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You expect Yogi Ferrell to get his points. There are a few other IU players that you have that same expectation for. But the emergence of players like O.G. Anunoby, Juwan Morgan, Collin Hartman and even Ryan Burton has made Indiana much deeper than I think most people expected. Here is my analysis following Saturday's win over Nebraska. 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. [url=https://btownbanners.com/page/index.html/_/basketball/analysis-after-two-b1g-games-some-new-faces-a-r295]Click here to view the article[/url]

Well, that was interesting. Despite not having James Blackmon Jr., who didn’t suit up after injuring his knee Monday in practice. … And basically not having Thomas Bryant, who played a total of 6 minutes because of foul trouble and eventually fouled out. … And basically not having Robert Johnson, a normally reliable player, who was anything but on this day … And committing 23 turnovers, most of them of the lazy, unforced variety … Indiana found a way to go on the road Wednesday and beat a bad Rutgers team, 79-72 in the Big Ten opener. It was the sixth win in a row for the Hoosiers and seventh out of the last eight games. IU is 11-3 overall and 1-0 in conference before heading to Lincoln, Neb. Saturday to take on Nebraska in a 4 p.m. tip. IU did get some key performances from a couple of players off the bench (which we’ll talk about in a minute) but a big key for Indiana Wednesday was that it was playing Rutgers. Here’s a question: How many other Big Ten teams could Indiana have beaten playing the way it did on Wednesday? I can’t think of one that I would be confident in picking. This is a really bad Rutgers team. The Scarlet Knights are ranked No. 245 in the KenPom rankings. That’s the worst in the Big Ten by almost 100 spots. Minnesota is ranked No. 150. This is a Rutgers team that has now lost 16 consecutive conference games over the past two seasons. This is a Rutgers team that is not going to win a lot of games. Now, the only thing that really matters for Indiana is that IU came away with a Big Ten road victory. Because if the Hoosiers had somehow lost this one, I’m not sure they could have regrouped. This one would have been a mega loss. But let’s talk about the good things that came out of Wednesday’s victory. Max Bielfeldt was a beast. He scored 18 points, pulled down 14 rebounds and took a charge late in the game that proved to be a big play. About the only thing that spoiled a great day was his two missed free throws late but that wasn’t big because of the next guy I want to mention. O.G. Anunoby had his best game at Indiana. The true freshman had eight points and seven rebounds. Four of those rebounds were on the offensive end, including two late in the game off of missed free throw opportunities. He also made two 3’s. He had one coming made for his career coming into the game. He also made both of his free throws and he was shooting 33 percent coming in. And what can you say about Ryan Burton? Burton had scored a total of three points in eight games this season coming in. He scored six points, made both of his shots and both were from 3 and had a key offensive rebound.4 That’s 32 points off of the bench from three Indiana players today. And two of them had contributed very little to this point which made their contributions that much bigger. A fourth performance worth mentioning was that of Collin Hartman. He had nine points on three 3-pointers. Now, all of them were in the first 12 minutes of the game but it definitely got IU off to the right start. And Hartman was starting in place of Blackmon so the Hoosiers needed a spark from that spot. So what did Wednesday’s performance say about Indiana basketball moving forward? I think it’s hard to tell. This has been an Indiana team that has played down to the level of its competition all season. And 23 turnovers, for a team that averages 14, is still uncharacteristic. Yogi had six turnovers and Johnson had five. You have to hope that was an anomaly of sorts. I think the bigger question is how much will the loss of Blackmon Jr. hurt moving forward if it turns out he’s for a few games? There was no news on that front Wednesday other than that he would be further evaluated. It’s his right knee, not the one he had operated on in the offseason. Not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. I think IU can be OK without Blackmon in the short term but if he’s out for a longer period of time a player like Johnson in particular is definitely going to have to pick up some of the slack. So Indiana is 1-0 in conference and plays Nebraska Saturday. IU fans can only hope that the Hoosiers play a lot better in Lincoln than they did Wednesday at Rutgers.

Indiana was lucky Wednesday that it played Rutgers in the Big Ten opener. I'm not sure how many other Big Ten teams the Hoosiers could have beaten with that performance. Here is my analysis of IU's 79-72 victory. Well, that was interesting.   Despite not having James Blackmon Jr., who didn’t suit up after injuring his knee Monday in practice. …   And basically not having Thomas Bryant, who played a total of 6 minutes because of foul trouble and eventually fouled out. …   And basically not having Robert Johnson, a normally reliable player, who was anything but on this day …   And committing 23 turnovers, most of them of the lazy, unforced variety …   Indiana found a way to go on the road Wednesday and beat a bad Rutgers team, 79-72 in the Big Ten opener.   It was the sixth win in a row for the Hoosiers and seventh out of the last eight games. IU is 11-3 overall and 1-0 in conference before heading to Lincoln, Neb. Saturday to take on Nebraska in a 4 p.m. tip.   IU did get some key performances from a couple of players off the bench (which we’ll talk about in a minute) but a big key for Indiana Wednesday was that it was playing Rutgers.   Here’s a question: How many other Big Ten teams could Indiana have beaten playing the way it did on Wednesday? I can’t think of one that I would be confident in picking.   This is a really bad Rutgers team. The Scarlet Knights are ranked No. 245 in the KenPom rankings. That’s the worst in the Big Ten by almost 100 spots. Minnesota is ranked No. 150.   This is a Rutgers team that has now lost 16 consecutive conference games over the past two seasons. This is a Rutgers team that is not going to win a lot of games.   Now, the only thing that really matters for Indiana is that IU came away with a Big Ten road victory. Because if the Hoosiers had somehow lost this one, I’m not sure they could have regrouped. This one would have been a mega loss.   But let’s talk about the good things that came out of Wednesday’s victory.   Max Bielfeldt was a beast. He scored 18 points, pulled down 14 rebounds and took a charge late in the game that proved to be a big play. About the only thing that spoiled a great day was his two missed free throws late but that wasn’t big because of the next guy I want to mention.   O.G. Anunoby had his best game at Indiana. The true freshman had eight points and seven rebounds. Four of those rebounds were on the offensive end, including two late in the game off of missed free throw opportunities. He also made two 3’s. He had one coming made for his career coming into the game. He also made both of his free throws and he was shooting 33 percent coming in.   And what can you say about Ryan Burton? Burton had scored a total of three points in eight games this season coming in. He scored six points, made both of his shots and both were from 3 and had a key offensive rebound.4   That’s 32 points off of the bench from three Indiana players today. And two of them had contributed very little to this point which made their contributions that much bigger.   A fourth performance worth mentioning was that of Collin Hartman. He had nine points on three 3-pointers. Now, all of them were in the first 12 minutes of the game but it definitely got IU off to the right start. And Hartman was starting in place of Blackmon so the Hoosiers needed a spark from that spot.   So what did Wednesday’s performance say about Indiana basketball moving forward?   I think it’s hard to tell. This has been an Indiana team that has played down to the level of its competition all season. And 23 turnovers, for a team that averages 14, is still uncharacteristic. Yogi had six turnovers and Johnson had five. You have to hope that was an anomaly of sorts.   I think the bigger question is how much will the loss of Blackmon Jr. hurt moving forward if it turns out he’s for a few games? There was no news on that front Wednesday other than that he would be further evaluated. It’s his right knee, not the one he had operated on in the offseason. Not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.   I think IU can be OK without Blackmon in the short term but if he’s out for a longer period of time a player like Johnson in particular is definitely going to have to pick up some of the slack.   So Indiana is 1-0 in conference and plays Nebraska Saturday. IU fans can only hope that the Hoosiers play a lot better in Lincoln than they did Wednesday at Rutgers. [url=https://btownbanners.com/page/index.html/_/basketball/analysis/analysis-iu-rutgers-well-that-was-interes-r293]Click here to view the article[/url]

In many ways, the controversial missed field goal in overtime Saturday against Duke was a fitting way for the 2015 Indiana football season to come to an end. It was a season of close calls, both in victory and defeat. Let’s don’t forget that the season began with IU needing to make a defensive play on a two-point conversion attempt in the closing seconds to escape with a 48-47 victory over Southern Illinois. Indiana had to hang on to beat an eventual bowl team in Western Kentucky, 38-35. There was a close game with then No. 1 Ohio State, a gift wrapped 55-52 loss to Rutgers where the Hoosiers squandered a 19-point lead heading into the fourth quarter. There was the Michigan game where the Wolverines scored a touchdown on the final play of regulation to force overtime and then won in the extra session. And then there was Duke Saturday in the Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium where Indiana led 41-34 late before the Blue Devils scored a touchdown in the final minute to force overtime. But I will tell you this. As gut-wrenching of a defeat as Indiana suffered in its most recent postseason appearance may have been, IU football was still extremely entertaining in 2015. And that’s a start. I don’t think Indiana football will ever be a powerhouse type of program that will mow through the Big Ten schedule and end up playing consistently in a New Year’s Eve bowl situation. That may happen once in a while but in a division that also includes Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State and Penn State, I think that’s asking a lot. So the reality is that Indiana is going to have a lot of 6-6 or 7-5 type of seasons and very likely be playing in lower level bowls. I’m not saying that I speak for all Indiana fans but I think if the Hoosiers played an entertaining brand of football (sure, a little better on the defensive side would help) and made it to a bowl game every year that most IU fans would be happy with that outcome. Of course there will be some who continue with the line of thinking that there’s no reason Indiana shouldn’t be a football powerhouse. The whole ‘If Northwestern, Illinois and Purdue can do, then why can’t IU?’ way of thinking is still prevalent with some. But one thing all three of those programs do not have in common right now with Indiana is that they are in the other division. And I think the East is just a tad bit tougher than the West. Sure you have Wisconsin and Iowa and usually Nebraska but overall I would trade divisions if I were IU in a heartbeat. It still comes down to the fact that Indiana had a very entertaining 2015 season in which it scored the most points in school history for one season. In the last four games, Indiana scored 40 points or more in each game. IU boasted two 1,000-yard running backs for the first time in school history and its career record-holding quarterback and some sure-handed receivers, too. The defense … well … it always come back to the defense. And the reality Saturday was that it was the defense combined with special teams that hurt the Hoosiers. That long kickoff return for a touchdown was a momentum squelcher. And the fumble by Mitchell Paige on the punt return hurt, too. Still, for me the bottom line was that Indiana was fun to watch in 2015. I go back to my last bowl experience with Indiana in the Insight Bowl in the ‘Play 13’ season after Terry Hoeppner had died and I remember that game was not so much of a game. I think Austin Starr put IU up 3-0 and then it was 28-3 midway through the second quarter. Oklahoma State just ran all over Indiana that day. What the 2015 season showed me about IU football was that the Hoosiers are closer. Next season IU will have eight home games to utilize in an attempt to make rare back-to-back bowl appearances. That hasn’t happened at IU in more than 25 years. And that’s what we’ll all be keeping an eye on as the 2016 unfolds. Until then, IU fans can talk about what could have been and whether last-second field goals should always be reviewable or not.

Is it really any surprise that a season filled with games just like the Pinstripe Bowl ended with a heart-breaking, controversial field goal? In many ways, the controversial missed field goal in overtime Saturday against Duke was a fitting way for the 2015 Indiana football season to come to an end.   It was a season of close calls, both in victory and defeat.   Let’s don’t forget that the season began with IU needing to make a defensive play on a two-point conversion attempt in the closing seconds to escape with a 48-47 victory over Southern Illinois.   Indiana had to hang on to beat an eventual bowl team in Western Kentucky, 38-35.   There was a close game with then No. 1 Ohio State, a gift wrapped 55-52 loss to Rutgers where the Hoosiers squandered a 19-point lead heading into the fourth quarter.   There was the Michigan game where the Wolverines scored a touchdown on the final play of regulation to force overtime and then won in the extra session.   And then there was Duke Saturday in the Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium where Indiana led 41-34 late before the Blue Devils scored a touchdown in the final minute to force overtime.   But I will tell you this. As gut-wrenching of a defeat as Indiana suffered in its most recent postseason appearance may have been, IU football was still extremely entertaining in 2015.   And that’s a start. I don’t think Indiana football will ever be a powerhouse type of program that will mow through the Big Ten schedule and end up playing consistently in a New Year’s Eve bowl situation. That may happen once in a while but in a division that also includes Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State and Penn State, I think that’s asking a lot.   So the reality is that Indiana is going to have a lot of 6-6 or 7-5 type of seasons and very likely be playing in lower level bowls.   I’m not saying that I speak for all Indiana fans but I think if the Hoosiers played an entertaining brand of football (sure, a little better on the defensive side would help) and made it to a bowl game every year that most IU fans would be happy with that outcome. Of course there will be some who continue with the line of thinking that there’s no reason Indiana shouldn’t be a football powerhouse. The whole ‘If Northwestern, Illinois and Purdue can do, then why can’t IU?’ way of thinking is still prevalent with some.   But one thing all three of those programs do not have in common right now with Indiana is that they are in the other division. And I think the East is just a tad bit tougher than the West. Sure you have Wisconsin and Iowa and usually Nebraska but overall I would trade divisions if I were IU in a heartbeat.   It still comes down to the fact that Indiana had a very entertaining 2015 season in which it scored the most points in school history for one season. In the last four games, Indiana scored 40 points or more in each game. IU boasted two 1,000-yard running backs for the first time in school history and its career record-holding quarterback and some sure-handed receivers, too.   The defense … well … it always come back to the defense. And the reality Saturday was that it was the defense combined with special teams that hurt the Hoosiers. That long kickoff return for a touchdown was a momentum squelcher. And the fumble by Mitchell Paige on the punt return hurt, too.   Still, for me the bottom line was that Indiana was fun to watch in 2015. I go back to my last bowl experience with Indiana in the Insight Bowl in the ‘Play 13’ season after Terry Hoeppner had died and I remember that game was not so much of a game. I think Austin Starr put IU up 3-0 and then it was 28-3 midway through the second quarter. Oklahoma State just ran all over Indiana that day.   What the 2015 season showed me about IU football was that the Hoosiers are closer. Next season IU will have eight home games to utilize in an attempt to make rare back-to-back bowl appearances. That hasn’t happened at IU in more than 25 years.   And that’s what we’ll all be keeping an eye on as the 2016 unfolds. Until then, IU fans can talk about what could have been and whether last-second field goals should always be reviewable or not. [url=https://btownbanners.com/page/index.html/_/football/analysi/analysis-a-fitting-ending-to-the-2015-season-r292]Click here to view the article[/url]

Looking for an easy Christmas gift for that IU basketball fan on your list? Or would you just like a great read for yourself? I have two Indiana basketball books that are out in time for the holidays. The new one, released just last Saturday and not really available in many bookstores yet is Missing Banners, a book I co-wrote with my friend Tom Brew. This book looks at all the years in IU basketball history where people felt the Hoosiers had a team worthy to hang a national championship banner but for whatever reason it didn’t work out that way. We focus on five years in particular from five different decades: 1975, 1980, 1993, 2002 and 2013. If you look at the cover closely that is provided here you’ll see that we have the five national championship banners in the background and the years on them on the ones of the teams we focused on. What makes this a fun read is that Tom and I went back and talked to players from all those teams and we get their perspectives all these years later. In many cases there are a lot of stories told in here that I’ve never seen before in print. We also talk about a few other teams that could have made a claim at a banner like 1954 and 1960 to name a few. My guess is you’ll be hearing a lot about Missing Banners in the next few months. First week sales have been brisk. My other book that has been out for a few months is an IU basketball trivia book called “So You Think You Know Indiana University Basketball”. It’s 450 questions of IU hoops trivia with chapters on players, coaches, national championship teams, venues, numbers worn by various IU standouts and a lot of fun facts, too. There’s also a 50-question chapter on Bob Knight. So how can you get your hands on copies of the book by Christmas? If you want autographed copies with personal inscriptions, send me a note via email at Terry_Hutchens@yahoo.com and I’ll take care of you. Missing Banners goes for $18 and my trivia book retails for $14. For Btownbanners.com folks, I can do the trivia book for $10. There isn’t as much wiggle room, however, on Missing Banners. One easy form of payment is to use Facebook Messenger and just send me the payment that way. Add $3 for shipping and handling if you want one book, $5 for two and then an extra dollar per book beyond that. But just drop me a note at Terry_Hutchens@yahoo.com and let me know how many you want, who you want me to sign the books to and where I can mail them. Then let me know if you’re going to pay via Facebook Messenger or send me a check. If you’re sending a check I’d prefer to get it before I mail the books out unless you’re somebody I know. That’s why the Facebook Messenger option is so easy. You go the Facebook place where you would send someone a direct message and click on the three dots next to that. You’ll see ‘Send Payment’ as an option and then you just choose the amount that will be transferred from your debit card to mine. I’ve probably had 25 people order books this week using that method and all say it is extremely easy. If you live in the Indianapolis area, make note of that in your email and I’ll try to find a way to meet you with books either Sunday, Monday or Tuesday of this week. In other words I can easily get them in your hands by Christmas. Do it this way and obviously don’t worry about the shipping charge. I’ve spent a lot of time this week either mailing the new books out or personally delivering orders. If you don’t want a personalized, autographed copy mailed to you, then both books are available on Amazon and the trivia book can be purchased through Barnes and Noble, too. We’re working to get Missing Banners in that system as well. If you’re in Indianapolis, Tom Brew and myself will be signing copies of the books tonight, Saturday Dec. 19, from 7-9 p.m at the Barnes & Noble in Carmel. I’ll also be doing a signing on Sunday in Fort Wayne at the Barnes & Noble Jefferson Pointe from 1-3 p.m. If you get on this quickly though and order books from me through my email address there’s a good chance if you use the Facebook Messenger option for payment that I can still get your books in the mail today. Thanks for your support….Terry

I've written a new IU basketball book along with co-author Tom Brew that is the perfect last minute Christmas gift for the IU fan on your list. I can personalize it to you or the IU fan on your list and mail it as early as today. See all the info below. Looking for an easy Christmas gift for that IU basketball fan on your list?   Or would you just like a great read for yourself?   I have two Indiana basketball books that are out in time for the holidays.   The new one, released just last Saturday and not really available in many bookstores yet is Missing Banners, a book I co-wrote with my friend Tom Brew. This book looks at all the years in IU basketball history where people felt the Hoosiers had a team worthy to hang a national championship banner but for whatever reason it didn’t work out that way.   We focus on five years in particular from five different decades: 1975, 1980, 1993, 2002 and 2013. If you look at the cover closely that is provided here you’ll see that we have the five national championship banners in the background and the years on them on the ones of the teams we focused on.   What makes this a fun read is that Tom and I went back and talked to players from all those teams and we get their perspectives all these years later. In many cases there are a lot of stories told in here that I’ve never seen before in print. We also talk about a few other teams that could have made a claim at a banner like 1954 and 1960 to name a few.   My guess is you’ll be hearing a lot about Missing Banners in the next few months. First week sales have been brisk.   My other book that has been out for a few months is an IU basketball trivia book called “So You Think You Know Indiana University Basketball”. It’s 450 questions of IU hoops trivia with chapters on players, coaches, national championship teams, venues, numbers worn by various IU standouts and a lot of fun facts, too. There’s also a 50-question chapter on Bob Knight.   So how can you get your hands on copies of the book by Christmas?   If you want autographed copies with personal inscriptions, send me a note via email at Terry_Hutchens@yahoo.com and I’ll take care of you. Missing Banners goes for $18 and my trivia book retails for $14. For Btownbanners.com folks, I can do the trivia book for $10. There isn’t as much wiggle room, however, on Missing Banners.   One easy form of payment is to use Facebook Messenger and just send me the payment that way. Add $3 for shipping and handling if you want one book, $5 for two and then an extra dollar per book beyond that. But just drop me a note at Terry_Hutchens@yahoo.com and let me know how many you want, who you want me to sign the books to and where I can mail them. Then let me know if you’re going to pay via Facebook Messenger or send me a check. If you’re sending a check I’d prefer to get it before I mail the books out unless you’re somebody I know. That’s why the Facebook Messenger option is so easy. You go the Facebook place where you would send someone a direct message and click on the three dots next to that. You’ll see ‘Send Payment’ as an option and then you just choose the amount that will be transferred from your debit card to mine. I’ve probably had 25 people order books this week using that method and all say it is extremely easy.   If you live in the Indianapolis area, make note of that in your email and I’ll try to find a way to meet you with books either Sunday, Monday or Tuesday of this week. In other words I can easily get them in your hands by Christmas. Do it this way and obviously don’t worry about the shipping charge. I’ve spent a lot of time this week either mailing the new books out or personally delivering orders.   If you don’t want a personalized, autographed copy mailed to you, then both books are available on Amazon and the trivia book can be purchased through Barnes and Noble, too. We’re working to get Missing Banners in that system as well.   If you’re in Indianapolis, Tom Brew and myself will be signing copies of the books tonight, Saturday Dec. 19, from 7-9 p.m at the Barnes & Noble in Carmel. I’ll also be doing a signing on Sunday in Fort Wayne at the Barnes & Noble Jefferson Pointe from 1-3 p.m.   If you get on this quickly though and order books from me through my email address there’s a good chance if you use the Facebook Messenger option for payment that I can still get your books in the mail today.   Thanks for your support….Terry [url=https://btownbanners.com/page/index.html/_/basketball/need-a-last-minute-christmas-gift-for-an-iu-bas-r289]Click here to view the article[/url]

The first point that has to be made about Saturday’s 80-73 victory by Indiana over Notre Dame is that in the grand scheme of things it was a huge victory for this IU basketball program. As I wrote on the morning of the game, this was a perception game. And the difference in that perception based on a win or a loss in the Crossroads Classic would have been major. The difference between being 9-3 and 8-4 on paper may not seem like a lot but in this particular case it would have been. Indiana needed to beat a quality opponent and that’s what it did on Saturday afternoon. It wasn’t pretty for major stretches of the game, there’s no question about that. Robert Johnson said after the game that he was pretty sure that there were times in the second half when the Hoosiers got down by 16 points that a lot of people at home very likely turned off their televisions out of frustration. I’m guessing that’s probably pretty accurate. If people didn’t, they may have been thinking about it. Heck, as I was sitting there in Bankers Life Fieldhouse I was wondering the same thing myself. But after rallying from that 16-point deficit, the largest come from behind victory for IU in the Tom Crean era, to beat the Irish 80-73, I’d like to turn to a thought of just what did we learn about Indiana basketball Saturday afternoon in the Crossroads Classic. Here are some thoughts: 1. THERE IS STILL A GREAT DEAL OF FIGHT IN THIS TEAM: If ever a team had a chance to mail it in, I would think the 56-40 deficit with just over 15 minutes to play in the game would have been the time. Fans in the building were getting restless (as they should have been) and things were not going well. It was Duke all over again in terms of a lopsided result. Notre Dame was having its way with Indiana especially inside and it just didn’t seem like IU had any answers. But the Hoosiers kept chipping away. They stayed the course. (Sorry, I’ve it’s turned into Cliché Central here but the ideas seem to be the right ones). And it probably didn’t hurt that there was a large number of IU fans inside the building waiting for a reason to erupt and IU finally gave it that reason down the stretch. 2. IU WAS REALLY GOOD ON THE OFFENSIVE GLASS: Indiana had 20 offensive rebounds in the game. Notre Dame had 19 defensive rebounds. That means Indiana got to more of its missed shots than the Irish did. That’s pretty impressive. And it was eight different players that were getting to those rebounds. Troy Williams had five of them but three other players had three each. Two of them, Thomas Bryant and James Blackmon Jr., you would expect. The one that didn’t I thought was impactful in the game and that was O.G. Anunoby. He had two points and four rebounds in the 7 minutes he played. There was a sequence with IU trailing 71-64 that really stood out for me. Williams missed a free throw and Max Bielfeldt got an offensive rebound. Nick Zeisloft then missed a 3-pointer and Anunoby got the offensive board. Williams got open for a long 3 and missed it, too, but Anunoby was there to clean it up and slam it home. That cut the lead to 71-66 with 5:37 to play. 3. THE ZONE WAS EFFECTIVE: I never would have thought that Notre Dame with a good inside/outside combination would have been a team that you would have wanted to zone a lot. Apparently Tom Crean thought the same thing because he mentioned that point in his postgame remarks. But when other things aren’t working well you need to have a Plan B and I’ll credit Crean and his staff for going that direction Saturday. It was 2-3 zone. It looked like a 1-3-1 at time but it was more of a 2-3, almost a matchup 2-3 zone as people were still getting out on a specific man. But the important thing is that it worked. In the final 6:32, Notre Dame was 1 of 11 from the field. Notre Dame also missed two free throws in that stretch. It also didn’t hurt that Zach Auguste picked up his fourth with 2:44 to play and then fouled out a few minutes later. But what that zone did for Indiana was it showed this group that there are other ways it can win and the players seemed to buy into it and that’s a huge point with just 10 days to go before the start of the Big Ten season. It’s just one victory, but again it’s a big victory. This game has the feel of one that you can look back on later and think that it was a turning point. Indiana should now go into Big Ten play on a five-game winning streak after dispatching Kennesaw State this Tuesday. Then there are plenty of games early in IU’s schedule that should give the Hoosiers a chance to be successful. (That Jan. 10 home game with Ohio State game may look a little more difficult now after what the Buckeyes did to Kentucky on Saturday). But the point remains: IU should have a chance to now build a little momentum and maybe even get back in the top 25 before too long. The perception coming out of Saturday’s win over Notre Dame is that Indiana has a chance to do some things if it can play at a high level and play together. It’s just one game, but it was really a big one in the grand scheme of things.

We learned a few things about Indiana Saturday. Rallying from a 16-point second half deficit said a few things about the character of this Hoosier team. But there were other things, too. Read on for my analysis. The first point that has to be made about Saturday’s 80-73 victory by Indiana over Notre Dame is that in the grand scheme of things it was a huge victory for this IU basketball program.   As I wrote on the morning of the game, this was a perception game. And the difference in that perception based on a win or a loss in the Crossroads Classic would have been major. The difference between being 9-3 and 8-4 on paper may not seem like a lot but in this particular case it would have been. Indiana needed to beat a quality opponent and that’s what it did on Saturday afternoon.   It wasn’t pretty for major stretches of the game, there’s no question about that. Robert Johnson said after the game that he was pretty sure that there were times in the second half when the Hoosiers got down by 16 points that a lot of people at home very likely turned off their televisions out of frustration. I’m guessing that’s probably pretty accurate. If people didn’t, they may have been thinking about it. Heck, as I was sitting there in Bankers Life Fieldhouse I was wondering the same thing myself.   But after rallying from that 16-point deficit, the largest come from behind victory for IU in the Tom Crean era, to beat the Irish 80-73, I’d like to turn to a thought of just what did we learn about Indiana basketball Saturday afternoon in the Crossroads Classic.   Here are some thoughts:   1. THERE IS STILL A GREAT DEAL OF FIGHT IN THIS TEAM: If ever a team had a chance to mail it in, I would think the 56-40 deficit with just over 15 minutes to play in the game would have been the time. Fans in the building were getting restless (as they should have been) and things were not going well. It was Duke all over again in terms of a lopsided result. Notre Dame was having its way with Indiana especially inside and it just didn’t seem like IU had any answers. But the Hoosiers kept chipping away. They stayed the course. (Sorry, I’ve it’s turned into Cliché Central here but the ideas seem to be the right ones). And it probably didn’t hurt that there was a large number of IU fans inside the building waiting for a reason to erupt and IU finally gave it that reason down the stretch. 2. IU WAS REALLY GOOD ON THE OFFENSIVE GLASS: Indiana had 20 offensive rebounds in the game. Notre Dame had 19 defensive rebounds. That means Indiana got to more of its missed shots than the Irish did. That’s pretty impressive. And it was eight different players that were getting to those rebounds. Troy Williams had five of them but three other players had three each. Two of them, Thomas Bryant and James Blackmon Jr., you would expect. The one that didn’t I thought was impactful in the game and that was O.G. Anunoby. He had two points and four rebounds in the 7 minutes he played. There was a sequence with IU trailing 71-64 that really stood out for me. Williams missed a free throw and Max Bielfeldt got an offensive rebound. Nick Zeisloft then missed a 3-pointer and Anunoby got the offensive board. Williams got open for a long 3 and missed it, too, but Anunoby was there to clean it up and slam it home. That cut the lead to 71-66 with 5:37 to play. 3. THE ZONE WAS EFFECTIVE: I never would have thought that Notre Dame with a good inside/outside combination would have been a team that you would have wanted to zone a lot. Apparently Tom Crean thought the same thing because he mentioned that point in his postgame remarks. But when other things aren’t working well you need to have a Plan B and I’ll credit Crean and his staff for going that direction Saturday. It was 2-3 zone. It looked like a 1-3-1 at time but it was more of a 2-3, almost a matchup 2-3 zone as people were still getting out on a specific man. But the important thing is that it worked. In the final 6:32, Notre Dame was 1 of 11 from the field. Notre Dame also missed two free throws in that stretch. It also didn’t hurt that Zach Auguste picked up his fourth with 2:44 to play and then fouled out a few minutes later. But what that zone did for Indiana was it showed this group that there are other ways it can win and the players seemed to buy into it and that’s a huge point with just 10 days to go before the start of the Big Ten season.   It’s just one victory, but again it’s a big victory. This game has the feel of one that you can look back on later and think that it was a turning point. Indiana should now go into Big Ten play on a five-game winning streak after dispatching Kennesaw State this Tuesday.   Then there are plenty of games early in IU’s schedule that should give the Hoosiers a chance to be successful. (That Jan. 10 home game with Ohio State game may look a little more difficult now after what the Buckeyes did to Kentucky on Saturday). But the point remains: IU should have a chance to now build a little momentum and maybe even get back in the top 25 before too long.   The perception coming out of Saturday’s win over Notre Dame is that Indiana has a chance to do some things if it can play at a high level and play together.   It’s just one game, but it was really a big one in the grand scheme of things. [url=https://btownbanners.com/page/index.html/_/basketball/analysis/analysis-a-few-things-we-learned-about-iu-in-s-r290]Click here to view the article[/url]

  I appreciate that. I need to do more of it, too. I've been a little crazy with book sales lately and haven't been around here as much as I should. So it sounds like I have a New Year's resolution forming here. But thanks for your kind words. I appreciate it. I think this is a great IU basketball forum.

  He still doesn't seem to me like he has found his way. Only getting extra minutes will help that and I think he can be a contributor. He just doesn't seem completely confident when he's out there.

It has been 17 days since Indiana’s disappointing showing against Duke in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. Seventeen days to think about how Indiana looked inept on the defensive end in particular. Seventeen days to replay in your mind one player after another driving the ball to the basket for an easy layup against an IU defender. Seventeen days to question whether there’s truly any reason to be excited about this Indiana basketball team as it prepares to open Big Ten play Dec. 30 at Rutgers. Seventeen days of misery for many die hard IU basketball fans. Since then, IU has beaten up on a trio of cupcake-like opponents in Morehead State, IPFW and McNeese State. Basically, in those three games Indiana did what it was supposed to do. It took advantage of three lesser opponents and improved its record to 8-3. But what do we really know about Indiana today that we didn’t know following the Duke game? The reality is that we know very little. It’s difficult against those opponents to get a real feel for whether Indiana learned anything about itself in that loss to Duke. You need a marquee opponent to truly measure your skills against. That’s why today’s game with Notre Dame in the Crossroads Classic is such a significant test for this Indiana basketball team. This is a big game for Indiana in terms of perception. Myself, I still think Indiana will be fine when it comes to Big Ten play. Some of that is because I question just how good the Big Ten is this season. Right now I don’t think Indiana is one of the top three teams in the conference. I think that pre-conference honor any way goes to Purdue, Michigan and Maryland. But is this Indiana team good enough to be at the top of the other 11 conference teams? That’s the question that needs to be answered. And again, this is just my opinion but I don’t think there’s any reason to think that IU couldn’t be among the top of the rest of the conference and then try to find a way to sneak into the upper three. Ohio State has struggled. Wisconsin has struggled. So have most of the others. Iowa could be the exception and a team that will battle Indiana for that ‘best of the rest’ moniker. But there are a lot of winnable games on that Big Ten slate. And the fact that Indiana only plays those top three teams one time each is a significant note going into this Big Ten season. And two of those games (Maryland and Purdue) will be played in Assembly Hall. All of which is why today’s game with Notre Dame is so important. Indiana needs to prove to itself and to its nervous fan base that it has a team that is going to compete at least near the top of the conference standings. Go out and beat a decent Notre Dame team today in Indianapolis and Hoosier fans will at least feel better going into conference with likely a 10-3 record (the Hoosiers play Kennesaw State on Tuesday to wrap up non-conference play). But come out today and look like you did against Duke where Indiana couldn’t get out of its own way especially on the defensive end and that rocky perception moving forward will loom large again. The company line coming out of Bloomington is that the last three games have proven that Indiana can be a competitive Big Ten caliber team. And yet again, the reality is that it’s all just talk until you are able to perform at a high level against a high level program. That’s where Indiana finds itself today. Notre Dame hasn’t played a great schedule itself by any means. It does own two victories over Big Ten opponents having beaten Iowa by six and Illinois by five. The losses for the Irish though came to Monmouth and Alabama. That kind of feels like Wake Forest and UNLV to me. So It really does come down to this one game because11 days from now Indiana will open Big Ten play on the road at Rutgers. Will Indiana fans head to Rutgers thinking the Hoosiers are in a better place buoyed by a strong performance against Notre Dame today? Or will they go there more disappointed following a poor performance against the Irish? That’s what we’ll find out today. That’s why today is such a big game in terms of perception.

  You may have been right and I'm glad that's not a path we're necessarily visiting today.

How much has Indiana improved against its cupcake schedule since that ACC/Big Ten loss to Duke? Indiana fans are about to find out today against a formidable opponent in Notre Dame. It has been 17 days since Indiana’s disappointing showing against Duke in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.   Seventeen days to think about how Indiana looked inept on the defensive end in particular. Seventeen days to replay in your mind one player after another driving the ball to the basket for an easy layup against an IU defender. Seventeen days to question whether there’s truly any reason to be excited about this Indiana basketball team as it prepares to open Big Ten play Dec. 30 at Rutgers.   Seventeen days of misery for many die hard IU basketball fans.   Since then, IU has beaten up on a trio of cupcake-like opponents in Morehead State, IPFW and McNeese State. Basically, in those three games Indiana did what it was supposed to do. It took advantage of three lesser opponents and improved its record to 8-3.   But what do we really know about Indiana today that we didn’t know following the Duke game?   The reality is that we know very little. It’s difficult against those opponents to get a real feel for whether Indiana learned anything about itself in that loss to Duke.   You need a marquee opponent to truly measure your skills against. That’s why today’s game with Notre Dame in the Crossroads Classic is such a significant test for this Indiana basketball team.   This is a big game for Indiana in terms of perception.   Myself, I still think Indiana will be fine when it comes to Big Ten play. Some of that is because I question just how good the Big Ten is this season. Right now I don’t think Indiana is one of the top three teams in the conference. I think that pre-conference honor any way goes to Purdue, Michigan and Maryland.   But is this Indiana team good enough to be at the top of the other 11 conference teams? That’s the question that needs to be answered.   And again, this is just my opinion but I don’t think there’s any reason to think that IU couldn’t be among the top of the rest of the conference and then try to find a way to sneak into the upper three. Ohio State has struggled. Wisconsin has struggled. So have most of the others. Iowa could be the exception and a team that will battle Indiana for that ‘best of the rest’ moniker. But there are a lot of winnable games on that Big Ten slate. And the fact that Indiana only plays those top three teams one time each is a significant note going into this Big Ten season. And two of those games (Maryland and Purdue) will be played in Assembly Hall.   All of which is why today’s game with Notre Dame is so important. Indiana needs to prove to itself and to its nervous fan base that it has a team that is going to compete at least near the top of the conference standings. Go out and beat a decent Notre Dame team today in Indianapolis and Hoosier fans will at least feel better going into conference with likely a 10-3 record (the Hoosiers play Kennesaw State on Tuesday to wrap up non-conference play).   But come out today and look like you did against Duke where Indiana couldn’t get out of its own way especially on the defensive end and that rocky perception moving forward will loom large again. The company line coming out of Bloomington is that the last three games have proven that Indiana can be a competitive Big Ten caliber team.   And yet again, the reality is that it’s all just talk until you are able to perform at a high level against a high level program. That’s where Indiana finds itself today.   Notre Dame hasn’t played a great schedule itself by any means. It does own two victories over Big Ten opponents having beaten Iowa by six and Illinois by five. The losses for the Irish though came to Monmouth and Alabama.   That kind of feels like Wake Forest and UNLV to me.   So It really does come down to this one game because11 days from now Indiana will open Big Ten play on the road at Rutgers.   Will Indiana fans head to Rutgers thinking the Hoosiers are in a better place buoyed by a strong performance against Notre Dame today?   Or will they go there more disappointed following a poor performance against the Irish?   That’s what we’ll find out today.   That’s why today is such a big game in terms of perception. [url=https://btownbanners.com/page/index.html/_/basketball/analysis/analysis-todays-iu-notre-dame-game-is-big-r288]Click here to view the article[/url]

  I think there's a lot of truth to that. Especially the "even our own players" point. A win like this one can give a team some confidence. They had seen the other model which was the debacle at Duke. Now they know that the outcome can be different. Some of these guys haven't been in a lot of these situations before. People sometimes forget that.

The problem with evaluating an effort like Indiana put forth Saturday night against Morehead State was … well … it was Morehead State. And no matter how much some will try to get to believe that Morehead State is a decent non-conference opponent, the Eagles just really didn’t look that part Saturday night in a 92-59 loss to the Hoosiers. So you sit back, evaluate the effort and then try to decide just what it all really means. This is what I took away from Indiana’s win Saturday night over Morehead State. It seemed like Indiana was trying to do something different on defense. And you know what, no matter the opponent, that is a start. The only way IU is ever going to get better on the defensive side of the ball is to string a few good defensive efforts together and try to do something very different than what we saw displayed in Maui and what we say displayed in Durham, N.C. on Wednesday. And I felt like this was a start. I liked the 30-second shot clock violations that IU was able to force. I liked the way the Hoosiers had a couple of other defensive possessions that were pushed almost to the shot clock buzzer. I liked the fact that I could actually see some help side defense and an awareness by a couple of players in particular. I liked some of the energy I saw and the seven blocked shots. What I liked the most is that it just felt like there was a team defensive concept going on. It seemed like Indiana was really trying to do something as a group and not just as individuals. I just thought it was better. Yes, it was Morehead State but that was the next team on the schedule. IU could have come out and played awful again and really left Hoosier fans wondering what was going to happen next. Instead, it played solid ball on both ends of the floor. The reality is that outside of Notre Dame in the Crossroads Classic that it’s probably going to be hard for us to really get a gauge for what to expect from this team moving into Big Ten play. But again, the only thing you can really hope for right now is to take baby steps in that direction and then by the time you play the Irish perhaps give a performance that gives you hope again when IU plays against a good foe. So yes, it was just Morehead State. But the good news is that it wasn’t the defense played in Maui and it wasn’t the defense played at Duke. That’s a step in the right direction.

Indiana looked better on the defensive end Saturday night. As you would expect the Hoosiers to do. But the most important thing I took from the win over Morehead State is that Indiana at least looked as if it was taking a little pride in what it was doing and tried to play together as a defensive unit. And that's a start. The problem with evaluating an effort like Indiana put forth Saturday night against Morehead State was … well … it was Morehead State.   And no matter how much some will try to get to believe that Morehead State is a decent non-conference opponent, the Eagles just really didn’t look that part Saturday night in a 92-59 loss to the Hoosiers.   So you sit back, evaluate the effort and then try to decide just what it all really means.   This is what I took away from Indiana’s win Saturday night over Morehead State.   It seemed like Indiana was trying to do something different on defense. And you know what, no matter the opponent, that is a start. The only way IU is ever going to get better on the defensive side of the ball is to string a few good defensive efforts together and try to do something very different than what we saw displayed in Maui and what we say displayed in Durham, N.C. on Wednesday.   And I felt like this was a start.   I liked the 30-second shot clock violations that IU was able to force.   I liked the way the Hoosiers had a couple of other defensive possessions that were pushed almost to the shot clock buzzer.   I liked the fact that I could actually see some help side defense and an awareness by a couple of players in particular.   I liked some of the energy I saw and the seven blocked shots.   What I liked the most is that it just felt like there was a team defensive concept going on. It seemed like Indiana was really trying to do something as a group and not just as individuals.   I just thought it was better. Yes, it was Morehead State but that was the next team on the schedule. IU could have come out and played awful again and really left Hoosier fans wondering what was going to happen next. Instead, it played solid ball on both ends of the floor.   The reality is that outside of Notre Dame in the Crossroads Classic that it’s probably going to be hard for us to really get a gauge for what to expect from this team moving into Big Ten play.   But again, the only thing you can really hope for right now is to take baby steps in that direction and then by the time you play the Irish perhaps give a performance that gives you hope again when IU plays against a good foe.   So yes, it was just Morehead State. But the good news is that it wasn’t the defense played in Maui and it wasn’t the defense played at Duke.   That’s a step in the right direction. [url=https://btownbanners.com/page/index.html/_/basketball/analysis/analysis-it-was-just-morehead-state-but-r282]Click here to view the article[/url]

The official bowl announcement for Indiana won’t be made until Sunday, Dec. 6. Behind the scenes, I’m hearing that New York City on Dec. 26 could be a strong possibility. At the same though there are several possible options. Indiana sent out an email to alumni today that said that there are seven possible bowl locations for the Hoosiers. Those include: Foster Farms Bowl Dec. 26 Santa Clara, Calif. 9:15 p.m. ET New Era Pinstripe Bowl Dec. 26 New York City, NY 3:30 p.m. ET Quick Lane Bowl Dec. 28 Detroit, Mich. 5 p.m. ET Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl Dec. 29 Fort Worth, Texas 2 p.m. ET Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl Dec. 30 Nashville, Tenn. 7 p.m. ET Holiday Bowl Dec. 30 San Diego, Calif. 10:30 p.m. ET TaxSlayer Bowl Jan. 2 Jacksonville, Fla. 12 p.m. ET According to the email, priority tickets must be ordered through the IU athletic department for bowl games by Dec. 7. For official IU Alumni Association travel packages and to receive more information on bowl-related events, visit iusportstours.com. Also according to the email, all ticket requests made through the IU Athletics Department will be filled and allocated based on the IU Athletics Priority Point Policy.

There appear to be seven possible bowl locations where Indiana could end up playing. Here is a list as well as some information about packages sponsored through the IU Alumni Association. The official bowl announcement for Indiana won’t be made until Sunday, Dec. 6.   Behind the scenes, I’m hearing that New York City on Dec. 26 could be a strong possibility. At the same though there are several possible options.   Indiana sent out an email to alumni today that said that there are seven possible bowl locations for the Hoosiers. Those include:   Foster Farms Bowl Dec. 26 Santa Clara, Calif. 9:15 p.m. ET   New Era Pinstripe Bowl Dec. 26 New York City, NY 3:30 p.m. ET   Quick Lane Bowl Dec. 28 Detroit, Mich. 5 p.m. ET   Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl Dec. 29 Fort Worth, Texas 2 p.m. ET   Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl Dec. 30 Nashville, Tenn. 7 p.m. ET   Holiday Bowl Dec. 30 San Diego, Calif. 10:30 p.m. ET   TaxSlayer Bowl Jan. 2 Jacksonville, Fla. 12 p.m. ET   According to the email, priority tickets must be ordered through the IU athletic department for bowl games by Dec. 7.   For official IU Alumni Association travel packages and to receive more information on bowl-related events, visit iusportstours.com.   Also according to the email, all ticket requests made through the IU Athletics Department will be filled and allocated based on the IU Athletics Priority Point Policy. [url=https://btownbanners.com/page/index.html/_/football/news-notes/bowl-possibilities-where-could-iu-end-up-playing-r275]Click here to view the article[/url]

  I think this is an important stretch for O.G. as well. Eight games in we haven't seen a lot but I really thought I saw a few things against Duke that I hadn't seen in other games. Maybe the bright lights woke him up a little bit.

  I think a segment of the administration does for sure but it's hard to tell what the folks in Bryan Hall think. I think Fred Glass and the athletic side care. No one seems more intune to the IU brand than Glass and company. 

  But who is to say that those guys would come to Indiana at this point. People always want to characterize the Indiana job as an elite job and this program just hasn't been that elite program for a long, long time. It has been almost 30 years since IU last hung a national championship banner. Enough said.

  Well said. And welcome to the board. I think the SportsCenter point is a really valid one especially with TW and JBJ. It's just part of their mentality.

  There has to be accountability all across the board here. The head coach certainly has to share in that accountability. I'm not wiling to mail in this season just yet but things have to change and they have to change fast. The frustrating thing is that I think I was saying these same things coming out of Maui, and here we are a week later saying them all over again.

  I expected a little bit more out of Yogi in terms of that leadership. I don't know if he's the guy that can walk into that locker room and call people out or not. But I'm not sure who the legit leaders are on this team.