Glass Houses–The Afternoon After 1-7-10
Glass Houses
Watching the golf in Hawaii right now is not helping…
No fun at the moment here in Bloomington
We talked yesterday about how difficult it is to win on the road in the Big Ten.
And now you’re going to believe us…
Wisconsin scored 47 at Michigan State and lost.
Indiana scored 54 at Ohio State and lost.
Indiana had 40-something at halftime against the number three team in the country, Kentucky.
The catch? That game was at Assembly Hall. Big difference.
You can't take it with you when you go...
One of my main questions going into the game yesterday was how the Hoosiers would handle adversity without their home crowd to get them back in the game.
Well, that question was answered.
What does this loss mean? About the same thing as the Pitt victory, not much.
You kind of had the feeling that the first time on the road that the Hoosiers would struggle.
It was the way they struggled that bothered me, not to mention Tom Crean and his staff.
The Hoosiers got caught up early in playing fast. Quick shots, tough passes, dribbling into trouble were just some of things that jumped out at me watching this. Two of their five starters, Rivers and Watford, had a combined TEN first half turnovers. When one of them is the starting point guard, that makes it even tougher. Before you know it, your down 20-something.
On the road in the Big Ten? Game over.
The second half wasn’t much better.
Indiana looked like they had abandoned any semblance of running an offense. You know it’s bad when Rivers decides shooting threes is a good idea.
They couldn’t find Diebler, who kills Indiana, in the half court. And when they did, they fouled him on a three.
18 point lead is now 29.
Listen, Ohio State is good, I get it. Better with Turner than without. But the one thing that really bothered me was there was never an indication of Indiana getting back into the game. The “run” was never made. The lead instead increased for Ohio State.
Ouch.
Where’s the fight?
Where’s the adjustment? 38 points in the first half, 41 in the second.
When there is no crowd to bail you out, you have no choice but to trust your coaches and teammates. You can’t do it alone on either end of the floor.
Now, that lesson that has been preached every day in practice for the last week has come to fruition.
You have to do it as a group and you have to believe in what the coaches tell you.
Here’s the good news: It’s one game, no more, no less. Plus, only half the games are on the road…
A little bumpy, a little wind-y, you know, the road
Time to go back to practice. Time to go back to running lines. Time to go back to creating the bad habits that were so prevalent in the Michigan game, playing within themselves, not turning the ball over, moving and passing the ball (season low 9 assists last night), and finding ways to get easier baskets (4-18 from three).
What comes out of this game is what matters.
The next time Indiana goes on the road will be better.
Nowhere to go but up.
Don't want to buy, just want to rent it for an hour or two
Tomorrow: Illinois preview
