Posts Tagged ‘ Featured ’

Indiana Is Back, Nebraska Fans Storm Court

January 19, 2012
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I, for one, as a proud Indiana University alum, am tickled Cream and Crimson that our basketball squadron was able to provide Nebraska with its first marquee, landmark Big  10 conference basktetball win. It might not go on  page one of our rather proud and long history with the sport, but its now part of the Hoosier lore. Like it or not. It sucks to lose, but on the bright side, beating Indiana is all of a sudden a reason to storm the floor. After not just the last three seasons, but much of the last decade, its a welcome, if not bittersweet, sign of progress that the program is finally back to its proper relevancy. Beating Indiana is an important achievement again, something that could be your program and your fans highlight of the season.

Are you buying any of that? Probably not. But the rushing the court meme instantly came to me as the horn sounded and Husker fans romped towards center court. I cant even remember the last time somebody did that after beating Indiana. Most Indiana fans are more worried this morning about actual basketball issues than my quasi silver lining that we now have proof that beating IU is big news again. Nope. We’re all wondering whats become of our magical, dream season. A 3-game losing streak, highlighted by bad losses to Minnesota and Nebraska bookending a troubling, non competive beatdown at the hands of Ohio State has the pretty Bloomington sky a-falling.

Honestly, though, I am not taking that much umbrage with the loss. I did after the Minnesota loss because the team just didnt play well, they looked sloopy and almost played like a win was a foregone conclusion. The Gophers pretty much controlled the game, in Bloomington no less, the whole way. Last night was a different story. IU played well in the first half to forge a lead. Then, they played even better basketball for the first 13-14 minutes or so of the second half.  The win seemed in hand. Then, total meltdown. The Hoosiers began coming away with empty possessions. They missed a key free free throw. Nebraska hit a pair of clutch free throws. A game winning layup attempt by Jordan Hulls was blocked by the rim. It all seemed so last season, which isnt good. But road losses, even inexplicable ones like last night, happen, especially with a team that still needs to figure out how to close consistently on the road. As a nasty puncuation mark to an on-going three game losing streak, however, the final result is all that matters, not necessarily the first 34 minutes of the game when the Hoosiers looked like a polished, top-15 team and forged an 11-point lead.

So, what gives? Whats been happening on this skid? To my untrained basketball eye, here are the problems, in a nutshell: Verdell Jones needs to start dribbling with his head up. Victor Oladipo needs to stop trying to make the game winning play on every touch. They cant lose sight of Cody Zeller down the stretch and not get the ball in his hands. Jordan Hulls needs to stop playing like a spaz like he did last night. Seriously, isnt there a house somewhere on Dunn Street where we can find him something to calm his nerves? When I was in school there was, so somebody hook him up please. As a team, they need more commitment to defense. Basically the team appears to be finally struggling under the weight of expectations and being the target. Crean, a spaz in his own right, needs to find a way to calm the team down, restore its confidence and get them back to playing with the carefree, we’re back so deal with it, style that had propelled them into the top-10. Read more »

Big 10 Hoops: Michigan State at Michigan

January 17, 2012
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(Chitownblue has been putting together great Big 10 Hoop posts so far this year. I have not been doing any basketball writing. Until this post. I feel rusty talking about hoops, so bear with me, HALOL)

For the first time since 1998, Michigan and Michigan State meet on the hardwood as ranked opponents. It’s been a long time. But, for most of the 1980s and 1990s matches with both in the rankings were fairly regular from the Joubert/Skiles rivalry to the winter of 1990 when Michigan was defending national champs while MSU streaked to the Big 10 title behind Steve Smith to those games in the early days of the Izzo tenure/final days of the Steve Fisher tenure. Michigan Hoops has been in the wilderness, but John Beilein seems to have led them out of the forest and back into NCAA relevancy. In some ways, tonight’s game is a must win for both sides. Michigan State needs the win to keep its early lead in the Big 1o race and stay ahead of Ohio State with the first of two matches with the Buckeyes looMing still three weeks out in the distance. As for Michigan, they dont want that third league loss and fall too far off the lead pack. But a loss tonight really sets up the chance for a protracted losing streak. Coming in off a defeat at Iowa, the Wolverines face a stretch after tonight that includes five road games in six starts, including stops at Arkansas, Purdue, Ohio State and a rematch in East Lansing against the Spartans. The Chicken Little in me wonders if a loss tonight wont be part of something akin to a 5-game skid and losses in six of seven. If so, look for the Wolverines, despite such heady preseason expectations, to be on the wrong side of the bubble by early February.  A win tonight would give them immeasurable breathing room should the upcoming three weeks be short on victories. It’s a rivalry game.  Get your talking points straight. Before our prediction, lets take a look at the protagonists this evening.

MICHIGAN STATE AT MICHIGAN, 7:00, ESPN. LINES, MSU -2, 0/U 132

What a difference a year makes for Michigan State. A year ago, the Spartans season devolved into a disaster, at least by modern day, Tom Izzo Era standards up in East Lansing. They dropped to .500 in league play, were bounced in ugly fashion in the first round of the NCAAs by UCLA and pretty much never looked like a cohesive basketball team for much of the season. This year? They look primed to return to the top of the Big 10 standings and rediscover their famous March Mojo. A year ago, the Spartans had the 62nd and 30th offensive and defensive rated efficiency teams in the land per KenPom. This season, they’re 7th and 9th, one of a few teams ranked in the top-10 in efficiency on both ends of the floor.  A year ago their offensive EFG% was 190th in the land. This season, they’re sharpshooters by comparison, ranking 48th in the country. In 2010-11, their defensive EFG% was 112th in the nation, while this year their EFG% on D is 23rd nationally. They’re a little bit better at shooting the 3-ball this year, but the biggest gains have been their 2-point field goal marksmanship having improved from 46.7% and 214th in the land a season ago to 52%, 48th in the country this year.

I’m sure we can dig up a bunch more hard core numbers to further back the on-court improvement, but I dont think any of that even matters. I think there is a chemistry difference between the two squads, and that’s been the biggest factor behind this year’s Green and White Renaissance. Last year’s club was caught up in their individual games, their pro prospects and never seemed to be on the same page with Izzo. The coach kicked Korrie Luscious off the team, but he was popular among his teammates. Lets just put it this way, whats the Over/Under on number of times last winter, post Luscious expulsion, that the players with Korrie in tow, got together, passed a joint around a circle and bitched about their asshole head coach. Whatever you’re setting the number at, I’m taking the Over. All of those guys are gone, replaced by fresh faces or holdovers with larger roles. And its amazing what can be accomplished when coaches and players like each other.  I know this aint twitter, but that deserves a #justsayin’.

As for the actual players, Draymond Green is putting in an All Big 10 First Team caliber performance. He’s avergaing 15.8 points per game and 10.1 boards.  He’s had 10 double-doubles this season, including three in a row coming into tonight. He’s had his own leadership aneurysm, his head coach is so in love, he calls him by cute nicknames like Day Day and, by his example, this team’s performance has done a 180 from last year. His frontcourt play has been backed up by a stellar guard unit. Keith Appling, Brandon Wood and Travis Trice arent as explosive scorers as last year’s guards were, but they’re more efficient, play within themselves and the game circumstances a bit better and turn the ball over less. It might not be as star studded, but this backcourt is better than a year ago. I say that as a big Kailon Lucas fan, too. Wood, the transfer from Valpo is such a smart player and never takes a bad shot. Appling is taking a major leap his sophomore year, showcasing why he had such hot recruiting bonafides coming out of Detroit’s Pershing High. With eight players netting at least 18 minutes a game, the Spartans are a deepish team and Izzo, unlike a year ago, has a lot of different options in his coaching bag if Plan A isnt working. Its all added up to being back in the Big 10 Championship mix. Read more »

Big Ten Hoops Examines the Disappointments

January 9, 2012
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Come on, Big Ten! Make me stop posting Hoosier pictures! Next time it's a Crean-face.

At the start of the year, we pegged the Wisconsin Badgers and Purdue Boilermakers – two teams that had spent most of the past four years at the top of the conference, as second and third in the conference, respectively. It was clear they lost production – Purdue lost conference player-of-the-year JaJuan Johnson and running-mate E’Twaun Moore while Wisconsin lost senior star Jon Leuer in addition to sharp-shooter Keaton Nankivil. There was some reason for optimism – Purdue returned all-conference caliber Robbie Hummel, who had missed all of the previous year, while Wisconsin seemed to have some highly-rated players to fill Leuer’s shoes, and a daunting home-floor advantage to paper over some weaknesses.

But things don’t always work out – Wisconsin has lost three consecutive games, two at home, and one of those to…Iowa? Purdue, for their part, got blown out in hyperbole-inspiring fashion by Penn State after seemingly righting the ship at home against Illinois. What, if anything, did we get wrong about these teams? Are these aberrations, or these bad teams?

Wisconsin, for years, has been an elite offense hiding behind a snail’s pace. In five of the past six years, they’ve been, adjusted for tempo, one of the 25 best offensive teams in the nation, peaking out at 2nd last year. During this span, their shooting has ranged from “pretty good” to “mediocre”, but what’s always kept them intact has been ball-security – with four appearances in the top 10 in the category. The key, simply, is their shooting. On the year, they don’t appear to have taken a huge step backwards – their eFG% has only dropped one percent. However, in Big Ten play, the Badgers are shooting eight percent under that mark (43% eFG), and in their three losses, that number falls to 39.9% – twelve points under last year. The problem certainly exists at the top, where Jordan Taylor is shooting five points worse than last year, and failing to get to the line at nearly the same clip, but with five additional shot attempts a game, it seems like he’s trying to prop up a failing offense. Jarred Berggren has significantly increased his shot attempts in the past three games, but is only shooting 30.6% from the floor, making 1/12 three pointers. Ben Brust, a surprise at the start of the year, is shooting 31.8% (20% from three). Defensive star Ryan Evans is the next most frequent shooter, making 29.6%, and role players John Gasser and Mike Brusewitz have combined to shoot 38%. Simply, they have been the worst shooting team in college basketball over their streak.

Against Penn State, Purdue shot similarly to Wisconsin, but on a higher level, their shooting hasn’t been that poor – excepting that, they’ve rarely shot lower than the low-40′s. Purdue, oddly, is slipping significantly on the defensive side of the ball. Other than his first year in West Lafayette, Painter’s clubs have been top-ten in defensive efficiency every year, finishing 9th last year. This year, while solid, they’ve ballooned to 34th, and it’s largely come on the back of a lack of defensive rebounding as a result of losing JaJuan Johnson.

The other major factor is simple – Robbie Hummel isn’t the all-conference player he was. Hummel’s rebounding has stayed constant to the levels it was at when he shared the front-court with Johnson (with Johnson’s departure, you’d think his rate would improve), and his shooting is a dismal 36% against major-conference clubs. If Hummel can find his stroke again, the Boilermakers can look to improve. Read more »