IU - Ball U Postgame

As the game wore on, it was painfully clear that BSU just doesn't have the horses to compete with IU. 10 of their 13 players are first year players... ouch.

IU 80 - Ball U 56

But if you look beyond the score, this game provided a bit of insight into what IU fans can expect in the B10. Coach Buckley did his homework and came out with a game plan IU should expect to see often this year. The Ball State guard defending Monroe or Calloway doubled down on Marco or DJ everytime the ball went inside. He had numerous steals and disrupted the IU offense repeatedly. Anytime Marco or DJ kicked it back out to Monroe or Calloway, they just held the ball. Until Monroe or Calloway prove they can shoot the ball, this strategy will be utilized over and over again. And while Calloway is incredibly quick, he is short and BSU repeatedly posted him up inside leading to a couple of easy BSU buckets and a Calloway foul on a 2nd shot. Davis' solution to this in the 2nd half was to play Suhr instead. BSU did the same thing to Suhr.

On the other end, Buckley had his big man, Bass, go right at Killingsworth and Marco played his typical matador defense. Marco's woofing at the officials all season long seems to have caught up with him as he got T'd up after screaming at an official. With 3 fouls midway through the first half, Marco sat and DJ played with Vaden, Strickland, Wilmont and Calloway. In turn, IU went on a 17-2 run to break it open in the first half. And the key was DJ stopping Bass cold. Ben Allen did get some playing time in the first half giving DJ a blow. But Ben is not yet an effective inside player and being the lone big man on defense is not his strength. Unfortunately in the 2nd half with IU up 20+, Marco was still in the game making up for the time he missed in the first half instead of getting Allen some much needed playing time. Fortunately Marco fouled out with 6 minutes left and Allen got in the game. But it was a short 1 minute stint until Dinc came in at the 5 minute mark. Then Allen came back at the 4 minute mark and played with Dinc. Finally Davis got his 2 young big men some game time. but then Kline came in for Allen at the 2:30 mark. Allen just can't buy playing time.

IU's offense with both Marco and DJ in at the same time is not nearly as effective as when only 1 is in the game. It will be interesting to see how long IU tries to play the 2 together. I think IU will be better off subbing for each other with DJ getting the most minutes of the 2. If Davis needs 2 bigs for the defensive end, they would be better off with Allen in there as the 2nd big as he can go outside on the offensive end where he is comfortable.

Vaden continues to impress me. He knows how to put himself in an open area of the court so that when a teammate needs a release valve, not only is he available for them, he's wide open for a shot. And give Vaden an open look and he knocks it down. Tonight he was 5-5 from 3 for 17 pts in the first half alone. He ended up as the leading scorer with 22.

I'm still looking for what IU's style is? They seemed a bit schizo at times. When they had BSU tired, dragging and on the ropes, I expected IU to push the tempo and yet they slowed it down and gave BSU a chance to catch their wind. At times when IU got careless with the ball and turned the ball over a few straight times and they should have slowed it down to gain their composure, they pushed it and took bad shots and turned it over some more. Maybe I just answered my question... IU's style is "Certified Schizo!"

On a side note, the BSU TV network interviewed their new Athletic Director in the second half... may I have a drum roll please? The new AD at the Ball U party school... drum roll... Tom Collins! That is awesome!