The Minute After | Inside the Hall | Indiana Hoosiers Basketball News, Recruiting and Analysis

The Minute After: University of Indianapolis

by Ryan Corazza in The Minute After | November 5th, 2011

Scattered thoughts on a 90-72 win over the Greyhounds (Photo by Jamie Owens of J. Scott Sports):

BUCKETS

Indiana, as its more than capable of, shot the ball with efficiency this evening. The Hoosiers’ effective field-goal percentage finished up at 59.3 percent for the game, and it received strong shooting for a host of players. Will Sheehey — who led the team in scoring with 18 points and continues to show vast improvement from last season — was 8-of-11 from the floor (1-of-1 from three). Cody Zeller, after a slow start, finished with 16 points on 5-of-7 shooting. Jordan Hulls hit all three of his shots — two of which were threes — and all six of his free throws to end up with 14 for the game. Remy Abell had a solid debut, going 2-of-4 from the field (1-of-1 from three) for five points and Derek Elston was 2-of-3 (0-for-1 from three) for four points. Matt Roth also hit two threes — the only shots of the game he took.

ZELLER

The big man didn’t score his first bucket — a breakaway lay-in on a nice pass from Verdell Jones III – until the 7:12 mark in the first half. But after that, Zeller established himself more on offense by getting the ball fed to him in the post and scoring on an alley-oop pass from Daniel Moore in the second half. The Washington native also chipped in eight boards for the Hoosiers, nearly notching a double-double in his debut. He also hit on six of his eight attempts at the line this evening.

DEFENSE

Not a whole lot to get excited about here just yet. Indiana, as it did time and again last season, failed to defend the three well, as the Greyhounds shot an impressive 47.37 percent (9-of-19) from beyond the arc. The Greyhounds also did a nice job of getting into the lane at times, though Indiana defenders were able to get into position to draw a few charges in both the halfcourt and in transition.

Continue reading this post »

Tags: University of Indianapolis Greyhounds

58 Comments »

The Minute After: Penn State

by Ryan Corazza in The Minute After | March 10th, 2011

Thoughts on a season-ending 61-55 loss Penn State:

That’s all she wrote, kids.

This season is in the books.

And it ends on a nine-game losing streak.

Despite strong starts in both halves from Penn State, Indiana was in this one the whole way. But every time it threatened to pull even or go ahead in the second half, the Hoosiers would a) foul or b) fail to hit the shots they needed to hit to make it interesting. Additionally, Penn State would often a) grab an offensive board which b) led to second-chance points.

That latter point was perhaps the biggest difference in this one. Penn State snagged a ridiculous 15 offensive rebounds on 26 misses. It aided in 17 second-chance points for the Nittany Lions. The Hoosiers only managed two such second-chance points.

So every time it looked as maybe it was going to happen for IU, it just never did.

The Hoosiers were able to grab an advantage with some active hands, racking up 10 steals which led to 11 points on the break.

But there were some familiar demons which came out to haunt the Hoosiers tonight. It again lost the free-throw battle (20 for Penn State, though they made just 11; Indiana was 7-of-11 on the evening), as Penn State went 20-plus minutes in this one without registering a foul. (Which is crazy.)

Indiana also had a rough go of it from 3-point range, despite getting plenty of good looks. They were just 4-of-18 for 22.2 percent. Over their last four games, the Hoosiers hit just 22.3 percent overall from long range (15-of-67).

This is not good.

Especially in a game where a few more makes from distance could have been the difference between extending your season or going back to Bloomington with your head hanging low.

Continue reading this post »

Tags: Penn State Nittany Lions

168 Comments »

The Minute After: Illinois

by Ryan Corazza in The Minute After | March 5th, 2011

Thoughts on a 72-48 spanking at the hands of the Illini:

Beatdown in Champaign today, kids.

The Illini, when they play this well, are just too much for a team like Indiana. They have more size on the interior. They have more athleticism on the perimeter. Oh, more experience and talent, too.

These mismatches were exploited on both ends of the floor all game — the emotions swirling around senior night, er, afternoon surely helped with this — and the Hoosiers, a team on a quick turnaround from Thursday night’s loss, were really never in this game.

Demetri McCamey (22 points) got off to a hot start in the first half, and it was one giant orange snowball that kept building and rolling over the Hoosiers all afternoon. When the Illini weren’t scoring with ease around the bucket, they were locking down defensively in the halfcourt, making it difficult for the Hoosiers to find any sort of rhythm or success on offense.

The next thing you knew, Illinois had dropped 46 points by halftime on 54.3 percent shooting (5-of-11 for 45.5 percent from three), after only managing 49 points in their first contest with the Hoosiers earlier this season.

And though the offense slowed some in the second half, the Illini often toyed with the Hoosiers with a series of alley-oops.

They were smiling. They were having fun.

It was the difference between a team that’s feeling better about itself heading into the Big Dance and one that’s failed to win away from their home court this season, and is limping to the finish line of 2010-11 on what is now an eight-game losing streak.

Continue reading this post »

Tags: Illinois Fighting Illini

171 Comments »

The Minute After: Wisconsin

by Ryan Corazza in The Minute After | March 4th, 2011

Thoughts on a 77-67 loss to the Badgers:

Hats off to the Hoosiers.

On senior night, they played with the maturity of a team with more than just one in the lineup.

In fact, it was a similar style to their opponent: A low-turnover (just five), efficient performance.

And, if you can believe it, they calmed their incessant fouling (19 fouls) enough that Wisconsin committed more (22) and shot less free throws (20-of-22) than Indiana (21-of-26). Finally, a net positive in that department.

When you don’t turn the ball over, get to the line more than your opponent and shoot well enough (46.8 percent) — you give yourself a chance against good teams, as Indiana did tonight. This version of Indiana – had they shown up for more than just this evening — would be flirting with .500, or maybe even on the right side of it.

But there was one man who would not be denied. Jordan Taylor dropped a career-high 39 points. And it was a HARD 39. Taylor hit a dizzying amount of bailout buckets as the shot clocked danced near zero. He sunk three after three with a palm in his nostrils. He hit all 10 of his free throws.

It was just a little too much.

After senior Jon Leuer went out with his fourth foul at 11:37 in the second half, Taylor scored 17 straight points for Wisconsin. What was once a one-point deficit for IU ballooned to 13 by the 6:19 mark.

And then Wisconsin went all Wisconsin on the Hoosiers: working the shot clock, maximizing its possessions and hitting its free throws. It was just too strong a wall to break through.

Indiana shoot just 2-of-11 (18.2 percent) from beyond the arc.

A few more triples — say seven, the Wisconsin-record-tying amount Taylor hit tonight — and maybe things turn out with Assembly Hall’s faithful storming the court.

Continue reading this post »

Tags: Wisconsin Badgers

96 Comments »

The Minute After: Ohio State

by Ryan Corazza in The Minute After | February 27th, 2011

Thoughts on a 82-61 blowout at the hands of the Buckeyes:

Unwatchable.

For maybe the first time all season, that’s what Indiana became this afternoon in Columbus.

This was a game that even with limited production from Jared Sullinger (0 field goals, five points all on free throws, sat out all but three minutes in the first half because of foul trouble) and Jon Dielber (just 2-of-7 from three) Ohio State still dominated from start to finish. The Hoosiers just never really got into this game.

It often felt like Indiana the last two seasons under coach Tom Crean: Not enough talent, not enough experience, but bringing plenty on hustle.

This is the reality of the Indiana program right now: The gap between the Hoosiers, a team set to finish at the bottom of the Big Ten for a third straight year, and the Buckeyes, a team set for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, is a big one.

In the first half, Indiana missed all eight of its 3-point attempts, and had more turnovers (10) and fouls (13) than field goals (9). And though Sullinger was a non-factor in that half, freshman and Indiana native Deshaun Thomas filled in admirably, scoring 16 points in 10 minutes (6-of-7 from the field, 2-of-3 from three). He finished the game with 22 points.

Crean busted out a full-court press for a long stretch in the second half, but the Hoosiers trailed by 20 or more for almost that entire frame. OSU alley-oops were frequent.

Chicago Bulls TV color man Stacey King often says “too big, too strong, too fast” after point guard Derrick Rose rips off an impressive move to the bucket for two.

On a day like today, that was Ohio State: just too big, strong and fast for the Hoosiers.

Continue reading this post »

Tags: Ohio State Buckeyes

174 Comments »