IUBB vs. Penn State Game Thread

[incrediboy 924]

If I knrw anything about PU. I worry about both bigs in at the same time against us.

Purdue never plays the two bigs at the same time because both play exactly the same style of game and there's only room for one on the court at a time. It would be like us playing two Hanners if we had them.

[incrediboy 924]

Well, gang, here we are tied for the B1G lead. How many saw that coming in early December? Put your *$*)#@ hands down, you know you didn't see that anywhere except in a wet dream. 

 

The guys had one day's notice that they were missing a key component, no matter how often that key seems to disappear due to foul trouble or mental fog. That has to take a toll mentally on the rest of the guys. And zero practice without Hanner didn't help Hartman and the rest try to replace him. For that reason, if no other (and as it's been noted, Penn State always plays us better than anyone else) I am happy we escaped with a W.

 

Stan saved this game for us. Period. And really there's no reason he can't play like this every time out. It's not that he's firing up shots that might or might not go in from 3-point range. His defense is almost always better than anyone else's, too. He needs to play because he has a really high ceiling with his talents, and we need him to feel wanted here so he won't be tempted to transfer when Blackmon doesn't jump to the NBA next year. In fact, I'd start him over Blackmon Sunday if I were making out the lineup card because we need a hatchet-man type of guy at Illinois, which is notorious for playing that way.;

 

I predict that Holt starts Sunday, not Hartman. We need his beef to knock around with Egghead inside. But really Illinois has never been an inside-strong type of team. Just a poorly coached perimeter oriented team, both historically and now (please pass up the opportunity to quote me and say "Just like us" to that remark). That said, they kicked the crap out of Maryland at home but that could have been overconfidence on Maryland's part. What I've seen of this Illinois team (granted it's only a couple of games) doesn't show me much, and I have far less respect for Groce than Crean. I'd be far less optimistic about our chances Sunday if Weber was still on the sidelines.  Blackmon, Yogi and/or Rojo (2 out of 3 at least) will have to be on from 3, and Zeis should have an erection building for this game, having come to us from Ill State. He should also have about 25 3's built up inside him given how many he's not made the past couple of games.

 

I read all these pro-Burton posts and had to go back to the roster to see he's really 6-7. He looks 6-3 on the floor to me. I did the "oh s**t, why, Tommy?" remark when he came in (much as I used to do with Max). Was pleasantly surprised he didn't cost us anything, but I really didn't see a whole lot of contribution, either. He got a couple of rebounds because they fell on him, not because he was fighting six guys to get them. I will have to see more contribution before I'm on the Burton Bandwagon that I saw so much of in earlier posts about this game.

 

Blackmon has to understand he's not the center of the universe. I wonder how many doses of on-the-floor humility it's going to take for him to understand he has to move more without the ball to get open shots. Given the way opponents dog Yogi, with Blackmon's speed and quickness, those shots will be there if he'll just work for them. RoJo obviously understood that, and, guess what? He got those shots that JBJ did not. Don't misunderstand; I like Blackmon. I just think he needs his head hit with a figurative hammer a few times to make him understand he's not still a high school superstar when he goes on the B1G floor.

 

Not patting myself on the back, but I expected exactly what I saw in this game. Chambers is really good at getting a lot out of a little. Unfortunately for him, that's all he'll ever do since he's not a great recruiter. But he's the guy you hate to play, and it doesn't matter how bad his team is, it will overachieve. Of course, some people say we're doing that . . . and we just might be. Alas, Crean has shown recruiting isn't one of his weaknesses (Trey Lyles moving on notwithstanding). And why couldn't our superstar team of a couple years ago overachieve and run Syracuse into the ground? These are the things that concern me about our coaching staff. That said, I think Crean has done a tremendous job with what he has to put on the floor right now.

 

We'll be better Sunday because we'll have a few practices without Hanner and a chance to get used to the idea of not having him available. I only hope that will be enough to keep us in the game, but even if it is, I believe our chances of winning are less than 50-50.

[Basketball4iU 2,006]

Thanks for the numbers. I'm really surprised Rob was -10 given his ability to shoot last night. But wow Burton is about all I can say. Really gave us a lift off the bench.

I wish I could find the report he sent me ... Rojo had better numbers first and final... This was 2nd half only..just trying to show Burtons worth

[MartintheMopMan 7,765]

I wish I could find the report he sent me ... Rojo had better numbers first and final... This was 2nd half only..just trying to show Burtons worth

First: Plus/Minus: Johnson plus-13, Williams plus-10, Blackmon plus-7, Hartman plus-6, Hoetzel plus-4, Ferrell plus-1, Holt minus-1, Robinson minus-5, Zeisloft minus-10

 

Second: Plus/Minus: Burton plus-10, Hartman plus-8, Robinson plus-6, Williams 0, Ferrell/Zeisloft minus-2, Hoetzel/Holt minus-5, Blackmon/Johnson minus-10

 

Final: Plus/Minus: Hartman plus-14, Burton/Williams plus-10, Johnson plus-3, Robinson plus-1, Ferrell/Hoetzel minus-1, Blackmon minus-3, Holt minus-6, Zeisloft minus-12

[WayneFleekHoosier 48,388]

First: Plus/Minus: Johnson plus-13, Williams plus-10, Blackmon plus-7, Hartman plus-6, Hoetzel plus-4, Ferrell plus-1, Holt minus-1, Robinson minus-5, Zeisloft minus-10

Second: Plus/Minus: Burton plus-10, Hartman plus-8, Robinson plus-6, Williams 0, Ferrell/Zeisloft minus-2, Hoetzel/Holt minus-5, Blackmon/Johnson minus-10

Final: Plus/Minus: Hartman plus-14, Burton/Williams plus-10, Johnson plus-3, Robinson plus-1, Ferrell/Hoetzel minus-1, Blackmon minus-3, Holt minus-6, Zeisloft minus-12

Dang Z... That looks bad. He's gotta start playing again or else. Major slump.