4:00 Sunday. Assembly Hall, Champaign, Illinois. CBS. Let’s start with the numbers: Category MSU Off Rk ILL Def Rk PPP 1.08 1t 0.91 1 TO% 22.1 8 20.3 6 eFG% 48.9 6 43.7 1 FTR 38.4 1 25.8 2 OffReb% 43.7 1 32.5 8t Category ILL Off Rk MSU Def Rk PPP 0.98 9 0.94 [...]
Archive for February, 2009
Illinois Game Preview
Posted in game preview, tagged illinois on February 28, 2009 | 7 Comments »
Thursday Night Links
Posted in links on February 26, 2009 | 6 Comments »
Game 29: Purdue at Michigan Preview Tonight and tonight only: Go Blue! The Race In The Homestretch Big Ten Country breaks it down. Chat Tomorrow, PLUS: Tempo-Free Twins! Step right up and ask TAFKATBTW a question. America’s Best College Basketball Coaches Forbes says Izzo is #6, behind Williams/Self/Howland/Krzyzewski/Donovan. (Hat tip: Bucky’s 5th Quarter.)
On inconsistency (or the lack thereof)
Posted in stats analysis, tagged consistency on February 26, 2009 | 5 Comments »
Following last night’s narrower-than-expected win, I’ve seen several observers (both here and elsewhere) say that MSU is “inconsistent.” This is a particularly sensitive topic for us Spartan fans, since last year’s team (which scored 36 points in a loss against Iowa and 103 in a win over Indiana) had the very definition of an inconsistent [...]
The Word from Germany
Posted in reader feedback, tagged bundesliga, drew neitzel on February 26, 2009 | 2 Comments »
Loyal reader (and German resident) Matt LeMeiux was kind enough to send along this update on the current exploits of Drew Netizel: Greeting from Deutschland, It has been an interesting month for Drew and his team. While Drew’s minutes have increased and he has finally broken into the starting five, the team has been struggling [...]
Iowa Game Recap
Posted in game recap, tagged delvon roe, iowa, korie lucious on February 26, 2009 | 13 Comments »
MSU scoots by Iowa 62-54 in a 59-possession game. StatSheet box score. The reflexive thing to say after you’ve beat a vastly inferior team by just 8 points at home is to say the team “lost focus” or “didn’t keep their foot on the pedal.” I’m going to resist that temptation and say MSU did [...]
Iowa Open Thread
Posted in open thread, tagged iowa on February 25, 2009 | 72 Comments »
Once again, fate has smiled upon me and I will be at the Breslin Center tonight (albeit sitting high above the court). So you’ll have to chat amongst yourselves. Here’s a topic: How the Holy Roman Empire was neither holy, Roman, nor an empire. Also: How many points/minutes are you hoping to see out of [...]
Iowa Game Preview
Posted in game preview, tagged iowa on February 24, 2009 | 3 Comments »
8:30 Wednesday. The Breslin Center. BTN. Since our 15-point win over Iowa on the road, the Hawkeyes have lost 4 of 6 games and now stand at 4-10 in conference play. They are coming off a thrilling overtime victory over Michigan, though. As was true prior to our last match-up, Iowa’s only statistical strength continues [...]
Tuesday Night Links
Posted in links, tagged brian hoyer, raymar morgan, tom herzog on February 24, 2009 | 3 Comments »
Some non-poll-related conversation topics: Conference Check: Beginning of the End Edition Buckeyes can shoot the rock. Mulling an Intervention for the Big Ten More TAFKATBTW. Would an up-tempo coach have a recruiting/competitive advantage in the Big Ten. Is Tom Izzo an up-tempo coach? Tom Izzo: I’m stressing offense, ‘believe it or not’ But we’re #1 [...]
Rankings Update
Posted in rankings update on February 23, 2009 | 20 Comments »
AP: #9 (down from #6) Coaches: #9 (down from #5) Blogpoll: #9 (down from #6) Sagarin: #7 (steady from last week) Kenpom: #12 (down from #9) RPI: #5 (up from #6) Bracketology: #3 seed (down from #2 seed) Crashing the Dance: #2 seed (steady from last week) Perhaps the buzz of yesterday’s thrilling victory biased [...]
A banner beckons
Posted in commentary on February 26, 2009 | 22 Comments »
The situation: Thanks to some help from our friends in Ann Arbor, both our closest pursuers in the conference race both have 5 losses now. We have 3 losses. We have 3 games remaining. If any Big Ten road game has ever been a near-certain win, the game in Bloomington next week is it. Barring [...]
Read Full Post »