Comments on: The Minute After: Northwestern

By: Shannon Straub

Shannon Straub — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 03:23:03 +0000

Yes you are right! Baylor is a perfect example of the position IU is in. I actually think we are worse off simply because of our history! The nation expects us to be top tier every year!

By: aceman07

aceman07 — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 20:14:39 +0000

Baylor! Dennehy's murder happened before the 03-04 season and they just made the NIT LAST YEAR!!! Now, granted Baylor isn't a top tier program by any stretch of the imagination but it took Scott Drew and the university 5 years to have a season where they were nationally on the radar and they will make the NCAA tournament this year (most likely). So, if we factor in the fact that this is Indiana it should stand to reason that 3-4 years is a realistic expectation. Right?

By: aceman07

aceman07 — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 20:03:05 +0000

I totally agree! I know there are times that we will question a coach for something he did during a game and that's okay. The key to this whole thing is to realize that a game mistake or two is going to happen to every coach, but IU fans should be in this for the long haul and realize that healing in a program like this where the damage was almost irreparable doesn't happen over night! Look at Baylor and how long in took Scott Drew to build something out of complete and utter nothingness!

Good post BGleas and Shannon! I say critique the individual performances on any given night and even critique the coach if you want, but don't be stupid and blame CTC for the position we're in! He's doing a great job and the future definitely looks brighter than it did just a few months ago!

By: IUMIKE1

IUMIKE1 — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 09:22:00 +0000

You are not the only one that is tremendously frustrated but we as fans must realize that this is just the way it is right now. I would be willing to bet that IU is a whole lot younger team overall than any team that has come onto NW's court and went home with a loss. I guess all of those teams are very flawed in at alot of things too. This year this is just how it is. In 2 or 3 years from now if this kind of thing happens as often as it has this year then I will be right there with you asking the tough questions. Just because we have had one top ten recriuting class does not automatically equate to a winning season espicially not when they come in under the set ot circumstances they came in under. A top ten class of recruits does not equate to that even if you have a solid team in place e.g. North Carolina. You have to admit and remember this year is really the first year for CTC to start rebuilding. If you will remember last year VJ3 was, for the most part, the type of player that you are complaining about and look at him this year. You do not seem like someone that has a whole lot of patience and trust me that is by far not my best quality but we have got to find a way to have some and do our part as true IU fans to back these guys WIN OR LOSE.

By: IUMIKE1

IUMIKE1 — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 08:52:44 +0000

After much chin in palm deep thinking I have come to the conclusion that a very large portion of my, and I think alot of other peoples's, frustration is a direct result of our progress. It seems harder to take now that we have seen how good they are capable of playing at times. Expectations have went up since they suprised us with the progress that they have shown in a few games. People, expectations can only go up if we are progressing and showing flashes of what is to come in the future. Show no progress and no one expects to win. At the begining of the year if someone had told me that Creek was probably going to be freshman of the year in the B10 but then he was going to have a season ending injury right before the B10 starts I, along with just about everyone else who knows anything about bball, would have said that there was more than likely no way in hell we were going to beat the best team that Northwestern has had in 50 years on their home court. Yet most of us thought we had a very good chance of getting a W at NW the expectation of winning was there and that in itself is progress.

By: BGleas

BGleas — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 07:50:54 +0000

Great post! I for one am growing very frustrated with the segment of fans that lack the patience to see this through. Nobody said this rebuild was going to be overnight. I'm actually really enjoying this ride and watching this process. It's going to be even more fun when this all comes together.

I don't know if it will be next year, the following or even the one after that, but from what I've seen, I'm confident it will happen. That doesn't mean we shouldn't have criticisms along the way, but I'd just rather deal in the constructive and well though out ones.

By: Shannon Straub

Shannon Straub — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 05:25:34 +0000

Well said. No one has had the patience and faith the university asked for when we hired Crean. This is actually his 1st year if you ask me. Last year should not have even counted towards his rebuilding phase of the team.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 02:49:28 +0000

Aww, poor Druid. I love the “hard earned money” comment, especially since I spent my hard-earned money to attend the game yesterday. I'm not asking for a refund, because I realize that IU is relying exclusively on first and second-year players. Repeat after me: this team owes you or me nothing, other than to play hard. And just b/c they shot 35% yesterday doesn't mean they didn't play hard; it just means they aren't very good, hardly a revelation if you've spent any time at all watching IU play this season. You constantly reference the top 10 recruiting class, all but calling it a failure. Are you aware that 1. They are exactly 22 games into their collective careers, and 2. They do not have their best player, the one who was averaging 16 points a game before his knee exploded? I know, I know, you probably consider these excuses. But in reality these are facts.

By: marcusgresham

marcusgresham — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 00:48:14 +0000

…and hopefully Pritchard won't be the only option at big man—even if he does develop, there needs to be some depth there to survive the Big 10 season

By: Shannon Straub

Shannon Straub — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 00:22:31 +0000

Seems to me you are not a supporting fan. Just an angry one. Perhaps you should become a UK fan. Your post would fit on their message board more appropriately. Even a young top 10 class needs the support of a veteran leader. TC was left with nothing. Name another program in the nation in your memory that has been stuck with this task? If you expected a .500 team this year you are the fool. Everyone picked us to finish at the bottom of the big ten. That's where we are at. If you ask me we are doing what young inexperienced teams do. Play inconsistent. To say that this team is a let down or to say Coach Crean is a let down is pretty petty.

By: Hardwood83

Hardwood83 — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 23:38:52 +0000

This pretty much summarizes my thoughts too. I'm not happy about the ugly loss to NW, or Iowa or ….fill in the blank, but Alex nailed it in his headline 'IU lacks toughness'. Not a matter of talent (in THIS particular game anyway) or coaching, it's development. Physically & mentally That takes time. Sucks sure, but just the way it works. It is pretty easy to see a pattern here- IU plays well couple of times- then a let down often against lesser teams. That is all youth & lack of mental toughness. Winning is an attitude not just physical tools, coaching and schemes. Not that anyone deserves a free pass (especially for lack of hustle) but it's not unexpected.

By: Mark

Mark — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 23:26:21 +0000

Does Dumes actually think taking 30 foot 3-pointers is what creates good offense? It's guaranteed that he gets the “AIR-BALL” chant EVERY road game. He took one good 3 and it was off a good defensive possession which lead to a wide open transition 3, which didn't go in. Other then that, all terrible shots. I know he's stepped up since Creek went down but he's only affective when the 3 goes down. Next year, when we don't have Dumes, we will have Victor Oladipo. V.O. will bring in MORE energy in one game then Dumes can in 2 seasons. I know I'm hard on Dumes right now but I'm being realistic. With everyone coming back next year, except for Tijan + Dumes, and adding V.O. (who can box-out/rebound/block better then Tijan and defend/bring more energy then D.D.), we should be significantly better. Just wait till VJ is a senior and C-Wat-Creek-Elston-Hulls are juniors, we will be the toughest team in the Big 10. Let's just hope that Pritchard is a developed big man by them who can hit the 8-10 foot jump shot.

By: HoosierSmitty

HoosierSmitty — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 23:02:38 +0000

I didn't say anything after the Purdue loss, because after I demolished my living room and kitchen of anything in my path, I had nothing left to give. Obviously I got over it, because we gave it a great effort...but 1 and BONUS FT opportunities steam me like nothing else.

I don't really have much to add about this game either. We just got outplayed and we weren't mentally ready for this game. You could just tell the body language wasn't the same as it was against Illinois and Purdue.

On the bright side, Watford played a strong game and complimented the ridiculous effort by Verdell Jones. I find myself thinking lately, "Wow, VJ III is really only a sophomore?"

By: BGleas

BGleas — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 21:23:17 +0000

Two biggest signs a team is young and inexperienced. 1) They don't play well on the road. 2) They play up to the level of their competition and down to the level of their competition.

Especially with #2, we've seen IU beat or play well against Pitt, Kentucky, Purdue, Illinois twice and Minnesota. We've also seen them lose to our play bad against BU, Loyola, Iowa, NW and George Mason.

I know it gets old, but this a young team, that for the most part, is going through the Big Ten for the first time. You mentioned how good the '09 class was supposed to be, well that's one class! One class! Not an entire team. IU has one real recruiting class and VJIII, that's it!

I for one am disappointed with yesterday's game, but very proud and excited about the job CTC is doing this year, and with how well the team has done against some of the better teams they've faced.

By: jpniles

jpniles — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 19:44:17 +0000

Let's look at this psychologically. I know everyone is tired of hearing it, but this is a young team. This is a young team who has come off of two very hard losses. There has to be some kind of psychological effect from the games against Illinois and Purdue. When we lost to Purdue the way we did, I almost automatically counted this "winable" game as a loss.

There are a couple positives that I see in the last three games:
1) The consistency of VJII - He could be a real beast next year!
2) It seems as though there is a different #2 guy every game whether it be Watford, Hulls, Pritch, or whoever. We just need MORE! But the ground work is there. SomeONE seems to step up.

The next few years are going to be great. Let's hold on Hoosier faithful!

By: Hoosiered

Hoosiered — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 19:31:13 +0000

Defense was very poor and we just aren't strong enough to finish at the tin.

By: JerryCT

JerryCT — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 19:04:29 +0000

RONB details the stats that actually tell us what happened ……………….by what is NOT reported.

We simply could NOT get stops on defense. Let me ask everybody…………which team did you have the most confidence in running a half court offense ? Did you have any confidence that we could get a stop ?

Jones continues to kill the other team on offense and us on defense. Moore was breath of fresh air on defense.

Still I love to watch the NW offensive sets and work ehtic……..a thing of beauty really. We got beat by a team that played much better basketball.

By: marsh21

marsh21 — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 18:11:22 +0000

Agreed, but NW is a solid team at home and have proved it all year. This loss is no surprise.

By: Druid

Druid — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 13:13:00 +0000

Personally I am tired of excuses and inconsistent play. Here we are late in the season and we still look like a out of control high school team. I was under the impression that this years recruits were a top ten class. You sure wouldn’t know it by our pathetic play. Basic basketball fundimentals seem to be a challenge and passion is at times a attribute we seem to have lost. When Crean talks about what the players need to understand and do he should realize that the players as well as the coaches don’t seem to understand that us fans spend hard earned money and time supporting this team. In return they should give their all every game representing us the fans, their team, and IU. It is my belief that they have failed at this in several games this year. Yesterday was one of those games. When Jones and Watford accounted for all but 17 points I think something is wrong. Where was that top ten class? Why when it was obvious we weren’t playing basketball like men, did Coach Crean not sit everybody but Watford and Jones on the bench and bring in the other team members . When you have a walk on like Moore who can come in and get two quick scores, there is something bad wrong with the top ten class folks. I think that these kids needs to grow a pair and play like men or perhaps they should consider transferring to a D2 school where they can play with some other folks with similar ineptness. Frankly I’m sick of the bs.

By: Bryan

Bryan — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 13:10:00 +0000

Not really surprising – with the number of threes that Northwestern put up, it felt much more like the Ohio State game, which was also a case where the other team ran away from IU early, and used perimeter shooting to keep the game out of reach. The team has grown in many respects since the start of the season. Unfortunately, defending the 3 point shot still doesn't seem like one of those areas that has seen much improvement.

Worse, when the Wildcats were hitting them, some of our guys tried a little too vainly to match (how many possessions were wasted on threes with no one remotely in position to chase down a rebound).