Final Score:
Minnesota 77
Indiana 74
The old idiom goes, “If you play with fire, you get burned.” Well, this team has played with that “fire” for a few games in a row and tonight, the Hoosiers soaked themselves in gasoline and Minnesota lit the match.
I will be the first to admit, although I felt IU wasn’t playing well in the B1G Ten, they were winning, so it was easy to shrug off. But the truth to the matter is, you’re not going to hit 16 threes every game. You have to play defense and hit timely buckets, if you want to win in this league. Coming into this game, IU’s Adjusted Defensive Efficiency in conference, based on KenPom’s formula, was 110.7. To put that in perspective, if that was their whole season’s number they would be ranked 323th in the nation, out of 345 teams. Those are Southeast Missouri State type numbers.
This same team that hung their hat on the defensive end during the non-conference, just isn’t getting it done in conference, to date anyways. Of the 12 non-conference games, IU gave up at least 60 points, just five times. In conference, every team has scored at least 70.
I’m not stupid. Obviously, IU’s competitors in conference are going to be much more difficult, as they should be. Teams basically know each and every play the other is going to throw at them before the tip. But if this is the case, why is Indiana giving up easy buckets two feet from the rim, that my grandma could hit, on a consistent basis? Is it lack of communication? No defensive discipline? An unprepared game plan? Whatever the case may be, we can all agree it needs to be fixed.
I am not saying these guys don’t play hard. I watch a lot of college basketball and this team is easily one of the hardest working teams in the nation. But all that work is ineffective if you don’t have discipline. Also, it’s the coaches job to put the players in a position to succeed. In hindsight, Crean probably wouldn’t have went into the 2-3 zone, but I am not one to question Coach’s decisions. The man knows what he is doing and he had a good reason to try to switch something up because what they were doing wasn’t working. The decision backfired and Minnesota took advantage.
Minnesota really outplayed the Hoosiers in this one and deserved this win. Every time Indiana was making a charge, Minnesota stood strong and knocked down the key shots and free throws down the stretch.
Indiana helped them out as well. Verdell gave nothing. Watford, although playing on a bum ankle, looked sloppy. Somehow, Minnesota only had one more rebound than IU. At times, it felt like the Golden Gophers were doing that pre-game drill where the team lines up in a single file line and they all tip the ball off the glass until the last guy finishes the lay-up. And for an Indiana, a team who depends on 27% of its scoring to come from beyond the arc, it only hit four (half of those were Roth’s late ones).
As pessimistic as this write-up has been, I suppose I need to hit on the good things that came out of tonight’s game. First off, I was really glad Sheehey was back. His minutes were limited but he sure did put in good ones, 12 points in 15 minutes. Zeller was VERY good tonight, 23 points & 8 boards. I also was really impressed with Abell in that he has no fear and is able to hold his own on defense. I wouldn’t mind if Remy started stealing away some of Verdell’s minutes. Lastly, I loved Hull’s tenacity and how he played with a Roy Jones Jr. swag to him against the long Minnesota defenders.
This game will come back and haunt the Hoosiers in their chase for a B1G Ten title. The way this season is going, the B1G Ten Champions could finish with 6 losses (I’m kidding, but I’m not). This is a good learning experience and Assembly Hall showed off a little chink in its armor tonight (I’m killing it with these idioms).
Team Grade: D
-By the way, I did make a big head (more or less a big poster of Gus Johnson) and Gus was able to throw me some deuces my way to acknowledge the poster. In other words, I’m a G in his book.
Looking Forward- IU heads to Columbus on Sunday where Ohio State will be waiting to tear the Hoosiers heads off. The Buckeyes are coming off a loss to Illinois and are hungry to revenge their L in Bloomington. If you had any hope before the Minnesota game that has disappeared.
January 13th, 2012 on 3:00 am
You were always G in my book.
January 13th, 2012 on 9:14 am
Great points about our defense. It has not been good the last couple of games. I really hope this is a wake-up call, because we were slowly turning into a team that just chucked up 3′s, and this is what happens on a night when the shots aren’t falling.
I want to see that change, because those teams that rely on the 3′s, always falter in the NCAA tournament.
As for Jones, I think this point has to be made, it concerns me that Crean plays him as much as he does, even when VJ3 is having an off night. Is Crean’s judge of talent off or are 17,000+ people wrong about basketball?
January 13th, 2012 on 11:57 am
I don’t know know the reason why Crean puts a lot of trust in Verdell but you can tell they have a good relationship.
I think it’s hard for Crean to put someone else there because he doesn’t want to “betray” Verdell. But if you’re Crean at some point you have to realize that Verdell isn’t the best option just because he is your senior leader.
He has the worst offensive rating (96.6) of the regulars by a lot. All the other players are well over 100.