Inside the Hall - Latest Comments in The Morning After: Minnesota

Re: The Morning After: Minnesota

MPmike — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 03:38:57 -0000

I agree with you about Burke. She made a doubtful comment in the Purdue/Illinois game about IU not being legit because of their ball handling against Minnesota.

Re: The Morning After: Minnesota

goiu94 — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 14:11:52 -0000

Couple of comments.

1) Agree with Crawford comments. Needs more patience.

2) Question for you all: anyone else just a tiny little bit worried about EJ's response to the pressure defense the last two games?I realize he still scored 17 points against Illinois, but he withered a touch under the pressure he was getting in both games. We'ver very rarely (!!) seen that look of frustration on his face before the last two games, but man have we seeing frequently lately. A very small voice in my head wonders if he just might need a little bit more time to mature before he heads to the pros. I'm very curious to see how he responds against quality competition/serious pressure for the rest of the season (we won't find that out for a couple of weeks. read: @ Wisconsin, @ Illinois, @ OSU over the span of a week and a half in early Feb).

3) Couldn't agree more about DJ. Last night we TRULY saw why he could be the MVP of the team and potentially the big ten. Hostile environment, team playing poorly, down late...steady as she goes for the big man. ANOTHER double double, rallying the troops on the sidelines... amazing. He really is the man lately.

Re: The Morning After: Minnesota

goiu94 — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 14:11:51 -0000

Couple of comments.

1) Agree with Crawford comments. Needs more patience.

Re: The Morning After: Minnesota

CutterInChicago — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 14:15:40 -0000

I'm in a Quixotic mood today... seriously, until last night I had not really thought from a critical standpoint, that more college ball would substantively help Gordon play in the NBA. After last night, I thought "maybe another year would be an actual - not just my pipe dream - good thing." Well, here's to hoping that the 1% chance he comes back, comes to fruition

Re: The Morning After: Minnesota

SocksShortsSwish — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 13:44:10 -0000

Postman E:

Big props for the Doris Burke comment. As I looked at the live feed last night, couldn't believe people didn't like her. Except for the point when she quoted Jimmy Dykes, she did a great job. It's obvious she knows the game, and for the most part, she didn't rely on cliches. Wanted to reply to the Burke haters last night, just didn't know how to do so without sounding like a total feminist trapped in a 200 pound man's body. Come to think of it, that sounds worse.

A big omission from your article (or am I the only one that wanted this?) was the absence of a feverish AJ Ratliff. Thought we could have used him last night, especially when our jump shots went cold. Would have loved to see Sampson take out an obviously pressing EJ at about the 4-5 minute mark and replace him with Ratliff, but Ratliff had a fever, and the only prescription was not to play.

Re: The Morning After: Minnesota

Eamonn — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 12:46:50 -0000

Second: Last night was the first time I ever seriously thought to myself, "Gordon really could use two years in school" seeing how he really puts himself in a position where a ref can call a dumb/non-existent foul on him and questionable passing too.

It doesn't take much for any of us to come to this conclusion, but that's just wishful thinking, my man. :)

Re: The Morning After: Minnesota

Scott — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 12:35:31 -0000

A lot of good commentary here. What I saw was a horribly officiated game. The officials set the tone early. This was a game where major contact was allowed and when that's established 5 minutes into the the game it's going to be ugly. Of the many IU turnovers I counted at least 7 that were a result of major contact. (See Tollackson playing piggy-back on Deandre). With this being the case, how many fouls were called on IU off the ball? It's a complete double standard.

Meanwhile, as usual the commentators are noting "Big Ten Basketball" is on display. I got news for you guys, this isn't basketball at all and I have proof. Every season we watch the officials let Big Ten teams maul each other for 40 minutes. What happens in the NCAA tournament? It's back to reality. Hand checks and scrapes are called consistently and the average ACC or SEC team blows us out by 20 points. (See the ACC-Big 10 Challenge).

The Hoosiers pulling this out was just short of a miracle. No they did not play well but many of us in this blog have played street basketball and know what it's like to play under these conditions.

MAJOR props to Stemler for nailing that 3 and keeping two possessions alive late.

Re: The Morning After: Minnesota

MLOVE — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 11:38:26 -0000

Timmy dont start you never said we were going to win bud... U wanted us to lose remember???? And i believe UNC only beat a GT team by one.

Re: The Morning After: Minnesota

MLOVE — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 11:28:10 -0000

Scott - I agree bud i dont go to school there anymore, but if i were at the GAMES (which i wish i was, trust ME i would be Starting that CHANT... HE IS a senior and deserves the backing as he has been playing like a MAN SOOOOOO for all you still going to the games PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE start that chant in the opening MINUTES...

Re: The Morning After: Minnesota

HoosierSmitty — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 11:23:39 -0000

We won. We played as a team. We played like a Sh*&&y team for much of the night, but at least we get things done as a team. We don't need EJ to drop 30 points for us to win.

We do, however, need DJ to continue playing well. Someone called me crazy the other day when I said losing DJ would be worse to this team than losing EJ. I still don't think I am crazy to say that.

What we do need is consistent role play from one or two guys each night. Bassett gave it to us the other night and last night it was Stemler and Crawford really coming up big.

Go Hoosiers!

Re: The Morning After: Minnesota

IU_Vegas — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 11:22:16 -0000

Just a note about the refs last night. If the game was evenly called and they were being consistent on both ends, EJ's first foul would have meant IU would have shot about sixty free-throws last night. Hand-checks were not called again in the game. It has to be difficult on EJ(and to a lesser extent DeAndre) to be so physical that contact from you is a foul and on the other end you are expected to play through the same contact. I don't want to say that is the reason EJ did not play well last night, but as a freshman I feel he may get frustrated with this at times and last night he appeared more frustrated than I have seen. It seems he has been a focal point of Big Ten officiating as they decide what contact he has to play through which is not comparable to other players. Sorry a little over the top at the end but does anyone notice this trend?

Re: The Morning After: Minnesota

CutterInChicago — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 11:19:18 -0000

First, I'll agree with Doris Burke assessment. She was a pleasant surprise and I liked her candor. This game was awful to watch in many respect. turnovers last night. I mean lots of lazy/careless passes. There just seemed to be a lack of intensity in our game last night (and really last Sunday too). We also made a lot of bad, quasi-half-court passes to get out of the press. Why? We've got the guards to break a press.
Second: Last night was the first time I ever seriously thought to myself, "Gordon really could use two years in school" seeing how he really puts himself in a position where a ref can call a dumb/non-existent foul on him and questionable passing too.
Third: DJ White has really become a great Hoosier. I heard someone call him a more athletic version of Daryl Thomas. Can't disagree there.
Fourth: Ratliff's foul on the Minnesota kid's three pointer was his 2nd or even 3rd time where he has fouled a player on a 3 point shot to get a 4 point play.
Fifth: even though he hit big shots last night, Jordan Crawford still is not a starter and should not be our point guard.
Sixth: Thank God for Lance Stemler last night.
Seventh: any Big Ten road win is still huge, even if they are ugly.
Eighth: Jimmy Dykes was painfully to listen to during the Tennessee game. He's a younger, dumber, Southern version of Billy Packer

Re: The Morning After: Minnesota

Jim — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 11:09:03 -0000

One more point on EJs foul problems - if he's not careful & gets a reputation for being fould prone he will never get the benefit of the doubt. That could be horrible come March if the consensus is that he fould a lot - every questionable reach in will get a whistle!

Re: The Morning After: Minnesota

Timmy — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 11:07:30 -0000

I told you guys we'd win but a great team like UNC or Memphis would have destroyed minny by 20 last night. We lack discipline, focus and intensity from our guards. If we don't step it up, we won't be hanging another banner.

Re: The Morning After: Minnesota

Alex Bozich — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 10:50:31 -0000

I hate to say I told you so, but I told you so. I'll admit it was a bit dicey there for a bit watching turnover after turnover after turnover, but the Hoosiers found a way to get it done in the end. Props go to senior captains Lance Stemler and D.J. "double-double" White for their leadership down the stretch.

Re: The Morning After: Minnesota

neale — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 10:34:02 -0000

i know EJ struggled last night, but seriously - Did anyone see that defense on the last play? i was very impressed by his pressure. yes he was dumb to pick up the early fouls (which i did not see - i was at the double OT win in women's game vs minny in the hall) but he always plays pressure defense like that, and he is always going to drive hard to the basket, picking up some charges. he needs (a lot with all of our guards) to take better care of the ball, and he needs to learn when to ease off a little, but on the other hand he played a looooong stretch at the end of the game of in your face defense and didn't pick up a foul. so did he struggle? yes. was it a bad game for him? i don't know if i would go that far. bottom line is, if gordon doesn't play that in-your-face-defense, i think we lose this game. not that i really need to defend ej, but i don't feel last night was that bad. however, i want to BLOW SOMEONE OUT, and soon. i am getting tired of "proving we can win when we aren't at our best." let's play our best and smoke people.

Re: The Morning After: Minnesota

Robert — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 10:33:02 -0000

I give it up to Stemler and DJ for helping keep us in the game last night....I agree with most of the comments I'm reading, in that, it's great to have the talented freshmen we do, but yet, we can't forget we still have freshmen... new to this level and still learning.....should be interesting down the road

Re: The Morning After: Minnesota

goiu94 — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 10:06:47 -0000

Couple of comments.

1) Agree with Crawford comments. Needs more patience.

Re: The Morning After: Minnesota

MultiSpork — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 09:58:21 -0000

One of biggest worries about this team is its inability to execute bounce passes. Each game typically produces several cringe moment for me when the Hoosiers constantly throw skip passes. Last night was easily the worst night for that. There were several pass attempts into the post that were either deflected or knocked away from the post player because he had to catch the ball over his head. No wonder IU had 26 turnovers last night. Still, a win is a win and I'm thankful for it.

PostmanE, this is an excellent point: "The game is 40 minutes long, and each possession should be valued evenly, but those late minutes are where teams’ mettles are tested. The Hoosiers are 2-0." This attitude has been missing from this team for some time. It's nice to seem them fight until the end.

Re: The Morning After: Minnesota

goiu94 — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 09:56:09 -0000

Yes yes yes. Shot selection is his bugaboo... example: last night he hits those threes back to back. Next possession, he comes down the court with the ball and throws up an off balance three with a guy in his face. If he can learn to contain things and play with patience, Jordan's going to be a force for us in the future (assuming Lance Stephenson isn't absorbing all of his playing time in a couple of years) ;)

Re: The Morning After: Minnesota

Qunicy — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 09:47:04 -0000

There is something about playing in that big barn, elevated floor, and frigid weather atmosphere, that creates TOs . Its a W. Winning on the road in the B-10, is a new experience for us. Lets enjoy it!

Re: The Morning After: Minnesota

Fes — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 09:43:09 -0000

Tell ESPN their production quality sucks...enough of the wives, the horrible seats, etc. There's a damned game going on, show it.

Re: The Morning After: Minnesota

peaychris — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 09:41:13 -0000

Last nights game was interesting to say the least. Minn was awful only shooting 39%! On top of that they shot 52% from the line. IU really dodged the bullet last night, but sometimes on the road on the BIG TEN the better team doenst always win!! on a side note i would like to thank everyone involved for putting this website together. I live in alabama now and its hard to find anyone to watch a IU game with me, but like my girlfried said its almost like i have friends to talk about the game with me!!! also the one commerical more lame than the pizza hut, are those insanley gay poetry raps about the big ten.

Re: The Morning After: Minnesota

JohnM — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 09:32:28 -0000

My joining of the consensus was based on the idea that IU has lost nearly every road game of import in the last 15 years. I'm glad it didn't happen, and I'm glad we held on despite a mistake-riddled effort, but I don't think my pessimism was unwarranted.

Re: The Morning After: Minnesota

Eamonn — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 09:24:57 -0000

Reading back through, I realize I should clarify the turnovers note at the end. Turnovers themselves aren't and aberration for IU, but 26 is.

Had to get that off my chest. I feel so much better now.