Second half run, rebounding too much for Hoosiers
BLOOMINGTON – For 20 minutes of basketball Saturday in Assembly Hall, Indiana stood toe-to-toe with one of the nation’s top teams.
Fueled by 63 percent shooting in the first half, the Hoosiers trailed No. 4 Kentucky just 42-41 at halftime.
But after a layup by Jeremiah Rivers put IU ahead 48-47 with 17:42 remaining, the Wildcats (10-0) went on an 18-0 run en route to a comfortable 90-73 win.
“I knew Tom Crean would have them ready to go,” Kentucky coach John Calipari said. “This game, for us to win in that fashion, we played well. That’s like a February effort.”
The scoreless stretch of nearly five minutes, capped by an Eric Bledsoe dunk at the 12:40 mark, was too much for the Hoosiers (4-5) to overcome.
“We were just not as aggressive defensively,” Indiana coach Tom Crean said of the run. “And then we settled for some shots. I think it was more the defense than anything else. We just were not where we needed to be. We’ve got to create points off of our defense. We’re not going to score well enough against size and length and athleticism enough if we’re not getting easy baskets.”
The Hoosiers (4-5) struggled to rebound against Kentucky’s front court tandem of Patrick Patterson and DeMarcus Cousins. The Wildcats out-rebounded IU 49-24, including 21-8 on the offensive glass.
“They were more focused on getting the rebound more,” Indiana guard Maurice Creek said. “That’s a time thing. We’ve got to work on it and get better at it.”
Eric Bledsoe scored a career-high 23 points on 8 of 10 shooting to lead UK. Patterson added 19 points, Cousins had 14 and freshman John Wall had 11.
“I’m just happy for him,” Kentucky coach John Calipari said of Bledsoe. “He hasn’t played with any kind of aggressiveness or assertiveness, almost a casual game at times in the last two weeks.”
For Indiana, Creek had the best game of his young career, totaling 31 points, including 5 of 8 three-pointers and 8 of 8 from the foul line.
“How about this Creek kid?” Calipari said. “We’ve played a lot of good teams, and he’s as good as any player we’ve played.”
Despite the lopsided loss, Crean remained optimistic that the program is moving in the right direction. In last year’s Kentucky game at Rupp Arena, the Hoosiers trailed 32-6 midway through the first half.
“A year ago we play at Kentucky, it was a stunned locker room,” Crean said. “This year we play Kentucky, it’s a hurt locker room. And that’s progress to me as well.”
The four factors: No question about it, rebounding, particularly the offensive variety, was the difference in this game. Kentucky is already ranked in the top 10 nationally in this category and today’s performance only solidifies that position.
IU’s effective field goal percentage was nearly eight percentage points above their season average at 54.8%. But Kentucky’s was even better at 58.3%, which is pretty remarkable.
Besides Creek, Indiana struggled to get to the line. 14 free throw attempts at home isn’t a high enough number. The Hoosiers continue to improve at taking care of the ball. A turnover percentage of 13.4%, especially against a team with the speed and athleticism of Kentucky, is an impressive performance. Jeremiah Rivers was a big part of that with eight assists and one turnover.
December 12th, 2009 at 6:37 pm
Does anyone know which IU recruits were at the game? Fontan? Others?
December 12th, 2009 at 10:22 pm
And to think, we could have been 13/14 from the line if Bobby C. doesn't miss 5 CONSECUTIVE FREE THROWS.
December 12th, 2009 at 11:33 pm
If RMK was still at IU Bobby C. would still be practicing free throws.
December 12th, 2009 at 11:37 pm
Does anyone know which IU recruits were at the game? Fontan? Others?
December 13th, 2009 at 12:45 am
Higgy….
What I have heard is Jeremiah Davis was there, which I am glad
I heard Fontan was NOT there and we may be out of the running
Personally, we have to get a big kid in sooner rather than later, that has some skills inside, love the wings we have coming in but I am tired of seeing IU get pushed around inside.
December 13th, 2009 at 12:54 am
Ron Patterson was also at the game.
December 13th, 2009 at 1:20 am
Patterson and DSR have looked good this year thus far…..Teague v J.Davis Jan.2nd.
December 13th, 2009 at 1:26 am
DSR was there, too, I'm told.
December 13th, 2009 at 1:51 am
Well, I can't say I'm surprised by the outcome, but was glad we hung with them as long as we did. Unfortunately, unlike the Pitt game, we stayed in the game by shooting threes at a clip that was so far atypical for this years team.
The rebounding was a sore spot, but that's to be expected when Kentucky doesn't play anyone at center or power forward that is smaller than 6-9, the traditional wing players are 6-6 to 6-7, and their primary point guard is 6-4, and is a once-in-a-lifetime type of recruit. If it weren't for that 6-1 midget Eric Bledsoe, I can't think of many teams as imposing in length. The fact that most of those guys are elite athletes can't hurt either.
This is the type of game I've been concerned about, looking at the size of the competition, and the size of our team. We need some guys that are either taller, or wider (hopefully more in the Dejuan Blair mold rather than the DeAndre Thomas one, although I wouldn't have minded having someone Thomas' size today down low, at least until he had to participate in transition defense). Otherwise, we're still going to be living and dying with the three when facing superior talent.
Finally, do you think Bawa saw the court today in part to answer questions about why we haven't seen him so far? I'll be among the first to admit I'd been curious why he had played more, and even in garbage time, it's clear he's a ways away from being able to contribute.
December 13th, 2009 at 1:57 am
While I'm OK with our performance today let me just get it out of my system and say I STILL HATE the blue pUKes !!! There now I feel at least a little bit better.
Thought JR played maybe his best overall game to date hit the short jumper and seemed to do less of the I'm up in the air with nobody to pass to and / or no where to go. This kind of improvement can go a long way towards making us a much harder team to play against.
The Bawa mystery continues. We are not actively recruiting any other notable bigs that I am aware of and if he is our man in the middle for the forseeable future we have got to get him more game time minutes some how some way. Acutal game time minutes cannot be replicated in practice no matter how hard you try, just no substitute for it……We trust you CTC
The rebounding stat and our lack of being able to go right at them in any way shape or form and thus keeping us from getting to the free throw line shows that our inside game has come along the least amount of any of the rebuilding parts…..We trust you CTC
When on the rare occasion that we did get it inside the person receiving the pass was not able to turn and muscle it in and would have to just throw it back out or when we did try to take it up it was returned to us in a nasty way……..We trust you CTC
Let me start my next point by first saying that TP is an important part of this team, is a Hoosier and he has and always will have my full fledged support. Having said that, is it just me or do we seem to be able to do just as good or at times seemingly better, when he goes out of the game as when he was in the game. It sure seeems like, at least part of the time he is out, we are faster up and down the court and on defense. I think he is starting to find himself in the same boat that Dumes found himself in at the start of the season in that last year he played the large number of minutes he did because there simply was not another viable option. He seems to work hard and be a good kid but just doesn't seem to be able to take it to hardly anyone that is as big as him and even seems to struggle against some that are even a little smaller than him. I believe it is, at least somewhat, a case of him just not having the kind of tools that you have to be born with and that cannot be made up for with any amount of teaching / learning. If Elston and Capo continue to improve I believe they will, and should be, getting more of TP's minutes as the season progresses, especially Elston…….We trust you CTC
After this game anyone that wondered why coaches started hugging each other when they got word that Maurice Creek had finally been cleared to play should wonder no more. This kid came ready to play and boy did he play. Great game Mo great game. And wouldn't you know it I was thinking that he should be my click to pick guy before I got caught up in trying to make sure I had all my work done before the game came on and forgot to get my pick in, would have finally got one right….oh well something tells me I will be able to make a right pick by selecting him in the future.
Bobby C please put in some extra time or more time at the free throw line after practice ends. If you cannot muscle it in from in close and cannot hit the free throw it almost becomes a turnover.
With being able to have a few days of practice before our next game it will be extremely interesting to see how we do in the next three non conference games, do we dominate, do we play down to their level and barely win or do we even lose one ? I am not so naive as to think that there will not be any ” what the heck was that ? !! ” games the rest of the year but with the next three games coming up and with Michigan looking more like a winnable game all the time and with the game after that against a Turner-less Ohio St. team it could be chance to have a real momentum building stretch at the start of conference play that could really help this young team's confidence and set the overall tone for the rest of the season.
It seems like we are still making progress even if we did not win this game and that makes it a little bit easier to take losing to that team from that foul smelling place south of Louisville. Even though I really would like wins over both if it came down to playing PU and the blue pUKes and we were allowed only one victory this southern IN IU fan would not even think twice about it. Kicking some blue a$$ would be my choice every time !!!! To quote Kurt Russell's character in the movie Tombstone ” tell 'em were coming to get 'em (next year) and we're bringing hell with us “
GO HOOSIERS !!!!!!!!!
December 13th, 2009 at 2:42 am
Bryan and IUMike….
Here is more to add to the Bawa saga….He played today twice as much as Tijan? 2 minutes to 1 minutes. Not saying Tijan could have made much of a difference…but the 'most improved player' on the team according to CTC plays only one minute. I do hope over these next two exhibition games Bawa gets some time on the court.
I have committed to only being happy if the following recruits commit to IU within the next year:
1. Josh Selby, Marquis Teague (L'ville), Austin Rivers (I started the rumor)…..
2. ANYONE that is 6'9 or OVER, 250-275 pounds, can or willing to dunk on someone, can catch an alley oop, shot blocker, and has at least one to two post moves that includes a jump hook, dunk, hell even a sky hook ………..
December 13th, 2009 at 2:44 am
This might sound crazy, but I actually feel better about what IU can accomplish the rest of this season after this game then I did after the Pitt game. IU hung with and at times controlled the game against one of the most talented and biggest teams in the country.
You can flat out see the improvement since Puerto Rico the last three games. Creek is really coming into his own, both Rivers and VJIII have looked much more under control and Hulls has seemed more confident and is controlling the team when he gets minutes.IU really needs Watford to make some sort of leap and then I think we can surprise some people.
The one negative is obviously the inside game. It's glaringly obvious that Crean somehow has to find a way to get an impact inside player because unless Bawa has a miraculous development, that player is not currently on the roster. Hopefully someone is on the horizon that we don't know about yet.
December 13th, 2009 at 3:54 am
What I would do for Zeller to come to Indiana…
December 13th, 2009 at 3:56 am
BGleas…I agree, this loss is tough but I saw some really encouraging things. I am not sure where Crean gets that inside help that is needed now, or at least for 2010. For me, if they just had a rebounding shot blocker I would be happy. I don't know who is on the horizon or if there is anything left. I am beginning to feel bad for Pritchard, given he started off so solid last year, this the kid seems to be playing with no confidence….
December 13th, 2009 at 3:57 am
Man, it's a wonder, I read an article in the Fort Wayne News Sentinel about Pritchard and his transformation into a hack.
I mean, what happened? If anything, he should be WAY better now that he has actual threats to score on his side of the ball. Anyone notice any differences in his game?
December 13th, 2009 at 3:59 am
Zeller should commit to IU tomorrow. He will be given all the PT he wants…from day 1
December 13th, 2009 at 5:29 am
Saw DSR there in the highlights…..him and patterson are attached at the hip
December 13th, 2009 at 8:13 am
And I remember adding those 5 free throws to the scoreboard at the time; it would have made it an 11 point lead – it might/probably wouldn't have made a difference in the outcome, but still – gotta make em!
December 13th, 2009 at 4:41 pm
Don't call UK cheater whaen you are on Probation..Dirty Dirty Dirty..Look at the Scoreboard..We own IU and have for years..End of story.
December 13th, 2009 at 4:51 pm
Personally I loved every sign, big head, and chant of the students yesterday. Cal is a cheater, it is no big secret, he even admits to it….
December 13th, 2009 at 4:52 pm
Positions 1-4 I think IU can compete with any team in the country and at least keep it close. IU doesn't get anything from the center position. To be outrebounded 45-22 is pretty awful. At one point UK had 17 second chance pts to 2 for IU. If that is closer IU probably could have kept it to single digits. IU had less turnovers, same amount of steals and 1 more assist.
The backcourt played an excellent game. Didn't turn it over and got some good shots. For UK I thought Wall played a very good game taking what they gave him and getting the ball to people in position to score. I didn't realize he was that good of a passer. I didn't think Bledsoe could score like that either. Patterson bullied whomever tried to guard him and they feasted on the offensive boards and its not acceptable.
Capo is the only person who played tough down low. He isn't refined but he played hard and didn't seem intimidated. Did a nice job getting to the line
Elston didn't play too bad, he just isn't big enough to play down low yet. I thought this was one game where IU should have fouled more, they had too many easy put backs.
Where was Jobe? I thought he should have been in for his D.
Its hard to win a game where the other team doesn't have to worry about your front court scoring at all.
I don't want IU to go after this PG from Fordham, IU needs someone big. Crean needs to look for an athlete, any athlete 6'9 or above. Get a JUCO, get a football player get anybody who can jump, and rebound. You can get away with having a small center but he has to be athletic. IU doesn't have that and it kills them on D and rebounding.
Creek obviously was great, but the rest of the team needs to do a better job getting to the line.
Final thing is I don't get how Crean substitutes. He makes line changes like a hockey coach. I don't know if its good or bad and I don't really think it would have mattered in this game, its just odd.
All and all it was what most of us thought it would be. It definitely could have been much worse
December 13th, 2009 at 5:17 pm
If only we could transplant AJ Moye's heart into TP's body.
December 13th, 2009 at 5:20 pm
I personally find the mock outrage from UK fans over the signs to be a little funny, but also disingenuous. I seem to remember Rick Pitino's first game back in Rupp after being hired by Louisville. As member serves, this was shortly after 9-11, where Pitino faced signs comparing him to the American Taliban, John Walker Lindh.
What's worse, ribbing a coach over his vacated Final Four appearances, or comparing a man to a terrorist? And, not that Pitino should be spared, but I'm sure the Rupp crowd will totally lay off the whole Karen Sypher thing in a couple of weeks.
December 13th, 2009 at 5:39 pm
First off if you really are a UK fan, you, as much as anybody should know cheating when you see it but then again you are used to seeing it on a much grander scale and more often than a few phone calls one time. At least ours was self reported and not brought about by an envelope full of cash coming open in route to a recruit. You guys should really try to get back to the Rupp way of cheating and have a new tractor suddenly show up in the recruit's driveway.
True we got in trouble but 1) Once again we self reported no cash was falling out of envelopes on their way to recruits 2) Our trouble is basically a once in a lifetime thing yours on the other hand is a way of life and is expected and condoned by the fan base as a whole. 3) We may have less banners hung than you but NONE of our banners are tainted with the cheat to get them label like yours are !!!
I guess Kentucky is the only place where the word when is spelled with the letter a in it but then again you were probably just trying to spell it the way you pronounce it. As long as we are on the topic on spelling a word you might want to go ahead and start learning to spell is vacate. Now if it has the letter d on the end of it and is used in a sentence it means it has already happened. I am sure there are no shortage of people in Memphis and at U Mass that can help you with the spelling if you get stuck. Since you continue to cheat I feel safe in saying you are a slow learner so you probably should start learning that one as soon as possible since it probably will not be that long before you will need to start putting it in a sentence.
December 13th, 2009 at 5:51 pm
Kelin:
Couldn't agree more….something about if the shoe fits
December 13th, 2009 at 5:54 pm
Can't complain about too much with this game.
I had five keys to the game that needed to happen for the upset. We really only succeeded with one. Here there were…
FOUL TROUBLE: UNSUCCESSFUL – We didn't get anyone in foul trouble from Kentucky, and we actually lost Watford incredibly early.
3 POINT SHOOTING: MILD SUCCESS – We hit some threes, mostly by Creek, and Kentucky was off early in the game. However, they got it together and Bledsoe went off – we left him open way too much. So in the end, even though we hit more threes, KY matched us.
UNLIKELY STAR: UNSUCCESSFUL – NO ONE STEPPED UP – I said someone other than Creek, Watford, and Jones had to step up. Creek was the only one who really put it together. Rivers played pretty well, but he was by no means a star. Elston did a solid job, but by no means a star. We needed someone other than the big 3 to jump in there. It didn't happen for us, but it DID for Kentucky. While we werre all worried about Wall and Patterson, we got torched by Bledsoe.
FREE THROWS: UNSUCCESSFUL – We hit 8-14 (thanks MO) and KY hit 13-21. Not great for KY, but they did hit almost as many as we even attempted. They flipped the stat on us.
TURNOVERS: SUCCESSFUL – We didn't make KY turn it over a lot – only 13 times, but we also only had 9 turnovers. That's amazing given the pressure we faced and the talent we faced. If we can consistently win this battle, we'll win a few more games that we might have thought.
So not great, but we had a little success. I guess we get a 1 1/2 out of 5 stars though.
December 13th, 2009 at 5:57 pm
Bryan:
All good points and well taken. When they start the Sypher thing, and you can be assured that they will, it will not be meant to anger just the coach but it will be done with the intention of hurting his family too. Only at uk can someone go from a god to a terrorist just for taking a certain job.
December 13th, 2009 at 6:01 pm
That was one of my only beefs with this game. I didn't understand what happened when Watford and Creek when not on the floor at the same time. Thanks to CBS's wonderful coverage, I had no idea Watford was in foul trouble, so I guess that was a part of it. However, our guys have to suck it up and hang in there longer. Crean might be protecting them, but we can't have a lineup on the court with limited offensive threats.
December 13th, 2009 at 6:44 pm
Amen brother! I was happy with the effort, the improved ball handling and shooting, and the improvement, but man, this game more than any emphasized the importance of getting some bigs in that have the ability to guard on the block and then crash the glass because we were totally outmatched underneath. We did an okay job on Walls but man their big guys killed us!!!
December 13th, 2009 at 6:52 pm
Why is there a need to mention Knight? He chose to go out “his” way. He could have been a class act and left the university on his own terms, but he didn't. He never wanted to represent the university with class. After all these years let if go! Examine Knights record outside of IU, what did he accomplish?
This team played inspired. We got beat by a better team. The effort was great and they are bringing pride back to IU. I love what Coach Crean is doing and we will continue to improve. I look forward to seeing them play every game and continue to improve.
December 13th, 2009 at 7:13 pm
Anyone catch the Michigan – Detroit game today? Eli Holman (remember him?) looked pretty darn good. He's a big man playing like a big man. Oh, what could have been…
December 13th, 2009 at 7:57 pm
Out of everyone who left he is the guy we miss the most and I never thought I'd say that. Obviously, his attitude sucked but I'll take a guy who may not have the best head on his shoulders(Cousins) over a guy with a perfect attitude and little skill. I hope Crean can find someone for next year, maybe a JUCO guy. We haven't seen much of Bawa but from what we saw, I don't think he is much more than a project.I have a feeling he is a guy who was a mystery to most teams recruiting him and people fell in love with his size more than his skill set.
December 13th, 2009 at 9:05 pm
Some good news out of the KY loss…..
So after IU loses to KY, whats does crean do that afternoon/evening….
+ Sit at home a sulk…NO
+ Make the team run suicides ….NO
Crean was out recruiting watching Branden Dawson (an absolute 6'6 beast!) and watching AJ Hammons from Carmel…who is 7ft tall Sophmore….
Gotta love it….I have found interesting Crean's comments about one and dones, he pretty much said this is a long term thing, if we get one great if not, keep it movin'……
December 13th, 2009 at 9:12 pm
Smitty….Not sure why Fish and Leary was 10 second ahead of the game, as I was forced to listen to CBS. Those two announcers were the common cure for insomnia. I had NO idea Wateford was in foul trouble.
December 13th, 2009 at 9:19 pm
i think if IU had a good center…we win this game
i think IU won positions 1-3
December 13th, 2009 at 10:54 pm
Some of Crean's comments after the game about recruiting puzzle me. Why would he say I'm not going to try to consistently recruit one and doners? Why wouldn't you try to recruit those guys? One and doners help grow a program long after they leave. They bring in better 2, 3, 4 year players because those guys want to play with them for the chance at a championship. I understand not banking on getting them to come but don't you at least have to try?
Anyone else agree or disagree?
December 13th, 2009 at 11:09 pm
Agree………maybe what he meant was that he was not going spend all his time chasing them.He will let them know he is interested in them coming to IU but he is not going to devote pretty much all of his spare time kissing their butts. If they want to come to IU great and if they don't then thats OK too. I think he may be still feeling a little burnt from the Irving thing and felt like he missed out on some other kids that he might have been able to get but passed on thinking that Irving was coming. Like I said I agree you just about have to have the one and dones to compete for a national championship any more. One of those types at the right time is the final piece to push you over the hump in alot of big games and very possibly take you up the ladder with the scissors in the last college bball game of the season.
December 13th, 2009 at 11:13 pm
Cooper…I kinda agree with Crean and you, but, understand where Crean is coming from. From a coaches standpoint….you want good players for a long time as opposed to banking on great players for one year. Every year you don't want to replace a john wall or derrick rose, and it is hard to do….unless you have world wide wes…..
I also understand, there is ALOT of baggage that comes along with one and done kids, in the form of possiby street agents, tag a longs, and those surrounding the kid. I think this is why Crean hates the rule or wishes it was longer…..
Some years you definitely try for that big splash but if you have that upperclassmen team like PU does, is it really necessary?
December 14th, 2009 at 12:37 am
OK Whoosier Boy.
What is a Whoosier? Nobody can seem to tell me..None of our Titles has any NCAA Violations associated with them.We have not been on probation since 1988 for Basketball.Cal has never had an NCAA violation associated with his name..Self Reported ..B/S.IU got caught and to lessen the penalty …they plead guilty..We really OWN IU we have beaten you what15 out of the last 17 times…? Can you try a little harder..It's getting boring..
December 14th, 2009 at 12:52 am
Is Alex related to Rick?
If so it would continue to explain the Indiana bias in the old man.
December 14th, 2009 at 1:43 am
You guys both make good points and I don't necessarily disagree but I guess a point I'd make is even if Crean feels that way, keep it in house. No need to publicize it. It has a way of making it sound like sour grapes or IU doesn't go for those players because we can't compete with other schools for them. Especially after a loss to a team with those players.
Recruits hear everything good and bad being said whether from other coaches, friends, handlers, etc. Think about how someone like Selby may react to that if he wanted to be a one and done. (I don't know if he is that type of player or not but you get my point) He could infer and another coach could use against IU that Crean doesn't want to deal with that type of player or worse doesn't know how to help get that player what he wants. Whether its true or not doesn't really matter.
December 14th, 2009 at 1:56 am
I think that is very true – in watching Crean's Marquette teams, they are similar to Izzo's MSU teams in that they generally send 3-4 guys to the glass. But I think against KY that is really dangerous, because most of the time you'll lose that battle anyway, and they'll kill you on the break. Calculated risk.
All in all, though, I thought we did alot of good things, played tough, but lack of an inside game really hurt . . . that being said, there are VERY few teams that can match up with them inside. Let's get a great post player in here!!!
December 14th, 2009 at 2:16 am
An athletic big man that can run and jump…if you catch the ball at the bucket then throw it down…whats this layup bs from 6'8''+'s????
December 14th, 2009 at 3:22 am
McGary broke his foot over the weekend and will be out 4 weeks. But, I have seen McGary play and he's a really solid player. Once again though, Purdue recruits this area so well and they have been in contact with him since before he even played a high school game.
December 14th, 2009 at 3:56 am
Cooper:
Didn't intend to make it sound like what I said was how I felt I was just throwing something out there as to what might be behind Crean's comments if there even is anything to make out of them. Agreed, if it is a little bit of sour grapes he should keep it to himself and the other coaches because as you said if by some chance the recruit doesn't hear or read it himself I'm sure someone else recruiting him will be more than glad to tell him what was said and / or give him the website for him to see it for himself. I still think he will recruit the 5 star / one and dones because CTC knows bball and is smart enough to understand what the possibilities are with them on board at least ever so oflten. I also think with him being as competive as he is and losing as much as he has since he got here will be enough to keep him from not having anything to do with this type of recruit.
Here is a question I will throw out there for everyone. Should Zeller really be our number 1 choice in a big man for that class? I mean he is an Indiana kid I know but if someone bigger and better is available should we not go for him instead. Seen his team play Salem in the regional last year and was not exactly blown away by him and felt like Gunner Erwin from Salem clearly outplayed him, in that paticular game anyway, and he is considerably smaller than Zeller and if memory serves me right he threw down a dunk right over him. I know I know just because he got dunked on and his team lost does not make him less of a player than the Erwin kid and the Erwin kid was a senior and Zeller was alot younger and all that good stuff….. but it did make me go hmmmm a little bit.
December 14th, 2009 at 2:54 pm
I really admire TC's approach to IU basketball. If you look at it it is textbook stuff from corporate turnarounds;
Step 1 : Get Control ………so you clean house
Step 2: Build Stable Foundation ……….so you recruit 3-4 stars
Step 3: Build on Success ……….use current wins to get better recruits
Step 4: Swing for the fences …………get the one and dones
We are on step 2 barely and flirting with 3. If we get the 5 star fine but if not we stick to our game plan
December 14th, 2009 at 3:04 pm
No kidding! Are there even any prospects of getting someone 6'9″ or taller with some meat on his bones? Maybe they should look overseas if nothing else (although Euro big guys aren't exactly bruisers by reputation.) I'd even be open to a juco big guy (but not a fat one like the last one we saw in Bloomington,) if it helped on the boards. I think you might see Pritchard even blossom a bit if he got to slide over the the PF spot instead of having to be the de facto center.
December 14th, 2009 at 3:59 pm
Jerry, this analogy is perfect.
Nothing to add…just applauding. I hope others will read and better understand the process and not get all huffy like after Puerto Rico.
December 14th, 2009 at 4:29 pm
IUMike…
I am not completely sold on Zeller. I don't know how much Zeller helps us in these games as he is not a physical big man. I like his versatility but Zeller is more Ben Allen than DJ White, when it comes to their style of game. For me…I am more of a plumlee guy than zeller. But I would not be crushed if Zeller committed to IU.
December 14th, 2009 at 5:13 pm
Creek is our loan 5 star. How many time do he have to smash the so called 5 star (John Wall's of the world) to get in the same group if not better. I mean do Mo need to get stronger….NO, Faster…NO, Smarter….NO. He need other's on the team to step up. Crean can say he's behind because of the summer all he wants, but Creek is the bright spot on the team.
Before the game, Mo was 1.5 points behind Jonh Wall (the chossen one) and he's not a 5 star. What about now? Something is wrong with this STAR system. It's all favortism plan and simple. What a crock of Bull.
December 14th, 2009 at 5:23 pm
Kelin:
The Ben Allen analoty is a good comparison sounds like we both pretty much have the same views on Zeller and Plumlee but it looks like we probably have a better chance of getting Zeller than Plumlee. Both would be nice but then so would 80 degrees and sunshine in December and one has about the same chance of happening as the other looks like.
December 14th, 2009 at 5:43 pm
Alex:
I noticied that you removed the uk fan's comment and after getting his reply in my email I feel like I probably know why. I was not going to give him the satisfaction of another reply regardless of what his reply was to mine and probably should not have even gave him the satisfaction on even the first one. You probably just figured that you would just put a stop to it all the way around before it went any further. Don't blame you. Being less than 20 minutes from the state line fans in my area seem to have listen to even more than the usual amount of crap from their fans which is quite a statement in itself.
Guess that is one of the main reasons why I agree with Kelin in that while I was not at the game I did not hear anything myself being chanted that was out of line and / or not true. I stand by my points. Enough said, case closed, keep up the good work.
December 14th, 2009 at 6:11 pm
Cals a cheater…. SAT…. those were a few of the funny chants! I laughed hard.
December 14th, 2009 at 9:58 pm
Zeller should commit AND talk his brother into coming home to be with him!
December 14th, 2009 at 10:08 pm
Sorry but Creek is not as good as Wall. Creek is a great college freshman. Wall is a NBA player now. No knock on Creek either but you can't compare him to Wall because of one unbelievable game by Creek.
December 15th, 2009 at 8:27 am
Mbt shoes are delivered around the world. Try to place an order of Mbt walking shoes and Mbt Chapa.