In the most exciting game IU has played all season, the Hoosiers lost to Michigan State, 74-72. But, the implications of Saturday’s game go well beyond one more tick in the loss column.
Right now, the biggest concern for IU fans is that their team failed to pick up their 20th win of the season and 10th conference win in three tries. The question on everyone’s minds: will it make the tournament?
IU is on the bubble for the NCAA Tournament and a 10-8 conference record looks a lot better than where they stand at 9-9. And 19-12 overall doesn’t look too pretty, either. The Hoosiers will likely need to win at least one game in the Big Ten Tournament to earn a spot in the premier postseason ?tournament.
That’s the short-term future of this Hoosier squad. They won’t want to leave any doubt in the eyes of the selection committee.
The other thought is on the long-term future of IU Coach Tom Crean. There’s been a lot of speculation about Crean’s future with IU — a lot of fans believe that without an NCAA Tournament berth, Crean won’t return to the program.
If that is true, is it possible that one missed free throw ended the Crean era in Bloomington?
When junior guard Yogi Ferrell missed his second free throw with IU down one and two seconds left, that may have cost IU its spot in the NCAA Tournament, putting more pressure on Crean.
I don’t want to speculate too much on that issue, but it needs to be at least mentioned as a possibility. I wrote last week that Crean should stay and I stand by that — I think he needs one more year with this group.
But it’s not my decision to make; all I know is that a lot of fans want him gone, and it’s not any of their decisions to make either.
The other takeaway that came to mind is IU’s pressure defense. At the 3:50 mark with the Spartans up 11, IU switched into a press defense that had a lot of success ?Saturday.
The same press was employed near the end of the Northwestern game last week, to another decent showing.
IU’s roster is full of athletes with long wingspans and quick feet. Why don’t they press more often?
I’m not suggesting the Hoosiers go full-on Havoc like VCU, but they should mix in their press defense like any other in their arsenal. It’s one of the easiest ways to throw teams off, or at least force timeout calls early in the game.
That’s something for Crean to think about as IU prepares to enter the Big Ten Tournament — the most important Big Ten Tournament of his career.
The encouraging thought is that IU looked like they worked harder than they have than almost any game this season. For most of the game, they played with passion and looked like they actually wanted to win.
The Hoosiers need that type of effort for an entire game if they want any sort of success this year. We will find out if IU is capable of that with their postseason lives on the line.
ckrajewsk@indiana.edu
