2011 February | Inside the Hall | Indiana Hoosiers Basketball News, Recruiting and Analysis

Pick to Click: Purdue

by Staff in Pick to Click | February 23rd, 2011

Rules are here, for those unfamiliar.

Pool for Purdue: All players are eligible to be picked.

Picks are due by 8:15 PM ET on Wednesday evening.

A few reminders:

+ State the name of the player (not a nickname) that you’re picking. If you use a nickname for a player, your pick will not be counted. Also, please state who you are picking as the first thing in your comment. We’re tracking over a hundred picks per game. It’s more difficult to keep track of everyone’s pick if it’s not the first thing in your comment.

+ Please make sure you are using a valid e-mail address if you are not registered.

+ Please make sure you are using the same name each time to pick if you are not registered. We are tracking wins by the name you use to submit your pick. If your name changes on a game-to-game basis, credit for your pick will be given to the name used to submit the pick.

Tags: Purdue Boilermakers

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Big Ten power rankings: Week 9

by Staff in Commentary | February 22nd, 2011

It’s really separated into a case of the haves and have-nots in the Big Ten, with the top three teams in the conference running away while the rest of the conference fed on itself. No team outside of Wisconsin, Ohio State or Purdue can even mathematically win a share of the Big Ten regular-season title.

And yet, amidst all the madness, almost every team in the conference has at least some shot at postseason basketball, and seven could legitimately claim they are in some small way at least on the NCAA bubble. So this week’s power rankings take a look at what each Big Ten team has to do to keep playing after Indianapolis.

Inside the Hall Big Ten power rankings: Week 9

On the CBI Bubble at 11. Indiana – NR; 12-15, 3-11; 33 total points

Indiana has a better chance at the CBI, at least right now, than Iowa, because if it finished with a couple more wins, it would be far, far closer to .500, and the Hoosiers would have brand recognition. Would they accept an invitation? We’re assuming two more wins at least are required, so that’s a tall order. But it would be hard to turn down the extra practice time.

The Maybe Next Year (Again) No. 10: Iowa – NR; 10-17, 3-12; 30 total points

It’s a dead heat between Iowa (at Illinois, at Michigan State, Purdue) and Indiana (Purdue, at Ohio State, Wisconsin, at Illinois) for last in the conference. Barring an absurdly unexpected run to and possibly even through the Big Ten Tournament, the Hawkeyes’ season will end in the Circle City yet again.

On the NIT Bubble at No. 9. Northwestern – NR; 16-10, 6-9; 27 total points

It would be awfully hard for the Wildcats to finish south of .500, but it seems like there’s more work to be done to assure a third-consecutive NIT berth. Winning at home against Penn State on Thursday seems like a must.

The Why Are We So Low No. 8. Minnesota – NR; 17-9, 6-8; 24 total points

So it turns out Colton Iverson actually can’t play point guard … who knew? It’s really been a rough season for the Gophers, who were far better as a whole unit than their current predicament suggests. But at the same time, this isn’t the first time we’ve seen off-court turmoil strangle Minnesota’s chances at putting together a really good season, so what does that say? NCAAs still possible, wins definitely still needed, schedule rather kind on the run-in.

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Tags: Big Ten Power Rankings

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Rivers: “We’ve just got to come out and play”

by Zachary Osterman in Media | February 22nd, 2011

BLOOMINGTON — There’s a potentially intriguing confluence of surface trends and storylines converging for tomorrow night’s Indiana-Purdue rivalry, this time renewed in Bloomington.

On one side, Indiana comes into the game having lost its last four games, with three of those coming against the other three teams in the bottom four of the Big Ten (Iowa, Michigan and Northwestern). Their last loss, at the hands of the Wildcats at home Saturday, was so disappointing that coach Tom Crean called a 7:30 a.m. Sunday practice.

But given that Christian Watford is healthy again — he sat out with his wrist injury the last time these teams met – the Hoosiers do offer a wrinkle Purdue didn’t have to contend with last time.

Purdue, by contrast, rides in at its season’s high-water mark, having defeated Wisconsin and Ohio State at home last week and moved firmly into the nation’s top 10. E’Twaun Moore scored 38 points in a magnificent effort against Ohio State on Sunday.

So whether practically or on paper, Wednesday will be an uphill climb for Indiana.

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Tags: Christian Watford, ETwaun Moore, Jeremiah Rivers

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Video: Tom Crean previews Purdue

by Alex Bozich in Video | February 22nd, 2011

Tom Crean talks about Wednesday night’s rivalry game with Purdue at Assembly Hall in his Tuesday afternoon press conference, which you can watch below courtesy of IU Athletics on YouTube:

Tags: Purdue Boilermakers, Tom Crean

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Inside the Hall Twitter Mailbag: February 22

by Alex Bozich in Commentary | February 22nd, 2011

(Photo credit: Jamie Owens/J. Scott Sports)

The Inside the Hall Twitter mailbag is a weekly collection of questions tweeted to us via our Twitter account, @insidethehall. Tweet us your questions each week and we’ll answer as many as we can. Now, onward …

@Garrettlawson writes: the CBI has only taken <.500 teams 5 times in its 3 years. Is CBI still possible for IU and would they accept an invite?

Alex Bozich: The College Basketball Invitational or CBI as it is more frequently called, has only featured six schools from BCS conferences. Here’s the list: Cincinnati, Oregon State, St. John’s, Stanford, Virginia and Washington. No Big Ten school has ever accepted an invitation to play in this third-tier tournament and my guess is several have been offered the opportunity. This event is more suited to smaller conference teams that are looking to play in a postseason of some kind. Beyond that, the perks of participation are minimal. The television exposure is minimal, I’ve heard that teams must pay to host games and for a prestigious program like Indiana, choosing to play in the CBI doesn’t seem to make sense. If you can’t qualify for the NCAA Tournament or the N.I.T., do you really deserve to play in the postseason?

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Tags: Twitter Mailbag

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Film Session: Burned by the back cut

by Ryan Corazza in Film Session | February 22nd, 2011

Bill Carmody’s offense thrives on its never-ending motion, trust, sound passing and back-door cuts.

Before taking the Northwestern job in 2000, it’s a style he mastered during his 18-year tenure at Princeton — hence its Princeton offense moniker – as both an assistant under Pete Carril (1982-1996) and head coach (1996-2000).

A look at three of Northwestern’s sharply-executed back cuts in the latest edition of Film Session.

NO. 1) CURLETTI TO SHURNA

Before the Big Ten Network broadcast cuts to the traditional side-court view, Juice Thompson brings the ball up the court and hands it off to Drew Crawford on the left wing: