From a rivalry standpoint tonight’s game in East Lansing has no value. Since his arrival to the Big Ten in 2001-02, Amaker has gone 2-6 against Izzo with an average loss margin of 15.3 points. From a pure basketball standpoint it is not the kind of matchup that has connoisseurs giddy in anticipation. Despite a young, injury beset roster, the team in green and white will be the lone representatives of high quality, team basketball on the floor. Despite a senior laden, injury free roster, their opponent will be offering their usual brand of high athletic quotient, low basketball quotient, intermittent play. The Spartans are, essentially, playing against themselves, against their and their coach’s twelve year gold standard of excellence.
Spartans Need To Be Closers
The only thing giving this game any particular value is that it is a must win for the Spartans and begins a six game stretch in which they need a minimum of four victories. Four wins would put them at 21-10 overall, 8-8 in conference, and barring an irrational selection committee, into the Dance for the tenth straight year.
After the ugly loss in West Lafayette, and facing two against the Badgers (2/20 at the Breslin, and 3/3 in Madison), the Spartans need to use the Breslin bump to maximum advantage. After a merciless schedule the last two weeks, they have four in a row at home. Tonight’s game, subsequent homestands against Iowa and Indiana, and a roadtrip to Ann Arbor on 2/27 all have the look of must wins. Even if they dump both games to Wisconsin, as long as they are competitive losses, they’ve earned a bid. If they beat Wisconsin in either try, Izzo can probably loosen his tie.
Izzo is going to need every molecule of his coaching genius to accomplish the feat. And he desperately needs someone to step up and help Neitzel score the rock. Michigan’s intermittent, turnover happy approach should help matters tonight.
Once again, in their home game with Minnesota Saturday, the Amakerines took entire sections of the game off and without a Dion Harris explosion would not have won. Midway through the second half, Brent Petway threw down consecutive dunks and the Wolverines decided to start playing defense. They rode the energy of the dunks and played the next three minutes with energy and effectiveness on both ends. Then they had a few tough offensive sequences and the energy disappeared. This has been the pattern in Ann Arbor for six years. It is depressing to see considerable talent wasted with such regularity. More depressing evidence should be expected tonight.
Donkey In A Red Sweater
Matt Painter probably won’t dress a donkey in an Indiana sweater and interview him on his coaching show this week, but he will do everything in his power to get one up on the Hoosiers Wednesday night. Bob Knight had a donkey in a Purdue cap on his show in 1981 and it speaks not only to Knight’s talent for brilliant provocation, but to the pitched rivalry between the two schools.
With Painter at its helm, the Purdue program is, short of cheating or forcing itself on recruits verballed to other schools, locking down some of the state’s best high school players. His four man class of 2007 is all-Indiana, all blue chip. His new rival to the southeast, from initial appearances, is spending more time recruiting in Illinois than Indiana. It will be interesting to see if Painter continues to dominate the state’s recruiting battle. From all reports, there are a lot of high school coaches and ballplayers in Indiana who think Painter is the best coach in the state. Hoopraker was very prescient about Painter, long before the bandwagon jumpers arrived, as evidenced here.
Looking at what Painter has done to take a 9-19 team from last season to 16-9 and vying for an NCAA bid, it’s hard to disagree. Already deserving of Big Ten Coach of the Year, Painter still needs a few good wins to keep the NCAA tournament in his crosshairs. After an 85-58 pasting in Bloomington on January 10, Painter’s crew looks to continue the impressive home showings (11-1 in Mackey this season) and return the hospitality.
And the Boilers need this one a lot more than the Hoosiers. Three wins in their remaining five games are an absolute must, but that’s a scenario that is still going to have them white knuckling on Selection Sunday. Four wins, which would mean taking the Hoosiers plus two against Northwestern, and one against Minnesota at Mackey, locks it up.
Painter is going to have his team absolutely stoked tonight. The home crowd, one of the most spirited Hoopraker has seen in the college game this season, is going to make Mackey a hot skillet for Kelvin and company.
Kitten Show In Iowa City
Bill Carmody has gotten the best of Steve Alford in the last four of five meetings, but unless Craig Moore shows up tonight and the Cats play two halves of basketball, something they’ve struggled to do all season, this is going to be a rough night for them in Iowa City.
The Cats looked brilliant in the first half Saturday against Penn State and then put on their best impression of a high school JV team down the stretch and deserved to lose. Maybe Carmody should let Tavaras Hardy do the pregame speech. They need a passionate, gutty performance on the road to prove that this is more than a casual basketball program. No one is asking for the Wildcats to win out. But some spirited performances down the stretch this season, even in losing efforts, sets the tone for next year and gives the program’s suffering fandom something besides nothing to feel good about.
Our Thoughts Are With You
Our healing thoughts go out to Brian Carlwell, Jamar Smith, and the entire Illinois basketball family. We wish both young men full and speedy recoveries from the car accident late Monday night.
