This is not the way to pad your resume. I never thought that Dan Dakich had a shot at having the interim label removed. Now I don’t think he even has a prayer; not after being humiliated by Michigan State in East Lansing (103-74) and embarrassed by Penn State in Happy Valley (68-64 OT). IU has now lost six games; a third of them under Dakich’s brief tenure. Until yesterday, all of their losses had been to ranked teams.
Not any more.
Heading into yesterday’s contest Penn State was 14-15 and 6-11 in a very weak conference. Not only that, PSU was without Jamelle Cornley, their best player, and they started four freshmen; none of whom are anywhere near as heralded as Eric Gordon (or Jordan Crawford for that matter). Here is one comment that Dan Dakich made after the game:
Cornley or no Cornley, a Big Ten road game is a Big Ten road game. They got themselves a great win.
Are you kidding me?! Currently, Big 10 road games are only tough in Madison, East Lansing (but not so tough that you should be beaten by 29 points), Bloomington, and West Lafayette. Every other road game in the Big 10 should be a win for the ranked team. IU barely escaped with victories in Champaign and Chicago. I’ll chalk those nail-biters up to the emotion of Gordon’s change of mind and Kelvin Sampson’s stupidity. (Although, how many men can earn a $700,000 severance package for breaking the rules and damaging your former employer?)
I think I’m being generous. This team should never lose to Penn State. At home, on the road, at a neutral site, on the deck of an aircraft carrier, anywhere and anytime IU should beat PSU.
I’m not going to recap the game. Why bother? Here are a few links to men who are paid to so such things:
Here is my sole observation about the game. Eric Gordon was 8 for 24 from the field and 4 for 16 from behind the arc. He turned the ball over 5 times and missed a runner in the lane at the end of regulation; a shot which could have won the game. If IU is going to make any kind of post-season run, both in the Big 10 tourney and the NCAA, then Eric Gordon must get his 26 points in fewer than 24 shots, and he absolutely must take better care of the ball.
IU is in serious jeopardy of being seeded 5th in the NCAA Tournament. I say jeopardy because the 5th seed is a prime candidate for a first round upset. Almost every year a 12 knocks off a 5 in the NCAA.
The way things are going right now, IU will be the fifth seed that goes home early.
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