B1G/NCAA basketball

[hack]

That's largely a product of effort, IMO (and securing the ball).

Matta's and Izzo's teams play as if they take nothing for granted. They seem to expect every pass to be contested. They don't think they're going to get a ton of easy passes and great looks. They play as if the game is going to be won on D and with hustle, effort, and ball security. Michigan finally did that Sunday. I've seen Indiana do it too, but not as consistently I guess.

[iam416]

I think that we tend to overanalyze losses. Specifically, we assume that you can't get fired up for two games in a row, or that you only perceive the threat of losing if you lost your last game.

When we shit the bed against MSU, a lot of people blamed that on the loss at Wisky and the tough schedule stretch. That you would not be fired up to play your in state rival the first time that both teams are ranked in the Top 10 is incomprehensible to me.

I almost entirely agree -- and entirely agree with the MSU point. In that game, M just go their doors blown off by a better team on that day. MSU has shown the ability to hold M to under 60 points, now, for 80 minutes. So, when MSU shoots pretty well -- as they did in EL -- M is going to get beat.

As an aside, the odd thing about M and MSU is their tempo approaches. I would think that M wants to play faster, but it's the opposite. MSU is really good defensively, regardless, but I think when you intentionally settle into long shot clock possessions, you're only making them better. I've been harping on this, incidentally, for awhile. I really think M should play faster. They have some guys who can dribble-drive, they have guys to kick to -- they can get good looks early in the shot clock. But they still play really slow -- right at OSU's pace for conference games.

Back to the point, though. In an 18-game conference season, there are going to be good performances and bad. It's basketball. Fans tend to try to explain the subpar with effort/preparedness when, in fact, it's more than likely a product of the ball not going in the hole. That said, it's an 18-game season. I do think their are variances in "intensity". And I think those can make a small difference. For example, last night I think it was mostly IU not shooting particularly well -- bad night for the big 3. BUT, they also had a hard time getting quality looks. To some extent, I think that's a product of not quite being ready. I don't think it was outcome determinative, but it played a role.

[iam416]

Matta's and Izzo's teams play as if they take nothing for granted. They seem to expect every pass to be contested. They don't think they're going to get a ton of easy passes and great looks. They play as if the game is going to be won on D and with hustle, effort, and ball security. Michigan finally did that Sunday. I've seen Indiana do it too, but not as consistently I guess.

Yeah, there aren't a lot of "high risk" passes in OSU sets. A hand off to Craft. Maybe a weave of some sort. Low risk entry to Thomas. LOL. Eh, whatever.

Point of order, though, OSU was run by Illinois and Wisconsin. So, it's not like this team shows up every game. Granted -- in those games, Illinois and Wisky were lights out, but that was partly defensive effort.

Anyway, a really interesting B10 season. I'm very curious to see how these teams do in the tournament. I tend to think they're going to do pretty well.

[iam416]

Oh, and as "they" (or at least some) say -- "defense travels." I think that's the heart of the approaches taken by Izzo, Matta and Ryan, though each come at offensive in a distinct way.

[hack]

What I was thinking of is that at some point a few weeks ago Zack Novak came back for a break from his Euroleague action and explained the current struggles by saying that, ``offensive players need space to operate''. Why, to my mind, is why you don't coach your team to rely on offense, especially in the Big Ten where you don't get that space. This conference isn't about that. I think a coach's job in the Big Ten specifically but also in general is to, whatever you do, make sure your team knows that there will be games in which they don't have the comfort zone they need on offense and that they will have to grind it out even if they lose the plot. And you should adjust your training camp and practice agendas accordingly. You can't just say it and then spend two hours practicing your ball screens and passing.

[iam416]

Yeah, it's a mindset that you can't turn on and off. One player that I think embodies that for Izzo is Payne. He's really developed in a nice player. Super aggressive on the boards and a hard defender. Man, I'd love to have him on OSU. Burke and Payne -- two Ohio kids Matta was lukewarm on.

[hack]

Fully agreed about on/off. Again, we're in the territory of guesswork, but I recall the 05/06 Pistons, in their first year under Flip Saunders, going through this. After a year of prancing about on the three-point line and the bluff that they might lock down on defense like they used to, the offense went stale in the playoffs (who'd have anticipated that? Not Flip Saunders, certainly...), and it seemed they were trying to get back to digging in on defense, but once you get used to asking yourself on a play-to-play basis``should I hustle now or save my energy for offense?'', it's too late. They got it up long enough to get by the Cavs, and then got outworked by the Heat. What was so hard to take was that the team was obviously getting outworked yet Flip told media afterward that ``our shots just didn't fall''. He thinks it's ok to get outworked as long as the shots fall? Shudder. What a waste of a contender. And just absolutely so wrong that Flip Saunders has millions of dollars in his bank account.

[*JD*]

The mediocre coaches write books about Xs and Os. '

Umm....






Phil may not write about X's & O's, since his assistant created his offense.

[The Oracle]

Pppfsshhh! Who are those guys?

[hack]

``Exception proves the rule'' is a cliche for a good reason.

[WM Wolverine]

Those guys were likely excellent motivators too.

[Mike]

Those guys were likely excellent motivators too.

Maybe even won a big road game or two as well.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Lot of upsets tonight...Michigan narrowly avoided the trend.

Georgetown lost to Nova, OK State lost to ISU, UConn lost to South Florida, and Miami just lost to GT. Minnesota's about to lose to the Huskerz

[The Oracle]

OSU losing to ISU wasn't an upset, GTown losing is debateable.

[*JD*]

``Exception proves the rule'' is a cliche for a good reason.

What about "exceptions"?