incrediboy

Maybe he's the second coming of Spud Webb?   Seriously, we need 6'11 guys rather than 5'11s, we are very well stocked with guards for a while.

Praying for Devin, along with virtually everyone else here. From the very little bit of info we're getting, it almost seems like Devin stepped into the path of the car more so than Holt, in an altered state, ran over him.   Regardless, this needs to be a focal turning point for Crean. It's time for him to grow a pair (get a transplant from Knight if necessary) and lay a 'this is how it is" speech on the team . . . and back it up regardless of who the next offender happens to be (Yogi, Troy, whomever). For now, come down hard on Holt (even if it's more Devin's fault than his) -- not to the point of kicking the kid off the team, but a significant suspension and a promise of "you gone" for stepping out of line again. It's time to set an example.   This has to be the point -- that camel-back-breaking-straw -- at which Crean gains control of the program and its players or he's going up in flames. Surely he recognizes this. If he doesn't, I hope he's reading these posts.   The long-term ramification here is that we are one big man less than we were before it happened. Behind Hanner, we had no "guys with size" with experience beyond DD. Our depth has taken a significant hit, and we are left to wonder when (or if) Devin will be able to return this year. Or how effective he can be if he does return. We desperately need him for the Big Ten season.

However unlikely it might be, there could be a four-way tie for fourth in the Big Ten regular season at 9-9 with Iowa, Nebraka and OSU all possibly finishing with that record as well as IU. Unless I'm missing something, the seeding tie-breaker is best winning percentage in head-to-head competition against the other three. To get to 9-9, we'd have to beat Nebraska, which would make us 3-1 against those teams.

I said it's unlikely, but who foresaw Illinois beating MSU Saturday in East Lansing? The fact that it's still on the table is remarkable IMO.

Showing we can win without Noah is major IMO. We've been tiptoeing around the question of what happens to our program since Fischer left us, with no new big man due in town next year and the possibility of the NBA calling Mr. V. at the end of the season. Hanner and Hollowell filled the size gap admirably, and OSU has a hard-hitting big man in Williams.   And I don't recall who said it, but after our last loss someone suggested that we cancel the rest of the season and wait till next year. I think 10 B1G wins gets us to the Big Dance, whether it's 9-9 and one tournament win or 8-10 and two tournament wins. Either way we will have another win against a ranked opponent (either Michigan in the regular season or a first-round bye team on Friday in the tournament).   .

Hoosier fans, vote for us: http://6thfan.ncaa.com/

I think this would be a refreshing change. It would take the dollar signs out of kids' eyes as they tried to rush through their freshman years trying to learn to play like pros while competing in a completely different style of game. It would change the face of recruiting, too.   So, professional basketball, while you're at it, why not raise the age limit to 22 or someone who has finished an accredited college degree in lieu of the age limit?

So Purdue chokes by missing 4 foul shots in the final minute of regulation to ice it and winds up going 3 OTs. Minnesota can't capitalize on Purdue's chokes to beat a team that has been on the skids and missed some FTs that could have kept it in the game in the third OT.   While I struggle to ever root for Purdue in anything at anytime, I was thinking that after Minnesota got new life in regulation last night only to have victory snatched away that such a result would probably be the best thing that could prepare them for us on Saturday. Purdue has some time to wrong the righted ship before we go to Mackey, anyway.   So I think how it happened was the best possible outcome for us and that Minnesota's confidence should have gotten shaken as hard as it possibly could have. Anyone else want to weigh in on that?

Shirt 1-0 Sent from my iPad using BtownBanners

We'll find out when I wear it to watch Sunday's game.

This is the tee-shirt, hoodie is same just sleeves and hood.   http://teespring.com/sonsofbknight

Been considering this for a couple of days. I think Jeremy could have added something Saturday. We needed one more shooter out there to take away the pressure from Yogi, Gordon and Will. I think Jeremy could have made a positive difference, and Saturday was the time Crean should have pulled him from the mothballs of the pine. We were simply one shooter short of making Northwestern's defense ineffective.   There may be a higher purpose to Jeremy continuing to sit, and I don't claim to know more than Coach Crean about the best way to handle it. I'm just saying I think Saturday we needed one more shooter on the floor, and Hollowell can shoot. Had I been in charge, I would have run him out there to see if he could have made a difference.

We beat Wisconsin and the evil grinch coach. And Kentucky loses. How could the night get any better?

Loved Crean's post-wisky quote: "He'll play when I put him in."

Till you get the first win, you should indeed be elated just to win one. Now that monkey is gone. Next monkey to shake is to beat a good team. We've taken a lot of really good teams to the wire away from home. Beating Wisconsin puts us back in the tournament picture. Let's do it.

Rumors floating on this thread of drug violations. But a story on the Hoosier fan page talks about "Hollowell's Benching Warranted" and that IU is better off without him, that had he been on the floor today we would have lost. I can't say that I disagree. Davis didn't play much, but he was in the game, which would indicate a disciplinary issue rather than a pass-fail drug situation. IU official page, of course, never tells us anything, LOL.

Stan was the second-highest rated freshman in this class by the numbers, above Troy and Davis. So it should come as no surprise that he's finally beginning to break out. I was impressed with the toughness we showed today on the road. We did it in Illinois, too, just couldn't get over the hump. Hoping Jeremy was just being disciplined for one game for lousy play to inspire hunger. We need him if we're going to make the tournament.

One point I haven't seen made: Illinois, IMO, wasn't all that much better last year than this year. We certainly were, though. Yet we played them to the same point with this full-of-growing-pains group in Champaign that last year's team did.   My only serious criticism (and, yes, I saw all the turnovers, I saw Jeremy, I saw the whole shootin' match) was that Crean did not call time out and draw up a play in the closing seconds of regulation. It would have been sweet to have come out of there stealing a win on the road.   I'm also wondering when Will is going to start hitting his corner shots.

  How about someone (not me, of course, I'm poor) sponsoring a contest with the winner getting two tickets to every game and all expenses paid? Now that would be a contest worth entering!

I was really impressed with IU's effort. Yogi was obviously playing on tired legs after playing so many minutes the night before. His spring in his jump shot just wasn't quite the same. Vonleh had zero contribution. And yet we played a top 20 team to one point in Madison Square Garden with a bunch of freshmen and sophomores, none of whom were really at the tops of their games. I look at this as a positive. If we can push UConn to the wire with a chance to win, we can play with anybody. For a rebuilding year, that's a heck of a statement. And as this team gets better, and it will, it could be in the hunt for something good in March.   Davis reminded me of Adrian Dantley with his "always in the right place to score in the middle of a mess." He was in Vonleh's shoes with fouls the night before. Williams followed a brilliant night with an off night. Guess what? Freshmen do that. But once they have 20 games under their belts, they won't be those green kids they are now, particularly when the competition toughens.   Yeah, losing sucks, but I found a LOT of cause for optimism in the loss as well as the impressive W over Washington.

I'm cheering hard for Austin, I'm just not sure he has the tools to play Big Ten caliber basketball. Of course I had that opinion about Brian Evans initially also, and he turned out to be fantastic. On the flip side, I also felt that way about Jeff Stocksdale and wondered why Lou Watson ever put him on the floor...and he turned out to be a bust. I was told later that "all he does in practice is rip." Apparently it didn't transfer to the game floor. And yes, I do go back that far. Joe Cooke was our star my freshman year at IU, and I was around for McGinnis. Knight was hired in the off-season before my junior year, and I was working at the (then) Herald-Telephone (now Herald-Times) for Bob Hammel way back then.

1. Purdue. You don't have to hate Purdue to be an IU fan, but it helps. 2. Kentucky. Obnoxious fans, obnoxious coach, obnoxious one-and-done program strategy. 3. Georgetown. Located in D.C. How can we like anything there? 4. Wisconsin. Too cold, too snowy, Bo Ryan's style of play. 5. Villanova. No special reason. Can't a guy have one unjustified "I can't stand them" choice? Honorable mentions: Iowa, Illinois, Louisville (oops, swap Louisville and Villanova), Seton Hall, and everywhere Kelvin Sampson ever built his resume.

Meaning behind username - Character I created in a superhero fantasy novel Approximate Age and Location - 63, Atlanta, GA, native Hoosier Are you a born and raised IU fan? - As long as I can remember When you first knew you were an IU fan? When I enrolled at IU, that sealed it What sports did you play in High School and College? Only intramural basketball Besides IU, favorite sports teams? Atlanta Braves Did you attend IU? Yep What is your favorite IU Basketball Memory? Watching Joe Cooke put on a show first time I attended a game Who is your favorite basketball player of all time? So many...I guess I'd go with Calbert Cheyney What is your favorite IU Football memory? - Going to IU-Auburn game at the Peach Bowl Who is your favorite IU Football player? - John Isenbarger (Punt, John, Punt) Best IU Sports game ever attended? IU 94, Notre Dame 29 (take that, Adrian Dantley!) What brings you to this board? A chance to get in touch with IU hoops. Those opportunities are limited in an area dominated by SEC football. In fact, the sports talk radio shows spend most of their time on college football regardless of the time of year.

I'll be very surprised if Austin Etherington doesn't transfer after next season. I think he would have done it this year had the injury not happened. With the new recruits, his playing time -- time that normally increases as a player goes up the class ladder -- will get squeezed even tighter than before. But he could be a big fish in a smaller pond somewhere else. It's always possible that Perea and Hollowell will disappoint, which would create an opportunity for a lot of playing time for Austin. But I wouldn't put money on that.