The Intangibles 

Just wanted to provide my thoughts on the ND game and where IU stands this season overall. First, the ND game. I hate to harp on the zone defense, but we have not shown any development in that category (being able to score against it). We have had an entire offseason since the Syracuse game and not only did SU pound us again, but we got beat by a less-than-mediocre Notre Dame team that lost to North Dakota State and Indiana State at home. I'm not a big Xs and Os guy, but come on! To beat a zone, you need penetration, movement off the ball, and shifting of the ball. When we were able to penetrate through Vonleh and Sheehey, we were finding early success after ND switched to the 2-3. 

As far as our movement off the ball, you usually see us standing around the perimeter waiting for someone to take a 3 towards the end of the shot clock (if we can't find Vonleh) or sometimes Yogi will dribble to the baseline and jump toward the crowd while he scans the court in hopes of finding some sort of outlet for us to score. These things happen all too often and need immediate addressing by the coaching staff and the players themselves. Currently, we rank 225th in the nation in assists, averaging a meager 11.7 a game. Oh, and we also rank 313th in T/Os per game averaging 15.2. We look rushed, disheveled and just plain upset on the court. At Indiana, it's about work ethic, heart, and playing for something much bigger than yourself. Haven't seen much of these attributes this year, but hoping for more as the season progresses. 

With this team, we are going to struggle in many categories, but we can win if we pull together and play within ourselves to our strengths. Let's figure out how to beat a zone, because other teams are quite stupid if they don't try it against us this year in conference play. I still have tournament hopes and you should too. We are down but not out, Hoosier nation. Let me leave you with a great quote from the general that is very fitting: 

"The will to succeed is important, but what's more important is the will to prepare"