The frustration of a 19-loss (and counting) season might finally be getting to Tom Crean. Our friends over at The Palestra have the story detailing Crean’s shorter than usual press conference after last night’s loss:
Second half drought sinks Hoosiers
by Alex Bozich in Recaps | February 19th, 2009
After trailing by just one at halftime, Indiana scored just four points in the first 9:01 of the second half and fell 68-51 to Wisconsin on Thursday night at Assembly Hall.
By the time the Hoosiers (6-19, 1-12 Big Ten) scored their fifth and sixth points after halftime, Wisconsin had built a 15-point lead. The Badgers didn’t let the lead fall below 11 the rest of the way.
The loss was the fourth straight for IU and the 17th in their last 19 games.
“I don’t think we competed or played well in the second half. Our defense really let us down,” Indiana coach Tom Crean said. “And there is really nothing in the second half that we can hang our hat on. We were much different than the first half and they exposed that. They did an excellent job taking advantage of that.”
Trevon Hughes scored 21 points on 7 of 14 shooting to lead Wisconsin and Joe Krabbenhoft added 18. The Badgers (17-9, 8-6) shot 49 percent, hit 11 of 15 free throws and committed just seven turnovers.
Verdell Jones paced the Hoosiers with 16 points and Devan Dumes added 12 in his first game back following a two-game suspension. IU hit 15 of 19 free throws, but hit just 2 of 11 shots from beyond the 3-point line.
Up next: The Hoosiers travel to West Lafayette on Saturday afternoon for a 2PM ET meeting with Purdue. That game will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network. “I think we’re thirsty to redeem ourselves,” Verdell Jones said. “Purdue is an in-state rival and we definitely want to go up there and give them our all. We’ll prepare tomorrow for them and just come out and give it our best.”
Dumes will return for Wisconsin game
by Alex Bozich in Media | February 18th, 2009
The indefinite suspension is over. Turns out, it really wasn’t all that indefinite after all. After sitting out two games for throwing elbows in a couple of different games, most notably against Michigan State, Devan Dumes will return for Thursday’s home game against Wisconsin.
Indiana coach Tom Crean talked about the decision this afternoon and our friend Chris Korman captured the words from IU’s leader:
“We think we’ve covered the ground that needed to be covered,” Indiana coach Tom Crean said after practice today.
The notion of an “indefinite” suspension seemed a bit ridiculous from the get-go. Sure, Dumes deserved to sit out a few games, but he wasn’t exactly throwing haymakers out there. As Crean talked about following the Illinois game, he wanted to make sure that he, the Big Ten (or Jim Delaney) and Fred Glass all felt comfortable with the punishment and apparently two games was the magic number.
Kelvin Sampson, a year later, at ESPN the Mag
by Ryan Corazza in Media | February 18th, 2009
In the latest issue of ESPN the Mag — on newsstands now! — there’s a small bit on page 71 about five players affected by Kelvin Sampson’s Indiana hiring and subsequent resignation: Devin Ebanks, Terrell Holloway, Scottie Reynolds, Damion James and Tyshawn Taylor.
Today online, a few companion pieces ran along with it. Including two from me. The first is a column about what it meant for me to be a fan during Sampson’s reign of calling, and what Tom Crean has taught me. A sample:
I’d always heard about the Indiana Tradition or doing things the Indiana Way, but I’d usually roll my eyes at such pronouncements, thinking of them as nothing more but tired, clichéd statements from Bob Knight disciples. I’m a bit of a cynical guy.
Times had changed, I thought. It’s OK to bend the rules in recruiting, as long as you win, as long as you don’t get caught. It’s OK you don’t fit the Indiana mold, doing things the right way with dignity and class, as long as you win. It’s OK to bring in players of questionable character, as long as you win.
This is what the Kelvin Sampson era was at Indiana: win at all costs. And I was hooked, cast under his spell, because that’s all I wanted for my team, too. I wanted to win.
Second is four others affected by Sampson, but like the original piece in the actual print version, is behind ESPN’s Insider wall. Boo.
Lastly, Scott Powers wrote a tremendous story about all the guys who left last year, catching us up with their situations. He got a lot of quotes from Brandon McGee. That guy is behind the Insider wall too.
The moral of this post is that ESPN is putting a lot more of their stuff behind Insider’s wall this year. You’ve been warned, sports consumer.
Oh, and if you want another take on the whole Deadspin topic, Midwest Sports Fan has an indepth look at it today.
Tom Crean is no fan of you, Big Ten schedule-maker guy
Two quick observations: 1) The fact that IU is turning around in less than 40 hours to play any regular season game is ridiculous. Sure, it’s acceptable in March, but in the regular season, not so much. Especially when the Hoosiers had a break of more than a week earlier in the Big Ten schedule. 2) IU and Purdue need to play twice every season. It shouldn’t even be up for debate. Could you imagine the outrage if the ACC schedule came out and Duke and North Carolina only had one meeting? ESPN would probably run a 30-minute special denouncing it as the biggest travesty in sports. So note to you, Big Ten schedule-maker guy: IU-Purdue twice a season and little preparation time would be nice.