Tag: IU basketball

“A refuge never grows from a chin in the hand and a thoughtful pose.”

November 19, 2008November 19, 2008by Jeff TaylorLeave a comment

Here are my thoughts about the IUPUI game in no particular order.

There is a difference between this team and last year’s team that is nothing short of phenomenal. Last year, we won almost all of our games on the strength of our talent alone. We were just more athletic, faster, better shooters, etc. than most of our opponents. We never figured out how to play to our potential as a team because we relied on our ability more than each other.

This year, every win we get, every improvement we make will be because we earned it. This team works hard. Four games in (counting the mezzanine) we are already more of a team, than last year’s group of guys ever became. For us to win, these guys are going to need to rely on each other and just flat out work their opponents.

I was so excited by almost every aspect of our win last night and it’s because it felt earned.

Our defense in the first half was really good. We held them to 20 points in the first half and a Mike Davis-like 7:00+ minute scoring drought. Our help defense improved over the Northwestern State game.

Our second half devense was less effective, but we held them to 57 points for the game.

Tom Pritchard was all man last night. He had some trouble scoring after the contact at the beginning of the game, but that quickly subsided and he was HUGE.

Our rebounding was better. We still have a room for improvement, but it was better, and we were in a zone for much of the game, which generally makes rebounding more difficult.

Everything about this team makes me feel good. I feel proud again of the type of guys we have and the style of ball we play. We moved without the ball, reversed the ball pretty well, displayed real patience offensively, and realy intensity defensively. I can’t think of a better way to put it. I feel clean this year. It’s great.

Speaking of which, the difference in the post game press conferences from a year ago are equally as pronounced.

The first quote is from Tom Crean last night.

“So to find a way to come back when it was not even close to our best night defensively in the second half, and when certain guys weren’t making as many shots.”

The rest of these are a sampling of quotes from many games by Kelvin Sampson last year.

“I thought we go off to a great start.”

“I thought the second half was really good.”

“I thought from the sixteen minute mark of the second half to the, maybe the two minute mark, I think we were down four and then you look up and we’re up 12. So, we go plus 16 in the second half. I thought we did a lot of good things defensively during that stretch, executed well on offense, spaced it, just played a lot better that second half.”

“Our last three minutes we had no turnovers, missed no free throws and they had no offensive rebounds”

“I thought we corrected a lot of those from the first half to the second half. We were better in the second half.”

“Once we got to half time, I thought we were good.”

“Probably as good as we’ve played all year, the second half.”

“We’re good defensively when we need to be.”

Do you notice a difference? I do. Crean, in his first comment after the game acknowledged that we did not play very well defensively in the second half. Sampson spent almost all of last year down playing out weaknesses and trying to make people focus on the parts of the game we played well. PAY NO ATTENTION TO THAT MAN BEHIND THE CURTAIN!!!

That may seem like a small distinction, but I’m telling you it’s huge. The first is the perspective of someone who is proud of his team for overcoming their shortcomings. The second is the perspective of someone who wants everyone to ignore the bad things and only see the good.

Daniel Moore is a stud. He played 23 minutes, and didn’t score until those free throws at the end of the game, and he got to the line because at 5’9″, he pulled down a crucial rebound. He finds the open man and delivers the ball well. If he was five inches taller, he’d be scary good.

We had a one point lead with :20 seconds to play and the best shot IUPUI could get was a long and contested three. That was a great defensive possession.

Win or lose this season, if we play with the kind of heart and toughness with which we played last night’s game, I am going to really enjoy watching this team play.*

*Remind me of this when we hit a losing streak and I want to take a shit on everything.

Oh, and finally, here’s the theme song to tonight’s game.

“The beginnings and endings of all human undertakings are untidy.”

November 18, 2008November 19, 2008by Jeff TaylorLeave a comment

Comparing Daniel Moore to Erik Suhr is an undersell. He reminds me much more or Tom Coverdale. He’s not as big, but he has the same sneaky speed and deliberate, but effective, dribble moves. He also walks with that same swagger that Coverdale had.

We got a lot of help from Northwestern State. They made more unforced turnovers than we’ve ever going to see again.

We’re not a good rebounding team. Yet.

I am going to be nervous a lot this year. I can’t count high enough to give you an accurate assessment of how many times I inhaled sharply in what I can only describe as “the same way I reacted whenever Todd Lindeman dribbled.”

We have more hustle than smarts right now. When we play as smart as we do hard we’re going to be a very solid team.

I was impressed with the play of both Jones and Dumes. Aside from youth, the biggest knock on Jones is that he’s so skinny Bluto and Popeye would fight for his affections.

Jobe’s footwork has me in constant fear that someone is going to emergency.

Devan Dumes gets his hair cut by Jamal Meeks, or so I assume.

I’m going to put the over/under for Harbaugh mentions this season at 1500.

Why is there an ad for WNIT on the floor? That’s just awful.

I did not hear four syllables, five claps once tonight. I’m proud of you guys.

And finally, the theme song for this game. Listen at your on risk. This song is pretty bad. Pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty, bad.

“By the way, I’m aware of the irony. . .

November 15, 2008October 8, 2015by Jeff TaylorLeave a comment

of appearing on TV in order to decry it. So don’t bother pointing it out”

Friends, I want to talk to you about predictions, punduntry. Preposterous!

I have read over and over again how IU is going to finish last in the Big Ten and be lucky to win 10 games. These predictions are based, largely on no available data.

The logic goes something like this.

Given: Indiana has only one returning scholarship athlete from last year. They have a team made up of freshmen, walk-ons and two JuCo transfers. They only have three players over 6’6″.

Conclusion: They are going to be awful.

Here’s my problem with that logic, it’s missing a crucial middle step. There is no previous data on which to base that conclusion. There has never been a team constructed in this manner. It’s very much like Dana Barrett’s apartment that way. Nobody EVER made them like this.

So, based on no observable data (many of these predictions came before anyone saw this team play at all) you have concluded this will be the worst team in the Big Ten and struggle to win 10 games.

I cry shenanigans!

While I will admit there is no reason to pick this team to win the Big Ten, there’s also little reason to pick them to finish in the cellar.

We lack size and experience. But there are a lot of teams with both size and experience that are terrible, so that can’t be your entire argument, can it?

We have kids who can shoot. We have kids who can handle the ball. Anyone can play defense if they want to and are taught how.

We have kids who want to be here. Kids who wanted so badly to be Hoosiers that the decided to come despite everything that has happened over the last two years and the uncertainty that lies ahead. That is dedication. That is heart.

If you have kids who can shoot and handle the ball, who are dedicated and willing to work all you need is a good coach to make them competitive.

We’ve certainly got that.

I know we’ve been told to keep our expectations low this year, and I think that’s wise. It’s always better to be pleasantly surprised that horribly disappointed. But I just can’t believe we’re going to be as bad as everyone says we’re going to be.

Maybe I’m Dr. Pangloss, but I just don’t think so. Who honestly thinks it’s going to be harder to watch this team play than it was to watch Mike Davis’ team stand around and watch Bracey Wright dribble and shoot our way to a losing record?

The worst is behind us. There’s nothing to do but celebrate this team. Even if they only win 10 games (which I don’t. I think we’re going to be much closer to .500 than anyone is willing to say) they are going to be competitive. They are going to improve. They are going to work.

This will be a better brand of basketball than we’ve seen in quite a while. And I’m making my prediction (which I’ve just finished telling you is a preposterous thing to do, cause who am I Kreskin?) that we’re going to be battling to start our Big Ten Tournament on Friday, and may well be playing in the NIT.

The Rock says

November 13, 2008by Jeff TaylorLeave a comment

The redheaded step children of the state of Indiana have their panties in a bunch, once again.

The continual bitching about lack of respect, lack of coverage, etc. has begun by our friends from West Lafayette.

“IU’s going to suck this year. Purdue is favored to win the Big Ten. Matt Painter has done a fantastic job. Indiana fans just want to live in the past. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.”

I would like to address these various complaints one at a time.

1.) IU’s gonna suck this year.

Check back later for a longer argument as to why this isn’t accurate. The short version is we’re young, sure, but we’re committed, motivated and have a terrific coach. Not entirely unlike Purdue last year.

2.) Yes, they are. And they should be. Enjoy this season. You’ve got a great group of players.

3.) Yes, he has. Purdue did a fantatic job transitioning from Gene Keady to Matt Painter, and it takes a man to do that. (50 bonus points if you know to what that references.) Matt Painter coaches a great style of basketball. I’m a Hoosier, but I find it hard to hate a program that is doing things the way Purdue is doing them. Good for you guys.

4.) Three thousand years of beautiful tradition, from Moses to Sandy Koufax, you’re goddamn right I’m living in the past! Walter Sobchak was right.

Recent events excluded, the history of Indiana basketball is fantastic and worth embracing. Which is something I will be doing frequently here.

So, Purdue fans, I’m sorry that you don’t feel like you get the respect that you deserve. You’ve got a great team this year, one that should be fun to watch.

And I’m sorry if this hurts your feelings, but you are not IU basketball. You are not going to magically become IU basketball just because we hired a jack ass two years ago and you have a good team.

So, The Rock says this, KNOW YOUR ROLE AND SHUT YOUR MOUTH!!

Four Syllables (Five Claps)

November 11, 2008by Jeff TaylorLeave a comment

I am here today to make a solumn plea. A plea to all who plan on heading to a game in Assembly Hall this year.

Don’t think of this as a favor to me, though it may feel that way to you, and certainly will feel that way to me. Think of it, instead as the right thing to do.

Stand with me now, as the kids from Shaw did with the kids of West Beverly when the school boards cancelled the homecoming game because of the shootings at Shaw and Brandon invited the Shaw kids to the dance, to form a circle. In this circle we will find the support from one another that we need to make a change in this world. This circle will represent our commitment to end, once and for all, the abuse of the four syllable (five clap) cheer.

You know the one I’m talking about. Here are a few examples. A-J Moy-E (clap, clap, clap, clap, clap), Er-Ic Gor-Don (clap, clap, clap, clap, clap).

This cheer has become a crutch. Fans in attendence want to use this cheer to express any positive emotion.

And what’s worse, if the words do not contain four syllables, people try to make it work anyway. D-J Whi-Ite (clap, clap, clap, clap, clap) To-Om Cre-Ean (clap, clap, clap, clap, clap).

I get douche chills every time I hear it.

How can we accomplish this feat? I hear you ask. I’m only one man.

To papaphrase Arlo Guthrie.

There’s one thing you can do and that’s walk into the Assembly Hall, just walk in say to a cheerleader, “Cheerleader, I’m not going do that cheer.” And sit down.

You know, if one person, just one person does it they may think he’s really sick and they won’t ask him.

And if two people, two people do it, in harmony, they may think they’re a couple and they won’t ask either of them.

And three people do it, three, can you imagine, three people walking in sayin’ they won’t do that cheer and sitting down. They may think it’s an organization.

And can you, can you imagine fifty people a game, I said fifty people a game walking in sayin’ they won’t do that cheer and sitting down. And friends they may thinks it’s a movement.

And that’s just what it is Four Syllable (Five Clap) Anti-Massacre Movement.

Just like being there, without all the good parts

November 10, 2008November 10, 2008by Jeff Taylor2 Comments

I haven’t been to Assembly Hall for a basketball game in a few years, not since they’ve installed the super-shiney noew scoreboard in fact. I only mention it because if you never saw a game there prior to the new scoreboard set-up, this won’t make as much sense to you, but imagine if you will.

As a student, when I got my season tickets, here’s how it used to work. You would get eight games. Four of them were good seats, i.e. lower level or floor seating,, and four bad seat games. Mostly that meant balcony. What you never wanted to see on your stub was sections A, F, G, or M above roughly row 36. This would put you on the main level, but high enough up that you were under the balcony. You could see the game, but you’d have to ask the guy three rows down what the score was.

Now, imagine sitting in those seats, and then being forced to shut your eyes every 20 or 30 seconds.

That’s roughly what it was like watching the IU v. Anderson game on the Big Ten Networks live streaming on Friday.

There were no announcers calling the game, which I didn’t really mind so much. Just having the crowd noise and Chuck Crabb made it feel more like being there. There were also no graphics, which meant no score or clock information. After about the first two minutes I had no idea what the score was.

Add to all that wonderful-ness, the streaming was terrible. It was choppy, sometimes it would freeze completely (mostly when we had the ball and were about to score), then it would fast forward the action or just jump forward, there was a strange lag between the audio and the video, so that you would be watching one thing and hear Chuck Crabb call another.

I have no idea how well we played on Friday, and it pisses me off.

Would the Big Ten Network do something for me? I’ll even give you a few choices.

1.) Put the games on TV

2.) Failing that, add the score to the feed so we can at least try to keep up with what’s going on.

3.) Failing both of those options, rerun the game on TV, so at least we can see the game without overcoming your technical problems.

The Big Ten Network is doing a fantastic job of fucking up a perfectly good concept. Koudos, gentlemen. Koudos.