- I was really impressed/surprised/encouraged by how we handled their full court press and 1-3-1 the few times they tried it. Yes, we hit shots and that obviously helps. However, it was the first time in a while (that I can remember) that a team flashed a new defense at us - particularly a zone look - and we knew how to attack it and did so aggressively.
- I am shocked at how poor MD's 3pt defense was give their statistical prowess coming into the game. Rabjohn's inside the film clips showed them being really lazy, over helping and almost indifferent to getting a hand up on shooters during their UI game, but I expected them to make more of an effort against us given our roster composition. Yogi hit some tough threes, but everyone else was hitting wide open looks. While I get that shooting 65%+ beyond the arc shouldn't be the new normal, if teams just leave guys unguarded like MD did it would make it a lot easier to replicate. Once MD closed in on shooters we were able to penetrate with ease. I think a lot of that is attributable to us being a tough team to defend, but comparing MD to other top-half B1G teams I was shocked at how poor their defensive game plan and effort was.
- not to sound like John Groce, but that over the back call against Yogi was soi bad it was comical. I bring it up though because that's probably the 5th or 6th time that type of call has gone against him this year. I get you cant undercut guys in the air, but it seems odd that on several of those calls against him he was applying a textbook block out and got screwed on the call.
- this team seems to really enjoy playing with one another, and there is a noticeable improvement in individual and team basketball IQ and focus on taking care of the ball - things that drove me absolutely crazy last year. I also think it's interesting that the comment on TOs and valuing the ball is true despite the fact that we seem to have 3 or 4 dumb TOs before the first media timeout in every game before settling down.
- Obviously one game at a time, but finding a way to pick up one of the next two games and hopefully get to 7-2 at the halfway point would be huge. The flip side of that is that even though we are 1/3rd of the way through conference play, it's just SO early. Heck, Michigan has looked pathetic and will look even worse w/o Levert, but they are 5-2 in conference (with a lighter schedule to date). I guess I'm trying to reconcile the excitement for our hot start with the reality that expectations shouldn't get too far out of line. We could easily lose the next two games, beat Rutgers, then lose at Wiscy and still be in really good shape, but if that happens will this board and fan base still be excited? Or will the focus be on us losing 3 of the last 4?
- I get that this game shouldn't be the lead story on Sportscenter, but I've had it on in the background this morning (home with a sick kid), and they haven't talked about any college hoops games except for Gonzaga, AZ and the OT finish for Alabama-Arkansas. ESPN has consistently become more unwatchable with each passing month over the past few years - it's striking how awful Sportscenter and ESPN are compared to 5-10 years ago. Even despite that decline though, how is a game between two ranked teams with some great individual plays/performances never discussed in 90 minutes of sports coverage? I get the whole BTN/ESPN rift exists, but has ESPN just given up?
- Adam Amin was pretty good with the call last night, and while Seth Greenberg can be really grating to me on the pregame shows, he was pretty tolerable too. Maybe it's just because we played well that everything else seemed pleasant, but it was nice to not have to mute the TV.
- I am shocked at how poor MD's 3pt defense was give their statistical prowess coming into the game. Rabjohn's inside the film clips showed them being really lazy, over helping and almost indifferent to getting a hand up on shooters during their UI game, but I expected them to make more of an effort against us given our roster composition. Yogi hit some tough threes, but everyone else was hitting wide open looks. While I get that shooting 65%+ beyond the arc shouldn't be the new normal, if teams just leave guys unguarded like MD did it would make it a lot easier to replicate. Once MD closed in on shooters we were able to penetrate with ease. I think a lot of that is attributable to us being a tough team to defend, but comparing MD to other top-half B1G teams I was shocked at how poor their defensive game plan and effort was.
- not to sound like John Groce, but that over the back call against Yogi was soi bad it was comical. I bring it up though because that's probably the 5th or 6th time that type of call has gone against him this year. I get you cant undercut guys in the air, but it seems odd that on several of those calls against him he was applying a textbook block out and got screwed on the call.
- this team seems to really enjoy playing with one another, and there is a noticeable improvement in individual and team basketball IQ and focus on taking care of the ball - things that drove me absolutely crazy last year. I also think it's interesting that the comment on TOs and valuing the ball is true despite the fact that we seem to have 3 or 4 dumb TOs before the first media timeout in every game before settling down.
- Obviously one game at a time, but finding a way to pick up one of the next two games and hopefully get to 7-2 at the halfway point would be huge. The flip side of that is that even though we are 1/3rd of the way through conference play, it's just SO early. Heck, Michigan has looked pathetic and will look even worse w/o Levert, but they are 5-2 in conference (with a lighter schedule to date). I guess I'm trying to reconcile the excitement for our hot start with the reality that expectations shouldn't get too far out of line. We could easily lose the next two games, beat Rutgers, then lose at Wiscy and still be in really good shape, but if that happens will this board and fan base still be excited? Or will the focus be on us losing 3 of the last 4?
- I get that this game shouldn't be the lead story on Sportscenter, but I've had it on in the background this morning (home with a sick kid), and they haven't talked about any college hoops games except for Gonzaga, AZ and the OT finish for Alabama-Arkansas. ESPN has consistently become more unwatchable with each passing month over the past few years - it's striking how awful Sportscenter and ESPN are compared to 5-10 years ago. Even despite that decline though, how is a game between two ranked teams with some great individual plays/performances never discussed in 90 minutes of sports coverage? I get the whole BTN/ESPN rift exists, but has ESPN just given up?
- Adam Amin was pretty good with the call last night, and while Seth Greenberg can be really grating to me on the pregame shows, he was pretty tolerable too. Maybe it's just because we played well that everything else seemed pleasant, but it was nice to not have to mute the TV.
