Blog Posts

After watching last night’s IU v. Illinois game in the Big Ten tournament I have a lot of things to say, but I’ll keep this to basically one point, with a short preface. I haven’t play-by-played the last two games because I didn’t watch them at home, but I wish that I had, because I watch the game more closely and feel and instead of just shouting things to an empty room and having Laura ask me who I’m talking to (you think she’d know by now that I’ll talk whether there’s an audience or not) I can write my impressions which means someone may read what I was pissed or excited about. Makes it more fun, I guess is the short answer.

As an example, during last night’s game, this year’s IU SID myth became very clear. Last year, if you were watching as much as I was you heard every announcer who did an IU game refer to two
things throughout the course of the game. 1.) Robert Vaden’s High Basketball IQ. I don’t know how you measure that but if it is done by observation of the way he plays and the choices he makes on the court, and not by some mysterious Wonderlic Test given at admission, Jamie and Adam would call this one BUSTED! Jay Edward’s and Alex Smith’s early jumps to the pros are to planning for your future through savings and wise investment as Robert Vaden’s frequent decisions are to collecting grease and  reselling it to plan for retirement. (I can count on one hand the number of people who are going to completely untangle that last analogy. My thought process is sloppy at best, but trust me that makes sense and is mildly amusing). 2.) Marco Killingsworth has 5% body fat. God Bless Rick Majerus, who may be one of the industries experts on body fat, for pointing out during one game late in the Big Ten season last year that there’s no way in hell the Marco Killingsworth had 5% body fat. No one, in the previous 20 or so games thought to call shenanigans on that piece of information. The announcers just read from the sheet the the University’s Sports Information Director (SID) gives them, assuming that it’s correct without paying attention to what is really going on some sometimes.

Well, and I thought this was going to be short, this year’s myth(, myth. Yeth?) has to do with DJ White. The announcers during last night’s game made frequent mention of DJ’s abilty to pass out of the double team. Making statements to the effect that one would think DJ would average more points, but he doesn’t because he frequently gets double teamed (True) and his ability to pass out of these situations results in a number of open 3s for his teammates, which is why IU leads the Big Ten in 3 point shooting (FALSE!!!!!!) When the ball goes into the post and a double team comes DJ, almost always dribbles parallel to the baseline toward the sideline as the double team follows him and the court gets smaller. He then throws a bad pass which either gets tipped, picked, or does not result in an immediate shot. I don’t have the tape to examine, but I’d bet the number of assists he gets per game from these situations hovers around my little league batting average (somewhere in the .00001 range). In fact it happened twice in the first half last night. DJ threw the ball away twice while being double teamed. This made no difference to the announcers who, in the second half mentioned at least twice how good he was at passing out of the double team.

I gotta get in touch with the SID and see if I can get some completely crazy information put in there so that it becomes reapeated to the point of truth. Any suggestions?

JT

I was gonna skip this game because I’m watching it after it ended and I didn’t really want to put the thought into typing after my law class tonight, so again tonight’s post starts late. But I was inspired by the color commentator tonight who said that Joe Kennedy, from Northwestern spent last summer work for Barack Obama and will do so after graduation. This combined with his experience as an athlete, means Kennedy was getting "the full monty."

You keep using that word. I do not think it mean, what you think it means.

13:!6 Sampson’s pissed, and he should be. We haven’t made a 2 point basket yet, and are 3-7 from beyond the arc. That’s just lazy. We’re up 9-6, but after two piss-poor defensive possessions he rightfully needed to tear some people new rectal orifices.

12:42 On the same out of bounds play under Northwestern’s basket they get the pass into a guy cutting right under the basket. If I didn’t already have a beer going that would be enough to drive me to drink.

12:13 You know how the way you perceive things as a kid colors your perception of some things for the rest of your life? Well Northwestern sucking and being an easy win is something I always expect. The fact that tonight’s game is a HUGE deal for this team is hard for me to rectify. Even though I was at an IU @ Northwestern game a few years ago that we lost (and man was I pissed that night), it’s still tough for me to adjust my world view. I think it must be similar to how people in government who came up during the cold war have trouble adjusting their world view to a post-cold war world. Also, I’ve lived in Chicago for 7 years now and I keep expecting the weather in March to start getting nice, because that’s what happens in Clarksville, and even though I know it’s gonna be shitty here for at least another month, maybe more, my mind says March = nice weather.

9:37 Earl Calloway just pulled the pass it off the guys ass play and get the lay up. That’s AWESOME!
I can’t believe he missed the lay up though, but still AWESOME!

9:17 IU’s defensive rotation has been way too slow so far tonight.

8:05 Just watched Wilmont stand his ground and not even make an attempt to step over and help out on the drive. Northwestern gets a lay-up out of it. Follows that up by taking a charge the next possession. I was all ready to tear him a new ass for that crappy matador defense and then he takes the charge. I hate feeling conflicted.

Commercial: For all the latest medical scoop. See (former) Surgeon General C.Everett Coop.

6:35 Haven’t run a single play yet to get the ball into DJ. I just don’t get this. And it’s not just tonight. This is the theme lately. And he just got beat like a red headed step child off the dribble. Why in God’s name would he get that close to a man on the perimeter.

5:34 CRAP! Tie game. btw, they just went inside to DJ and he coughed it up. Maybe I’m not such a genius. No, that can’t be. They just went inside again. I’ve changed my mind. Start jackin’ threes.

3:51 NU is in a 2-3. Armon was driving the gaps and kicking it out, but no one else moved, and the ball stayed on the same side of the court the whole time. Result. Turnover. The ball has got to move the defense and standing around watching your Freshman point guard be the only one who does the right thing will never get you an open look. And IU’s losing right now.

3:14 I really like the way NU plays on offense. I’ve felt this way for a while now. The spread the floor, get lots of movement and kill you with back door cuts. Full Princeton Willie. You know what’s coming but it’s still hard to stop it.

2:12 OH MY GOD! Bassett just hit a contested three, but he was the only one who moved at all that entire possession. God, that’s bad basketball.

1:31 Wilmont for 3, we’re back up by 1 now, but NU is out playing us at this point. Oh, now we’re down by two again.

Halftime. That shot by Wilmont was ridiculous. Don’t know whether I should go with "Better to be lucky than good." of "Even a stopped clock is right twice a day." IU up 32-28. Just caught a shot of the stands at Welsh-Ryan. Don’t know if you’ve ever been there. This place is not big. It reminds me a standard Indiana High School gym, and there are a lot of open seats.

19:09 Dj scores again, 5th point of the night. Both on put backs. The 2-1-2

18:55 Same inbounds play! NU scores. It’s time to go to a 2-3 on the in bounds plays. We clearly can’t cover them in man.

18:34 The 2-1-2 is preventing good ball movement, and we’re settling for early outside shots. I don’t like it.

17:40 Finally DJ scored on a post move. NU switched to a 3-2 on that possession. It was pretty easy to get it inside like that. I doubt we’ll see much more 3-2.

15:07 Two things. Bassett is a scorer. No getting around that. This is about the same time that the wheels came off against Michigan the other night. The one plus side of doing this on Tivo-delay is that I can’t possibly jinx a game that is already over.

14:27 WOW! That’s a tought shot Wilmont just hit. Normally I’d consider that shot a defensive win, even if it goes in, but Wilmont can pull those things out of his ass like few I’ve seen. There are some shots that are bad shots for some people that are at least "not horrible" when other people take them.
Most of the shots he takes are like that.

13:07 Nice steal. Late on the pass to DJ, Erik.

10:26 That was a horrible possession. The only time the ball got closer than 25 feet from the basket was when Wilmont chucked it at the rim fro 27 feet or so. IU by 4.

9:43 Out of a time out we turn the ball over. Nice.

9:13 That was some decent ball movement. Swung it all the way around the perimeter. Nice open shot. Resulted in two free throws. Pass the ball kids.

7:41 Earl, when you pass fake it needs to be convincing. Just thought I’d mention that.

7:21 Jesus. Another Wilmont bail out.

6:45 Out of the list of IU players who have made 8 3’s in one game (Wilmont has now done that) Mr. Full Monty Color commentator pointed out Jay Edwards. For the record the other guys were Alford, Neil Reed, Robert Vaden and Brian Evans. Jay Edwards is who I’d pick out of that list too.

4:24 AJ, that was a bad shot. I’m sure that will be pointed out to you later, but come on.

4:20 Another bad in bounds play for IU. It just points out that coaching can only do so much. The announcers keep saying how they stressed that in practice and still they blow it.

3:06 Wilmont now has 31 with 9 three pointers. Wow. Can’t say much more than that. A lot of those have been well contested.

2:42 That is why I’ve never liked the full court press. IU just got a really easy basket and the foul. Pressing rarely helps you beat a team that can handle the ball at all. I’m of the mind that a press only helps you beat a team you’d probably beat anyway. IU by 11.

1:51 Three turnovers in a row. It’s a five point game. Pretty much time to get your heads out of your asses.

1:03 Nice patience for IU, but poor D. 4 point game. Man, I hate it when the NU games are this close. I hate it when any game is this close.

33.1: Sloppy, but finally picked up the O-Reb. Now Bassett’s gotta drop the free throws. Got it. One more? Got it.

25.8: 4 point game. IU ball. All about free throws here and Suhr misses

9: OK, AJ, free throws. Arrrrgh. One more to go. got it. 3 point game. Don’t really know why AJ doesn’t go in for the uncontested lay-up right there. It’s now a one possession game instead of a 2 possession game.

1.2: MISS! IU’s gonna escape Evanston with the win. Not pretty, but a very needed win. One more must-win to go and then it’s tourney time.

JT

Tim Hardaway hates gay people
        a                =         b
Tim Hardaway hates broccoli
        a                =         c

Now, I’m no math expert, maybe Magnus can help me out with this, but here’s what I think this means

gay people hate broccoli
       b          =        c

Also, if Tim hates both gay people and broccoli, then by the transitive property gay people = broccoli, which makes them interchangeable. Which means if gay people hate broccoli, as they must according to my math, and they are the same as broccoli, they must hate themselves.

Also, President George H.W. Bush would turn away a truck full of gay people from the White House gates.

I have a feeling that if I continue down this line of reasoning I may rip a hole in the space time continuum necessitating the assistance of Wesley Crusher.

I must therefore end this line of thought with a plea to the one person I know who really, truly hates broccoli.

Help me to understand this mess. I’m tired of Tim Hardaway having so much power.

JT

Seems I can’t start this on time.

8:01 IU up by 6 at this point. This has been a defensive battle. Pretty much to be expected. DJ is scoreless at this point and Neitzel has 2. This ain’t gonna be pretty

6:17 It took Vitale almost 10 mintues to bring up naming something after Bob Knight. The amount of restraint it takes a dog in heat not to hump everything that moves is roughly equivalent to how long Vitale waited tonight.

4:56 DJ gets on the board with a free throw. Looking at him this game I’m struck with how cut he is relative to the start of the season. BTW, another MSU turnover. IU is up by 10

4:13 Rod Wilmont’s Robert Vaden-like basketball IQ is on display tonight. He’s taken at least three shots that are at best highly suspect and at worst retarded.

3:18 Since DJ’s two free throws this game has been about as sloppy as, ah crap I can’t come up with anything, ooh, A Denny Crum era U 0f L game. There that’s it.

2:29 14 turnovers so far by MSU. Vitale just said "And these aren’t apple turnovers. I love apple turnovers." Swear to God. You can check the tape. Also, just saw the Dr. Brown Directv commercial. I just watched Back to the Future the other day as it happened to be on TV. Whoever they hired for continuity on this spot really dropped the ball. The cut on his head, in the movie if over his right eye. In the commercial it’s over his left. After reading that, it sounds really dumb that I 1) noticed it and 2) bothered to type it, but as Sally Albright said "It’s out there."

addendum to the above comment. We’re only 8 years away from the Hill Valley of the future, and as best I can tell we’re no closer to hover boards than we were in 1985. Laughable!

1:40 Worst pass ever. Erik Suhr to the Izzone.

:59 Another cold night for Lance Stemler. He needs a slump buster.

:21 Held MSU to 20 points in the first half. Game’s only half over, but if you’re gonna get this one, this is how you have to do it. Shut down defense and a lot of forced turnovers.

Halftime: Laura’s watching the game with me tonight. And by watching, of course I mean reading a book, but she is in the same room as the game which is a HUGE step. We tried to go watch this game tonight at Kirkwoods, which is a new IU bar here in Chicago. It seems like a nice place, but it was PACKED. We walked in, saw the crowd and heard the loud. Turned around and walked out the door. I gave the whole situation my best Roger Murtaugh. "I’m gettin’ too old for this shit." And then I jumped into a tub with another man, who happens to hate the Jews.

2nd Half: Oh, btw, the other night I said I’d let you knwo when I saw a good screen. Lance Stemmler set one in the first half for Rod Wilmont, who then clanked it.

19:01 Going to the line for 3. This is the second time Bassett has been fouled while shooting a 3. That’s some heads up defense.

18:40 Crap Neitzel, just hit a big 3. I don’t like that. Don’t need to see him get hot. IU still by 10

17:49 Crap. There’s another one. It’s now a 5 point game. See. What did I say?

16:47 Dick Vitale cannot say the word Spartans. "Here come the Spar-ans!" Reminds me of watching Shannon Doherty  using contractions.

16:20 Bassett with the steal and a lay-up. The more I watch him, the more I like what I see.

15:31 Stemmler for 3!!!! IU back up by 11

14:17 First TV timeout of the half. So far so good. Still up by 9. MSU now has 18 turnovers.

13:14 You know what’s just as effective as double teaming DJ White. Making him catch the ball, back to the basket, 15 feet from the rim. Makes him almost completely useless.

12:07 Frustrating possession. poor shot, O-Reb, good ball movement. Travel.

11:30 4 point lead, MSU picking up the pressure and we look shaken. Yay for the TV timeout.

11:25 Another turnover. Poop

11:04 2 point game. turnover. CRAAAAPPPPPPPP!

10:51 In HD, Coach Sampson has some skin problems. No judgment, just saying

10:05 Tie game and MSU goes to the line. All caused by MSU playing the pick and roll really well on the other end and Bassett making a bad pass.

9:34 Melt down. Bad passes, turnovers, DJ hasn’t taken a decent shot pretty much all half. This is horrible.

9:08 Finally DJ hit s a field goal. Not a great look, but the best so far tonight. He worked to get position on the post and they worked to get it into him.

8:30 Two possessions in a row and they work to get the ball into DJ. Getting the ball inside leads to good things. This team tends to get away from that for long stretches at a time.

7:46 MSU by 5. This could be another good finish between these two teams.

7:40 Wilmont. Big time airball. Followed by Bassett fouling a jump shooter. Stupid

7:05 Keeling for 2. 4 point game.

6:44 Good Defense forces an MSU timeout. Two good possessions back to back. Also Laura gave up the pretense about five minutes ago and went in to take a shower. She gets the trophy for effort.

6:13 18 for Bassett so far.

5:56 Horrible defensive rotation = wide open dunk for MSU. Followed by a sloppy turnover. This is waht MC Skat Kat was singing about.

5:24 Another 3 point opportunity for MSU. IU is sleeping on Defense.

4:44 IU is gonna lose this game, unless they wake up on both end of the court.

4:10 I know he wants to get to the TV time out, but our heads are up our asses and need to be pulled forcibly out.

3:27 They just showed the stats for Dj and for Neitzel and it strikes me that the SIDs for each school should submit two head shots for each player. One smiling the other looking upset so they don’t put DJ’s smiling mug over his six miserable points.

3:26 Vitale is pulling for the Departed for Best Picture. His reasoning seems to be Susan Lucci and he’s Italian. All awards should be given out based on similar standards.

3:14 Vitale’s back on Bob Knight. I’m amazed we can understand anything Vitale says with his mouth pressed so tight to Knight’s ass.

2:22 They have not made a concerted effort to get the ball inside since I last mentioned it.

2:12 Vitale just said he thinks the ACC is the strongest conference. Man, I couldn’t be less surprised by that. Homer Simpson just said he thinks beer is the best drink.

1:31 MSU by 8. Game is over. I love Erik Suhr, but he just lost a long rebound because he’s a full foot shorter than the guy he was boxing out. That’s just tough to overcome.

:42 Got a turnover with about a minute to go and the shot we took is a 25 contested three pointer. I’m shaking my head.

:18 Erik Suhr just took a charge in the back court. Likely won’t make a difference, but it’s nice to see. MSU still up by 7.

End of Game: Gave up 20 points in the first half, and 46 in the second. Enough said.