Demo

Wait, it took him 2 seasons to fix the offense at EMU? Hard pass. Obviously a mid-major talent. And, yeah, sarcasm. Welcome aboard, Coach. Sounds like an intriguing hire. I’m all for going the non-retread route.

Always sort of thought that there needs to be a thread for the most deeply stupid/offensive/wildly insensitive comments made in a sports context. Then John Engler goes ahead and just renders it uneccessary with pretty much the worst thing that CAN be said. unbelievable

You’re right about Fitzner, though I think they probably wanted him because Randy Bennett does a lot of the same stuff as Archie and they thought he would be able to just go. But the Prilleresque athleticism was too much to overcome. I really wanted a grad transfer PG. Rob is not ready for this. Love Watson, and he was just way too good for Rob and Green tonight.

Beilein was 65-67 in his first 4 yrs at Michigan. Jay Wright was 52-46 his first 3 at Nova and then made the Dance year 4. Rick Barnes was sub .500 at Tenn his 1st 2 yrs, and now in year 4 he has them #3. Tony Bennett made the Dance UVA once in his 1sr 4yrs. Sometimes building a roster and culture that fits the Coach’s vision takes a minute. Not always and I’m not defending Miller. I despise this team’s pace of play and the fact that he is absolutely married to his offensive structure when the pieces don’t fit is 100% on him. The skill development piece of the program was better under Crean. I don’t think that’s really arguable. But Alford/Bailey is right. Anyone that looks at this roster at the moment, without Hunter and Thompson and with Davis hardly able to move, without an experienced starting PG, with an injured McRoberts getting minutes when a healthy McRoberts shouldn’t be able to, and thinks this team is ready to be a 2nd weekend tournament team is either, 1) flat out stoned, or, 2) doesn’t know what they’re looking at. Currently this roster is Langford, Morgan, and a group of mismatched role players. They can get better, but right now they’re required to do more than they are ready or able to do. This team has to compete like hell to win. Tonight they didn’t.

Love Winston. He may never be an NBA all-star, but he is pretty close to a perfect college PG. As good as Zavier Simpson is, I like MSU better at tournament time because of Winston.

Watched a Pacers game he called back in the day at Sacramento when they had Webber and that bunch. The Pacers might as well have been the Washington Generals. Spent 4 solid quarters gushing about the beauty of Kings basketball. Just rapturous. Oh yeah, Pacers won by double digits. while I’m confident that Bill is a good dude, his grasp on reality is....tenuous.

What Xavier Simpson’s on ball D is gonna do to Green shouldn’t happen to a dog.

Didn’t see the game tonight, but in the 3 games since he became eligible he’s averaging 12 pts and 4 boards. So he must be playing more than barely and helping a bit.

He’s still a name, he’s had modest intermittent success, and he’s still young enough. But, wow, fired in a very high profile fashion mid season because his team just flat quit on him. Doesn’t get much uglier than that. It might be easier for an AD to sell trustees a pay scandal than that. And given his giant ego, what would he willing to look at? I imagine he would expect better offers than someone like Crean got. Personally, I wouldn’t touch him. I don't think the vitriol towards him is unreasonable at all. The Man-of-God, audience-of-1 line makes clear that he learned nothing from the Pierce incident. A self-righteous creep without a hint of introspection.

Was hoping that Eberflus wouldn’t be getting serious HC looks until after next year. But with so many openings, I think someone will take him this year. Good for him, not good for us.

So, Wilkes still enjoying all of that NBA style training he’s getting?

When I moved to St Louis, I swore that I would check out any Missouri kid with IU interest. This kid’s the acid test. Greenwood is something like 3 1/2 hrs away. Plus, it’s a tiny little school that plays no one but other tiny little schools. He won’t see anything close to another D1 player all year. So am I going to drive 7 hrs round trip to watch this kid destroy a bunch of farm kids and then sit the last quarter? Oh yeah, because I am just that stupid. I will have y’all a report at some point.

Audience of 1, typical Pauley attendance.

Was just perusing their roster/stats. Love the name Thatch Unruh. Don’t know why, but love it. Want to see about a 40 pt win despite a career high from that kid.

Come on man, that’s not right. Jones was playing the top of the zone. The man playing the back line lost spatial awareness and allowed a diagonal pass from the right wing to the left corner for an open 3. Absolutely not on Jones, who was shading Roby, I believe, at the top of the key. and reacted down to the shooter after the catch. And the inbounds steal was 100% on the passer, who brain locked and threw it directly to Roby. It would have hit him in the shoulder if he hadn’t caught it. Neither of those was on Jones, who I think has played decently and been pretty engaged and aware so far,

When I lived in Indy I liked Butler because Hinkle is awesome, tickets were cheap and available, and the school’s terrific. They weren’t IU, of course, but they were a convenient secondary option when I needed a game fix. That all changed with the whole “Butler Way” nonsense. God, I hate that sort of myopia. The “Butler Way”? Stop it. It’s the, “Every Mid-Major in the Country Way.” They did it better. Kudos. They do not a single unique thing.

I was at the game. Love was not what I expected at all. He’s got great size and length for a PG. Probably a full 6’3” with really long arms. Terrific athlete. Elite lateral movement. When he pressured ball handlers he was able to lock them up. The block was the play of the night. Came from maybe 15’ away on the weak side to block what looked like an uncontested layup from behind. Awesome play. But his effort was not at all consistent. He let lesser players outwork him on several occasions. But, defensively, he’s got elite traits. Offensively, it was kind of eye-opening. Was told he wasn’t much of a shooter, and that’s true. Shot 1-5 from 3, all good looks, and none of the misses were close. 1 airball and 2 barely got rim. Form isn’t terrible, but his release point is all over the place. The surprise was the way he was used. He played off the ball the entire night. He never ran point in the half court. Not once. He created nothing for anyone else. His couple of assists were just reversals for open jumpers. And for the first 2 1/2 quarters, he didn’t do much. Just settled for jumpers that he wasn’t making. Started attacking late and was a handful when he did. Scored 11 in the 4th, all on finishes at the rim and fouls created. He could’ve done it all night. He was a frustrating player to watch. A blind guy sees his talent, but he played in spurts. And when he wasn’t playing hard, he wasn’t contributing at all. But his good stuff is REALLY good. Looking forward to watching him again. Btw: Damn, Liddell’s good. A lot like Juwan was in HS, but a better athlete and just a little better at everything. Love him. Will be shocked if he’s not in Holtmann’s rotation from the jump next year.

This may be the, “no s**t, Sherlock” post of the day, but Langford really is the key to this game. The only Butler game I’ve seen was their loss at SLU. SLU has a kid named Javon Bess, who’s a strong, athletic 6’6” kid. He can make shots, but he’s really about getting to the rim and finishing or drawing fouls. Good player, but no Langford. Butler had no match up for him. He just overpowered whomever they tried on him. Scored 18, but could have had 25 if SLU’s guard play hadn’t been pretty bad. If Langford comes out aggressive early, I think he creates foul problems for Butler on the perimeter. I like this matchup a lot. So, now watch Butler make 15 3’s.

Watching Den-OKC. Currently 4 UK players on the floor at once: Murray, Lyles, Diallo and Patterson. Yeah, there is more to winning NC’s than just talent. But, really, how can Cal have just 1?

Huh. Don’t remember the last highlight video of a guard that didn’t include a single jumper.

Well, they plummeted all the way to #20 on KenPom. 3 losses, including 2 to teams outside the top 100 and they’re still at 20. Of course, 4 loss Purdue is at 14. I’m usually a numbers guy, but actual wins and losses really should mean a little something.

Yup. More drawn fouls than made shots. It’s like Archie CRISPR’d him. Seriously, a kid with PG skills and Wing length. Love it.

The definition of no conscience, Markus Howard 7-29 vs Wisconsin. And it looks like Marquette is gonna win it anyway.

Complete aberration. Hey, I’m not down on these guys at all. They’re a tip in from 9-1 and I expect them to be 12-2 when they get to Michigan. They compete hard. Just saying it’s going to be really tough to consistently beat good teams playing this way. Will love to be wrong.

We need to get used to it. They’re all gonna be like this. This team plays at a slow pace by design, gets no easy looks, can’t make shots consistently and can’t go on runs. We’ve now played, what, 4 games in a row in the 60’s? Creates a very small margin for error. Everyone wanted the anti-Crean, well we’ve got it. I expect the offensive execution to improve, but this team will not blow out a single good team all year.