Random B1G Chatter - Season Long Thread

• thavoice

  Typical roadie for IU. Get down big, crawl back, get fairly close and then not be able to make it all the way back.
  
  Very frustrating.
  
  I am hoping that benching for a furpiece lights a fire under Watford. When he doesnt play well, or put out effort, IU is severly lacking on the athletic side. Great contribution by Able so hopefully he can bring some athleticism to the table that is sorely needed at times.
  
  Bobby had a saying that I heard first in the middle 80's about the best motivation in sports.
  
  'The best motivator is sports is your ass on the bench. Ass meets bench. Bench retains ass. Ass sends signal to brain. Brain gets ass off the bench and plays a helluvalot better',.
• Laley23

  

  Yeah, that start for IU was a fucking joke. Down by 20 when Crean finally decided Sheehey and Watford needed to not play the rest of the half. Elston was great in bringing them back and Hulls and Zeller picked it up. But NO ONE else played well or with fire. Remy Abel was ok, he is a tough defender...but he chucks it too much. I mean, he took 3 awful shots (and hit his other 3, so good with bad I guess).
  
  I was really dissapointed that Crean kept putting Watford in the game. He didnt do anything, would get subbed out, and then would get to go back in and suck some more. I was RELALY glad Sheehey got the pine. Worst game Ive ever seen out of him. He was terrible. I think he played 4 minutes, sat for the rest of the half. Then I think he got a second chance in the 2nd half and was just as bad.
  
  I thought Crean took to long to make the switch to the bench early on, but other than that, his subs were really pretty good (one of my biggest criticisms of him). But in the last 3 minutes...no matter how well he has played...Elston CANNOT NOT NOT NOT NOT NOT be on the floor. He was great in erasing the 20 pt deficit and cutting it to 1. But then he was in with 3 minutes to go. The guy is a great hustle player on defense, but has no clue how to actually play defense (got beat on the lob alley-opp to Hardaway, as help side). We were down 1 and Elston proceeds to get sucked in, turn his back to his man, and not recover. The result? Hardaway corner 3, Novak wing 3. Crean has to know you cant have that type of player on the court at the end. I was sitting with my dad and he said, (after the TO, before the play), "Why is Elston in the game??" and I replied, "We clearly want to have his man get open shots when he helps the air in the lane."
  
  Boom, back to back possessions.
  
  
  
  Oh well, life on the road. I think that IU has a good shot in their remaining 3 road games (Purdue will be tough, but I think they are IUs best match-up in the Big Ten, honestly) and then Minny/Iowa. I think they can hold serve at home and be 10-8 in conference. That would put them in the 5/6 seed discussion, and with their wins, probably a 5.
• Big Gain

  thavoice;1073594 wrote:Typical roadie for IU. Get down big, crawl back, get fairly close and then not be able to make it all the way back.
  
  Very frustrating.
  
  I am hoping that benching for a furpiece lights a fire under Watford. When he doesnt play well, or put out effort, IU is severly lacking on the athletic side. Great contribution by Able so hopefully he can bring some athleticism to the table that is sorely needed at times.
  
  Bobby had a saying that I heard first in the middle 80's about the best motivation in sports.
  
  'The best motivator is sports is your ass on the bench. Ass meets bench. Bench retains ass. Ass sends signal to brain. Brain gets ass off the bench and plays a helluvalot better',.

  
  They need Watford to rebound and play defense more than they need him to shoot 3-pointers.
• thavoice

  Laley23;1073631 wrote:Yeah, that start for IU was a ****ing joke. Down by 20 when Crean finally decided Sheehey and Watford needed to not play the rest of the half. Elston was great in bringing them back and Hulls and Zeller picked it up. But NO ONE else played well or with fire. Remy Abel was ok, he is a tough defender...but he chucks it too much. I mean, he took 3 awful shots (and hit his other 3, so good with bad I guess).
  
  I was really dissapointed that Crean kept putting Watford in the game. He didnt do anything, would get subbed out, and then would get to go back in and suck some more. I was RELALY glad Sheehey got the pine. Worst game Ive ever seen out of him. He was terrible. I think he played 4 minutes, sat for the rest of the half. Then I think he got a second chance in the 2nd half and was just as bad.
  
  I thought Crean took to long to make the switch to the bench early on, but other than that, his subs were really pretty good (one of my biggest criticisms of him). But in the last 3 minutes...no matter how well he has played...Elston CANNOT NOT NOT NOT NOT NOT be on the floor. He was great in erasing the 20 pt deficit and cutting it to 1. But then he was in with 3 minutes to go. The guy is a great hustle player on defense, but has no clue how to actually play defense (got beat on the lob alley-opp to Hardaway, as help side). We were down 1 and Elston proceeds to get sucked in, turn his back to his man, and not recover. The result? Hardaway corner 3, Novak wing 3. Crean has to know you cant have that type of player on the court at the end. I was sitting with my dad and he said, (after the TO, before the play), "Why is Elston in the game??" and I replied, "We clearly want to have his man get open shots when he helps the air in the lane."
  
  Boom, back to back possessions.
  
  
  
  Oh well, life on the road. I think that IU has a good shot in their remaining 3 road games (Purdue will be tough, but I think they are IUs best match-up in the Big Ten, honestly) and then Minny/Iowa. I think they can hold serve at home and be 10-8 in conference. That would put them in the 5/6 seed discussion, and with their wins, probably a 5.

  I think watford played with alot of effort when he was put in the second half. He has games where he looks aloof and he did early, but after not starting the second half I thought he played with emotion the rest of the way. Sheehy looked like he was pouting on the bench in the second half. Able did shoot a bit too much with a couple of bad shots, but I think he can contribute if he stays within some constraints but he was good with bringing some athleticism to the court when Watford and Jones werent getting it done. This team needs Watford to play well if they want to compete with any of the better teams. He can create his own shot whereas Zeller isnt quite there.
  
  Crean needs to tell Elston late in games what Norman Dale told that one player in the movie hoosiers that he isnt to shoot the ball! He made a few circus plays early on, but when the game gets close he pisses down his leg.
• Laley23

  

  Big Gain;1073635 wrote:They need Watford to rebound and play defense more than they need him to shoot 3-pointers.

  They need him to be aggressive, yet under control, offensively. Whether that is in the paint, midrange, or from 3. He just cant settle for 3s, or force stuff in the paint like he does. Defense he has been pretty damn good. He actually was great on Burke last night. Burke scored 8 pts early on Hulls. Then Watford/Oladipo/Abel went on him. Watford mostly when he was in the game, it wasnt till the end that Burke was finally able to solve Watford.
  
  Rebounding he is hit or miss. IU as a team rebounds, no individual really does. They have been decent all season, with Zeller only averaging a little over 6 (last night was the first time in double figures rebounding since game 1 of the year) yet have outrebounded or been right with every team they have played. I dont have much to complain about him in regards to the boards.
• thavoice

  Big Gain;1073635 wrote:They need Watford to rebound and play defense more than they need him to shoot 3-pointers.

  I think a bulk of this threes need to be coming off a pass, a kickout from down low, and not try to do it off the dribble. He seemed to be more aggressive and active after his ass was on the bench for a bit.
• Laley23

  

  thavoice;1073639 wrote:I think watford played with alot of effort when he was put in the second half. He has games where he looks aloof and he did early, but after not starting the second half I thought he played with emotion the rest of the way. Sheehy looked like he was pouting on the bench in the second half. Able did shoot a bit too much with a couple of bad shots, but I think he can contribute if he stays within some constraints but he was good with bringing some athleticism to the court when Watford and Jones werent getting it done. This team needs Watford to play well if they want to compete with any of the better teams. He can create his own shot whereas Zeller isnt quite there.
  
  Crean needs to tell Elston late in games what Norman Dale told that one player in the movie hoosiers that he isnt to shoot the ball! He made a few circus plays early on, but when the game gets close he pisses down his leg.

  He played with a bit more effort. Though, he had Novak on him and didnt go into the lane until he hit the runner real late. I dont know WHY he wasnt posting him up.
  
  Elston did take any bad shots did he? Late on I mean? His defense on the other had was atrocious in the end.
  
  I do agree about Watford though. IU needs him to score and be effective on offense. But you cant force that on him, cause he then takes awful shots in traffic. Its just a case of if he is hitting or not. Not a whole lot you can do.
• thavoice

  Laley23;1073645 wrote:He played with a bit more effort. Though, he had Novak on him and didnt go into the lane until he hit the runner real late. I dont know WHY he wasnt posting him up.
  
  Elston did take any bad shots did he? Late on I mean? His defense on the other had was atrocious in the end.
  
  I do agree about Watford though. IU needs him to score and be effective on offense. But you cant force that on him, cause he then takes awful shots in traffic. Its just a case of if he is hitting or not. Not a whole lot you can do.

  Not last night, I was more talking about a few games earlier this year where he fired up some horrid shots late in the game.
  Do you remember Steve Eyle (sp?) I think Elston should try to be more like him...know your role alot better.
• Laley23

  

  thavoice;1073647 wrote:Not last night, I was more talking about a few games earlier this year where he fired up some horrid shots late in the game.
  Do you remember Steve Eyle (sp?) I think Elston should try to be more like him...know your role alot better.

  Oh ok, yeah. I will say this about Elston. He played great to start the year, and is playing a lot better now. He sucked in the middle and much of it was when he had the mask on from his broken nose. Like, he was so bad I wanted him to transfer at half of one game lol. But now, he looks like he will be a solid player as a SR.
• thavoice

  Maybe it was his mask!!?!?!? There was a stretch there he was making horrible plays. A running shot it tossed of the backboard like a retard, and then another errant "shot" where he comes down and decide to pass it last second. There was a few games there that I started to push him up there as my second most hated player in IU history next to Todd Lindeman.
  
  If he knows his role....he can contribute taht is for sure. Just wish he didnt have that damned tattoo.
• thavoice

  Laley, you are more in tuned with the team than myself but to you did it seem like Sheehey was pouting on the bench when they would show them at breaks and such? In my years of coaching I have seen that look before from kids who werent playing.....it is that 'i am not playing like i used to so I am gonna just sit here and feel sorry for myself' type of attitude. I bet you that a few times Crean looked over to maybe bring him in but saw that blank, distant stare and realize he had cashed out in that game already.
• Laley23

  

  It did look that way the time I saw him. I only looked or noticed once though, so I can't comment on the whol game or half.
  
  As for elston, yeah I wanted him to transfer. I don't know if it was the mask, but since it's been off he's been solid, so it's a reasonable explanation.
• thavoice

  Laley23;1074248 wrote:It did look that way the time I saw him. I only looked or noticed once though, so I can't comment on the whol game or half.
  
  As for elston, yeah I wanted him to transfer. I don't know if it was the mask, but since it's been off he's been solid, so it's a reasonable explanation.

  I noticed it a few times late in the game mostly goin in or coming out of timeouts. Crean may hot have intended to sit him that much but you can see it in the eyes of a player when he just isnt there mentally.
• Laley23

  

  What a huge game, both in bounce back and road win sense. Topped off it was versus purdue, so sweet.
  
  I didn't get to watch as the hotel in Miami doesn't have btn. But followed on twitter.
  
  This is such an awesome win before I head to Cuba in the am. Hoping to read about a Hoosier win over Illinois in a week when I return. See you (post at least) all in a week.
• vball10set

  Laley23;1075440 wrote:What a huge game, both in bounce back and road win sense. Topped off it was versus purdue, so sweet.
  
  I didn't get to watch as the hotel in Miami doesn't have btn. But followed on twitter.
  
  This is such an awesome win before I head to Cuba in the am. Hoping to read about a Hoosier win over Illinois in a week when I return. See you (post at least) all in a week.

  Cuba...now that sounds like a fine vacation destination :huh:
• WebFire

  Wow Michigan is playing like shit. Terrible shots and missing the easy ones.
• chicago510

  

  As shitty as they have played on the road, they are only down 10 which isn't much with MSU having trouble scoring and Mich having the threat of the 3 ptr.
• vball10set

  Appling>Burke, at least for today...Burke needs to stop dribbling around so much and get some ball movement in their offense--there's too much standing around in their halfcourt sets.
• WebFire

  vball10set;1075819 wrote:Appling>Burke, at least for today...Burke needs to stop dribbling around so much and get some ball movement in their offense--there's too much standing around in their halfcourt sets.

  That's why he ends up dribbling around so much. The offense is just flat.
• WebFire

  Izzo screams his head off for the entire game but Beilein gets the T?
• Mulva

  

  Jr. Hardaway really needs to shoot less 3s.
• WebFire

  The whole damn team needs to shoot less 3s.
• Prescott

  The whole damn team needs to shoot less 3s.

  That is Beilin's philosophy.
• Mulva

  

  Illinois lost at home to Northwestern. Determined to be a bubble team.
• centralbucksfan

  Mulva;1076140 wrote:Illinois lost at home to Northwestern. Determined to be a bubble team.

  As I have said before, typical Weber team. Its easy to get up and have your team prepared against the good/great teams. To do it night in, and night out against EVERY team you play, is what seperates many avg coaches from the good/great ones.