Rapid Reaction IU vs. Minnesota

[mdn82 25,510]

Frustrating.  Frustrated.  Those are the two PG-13 words most prominently used throughout Hoosier homes after watching that game.  I am honestly speechless for that 2nd half.  How does that happen twice?  Huge game that we could be looking back at in a month that determined the difference between NIT and NCAA.  As complete as the first half was, the second was broken.  

 

As a team, it was just a heart-breaking lesson that they were just shown again.  16 turnovers.  Remember at one point in the game we were discussing how good we had become at holding on to the ball?  In a rather dubious stat, each starter had at least 2 turnovers.  You don't see that often.  They had 10.  They had 14 assists to our 8.  We only out rebounded them by 5.  At one point we were getting every loose ball.  Once that evened out, they tightened up defensively, it ultimately was enough.  We had no answer for them in the second half.  The ball quit moving.  The players quit moving.  Everyone was looking around for someone to make a play.  Unfortunately, Yogi struggled today.  Noah was solid, but was lost offensively for most of the day.  I keep track of specific things.  One thing is how many times all 5 players are on the same side of the court at the same time in a possession.  I quit counting at the first talley, because I was too frustrated.  What began as a total team effort, ended in no unity.  

 

Individually, it was the magician act today.  Troy started the game off, and hit his average before the first tv timeout.  He had a couple of freshman mistakes, but overall was a huge part of our early success.  He had 11 points and 3 boards.  Noah Vonleh had the quietest double-double you will ever see with 12 and 12, with 2 blocks.  I can count on one hand how many post entry passes he got in a position to make a move in the second half.  Yogi had 14 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists (2 turnovers).  He wasn't as efficient as he had been, but in the second half was the story there, as it was with everyone.  Will went with his typical 4 for 10 with 11.  He also had 4 boards, and 2 steals.  Really loved Jeremy's effort in the 1st half.  He ended up with 9, and was just all over the place.  Unfortunately for him, his place in the second half was mainly on the bench.  Stan had himself an unusual game.  He was solid defensively, but Minnesota really locked in on him defensively.  That was the first time that happened.  Something to keep an eye on going forward.  

 

The most important outcome tonight was a loss on the road we should have won, against another bubble team that looks to be in.  We lost in a manner we shouldn't have, considering we just did a couple of weeks ago.  Very frustrating for us as fans, but I cannot imagine the frustration on that long ride home tonight.  We are running short on time.  We have to win games.  We have to win these games we are in control of.  This wasn't an adjustment that needed to be made.  We just lost that intensity from one half to the next.  That is the 3rd time that has happened this season.  At some point the players and coaches have to realize that and both adjust.  Of course that is easier said than done.  Especially when we are dealing with a young team.  You guys don't know how much I was screaming at the TV for Noah to DEMAND the ball.  We needed him to.  Yogi was struggling.  Stan was struggling today.  Evan was struggling.  For the most part, when the ball went to Noah it ended good.  At this point in the season, if he wants to be successful he has to know he is great.  He is better than what was out on the court.  For once, I am not complaining about subs, or timeouts.  I feel at some point you have to make yourself visible.  We needed Noah to do that today.  We needed Yogi or Will tell him to get the ball.  It was a recognition error that may be the difference of tournaments.  Until next time lady and gents.  

[JSHoosier 19,811]

My biggest issue was having Gordon in the game so long down the stretch when he was doing nothing on either end.

 

I do wish Jeremy would've gotten more second half minutes, he had a good first half and wanted to see if he'd have continued with more time.

[jmhoosier7 11]

I was screaming at the TV for Crean to take Gordon out after he had two horrible plays in a row and then let his man score on him! This team is so frustrating. Why do we continue to try dribbling through 3 people and ending up with a turnover? When the shot clock gets down to ten seconds its unbelievable how many times we dont even get a shot off!