Hoopraker

The revisionist historians and post-morticians of late March and April may well look back to the last day of January as the point at which the identity of this season’s Indiana Hoosiers was most accurately revealed. Trips to the red-swathed crucible that is the Kohl Center have a way of burning away the fog of hype and reputation. And when the smoke clears after forty minutes of battle at the house of Bo, what comes into stark relief is the naked truth about a visiting team. (more…)

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Driving solo down a Midwest county highway can be soothing, free from any sense of immediate obligation and shackled only by the depth of your music collection. In Iowa City this winter, Todd Lickliter’s Iowa Hawkeyes (10-11, 3-5) have persevered in similar seclusion with a deaf ear to the myopic chatter of the Bracketocrat ruling class. (more…)

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While Eric Gordon has shown both his positive impact, helping Indiana to a schedule enabled but nonetheless undefeated conference mark, as well as his limitations as a program changer in the sound defeats to Xavier and Connecticut, perhaps his biggest effect has been on the program a buck fifty to the northwest. (more…)

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A time tested face freckled with battles from Platteville to Seattle. A coaching prodigy with Gene Keady pedigree and hair to match. One a mirror reflection of the other at different periods in time. Their teams an embodiment of blue collar values. Both winners. The Wisconsin Badgers (16-2) travel to West Lafayette Saturday afternoon to play the rapidly maturing Purdue Boilermakers (14-5). (more…)

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Throughout the Midwest, frigid Fahrenheit readings belie the sweat infused basketball played from Williams Arena to Assembly Hall (IN).  From these January games, in both victory and defeat, come players deserving of a nod of the head and tip of the cap.  Evident from their marked development as players and teammates, they toiled in the bowels weight rooms and gyms during the Summer’s heat, motivated by pride more than the prospect of leading their teams to the Final Four. 

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The label is tweener. The recruiting services and NBA scouts throw it around with impunity in their attempts to separate five-star meat from two- and three-star gristle, lotto picks from journeymen and Turkish leaguers. Calhouns, Boeheims, and Jay Wrights use it to give a kid a soft demur, a “We like you, but…..,” the old wait and see. (more…)

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Sometimes lost in the premature and tunnel visioned emphasis on the NCAA tournament as the only metric of a team’s worth is the appreciation for the moments at hand. Obscured in the bid or bust equation, betrayed by the singular emphasis on the March endgame is an enjoyment of the season as a journey where each individual game, whether win or defeat, whether RPI bolstering or not, tells its own set of compelling stories. (more…)

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Two games bestowed from the heavens this afternoon portend whether four teams can build upon their strong starts. In what should be competitive and true hardwood tests, Tubby Smith takes his Golden Gophers to State College while Ohio State travels to West Lafayette to play Matt Painter’s banged up Boilermakers. (more…)

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