IndyHutch

  Defensive preparedness does no good unless players are complete buying in. These guys, through their actions anyway, don't seem to be there.

  There has to be shared blame here. No question about it.

  I thought he showed last night in his limited minutes some really good things. You may be on to something there, too.

  That's another one of those things that makes you scratch your head. You would think the pride factor would be enough but for whatever reason it isn't. It's just not that important and the consequences don't seem to be bad enough to make anyone willing to make changes.

Hey, do me a favor guys and check out the Freshman Tracker article that is done by IU student Hailey Hernandez. She's a student in the class I teach at IU and she wanted to contribute and I gave her that little slice of the pie. I think she offers some good analysis, too. But if you could comment on something she has written, perhaps today's Duke Freshman Tracker and engage her in a little conversation that would be great. I'd appreciate it. Thanks.

  Let's say what you're saying is true and when it comes to coaching things I try to sit on the fence as long as I can. An occupational hazard perhaps. But let's say that was what needed to be done.   My question is when would you do that?  You don't do it now, I don't think. You wait until the season is over. But then what you have is a lot of people secretly rooting for IU not to do well so that they can get their ultimate end game at the end of the season. And then what happens when the decision is made and what you wanted to see happen doesn't happen?   I just think right now we need to focus more on what this team can do to fix the way it is playing on defense and not spend so much energy in that other direction. That's just my thought.

  There may be something to that. He just looks completely tentative on that end of the floor.

  That's an interesting point, too. I've always found that with teams that are more concerned with offense than defense that no one wants to risk getting in foul trouble because it will limit what they're able to do on the offensive end. Not sure that's what is going on here but it's an interesting thought. The only thing that will ever really speak to these guys when it comes to what they need to do on the defensive end is sitting them on the bench and letting them watch the game from that view. We saw that momentarily against St. Johns but I think that could be helpful, too, in some of this lopsided non-conference matchups ahead.

  How can there be no answers? That's the hardest and most frustrating piece about all of this. You would have thought this would have been figured out after the first 10 minutes. Heck, you would have thought this would have been figured out sometime in Maui or definitely on that plane flight home. This isn't rocket science. IU has the athletes.   There are a lot of teams out there doing a lot more with less.

  What I don't get is that I know how hard this group works on defense every practice. It's a priority. But something gets lost in the translation. It kind of goes back to the "confused" thought. These guys just look like something isn't right.

  Interesting point. What I don't get is why people got lost on getting out on open 3-point shots. I watched Zeisloft sag to double team the high post last night and then the guy threw the ball 6 feet back out for an open 3. You have to be able to slide back out and make that a contested shot. It's basic fundamental stuff.

  Confused hits the nail on the head. But I think there's an effort issue here, too. How many times do you see a player let a guy slip by to the basket, sag his shoulders and just give up on the play? This is where there has to be some communication and some help side defense. Man, it's hard to watch sometimes.

There was one thought that kept coming back to me over and over Saturday afternoon as I sat in the press box at Ross-Ade Stadium following Indiana’s 54-36 victory over Purdue in the Old Oaken Bucket game. It was simply that Indiana was soon to be headed to a bowl game that it clearly deserved to be playing in. This was an IU football team that came within a touchdown of then No. 1 Ohio State in a 34-27 loss to the Buckeyes. This was an IU football team that trailed 28-26 to then No. 7 Michigan State in the fourth quarter before the Spartans raced to a 52-26 victory. This was an IU team that dropped a 35-27 decision to Iowa, a team that could find its way into the College Football Playoff. This was an IU football team that lost in double overtime to Michigan 48-41 despite leading by a touchdown before the final play of regulation. Those four games, all losses, told us something about Indiana football. It told us that the Hoosiers were fighters and deserved a chance to be playing in the postseason. When IU scored 101 points in the final two weeks of the season in wins over Maryland and Purdue and did so without 1,000-yard plus running back Jordan Howard, we were reminded of just how much talent this Indiana team possesses. No, make no mistake. This Indiana football team deserves to be bowling come late December. These seniors who have endured some difficult times in their IU careers deserve to be able to play together for another month. Kevin Wilson and his staff deserves to be able to coach them. And Indiana football fans deserve one more opportunity to see these guys play. The next stop for the Hoosiers could be New York City or Santa Clara (the town where Nate Sudfeld was born) the day after Christmas. It could be Detroit on Dec. 28 or Fort Worth on Dec. 29. It could be Dec. 30 in Nashville or San Diego, too. It will be another week before we learn of IU’s bowl destination. But the only thing that matters is that Indiana took care of business and removed all the guess work out of what lies ahead. Had IU lost it would have had to have hoped to be one of the 5-7 teams selected to go to a bowl game. But that 5-7 advancement would almost carry an asterisk, too, as the Hoosiers would not have properly earned a postseason bid. And that’s where I keep coming back to today. Indiana football earned the right to play in a bowl game. Indiana football deserves to be there. Now we can sit back and learn the opponent and the destination for what will be a historic outcome for the 2015 IU football season.

Indiana may have slipped in the back door in terms of qualifying for a postseason bowl appearance in the 2015 season but in my opinion this was a bowl bid well earned by this Indiana football team. Here is my take. There was one thought that kept coming back to me over and over Saturday afternoon as I sat in the press box at Ross-Ade Stadium following Indiana’s 54-36 victory over Purdue in the Old Oaken Bucket game.   It was simply that Indiana was soon to be headed to a bowl game that it clearly deserved to be playing in.   This was an IU football team that came within a touchdown of then No. 1 Ohio State in a 34-27 loss to the Buckeyes.   This was an IU football team that trailed 28-26 to then No. 7 Michigan State in the fourth quarter before the Spartans raced to a 52-26 victory.   This was an IU team that dropped a 35-27 decision to Iowa, a team that could find its way into the College Football Playoff.   This was an IU football team that lost in double overtime to Michigan 48-41 despite leading by a touchdown before the final play of regulation.   Those four games, all losses, told us something about Indiana football. It told us that the Hoosiers were fighters and deserved a chance to be playing in the postseason.   When IU scored 101 points in the final two weeks of the season in wins over Maryland and Purdue and did so without 1,000-yard plus running back Jordan Howard, we were reminded of just how much talent this Indiana team possesses.   No, make no mistake. This Indiana football team deserves to be bowling come late December. These seniors who have endured some difficult times in their IU careers deserve to be able to play together for another month. Kevin Wilson and his staff deserves to be able to coach them.   And Indiana football fans deserve one more opportunity to see these guys play.   The next stop for the Hoosiers could be New York City or Santa Clara (the town where Nate Sudfeld was born) the day after Christmas. It could be Detroit on Dec. 28 or Fort Worth on Dec. 29. It could be Dec. 30 in Nashville or San Diego, too.   It will be another week before we learn of IU’s bowl destination.   But the only thing that matters is that Indiana took care of business and removed all the guess work out of what lies ahead.   Had IU lost it would have had to have hoped to be one of the 5-7 teams selected to go to a bowl game. But that 5-7 advancement would almost carry an asterisk, too, as the Hoosiers would not have properly earned a postseason bid.   And that’s where I keep coming back to today. Indiana football earned the right to play in a bowl game. Indiana football deserves to be there.   Now we can sit back and learn the opponent and the destination for what will be a historic outcome for the 2015 IU football season. [url=https://btownbanners.com/page/index.html/_/football/analysi/analysis-a-bowl-bid-well-deserved-r273]Click here to view the article[/url]

So what do we know about Indiana Basketball following last week’s disappointing 1-2 effort in Maui heading into tonight’s non-conference game at Assembly Hall against winless Alcorn State? We know that IU has a long way to go before the Hoosiers deserve to be mentioned among the top teams in the Big Ten, much less among the best in the nation. We know that if Indiana continues to play the way it has played on the defensive end in terms of allowing that much penetration that it’s going to be a difficult season to watch. We know that Indiana clearly has to do a better job of taking care of the basketball and committing so many unforced errors. We know that free throw shooting could potentially be an adventure this season. Even the guys you expect to hit them at a high rate don’t seem to have a great deal of confidence in the early going. We know that unfortunately we’re probably not going to know that much more about this IU team after it plays an 0-5 Alcorn State team tonight at home. There’s only one game of the three this week that will provide any kind of a true measuring stick game for this team and that will come up Wednesday night at Duke. Perhaps the most frustrating thing of all is that I expect Indiana to represent itself pretty well Wednesday night because this has been a team that plays better when the bright lights go on. The reality, however, is that Indiana needs to get to be a team that gives you a consistent effort every night. It cannot play to the level of its competition. When it does so, teams like Wake Forest and UNLV have a shot to beat you and that shouldn’t be the case. The good news is that there is still a month to go before IU opens Big Ten play. A lot can happen in a month especially if the Hoosiers have a short memory regarding the trip to Hawaii.

Indiana gets back at it with three games this week beginning with winless Alcorn State tonight. The big measuring stick game will be Wednesday at Duke. But what do we know about IU basketball following the 1-2 performance in Maui? Here's my take. So what do we know about Indiana Basketball following last week’s disappointing 1-2 effort in Maui heading into tonight’s non-conference game at Assembly Hall against winless Alcorn State?   We know that IU has a long way to go before the Hoosiers deserve to be mentioned among the top teams in the Big Ten, much less among the best in the nation.   We know that if Indiana continues to play the way it has played on the defensive end in terms of allowing that much penetration that it’s going to be a difficult season to watch.   We know that Indiana clearly has to do a better job of taking care of the basketball and committing so many unforced errors.   We know that free throw shooting could potentially be an adventure this season. Even the guys you expect to hit them at a high rate don’t seem to have a great deal of confidence in the early going.   We know that unfortunately we’re probably not going to know that much more about this IU team after it plays an 0-5 Alcorn State team tonight at home. There’s only one game of the three this week that will provide any kind of a true measuring stick game for this team and that will come up Wednesday night at Duke.   Perhaps the most frustrating thing of all is that I expect Indiana to represent itself pretty well Wednesday night because this has been a team that plays better when the bright lights go on. The reality, however, is that Indiana needs to get to be a team that gives you a consistent effort every night. It cannot play to the level of its competition. When it does so, teams like Wake Forest and UNLV have a shot to beat you and that shouldn’t be the case.   The good news is that there is still a month to go before IU opens Big Ten play. A lot can happen in a month especially if the Hoosiers have a short memory regarding the trip to Hawaii. [url=https://btownbanners.com/page/index.html/_/basketball/analysis/analysis-so-what-do-we-know-about-iu-basketbal-r274]Click here to view the article[/url]

My students in the Sportswriting class I teach at Indiana University were giving me a hard time last week when I was giving the opinion that I believed the Hoosiers would win their final two football games and get bowl eligible. Their basic thought was simple: What makes you think Indiana will win back-to-back Big Ten road games when the Hoosiers have only won one Big Ten road game in five seasons under Kevin Wilson? And they had a point. They didn’t tell me this but here’s something to chew on. *** The last time IU won back-to-back Big Ten road games was 1993. *** That means head coaches Bill Lynch, Terry Hoeppner, Gerry DiNardo and Cam Cameron all left Indiana without winning back-to-back Big Ten road games. *** Just 18 players on Indiana’s current roster were even born the last time it happened. Nate Sudfeld is one of them. He was two months old. So in other words, they had a good point. But I was coming at it from a different place. The reality is that I just believed that a battle-tested Indiana squad, having played strong games against Ohio State, Michigan State, Michigan and Iowa in recent weeks, would be more than ready to face a pair of 2-8 teams in Maryland and Purdue. And that clearly played out Saturday at Maryland. To call the Maryland situation pathetic would be a gross understatement. That team was ready for the season to end. The body language showed it, the number of players wearing jerseys over their street clothes showed it and the crowd was perhaps the worst I’ve ever seen in a Big Ten road venue. There was no one there. There were a few extra folks there because it was Senior Day but it was pretty sad. Maryland jumped out to the 21-3 lead but it was as if that as no big deal either. As soon as IU scored 21 in a row to take a 24-21 lead the body language of the Terps looked like a team that knew it was going to lose again. It didn’t take long for the game to get out of hand. Now the Purdue game will be different because it’s the Bucket and there will be the rivalry aspect and Indiana trying to bring home the Bucket for a third time in a row for the first time since 1946. I get all of that. At the same time, I just think Indiana has the superior team and will find a way to get it done. I completely expect us to be sitting here this time next week wondering what lower level bowl the Hoosiers will be heading to. I’ve heard maybe Nashville for the Music City Bowl and I’ve heard maybe Yankee Stadium for the bowl up there. This likely won’t be a Florida locale but just getting to a bowl game would be a huge step for this Indiana program. That is true especially after IU dropped six in a row in the middle of the season. We all know that if Indiana had taken care of business against Rutgers in the fourth quarter or stopped Michigan on that final play of regulation, Indiana would already be bowl eligible and not have the extra stress going into the Bucket game. Yes, all of those things are true. But I think something should also be said that this Indiana team didn’t give up after dropping to 4-6. As the players have continued to say throughout the losing streak and then once again following the win on Saturday at Maryland: They still have their preseason goals before them and they’re attainable. Make it to a bowl game. Now if Indiana can do that, like my students were quick to point out it would require winning back-to-back Big Ten road games. And that’s what I really believe that Indiana is about to do.

It has been 22 years since an Indiana football team has won back-to-back Big Ten road games. That streak could end on Saturday in West Lafayette. My students in the Sportswriting class I teach at Indiana University were giving me a hard time last week when I was giving the opinion that I believed the Hoosiers would win their final two football games and get bowl eligible.   Their basic thought was simple: What makes you think Indiana will win back-to-back Big Ten road games when the Hoosiers have only won one Big Ten road game in five seasons under Kevin Wilson?   And they had a point. They didn’t tell me this but here’s something to chew on.   *** The last time IU won back-to-back Big Ten road games was 1993.   *** That means head coaches Bill Lynch, Terry Hoeppner, Gerry DiNardo and Cam Cameron all left Indiana without winning back-to-back Big Ten road games.   *** Just 18 players on Indiana’s current roster were even born the last time it happened. Nate Sudfeld is one of them. He was two months old.   So in other words, they had a good point.   But I was coming at it from a different place. The reality is that I just believed that a battle-tested Indiana squad, having played strong games against Ohio State, Michigan State, Michigan and Iowa in recent weeks, would be more than ready to face a pair of 2-8 teams in Maryland and Purdue.   And that clearly played out Saturday at Maryland. To call the Maryland situation pathetic would be a gross understatement. That team was ready for the season to end. The body language showed it, the number of players wearing jerseys over their street clothes showed it and the crowd was perhaps the worst I’ve ever seen in a Big Ten road venue. There was no one there. There were a few extra folks there because it was Senior Day but it was pretty sad.   Maryland jumped out to the 21-3 lead but it was as if that as no big deal either. As soon as IU scored 21 in a row to take a 24-21 lead the body language of the Terps looked like a team that knew it was going to lose again. It didn’t take long for the game to get out of hand.   Now the Purdue game will be different because it’s the Bucket and there will be the rivalry aspect and Indiana trying to bring home the Bucket for a third time in a row for the first time since 1946. I get all of that. At the same time, I just think Indiana has the superior team and will find a way to get it done.   I completely expect us to be sitting here this time next week wondering what lower level bowl the Hoosiers will be heading to. I’ve heard maybe Nashville for the Music City Bowl and I’ve heard maybe Yankee Stadium for the bowl up there. This likely won’t be a Florida locale but just getting to a bowl game would be a huge step for this Indiana program.   That is true especially after IU dropped six in a row in the middle of the season. We all know that if Indiana had taken care of business against Rutgers in the fourth quarter or stopped Michigan on that final play of regulation, Indiana would already be bowl eligible and not have the extra stress going into the Bucket game. Yes, all of those things are true. But I think something should also be said that this Indiana team didn’t give up after dropping to 4-6.   As the players have continued to say throughout the losing streak and then once again following the win on Saturday at Maryland: They still have their preseason goals before them and they’re attainable.   Make it to a bowl game.   Now if Indiana can do that, like my students were quick to point out it would require winning back-to-back Big Ten road games.   And that’s what I really believe that Indiana is about to do. [url=https://btownbanners.com/page/index.html/_/football/analysi/analysis-indiana-football-about-to-do-the-impr-r267]Click here to view the article[/url]

I thought Jay Will made some good points.   But ...   He said he thought IU would win by 30.   A lot of people thought his No. 1 ranked Duke team would beat Indiana by that many in the Sweet Sixteen in 2002 as well. Some teams play well in the underdog role. Today, St. John's hit some shots out of their ass but they hit some shots.    Reminds of Indiana, especially in the second half against Jay Will's Dukies in 2002.   Just sayin

The final five minutes of Indiana’s 82-78 loss to Wake Forest Monday night in the first game of the Maui Invitational was filled with less than stellar defense, poor shot selection, a key missed one-and-one free throw opportunity and a head-scratching final play coming out of a timeout. Basically, this one turned out to be a debacle. And with under 8 minutes to play, it looked as if Indiana had figured things out enough to advance to play Vanderbilt on Tuesday in the championship semifinals. A 9-0 run, capped by a Robert Johnson layup had given Indiana a 72-63 lead. IU still led 75-67 after Thomas Bryant hit the second of two free throws with 4:50 remaining. But that’s when Indiana’s defense went back into a slumber. Wake Forest scored on back-to-back drives to the basket then got a pair of rebound follow shots to fall. Two more drives by Bryant Crawford had Wake Forest on top with 3.2 seconds to play. In between, Indiana looked bad on the offensive end. The Hoosiers settled time after time for shots. It started with Yogi Ferrell, a normally adept free throw shooter, missing the front end of a one-and-one with 4:08 to play. The next time down on offense James Blackmon Jr. missed a 3-pointer with 3:29 to play. After Yogi scored on a left-handed bank shot inside, the Hoosiers were back up by five. After that it was back to questionable shooting. First, Ferrell misfired on a 3 from the right wing with 2:18 to play. I was just thinking to myself that Ferrell’s streak of consecutive games with a 3-point field goal was in jeopardy and then the senior guard put up that shot. It wasn’t close. It also wasn’t a good look. Then Max Bielfeldt, with IU clinging to a one-point lead, launched a 3-pointer from the right corner that was an air ball. IU’s next missed shot was a jumper by Yogi. It was a good enough shot, but it didn’t go down. Troy Williams had a two shot free throw opportunity with 13.1 seconds to play and IU trailing by one. He missed the first and made the second. Then after IU engaged in matador defense on the other end once again, IU called not one but two time outs back-to-back (its final two) with 3.2 seconds remaining. That’s when Collin Hartman launched a long pass into the middle of the court that was intercepted and the game basically ended there. But how can that be your play after two timeouts and a slew of good 3-point shooters on your team? Why not a halfcourt pass to Yogi, Blackmon Jr. or Nick Zeisloft and let them take a few steps and get up a shot? Why throw a Hail Mary right into the middle of the court? That one mystified me. Most Indiana basketball fans believed the Maui Invitational would at the very least give them a better idea of exactly what kind of team the Hoosiers will be in the 2015-16 season. It was difficult to get a good read having facing Eastern Illinois, Austin Peay and Creighton. It will still be difficult four days from now when the Hoosiers return to the Mainland. That’s because the significance of that loss is that IU will now not have a chance to play in a measuring stick game against Vanderbilt, and likely won’t get to face UCLA or Kansas either. Instead, the Hoosiers will be in the loser’s bracket with a likely field of St. John’s. UNLV and Chaminade. IU will play St. John’s Tuesday at 2 p.m. ET. The only thing Indiana fans can hope for now is that somehow UNLV is able to beat UCLA later tonight. At least then, Indiana would get to go up against a better foe. But that will be a long shot at best. All in all, this was exactly the worst possible of scenarios for Indiana basketball when the Hoosiers went to Maui.

This was supposed to have been a measuring stick trip for Indiana in Maui this week as it was expected to face teams like Vanderbilt, UCLA and Kansas. Instead, IU's belly flop Monday night against Wake Forest will be a tough pill to swallow. The final five minutes of Indiana’s 82-78 loss to Wake Forest Monday night in the first game of the Maui Invitational was filled with less than stellar defense, poor shot selection, a key missed one-and-one free throw opportunity and a head-scratching final play coming out of a timeout.   Basically, this one turned out to be a debacle.   And with under 8 minutes to play, it looked as if Indiana had figured things out enough to advance to play Vanderbilt on Tuesday in the championship semifinals. A 9-0 run, capped by a Robert Johnson layup had given Indiana a 72-63 lead.   IU still led 75-67 after Thomas Bryant hit the second of two free throws with 4:50 remaining.   But that’s when Indiana’s defense went back into a slumber. Wake Forest scored on back-to-back drives to the basket then got a pair of rebound follow shots to fall. Two more drives by Bryant Crawford had Wake Forest on top with 3.2 seconds to play.   In between, Indiana looked bad on the offensive end. The Hoosiers settled time after time for shots.   It started with Yogi Ferrell, a normally adept free throw shooter, missing the front end of a one-and-one with 4:08 to play.   The next time down on offense James Blackmon Jr. missed a 3-pointer with 3:29 to play. After Yogi scored on a left-handed bank shot inside, the Hoosiers were back up by five.   After that it was back to questionable shooting. First, Ferrell misfired on a 3 from the right wing with 2:18 to play. I was just thinking to myself that Ferrell’s streak of consecutive games with a 3-point field goal was in jeopardy and then the senior guard put up that shot. It wasn’t close. It also wasn’t a good look.   Then Max Bielfeldt, with IU clinging to a one-point lead, launched a 3-pointer from the right corner that was an air ball.   IU’s next missed shot was a jumper by Yogi. It was a good enough shot, but it didn’t go down.   Troy Williams had a two shot free throw opportunity with 13.1 seconds to play and IU trailing by one. He missed the first and made the second.   Then after IU engaged in matador defense on the other end once again, IU called not one but two time outs back-to-back (its final two) with 3.2 seconds remaining. That’s when Collin Hartman launched a long pass into the middle of the court that was intercepted and the game basically ended there.   But how can that be your play after two timeouts and a slew of good 3-point shooters on your team? Why not a halfcourt pass to Yogi, Blackmon Jr. or Nick Zeisloft and let them take a few steps and get up a shot?   Why throw a Hail Mary right into the middle of the court?   That one mystified me.   Most Indiana basketball fans believed the Maui Invitational would at the very least give them a better idea of exactly what kind of team the Hoosiers will be in the 2015-16 season.   It was difficult to get a good read having facing Eastern Illinois, Austin Peay and Creighton.   It will still be difficult four days from now when the Hoosiers return to the Mainland.   That’s because the significance of that loss is that IU will now not have a chance to play in a measuring stick game against Vanderbilt, and likely won’t get to face UCLA or Kansas either. Instead, the Hoosiers will be in the loser’s bracket with a likely field of St. John’s. UNLV and Chaminade. IU will play St. John’s Tuesday at 2 p.m. ET.   The only thing Indiana fans can hope for now is that somehow UNLV is able to beat UCLA later tonight. At least then, Indiana would get to go up against a better foe. But that will be a long shot at best.   All in all, this was exactly the worst possible of scenarios for Indiana basketball when the Hoosiers went to Maui. [url=https://btownbanners.com/page/index.html/_/basketball/analysis/analysis-letting-it-slip-away-in-maui-r268]Click here to view the article[/url]

  I thought he burned both of his final two timeouts before that final play.

I think the fan support today will be fine. What else are those people going to do? It's a 9 a.m. game over there, fans will be on the beach by Noon.   As for today, the only thing that concerns me is this team tends to play to the level of its competition. I think if it could have squeaked by Wake Forest it would have been very competitive against Vandy just because of the bright lights mentality. Perhaps the motivation of not wanting to face Chaminade on Wednesday will be enough and like others have said, IU should beat St. John's by a ton but ....   The sample size with this group is too small right now to really have any idea of what they will do. Thankfully we'll know in a few hours.

  I think the only way it's not on the coaches is if it changes beginning today. If the next time IU is in that situation we see something different we'll know a message was delivered. The problem is we've seen it so many times before.   Here is my question. If you handed the ball on the inbounds to Yogi and told him to race to the front court, you could have got a shot or a possible foul on a drive or something, right? 

After watching UNLV play in the first half I'm guessing that is who will be in the loser's bracket, too. If Indiana can't beat St. John's or UNLV, though, I think that would be the time to get a little worried.   IU should leave the islands 2-1.