I wanted to make a post about what I view as the worst & best IU games during Archie's tenure in terms of effort. I say effort rather than results because this game at OSU brought bask bad memories of similar disappointing efforts over the last 4 years.
Reviewing the last 4 years, I will say that I was struck about the # of good wins CAM has had here. Overall, of course, the results are very disappointing, to the point where most of us want him gone. But there is no denying that looking back on the seasons as a whole there are a # of very surprising 'good effort' wins & losses. More than I would have thought.
Anyway, here's my rough look:
Worst Effort Games:
1. 2019-20 2/8/20 Purdue L62-74 Knight's return game, and had lost 7 in a row to Purdue at that point, and did not show up.
2. 2017-18 12/17/17 Ft Wayne L72-92 We were well into the season (game #12) and just off games v. ND, UL & Iowa where we did ok. Ft Wayne finished #4/8 in the Summit League. The game was in Bloomington. And as best I can remember we were never in the game.
3. 2018-19 1/14/19 NEB L51-66 Blow out loss at home v. a team that finished 6-14 & 13th in BT. Part of a very bad 6 game losing streak late in season.
4. 2017-18 10/10/17 ISU L 69-90 Blown out in Archie's first game by an ISU team that finished 6th/10 in MVC that year, and 13-18 overall. I don't think we were ever in the game. I just remember a lot of 3s.
5. 2020-21 1/14/21 Purdue L69-81 Going into the game, PU had beaten IU 6 straight times & Archie 4. We were a 3-4 pt home favorite. So fans assumed we'd be motivated to play. Wrong. We decided not to cover their 3 pt shooters, and got badly outrebounded. PU famously hit a higher % of 3s than we did on FTs, by 10 pts.
6. 2018-19 1/22/19 at Northwestern L66-73 NW finished 4-16 & last in the BT.
7. 2019-20 1/8/20 NW W66-62 NW finished 3-17 & 13th in BT.
8. 2019-20 12/7/19 at WIS L64-84 Koby King's career day....24 points....IU was 8-0 at the time, coming off a very nice win over FSU in the BT-ACC Challenge. Another game we were never in. This was the game that signaled that '19-'20 was not going to be different....removed any remaining doubt in my mind that CAM wasn't the man for the job.
9. 2018-19 3/14/19 OSU in BTT at Chicago L75-79 Romeo's last game. Everyone knew we had to win to make the tourney. Basically us v. OSU for that spot. As I recall, we came out with no fire.....rallied a little at the end to make the score respectable.
10. 2019-20 12/13/19 NEB W96-90 OT A personal favorite of mine. Gave up 90 points to a team that finished 2-18 and last in the BT, at home. Concluded a wild 4 game stretch where we beat a very good FSU team at FSU, came back and got crushed at Wisconsin, and beat U Conn at MSG.
Dishonorable mentions, in no particular order:
-- 2017-18 3/1/18 RUT at BTT L69-76 As a 6 seed, IU lost to #14 Rutgers. Ranks this high because we didn't show for a BTT game. We had beaten RU by 22 a month earlier at RU. Doesn't rank higher because RU also beat MN in the BTT, and gave a good PUR team a fight in their 3rd game
-- 2020-21 2/13/21 at #4 OSU L59-78 OK, the odds for a win weren't good. But, more bricks the first 10 minutes than at a Portland riot, and ran up the white flag with 8-9 minutes left.
-- 2020-21 1/10/21 at Nebraska W84-76 Misleading score, as IU went down to the wire with a winless NEB team, with no fans present. Especially horrible D effort in this one.
-- 2019-20 1/29/20 at PSU L49-64 PSU was ranked #24 but finished 11-9 in the BT. 49 points is the key stat here.
-- 2020-21 12/9/20 Texas, in NC L44-66 Neutral court blowout after nice win v. Providence & before nice win v. Stanford. Race & Trace out-toughed in a preview of OSU game.
-- 2020-21 12/23/20 NW L67-74 Lost convincingly at home, in the 1st BT game, to a mediocre NW team that then beat OSU at NW, but has since lost 12 straight.
-- 2020-21 2/10/21 NW at NW W79-76 Thank you refs for this 2 OT win v. a team coming in with 10 straight losses.
-- 2019-20 2/16/20 at Michigan L65-89 Lost by 24 to a UM team that finished 10-10 and 9th in BT.
-- 2019-20 12/29/19 Arkansas L64-71 11-1 going into the game. Lost at home to a mediocre Ark team that didn't play particularly well.
-- 2019-20 1/15/20 at Rutgers L50-59 Roughed up by a RU team that finished 11-9 in the BT, tied for 8th. Scored 50 pts.
-- 2018-19 2/16/19 at MN L63-84 21 pt loss to a MN team that finished 9-11 & 7th in BT.
-- 2018-19 12/1/18 NW W68-66 2 pt home win over NW team that finished 4-16 & last in BT
-- 2018-19 1/25/19 MICH L46-69 Blown out by then #5 Michigan at home. Scored 46 pts. Part of very bad 6 game LS.
Now, at look at Best Effort games in Archie's tenure, imo:
1. 2018-19 2/2/19 MSU W79-75 Beat then #3 MSU, which won the BT and went to the FF.
2. 2018-19 3/2/19 MSU W63-62 Beat then #6 MSU, which won the BT and went to the FF.
3. 2019-20 12/3/19 FSU W80-64 Beat then #17 FSU at AH. They went on to win the ACC by finishing 16-4.
4. 2017-18 1/28/18 Purdue L67-74 Played Purdue, then #3, which finished 15-3 and 2nd in the BT very tough.
5. 2017-18 1/29/17 Duke L81-91 Played Duke, then ranked #1 tough. They ended up 2nd in ACC, 29-8 overall.
6. 2020-21 1/7/21 at WIS L 73-80, in 2 OTs Should have won, even with home officiating. Falling apart in 2nd OT diminishes the effort a little.
7. 2020-21 12/9/20 FSU, in NC L67-69 in OT coulda/shoulda won over a more-talented FSU roster.
8. 2020-21 1/21/21 at Iowa W81-69 Hung in and won after a very slow start .over an Iowa team that fell apart.
9. 2018-19 3/7/19 at Illinois W92-74 Illinois was only 7-13 in BT, but this was a nice road win. Came right after nice wins v. Wisky & MSU at home, and a 15 pt win at RU to finish the regular season, and put IU in position to make the tourney.....then the loss to OSU in the BTT.
10. 2018-19 2/26/19 WIS W75-73 in 2 OTs Wisconsin #19 at the time
Honorable mentions, in no particular order:
-- 2018-19 11/14/18 MARQ W96-73 Marquette was ranked #24, but was pretty soft. This is one game when Romeo looked like a star. It was also Fitzner's best game, by far.
-- 2018-19 1/11/19 at MD L75-78 MD was ranked #22, finished 13-7, and was talented.
-- 2019-20 1/11/20 OSU W66-54 Convincing win over then ranked #11 OSU. They finished 11-9 & 21-10 overall.
-- 2019-20 1/23/20 MSU W67-63 MSU finished 2nd in BT at 14-6 & 22-9 overall.
Summarizing this:
2017-18 2 of best efforts, 3 of worst efforts
2018-19 6 of best efforts, 6 of worst efforts
2019-20 3 of best efforts, 8 of worst efforts
2020-21 3 of best efforts, 6 of worst efforts
What have I missed?
Reviewing the last 4 years, I will say that I was struck about the # of good wins CAM has had here. Overall, of course, the results are very disappointing, to the point where most of us want him gone. But there is no denying that looking back on the seasons as a whole there are a # of very surprising 'good effort' wins & losses. More than I would have thought.
Anyway, here's my rough look:
Worst Effort Games:
1. 2019-20 2/8/20 Purdue L62-74 Knight's return game, and had lost 7 in a row to Purdue at that point, and did not show up.
2. 2017-18 12/17/17 Ft Wayne L72-92 We were well into the season (game #12) and just off games v. ND, UL & Iowa where we did ok. Ft Wayne finished #4/8 in the Summit League. The game was in Bloomington. And as best I can remember we were never in the game.
3. 2018-19 1/14/19 NEB L51-66 Blow out loss at home v. a team that finished 6-14 & 13th in BT. Part of a very bad 6 game losing streak late in season.
4. 2017-18 10/10/17 ISU L 69-90 Blown out in Archie's first game by an ISU team that finished 6th/10 in MVC that year, and 13-18 overall. I don't think we were ever in the game. I just remember a lot of 3s.
5. 2020-21 1/14/21 Purdue L69-81 Going into the game, PU had beaten IU 6 straight times & Archie 4. We were a 3-4 pt home favorite. So fans assumed we'd be motivated to play. Wrong. We decided not to cover their 3 pt shooters, and got badly outrebounded. PU famously hit a higher % of 3s than we did on FTs, by 10 pts.
6. 2018-19 1/22/19 at Northwestern L66-73 NW finished 4-16 & last in the BT.
7. 2019-20 1/8/20 NW W66-62 NW finished 3-17 & 13th in BT.
8. 2019-20 12/7/19 at WIS L64-84 Koby King's career day....24 points....IU was 8-0 at the time, coming off a very nice win over FSU in the BT-ACC Challenge. Another game we were never in. This was the game that signaled that '19-'20 was not going to be different....removed any remaining doubt in my mind that CAM wasn't the man for the job.
9. 2018-19 3/14/19 OSU in BTT at Chicago L75-79 Romeo's last game. Everyone knew we had to win to make the tourney. Basically us v. OSU for that spot. As I recall, we came out with no fire.....rallied a little at the end to make the score respectable.
10. 2019-20 12/13/19 NEB W96-90 OT A personal favorite of mine. Gave up 90 points to a team that finished 2-18 and last in the BT, at home. Concluded a wild 4 game stretch where we beat a very good FSU team at FSU, came back and got crushed at Wisconsin, and beat U Conn at MSG.
Dishonorable mentions, in no particular order:
-- 2017-18 3/1/18 RUT at BTT L69-76 As a 6 seed, IU lost to #14 Rutgers. Ranks this high because we didn't show for a BTT game. We had beaten RU by 22 a month earlier at RU. Doesn't rank higher because RU also beat MN in the BTT, and gave a good PUR team a fight in their 3rd game
-- 2020-21 2/13/21 at #4 OSU L59-78 OK, the odds for a win weren't good. But, more bricks the first 10 minutes than at a Portland riot, and ran up the white flag with 8-9 minutes left.
-- 2020-21 1/10/21 at Nebraska W84-76 Misleading score, as IU went down to the wire with a winless NEB team, with no fans present. Especially horrible D effort in this one.
-- 2019-20 1/29/20 at PSU L49-64 PSU was ranked #24 but finished 11-9 in the BT. 49 points is the key stat here.
-- 2020-21 12/9/20 Texas, in NC L44-66 Neutral court blowout after nice win v. Providence & before nice win v. Stanford. Race & Trace out-toughed in a preview of OSU game.
-- 2020-21 12/23/20 NW L67-74 Lost convincingly at home, in the 1st BT game, to a mediocre NW team that then beat OSU at NW, but has since lost 12 straight.
-- 2020-21 2/10/21 NW at NW W79-76 Thank you refs for this 2 OT win v. a team coming in with 10 straight losses.
-- 2019-20 2/16/20 at Michigan L65-89 Lost by 24 to a UM team that finished 10-10 and 9th in BT.
-- 2019-20 12/29/19 Arkansas L64-71 11-1 going into the game. Lost at home to a mediocre Ark team that didn't play particularly well.
-- 2019-20 1/15/20 at Rutgers L50-59 Roughed up by a RU team that finished 11-9 in the BT, tied for 8th. Scored 50 pts.
-- 2018-19 2/16/19 at MN L63-84 21 pt loss to a MN team that finished 9-11 & 7th in BT.
-- 2018-19 12/1/18 NW W68-66 2 pt home win over NW team that finished 4-16 & last in BT
-- 2018-19 1/25/19 MICH L46-69 Blown out by then #5 Michigan at home. Scored 46 pts. Part of very bad 6 game LS.
Now, at look at Best Effort games in Archie's tenure, imo:
1. 2018-19 2/2/19 MSU W79-75 Beat then #3 MSU, which won the BT and went to the FF.
2. 2018-19 3/2/19 MSU W63-62 Beat then #6 MSU, which won the BT and went to the FF.
3. 2019-20 12/3/19 FSU W80-64 Beat then #17 FSU at AH. They went on to win the ACC by finishing 16-4.
4. 2017-18 1/28/18 Purdue L67-74 Played Purdue, then #3, which finished 15-3 and 2nd in the BT very tough.
5. 2017-18 1/29/17 Duke L81-91 Played Duke, then ranked #1 tough. They ended up 2nd in ACC, 29-8 overall.
6. 2020-21 1/7/21 at WIS L 73-80, in 2 OTs Should have won, even with home officiating. Falling apart in 2nd OT diminishes the effort a little.
7. 2020-21 12/9/20 FSU, in NC L67-69 in OT coulda/shoulda won over a more-talented FSU roster.
8. 2020-21 1/21/21 at Iowa W81-69 Hung in and won after a very slow start .over an Iowa team that fell apart.
9. 2018-19 3/7/19 at Illinois W92-74 Illinois was only 7-13 in BT, but this was a nice road win. Came right after nice wins v. Wisky & MSU at home, and a 15 pt win at RU to finish the regular season, and put IU in position to make the tourney.....then the loss to OSU in the BTT.
10. 2018-19 2/26/19 WIS W75-73 in 2 OTs Wisconsin #19 at the time
Honorable mentions, in no particular order:
-- 2018-19 11/14/18 MARQ W96-73 Marquette was ranked #24, but was pretty soft. This is one game when Romeo looked like a star. It was also Fitzner's best game, by far.
-- 2018-19 1/11/19 at MD L75-78 MD was ranked #22, finished 13-7, and was talented.
-- 2019-20 1/11/20 OSU W66-54 Convincing win over then ranked #11 OSU. They finished 11-9 & 21-10 overall.
-- 2019-20 1/23/20 MSU W67-63 MSU finished 2nd in BT at 14-6 & 22-9 overall.
Summarizing this:
2017-18 2 of best efforts, 3 of worst efforts
2018-19 6 of best efforts, 6 of worst efforts
2019-20 3 of best efforts, 8 of worst efforts
2020-21 3 of best efforts, 6 of worst efforts
What have I missed?
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