In this running dialogue, Steve and I exchange thoughts on the game itself, where the win over Kentucky fits in the program’s history, expectations for the team, and the student section storming the court.
Steve:
What is there to actually say my friend? I was left utterly speechless last night. Not because there weren’t words to describe the best sports-related feelings I’ve had probably in my entire life (awesome, spectacular, stupendous, amazing, clutch, redemption, etc., etc, etc,), but because of all of the screaming I did throughout the course of this game I lost my voice. There are so many things I’d like to cover, from the game itself, to where I think the Hoosiers will end up being ranked next week, to yet another potential upgrade in my expecations for this season. First I’d like to talk about what each of our favorite parts of the game were. I would imagine we will have very different takes on this as you were at the game, and I was running circles in my apartment back in Indianapolis.
I can tell you from the vantage point of my couch, my favorite part was Coach Tom Crean’s reaction after the shot was made …. which was basically no reaction. Why was that my favorite part? Because although the students, the alumni, and the players have earned the right to celebrate the way they did, CTC acted like he had been there before. In that moment, everyone in the country saw how much respect he had for the game. Here’s Dwayne Wade’s thoughts on CTC via Twitter:
“@DwayneWade: woooooooooow what a shot. And the walk off by Coach Crean was Swag”
So Mr. Aynilian, give those of us who couldn’t be in attendance for the first upset of a #1 team in Assembly Hall since 2001 against Michigan State (thank you Kirk Haston) an idea of what it was like to be in the presence of what is arguably the best regular season win in the history of Indiana Hoosier basketball.
Paul:
I think speechless is just about as good of a description as you are going to get for anyone who was in Assembly Hall last night. At the time, it took me a few seconds to repress my skepticism about what had actually happened. After the emotional roller coaster that game took us through, I was in shut-down mode after Oladipo’s final turnover. In the timeout before Doron Lamb’s 2nd free throw, I couldn’t help but feel like I had seen this game before. Many times. I grew up in Chicago and didn’t follow IU basketball closely until my enrollment in 2009, Year 2 of the Tom Crean era. Feeling cheated after 30-35 great minutes of basketball has become second nature for me over the past few years. I expected defeat.
Believe me, I had the excuses ready. “We didn’t get Zeller the ball enough late” … “We stopped running our stuff when they pressured the ball” … “Teague was just too quick for Hulls”.
Thank god I didn’t need them.
As you talked about, Crean’s reaction was classic. “Tommy” (as John Calipari likes to call him) acted like he had been there before, and with first-class character. Personally, I loved it because if you look really closely, you can literally see this wave of emotion inside of him. It’s barely showing, but it’s there in his eyes. He probably verbalized some formal comments to Coach Cal and the UK players, but inside, I think he was as speechless as the rest of us.
Now, being in the stadium, there were a few moments that stood out more than if you were watching on TV. Obviously, the crowd was at a fever pitch the whole game, but there were three distinct points where you just couldn’t hear yourself think. These moments were all after Hoosier three’s, one after a Hulls three put us up 8 in the first half, and the other two after a Sheehey trey and Watford trey, each of which put us up close to 10 points in the second half. Those moments when the crowd collectively gasps as the ball is in the air, and explodes with the swish of the net, are instances I’ll never forget.
As for my favorite part, it has to be the 4 seconds that Verdell Jones used so perfectly on the last possession. While this game has been widely referred to as a “catharsis” for Indiana fans, those 4 seconds must have been just as cleansing for number 12. The same number 12 who was here for the worst 3 years in Indiana basketball history. The same number 12 who probably would have either turned the ball over or let time expire had he not been through those trying years. The same number 12 who sputtered in a similar situation 2 years ago vs. Purdue, as his shot clanked off the rim at the buzzer.
One couldn’t help but realize that those 4 seconds, in which so much could have gone wrong, yet didn’t…was a culmination of all the bad decisions Verdell Jones has ever made with the ball, being erased.
Before we get to details of the game and IU’s ranking, one thing I want to ask you (as a long time Hoosier fan with more perspective) is where this win ranks in importance among the others in the program’s history. The Haston shot is a perfect comparison, among many other important wins in the storied history of this program. When was the last time we won a regular season game this big? How important was it that the game was on national TV? (on a college-basketball focused Saturday of programming, nonetheless). And what are the long term implications for Indiana Basketball of this game?
Steve:
In my opinion, especially considering the circumstances, I would call this the biggest regular season win in IU’s history. Ironically enough, this game is eerily similar to the aforementioned Michigan State upset in 2001. Although there is one detail that I hope does not follow suit and I’ll get to that here in a second.
But as far as similiarities go, Bloomingon native Jarred Jeffries was a key player in the MSU game, and what do you know, another highly touted Hoosier freshman in Cody Zeller played a big role against Kentucky. Both IU teams had homegrown, not so sought after, point guards in Tom Coverdale in 2001 and Jordan Hulls in 2011. Both IU teams had lock down defenders in Dane Fife in 2001 and Victor Oladipo in 2011. Both IU teams had a lot of depth at the forward position as in 2001 we had Jeffries, Geoff Newton, Jared Odle, and of course Kirk Haston while in 2011 we rotated in Cody Zeller, Christian Watford, Tom Pritchard, and Will Sheehey (don’t forget about Derek Elston either, he just was held out of this game with injuries).
Finally who could forget either shot? Both of them by our best SF at the last second and both of them seemed just as unprobable until you saw it go through the net. The one thing I hope does not follow suit is the fact that Kirk Haston left for the NBA after that 2001 season, when you would have to imagine he could have made a difference in the 2002 National Championship game against Maryland the following year. With ‘The Movement’ scheduled to arrive next year, you almost wonder if history is scheduled to repeat itself as well (minus C-Wat leaving for the NBA at the end of this season) …. with of course it ending with banner number six this time around. I’m obviously getting way ahead of myself, but that’s what a win of this magnitude does to expectations. Will Sheehey said it best during his post game interview, “If we can beat the number one team in the country, we can play with anybody”. The sky is now the limit.
I also want to give a shout out to a college friend Nick Magnus who also made the point that although this may be arguably the biggest regular season win in our program’s, the next goal is sustainability. Don’t forget this team had it’s worst half of basketball against Stetson in the first half leading up to the Kentucky game. It should be interesting to see how the Hoosiers come out against Howard coming off such an emotional win.
One thing is for certain though; with the game on such a big stage, we can’t sneak up on anybody anymore. Kentucky may have underestimated us just a bit and who could blame them? Don’t expect that to happen again this season.
Having closed down the magnitude of this game as well as comparing it to another great game in Hoosier history, I want to now discuss the implications …. aka what are we going to be ranked? In my opinion, to be sitting at 9-0 with a good win on the road at NC State and now a win against a #1 ranked team, I’m going to say that we are in the 14-16 range. I think this easily catapultes is into the Top 20, especially with the teams that Kentucky had beaten at home and on neutral courts leading up to the Border Rivalry.
Where are you predicting the Hoosiers to be ranked and I’ll take it a step further and ask what does this win do for your expectations for this season?