What is to be said?

The crushing loss at OSU wasn't necessarily to be expected, but isn't really surprising. It's sort of amazing that this team really is, for all intents and purposes, a freshmen team following good wins (Pitt, Michigan) with really bad losses (Loyola, OSU). It brings to mind a question of "what the heck were the Hoosiers last year, if *this* is a freshman team?" I guess that's easy enough, last year was the year of the walk-on. But turning the ball on every third possession... unbelievable.

Like it or not, we've got a bunch of freshman as the core of this team, and they've got a lot of learning to do. It was a sophomore -Verdell Jones- who seemed to be the only one able to do anything on the road, and another -Daniel Moore- actually did a decent job off the bench. It's going to be a long season on the road for these guys- I think a good goal is just to get their first conference road win.

Tiresome-X-player(s)-should-play-more-rant
I'm not sure about starting Hulls, by the way, it seemed like he was better coming off the bench to settle things down if Rivers was off. And maybe Dumes will respond positively to a little trust. But more to the point, I know Dumes isn't that efficient, but he's one of the better defenders on the team (no other guards are really able to come back to the paint and make strips like he does), and it would be better to have that defense out there at the start of games. And if he's not playing well, Hulls can come in for him or Rivers. This is not to denigrate Hulls, he should be getting starting minutes, but he can do that as first guard off the bench.

Elston should be getting up quicker from the bench, too, I think. When Watford is having an off-game, it shows up pretty quickly. Elston isn't better overall than Watford really, but he is more efficient on offense and is a lot better on the offensive glass. He could used a good pick-me-up when after Watford throws the ball away a couple of times.

Anyhoo, I'm looking forward to the Illinois game. It'll be a tough match-up, but I think the Hoosiers can take them at home... if they play smart.