Wednesday, January 31, 2024

Go figure

 This Indiana basketball season. It's rapidly turning into a miniseries titled "What If I Told You?"

As in, "What if I told you a team that made zero 3-pointers in just nine attempts last time out would haul off and shoot 22 of them in the next game, and make eight?"

As in, "What if I told you this same team still can't hit a barn door from the arc -- 8-of-22 is only 36 percent, after all -- but Gabe Cupps actually hit a three and Anthony Leal, who's played like 12 seconds this season, came off the bench to make three of his four attempts from Triple City and score 13 crucial points?"

As in, "What if I told you this team would throw Iowa down a 17-point hole, then let the Hawkeyes climb all the way out to take the lead down the stretch, then score the last eight points of the game to pull out a 74-68 win?"

These Hoosiers, man. Go figure.

Everything you wrote about them after the last game is absolutely true until the next game, when something else is true. They change narratives more often than Clark Kent changes clothes in a phone booth. 

Sometimes they come out as Superman. Sometimes they come out as Stuporman. Depends on the day.

Now, you could say this is just more evidence that Mike Woodson is incapable of pulling consistency out of his team, and you wouldn't be wrong. You could also say maybe he should be playing Anthony Leal more minutes, and that injuries have played a role in some of the inconsistency.

 Last night, for instance, Kel'el Ware was back in the lineup after an injury knocked him onto the sideline for awhile. But no sooner was he back than Xavier Johnson got hurt again, and linchpin Malik Reneau played only three minutes before he got hurt.

Which might explain why Indiana loaded up from the arc last night.

Or, considering who we're talking about here, maybe not.

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