IndyHutch

  I wasn't trying to suggest that it was an IU problem, but just one I've noticed a lot lately. 

  I'd like to go back and look at how many times IU has had a shooting performance like that one yesterday from 3 and still found a way to win. I bet there haven't been a lot of those days.

  He's definitely  pretty low key like that. And at least for me, I find that refreshing. I still like that press conference a few weeks ago, I think after the first Wisconsin game, when someone asked him what area of his game he thought was his strongest? He said "I'm just a basketball player.'' IU could use a few more with that attitude. He just wants to play the game and get better.

What I like about OG is simply that when you watch him play it's almost as if you're growing with him. You can see how far he has come and you know how much farther he can go. If he has made this kind of jump since the end of the non-conference season which isn't even a month's worth of time yet, can you imagine what his ceiling could be? I'm not one of those who is ready to say he's the next Oladipo because I just don't think that's right. Why put that kind of pressure on anybody. But I do think he has the potential to average in double figures, get five or six rebounds a game and make this team better on defense. I would take those kinds of numbers any day.

After watching these guys play the first time, I'd be surprised if the game is playing above the 70's score wise. My guess will be 66-58.   In 18 years covering Indiana basketball, I've made 13 trips to the Kohl Center to watch IU-Wisconsin. IU's record in those 13 games is 0-13. The last time IU won up there was January of 1998.   That said, these kids are playing with supreme confidence and they've already won three B1G road games so they're not intimidated by conference road venues.   I think Indiana wins and I'll stick with 66-58 Hoosiers. Can't explain it but these guys are playing with supreme confidence and that can take a team a long way.

IU is 14-3 overall and 4-0 in conference following Sunday's 85-60 victory over Ohio State. What concerns you about this team? What do you like? What would you like to see from certain players? What do you think of coach Crean specifically related to the job he has done with this particular team? Ask questions, make comments, answer other people's questions, let's just open it up today and talk some IU hoop. I only ask that you make it specific to this team. Recruiting is not my area of specialty but 20 years covering the Hoosiers has given me a decent perspective on IU basketball in general.   So what's on your mind?

  But it seems to me he has been getting his feet set and getting good looks, they just aren't going down right now. The thing about him though is that if he hits a couple we'll be sitting here in a few weeks talking about how he hit five in a row or something like that. I like what he brings to the team.

  I don't know, I just think it's a slump. I've always thought of him as an 'ice water in his veins' kind of player so I have a hard time believing the pressure is getting to him.

Thanks. Those were his words, not mine now.  :no:

  There's no question that IU got a favorable starting schedule in the Big Ten but just because it's favorable doesn't mean a team will necessarily be successful. A lot of things have to happen. Getting off to a 4-0 start is big but Indiana needs to build on that start and get some separation here.

  I'd like to see Max B be a little more aggressive. Work a little harder to box people out and not wait for the ball to fall in his lap.

  I'll be quiet now and let your words resonate. 

  Good points. And I think the addition of O.G. has given them more options, too.

  I think it has always been a focus. But I think some people are buying in more now that they see that one of their big scoring guns is out of the lineup.

  And that's the thing, I think we all realize he'll regain his form again and when he does he becomes an instant weapon.

  I can't argue with that kind of thinking. I think the defense has improved since JBJ went down, too. Like I said before I like the fact that all three of our primary freshmen players all seem to bought in on the defensive end. It has to start somewhere. That can be contagious as the program grows.

  What I like about Zeisloft is that he can provide instant offense. He's Matt Roth in my opinion. Roth wasn't a great defender either. But I still think you can put Z in there in certain situations to give you a lift and hit a bucket or two. I'm not talking about him playing great stretches but I do think he can help you in short spurts.

  I'm with you that I think he needs to shoot his way out of the slump. The good news for IU is that he has really struggled in Big Ten play and yet it hasn't hurt the ultimate outcome. In four Big Ten games this season, he is 4 for 24 from 3-point range. That's 0 for 7 against Ohio State, 1 for 5 against Wisconsin (but it was a big one), 2 for 6 against Nebraska and 1 for 6 against Rutgers.    Now maybe he's just a slow starter. Last year in the first four games of the Big Ten he was 2 of 14. But later he would have six conference games where he made three or more including three where he hit 5 3-pointers. IU fans can only hope he can get it going this season, too.

If you had a most surprising player and a most disappointing player 17 games into the season who would they be?   I think O.G. Anunoby would have to be my most surprising because I really didn't see it coming. In the limited minutes he got in the non-conference season I just didn't think he was ready to erupt the way that he has. But he has been confident, scrappy and just seems to be in the right place at the right time. And he plays defense, too. Somebody asked him in the postgame after Wisconsin what his strengths were or what area of his game that he really liked. He said, "I just like to play basketball.'' Indiana fans like the way he's playing basketball right now, too.   Most disappointing?  For me it's Troy Williams from a consistency standpoint. He has big games like he did on Sunday and then he has games where he disappears like was the case against Wisconsin. When we're seeing Good Troy, he can take over a game. But when he gets sped up and starts getting careless with the ball or simply doesn't get into the flow of the game then that can be tough, too from the other point of view.   Who would you put in those two categories?

Here's another thought: What is up with Zeisloft?   He has been so steady for an extended period of time that his recent slump has been hard to watch. Someone said in a post in the postgame thread for Ohio State that Crean needs to sit him down and take away his minutes. I'm not in the camp. I think he's one of those streak shooters that when he gets into the flow he can knock shots down at a steady rate. As with any shooter, he just needs to hit a couple and get back in rhythm. But this is a funk that has lasted a while. What are your thoughts there?

Let's start with Robert Johnson.   I thought he had really been struggling lately but played really well on Sunday against Ohio State. Crean mentioned yesterday that Johnson has been battling through some nagging injuries. Myself, I just thought he has been trying to do too much. It's a cliche but I just felt like Rojo needed to let the game come to him. He just seemed a lot more in the flow Sunday. What do you think?

I was on an in-state radio show on Tuesday morning and the host had this to say about Indiana’s month of January in the Big Ten. He said, including Tuesday night’s home game against Wisconsin, that Indiana would likely be favored in its next seven games through the Jan. 30 home game with Minnesota. He said Indiana has a great chance to make a big early splash in Big Ten play. He even said the Hoosiers could start off 9-0 in conference. Now this was prior to us learning later in the day that James Blackmon Jr. is out indefinitely after knee surgery on Tuesday afternoon. And yet it was also with the belief that Blackmon was going to still be out for an extended period of time even if he didn’t have the surgery. But my point to the radio guy was this: This is Indiana. And things rarely go the way you expect them to go. The most dangerous thing an Indiana basketball fan can do is to start looking ahead at the schedule and saying, ‘They’ll win that game easily and I think they’ll win this one but it will be a little tougher’ and on and on. The reality is that they’re all tough and unless everything is clicking you’re going to be lucky to get out of some games with a victory. Tuesday’s night 59-58 victory over Wisconsin is the perfect example. This one was supposed to be easy, right? This was a Wisconsin team that lost at home to Western Illinois. It also lost by a point to Milwaukee and by two points to Marquette. Last week it lost by six points at home to Purdue. Now, somehow people seem to have forgotten that this team beat Syracuse by seven on the road when the Orange were ranked No. 14 and Temple by 16 at home. Temple knocked off a pretty good Georgetown team Tuesday night. But this isn’t even so much about the opponent as it is about the things that Indiana needs to do to be successful. For Indiana to be able to put away any opponents, big or small, it has to do some fundamental things. It has to take care of the basketball and not make so many careless mistakes. IU turned it over 19 times against Wisconsin and those miscues led to 24 Badger points. Yogi Ferrell and Robert Johnson each turned it over five times. That’s just not acceptable but it continues to happen over and over again. Indiana also needs to do a good job on the offensive glass. For the season, the Hoosiers had averaged 12.5 offensive rebounds per game. In the first two Big Ten games that average had been 11.5. Tuesday night against Wisconsin, Indiana had four offensive rebounds and one was a team rebound. Troy Williams had two and O.G. Anunoby had one. Because of that Indiana had zero second chance points. The previous season low had been six points and IU had been in double figures in second chance points in 11 of 15 games. That’s a long way from zero. And Indiana needs to shoot well from beyond the 3-point line, especially when IU gets wide open looks like Nick Zeisloft got time after time against the Badgers. And you especially expect the Hoosiers to be good from distance at home. But that wasn’t the case Tuesday night either. IU was 7-of-17 from 3-point range. That sounds okay but let’s take a closer look. If you take away Anunoby and Max Bielfeldt, who were a combined 4 for 4, the Hoosiers were 3 of 13 from beyond the arc. Those shots all came from Johnson, Ferrell and Zeisloft, guys that you expect to be able to knock down open shots especially at home. Now, once again, the only thing that really matters about Tuesday’s game with Wisconsin is that the Hoosiers found a way to win. IU has won eight in a row overall and is 13-3 on the season. Indiana is a perfect 9-0 at Assembly Hall heading into Sunday’s game with Ohio State. But I will definitely caution against people who want to start looking down the schedule and crossing off games that Indiana will surely win. Yes, four of the next six are at home but the two road games – Minnesota and Wisconsin – have been places that have been very difficult for Indiana to win. For example, the last time Indiana won in Madison was 18 years ago in the 1998 campaign. Since then the Hoosiers have lost 13 in a row in the Kohl Center. Minnesota has been a little friendlier but not much. Since 1997, IU is 3-12 in The Barn. In the last six trips to Minneapolis, the Hoosiers are 1-5. Will Indiana be favored in those games? Maybe. But the point is with this Indiana basketball team in particular it is better to take games one at a time and hope the Hoosiers can find a way to continue to separate themselves from the pack in the Big Ten. Otherwise those dreams of 9-0 could quickly turn to 6-3 … or worse.

Indiana was careless with the basketball Tuesday night. It didn't hit the offensive glass, had zero second chance points and its best shooters struggled from beyond the 3-point line. But the bottom line was that Indiana was able to come away with a 59-58 victory over Wisconsin to win its eighth game in a row. Here's my analysis as to why this IU team in particular -- and its fan base, too -- needs to take it one game at a time. I was on an in-state radio show on Tuesday morning and the host had this to say about Indiana’s month of January in the Big Ten.   He said, including Tuesday night’s home game against Wisconsin, that Indiana would likely be favored in its next seven games through the Jan. 30 home game with Minnesota.   He said Indiana has a great chance to make a big early splash in Big Ten play. He even said the Hoosiers could start off 9-0 in conference. Now this was prior to us learning later in the day that James Blackmon Jr. is out indefinitely after knee surgery on Tuesday afternoon. And yet it was also with the belief that Blackmon was going to still be out for an extended period of time even if he didn’t have the surgery.   But my point to the radio guy was this: This is Indiana. And things rarely go the way you expect them to go. The most dangerous thing an Indiana basketball fan can do is to start looking ahead at the schedule and saying, ‘They’ll win that game easily and I think they’ll win this one but it will be a little tougher’ and on and on.   The reality is that they’re all tough and unless everything is clicking you’re going to be lucky to get out of some games with a victory.   Tuesday’s night 59-58 victory over Wisconsin is the perfect example. This one was supposed to be easy, right? This was a Wisconsin team that lost at home to Western Illinois. It also lost by a point to Milwaukee and by two points to Marquette. Last week it lost by six points at home to Purdue.   Now, somehow people seem to have forgotten that this team beat Syracuse by seven on the road when the Orange were ranked No. 14 and Temple by 16 at home. Temple knocked off a pretty good Georgetown team Tuesday night.   But this isn’t even so much about the opponent as it is about the things that Indiana needs to do to be successful.   For Indiana to be able to put away any opponents, big or small, it has to do some fundamental things. It has to take care of the basketball and not make so many careless mistakes. IU turned it over 19 times against Wisconsin and those miscues led to 24 Badger points. Yogi Ferrell and Robert Johnson each turned it over five times. That’s just not acceptable but it continues to happen over and over again.   Indiana also needs to do a good job on the offensive glass. For the season, the Hoosiers had averaged 12.5 offensive rebounds per game. In the first two Big Ten games that average had been 11.5.   Tuesday night against Wisconsin, Indiana had four offensive rebounds and one was a team rebound. Troy Williams had two and O.G. Anunoby had one. Because of that Indiana had zero second chance points. The previous season low had been six points and IU had been in double figures in second chance points in 11 of 15 games. That’s a long way from zero.   And Indiana needs to shoot well from beyond the 3-point line, especially when IU gets wide open looks like Nick Zeisloft got time after time against the Badgers. And you especially expect the Hoosiers to be good from distance at home. But that wasn’t the case Tuesday night either. IU was 7-of-17 from 3-point range. That sounds okay but let’s take a closer look. If you take away Anunoby and Max Bielfeldt, who were a combined 4 for 4, the Hoosiers were 3 of 13 from beyond the arc. Those shots all came from Johnson, Ferrell and Zeisloft, guys that you expect to be able to knock down open shots especially at home.   Now, once again, the only thing that really matters about Tuesday’s game with Wisconsin is that the Hoosiers found a way to win. IU has won eight in a row overall and is 13-3 on the season. Indiana is a perfect 9-0 at Assembly Hall heading into Sunday’s game with Ohio State.   But I will definitely caution against people who want to start looking down the schedule and crossing off games that Indiana will surely win. Yes, four of the next six are at home but the two road games – Minnesota and Wisconsin – have been places that have been very difficult for Indiana to win.   For example, the last time Indiana won in Madison was 18 years ago in the 1998 campaign. Since then the Hoosiers have lost 13 in a row in the Kohl Center. Minnesota has been a little friendlier but not much. Since 1997, IU is 3-12 in The Barn. In the last six trips to Minneapolis, the Hoosiers are 1-5.   Will Indiana be favored in those games? Maybe. But the point is with this Indiana basketball team in particular it is better to take games one at a time and hope the Hoosiers can find a way to continue to separate themselves from the pack in the Big Ten.   Otherwise those dreams of 9-0 could quickly turn to 6-3 … or worse. [url=https://btownbanners.com/page/index.html/_/basketball/analysis/analysis-wisconsin-shows-why-you-shouldnt-r296]Click here to view the article[/url]

Here is what I like about Indiana University basketball through the first two games of Big Ten play. The IU bench is emerging and the Hoosiers are proving to be deeper than I think any of us really realized. You expect Yogi to get his points every night. He had 24 Saturday in Indiana’s 79-69 victory at Nebraska as the Hoosiers won for the seventh game in a row. In two Big Ten games, Ferrell has 44 points and should have a decent shot at being in the running this week for Big Ten player of the week. But the thing there is you expect Yogi to get his points. The same is true with Thomas Bryant. Sure, there’s no doubt that the freshman big man needed a bounce back game in the worst way after only playing 6 minutes against Rutgers because of foul trouble. And Saturday he was unstoppable. He made 8 of 10 shots on the way to 19 points. He was aggressive on both ends and blocked three shots. But again, I think IU fans will come to expect big things out its freshman big man. When James Blackmon Jr. get s back in the lineup, the same kinds of expectations are there. The same should be true for Troy Williams although of late he just simply been too much in a hurry with the ball to be productive. Williams has 11 turnovers in the first two Big Ten games. For Williams to rise and be a more consistent player, he needs to take care of the ball. But this is more about those that you weren’t expecting the same level of greatness from. You knew that Max Bielfeldt was going to contribute. As a fifth year senior transfer you knew he was going to have his share of solid games. Now, I’m not sure I was expecting 18 and 14 like he posted against Rutgers, but I wasn’t surprised that he would emerge. Having watched Collin Hartman for two years at IU, nothing really surprises me there either. When he signed with IU I wondered just how big of a role he could ultimately play. But he has been really good and deserves his starting spot in place of the injured Blackmon. The job he did defensively Saturday against Shavon Shields in particular deserves a mention for certain. But a few other guys are surprising me even more. Ryan Burton and his two 3-pointer performance against Rutgers came out of nowhere. And after he didn’t play Saturday against Nebraska, you might look at it and say that he’ll continue to be a situational player who is called on here and there. And that’s fine. But what he showed against Rutgers is that he’s capable of answering that bell. At the very least that should help his confidence moving forward. Juwan Morgan is beginning to show some good signs off the bench. Morgan has been slowed by a foot injury but is starting to look as if he could give you 8-10 solid minutes per game. He played 6 against Nebraska and had two points, two rebounds and a steal. His points came at the free throw line where he knocked down a pair of foul shots with 4:09 to play in the first half which at the time broke a 28-all tie. But the buildup in this analysis, however, is reserved for O.G. Anunoby. The freshman forward looks better and better with each passing game. Saturday, in Indiana’s 79-69 victory at Nebraska, Anunoby scored 11 points in 11 minutes off the bench. He hit all four of his shots from the field, including a 3-pointer, hit 2-of-3 from the line, had three rebounds and two steals without a turnover. The most impressive thing is how you can just see him getting more and more confident with each game. It’s as if he is growing up before our eyes. If he continues to improve at this rate throughout the Big Ten season it’s going to be difficult to keep him off the floor. The first time I ever saw Anunoby play was in the Derby Festival Classic last spring in Louisville. I remember thinking at the time that I believed he could come in and help Indiana right away. But after the non-conference portion of the schedule, I figured he was more of a project than I had initially believed. He simply didn’t look comfortable in the flow of the game. He looked like he was thinking too much and afraid to make a mistake. And that’s what is different about Anunoby after a pair of Big Ten games. He looks confident, he’s always around the ball and he just has great anticipation skills. That sequence he had midway through the first half Saturday showed those things. He scored on a drive to put IU up 60-51 with 10:11 to play and then on the other end he stepped in front of a pass to the wing and went the other way for a steal and a layup to make it 62-51. I’m not surprised that IU has opened the Big Ten at 2-0 given that it started with two winnable games in Rutgers and Nebraska, despite the fact they were both on the road. I’m not surprised that players like Yogi Ferrell and Thomas Bryant are doing some good things for the Hoosiers early in the Big Ten season. But I am surprised that other bench players, most notably Anunoby of late, are progressing at the rate that they are. Keep that up and it won’t be long before Indiana basketball is back in the top 25.