Another frustrating loss

At halftime of Saturday's "Turn Back the Clock" game, I had a pretty good feeling that this would end up being one of those games they would be showing highlights of on say, the 50th Anniversary of ESPN. \nAlas, after another prolonged IU scoring drought, we know that will not be the case, unless it is to show us the game where Paul Davis emerged as a beast among men.\nDavis' dominance was not the most frustrating part of the game, though. It was something that was just destined to happen, especially on a night dubbed "Turn Back the Clock." Nothing turns it back further than a true pivot man who can take control of a game.\nWith as great as Davis played, it was pretty mind-boggling at the end of the game when there was a play where he was posting up on Marshall Strickland. Are you kidding? A point guard on Paul Davis? Granted, no one in the Big Ten could have stopped Davis Saturday night. But Strickland shouldn't have to be taking him on one-on-one. You have to lose honestly.\nAnd that's the most frustrating trend that I have seen in the past two years of IU basketball. They never lose honestly. By honest, I mean you play your best, but in the end, you simply get overmatched by a superior opponent. The only game where that has happened was last year's loss to Illinois in the Big Ten tournament.\nWith the rest of the losses, it's like you are playing a video game with IU that is on "Rookie" mode in the beginning. Then you switch to "All-American" mode at the half, and all of the sudden, for whatever inexplicable reason, it becomes impossible to make shots. What should be a good game becomes a blowout.\nIt is too bad that the Hoosiers lost their touch, as it overshadowed a great performance by Bracey Wright, who had 29 points with six three-pointers, most of which came from so far beyond the arc that it almost seems like a waste of time trying to defend them. You can almost see the defender smirking, "Ha, no way," until the shot is buried.\nOf course, if ESPN really wanted to turn back the clock, all of those buckets would have only counted for two points. And they would have dressed Mike Davis in a plaid sport coat. To be perfectly frank, that was a rather weak version of turn back the clock because, at the very least, we could have seen some short shorts. \nThere is precedent for such a thing, too. Last season, the Pirates and Red Sox had a throwback game to celebrate the 1903 World Series that included ridiculously baggy uniforms and ill-fitting caps. So I maintain that we could have done the same with Daisy Dukes on the players' waists and Chuck Taylor's on their feet.\nBut you will find it incredibly easy to advocate the wearing of such uniforms unless you are the one actually stuck wearing it.\nUnfortunately, when Illinois comes to town tomorrow night, we will have to pretend that it is 2004 again. On behalf of the players, I will ask that fans bring the same enthusiasm as they did last week against Purdue. But in addition to that enthusiasm, I am going to tack on another request -- timeliness.\nAssembly Hall seems to have a crowd of 10,000 for the opening tip, and then slowly trickles to capacity by halftime. So just remember that tip is at 7 p.m. In fact, pretend that it's at 6:30. That's the same ploy I use when trying to get to class on time (the emphasis being on trying). \nBy calling everyone out for showing up late, I have virtually assured that karma will dictate that I will arrive a good ten minutes late for this game. Hey, as long as I'm the only one.