uneblinstu's post game chatter: ed 6, vol 21 - Indiana

HOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

When we were down 16 in the first half, I was thinking how foolish my thread looked about it not taking a miracle.

When we were up 6 with 5 to play I was thinking MAN I'M FRICKIN' GENIUS!!!

OK, no, that's not really what I was thinking.  I was actually thinking finally we get some breaks and some things to fall our way.  Not that many years ago, we were the team that surrendered a huge lead, which probably cost us a trip to the dance. 

Is this, dare I say, a team of destiny?

My throat hurts

Holy smokes, not getting any homework done tonight!

Crowd did well tonight. And we get to enjoy our winning streak for a another week.

I am excited to see that Webster to Hawkins connection for 3 more years after this

Is this, dare I say, a team of destiny?

I'd hate to break the news to you, but there's already a team like that...

No voice left!!!

I will say we need the crow I generate some more noise earlier on.

I do like how they do read th board and played better music choices tonight!

I can't talk, I can't think...nice win.  Wowser.

Ok, so, a lot of this is Petteway.  We've seen a lot of teams and, at this point in the season, I'd say he's absolutely no worse than 3rd team all conference.

I am so glad that he's settled in.  He has an ability to get to the rim.  He's clutch.  He's really playing a lot smarter and not trying to force the offense and just letting it come to him.  Good things on the horizon for that young man.  Hopefully we get two more full seasons out of him.

Leslee Smith is looking stronger in post defense.  I kept an eye on him defending the post and the guy can body up.  He was doing a pretty decent job on Von leh and the other guy in not letting them establish good position in the low blocks.  Very good to see.

Ray Gallegos's on-ball defense has improved sooo amazingly much during his time here.  You'd expect it would, right?  Some, anyway?  But he was doing such a good job moving his feet, staying in front of Ferrell, denying dribble penetration.  He might be the defensive player of the game for us.

I think Shavon is coming out of his funk.  Slowly.  But he's getting there.  He's realizing he needs to be a bit more assertive on the offensive end.  He's still turning down shots I think he can and should take.  But he's making a bit of a living at the rim and that's very good to see. 

Hawkins pulling himself out of the dog house.  Timely three pointer.  He didn't want to take it but by about the third ball reversal with no one out there guarding him ...

I know some of you guys hate me talking about this but I think Walt has some issues with his shot that make him very inconsistent.  There's a lot of extra movement in his shooting stroke and if he could make it a bit more compact and increase his launch angle just a bit, I think he'd have a little more consistent of a shot.

I was hoping they could cut it to single digits before half but they cut it to single digits almost immediately after half and then Ray had his 4 point play and we were in business.  Dayum, exciting game.  Heart attack.  It's fun when we win.

Benny was the only player to really struggle tonight.  He has to take those open looks though.  Some days they will fall, tonight they didn't.  Loved see the Hawk back.  He is out of the doghouse and he will help.  Petteway - wow.  Walter, Leslee, Shovon, David, Tai and Ray.  All of you, nicely done!

I know Kenpom is 49rs thing and I'll leave it up to him to do the whole update thing, but as of now (31 of 60 games reporting) we've moved up to #71.  Top 68 go dancing? 

(I kid, I kid, I kid)

What a come back for this team! Could have given up when we were struggling. Kudos to the fans and players/coaches. All were huge in tonight's win!

Yeah, my vocal cords could use a rest as well.  That's what summer is for.

Two observations:
Indiana had six men on us the entire first half - literally.  Get Tom Crean off the  floor!
Leslee Smith is a stud.  Is he perhaps the most underrated player in the league?  Great job on shutting down Noah tonight.

(snipped)

- How about Fuller?! Huge minutes. He might be the guy to get Biggs' minutes and that shot to tie it at 46 sent the place into the stratosphere. Big time shot for the kid. If he keeps playing well, that could spell trouble for Parker's playing time.

 

Yeah, Fuller looked pretty good in warm-ups.  Saw him drain a few threes, actually.  Don't think he'll get Biggs' minutes, though.

Hawkins might.  He looked good too. 

Yeah, my vocal cords could use a rest as well.  That's what summer is for.

Two observations:

Indiana had six men on us the entire first half - literally.  Get Tom Crean off the  floor!

Leslee Smith is a stud.  Is he perhaps the most underrated player in the league?  Great job on shutting down Noah tonight.

Easy to forget Walter.  He played stud like defense on him as well.

Won that game on the defensive end in the 2nd half - the zone was terrific

And Petteway is amazing when he gets going, but the key in the 2nd half was how everyone else stepped up with big shots too - IU tried to take him out of it by face guarding him, and other guys made them pay.

That's the kind of win that can really fuel a team going forward.

You know how they used to do stupid stuff during media timeouts that would draw the crowds attention from the game, get them to quiet down, that kind of thing? 

#Huskercheer.  #stopit.  #it'sdumb.  #capiche?

We were outrebounded 20-8 in the first half.  And something like 11 turnovers.

Next thing you know, middle of the second half, and the rebounding margin is 25-19.  And we end up with 14 turnovers total.

Defense helped, obviously, but I'd say reversing the rebounding numbers and eliminating (all but 3) turnovers in the 2nd half was what made the difference in the game.

OK - good win, nice comeback and all that.  I realize we won and had a really nice comeback so why am I so depressed having watched that mess. Playing  Indiana made me think about how Bob Knight cared more about how the game was played and how his team performed than wins and loses. We won because we stepped up as a team in the second half but it seemed more to me that Indiana couldn't stop turning the ball and bank shots aside, can't shoot the rock. I'm glad we won but we had more poor plays than good ones. It just seems to me that Indiana deserved to lose more than we deserved to win. This is one of the many reasons I don't have my own team anymore. Big win and I'd have to fake the big smile with the parents post-game. Put on the happy face with the team and then boy do I need a couple beers to get through the game tape. Not trying to rain on anyone's parade or first two conference wins in a row party, but we were not a good basketball team tonight. It is always better to learn from a win than a lose (losing tonight would have been crushing) but we go a lot to learn. Plenty of positive highlights to emphasis but we have a long way to go to be a consistently good basketball team.

 

(snipped)

- How about Fuller?! Huge minutes. He might be the guy to get Biggs' minutes and that shot to tie it at 46 sent the place into the stratosphere. Big time shot for the kid. If he keeps playing well, that could spell trouble for Parker's playing time.

 

Yeah, Fuller looked pretty good in warm-ups.  Saw him drain a few threes, actually.  Don't think he'll get Biggs' minutes, though.

 

Hawkins might.  He looked good too. 

 

Damn it...

Not playing good and still beating teams like Indiana... I'll take it. Sure we didn't play we'll... But we got the W and that's all that matters

I thought leslee getting physical with their big man was key. He really struggled with smith and that was nice to see us defend a post guy well.

I will caution that if we play the way we did in the first half on the road anywhere we will get rocked

They've got to figure out how to play with the intensity they played with in the second half for longer stretches and away from the comforts of home. When they do that, they'll be in contention for conference titles. Until then, they'll be somewhere in the middle.

Not playing good and still beating teams like Indiana... I'll take it. Sure we didn't play we'll... But we got the W and that's all that matters

That was my point. For fans the win is all that matters. I always worried more about the execution. Makes wins like these a lot less fun for me and that sucks. I'm sure it's not all that matters for Miles either, but he is getting paid well to worry about how poorly we played. I don't get anything but a bad feeling in my stomach.