The Hoopraker charter was in Chicago airspace before the sun this morning. Oblivious to the ice blue lake below and the crisp skyline, we were already eagerly anticipating today’s tournament slate. For the next four days our home office is 1901 West Madison, Chicago. Look for our firsthand accounts of the weekend’s play.
Watch Out For Gophers
Amaker’s bunch is ostensibly still playing for inclusion and should have every reason to show up with the kind of passion they acquitted the last two games. But, passion won’t win ballgames in the absence of good execution. The disarray on the offensive end in the final five minutes against the Buckeyes put the lid on what was an otherwise spirited effort. News flash, coaching matters in tight games. And today has the potential to be just that. The Gophers give consistent effort and have a starting five that matches well with the Wolverine first wave. Neither team has a deep bench. Tollackson is a crafty big man whose lumberjack frame will give Courtney Sims all he wants this morning. Abu Shamala and Dan Coleman make better decisions with the ball than any of Amaker’s seniors. McKenzie and Harris will match scoring wits. Don’t be surprised if Molinari and his crew send Amaker to NIT-land this afternoon. Suffice to say, there will be more Gopher fans at the United Center this morning than those willing to follow Amaker’s bunch down I-94. Bill Martin, take a good scan of the Michigan section today. It will speak volumes.
Northwestern Looks For Soul
The sad thing is Hoopraker has almost zero optimism about Northwestern even making this a competitive game much less playing spoiler. Carmody’s team has demonstrated extremely lackluster investment at the Big Tens of late. Echoes of last year’s bottomed out first tournament game against Penn State still resonate. That Cat team was playing for an NIT bid and Carmody and his bunch showed little interest. Hoopraker will be watching the customarily casual Cats and Carmody very closely today.
Conversely, we have no doubts about Izzo’s team showing up with zeal from minute one. The Spartans need the game of course, but even if they weren’t playing for NCAA security, Izzo simply doesn’t allow for halfhearted efforts. They will put up a muscular defense of Spartan tradition this afternoon and look to setup the marquee Friday rematch with the Badgers.
Waiting for Illinois
The Illinois faithful always pack the United Center with orange and this afternoon’s matchup with Penn State will likewise be more of the same. Bruce Weber can’t afford a loss to the best worst team in the Conference if the Illini have any hope of making the field of 65. Defense has served as Illinois’ stabilizing force this year and once again, with a perpetually healing Brian Randle and an inconsistent Rich McBride, defense will determine the outcome of this game. Penn State boosts two of the better players in the Big Ten in Claxton and Cornley and Ed DeChellis will have the Lions ready. Whether it will be enough in what constitutes a road game in Chicago is worth watching. A great rematch looms with Indiana and Kelvin Sampson on Friday if the Illini take care of business.
