Full Circle: From Hanner to Kelvin

Wow has it been a long time since I have posted something or what?  Unfortunately wedding planning leaves little time to write after the 9 to 5 grind.  With my wedding a week from this upcoming Saturday I plan on cranking out a couple of posts before then and will come back in full swing at the beginning of July.  For now, I think I should try to catch Hoosier Nation up with my take on what’s been going on recently in what I’d like to call “Full Circle”.

1.  Mike who??

First things first, let’s have an update on the aftermath from the Mike Fish article, and by aftermath I mean the lack there of.  To say that his article received any positive feedback would be the equivalent of anyone saying that Lebron James played consistently in the NBA Finals. I honestly hope that ESPN has learned their lesson on such investigations taking place by Mr. Fish in the near future.  I prefaced my rebuttal piece by saying that I wasn’t claiming anything that he said was false and I will further admit that I am not an investigative journalist by any stretch of the imagination.  Having said that, it’s laughable how little research I actually did to counter the points he tried to make in his article.  Oh and if you thought his work made him seem like a sample of four letter words I told my mother I would never write on this blog (she’s an avid reader), he didn’t exactly help himself out during his podcast interview with ESPN 1070 The Fan radio personality JMV the day before the Indianapolis 500.  The interview can be heard here.

I’m going to ask a couple of questions for you, the readers, to consider after listening to the interview:

Who brought up Baylor first?

On a scale from 1 t0 10, how defensive did Fish seem to be throughout the interview?

After listening to the podcast myself this has become a non-issue for me.  I can honestly say that I think Mike Fish has a better shot at becoming the sports writer for the Herald Times in Bloomington than anything coming out of his most recent (hopefully last) article.

2.  Future stars shining

I want to shift focus to the 2011 IU recruits who participated in the two Indiana / Kentucky all-star games.

Cody Zeller (48 minutes, 35 points, 24 rebounds, 3 blocks, 3 assists):  He was easily the most dominant big man in these games and arguably the best overall player even though he found himself in foul trouble in the second game.  He is undoubtedly going to be a game changer when he reaches Bloomington.  Are IU fan’s expectations unreasonable for the McDonald’s All-American?  Probably.  Can he handle the pressure of those expectations?  Absolutely.  He is the third Zeller of three.  He’s dealt with the pressures of following in his brother’s footsteps his entire life and because of that he will be an extremely mature freshman in terms of dealing with the big stage that Assembly Hall has to offer.  He won’t be a 25/15 player that I expect him to be as an upperclassman, but that’s not to say that a double-double average his freshman year is out of the question.

Austin Etherington (26 minutes, 7 points, 6 rebounds, 3 blocks, 2 assists, 1 steal):  Don’t let these numbers fool you into thinking that Etherington is an over-rated player coming into IU this year.  All-star games aren’t exactly an ideal atmosphere in which spot up shooters can flourish.  Additionally, what you can’t see in his stat line is the defensive presence he was for Team Indiana in both games.  He will eventually become one of our better all around defenders as he showed the quickness to defend guards and the strength to defend small and power forwards.  Having a player that can guard positions 1 through 4 is a rarity in college basketball and when you can shoot the three like he can he could potentially stretch opposing defenses outside of their comfort zones.  The key for Etherington over the course of his Indiana career, in my opinion, is whether or not he can develop the ability to take players off the dribble once teams realize they need to guard him two steps inside of half court.  If he can accomplish that feat, not only will he be a star at IU, I think he has the work ethic to become an All Big 10 player by his senior season.

Remy Abell (55 minutes, 28 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals): Abell displayed his strength and ball handling abilities in both games.  One thing that is clear is that once he arrives in Bloomington he will need to work on the consistency of his jump shot if he wants to have an immediate impact as a freshman.  There’s no doubt that there is a small window of opportunity for Abell with Yogi Ferrell (2012 point guard) presumably taking the starting point guard position the following year.  With that being the case, adding a mid-range jumper with his ability to get to the rim will give him more versatility as a player to ensure  he can continue to be a force even after the youngsters arrive.  My prediction, however, is that Abell is just a short-term solution to the Hoosiers point guard problems.  If he doesn’t see enough playing time this year, don’t be surprised to see him transfer with the influx of talent coming in 2012 as his primary reason for jumping ship.  Anything we can get out of him next year I think is a bonus and if you ask me I wouldn’t get used to seeing him in candy stripes.

3.  First it was IU basketball, now it is Indianapolis …

We are all aware of the consequences that Kelvin Sampon’s actions have had on the Hoosier basketball program.  What none of us realized was how his actions would eventually effect the entire Big 10 conference.  I am referring to the Big 10 basketball tournament of course.  Through 2012 it is contracted to be held in Indianapolis, one of the best sports towns in America.  However, it has recently been announced that the tournament will now be rotating between Indianapolis and Chicago.  What do Kelvin Sampon’s actions have to do with this decision?  What team do you think drives attendance during tournament week?  I can tell you that it isn’t Northwestern.  When Sampson drove the Hoosier basketball program off a cliff, the Hoosier attendance during the Big 10 tournament plummeted with it.

How bad did it get?  In 2009 (Crean’s first year as head coach), when Purdue won the Big 10 tournament title, the average attendance was 13,620 which was the lowest session average in league history (even with a home state team in the title game).  Coincidentally, this also is the same season in which the Hoosiers finished 1-17 in conference play and got blown out in the first round of the tournament as an 11 seed.  In contrast, the best average session attendance was in 2001 when IU made the championship game, but ultimately lost to Iowa.  The average attendance was 21,954.  Anyone who says that IU doesn’t have a positive effect on college basketball, specifically Big 10 basketball, needs to reread this paragraph.

Full disclosure, I currently live in Indianapolis and have gone to the Big 10 tournament the last few years.  The atmosphere in Indianapolis is second to none in my opinion (Am I biased? DUH!).  Maybe that’s why we were chosen for the site for the Big 10 football championship, have hosted numerous Final Fours and will be hosting a Super Bowl this year (fingers crossed).  To paint a picture, each team has their own “home” bar with team banners outside of the numerous establishments all of which are located within a five minute walk from Conseco Fieldhouse (which I feel has more of a college basketball feel to it than that of the United Center in Chicago).  On top of losing one of the greatest weeks of the college basketball season, Indianapolis will lose $8 million in direct visitor spending each year the tournament is held in Chicago according to the Indiana Business Journal.  My colleague on this blog, iufan24, is a Chicago native and hopefully I can get him to give us the Chicago perspective on this matter.  Until then I’m writing this as a Hoosier fanatic, a Big 10 follower and an Indianapolis native and all I have to say about all of this is thanks a lot Kelvin Sampson… again.