Hoopraker

As Kelvin Sampson continues to use his cell phone to cling to the program and players that should’ve been his professional salvation but instead became the next victims of his incorrigibility and desperation, the Hoosiers and their current alumnus-in-chief have, in their short stint together, shown admirable resilience in taking two more crucial steps towards a Big Ten title. Winning, there is no doubt, is the best of healers. (more…)

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No team in the Big Ten needed a win more than Ohio State (17-10, 8-6). Not Northwestern to redeem a portion of a season’s embarrassment; not Indiana to exorcise the bile of Kelvin Sampson’s opiate addiction to his mobile phone. Ohio State, one week removed from a loss at Michigan, was entering the most challenging and critical stretch of its season. Regrettably for Thad Matta and Ohio State, the team at the far end of Value City Arena was coached by Bo Ryan. (more…)

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The Indiana Northwestern game Saturday night was exciting with the outcome not decided until the final buzzer sounded. The Wildcats had a chance to pull off the upset of the year, but failed to take advantage of several opportunities in the closing minutes to secure their first victory in the Big Ten play. (more…)

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With the usual polarities afoot as to the dire health of the conference it is incumbent upon those observing from less distant vistas to provide either more nuanced concurrence or as is more often necessary, measured rebuttal. While spirited differences in opinion are part of the appeal of the sports journalism fray, the year-to-year consistency by which Big Ten basketball is pronounced down, out, weak, top-heavy, fly-over, anachronistic, or simply boring is as tiresome as it is often poorly reasoned. (more…)

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Beneficiaries of an 80-70 win over Ohio State, the Michigan Wolverines (8-17, 4-9) under the tutelage of John Beilein have won three in a row and evolved, through a season of resounding defeats, into the best 8 win team in the Country. Still, the true progress of a team over the course of a season isn’t necessarily measured by the obvious metric of wins and losses. For a beleaguered basketball program that remarkably hasn’t been to an NCAA Tournament since 1998, Beilein’s victory over the Buckeyes marks what Blue faithful recognize as the turning point. (more…)

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An august rivalry once dictated by two coaching mastodons is now steered by a rapidly rising acolyte in West Lafayette and a lame duck scofflaw in Bloomington. As if the clash for Indiana bragging rights needed more amplitude, Tuesday’s game is a smorgasboard of both backstory and the significance of the now. To the Knight-Keady backdrop is added present-day scandal, star power, stateside recruiting wars, and a Big Ten title in the balance. (more…)

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Over a career in which he garnered six National Coach of the Year trophies, Gene Keady inculcated to all those around him the value of basketball fundamentals, principal among them, how to make a good pass. In an 80-61 loss to Indiana, Michigan State furthered their trend of poor fundamentals with bad passes, bad decisions and poor composure. College basketball often affords second chances and the Spartans get one on March 2 in East Lansing. What they do with it is anyone’s guess. (more…)

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While the immediate future of Indiana basketball sits on a limestone precipice in Bloomington, for the second time in two weeks the Hoosiers succumbed to the discipline and chemistry of Bo Ryan’s Wisconsin Badgers (20-4). Despite possessing two NBA lottery picks, through 24 games Indiana has thus far been incapable of beating a worthy opponent. They get another chance on Saturday night when the Spartans come to Bloomington. (more…)

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