For the latest installment of the site's popular Know! Your! Foe! series, I exchanged emails with Michael Hadley of the web site Student on Sports, who I first came into contact with in the frantic hours between the NIT selection show and the completion of the CIT and CBI brackets last Sunday. Better known as @RedZoneIUPUI on Twitter, Michael is a self-proclaimed "IUPUI Jaguar super-fan" and your point man for information on Princeton's College Basketball Invitational quarterfinal opponent.
How much of a home advantage is "The Jungle" (Division I's 342nd largest gym, holding but 1,215 souls) and why don't people call it the Palin-dome?!
This year, IUPUI is 10-0 at the Jungle [their losses to IPFW and Ohio were both at Conseco Fieldhouse - JS], including a 24-point STOMPING of Summit champ Oakland. True, The Jungle only holds 1,215, but that means its a much more intimate atmosphere. At a lot of D-I places, they might pack 20,000+ people in for every game. But the people at the top row can't even be heard by the people towards the middle. The Red Zone (our student section) is only about three feet from the out-of-bounds line, directly across from the opposing bench - so I personally stand only 55 feet away, and sometimes as close as 10 feet from any given play. We never stop yelling and screaming, using signs, chants, and everything in between to distract and inhibit opposing teams. We welcome all challengers. Also, Palin-dome sounds a lot better than "The Jungle at the IUPUI Natatorium."
As primarily a commuter school, is there any "buzz" on campus about this game? How hard has it been to build interest in this team?
We've been building the Red Zone from the ground up, culminating at the Oakland game (the last "big" home game of the year). Four of us traveling to UMKC earlier this season showed a lot of nay-sayers and on-the-fencers that we leaders are very serious about creating the most feared student section in the Summit League. Themed nights are important because they give semblance to the section, not everyone has the same IUPUI gear the rest of us have but everyone has a black t-shirt or hoodie around. The team this year helped us get people to the games, we've only been this good a few times in our history. Next year should be just as good - we're losing our best player but our biggest upside guy is back, along with three other starters.
It looks like the Jaguars do two things very, very well - shooting the ball - both in the paint and outside the arc - and creating steals. Confirm? Deny?
Our game is a lot more of an inside-inside-outside game than anything. We shoot well from the outside because we create mismatches inside. Three starters and two bench players can all bang inside, and are all different enough to exploit nearly every team we play. Once the inside presence is established, it forces double teams on at least one guy. That opens up the perimeter for four of the smoothest-shooting guys I've ever seen in person. (Notice the over-lap: We play eight guys regularly, three of them can both get inside and shoot from range. The more this can be exploited, the better IUPUI fares.)
Robert Glenn and Alex Young are both in the Top 500 nationally in over eight different statistical categories. How important are they to IUPUI's success? Are they as multi-faceted as these numbers indicate?
When one of them is off...the other better be on. The "Big Three" - Rob, Alex, and Leroy Nobles - have outscored opposing teams themselves multiple times this year. Rob is one of the most (if not THE most) athletic down-low players in the League, and Alex has the most upside of any player in the League (via: CollegeInsider.com). They are one of only two 18+ ppg tandems in the nation, the other coming from one of the New Mexicos (previously a Duke combo - shows you how consistent those two are). If a team doubles Rob inside, he can fire it out to Alex on the perimeter and then step back until he's needed again. Alex fouled out of the Oral Roberts game with about four minutes to play (semi-finals of the Summit League Championship), and Rob had all but (I think) two points from there on. Both are good for 2-3 highlight reel dunks a night, both are tough enough to play inside but smooth enough to shoot from outside.
Describe they way in which IUPUI beats Princeton.
IUPUI beats Princeton if: 1) Turnovers ratio is at least 1.75:1 in favor of IUPUI. 2) Robert and Alex shoot better than 45% each, and score at least 37 combined points. 3) Princeton has more than 20 points in the paint. 4) Princeton shoots worse than 35% from distance. 5) Play fast-tempo basketball/Score at least 70 points.
How does a Tiger victory come to be? What has to happen?
Well I suppose I sort of described it before. 1) Shoot well from range. 2) Have a presence inside on BOTH ends of the floor. 3) Hold on to the ball!! 4) Take us (students) out of the game. [That will be the hardest thing for them to do, but if we're not in it our guys will fall flat.]
What if Princeton wears their black road jerseys AND there's a "blackout" on Monday? Hasn't anyone considered this? Help!
Well that would be okay! We don't really care what jerseys the opposing teams wear (THOUGH the White Out was for Oakland's black road jerseys). When we play IUEast/IUSouth Bend/etc, their colors are close to ours (via the IU affiliation), but we don't really make any special concessions to be sure no one matches them.
Tell me more about Coach Ron Hunter's involvement with Samaritan's Feet.
Each season (three years running now) Ron and scores of other coaches across the US take off their shoes to help raise awareness for the organization Samaritan's Feet. This group helps raise awareness - and shoes - for children in countries who either can't afford shoes or have literally no access to shoes at all. In my time at IUPUI, we're 1-1 on No Shoe Day. The students all take off our shoes too (and don't allow anyone in the Red Zone WITH shoes on) to help create perspective and understanding. Last year I vividly remember watching Mike & Mike (ESPN2 & ESPN Radio) EARLY in the morning when Ron was going to be on. He explained the cause to the co-hosts, but then was surprised with an EXTREMELY generous donation from Crocs (the shoe company). Everyone at IUPUI loves the cause - in fact his involvement in a cause like that is one of the big things that drew me to the school and basketball program in general.
Also, each summer the basketball team (lead by Coach Hunter, of course) heads out to a far away land to help distribute shoes to those in need. The players all say what a humbling experience it is, and the Red Zone is hoping to help raise money and shoes for them as we grow and expand.
Plug time! Let people know about your site!
I started the site as a all-around blog site so I can get all my sports-related thoughts out (Why I wish Tim Tebow would go away, my predictions for the World Cup, etc). It quickly evolved into nothing - I really didn't have time for it with class and work and everything. Once I realized the potential of Twitter and my blog, I began using both to get the word out about IUPUI basketball. We are really proud of our guys and everything they've done and will do in the future!
Thanks for your time, Michael. I look forward to seeing the Red Zone in person on Monday night! Answers to your questions about Princeton should be in your inbox later tonight.
