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Analysis: IU-Rutgers ... Well, that was interesting


IndyHutch
  • Indiana was lucky Wednesday that it played Rutgers in the Big Ten opener. I'm not sure how many other Big Ten teams the Hoosiers could have beaten with that performance. Here is my analysis of IU's 79-72 victory.

Well, that was interesting.

 

Despite not having James Blackmon Jr., who didn’t suit up after injuring his knee Monday in practice. …

 

And basically not having Thomas Bryant, who played a total of 6 minutes because of foul trouble and eventually fouled out. …

 

And basically not having Robert Johnson, a normally reliable player, who was anything but on this day …

 

And committing 23 turnovers, most of them of the lazy, unforced variety …

 

Indiana found a way to go on the road Wednesday and beat a bad Rutgers team, 79-72 in the Big Ten opener.

 

It was the sixth win in a row for the Hoosiers and seventh out of the last eight games. IU is 11-3 overall and 1-0 in conference before heading to Lincoln, Neb. Saturday to take on Nebraska in a 4 p.m. tip.

 

IU did get some key performances from a couple of players off the bench (which we’ll talk about in a minute) but a big key for Indiana Wednesday was that it was playing Rutgers.

 

Here’s a question: How many other Big Ten teams could Indiana have beaten playing the way it did on Wednesday? I can’t think of one that I would be confident in picking.

 

This is a really bad Rutgers team. The Scarlet Knights are ranked No. 245 in the KenPom rankings. That’s the worst in the Big Ten by almost 100 spots. Minnesota is ranked No. 150.

 

This is a Rutgers team that has now lost 16 consecutive conference games over the past two seasons. This is a Rutgers team that is not going to win a lot of games.

 

Now, the only thing that really matters for Indiana is that IU came away with a Big Ten road victory. Because if the Hoosiers had somehow lost this one, I’m not sure they could have regrouped. This one would have been a mega loss.

 

But let’s talk about the good things that came out of Wednesday’s victory.

 

Max Bielfeldt was a beast. He scored 18 points, pulled down 14 rebounds and took a charge late in the game that proved to be a big play. About the only thing that spoiled a great day was his two missed free throws late but that wasn’t big because of the next guy I want to mention.

 

O.G. Anunoby had his best game at Indiana. The true freshman had eight points and seven rebounds. Four of those rebounds were on the offensive end, including two late in the game off of missed free throw opportunities. He also made two 3’s. He had one coming made for his career coming into the game. He also made both of his free throws and he was shooting 33 percent coming in.

 

And what can you say about Ryan Burton? Burton had scored a total of three points in eight games this season coming in. He scored six points, made both of his shots and both were from 3 and had a key offensive rebound.4

 

That’s 32 points off of the bench from three Indiana players today. And two of them had contributed very little to this point which made their contributions that much bigger.

 

A fourth performance worth mentioning was that of Collin Hartman. He had nine points on three 3-pointers. Now, all of them were in the first 12 minutes of the game but it definitely got IU off to the right start. And Hartman was starting in place of Blackmon so the Hoosiers needed a spark from that spot.

 

So what did Wednesday’s performance say about Indiana basketball moving forward?

 

I think it’s hard to tell. This has been an Indiana team that has played down to the level of its competition all season. And 23 turnovers, for a team that averages 14, is still uncharacteristic. Yogi had six turnovers and Johnson had five. You have to hope that was an anomaly of sorts.

 

I think the bigger question is how much will the loss of Blackmon Jr. hurt moving forward if it turns out he’s for a few games? There was no news on that front Wednesday other than that he would be further evaluated. It’s his right knee, not the one he had operated on in the offseason. Not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.

 

I think IU can be OK without Blackmon in the short term but if he’s out for a longer period of time a player like Johnson in particular is definitely going to have to pick up some of the slack.

 

So Indiana is 1-0 in conference and plays Nebraska Saturday. IU fans can only hope that the Hoosiers play a lot better in Lincoln than they did Wednesday at Rutgers.

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you or me might not like the offense that is ran but it's still top 10 in adjusted offensive efficiency(not saying I like it but numbers do)

Those numbers are inflated because of the horrid competition we played..... Happy new year!

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Interesting, indeed.

The reality? I have - and I'm sure I'm not alone - reached the point of absolute apathy. I don't care if Indiana wins or loses because either is okay with me right now.

I watch this team play, and I don't enjoy it. I don't enjoy zero strategy. Zero game plan. Zero "anything different than any other time Indiana plays." I don't enjoy listening to our coach try to sell.....whoever that we just beat a good team. I don't enjoy his passive-aggressive defending of himself the way he has for 8 years. He doesn't coach. He installs a style, and it's good enough most of the time against bad teams, and not good enough most of the time against quality teams. Been that way the entirety of his tenure at Indiana except when he had two top 5 NBA draft picks and several experienced role players on the roster. Kind of like....Marquette. (Okay, they only had one top 5, but also two additional NBA guys in the starting lineup) Groundhog Day includes a repeat of a tenure at another university!!

I don't enjoy watching Yogi Ferrell - a senior - take bad shot after bad shot and play like turnovers AND bad shots don't matter. A senior had 6 turnovers against the worst team in the Big Ten. Our starting back court had 11. When Ryan Burton has more points in a game than Thomas Bryant and Robert Johnson combined...that's a problem. A sign of very bad things and a team disengaged.

We still absolutely suck at the free throw line. 65% ain't gonna' cut it.

Troy Williams had more turnovers than field goal attempts. (7 to 6) And played 29 minutes with basically 3 other starters out of the game or not engaged in the game. Whu...? Why!?! He was 2-5 from the FT line. This is a kid who thinks he's a lottery pick? He COULD be...which is really sad. Where's the fight, Troy? Where's the "I'm carrying this team" mentality. 7 turnovers in 29 minutes?? My God...

The worst part? Our Big Ten schedule is so soft, we're STILL going to win 13 games and STILL going to make this coach look good.

Groundhog Day. Yes, indeed. Groundhog Day. Nothing changes. We win if we make shots, lose if we don't, and make bad teams look decent because we can't guard. Wash, rinse, repeat. This is what you get when you have a coach who's not a good x and o guy. Who's not a game planner. Who doesn't make adjustments. Who never makes any real changes other than switching defenses every now and then. (or sometimes too often) This is not Groundhog Day. This is what Indiana Basketball looks like. We don't have a roster full of smart players. We have a few, but mostly kids with athletic ability, some ball skills, and no real basketball IQ. I was impressed with Morgan. He knows where to be. He seems to understand positioning. He loses focus, but I think he gets it. Bielfelt gets it. Burton does. But Williams? No clue. Yogi? No clue. Bryant? Out of position today more often than he was IN position.

Thank God (I guess) that team missed 10 layups. We're 1-0 in the Big Ten. I'm supposed to be happy, right? I'm afraid Groundhog Day is here to stay as long as we have a coach who isn't a strategist. When the system works, it works. When it doesn't...it doesn't. That was true in 2009 and it's true now. Happy February 2nd.


I agree with most of what you say but 13 wins? No way! I know our conference schedule is extremely soft here but still we don't sniff 13. That's how bad we are. I've been the biggest yogi fan until the middle part of last season. Im getting sick and tired of seeing yogi, JBJ or Troy throw the ball to the other team and not make an effort to get back. Just kinda light jog it back. I really think our lineup is without him. I'd probably start the next few games with..

RoJo
Hartman
Morgan
Anunoby
Bielfeldt
I don't care if we lose by 20 or more. I honestly think I like watching the 2008-09 team more. At least this lineup would go down with some effort!!

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you or me might not like the offense that is ran but it's still top 10 in adjusted offensive efficiency(not saying I like it but numbers do)


You are correct. I just get frustrated with quick contested 3's and unforced turnovers. They make my blood boil. Two of my biggest pet peeves when I did a little coaching. Don't get me started on matador defense....

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I agree with most of what you say but 13 wins? No way! I know our conference schedule is extremely soft here but still we don't sniff 13. That's how bad we are. I've been the biggest yogi fan until the middle part of last season. Im getting sick and tired of seeing yogi, JBJ or Troy throw the ball to the other team and not make an effort to get back. Just kinda light jog it back. I really think our lineup is without him. I'd probably start the next few games with..

RoJo
Hartman
Morgan
Anunoby
Bielfeldt
I don't care if we lose by 20 or more. I honestly think I like watching the 2008-09 team more. At least this lineup would go down with some effort!!

You could very well be right, but The Big Ten is not very good and our schedule is really easy comparatively.  We could win 13 or we could win 9 or 10.  Neither would surprise me.

 

For the sake of the discussion..

 

Rutgers is 1

at Nebraska

Wisconsin at home

Illinois at home

Northwestern at home

Minnesota at home

at Penn State

Nebraska at home

at illinois

 

Those are the ones I'd say we "should" win.That's 9.  We may be able to get 4 more.  Maybe. Or not.   

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You could very well be right, but The Big Ten is not very good and our schedule is really easy comparatively. We could win 13 or we could win 9 or 10. Neither would surprise me.

For the sake of the discussion..

Rutgers is 1
at Nebraska
Wisconsin at home
Illinois at home
Northwestern at home
Minnesota at home
at Penn State
Nebraska at home
at illinois

Those are the ones I'd say we "should" win.That's 9. We may be able to get 4 more. Maybe. Or not.

i would add at Minnesota to that list as well. We will be favored in that game. Minnesota is 6-7 and have lost to South Dakota, South Dakota state, and Milwaukee all at home

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You could very well be right, but The Big Ten is not very good and our schedule is really easy comparatively. We could win 13 or we could win 9 or 10. Neither would surprise me.

For the sake of the discussion..

Rutgers is 1
at Nebraska
Wisconsin at home
Illinois at home
Northwestern at home
Minnesota at home
at Penn State
Nebraska at home
at illinois

Those are the ones I'd say we "should" win.That's 9. We may be able to get 4 more. Maybe. Or not.

Honestly 12 is what I expect or he should be gone. Be careful. I was told I wasn't being realistic with that. Our schedule lines up too good for a 9 or 10 win year.

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Honestly 12 is what I expect or he should be gone. Be careful. I was told I wasn't being realistic with that. Our schedule lines up too good for a 9 or 10 win year.

 

I would expect us to finally win enough this year to get IUBB into the top 25.

 

Not sure what kind of B1G record will do that, but that's what it takes in my mind, at a bare minimum.

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If you look at Crean's Marquette teams, I think he averaged 22 wins and 9 or 10 losses per year.

 

That's how I see this year going.  Despite the talent we have, we'll go 12-6 in conference to finish 22-9 in the regular season.

 

We'll win 1 in the BTT then get bounced, then win a tournament game and get bounced to finish 24-11.

 

Would that be enough to bring him back?  I would say probably not, but who knows. 

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If you look at Crean's Marquette teams, I think he averaged 22 wins and 9 or 10 losses per year.

That's how I see this year going. Despite the talent we have, we'll go 12-6 in conference to finish 22-9 in the regular season.

We'll win 1 in the BTT then get bounced, then win a tournament game and get bounced to finish 24-11.

Would that be enough to bring him back? I would say probably not, but who knows.


Not many would agree and neither would I but I think 24-11 would be just enough to bring Tom back for yet another year if he wants it.

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