I'm sure that there are some IU fans out there who are upset with the team for losing tonight. I am not one of those people. I'm not going to lie; deep down, I expected a win. With that being said, I am not ashamed at or disappointed with IU.
Honestly, I feel like regardless of the score, the Hoosiers outplayed the Badgers tonight. I thought that some mental breaks and unforced errors were the main causes for IU's loss. There were a few times when IU had opportunities to close Wisconsin out, and there were opportunities near the end for IU to take the lead for good. They just didn't capitalize. They gave up some very poorly timed offensive rebounds and they threw the ball away at very inopportune times as well.
I think the toughest thing to swallow about this loss is the fact that IU easily could have won it. Like Tom Crean said in a post-game interview, they were in a position to win, but they just couldn't find a way to pull it off.
Before IU fans declare war on this team and write them off as a disappointment, we need to remember a few things.
First of all, this team has already exceeded expectations. Most people thought this would be a .500 year, at best. Maybe it will still turn out to be a .500 season, but it would take a collapse of epic proportions. Right now, I think it would take many poor performances for them to finish with fewer than 21 wins. My best case scenario coming into this year was a 17-18 win season with a possible NIT bid. If the season ends today, IU is probably a 5 seed in the national tournament. I did not see that coming.
Secondly, this is still a young team in both age and experience. The "seasoned" veterans of this team, Verdell Jones III and Co., had a combined 28 wins coming into this season -- they've already won more than half that amount this season. So it's obviously going to take some time for this team to learn how to play as favorites, with a target on their back. Comparing this game tonight to the losses vs. Minnesota and at Nebraska, this is a COMPLETELY different team. They were much more aggressive on defense and they looked like a real offense as opposed to one who just shoots three-pointers. Obviously, they're a good three-point shooting team and that strategy has worked, but teams that depend on the three-pointer and base their entire offense around it are rarely successful in the long run. Today, they spread the wealth a little and moved the ball into the paint more often than they have in the past. I look at this as a positive, and as something to build on.
Third, IU hung with Wisconsin in Madison without three of their most important offensive players -- Victor Oladipo, Cody Zeller, and Will Sheehey -- contributing much at all. The three of them combined for 11 points, with Cody Zeller contributing 7 of those and Sheeladipo scoring 2 each. It's hard to win games when three dynamic scorers are effectively taken out of the game; the three played 19, 19, and 25 points respectively. Obviously, these guys need to step it up from here on out, especially Oladipo. For someone who was as good at the beginning of the season as Oladipo was, it's hard to imagine him staying in this funk for much longer, but the truth is that he's very hard to predict. When he can slash and get to the hoop, he's incredible. When he can't get around defenders and he's settling for jump shots, he's a non-factor. That explosiveness that he had earlier in the season is gone for now, most likely due to exhaustion and general wear and tear. I think he'll get his legs back under him soon enough.
So maybe this loss will leave a bitter taste in our mouths, because of what could have been, but looking at it from an optimist's point of view, this team has improved drastically from last week. I think they can only improve from here.
The key to IU's success down the stretch mainly have to do with all of the players producing like they are capable of. IU has yet to have a game where they were firing on all cylinders, in my opinion. I think the closest thing to a "great" game by IU was honestly probably the Evansville game, which will hopefully not be true for much longer.
I think IU will be okay. If they play for the rest of the season like they played tonight, with the additions of Zeller, Oladipo, and Sheehey playing like they can, I think the Hoosiers could make a lot of noise throughout the rest of the season. It's just a matter of executing and learning from their mistakes.
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