IUBB @ Nebraska - Wednesday, 01.03.24 @ 9:00 ET on BTN

[DChoosier 8,314]

14 hours ago, Uspshoosier said:

Cuse played man to man back then 

Yep,

They then had years where they mixed it up and then went full-time zone starting in 1996.

[DChoosier 8,314]

On 1/4/2024 at 5:29 PM, Hoosier987 said:

Issue with this year’s team is we lack leadership. 

And guards…..

[VO5 8,272]

19 hours ago, WayneFleekHoosier said:

Yep, this game could be where we look back at the turning point from the general fan perspective.  Hoping Woody can overcome it.  No confidence in him this year. I’ve been waivering a lot while being slightly optimistic. This season, this team, and this game pushed me to the other side. I’ll have to see a lot to be won back over. 

I don’t really post anymore but still read from time to time. I’ve pretty much checked out on IU basketball. Still watch, but doesn’t really affect me much anymore. One thing I do know is Woody is not the answer. Doesn’t matter what players we have. He isn’t going to get it done. Way too stubborn. I’ll hopefully be more invigorated when he inevitably retires or gets fired 

[str8baller 5,208]

1 hour ago, DChoosier said:

The Crean team got crushed on the perimeter but  I would take a senior Alford and a junior Smart over a hobbled Hulls in a sling and a freshman Yogi (and the Knight guys each had 2-3” on the Crean guys) every day of the week. Alford hit 7 threes, there is no way an injured Hulls or a freshman Yogi could have done that under any coach. Alford and Smart combined for 44 points (17-30) vs Hulls and Yogi playing 50 minutes and both going scoreless. Hulls was injured and they were dominated by Syracuses 6”4 and 6”7 guards (the ‘87 and ‘13 Syracuse defenses were not the same).  
Hulls getting injured was a big deal as he and Yogi only combined for 5 points in the previous game, which we could have easily lost, vs Temple.

It really had little to do with size. Michigan was similar to us that year, but not as good, and handled Cuse easily.  
 

The difference? Beilen knows and teaches passing and cutting in general but versus a zone, especially. Crean on the other hand had our guys driving against it. He even had Zeller driving against it on catches in the middle.  
 

Michigan beat it pretty easily and had a ton of assisted buckets. We had a bunch of turnovers trying to drive through it. Classic Crean game.  
 

Their team was not that physically scary in relation to us.  We had the best and most athletic guard on the floor. We had the best and most athletic big on the floor who happened to be an excellent passer too. We had a 6’8” elite 3pt shooting stretch 4. While their length might have presented some problems for Hulls and Yogi, simply executing a basic zone offense with passing and ball reversals would have led to our elite 3pt shooting team getting plenty of open looks. Instead we were driving into traps and double teams handing them the ball for easy transition buckets.   
 

"You have to know what to do against it," Boeheim said.

They never really succeeded in getting the ball in the right places," Boeheim said about the Hoosiers. "And it's not that easy, but it can be done. But they didn't know how to do that."

 
Lol…brutal. 

if Bo Ryan and Jim Boeheim ever grab a beer together, I bet the subject of Tom Crean gives them endless hours of amusement. 

[DChoosier 8,314]

9 hours ago, str8baller said:

It really had little to do with size. Michigan was similar to us that year, but not as good, and handled Cuse easily.  

Size on the perimeter was indeed a HUGE factor and so was Hulls injury.  UM beat Syracuse. BFD.  Syracuse, and no other team that year, or since ‘75-76, has gone undefeated so yes…a team beat Syracuse that year. What a revelation!!

Marquette was 14-4 in the Big East, beat Syracuse in the regular season, was very familiar with the Cuse zone but scored a total of 39 points against them in the Elite 8 game. Syracuse was on a roll.  I’m not excusing Crean, when it came to the zone, but that loss has been greatly mis-characterized by our fan base. 
 

[Scotty R 2,127]

On 1/5/2024 at 9:00 PM, schoosier said:

There once was a time Indiana started 2/ 6’ guards against this same vaunted defense with 2/ 1st round draft picks on their team. That game resulted in our last National Championship, and The General’s third. 

Alford and Smart were taller than 6'0. Also in 1987 Syracuse didn't play much zone at all. I don't know when Bohemian went to soly zone but in wasn't in 87

[str8baller 5,208]

On 1/6/2024 at 8:32 PM, DChoosier said:

I’m not excusing Crean, when it came to the zone, but that loss has been greatly mis-characterized by our fan base.

That’s how it reads since you ignored everything I wrote and Boeheim said about Crean mangling the strategy.   
 

They were a good defense. But we were a good offense and had all the tools to beat but used none of them. You focus on Hulls, but look at Oladipo. None of the Syracuse guards were as big and athletic as him. But he had the same problems as Hulls. It was execution, not size that doomed us.

[Uspshoosier 45,571]

32 minutes ago, str8baller said:

They were a good defense. But we were a good offense and had all the tools to beat but used none of them

They were just a really good team overall  that had a lull within Big East play that caused them to be under seeded that year.   Same with Michigan.   Not many years does a 1 seed have to play a top 6 Ken Pom defense and 9 kenpom overall in the sweet 16.    Kansas had to do the same with playing Michigan in the sweet 16.  Michigan as a 4 seed was the number 1 kenpom offense that year and 4 overall.   IU was 3rd overall in KenPom.   Looking back there was some really good teams in that tournament that year.    

[Hovadipo 55,742]

11 minutes ago, Uspshoosier said:

They were just a really good team overall  that had a lull within Big East play that caused them to be under seeded that year.   Same with Michigan.   Not many years does a 1 seed have to play a top 6 Ken Pom defense and 9 kenpom overall in the sweet 16.    Kansas had to do the same with playing Michigan in the sweet 16.  Michigan as a 4 seed was the number 1 kenpom offense that year and 4 overall.   IU was 3rd overall in KenPom.   Looking back there was some really good teams in that tournament that year.    

The peak of my college basketball fandom. That 2-3 year stretch right around then was just insanely fun.