It’s one thing to be upset with the team. Yes, they should have beat these guys. It is totally different to go and say we hired the wrong guy after a year and 3 games.

He threw the recruiting class he had last year together in a last second outcry for help. His first true recruiting class, in my opinion, is this one and they are going to be great. Yes, they lost two games, one they should have won, but they are 3 games deep into their college careers.

You all can be mad and upset, but for me personally I’m giving this team more than 3 games to show who they are.

If we don't land a big time recruit, life will go on, and we will keep playing…..RELAX people RELAX

Except for some critical D lapses Creek may have played hs best game. Our play was hard to describe in that we played better but got less done. I hate to say it but the other teams play more organized and as a team with a common purpose on offense in the 1/2 court. We look like we are learning.

Thursday Dumes almost single handedly forced Miss deep into the shot clock on 2 possessions. Yesterday he looked hurt after his fall under the basket.

Pritchard must seek to score . He looks like he is actively avoiding his offense

The biggest issue right now is that are demoralized and from what I saw of GMason we will lose again

I do hope we can find a way to get a win tomorrow. The guys in PR from the game chat seemed to indicated that the players seemed pretty demoralized walking off the court. I worry about the mentality of the team if they leave PR 0-3, and in turn think a win could do wonders for them.

Rivers was solid in the Ole Miss game. UNC got torched by a stellar defensive effort by Syracuse! As far as these young Hoosiers go, they need FOCUS! Does anyone besides me see the horses that are on other teams playing guard? Did anyone see the YOUNG Gonzaga team go against MSU down to the wire – with 9 freshman!!! Pritchard jeopardizes the offensive and Bobby C needs to finish around the basket and not miss high school shots.

The Hoosiers MUST focus on REBOUNDING and minimzing turnovers. I have not heard Crean talk about rebounding – what drills are they running in practice – maybe he should attend a MSU practice and learn from IZZO!!!!! Muniru and Jobe are Mansters and an unused resource.

The lack of television coverage was not nearly as bad as the Boston radio broadcasters. That said, it’s not hard to see why IU lost this tilt. Being outrebounded (to say the very least) by a non-BCS team is embarrassing. But, let’s look at it like this. If IU beats George Mason, nothing is lost. Had we beaten BU, we would have played Georgia Tech, a currently-ranked team that likely would have beaten us. So, after our loss to Ole Miss, we were destined to finish with one win, at best. How we get that win doesn’t matter, as long as we get it. We have our shot at that win against George Mason. We beat GMU, we’re right where we realistically should be.
Our loss tonight cannot be overlooked, however. Any post you read will tell you that we are a young team that is not physical or experienced enough to close out a tough game. While that may be true, it’s helpful to break down the specific reasons we are losing:

Offense: Creek again put up solid numbers, albeit in the first half alone. But – simply put – we can’t afford to have Creek disappearing for 20 minutes at time. Speaking of disappearing acts, Watford has vanished in both PR games. To this point, Watford has only put up numbers against cupcakes. Watford has the talent and will learn how to be effective, but that may not happen this season. Elston is in the same boat as Watford. Elston has to grow into his role on this team, which will happen later rather than sooner. VJ3 is our most consistent offensive player. He never has great games, but he rarely has poor games. VJ3’s consistency will not be enough to carry us to wins, as was evident tonight. Pritchard is what he is; he shows signs of scoring ability every game, but he never seems to quite live up to his potential. Rivers seemed to have another ok game, which is fine by me. As long as Rivers is distributing the ball well and is hitting open shots (and crazy layups!), his turnovers can be overlooked. But, it would be nice if he could reduce his turnover amount as the season goes on. It seems Rivers’ play tonight falls somewhere in the acceptable category. Hulls struggled again tonight, and likely will all season. Hulls is a project-in-progress; let’s leave it at that. Dumes needs to step up. Otherwise, he will be a senior role-player, which is disheartening. He certainly did not step up tonight.

Defense: It’s a lot harder to gauge a defensive performance when the game is not televised. Once again, IU played well enough on the defensive end to keep us in the game, which is a marked improvement over last season.

Coaching: CTC knew the team would be out-matched physically and mentally in this tournament, and he said so often. That is no excuse, however, and I hope CTC can take away from this game just as much as the players do. There is no reason to whine about not getting the timeout call at the end of the game. You’re the coach, make it happen. Run onto the court, if you have to. The last two offensive plays of the game for IU did not prove fruitful, and CTC has to shoulder much of the blame for that. Also, where is Bawa? Capo and Robe are not doing anything (especially on the boards), so does CTC think Bawa will be worse? If so, fine, but I selfishly wish that CTC would address the lack of Bawa playing time. Lastly, the horrid free throw shooting is on CTC; so is the lack of rebounding (as are the turnovers). CTC needs to step up and ensure the team’s improvement in these areas over the course of the season.

Takeways from tonight: IU had a chance to seemingly close this game out at the end of the first half and couldn’t do it. As a young team, the Hoosiers will make life a lot easier for themselves by closing games out early – when they have momentum – especially when Big Ten season Rolls around. Also, Creek is really our only offensive assassin to speak of. When teams focus on shutting down Creek, we will be in trouble on the offensive end, as evidenced by the second half tonight and our first exhibition game. VJ3, Dumes and Watford (and maybe Elston and Pritchard) will have to step up and score, or we will be blown out of several games this year. On the defensive end, we can only hope CTC will have our guys physically and fundamentally ready later on in the season. Otherwise, look out. Lastly, the bigs have to rebound on the defensive end. Watford, Pritchard, Robe, Elston, Capo and/or Bawa need to put most – if not all – of their energy into crashing the boards. I’ll end on a positive note: this team has shown the ability to grab the early lead against talented, experienced teams. When the Hoosiers figure out what is required to hold onto these leads, we will be in good shape.

This program didn't just have a setback after Sampson, it was gutted. We had no building blocks to begin with…..none at all!!!

I am as frustrated as the next guy, but to start thinkng CTC has to go is absolutely ridiculous.

I live in Kentucky. Imagine being an IU fan in nutville UK country. And UK needed a last second shot to beat Miami(OH) at Rupp. What was their excuse? Youth!!!!

There is a big difference. UK has youth, but they also have players like Patterson that has been through the battles, is a 1st team SEC player, and a builing block we simply don't have.

I scream at the TV as much as the next guy. But heaven forbid any potential recruit reads these borads and thinks we are simply fairweather fans. I doubt I would want to play anywhere where the fans want to throw you under the bus after a bad start.

Frustration is understood, but keep some perspective of what we have and where we had to come from. It's not that simple folks. One thing we have always been proud of is a passion for our team. But also supprting our guys. They give all they have and they are kids. Let's support them as they grow up.

Oh, and btw, thanks to whoever runs this site. I stumbled across it by accident and I LOVE it. Beong in KY, I need somewhere to go to share my passion for IU basketball….thanks!