I was watching the replay. I literally had to turn it off. I couldn’t remember how bad we actually played in this game. That Indiana team in that current game wouldn’t beat our current team. Missing open shots. Missing layups. Missing Free Throws. Wouldn’t block out. Passing into traffic. Just completely outhustled by a Maryland team that didn’t even play well.
2002 IU vs Maryland
- Thread starter fkfootball
- Start date
I went ahead and finished it. If Davis played a 2-3 zone the entire game, we win that easily. Maryland couldn’t shoot to save their lives.
yeah I forgot what an ugly, poorly played game (by both teams) this one was.... For a championship game, it was some ugly basketball. Coverdale hurt, JJ Newton Odle overmatched by MD's brute strength inside. Hornsby got hot in the second half otherwise we probably lose by 15-20 pts. Wasn't fun to watch then, or last night.
Coincedentally, I was watching the game against Oklahoma yesterday on YouTube, the game we won and a game I had a front row seat to, and it was so excruciating at times I wanted to turn it off as well. I think it’s a testament to that team’s grit and determination that they were so deficient in certain areas but were still able to take it all the way to the championship game.
Fluky once in a lifetime win over sleepy Duke, then KSU and OU. Not exactly Murderer’s Row. IU was incredibly fortunate to get to the final game, and it made that team seem much, much better than they really were.
OU was not just an average team that year. Beat a really good Kansas team in the Big 12 championship game that was previously undefeated in conference.
You are really a firm believer in the magic elixir of zones. Even by teams that do not normally play them. There is a reason few teams play zones. And unless you are playing Tom Crean I agree.
In this game it would have worked. Maryland’s offense was built to take advantage of an extended man to man.
I remember the guy a couple seats over from me at the OU game ragging on Hollis Price during warm-ups. Hollis smiled, acted kind of embarrassed, and tried to ignore it. We knew we were in for a tougher game on Monday night when the same guy started in on Juan Dixon and Dixon started giving him **** right back.
Agreed. It was a fantastic run for that team. Maxed out to get to the final game. Had they redone the tourney again that year and reseeded everybody by how they finished the first go around, it's highly unlikely IU doesn't last more than two or three games, even as a newly 1 seed.
Edit: Added "more than" in last sentence to try and follow Radio Zero's clarity of what is actually edited to keep all the readers at home, work, break, on the toilet etc., informed and up to date with my opinionated statement, that may or may not be taken with full disclosure and unending attack by others who defend anything and everything IU to the fullest even when it's not necessary to. If you are reading this far, the print is supposed to be too small to read, much like the warning fine print on many items you buy at the store. In conclusion, we need more overachieving seasons like '01/'02 season than what we've seen the last many years. Mediocrity sucks!
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As bad as IU played, wasn't either the score tied or IU up by 1 in the middle of the second half? I remember thinking at the time that if IU could play this badly and still be tied, then IU had a decent chance to prevail. Unfortunately, Maryland went on a run.
VanPastorMan
Hall of Famer
I remember Steve Blake hitting shots against us. If we went zone he might have gone off too. The truth is I had trouble looking at that guy when he was in the NBA because of the loss. He had a long NBA career too and I was getting frustrated. "Steve, why don't you retire and put me out of my misery"?
That’s exactly right. Jefferies put us up by one on a putback after a missed free throw and Dixon proceeded to come down and immediately drill a contested 3 and it was all Maryland from there on out.
Duke definitely took us too lightly...even Vitale was declaring the game over at halftime. Give our guys credit for an incredible comeback.
The '86 Celtics would have struggled against us during the first 20 min of the Kent State game. Yes playing KSU for a trip to the final 4 was some very favorable bracket reality...but IU shot out of their minds in the first half. Far cry from the 3pt shooting we've seen in recent yrs.
The '86 Celtics would have struggled against us during the first 20 min of the Kent State game. Yes playing KSU for a trip to the final 4 was some very favorable bracket reality...but IU shot out of their minds in the first half. Far cry from the 3pt shooting we've seen in recent yrs.
Duke fell asleep in the 2nd half and IU took advantage. When Duke awoke, it was a toss up game and we won. Lightning in a bottle.
yes there is.
gross incompetence level stupidity.
which they then pass on to the next generation of coaches.
every team should install a zone, and learn to play it well.
being able to ONLY play mtm well really limits your options to deal with different teams and different situations.
and if a team can't learn to play a zone well, it can't learn to play against one either.
tall long guards and center really helps, both with and against, but every team should be able to play one, and play it well.
Anytime you beat the contending national champion, the overall #1 seed in the tournament, and a Coach K team in the NCAA's, it isn't a "fluke." That Duke team had 3 NBA 1st Round picks (Williams, Dunleavy, Jones), with Williams going #2 and Dunleavy #3, plus Boozer and Duhon. You need to give a lot of credit where a lot of credit is due. Just because an underdog wins doesn't make it a fluke.
That only proves how much of a fluke it was. IU should never have been close to them, and they wouldn’t have been had Duke not fallen asleep. You just explained perfectly how fluky it was . . . you just didn’t realize that’s what you were doing.
Well, the good news is that upsetting Duke didn't lead to a chain of events resulting in 20 years of absolute garbage. People still can reminisce about the Wat Shot, and how nice those "We're back" Tee-Shirts turned out.
I would agree that the odds are normally not in the underdog's favor: hence the term underdog. However, if you are saying that IU winning was some kind of an accident or mistake, then you couldn't be more incorrect. Beating that Duke team team in Coach K's prime is an enormous accomplishment that cannot be diminished. There is no other way to determine a winner than to have 2 teams play it out, and that is what happened.
If you think Coach K and the Duke players didn't want to win that game, you couldn't be more wrong. That Duke team was as legit of a contender as Coach K has had.
It was a huge accomplishment, but it was absolutely a fluke. Duke fell asleep and let IU back into the game. They were far more talented and a much better team but their brains went to mush and allowed the highly improbable to occur. That’s what a fluke is, and that’s what happened that night. Great win that will always be a part of IU’s history, but it was lightning in a bottle. Watch it again.
A fluke is something that happens accidentally or by chance. If you are defining a fluke as something that happens against the odds, then you would be defining the word wrong. I would see what you are saying, though.
You already demonstrated that my conclusion was the correct one and yours was not. Thanks, again.
You are giving no credit to playing games out and the decisions made by the players and coaches during the game, the desire of the players and coaches to win, the ability of Coach K, the talent on Duke's roster, and the abilities of the IU players. None of those things are accidents. You don't know what you are talking about.
Pssst...you are arguing with a brick wall...and a stupid one at that, as brick walls go.
They were a much better team that inexplicably fell asleep during a game they were on their way to winning comfortably. IU stepped up and came back as a result. When Duke woke and realized what they’d done, the game literally came down to a few plays, and they didn’t make enough of them to get the win. But if IU played them 100 times, they might win five. Maybe. That’s why it was a fluke. The effort was great, but it was a lightning in a bottle game. It happens very rarely, and thankfully it happened to us that day. That’s the nature of fluky results.
The subject is IU basketball . . . even you know you have no place here, Fredo. Run along before you embarrass yourself again.
I don't think anybody is arguing that Coach K was the better coach and Duke had the more talented team. But, it isn't like IU was terrible. IU had some talent and played well as a team, and they had tough players. Duke didn't actually bring cots out onto the court and go to sleep. There is more to the story than you will acknowledge, which are the things I keep referring to, and the term "fluke" doesn't apply to these things.
Duke had a 13 point halftime lead and were cruising to an easy win. Then, they fell asleep. Watch the game and you’ll see for yourself. IU was a decent team in a down Big 10, and they certainly responded when Duke fell asleep at the wheel that night. But 95+ times out of 100, Duke wins that one going away. Thankfully, they didn’t that night, but it was a fluky W on the way to a fluky FF.
IU fought their way back against Coach K, who is on the Mt. Rushmore of college basketball coaches, during Coach K's prime in the NCAA Tournament against one of Coach K's best teams, a contending National Champion. This game is one of the best NCAA games I have ever watched. The game played out, the players and coaches made intentional decisions and actions, everybody wanted to win, and IU won. The game was not played on paper.
IU had Jared Jeffries, Coverdale, Moye, Hornsby, Fife, Odle, and Newton. Jeffries was a lottery pick. The other players were solid college players, and nobody was tougher than Coverdale, Fife, and Moye. This was a solid team, and they proved it by making it to the championship game. Nobody can take this away from them or diminish their accomplishments.
Nobody is taking anything away from that team, but it was a fluky, lightning in a bottle win. If Duke doesn’t fall asleep for a good chunk of the second half, it’s never close. Great win, though.
There's that uncanny ability to see alternate timelines with unerring accuracy. What an amazing trait you have, Nostradumbass.. 95 out of a 100 huh? Are you sure it wasn't 94?
*eyeroll*
Yes, Duke had the odds in the game. The game played out, the players and coaches made intentional decisions and actions, everybody wanted to win, and IU won. The game was not played on paper. If ifs and buts were candy and nuts, we'd all have a Merry Christmas.
More like 96-100. Aren’t you supposed to be in the basement, baker boy? The hippy lettuce makes you even dumber than you already are.
Agreed. IU got the fluky win. Not sure why you keep denying the obvious, but that’s where you’ve hung your hat.
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