MartintheMopMan

Did we switch jerseys? We're playing like the Maryland team I've watched all year.

Jay, let the defense know i hate them.

Maryland has one of the worst offenses in the FBS.   I mean, I'm just saying. I hate our defense more than anything.

Oakes wouldn't have tried to have Redding run it three times in a row up the gut.

Oregon is so legit this year. I would explode if we could play them in the tourney and crush them. Take that Ducks!

I'd be interested in seeing what they say about the final top 25 teams. How well do they match up with the first couple weeks? Where are the players who win in the tourney from?

If you asked their fans 18 months ago they had the most disappointing coach in the Big Ten. Winning fixes everything. They have to drop in next week's poll though.

... I don't know that I understand the confusion. We're comparing the 2012-13 team to this team. You're saying the 2012-13 team was better on defense. Though, I could have just compared our current adjusted defense to the previous team's (hint, we're better this year), I thought a more fair comparison was 2012-13 at this point in their season compared to this point in the current season. The first three games played in 2012-13 were the three I listed. The best opponent in that grouping was Evansville (120th). Evansville scored 73 points. The best opponent we've played so far is Creighton (83rd). Creighton scored 65 points. I believe this scoring difference is reflective of the current team's defense.   I think that's as simple as I can make it. Let me know if you need it broken down some more.

You think Zeller and Co. were better on D after their games against Stony Brook, Chattanooga, and Evansville? Holding Creighton to 65 is more impressive than holding Evansville to 73.

I'm hoping (probably in vain) he'll be less highlight reel when games are closer. It's easy to mentally justify going for the dunk instead of passing for an easy layup when you're ahead by 18. Classic fan symptom, I watch the first three games and assume all the good things are permanent and all the bad things are a result of the timing/competition.

Well, I can only evaluate TB three games in. I can compare him to Zeller against his first three opponents, but I mean, we can only work with what we've got.   And like I said, I think Zeller was a better all-around basketball player, but he didn't play the traditional post in the same way TB does. We don't need all the extra benefits Cody provided this year, we need a solid traditional post. At the moment, they are not comparable in terms of overall impact on the team or on an individual level, I am evaluating their fit as pieces in the team.   3 v. 3 stat lines. Minutes OR %Points Points 2s 3s FTs OR DR A TO Blk Stl PF 

Purdue plays big, but they're slower and less athletic for the most part.   We'll know after this week though (hopefully). Vandy plays huge. If Jones and Kornet can't shut us down, Hammons and Haas won't either.

With you on this one. The leadership and direction Yogi brings that he didn't have then will be huge at the point.   And, I think TB's style of post-play is better suited to our team than Zeller's. Zeller was an amazing basketball player, but I think TB is a better post-player.   At the moment, I haven't seen any other teams play that I think can shut us down as hard as Syracuse did. It's going to be a heck of a year. Have tickets for Houston gone on sale yet?

I mean, what else is there to say right?   Love him. He is absolutely what this team needed. He brings outrageous size and skill and pairs it with being an absolute hype-man.   He is going to bring Assembly Hall down during Big Ten season.

Bradley playing Vargina tight.

Come on guys. Everyone on our schedule can't lose.

Miami is on pace to score 126 points at this rate.   42-19 with 7 minutes left in the first half.   59-35. They slowed down their scoring a little because their threes averaged out. For the first 15 minutes they shot 86% from behind the arc. Then they shot 17% for the last five minutes of the half.

Good timing. I was just finishing writing a reply about that.   They'll start Hills. He's a mobile QB with great speed. The line better be ready for that and not allow huge 3rd down runs this time. He has only had four starts this year because MD has been deep in a QB controversy.    I expect to see them routing some of their run game through him now that Brown is out, but not much. Brown has only started as RB once (last game). Ross is their former starter and he's pretty good. Better than Redding, not as good as Howard.

I loved Lima when I went, though it was a few years ago now. Man, a lot of few years ago since it was before I was married. It was such a fun city to be in. Try and coordinate with someone who is local to show you around. They'll have the good leads on where to find what you want, and it can be hard otherwise. There was this amazing all-you-can-eat sushi place where I may have consumed my weight in the best sushi I've ever had. Plus, all the standard local foods.   It would be so much fun to go back. Especially because I'm not super poor anymore. And flights are only a little more expensive than what I pay to see my stupid family. Too bad my wife is very afraid of flying.

My currently planned travel is Port Charlotte with my in-laws for the next week. Nothing is the perfect cap to a 13 hour plane trip and 2 hour car trip with a small child like a week in a different kind of rain with my in-laws.   Therefore, I conclude that all travel is terrible. Boo.

  Anything we did to their OC would be nicer than what Maryland fans would like to do with him. I don't even think he knows how to call plays where Maryland doesn't throw it right at the defenders.     Once we get a hold of Dudzinski, I think we should just keep him and tell everyone he's Brian Knorr. Plus, he's one of the only coordinators in the Big Ten who makes less than ours, so he might not even object to the move.

Don't forget to read this great article from our own KelleyHoosh to prep for the game!   https://btownbanners.com/topic/8696-despite-losing-streak-season-goals-still-in-reach/   It's going to be an... interesting game. Maryland has no offense to speak of, especially in the air. We have no defense, especially against the pass. So, we'll perfectly clash on that side of the ball and the game will be nearly unwatchable. Bad offenses against bad defenses are the worst football to watch.   Maryland runs a top 35 defense that is good at everything. They are statistically almost the same as MSU. We should expect our offense to look similar against them as it did in the MSU game. Luckily, given Maryland does not have nearly the same offense as MSU, this game should not go the same way.

I'm still not scrolling back all the way to figure out which one we are talking about.   Didn't we play in the Legends Classic like 3 years ago? We beat Georgetown and won the whole thing?   Or is this still a different one? Champions classic is the one you're calling Legends. It's definitely KU, UK, Duke, and MSU. I don't remember what the one with OSU is called. That's the one we conflicted out of that was based on banners. I mixed them up until you mentioned Ohio State. That should really be the one called "champions" since it's based on championships.   We ended up cut out of the Champions because it was formed at a bad time for us. Those four teams really wanted to play some games but no one would agree to a home-and-home. So, they made a neutral site "classic". It was still while we were really bad, 2009 or 2010, so no one wanted to invite us to anything. As far as I know, prestige or history of the program were not factors in the decisions. Just four basketball teams on the top of their game looking for a way to get some sweet sweet basketball into November.

Champions Classic? Is that what we're talking about?   If I recall from last year, there was a conflict with us doing both the Crossroad Classic and the Champions. I don't remember what it was, but it was not just the temporal aspect. Since we are committed to Crossroad for another like, 5 years, they had to pass over us to the next "Champion".   Or it was just a time issue but they needed a long-term commitment and we had the conflict. I know it was definitely Notre Dame and Butler's fault.

Yogi knows where to get one!