Immediate Reactions - Ohio State Edition

By Brian Hall (@Hoosier_Hall)

IU vs. O$U

This game started out scary for IU. Half way through the first half, Indiana was down ten and didn’t look like they were going to hang close for very long. That all changed when OSU’s big men Sullinger and Thomas picked up their second fouls and headed to the bench. IU took advantage which lead to a one point lead at the half.

The second half continued to go back and forth with no team taking more than a five point lead. Oladipo and Hulls gently placed IU on their back and did not let OSU get too far ahead. Hulls got out of his funk from the MSU game and came up with some huge shots. Oladipo had some key steals and dunks that got the non-student crowd out of their seats and gave Assembly Hall a major lift. I had a similar feeling heading into this game that I had going into the Kentucky game and the last couple of minutes did not fail to bring back that recent UK memories.

Indiana ended up winning by the score of 74-70 over the #2 Buckeyes of Ohio State. This was a true team effort! Hull, Oladipo, Jones, Zeller, and Watford all were in double figures. The Hoosiers fought for half the game without their star Center. Zeller only played 21 minutes because of foul trouble. I could not be any prouder of this IU team. They never give up! Who knows where the Hoosiers will end up this year!

Hoo’s Next: vs. Michigan 1/5 9:00 pm

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Coach Crean Discusses Ohio State (Video)

See what Coach Crean has to say about upcoming opponent #2 Ohio State.

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A Quick Look at Coach Crean's Lineups

Substitutions and lineups are a hot topic right now after the Michigan State loss. We took some time to find the best lineups and most frequently used lineups by Coach Crean and apply our Plus/Minus analysis to it. Here is what we found:

I have finally figured out a way to track the lineups +/- per minute for the season by lineup. This will give a much better picture to the overall performance of different lineups under Coach Crean.



As you can see from the chart above, there are some telling stats here:


- First point of note: Coach Crean doesn't play many lineups significant minutes. This would lead to the thought that the Hoosiers aren’t actually as deep as many thought they were.
- The chart is filtered to show only lineups that have been used at least 2% of the time. (this eliminated 173 out of 182 other lineups)
- Crean’s favorite lineup (Hulls, Oladipo, VJ, Watford and Zeller) has been on the court for 25% of all of IU’s games scoring +71.
- The top 3 lineups account for 172 / 540 minutes played (33%). These three lineups consist of only 6 players (Hulls, Oladipo, Sheehey, VJIII, Watford and Zeller)

Based on this, it would appear the Hoosiers need to get more production deeper on their bench. Coach Crean doesn't appear to have much confidence in his bench as they don't see court as much as it appears.

For reference, below you can see the percentage that each player has been on the court for IU this season.

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Who's B1G Diary

12/28/11 at MSU

6:30am- Woke up. First thing on my mind: Hoosiers. First words out of my mouth: "Go Hoosiers."
7:00am- Woke up my fiance, "Game day."
8:30am- Dropped off my fiance at work. Her, "Have a good day. I love you." Me, "Go Hoosiers."
9:00am- Got to work. Checked Twitter to read #iubb tweets.
12:50pm- Lunch. Turkey sandwich with ketchup. Why ketchup? 'Cause it's red, like Hoosiers.
2:10pm- Began writing "A Hoosier's Dictionary."
2:40pm- Posted "A Hoosier's Dictionary" to btownbanners.com.
4:30pm- Stopped working an hour early because my nerves over tonight's game have taken me over.
5:03pm- Still at work, but not working. Wondering when I can crack my first Guinness and put my candystripes on.
5:12pm- So...Derek Willis wants to catch the IU vs. OSU game on New Year's Eve instead of the KY vs. Louisville game. Does he want to be part of The Movement part 2? Keep 'em comin' Crean!
5:30pm- Still slacking at work. Just read that Gus Johnson is calling the game. To my neighbors, I'm sorry, but it's going to be extra loud tonight. I love Gus.
6:26pm-Got home. Game day Guinness #1. Start on dinner: Spaghetti with Crimson Sauce and a touch of Crean cheese.
6:56pm-Rumors flying that VJIII is warming up. We'll need him. Chopping onions. Nervous. The dog looks hungry. Guinness #2.
7:16pm- Turned the TV on to Big Ten Network. OSU 77, NW 54. Bring it on Buckeyes!
7:30- Gus. Now I'm really pumped!
7:36- Tip off.
7:38- 0-4. So...Cody can...dribble.
7:42pm- Watford, like me, has a bit of beard swag. The dog still looks hungry.
7:43pm- 4-4. Guinness #3. Time to check on dinner.
7:47pm- 4-11. Can't get Cody the ball. Turning it over. MSU playing fast.
7:52pm- MSU defense is swarming. IU defense is sloppy. 8-17.
7:56pm- Dinner! 8-19. C'mon IU!...Oladiphustle!!!
8:01pm- Gus just used the term, "overwhelmed" to describe IU. I agree. IU is giving MSU more second chances than an insecure high school girl dating the cheating quarterback.
8:05pm- There must not be barns in East Lansing because IU can't hit the broad side of one.
8:06pm- 14-31. Is IU getting beat by a better team? Looks that way. Who's next? OSU. I might switch to Jack Daniels. This crowd at MSU pisses me off. Good crowd; just wish Indiana would give them a reason to shut up. The dog looks weak.
8:09pm- Roth for three! Again!
8:10pm- 25-34. 3 show! Whew! The spaghetti is good. Benchmob showin' up.
8:11pm- Oladidunk!!
8:12pm- 27-34. Dinner is finished. Full. Momentum is going IU's way.
8:20pm- 29-36. At the half. IU is lucky. Turnovers are killing us. Cody is a non-factor. Crean will have them ready.
8:24pm- Time to tweet. Guinness isn't going down so easy and neither are IU's shots. I need to pee, and the dog can't hardly stand. No time for that as Gus just announced the second half is starting up.
8:29pm- It will be interesting to see how IU can carry the momentum from the end of the first into the second half. Can they stop the turnovers? Can Cody Zeller (CZ) be a diamond?
8:30pm- I just saw a commercial for the Purdue/Iowa game next. Even from Iowa I can smell PU.
8:36pm- Start of the second half. C'mon Hoosiers!
8:37pm- Crean is pacing even before the ball is inbounded. First play- turnover off of Zeller's foot. Geez.
8:38pm- Gus: "Oladipo is Johnny on the spot!" I love Gus... Olablock. He's a nomination for MVP of this team. Straight hustle.
8:39pm- Hulls off defender's back and in for the layup. 33-36. Smart kid.
8:41pm- Watford rebounds and is in BEASTMODE.
8:42pm- 37-36. Zeller puts us ahead with his first 2 points!...Zeller slams it down! Codyboner. 39-36. Guinness tastes good again. I'm raging. My fiance is scared, but excited. The dog is famished and the cat is hiding. I'm sweating.
8:49pm- 41-36. Oladipo with ten points. Olaspin, Olascore, Olahappy.
8:52pm- Watford and 1! Maybe he's the MVP of this team...
8:53pm- VJIII and 1! So glad he's healthy.
8:55pm- 51-43. Tom Prichard puts it in! SENIOR.
8:56pm- Watford for three! Watboner. Did I mention I love Gus?
9:01pm- 54-53. I guess we can't trip while playing defense. Bummer. Izzone is loud. Cody is a non-factor. Where's Cody?
9:03pm- 54-55. Where's Cody? Forth Guinness. The house is silent except for Gus. My fiance is worried, as am I, but for different reasons I suspect. Me, about the outcome of this game. Her, about my fragile state of my mind.
9:04pm- And Hulls misses another shot. This time from half court.
9:05pm- Where's Cody on defense? 54-57...54-59. Turnovers. MSU slam. How will we respond?...With a shot clock violation. No good. 12-0 run by Sparty.
9:06pm- Guinness.
9:10pm- MSU alley-oop and I felt it here in South Carolina. Drinking heavy now.
9:12pm- IU down by 9, 54-63. Where's Cody?
9:17pm- IU can't stop Nix down low. Again, where's Cody? He's on the court, but where is he? I think the dog is dead...58-70. Nix with the steal. Transition=MSU easy points. Guinness has lost it's flavor.
9:19pm- 60-72. Derrick Nix is killing IU. Watford hits a three. That's nice. Need a defensive stop. 63-72.
9:20pm- IU in transition...blocked. Welcome to the Big Ten young Hoosiers.
9:24pm- Watford travels on the inbound pass along the baseline. Bright side: A few years ago IU was getting called for ten second violations. Wait, there's no bright side here...
9:25pm- 63-73 with less than two minutes to play. I'm sitting. Silent. My fiance has transitioned her attention to filing her nails. The dog has given up on getting fed, and life. The cat is still missing.
9:27pm- Cody has 4 points, and 4 fouls. Not such a diamond, more a CZ. 63-75.
9:29pm- Izzone is singing Bon Jovi. I hate this. Watford gets three foul shots...2/3.
9:32pm- 65-77 with :43 to go. The dog is lifeless with hunger. I'm sad....Now IU is starting to foul. My least favorite thing to see when down by more than 7. Down by 12 with :21 to go.
9:33pm- My fiance says, "Disappointing." My heart is broken because it's true.
9:35pm- 65-80 is the final. IU has lost 16 straight Big Ten road games. Ohio State, number 2 in the country, is next. The score doesn't reflect how close this game was. A real roller coaster of a game. IU's fist loss of the season, and it stings. The dog is mustering up her strength to crawl towards her food dish. Still haven't found the cat. I'll look tomorrow.

-Kenneth Languell
@AskTheWho

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Gm 13: +/- Player Analysis - Michigan State

Welcome back to another addition of the +/- Player Analysis for your 2011-2012 Indiana Hoosiers! This was a tough loss for the Hoosiers.  IU had stretches of dominant play mixed in with stretches of horrendous play.  How IU bounces back will be a very interesting question that will be answered on Saturday in Bloomington.

Key Players:

• Christian Watford - Watford came up huge for the Hoosiers again tonight.  Watford scored 26 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as he passed the 1000 point scoring mark for Indiana.
• Will Sheehey - This game was built for Sheehey.  I can see Sheehey playing a major role in the IU vs MSU game at Assembly Hall later in the year.
• Jordan Hulls - Hulls had one of his worst games as a Hoosier. His shots weren't falling (2-10 FG), he turned the ball over (4 TO) and he couldn't seem to get the offense moving.

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

+/- Player Analysis vs Stetson
*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:

• Being the first loss of the year, it is expected for Indiana's players to be in the red.
• Pritchard and Roth were the only Hoosier players in the green.  Their positive numbers were helped during their stint in the first half with 6:29 remaining with the Hoosiers trailing 14-28.  Led behind two Roth 3's, IU was able to cut the deficit to 7 points at the half.  The lineup of Hulls, Watford, Oladipo, Roth and Pritchard went +7 for this 6 minute stretch.
• Jordan Hulls is an interesting story tonight.  Hulls played all but 5 minutes of the game.  While Hulls struggled and couldn't find his game all night, he didn't hurt the Hoosiers as bad as you might think.  In fact, during the 5 minutes of the game when Hulls was out, IU was outscored by 14 points.
• Remy Abell recorded the worst Pts/Min of the season going -10 in 2 minutes of game time.  Remy was a part of a two minute stretch in the first half where Michigan State increased their lead from 21-14 to 28-14.
• I cannot stress this enough, anything in the GREEN, means the player had a positive impact on the game and helped IU's chances of victory.

Lineups of the Night: 

 

Key Takeaways:

• 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 14 different combinations of players in the game. Of his 14 combinations, 4 were positive, 2 were neutral (0) and the remaining 8 were negative.
• Of all the stints in this game (19), there were 6 positive, 3 neutral and 10 negative.
• 3 units played multiple times tonight.

Best Lineup of the Night:
The best lineup of the night (+7) belongs to Hulls, Roth, Oladipo, Watford and Pritchard. This group played together once tonight in the first half.  With 6:29 remaining and IU trailing 14-28, Coach Crean subbed in Hulls, Oladipo, Pritchard and Roth for VJIII, Abell, Elston and Zeller (who just went -7). This group went on a tremendous 11-0 run before losing some steam at the end of the half.  

Worst Lineup of the Night:
The worst lineup of the night (-7) belongs to Abell, VJIII, Watford, Elston and Zeller.  This unit played immediately before the best lineup of the night.  The group entered the game at 8:41 remaining in the 1st half with IU trailing 14-21.  This group was replaced with the exception of Watford at the 6:29 mark after giving up 7 unanswered points.

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.

• All players decreased their season averages including Roth and Pritchard (who went positive)
• Cody is still the top guy in the season to date.
• Austin Etherington improved his numbers considerably during the UMBC

Lineup Combinations Here are some quick stats related to the Lineups Tom Crean has used throughout the season:

• Coach has used 178 different lineups this year.
• Of those 178, only 53 are negative year to date. (Increased 11)
• Best lineup is +71 (went -4 vs Mich St; Crean's favorite unit (31 times) of Hulls, Oladipo, VJ3, Watford, Zeller)
• 2nd Best Lineup is +25 (went Even vs Mich St; New Lineup of Hulls, VJIII, Oladipo, Elston and Zeller who went +7 vs Howard)
• New worst lineup is -7. (Consists of Abell, VJIII, Watford, Elston and Zeller.)
• 49 (Increase of 7 this game) 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, "+/- Lineup Generator" 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!

Overall
This was one of the craziest seesaw basketball games you will ever witness.  I'm not sure if there was ever a point in the game where IU and MSU exchanged buckets on continuous possessions.  It seemed one team was always on a 10-0, 13-0 or even 20-0 run.  IU showed great poise in the first half to come back from an 18 point deficit.  To start the second half they took an 8 point lead, which most Hoosiers fans figured would spark the Hoosiers to their 13th win of the season.  Michigan State had different plans as they came back on a 20-0 run to put IU out of the game.  The Hoosiers have a lot of questions to answer, and there isn't much time for them to find these answers as #2 Ohio State comes to Bloomington on Saturday.


+/- Player Analysis for Every Game!

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