Kdug

Our defense has been bad at times, but Walker has hit some really thought shots. Need to keep up the level of play we’ve had the last several possessions

Another horrible call on TJD. Unbelievable

Getting out rebounded by 11 right now. Can’t win like that with the way they’re shooting and we’re playing

Horrible foul call there

TJD has missed 2 layups this half already. He is just off tonight

Thought that was one of TJD’s worst half’s in awhile. Need him to play better and Jalen to avoid fouls in second half.

Looks like ESPNU to start

I agree with the overall premise that we need more from scoop and Malik (or really anybody besides JHS and TJD), but I hate on/off “stats”. So misleading since it’s based on who else is on the floor with a player.

Don’t think it’s anyone’s fault, just the luck of the draw that comes with unbalanced schedules. And it depends on where you look to see if teams were supposed to be good or not. Torvik had OSU ranked 66th preseason vs 70th now, and PSU as 81st preseason vs 54th now. So his algorithm didn’t like either team, though I’d assume other preseason projections had them rated differently. I’m pretty sure nobody saw NW coming.

The thread topic is about unbalanced big ten schedules, and people are discussing the ways the schedule is unbalanced. I haven't seen anybody whining about it. There's no legitimate argument that it doesn't impact wins/losses and the standings. Like I said earlier, it's just the luck of the draw and it happens to be a bad draw for us this year. I don't see any issue pointing that out. To your point, if we were an elite team, we'd overcome it. Unfortunately we are not an elite team...at least we aren't without XJ.

Agreed, but imagine if we swapped home vs NW for home vs Minnesota, at Iowa for at Ohio State, and at Rutgers for at Nebraska. That’s basically what PU got (and a little more). There’s a good chance 2 or 3 of those would’ve been wins instead of losses even after the injuries, and we’d be in the drivers seat for at least a share of the big ten title. Just an unlucky draw, but the unbalanced schedule can skew conference records a few games either way.

1. Fran deserved to get tossed. 2. That wasn’t as bad as what he did vs IU

All that matters is we won. We need to start shooting open 3s more instead of passing them up for a contested mid-range 2. Drives me crazy every time it happens. Also, I know the announcers were questioning Kopps decision to leave Melendez to double Meyer on that last play, but I liked it. Meyers’s an experienced 38% shooter who had hit 4 3s. Melendez is a 25% shooter who was 0/5 on all fg attempts. Make a mediocre shooter hit a pressure shot instead of their best player.

Man, I really just hope we get a version of XJ that can still do a lot of similar stuff he could do pre-injury before the tourney. It just makes us a much more dynamic team on both sides of the ball. In the limited number of games we've had him, JHS, and TJD all healthy, we've looked like an elite team. That win at Xavier is looking like it might be the best non-con win in the Big Ten (Illinois vs UCLA might be better, but it was neutral instead of a road game), and JHS really didn't even play that well. That's Xavier's only home loss of the year, which includes games against West Virginia, UConn, Marquette, Creighton, Providence, etc.

My thoughts exactly. Those two are perfect defensive matchups for those teams. Race was doing an excellent job defensively vs Murray before he got hurt. X is our best on ball defender and is the perfect defensive match for Buie, who killed us in both games. We lost those 3 games by a combined 5 points. Also, with X being suspended last year at NW, he'll finish his 2 years at IU having never played NW in the regular season. I honestly think there's a chance we win last years game too if he played.

Heck of a start. Not sure how you stop us on offense. Double Mackenzie and we have knockdown shooters. Play her 1:1 and it’s basically a guaranteed 2. It’s awesome to watch

I'll have to listen to it again, I was just going off what I remembered from that episode. Also, what I said was not contradictory whatsoever. I didn't mention anything about the relationships, was commenting on Woody being arrogant as the reason, and pointing out several other coaches who come off as very arrogant but still get away with a lot. That being said, I also don't buy not having existing relationships as being a legit reason either. If that's the case, Juwan Howard and Michigan would be having the same issue. As far as I'm aware, they haven't. When he gets T'd up, it's for something like threatening to kill the opposing coach, which seems like a valid reason for a T and ejection. I honestly think it just comes down to the refs not being good at their jobs, and applying rules/calls/techs incredibly inconsistently. Just so happens we've been on the wrong side of it more often than not this year. I don't recall having the same issue last year, so hopefully it evens out in the long run.

I remember that episode, but don't buy that as a legit reason. Even if it is "someone close to the program" telling them that, that's still just an opinion trying to explain the bad techs this year. From what I remember about that episode, they passed it off like it was a borderline fact, which I thought was ridiculous. Plus, it's not like there aren't other coaches in the big ten that are arrogant hotheads (looking at you Fran, Izzo, Underwood, etc.).

100% disagree. Can’t speak to all sports, but the NBA officiating is generally very good. Agreed with your last sentence with regards to big ten officiating though.

Fair point. Only forcing 3 turnovers puts a lot of pressure on every other aspect of the defense, and is really just unacceptable. I guess the lob that almost went over the backboard is just stuck in my mind.

I will say, going from watching the Pacers vs Bulls to this is just jarring in how much of a difference there is in officiating competency. NBA officials are very good at their jobs for the most part. Big ten officials are not. But ultimately the takeaway is we just have to start better. It’s hard to win games when you dig a 21 point hole. We also need to cut out the dumb turnovers.

Watched it a second time to make sure I wasn’t just mad in the moment. It was even more blatant than I thought. Great D by Galloway that should’ve been rewarded. That being said, can’t dig such a big hole in the first half.

I have no idea how that last play wasn’t an offensive foul. Blatant shove, but the refs let NW foul all game so not too surprised

Wow, shoved him out of the way. What bs

Does B1G POY only consider conference stats? If so, I think TJD has a chance. Him and Edey actually have somewhat similar raw conference numbers, with Edey being a more efficient scorer, but TJD being a better distributor: Edey Conference Only: 22.2 pts/gm, 13.4 reb/gm, 1.8 ast/gm, 2.7 blk/gm, 61.1% fg% TJD Conference Only: 21.8 pts/gm, 13.4 reb/gm, 4.3 ast/gm, 3.3 blk/gm, 53.6% fg%