ADVERTISEMENT

I have to admit...

Oct 11, 2001
2,061
7
38
Gotta admit I really enjoy watching this team play. I love the hustle, the teamwork, the ball movement, Yogi looking for assists as well as shooting the three and driving on occasion, Collin's amazing recovery from an ACL and his play this year, JBJ's smooth play, the whole thing.

I would like to see better defense, but it is what it is. The offense is fun to watch. Granted, there will be games like @Michigan St. I know every game won't be like last night's...it's just not really doable in the B1G. If the shots aren't falling, it can get ugly with no inside game.

But just thought I should post something positive AFTER A WIN about CTC's offense and this IU team.
 
Did you see the game as I had a family illness to atttend to but wow. Sounds like it was a pretty impressive shooting display as 68% from three is insane.
 
With the tempo we play

our defensive numbers will take a hit but I thought for a lot of the game we actually played better defense. Also I liked the fact that we did not play much zone and I felt like we play harder in the man to man defense.
 
noticed better defense

I thought I was seeing better defense and then see Maryland hit 50% of their shots. Still, I saw better defense with some double teams down low at times, no stupid reach in fouls. Of course all of what I saw on defense may have been from blurred vision watching all of IU's 3 go in.
 
Is it possible we're better with Hartman in the lineup

rather that HMP? Sure seems like it, and that's taking into account how well he played last night. Granted, he's not always going to shoot perfectly from 3, but he seems willing and eager to make the effort to contribute in the small ways that don't show up in the box score.
 
Re: With the tempo we play

Yes, the effort was greater in last night's game. I also liked that we didn't play, what I like to call, the "soft zone." If and when it works, it's purely by luck, not because of anything that we are doing. So I prefer the man-to-man and we will take our lumps on the inside...although it seems a lot of teams are struggling to find any inside dominance this year.
 
Hartman is a legit problem away from the basket

Their center has to come out to guard Hartman 20' from the basket. He opens up the middle more than HMP does but I would still like to have HMP available. With Hartman playing center it opens the offense up even more than CTC had planned on. With this kind of results CTC may not recruit another player taller than 6'7.
smokin.r191677.gif
 
Re: Is it possible we're better with Hartman in the lineup

Personally, I think so. IMHO opinion, Hanner hasn't developed much of an offensive game and he doesn't have the instincts to be a great rebounder or shot-blocker. Emmitt Holt has better instincts for those things. Hanner is serviceable obviously, but I feel Collin consistently brings more intensity, hustle, offense, and overall basketball IQ.
 
Has Collin grown since his arrival on campus?

I see him listed at 6'8" now. He seems to have decent height, whereas before I saw him as more of a shooting guard, he seems to be a legit small forward and dare i say "stretch 4" now. Did he grow??
 
Inside play

I still cannot figure out why IU's opponents don't post up more and feed their center the ball. Of course, the majority of college basketball is high pick and roll, dribble drive dish for a 3. I look for purdue to feed Hammons in a few weeks against IU. He still has that bunny hop before he shoots under the basket, travel is never called ... still if he scores 30, the rest of the team will have to come up with 50 points somewhere. At times they have a hard time doing 50 in a game.

It will be interesting to see what Wisconsin and Iowa do offensively with their 7'0 centers. I think White at Iowa may have a career day against IU. It will be good that game is at home.
 
I've never seen him listed at 6'8

I am not saying you are wrong but I've never seen him listed at 6'8 ... 6'6 yes. He has gained about 30 lbs since coming to IU but I don't think he has gotten taller. I thought he'd be more of a small forward but not good enough defensively to be a shooting guard.

I love the way he is playing though. I don't see him regressing after all he has been through recovering from knee surgery.
 
That game included one of the best dunks I've seen

Jeff Newton throwing it down with the and one vs. Lucas Johnson, then his priceless facial expression, like, "Seriously? You thought you'd stop me? Go sit down, little man."
 
Re: Inside play

I've been surprised by it too. But the more basketball I watch this year, the less I see of anyone on the inside who can dominate...or someone that i would want to continuously feed the basketball. I mean, if i continuously feed the basketball to Amir Williams or Anthony Lee (for example), then I'm taking the ball out of DeAngelo's hands for a contested 2-pointer with a 40% completion rate if I'm lucky. If, on the other hand, IU is knocking down threes, it would be easy to abandon that plan rather quickly. Like Tyson said, everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.

Kamminsky and Hammons should have career days against IU for sure.
 
Not giving space

When I coached my son, I often put him on the other team's post player. My son had some size, but there were bigger players. He was effective because he never gave the post player room to turn. He got into him enough and others helped so that the post could not make a comfortable move to face the basket like they wanted. Once a player turns, you have to react to the shot and you are usually behind in reaction.

I noticed during one of the games I went to that Hartman defends with his legs and chest and his arms are out only to deflect any passes. crowding a player can throw them off. Hartman also does a good job of anticipating where the player wants to go and using his position to keep contact and control.
 
Re: I've never seen him listed at 6'8

Maybe I misheard last night. There was some stuff going on around me, but I thought the announcers said Hartman was 6'8.
 
ADVERTISEMENT