Steve Alford deserves some measure of credit for the gritty play of his Hawkeyes Wednesday night in Ann Arbor. The Wolverines soft, incompetent second half played a big role. But, Alford’s team demonstrated an insistent, no quit attitude that should be noted. And his team has rebounded somewhat from a pre-conference performance that could’ve easily turned into a massive season slide.
Alford Looks For Payback
Despite the loss of three seniors who were each conference leaders for their positions and the rough November and December as they tried to find a new mix, his squad didn’t throw in the towel. The play of Haluska and Tyler Smith are no surprise, but he’s also getting nice minutes out of role players such as Cyrus Tate, Kurt Looby, Justin Johnson and Seth Gorney. They’ve played well at home and made good efforts against the conference heavies.
Noting their current 4-4 Big Ten balance and looking at the rest of their slate, an 8-8 mark is reasonable. Barring a heroic February or a Big Ten Tournament run, this is an NIT squad. This result would break the string of two straight NCAA appearances, but it’s worth noting Alford’s team is currently playing more consistently tough basketball than teams such as Purdue and Penn State, teams most prognosticators picked ahead of the Hawkeyes in the conference race. Of course, there’s a month of basketball yet to be played. Painter, in particular, still has an outside chance for an NCAA bid and won’t go quietly.
Whatever the case, look for the Hawkeyes to put up a spirited defense of their home court tomorrow against Indiana. If Alford uses Tyler Smith and his frontcourt by committee wisely, D.J. White may find himself sitting on some early fouls. Tony Freeman needs to take care of the ball and distribute against the Hoosier ball hawks, no small order. Haluska will be running off white picket fences all afternoon a la Alford 1987. It’s the play of Freeman that will decide the Hawkeye fate. He shows up, the Hoosiers are going down. Something tells us Alford doesn’t want Kelvin to sweep the season series given the events of the past summer.
The Dark Side Of Recruiting
The exit of freshman redshirt Mickey Perry from Wisconsin in November and the short, troubled stint of 2002 commit Marcetteaus McGee point to the darker realities of the recruiting game even at programs with sterling reputations. Fortunately, Perry landed on his feet with his transfer to Brian Gregory’s solid Dayton program. McGee was brought to Madison for the summer preceding his enrollment and a sexual assault charge ended his Badger career before it began. The latter case points to the risk and challenges of getting talent with character. In the case of Perry, it suggests overrecruitment. Wisconsin under Ryan has hardly been a repeat offender in this regard, but even in small doses it doesn’t reflect well on a program. The Dukes of the world overrecruit every year and maintain their false piety and glowing stature. It’s a bad way to do business and unkind to the kids caught in the middle.
Fruit Of The Loon
It’s unlikely the Buckeye fans who did their best impressions of underwear mannequins for the better part of forty minutes last Saturday night understood what they had just witnessed. One of the best halves of basketball, team and individual, the conference had seen this season. That it came from the visitors in a losing effort should not have been lost on true basketball fans whatever their allegiance.
About that underwear party. Apparently The White-Out in Value City was a Matta brainchild. It’s hard to imagine Gene Keady or many other serious basketball minds having the time or interest in developing a theme night, but maybe it’s a reflection of the contemporary basketball-entertainment complex. Maybe the S.I.D. was on sabbatical. Unfortunately, even in their Fruit of the Loom, the Buckeye crowd struggled to maintain their interest or enthusiasm. Matta is selling and winning himself into a flop sweat, but Value City, despite the sellouts, has a long way to resurrecting memories of St. John Arena.
And it can’t hold a candle to the level of organically raised fervor of the Breslin in February. The Spartans will have a loud and active fandom tomorrow. They are going to need every decibel. After leaving everything on the floor in Columbus last week, they looked a bit heavy legged and lost another tough one in Champaign. The schedule makers really stuck it to the Spartans the past two weeks.
Izzo’s team will need to play two consistent halves of basketball to hold court tomorrow. And they can’t count on another, as Izzo described it, “heroic” effort from Neitzel. Neitzel will need to play solid, but that hasn’t been a problem all year. It’s hard to pin so much on point guards, but Travis Walton is the key tomorrow. When he (and Neitzel) are getting the ball to Gray, Naymick, and Suton in high percentage spots on the floor, the Spartans are a juggernaut. Establish the post game and suddenly Neitzel and Joseph have even more room for their jumpers. And the fact that Raymar Morgan is getting healthy and playing into fitness is a nightmare for conference foes. This kid is going to be an All-American before he’s done in East Lansing. Watch him closely this month, he’s going to prove why the previous sentence isn’t hyperbole.
It will help that the Buckeyes will be hard pressed to shoot anywhere near 60% from the field as they did in the first half last week. This is going more likely to be a grind it out, possession by possession, old fashioned Big Ten game. Execution, toughness, and coaching are what win these kind of games. It will be yet another litmus test for Matta’s talented team. So far, they’ve been finding a way to win.
[...] Iowa 13-10, 5-4 conference As we said here, Alford and company have done more than many expected, but seem destined for an 8-8 mark in conference and an NIT bid. Even if they beat both Illinois and Purdue at home, and manage a 10-6 conference record, they’re still under twenty wins and probably not destined for a nod or are severely bubbled. It will take all that and a win on the road in Madison or East Lansing. Or, if Alford’s team has a huge Big Ten tourny, and Alford has a pretty good track record in the event, that provides another possible, but rare scenario. [...]
Left by Hoopraker · A Familiar Refrain on February 15th, 2007