I don't post or visit the hoops board. I'm an old school IU hardliner and haven't watched the basketball team until the past 2 weeks.
I haven't been inside Assembly Hall since 2002. Since then I've watched one game prior to this last two weeks.
IU/UK A game where IU blew a significant lead at home against a hated rival and only won on a miracle.
In the past week or so I watched the IU/Pu game, recorded Iowa, and watched the Maryland game.
Up until then I've seen only snippets or highlights of games in other venues and never on my dime or time. I've been very critical of Crean's coaching. I thought his teams didn't value the ball enough and were too reckless in terms of shot selection, what constituted a good play or pass, and played no defense. I've always argued that breakneck pace / quick shot 3 was dependent on having better personnel than the other team. And generally idiotic UNLESS:
A. you could compliment it with pressure that forced the other team to play that way
B. Could minimize your own turnovers.
C. Could rebound offensively.
In any event, you had to get more possessions than the other guy for it to be effective. Unless of course you simply shot it out of your mind.
Couple that with unsound defensive principles and a lack of fundamentals defensively, you've got a mess. The snippets I'd see over the years showed stupid decisions with the ball and no concept of shot selection in regards to time / score / game situation. Throw in some knuckle headed players who flaunted that uniform and got thrown out and you've got something I wouldn't watch. Hence. Crean ball stunk.
Results tended to prove me right.
But since Christmas friends told me things were different. That the knuckle heads were gone and they were playing better and smarter than before. So I watched the Purdue game.
IU took care of the ball. Actually played post defense and half court defense. On defense they helped and recovered. They didn't over extend and give up driving lanes. They blocked out and rebounded. They quit having multiple guys bring the ball up the floor in transition and got the ball to Ferrell more. Ferrell quit trying to be cool and played smarter with the ball. Hence, more good shots. Less bad turnovers that led to easy shots going the other way. Down the stretch they still struggled at times to understand time/score/game situations. Not enough inside play and free throws and too many quick 3's. Purdue got hot. Lead was cut. It took an opportune goal tending call to clinch the W.
A bit of the same thing vs Iowa and to a lesser degree, Maryland.
In today's game with the 3 pointer, it's tough to play smart down the stretch and keep momentum.
HOWEVER, in watching I thought the team played with a joy and verve. They played hard and together. I found I enjoyed an under control Ferrell. I liked Robert Johnson. I thought Bryant was a warrior. I loved Hartman as the quintessential Bob Knight / Brad Stevens player. Smart, fundamental, and skilled. I loved O.G. Bielfeldt and Morgan. I think Zeisloft is the Pat Graham that could have been w/o injury and if he had a green light.
So hat's off to Tom Crean and his staff for making changes that have resulted in excellent team play and an outright Big Ten Title. It will be interesting and fun to follow them the rest of the season.
I haven't been inside Assembly Hall since 2002. Since then I've watched one game prior to this last two weeks.
IU/UK A game where IU blew a significant lead at home against a hated rival and only won on a miracle.
In the past week or so I watched the IU/Pu game, recorded Iowa, and watched the Maryland game.
Up until then I've seen only snippets or highlights of games in other venues and never on my dime or time. I've been very critical of Crean's coaching. I thought his teams didn't value the ball enough and were too reckless in terms of shot selection, what constituted a good play or pass, and played no defense. I've always argued that breakneck pace / quick shot 3 was dependent on having better personnel than the other team. And generally idiotic UNLESS:
A. you could compliment it with pressure that forced the other team to play that way
B. Could minimize your own turnovers.
C. Could rebound offensively.
In any event, you had to get more possessions than the other guy for it to be effective. Unless of course you simply shot it out of your mind.
Couple that with unsound defensive principles and a lack of fundamentals defensively, you've got a mess. The snippets I'd see over the years showed stupid decisions with the ball and no concept of shot selection in regards to time / score / game situation. Throw in some knuckle headed players who flaunted that uniform and got thrown out and you've got something I wouldn't watch. Hence. Crean ball stunk.
Results tended to prove me right.
But since Christmas friends told me things were different. That the knuckle heads were gone and they were playing better and smarter than before. So I watched the Purdue game.
IU took care of the ball. Actually played post defense and half court defense. On defense they helped and recovered. They didn't over extend and give up driving lanes. They blocked out and rebounded. They quit having multiple guys bring the ball up the floor in transition and got the ball to Ferrell more. Ferrell quit trying to be cool and played smarter with the ball. Hence, more good shots. Less bad turnovers that led to easy shots going the other way. Down the stretch they still struggled at times to understand time/score/game situations. Not enough inside play and free throws and too many quick 3's. Purdue got hot. Lead was cut. It took an opportune goal tending call to clinch the W.
A bit of the same thing vs Iowa and to a lesser degree, Maryland.
In today's game with the 3 pointer, it's tough to play smart down the stretch and keep momentum.
HOWEVER, in watching I thought the team played with a joy and verve. They played hard and together. I found I enjoyed an under control Ferrell. I liked Robert Johnson. I thought Bryant was a warrior. I loved Hartman as the quintessential Bob Knight / Brad Stevens player. Smart, fundamental, and skilled. I loved O.G. Bielfeldt and Morgan. I think Zeisloft is the Pat Graham that could have been w/o injury and if he had a green light.
So hat's off to Tom Crean and his staff for making changes that have resulted in excellent team play and an outright Big Ten Title. It will be interesting and fun to follow them the rest of the season.
