Rants and Raves: Hoosiers Fall to Hoyas in OT
I’m going to go ahead and say it. I hate Madison Square Garden. I’ve hated it ever since the Pacers had to play the Knicks there every stinking year in the NBA Eastern Conference Finals. I hate Spike Lee, I hate Patrick Ewing, and don’t even get me started about Pat Riley. It’s bad enough that guy went to Kentucky, but having to watch him pace the Knicks sidelines as they squeaked by the Pacers seemingly year after year, was enough to have me shouting profanities at my TV on numerous occasions. Heck, for the longest time, I considered Spike Lee’s very name to be a profane, and even seeing pictures of the guy made the hair on my arms stand up. The terms fingernails and chalkboard come to mind. Yeah, I’m a little over the top. It is what it is.
This year was a chance for the Hoosiers to exercise the basketball demons. When I saw the schedule this season, part of me was like, “great, we have to play in that place,” but the more I thought about it, the more I saw the opportunity to make MSG part of the Hoosiers‘ story, and put plant an IU flag right at center court after a few big signature wins.
So, as we all know, IU had two shots to put up a W in the building that has caused me such fanatical grief over the years. The candy striped kids played 30 minutes of great basketball before succumbing to Louisville just a few short weeks ago. Going into Saturday’s contest against the Hoyas, Tom Crean’s squad was riding a wave of momentum with three W’s, one coming against then #23 Butler.
Indiana was starting to hit its stride just before conference play, and playing its best basketball of the up young season. There was hope that they could waltz into MSG and snag one more win before starting the conference campaign at Nebraska on New Year’s Eve.
So how did the Cream and Crimson fair in their second act in the Big Apple? Get our take in the inaugural edition of Rants and Raves:
Against the Hoyas, the Hoosiers played some inspired basketball. They were running, moving the ball well, hitting their jumpers, and rebounding like a team on a mission. The IU long-range snipers were doing the job, just like they’d done most of the year, but were doing so in the flow of the game, and not just jacking up long-range bombs early in the shot clock. They were playing smart, and they were playing intense. The Hoosiers came out blazing, and took a 40-30 lead into the locker room after the first 20 minutes.
The second 15 minutes was solid as well, but then the Hoosiers started getting sloppy. Untimely turnovers cost the Hoosiers their once double-digit lead. Suddenly the Hoosiers trailed by six, before Yogi Ferrell’s heroics at the end of regulation sent the game into OT. Indiana out rebounded the much bigger Hoyas 40-35, and outshot them, albeit slightly 44% to 42%. The Hoosiers showcased their usual long-range marksmanship, shooting 13-31 from deep. Every stat pointed in Indiana’s favor, save for one. Unfortunately, it was the 17 turnovers, most coming at the end of the game, ultimately sealed their fate. You all know the rest. The Hoosiers were out scored by four in the overtime period. 91-87, Georgetown takes home the W, handing the IU its third loss of the season. Hoosiers point man, Yogi Ferrell did his absolute best to try to will the Cream and Crimson to victory, but at the end, the Hoyas pulled away.
About Yogi Ferrel, what can more can I say? That little guy can flat-out play. He put the Hoosiers on his back when they needed him most. He scored, he distributed, and he basically willed the Hoosiers into overtime, scoring six straight points to tie the game when the Indiana faithful had all but lost hope. Ferrell finished the night with a team high 27 points. If you hadn’t figured it out yet, Yogi is for real, folks! Heart, grit, talent, leadership, the guy has it all. This is one of the rare times IU will have an elite level talent in Bloomington for four years. Enjoy it, Hoosier fans.
Troy Williams also continued to impress and improve. With his string of impressive games in the last several weeks, Williams is drawing comparisons to former Hoosier, Victor Oladipo, both from Coach Crean, and from the ESPN commentators. Now, after hearing them talk lately, I would say that typically the ESPN crews don’t know their sphincter from an Indiana sink hole, but in this case, the comparison has some merit. Troy has similar athletic ability, but at time has appeared out of control (see freshman and sophomore Vic). Troy appears to have settled down quite a bit, and has found his groove. In the last few games, we’ve seen the sophomore attempt and make his first three-point shot of the year, and Saturday we even saw him taking the ball up the court (and he did quite well at it I might add). Against the Hoyas, Troy netted 23 points, eight rebounds, four assists, two blocks, and a steal. Welcome to the next level, Mr. Williams. Now it gets fun. Just keep up the effort.
Troy wasn’t the only front court Hoosier who deserves props.
Hanner Mosquera-Perea put up another strong effort. Much like his front court running mate, Hanner had put together a string of solid performances over the last several game, giving Hoosier fans a glimpse of what this team could become. Faced a much bigger opponent on Saturday, he faced a steep challenge. Although he managed only three points, he scraped down six boards, and had three blocks for the Hoosiers in the losing effort. Hoosier fans shouldn’t expect Hanner to out up lofty offensive numbers every game. He’s simply not that type of player. Tom Crean depends on the 6’9 Colombian for hustle plays and energy. With a team that has been built around a glut of crazy good outside shooters, IU needs Hanner to go in and do the dirty work. He did that this weekend.
Why do really big basketball players always seem to get away with stuff other guys cannot? I jokingly called the Hoyas’ 6’10, 350 lbs center, Josh Smith, the human three-second violation. What can I say? If the shoe fits… Just because the guy is so big that he physically can’t get out of the lane, doesn’t give him the right to camp out under the basket for entire possessions. I realize that the three-second violation is seldom called anymore in college or the NBA, but when it’s that blatant, you have to blow the whistle, don’t you?
And that’s not the half of it… Smith is like the proverbial bull in a china shop. His size makes it impossible for him to move around under the basket without pushing someone out of his way. Shaquille O’Neill made his living in much the same way. I always felt the perennial all-star was given way too much leeway by officials when it came to contact and physical play. Personally, I feel it take as away from the game.
These kinds of players make their living on wearing out the opposing defender by leaning on them all game and/or simply bullying their way to the spot on the floor that they want to occupy. Ladies and gents, that constitutes a foul in my book. Yet, it never seems to get called. Last week, we celebrated the – birthday of the game of basketball. I’d be willing to be that Dr. Naismith would turn over in his grave if he saw what some big men get away with now in the post.
Speaking of Josh Smith, John Thompson’s strategy to sit the big man paid off, big time. Tom Crean’s strategy, early in the contest, appeared to be: run at Smith, get him moving outside a lot, and make him move to wear the 350 lbs big man out and possibly get him in foul trouble. For the most part, that strategy worked, until Thompson made his move.
The Hoyas’ head coach started the first six minutes of the second half with his giant of a post player on the bench. Not only did this save him from the foul trouble that occurred in the first half, it kept the hefty big fella fresh for a stretch run where he simply could not be stopped underneath. Despite a less than stellar first half, Smith tallied 14 points for the game, several of which came at a crucial juncture where momentum appeared to sway in favor of the Hoyas. When it counted, Smith and his point guard, D’Vauntes Smith Rivera, put it in another gear.
I absolutely hate it when a guy from the state of Indiana lights up the Hoosiers for a ridiculous stat line. I said that when Kellan Dunham nailed the Hoosiers for 23 last week, and it was no different Saturday afternoon. Indianapolis native, Smith-Rivera, torched the Hoosiers Saturday afternoon for yet another game high 29 points (double his season average). Once a highly sought after Hoosier recruiting target, DSR’s scoring display this weekend felt like a kick in the teeth. Yes, the Hoosiers likely signed Yogi instead. I’m certainly not complaining about that, but D’Vauntes would have looked good In candy stripes. Yes, I know, with all the prep talent in Indiana, they all can’t be Hoosiers. I just find it odd that the basketball gods always find a way to pair them against IU and have them go all superman on us, every single freaking time. Surely we have some spare kryptonite stored deep in the bowls of Assembly Hall somewhere, right? If I see one more Indiana native put up scary numbers like that again against IU, well, let’s just hope it doesn’t come to that.
Then there was Aaron Bowen. Why is it that seemingly every game that IU plays, there is this guy you least expect that comes from nowhere to score 20+ points on the Hoosiers? You can set your watch to it. Regardless of who the coach is, it’s been happening for years. Well, this weekend was no different. Enter Aaron Bowen, the Georgetown big that no one talked about. When Smith was out, Bowen came in off the bench to Georgetown’s rescue, putting up 22 points. Just like watching the main character in a scary movie do something stupid that you know will result in carnage, it never fails.
At the end of the day, the Hoosiers have shown continued improvement this season. Despite the loss, Crean has a lot of positives from this game he can build on. This is the kind of loss that teaches you a lot about a young team, and will serve to be a perfect primer for Big Ten play, when the Hoosiers will face an onslaught of big, physical basketball.
You think it’s been hot so far? Get ready, IU fans. Your Hoosiers just graduated from the kitchen to the frying pan. The gloves are off, no more training wheels. Feel free to insert any other oft-used metaphoric cliché. It’s time to see what this year’s edition of the Indiana Hoosiers is really made of. Next up: Big Ten Basketball.