Demo

Rutgers has run a great set and scored after ever dead ball TO. Pikiell is really good.

Speaks volumes about how things have changed over time. The Big East used to be the gold standard for felony post play. Now a kid like Garcia views it as a better skill showcase than the Big Ten.

Very true. Losing Josh Langford again really hurt them. Maybe they win the conference on just the strength of Izzo and Winston, but they're not some 15-3 kind of team. What happened to them yesterday will probably happen again.

Not clear on the scoring system: Does the Chiefs now beating the hell out of the Texans make Irsay more of a clown or less of a clown?

Yup. Marshall refuses to foul twice and UConn gets 2 great looks. Juwan Howard says after the Purdue game that he was too stubborn not doubling or digging Travion Williams. Then plays Oturu the same way and it costs him a game. Under pressure most coaches are going to fall back on their coaching dna. Really hope Archie doesn’t fall that way Wednesday night. If he plays half court, mid tempo offense against Rutgers they’re just gonna get smothered. The have got to push the pace and try to get early looks before Rutgers can set up. Really worried about this game. Big Steve Pikiell fan.

I’ll never understand why teams don’t foul. Never.

Trying to think of a MSU game I’ve watched pretty much ever when they were this bad defensively. PU has gotten literally whatever they’ve wanted. Last year’s PU team would have laid 55 on a defensive effort like this one.

Chris, just so I'm 100% clear, you're referring to tonight's game and not Saturday's, correct?

Been trying to watch Kepnang but life keeps getting in the way. Don’t see Duncomb’s skill level ever getting to Furst‘s. If I was on team Kaufman I’m not sure what Archie does is what I’d be looking for. If you dropped Kaufman into Beilein’s continuity stuff at UM or even the open sets Musselman runs and he’d just kill people. But you’re right, those 2 are apples and oranges.

Agree completely. Don’t think he’s got the highest ceiling of the kids Miller’s in on, but he might have the highest floor. Physically and skill-wise don’t see how he’s not really good.

Pikiell is doing a flat out great job. That program was deader than a doornail when he got there. So impressed with how well coached they are.

typical highlight clip, but you can see why they’d kick the tires on him. Great pg size/body. Good looking athlete. Looks to be able to create. Also seems like he might have some edge to him. And, God knows, this team could use some edge.

Interesting thing, at least to me, about JBJ’s original injury. I went to watch him play against Trey Lyles/Tech his soph yr in a holiday event at the old Marshall HS. There’s a turnover that leads to a breakaway for one of Tech’s guards. JBJ hustles back and blocks the kid’s dunk attempt off the board. They go down in a pile under the basket and Blackmon stars screaming in a way where you know the deal. But the thing about it was he had really competed on D for the entire game up to that point. I hadn’t seen him before, so I don’t know if that was the norm. He then made a really great hustle defensive play and his payoff was an ACL that cost him a year. Always wondered afterward if he just never quite got past that mentally and if it contributed to him never really selling out defensively. Or maybe he was just a bad, disinterested defender.

The only 2 positive things you can count on with this team is that Brunk will play hard and TJD will pound lesser guys. For me, that’s the list.

Just an aside from this mess: when they scrolled the leading rebounders in the country #10 was Jordan Goodwin from SLU. Jordan Goodwin is 6’3” and he plays with his hair on fire 40 mins a night. There isn’t a single kid on this team who can relate to a kid like him.

Gift call for Al.

The senior doesn’t rotate and gives up a dunk. All you really need to know about this team right now. Terrible.

Why in God’s name would you autoswitch that screen 30’ out? You intentionally put yourself in a bad matchup.

If his knee is ok Towns will be a really good get for someone, OSU I assume. 6’7” and can make deep shots.

Actually, here’s what we need to happen: Aminu’s brother’s name is Kabir. He’s a senior forward at Mo St. He’s just a guy. He has no professional prospects. Kabir is 6’6”, about 240, and a better than avg athlete. Parents down there have told me that they are pretty much joined at the hip. I think Jim Irsay needs to do Archie a solid and sign Kabir as a tight end conversion candidate for the Colts. They’ve already done it twice with Swoope and Cox. Of course, with the luck Miller’s had so far, Aminu would just end up at Butler.

The upperclassmen on this team are flat out non leaders. Davis is a follower. Green is a selfish player. Smith pretty obviously doesn’t love basketball. Brunk hasn’t been there long enough and I’m not sure he’ll ever be good enough. And we may all love Al, but a leader doesn’t get himself tossed for a reason that stupid. This team is gonna lose a lot of games this year that it could win because the on court leadership and mental toughness is for s**t. Hard team to watch.

They’re not even guarding Smith at this point. Smith’s response is to stand in the corner and allow his defender to clog the lane. No effort at all.

Easy call

At this point I’d like to hear Archie’s justification for playing De’Ron. All he is bringing is 5 fouls.

Yeah, that really was an all-timer. Dude with something like 20 career points dropping 30 something in the Big Ten Tournament. Unbelievable.