Class of '66 Old Fart

The Crimson Quarry - Reliable, consistent information on Al Durham is not always the easiest to come by, but when reports do come through about Durham and his Berkmar (Georgia) team, the reviews are glowing. After participating in the Blue Collar Basketball Showcase which featured a number of the highest ranked programs in Georgia, Durham was mentioned as one of the players to watch out for, regardless of age class. On Durham: "This Indiana commit continues to get better each time we see him. Durham is a big guard that has the ability to play multiple positions. He advances the ball himself or sprints the wing in transition where he has the ability to get to the rim and finish with a dunk or shoot the deep 3. Durham is a big-time slasher and he weaves through and around traffic with ease."   [As a side note, getting info on Durham is so difficult it makes you wonder if he's not in a witness protection program!]

Berkmar Basketball ‏@BerkmarHoops 4h4 hours ago Congratulations to @aldurham01 Al Durham for being named 8-AAAAAA 1st Team All Region.

Great idea.  How about: Larry Brown; oops, little problem with the NCAA at multiple stops. Roy Williams; if you don't care about actual classroom work. Jim Boeheim; wasn't he suspended earlier this season? Rick Pitino; bring on the hookers. John Calipari; need I say anymore? Jim Calhoun; only left a few problems at UConn Coach K; his years are dwindling Billy Donovan; if you think you can pry him away from the NBA Izzo; ditto on Coach K. Bob Knight; might be the only way to ever get him back to Bloomington.   Golly gee, doesn't look like a whole of available candidates to me.

The B1G schedule gave them a full 7 days between conference games which I presume they felt was too much of a layoff and wanted some kind of game, any kind of game.  Plus, Bowie State probably likes the money it's getting to be a Maryland crabcake.

Unfortunate because Larry is 'IU family' but not totally unexpected with a new DC on board.  Not at all unusual to see such changes with a new OC, DC or head coach.  Larry has a good background and I'm confident he'll land a new position quickly.  Wish he and his family the best.

Chip Miller ‏@BLUEChip_Miller 57m57 minutes ago ESPN 2019 Top 5: 1. R.J. Barrett 2. Charles Bassey 3. Trendon Watford 4. Cassius Stanley 5. Chandler Lawson

Chip Miller ‏@BLUEChip_Miller 2h2 hours ago Conway, AR Huntington Prep (WV) 104, Victory Prep (TX) 64 | Curtis Jones with 23 points and MVP.        

Once again the Lady Hoosiers defend home court with a 59 - 47 win over Nebraska.  Shooting percentage never did pick-up, but they held the Huskers scoreless for extended periods of time in the 2nd half.  They controlled the offensive board and took advantage of the Husker turnovers.   Buss with 17 pts; 11 reb.; 6 assists; 7 steals. Cahill with 16 pts. and 13 reb. Gassion 15 pts.

Midway through the 4th and IU leads 55 - 42.   The starters have done it all as the bench has contributed no points and only 2 rebounds.  Buss with her third double double of the year.  The main Husker offensive weapon, Shepard, has 18 pts. and 12 reb., but has committed 11 TO's all by herself. 

Ladies came out strong in the 3rd Q and at the end of 3 lead the Huskers 45 - 35.    Still not shooting well (31%) but getting off 11 more shots and the Huskers are being a gracious guest with 19 TO's that have led to 17 IU pts.  IU has 12 TO's but they only led to 4 Husker pts.  Ladies still doing an excellent job on the boards 37 - 30 with a 15 - 7 advantage on the offensive board.  The teams are a combined 2 for 20 on 3's.   Cahill with a double double - 12 pts.; 11 reb.  Buss with 13 pts. and 7 reb.; Gassion with 11 pts..

IU 30 - Huskers 24 at the half.  Shooting woes for the Ladies persist as they're only hitting 28%; Nebraska 37%.   But, our Ladies have put up 9 more shots and Nebraska has contributed 14 TO's which IU has converted into 15 pts.  Teams a combined 1 for 13 on 3's.  IU with 8 TO's but doing a good job on the boards especially on the offensive end with an 11 to 5 advantage.    Gassion with 11; Buss with 8; Cahill with 6 pts.  Cahill with 8 reb.  Buss also has 3 assists and 4 steals.

Lackluster opening first quarter for both teams but Nebraska leads 13 - 12; IU had a 3 minute scoring drought at the end of the quarter.  IU shooting only 26%; Nebraska 46%; teams a combined 0 for 5 on 3's.   IU with 4 TO's; Nebraska with 5.  Gassion with 6 pts.; Buss with 4; Cahill 4 reb.

Nice article about Green and his team's thrashing of Cardozo:  https://www.sny.tv/college-recruiting/news/indiana-bound-green-luhi-destroy-cardozo/163867104

Piece from Kent Sterling:  http://kentsterling.com/2016/02/07/indiana-basketball-no-longer-must-see-tv-on-a-saturday-night/   You don't have to agree with it, but it summarizes quite nicely how many of us feel about CTC and the current state of IU basketball.

No They Don'ts    75   Hooknoses        79

Oh Ye Of Little Faith    74   Spartacus       81

Indiana (14-9, 6-5) vs. Nebraska (16-6, 7-4) 2:00 E. T. BTN PLus Radio:  http://mgmt.firststreaming.com/listen/player.php?callsign=WHCC_FM Stats:  http://sidearmstats.com/indiana/wbball/   DID YOU KNOW? • Indiana is a perfect 10-0 in games played in Assembly Hall this year, the best home start, on record, in program history. • IU is the only team in the Big Ten with an unblemished home record this season. • The Hoosiers trailed Iowa on Thursday, 54-37, late in the third quarter before storming back to overcome the 17-point deficit by outscoring the Hawkeyes 42-20 in the game's final 13:19. • Indiana shot 83.3 percent (10-of-12) from the field in the fourth quarter, including 4-of-4 3-pointers, to outscore Iowa 32-16 in final period in Thursday's win. • The victory over Iowa marked the fifth time this year that Indiana has won a game when trailing heading into the fourth quarter. • Indiana's six wins in Big Ten play so far this year are the program's most victories in conference play since the 2009-10 season. • Indiana has defeated three ranked opponents this season, tying for the most wins over ranked foes in a single regular season in program history. • This year marks the fourth time in program history and the first time in 18 years that Indiana has defeated three ranked opponents during regular season play. IU downed three ranked teams during the regular season schedule previously during 1985-86, 1993-94 and 1997-98. • Amanda Cahill scored a career-high 24 points while hitting 10-of-14 field goals with eight rebounds in the win over Iowa. Cahill has scored in double figures in 21 of 23 games this year and has had seven or more rebounds in every game but three. • Tyra Buss achieved her third career double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds to go along with seven assists and two steals against Iowa. She poured in 16 of her points in the second half. • Jenn Anderson tallied a season-best 18 points in the Iowa game, scoring 14  in the second half. • Alexis Gassion flirted with a triple-double in the Iowa game with nine points, 11 rebounds and eight assists.   Nebraska arrives in Bloomington having won seven of it last eight contests.   THE FRIENDLY CONFINES OF ASSEMBLY HALL Indiana is a perfect 10-0 so far this season in games played inside of Assembly Hall, marking the best home start ever, on record, in program history. The Hoosiers are the only team in the Big Ten to have yet to lose at home this season. Home wins this year have been highlighted by five Big Ten victories, knocking off two ranked opponents, winning two games in the Preseason WNIT and defeating Georgia Tech in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge.    MOST BIG TEN WINS IN SIX YEARS With Thursday's win over Iowa, it gave Indiana its sixth Big Ten victory on the season, marking the program's most wins in conference play since 2009-10. IU's current 6-5 record in BIg Ten games is the program's most victories through 11 conference games since 2008-09.  Earlier this year with consecutive wins over Illinois, Northwestern and Rutgers, the Hoosiers won three straight Big Ten games for the first time since Jan. 2009.   COMEBACK KIDS Seven times this season, Indiana has faced late second-half deficits before overcoming them to earn a victory, including five games where IU trailed heading into the fourth quarter.      

On 2/6, FW South Side defeated Lakewood Park 97 - 57.  Boucher with 18 pts.

On 2/6, East Chicago Central defeated Crown Point 80 - 73.  In the newspaper account I found, 4 Crown Point players are named as double figure scorers; Gelon was not 1 of the 4.   Been a lot of conversation on Gelon so I've gone back and tried to reconstruct his 2015-2016 season as best I could.   11/25/15  vs. Laf. Jeff                        No stats found   12/15 vs. Penn                                     31 pts.    11 of 16 from the field; 9 of 11 were 3's;       5 reb   12/12 vs. Warren Central                   2 pts.      Intentional elbow game   12/18 vs. Munster                               15 pts.    6-for-11, including 5-for-8 on 3’s   12/19 vs. Pike                                       No stats found   12/29 vs. Avon                                    21 pts.    7 of 9 on 3’s   1/2/16 vs. So. Bend. Wash.               24pts.     7-3’s; 9 reb.   12/30 vs. Columbus East                   28 pts.   1/8 vs. Michigan City                         11 pts.    15 reb.; only 2 of 12 on 3’s                 1/15 vs. Merrillville                              Scoreless   1/16 vs. Griffith                                   16 pts.    4 of 11 on 3’s   1/22 vs. Chesterton                             15 pts.    7 reb.   1/23 vs. Bowman Academy             24 pts.    4 of 6 on 3’s   1/29 vs. LaPorte                                  10 pts.    5 reb.   1/30 vs. Boone Grove                         No stats found   2/4 vs. Portage                                     3 pts.        2/6 vs. East Chicago Central             Unknown, but clearly less than 10.          

  Full account of the game at:  http://www.newsandtribune.com/sports/boys-basketball-bulldogs-clinch-share-of-hhc-title/article_a9b1946e-cd6a-11e5-adc4-cfc28d98c08c.html   Key highlights include: Langford who took over in the second quarter — when he scored 13 of his 19 first-half points. The 6-4 sophomore finished with 33 points and 14 rebounds, sinking 5-of-6 free throws in the fourth quarter.

After the fantastic game against Michigan I made the audacious statement that perhaps that game was a kick to the crotch of our typical season ending swoon.  So to re-use an old quote, "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain." 

How can something desert you that's rarely ever been present?

Sure signs of spring: The swallows return to Capistrano, CA The buzzards return to Hinckley, OH IU basketball swoons.

I do, but you can't print it in a public forum.  :angry:

A tremendous effort at Michigan totally undone by falling on our face in Happy Valley.  Now I really feel uncomfortable about next Thursday night.