That OSU win helps open up another quality win chance at home. OSU is going to be a top 50 RPI team with the chance to be top 25 if they keep playing this way.
Dakichās buzzer-beater is up at ESPN now. Happy for the guy.
āOhio State took Nick Ward, Michigan Stateās most consistent offensive option, effectively out of the game by sending a second defender on him every time he touched the ball. Ward took just one shot after shooting better than 90 percent from the floor over his last five games and averaging nearly 20 points per game.ā
M LIVE ARTICLE
Heāll kill us 1-1, with no help.
Hope you saw my email. I didnāt want to put it on here because I already have too many detractors here, but no, I donāt think the banked three at the buzzer changed his mind at all. Coach Holtman is quite happy with Andrew Dakich, and that isnāt contingent on whether a three pointer at the half time buzzer banks in or not. Itās just icing on the cake. By the way, Holtman can coach! The Buckeyes at the Value City Arena are really tough! I hope we can handle them at our place!
The job Holtmann has done so far is crazy. Took a team full of Matta castoffs - guys who have entirely underachieved their entire careers and turned them into a real threat. Iām honestly shocked
Bates-Diop is real. If he doesnāt get hurt and plays every game last year, Thad Matta might still be the head coach.
Yeah I think any discussion of the job Holtmann has done needs to start with āBates-Diop played nine games last year in pain, and is putting up 19 points a game and nine boards on 13 shots.ā
Then we can talk about Caleb Wessonās efficiency.
CJ Jackson has been a revelation too, and Matta playing the wrong guy at that spot (Lyle)ā¦and Lyleās transfer made that decision easy for Holtmann
Thatās fair. I thought I recalled him struggling in the non-conference last year but couldnāt remember the timeline of the injury. Two years under Matta he wasnāt much at all. I always thought Lyle was the guy worthy of a breakout so when he left I wrote OSU off completely
Lyle is 100% addition by subtraction.
Not trying to be down on Holtmann at all. Heās been very good. CJ Jacksonās improve has been very impressive as well.
Obviously Bates-Diop was never this good, but Iāve always thought he was really good and had another level.
Yeah, we will 100% see Michigan doubling the post against MSU. Weāve seen them do it successfully plenty of times in B10 play over the past couple of years (Maryland when they had Carter+Stone and every Purdue team in recent memory).
Just got back in to see the OSU result. Ugh. Holtman has awakened the sleeping giant already. Without question, it was self-evident that their team had some talent on the roster the day he walked in, and yes, some of that talent was injured, but Matta was a real hand break on that team for the last half-decade. I was very unhappy when they fired him.
How long before OSU starts getting not only high ranked guys but high ranked guys theyāve actually scouted, who can actually play?
Well, yeah, butā¦
The real issue with doubling the post against MSU is that they currently have the nationās 13th best shooting percentage on 3 pointers (41.4). Itās great that the Bucknuts kept Ward from scoring, but that Sparty only shot 28% from 3 with a man left open is the bigger defensive story.
And scoring 1.19 points per possession against the top-ranked defense in the country didnāt hurt OSUās cause, either.
The fact that OSU only plays MSU and Purdue once each will make the Big Ten race very interesting. The 20 game schedule cannot come soon enough.
Well, it can be six of one, half dozen of the other. We have more chances to notch a win against the top teams, if we can take advantage of them. OSU has already done that, so we canāt complain too much about schedule if we donāt, moreso because we had them whipped in their own place and let them get away.
I rewatched, in slow motion, the last 3 minutes of the first half of the OSU VS MSU game. The refs actually missed quite a few fouls committed by MSU in that stretch. Advantage given to MSU in those few minutesā¦ Yet they whine and throw tantrumsā¦The continual sense of entitlement that Izzo, his players, and fans exhibit is unreal. Dakich was right to call them the biggest whiners in basketball. Nice shot Dakich jr.
Izzo criticized the refs after gameā¦I will continue to say Izzo is good only for the circus environment he built for East Lansing b-ball fans, but bad for the game of basketball, bad for his own playersā¦
(Anybody else notice what Bridges did to Tate at 16:14 of second half?)
Keep posting your picks 
Yeah maybe Dylan can leave this blogging thing for a career in Vegas 
Ha! Up to 10-4. Not bad. Tuesday will be an interesting day: WI @ NEB, PUR @ MI, PSU @ IU.
If Nebraska is close to the KenPom spread (-3) then I probably like them. IU as a home underdog could be intriguing, but man Penn State really needs that game.
Michigan spread should be pretty low (KenPom has it at 2) so that one is tough. We will see for tomorrow.