hawkeyecub

Wittman is the hot name right now. I'm kind of indifferent on Alford leaving. I like the guy a lot more than most and I think he's really improved as a coach. The addition of Craig Neal to his staff has really helped to turn things around. Recruiting has gotten better and if he stays, great. If he leaves I can understand why and wouldn't blame him. It's hard to turn down the chance to go home. Not only is it home but it's also a better job with higher potential. I think there are some good candidates available right now and we would have some interesting options.

I think it will be a good and low-scoring game. What's the word out of Iowa City as it relates to Alford and the IU opening? Nothing but speculation really. A couple weeks ago there was a rumor (that had some real steam) that it was a done deal but that fizzled out. The consensus is that IU would have to make him their top and only real candidate and offer him the job without any interview process. In that case I think he would take it, but I just don't think IU is sold on him enough to handle it that way. And yes that was only the second time in Bru's career he's been held without a rebound. He was really tentative in the first half with the ankle injury and flu. In the second half he was playing more like himself, it just didn't seem like he had many opportunities for rebounds. For one we were hitting most of our shots and then on their end they had a lot of long rebounds to our guards and Hansen. Horner was great. 26 points (6-9 from three), 7 boards, 6 assists and 5 steals. Vincent was a freak though. He absolutely posterized Henderson and was just knocking down some ridiculous shots even when we had him defended. He had Haluska's number on both ends of the court and oddly enough we couldn't slow him down until we put Horner on him.

Iowa/MSU should be a hell of a game tomorrow. Not a lot of good blood between the two teams with all of the flexing. Hopefully MSU will have some tired legs playing their third game in three days and a short turnaround after tonight. If we can pull it out I think we have a decent shot at a 3 seed. Bru didn't look like himself tonight and the flu bug that hit Iowa (Haluska in particular) will even things out a little bit.

So did anyone actually see the Allan Ray eye injury? People are claiming that his eyeball basically popped out of the socket and was dangling, but ESPN won't show the replays because they're too graphic. It's one of those things you don't want to see but it sounds so hard to believe that I'd kind of like to see it. Horrible break for him and Villanova either way though.

I just wish we could get Pac 10 games on tv here. When the Cubs switched to Comcast, our cable affiliate dropped FSN. I used to love watching those late night Pac 10 games on Thursday nights. The Pac 10 (and Big 12) NEEDS a better tv deal in football and basketball. The lack of exposure they get is insane for a power conference.

Go Oregon State. By most accounts Iowa is right with UCLA for a 3/4 seed.

Where are you getting that they have two different scenarios depending on who wins the game? Because the committee has basically said it doesn't matter and past history has shown that the championship game doesn't have an impact on the seeds of the two teams. The committee has said that they can't do it with the short timeframe. It's not as simple as having two different brackets and saying you'll go with one if Illinois wins or another if OSU wins. There are too many variables and too much going on before the brackets are announced for them to do that.

doubt Louisville will make the tournament with this crappy performance. The only way they were getting in is if they won the Big East tournament.

I don't think so. That's how all of the major conference tournaments are. College kids can play 3 games in 3 days. When these guys are in AAU they often play multiple games in one day. In a year or two when they get to the NBA they will have to do it at times I do wish the championship game ended earlier though. As it is now the only thing that really matters is getting to the championship game. The brackets are set by the time the final is decided.

If it started Tuesday the championship would be on Friday night. Far less TV exposure. Even if it started Wednesday you would have the semi-finals on Friday night (competing with the Big East) and the championship on Saturday. Plus it's easier for fans and students to travel for a Thursday-Sunday tournament. The teams have plenty of time to breathe. Sunday-Thursday isn't really a short turnaround. Plus it only affects two teams and the ACC, Big 12 and SEC have the same turnaround.

Indiana does match up well with OSU, and they should have a good home court contingent with the tournament in Indy. Also, I think Iowa has a pretty easy trek to the finals. If MSU beats Purdue, they play Illinois at 9:00. No matter who wins that game I don't think they beat Iowa with such a short turnaround after an opponent the caliber they faced the night before. Yeah but Iowa only has a 2.5 hour advantage over Illinois or MSU. They play the game right before that. I don't think that's all that much of an advantage. To me OSU has the easiest road. NW/PSU should be an easy win on a neutral court. And I think Indiana or Wisconsin on a neutral court is a better matchup than 2-3 teams that are in the bottom bracket. Regardless the league is so balanced this year that I wouldn't really be shocked if any of the top 7 won it. When you look at the Friday matchups and see OSU vs. IU/UW, Ill. vs. MSU and Iowa vs. UM, you see that there really isn't much difference in those teams. It should be a great weekend of basketball, I wish I was there. At least it's nice going into the tournament knowing that we're already in the field and are only playing for seeding. I really hope we can get to the championship and ensure a 3 seed.

Here's the thing, winning teams get rewarded. It may not be completely fair, but that's how it is and I agree to a certain extent. Now sometimes it's not a player's fault because he doesn't have the cast around him. But MSU was the most talented team in the league in my opinion and they didn't live up to expectations. When other teams meet or surpass expectations, it's fair that they get rewarded. As far as Brunner vs. Davis, Bru was simply more consistent. Look at what Davis did in some of their losses. He was 4-11 with 10 points and 5 boards with 4 fouls in their loss agaisnt Michigan. 2 points on 1-6 from the field in their loss to Wisconsin. He only had 4 rebounds with 4 fouls in their loss to Minnesota. In the Iowa loss he put up big numbers for a stretch but then disappeared and had 6 turnovers with 4 fouls. He only had 5 boards and was eaten alive inside in their loss to OSU. 6 boards, 4 turnovers and 5 fouls in their loss at Indiana. The only game where he really played well and they lost was Saturday. Davis could have helped that team to a better finish by playing to his potential in their losses. He disappeared at times when they needed him and couldn't stay out of foul trouble. Although he's matured and gotten better at pouting, it's still a problem in my opinion. Brunner didn't have the huge games, but night in and night out you knew what you were going to get from him. He stayed out of foul trouble, almost always gave over 30 minutes and only once had less than 7 boards. Iowa was far superior defensively. Brunner was a big part of that (not necessarily just with on-ball defense) and Davis didn't show me much defensively for a near 7 footer. When you look at that, then add in the intangiables that I saw, I think Bru was more deserving.

MSU's schedule wasn't the difference between them finishing 8-8 and 11-5. They underacheieved any way you slice it. You don't put a team full of underachievers on the top of the all Big Ten teams. Hell, then Bracey Wright should have gotten player of the year last year. It's just hilarious how you keep talking up these MSU guys for accolades and say they're more deserving this year than guys like Dee, Brunner, Augustine. Which team has the better supporting cast? Where did the teams finish? If you don't think there are intangiables that matter in basketball or football, then this is hopeless. A great basketball player who has a great season can elevate the play of his teammates. Especially when he has such a talented supporting cast. How many Iowa games did you see this year? How about Michigan? How many MSU games? Illinois? OSU? Yet you think you're more qualified to say who deserves all-conference honors simply because you see the stats. Do you think I was campaigning for Luke Recker and Reggie Evans to recieve first-team Big Ten consideration in '01-'02? Recker was the leading scorer in the league and Evans was 5th. Evans was the leading rebounder in the conference and the only player to average a double double. But they didn't deserve it. They were the pre-season pick to win the conference by many, top 10 pre-season, and were on many All-American teams. But they didn't do any of the things they had to do to help their teams win and their team underachieved miserably. Look at the numbers and it was tough to find two more deserving players. Watch the games (even with a bias like mine) and you'll see otherwise.

Team results have zero implication on who the best players were. It's that simple. Did you think Lee should've won the MVP last year? Baseball and basketball are completely different sports. Trying to compare them is useless. Baseball isn't a team sport, basketball is. Numbers don't tell you the story in basketball nearly as well as they do in baseball. You can have a bunch of "me" guys who don't play defense or make other guys better, but put up great numbers. Teams don't win in the Big Ten with those players. MSU underachieved miserably. They went 8-8 and lost two home games. Yeah I know those guys put up some big numbers, but where did they take their team? They had the most talented threesome in the league. If those guys had such great years (while Nietzel also had a solid year) and were deserving of first-team All Big Ten, why did MSU finish 6th? I appreciate statistics. I read Big Ten Wonk, kenpom.com and The Mid-Majority report. But I also watch a decent amount of basketball and watched a ton of Big Ten basketball this year and saw 8 Big Ten teams (all but NW and Purdue) live at Carver. Numbers do not tell the whole story. Daniel Horton was one of the best players in the league this year and was better than Jamar Butler. He meant far more to his team. Brunner carried his team. He was the only guy in the league putting up a double for most of the year and led the league in rebounding. Without his toughness, production and leadership there's no way Iowa finishes 11-5. Paul Davis carried the most talented team in the league to an 8-8 finish. If he had Brunner's attitude and toughness he would be All-American. Instead he leaves MSU with a history full of underachieving in the conference and being voted the most overrated player and biggest crybaby in the league by his peers.

Team results matter on the All-Big Ten lists, especially for basketball. Yeah those MSU guys put up numbers, but they were probably the most underachieving team in the conference this year. If you could take any threesome in the league, you would probably take Brown, Ager and Davis. Yet those guys (with possibly the best coach in the league and some solid role players) finished 6th in the league. I realize you like to simply look at the numbers and make the team based off that, but watching the games helps also.

All Big Ten Teams released today, here's the coaches first team... Selected by the Coaches: James Augustine, Illinois Dee Brown, Illinois Greg Brunner, Iowa Terence Dials, Ohio State ALANDO TUCKER, Wisconsin Dials won player of the year, Erek Hansen was defensive player of the year, Doug Thomas won the 6th man of the year and Jamelle Cornley from PSU won Freshman of the year. SECOND TEAM SHANNON BROWN, Michigan St. Paul Davis, Michigan State Je'Kel Foster, Ohio State Daniel Horton, Michigan Vedran Vukusic, Northwestern THIRD TEAM Maurice Ager, Michigan State GEARY CLAXTON, Penn State# Vincent Grier, Minnesota# ADAM HALUSKA, Iowa# Jeff Horner, Iowa Marco Killingsworth, Indiana HONORABLE MENTION JAMAR BUTLER, Ohio State KAMMRON TAYLOR, Wisconsin ROBERT VADEN, Indiana

I don't know about that. I wouldn't argue that some of the top Big Ten players this year will have a hard time making it in the NBA, but they have been great college players. Brunner was runner-up for the rebounding title in his sophomore and junior years and won it this year. Not bad for a 6'7 guy. Dials and Brunner have just been the model of consistency the last few years and you could put Augustine in that group too and even Alando Tucker for the last 3 years. Dee and Jeff Horner have been constants at the top of the assist leaderboard for 3-4 years and Daniel Horton is having a huge senior year as a PG. Davis, Brown and Ager have been forces and probably the best 3-man group on any team in the league, they just haven't won enough this year to get votes. Killingsworth put up monster numbers, but again they just went in the tank for too long and he tends to disappear. I think there is a lot of talent in the Big Ten this year, and especially a lot of talented upperclassmen. Some of these guys have been forces for 3-4 years in the league. There probably isn't that one or two guys who have just stood out as superstars and will be sure things in the NBA. But I think there are a lot of talented guys who have been great college players who won't really be recognized for how good they were until they're gone.

Illinois just isn't all that consistent this year and while a lot of it falls on Brown, I think more of it is on their role players. OSU has been the most consistent team in the league this year. When Randle, Smith, Pruitt, McBride come to play they can be very good. When two of those guys don't come to play it's all on Dee and Augustine and Brown seems to struggle more. Brown has been a great college player and has had a great career. I really don't think he should be in the MVP discussion though and maybe not on the first team.

Hey at least you're finally being honest.

Hawkeye fan.

Hasn't the knock on Jones always been that he can't hit breaking balls? One of my buddies is a huge Twins fan and he has always wondered why Jacque ever sees a fastball. For 3 years he's been saying that he can crush the fastball but just looks awful against breaking balls. It reminds me of pitchers who would make Alou look goofy on outside breaking balls but then still try to sneak an inside fastball by him.

That was pretty ugly. But you have to remember that Iowa is ranked 2nd in the country in defensive efficiency and they're MUCH better defensively at home than they are on the road. Actually they haven't been very good defensively on the road, but they've been incredible at home. As good as we've been defensively at times this year, Alford said that was the best 40 minutes of defense we've played all year and possibly the best 40 minutes of defense he's seen in 15 years of coaching.

Yeah 17 wins is hardly a guarantee to get you in from a major conference. 20 was always the standard but even now that doesn't guarantee you anything with more bids going to mid-majors. If Indiana wins at Michigan I think they're both in, but each could use a win in the BTT.

Why can't Northwestern ever play so poorly down the stretch against Iowa? Our last 3 trips there they've executed perfectly, Vukusic takes over in the last two minutes and they get stops on us that would win the game. Now when we need them to hold onto a lead so we can grab a share of the title, they dribble it off their legs, step out of bounds, miss free throws, don't get defensive rebounds and give up an easy bucket. If ever a team was a thorn in someone's side...

Why? Vitale blew that WAY out of proportion.