gonna come sooner or later...Big A

Fill me in on the booger eater...did I miss something?

Between Marcus White and AJ White.....I am awaing DJ Ratliff to come out of Billy Whackers mouth....do these two even prep for the games...geez, I wish fish would do some TV.

kelin,

i agree howe will go deep. i know stone is small, but do you know why he chose iupui? no one recruiting him, or loyalty to naptown? i'm sure there are a number of reasons, but man can he score. he reminds me of another great scorer in indy now playing at iupui...actually, a player from broad ripple high which is in the same conference. i plan to go see more games, and you're right about iu eyeing their big. i think he's only a soph, so a lot could change, but i've read where he is most interested in iu at this point.

Kelin,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQ3xO3WsIAU

I have suffered through listening to Billy Packer for 30 years and he still makes the same stupid mis-statements as he always have. He used to always say RMK had to call a timeout when he knew perfectly well that RMK would not. He wants to be a coach with a microphone.

packer kind of reminds me of an old drunk pat summeral. pass the vodka billy!

Ray no one recruited stone...not sure why, he is a very good and smart player...IUPUI seems to be one of the primary schools to recruite IPS kids...which is good. Howe's big kid is only a soph and has a lot of bounce to him....the other big kid they had that played with PJ I think is at NC....PJ will be as good as stone....

I wonder if Tubby is watching this game and smiling and I wonder if Billy D is watching this game doing the same thing...

Is it just me or does Gillispie look a little hung over?

HaHaHaHaHa

if he isn't hung over today he will be tomorrow after he drinks his sorrows away after this beat down

I like the "Jordans Better" chants going on when Joe Crawford shoots free throws.

This is fun. This is not one of Kentucky's better teams but IU can learn some important lessons out of this game. Jordon Crawford showed up big time today. Big Dre is improving at avoiding the ticky tack fouls.

While I understand everyone's displeasure with the suspensions; the academic ineligibility of Ratliff is more due to the lack of leadership from Mike Davis. The eligibility rules are such that if you continue to lag behind you will eventually be caught (usually in the last two years of your five-year clock). The lack of consequences early in his career are the big contributor to his ineligibility in his senior year.

Is this a record for most comments in a thread on ITH?

please remember this game when you doubt that iu can win games without "superman". i like eric gordon as well as the next guy, but he isn't the only reason iu has a winning season. so please, try to remember this.

How much does it cost for an out-of-state student to go to IU?

kelin,

george hill and larry stone will be worth watching next year in naptown. i look forward to seeing these two scorers playing on the same team. i've watched both play, and they should be a good scoring tandem for the jaguars next year...that is, if hill is only a junior this year? i'm pretty sure he has another year left.

great game, and now I leave for europe with a good good night rest on a plane. see you guys in amonth. I'll see if I can go on the net while there. Happy holidays.

Great Day! Kentucky and Louisville both loose on the same day. You have to live along the Ohio River to enjoy this....

I think Purdue loss also today....

That makes it a triple good day....

Indeed a great day with Kentucky, Louisville, Purdue, and Illinois loosing. You can't say that the suspensions are a bad thing, with out even having a clue regarding what they are for. For all we know, they could have been late for practice.

If Sampson is not punishing them, thats when we have a problem. You should be glad that he showing this young team some discipline and implementing his system.

BigA, your dislike of KS is getting out of hand, to say that because he suspends a frosh and soph for breaking team rules is his fault is the silliest thing I think I have ever read on this site. Its when he doesnt punish them and they run amuck, not once have we had a player arrested, front page of the HT or anything like that. If you read what Crawfords mother wrote and what KS said its simple, they either missed a class, late for one, or a practice, missed or late. So please lighten up on Kelvin Sampson, I know you dont like him but to push your weight around here isnt very professional to say the least and doing it because lessons need to be taught to these young kids makes them even more out of line. Its coachs' like JC that turn a cheek to players like Dorsey that piss me off, blatant THUG who has pushed the envelope with minimal if ANYTHING done to him, that isnt what is happening here and to compare it to that is ridiculous to say the least.........

Great game today by both the players and the coachs', they are getting better and once healthy this team could be special. Once again look at the message being sent, play by the rules or SIT and we can still win and most important we still PLAY the games. I think KS is tightening the screws on this team, knowing very well that this team can be special but they have to run a tight ship to make sure EVERYONE is working on getting better and doing the right thing.........

PS: If you dont go to class and then you get suspended calls for a coachs' head then there is something very very wrong..........

john and knasmiley, i agree with what you're saying. if he weren't suspending his players, then i would consider him irresponsible. the fact that a kid doesn't wake up in time for a class, well, that's another story. i guess some think it's the coach's responsibility to give a "wake-up call" to each and every player, but that seems ridiculous. and in defense of the players, i would like to say that if it were just a missed practice or a missed class let it be. this happens all the time with students. i missed a number of classes and still graduated with nearly a 4.0. even good kids can stay up too late studying, or whatever kids do, and just simply sleep in. i just hope we don't find out later that it was much more than this, but i think if it were too much more then we would have read about it in the papers. so, i think we should let it be. and i certainly don't think that the coach's head should be on the butcher's block over something as minor as this. he's doing the right thing and all that should be expected of the coach in this particular situation...he's teaching.

KnaSmiley,

All I said was the following:

At what point do we start to ask what type of control Sampson has on the program? First we have Ratliff not making his grades, the phone calls and now back to back suspensions to Crawford and Bassett. Not good, folks.

and...

I agree with some of what Hoosier Fan said. It just seems like there is a lack of control right now and while it might not merit firing Sampson, he should take part of the blame for misbehavior on the player’s part. I’m not sure what’s behind Jordan or Armon’s suspensions, but these types of things simply cannot be happening. We’re already underneath a huge microscope.

-------

All I said was this stuff cannot be happening, whatever it may be, and that Sampson should be held accountable since he is the leader of the program.

Scott-I just checked the other day.
$28-30K...