IU loses to Sparty

[tower912]

Crean has that team believing.  And that is huge for them.   For 30 minutes at the Breslin, they were like the little engine that could.   They looked very good.  The last 10 minutes showed how tough it is to win on the road in a major conference.   Sparty lowered the boom.     During the IU's run from late in the first half to around the 10 minute mark in the second, the announcers were talking about all of IU's offensive plays.    The last 10 minutes was like the bad Crean@MU in microcosm.   All they did was run that dumbass 3 man weave around the top and then with 10 seconds to go on the shot clock someone would either make a kamikaze drive or force up a contested 3.   Completely unable to get it into Zeller against Izzo.  And Crean ran a 2-3 zone ineffectively, apparently thinking that since he doesn't have a zone offense, no one else does, either.   Izzo's team looks like it has the parts to make a March run again.    TC has that team trending well.   Can he take the next step?

[warthog-driver]

TC has that team trending well.   Can he take the next step?

I hope not

[ErickJD08]

Funny. I thought the same thing. IU looked like MU. Just letting the clock go down til about 8 seconds left before anything happen. They looked under sized too.

[MattyWarrior]

Crimson and Creamed

[chapman]

At least Crean is getting better against Izzo.  Who knows if he'll ever beat the master though.  But at least it's no longer taking him 10 minutes to score the first basket.

[The Maestro]

Indiana, Indiana has only two standout players, Watford and Zeller. Take them out of the game (Watford had a very good game tonight) and IU is beatable. It should be noted too how much better a team can be with a talented big man.

[Bieberhole69]

That douche is now 1-27 on the road in the Big 10

[Golden Avalanche]

Indiana, Indiana has only two standout players, Watford and Zeller. Take them out of the game (Watford had a very good game tonight) and IU is beatable. It should be noted too how much better a team can be with a talented big man.

Couldn't you just write this recap for nearly every team in the country?

Hate to see how badly our asses would be kicked without Odom and Crowder.

[Jay Bee]

I like how he's learned how to utilize a big man.  Zeller almost got a cuatro-cuatro in his first Big 1? game!

[rocky_warrior]

Overheard on the internet...

"We just didn't execute," Hulls said after a 2-for-10 shooting effort and four turnovers. "They're a good team. We knew that coming in here. They knew a lot of our plays, it seemed. We've just got to execute better, make harder cuts and move the ball more."

Maybe next time you can run a 3 man weave for 15 seconds and then chuck up a shot.  I bet they've never heard of that one.

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

Pretty entertains game, but Hulls hasn't progressed in my opinion. If they had an above average PG they'd be in business.

I also might point out that IU had like a 9 point lead with about 10 (?) minutes left.

[tower912]

....and Sparty turned up the heat and Crean had no in-game adjustment.    Yes.   We know this song. 

[MUMac]

Couldn't you just write this recap for nearly every team in the country?

Hate to see how badly our asses would be kicked without Odom and Crowder.

I may be wrong, but I took the original posters comment to be more on designing a defense than playing without those two.  I would agree, if you focus the D on those two, the others would not pick up the slack.  I think MU has better options outside of Crowder and DJO to at least keep the defenses honest.

[Golden Avalanche]

I may be wrong, but I took the original posters comment to be more on designing a defense than playing without those two.  I would agree, if you focus the D on those two, the others would not pick up the slack.  I think MU has better options outside of Crowder and DJO to at least keep the defenses honest.

I got that as well. Still think we'd get our ass kicked if Odom and Crowder are neutralized. If MU could truly thrive with defenses taking out their two best players, the Warriors would be the best team in the country.

In the end, you'd be relying on an average 1, a frosh 2, a slashing 3 with little jumper, an inconsistent 4, and a below the rim 5.

How is that much different then an average 1, an inconsistent 2, a slashing 3 with little jumper, a role playing 4, and a frosh 5?

I think both scenarios would garner similar results.

[augoman]

ultimately, Izzo still owns TC.

[Lennys Tap]

ultimately, Izzo still owns TC.

One of the strangest games ever. Indiana went on a 29-2 run in the middle of the game but was outscored 78-36 in the front and back.

[wadesworld]

I got that as well. Still think we'd get our ass kicked if Odom and Crowder are neutralized. If MU could truly thrive with defenses taking out their two best players, the Warriors would be the best team in the country.

In the end, you'd be relying on an average 1, a frosh 2, a slashing 3 with little jumper, an inconsistent 4, and a below the rim 5.

How is that much different then an average 1, an inconsistent 2, a slashing 3 with little jumper, a role playing 4, and a frosh 5?

I think both scenarios would garner similar results.

I don't know that I agree with that.  Until the 6:47 mark in the 2nd half on Wisconsin's home court (a top 10 team), the combined stats of DJO and Jae Crowder were:

13 points
5-15 fg
3-4 ft
6 rebounds
6 fouls
2 steals
1 assist
3 turnovers

I would say that's about as neutralized as you will find those two over the course of 33 minutes of a basketball game, and we were still winning the game by 5 points at that time.  If those 2 are on the court and defenses are so focused on shutting them down that they hold them to those types of numbers, we have the talent around them to still hang with teams and win games.  Even the final stats were a combined 19 points, 4 turnovers, 2 steals, 3 assists, 8 rebounds, 5-6 ft, 7-19 fg.  DJO got 6 points in the last 6 minutes of the game.  He made big shots at big moments to close the game out, but he did not have a great game up until that point.

[Hoopaloop]

....and Sparty turned up the heat and Crean had no in-game adjustment.    Yes.   We know this song. 

Tonight, we didn't even have a pre-game adjustment.  IU surprised me last night.  MSU has two losses, to Duke and UNC.  Playing in Lansing is a tough slog, but they were up to the challenge for most of the game.

Would not be surprised to see IU start 0-2 in the conference considering who they have to play, but they have an identity this year which they have not for quite awhile.  We need an identity at MU.  DJO and others have got to seize this team while there is time to seize it.

[wadesworld]

Tonight, we didn't even have a pre-game adjustment.  IU surprised me last night.  MSU has two losses, to Duke and UNC.  Playing in Lansing is a tough slog, but they were up to the challenge for most of the game.

Would not be surprised to see IU start 0-2 in the conference considering who they have to play, but they have an identity this year which they have not for quite awhile.  We need an identity at MU.  DJO and others have got to seize this team while there is time to seize it.

I agree with this.  I still think MU ends up with a better season (and seed) than IU does, but right now we don't know what we are.  Is that win at Wisconsin really that good?  I think they are completely overrated, but it's still a good win.  Other than that?  We will see.  A lot of opportunities to prove ourselves, but we definitely need to prove ourselves.  We're going to play more big, athletic, long teams.  We have to figure out how to slow the game down and control it rather than just run out of control.

[Lennys Tap]

IU surprised me last night.  MSU has two losses, to Duke and UNC.  Playing in Lansing is a tough slog, but they were up to the challenge for most of the game.

IU surprised me more than once the other night. Surprised me they we so tight (ill prepared?) that they fell behind by 18 early. Surprised me that they played so well (29-2 run), fought back and took a 9 point second half lead (tip of the hat, they played an awesome 12-13 minutes). Surpised me that that they folded their tent down the stretch and let MSU close on a 35-11 run.

I thought they played hard (typical for a TC coached team) but down the stretch reverted to the east-west dribbling, launch a prayer to beat the shot clock offense(unfortunately also typical for a TC coached team) .

Overall, hard to be too surprised in the end though. A 15 point loss was probably about what was to be expected.

[MUMac]

I got that as well. Still think we'd get our ass kicked if Odom and Crowder are neutralized. If MU could truly thrive with defenses taking out their two best players, the Warriors would be the best team in the country.

In the end, you'd be relying on an average 1, a frosh 2, a slashing 3 with little jumper, an inconsistent 4, and a below the rim 5.

How is that much different then an average 1, an inconsistent 2, a slashing 3 with little jumper, a role playing 4, and a frosh 5?

I think both scenarios would garner similar results.

Thursday Night's result is evidence A in your case.