Instant Postgame Reaction: IU @ PSU

The early afternoon start had both teams off to a slow start, but it didn’t take long for them to heat up. Zeller was scoring easily inside against man coverage, so Penn State moved to a zone and Indiana shot threw the zone from three point range as any team that leads the nation in three-point field goal percentage should. However, this was a game of runs. Indiana and PSU traded runs, but Indiana had the worst five-man lineup in the game with Prichard, Roth, Moore, Oladipo, and a struggling Watford. It worries me a little bit that Indiana is not looking to go inside as much as they did in the beginning of this year, but when you are shooting 75% from three-point range at half time it is hard to pass them up. At half time, the Hoosiers lead by five over the Nittany Lions.

Coming out of halftime, I think Coach Crean somehow read my postgame typing because Cody got the ball the first three possessions. IU continued hot shooting from deep and stretched their lead to ten points and they were looking like they were primed to blow the Lions out on the road. Then having the Moore, Roth, and Elston lineup in the game a little too long caught up with the Hoosiers and PSU goes on a 7-0 run. I know that Jones III, Hulls, and Zeller were on the bench because of fouls, but you need one of those guys on the court at all times! After a timeout, Hulls came in along with Remy and replaced Moore and Oladipo. Hulls was a great passer out of the lane to Roth for some great three pointers and stretched the lead to 11. Then the game of runs continued and PSU cut it to 6 with Elston taking ill-advised shots and fouling letting the Lions stay in the game.  After Zeller entered the game again, PSU double/triple teamed him leading to some wide-open three point shots by Roth and Hulls. Indiana made sure that PSU stood a chance by missing free throws down the stretch and held a 6 point lead with 1:22 to go in the game. Then Hulls and Roth hit six straight free throws to seal the victory for Indiana

This game was back and forth throughout most of it and Indiana hung in. The negative I took away from this game is our defense gave up 82 points to a mediocre team in Penn State. The positives were our consistent three-point shooting, Hulls getting his shot back, and a road win.

Final Score: IU 88 PSU 82

Hoo’s Next: Minnesota(12-4) @Indiana (15-1)  1/12 8:00 pm

By Brian Hall (@Hoosier_Hall)

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Post-game reaction: IU vs. Notre Dame

Rapid Reactions
This game started slowly for IU as they struggled for the first part of the first half against Notre Dame. I was half expecting a slow start coming after a week off following the win versus #1 Kentucky, but this was a little much. They could have also been a little excited about Purdue blowing yet another double digit lead in the second half against a team that IU previously beat by sixteen.

Whatever the reason #TGFC (Thank God for Cody) in the first half. At one point, Cody Zeller had 10 of the team’s 12 points. If it wasn’t for him, I am not sure that IU sticks close enough to be in it at half. At one point I was thinking that Coach Crean should put Daniel Moore in the game for a spark! I am still curious about what in the world Elston was doing at the end of the half with five seconds left on the clock and launching a half court shot, but thanks to Remy he was bailed out.

I never was nervous about this game in the second half. Notre Dame kept it close but they never scared the Hoosiers.  Even though Indiana had several key members in foul trouble, the bench filled in nicely and we expanded our lead to mid-teens and held on, unlike Purdue. I was proud of all the members of the Indiana basketball team and I cannot wait until the Big Ten season starts!

I grew up ten miles outside Notre Dame’s campus and currently live in Lafayette, so today was a good day for me being an IU fan!

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Gm 8: +/- Player Analysis - Stetson Edition

Welcome back to another addition of the +/- Player Analysis for your 2011-2012 Indiana Hoosiers! This was a story of two halves today in Assembly Hall.  IU came out into the game lethargic and nonchalant which allowed the Hatters of Stetson to hang close at the half.  Coach Crean did some lineup adjustments at the half; only returning 2 starters, to start the second half.  This was only the second time this year Coach has opted to start the second half with a different lineup than he did in the first half.  The insertion of Daniel Moore, Will Sheehey and Derek Elston proved to do the trick as the Hoosiers ended with a 84-50 victory.

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Moore, Oladipo and VJIII talk about Stetson Win (Video)

Check out what the key players in the Hoosiers' victory had to say right after the game! Also make sure to check back for our +/- Player Analysis in the next few hours!

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Gm 6: +/- Player Analysis - Butler Edition

Welcome back to another addition of the +/- Player Analysis for your 2011-2012 Indiana Hoosiers! IU took it's first step of reclaiming the state of Indiana tonight with their 16 point victory of the Bulldogs of Butler. IU struggled to put the ball away in the first half; a great credit to Butler and their defense. The Hoosiers overcame their offensive struggles in the second half led by Will Sheehey and Cody Zeller.

Key Players:

• Will Sheehey - Will continues to show his improved game. All summer we heard about his solid play and improved jumper. As the season continues, we are seeing Sheehey improve. It's a great thing to see for Hoosier fans.
• Cody Zeller - Cody was a non factor in the first half as the Hoosiers struggled to get the ball to him. The second half was another story as Cody broke out of the funk and Hustled harder than anyone on the court. Great effort out of Cody tonight.
  

With that being said, let's jump into the +/- Player Analysis

+/- Player Analysis vs Butler
*Just in case you forgot, here is a quick breakdown as to what the +/- Player Analysis is looking at.
Example: Here is a quick example of how the +/- stat is determined. Zeller, Watford, VJIII, Hulls and Sheehey start the game for IU. Therefore the score is 0-0. Coach Crean makes his first substitution at 15:00 with the score IU up 15-10. Oladipo comes into the game for Sheehey. For this stint in time, Sheehey would earn a +5 (while Sheehey was in, IU increased their lead by 5 points). The Lineup of Zeller, Watford, VJIII, Hulls and Sheehey also earned a +5. This will continue throughout the game.

Game Overall




Key Takeaways:

• Derek Elston took the title of Best of the Night in terms of Plus-Minus per minute. Elston only played 14 minutes tonight, but he made those count by helping IU outscore Butler by 11 points.
• Just watching the game, you could see Will Sheehey had a major impact. The stats here will back that up. Sheehey was an outstanding +0.71 pts/min.
• Watford had arguably one of his worst games as a Hoosier. His shot wasn't falling (2-10), he had a loose handle (3 TO - (that is the official box score... feels like he had 100)), and he seemed to be stuck on Watford Island tonight. To Watford's credit, he did make some great moves to get to the bucket. He just couldn't finish the bunnies.
  
• I cannot stress this enough, anything in the GREEN, means the player had a positive impact on the game and helped IU get to their blowout win.
  

Lineups of the Night:

Key Takeaways: (click to enlarge)

• Here you can see the game flow throughout the night. The chart reads from the beginning of the game to the end from top to bottom.
• Overall, Coach Crean used 19 different combinations of players in the game (smallest amount used so far this year). Of his 19 combinations, 10 were positive, 3 were neutral (0) and the remaining 6 were negative.
• 7 different units played multiple times these evening. The previous high was 2.
  

Best Lineup of the Night:
The best lineup of the night (+8) belongs to Hulls, Sheehey, Oladipo, VJIII and Zeller. This unit played 4 different times throughout the night (the most). They did their most damage at the 18:36 mark in the 1st half. Led behind an Oladipo 3 and a few free throws from Zeller and Oladipo, this unit got IU off to a 6-0 lead.

Worst Lineup of the Night:
This is why I love this analysis. The worst group of the night (-9) just so happens to be Crean's favorite lineup of the year and statistically best lineup of the year (from a +/- perspective). The lineup of Hulls, VJIII, Oladipo, Watford and Zeller takes the honors of worst lineup. You might think they just had one bad stint, that'd be wrong. Coach Crean played them 3 times. Right after Sheehey subbed in for Watford (Best Lineup), Watford came back in for Sheehey. Here the lineup recorded a -5. This group also started the second half and recorded a -4. They also played the first 1:30 of the game (0-0 score).

Season to Date:

As many people like to point out, looking at the +/- for one specific game is not entirely telling. Tracking this over the course of the year, will give a much clearer picture as to what each player brings to the team. Below is the updated season to date +/- for each player.

• In this tough fought battle, only 3 Hoosiers improved their season averages during this game. Elston, Sheehey and Pritchard all improved year to date. This can be referenced from IU's strong performance when they were on the court together tonight.
  
• There wasn't much movement, but Elston moved from 9th best to 6th. Oladipo dropped from 6th best to 8th, and Pritchard moved from 12th to 10th.

Lineup Combinations
Here are some quick stats related to the Lineups Tom Crean has used through the three regular season games:

• Coach has used 110 different lineups this year.
• Of those 110, only 31 are negative year to date.
• Best lineup is +26 (Also tonight's Worst Lineup. Crean's favorite unit of Hulls, Oladipo, VJ3, Watford, Zeller)
• Worst lineup is -6. (Consists of Oladipo, Sheehey, Moore, Abell, Elston)
  
• 21 lineups have been used multiple times this year.

Lineup Creator!
Here is your chance to play Coach Crean!
What you can do is go to this link, and it will open an Excel file for you. Using the filters already on the page, you can filter the lineups for the year to see how all the different combinations of players play together.

For instance, if you wanted to see how the team does when Oladipo and Sheehey are in the game together, filter both their columns. This will return all lineups for the year that Oladipo and Sheehey have been on the floor together!

+/- Lineup Generator

Overall
IU will have a big test this week traveling to NC State for the B1G/ ACC Challenge. I think we will learn a lot about this team from that game. IU was supposed to beat Butler tonight. While the scoreboard said 15 points, the feelings of Hoosiers made it seem like 30. Great win tonight!

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+/- Analysis for All 2011-2012 Games

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GM 5: +/- Player Analysis (Gardner-Webb)

Welcome back to another addition of the +/- Player Analysis for your 2011-2012 Indiana Hoosiers! IU took on the Gardner-Webb this evening and chalked up their 5th 20+ point victory of the year. IU won in convincing fashion 73-49.

Key Players:

• Sheehey had a stretch in the second half where he made 5 consecutive field goals for the Hoosiers. This scoring spurt helped IU expand on an already large lead. Sheehey finished with 15 points.
• Elston has been a great surprise for the Hoosiers this year. Elston's jumper remains wet and he finished with 10pts and 9 reb.
• Oladipo showed some spirit tonight as he helped IU open the second half by wrecking havoc on the opposition in the 2nd half. Oladipo was a maniac on defense and set the tone for the Hoosiers.

With that being said, let's jump into the +/- Player Analysis

+/- Player Analysis vs Evansville
*Just in case you forgot, here is a quick breakdown as to what the +/- Player Analysis is looking at.
Example: Here is a quick example of how the +/- stat is determined. Zeller, Watford, VJIII, Hulls and Sheehey start the game for IU. Therefore the score is 0-0. Coach Crean makes his first substitution at 15:00 with the score IU up 15-10. Oladipo comes into the game for Sheehey. For this stint in time, Sheehey would earn a +5 (while Sheehey was in, IU increased their lead by 5 points). The Lineup of Zeller, Watford, VJIII, Hulls and Sheehey also earned a +5. This will continue throughout the game.

Game Overall



Key Takeaways:

• Moore, Elston and VJ3 were 1,2 and 3 for the game. All three players have stepped their game up and the Hoosiers clearly benefit from their presence on the floor.
• This is the first game where Zeller wasn't near the top 3. Zeller was quite for more of the game as Sheeladipo took this game over. Zeller still played extremely well and Hoosier fans love the fact that he will dive on the floor for lose balls. Zeller was one reb short of a double double.
• All the significant minute players were in the Green again tonight. A trend that will continue to happen as IU keeps winning.
  
• I cannot stress this enough, anything in the GREEN, means the player had a positive impact on the game and helped IU get to their blowout win.
  

Lineups of the Night:


Key Takeaways: (click to enlarge)

• Here you can see the game flow throughout the night. The chart reads from the beginning of the game to the end from top to bottom.
• Overall, Coach Crean used 23 different combinations of players in the game. Of his 23 combinations, 10 were positive, 6 were neutral (0) and the remaining 7 were negative.
• Only 1 unit played multiple times these evening and they ended with a +/- of Zero. (VJ3, Oladipo, Roth, Watford and Zeller
  

Best Lineup of the Night:
The best lineup of the night (+11) belongs to Sheehey and Oladipo.... (Hulls, Watford and Zeller were on the floor as well). The Super Sophs took over in this lineup. Led by Oladipo's defense and Sheehey's 5 straight FGs, this unit increased a 40-25 lead with 15:47 to go into a 55-29 lead with 10:05 to go. This unit played lights out and raised the decibels in Assembly Hall.

Worst Lineup of the Night:
There really wasn't a worst lineup of the night tonight. The worst lineup ended up -4 and closed the game out. They played the final minute and didn't score. No need to look further into this.

Season to Date:

As many people like to point out, looking at the +/- for one specific game is not entirely telling. Tracking this over the course of the year, will give a much clearer picture as to what each player brings to the team. Below is the updated season to date +/- for each player.

• Quick reminder - the far right column shows the difference in Overall +/- from last game to this game. In short, it shows how this game affected their season to date +/-.
  
• 6 Hoosiers improved their season averages during this game. Moore and Elston raised their totals the most.
  
• Remy Abell is the only Hoosier who has seen 35+ minutes who is negative. It's important to note that Abell is still a freshman and will need some time to adjust to the college game. Etherington does not have that much better of a +/- for the year. Rule of thumb, don't focus much on freshman early on. The majority of the time they get in the game is when IU is already winning by a bunch.
  
• Like I mentioned last game, Zeller continuing his +1.00 pt/min is impossible. He regressed some here ,but that could be more to his minutes than anything else.
  

Lineup Combinations
Here are some quick stats related to the Lineups Tom Crean has used through the three regular season games:

• Coach has used 102 different lineups this year.
• Of those 102, only 27 are negative year to date.
• Best lineup is +35 (only unit to play in all five games, been on the floor together a high 10 times) (Crean's favorite unit of Hulls, Oladipo, VJ3, Watford, Zeller)
• Worst lineup is -6. (Consists of Oladipo, Sheehey, Moore, Abell, Elston)
  
• 13 lineups have been used multiple times this year.

Lineup Creator!
I just figured out a way to post this and I figured many people would enjoy this feature. What you can do is go to this link, and it will open an Excel file for you. Using the filters already on the page, you can filter the lineups for the year to see how all the different combinations of players play together. For instance, if you wanted to see how the team does when Oladipo and Sheehey are in the game together, filter both their columns. This will return all lineups for the year that Oladipo and Sheehey have been on the floor together!

+/- Lineup Generator

Overall
IU came out and took care of business. They did what was needed to get the big win. The Hoosiers now have a few days to rest up before Butler comes to town. While I like to say that this isn't your Hoosiers of the past few years... this DEFINITELY isn't the Butler Bulldogs of the last two years. Butler has struggled early this season and if IU doesn't put them away handily, it will be a win for Butler. IU needs to stay focused and get ready to take the state back. Starting Sunday...

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+/- Analysis for All 2011-2012 Games

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Hulls, Oladipo, Moore Reflect on Win

Check out Jordan Hulls, Victor Oladipo and Daniel Moore as they discuss the Hoosiers victory tonight!

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Gm 2: +/- Player Analysis - Chattanooga

Welcome back to another addition of the +/- Player Analysis for your 2011-2012 Indiana Hoosiers! IU took on the Mocs of Chattanooga on Sunday evening and showed Hoosier fans this isn't the same old team as they won 78-53.

Key Players:

• Victor Oladipo: "Know Me" Victor jumped out of the building again tonight and showed his new offensive skill set. He couldn't be stopped from getting to the lane tonight and should be able to slice through defenses all year long. The key for VO, will be converting his free throws, because he will be living at the line if he continues to attack the basket with that kind of tenacity.
  
• Jordan Hulls: He has developed a DEADLY quick release three pointer. His 18 points tonight all came from behind the arc. The beauty of Hulls is he doesn't force these threes. If anything, he is probably too passive when it comes to shooting some of threes that fans would love to see him shoot.
  

With that being said, let's jump into the +/- Player Analysis

+/- Player Analysis vs Stony Brook
*Just in case you forgot, here is a quick breakdown as to what the +/- Player Analysis is looking at.
Example: Here is a quick example of how the +/- stat is determined. Zeller, Watford, VJIII, Hulls and Sheehey start the game for IU. Therefore the score is 0-0. Coach Crean makes his first substitution at 15:00 with the score IU up 15-10. Oladipo comes into the game for Sheehey. For this stint in time, Sheehey would earn a +5 (while Sheehey was in, IU increased their lead by 5 points). The Lineup of Zeller, Watford, VJIII, Hulls and Sheehey also earned a +5. This will continue throughout the game.

Game Overall

Key Takeaways:

• Christian Watford got the honors of the highest +/- for his time in the game tonight. This might come as a surprise to most, as Watford has been much more quite throughout the games so far. Watford was 1-7 from the field for 2 points in his 20 minutes of play. He did however contribute with 5 rebounds and 3 assists.
  
• Cody Zeller -As I predicted after Stony Brook's game, I thought Cody Zeller would lead the team in Gross +/- for the many games this year. It almost happened again tonight. The team functions much better with Zeller in the game. I will dig into this further down below.
  
• Daniel Moore - I mentioned during the game that Moore would stand out again. If you watch the game, and get over the fact that he is a walk on player that you don't feel should be playing (He is a D1 basketball talent as he had a full ride to Boston U!), you will see a player that hustles and gives 100%. Moore continuously comes up with loose balls and positions himself to be in the right spots at all times. We will see it time and time again, IU increases leads when Moore comes in to provide that spark.
  
• I cannot stress this enough, anything in the GREEN, means the player had a positive impact on the game and helped IU get to their 25pt win.

Lineups of the Night:


Key Takeaways: (click to enlarge)

• Here you can see the game flow throughout the night. The chart reads from the beginning of the game to the end from top to bottom.
• For the 2nd straight game the Hoosiers couldn't find the right lineup to shake their rusty starts. It wasn't until their 9th lineup of the night that they started to turn things on.
  
• Overall, Coach Crean used 27 different combinations of players in the game. Of his 27 combinations, 10 were positive, 10 were neutral (0) and the remaining 7 were negative.
• The Best Lineup of the Night just so happened to be the only unit Coach used multiple times (3).
  

Best Lineup of the Night:
The best lineup of the night (+11) goes to Hulls, Oladipo, VJ3, Watford and Zeller. This unit was used three different times in the game. Coach Crean named this group the Starters of the game. They earned a +2 for their first 5 minutes in the game. The big push for this unit came in the at the start of the second half. The group played together until 15:40 mark and they were able to increase the 12 point half time lead to 21 pts. An interesting side note, the best lineup of the night from the Stony Brook game consisted of 4/5 of this lineup. The only difference was Elston plugged in for Watford.

Worst Lineup of the Night:
The worst lineup of the night came at the end of the game with IU leading 65-38. Obviously at this point of the game, the game was all but wrapped up. However, this unit did not consist of walk-ons. The worst lineup of the night goes to..... (drum roll please).... Hulls, Oladipo, Sheehey, VJIII and Elston. The group ended their 2+ min stint only scoring 3 points while allowing 7. They at the 4:40 mark with IU leading 68-45.

Season to Date:

As many people like to point out, looking at the +/- for one specific game is not entirely telling. Tracking this over the course of the year, will give a much clearer picture as to what each player brings to the team. Below is the updated season to date +/- for each player.
For statistical accuracy, I have dropped the Exhibition game from the stats I used last week. The stats below are only related to Stony Brook and Chattanooga.

• Daniel Moore leads the pack as the player that provides a great spark for the team. Moore is a constant fight between IU fans. Many fans feel he isn't needed and do not see why Crean plays him. Some feel Moore is a great addition as he goes in and hustles and makes things happen for IU. We will let Hoosier Nation continue that fight. We will focus on the stats. In IU's two regular season games, IU outscores their opponents by 1.53 points per minute Daniel Moore is on the floor. You can argue all you want, the kid helps IU's team.
• After saying my dialogue about Moore above, I wouldn't place a ton of reliance on these stats right now. It is still very early on in the season and these stats will regress to the mean for each player.
  

Lineup Combinations
Here are some quick stats related to the Lineups Tom Crean has used through the two regular season games:

• Coach has used 44 different lineups this year.
• Of those 44, only 9 are negative year to date.
• Best lineup is +10 (team mentioned above)
• Worst lineup is -5. (Worst lineup from Stony Brook, they did not play vs Chattanooga)
  
• 5 lineups have been used multiple times this year.
• Hulls, Oladipo, Watford, VJ3 and Zeller have been on the court together 5 separate times this year are statistically the best Lineup for IU right now.
• Cody Zeller is present in the top 6 lineups for +/- this year. The next highest presence is Hulls and VO (3 of 6).
  

Overall
IU played another great game tonight. It will be extremely interesting to see how they look on the road at Evansville. Evansville will be a great early season test as they just beat Butler this weekend. Check back to the site for a preview of the IU @ Evansville game. Also make sure you follow us on Twitter to be a part of our IUpickem Challenge!

Game 1 : Stony Brook +/- Analysis

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