Crean: We’ll bring the moxie

It’s been 56 calendar days since the IU men’s basketball team last tasted victory. Defeat, in that span, has come in all forms: large, small, close – and heartbreaking.

Though in that one statistical column that matters above all others, one cannot see the hard work these Hoosiers have put on the parquet floor behind the tall doors leading to Branch McCracken Court.

IU coach Tom Crean said it’s starting to wear on his charges.

“It is starting to wear on these guys a little bit, the fact that they’re working so hard, but they’re not seeing that success for it,” Crean said Tuesday at Assembly Hall. “But they are working hard, and that’s what we’re continuing to try to focus on.”

It’s an old cliche that winning never feels as good as losing feels bad, and anyone who’s ever played organized sports knows it’s true. But there ought to be a second part of that little adage – one in which great achievement can outweigh even the pain of defeat.

Most years, such achievement would come in the way of trophies or championships, the promise of future banners to be hung and rings to be handed out.

This not being most years, that kind of achievement can come – and judging by the actions and reactions of IU players, coaches and fans at many of their near misses, will come – with every Big Ten victory the Hoosiers can mark on the schedule in 2009.

That’s why tonight’s game is so important.

There are already so many forces this year working against the Hoosiers that are out of their control that morale can’t become another.

This team has already shown a remarkable ability to persevere in the face of blinding criticism. Many in the college basketball world, including yours truly, gave them little chance even at respectability this year, a trait they’ve begun to earn in these last games.

But the corner must be turned, and soon, because it’s clear that keeping the faith is becoming harder and harder to do.

In lean, dire moments when a season seems to be slipping out of a team’s grasp, it’s usually up to veteran leaders to present themselves both in the locker room and on the court. Obviously, that option isn’t present here.

That these Hoosiers don’t have anyone save Kyle Taber they can look to right now “is not their fault,” Crean said.

“We’ve just got to continue to try to keep making them feel as positive and be as motivated as they can possibly be,” he added. “But with young guys that haven’t been through, that’s sometimes easier said than done.”

Fan support is important, perhaps even more so than usual with a team in need of all the weapons it can get.

But in the end, no amount of cheering has undone what opposing teams have been able to do to the Hoosiers these last 11 games.

Crean himself said this experience will bring out the “moxie” in those willing to punch back and those with the will to win at any cost. Desperate for victory, 14 Hoosiers will take the floor tonight to prove themselves made of such stern stuff.

We’ve spent this whole year wondering what kind of basketball team those 14 individuals might become.

Tonight, it will be time to learn of their individual resolve. That lesson, above any test of skill, strength or basketball ability, will provide a forecast of what kind of base these young Hoosiers can provide for years to come.