Great win for IU….However, that is what IU is suppose to do at home…..If IU is to be the team; win at MSU, OSU, MICH, Minnesota, Nebraska and Wisconsin (maybe you loose one or two; but no more than two, and preferably none). Plus win at home.

True. But what a great week it has been for the Hoosiers! Congrats to Coach and team. Well done all the way around.

conclusion points; correst

GO RAVENS!!! What an accomplishment. Also,never gets old to see the Niners lose! Know the Hawks would have done better!

The next four games are winnable. After that, it gets real difficult with games at MSU, at MN and at Michigan. And while it is a source of pride being ranked #1 again, the players know that the ranking just pumps up the opposing teams and their fans all the more. We’ll find out what we’re made of in the next two games.

If IU can reduce those “unforced errors,” they can beat anyone, anywhere!

Yes all winnable with OSU being the standout game out of the 4…they will watch film from the Wisconsin game and try to slow us down. I think that the NCAA tourny will have lots of teams that will try to slow us down and we need to know how to play both styles. Great teams are multidimensional and that is on our coaching staff to be able to game plan for those specific situations!

What Crean and his staff need to do is teach this team how to play with a significant lead in the second half. They need to learn how to be aggressive on offense without being careless, or keeping their foot on the pedal without going so fast they run the car off the road. When up by double digits in the second half, it’s O.K. to level off and play the opposing team even. But by trying to increase an already healthy margin, or playing to excite the crowd, or going for the knockout, they often give the opposing team opportunities to catch up. When you’re a lap up on the field, with 20 laps to go in the Indy 500, there is no need to try to set the track’s speed record and risk blowing your engine and losing the race.

We know they have the skill, the team unity, and the mental toughness. Now they just need to improve their collective recognition, discipline and maturity.

If they slow it down with a big lead, are they then “playing not to lose”?

I see your point, but I kinda think you have to stick with who you are.

I do agree they need to learn how to play the “slow” game as that’s what everyone is going to try since they know they’ll be destroyed if they run with us.

I’m not suggesting they slow it down. I’m suggesting they don’t continue to accelerate when they’re well ahead in the second half. There’s maintaining one’s fast pace, and then there’s accelerating to the point of recklessness.

When you’re up by seven or nine in the second half, why rush a three-point shot when you can set it up for a higher percentage shot, bleed an extra 25 seconds off the clock, make the opposing team expend energy playing defense, force them to commit a foul, or give yourself a chance for an offensive rebound? When IU is up, and things are going our way, why try to force a bounce pass into the crowded paint, or drive too deep into the lane and turn the ball over without getting off a shot? This seems to happen all too frequently when IU gets a significant lead. And the result is often a turnover and an easy layup by the opposing team. For a team that plays very good defense (IU) a quick shot that is missed results in a 40 to 55 second gift to the opposing team. It also represents a potential four point turnaround (the two points you don’t score and the two point the other team does score). That how a team loses momentum and can lose a game that should have otherwise been a solid win.

Some times, these guys play like they’re adrenaline junkies and they try to do too much. By now they should know that few teams can match their depth and the assortment of their offensive weapons. And by now, they should know that they play very good defense and that it’s difficult for other teams to score on them when they’re in their half court defense. I’d like to see more recognition of these facts and for them to stop making silly mistakes which result in easy layups.

It’s like the old joke about the two bulls standing on the ridge. The young bull says to the old bull, ‘hey look at all those cows down their in the pasture. What do you say we run down there and have our way with one of them?’ The old bulls looks at the young bull and responds, ‘what do you say we walk down and have our way with all of them?’