Boys, when passing the ball in bounds, the key is to throw the ball to one of your teammates. It’s really not that hard!

….or step over the inbound line

Finally… So that’s what it feels like to be tougher than a tough team.

Tums….I’ve OD’s on Tums.

I thought I was going to stroke out there for a while (what a way to go, watching the Hoosier beat Michigan State!) when it seemed we could not throw the ball in bounds. A few other observations:

1. It seemed at times that Izzo spent more time working the refs than he did watching his players. Not sure it made a difference in this game, but he’s a crafty old fox.

2. Anybody have any idea what happened to Zeller today? Wow, he could not hit water from a boat. He did redeem himself a bit in the last few minutes when he drove the lane and made the shot, but otherwise, he had a terrible game.

3. Some day, I want IU to rebound like MSU rebounds. Just think what the margin of victory would be if we did not give up so many second and third chances!

4. Did I see that right? Hulls FT shooting percentage is now down to 72%? Wasn’t he a 90% FT shooter last year? He’s a senior.

5. Well, if not for three terrible inbounds passes, this game would not have been so close. At least that gave MSU six points, and at most those errors represented a 12 point turn-around.

6. In spite of all their mistakes, IU hung tough, kept their composure and never lost confidence. It would be nice though, if they learned to build on a lead in the second half.

7. I think VO just became a first round draft pick, maybe even a top 10 ten pick. Wow, what a great game he had today!

Go Hoosier!

What a GREAT basketball game between two great teams. Inbounds passes notwithstanding that was an awesome performance.

Cody did not have a great game but, come crunch time, he had 3 great plays, the block, the big rebound, and taking the charge. That’s the mark of a great player, when you’re not scoring make the other plays that can win games. That’s just what he did.

Podunker = worst IU fan ever

Quit looking at the negatives.

Yes, that was sarcasm.

Nice win, guys.

I think we’ll be rebounding like that next year as we have 3 studs coming in who rebound like crazy. Plus, Hanner should be playing more.

I thought Hanner did a GREAT job spelling Cody on defense. He was just so different that it caught them flat footed. Their big men took some crazy off balance shots against Hanner.

Rebounding for the game was IU-31 MSU-32. Zeller looked sluggish and tired is he sick or still sick? We have a good half court offense when Cw is engaged and Will is hitting. Yogi is steadfastly becoming the college player we have been predicting. He and Olie ripping through the lane makes it tough for any opponent to try to defend this team. I have not watched the replay but we may have gotten the best of a couple of calls.

HC, my cousins are huge Spartan fans and they can’t stop complaining about the refs today. The officiating didnt seem terribly lopsided to me. We may have gotten a few calls, but t so did MSU. For the most part they just let the two teams bang it out.

Great game, though. Aside from the in-bounding, not a whole lot to complain about. Just two tough teams battling. Certainly had the feel of a tournament game, and I was glad to see our guys play tough all the way through.

Harvard for Hillbillies
Friday, January 25, 2013 – 4:51 PM UTC

There hasn’t been a bigger advocate for Watford than yours truly..Having said that, the true difference-maker in the next five games(different season..different chapters being written to a different novel)will be Yogi Ferrell.

Also, the steep slope found in Oladipo’s evolution as a complete mature and versatile force on the court, has created a less “irreplaceable” element to our reliance on Watford putting big games on his shoulders.

This year we have an offense that can exploit where it finds greatest weakness. Yogi is the surveyor…Oladipo is the havoc. Hulls the Robert Conrad of the operation..”I dare you to leave me open.”

Don’t get me wrong…When Watford and Cody are on, they send us into a nearly unstoppable group. I just don’t think the inconsistency label slapped on Watford’s forehead matters as much this year. Oladipo and Yogi are the great new forces that exponentially change the dynamics a dangerous squad that has little resemblance to the fortunes our team relying on last season’s members “value” pendulum.

My thoughts two days ago seemed to serve relatively well as a precursor to explain the same dynamics we witnessed evolving on the court today. ..Oladipo teamed with a dynamic new point guard that plays well beyond his freshman year in composure and surveying the floor.

Cody did a fabulous job of not forcing himself onto the game. He sat back like a tiger ready to jump its prey. Waited for his moment to put the kill on the Spartans. As Chet said..three successive very big plays…the driving layup from the circle going to his left hand..the huge block…the huge board. His ability to unleash that potential at any moment, his mere presence on the floor, allows Yogi and Oladipo to exploit what the defense must relinquish due to the constant attention Cody draws.

All that being said, I still believe Yogi is the main necessary ingredient(probing and dynamic point guard that has proven fearless)makes us a viable Final Four team. His improving stroke from the outside and his ability to create and finish drives going to the basket is taking us to a new level not experienced on last year’s squad.

My observations:

1. We don’t play a zone well, we are a man-to-man defensive team. The only time we should be in a zone is to protect someone in foul trouble.

2. 13-20 FT won’t win ANY tournament, HAVE to improve.

3. If Victor Oladipo doesn’t win the Silver Basketball as the best player in the Big Ten, there needs to be an investigation. And he needs to be in the game AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE!

It amazes me how much we suck at free throws.

We also need to defend the 3 better.

Did MSU ever take the lead in the game more than once(early in first half)?

great game and some phenomenal on point comments from my fellow hoosiers. you folks are really very good and i’m humbled and proud to be an old man learning from you young ones….ya’ll take care and have a safe week…

Michigan State led twice, 11-9 and 31-30.

Thanks Jeremy..Hoosiers kept them at bay for the entire 2nd half.

I would point out that Oladipo’s screen sprung Z on that key drive and layup.

Also Hulls has the FT yips. Notice he doesn’t follow through, and pulls his hand back quickly on the misses. He’s not staying with the shot.

Cody proved again today that he’s nothing more than an average “true center”. He’s a great player and key asset to IU and a fine young man, but he’s more a tall forward the way he plays big men. Nix tore him apart underneath, but then again I haven’t seen the stats yet. He did get Nix in foul trouble and then pounced on him late. He definitely needs another year to become an unstoppable force.

Thought CWat played a solid game again today, and I’m his biggest critic for his effort at times. He was huge on the glass today. And glad to see Sheehey back in true form after a two game slump.

Love Yogi…best asset is his D.

Cody will get eaten alive in the NBA.

Thought CZ played big when we needed him the most and he will do just fine in the NBA.

Vic should win B1G defensive player of the year and maybe for the entire NCAA.

We played with toughness and heart…not sure we could defend 30′ 3-pnt range any better than we did!

Bart295, Agreed.

If you think Cody will be able to drive like that in the NBA, I have some ocean-front property in Vegas to sell you.

And if he’s too scared to shoot outside now after practicing on it all summer, what makes you think he can hit those shots, or free throws, when the road fans are BRUTAL to the other team?

And there’s no way he’s gonna bang with the monsters in the NBA when he can’t handle college kids.

Laffy logic at it’s best…I bet he starts dropping f bombs and telling me about Obama and the bible in the next few post.

My take on CZ.

1) CZ is a true 7 footer that runs like a guard and is perfect for the up and down pace of the pro game

2) CZ is made for the pro pick and roll game! Jerry Sloan would make him a All Star in 2 years!

3) If you want a example of a great NBA star that is very similar build and type of player I think CZ will be just look at Tim Duncan!

I watched Duncan a ton at Wake Forest and their game, in college, is very similar. Many said Tim was too finesse for the pros. Another guy with a similar game was Brad Dougherty.

As usual, there are no where near as many posts after a big win than after a loss.

Oh Debbie…where for art thou?

Mindless blather about Cody not being NBA material. I’ll tell you what, the people that make that kind of decision for a living think you’re a fool.

If they both so choose it looks like the Hoosiers are gonna have a couple lottery picks in the draft. I hope they don’t, though.

It is not “mindless blather”, crybaby.

Again……….stop whining you want me to “be civil” with personal attacks like that, you freaking hypocrite.

You have to be the biggest hypocrite on here because you cry more than anyone about my “personal attacks” yet you launch them against me non-stop.

Are you telling me the NBA people have never been wrong?

Bwahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!

Oh, and the “experts” also “thought I was a fool” when I said the Iraq war would be a disaster when they were saying it was going to be a cakewalk and when I predicted the housing crash when NONE of them “saw it coming.”

Again another name calling rant and more non-basketball info about a topic that has nothing to do with IU BB…reply to the post about CZ and leave the wars and housing crash to blogs where they belong.

Never said the NBA has been wrong, just comparing CZ to a player that has had much success in the NBA.

Say hi to Debbie when you get home!

Well, when you make stupid comments like “throw him under the bus”, don’t cry to mommy because I called you a name.

Or cry I didn’t give them props when I did.

And those comments DO “belong” in this discussion because your guys’ point is, “You’re a moron because the experts disagree with you” and I was proving the “experts” are often very wrong.

Don’t forget to brush your teeth after you lick Cody’s feet.

from hillbilly: “My thoughts two days ago seemed to serve relatively well as a precursor to explain the same dynamics we witnessed evolving on the court today.”

wow. wtf?

As good as he is, and with as much upside as he has, VO will not be an NBA Lottery pick. First rounder, yes. Lottery pick, I don’t think so. Don’t get me wrong, VO should be a lottery pick, but he won’t be. It kind of sucks, but I think that will be the reality.

Po, if he can repeat that kind of performance with any regularity at all you never know. We all knew, or think we do, what he’s capable of but he just put on quite the show on national TV.

That being said, I hope he’s advised to stay in school.

Only a complete idiot would tell him to stay in school.

He’s graduating in May and his draft stock will never be higher……especially since it’s a weak draft this year.

Plus, he could get hurt.

It sure is funny how you guys call me a “fake fan” when the ONLY person you care about is YOURSELF.

Stop being so selfish.

If he doesn’t leave on his own, Crean should kick Victor out the door to take advantage of what he has.

Well considering in the past 5 years only 2 seniors have been selected in the lottery, and none above pick 11, I’d say his chances are better if he leaves this year. Just the way NBA GM’s work… They want to project talent as early as possible and then hone it themselves. Dipo has done enough to improve himself that the NBA scouts will understand his potential.

He has a clearly defined position – SG. And a clearly defined skill – defense. The best thing is that his skill is rare, and a premium skill in the current NBA landscape. Teams need a guy to defend the elite wing scorers.

It’s true that this year’s draft is a little on the weak side, which helps his stock as well. Chad Ford had him at #17 before the MSU game, and I’m sure there were plenty of NBA scouts at that one, so the performance will move the needle a bit. Ford bases his ranking purely on his information from his NBA contacts, not his own opinion, so I’d say Dipo is certainly a threat to go in the lottery. If I were a GM, I’d take him ahead of Zeller. His game is better served for the NBA than Cody’s, and I think he can have a more immediate impact.

All that being said, Dipo has officially taken over the top spot on my favorite Hoosier list, so I hope with everything I got that he stays another year. Yes, that is selfish… But I’m ok with it.

I sometimes wonder if Establishment goes overboard to gush excessively all over one in an attempt to dishearten and kill the camaraderie and limelight an entire deserving team…?

And where is the credit for Tom Crean in all these accolades for the next D-Wade…? Shouldn’t some small percentage of credit for the unbelievable advancements in Oladipo’s game/”journey” be bestowed upon the coach that believes in him and allows him the freedom to advance and show off those NBA skills?

And haven’t we spent a lot of time talking of “touches” for Cody on this blog? Didn’t many used to speak of the Hoosiers not running enough of the offense through Cody? Will the continual hype surrounding VO’s ability to exploit any attempts any defender result in even less attention our team to get Zeller his touches? Will it start to effect Cody’s confidence? Is it already effecting his confidence? Are his big preseason POY newspaper articles now being used to potty train the Zeller’s new family bulldog name Victor? Is it changing the focus our strategy going forward? What will be the opportunity cost for the team from the direct result of less opportunities an even share of attention(focus on the floor as well as media attention)our recruit from Washington that brought about “the Movement” and propelled our program back to the stage of national relevancy? Will it end up biting us in the ass if, God forbid, VO would get injured or had an inexplicable cooling off spell(much like Sheehey had for a long stretch)?

Just some food for the Establishment thought to chew on…

Grab the tin foil, Martha…..

They’re all out to get us…….

(rolleyes)

The only credit Crean needs to get regarding VO is the credit due for noticing VO’s potential and recruiting him to IU in the first place. I’m sure Crean’s done more than that for VO, but who really cares. Crean noticed him, he recruited him, he signed him, and he has provided the environment that has allowed the young man to develop and display his enormous talent. Anything else Crean may have provided VO, above and beyond that, is irrelevant.