OliviaPope40

Hoosiers in Pro Ball ‏@ProBallHoosiers  @CodyZeller had 10 points (4-5 FG, 2-2 FT), 4 rebounds, and a steal for the @bobcats tonight. #iubb

March 22, 2014   Box Score   ANN ARBOR, Mich. - The Indiana softball team suffered a series sweep in its opening weekend of Big Ten play, dropping its third straight contest to No. 6 Michigan, 12-3 in six innings. Indiana is now 8-21-1 (0-3 B1G) on the year, while the Wolverines move to 22-6 (3-0 B1G). The Hoosiers tallied six hits on the day, with Brianna Meyer the lone Hoosier earning multiple hits on a pair of singles. Natalie Lalich drove in a pair of runs with a two-run single in the first, while Kelsey Dotson drove in the Hoosiers third and final run on a solo homerun in the second. Breanna Saucedo singled in today's game and extended her hitting streak to seven games, while Jenna Abraham rounded out the offense with a base hit. Brooke Boetjer was given the start and tossed 2.1 innings where she allowed five runs on five hits. Lora Olsonentered during the third and lasted one inning before Meaghan Murphy checked in to finish out the final 1.2 innings, surrendering three runs on two hits. The Hoosiers were first to jump on the board this afternoon in their first plate appearance against Michigan's Megan Betsa. Suacedo led off the contest with a walk and advanced to second with her 11th stolen base of the season. Abraham put a ball into play which was mishandled by the U-M defense to give IU runners on the corners with one away. Huber walked and loaded the bases for Natalie Lalich. She came through with a two-run single back up the middle to score both Saucedo and Abraham and give Indiana a 2-0 lead.   Indiana extended its lead with one swing of the bat in the following inning. Dotson battled through a full count and pulled a solo shot over the left field fence to give her squad a 3-0 lead. The round-tripper this afternoon was the first for Dotson since the Hoosiers' inaugural game at Andy Mohr Field against Toledo on March 15, 2013. Her homerun not only helped Indiana to a 9-1, five-inning win that afternoon, but it was also the first ball to ever exit Andy Mohr Field.   Michigan responded in the second inning on Lindsay Montemarano's three-run homer down the left field line to tie the ballgame at 3-all. The Wolverines took their first lead of the contest in the third inning. After U-M put runners on the corners with one away, Olson checked into the circle to face Taylor Hasselbach. Hasselbach singled to right and drove in the go-ahead to set the score at 4-3. In the next at bat, a ground ball was put into play on the right side toward the middle of the infield where a diving Erin Lehman was able to make an athletic try and get the throw to first for out number two; however, the runner from third scored on the play. An IU throwing error followed which led to another U-M run, setting the Hoosiers back 6-3 through three complete. U-M's second homerun of the game occurred in the fourth and added another two runs to increase the Hoosiers' deficit to five with an 8-3 score. After hitting a batter and walking one, Olson handed over pitching duties to Meaghan Murphy. Murphy entered the game with runners on first and second and one out. A wild pitch would eventually plate another run for U-M and give the home team a 9-3 lead, but Murphy did manage to end the inning with her first strikeout of the game. Saucedo and Meyer connected on back-to-back one-out singles to start something for the Hoosiers in the top of the fifth. Abraham continued that trend on a single through the left side, loading the bases for Huber. Huber drove a fly ball to left field, but it did not reach deep enough to give Saucedo time to tag and score, sending Lalich to the plate with two outs and IU runners on each base. U-M's pitcher Haylie Wagner managed to get a strikeout to end it, stranding three and leaving the score at 9-3 midway through five. Michigan drove a three-run homerun to secure a 12-3 win in the sixth, securing a series sweep over the Hoosiers. Indiana will return to action next weekend when they continue Big Ten Play with Ohio State at Andy Mohr Field. First pitch of that series set for Friday, March 28 at 5 p.m. ET. http://www.iuhoosiers.com/sports/w-softbl/recaps/032214aaa.html

One of my friends was found dead in a retention pond on the southside of Indy after having been missing for a week. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family. http://www.wthr.com/story/25043181/2014/03/21/crews-search-south-side-creek-for-missing-man

March 21, 2014       Box Score       ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The Indiana softball team dropped its second straight conference matchup, falling to No. 6 Michigan 9-1 in five innings. The Hoosiers are now 8-20-1 on the season and 0-2 in conference action, while Michigan improves to 21-6 (2-0 B1G). Indiana tallied four hits with Breanna Saucedo leading the way at the plate with a 2-for-3 effort and drove in the Hoosiers’ lone run with a triple in the fourth. Saucedo has now reached base with a hit in all but six games played this season and extends her hit-streak to six games. Lora Olson is issued the loss and falls to 4-10 on the year. She tossed 2.2 innings and allowed just two earned runs, as Indiana errors attributed to seven total while she was in the circle. Brooke Boetjer closed out the final 2.0 innings and allowed two runs on three hits while striking out two. Saucedo led off the game with a single and advanced to second as the throw to get her sailed into the fence. A ground ball out by Meyer moved Saucedo to third, sending Abraham to the plate with one away. Abraham showed bunt on the squeeze play but the ball was out of her reach. Michigan catcher Lauren Sweet managed to make the throw down to third to pick off Saucedo for out number two. Michelle Huber crushed a line drive out to center field  in the Hoosiers’ following at bat, but unfortunately it sailed right into the glove of U-M’s Lyndsay Doyle. Olson quickly worked her way through the first two batters she faced in the first with a strikeout and ground ball out, but Michigan’s Sierra Romero would drive a solo homerun over the left field fence to set the Hoosiers back 1-0.   Following a scoreless second inning for both squads, the Hoosiers threatened with two away in the third. Abraham started the rally with a single to center and moved to second on Huber’s base hit to right. Farmer walked and loaded the bases for Kayla Mathewson; however Michigan pitcher Sara Driesenga would get her swinging for out number three.   Michigan’s bats struck for seven runs on four hits and a pair of Indiana erroers in the bottom of the third to take an 8-0 lead over IU. Indiana finally broke into the scoring column thanks to an RBI-triple by Saucedo. The senior punched a ball down the right field line that plated Lehman all the way from first base and cut the Wolverines’ lead to seven, but the Wolverine’s pushed a run across in the bottom of the fifth to secure a 9-1 win in five innings. The Hoosiers and Wolverines will play the final game of the series tomorrow at 2 p.m.   http://www.iuhoosiers.com/sports/w-softbl/recaps/032114aab.html

March 21, 2014       Box Score       ANN ARBOR, Mich. - Indiana's lineup totaled six hits and connected on hits in five of six innings played in the opening game of the double header, but none could push a run across as the Hoosiers fell in six to No. 6 Michigan, 8-0. Breanna Saucedo led Indiana with her eighth multiple-hit game of the season, going 2-for-3 with a pair of singles. Jenna Abraham, Kelsey Dotson, Kassi Farmer and Shelby Gogreve each contributed with singles in the game. Meaghan Murphy threw 5.1 innings in the circle where she struck out three and allowed eight runs on 10 hits. Brooke Boetjer entered in the sixth inning and faced one batter who drove in the final two runs of the ballgame. The Hoosiers wasted no time to make noise at the plate, registering two base hits in the opening frame. Saucedo started her first at bat with an 0-2 count, but battled back and punched a single back up the middle. She advanced on a sacrifice bunt by Brianna Meyer and again moved 60 feet on Abraham's one-out single to shallow center field. Abraham stole second to give IU a pair of runners in scoring position, but a strikeout and a ground ball out stranded them both in the first. Michigan struck for a run in the bottom of the opening inning on a bases loaded sacrifice fly from Caitlin Blanchard to right; however, the relayed throw from Michelle Huber in right field caught U-M's Nicole Sappingfield in a rundown to record out number two. The Hoosiers would coax a ground ball out to end the inning, stranding a pair of U-M runners.   The Wolverines tallied another run in the second and threatened to extend their lead with a two-out ball hit to left and a runner in scoring position. Abraham chased the ball down in left center and made a leaping catch for out number three to prevent any further damage.   Indiana's outing in the third looked promising with Saucedo earning her second base hit of the game to start the inning. Meyer laid down a bunt just in front of the plate favoring the right field line and nearly beat the throw to first. Saucedo advanced to second on the play before reaching third on Abraham's bunt to the left side of the infield. Huber dug in at the plate with two away and punched a line drive back up the middle, but Michigan pitcher Haylie Wagner stabbed it out of the air to end the inning. Indiana surrendered another three runs in the third on an RBI-single, a one-run triple and a two-out homerun which increased the home team's lead to 5-0 through three complete innings. Neither team manufactured any runs through the following two innings, bringing a 5-0 score into the sixth, but the Wolverines would drive in three in the bottom of that sixth inning to take game one of the doubleheader, 8-0. http://www.iuhoosiers.com/sports/w-softbl/recaps/032114aaa.html

A little change in the schedule for this weekend. March 20, 2014   BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Due to expected cold temperatures in Ann Arbor, Mich. this weekend, the Indiana softball team's Big Ten opening series with the No. 6 Michigan Wolverines will undergo some schedule changes. Indiana and Michigan will now play a doubleheader on Friday, March 21 beginning at 2:30 p.m. ET with game two immediately following the conclusion of the opening game. The final game of the series is set for Saturday, March 22 at 2 p.m. ET. Live stats and radio will be available for all games in Ann Arbor available through IUHoosiers.com. http://www.iuhoosiers.com/sports/w-softbl/spec-rel/032014aaa.html

HOOSIERS OPEN B1G PLAY The Indiana softball team will open up conference play this weekend when the Hoosiers travel to Ann Arbor, Mich. to take on the sixth-ranked Wolverines at Alumni FIeld.  Entering conference action this weekend, the Big Ten currently has four teams ranked in the USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Poll (Michigan - sixth, Minnesota - 16th, Nebraska - 17th, and Northwestern - 23rd), the third most teams representing a single conference in the country, behind the SEC (8) and the Pac 12 (5).  A LOOK AT THE WOLVERINES Indiana and Michigan will square off for the 100th time in program history. Indiana fell in its previous meeting with the Wolverines on April 16 last season, where U-M came back to win it 7-4 in nine innings Michigan is currently 19-6 on the season and ranks second in the Big Ten in both team hitting (.330) and third in team pitching (1.90 ERA) and leads the conference in fielding (.980). Sophomore shortstop Sierra Romero leads the B1G in batting average (.493), RBI (31), runs scored (26) slugging percentage (.791), on-base percentage (.615) and walks (24). IN THE RANKS Several members of the Indiana softball team rank in several B1G catagories. Kassi Farmer’s team-best .609 slugging percentage is 11th-best amongst conference hitters, while her six homeruns ties for second most and her 42 total bases is tied for 11th. Breanna Saucedo’s 29 hits on the year tie for the 10th most in the Big Ten and her 10 stolen bases matches the fourth most by a B1G player Brianna Meyer and CaraMia Tsirigos also rank in the top 10 for walk. Meyer’s 14 free passes are the seventh most, while Tsirigos is tied for ninth with 13. In the circle, Lora Olson ranks eighth in innings pitched (71.2) and sixth in strikeouts looking (20). Meaghan Murphy currently has 53 strikeouts on the season, good for ninth most, while Brooke Boetjer leads the B1G in both games finished (12) and games in relief (13). TSIRIGOS EARNS B1G AWARD CaraMia Tsirigos was named the Big Ten Conference Freshman of the Week on March 18, the first for the freshman and the first IU player to earn freshman of the week honors since Brianna Meyer did so on April 23, 2012. Tsirigos led Indiana at the plate in last weekend’s Hoosier Classic hitting .500 (3-for-6) and reached in every game to help herself to a .700 on-base percentage. The Atlanta, Ga. native totaled five at the Hoosier Classic including a career-best, three-RBI game against Wright State, where she drove in three on a shot over the centerfield fence for her second homerun of the season. Tsirigos then collected her third multiple-hit performance of the year with a 2-for-4 effort against UIC, driving in two for the Cream and Crimson.   GARDNER EARNS 300th WIN With the Hoosiers’ 3-1 win over Valparaiso in Boise, Idaho at the SpringHill Suites Invitational, sixth year head coach Michelle Gardner earned her 300th career victory. Gardner, who landed her first head coaching job back in 2002 with Nevada, is now 300-345-1 (.464) in her coaching career with a 113-169-1 (.399) through six seasons at the helm in Indiana.  LAST TIME OUT The Hoosiers went 3-1 at the 2014 Hoosier Classic last weekend, earning victories over Wright State, Toledo and UIC. The Hoosiers fell 10-9 to the Flames to close out the weekend. During that weekend, Indiana extended a six-game winning streak until a late comeback effort fell short on Saturday night with UIC. Since 2011, Indiana has posted a 14-1 record at the Hoosier Classic and has won each respective invite in the last four seasons. FARMER GOES YARD With a pair of homeruns against Toledo, Kassi Farmer earned her second multi-homerun game of the season. Her two round-trippers represent the second multiple-homerun effort in her career (her first against San Jose State on Feb. 8, 2014) making her just one of three IU players to earn more than one multi-homerun game in their respective careers. Amanda Wagner (2010-13) and Sara Olson (2009-11) are the only other Hoosier softball players to do so during their time at Indiana. GET ON BASE CaraMia Tsirigos had a great start to her freshman campaign at Indiana. The Atlanta, Ga. native reached reached base in nine straight games to start the season. In that nine-game span, Tsirigos hit safely in five contests and drew a walk in six different games. GOING STREAKING After missing nearly all of the 2013 season due to injury, redshirt senior Breanna Saucedo has quickly made an impact in the Hoosiers’ lineup in her return this spring. Saucedo strung together a seven game hit-streak from Feb. 8 through Feb. 21 and has registered a hit in 16 of her 21 games played. At the Wilcat Invitational, Saucedo hit .500 (5-for-10) with atleast one hit in each of the Hoosiers’ three games and scored four runs.  On the season, Saucedo has reached base in all but four games and has registered a hit in 20-of-26 games played. LALICH LIGHTS IT UP Natalie Lalich has been a bright spot in the Hoosiers lineup after returning from a 2013 injury. The Greenwood, Ind. native tallied a career-high four hits against Troy on Feb. 23 where she drove in a run and scored twice. Lalich then went on to drive in six of the Hoosiers’ eight runs in IU’s win over UT-Arlington on Feb. 28, setting a career-high and making her just one of three IU softball players to drive in six-or-more RBI in a game in program history. Four of those runs resulted from Lalich’s first career homerun, a grand slam to right-center, helping her become one of three active players on the IU roster with a grandslam in their respective careers.  LET’S COMPARE The Indiana pitching staff has given up fewer walks per game that its opponents this spring, issuing just 1.88 free passes per contest compared to opposing teams’ 3.32 walks/game. IU hurlers have also posted an average of 5.93 strikeouts per game while opponents have averaged 4.62. http://www.iuhoosiers.com/sports/w-softbl/spec-rel/031914aab.html

It is only for ten days but oh well.

Here's info on Kentucky Lake in case you were wondering. http://www.kentuckylake.com/kentucky-lake.shtml

Indiana Softball ‏@IUSoftball Final Day of Hoosier Classic Cancelled. Full release here: http://www.iuhoosiers.com/sports/w-softbl/spec-rel/031614aaa.html …

Indiana Softball ‏@IUSoftball UIC takes a 7-5 lead. Midway through the fifth. Huber due up for #IUSoftball

Well thank you for the help.

Thanks to mamasa for doing my job today I'll have to full story from the website up soon.

Thanks I have a lot of basketball watching going on.

Indiana University ‏@IUBloomington  The Hoosier Classic continues today at Andy Mohr Field. See @IUSoftball vs Wright State at 4:45pm & UIC at 6:30pm. All free. Go Hoosiers!

IU will play @ 4:45 against Wright State it is a good day for a ball game.

And to all the naysayers you were saying it wasn't possible continue to say what you want because eventually you will be eating crow when it is all said and done.

Box Score (UIC) • Highlights (UIC Game) • Photo Gallery (UIC) Box Score (Toledo) BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The Indiana softball team made the most of its home opening weekend this afternoon, as the Hoosiers swept in their first day of the Hoosier Classic at Andy Mohr Field, defeating Illinois-Chicago before upending Toledo, 5-2. Indiana has now won five consecutive contests, improving its overall mark to 7-16-1. The pitching staff prevailed throughout the afternoon, posting a collaborative 1.50 earned run average through two games and combined for 15 strikeouts, which included Meaghan Murphy's season-high eight against Toledo. At the plate, the Hoosiers were led by Kassi Farmer's .500 clip fueled by a multi-homerun performance against the Rockets. Her two round-trippers represent the second multiple-homerun effort on the season (her first against San Jose State on Feb. 8, 2014) and make her just one of three IU players to earn more than one multi-homerun game in their respective careers. Amanda Wagner (2010-13) andSara Olson (2009-11) are the only other Hoosier softball players to do so during their time at Indiana. INDIANA 4, ILLINOIS-CHICAGO 1 The Hoosiers outhit the Flames 5-4 in Indiana's 4-1 victory over UIC. Brianna Meyer, Jenna Abraham, Shelby Gogreve and Erin Lehman all registered hits against UIC's pitching staff, but it would be Lehman's bases loaded triple in the fourth that would be the difference maker for the Cream and Crimson.   Lora Olson started in the circle for the Hoosiers and tossed the first five innings where she allowed just one run on five hits while striking out three. Brooke Boetjer closed out the final frame to pick up her second save of the year.   After a scoreless three innings, Lehman's triple would put the Hoosiers ahead in the bottom of the fourth.Kassi Farmer, Kelsey Dotson and Gogreve drew walks to load up the bases for Lehman. The freshman did not disappoint, driving a three-run triple into right-center field to give IU a 3-0 lead. Meyer's lone single of the contest followed and drove in Lehman for the Hoosiers' fourth run of the ballgame. The Flames answered with a solo homerun in the top of sixth, but Indiana would not relinquish the lead and closed out the contest with a 4-1 win. INDIANA 5, TOLEDO 2 Despite being outhit 11-7 by the Rockets, the Hoosiers used timely hitting united with effective pitching to work its way to a 5-2 victory over Toledo The Hoosiers connected on seven hits in their final game of the day, highlighted by a 2-for-3, two-homerun showing by Farmer. Both of which were of the solo variety, helping her to a pair of RBI and two runs scored. Saucedo also touched for a pair of singles, drove in a run and stole two bases, while Meyer Dotson and Lehman contributed with one hit each. Murphy fanned eight Toledo batters, matching her season high against  Georgia Tech in the Panther Invitational on Feb. 15. The lefty threw the first 5.0 innings and allowed just two earned runs to cross before handing the reigns to Boetjer. Boetjer completed the remaining two innings and struck out the side in the seventh to seal the win for Indiana. Farmers first of two homers sparked a three-run inning for Indiana in the second. Her shot over the centerfield fence was soon followed by a Toledo error and an RBI-single from Saucedo that led to another pair of Hoosier runs. Another homerun by Farmer increased the Indiana lead to 4-0 in the third, but Toledo erased that shot with an RBI-single in the top of the fifth to cut the home team's lead back down to three. Indiana scored once more in the following frame. After Meyer reached on a single, Natalie Lalich laid down the sacrifice bunt. Meyer recognized the lack of coverage at third and advanced two bases on the play. The throw to get her sliding into third was off the mark, allowing Meyer to score and reclaim an IU four-run lead. Boetjer entered in the sixth and quickly worked through the final inning, striking out the side to help Indiana clinch its fifth straight win. The Hoosiers will continue action at the Hoosier Classic tomorrow  where they were originally slated to play one game against Wright State at 4:45 p.m. IU has now added another game on Saturday where they will play UIC at 6:30 p.m. Live stats and live audio will be available for each of those games. http://www.iuhoosiers.com/sports/w-softbl/recaps/031414aac.html

Hoosiers in Pro Ball ‏@ProBallHoosiers @CodyZeller finishes with 10 points (5-7 FG), 8 rebounds, 3 assists in 20 minutes of play in the @bobcats win tonight. #iubb

http://www.nba.com/bobcats/video/games/bobcats/2014/03/14/0021300971-min-cha-play2.nba/   http://www.nba.com/bobcats/video/games/bobcats/2014/03/14/0021300971-min-cha-play4.nba/ :popcorn:

HOME SWEET HOME   After playing its first 22 games of the season on the road, the Indiana softball team will return to Andy Mohr Field for the first time in 2014 when the Hoosiers host their annual Hoosier Classic in Bloomington, Ind.  Indiana has gone undefeated at the Hoosier Classic since 2011, posting an 11-0 record in those games including its most recent 3-0 effort in 2013. Since the 2011 campaign, Indiana has played to a 35-15 record at home including a 6-9 mark in its first season within the confines of Andy Mohr Field.  A LOOK TOLEDO Toledo will play in the Hoosier Classic for the second straight season after joining the mix in 2013. The Rockets are currently 7-13 on the season and will meet with the Hoosiers for the fifth time in program history. The Hoosiers are 4-0 in the all-time series, with their most recent matchup occuring in the inaugural game at Andy Mohr Field last season that opened the 2013 Hoosier Classic. Indiana would go on to win that contest in five innings, 9-1. The Rockets are hitting .283 on the season with six players hitting above .300, while the UT pitching staff has tossed 129.1 innings with a 3.79 ERA. SCOUTING THE FLAMES Illinois-Chicago will take on Indiana for the 19th time in program history. The Hoosiers lead the all-time series 12-6 and have been victorious the last six consecutive meetings. The Flames are 2-11 overall and will compete in the Hoosier Classic for the third consecutive year. UIC is coached by IU Hall of Famer Michelle Venturalla. Venturella, a two-time All-American at Indiana and a US Olympic Gold Medalist, still holds single season records for runs (57), homeruns (16), RBI (65), doubles (17), slugging percentage (.819) and walks (56). She also still owns the highest career marks in RBI (153) and walks (140). MEETING WITH WRIGHT STATE Wright State is 2-13 this season after coming off of a 1-3 weekend at the Winthrop/ADIDAS Invitational in Rock Hill, SC. The Raiders and Hoosiers will meet for the 10th time in program history. Indiana leads that series 7-2 and won in the squads' pervious meeting 2011, 6-3. Wright State pitchers have posted an 5.80 ERA through 91.2 innings, while the Raiders bats are hitting at a .189 clip. GARDNER EARNS 300th WIN With the Hoosiers' 3-1 win over Valparaiso in Boise, Idaho last weekend, sixth year head coach Michelle Gardner earned her 300th career victory. Gardner, who landed her first head coaching job back in 2002 with Nevada, is now 300-345-1 (.464) in her coaching career with a 113-169-1 (.399) through six seasons at the helm in Indiana.   LAST TIME OUT The Hoosiers finished the SpringHill Suites Invitational on a strong note, taking their final three games of the weekend for victories to improve to 5-16-1 on the season. IU had four players hit over .300 on the weekend, highlighted by Michelle Huber's .357 batting average and .714 slugging percentage.In the circle, Indiana's hurlers combined for a 2.55 ERA in 33.0 innings and held opponents to just a .242 average. Lora Olson shined for the Hoosiers as she went 2-1 on the weekend with an impressive 0.86 ERA. The junior averaged four strikeouts per appearance and allowed just two earned runs. http://www.iuhoosiers.com/sports/w-softbl/spec-rel/031314aad.html

There's an impatience with the NBA Draft that irks me. You draft a rookie in the lottery so his immediate expectations are a little higher than the average draft pick. This is fair; You're comparing the player to their peers and the investment levied into getting them. You want them to be able to play immediately, that's why you drafted them so high. But sometimes, they can't play right off the bat. We've seen this with Anthony Bennett and Tristan Thompson up in Cleveland, and plenty of others in other cities and in other years. The draft pick doesn't go as smoothly as fans and analysts had hoped and expected. Two months into a player's young career and they're deemed a bust. That's ludicrous. How can anybody say if a player is going to make it in the NBA that quickly? This brings me to Cody Zeller. Zeller, to put it bluntly, had an awful start to his rookie season. In November, Zeller shot 36 percent from the field, sported a True Shooting percentage of 43 percent (a shooting efficiency metric that incorporates value of free throw shooting), far below league average, and for the most part didn't look like he had any clue what he was supposed to do out on the floor. As the months passed, things didn't really get any better. The Bobcats would give Zeller the ball at the top, just inside the three-point arc, and he would still have a deer in the headlights look. Confused what to do with the ball, he'd hold it and burn a few seconds off the shot clock before passing it off or throwing up a midrange jump shot, which he still hasn't shown he can consistently make. Zeller's defense had similarly bad weaknesses. Though he has good lateral quickness to defend the pick and roll, he struggled to contest shots, and when he did, it resulted in fouls, sometimes ugly ones. A lot of this had to do with Zeller's lack of strength, which is to be expected from an NBA rookie. Bobcats coach Steve Clifford even commented on it to the Charlotte Observer back in January: "It's his hips, his core, his back. It takes some time," Clifford said. "People think by throwing [rookies] out there, they get better. I don't agree. I want a role that 1) he earns and 2) that he can play well in. If that's 16 minutes right now, then that's what he needs to be." Although it's not to the extreme of Bennett in Cleveland, there has definitely been some murmuring that because of Zeller's inability to make basic basketball decisions on offense and a lack of defensive skills, that he may not be an NBA player and if he was it was an end of the bench player at best. However, Zeller slowly started to show improvements. Though he still had moments where he looked lost and confused, they're becoming less frequent. In January, Zeller had a TS% of 47 percent in large part due to him no longer being so indecisive. He took the ball and he acted immediately. Zeller followed up his improved January with an even better February, getting his True Shooting percentage above 50 percent for the first time all season. However, if we reduce the sample size a little to only games after the All-Star break, Zeller has a TS% of 55.9 percent and a base field goal percentage of 45.6 percent. His points per game since the all star break has taken a slight jump from 5 points to 8 points and more than ever he's looked like the NBA player everybody wanted him to be. With this kind of jump we really have to ask ourselves what exactly Zeller is doing differently after the All-Star break. We'll have to remember the sample size is still relatively small as the Bobcats still have played a mere 11 games since the All-Star break. Here is Cody Zeller's shot distribution chart pre All-Star break: And here is Cody Zeller post All-Star break: Besides the number of shots taken, the most obvious difference between the two charts is that Zeller is taking almost two-thirds of his shots from within 8 feet of the basket (the dark blue area on the second chart) compared to the first chart where it's a little more spread out. We know getting closer to the basket has helped Zeller's improve because we've seen it in his post all star break numbers. One of the main reasons his True Shooting percentage had a jump as high as it did is because Zeller is getting closer to the basket and drawing more fouls. Zeller's free throws attempted per game have increased from 1.8 a game pre all star break to 3.4 a game post all star break. I think it's fair to say this is because of Zeller choosing to go towards the basket more, another benefit of having an offense that's creating more spacing than they did early in the season. After a bumpy start for Zeller filled with doubts, it's cool that we're seeing him develop and already show improvements in his game. He's gone from the rookie who almost looks terrified to get the ball, to a player who makes decisions and acts on them. He's stopped settling for jump shots and he gets to the basket. The end of the season is in sight and if the numbers tell us anything, Zeller is ready to have a strong finish. http://www.rufusonfire.com/2014/3/11/5481968/charlotte-bobcats-cody-zeller-improving http://www.rufusonfire.com/2014/3/11/5481968/charlotte-bobcats-cody-zeller-improvin

None of us have the money to buy out his contract and if you plan on having the money come up with a perfect bracket to win the $1 billion dollar prize.

Box Score       BOISE, Idaho – Indiana softball head coach Michelle Gardner picked up her 300th career win this afternoon after the Hoosiers defeated Valparaiso 3-1 in their final game of the SpringHill Suites Invitational in Boise, Idaho. Coach Gardner is now 300-345-1 (.464) in her coaching career with a 113-169-1 (.399) at the helm in Indiana.  IU finished the weekend 3-2 to improve to 5-16-1 on the year. Indiana connected on nine hits against the Crusaders, with seven different Hoosiers tallying hits in the contest. Brianna Meyer lead the way at the plate going 2-for-4 with an RBI-single and a run scored. Michelle Huber and Kassi Farmer also drove in runs for Indiana this afternoon. Breanna Saucedo singled to extend her reached base streak to eight consecutive games. Brooke Boetjer started the first 3.2 innings and allowed just one earned run on three hits while striking out three. Lora Olson (2-7) finished the game to become pitcher of record, tossing 3.1 shutout innings with just two Valpo hits and a pair of strikeouts. The Hoosiers opened the game with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first inning. Breanna Saucedo reached on a fielding error and made her way to third on a single by Meyer. A one-out walk loaded the bases for Farmer who came through with an RBI-base hit to right to put her team ahead 1-0. Huber followed with another single to left. The hit drove in Meyer and gave Indiana a two run lead over Valpo. Saucedo started the second inning with her first single of the game and advanced to second on her eighth stolen base of the season. Meyer would bring her around to score on a single up the middle, putting IU on top 3-0.   Valpo added a run in the fourth, sending Olson in to take over in the circle. The junior would shutout the Crusaders the rest of the way to help the Hoosiers to their third straight win. http://www.iuhoosiers.com/sports/w-softbl/recaps/030914aad.html Congrats to Coach Gardner for getting her 300th career win.

Very funny CCG.