“individual defense” , “not having to help “, ” do (defensive) work early like deny angles “, ” guard your guard “, ” stay w your man “.

It is refreshing to hear coach highlight this as #1 thing but …………………

When did this revelation occur ? ITH fans have been discussing this repeatedly like it was a blues refrain ……… you know , “the thrill is gone, the thrill is gone way, the thrill is ……”

We have “over switched” and “over helped” all year with insane weakside double teams of guys who did not need to be doubled.Now he says we are not athletic/quick enough to do these things successfully.

When did this epiphany take place ? Why are we not in a zone all the time then ?

If it were me I assign TP to Brooks because TP can defend anywhere on the floor and gets back on D. I assign JR to Battle, CW on Ajones , Hulls on Frazier and VJ3 on Jackson.

WHen JR tires or fails in comes WS . If TP tires or fouls then in comes WS again ie SHeehey plays 30min tonight.

DE replaces CW , VO replaces VJ3. I want Frazier, Ajones, Jackson to beat us and not Brooks or Battle

….after watching teams use their center to screen for Hulls’ man all season, maybe they have discovered it’s not good strategy to have your 5″11 guard trapped in the post on the opponent’s 7 footer………or maybe they knew it all along, and were waiting to deploy a real defense when they got to the Big 10 tournament……. we can only hope……Rivers owes us a shut down performance against a guy like Battle after the Jordan Taylor debacle. You are right about Pritchard on Brooks as well, HOWEVER, to me, whether we win or lose will be based on how we shoot tonight….. IF… Watford nails two 3′s and goes 8-8 from FT, Verdell remembers to pull up and stick his jumpers, Sheehey hits a couple baseline jumpers, Oladipo lays in a few off the drive and MOST importantly Hulls becomes the dead -eye he’s capable of being again, and goes 6-7 from three, …….we win……If Verdell decides to drive in with his head down until he loses it off his foot, Watford clangs his three’s and gets his shot blocked in the post, Oladipo commits 2 charging fouls bulling his way into the lane, and Hulls keeps shooting like Lebron with the game on the line…..we lose……….To me it’s a 50/50 shot either way……..unless Creek pulls a Willis Reed, then we win by 20.

Still need another commit either Hollowell or Harris to be near the top in 2012 recruiting. Who cares if we are #1 or #2, OSU was #2 this year and they look pretty strong.

I totally feel your pain with VJIII and Watford. Sadly we do play better without them and that’s not how it shoould be. My fear is that hoosier fans will become complacent and accept a middle of the road 3rd, 4th or 5th place finish in the big ten year after year. That’s what CTC did at Marquette in the Big East. This is Indiana and nothing less than 1st is acceptable to me once we finally get going. Bob Knight coached 29 years and won 11 Big Ten titles. That’s 38% of the time we were number 1 in the big ten. We need to be at least 25% of the time finishing number 1 or something is wrong.

Call me crazy, but I think we will win tonight. I have no factual basis for this prediction other than a “gut” feeling.

Of course, I have picked up some roadkill Crow today and plan on eating it in the event of a loss! Just covering all the bases.

At this point I think we are in a much better position whether CTC is the guy or not.

No one wanted this job three years ago, no one would want it now. However, with the talent coming in and the program back in working order, if CTC doesn’t work out we can pretty much have our pick of the best available coaches in 2013.

I’m not nudging CTC out the door, I’m just saying regardless of what the team does or does not achieve in the next two years, we are out of the gutter and can get someone in here that can bring back the promise of a National Championship.

Millzy, will you help me down off this soap box please? Thank you.

I just cannot understand why he is on a basketball court. Hightower is right there with him. Terrible refs. Cracks me up when announcers talk about how solid they are. I’m sure they are popping Geritol at halftime.

What is wrong w Geritol ? I admire these “icons” that they still take the court. I must get me some of this Geritol if that is the secret.

It does , however, seem a little like an invisible force is pushing them around the floor while they are actually expired corpses……… kind of the “Weekend at Bernie’s” cadre of refs.

I hated Jim Burr since I was in college

HAHAHAHAHA!!! Would it surprise you if I told you I am a teetotaler? If we don’t have blind optimism going into a game like this, what do we have?

I think our Hoosiers have probably boosted a lot of Liquor sales this year with people drowning their sorrows. Maybe if I black out tonight sometime in the second half I’ll have a dream that we actually won and feel good. It’s worth a shot.

Worth about 56 shots and maybe 12 beer chasers

That is pretty pessimistic!

Ohmygosh, Rutgers really got screwed on that deal, didn’t they?!?! We think IU has gotten the shaft this year, but that was unbelievable.

The Big East office acknowledged that the officiating crew made two errors at the end of the game, both of which should have caused the game clock to stop and a possession change. Rutgers still had a chance to tie or win the game but the refs let the two calls go and the game end. How does that happen?!?

Then when asked about the possibility of those three refs working the NCAA Tournament, officiating supervisor John Adams would only discuss Burr with ESPN. “(Burr) has had an exceptional year,” Adams said. “He has been enforcing the freedom of movement and working his tail off physically. I expect to see him in the tournament. I hope he makes the cut. I have no comment on the other two.”
Burr’s had an exceptional year? In what parallel universe is Adams speaking of?

Today’s news is that the three — Jim Burr, Tim Higgins and Earl Walton — have withdrawn from the Big East tournament in the “best interests of the tournament and their colleagues.” I’m thinking in the best interests, maybe, of them not being tarred and feathered.

I sort of see where you’re coming from with this one Milla and the CTC era is a success either way. If he restores integrity to the program, brings it good talent, wins a little, and leaves the program ripe for another good coach to take over and win big then it’s a success. If he turns it around by himself then it’s still a huge success.

So, I guess if we look at it this way then it’s a win-win situation.

Excellent outlook and analysis Milla. I can get on board with that!

Ted Valentine, Jim Burr, Ed Hightower – worst three college basketball officials in order and we get them all the time!