lillurk

I think there’s a case that Gonzaga’s a larger favorite this year than last, though it’s clouded by the fact they didn’t lose until the final last year. An Arizona/Zags final would be terrific

Yeah if you drafted, for this season only, from both rosters, 4 of the first 5 guards/wings picked would be Spartans, I think

Did anyone catch that the ref told Hummel they can’t review whether a player was out of bounds? Which refs conspired to do with Brad Davison in the Wisconsin at IU game? Malpractice

Pains me to say so but Gillis’s 5th foul and Edney’s 4th were both bad calls in MSU’s favor. And I missed it earlier but they said on the broadcast that Gillis’s 4th was bad. now PU has shot like 9 more FTs, so even though it’s in Breslin it’s not some disgrace…but y’know.

Also when he’s engaged on defense he’s the best option at the 5. I like the Race/Geronimo lineups but they trade away some rim protection for smoother switching

Hang in there Mo.

I think Phinisee’s knack for clutch shot making would’ve been useful against Wisconsin and OSU recently, not to mention his defense.

Aiming for “relieved they met the baseline annual expectation, which given the circumstances makes this year a qualified success”

This would be a 20 point lead without the low percentage Fatts prayers falling at an insane rate

I was skeptical of Archie but not vocally negative, and pretty quickly pro-Woody. I still think Woody shows signs of turning things around. If you have substantive disagreements about a coach’s approach, my advice would be to frame things less polemically. The post today’s a good example of what I’d say not to do (unless you WANT to get trolled): vague, accusatory, no substantial points elucidating what’s wrong with the basketball or program building. You get back the kind of engagement you put out there. So a pro-Woody perspective isn’t just rah-rah, it’s me saying: 1. He helped lay the foundation for the Hawks pre-Trae Young period of 21st century prosperity, from a dire spot 2. He’s the best coach in recent Knicks history 3. He’s gotten more out of lots of guys who’ve played for him than anyone else, from stars like Carmelo to back-of-rotation guys like Steve Novak 4. He was pretty prescient about where the 3 point revolution was going 5. he came from the place every kid he’ll recruit wants to go …and I could go on.

Think the Torvik rooting guide had the UM/RU game as a conflict but losing to both UM and IU within a week would be tough for Rutgers to overcome given their résumé’s other weaknesses. IU winning three and one of Rutgers or Michigan (or other candidates) fading is good news for the Hoosiers.

Moore, Al, and Justin committed to Crean and remained through that coaching change.

Wisconsin must shoot 80% in late shot clock situations. This year especially, but for years now.

Yes, I don’t think that was the only problem but here’s the list of players he recruited: Race Thompson, Romeo Langford, Jerome Hunter, Damezi Anderson, Rob Phinisee, Jake Forrester, TJD, Armaan Franklin, Khristian Lander, Jordan Geronimo, Anthony Leal, Trey Galloway, Logan Duncomb. Some stories still left to be written, some unfortunate injury impacts, but what sticks out is how quickly that 2018 class dissolved.

I’ve been to Crisler many times. On weeknights, it’s a library.

Kansas up 22 with 6 left. Lately the best nights for IU’s bubble chances are the ones they’re not playing

It would be nice to have Davis or similar but IU simply has zero dudes who can get a good shot for himself dependably

This is the part that keeps me up at night. It’s not JUST end of game execution but in several last minute losses every domino fell the wrong way. Flip like three 50/50 plays all year and I wouldn’t be losing sleep

IU didn’t even offer Ivey! How on earth do you not even sniff around some of these, I’ll never know. Just malpractice.

This would be 20-12 (10-10), 2-1 on neutral courts, 3 road wins, wins over PU, OSU, ND, Rutgers, plus probably another of the middle class of the league (e.g. Iowa/MSU/UM in BTT). Probably enough.

Not a bracketologist but if you win the next three, lost @ PU, you’re close. Think if you win the 8/9 BTT game you can sleep easily. If not you have to sweat bid thief tourney champs, and/or other bubble teams making a run.

Lol I’d love to hear this

Yeah this has seemed more and more apparent lately. Over 82 games water finds its level, and if you’re micromanaging too much you’ll get on nerves of pros. Obviously it’s possible to overmanage college players but when you’re in IUs spit it’s tourney or bust every night. Can’t take a loss because Durr plays too many minutes, or you sit Kopp when he’s awake for the first time in months, etc. in college. And you don’t have a roster of pros, from a talent or approach standpoint. Some players are almost literally still kids.

This makes some sense — gotta have the humility to listen to the guys with recent college experience. I was saying in this thread that everyone practices special situations, and thus the end-of-game execution issues fall at least some on players. But it’s also true that I’m the NBA you can (and should) trust players to have more awareness of those situations. One adjustment to in-game college coaching is probably being more strong-handed at the ends of games.

Yeah I said this up thread when the offense was terrible the first third of the game, but at some point it’s better to take off-the-dribble 3s early in the clock every possession than drive into sure turnovers or closer misses.