Game Thread : Illinois @ Indiana | 8:30EST on BTN

[Blackmon_for_3]

7 hours ago, rcsalway29 said:

Win the B1G tournament

Yes, which is a tall order. The losses @wisky and @ill really hurt. We could be sitting at 17-10 and 10-5 in conference. At the end of the day I really like how this team has come along and we just may make some noise in the BIG ten tournament for once. 

[Uspshoosier]

Yes, which is a tall order. The losses @wisky and @ill really hurt. We could be sitting at 17-10 and 10-5 in conference. At the end of the day I really like how this team has come along and we just may make some noise in the BIG ten tournament for once. 

Even if we won those 2 games IU would be in the same position as Nebraska is right now, a really good B1G record with 0 quadrant 1 wins (IU is 0-8). Beating Illinois and Wisky would of been just 2 more quadrant 3 wins. Now if IU would of won those 2 and they find a way to win the 2 quadrant 1 wins that are left on schedule then it could of gotten interesting


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[dbmhoosier]

12 minutes ago, Uspshoosier said:

Even if we won those 2 games IU would be in the same position as Nebraska is right now, a really good B1G record with 0 quadrant 1 wins (IU is 0-8). Beating Illinois and Wisky would of been just 2 more quadrant 3 wins. Now if IU would of won those 2 and they find a way to win the 2 quadrant 1 wins that are left on schedule then it could of gotten interesting


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There is no way a 13-5 B1G team gets left out.  None.

[rcbowla]

There is no way a 13-5 B1G team gets left out.  None.

I'd say there's a more than none chance. Have to beat people and usually the B1G schedule gives teams ample opportunities but not this year

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[mdn82]

There is no way a 13-5 B1G team gets left out.  None.

Give it time. Their schedule was that bad. Their B1G wins are that bad. The B1G is that bad this year. If they even beat Kansas they are in that 6-9 range.


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[HoosierCoop]

I am not shocked by this game.

Illinois is a garbage team that applies enough pressure to disrupt.  Given the make-up of our backcourt, they knew where our weak points were.  They also had friendly rims about the entire game.  I am glad we were mentally able to overcome and not get trapped in a game like this.

It's time for some roasted Hawk!!!!!

[bleedhoosier]

I feel good about that win. I'm not looking forward to playing Underwood in the future if he also gets longer athletes that play defense with that same intensity. Their big defense is whatever but that rotation of guards does create havoc. Now last night, also some very dumb lazy passes. I'm glad Archie yanked Green. Newkirk was handling the pressure much better down the stretch.

 

And I LOVE that for Durham. That kid needed THAT game. One where u could say he sealed the game for IU in the final minutes.

 

Another big game coming up for IU and the NIT. Hate to say that but I'll root my arse off for these guys in the Not Invited Tourney for respectable scrubs. They could make some serious noise with the current defense. Get a good seed and make a run, giving our freshman and Archie more time together.

 

Another serviceable game for Mcswain. I'm also on that small boat that kind of wishes he was around 1 more year to spell Morgan and bruise people up. I don't think I've seen one big push him around except Haas and Ward. He's certainly "thriving" in this system.

 

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[GnarlyNormEllenberger]

A few thoughts on this one...

- I'll start with a positive. We turned the ball over 18 times and still won the game. I think we proved that we're clearly a better team than Illinois. We didn't play particularly well, but we won. That didn't happen in November and December. It proves that while our talent level isn't up to our usual standards, we're still a step ahead of the bottom of the conference. That and Juwan Morgan was the best player on the floor, yet again.

- Illinois' ball pressure. We succumbed to it. Green, Johnson and Newkirk combined for 13 turnovers. And it wasn't just them. We displayed some of the worst, laziest passes we have seen from this team all year. Granted, Illinois turns you over. It's what they do. They turned Michigan State over something like 25 times a few weeks ago. That means you have to be crisp and precise. We were not and it kept Illinois within striking distance. Kudos to them... they could be a major pain once they improve their talent level.

- Our defense the first 10 minutes of the second half was poor. Yes, they were hitting some tough shots, but we weren't near locked-in (haha, Crean phrase) enough on that side of the ball. We looked a lot slower than we actually are. Couldn't stay with our man. We rectified that a bit and started getting some stops when it counted most, though. Again, that never happened vs. Indiana State and Fort Wayne. Progress.

- Durham and Smith combined for 27 points. Good effort from those guys. Especially Durham. It seems like he has been struggling for the last month or so, so it was especially nice to see him break out of that funk and gain some confidence. He may be a key cog for us for the remainder of the year. Smith has the potential to be a REALLY good player down the line. There's no reason why he can't be the next Juwan Morgan. If he could just continue to improve finishing around the rim...

- The fouls. 59 free throws combined tonight. The last few minutes of the game was almost painful to watch. You pretty much knew there was going to be a whistle called on every possession. It would be one thing if those calls were consistent throughout the game, but they weren't. Yes, Illinois' pressure defense makes them prone to fouls. But it's like because of that, the refs wanted to blow the whistle on almost everything. And they did.

- Point guard play. Not great in this one, but just good enough. We need them to bounce back soon. Not sure that effort will get us a win in any of the remaining three conference games. Props to Newkirk for making a couple of key buckets in the second half. I'd still ride Green as the starter, though.

- Already 8 conference wins with three games to go. Surpassed last year's conference win total. Even though the Big Ten is down this year, I think it proves all the more how last year's team under-achieved even with the injuries they had. Still, we're gonna have to fight hard if we want to add to the win total. Iowa is due for a good game, so we'll definitely need to play well on Saturday because we're not THAT much better than them. Then you add Nebraska (fighting for a tourney birth) and Ohio State (fighting for a Big Ten championship) and we'll be playing some hungry teams. The question will be... do we want it more?

[Uspshoosier]

There is no way a 13-5 B1G team gets left out.  None.

Your right if Nebraska wins out and is 14-4 with 0 quadrant 1 wins then a 14-4 B1G team is going to get left out


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[Str8Hoosiers]

Is Green ok?

Everyone is mentioning that he was pulled for Newkirk and that didn't seem to be the case to me at all, I still think Green played a MUCH MUCH better game than Newkirk. Newkirk hit a few tough shots down the stretch but his ball handling and passing is still very weak. Green tried to make some plays and guys AGAIN can't catch the ball, not in perfect spots but not horrible passes either (ala the 2 Juwan Morgan passes).

Green hurt his ankle and that was when he got pulled from the game and I don't think ever came back in, I am not thinking Archie played Newkirk over him by choice. Any info out there?

[Hoosierfan2017]

The game last night was kind of boring. I just couldn't really get into it. The end result never seemed in doubt to me, but it felt like it kept dragging on. 

[HoosierCoop]

22 minutes ago, Hoosierfan2017 said:

The game last night was kind of boring. I just couldn't really get into it. The end result never seemed in doubt to me, but it felt like it kept dragging on. 

It was a very long game.

sloppy, turnover, ref driven game

[JSHoosier]

Well, we turned it over way too much and still won.  Some of those passes we attempted so insanely stupid.  I've seen enough missed free throws to last a lifetime.

Illinois had a rabbit's foot hidden somewhere considering some of the crap they got to fall.  Frazier got one to fall despite not even looking at the basket until he was well in the process of throwing it up.

[woodenshoemanHoosierfan]

Any word on Green's ankle?

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[Stuhoo]

A team can win when:

• The talent between the two teams is comparable
• The game is a sloppy mess, and
• Your team does not shoot it especially well

IF the following things occur:

1. Your team defends.

That's it; the whole list!  ^We are that team^

 

[Bowhunter]

I think we can make some noise in the Big tournament but I think a team like Michigan who shoots well and spreads you out would be a worse matchup than some of the heavy hitters. Beating OSU at home would be a good confidence builder but I’m not sure we will win at Iowa with sloppy guard play. 

[mamasa]

16 minutes ago, iufaninillinois said:

Any word on Green's ankle?

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Calhoun's health is the word, lol

[HoosierAloha]

I think we can make some noise in the Big tournament but I think a team like Michigan who shoots well and spreads you out would be a worse matchup than some of the heavy hitters. Beating OSU at home would be a good confidence builder but I’m not sure we will win at Iowa with sloppy guard play. 

I'm not as concerned about Michigan because of McSwain/Morgan at the 5 instead of Davis. I think we'd do better corralling their guards on the perimeter this time.

I'm really looking forward to see how we do against Neb. Morgan and McBob are going to have to shutdown Roby and Palmer while Johnson or Green locks up Watson. It's nice to be able to at least think our defense is capable of limiting a team. Haven't been able to think that way for many moons.

Gotta win in Iowa City first though. They're having a bad year and will want to get a win over us.


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[ebridges24]

10 hours ago, Uspshoosier said:

No they don’t. They got rid of looking at the last 10 games a long time ago. A win in February is the same as a win in November


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You and your big head of knowledge, you enjoy proving people wrong, don't you?

[Stuhoo]

 

  11 hours ago, Uspshoosier said:

No they don’t. They got rid of looking at the last 10 games a long time ago. A win in February is the same as a win in November

9 minutes ago, ebridges24 said:

You and your big head of knowledge, you enjoy proving people wrong, don't you?

 

Geez bridges: USPS brings accurate, informative substance to the board and that makes you snarky? If that was tongue in cheek you should make that clear. Otherwise, not a fan of that post.