We Love Cov, and other observations

Admit it. You were scared.\nFor the first few seconds after Maryland senior Steve Blake hit his improbable half-court shot as time ran out in Tuesday night's game, you were petrified. Perhaps your jaw dropped. Maybe you spilled your drink. Or you possibly echoed Chris Farley's "Super Fans" character and said, "I think I'm 'havin a 'heart attack."\nThankfully, they created instant replay, and such fears went away. Just as thankfully for Hoosier fans, there's also a guard named Tom Coverdale who helps such fears go away.\nIt was a game in which IU was nearly impossible to figure out. At times, the team looked like they were capable of throwing up enough bricks to build Ballantine Hall. Compounding this problem was the fact that they couldn't rebound, either, leading to an early 14-point deficit.\nAt other times, IU looked like they were riding an unstoppable wave of momentum that would take something freakish to stop -- like a half-court shot.\nBut no matter how the rest of the team was playing, Coverdale was the glue that held the Hoosiers together, and he came out and proved to a national audience why he is this team's captain and emotional leader.\nWhen nothing was falling for IU, it was Coverdale making his shots. When the defense needed a stop, Coverdale would be there for a key steal. Need someone to drive into the lane and draw a big foul? Well, I think you know where I'm going with this one.\nBut you know what you can do with all of this year's highly touted NBA lottery picks? You can keep 'em. I'll take Coverdale. And I'm not just saying that because most highly touted lottery picks come out of high school these days.\nWhile he doesn't have an athletic build or a great deal of speed, he brings three things that are important in a team leader: courage, a brain and heart. And he didn't have to go to the Wizard of Oz to get them. Coverdale's so old school that the only things he's missing are the Daisy Dukes.\nI know it's early in the season, but if Tuesday night's feats are any indication, Coverdale should be in line to get nominated for some sort of shiny hardware once the year is over. But there is still a big downside to Coverdale's 30-point performance. He completely overshadowed the efforts of his teammates. And there were some big efforts.\nLike freshman Bracey Wright, who contributed 19 points and seven rebounds. Wright looked like a stereotypical freshman early on as IU trailed, showing good hustle but trying too hard to create shots. Once Coverdale brought the team back into it, though, Wright hit his stride and played like an upperclassman.\nOr the redshirt freshman Sean Kline, who provided a sparkplug off the bench. Sure, missing those free throws down the stretch was cause for nail-biting, but Kline always managed to be in the right place at the right time -- like when he drew a charge against Maryland forward Tahj Holden, who fouled out. Kline also scored IU's go-ahead bucket in overtime.\nGeorge Leach didn't do anything offensively, but he didn't need to. Leach, recovering from an injured rotator cuff, had no problem swinging his arms as he blocked six Terrapin shots.\nAnd was there every a quieter double-double than the one garnered by Jeff Newton? "Newt" scored 14 points and pulled down 13 boards, and hardly anyone noticed.\nBut perhaps the most underrated job was the one done by Mike Davis. For the entire second half, I asked "Why no A.J. Moye?" while freshman Marshall Strickland stayed on the floor. It was Strickland, of course, that stole Maryland's inbounds pass with 11 seconds left to set up Kline's game-tying free throw.\nTuesday, the Hoosiers proved that they didn't have to play their best basketball to win -- they shot under 30 percent. But with a fearless leader, anything's possible.