Indiana -- Overrated?

Submitted by MGoDC on

I know they have all the analyst love, but I really don't see the top-5 team right now.


Losses to Butler and at home to Wisconsin (still not an elite team IMO, despite impressive Big Ten start).

Squeaked by Iowa by 4 and NW was within 5 at the 2 minute mark tonight.

I do not see this team going to the Final Four. Someone will knock them off, even as early as the Sweet 16.

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DingoBlue

January 20th, 2013 at 11:38 PM ^

I'm still pretty scared of them.  They are well suited to fast teams, slow teams are what  can kill them.  Unless we play super slow against them, it will be a slugfest

Joined: 02/21/2012

MGoPoints: 1328

mGrowOld

January 20th, 2013 at 11:42 PM ^

I think they are.  And I've thought that since they were voted #1 in the pre-season.  Outside of Zeller I didnt get the hype at all and still don't get the love.

 I see them ending up as a 2 or 3 seed that gets upset early (maybe one of those every year 3 vs 14 seed games that every year seems to produce an upset.

Joined: 10/04/2010

MGoPoints: 212154

robmorren2

January 20th, 2013 at 11:51 PM ^

I see a few big problems for them. (1) They have no go-to-guy in a half court offense. Zeller is not great in a half court set unless he's getting offensive rebounds or deep touches. He gets a lot of his points in transition and broken plays (rebounds, tips, missed rotations). He's not a guy like Sullinger who can catch the ball and go to work. With the shot clock running down Hulls is their guy, and he turns the ball over or takes bad shots more than not. They don't have a Burke, Hardaway, D. Thomas, B. Paul, Hollins, Appling type of guy. (2) Crean is not a great in-game coach (and possibly not a good coach period). He certainly can recruit, but he can't adjust in games to save his life. Northwestern baffled him with a 1-3-1 and Wisconsin made them execute in half court sets (which they couldn't do). If IU isn't getting transition points, then they don't score easily. You don't see great sets out of timeouts, or great plays off the baseline inbounds pass like you see from Coach B, Ryan, Izzo, Matta, Painter, etc.

Joined: 06/04/2011

MGoPoints: 2486

bronxblue

January 21st, 2013 at 7:46 AM ^

They probably weren't the best team in the country when they were ranked #1, but this is definitely still a top-5 outfit.  They crushed a couple of teams in the OOC season; the B1G is just really tough this year.  

Joined: 11/22/2008

MGoPoints: 171013

jdon

January 21st, 2013 at 8:05 AM ^

I actually think that the these big ten teams (wiscy and NW) will make them stronger by the time they reach the tournament;  its the same for michigan if you think about it (getting beat by OSU, then throttling Minny - one thing lead to the other).

 

Indiana will do just fine.  There are no perfect teams out there and Indy can play with anyone in CBB.

 

 

Joined: 09/28/2009

MGoPoints: 5906

LSAClassOf2000

January 21st, 2013 at 9:44 AM ^

One of the more interesting comparisons that I can see is that whereas Indiana's last AP poll ranking was #2, if you sort the list by overall RPI, Indiana falls 11 positions to 13th, so from a broard numerical standpoint, their season - from a quality of wins/losses and SOS standpoint - might be a smidge overrated at least to date, but of course, that isn't the only thing taken into consideration by the voters (I doubt it is even a primary consideration).

That being said, they are a team that sits in the top 20 in several important offensive and defensive stats, up to and including being #2 in offensive efficiency behind us and #10 in defensive efficiency, so statistics right now would say that this team can hang with just about anyone out there. It will be interesting to see where they sit when the polls are released later today, and then in the coming weeks, they get MSU, Ohio State, and us as well, of course. Nobody has it easy in this conference, so if anyone is overrated, the next couple weeks will be telling indeed. 

Joined: 01/07/2011

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4th and short

January 21st, 2013 at 8:43 AM ^

The Big Ten is very strong this year. I Still don't think a conference is usually as good or bad as it' s made out to be.                     # mediahype

Joined: 02/26/2012

MGoPoints: 582

UMgradMSUdad

January 21st, 2013 at 9:02 AM ^

Their win over North Carolina seemed impressive at the time.  IU will also likely be in the running for a  B1G championship until near the end of their season. Three of their last five games are at Michigan State, at Minnesota, and at Michigan.

Joined: 07/02/2011

MGoPoints: 13178

UM Indy

January 21st, 2013 at 9:17 AM ^

of their conference schedule has been pretty weak. Wisconsin just has their number for some reason and winning on the road isn't easy and they've done it. Let's see what they look like against us, OSU and MSU. I think it's fair to say they're as talented as any team in the country.

Joined: 03/05/2009

MGoPoints: 22202

Lucky Socks

January 21st, 2013 at 9:31 AM ^

I think they're a legitmate contender to win the NCAA Championship, but at this point, yes they are.  Just went over to Yahoo and saw a the headline "Hoos #1?  It may be Indiana" after their 8 point victory over NW on the road.  They literally just dropped a home game to Wisconsin.  The media has a crush on the *blue bloods and they'll be overrated all season...until they reach that potential.  

We're a blue blood in football, and basketball to some extent, so I'm not complaining.  Just a fact.  

Joined: 01/18/2012

MGoPoints: 2745

Perkis-Size Me

January 21st, 2013 at 10:12 AM ^

I don't know if its so much how overrated Indiana is as it is how good the Big Ten as a whole really is. Minus Penn State maybe, it seems like every game is going to be a grind, and you need to bring your A-game, or you're going to lose.

I mean Northwestern tears Illinois apart, Iowa almost beats Indiana, and Nebraska hangs tough with us. This is a deep conference, unarguably the best in college basketball. Is entirely conceivable that the conference champion will have 5-6 losses within the conference.

Joined: 11/30/2011

MGoPoints: 105353

chewieblue

January 21st, 2013 at 10:24 AM ^

They have the feel of one of those teams that finds a way through the regular season and will start peaking around tourney time. They are too good to go away.
I worry that we may have already played our best. Let's hope I am wrong here.

Joined: 04/29/2010

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