JonDMiller
Publisher/Founder
With the 2010 football season nearly complete on a national level and having been put to bed as far as Iowa is concerned for nearly two weeks, I take my first look at the Big Ten basketball scene, in earnest.
First up, the Hawkeyes are pretty much what I thought and hoped they would be. Some may wonder about using the word 'hoped' when referring to a team that is 7-8 overall (goodbye .500 record for another 10 months at a minimum) and 0-3 in the Big Ten.
I didn't have much in the way of expectations for this team, record-wise; 11 to 13 wins is what I thought we'd see and that's what I am still expecting. However, how the team took to Fran McCaffery's style of play was far more interesting to me than what their ultimate record would be, because I held out zero hope for any sort of post-season this year.
In losses to Illinois and Ohio State at home, I saw reasons to be encouraged that the rebuilding process is heading in a good direction. You never improve as fast as you'd like, and that goes for coaches, players and fans alike. However, the Hawks were put in some tough holes against both the Illini and Buckeyes and battled back, didn't quit and that's what I was hoping to see. As I said in a column last week, I never felt like Iowa was out of a basketball game when I was growing up. I am starting to feel that way again, piece by piece.
Of course, then there was Sunday's game at Purdue. You knew one of these beat downs was coming, and there will be a few more, including Iowa's game at Ohio State in a couple of weeks.
Iowa didn't shoot the ball well on Sunday, hitting just 19-52 field goals. Purdue did shoot it well, and they also got off nine more shots than did Iowa; +2 in offensive boards, +3 in blocks and three fewer turnovers than Iowa had is how that works out.
A huge difference in the game were points off turnovers; Purdue scored 24 off of 16 Iowa turnovers while Iowa scored 10 off of 13 Purdue turnovers. The Boilermakers made Iowa pay for their miscues where Iowa didn't put the same pain back into Purdue.
Iowa was also outclassed and outgunned in this matchup, even without Robbie Hummel. This team has one of the best duo's in the nation in E'Twaun Moore and JaJuan Johnson, but it was shooter Ryne Smith's six three-point baskets that was the big dagger.
There will be a few more days like Sunday, but this Iowa team has been mostly fun to watch. However, it didn't help Iowa to have to face five ranked teams in their first six conference contests. Then again, that's just the Big Ten this year as the Hawks will close the season against three ranked teams, too. 10 of Iowa's 18 conference games will be against teams that are ranked as of Sunday night.
One team that is not ranked will come to Carver Hawkeye Arena on Wednesday night; Northwestern. This might be one of just two conference games all season where Iowa is the Las Vegas favorite, with the other being the Hawks home game against Indiana next week.
Speaking of Indiana..If Tom Crean wasn't on the hot seat before the season started, you have to wonder if his heinie is getting hot right about now. Indiana lost to Northwestern 93-81 in Evanston on Sunday. It's not like Northwestern is a horrible team, they just aren't a great team and one could argue they are just an OK team, one that will miss the tournament again this year unless they really turn things around. But couple that with Indiana's 69-60 loss at home to Penn State in their Big Ten opener, and you have a big time problem.
The Indiana Hoosiers are in danger of missing the NCAA basketball tournament for the third year in a row, all three of Tom Crean's seasons on the Indiana bench. He replaced Kelvin Sampson, so the Hoosiers have made much of their own mess. However, Indiana hasn't made it out of the 2nd round of the NCAA tournaments since 2003, nearly eight years ago.
My cognizant memory of watching Big Ten basketball begins with the 1979-80 season. Indiana made it to the NCAA tournament every year from that starting point to the end of the Bob Knight era save one. Mike Davis replaced him and made the tournament 4 of 6 years.
So over a span of 26 years, Indiana made 23 NCAA tournaments..and now they are likely going to miss three in a row.
We've seen what one or two poor personnel decisions have done to the Iowa basketball program, one that had made 16 NCAA tournaments in the 21 years prior to the hiring of Steve Alford. To see an Indiana program finish 11th & 9th in the Big Ten the last two years, and have to fight to stay out of the cellar for a third straight year, it's mind boggling and it has to end with Tom Crean being put on notice.
Let me underscore that. Indiana's Assembly Hall seats 17,456 and for most of my life, that is what every home box score said; full house. Last year, Indiana averaged 15,296, close to 2,200 below capacity. So far this year, with 11 home games in the books and just seven remaining, Indiana is averaging 14,264 per game, a drop of more than 1,000 fans from last year. Their league opener against Penn State saw more fans than their second home game, against #2 Ohio State. Those are also paid attendance numbers, not actual numbers.
Add it all up, and it spells a growing feeling of apathy, lost revenue and an AD that has to be sharpening his pencil, doesn't it? Tom Crean is a good coach who took over a program that was dealing with NCAA issues from his predecessor. He's also been bitten by the injury bug at inopportune times. However, it's year three and the Hoosiers are going nowhere at 0-4 in the league and quite a way from even sniffing the NIT...
Here is my Big Ten Power Poll as of 1/10/11
1. Ohio Sate: A point guard away from being the hands down title favorite
2. Purdue: Still a bummer that Hummel got hurt again
3. Illinois: A well rounded team that is built for making a run in March
4. Michigan State: Izzo's Challenge: Get his teams interested in first three months of season
5. Wisconsin: Doing it with mirrors again. @MSU Mondau (1/11)
6. Minnesota: 3 L's: @Wisky, @MSU & @OSU
---------NCAA Cut Line--------------
7. Michigan: Gave Kansas a run on Sunday, lost in OT
8. Northwestern: I thought they would be better.
9. Penn State: Have found an inside body to pair with PG Battle
10. Iowa
11. Indiana: first team to 0-4, so they deserve it
Let's talk about Sunday basketball games in the Big Ten. Time was where those games meant something pretty special. Most of the league played on Saturday with one game reserved for CBS and Sunday afternoon.
Now, Sunday games are a dime a dozen and Iowa just played what will be its first of four straight Sunday's on the Big Ten Network.
This week, there were four games on Sunday (3 BTN, 1 CBS) with just one on Saturday. Huh? Next week, two games will take place on Sunday: Iowa at Minnesota on the BTN and Purdue at West Virginia on CBS. In two weeks, two Sunday games will be on the BTN, including a game involving Iowa.
On February 6th, three games will take place on Sunday; one on the BTN, one for CBS and one for ESPN. On 2/13, it's three more games on Sunday, with two on the BTN and one on CBS. On February 20th, it's SUPER SUNDAY or something...as four Big Ten games will be played, including Iowa against Michigan. The same four Sunday games will take place on 2/27.
This has to be a revenue based decision, but I will still send an email to some of my friends at the BTN to get some sort of comment related to the Sunday scheduling. Off the cuff, when you look at the number of games that the league wants on its own network (understandably so) and the choice not to use satellite overflow channels like they do for football season, it makes it tough to stagger five games in one day and be fair to the fans. Then again, you could start at 11am on a Saturday and play five games in a row on the BTN and have the fifth game tip off at 7pm central, so I take that back.
Personally, I don't like this type of Sunday scheduling. Keeping one game for CBS is fine, it's how it's been. But with the rest of the scheduling on Sunday, especially in the month of January, I can;t imagine it's competitive counter programming going up against two NFL playoff games like it did this week and will again next week, then the week after you have a conference championship game.
I'd like to think Sunday's are still family days for most Americans, especially in the Heartland where faith and family values are still very much alive. I chose to attend 11am church service this week and record the Iowa game. I'll likely do that the next time there is a scheduling conflict, too.
I am not trying to come off as high and mighty or better than anyone else; it's just a personal decision for me and others. Here is a link to some Sunday scheduling opinions from Iowa fans on our message boards. What are your thoughts?
-Jon Miller
First up, the Hawkeyes are pretty much what I thought and hoped they would be. Some may wonder about using the word 'hoped' when referring to a team that is 7-8 overall (goodbye .500 record for another 10 months at a minimum) and 0-3 in the Big Ten.
I didn't have much in the way of expectations for this team, record-wise; 11 to 13 wins is what I thought we'd see and that's what I am still expecting. However, how the team took to Fran McCaffery's style of play was far more interesting to me than what their ultimate record would be, because I held out zero hope for any sort of post-season this year.
In losses to Illinois and Ohio State at home, I saw reasons to be encouraged that the rebuilding process is heading in a good direction. You never improve as fast as you'd like, and that goes for coaches, players and fans alike. However, the Hawks were put in some tough holes against both the Illini and Buckeyes and battled back, didn't quit and that's what I was hoping to see. As I said in a column last week, I never felt like Iowa was out of a basketball game when I was growing up. I am starting to feel that way again, piece by piece.
Of course, then there was Sunday's game at Purdue. You knew one of these beat downs was coming, and there will be a few more, including Iowa's game at Ohio State in a couple of weeks.
Iowa didn't shoot the ball well on Sunday, hitting just 19-52 field goals. Purdue did shoot it well, and they also got off nine more shots than did Iowa; +2 in offensive boards, +3 in blocks and three fewer turnovers than Iowa had is how that works out.
A huge difference in the game were points off turnovers; Purdue scored 24 off of 16 Iowa turnovers while Iowa scored 10 off of 13 Purdue turnovers. The Boilermakers made Iowa pay for their miscues where Iowa didn't put the same pain back into Purdue.
Iowa was also outclassed and outgunned in this matchup, even without Robbie Hummel. This team has one of the best duo's in the nation in E'Twaun Moore and JaJuan Johnson, but it was shooter Ryne Smith's six three-point baskets that was the big dagger.
There will be a few more days like Sunday, but this Iowa team has been mostly fun to watch. However, it didn't help Iowa to have to face five ranked teams in their first six conference contests. Then again, that's just the Big Ten this year as the Hawks will close the season against three ranked teams, too. 10 of Iowa's 18 conference games will be against teams that are ranked as of Sunday night.
One team that is not ranked will come to Carver Hawkeye Arena on Wednesday night; Northwestern. This might be one of just two conference games all season where Iowa is the Las Vegas favorite, with the other being the Hawks home game against Indiana next week.
Speaking of Indiana..If Tom Crean wasn't on the hot seat before the season started, you have to wonder if his heinie is getting hot right about now. Indiana lost to Northwestern 93-81 in Evanston on Sunday. It's not like Northwestern is a horrible team, they just aren't a great team and one could argue they are just an OK team, one that will miss the tournament again this year unless they really turn things around. But couple that with Indiana's 69-60 loss at home to Penn State in their Big Ten opener, and you have a big time problem.
The Indiana Hoosiers are in danger of missing the NCAA basketball tournament for the third year in a row, all three of Tom Crean's seasons on the Indiana bench. He replaced Kelvin Sampson, so the Hoosiers have made much of their own mess. However, Indiana hasn't made it out of the 2nd round of the NCAA tournaments since 2003, nearly eight years ago.
My cognizant memory of watching Big Ten basketball begins with the 1979-80 season. Indiana made it to the NCAA tournament every year from that starting point to the end of the Bob Knight era save one. Mike Davis replaced him and made the tournament 4 of 6 years.
So over a span of 26 years, Indiana made 23 NCAA tournaments..and now they are likely going to miss three in a row.
We've seen what one or two poor personnel decisions have done to the Iowa basketball program, one that had made 16 NCAA tournaments in the 21 years prior to the hiring of Steve Alford. To see an Indiana program finish 11th & 9th in the Big Ten the last two years, and have to fight to stay out of the cellar for a third straight year, it's mind boggling and it has to end with Tom Crean being put on notice.
Let me underscore that. Indiana's Assembly Hall seats 17,456 and for most of my life, that is what every home box score said; full house. Last year, Indiana averaged 15,296, close to 2,200 below capacity. So far this year, with 11 home games in the books and just seven remaining, Indiana is averaging 14,264 per game, a drop of more than 1,000 fans from last year. Their league opener against Penn State saw more fans than their second home game, against #2 Ohio State. Those are also paid attendance numbers, not actual numbers.
Add it all up, and it spells a growing feeling of apathy, lost revenue and an AD that has to be sharpening his pencil, doesn't it? Tom Crean is a good coach who took over a program that was dealing with NCAA issues from his predecessor. He's also been bitten by the injury bug at inopportune times. However, it's year three and the Hoosiers are going nowhere at 0-4 in the league and quite a way from even sniffing the NIT...
Here is my Big Ten Power Poll as of 1/10/11
1. Ohio Sate: A point guard away from being the hands down title favorite
2. Purdue: Still a bummer that Hummel got hurt again
3. Illinois: A well rounded team that is built for making a run in March
4. Michigan State: Izzo's Challenge: Get his teams interested in first three months of season
5. Wisconsin: Doing it with mirrors again. @MSU Mondau (1/11)
6. Minnesota: 3 L's: @Wisky, @MSU & @OSU
---------NCAA Cut Line--------------
7. Michigan: Gave Kansas a run on Sunday, lost in OT
8. Northwestern: I thought they would be better.
9. Penn State: Have found an inside body to pair with PG Battle
10. Iowa
11. Indiana: first team to 0-4, so they deserve it
Let's talk about Sunday basketball games in the Big Ten. Time was where those games meant something pretty special. Most of the league played on Saturday with one game reserved for CBS and Sunday afternoon.
Now, Sunday games are a dime a dozen and Iowa just played what will be its first of four straight Sunday's on the Big Ten Network.
This week, there were four games on Sunday (3 BTN, 1 CBS) with just one on Saturday. Huh? Next week, two games will take place on Sunday: Iowa at Minnesota on the BTN and Purdue at West Virginia on CBS. In two weeks, two Sunday games will be on the BTN, including a game involving Iowa.
On February 6th, three games will take place on Sunday; one on the BTN, one for CBS and one for ESPN. On 2/13, it's three more games on Sunday, with two on the BTN and one on CBS. On February 20th, it's SUPER SUNDAY or something...as four Big Ten games will be played, including Iowa against Michigan. The same four Sunday games will take place on 2/27.
This has to be a revenue based decision, but I will still send an email to some of my friends at the BTN to get some sort of comment related to the Sunday scheduling. Off the cuff, when you look at the number of games that the league wants on its own network (understandably so) and the choice not to use satellite overflow channels like they do for football season, it makes it tough to stagger five games in one day and be fair to the fans. Then again, you could start at 11am on a Saturday and play five games in a row on the BTN and have the fifth game tip off at 7pm central, so I take that back.
Personally, I don't like this type of Sunday scheduling. Keeping one game for CBS is fine, it's how it's been. But with the rest of the scheduling on Sunday, especially in the month of January, I can;t imagine it's competitive counter programming going up against two NFL playoff games like it did this week and will again next week, then the week after you have a conference championship game.
I'd like to think Sunday's are still family days for most Americans, especially in the Heartland where faith and family values are still very much alive. I chose to attend 11am church service this week and record the Iowa game. I'll likely do that the next time there is a scheduling conflict, too.
I am not trying to come off as high and mighty or better than anyone else; it's just a personal decision for me and others. Here is a link to some Sunday scheduling opinions from Iowa fans on our message boards. What are your thoughts?
-Jon Miller
