It’s Been A Strange Year For College Basketball In Indiana
February 19, 2020 at 4:11 a.m.
It’s Been A Strange Year For College Basketball In Indiana
By Roger Grossman-
I was specifically anxious to hear the final 10 minutes of the Butler-Georgetown game at Hinkle Fieldhouse. Butler was losing by four when I left my house. Ironically, the signal of the Indianapolis radio station got better the farther south I drove, but the score of the game never did. I quickly switched over to the Notre Dame game, and they were predictably getting smoked at Duke. Purdue had already lost Saturday at Ohio State, and I realized that the hopes of the major college basketball teams from Indiana not getting swept over the weekend fell to the Hoosiers.
Sunday’s 89-65 win by Michigan over Indiana made it 0-for-the-weekend.
It occurred to me, in that moment, that the state of Indiana’s major college basketball programs are currently a mess.
What happened? How did we get here?
For the Irish, it’s a lot easier to understand, so let’s start there.
Under Mike Brey, the Irish fielded a string of really strong teams. One of those teams had an off-balance, contested three-pointer in the air that would have put them into the Final Four.
They have been putting teams on the court that were good shooting teams and were tough to tame. They continuously offered NBA-ready players, and many of those players made their first trip up Notre Dame Avenue with very little (or no) national fanfare.
This season, injuries decimated any hope of fielding a team that was ready to compete against the elite programs of the Atlantic Coast Conference. In financial terms, this season is what you would describe as a “market correction.”
The players they have on their roster have gotten better as the season has gone on, but they just don’t have enough ammunition to contend in a league like the ACC.
For me, I have no doubt that they will reload next year.
For Purdue, a “market correction” was also understandable.
Think about it: you lose a guy like Carsen Edwards to the pros and the next year is not going to go as well. Edwards was the hub of the Boilers offensive game plan. He was the one they counted on for 20 points every time out and to take most of their biggest shots.
Some of their veteran players have not developed like they would have hoped, and some have actually been massive disappointments.
They hoped to reload this season, but clearly they are due for a total makeover built around their young and inexperienced players. They will get there, in time.
IU? Well, this is a little harder to wrap your head around.
Coach Archie Miller has been on campus in Bloomington long enough that Hoosier fans were ready for them to have a breakout season. They got off to a decent start, but still there was a queasy feeling about the sustainability of that through the Big Ten season. It seems well-founded…sorta.
This season more than any other I can remember, the Big Ten is filled with quality teams that are darn near unbeatable — if the circumstance are lined up just right. If they are at home. If they are healthy.
So what is wrong with IU? I can’t tell you. It’s a mystery.
What I can tell you is that when no one can figure out what is wrong with a team, the default explanation is to blame the coach. I don’t need to regurgitate all of the rationales fans give. Someone has to pay the price for the failure to meet expectations, and the coach is almost always the target of the angst.
And then there is Butler.
In a season where the Bulldogs needed to be good, they ascended to No. 5 in the national rankings. Their only loss of the season at that point was on the road to the currently top-rated Baylor Bears. They were unstoppable at home, and their defense was considered elite.
But not they have lost their way, and they may be drifting toward an 8-10 seed placement in the NCAA tournament instead of a top-4 seed.
Prediction: Purdue, IU and Notre Dame all make the NIT, but none of them go very far.
Butler makes it in, but the music runs out on their dance pretty quickly, and the murmurs start to grow louder about the viability of their coach.
And with that ends a very, very un-Indiana-like basketball season.
I was specifically anxious to hear the final 10 minutes of the Butler-Georgetown game at Hinkle Fieldhouse. Butler was losing by four when I left my house. Ironically, the signal of the Indianapolis radio station got better the farther south I drove, but the score of the game never did. I quickly switched over to the Notre Dame game, and they were predictably getting smoked at Duke. Purdue had already lost Saturday at Ohio State, and I realized that the hopes of the major college basketball teams from Indiana not getting swept over the weekend fell to the Hoosiers.
Sunday’s 89-65 win by Michigan over Indiana made it 0-for-the-weekend.
It occurred to me, in that moment, that the state of Indiana’s major college basketball programs are currently a mess.
What happened? How did we get here?
For the Irish, it’s a lot easier to understand, so let’s start there.
Under Mike Brey, the Irish fielded a string of really strong teams. One of those teams had an off-balance, contested three-pointer in the air that would have put them into the Final Four.
They have been putting teams on the court that were good shooting teams and were tough to tame. They continuously offered NBA-ready players, and many of those players made their first trip up Notre Dame Avenue with very little (or no) national fanfare.
This season, injuries decimated any hope of fielding a team that was ready to compete against the elite programs of the Atlantic Coast Conference. In financial terms, this season is what you would describe as a “market correction.”
The players they have on their roster have gotten better as the season has gone on, but they just don’t have enough ammunition to contend in a league like the ACC.
For me, I have no doubt that they will reload next year.
For Purdue, a “market correction” was also understandable.
Think about it: you lose a guy like Carsen Edwards to the pros and the next year is not going to go as well. Edwards was the hub of the Boilers offensive game plan. He was the one they counted on for 20 points every time out and to take most of their biggest shots.
Some of their veteran players have not developed like they would have hoped, and some have actually been massive disappointments.
They hoped to reload this season, but clearly they are due for a total makeover built around their young and inexperienced players. They will get there, in time.
IU? Well, this is a little harder to wrap your head around.
Coach Archie Miller has been on campus in Bloomington long enough that Hoosier fans were ready for them to have a breakout season. They got off to a decent start, but still there was a queasy feeling about the sustainability of that through the Big Ten season. It seems well-founded…sorta.
This season more than any other I can remember, the Big Ten is filled with quality teams that are darn near unbeatable — if the circumstance are lined up just right. If they are at home. If they are healthy.
So what is wrong with IU? I can’t tell you. It’s a mystery.
What I can tell you is that when no one can figure out what is wrong with a team, the default explanation is to blame the coach. I don’t need to regurgitate all of the rationales fans give. Someone has to pay the price for the failure to meet expectations, and the coach is almost always the target of the angst.
And then there is Butler.
In a season where the Bulldogs needed to be good, they ascended to No. 5 in the national rankings. Their only loss of the season at that point was on the road to the currently top-rated Baylor Bears. They were unstoppable at home, and their defense was considered elite.
But not they have lost their way, and they may be drifting toward an 8-10 seed placement in the NCAA tournament instead of a top-4 seed.
Prediction: Purdue, IU and Notre Dame all make the NIT, but none of them go very far.
Butler makes it in, but the music runs out on their dance pretty quickly, and the murmurs start to grow louder about the viability of their coach.
And with that ends a very, very un-Indiana-like basketball season.
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