The Top Five Things I'm Thankful For...

In the time honored, Turkey Day tradition of eating way too much and slipping into an alcohol/tryptophan induced coma while boring ass football games go unnoticed on the television, I'd like to give thanks to my Hoosiers.

Now that I've had five games to process my initial thoughts of the Hoosiers 2011-2012 campaign, which is ironically the same amount of minutes it takes my stomach to process Grandma's pumpkin pie, I've decided to compile a list of the top five things I am thankful for so far in this young season.

Let's take a look at the list.

#1. Cody Zeller - I'm trying to contain my excitement. I didn't want the baby faced freshman from the basketball filled blood line to be solely responsible for the resurgence of IU basketball. Before I referred to him as our Cream and Crimson savior I wanted to see him against some of the talent the Big Ten has to offer. Well dammit, I can't help it. The kid has been an absolute beast. Guard him straight up and he'll punish you in the post. Double team him and he'll find the open man for a wide open look. Foul him and he sinks his free throws. Pick your poison, he's relentless. Did I mention he leads this team in four out of five major statistical categories? (points, rebounds, blocks and steals)

#2. Sheeladipo - How fun are Will Sheehey and Victor Oladipo to watch? Sure, they may be a little flashy. They may not embody that traditional, old school approach some of the ol' Hoosiers faithful have become accustomed to, but unless you drink warm buttermilk while watching reruns of Matlock, who cares? They ignite their teammates. They ignite the crowd. Anybody catch the O-LA-DI-PO chant during the Gardner Webb game? Their energy is infectious. Hell, three years ago the most exciting player the Hoosiers trotted out onto the floor was Tom Pritchard. Tom Pritchard couldn't jump over a Snickers bar. Sheehey and Oladipo have more hops than an Upland IPA. The amount of energy these guys bring on a nightly basis could power the Griswald's house on Christmas. Keep it up boys.

#3. Ball Movement - When this team makes the extra pass, they score, plain and simple. Whether it's Elston cutting to the bucket or Hulls spotting up for a three, when this team moves the ball they get good shots. Crean can roll out multiple lineups and give opposing defenses multiple looks but the offense is predicated on floor spacing and ball movement. Make the extra pass, find the open man, get good looks. Watford and Jones need to buy into this idea before they start see their minutes dwindle.

#4. Tom Crean - The second the phrase "It's Indiana" escaped from Tom's mouth I was sold on him. He's the only non-Indiana alumn that get's IU basketball. Much like Bob Knight's AAU connection Crean has developed quite the recruiting relation with the Indiana Elite squad. We all want the greatest talent possible for our team but let's not kid ourselves, isn't it that much sweeter when a local homegrown talent runs out of the Assembly Hall tunnel with the candy stripes on?

#5. Assembly Hall - I had a chance to attend the tilt with Gardner Webb on Monday. Sorry Champaign, Illinois, the only true Assembly Hall resides in Bloomington, Indiana. It's a 17,456 seat student section. The tradition. The history. The Movement. The Future. It gives me the chills. When I glance up into the rafters at those five championship banners I can't help but think… there's room for more.

That's all for this post Hoosier hopefulls. Jump on B-Town Banners and tell us what are you thankful for out their in Hoosier land. You can join the discussion on Twitter at @BTownBanners or with me at @GaryVengeance. I'll share some of the responses I get on the blog.

It's a pretty big weekend for IU. Saturday we're going to deny Purdue's hopes of a bowl game appearance, keep that Oaken Bucket in its rightful place, get Danny Hope fired (maybe that's not a good thing…) and Sunday we're going to down those pesky Butler Bulldogs. And there's no better way to kick off this Hoosier filled Thanksgiving weekend with Black Out Wednesday! Get out there in your Cream and Crimson gear and represent those Hoosiers! Let’s go undefeated this weekend! No losses, no arrests and no DIUs! YEEEEAAAAHHHH!!!!

See you next time,

Gary Vengeance

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