Well this game is over. 34-17 IU.

Good half for IU. They imposed the will and didnt settle for the half-court. Got out in transition after made buckets and even on some 2 on 4 1 on 3 situations. Kept pushing the pace and got easy looks from long range and were able to get to the hoop at will. Yogi Ferrell with his best half of his career.

Gotta keep pushing. Dont let Minny make any kind of run early to give them a chance and build hope.

Dre Hollins is one hell of a player.

Well that was ugly. Im glad IU did exaclty what I said NOT to do in the 2nd half.

Also, Tom Crean can abandon that zone any day now. Might be the worst zone Ive ever seen lol. Maybe try it vs OSU, but thats about it.

Minnesota is a really good team. Id say easiy on the same level as UofM and IU. They are a tough out on the road and in the Barn could very well go 9-0 this year.

All in all, solid win for Indiana. This was probably their toughest game until Michigan comes to town February 2nd, and they COULD be 9-0 in conference at that point. They just need to come out with the same intensity on the road as they did to start todays game. That IU, the push the tempo, in your face defense, deflection and hectic game drive and dish IU, can win the title.

So Illinois sucks. It looks as if the early season success for Illinois was smoke and mirrors, indeed, as somebody else indicated earlier in this thread. If Wisconsin's strong start continues, that will be three straight games that the Illini have been blown out in embarrassing fashion.

How in the world did they beat a very good Gonzaga team by 11 in Spokane? A mystery to me.

I insuniated it was smoke and mirrors, without those words. Illinois is NOT a B1G contender. They are pretty bad, actually. There escapes versus 3 or 4 mid majors at homes...and yes they were escapes/lucky wins, is more indicitive of their team than the win over Gonzaga in Spokane. If a team has the depth and athletes to contend the 3 pt shots, they are in trouble.

Laley23;1364388 wrote:I insuniated it was smoke and mirrors, without those words. Illinois is NOT a B1G contender. They are pretty bad, actually. There escapes versus 3 or 4 mid majors at homes...and yes they were escapes/lucky wins, is more indicitive of their team than the win over Gonzaga in Spokane. If a team has the depth and athletes to contend the 3 pt shots, they are in trouble.

I admit that I was one of the many posters here who were fooled. After the Gonzaga game and all the flashy three-pointers Brandon Paul and company were making early in the year, I thought they might be a real contender. But looking back, to win Maui, they had to beat USC, D-II Chaminade and Butler, which was nowhere close to as good a team as they are right now. After the win at Gonzaga, which now appears to be a major outlier, the Illini were thoroughly handled by a good not great Missouri team on a neutral floor. And they've now been beaten by a combined 40 points in the last two games.

You're right. Illinois is bad.

Nice article on Trey Burke, with an interesting observation by Satch Sullinger.

http://www.toledoblade.com/Michigan/2013/01/13/Hometown-gets-behind-native-son-s-exploits-at-University-of-Michigan.html

"The best thing that happened in my opinion was that Ohio State didn't go after him," Sullinger said. "At Michigan, the timing was just right where Beilein had no choice but to go with Trey. The timing was just right. Everything was just right for Trey to be comfortable and not afraid to make a mistake because they didn't really have anybody behind him. He had the chance to have his coach's confidence from the very beginning.
"Would Trey have been able to do that coming into Ohio State? Hell no."

Hell yeah I wish he was wearing scarlet and gray now, but who knows how that would've worked out???

vball10set;1364934 wrote:Nice article on Trey Burke, with an interesting observation by Satch Sullinger.

http://www.toledoblade.com/Michigan/2013/01/13/Hometown-gets-behind-native-son-s-exploits-at-University-of-Michigan.html



Hell yeah I wish he was wearing scarlet and gray now, but who knows how that would've worked out???

Eh. There is a point there I suppose. But it sounds more like someone trying to justify the staff not going after him. To say "hell no" is pretty strong.

lol, whatever, but I think Coach Sully has a little better understanding of how these things work than you do

WebFire;1364977 wrote:Eh. There is a point there I suppose. But it sounds more like someone trying to justify the staff not going after him. To say "hell no" is pretty strong.

I disagree with that. Sullinger was Burke's high school coach. Honestly almost sounds against Matta because he wouldn't have given him a chance to shine.

vball10set;1364980 wrote:lol, whatever, but I think Coach Sully has a little better understanding of how these things work than you do

We can each have an opinion. As can coaches. I just think it's odd to basically say "Burke would not help us here. He would never work out here." Really, you think that is true?

Terry_Tate;1364982 wrote:I disagree with that. Sullinger was Burke's high school coach. Honestly almost sounds against Matta because he wouldn't have given him a chance to shine.

Perhaps. I guess I could believe that more so.

WebFire;1364984 wrote:We can each have an opinion. As can coaches. I just think it's odd to basically say "Burke would not help us here. He would never work out here." Really, you think that is true?

What? How are you getting this out of my posts(s)?? I said "who knows how it would've worked out", not "he would never work here". I think he's an excellent player, and that I would love him to be a Buckeye, so please don't create something that's not here. GO BUCKS!

vball10set;1364992 wrote:What? How are you getting this out of my posts(s)?? I said "who knows how it would've worked out", not "he would never work here". I think he's an excellent player, and that I would love him to be a Buckeye, so please don't create something that's not here. GO BUCKS!

Dude, it's cool. Not starting anything. For God's sakes, if anyone started anything you did by posting that.

And he did say "hell no".

vball10set;1364934 wrote:Nice article on Trey Burke, with an interesting observation by Satch Sullinger.

http://www.toledoblade.com/Michigan/2013/01/13/Hometown-gets-behind-native-son-s-exploits-at-University-of-Michigan.html



Hell yeah I wish he was wearing scarlet and gray now, but who knows how that would've worked out???

Lol still trying to justify that

For the record, I won't be one bit surprised if OSU wins today. B1G wins on the road this year are tough, and OSU will play extra hard against UM.

WebFire;1365061 wrote:For the record, I won't be one bit surprised if OSU wins today. B1G wins on the road this year are tough, and OSU will play extra hard against UM.

Why wouldn't UM play extra hard though?

WebFire;1365045 wrote: And he did say "hell no".

lol, yes he did...dude

My rankings, week 3:

1. Indiana - Takes over the top spot after looking impressive in home win over Minnesota, while Michigan dropped their toughest test to date.
2. Michigan - Still close to Indiana after the close loss at Ohio State. Big "gut check" coming in Minneapolis on Thursday.
3. Minnesota - Blasted the likely overrated Illini on their home floor and showed moxie clawing back into their game in Bloomington.
4. Ohio State - Deshaun Thomas needs to keep rolling; they have the talent to compete but can't afford mental lapses (like we saw against Illinois).
5. Michigan State - Good for them to get the road win against a desperate Iowa team. We probably won't know how good this team is until they host Ohio State this weekend.
6. Wisconsin - Keeps looking more and more impressive as the season goes along. What once looked difficult - making the tournament - looks within reach for Bo's Badgers.
7. Illinois - Holy crap.
8. Iowa - Have had the toughest opening schedule of anyone in the league. Expect things may start to turn around in Iowa City in coming weeks.
9. Purdue - Right behind Iowa - and might be better - but haven't had the benefit of schedule yet. They could also start to gel and turn into a better-than-expected team in the coming weeks.
10. Nebraska - Thankfully they play Penn State twice this year or else they might not get a conference win.
11. Northwestern - Beat Penn State, lost by 20 at home to Iowa. This is not going to be a good year for Carmody.
12. Penn State - This is not basketball. This is painful.

Conference games of the week:

1/15: Wisconsin @ #2 Indiana: Badgers are starting to get into form but the toughest possible test awaits. Expect Indiana will win going away, but won't be surprised if it's closer than the experts think.

1/17: #5 Michigan @ #9 Minnesota: Both teams are looking to bounce back from road losses over the weekend, but Minnesota gets the advantage of playing at home in this one. Loser pushed to the brink in terms of conference-title contention.

1/19: #11 Ohio State @ #18 Michigan State: Tough road test for the suddenly-dangerous Buckeyes while the Spartans look to keep pushing toward the top of the standings.

Wisconsin @ Iowa: Iowa needs this one to avoid slipping into the abyss; Wisconsin needs it to stay on track for an NCAA bid.

Terry_Tate;1364982 wrote:I disagree with that. Sullinger was Burke's high school coach. Honestly almost sounds against Matta because he wouldn't have given him a chance to shine.

That's kind of how I read it. I'm not sure if he was saying that UM was the perfect situation for Burke (because of depth) or that Matta wouldn't have given him a chance, but it does sound like he was taking a shot at Matta.

gorocks99;1365932 wrote:My rankings, week 3:

1. Indiana - Takes over the top spot after looking impressive in home win over Minnesota, while Michigan dropped their toughest test to date.
2. Michigan - Still close to Indiana after the close loss at Ohio State. Big "gut check" coming in Minneapolis on Thursday.
3. Minnesota - Blasted the likely overrated Illini on their home floor and showed moxie clawing back into their game in Bloomington.
4. Ohio State - Deshaun Thomas needs to keep rolling; they have the talent to compete but can't afford mental lapses (like we saw against Illinois).
5. Michigan State - Good for them to get the road win against a desperate Iowa team. We probably won't know how good this team is until they host Ohio State this weekend.
6. Wisconsin - Keeps looking more and more impressive as the season goes along. What once looked difficult - making the tournament - looks within reach for Bo's Badgers.
7. Illinois - Holy crap.
8. Iowa - Have had the toughest opening schedule of anyone in the league. Expect things may start to turn around in Iowa City in coming weeks.
9. Purdue - Right behind Iowa - and might be better - but haven't had the benefit of schedule yet. They could also start to gel and turn into a better-than-expected team in the coming weeks.
10. Nebraska - Thankfully they play Penn State twice this year or else they might not get a conference win.
11. Northwestern - Beat Penn State, lost by 20 at home to Iowa. This is not going to be a good year for Carmody.
12. Penn State - This is not basketball. This is painful.

Conference games of the week:

1/15: Wisconsin @ #2 Indiana: Badgers are starting to get into form but the toughest possible test awaits. Expect Indiana will win going away, but won't be surprised if it's closer than the experts think.

1/17: #5 Michigan @ #9 Minnesota: Both teams are looking to bounce back from road losses over the weekend, but Minnesota gets the advantage of playing at home in this one. Loser pushed to the brink in terms of conference-title contention.

1/19: #11 Ohio State @ #18 Michigan State: Tough road test for the suddenly-dangerous Buckeyes while the Spartans look to keep pushing toward the top of the standings.

Wisconsin @ Iowa: Iowa needs this one to avoid slipping into the abyss; Wisconsin needs it to stay on track for an NCAA bid.

My only disagreement is Michigan/Minnesota on the brink of being out of contention. Not in the B1G, this year. Most are expecting a 4 or more loss team to win the B1G. In fact, I totally expect Michigan to split OSU, Minny and Indiana. Maybe you could say Minny with the loss only because it's a home game and those are must wins in the B1G.

WebFire;1365945 wrote:My only disagreement is Michigan/Minnesota on the brink of being out of contention. Not in the B1G, this year. Most are expecting a 4 or more loss team to win the B1G. In fact, I totally expect Michigan to split OSU, Minny and Indiana. Maybe you could say Minny with the loss only because it's a home game and those are must wins in the B1G.

Yeah, I hesitated a bit on putting it. I expect the conference champ will be something like 14-4 and having two losses on the plate this early means the loser would need to go 11-2 in their last 13. I don't think it's impossible for either team to do that, but considering Michigan has Indiana and MSU twice, and Minnesota would've lost a home game, I think it puts either team in a situation where they can't miss any games they should win the rest of the way.

gorocks99;1365954 wrote:Yeah, I hesitated a bit on putting it. I expect the conference champ will be something like 14-4 and having two losses on the plate this early means the loser would need to go 11-2 in their last 13. I don't think it's impossible for either team to do that, but considering Michigan has Indiana and MSU twice, and Minnesota would've lost a home game, I think it puts either team in a situation where they can't miss any games they should win the rest of the way.

It'll be fun to see how it shakes out.

The B1G's a bitch, ain't it?

vball10set;1365999 wrote:The B1G's a bitch, ain't it?

Just a meat grinder. All the top teams have brutal stretches:

Minnesota is just finishing theirs, having traveled to IU and Illinois and getting Michigan Thursday.
Michigan travels to Illinois, to Indiana, home vs OSU, and @ MSU during a six-game stretch in late January/early February.
Indiana goes @ MSU, @ MIN, vs OSU and @ MICH in four of their last five.
Ohio State gets @ MICH and vs IU back-to-back, then a trip to the Kohl Center a week later during February.

Yikes.