DISQUS

CDWIU'98 · 10 months ago

If Devan Dumes never played another minute, I'd be happy. And it's just not driving the lane and turning the ball over or taking a ill-advised 40-foot 3 pointer with 30 seconds still left on the shot clock and then missing 2 of 3 free throws. It's been his play the entire season. He turns the ball over too much and takes awful shots. He hurts the team more than he helps. Ugh.

BFowler · 10 months ago

I agree with the Dumes comment 100% (if I could get 100% on anything....?). He alone raised and killed me. The threes he hit in the first half were a boost of confidence for the whole team and you could see the guys rally. The drive with 40 seconds to go instead of milking the shot clock to zero and even if you do not get a shot off, you leave Michigan only 6 or 7 seconds (and, heck, just foul them and you are still up three, they can not tie from the line!).

I really couldn't care about how bad the announcers on the B10 Network are, they could never be as HORRIBLE as listening to Bill Walton call anything. Not saying they are very good, but let's go ahead and admit it, they are not exactly drawing top talent right now, what is this year 2? CBS and NBC can do better than Bill Walton.

I read the, "help is on the way" comment from a previous post, and I think that the next group of freshmen will still be freshmen, but at least there will be bench options and the fatigue factor will not be as huge.

Here is what I would say is the worst part of the last two games: EXPECTATIONS. We now expect this team to do something (whether it be blow a lead or not, I had the same feeling E). I actually began to let myself think, "Hey, we could BEAT these guys!" That was the worst part for me.........then, well you know the rest.

IndianaJoe · 10 months ago

That's what I was feeling also, but I will pose this question. When should we expect more from this team? Because if we do, there's always going to be somebody that says this team is young and doesn't have enough talent. I think we should expect play just like the first half of the game. I know that's not going to happen but the team just raised their ceiling of potential.

ALH_00 · 10 months ago

At half, I was just thinking 17 is a lot of points...just play solid. Don't turn it over and hopefully take some good shots. I'm still not sure how it happened, but deep down I knew it was inevitable. Back to accepting moral victories for now.

Great games Jones and Williams.

Matt_J · 10 months ago

When Michigan made their little run that really cemented the fact that they'd be coming all the way back, why was Moore still on the bench? I realize he's a walk-on and all, but he also had a calming effect that Dumes shooting 30-footers just didn't. I mean, any points during that stretch (around the 8-9 minute mark, if memory serves) would have probably meant a victory, as opposed to empty possession after empty possession.

SteveEyl · 10 months ago

As bad a Tom Hamilton is (he's the CLE Indians radio guy, and he never shuts up, like he's on the radio), the thing I really can't stand about the BTN is the camera work.

How effing hard is it to KEEP THE BALL AND THE BASKET IN THE FRAME AT ALL TIMES?

So amateurish.

I'm not even sure what to say about the actual game. I seem to have gotten pretty good at focusing on the improvemnt, and there was improvement there. But that would have been a really nice one to win...

Kelin Blab · 10 months ago

According to my count Steve, IU lost by 20....given about 10 points I never saw....I am glad I have BTN but hell don't tease me by showing the court only

SteveEyl · 10 months ago

Word.

How about the one in the second half where somebody (Verdell?) drove to the bucket from the left wing, and just dissapeared off the screen. And all the while, Hamilton is going on about what a great shot it was.

TexasHoosier · 10 months ago

I love Matt Roth so much. I want to like Dumes, but it's really hard. Why does Roth wear the shoulder pad undershirt? It makes him look like a goblin.

Kelin Blab · 10 months ago

I love Roth also, I hope he works on his ballhandling....he is a SHOOTER! I hope they start setting some screens for him....

TomCoverdale's Eyebrows · 10 months ago

I was only able to watch the first half of the game, and I found myself texting buddies like a giddy school girl. Despite the fact that these kids blew a golden opportunity, its hard to be mad or frustrated, in my opinion. Every game, every play every second is a new experience for these guys and this team, so its reality that collapses like this will happen.

MPmike · 10 months ago

Hit freakin' free throws! Very bad free throw shooting is a sign of a very bad team.

mylifeinacube · 10 months ago

ha! i remember that 'blood test' bit. horrible.

coachv · 10 months ago

roth isn't wearing shoulder pads. he just doesn't have a neck. if he did, he'd be 6'6" and a 4-star recruit.
eamonn, right on about the annoying announcers (and terrible camera work), but to me bill rafferty is the most unbearable, with his screeched, rehearsed lines. a man in his 60's screeching like that! ugh. i have to keep my finger poised over the mute button at all times when forced to watch a game he's covering. every time i don't mute rafferty in time, i stab myself in the ear with a sharp pencil as punishment.
and eamonn, the word is rehearsed, not prerehearsed. that' would be redundant, let alone grammatically incorrect. like forewarn instead of warn. reaffirm instead of affirm. readjust....etc. you get the idea.

Kelin Blab · 10 months ago

coachv-

Rafferty is one of my favorites, you gotta love the intro....."man to man".......thank GOD packer retired.

CoveyDale · 10 months ago

Rafferty is 1,000,000,000X better than Packer.

Matt_J · 10 months ago

Seven cats in a bag being run over by a lawn mower is 1,000,000,000X better than Packer.

CoveyDale · 10 months ago

hahaha. touche.

but honestly i do like Rafferty - much more than seven cats getting shredded in a lawn mower.

hoosier53 · 10 months ago

I am not crazy about the way Dumas played. The long shots made me cringe until they went in and then they made me cheer. The erratic dibble/drive/dish/turnover menu keeps me on the edge of my seat praying that he will pass before he loses total control. The bad decision at the last made me want to cry. Had he made the shot or drawn a foul I am sure I would have cheered.

That all being said I must say you sound like a University of Kentucky fan the way you want to throw this guy under the bus. Living close to the border I hear their diatribes all the time and try to keep from falling under their influence. Keep it in perspective, keep it real, keep it clean. Yeah I did not have faith with the 20 point lead because I saw what they did with it the last time they were up..........but we were in the game................we were close to a win.......we were where we could dream of a victory. This year is a total do-over and we need to remember that as the disappointments continue to happen. They looked so much better in the last two games than they have during the pre-conference schedule that I acutally have hope that sometime this year we may actually steal one.

Be an IU fan, realistic, not a UK fan - a total ..........

Eamonn · 10 months ago

I don't want to throw Dumes under a bus, I actually like him a lot. I love his swag. But he needs to balance his talent and confidence with a little moderation. That's all.

brosallman · 10 months ago

Dumes has a lot of Bracey Wright in him, too much leeway and too little talent.

Kelin Blab · 10 months ago

People lay off Dumes because he is one of the few IU players that can get his own shot and consistently plays with confidence. Does he make mistakes...YES...Does he take bad shots.....YES.....BUT without Dumes last night IU loses that game in regulation. Lets not forget he is new to this level of college basketball so it is an adjustment......

I think Devan at times trys to be "the man" for this team and show some leadership but tries to do it in the wrong way, we always don't need the big shot or big play.....

Again without Dumes, we are losing to Michigan and some other teams alot worse....

HoosierSmitty · 10 months ago

Yeah, you look at the game and Dumes was great in the first half. I think we were up 6 (maybe just three) late in the game when he popped two straight threes on one possession. He was trying to give us that BOOST forward...and ice the game, but it didn't happen. He's doing what he knows...and sometimes it's brutally frustrating....

hoosier53 · 10 months ago

I agree that Dumes is trying to be "the man" and I agree that what he did probably help to spur the team in confidence so that it really competed at a level we could not have planned on. I am sure that CTC will help him to work on his decision making process and that we will see different choices in the future.

But.......when you look at this team ask yourself how many of them would be getting major minutes on an established D1 team. After Pritchert who do you think would be massing the minutes they are getting now. They are not ready to play at this level and would not be expected to if the program had not been gutted. We are in effect setting them up for failure by placing them into situations where they have little hope of succeeding. It is what it is.............they play hard.......they do not give up........they seem to be proud to wear the uniform.

I would say that even with the unending belief that CTC has in this team that the potential for continuing disappointments to begin to wear them down lay in the future. His zeal and encouragement can only carry them so far. I don't want to stroke them where they don't deserve it but I do want to flavor all of my comments with the realization of who and what we are dealing with.

Tyce · 10 months ago

Normally, I like to give guys the benefit of the doubt. After reading all of these comments I think all points have been made on Dumes, but seriously how do you make those plays. I agree we have to have someone who will try and score points, but even on a lot of those shots that fell in the first half I still didn't like the shots. Its not a good example for anyone else to follow, even Devan himself. I think what it really boils down to is this... This team is not a very good team, but it was the best we could get, I can live with that, easily, but the one area of the game that we can compete with other teams in is smarts, its INDIANA basketball, and lack of smarts is why we lost last night. It may have looked like we were trying not to lose in the second half and using the shot clock, when in reality we just managed to not turn it over until late in the shot clock then never got a better shot than a 3 with a hand in your face. With all the missed free throws, with all the turnovers, and even the lack of offense, we had that game won in regulation. That is whats so frustrating is that we lost because of a few plays that most of the educated basketball fans on IU could have made in their sleep when they were 7. I don't mind being out abilitied by a team because its going to happen this year, but when we give up games (even ones we shouldn't win) because we don't know basketball situations at INDIANA that's when its time to be very upset with our play.

cooper · 10 months ago

Williams and Jones were very good I think, though Williams disappeared in the 2nd half. He never seemed to get the ball and they went away from him in the post where he was great in the 1st half. Jones played very well, and has definitely taken over PG for now. I didn't see Pritchard play real solid at all, I thought he got worked over the entire second half. Maybe I'm wrong... Dumes is what he is. He needs a PG that won't give him the ball all the time. In the 2nd half the offense turned to throw Dumes the ball and hope he bails the team out. A great first half, but 62.5% from 3 in the first half is fools gold. Team played very well in the 1st half but thats what really makes it a bad lose

MillaRed · 10 months ago

I think another thing to consider here is Coach Crean. Dumes really hasn't made any adjustments to his game since game 1 and Coach has to take some responsibility there. Coach also made two decisions down the stretch I wasn't thrilled about.

We're up 3 points with possession and freshmen all over the place. As soon as Pritchard makes that skip pass and we cross half court CALL TIMEOUT!!!! These guys need to be TOLD how to close it out.

Then with a tied game and 20 seconds on the clock with possession, he calls tiemout with 7 seconds left? That's not enough time to run a set.

Don't get me wrong. CTC is our boy I know that. But these decisons affected the outcome of the game.

danprs · 10 months ago

Crean will demonstrate his poor game coaching to the Indiana fans. Rah! Rah! is good for the program, coaching during the games wins games. MU fans lived with Crean's game decisions now Indiana fans will have to endure.

Brian · 10 months ago

Fun to watch Tommy Boy play cheerleader and coach...keep clapping...

fergrad · 10 months ago

The announcers last night made me want break things. "Assembly Hall is as quiet as a library!". Dork. I am actually physically ill today and I'm officially blaming it on those two jackasses.

MGOBLUE · 10 months ago

If you don't like the announcers hit MUTE, Thanks for the memories