Although I was mesmerized by the IU/PU volleyball showdown on BTN, it still makes no sense to keep the IU v. Grace game off TV. Regardless, sportsline gametracker worked like a champ for Deuce the displaced Hoosier. Anyway, some thoughts on the game. 1. The starting line-up, I was pleasantly surprised to see Jeremiah Rivers start. He looked 100% healthy and dominated on D. His transition skills looked solid too. I think the 5 that Crean put out there last night will be the same for most of the season barring injury. 2. The rotation, granted there were a lot of minutes going to guys that will not play during the regular season, I'm anxious to see how the rotation shakes out. I see Jordan Hulls as the 1st guy off the bench with Derek Elston playing major minutes in the post. I can see Capo as the energy guy off the bench and getting loads of minutes if a team has two solid bigs. The big question is where Devan Dumes fits in. If Maurice Creek plays as he should minutes may be hard to come by for Dumes. If Creek plays as he did last night, Dumes will need to be out there for points. 3. Freshman, wow, impressive. With the exception of creek, all the rooks looked solid. Creek will come around given his pedigree but he didn't do much last night. Reminded me of a few of the games Nick Williams played last year. But have no fear. Christian Watford was unbelievable. Again, just watching the play-by-play on the computer and the stat line, that kid looked good. Hopefully he can make up for Creek's Williams-esque nights. 4. Bunnies, why can't Tom Pritchard hit a short shot. I remember that as an issue last year too. He's 6-freaking-9...just dunk it. I think he'll be putting in some serious hours with the ol' Mikan drill with coach Crean. Other questions too, but I’ll let you mull them over; Matt Roth, what is his role? Tijan Jobe, is he the biggest waste of a scholarship...ever? Can I get a ticket to the IU/OSU game in Columbus? So many topics.
I think Creek is in an interesting spot. He is clearly behind the other freshmen since he got to campus later. The big question is how much longer does Coach Crean keep pushing Creek physically before he backs off a little in order for him to get his legs ready game time. You've gotta think there's a point where it's too much for him to be effective in games.
That said, I think Dumes will get his minutes early in the season until Creek can get his legs. In fact, if Dumes had been healthy, he probably would have started last night. I wasn't a Dumes fan last year (too many unforced errors), so I wouldn't lose sleep if he didn't get as many minutes, But, if he can cure his unforced error problems, he shoots the ball too well to not be on the floor.
The bunny situation is definitely frustrating, but it wasn't just Pritchard. Watford missed a few too. My concern is transition defense and turnovers. Against better teams, that will be more difficult to overcome. 17 turnovers is about what they averaged last year and against a NAIA team, that concerns me. But, I read some stuff about Crean pushing players harder prior to this game including lifting on Tuesday after practice in order to wear them out a little more to make the game more difficult....
Any way you cut it, I'm ready for the season to get rolling.
For those who did not get to see the game, the two most impressive players were Watford and Hulls. Wattford will remind a lot of fans of Jared Jeffries. Hulls is the best point guard on the team. He has the "it" factor to his game where everyone becomes better when he is on the floor.
Verdell is the best pointguard. Hulls looked very impressive, but Verdell looked much improved from last year. Transition defense was a mess and Pritchard did not look good. He was slow, appeared lazy, and couldn't finish. I think he'll look better as the season goes on, they've been working on his short shots and I'm sure that will continue.
I was at the game last night, and I have to say that I was most impressed with Hulls. The kid hit from outside, he made unbelievable passes, he pushed the tempo, he led the team- sometimes too well- there were passes made that some couldn't get their hands on.
Watford played solid, but if he and Pritchard would have hit three-quarters of their "lay-ups" this team would have put up about 140 points. Still though, Watford hustled, rebounded, managed some steals; just a hard-nosed kid all around.
Rivers played good. He had moments of brillance and some let-downs; but he is a natural leader that this young squad needs. He had back to back throw downs that really got the crowd roaring.
Elston has solid game. Alot of my IU friends are comparing him to Eric Anderson; I don't know about that yet, but he is very athletic and has a knack for rebounding the ball, which this team needs badly.
Copabianco looked like a freshman. Lost at times, well; lost alot on defense; and trust me, that isn't a popular position to be in with Coach Crean. Bobby got the brunt of the chewing that I saw, and probably found his way to the bench the fastest.
Creek looked like a nervous frosh as well. He had the opportunity to bury some threes early and could never find his rythm; but the kid is obviously talented; just not his night. He scrapped, he fought for rebounds, did well in transition- he will be fine.
Overall, they played almost timid in the first half, and the crowd pretty much sucked- very little envolvement and the stuped jumbo-tron is killing the college game...the band can't get the crowd fired up because of the stupid MetLife commercial during timeouts- I hate that!But all that changed after the break- the kids really let loose and found some range (Thanks Jordan) and just controlled the tempo and forced turnovers- all in all a really fun game to watch!
Tijan Jobe, is he the biggest waste of a scholarship...ever?
Nope - that would be Uwe Blab, but he did have a five year career for the NBA, albeit for a decidely bench-minded coach for him. Unfortunately Uwe never found a home in Bloomington; at least not as far as carving out a niche for a memorable player of his size! I am fearful that Tijan is unfortunately cut from the same cloth!
Ha! I remember Bobby Knight telling Uwe Blab's wife for him to hold the new baby over a bed because Uwe is going to drop him.
I think they are much improved over last year from what I saw. Hulls is good, Watford is a man amongst boys once he gets some weight and stength to him he'll be tough to stop. We should also be real about this. Grace is a small school, wait until we go up against someone more our size and talent. Crean is working very hard on the sidelines, almost to hard. It seems like he might be over doing it. Not sure yet what to make of it but it can't hurt right now. He might want to work on 'bunny' shots though.
I really hope to see the Hoosiers take another step forward this year. I don't expect too much, but less turnovers and easier shots seem to be in the not to far off future. Along with some great man to man D and we'll be once again at the top. I can't wait for the season to start! Go IU!
IU was only up by 4 against at DII team at one point! They weren't even winning the entire game! IU sucks and Tom Crean overrated coach. How well did you guys do last year?! I forgot you even had a basketball team.
Ha! I remember Bobby Knight telling Uwe Blab's wife for him to hold the new baby over a bed because Uwe is going to drop him. That is freaking GREAT! Funny!
http://www.cbssports.com/collegebas ketball/story/12467825/le-moyne-stu ns-syracuse-82-79 Read the article before calling anyone names. Heads up Le Moyne stuns Syracuse 82-79.
Also, thank you for all your insight. Please come back and visit us soon.
Sorry man. But I have a little more respect for Pudue fans than calling people I don't even know names. But to call me little, well I'm about 6'6" and weigh about 250 pounds. Been a Army Ranger for about ten years and in the special forces for about eight years and done more for this country over seas, mostly in Afghanistan, than you'll ever do. I've seen stuff and done stuff that you'll never want to see. So stop the name calling it's only making you look bad. I do like the little part though.
Six wins will come only if we work hard and don't make many mistakes as last year. We are in year two of rebuilding, it's great to see that we still have great fans support after a six win season.
Hey "honest man" stay the heck off these boards if you're going to be an idiot. Thank you for those comments shipwreck. Just so you know "honest man" purdump was tied with California of Pennsylvania at one point.
Hey "Honestman", I remember Evansville knocking off Purdue back when Evansville was a Division II school and Purdue had Rick freekin' Mount on the floor. It can happen at any school. By the way, Honestman, do you know why there are no bad seats in Mackey Arena? LOL.
