As an old-timer, I miss the buzz that the State Finals used to generate. I had the privilege of attending two girls Final Fours as a student, prior to class basketball. The experience was incredible.

There's a lot of blame to go around for what's happened with the State basketball tournament, and I don't really want to get into it here. However, one gripe that I will air: the coverage of it in the mainstream media is horrible, if it exists at all. Maybe it's better with the Indy Star. Here in Fort Wayne, there's just not much. There is some for a local team, but even then it's kind of sparse.

So I turn to you, internet, the great democratizer of information, to fee my jones.

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Dear Santa,

I hope that this letter finds you well as you prepare for your annual journey of joy dispensing. Some of my friends at Crimson Quarry have been discussing the current basketball season, and their expectations and wants. Given that you like to "rock the Crimson", I have always figured you for an IU fan, too.

I have been especially good this year. Well, actually, the last three years. We have put up with quite a lot since Denim Shirt left. We have done so patiently, and without a lot of griping. I even made it through Kentucky week without making an inbred joke (John M. did not, however, so if you want to give him a lump of coal, that's up to you). Anyway, here's my wish list:

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I see that Chuck Klosterman has published his list of the top 50 college players of all time. For what it's worth: Scott May is #35 and Steve Alford is #18. These lists are just fodder for people to yell at each other over the internet. But what the heck.

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I recently saw where Ken Pomeroy has developed supposedly objective player comparisons based upon a slew of different metrics. Pomeroy admits that there is some subjectivity to the process, because he gets to pick the metrics upon which the comparisons were made. I thought this was cool. But, when I went to check it out, I had no idea who the people were that he was comparing Christian Watford and Jordan Hulls to.

And maybe that tells us something about the current career arc for those two. But there are a number of us here who have been watching IU basketball for a long time, and have followed it closely. One of the joys of prolonged fandom is being able to tap into a reservoir of subjective or objective understanding of a program, and to relate current players to favorite (or decidedly unfavorite) players from previous periods. So I am interested to see what you all think. Your analysis can be empirical, or simply what your eyes tell you. It can be who they remind you of now, or who you think you'd like them to become.

Let's start with Watford.  

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And while the current version of our beloved Hoosiers, um, leaves us longing for the better days that lie ahead, we all still love basketball. Unfortunately, I have not been able to take in a whole lot of college or  High School ball this year. So I appreciate your comments and observations on the following:  

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Five games ago, I posted that it was time for us to start expecting our team to win actual victories, as opposed to moral victories. Looking ahead at the next five games from that point, here is what I predicted/expected:

At Sparty: L

Vs. Minny: W

Vs. Iowa: W

At Purdue: L

At Michigan: W

This is why I don't gamble. Still, I stand by my statement that we should expect our team to win not only the games it should win, but also the games it can win. Looking at those five games, there were four that it could have won, and we lost three of those. Disappointing. There was one that -- realistically -- we had no chance to win, that being at Purdue. The loss of Watford hurt, obviously.

Still, while I am loathe to rejoice in or even take note of moral victories, I think that the team's performance of late is encouraging. I would love for them to have more actual victories. Thinking back to last year, though, there was a point at which we hit the wall and every game after that -- with the exception of the OT victory over Northwestern -- was a blowout in which we never really competed. This season is a different story. I like the toughness I see from this team. I want to see it more consistently. If they can do that, and once the talent and experience in the conference levels out a bit next season, I like our chances to be a top-half Big Ten team.

Looking at the next five now: Good Lord; that's brutal. I imagine that IU will be favored on Saturday. That's a game that they can win. I am not confident about the road dates at Ohio State or Illinois. The home games against Purdue and Wisky will be telling. We have played both teams tough thus far. Still, there is such a gap in talent and experience that we will need to play a near-flawless game to win either of those games. I will, therefore, abstain from prognosication.

So what's your take on this team? Are you completely disappointed with the results of the last five games? Do you take some solace in the general improvement of the team? Forgetting about the NIT possibilities, what do you make of these next five?

Fantastic game last night. I was excellent to see them get over the top against a quality opponent. The fact that it was Illinois, and that the cries (pun intended) about Weber are starting to swell in Champaign, make it even that much more sweet.

There will likely be some talk about how this victory will be the turning point. Which is probably hogwash. This is still a young, thin team. They are almost certainly going to remain inconsistent and crap the bed from time to time.

However, this should be a turning point for us as fans. For the last three seasons, we have had to satisfy ourselves with moral victories. In two of the last three games, our beloved  Hoosiers have gone out and have held an opponent to under 20 points in a half. Not coincidentally, they have won those games. They also laid an egg at Iowa. We can and should hold the team to the standard set by the Michigan and Illinois games. It's time for us to start measuring this team by the ultimate objective standard: wins and losses.

That is not to say that we should expect them to win every game or expect them to finish with a winning record. They  might; that'd be great. But we should expect them to win the games that they should win, and also the games which they can win. Looking at the next five games, here's what I expect from them:

• At Michigan State. L. Sparty is reeling, but I think that last night's loss to Michigan probably serves as a wake up call, and we pay the price.
• Minnesota. W. IU played them strong in Minny. I do not expect IU to be favored. This is not a game they should win. It is a game that they can win, and I expect them to do so.
• Iowa. W. This is a game we should win. The players should be so fired up over what happened last Sunday that they had better come out on fire. I do not expect a mental lapse here.
• At Purdue. L. That's a good team. I don't think we have an answer for Johnson.
• At Michigan. W. I do not expect Michigan to shoot as poorly as they did in Bloomington. This is a team we can beat. We need to be able to do this on the road. We won't be favored, but this is a game I now expect us to win.

What do the rest of you think? Is it too soon to start expecting our team to win? Are my expectations of these games unrealistic?

I'll confess right now that I watched the first quarter of last night's game and listened to the fourth quarter (God bless you, Don Fischer; I have missed you). I missed the second and third quarters. Based upon what I saw and heard, though, I am questioning the play calling from last night's game. Perhaps those of you that saw or heard the whole thing, and may be more familiar with the pistol can educate me.

Seems to me that an advantage of the pistol, having the quarterback in the backfield, rather than under center, is that it gives you the opportunity to adjust and adapt more readily, and do multiple things from the same set. Perhaps that's a misunderstanding on my part.

In last night's game, McCray showed that he has the lateral speed to get outside and make cuts up the field. I suspect that Willis has the same (and should have been given the opportunity to show that, even after putting the ball on the ground). I suspect that Burgess and Payton, God love them, do not. Still, it seemed that the disproportionate majority of the run plays were called between the tackles. Part of that blame lies with the O-line, which has to do a better job of blocking. However, if they are not doing that, then the play callers need to recognize that, adapt, and run outside or some pass plays to the flat to move outside the tackles.

In the passing game last night, IU did a great job of playing to it's strenghts in the first half -- primarily its big receivers and Chappell's strong arm. Again, I did not follow the third quarter, but I assume that EKU was able to make adjustments and take away the wideouts. It seems, then that IU failed to adjust and use screens or the tight end or something else.

EKU seemed to know what was coming. Either IU's playbook is razor-thin, or the play callers (Canada?) need to do a better job of recognizing the adjustments and making their own. Let me know if you think I am missing something.