By Mike McGraw
Executive Director
INDIANAPOLIS — Being an Indiana All-Star is an honor that carries with it a heavy dose of responsibility. Each year, this talented group represents — on a very large stage — not only the way we play the game in this state, but also the way it is taught. All-Stars are role models for the next generation of kids who dream of wearing the jersey while dribbling on gravel driveways or shooting at netless rims on neglected playground courts.
That said, it is hard to imagine that any group of young men has ever done a better job of meeting those expectations than the cast assembled this year. Such a statement is made not simply because the Indiana boys swept Kentucky, a feat completed with an 88-65 drubbing June 25 at Conseco Fieldhouse. Instead, it is uttered primarily because of the way they went about doing it.
Consider the following unlikely scenario. At halftime, the Indiana squad had turned the ball over seven times more than Kentucky and had taken 17 fewer shots. Yet, they still led by 12 and had the crowd buzzing about the unselfish way they were playing. To be sure, it didn�t hurt that Kentucky couldn�t throw the ball in the ocean from a rowboat. The boys from the Bluegrass state were just 13 of 43, and Kentucky�s Mr. Basketball, Dominic Tilford, was leading the masonry by going 1 for 11.
Indiana raced to an early lead on the strength of two 3-pointers each from Luke Zeller and Jason Holsinger. By the time the Hoosier starters got their first rest at the 11:29 mark, the lead was 23-12. Despite sloppy ball handling and some poor shooting, the margin grew to a dozen (44-32) at intermission.
It would only get worse for Kentucky. Indiana started the second half with a 21-8 run, ballooning the lead to 65-40. From there, it was garbage time, but it certainly wasn�t played that way. The Hoosier boys continued to share the ball, hustle, and, most impressively, play hard on defense. In total, it was a clinic in how to play the game in an all-star setting.
Perhaps nothing illustrates the team focus of the Indiana squad more than a stretch of slightly more than a minute with about 3:00 to go. Dominic James had been resting for several minutes on the Indiana bench. In most years, James would have been a clear-cut Mr. Basketball, but this season he finished second in the balloting to Zeller. His play and demeanor during the two week All-Star camp, however, had belied any disappointment he may have had at that outcome.
At the time he re-entered the game, James had nine points, six assists, and four steals. It was a solid performance but not a particularly memorable one. But on the next three possessions, every one of the Indiana players on the court tried valiantly, if unsuccessfully, to get James one more score. That score was not going to put him in the record books. It wasn�t going to be the capper to an historic performance. It was merely going to put him in double figures.
The Most Outstanding Player Award went to Zeller, who led Indiana with 12 points and 12 rebounds. It could have just as easily gone to James, Holsinger, Josh Mayo, or Brandon McPherson. There was talk on press row of simply voting for THE TEAM.
That is the stuff of great teams, and if this one didn�t qualify, it came awfully close.
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