Disappointing loss at home to Indiana today. Hoosiers definitely were the better team this afternoon. Cody Zeller always seems to be in control, played a suburb game. I wish Matta would play Ross more in lieu of Thompson. When you fail to win at home, you are in trouble.
Zeller was unstopable. Though a few of the calls were questionable in all fairness and truth all we could do was hack him...and most of the time he still scored. And that Oladipo kid was awesome. How the hell did Illinois beat you???
The threesome that is key to our success - Oladipo, Zeller, and Watford - were clicking on all cylinders today. That was not the case vs. Illinois. My concern was your physical inside play, but today Zeller and Watford rose to the occasion. This was a watershed game, the first away win over a top ten team in a long time. Still a long way to go, but today was a good day for the Hoosiers.
Didn't expect that outcome at all....Zeller was a force inside and we had no answers. IU played as well as anybody that I've seen this year pretty much the entire game and on the road to boot. We have some work to do..... Don, re: Ross -v- Thompson, it looks as if Ross is coming along and Thompson has lost some confidence in his offensive game. That said, I do think Thompson still the superior option all things considered, but Ross has clearly closed the gap. Ross though a superior offensive player, is a liability on the defensive end, still forces things too much with the ball in his hands, is not a strong ball handler and turns the ball over far too frequently. Ross better offense, Thompson better defense and more solid floor game, imo. If we could take the best of both and merge the two, we'd have a helluva player!!! We need both of these kids to bring their game to another level to get this team to where it can be a real threat in the tournament.
Hoosiers <r>Nice win for the Hoosiers against OH ST. Too bad they let that Illinois game slip away. <br/> <br/> <E>:?</E></r>
It's somewhat surprising that IU remains #1 in the AP poll, but Duke helped out by narrowly avoiding an upset vs. Boston College. Miami has shot up to #3, deservedly so. Still a long way to go and many tough games ahead.
I'm not seeing that shirt Sid, I see it's a white out but all the shirts I see say Izzo on them. Lots of celebs at that game though, Brady Hoke, Mark Dantonio, the Guv, Lloyd Carr, Matthew Stafford who is starting to get the man boobs like Phil Mickelson and his super hot (as far as I could tell) girlfriend Kelly. Great first half by MSU though, they are up 14 at half and UM looks way out of synch.
The first group shown just before tipoff all were wearing the shirt. After that, you could see it on students in the crowd. I thought it was pretty funny.......and obviously effective, along with MSU's excellent play. Michigan was surprisingly out of sync tonight. I'm sure they'll bounce back, but MSU has risen to become a force in the race for the regular season title.
n <t>Since 2/2, M has played Indiana, Wisconsin and MSU on the road and OSU at home. That was a brutal stretch of games.<br/> <br/> I do not think the team regrouped from the loss in Madison and simply were unable to match State's intensity and tenacity.<br/> <br/> We now get into the softer part of our schedule and hopefully will regain our confidence and energy which is at zero after tonight.</t>
You can never count the Spartans out with Izzo as the head coach. He consistently plays a tough schedule early and they appear to be in final four form after last nights win. As Bobda points out Michigan might be reeling after that series of four tough games.
The Spartans have been listening to the local media sing the praises of Michigan all season. Last night they asked "remember us?" It's taken some time to adjust to the loss of Draymond Green. They look to be ready for March.
Buckeyes almost screwed the pooch at home against NW last night. Coming out with no energy against an undermanned NW team - none of whom understood at all they were supposed to get blown out - who led virtually the entire game, until a late Craft steal and this gem from "Slam" Thompson got the home crowd to provide some much needed intensity to the evening.....easy to do with a 46" vertical. Kid is a freak but I'd trade at least 6 inches of that vertical for a more consistent stroke from behind the arc!
Buckeye T, I missed the game last night and was astounded to see what transpired. You always have to be ready to play! I also noted Matta made some significant defensive moves which utilized the more athletic players at games end. Kohl Center Sunday will be no picnic either.
Craft played hard, as alway. No complaints about Thomas, as always. The other guys just couldn't take care of the ball...you'd have thought it was a hot potato or something. At one point I watched one of our forwards with the ball start to go off the dribble and I said "Yeah, dribble it in there and lose it!" which he promptly did. Happened over and over again. Missed layups hurt also. I thought the defense was pretty good but we couldn't get out on the threes...they were draining them left and right.
That was Q Ross, a very talented kid but still a turnover machine who often played matador defense on NW backdoor cuts as well last night. I would love to see him step up and develop into the player he can be.....but alas his issue is between his ears. We need him desperately to have any shot at a deep run. Just seemed seemed very lethargic last night.....not a great effort. Thad can't be pleased.
Small victory in Bloomington for NU the other night...held IU under 80 points and lost by less than 30...progress is being made... :roll: