The Hoosiers dropped their marquis non-conference game today at home, a major blow to their seeding in the NCAA tournament. They played poor offensively, and didn't pass the ball around, often settling for poor shots.
We still have a great shot at winning the Big Ten, but with the performance the Big Ten has put up this year against other conferences, our shot at a No. 1 seed may have just washed away.
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Indiana beats Minnesota despite turnovers
Despite 26 turnovers, by far a season high, the Indiana Hoosiers managed to beat a scrappy Minnesota team in Minneapolis on Thursday night.
Despite the ugly game, I think that this was a big step forward for the Hoosiers. They went on the road against a top in-conference opponent, didn't play a very good game, but still managed to come away with the win. The game on Thursday night was the kind of game that so often I have seen the Hoosiers lose in recent years - they couldn't get out of their own way, committing stupid errors that kept the other team in the game. However, they closed out the Gophers in the end, maintaining their position at the top of the Big Ten and the top of the national rankings.
I just hope that they get some credit where credit is due in the wake of the losses by #1 North Carolina, #4 UCLA, #6 Georgetown and #9 Texas A&M over the past week.
Despite the ugly game, I think that this was a big step forward for the Hoosiers. They went on the road against a top in-conference opponent, didn't play a very good game, but still managed to come away with the win. The game on Thursday night was the kind of game that so often I have seen the Hoosiers lose in recent years - they couldn't get out of their own way, committing stupid errors that kept the other team in the game. However, they closed out the Gophers in the end, maintaining their position at the top of the Big Ten and the top of the national rankings.
I just hope that they get some credit where credit is due in the wake of the losses by #1 North Carolina, #4 UCLA, #6 Georgetown and #9 Texas A&M over the past week.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Early returns - Hoosiers are a legit threat
Despite an early season loss to the surprising Xavier Musketeers, the Hoosiers have proven to be a solid all-around team, led by freshman Eric Gordon.
What most impressed me is the poise shown during Sunday's 4-point win over the Fightin' Illini. Gordon had originally committed to the Illini, before switching after Sampson's hiring at Indiana.
The Illini had plenty of motivation going into this game, and they played probably the best game of their season, leading by as many as 9 points. But the relentless and consistent inside-outside attack led by White and Gordon endured the ups and downs of such an emotional game, and sealed the victory.
Currently ranked in the top 10 and tied with Wisconsin at the top of the Big Ten standings (thanks to a Michigan State loss to Iowa), the Hoosiers are poised to have their best season since the days of Bobby Knight.
Another statistic to keep your eye on is the Hoosier's home winning streak - currently at 27. My Fightin' Irish are just ahead of us at 30, but Memphis leads the nation at something like 44 straight home wins. BYU has the easiest home schedule of the teams ahead of us in consecutive home wins. Memphis faces No. 7 Tennessee on the 23rd of February. Notre Dame faces tough Marquette and Pitt teams at home this year. If we are consistent, our biggest challenges to the home winning streak will be Connecticut on the 26th of January, and back-to-back games against Wisconsin and Michigan State on the 13th and 16th of February.
I'd like to see us (or Notre Dame) have the nation's longest active home win streak at season's end. Indiana has always been, to me, the home of basketball (we've all seen the movie Hoosiers...) and having the top 1 or 2 home win streaks would help bring some of the attention back to Indiana after so many years of obsession with Tobacco Road.
What most impressed me is the poise shown during Sunday's 4-point win over the Fightin' Illini. Gordon had originally committed to the Illini, before switching after Sampson's hiring at Indiana.
The Illini had plenty of motivation going into this game, and they played probably the best game of their season, leading by as many as 9 points. But the relentless and consistent inside-outside attack led by White and Gordon endured the ups and downs of such an emotional game, and sealed the victory.
Currently ranked in the top 10 and tied with Wisconsin at the top of the Big Ten standings (thanks to a Michigan State loss to Iowa), the Hoosiers are poised to have their best season since the days of Bobby Knight.
Another statistic to keep your eye on is the Hoosier's home winning streak - currently at 27. My Fightin' Irish are just ahead of us at 30, but Memphis leads the nation at something like 44 straight home wins. BYU has the easiest home schedule of the teams ahead of us in consecutive home wins. Memphis faces No. 7 Tennessee on the 23rd of February. Notre Dame faces tough Marquette and Pitt teams at home this year. If we are consistent, our biggest challenges to the home winning streak will be Connecticut on the 26th of January, and back-to-back games against Wisconsin and Michigan State on the 13th and 16th of February.
I'd like to see us (or Notre Dame) have the nation's longest active home win streak at season's end. Indiana has always been, to me, the home of basketball (we've all seen the movie Hoosiers...) and having the top 1 or 2 home win streaks would help bring some of the attention back to Indiana after so many years of obsession with Tobacco Road.
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