Inside the Hall - Latest Comments in The Morning After: UNC-Wilmington

Re: The Morning After: UNC-Wilmington

jaime gongora — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 13:07:42 -0000

I just wanted to wish everyone here a happy thanksgiving. Jaime likey turkey.
jaime

Re: The Morning After: UNC-Wilmington

james twitty sr — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 21:37:04 -0000

THE TEAM IS GREAT;AND IS COMMING ALONE JUST FINE.GIVE THEM TIME,ALL OF THEM.

Re: The Morning After: UNC-Wilmington

Timmy — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 16:40:24 -0000

It's funny y'all mention Lebron because after the game last night i was watching Cavs highlights on espn and was thinking to myself that EJ will own Lebron next year.

Re: The Morning After: UNC-Wilmington

PostmanE — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 16:25:12 -0000

Fair enough. I would say (besides his range, which is silly), I'm more impressed thus far with Gordon's sheer strength and speed than I am his shooting. The shooting feels almost like a bonus. But put together ... unreal.

Basically, EJ is good at everything. We can all agree on that.

Re: The Morning After: UNC-Wilmington

PostmanR — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 14:58:01 -0000

@Jim

LeBron James. Ha.

Re: The Morning After: UNC-Wilmington

kelin — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 13:34:19 -0000

R I agree with your assessment of EJ. The other thing that impresses me is his efficiency...30pts with 8-12 shooting....OJ MEyo will take 27 shots to get that many and Rose has some of the similar attributes. EJ is very efficient and as I told a friend today....A BAD shot for almost any other IU player is a GOOD shot for EJ given his ability.

I am also beginning to see Jordan Crawford becoming as good a scorer than EJ.

I look forward to this weekend primarily because it is on the road, neutral court, and better competition. You will know a lot more about this team by Sunday morning.....especially if they play Xavier

Re: The Morning After: UNC-Wilmington

Jim — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 13:30:35 -0000

LBJ . . . Lady Bird Johnson?

Re: The Morning After: UNC-Wilmington

Tsell — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 13:19:41 -0000

ONE thing missing from your assessment of De' Thomas: passing ability. When he and DJ are on the floor hogging the paint together, they are really dangerous because neither one can be kept from scoring by one player alone, and helpside coming leaves the other open. Thomas has already done just that and given DJ some wide open dunks and easy layups.

When you add his passing ability to the equation, I disagree with your overall assessment. Yes, he is going to score most of his points by backing smaller defenders (everyone he that will guard him) into the paint or under the hoop, but he is also able to use that ability to create for teammates. He also has that Shaq mentatility of "I am taking this ball to the rack no matter what" that DJ sometimes lacks and leaves DJ with a missed basket rather than a two shots from the stripe. My 2 cents, fwtw.

Re: The Morning After: UNC-Wilmington

ray — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 12:52:32 -0000

alh '00

every player is supposed to hustle, and every player should be diving for loose balls and drawing charges. unfortuantely, many players don't hustle and dive for loose balls like an errek suhr, a patrick ewing jr, or as lance stemler did last night. i never had a hate for stemler, i actually felt bad that any of iu's players would receive such harsh criticism from their fans. i'm also not a lover because stemler showed us for the first time this year what he's capable of contributing to this team...the same things he did often last year (which is why i think sampson has trouble keeping him out of the line up). every team needs a guy that can come in and play with a lot of heart and energy, and that player is usually someone of lesser talent who makes up for it by giving more effort.

Re: The Morning After: UNC-Wilmington

PostmanR — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 12:23:00 -0000

Yes, like I said, it's him possessing both facets. I'm just more impressed by his shooting than his ability to blow by someone. People are holding O.J. Mayo in the same regard as EJ and it's pretty obvious who the better shooter is. That's why he's a better player in my mind.

It's kind of like LBJ -- his passing was unreal in high school, something you rarely see. It's what all these guys can do on top of their athleticism that separates them from each other.

Re: The Morning After: UNC-Wilmington

PostmanE — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 12:12:18 -0000

Right now it's a small sample size, but Armon Bassett is arguably every bit the shooter Eric Gordon is. Lots of kids at the college level can shoot, too -- not to mention the hordes of sub-Division 1 mid-major players who do nothing but shoot well -- but rare is a player like Gordon who combines that skill with an elevated level of athleticism. That's where he sets himself apart.

Re: The Morning After: UNC-Wilmington

kelin — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 11:59:06 -0000

I think lance is doing what he did last year when his shot wasn't falling. I chalked up the first game as a bad game but I think he will continue to help us all year.

UCLA is overrated
K.Love is overrated....got his shot blocked waaay to much last night....a glorified role player
Illinois will get beat by IU twice
Neitzel can't score without screens

Re: The Morning After: UNC-Wilmington

PostmanR — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 11:24:23 -0000

While I agree that Gordon's athleticism is key, I think what really sets him apart is his shot.

A lot of guys come up to this level with athleticism but don't quite have a shooting touch yet. Or, some come up as deadeye shooters without anyway to create their own shots. Gordon seems to possess both. I mean, the kid looks like he's had NBA range on his threes since he was 16. It's unreal.

Stemler is grit with a capital G. Without Errek Suhr around, who's going to draw all those offensive fouls and dive for balls?

Holman is so raw. I can just imagine Sampson yelling at him during practice all the time. On a team with freshman who excel -- Gordon, Crawford -- he definitely sticks out as the freshman. But if he can grow into his body a bit, he could be a real threat in the coming years.

Re: The Morning After: UNC-Wilmington

Travis — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 11:01:45 -0000

I completely agree with your analysis on Stemler. A bench role is excatly what suits him best on this team. If he can come in and play hard, doing the intangibles and nailing a few jumpers his confidence will increase and IU productivity will spike.

Re: The Morning After: UNC-Wilmington

ALH '00 — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 10:59:40 -0000

Great game last night. I only caught the end of the first half and the second, so I didn't see the slow start, but it is nothing but positives for this team.

As far as the defense is concerned, it will take a while for the team to gel. There are ALOT of new faces and defense is about team. Yes, you need the ball pressure and effort, but just one guy falling asleep will lead to open looks. But for what it's worth, I thought the defense was pretty good the last 8 min. of the first and most of the second. (again, I didn't see UNCW jump out to the ten point lead).

regarding Stemler...why is there this love/hate thing going on? Yesterday, he was the worst player ever; today he is a valued contributor. I don't get it. You guys sound just like the commentators last night...jocking Stemler for hustling. Isn't that what every player is supposed to do?

Re: The Morning After: UNC-Wilmington

jaime gongora — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 10:29:33 -0000

I think after a big ten season IU will learn how to rebound better. I'm more concerened about the development of Eli Holman because we are going to need another big body to take care front court heavy teams. He needs to make sure that people don't post on him too easily, and to be agresive when going for the boards or going up for a basket. I love Jordan Crawford and I don't know why people are saying he's inconsistent. If people are going to be focusing on just bassett and gordon, he will hurt you.

Re: The Morning After: UNC-Wilmington

ray — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 10:00:48 -0000

stemler did what iu needed him to do last night, and that was give his entire effort every play of the game. he doesn't need to score on this team. my big concern so far with the hoosiers is that they aren't rebounding well. anyone else concerned? i know after watching michigan state, iu is going to be dominated on the boards...and that oftem leads to losses. then again, iu isn't missing many shots to give them many chances for offensive boards. i know dj isn't playing a lot, but he and thomas need to average more than three boards a game. i was expecting at least 8 a game from dj this year, and was hopeful of double figures...i still think he has it in him to be a double-double guy night in and night out. we'll see as the opponents become tougher how much playing time he receives and how much effort he puts into the boards.

Re: The Morning After: UNC-Wilmington

Zach — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 09:51:51 -0000

Heh..

http://blogs.indystar.com/p...

Re: The Morning After: UNC-Wilmington

Big A — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 09:51:35 -0000

Agree with you totally on Bassett's defense. I can tell a huge difference when we have Gordon guarding the primary ball handler instead of Armon. Gordon makes it a lot tougher on the point guard to get anything going. I think Armon will improve as the season goes along, but I'd like to see him make an effort to put more pressure on the ball. You can't let guys get into the lane that easily.

Re: The Morning After: UNC-Wilmington

Craig — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 09:32:14 -0000

Great win last night. Stemler furthered my point that on a championship team, he's your seventh man or so - not one of your top five.

One thing to add: I caught the Duke-Illinois game last night. If Coach Webber thinks that Trent Meachem, Chester Frazier, and the McCabe kid are going to stop EG23, Bassett, and Crawford, he's sadly mistaken. Anything less than a sweep of the Illini this year will be a dissapointment.

Not that I'm looking ahead or anything...