Izzo just never stops.
I tweeted about Illinois being on the bubble a couple days backā¦ but suddenly if they win against MSU on Wednesday we are talking. They just blew out Nebraska in Lincoln.
Nebraska is a pretty poor team at this point. Donāt know their record after starting hot but it canāt be good.
Which is why we better play better this time around and run them out of the gym. Canāt afford a bad loss now. We are playing really well. If we can just clean up some sloppy moments in games and keep our foot on the pedal at times we could be a huge sleeper.
Theyāve been down, but between Webster and Watson they can go off at any time. I just hope we adjust our defensive approach and stop their penetration at all costs.
Crean learned at the feet of the master.
True. They have got to be one of the worst shooting teams in the big ten, their shot selection is horrible. Itās much more likely to me that vs a decent/good team that they will lose. I am beyond confident we win at their place to close it out. At northwestern could be a good game but the way we are playing and the way they are playing, we win. Winning these last two and maybe getting 2 byes means IMO that weāve got a good shot to win the big ten tournament. I fear no big ten team on a neutral court.
While I agree with everyone that weāll be a tough team on a neutral court, I just donāt see a B1G Tournament run. We just donāt have the depth to get by in my opinion.
Most likely weāre playing on Thursday, so I donāt see how we can win 4 in a row with the current minutes structure. Donnal and X would have to be major parts.
True. 3 games is very doable to me but 4 would be very tough. We have so many guys who can get hot and carry us at this point. If our offense got extra hot Thursday and remained that way. Look out. The way we are playing the last month is very encouraging. Seth Davis loves us apparently.
Definitely agree. Having a diverse offense is the recipe for runs, so in that regard a single guy could carry the load at any time.
Speaking of our minutes talk, itās almost worthwhile to bring up rest vs. advancement. Given how many minutes the guys have played, would you want to get to Sunday? Or rest up a bit and be okay with a Friday or Saturday exit?
Win as many games as possible. Though Iām sure JB is cursing the B1G for giving us the last possible conference game, Sunday night.
Iād enjoy the run, but individually Iād be okay with bowing out Saturday. Depending on what they do @NW and @NEB, two wins would probably bump them up a seed. Get that extra rest and get ready to dance!
Teams have played 16 conference games. Here is the league standings, based on the last 8 games for each team (tied teams are listed in alphabetical order).
- Minnesota 7-1
- MSU 6-2
Purdue 6-2 - Iowa 5-3
Michigan 5-3 - Illinois 4-4
Wisconsin 4-4 - Maryland 3-5
Nebraska 3-5
NW 3-5
OSU 3-5
Penn St. 3-5 - Indiana 2-6
- Rutgers 1-7
Edit: The system auto corrected my ranking numbers.
I have faith in x to come up big. I have faith in donnal to an extent. As long as he plays hard and with energy. It would help if he looked to shoot. Guy has a great shot. Wish heād have more faith in himself and play harder
I hope youāre right. I remember in every long tournament run from Michiganās past that a different player would step up to give the team a lift in certain games. Sometimes that lift would come from an unlikely source. The instance that always comes to my mind is Eric Rileyās game against Oklahoma State in the 1992 run to the title game.
Riley chipped in with 15 points and 8(!) offensive rebounds in a game where both Howard and Webber were in foul trouble. I remember Riley as a slender 7 footer who would occasionally block a shot and little else. Sometimes his attempts to handle the ball would look like someone trying to catch a fish with their bare hands.
EDIT: I just saw that this game is available on YouTube! Iāve gotta make the time to check that out sometime. Gotta see if my hazy memories are accurate.
Iāll take it a step further, I donāt know if I want to play 4 games in 4 days and then turn around 85 hours later and open the NCAA Tournament ---- with 6 guys shouldering most of the minutes and 2 others (Simpson/Donnal) seeing regular/limited roles.
I know UConn did it in 2011 with Kemba Walker (and Alex Oriakhi and freshmen Jeremy Lamb & Shabazz Napier) but seems to be more the exception than the rule?
100% agree. Thatās why Iām on board getting to Saturday and okay if they lose there. I wonāt even sweat it if they lose on Friday.
Itās also not like weāre a big team with no depth. We rely mostly on jump shooting which makes rest even more important.
Winning the B1G tourney would be worth it no matter the effect on NCAA tiredness (both for seeding and just for, you know, winning the thing). But if you told me in advance weād lose on Sunday I might be fine with just going ahead and losing on Saturday (depending on who we were playing maybe).
I feel like this gets talked about a lot this time of the year. My thought isāas long as no one gets injured, college kids should be able to recover from Sunday to Thursday/Friday. I like to watch the team play as many (meaningful) games as possible, and I think a B10 tournament run could really bolster this teamās confidence. Also, banners are nice. Weād raise a banner for a B10 tournament championship, wouldnāt we?