Quick thoughts on the game before trying to get some work done

( I think the final two weeks of the year should be a national holiday. *sigh* )

1. I thought Indiana played extremely well last night. We got open shot after open shot and we contested nearly every shot that Charlotte took. We played with effort, we played smart, we played with consistency, and we did it all on road. It was exactly the type of game I was hoping to see from the Hoosiers, but was worried that I wouldn't.

2. As someone who is occassionally perplexed by Coach Davis's substitution patterns, I thought he did a fantastic job last night of playing our lineup like a violin. It seemed like we had a different lineup out there every time down the floor, and yet it always seemed like we had the right mix of guys as well. I also thought DJ got just the right amount of minutes.

3. I liked that Charlotte tried to intimidate us verbally and physically and we didn't back down, and we also didn't let it get into our heads -- we continued to play our game.

4. Strickland and Monroe combined for 16 points (6-11 FG), 17 rebounds, 7 assists, and 3 turnovers.

5. I really like Jay Bilas. He's critical when he needs to be, compliments when it's appropriate, and isn't at all over the top. And he was right on the money about how Indiana needed to let go of last season's Charlotte loss a lot quicker than they did.

6. I think Rick Majerus is an incredible coach, but the dude is a (surprisingly) awful TV analyst. It's not that he's wrong, he just looks tired and uncomfortable all the time.

7. I loved the play in the first half when DJ missed a 10 footer and Marco was there for the weakside rebound and putback. I've been dreaming about seeing that for 6 months now.

8. If anyone actually kept stats on it, I bet Indiana is #1 in the country on percentage of 3-pters made off of an assist.

9. It was really nice to see Wilmont get some quality minutes and take advantage of them - he took 3 shots and every one of them was a good shot, plus I thought he played really good defense.

10. I'm going to the Butler game!