IndyHutch

  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.

I didn't expect Indiana to beat Duke Wednesday night. But I didn't expect the Hoosiers to roll over and play dead either. Here is my take following a disappointing effort in a 94-74 loss to No. 7 Duke in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. I can’t really say I expected Indiana to beat Duke Wednesday night in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.   The writing was on the wall. Defending national champs. A winning streak of 120 games against non-conference foes. A 6-0 record at home in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. A No. 7 national ranking against a team that had fallen out of the rankings last week.   No, this one never felt right going in.   At the same time, I didn’t expect this either.   I didn’t expect Indiana to lay down. I didn’t expect the Hoosiers to roll over. I didn’t expect this Measuring Stick game to turn into an outcome that made you feel like the two programs were light years apart.   The big question today is where does Indiana basketball go from here? With the exception of the Notre Dame game, the other four remaining non-conference opponents hardly will be foes to lose sleep over. And so very likely Indiana will head into Big Ten play with a record of 9-4 or maybe 10-3.   But what does it all mean? Maybe, what does it all matter?   The bottom line here is if Indiana doesn’t defend better than it has in the first eight games, this will be a team that will be firmly on the NCAA Tournament bubble at best come mid-March. And that’s if the all the stars were to align just right. The reality is, take away the first 10 minutes Wednesday night, and Indiana was a work in progress at best.   That one was hard to watch. I’ve read all the postings on Social Media in the last few hours after Indiana lost to Duke Wednesday night 94-74 and while people are absolutely losing their minds, it’s hard not to argue with a lot of the sentiment.   This team has talent. A lot of talent. And yet, they simply don’t defend at the rate they need to defend. They don’t even defend at an average rate. You have to be passionate to play defense and it’s just not there. Every opponent Indiana plays, whether it’s Duke or Alcorn State, simply drives the ball to the basket one time after another against Indiana and no one gets in the way.   SOMEBODY GET IN THE WAY. SOMEBODY MAKE A PLAY. SOMEBODY GET OUT ON A 3-POINT SHOOTER. SOMEBODY SHOW SOME PASSION.   You can single out one or two players if you want but this is a team thing. These guys simply do not defend. And the reality is that simple fact makes it in turn very difficult to defend what is Indiana basketball right now.   There is simply no defense for what we are witnessing first hand right now.   But I still come back to where does IU basketball go from here? What is it going to take for this group of individuals to realize that they have to play defense differently than how they are playing it right now?   Maui certainly didn’t serve as the wakeup call that many thought it would.   Will Duke do it? I really don’t know. I can’t understand why it takes anything to motivate you to play better on the defensive end. This should be a pride thing. This should be an IU basketball thing.   But right now there’s a major disconnect. And the reality is, with the schedule that IU has left to play before the Big Ten opener at Rutgers on Dec. 30, there is going to be no way to know if Indiana is indeed able to improve heading into conference play.   And that single point is a very frustrating one. [url=https://btownbanners.com/page/index.html/_/basketball/analysis/analysis-where-does-indiana-basketball-go-from-r279]Click here to view the article[/url]

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]

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]

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]

  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.

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]

That is clearly the flip side as well. Indiana could have lost to Southern Illinois pretty easily and that could have put a complete damper on the entire season.

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]

Indiana has five victories with one game to play following Saturday's 47-28 victory at Maryland. Here's my report from College Park, Md. on IU's first Big Ten road win since 2012. Nate Sudfeld paused for a moment in his postgame interview Saturday when asked what it will be like next week to play Purdue with more than just the Old Oaken Bucket on the line.   “It’s awesome,’’ Sudfeld said. “This is where we want to be right now coming into this week. We had to take care of business and we did. Obviously the Bucket week, in and of itself is really big for this program, for this school and this state. So obviously we were going to play our tails off this week any way but knowing we’re playing for a little bit more should bring a little extra motivation.   “We’re excited. We know they’re going to be tough and they always play us tough. The rivalry is an honor to play in and we’re just going to have to bring our ‘A’ game.’’   Sudfeld came up big Saturday when his team needed him the most. After Jordan Howard was sidelined with an injury on IU’s first drive, Sudfeld took over through the air. He completed 23 of 35 passes for 385 yards and a career-high tying four touchdown passes to help lead Indiana to a 47-28 victory over Maryland at Byrd Stadium.   The win was significant in many ways for Indiana (5-6, 1-6 Big Ten). It snapped a six-game losing streak and marked IU’s first Big Ten road victory since October of 2012.   Most importantly it moved the Hoosiers to within one game of bowl eligibility with one to play. Beat Purdue next Saturday in West Lafayette, Ind. and the Hoosiers will be bowl eligible for the first time since 2007.   There were plenty of solid performances for Indiana in Saturday’s victory. Consider:   *** Sudfeld came within 15 yards of becoming the first quarterback in IU history to have multiple 400-yard passing games.   *** Devine Redding ran for 130 yards on 24 carries including a 45-yard scamper late in the game.   *** Simmie Cobbs caught nine passes for 192 yards and had the majority of those yards after the catch.   *** Mitchell Paige, who had two touchdown receptions for the season coming into the game, had two more against Maryland. Paige finished with five catches for 64 yards.   *** Griffin Oakes, the reigning Big Ten special teams player of the week, made a case for a second consecutive honor as he made all four of his field goal attempts. He is now 20 for 22 on the year. His field goals were from 21, 19, 48 and 36 yards.   Probably the most impressive statistic for the Hoosiers in this one was that IU refused to quit after falling behind by 18 points in the first quarter. Maryland used a couple of big early plays, including a 79 yard touchdown run, to lead 21-3 with 5:32 to play in the first quarter.   From that point on, Indiana outscored Maryland 44-7.   There were a couple of plays in particular that really seemed to spark the Hoosiers in their comeback. Trailing 21-10 after the first quarter, IU got the ball back at its own 24 yard line. A few plays later, Sudfeld went over the top and hit Andre Booker for 59 yards and a touchdown to close the game to 21-17.   On the ensuing kickoff, Oakes perfectly executed an onsides kick with Rashard Fant recovering at the IU 49. The play completely baffled Maryland and Oakes kicked it perfectly. Eight plays later, Sudfeld scored on a 1 yard quarterback sneak to put IU on top for good, 24-21. [url=https://btownbanners.com/page/index.html/_/football/news-notes/indiana-moves-to-within-one-win-of-bowl-eligibi-r264]Click here to view the article[/url]