scarey

All three goals against were basically uncontested runners with the Dumfries' goal the most egregious. Very frustrating to see that. There were times in the game that the US just looked way better athletically. Netherlands execution is very impressive though. I think both teams had an equal amount of good opportunities, but the Dutch were just more comfortable in those opportunities. Dest has an unbelievably horrible game after the first 35 great minutes he had. I thought he looked like the weakest link throughout the tournament and felt I may have pre-judged his play in the first half. This was the first time I got a chance to watch Reyna. He had a huge impact when he came in. Is he not starting because of his age? WTF? Having a core of Adams, Pulisic, Reyna, Musah, Robinson, and Aaaronson will be a great start to the 2026 team. If Turner can keep up the high level of play into his 30s, I'm looking forward to what USMNT can do in the next 4 years.

Oof... didn't realize Dest's mark beat him on that second goal... And then he just kicks one away. I'll just shut up about him now...

Dest is having an amazing game. Hoping to see more runs from him. This Netherlands team looks so slow in comparison. That might be more a testament to this US team, but they are getting beat off the dripple and getting beat to open field balls. I know they want to build an attack from the back, but they are going to need to try to play the ball up and let their young guys beat the Orange to the ball at times this half. I wonder if these two goals have exposed a weakness in the US defense? Very similar on the ground crosses with a Netherlands player coming from the back of the attack to put it in the net. If the US can manage to come back in this game, I have a feeling there will be some invaluable tape for them to review.

Something close to this. I probably put Purdue ahead of UConn, Kentucky, and Gonzaga. Purdue and Baylor are probably head to head for the 5th spot.

No, I expect the latter half of the top 10 personally. Man, this is fun!

It's hard to fathom the Boilermakers are set up better this year without Jaden Ivey... but boy is it nice to have an actual point guard. Edey was damn near unstoppable with the way Braden Smith was setting him up tonight. Gonzaga had no answer for it. It also helped that their perimeter shooters were hitting open looks tonight.

As a very casual pro soccer observer... that whistle to stop play when James went down after losing the 50/50 ball... is that completely ref discretion? I know that was a hard challenge, but that looked very obviously like he took a seat to avoid the counter attack. Was it just a poor decision by the ref? That second half was so disappointing. It appeared Wales decided to aggressively overplay everything and then lay down when there was any type of contact to try to draw a whistle. US seemed to be taken out of their game by this "strategy". Honestly, at the end of the game I thought to myself, "This must be what it feels like to play against any other US National team prior to this one."

And we are all allowed to be annoyed at your annoyingly wrong take on what it takes to overturn a play in replay. I'm glad you've gained perspective on what it's like to be annoyed at annoyingly wrong takes. We all have to deal with yours on a regular basis, it's comforting to know you are not ignorant to how it feels.

That’s not how replay works. They don’t draw lines and assume things. It has to be clear and that wasn’t clear. If the roles were reversed we’d be apoplectic that they overturned a call without irrefutable evidence. It probably was a touchdown, but barely and not clear on replay. If you run a play that leaves you open to that problem from an inch out, that’s on you. And even if they overturn that call the bears don’t win that game. Just freaking stop already. 1. It's pretty clear they do not draw lines on replays. If they did, they would have gotten the call right. It's kinda sad that just a dude with a JPG and MS Paint can do this in between work meetings though and the multi-billion dollar revenue generating NFL cannot. 2. I don't know about you... but it's pretty clear to me with or without a line. I wouldn't assume that everybody has the same relative geographical analysis abilities though, so I understand why the call was made the way it was made... that doesn't change the fact that the call was wrong. 3. Bad play calling is completely separate from the fact that it was a bad officiating call. Conflating the two doesn't make me wrong that it's a bad call. I think the problem here is your reducing my response down to "The Bears were cheated out of a win". Please recognize that this is nothing more than a statement that the refs got this one specific officiating call wrong. That's it. Am I allowed to be annoyed about that?

It's pretty clear where Justin Fields ends and the ball begins in this image. The ball passed the plane. That's only clear if you're high. It's literally unclear. It's a mess to decipher. I'm really confused on why you want this to not be a TD so badly, but let me make it crystal horsefeathering clear to you. [attachment=0]td with line.jpg[/attachment] If you don't see a TD here... you have an agenda.

[attachment=0]td.jpg[/attachment] There's a dark area that's probably some combo of hand, the ball, or just a shadow. :dontknow: You can basically say definitely from that image that part of his wrist broke the plane, but that doesn't mean the ball did, since the ball was being held towards his body and he's roughly parallel to the plane at that point. It's pretty clear where Justin Fields ends and the ball begins in this image. The ball passed the plane.

"Slightly crossed over" is a TD That image from barstool is hardly the best look. Finding a better image is fruitless at this point, but it broke the plane No that's the best image and we can't see the ball because it's behind his left arm. [attachment=0]td.jpg[/attachment]

And Texas only shot 12. That’s quite a disparity. Texas clearly had a plan to try to be super physical and if they foul, so be it. They stuck to that game plan and to their credit, it carried them deep into the game to give them a chance. Painter made a few defensive adjustment that I believe to be the difference in the game.

I can't believe my Boilermakers shot 46 freaking free throws. I could tell early on they were going to get to the line, but Christ. Texas was so freaking aggressive. It looks like an ideal path tot he Final Four for Purdue... but the Purdue fan in me is [expletive] his pants.

You know... I've felt this way about being a Purdue fan for a long time and have wondered if I'm just being a fan. You know, the "my teams always blow it" guy. But... it's kind of nice to have this validated. It sucks too because it just makes it seem like they are destined to continue to do this. Am I a shitty basketball fan for being annoyed that Wisconsin banked in two shots back to back to beat Purdue? Good god am I butt hurt.

Tough loss for the Illini. Cockburn looked like he was trying to put too much of this game on his shoulders. He has some magic moves in the post, but he was not passing out of the double team. He has the talent to overcome a double team, but it's just not a high percentage play even with his skills. I saw a lot of step-back 3 pointers from Illini. They have some good shooters, but too many of those step-backs were clangers. Again, not a very high percentage shot. Lastly, between the two games the Boilermakers have played against Illinois, I have seen some VERY physical defense. All it takes is one key guy getting in foul trouble in the tournament to spell disaster. I don't know if Illinois is amping it up against a top 4 team in the country, or if this is how they usually defend, but Purdue shot 50 FTs between the two games. There were WAAAAAAY too many loose ball fouls. Each half Purdue got in the bonus in a hurry. It may be Underwood's game plan, but I don't know that it's the best approach. Purdue is only shooting around 70% at the free throw line, but the volume they got in these two games tend to make that not as problematic. Especially when Jaden Ivey is taking 19 of those 50 FTs. I'm not looking forward to Illinois in the Big 10 tourney and I would much prefer if they do not get seeded in the same bracket with Purdue. I think the perimeter defense is tough for Purdue to deal with. That being said, it's hard to stop a star like Ivey in the tournament. I also don't share your concerns for Purdue's defense. Tough day for Illini fans, but both these teams should be looking ahead to the tournament.

I think Edey is slow and foul prone, he can be had by a mobile big man, I know that's not Kofi's game. However, I do believe, in comparison, he's faster than Edey and a better athlete. We may see more of that the next game perhaps, more so, with a healthy Hawkins than Kofi. The straight post up and bully your way to the basket won't work with Edey. Of course. However, the scouting report is out on Edey... he continues to put up big numbers. 7-4 is not easy to deal with in college hoops.

Illini gave me a scare today. Curbelo is almost unguardable. Extremely impressed by him. Illinois' perimeter defense is extremely good. It's hard for me to tell how good their in the paint D is as Edey doesn't leave much for an honest evaluation. Trevion also makes it difficult because of his post moves and ability to dish. I feel like the Illinois game plan was to not allow anything easy outside of the arc, which made it very difficult to track cuts through the key. They also did a very good job of deterring Ivey from driving the lane. I saw a lot of contested 3pt shots from the Illini. I feel like Curbelo and Cockburn both on the floor can help to space things out. They shot well, I have to think they shoot better when they can free up their sharpshooters. This is definitely the dog days right now. Every game against even a marginally talented team is a battle, let alone a top tournament seed like Illinois.

Not that I have a very high opinion of what the Bears have done in the last 25 years, but I have a feeling these are a little bit cherry picked. That 1995 starting date is significant I'm betting.

Hate to say it, but I've watched early jumps all year from Bears O lineman that don't get called. It appears refs are giving them some wiggle room there.

Nice move for the D-Line but...

I haven't watched a ton of non-Bears football this year, but watching that Chiefs/Texans game I thought three things. 1. Watson is really really good. I felt bad for him for the amount of times in that game where it seemed like he was taking on the whole KC defense by himself. 2. Mahomes is unreal and is legitimately putting together a HOF resume with each throw. I know we saw him in week 16, but he made so many amazing throws. Even before they started scoring, he was hitting his guys in the hands, they just weren't holding on. He is amazing and I'm more jealous than I have ever been... like ever. Not just the Mahomes era. 3. As great as Mahomes was, it is also pretty amazing how much a big athletic TE can help that offense. I know we're all down on Mitch, but if the front office focuses on bringing in and developing O-Line talent and an impact TE, I have a lot more hope for what this offense can do.

Yourself right they aren't the answer, but they're one hell of a lot better than Trubisky No. They're not. If you're holding out any hope, you should change that quickly.

I'm blown away that anybody wants to watch Daniel and/or Bray. Do yourself a favor and watch a different game, cause those two are not your answer.