Got home last night and set the DVR to tape the BTN replay of the IU-Michigan game. I fired it up this morning, with some thoughts provided. We'll start with the first half, with second half thoughts after the jump, and yes, I stole this idea from Korman.
First half ----Make no mistake, these Hoosiers earned every bit of their 17-point halftime lead. They executed and created open looks, but the most noticeable aspect of their play was confidence. They moved the ball with purpose -- not just because it was what they were told to do -- and they did a good job of cutting apart the 1-3-1 repeatedly.
----I thought this toward the end of this game, but it stood out watching the first half again as well: Matt Roth confuses me. He loves the three ball, and he shoots it better than anyone else on the floor most of the time. When he's hitting, he raises his team's morale exponentially, but he passes up plenty of looks that it seems like he would want, even as many shots as he still takes.
The problem is that he has no added dimension to his game to make it worth passing up a fairly open three to ball fake and go into the lane. Perhaps he's been coached to be more patient. Again, just confused.
----A few of our loyal live chatters were asking what happened to Tom Pritchard during last night's game. Matching DeShawn Sims throughout the game, Pritchard scored nine points and grabbed nine rebounds, but he also played 40 minutes and committed only three fouls. He shut Sims down in the first half and was a big part of IU's ability to cut through the 1-3-1 zone. Translation: Pritchard was key last night.
----Any ill effects Verdell Jones was feeling from his concussion against Cornell are gone in a major way. The 13 points, six assists and seven rebounds were all nice, but Jones also played 40+ confident minutes, and he continues to establish himself in the starting point guard role. It's easy to see why Jones was missed so much -- Daniel Moore is a nice change of pace when he comes in with all his fire and speed, but that gets lost when he's the man at the 1-spot. Not so when he's off the bench backing up Jones.
----The defensive intensity was obviously key for IU last night, but the fact that they had the presence to answer every time Michigan scored in the first half. This is a team that hasn't shown the ability to hold momentum or control a game much this season, but they did in the first half Wednesday night.
----See Matt Roth, you can make giant threes. You should take more.
----Dave Revsine absolutely shocked by the IU lead at halftime, while Jim Jackson took all the credit. He told the Hoosiers to execute, after all.
I'll be back with second-half thoughts in a bit.
Second half ----OK, IU is up 20, it's pretty much going to be all downhill from here. Fair warning.
----It looks like IU really did try to slow the game down early in the second half and use the clock to their advantage. But when Michigan started breaking down their defense, hitting shots and putting pressure on that lead, they lost confidence in those slower sets, and couldn't fire the speed scoring back up.
----Message to the Big Ten Network: If Tom Williams keeps yelling at me like this, I'm never going to buy Ro*Tel again. No kidding, he just yelled while plugging the Northwestern-Wisconsin game.
----Hoosiers did a really goob job overall on the boards last night. They didn't dominate in rebounding, but almost all boxouts were sound, positioning was equally improved and every player did a good job of securing the ball well, unlike in previous games. It's amazing the things this team does that we call improvement...
----Listen, I know you all think Devan Dumes is an impulsive, foolish player with a low basketball IQ. I'm not sure whether it's experience or just guts, but Dumes is far and away (FAR AND AWAY) the most passionate, hard-working Hoosier. He plays with a necessary, defiant attitude -- he doesn't look just like he wants to win, he looks like he wants to beat people for the sheer sake of being better than them.
----IU up 12 with 9:48 remaining. I don't think anything after this is going to be pleasant for Hoosier fans. But hey, Matt Roth hit another three. Just sayin'.
----Michigan didn't do anything crazy to cut into this lead. They just stayed doing what they were doing -- shooting more threes than anyone thought humanly possible -- with a little added inside game. More than that, they got the ball to Sims, who finally heated up.
----Again, say what you want about Dumes -- and his drive with 40 seconds left was boneheaded to the max -- but he was the only Hoosier who looked like he wanted the ball at the end of this game. Crean wanted the foul, though I'm about 60 percent with him on that. The fact is, anyway, that nobody else looked like they wanted the ball but Dumes. No one else looked like they wanted to take the pressure shot(s).
----Not sure why Tom Pritchard didn't try to do something with the ball on that inbounds with seven seconds left. There were Wolverines in front of him, but that's a good place to work a post move and force a foul. The officials had just overlooked a 50-50 call on Dumes, would they have done it again? Aaaaand Tom Hamilton just yelled about Manny Harris' not-all-that-dangerous buzzer beater attempt. I, conversely, am speechless.
----OK, into overtime, and IU just looks dead. They gave everything to hold onto that lead and it almost worked, but legs and heads both look vacant now. They're completely out of rhythm on offense.
----To be fair to Roth, I think he shoots better from the wing or the top of the key than the corner. Dunno why, but his shots just look better from the former.
----Gonna beat a dead horse here: Free throws.
I know this team is young, I get that and I respect that. I know that means no one had been in this kind of situation in this setting. But free throws are something you practice when you start playing basketball at age four in your local church league. They are one of the most basic parts of successful basketball, and IU just isn't hitting right now (65 percent, 10th in the Big Ten).
Perhaps it's to be expected with a young team, but that doesn't change that it cost them in a big way Wednesday night. In other news, I'm not looking forward to Tom Hamilton yelling when IU goes 2-of-8 in a couple of minutes here.
----Literally no one wanted the ball late in overtime. Everyone was moving half-heartedly, if at all. But the truth is had Nick Williams, hit his two free ones, I truly think IU would have won this game. Also, Tom Hamilton would not have yelled. Actually, yes he would.
----The end of this game was just weird. The IU layup, the Michigan turnover, the Jones foul, the one made free throw, the second Michigan turnover, , too many men on the floor, Tom Crean stalking off the floor in disgust. Like I said, weird.
----Hooray Matt Roth for taking a tough three. But he should have taken it up strong the first time, because Stu Douglass would have mauled him. Douglass was out of control, and had Roth gone up with his first attempt, he would have gone to the line to shoot three foul shots.
Well that's that. Tough, tough, tough loss to swallow, but it probably shouldn't be forgotten that this team has played it close against its first two Big Ten opponents, one on the road in an arena that has been unforgiving to IU in recent years. This team has proven it has the tools to compete in the Big Ten, but it still has yet to really give a full 40-minute performance. Road gets no easier, with road dates at Illinois and Ohio State on tap Saturday and Tuesday.
