Wednesday college basketball open thread
Some interesting games tonight. Kansas plays at #14 Oklahoma State, while Gonzaga hosts Santa Clara in what might be their toughest remaining game. Wisconsin is about to tip off at Northwestern.
One game that turned out not to be interesting was Minnesota at OSU. The Gophers seem to be mailing it in at this point. Is Tubby's seat getting warm?
February 20th, 2013 at 9:05 PM ^
The amazing thing about the Minnesota-OSU game is that, for much of it, neither team was above 40% for effective FG percentage. Right now, as we end this - mercifully for the Gophers - the Buckeyes have managed to lift their effective FG% in a matter of minutes to 44.9%, compared to the Gophers 31.3% There have been almost 40 FTs in this game and over 40 personal fouls too.
February 20th, 2013 at 9:15 PM ^
Minnesota's collapse is perplexing. They looked like they could contend in the Big Ten at the beginning of the year.
February 20th, 2013 at 9:18 PM ^
February 20th, 2013 at 9:29 PM ^
See Glen Mason
February 20th, 2013 at 9:42 PM ^
I don't see the Glen Mason comparison. Mason was their best football coach in the last 40 years. Tubby is not doing that well. They were a lot better a decade ago when they had Clem Haskins. Haskins got in trouble for an academic fraud scandal, but on the court his teams were very good (and I don't think Haskins' teams actually gained a competitive advantage from the academic fraud). Haskins' teams were often in contention for the league title and went to the Final Four one year.
February 20th, 2013 at 9:51 PM ^
Yeah, they definitely have more upside in basketball than in football. In football, you need so many players that it's very difficult to be competitive if you're not located in a talent-rich state. In basketball, you only need a handful of recruits to be good.
February 20th, 2013 at 9:59 PM ^
Minnesota has gone 6-12, 6-12 and now 6-8 the last three years in Big Ten play. They have utterly collapsed in February three years running. This year I thought they had too much talent to pull off the annual collapse but sure enough, it's happening. They started 3-0 in league play (and were actually ranked in the top 10 at that point) and have now dropped eight of 11 games. When a team that is capable of beating MSU by double-digits and taking Indiana down to the wire becomes this anemic (and hasn't suffered a rash of injuries), you have to conclude that something is seriously amiss. When it happens three years running, you've got a coaching problem.
Smith has a nice résumé. Problem is, he's no longer the caliber of coach he was when he accomplished those big things. His Minnesota teams have looked positively Amakeresque out there.
February 20th, 2013 at 10:59 PM ^
Their AD came from VCU so do not discount him thinking that maybe they could lure Shaka Smart to the Gophers. I do not think Smart would go there but the AD may want to give it a try and get "his guy."
February 20th, 2013 at 9:28 PM ^
I am surprised that, long after Adam Morrison graduated, Gonzaga is still a perennial favorite of the media. They would struggle to be a .500 conference team in the Big Ten. They don't have any conference opponents that could win four games in the Big Ten.
Gonzaga will get a 1 or 2 seed this year, and win an easy first game. Then, they will get a 7,8,9, or 10 in the second game. I'm guessing that's a coin flip. I don't see them making it past the third game if they make it that far.
February 20th, 2013 at 9:36 PM ^
not to that extreme, but they did lose to Illinois at home and play in a relatively weak conference (as stated above).
February 20th, 2013 at 10:46 PM ^
Have you watched Gonzaga play?! They're, like, a very legitimate team. They were good before Morrison was there so it's no surpirse that they're still good. Phew is a helluva coach. Yes it helps to play in the WCC and yes their competition isn't all that great, allowing them to win a load of games each year. Nonetheless, they're good, man. 7-footer Olynyk (sp?) is a heck of a player and scorer on top of the other role players they have (Elias Harris, Stockton's kid, etc.) I don't personally wanna see them in March!
February 20th, 2013 at 11:22 PM ^
Agree, this is Gonzaga's best team since Dan Dikau led them to the sweet 16 two years in a row (2000,2001). Few is a proven coach, and although they have bowed out of the tournament early in past years, they have a serious post presence in Olynyk this year.
February 20th, 2013 at 9:31 PM ^
...and I agree those Badger unis look like osu counterfeits.
Also, is it just me, or are the BIG bigs having a horrible time finishing bunny layups this year?
February 21st, 2013 at 4:34 AM ^
but I will say that you see many more misses in games where less fouls are called. The B1G lets people get away with a lot of "50% fouls" (IE slapping, hands-on-the-back, rough body contact). It's those "no-calls" which make it so hard.
For instance, if you call those "50% fouls" three or four times early in the game, and defenders start backing off, you notice a HUGE difference in games. This is why Tim Donaghy landed a job with gambling sites: he has a special knowledge of how games will unfold due to which referee is at the game, and that ref's tendencies.
So yes, bigs are having trouble finishing lay-ups. No, it's not because they're simply worse than before; officiating has a very large impact upon games.
/thinking about writing a diary on this. Here's the head's up.
February 20th, 2013 at 10:01 PM ^
Speaking of low scores in college basketball, NW has 12 points at the half. Yikes. Will they hit 30 for the game?
February 20th, 2013 at 10:09 PM ^
February 20th, 2013 at 11:10 PM ^
Kansas and OK State are headed to OT.
OSU had the ball at the end of regulation, so naturally they dribbled it for 25 seconds and then threw up a contested three. That's getting tiresome to watch.
February 20th, 2013 at 11:25 PM ^
I wish I wasn't at work monitoring the KU-OSU score updates on espn.com. Looks like I'm missing quite the game.
February 20th, 2013 at 11:34 PM ^
I like college basketball, that is all.
February 20th, 2013 at 11:35 PM ^
OK State had three seconds to go the length of the court. They inbound it to a guy 80 feet from the basket, who immediately heaves up a prayer. Why?
February 20th, 2013 at 11:36 PM ^
Everything about this game is confusing and infuriating.
February 20th, 2013 at 11:47 PM ^
Calling offensive fouls appears to be the highlight of a referee's job. They're always way more excited to call that than anything else.
February 20th, 2013 at 11:50 PM ^
SCU will be lucky to score 15 in the first half. They are getting taken out Northwestern-style.
Edit: this was not meant to be a reply, sorry.
February 20th, 2013 at 11:50 PM ^
yeah let me just take this contested 3 with like 8 seconds left while fading away
February 20th, 2013 at 11:51 PM ^
why on earth would you take that shot?
February 20th, 2013 at 11:51 PM ^
A freakin contested, fade away, long two with 5+ seconds left.
Brian Cook Memorial Terrible Shot of the Game
February 20th, 2013 at 11:51 PM ^
Dammit . . . KU survives. They made one field goal in two OTs but it was enough. Ugly, ugly game.
February 20th, 2013 at 11:58 PM ^
This is definitely not Gonzaga's toughest remaining game. They've still got to go to BYU, a team that pummelled Santa Clara twice this season. I very much doubt BYU keeps it close against Gonzaga, but if you're looking for an upset that's your only hope.
February 21st, 2013 at 12:12 AM ^
I'm guessing it won't be my last. Up with twin #1.
February 21st, 2013 at 12:46 AM ^
February 22nd, 2013 at 12:17 AM ^
Hey, Thursday night here. Stuck at home in a snow storm. Plenty of vodka and snacks. Yeah, I watched the second half of the Penn St. vs. Illinois game. That counts yeah?
Stuck at home in snow and drunk and I watched the second half of the PSU/IU game. Gotta count for something.
Waiting for Sunday...