Izzo

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NewEngland_Gold

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vs MI looked extremely stressed, frazzled, befuddled and utterly fatigued on the BTN tonight.

Strangely, against a bitter rival, he seemed out-coached throughout the contest.

Both he and Tubby have had a rough ride this year with similar team turmoil, but given MSUs superior talent level, I am amazed how fast the wheels have come off in East Lansing.

A tip-of-the hat to Tubby for keeping the wheels lubed in Minny and maintaining his composure during an obviously highly-stressful season from a player personnel point of view.
 


Very good point. Let us see how things turn out in the end though.
 

Right now, with the guys who are playing, I'd take the Gophers' roster over Sparty's every day of the week. Mike freaking Kebler and Austin Thornton are garnering minutes for Izzo. With the game on the line in the final 5 minutes, Izzo had Kebler in the game. That's all I need to know about how things are going in Spartyland.

Garrick Sherman and Derrick Nix are complete nonfactors. They have zero interior presence, offensively. If the Gophers don't beat Sparty at The Barn this year, it's never going to happen. This is a very pedestrian MSU team that now simply is just tyring to make the tournament.
 

Izzo is also not getting the help he thought he'd be getting from his two hyped freshmen. Keith Appling has been okay, but Adreiene Payne has been a bust so far (I know it is early). Some of the preseason expectations centered on the fact that those two guys were potential freshmen all-Americans and so far, not so much. Prior to the season, some thought Payne might challenge Sullinger for Freshman of the Year honors.
 


I completely forgot about Payne. I guess that's a sign of how irrelevant he's been.

With the Gophers and MSU's injury/suspension problems, I'm trying to find a Big Ten team not named Ohio State (perhaps Purdue) that will be a legitimate threat to advance deep (at least Sweet 16) into the NCAA Tournament. Illinois, Sparty, the Gophers, Penn State and Wisconsin -- the most likely at-large candidates -- all have good-sized warts.
 

MSU's 4-4 conference record could very easily be 2-6, as they needed near-miracle comebacks in East Lansing to beat UW and Northwestern. Lots of talent over there, but something just isn't clicking. They still have a number of losable games on their schedule, Izzo will need to get a few things fixed rather quickly or they will be in danger of missing the tournament.
 





Careful what you say about Izzo

or GopherLady will rip you from one end to the other.
 

SelectionSunday said:
I completely forgot about Payne. I guess that's a sign of how irrelevant he's been.

With the Gophers and MSU's injury/suspension problems, I'm trying to find a Big Ten team not named Ohio State (perhaps Purdue) that will be a legitimate threat to advance deep (at least Sweet 16) into the NCAA Tournament. Illinois, Sparty, the Gophers, Penn State and Wisconsin -- the most likely at-large candidates -- all have good-sized warts.
Click to expand...

SS, I couldn't agree more. I really just don't see how we lose to them in the Barn. The team actually hasn't looked good all season, now the wheels have actually come off. I'm more mad that we didn't get a chance to play them in East Lansing with 'new' lineup.
 

They're creeping dangerously toward the bubble. And by creeping I mean free-falling.
 

At the beginning of the year I thought the Big Ten had 1 or 2 top 10 teams. And then 3-4 more that were in the 11-20 range.

it is looking more like there is 1 elite team and then a bunch of teams in the 15-40 range. I think it is possible the Big Ten gets 5-6 teams to the 2nd round. I also think it is possible there is only 1 in the S16 or beyond.


I also think Ohio State has a better shot at a national title this year than they did last time they were number 1. They actually have an offense this year.
 



SelectionSunday said:
I completely forgot about Payne. I guess that's a sign of how irrelevant he's been.

With the Gophers and MSU's injury/suspension problems, I'm trying to find a Big Ten team not named Ohio State (perhaps Purdue) that will be a legitimate threat to advance deep (at least Sweet 16) into the NCAA Tournament. Illinois, Sparty, the Gophers, Penn State and Wisconsin -- the most likely at-large candidates -- all have good-sized warts.
Click to expand...

Really? I guess I don't see the warts on Purdue or UW. Perhaps if Jordan Taylor shows signs of wearing down ball-handling could become an issue, but it doesn't look like he is showing any signs of slowing. Wisconsin has some minor holes, but looking around the country I'm having a hard time seeing a team that doesn't except for OSU and Duke (especially if Irving comes back).

After the Big East's performance in the tourney last year and the mediocrity that they've shown this year I don't think any of their top teams are as good as previous years. Then what's left? Kansas and Texas are good. Washington, Kentucky, BYU/SDSU? pah.

I think the B1G will do just fine in the tourney.
 

ParaBadger said:
I think the B1G will do just fine in the tourney.
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I hope you are right.

At the beginning of the season I was convinced of that as well. Now? Not nearly as much. I get the feeling OSU and Purdue will have to do the heavy lifting for the B1G come tourney time. Gophers could, too, with a healthy Nolen.
 

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