Never felt so confident

[Bayside44]

We posted up MCW on the first possession. Watching it not up close, in person, was shocked at the absolute mismatches on the floor. Thought there was no logical way we would lose, then we missed dunks, so many bunnies, etc...but man that IU team looked utterly lost out there. Crean should give his paycheck back.

 

[SU2NASA]

Just goes to show how important matchups are in the single elimination NCAA tournament.

Exactly, Georgetown struggles in a matchup against, well, everyone in the NCAA Tournament.

 

[JOC44]

Usually I am a nervous wreck but I honestly couldn't see how they were going to score.

Two minutes into the game, I turned to NOC44 and said "they are never going to score in the half court offense." It was like Oklahoma 2003 all over again.

 

[TinyManInside]

Two minutes into the game, I turned to NOC44 and said "they are never going to score in the half court offense." It was like Oklahoma 2003 all over again.

Exactly. That wasn't a "we just had a bad shooting night" or "we just turned the ball over a few times too many", that was "we don't have the personnel to compete".

 

[IthacaMatt]

So bizarre... but I don't think I've ever felt so confident that we would win during an SU NCAA tourney game.

Seriously, when Triche scored his second basket to put us up 4-3, I honestly thought "There is no way we're losing this game".

It wasn't just that Indiana didn't have the right gameplan against the zone (and yes, Crean did a marvelously awful job in that respect), it was that Indiana didn't have the right PERSONNEL against the zone.

I kept trying to switch things around in my head in terms of how they would attack the zone and I couldn't see a favorable scenario for them. Their midget guards couldn't shoot or even see over the zone, Watford and Sheehey were just too slow and methodical, Zeller didn't have anyone who could deliver him the ball down low, and when he went into the high post there was no one down low to feed to, and you could tell that we wouldn't let them get out in transition and run. Basically, they only have one athlete (but man, he is one hell of an athlete).

I think IU would be hard pressed to beat SU more than once out of 10 games if played in the same situation/environment. Their best strategy would be to just give the ball to Olidipo and say "here, shoot it 25-30 times".

Mason

Me too. I was oddly confident talking to people at work that we were going to win. I was (and am) far more concerned about Marquette (who took us out in the Sweet 16 a couple years ago). I was really hoping to play Miami. Hoping for a good defensive effort tomorrow, along with Triche and James hitting a few jumpers.

 

[OttoMets]

Wish I'd been that confident. My blood pressure was off the charts until about the final 2:00.

In fact, when the score was 4-3 and you were feeling good, I was having a bad flashback. It was clear that JB changed the offense to post IU's guards up. Both guards were playing back-to-the-basket, which I don't think I've ever seen them do. The last time I remember JB made that big an adjustment was against Butler two years ago when he moved Wes outside and pounded the ball into Rick Jackson. It failed miserably then and my hard-earned pessimism got me to thinking that this was going to backfire big-time.

I knew it was a very good idea but it was a heck of a time to have two turnover-prone guards try something new. In fact, it didn't work too well in the beginning though it was part of a brilliant JB strategy that worked marvelously, overall.

Like I said, wish I'd been able to relax. I was in exquisite agony most of the way.

This. Every word of it.

 

[baggerbob]

James is overdue to explode with a great shooting night.