A Macro View of Last Night's 73-72 Win

Last night didn't go as planned. Indiana wasn't supposed to be in such a tight game with LIU Brooklyn. It just wasn't supposed to happen.

But it happened... and it's GREAT experience for this young team.

Indiana came out extremely slow. This was very concerning given our history of slow starts. One issue you run into with these "cupcakes" is when you start slow their confidence builds. That's the beauty of college basketball and upsets. Indiana came out flat and LIU was jacked up to play the game.

First Half Issues

Indiana's offense was stagnant and shots weren't falling. Indiana is going to attack this year. Our players are built to attack, the offense is built to attack, and our head coach wants to attack. That will be our MO. The problem with this philosophy is what happened in the first half last night. LIU PACKED the lane with bodies and dared the Hoosiers to shoot from the outside. Every drive to the hoop was contested and the shots from the outside weren't dropping.

The only way to pull the defense out of the paint and allow our offense to attack, is by hitting those outside shots. On off nights, it's going to be tough and ugly at times. I would guess we'll see defenses go to zone and pack the paint a lot this season. We need to be able to hit those kick outs.

Important Lessons for the Hoosiers

1. We can't win games on talent alone. I know this sounds like a "duh" point to make, but after the first 3 games, these freshman didn't have a scare. This game made IU come together as a unit and compete on every possession to pull out the win. Last year we played with too much confidence after the blowouts we had. This is good for a young team.
   
2. Indiana fought from behind and came back to win this game. This is HUGE in my opinion. Coach Crean said the reason they won the Big Ten last year was because they were better at managing late game situations than every other team. Games like this LIU game are GREAT for experience. The next time IU is in this situation, they won't be as nervous and will have some more confidence since they've already done it as a group before. This game will help us from a late game situation perspective and that confidence will help us win another tight game this season.
   
3. LIU Brooklyn isn't a traditional "cupcake" as they've been in the NCAA 1 more time than the Hoosiers have in the last 3 years. That being said, I'm not going to lie and say this was a good quality win. Indiana should destroy a 15 or 16 seed NCAA team at home later in the season. This was GAME 2. This team needs to find their identify, and figure out who the ball will go to in late game situations. They are learning this.
   
4. Tom Crean had to be THRILLED with the way that game turned out. His team got the win, but that win shook up a lot of players. Those players will be putty in Crean's hands. "If you don't focus and practice hard, do these things, LIU's and other teams will beat you." Coach Crean now has complete control over these players and they will buy in to damn near everything he says. That is a good thing for those who aren't following. :)
   
5. It's only a 1 point win, but it's a win. Instead of being frustrated, or writing off the season (like some have...Overreact much?) just know that Indiana won a game they were supposed to win, are now 2-0 and learned valuable lessons they wouldn't have if we won that game by 30.
   

Nothing to worry about Hoosiers, it won't always be pretty early on, but in the long run, we are going to be a team others don't want to face come March. 2-0... On to the next one.