Tuesday, January 2, 2007

Sic semper tyrannis! Or not...

Well, that's what I was hoping to yell tonight after an IU slaying of the tyrants of Big Ten Basketball - Ohio State, led by Superfreak (now that the nickname is available...) Greg Oden (I mean seriously, look at him, he is what, a 7' tall, soon to be 19 year old kid who looks old (and talented)enough to be mistaken for a 10 year NBA vet) but it was not to be.

Watching the game I was struck by several things:
1. Joey Shaw, regardless of his youth, has got some serious game. You know I'm serious here because I have NEVER used the term "has got some serious game" in any way before in my life. 16 Points, of which 12 came off 3s. There is no question that he's mad as hell over my recent post in which I said "No disrespect to Mr. Shaw, but he has plenty of time to make a name for himself at IU." Well excuse me Mr. Shaw, it appears you're ready, willing, and able to make a name for yourself as a Hoosier.

2. D.J. White - What a great athlete willing to do whatever it takes to help his team win (Adam Ahlfeld Team Player Award awaiting him in the future?). He had his hands full with Oden most of the night and was visibly exhausted towards the end of the game but kept fighting.

3. This entire Hoosier team. I've said it all year because it's been abundantly clear, this team does not give up, they never even LOOK like they are thinking about it. We may not be winning these games against ranked opponents, but at least we're giving them a good fight each time out, losing on average by five points.

That is not to say I'm happy, or even content with the loss seeing as IU drops to 9-4 (0-1 Big Ten) and has a very nasty schedule to play in the Big 10, and regardless of the opponent, every game is a must win in this conference. I'm sure soon enough we will see the Hoosiers topple a ranked opponent or someone we're "not supposed to beat" but for the time being this team just looks "good enough," and that doesn't cut it for this IU fan.

Let's just plan on taking down the Spartans at home on 7th...