From Charlotte49ers.com:
[URL=http://charlotte49ers.collegesports.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/121705aaa.html]http://charlotte49ers.collegesports.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/121705aaa.html[/URL]
i understand the observer will finally be giving us a nice front page pre-game article for this one. it wonât be as large as the ones used for chapel hill games but at least we get something this time.
No front page article from the Observer. A short paragraph and a matchup chart Withers vs Killingsworth. Said they were two of the best Forwards in college basketball and 20 scouts expected for tonight. Seems like a big story with Indiana coming to Halton and all. Guess not.
[QUOTE=LeftyNiner;144970]
âŚtwo of the best Forwards in college basketball and 20 scouts expected for tonight. Seems like a big story with Indiana coming to Halton and all. Guess not.[/QUOTE]
It would have been a huge article if IU was playing in chapel hill. Go figure.
Oh yeah, Bobcats story did make the front page. They play Sacramento tonight at home.
It would have been a huge article if IU was playing in chapel hill. Go figure.
Or if we didnât suck out loud and hadnât just lost to Valpo at home.
Heck if I wasnât a fan I wouldnât want to read about us, and I kinda donât even though I am.:dry:
If you guys didnât expect the Panthers to dominate the front page you are all crazy.
I could have done without the State story but I suspect that if we were 7-2 or 8-1 it would be a much bigger story.
[QUOTE=s9er;145017]If you guys didnât expect the Panthers to dominate the front page you are all crazy.
[/QUOTE]
I wonât argue that point, BUT a recent chapel hill game dominated the entire front page and there was no mention of the Panthers. Thatâs my point.
Iâm an out-of-towner, so I typically keep my opinion to myself. I just read the pre-game article in the Observer. You gotta be F%#$^#$ng kidding me??? Thatâs it???
Sorry, but thatâs just pathetic.
[QUOTE=Over40NINER;145023]I wonât argue that point, BUT a recent chapel hill game dominated the entire front page and there was no mention of the Panthers. Thatâs my point.[/QUOTE]
Not true. The Panthers were down the left-hand side of that page.
Look, advance stories are a low priority for us on college games. We did more than the normal gameday capsule, but not a full-blown advance.
Tomorrowâs front will be largely Niners coverage from tonight, at least in the city edition (I hate 9 p.m. starts). The question is, what story will the team allow us to tell?
The way things have been going, probably not a good one!!!
[QUOTE=Mike_Persinger;145026]
Look, advance stories are a low priority for us on college games.[/QUOTE]
Unless the game is being played by a team wearing light blueâŚ
From the Indianapolis Star:
[b]White's return gives IU better feeling this season[/b] Loss to Charlotte was low point last year; Hoosiers get another shot at 49ers tonightBy Terry Hutchens
terry.hutchens@indystar.com
The Indianapolis Star
December 19, 2005The last time the Indiana basketball team faced Charlotte, the Hoosiers knew what it felt like to hit rock bottom.
A year ago, Charlotte senior guard Brendan Plavich nailed a 3-pointer from midcourt at the buzzer to lift the 49ers to a stunning 74-73 victory at Assembly Hall.
The loss was IUâs sixth in a row, the longest skid since the 1967-68 season. It also dropped Indiana to 2-6, including three consecutive losses at home, and was viewed as the stretch that kept the Hoosiers out of the NCAA Tournament for a second year in a row.
Since that game, the No. 18 Hoosiers have won 17 of 27 games and bring a 5-2 record into todayâs game at Charlotte (5-4). IU was off eight days after beating Kentucky 79-53 on Dec. 10 at the RCA Dome.
"I still remember the way we felt after the Charlotte game last year,ââ sophomore guard A.J. Ratliff said shortly after the win over Kentucky. âThatâs one of those feelings that sticks with you for a little while.â
Ratliff said all he could think about was the hope that sophomore teammate D.J. White would be back in time for IUâs next game against Charlotte.
White, who has missed the past six weeks with a broken left foot suffered in the exhibition opener against St. Josephâs (Ind.), practiced all week and is hoping to see his first action of the season tonight.
"Heâs jumping like he was, and everything else is good except for his conditioning,ââ IU coach Mike Davis said. "We are hoping he can get a few minutes in against Charlotte. We are going to bring him on slowly and might just hold on until the Butler game (on Friday) to get him going. We donât want him to come in thinking he needs to score 25 points and grab 15 rebounds.
"If he does that, weâll take it, but we want to bring him on slow.ââ
As a freshman, White averaged 13.3 points and 4.9 rebounds per game and was named the Big Tenâs Freshman of the Year. He scored in double figures in 22 of 29 games.Davis indicated that when White is healthy his intent is to start him alongside senior forward Marco Killingsworth and move Robert Vaden to the wing. The rest of the starting lineup would be Lewis Monroe at the point, with either Marshall Strickland or Ratliff at the shooting guard spot.
White has said throughout the rehabilitation process that he wanted to take his time coming back to make sure the injury healed properly. Against Kentucky, however, he dressed with the team and went through warm-up drills. He even had a couple of dunks.
Early last week after one of his first days back practicing, White said his foot was feeling fine.
"It is exciting to get back out here with the team,ââ White said. "There is only so much you can do watching from the sidelines. I am hoping for (today) to get some live action in a real game. Weâre not sure that will happen, but thatâs what Iâm hoping for.ââ
White and the entire Hoosier Nation.
Todayâs game
Indiana at Charlotte
ĆŁ When: 9 p.m.
ĆŁ TV: ESPN2.
ĆŁ Radio: WFBQ-94.7 FM.INDIANA: Reigning Big Ten Freshman of the Year D.J. White is expected to see his first action of the season. White has been out since breaking his left foot in the exhibition opener. . . . In the five wins this year, the Hoosiers have scored 79 points or more. In the two losses, theyâve scored 67 both times. . . . IU is 1-1 on the road. Last year, the Hoosiers were 2-8 on opposing teamsâ floors. . . . Robert Vaden leads the Hoosiers with 5.6 assists per game. As a team, IU averages 21.4 assists.
CHARLOTTE: The 49ers have lost to Northwestern, Wyoming, Mississippi State and Valparaiso. . . . The game is coach Bobby Lutzâs 500th. He has a 321-178 record, including 140-87 in eight years at Charlotte. . . . This is the fifth time the teams have met in the past six years, with IU holding a 3-1 edge. . . . DeâAngelo Alexander had a career-high 32 points against Valparaiso, including 7-of-10 on 3-pointers.â Terry Hutchens
Link to entire piece: IndyStar.com
BTW, the Bloomington Herald-Times requires a subscription to get online content, so wonât be posting anything from them.
GO NINERS!
[QUOTE=Over40NINER;145031]Unless the game is being played by a team wearing light blueâŚ[/QUOTE]
Thatâs not true, either. Weâve written two advance stories on the Tar Heels â one of the Illinois game about it not being a real rematch because of turnover that appeared on page 5C, and one on Wes Miller before the Kentucky game that appeared on page 9C. We also wrote about Gardner Webb the day they played UNC, because we circulate there and it was a big game for them. That story also appeared on page 9C. Everything else has been a gameday capsule.
For comparison, the Niners got advance stories against Georgia State (13C), and the Wyoming tournament (3C), on DeâAngelo Alexander, with the rest being gameday capsules, plus todayâs comparison of Killinsgsworth and Withers.
Iâm talking only about advance stories here. As I said, live news is more likely to appear on the front, unless itâs a great story. That hasnât happened with a game advance on either team yet.
Another IU point of view, FWIW:
[QUOTE]IU heads to Charlotte
12/19/2005
By Jack Aikin
Looking for a bit of revenge from last seasons cataclismic last second home court loss on a mid court 3, IU heads to Charlotte looking for in the words of Jim Carr, the public address announcer in the classic hockey film âSlapshotââŚ
âIt looks like Syracuse is primed for a good old fashioned grudge match here tonightâ.
Bobby Lutzâs 49âers tend to be strong physically and free shooting offensively. Shot selection 101 is NOT offered in the Charlotte Course CATALOG. Charlotte has never seen a shot it wouldnât take. Which is ONE reason they shoot a collective THIRTY EIGHT percent as a team. Charlotte is 5-4 and coming off a close home court loss to Valpo. The 49âers feature 3 main players. DeâAngelo Alexander, a tough matchup at 6-5 227. Curtis Weathers at 6-8 246 chips in with solid double figure numbers in points (15) and rebounds (just under 11) and 5-11 Leemire Goldwire. Alexander averages 17 ppg and like a lot of Charlotteâs better players over history, about every other shot he takes is a 3. Goldwire is a terrific free throw shooter, but is absolutely awful in his shot selection.
Because of their physical strength advantages, Charlotte is a very good rebounding team. But the pace they play at and shots they take make them vulnerable to excessive turnovers and bad shots. Those lead to poor floor balance and easy shots in transition the other way.
This game MAY see some level of return for IUâs DJ White. If he does play, I suspect it will be very limited time.
Matchups depend very much on the Vaden versus Alexander matchup. If Alexander can get Vaden inside, he may have a big advantage in the post. On the perimeter, Vaden may be able to play him. The Killingsworth versus Weathers matchup is also a key. Foul trouble either way is significant, especially if White isnât yet available or 100%. IU will need to stay in front of Goldwire and keep him from penetrating and pitching to the open wings. Look for IU to continue to guard the 3 point line. This makes individual post defense critical. IU has struggled to defend the post and if they help, this gives higher percentage shots from the outside. Goldwire is just a terrible 3 point shooter and IU should be able to help off him if they find they have to help inside. The other two main shooters, Mitchell Baldwin and Marcus Bennett are decent shooters, but donât shoot the volume of shots to really be seen as threats.
Keys for IU.
Defend the 3 point line in the half court and matchup with shooters in transition defensively.
Rebound the defensive board. Avoiding offensive rebounds that lead to kickout 3âs are crucial.
Better decision making and ball handling.
One on one post defense
Donât let Goldwireâs penetration set up others.
More than anything, Iâm looking for maturity from IU. One of IUâs BIGGEST PROBLEMS in my eyes has been that they tend to play every possession as if the score is 0-0. This manifests itself in ways that lose leads. Each year IU has games lost and games nearly lost because their shot selection is not dictated by game/time/score situations. A 10-15 point lead is treated like itâs 40 and garbage time. IU struggles to take time off the clock with a lead and is too often susceptible to a bad shot off one pass, 8 seconds into the clock. Friends who saw the UK game (and the radio I listened to) confirm that IU was just too reckless with the ball against the UK press and in their half court game. Shooting too quick in the era of the shot clock and 3 pointer lets other teams get on runs too easily. In the âold daysâ without the clock, if you were down 7 points, that was tough to recover from. Your opponent took itâs time, made several passes and if you fouled or made a mistake, you were down 9. Which may have led to a quick, ill-conceived shot, and now youâre gambling again on defense, perhaps giving up a backdoor layup, and youâre down 11.
Today, with the shot clock and the 3 pointer, a 10 point lead is next to NOTHING. Your team has played well and dominated the game and is up 42-32. They feel pretty good about themselves and the game. They have a brief letdown and suddenly, 2 quick 3âs later, itâs a 4 point game, the other team has momentum, and youâre feeling it in your throat.
Charlotteâs crowd will be foaming at the mouth. IU has to show more poise than they did at ISU. The pre-conference season is winding down. Itâs time for IU to show a bit more poise, patience and purpose. IU has generally done a good job of sharing the ball and finding the open man. But if they are going to progress from this point, they have to show some more patience and resolve.
source: [URL=http://www.rmkfan.com/article.cfm?AID=330]http://www.rmkfan.com/article.cfm?AID=330[/URL]
[/QUOTE]
More from the Fort Wayne News-Sentinel (a Knight-Ridder newspaper just like the Big O!):
[b]Charlotte is key to Hoosiersâ legacy IU has to win tonight if team is to get shot at Big 10 conference glory[/b]By Pete DiPrimio
pdiprimio@news-sentinel.com
Fort Wayne News-Sentinel
December 19, 2005BLOOMINGTON â Tonight weâll see how mature and focused and mentally tough these Indiana Hoosiers really are.
Tonight they play at Charlotte, and this is, in truth, the last serious challenge before Big Ten action. This is a game they have to win if they want to show they are legitimate national players, if they are to demonstrate the kind of tough-minded approach necessary on the often-ruthless conference road.
In short, all the things they didnât show at Indiana State, but did against Kentucky.
âThis is a game we have to win in order to do what we want to do,â coach Mike Davis says.
Eighteenth-ranked Indiana (5-2) has spent the last week mixing academics (studying for finals) with basketball fundamentals. It seeks to build on the momentum from the Kentucky blowout, and after the way the Wildcats whipped previously No. 4 Louisville (UK just might be a national factor after all), there is momentum to exploit, opportunity to seize.
âThis is a road game,â Davis says, âand the way the NCAA sets things up, if you win road games it gives you more (RPI) points. We want to win in the worst way.â
Do not pay attention to Charlotteâs 5-4 record or the fact it lost to Valparaiso at home 80-77 in its last game.Davis isnât.
âThey are a very good team,â he says. âThis game will be a lot tougher than Indiana State was for us. We know theyâll be jacked.â
The 49ers have Curtis Withers, a 6-8, 246-pound dominator who averages 15.7 points and 10.4 rebounds. He is a national player-of-the-year candidate. He is on the Wooden Award watch list.
âI think heâs one of the top 10 players in the country,â Davis says.
They have 6-5 DeâAngelo Alexander, an Oklahoma transfer who averages 17.0 points and 7.3 rebounds. He burned Valparaiso for a career-high 32 points.
They have the kind of athletes to make opposing coaches miserable. What they havenât had in their four losses is good shooting, and IUâs prospects depend on its ability to keep that vulnerability intact.Charlotte lost to Northwestern 61-47 and shot 30.8 percent from the field. It lost to Wyoming 87-78 and shot 30.6 percent. It lost to Mississippi State 53-38 and shot 21.7 percent. Overall, it shoots 38.0 percent while allowing opponents to shoot 43.3 percent.
By comparison, IU is shooting 53.8 percent.
âThey havenât peaked yet,â Davis says. âHopefully, they donât peak (tonight).â
Last yearâs Charlotte game, a 74-73 loss when 49ers guard Brendan Plavich hit a half-court shot at the buzzer, was controversial because officials looked at the wrong shot clock when reviewing the game tape to see if the shot had beaten the buzzer.That is as relevant tonight as man landing on the moon. Those Hoosiers were struggling and, as it turned out, NCAA tourney non-factors. These Hoosiers are poised for a factor-filled season.
âWe need to play with focus and energy,â guard A.J. Ratliff says. âIf we do that, we can beat any team in the country.â
IU doesnât have to beat any team tonight, just this Charlotte team. If it does, it might not lose for a long, long time.
The pick: Indiana 75, Charlotte 71
Link: FortWayne.com
[QUOTE=Mike_Persinger;145026]
Look, advance stories are a low priority for us on college games. We did more than the normal gameday capsule, but not a full-blown advance.
Tomorrowâs front will be largely Niners coverage from tonight, at least in the city edition (I hate 9 p.m. starts). The question is, what story will the team allow us to tell?[/QUOTE]
Advance stories are low priority? Hmm, I couldnât tell.
From your story, I learned that there may be as many as 20 NBA scouts in attendance. The rest of what was said could be found on the Hoosiers & 49ers school sites and approximately 20 minutes of free time.
Iâd have thought it was at least worthy to mention that the Big Ten Freshman of the Year is likely to return to the court tonight.
Run49er and Niner Advocate, thanks for posting all those stories about tonightâs games from those Indiana newspapers.
Those were some fine stories about OUR team, something we are not accustomed to reading here in Charlotte.
BTW, the local paper dedicatd almost the entire front page with a story on an upcoming chapel hill game being played in Charlotte a few years ago, and they were playing against a bad team.