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 (A little late, but I have a good excuse)
The Lovely Dentist was in town this past weekend and while most times that means I don't get to see many games because we are out doing stuff....she is studying for her upcoming board exams and decided to do some studying while the IU/Kentucky scrum was on TV Saturday. Good stuff.
In a three words or less here is what happened....IU dominated. Plain and simple. Both teams were playing without major contributors but it looked like IU would be hampered the most since their entire starting backcourt was out (Gordon - back, Bassett - suspension). No need to sweat it though since Jordan Crawford, fresh off a suspension, picked up the slack and played....good. I was going to say great, but he's a little helter-skelter for my liking.
Kentucky...Kentucky....they are going to be in trouble unless they get some guys back from injury. IU pounded them in every facet of the game. IU was quicker, tougher, smarter, more athletic, and fundamentally stronger. I hope this isn't how the Billie Gillespie Era is going to go in Lexington as this team was pretty horrid. Although, I would love to have Freshman Phenom Patrick Patterson on my team, he's a stud.
As has been the case in the past half dozen games, D.J. White grabbed double digit rebounds...and for the fifth straight game, he had a double-double. Anyone doubting White's drive for a championship is dead wrong. He's playing with the passion, fire and determination of a player not only wanting a Championship, but of a player who wants the school to name a building after him. He's cut the sleeves off of his patented XXXXXXXXXL white t-shirts to show chiseled shoulders that can carry a team and he's running the floor like a madman. He is the MVP of the Big Ten right now, in my opinion.
Since the Hoosiers were shorthanded they had to rely on contributions from Mike White (seriously) and CBS favorite DeAndre Thomas (11 points, 5 rebounds). Thomas had a pretty interesting game as the refs pretty much let him do whatever he wanted in the lane. A couple of times it looked like he was going to push right through the chest of a Kentucky player and I think if he hadn't eaten Lunch, he might have had poor Michael Porter for Dinner during the game. I don't see Thomas taking over for D.J. once he leaves, but he should be a valuable contributor off the bench during his tenure at IU.
Like I said before, IU was without it's normal starting backcourt and Jordan Crawford and JaMarcus Ellis were called upon to take over those duties. Crawford looked a little rusty, and a little bit like a Freshman, at times, but for the most part he did a good job. It's hard to know just how much playing against his brother raised, or hindered, his game, but he got the job done. Ellis....Ellis..what can you say about the guy. It's been a long time since Bloomington saw a player like Ellis. You want rebounding? You want passing? You want ball handling? You want scoring? Ellis does it all. He's not Eric Gordon, but he's the perfect #2 or #3 option on a championship-caliber team as he picks up the slack wherever it's needed.
IU plays Western Carolina on Saturday at Assembly Hall and I'm guessing Gordon and probably Bassett should be back on the court for IU. Senior A.J. Ratliff will also be back on the court for the Hoosiers after being suspended (Academics) for the first semester. So, the bench is going to be a busy place for the next few weeks because with Big Ten play starting after the new year I would think Sampson would like to have his full team out there for a few games beforehand.
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2008 Cubs Preview
UK was pathetic. Mike White hit more bunnies in the lane than UK did. That's an amazing stat right there. There will be no way Thomas will ever take over and produce like DJ but he's a nice complementary player and style change coming off the bench. I think the crown tattoo on Ellis' neck is bigger than the King's from the BK commericials. He's a great fit with this team. Of course, he's probably a great fit with 90% of the team's out there.
Ha! TLD saw that tat and was like..."What the Hell is on his neck?" My reply, "Obviously, he thinks he's the King"
The rumor is that the tatoo is from the "rough ass" gang from Chicago.
It could be from Our Gang, the Gashouse Gang, a chain gang or a bang gang...as long as he plays this well, I like him!
I think Mike White is playing his ass off this year. He'll get a good number of minutes in the big 10 season.
Ellis reminds me a lot of Andre Emmett, the Texas Tech scorer that tore up the Big 12 a few years ago under RMK. Emmett could do a lot of things well, including rebound and get other guys shots. The main difference is that the TT offense with Emmett revolved around him, whereas the IU offense only has to use Ellis is a 3rd or 4th option when EJ, DJ, and Armon are all on the court. His ability to get to the basket is a lot like Emmett's as well. Definitely a very valuable guy to have on the floor for as many minutes as possible. It should be quite a thing to watch when EJ is healthy and Ratliff is back to fill in with the way these other newcomers are developing.
bcurt10: Mike has been playing well, but if he gets a lot of minutes in the Big 10 season then we're going to see a ton of blocked layup attempts from Mike.
Ellis completely controlled the tempo of the Tenn St. game after Gordon was injured. He was the only guy on the team who could effectively break the press, drive to the hoop and dish the ball the DJ. He had 10 freaking assists in that game, probably all to DJ!
Not to mention, he did a lot of little things in the UK game also.