Indiana @ Minnesota PREGAME thread; 12:30 EST; BTN; 01/16/16

[MartintheMopMan 7,765]

So, like, did basketball switch to a 16 game season and no body told me? Why do I have to keep waiting a week for games?

 

Minnesota is a bad team. There is no getting around it. They're 6-10 and expected to be 6-11 by the time we see them. They're good at stealing the ball and not turning it over, that's pretty much it.

 

But, we are at risk for a let-down game and anything can happen in the Barn, so I don't want to get overconfident here. There's no way Minnesota can actually finish the season 8-21 only beating Rutgers in conference play, so let's not be one of their surprising upsets.

 

The numbers (Minnesota still has a game at Nebraska before we play them):

 

[attachment=3190:2.PNG]

 

Related links:

 

Prediction League:

https://btownbanners.com/topic/9029-prediction-league-game-18-week-10-iu-vs-minnesota-011616/

 

Pick'ems:

https://btownbanners.com/index.php?app=pickems&do=games&pid=12&wid=165

 

All right, we have this up, let's let this fallow until 1 hour before game time when hopefully one of us remembers to close the thread and link the game thread. I may be at my daughter's soccer practice for the start.

[WayneFleekHoosier 48,441]

Looking forward to seeing OG play again.  Hope to see same defensive effort as this past weekend.  Let's keep the ball rolling!

[Crimson and Cream 5,832]

Them getting a lot of steals combined with our TO issues scares me. 

[Alford Bailey 12,387]

Will be watching this one closely. Do we go in focused and handle a really bad Minny team or do we let the Barn get to us again?

[TheWatShot 14,065]

Any reason this game is so early in the day? That's 11:30 a.m. in Minneapolis. 

[Sota Hoosier 450]

As it stands, this would be a classic letdown game although I'm confident in these Hoosiers after the hot start to B1G play. Only worry is how different the barn is to play in and the somewhat awkward timing of the game but I think we handle it. Just need to play our game and stay focused.

 

I hail from the Twin Cities and the situation is pretty dire up there if you talk to fans. Richie P. is in very low favor right now so will be interesting to see if he can last.

[MartintheMopMan 7,765]

Any reason this game is so early in the day? That's 11:30 a.m. in Minneapolis. 

I even scheduled the earliest soccer practices to avoid ever missing a game because why would they ever conflict? And who plays basketball before noon on a Saturday?

 

 

Will be watching this one closely. Do we go in focused and handle a really bad Minny team or do we let the Barn get to us again?

We better not let the Barn get to us, I doubt Minnesota fans will even show. They're 5-4 in the Barn and on a 5 game losing streak. Their losses at home include a double-OT loss to 212th ranked South Dakota.

 

If this game is a challenge at all, I think we have cause to worry. Saying Minny is really bad doesn't even capture how bad they are. They'll be the 5th lowest ranked defense we face after Eastern Illinois, Kennesaw St, McNeese St, and Alcorn St. against whom we had 39, 27, 45, and 42 point victories. It's honestly the best possible game for after our performance on Sunday. We would have to be so embarrassingly bad that the entire team isn't allowed to board the plane to lose this game. A margin of victory under 20 points should be considered a bad game. And I know it's away and those games weren't, but also no one showed up and the Hall was dead for those games because they were super cupcakes. I expect a similar atmosphere on Saturday. The players can just imagine the empty chairs are the empty chairs of home.

[coonhounds 9,028]

I even scheduled the earliest soccer practices to avoid ever missing a game because why would they ever conflict? And who plays basketball before noon on a Saturday?


We better not let the Barn get to us, I doubt Minnesota fans will even show. They're 5-4 in the Barn and on a 5 game losing streak. Their losses at home include a double-OT loss to 212th ranked South Dakota.

If this game is a challenge at all, I think we have cause to worry. Saying Minny is really bad doesn't even capture how bad they are. They'll be the 5th lowest ranked defense we face after Eastern Illinois, Kennesaw St, McNeese St, and Alcorn St. against whom we had 39, 27, 45, and 42 point victories. It's honestly the best possible game for after our performance on Sunday. We would have to be so embarrassingly bad that the entire team isn't allowed to board the plane to lose this game. A margin of victory under 20 points should be considered a bad game. And I know it's away and those games weren't, but also no one showed up and the Hall was dead for those games because they were super cupcakes. I expect a similar atmosphere on Saturday. The players can just imagine the empty chairs are the empty chairs of home.

Man you just went all out jinx on us

[TheWatShot 14,065]

Anyone remember this game? (spoiler: it's NOT the 50-point loss from the mid-1990's)

 

http://espn.go.com/ncb/boxscore?gameId=260290135

 

 

They were 0-6 in the Big Ten and we got embarrassed. That's why I'm not expecting an easy game Saturday. 

[Walking Boot of Doom 18,170]

I may be looking at this wrong, but when Indiana has the ball, meaning Minnesota is on defense, Minnesota has the 217th ranked steal percentage. Meaning they aren't good at stealing the ball. They don't turn the ball over, and it appears that they also do not allow opposing teams to steal the ball from them, thus the 18th ranked steal percentage when Minnesota has the ball. Based on how I understand this data, Minnesota is in the bottom half of the NCAA in terms of forcing turnovers.

 

Love our offensive numbers next to their defensive numbers. Should be an absolute blow out, if we play our game.

[HoosierCoop 3,927]

http://www.twincities.com/gophers/ci_25094670/gophers-basketball-rick-pitino-attend-indiana-game

 

I remember they beat us up there on Dick's first year coaching.  They kept showing the Pitino's in the stands going nuts like it was the game of the year.

 

I have always had revenge in the blood after that for Minnesota.  If I remember right, we kicked their ass at Assembly after that.

[MartintheMopMan 7,765]

Anyone remember this game? (spoiler: it's NOT the 50-point loss from the mid-1990's)

 

http://espn.go.com/ncb/boxscore?gameId=260290135

 

 

They were 0-6 in the Big Ten and we got embarrassed. That's why I'm not expecting an easy game Saturday. 

I'm going to say "yeah, but we were being coached by Mike Davis in his final year" and understand the counter may be simply replacing "Mike Davis" with "Tom Crean".

 

I definitely remember that game though, that was the end for Davis. From that point forward, he was already in the coffin and just getting those last few nails in.

 

And since I already jinxed us, I'll point out how different the situations are. While we were ranked 13th nationally, KenPom only had us at 37th. Minnesota was at 73rd. We were ranked because of our wins against Illinois and OSU, but we'd already been embarrassed at ISU earlier in the season. Minnesota was on a 6 game losing streak, but had made a strong showing at Illinois a couple weeks before and was changing the lineup every game to see what worked. We were awful away from home in the Big Ten, coming off a loss at Iowa and losing earlier in the season at MSU. Not even to talk about the lack of discipline in the game itself and Killingsworth's issues. 

 

This year, Minnesota is so much worse and we are a little better. We've played well-enough on the road in the Big Ten and are seemingly getting better as the season goes on rather than worse. And oh my gosh, the words and numbers don't even describe how bad Minnesota is. Pull up one of their games on BTN2Go and see how long you can keep watching it. Don't watch the Northwestern game, it will begin to make you physically ill. This is easily the worst Minnesota team in probably 30 years. You watch their defense and think "Hey, maybe Indiana is a good defensive team if this is also called defense". 

 

If we lose to this Minnesota team, I'd call it without hesitation, the worst loss of the Tom Crean era. And I was at the PSU game a few years ago. Statistically it would be the second lowest ranked team to beat Indiana since KenPom started keeping records (March 8, 2003, @Penn State (212) and December 22, 2009 v. Layola (217)) would be the only worse losses.

 

So, when I say, if we lose, I don't want the team flying back home, I mean it. Crean should be fired the moment time hits 0:00 if we lose.

[AKHoosier 6,948]

Road games can never be taken for granted in conference play no matter who the coach is.  Teams way better than us have lost to teams just as bad or worse than Minnesota before.

 

That said, I expect us to take care of business Saturday.  I'm also really excited about watching IU basketball again after about a month of "eh, yeah I guess I'll watch."

[MartintheMopMan 7,765]

Road games can never be taken for granted in conference play no matter who the coach is. Teams way better than us have lost to teams just as bad or worse than Minnesota before.

That said, I expect us to take care of business Saturday. I'm also really excited about watching IU basketball again after about a month of "eh, yeah I guess I'll watch."

Totally agree.

Still never want to see Crean again if he blows this one.

[rebelhoosier848891 9,588]

FEAR THE BARN!

 

We can't overlook Minny up there as outside shooting often goes south due to the raised floor and feel of the place.  One way to help avoid that is to get it inside to The Big Fella!

[djsalway 4,161]

Edited the OP to include pick'ems

[TheWatShot 14,065]

Minnesota is an 8 point underdog to Nebraska tonight, to give people an idea of how bad they are. 

[Hovadipo 56,327]

Seems like a good thread for this, Plies approves of IUBB!

@plies: Indiana Hoosiers Men's Basketball Team LIT Bih Ran Off On Da Plug Twice...

[HoosierAloha 30,068]

Seems like a good thread for this, Plies approves of IUBB!

@plies: Indiana Hoosiers Men's Basketball Team LIT Bih Ran Off On Da Plug Twice...

[Hovadipo 56,327]

Translation?

Well there was a video that went with it of the team in the huddle with a Plies song and they're doing a dance that he created. Translated:

"Oh my goodness, the Indiana basketball team is very excited and doing my dance! Good on them!"

The song/dance is called "Ran off on da plug twice", but I'm scared to look up what that means.

Edit: Looked it up anyways...here ya go...

"In the song, Plies says the lyric “run off on the plug twice.” A plug is generally defined by Urban Dictionary as someone from whom one would purchase drugs; Plies appears to be bragging about not paying for drugs from the same person twice. Plies then says that he won’t be accepting calls from the plug."