Nebraska 70, Indiana 69: collapse.
by John M (The Crimson Quarry) on Jan 18, 2012 10:31 PM EST
in Indiana Hoosiers Basketball
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PrintThis seemed like a very loseable game going in, but IU, despite what are becoming the usual failings on perimeter defense and the boards and in turnovers, IU led by 11 with 6 minutes remaining against a Nebraska team that was 1-5 in the Big Ten. A team that went toe to toe with Kentucky and Ohio State fell apart down the stretch, especially on defense. Nebraska scored 18 points in the second half, and on two free throws at the end, took its first lead since early in the first half and won after a really ugly last possession by IU.
The points made in the game thread are well-taken. We would have taken 15-4/3-4 at this point. We still might make the NCAA Tournament, which we would have taken sight unseen at the beginning of the season. Still, it's very hard to stomach giving away a Big Ten road win when IU led for 36 minutes. This would have been true in 1986-87, and it would have been true in 2008-09. We had this one, and regardless of, or perhaps really because of, this team's flaws, we needed it, and let it slip away with poor shot selection, turnovers, poor rebound position, and missed free throws at the worst time. It's not the end of the world or the end of the season, but it's tough to stomach after a strong start to the season.
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P*ssing me off...
This sloppy-to-nonexistent perimeter D and turnovers are killing this team. The perimeter defense especially seems endemic to Coach Crean’s D scheming. They’s better tighten up on that end of the floor, and take care of the basketball on offense, or it’s the NIT for this team going forward.
Grrrgoddamngrrrr….
I see great things in baseball. It's our game - the American game. It will take our people out-of-doors, fill them with oxygen, give them a larger physical stoicism. Tend to relieve us from being a nervous, dyspeptic set. Repair these losses, and be a blessing to us. ~Walt Whitman
Well, shit
I was otherwise occupied, so I only caught the last minute of the game. The last offensive possession was chaotic. I don’t have a problem that Jordy tried to drive, since that half of the court was open. He should have dumped it off, but that’s easy for me to say from my armchair.
The next-to-last defensive possession, Zeller was pulled to the ground going for the rebound. Watford should have been more active going for it. My real gripe is the penultimate defensive possession. Spencer has the ball on the left wing. He’s obviously heading for the lane. Watford is guarding his man at the elbow and makes absolutely no effort to either step out on the screen or otherwise switch off to stop the penetration. I thought Sheehy did an admirable job of trying to get through the screen, but he was off-balance enough that Spencer got the edge, Zeller has to rotate to stop the ball, and Spencer makes the good pass to the back side.
So I’ve come back around now to think that we are not a good defensive team. Hey, does it mean “we’re back” if we cause the other team to storm the floor?
by hoosierdaddynow on Jan 19, 2012 7:33 AM EST reply actions
I honestly can't put my personal feelings on last night's game into words
I think I’m still going to need a few hours.
-Contributing Writer at The Crimson Quarry.
I may need a few weeks. The thing is, had I known beforehand that IU would lose by 1, I probably would sigh and move on. Having the rug pulled out from under us like that, to have the game checked off as a W and to then fall apart and lose, is the thing that gets me. Leading for 36 damn minutes.
The Crimson Quarry, SB Nation's Indiana Hoosiers blog
by John M (The Crimson Quarry) on Jan 19, 2012 9:52 AM EST up reply actions
Maybe
But they’re completely a football school, and you guys are completely a basketball school.
by Bloomington.Boiler on Jan 20, 2012 9:53 AM EST up reply actions
If I'm Tom Crean
Every possession down the stretch would go through Zeller, especially that last possession.
Ever Grateful. Ever True.
The fact that the last possession was crucial, in a game that IU led by 11 with 6:00 left, is a far bigger concern to me than the final possession. Hulls actually got a decent look, and he should have fired from 12 feet and let Cody try to clean up if necessary.
The Crimson Quarry, SB Nation's Indiana Hoosiers blog
by John M (The Crimson Quarry) on Jan 19, 2012 9:51 AM EST up reply actions
same old stuff, different day
We are too predictable. I think the other coaches feel it is very easy to prepare a
game plan to defeat us.
I really feel like Cody has been solved.
Don’t get me wrong, offensively he is still such a ruthlessly efficient scorer that he is always a threat, provided the team can get the ball to him. Pretty much if he touches it, he scores.
But on defense, he’s not threatening. Part of what was amazing about his rise at the beginning of the season was the number of steals he was recording, outstanding for a post player and even more so for a freshman. But those numbers have fallen off: 25 steals in the non-conference schedule, only 5 steals in 7 conference games. He’s just not that aggressive anymore, probably because of fear of foul trouble. Invariably on defense he can be seen standing with a decent stance, feet set, hands up, but his man just shoots over him. I don’t know whether he’s just not getting enough help down low, or if he hasn’t figured out how to be a B1G post defender, or if he’s getting help from teammates but it’s just not executed successfully.
What I wonder is this: if you’re Tom Crean and you’re watching these teams slash to the basket and score at will, either on layups, dunks, or putbacks, how do you put a stop to that with the players on this roster. What is the strategy? What do we change?
A sassy, brassy, classy lassy.
by LoneStarHoosier on Jan 19, 2012 2:12 PM EST up reply actions
I think I disagree about Cody
The steals numbers are what they are, but that’s across the board for this team, and not just him. I think that the problem is a lack of execution of a team-oriented defense. The decisive possession last night was a good example of this. Cody did a good job of stepping up to stop the drive. The fact that there was a drive at all was the fault of Watford, in my opinion, who failed to step out on a screen, switch off, or otherwise do anything to actively defend that play. A team defense is only as good as its weakest link. And that’s not Cody.
So what do you do? Damned if I know. The biggest difference between what I saw with this team in December and what I see now, and for that matter, what I have seen with the likes of Minnesota and this team now, is intensity. That’s an overused concept and term, but I can’t think of anything better. Step out on that screen, fight through it, put a body on someone when you go for a rebound, get up in someone’s grill. We just seem so passive on defense. It’s like I’m watching the NBA.
by hoosierdaddynow on Jan 19, 2012 3:25 PM EST up reply actions
Good points.
And for the life of me, I still can’t figure out what the team was thinking with all of those arabesque leaps across the fronts of shooters on the perimeter. The shooter would of course just wait until the ballet practice had passed him by and then shoot, now that his man was trying to stagger back into position.
A sassy, brassy, classy lassy.
by LoneStarHoosier on Jan 19, 2012 3:28 PM EST up reply actions
Cody does well on defense
against his man. What’s he supposed to do when the guards get beat by their man every time, foul? I bet most Big Ten guards are salivating at the opportunities at season highs or career games against our guards’ defense.
On offense Cody should touch the ball every time. It’ll be an automatic 2 points or a foul, especially at home. The fact that Hulls can’t get the ball into him or Watford is a problem that won’t be solved this season, I’m afraid.
I keep thinking that I’m still more upset about the Minnesota loss than the Nebraska one, because it is tough to win on the road in the Big Ten, so you need the win the games at home that you should, but then I think about how terrible Nebraska is at offense, save for Spencer, and I change my mind again.
by ChicagoHoosier on Jan 19, 2012 4:53 PM EST up reply actions
Cody needs to be tougher
on rebounding. I love him, but too many times he has the rebound, or should, and he loses it. He also has to stop from being pulled down on that crucial free throw rebound.
I don't disagree
Too many times he tries to tip the rebound out of the opposing player’s grasp rather than forcefully pulling it down. He is effing almost 7 feet tall. Grab it!
by ChicagoHoosier on Jan 20, 2012 6:03 PM EST up reply actions
Yes, I'm aggravated by last night.
But at the same time, I have to remember two things:
1. The problems can be fixed. It’ll be hard, since these bad habits seemed to be ingrained, but it’s not impossible.
2. The season is still young.
As hair-pulling out of sorts as I was last night, I have to remind myself that there’s still just over half the season left. They’ve used up their room for error, but it’s not like the season is over yet. If they can get over this funk, fight for rebounds, and remember how to move the ball and move without the ball, they can start winning again.
Sure, it’s frustrating. The team came back down to earth after an amazing start. But at least we know what they’re capable of. If the guys put in the hard work, they can make it happen. Like I said last night and after the previous loss, it’s all on them to improve.
--------
"First they came for the ugly, and I did not speak out because I was not ugly.
Then they came for the nerds, and I did not speak out because D&D IS A RESPECTABLE GAME WITH A LARGE PLAYERBASE OK MOM???
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out because let's be real they always come for the Jews.
Then they came for me, and I did not speak out because they actually came for me back when they came for the nerds."
--
"How can a pickup truck contain enough mass to unfold into a towering machine? I say if Ringling Brothers can get 15 clowns into a Volkswagen, anything is possible."
I'm having a hard time being as optimistic as you
I agree that the problems can be fixed. But they haven’t been fixed. I was looking to last night as something to show me that the team recognized the wake-up call and would respond. And responding for 36 minutes out of 40 is not responding, unfortunately.
by hoosierdaddynow on Jan 19, 2012 3:43 PM EST up reply actions
Yep. This isn’t just about the Minnesota game and a crappy half against Ohio State. We played like garbage for most of the MSU game, for the Penn State game, in the second half of the Michigan game, pretty much wire to wire against Minnesota, for every meaningful minute of the OSU game, and for the crucial part of the Nebraska game. In Big Ten play, we’ve looked good for ten minutes against Michigan State, during the home OSU game, during the first half of the Michigan game, and for most of the game against a crappy Nebraska team. I felt good for most of the second half about our progress, but that was erased in the final minutes. This team is NIT-bound at this point, and if it hasn’t been fixed yet, then when?
The Crimson Quarry, SB Nation's Indiana Hoosiers blog
by John M (The Crimson Quarry) on Jan 19, 2012 6:04 PM EST up reply actions
someone help me out
we did have a timeout left last right? If so, why the hell didn’t Crean/Hulls use it on the last second heave with 3 seconds left?
-Contributing Writer at The Crimson Quarry.
I'm still stunned
Agreed. They should have used it when they crossed half court, or when Jordy grabbed the rebound with 2 seconds left. A lot went wrong, but I can’t stop thinking about Cody being in front of the basket where Jordy could have almost handed the ball to him on the last drive.
Cody being pulled down on the free throw miss with no foul.
Pritchard’s technical which led to one point and we lose by 1.
My heart is heavy.
How about the three pointer when we inexplicably went into a zone for one possession?
The Crimson Quarry, SB Nation's Indiana Hoosiers blog
by John M (The Crimson Quarry) on Jan 19, 2012 11:53 AM EST up reply actions
so much fail down the stretch
this must be how Purdue felt after the Butler game. Controlled the entire game against a meh opponent only to do absolutely everything wrong and blow it.
-Contributing Writer at The Crimson Quarry.
this must be how Purdue felt after the Butler game.
Still not over that one.
Ever Grateful. Ever True.
And Xavier
God….we really blew those two games horribly.
The differences are
Butler is capable of beating a lot of good teams, and XU was playing really well at that time of the season and were on their home floor. IU should NEVER lose to Nebraska in basketball. They aren’t even in the top 300 in D-1 in offense.
by ChicagoHoosier on Jan 19, 2012 4:47 PM EST up reply actions
Two of the worst losses I can remember in my 30 years of being a Purdue fan/alum
Experienced a lot of deja vu while watching the last 6 minutes of the IU game last night.
by GeorgiaBoiler on Jan 19, 2012 7:06 PM EST up reply actions
Excuse me but ...
The Hoosiers went “toe-to-toe” with Kentucky and Ohio State on their home court, not on the road. Big difference, as we’re seeing, so don’t gloss over it.
Add to that the fact that 3 of OSU’s starters barely played half the game, due to foul trouble, and I certainly wouldn’t get too pumped up about that particular victory — as the return game in Columbus demonstrated.
Anyway, what counts is how you finish the season, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Hoosiers in the Sweet 16 in a few months. They’ve got the talent for it.
Sunny Guy
I’m not glossing over anything. Beating OSU and Kentucky at home should be more difficult than holding an 11 point lead at Nebraska.
I wasn’t aware of a foul trouble exception to good wins. And Cody Zeller played four minutes in the second half, so I’m going to go ahead and count the OSU game.
The Crimson Quarry, SB Nation's Indiana Hoosiers blog
by John M (The Crimson Quarry) on Jan 19, 2012 8:55 PM EST via mobile up reply actions
Count it
Go ahead and count each home win. But put it in perspective. Illinois also beat OSU on their home court, but lost to “lowly” Penn State tonight. MSU lost at Northwestern the other day. There really are no lowly teams in the B1G, in that sense. No one is safe on a given night. I think it’s good for the game. College hoops has it all over pro hoops, imo.
Best regards,
Sunny Guy
why does a home win against the top teams in the country not count?
by that sense we shouldn’t give Nebraska any credit for the game two nights ago. They were at home, apparently that is an automatic win for everyone. It’s a wonder how anyone ever wins on the road.
-Contributing Writer at The Crimson Quarry.
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