IU basketball

Written by
Bob Kravitz
Indianapolis Star


BLOOMINGTON – There were questions: Were they that good? Were the Indiana Hoosiers an unquestioned No. 1 team after scuffling against Georgia and going to overtime against Georgetown?
Asked and answered.
Emphatically, yes.
They’re that good, and have a chance to be great.

If there were any questions about IU’s worthiness as the nation’s top-ranked team – Duke is making a lot of noise lately – those questions were loudly silenced Tuesday night at a manic Assembly Hall.
IU 83, North Carolina 59.
It began with four minutes left in the first half and, for all intents and purposes, it ended in the first four minutes of the second half. In that stretch,

IU outscored the young Tar Heels 32-8 and ran them off the Assembly Hall floor.
And it was the way they did it, playing beautiful, unselfish basketball, making the extra pass time and again. In the first half, they assisted on 12 of 19 field goals, and finished with 21 assists on 33 baskets. It was Bob Knight-style basketball from the glory years, the best IU basketball has looked this year, the best its looked in many years.

Questions?

No questions.

This was reaffirmation, a signal to the rest of the college basketball universe that IU basketball is not going to be happy with being No. 1 until the season is done. That was March performance in November, an absolute clinic in team basketball.
“They are No. 1,’’ North Carolina head coach Roy Williams said. “The thing I like is, they really are a team. They don’t have just one guys who beats you up. They beat you in so many different ways. Just look at Yogi (Ferrell). He was 0-for-6 from the floor, but he had things under control and made so many good passes.

“If you’ve got two really good post players, that might bother them, but they’re a legitimate No. 1. I don’t think they’ve got a selfish bone in those kids’ bodies. That’s the thing I admire most.’’
The victory over Kentucky said, “We’re back.’’
This victory over North Carolina said, “We’re not going anywhere.”
“We haven’t even scratched the surface,’’ said IU’s Victor Oladipo. “We feel like we can do so much more.’’

Except for Christian Watford, who didn’t seem to get an invitation to the party, the Hoosiers got contributions from everywhere.
From Jordan Hulls, who just keeps growing and growing as a player. Some of us thought there was a ceiling to his game, but he’s busted through it.
From Oladipo, who’s probably made more strides offensively than any player in IU’s recent history. He’s not just a defender and a dunker anymore.

“They’ve got two guys I didn’t even hear of in high school (Hulls and Oladipo) absolutely kick our butt,’’ Williams said. “Hulls is really something. Oladipo, I’m looking at the box score, it says he had one block and zero steals, and it felt like he stole the ball from us 10 times. Just his energy offensively and defensively was something.’’
From Ferrell, who give the Hoosiers a pass-first element they haven’t had in years. He may turn out to be the best point guard this program has seen since Isiah Thomas. He didn’t just pass the ball beautifully, but he defended extraordinarily well.

From Will Sheehey, who had 19 points on 8-of-12 shooting and five rebounds.
From Cody Zeller, who showed his NBA chops by out-running North Carolina’s big men every time down the floor, finishing with a series of dunks. Through the first six games of the season, he didn’t necessarily look like the top player in the college game. Tuesday night, he did. Enjoy him while you’ve got him, people, because it’s becoming increasingly difficult to see him passing up another chance to be a high first-round pick.
Mind you, this is not your father’s North Carolina team.

This past offseason, they lost Harrison Barnes, John Henson, Kendall Marshall and Tyler Zeller. The Heels have just one senior to go with eight freshmen and sophomore. It’s a young team that doesn’t have Carolina’s usual stash of one-and-done quality talent.
Ordinarily, Williams rolls teams out there who can compete with the best from the opening tap of the season. This team, though, is going to be a work in progress.

Here’s when you knew North Carolina was in trouble: Late in the first half, they were shooting 54 percent from the field.
And trailing 35-31.
Which set the table for an IU tsunami of points, mostly off of dunks, possibly the best four minutes of basketball we’ll see from anybody this college basketball season.

IU beat Carolina at its own game, running and running some more.
There was a Zeller run-out and a dunk.
There was a Oladipo basket at the hoop.
Another Zeller dunk.
A Sheehey dunk off a sweet pass from Ferrell.
All of it topped off by Zeller’s follow at the buzzer, giving IU a 46-37 halftime lead.
Textbook basketball.
“I love Indiana basketball,’’ Williams said. “Except when it’s against my team.’’
No. 1.
With a bullet.

Hoosiers ink top 5 class for 2013!!!

by Dustin Dopirak
On the first day of the early signing period, most of the recruiting websites are updating their class rankings, and according to the big ones, Indiana is in the process of signing a top-five class in the Class of 2013. Rivals.com has the Hoosiers ranked No. 3 behind No. 1 Kentucky and No. 2 Kansas and CBSSports.com has Indiana ranked No. 4 behind Kentucky, Kansas and Memphis.
Noah Vonleh, a versatile power forward and top-10 player, highlights the class, which also includes swingman Troy Williams, forward Devin Davis, sharpshooter Collin Harman, guard Stanford Robinson and center Luke Fischer.
 

Hoosiers win exhibition game!! Creek is back!!!

Creek scores 12 as Indiana downs Indiana Wesleyan 86-57 in exhibition

By Dustin Doripak

Maurice Creek took the floor to a standing ovation and answered it, scoring 12 points in his first game of any kind since his second knee injury on Jan. 15, 2011.
The junior guard hit four of six field goals and two of his four 3-pointers to lead the No. 1 Hoosiers to a 86-57 win over Indiana Wesleyan in an exhibition game in front of 17,186 at Assembly Hall.
Creek checked in with 10:57 to go in the first half to a standing ovation.
“It was a great, great, great reaction,” Creek said after the No. 1 Hoosiers predictably handled NAIA power Indiana Wesleyan 86-57. “Standing ovation, that’s big-time. That’s love. I can’t do nothing but thank them. Thank everybody and appreciate everybody that stood up for me.”
Creek’s teammates and coaches were just as thrilled to see him not only on the court but playing well on both ends.
“I was really excited for Maurice,” Indiana coach Tom Crean said. “It was emotional watching the crowd react to him. It’s not surprising because it’s Indiana, but nonetheless, you never take it for granted. I don’t think any of us take for granted that have lived with him the fact how special it is that he’s back out there. I’m telling ya. It’s been a long road. He’s done it, and he’s earned it.”
Creek recorded a rebound and a block along with his points, and also showed that he can score in other ways beyond his jump shot. A baseline drive that turned into a floater was a particularly encouraging play for Crean.

“Mo just made a hard drive to the lane, shot the little running floater pull-up,” Crean said. “That was a big-time play. That was a big-time play. Those are the kinds of things that we’ve gotta get from him. When he shows that burst, that shows that the legs are getting a little stronger. He’s still aways away in that sense and it’s still hard for him to put day after day after day together. … But I would say that right there, and he was very active defensively.”
Senior forward Christian Watford, junior swingman Will Sheehey and sophomore center Cody Zeller had 11 points each with Zeller making all four of his field goals. Freshman point guard Yogi Ferrell started the game along with Watford, Sheehey, junior Victor Olaidpo and senior Jordan Hulls. Ferrell had eight points and four assists.
Crean was less than thrilled with the defense early as Indiana Wesleyan opened up a 13-4 lead and knocked down five 3-pointers in the first half. However, the Hoosiers turned it around form that point on and Wesleyan shot just 8-for-25 (32.0 percent) in the second half, making just one of six 3-pointers and turning the ball over 10 times.
“We got down,” Crean said. ‘They made some shots. At the same time, we were a little off. We really didn’t start figuring out until the second half that we really needed to get into them. Not in a fouling way, but we were bringing fatigue to the game and we really needed to bring pressure.”
NOTE: Crean said that freshmen Hanner Mosquera-Perea and Peter Jurkin have not yet been formally cleared to play by the NCAA.
“There’s situations that are always going to arise and every one of them has got a process to it,” Crean said. “We’re in the middle of that process. We just are. That’s the extent of it. They’re two great kids that are trying to get better every day. It’s not like it’s anything that we’re dealing with that just came up. It’s been a process for some time. That’s really where we’re at with it.”
Crean was asked if he knows when he should expect a resolution.
“No,” Crean said. “I wish I could answer that. I wish I could. I just don’t. We’re in the midst of it. It’s like anything else. It’s daily.”
Crean did not specify for what reason the NCAA Eligibility Center has not yet cleared Jurkin or Mosquera-Perea. The center often takes longer to process the cases of players from foreign countries. Jurkin is from South Sudan and Mosquera-Perea is from Colombia. Both came to the U.S. through the Bloomington-based A-HOPE program, and questions were raised in May of 2011 in an ESPN investigative story about whether benefits the two received through that program could affect their eligibility

Fantasy Football League

Ok, now that Nick is off to college & I'm extremely bored, I decided to pick up the hobby of playing fantasy football. Yahoo provided an excellent auto draft league & I jumped on it. Due to the Chicago Bears defense, my fantasy team leads the league at 7-1 after tonite. The Midway Monsters rule!!!

1.	Midway Monsters	6-1-0	.857	804.74	667.88	W-5	9	3
2.	Green Gripers	5-2-0	.714	710.50	621.56	W-1	8	4
3.	boom boom	4-3-0	.571	650.26	653.36	W-2	6	7
4.	Tarheels	4-3-0	.571	633.22	668.28	W-1	10	17
5.	FumbleWeeds	4-3-0	.571	623.48	595.46	W-2	2	9
6.	fmb20ycbtt	3-4-0	.429	658.18	652.82	L-2	3	15
7.	Quaggmire	3-4-0	.429	647.86	652.22	L-1	4	11
8.	JPBRUISERS11	2-5-0	.286	626.18	674.06	L-2	7	18
9.	Mandango	2-5-0	.286	598.06	682.64	L-3	5	11
10.	Computer BEAR	2-5-0	.286	539.04	623.24	L-1	1	3

Nick is off to college

My son Nick just changed his cover photo on his FaceBook page. The pitcure brings up fond memories of him & his Central Catholic baseball teams over the past several years. FOUR straight stae baseball titles, unmatched in Indiana history as no other team has won 4 straight titles. Nick & 5 other Seniors were 26-0 in state tournament play, again unmatched. These 6 Seniors as well as the rest of the team (and football team) played a huge role in changing IHSAA rules history. With the 3 straight football titles & 4 straight baseball, IHSAA now rules that any team winning 2 straight titles will be forced to move up a class, so much for hard work & dedication paying off.

This baseball team was truly a dynasty, just unbeleivable performances in state tournament play. Nick & Austin Munn made a promise 4 years ago to each other as well as the rest of the team that the only outcome for them was 4 straight championships.

Those parents I shared time with at these games will never be forgotten. Thanks to all of those I shared time with.

Nicks HS baseball career ends!

I have not posted in quite a long time on this blog as I have been extremely busy with my son Nick's baseball blog. His varsity career has ended and what a career it was. Nick and 5 other seniors ended their varsity careers with 4 straight classA baseball titles, a 26-0 state tournament record (a feat no other hs athlete has done) in Indiana boys baseball!

Nick will move on to Franklin College to further his education and his baseball career. One can visit his baseball blog here as it will soon change from Central Catholic News to Franklin College News.

I want to congratulate Nick on his excellent grades, his dedication to his passion (baseball) and graduating drug n alcohol free, Nick you are on your way to becoming a fine young man!! I am so very proud of you, enjoy life, be a rockstar!!

NICKS BASEBALL