All kidding aside Indiana lost this game way before the very entertaining overtime period. Credit Butler as well. Brad Stevens ability to have his 8th and 9th guys ready to play and make shots in that situation is very impressive. They gutted out this win with their back up against the wall in overtime. I will highlight the reasons I think Indiana lost and some other take a ways from the game:
Rebounding/Second chance points
This was a really physical game in the paint. The refs were letting them play. Andrew Smith was using the Kevin Garnett box out which includes not even looking for the ball and pushing your opponent out of the lane. How did Indiana respond to this type of physicality on the glass? Well I'm still waiting for something because IU looked like they wanted no part of it. Butler had a 50% offensive rebounding percentage (they rebounded half of their missed shots) and this led to 27 second chance points. Even more telling was the amount of times the ball was tipped around the rim and there were at least two Butler guys waiting to convert the easy lay up and no Indiana jerseys were around. So what gives?
As I stated before Cody Zeller got absolutely man handled down low by senior Andrew Smith and was out of position all too often to get rebounds. Cody was thus a non factor for most of the defensive rebounding which kills Indiana to start. Then Indiana's second best rebounder Victor Oladipo did a fantastic job of shadowing Rotnei Clarke all over the court, but the downside is Oladipo then is hovering around the three point line and in no position to help Indiana on the glass. This is not Vic's fault, more of a byproduct of the type of defense Indiana was playing. So everybody else had to pick up the slack. Yogi tallied 8 rebounds but no one else had more than 4. Watford and Sheehey are the most likely candidates and they each had just 3.
The type of physicality that Indiana saw today is something they are going to have to get used to in Big Ten play. Zeller has to respond better, the NC State game Watford really has to show up and as a team IU has to be more accountable for boxing their man. It will help to get Hanner and even the much maligned Derek Elston back to help on the boards. Indiana is going to need both guys in games like these.
Defensive Mix-Ups
As a coach this one will really light a fire under you. Butler ran the same out of bounds play from under their own baskets three times in the first half. A simple screen the screener action across and up the lane. On these three plays Indiana gave up a lay up the first time. Second time the same guy was wide open but Khyle Marshall fumbled the pass and couldn't convert the lay up. The last time IU recognized it a little better but Butler's inbounder missed his window to find Marshall again.
This is inexcusable from a defensive perspective. IU has to communicate whether they are switching or not on these screens and understand their defensive assignments better. A far too often culprit of this was Will Sheehey. Will is an active defender and pretty athletic but he was lost on this side of the court today. Two out of those three out of bounds plays he was directly involved in and on the Chase Stigall 3 that put butler ahead, Will and Jordy clearly were not on the same page in terms of switching guys or to just help and recover.
Indiana's defense has been more active this year and they stayed in the game with their pressure defense. They could not have done that last year and Crean has definitely instilled this in his team. But they can not continue to leave guys wide open due to communication errors. Everybody holds some responsibility with this problem.
Half Court Offense
Indiana has been so efficient on offense this year, leading the nation in fact. Their up tempo style is very fun to watch and leads to easy baskets. This was not the case yesterday versus Butler. Rebounding was the main reason they could not get out and run. When you don't rebound more than half of the other teams misses, the opportunities to run and gun are limited. Though this team still normally excels in the half court as well. Running great sets for their best players and everybody willing to share the ball. Today though many IU players took the venue to heart and decided to play a little hero/NBA ball in the Banker's Life Field House.
So many long jumpers by Sheehey and Ferrel really stood out for me. Ferrel in particular was too shot happy on a team that can get shots around the rim with relative ease. Also when Andrew Smith fouls out of the game there is no reason Cody Zeller should not touch the ball on every possession. The outcomes are he scores, gets fouled or finds the open man on a double team. What happened to the crisp execution of the Kentucky tournament game last year, when IU put up 92 on the best defense on the nation?
Butler took away Indiana's transition and the hoosiers looked a little lost in the half court. I think Crean will be able to fix this in no time and am not too worried about it.
Other game notes:
- Christian Watford continues to work on his magician career for life after college. His disappearing act has become a trademark of this young season. All the worries I had about him before the season have become true. He has not focused on rebounding enough, the place IU needs him the most. Instead he all too often is looking for his own shot on the perimeter. Something I have noticed throughout the season is if Watford ever takes more than 2 dribbles before he shoots in a half court set, he will force a bad shot up. He needs to stick to the basics
- In my opinion Tom Crean got out coached that game. He did some good things with the press at the end, but the substitution pattern left a lot to be desired and he also left 3 time outs on the table at the end of the second half. When Butler makes that run with 5 minutes left in the second half Crean really needs to stop the bleeding and calm the Hoosiers down. Also I understand he wanted to switch all screens on the last play and that's why Cody was not in, but how can you leave Jordy Hulls on the floor? You were subbing offense for defense and had a time out left to get him back in the game. You know with Clarke and Dunham on the court there is not going to be a lot of help defense because guys can not sag of leaving Jordy even more isolated. Also lets not forget Watford guarded a lot of point guards last year, so he is clearly capable. In my opinion that was a mistake.
- Lastly why does IU not schedule more games like this? They learned so much from this game and it pointed out some of the deficiency's they have going into Big Ten season. Isn't that what its all about, improving in December so you can be better in March? Instead Indiana now has played 3 tournament teams out of 13 non conference games. In the future I would hope Crean can create a schedule that tests IU a little more early in the season.
To reiterate, the world is not ending. Every team will lose this year in the NCAA and IU was never going to be the exception. Instead Butler pointed out things IU needs to work on and Indiana could be better for it. Consistent defense and rebounding will ultimately decide how far this team can go in March. It only takes one off game to not take home the hardware and the hoosiers were reminded of that today.
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