Prior to the season, Tom Crean joked about not wanting to lead the nation in turnovers again. He's got one thing going for him, but ball control is starting to look like an overrated statistic.
The Hoosiers, who turned the ball over a Crean era-low nine times on Saturday, have won the turnover battle eight times in nine games. Their record? 4-5.
Taking care of the ball is important, but there are many other elements to the game that lead to winning.
When a team shoots 63 percent from the floor, commits just four turnovers and records 11 assists on 17 shots in one half, there is definitely something working against them if they are still trailing by a point.
In the first half on Saturday, IU had just eight rebounds, compared with Kentucky's 16 (including seven on the offensive glass). In the second half, the Wildcats had 14 offensive rebounds alone, coupled with a 30-6 differential in second chance points.
The Hoosiers also took just two first half free throw attempts (with 1:20 on the clock). While they did get to the stripe 12 times in the second half, the team was 0-for-6 on the day outside of freshman Maurice Creek's 8-for-8 performance.
Crean called Kentucky's size and strength "a rarity." I completely agree. But are we looking at a team a program in which a solid big man will be a rarity?
It's impossible to expect Crean to have the personnel to matchup with that level of an opponent right now, but what about down the road? IU has a shooting guard and small forward coming in next year. They are expected to add a combo guard and another small forward in 2011.
While junior Cody Zeller is a top target for IU, Crean can't be putting his eggs in one basket. Besides, Zeller will need to bulk up severely if he wants to stand a chance to compete against guys like Patrick Patterson, DeMarcus Cousins and Daniel Orton.
Bobby Capobianco and Bawa Muniru could be pretty good a few years from now, but Crean is kidding himself if he thinks he can restore the glory of IU with almost entirely guards and wings.
Even at Marquette, though fairly average, his big men could hold their own.
While we don't know every single player the coaching staff is targeting, you better hope he knows something the rest of us do not.
Of course, rebounding was only half the battle on Saturday. Had IU found a way to stop Kentucky's post players, it would have only opened things up for John Wall and Eric Bledsoe (who nonethless combined for 34 points).
The Hoosiers are making progress, but the program will need some big results out on the recruiting trail the next couple years (2010, 2011) with already limited openings on the team. Besides, the talent among underclassmen (2012, 2013) is primarily guards.
Thoughts?
