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Keys to the game: Iowa Hawkeyes

by Alex Bozich in Opponents | January 23rd, 2008

mandeville.jpgI figured you’d rather not relive Justin Johnson’s 19 points in 1:55 in pictures and you’re probably tired of looking at Eric Gordon and D.J. White. So I did you a favor and found a nice picture of Rachel Bilson Richard Mandeville. You can thank me later. And one more note, Happy Birthday, PostmanR.

After dropping their first three Big Ten contests, the Iowa Hawkeyes have won two of three and enter Assembly Hall looking for their second straight conference road win. Todd Lickliter’s club pulled off the biggest upset to date in the conference on January 12, a 43-36 stunner against Michigan State. After a 67-62 home loss to Purdue, Iowa beat Michigan 68-60 Saturday in Crisler Arena and will meet the Hoosiers tonight at 9 p.m. Without further ado, here are the keys to the game:

Stop Justin Johnson: In case you forgot, Johnson scored a ridiculous 19 points in the final 1:55 of Indiana’s 79-76 win at Carver Hawkeye Arena on January 2. Johnson is a streaky shooter and it’s important for the Hoosiers to keep him contained and prevent another outburst. This sounds like an assignment for Mr. Eric Gordon or according to the Indy Star, Jamarcus Ellis.

Defensive intensity: We’ve yet to see a convincing defensive effort for 40 minutes from this year’s version of the Hoosiers. The problem: Too many mental lapses and missed assignments leading to easy buckets. Is this the game where Kelvin Sampson gets the message to his team that it’s time to tighten up the loose ends?

Feed the post: The more touches for D.J. White, the more the perimeter will open up for the Hoosiers. When the double team comes, D.J. will find the open man on the perimeter. If the Hawkeyes fail to collapse on D.J., it’ll be a long night ahead for Cyrus Tate and Seth Gorney.

Armon’s Ankle: The sophomore guard from Terre Haute is coming off a 17-point performance against Penn State where he played the entire second half and moved well despite bone chips in his left foot. Indiana is clearly a more organized team on offense with Bassett leading the attack (no disrespect to the undisciplined one, Jordan Crawford).

If all else fails, send them to the line: Iowa is the third worst foul shooting team in the conference at 62.9 percent. Cyrus Tate, who leads the Hawkeyes in free throw attempts, is shooting just 54.2 percent. Conversely, the Hoosiers sit at the top of the pile at 74.9 percent.

Your keys to the game and analysis in the comments, por favor.

  • TomCoverdale's Eyebrows
    I posted this earlier, but wanted to ask again: what are the chances we get upended by Iowa because there was a little too much looking ahead to Saturdays game? "Anyone know what this is? Class? Anyone? Anyone? Anyone seen this before?"
  • Alan
    Please stop the soft porn.
  • Kreigh_Smiths_Short_Shorts
    Nooooo! MORE soft porn!
  • HoosierSmitty
    No way Indiana fails to show up for this game. UConn is nonconference and I believe that Sampson and the Hoosiers are well aware of the importance of not slipping up at home. IU takes pride in its home court winning streak and they know what Iowa is capable of, given what they did against Michigan State. Add in the extra motivation of Johnson's little videogameesque firebombing at the end of the last game, and you have the recipe for second straight convincing, allbeit, late pull away W for the Hoosiers.
  • I think this is the game we put it together for 40. Let's let Ahfeld set his career high in minutes. Scratch that, let's go with Finklemeier. Ahfeld...Cantstandya.

    Thanks for the continued use of TUO for Crawford. This is how trends are born. (Not that I know.)

    I think Ellis has to be the guy to guard Johnson. It's clear EJ can't keep himself out of foul trouble, mostly because he's too darn strong.

    Oh, and Rachel Bilson? Who knew? Not me.
  • Jmoney2584
    We should come in and shut them down after a solid "K-Samp film sesh w/ pep talk"....I'll call it the #3 from now on.
  • Mr_C
    One thing I want to see tonight is EJ following his shots. I know he is used to hitting every shot, but he still needs to follow the ball. So many times after a miss he would of had an open lane to the rebound but he is already back peddling down the floor.
  • HoosierSmitty
    I agree. He does that often. Sometimes it's acceptable when he's got to retreat as the only guy back (i.e. a top of the key situation). But on the whole, he definitely could take advantage of some long rebounds that way.
  • Michael
    This is by far the best IU Basketball Blog on the net, but PLEASE stop showing pictures of scantily clad woman for no apparent reason. Please have some respect for both the women who are being objectified and for your readers, many of whom (like myself) are disgusted by the objectification of women. While I'm sure some readers do enjoy the pictures, there are plenty of other places they can go on the net to get that crap..
  • MPmike
    I agree. Although I love to look at beautiful woman and pictures of hot woman, I would like to concentrate on IU and sports when I enter this IU b-ball site.
  • TomCoverdale's Eyebrows
    HAHA... here's an idea: If you dont like the pictures... DONT LOOK AT THEM.
  • MPmike
    No, I like the pix, I would like to focus on IU bball on this site. Do you get it? Losing focus on IU bball and thinking about gorgeous woman that we can only dream of having. There are other sites for this.
  • All:

    Point taken, although I don't agree that the pictures are "soft porn."

    Going forward, you'll see plenty of pictures of Richard Mandeville, Luke Jimenez and Ryan Tapak.
  • MPmike
    Big A:

    I agree with your taste of women and I think it's best for the site to concentrate on basketball and sports in general. Also on the pictures being soft porn- not quite. It would have to show a little more skin and some action to be considered soft porn.

    In your comment about showing pictures of past IU players, I would rather see no pictures unless you are talking about them. Keep up the good work!!
  • Timmy
    Spank you very much... where on the internet will i find pix to fill the void you've just created? Also, we should skip analysis on the Iowa game and focus on Uconn.

    IU 85 iowa 60.
  • Bill Bow
    What the hell happened to the picture of Rachel Bilson. Did you fold to the conservative republican right wing christian coalition of Michael and Mike. Lame
  • Bill,

    The link for more Bilson is still there. For now, you'll have to deal all Richard Mandeville, all the time.
  • Michael
    My views have have a lot less to do with my political ideology (I am a moderate Democrat) and my religious beliefs (I am a Christian) and a lot more to do with my respect for women as individuals and not objects than anything else.
  • dontbegay
    I guess you are right Michael, I am sure she was quite offended when SHE POSED FOR THOSE PICTURES! Stop being such a closed in bitch
  • Enjoyed Rachel Bilson. Perhaps people are more comforatable with the compromise of the IU Cheer pictures that used to go up?

    Not to get on a tangent, but for anyone who was a fan of the March Madness EA sports franchise, Luke Jiminez was a stud. Somehow he got a ridiculous 3pt ranking one year and I took him to POY.

    Hopefully my no-point nerdiness deflects the softcore porn and politics debate???
  • You'll definitely be seeing more Megan Martz in the near future.
  • peaychris
    i would like to see a solid defensive effort tonight. i would LOVE to see ej able to go 40 min without having to sit because of fouls. with that being said i would love to see JE on johnson tonight to protect ej from those ticky tack fouls. i think hoosiers win by more than 15 points.
  • jochunt23
    I just can't believe we're making a big deal about the pictures.
  • ALH_00
    Pictures good...Iowa bad...Hoosiers by 18.
  • DavidC
    Booooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Bring back Bilson
  • Maybe we should have a poll - Do you, the ITH faithful, like to look at Rachel Bilson, Jessica Biel and others?
  • xxZPxx
    I want some Jessica Alba "pre-pregnancy" in my life....Also some more Erin Andrews.

    Women and IU basketball, what are you all whining about!
  • DavidC
    I'd be down to voting for the picture of the game
  • SteveO
    Jessica Biel and Erin Andrews would be nice. Either that, or Tom Coverdale.
  • peaychris
    i think you need to feature sports related girls. erin andrews, natalie gulbis?? or you could call gene keady for a photo spread! or feature IU cheerleaders..
  • NickG
    This is not the place for Maxim-style photos. Keep it about basketball. Michael, of course, is absolutely right and makes his point very clear. Also, it is rather disrespectful to the female fans (like my wife) to show this on a site that should be about the basketball. This is an excellent blog and I enjoy that I have an alternative to peegs. If this blog will be opting for the "Maxim" approach, I won't be reading. Thanks, guys.
  • Jerry
    I donot think Iowa presents problems we cannot work our way out of. I , for one, would like to see more offensive progress like:

    1. Good passes into DJ
    2. Moving w/o the ball when DJ has it
    3. MAke a move or pass from DJ within 2 seconds( kill the double team )
    4. some picks for the guards
    5. going the right way on the pick
    6. passing to the "roller" for a change
    7. more quality minutes from the bench

    and then of course......Uconn losing to CIncy tonight
  • Jmoney2584
    EDIT #6: It has always been my understanding that he who rolls it lights it and is therefor the first to pass..no exceptions.

    Oh yea, and of course more movement when the ball goes into the post.
  • Jmoney's definitely right on this one. No. 6 is overruled!
  • T
    I don't want UConn to lose to Cincy tonight, i'd rather have them coming off a win and not pissed off looking for redemption.

    I think the Hoosiers should win big tonight, but I thought that against Penn State and they made me sweat for a solid 30 minutes of that game.

    I'm curious to see if Basset and Stemler start tonights game or if Sampson goes back to Crawford and manbearpig
  • Quincy
    What could be better than the beautiful Ashley Judd, and reading of the dismantling of her Ky. Wildcats... kudos... more please... keep up the good work.
  • E.
    Just stick to the good basketball coverage, please.
  • JoeBob Jr.
    Richard Mandeville!!?? WOW. Who's next? Robbie Eggers?
  • mike
    I WANT MALCOLM SIMS!!!!!
  • MKH
    I'm expecting a big game tonight. Were I KS, I'd be replaying the last 1:55 of the first Iowa game as proof: you absolutely cannot let off the gas against Big Ten competition. I do expect the team to respond. I agree with most of the keys above, but particularly about feeding the post. The way DJ is playing, he should touch the ball every possession. The one concern I have is that I'd really like to see KS spare Bassett a few more minutes on the bench to heal up.
  • Stunnedmonkey
    The terrorists have won...

    Dick Mandeville...

    yay....

    oops sorry to offend those who cringe when the see "Dick" in words.
  • SteveO
    Speaking of defensive intensity, can we tether Jordan Crawford to the hoop support so he doesn't gamble on every single pass outside the 3-point arc? It leads to way too many open shots and profanity-laden tirades.
  • Tom
    i don't get the erin andrews thing. not at all.

    not bothered by the photos of girls, just don't see the point.
  • DavidC
    You might be too tall (or too short) to 'get' Erin Andrews. I imagine most teenage boys coming into their own can see exactly what they 'get' about Erin Andrews.
  • Jmoney2584
    I live in a fantasy world where instead of ME "getting" Erin Andrews, Erin Andrews actually "gets" ME....follow closely now, this is not lazyness on my part...just a fantasy world..thats all that this is...yes, just a fantasy....hmm...
  • LRubes
    Um yea, bring back the pic of the hott chick

    IU 75
    Iowa 64
  • PMK
    In honor of PostmanR's bday (Happy Birthday, R!), I would like to see pics of him in his birthday suit. Maybe not though. How about pics of the three authors lounging around in their underwear while they blog? No?
  • Jerry
    Geezuzz! Its time to return to basketball. I will stir the pot by saying UCONN will trap us us just after half court and terrorize us for awhile under the basket before the game settles in. If we donto zone them like Providence did we could have a tough day. Man ton to man I donot see how we guard 7'3" Thabeet, 6'9" Robinson ( 21pts last yr ) and Adrien ( 15pts, 12 rebs last yr ).
  • PMK:

    You can view all that foxy, sexy stuff at our paid section of the site:

    insidethehall.com/xxxbloggers
  • Hoosier_Hound
    IU 78
    Iowa 60

    I think DJ is going to have a big night, but more than that, I have this strange sense that Jamarcus is going to come up with a triple-double tonight. It's just a feeling, but after it started I looked up the boxscore from the first game and he went for 15-7-7 there, so it is more than possible.
  • HoosierSmitty
    You suck Hoosier Hound...I was going to suggest the same thing...but you beat me to it....then again, i have been predicting Jamarcus to get a triple-double for the last five games...so I'm not exactly prophetic if it happens.
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