Stuhoo

I’ve officiated some. Nothing fancy; in two ref situations up through high school age. I think that a fourth ref will have little or no effect. Good, highly trained refs are constantly putting themselves in a best-vantage point situation. The problem is players don’t always move logically. So anticipating angles and movement is designed to increase the odds of seeing the whole play, not guaranteed access. Moreover, refs divide the court into sections. A third of the half court is not a ton of area to cover, AND unless asked a good ref will NOT make a call in their partner’s territory. I really don’t think refereeing is deteriorating. They’ve always missed calls and always will.I think that technology and reviews have allowed spectators on television to hyper-analyze so many calls. Keep reviews to 30 seconds/max 1 minute and get the ball back in play and bouncing. Get rid of the unlimited referee-driven reviews in the last two minutes. In fact get rid of referee request reviews period. Give each team two reviews for the game; maybe refund one if it’s successful. And that includes reviews for flagrant fouls. In other words, reinforce that refereeing, even when exceptional, is an in exact science that has human error baked in. Stop highlighting potential referee errors. They are part of the game and are no more or less prevalent than before.

Hang in there brother. Thoughts are with you.

OESSSYOoo: 75 IcarambaU: 65

Michigan State is deep but has no idea who their best player is.

Curbelo has zero mental recognition on defense. Walker on MSU is red hot. Curbelo allows him to catch and allows him to shoot over and over

It appears that while Tom Crean is likely to be dismissed after the season, they’re not gonna try to pull off a fast one based on this incident.

Age old discussion—we get a home state recruiting bump when we have proximity. Easier to show love, families can get to games, interest in being a home state hero. But that’s not a guarantee and the player still needs to have the goods.

The cynic in me thinks that the only winners here will be the $500 an hour lawyers.

So true! He’s as much a quirky showman as a coach. College basketball is searching for the next Purdue Person Vitale—Tom could be that guy.

Yup. And while Tommy Basketball is a pious man who says he is only focused on basketball and faith, I betcha his agent and his lawyer have their eyes on different prizes.

Lol… They we’re going to fire him anyway and now Georgia sees a sliver of a path to doing so for cause, thereby avoiding the buyout. Mark my words…if he gets fired here comes either the compromise buyout settlement, or the lawsuit by Crean.

Dad rocking the stripes. Nicely done

Moren says she plays point, but at 6’2” I’m assuming she’s not quick enough to guard other points. Gotta believe we’re counting on Peterson for 30+ minutes per game.

Peterson, Bargesser if her knee recovers, or portal.

Bracketology currently has the #3 seeds as Nova, Wisconsin, Texas Tech, and Providence. Clear to me that if we were in and played them we would have a real chance against at least two of those teams.

Not gonna go there. I think Timmy Priller was a guard in middle school too! :)

Berger, Holmes, Browne, and McNeil is a helluva core group. We will assuredly be a ranked team again. #reload

I agree with your entire post, but I highlighted your line that I like best.

The calculus is: Is a first round 6 seed a significantly tougher opponent than a 8,9, or 10 seed? I would say a little but not much. The payoff is: In the second round how much tougher are the one seeds (currently Gonzaga, Arizona, Auburn) than the three seeds? Answer: A whole bunch very much tougher.

Quick hot take? Look at that regional as an example -- if we squeak in, there's a lot to be said for preferring to be an 11 seed over an 8 or 9 seed.

That would project him to "full court press sign him up" status. Any extremely productive point guard that suddenly gets to 6'8"+ and is a good kid (and he apparently is very much that) is a rare and excellent find.

Thomas Bryant played with enthusiasm and wasn't afraid to mix it up; in fact he relished it. I want talented players, but those talented players have to fit into a culture of loving the game. I am not seeing that here. Neither is his high school coach, Jason Delaney. He's an extremely successful coach and has parked Booker on the bench for long stretches of many games during his junior year.. Yet IU should be pushing for him? Xavier Booker has blown off trips to Bloomington on multiple occasions at the last minute. His recent interview highlights how he is dreaming of offers from Duke and UK. No. Thank. You. If Jason Delaney starts to buy in, that's when IU should start to buy in. Until then, if we're gonna take a flyer on a project, let's take one on a player that gives a ****.

People that have seen him play in person say that his focus and defensive intensity need a lot of work. not expecting him to get immediate minutes, but you never know.

Defense is where he needs work. He can shoot and he’s pretty long, but he needs to learn to do dirty work and develop consistent intensity.