Rex Hudler

Good (lucky) win for IU today. I think Krush said it took a year off IU fans' lives. Damn right! We played great until we had a 20-11 lead and then went in the tank. Not sure if I blame the subbing, Zeller's two fouls, nerves likely increased by Wyatt hitting everything in sight, Hulls getting Hurt or what. We had some lineups tonight that we rarely had playing together all year because of the above. That said, Oladipo locked down Wyatt in the 2nd half. He kept the ball out of his hands and made him work his ass off to get anything done. He was 4-10 from the field and 1-5 from 3 pt range in the 2nd half for 11 pts (with 2 FT's). Considering he averages 7 FT's attempted per game (6 makes), I don't think IU did that bad a job on him. I know weird to say about someone that scored 31, but the 2nd half was much different. Rock, you're right... survive and advance. I let out a huge sigh of relief when it was over, got a drink of water and put in an hour on the treadmill to bring myself back down. It wasn't pretty, but I'll take it!

QUOTE (danman31 @ Mar 24, 2013 -> 03:08 PM) You're kidding right? Every game from here on out will be close for them. Just about every time they play a top 20 team it goes down to the wire. I see no reason why that would change now. It's why they aren't a title contender in my mind. You can't expect to win 5 close games in a row to win the title. What other teams in the tournament would that not apply to? As even as the field is this year, that pretty much goes without saying for everyone, unless they get lucky and play a double digit seed that comes back to reality, aka Harvard - Arizona.

We're going to f*cking lose this game

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Mar 24, 2013 -> 01:47 PM) If his collarbone is broken that's a huge blow. HUGE

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Mar 24, 2013 -> 01:42 PM) Wyatt just destroying the greatest defender ever and the switch to Sheehy not helping. Keep playing like this and he gives temple a chance. I say take the Larry Bird approach. Let Wyatt get his 40, just shut everyone else the f*ck down. That'll work if they stop turning the ball over so damned much and rebound when Temple does miss. Temple's is getting a lot of long offensive rebounds. Still can't believe they didn't call a foul when Hulls got creamed. Oh well. Hope he is okay.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan99 @ Mar 24, 2013 -> 01:28 PM) It wasn't a tough call and the block/charge isn't difficult to officiate. If you call it a block each time you will almost always be right. Charges should be incredibly rare and Craft was clearly late getting over and was in the arc on that play. I don't think the arc had any bearing on whether the call was right or wrong. Craft was not in position regardless so the call was wrong. That said, I disagree with you on two things. It's not easy to make the call and just calling a block every time is the wrong approach. The right approach is to get every call right. Unfortunately that doesn't happen realistically. The players have gotten bigger and faster. Fans get the benefit of seeing the replays and and the play slowed down. Referees don't get that benefit. They see it once at full speed and half the time have other player's bodies in the way. Second, I prefer not to focus on calls at the end of the game and isolate them as blowing the game. Calls are missed throughout the game that alter the momentum of the game. It's not fair to isolate on one call just because of the timing.

QUOTE (zenryan @ Mar 24, 2013 -> 01:07 PM) And he's going to keep saying that because people are still talking about him and being so sensitive. One guy has said the Big 10 is overrated and everyone clings to that person. And unfortunately, there will be people that will crow they were right if someone from the B1G doesn't win the title. I cant stand the NBA but I find the post game show with him and Kenny entertaining. But its a slap in the face to Greg Anthony to work with those two when those two probably watch 200 total minutes of college basketball all year. Chuck and Kenny are as vague as possible when analyzing teams because they dont know anything about them. Its a train wreck. I agree completely. This is the only downside to the change to have all games on and split between the 4 channels.

Looking for the Hoosiers to make 4 B1G teams in the Sweet Sixteen, then Illinois or Minnesota to pull off the upset and make it 5. Go Hoosiers!

QUOTE (danman31 @ Mar 24, 2013 -> 12:31 PM) Craft gets to be the hero, but he practically was playing for ISU the previous 4 minutes of the game. He deserves no credit for that shot. OSU also needs to run a better offense in the last minute or two. No movement and isolation for a player that was choking as badly as humanly possible? Sickening. Craft was playing as badly as I've seen him play. OSU survives and advances. Certainly not pretty!

Been a damned good game so far. Looks like Gonzaga may bow out before the 2nd weekend.

QUOTE (ZoomSlowik @ Mar 23, 2013 -> 01:43 PM) WOW, THREE GAMES! If you want to make that argument, Michigan must really suck. I've watched them about 10 times and I've seen them struggle to score against tough defensive teams like OSU and Wisconsin and lose to Penn State. I guess we don't have any recent examples of a VCU team that's inferior to this one beating any quality teams either. I know I'm sounding like an ass with this post, but I get annoyed when people say "you have to watch the games" and then admit that they're working with a really small sample size. If you know what you are looking at, it's not hard to see how a team plays in that many games. Does it tell you everything? No. But they played the same way last year so don't discount that. Simply put, whether you like my sample size or not, I was right. You can try and pick apart every little thing I typed, but the bottom line is VCU is not a great offensive team, especially against better teams that can score with them. If their defense doesn't set the pace, their offense is nothing to write home about. If they played half court defense, they wouldn't be good enough for any of us to talk about them.

Is this really a tournament or just a bunch of practice games? Either way, Evansville has won twice. No clue who they play next because there is no actual bracket!

QUOTE (ZoomSlowik @ Mar 23, 2013 -> 01:23 PM) No s***, but that one game doesn't necessarily mean the same thing would happen every time. Or do you think Florida Golf Coast would kick the s*** out of Georgetown if it were a 7-game series? I'll answer that when they start playing 7-game series in college basketball. I've just seen VCU enough times (2-3x last year, 3-4x this year) to see them struggle offensively against better teams, the teams that can score against them. They win because of their defense, not because they are great on offense.

QUOTE (ZoomSlowik @ Mar 23, 2013 -> 01:16 PM) Meh. VCU had their chances to stem the tide during that first half run, they missed numerous makeable shots shots in the paint (albiet some of them weren't easy). They're also usually better from 3 (they average 8 made 3's a game at a 36% clip). Michigan got a ton of transition opportunities off their missed shots, taking the ball out of the net a few more times would have an impact. If they played 100 times, I could see a lot of 72-66 type games. That's the problem with stat guys. They don't play 100 times, they played once and got their asses handed to them. Stats often don't reflect reality with a small sample size. Stats are also inflated or deflated by the level of competition. I'm not trying to insult you, I just disagree with trying to prove points using #'s exclusively. Stats are very good and important, when used in context.

QUOTE (ZoomSlowik @ Mar 23, 2013 -> 12:16 PM) Because it is only part of the story. Yes, they get a lot of points off their defense. They're also one of the top offensive rebounding teams in the country and have numerous athletes that can get to the rim. Their DEFENSE relies on turnovers a lot more than their offense, it's not very good if you take care of the ball. I should have been more simple in my response. If you rely on offensive rebounds (missed shots) and have athletes that can get to the rim, it is pretty easy to understand why they can struggle so easily on offense when playing against a team that can match that. Again, my whole argument from the beginning is what they can do or not do against better competition.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Mar 23, 2013 -> 12:19 PM) Hey dick, it was a joke. Relax. No, it was a jab at me in a conversation you weren't involved in. If you had any credibility, I'd take it with a grain of salt. Instead, it just shows you don't know what the f*ck you are talking about. Do me and everyone a favor and just ignore everything I post. You'll come off as a little smarter.

QUOTE (ZoomSlowik @ Mar 23, 2013 -> 12:16 PM) Because it's just wrong. Yes, they get a lot of points off their defense. They're also one of the top offensive rebounding teams in the country and have numerous athletes that can get to the rim. Their DEFENSE relies on turnovers a lot more than their offense, it's not very good if you take care of the ball. If you rely heavily on offensive rebounding, it tells me you aren't a very good shooting team. And as I stated, when they playing a better team, they struggle offensively, I could give a crap less what stats they pile up while playing the Topeka YMCA. Watch the games. This isn't rocket science. VCU's whole game is predicated on their havoc defense and wearing other teams down. Steals, turnovers and tired defenders and yes offensive rebounding (which is helped when the other teams get worn down) is where they get their offense. Sometimes their is a cause and effect to get a result. Looking at the results only without the others can cloud the truth, especially when the level of competition increases. To further my point, VCU scored 51 against Wichita State, 58 against Duke, 65 against Missouri, and 62 & 56 against St. Louis. They scored 78 against Memphis and 84 against Butler. If you watched the Butler game, they were very good offensively, but that fed off the fact they shredded Butler defensively and Butler didn't know which was was up. Butler couldn't score with them, feeding right into their style. Doesn't look like they were that great offensively against the better teams on their schedule, does it?

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Mar 23, 2013 -> 12:13 PM) Crean >>>>>>>>>>> Smart. That's all you need to know. Seriously though, great game from Michigan. You're an idiot!

QUOTE (ZoomSlowik @ Mar 23, 2013 -> 12:10 PM) That's a half truth at best. But hey, you apparently watch 7,000 basketball games a year to know all. It's not half truth at all. It's not a freakin's secret that VCU struggles on offense if they can't create it with their defense. It doesn't take rocket science or a stat sheet or watching 7k basketball games to understand the obvious. I'm not sure what their is to argue about that.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Mar 23, 2013 -> 11:58 AM) If McGary keeps playing this well, he's going to be getting a lot of NBA attention. Seems like the type of kid who will stick around at least one more year, if not two. McGary is a good player, but has a long way to go. This game was built for him, assuming he didn't get flustered, which he hasn't. He's basically a junk player (and I do not mean that as a slam). He plays with energy, crashes the boards and picks up bunnies from those rebounds and dump offs from penetrating guards. This is a game made for that type of player.

QUOTE (ZoomSlowik @ Mar 23, 2013 -> 11:50 AM) They were 11th in the country in offensive efficiency. Admittedly they count on offensive rebounding and turnovers a fair amount, but it's not like Michigan is a good defensive team. Yes, but they get their offensive efficiency from breaking down the other team and them not being able to score. Their offense is based off their defense. When their defense is not effective, they really struggle to score. Stats can lie... I'll rely on the eye test.

What a freakin' whiner! Justice will be served if UNM ends up in the Final Four next year and this guy is gone. QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Mar 22, 2013 -> 10:21 PM) UNM BB beat writer can't take it anymore after 33 years, gives up. Dennis Latta Loboland.com Editor I really thought that the University of New Mexico finally had a men's basketball team that earned the loyalty of their fans. I was wrong. I've been around Lobo basketball for 33 seasons. For 32 of those seasons, I knew that UNM had a team that could fold and lose to anyone at any time. I never got my expectations too high because a collapse was possible anytime they walked out on that floor. I thought this team was different. I was convinced that this Lobo team was for real. It had experience, a good front line and a good backcourt and good chemistry and was smart. I was wrong. The main difference between these Lobos and the others who fell flat was that the 2012-13 team played defense. New Mexico forced opponents to take bad shots and actually guarded. This team had real potential. I was wrong. This was a team that had the MWC Player of the Year in Kendall Williams and the MWC Tournament MVP in Tony Snell and two big men who had been outstanding at times and a point guard who had developed quickly. I never expected the Player of the Year to be absolutely invisible when he was needed most or that the tournament MVP couldn't hit a 3-pointer on a bet. I was wrong. I thought this team had accomplished something by winning the Mountain West Conference during the regular season and in the tournament. A win over UNLV on its home floor was impressive. Beating San Diego State and Colorado State and Boise State was the sign of success because the conference and these teams were so good. I was wrong. Now, the mighty MWC is 1-3 in the NCAA, and has not lost to any team seeded above a 13. It's not like they lost to Indiana or Louisville or even Georgetown or Michigan State. No, the losses were to the traditional powerhouses of LaSalle, California and Harvard. The league I thought was so good turns out to be so bad. I was wrong. I was disappointed when New Mexico was seeded a lowly third. I truly believed UNM would prove the committee wrong and thought that going to the Final Four was a realistic possibility. This was going to be the Year of the Lobo. New Mexico was finally going to get the credit, the respect and the attention it deserved. I was wrong. I thought that coach Steve Alford and athletic director Paul Krebbs were smart to announce a new 10-year contract the day before the Lobos started their march through the NCAA. No one would complain about the big dollars because UNM was on the road to glory. I was wrong. But I won't be wrong again. It was a lot easier to take when expectations were lower. Losing was acceptable because UNM had almost always lost when it really counted. You didn't have visions of greatness, only to have them dashed. After the pitiful performance UNM put up against a team that doesn't even offer scholarships, I've given up. Having all five starters back next season means nothing on a team that can just disappear like that. I'd be back to wondering when it would collapse, have a terrible game and lose to an inferior team again. No, I've had it. I've been to my last Lobo basketball game after covering the team for much of the last 33 years. Good-bye Lobo basketball. At first, it was confusing a bit, because LaSalle beat Boise State in the First 8 game...thought he was confusing KSU with being in the MWC. So now they're 2-3 in the tourney, with SDSU beating Oklahoma, but UNM and UNLV both out.

That's the problem with VCU. They aren't great offensively and don't consistently make shots. If you can score against their pressure and handle it, they won't keep up. They're style is to wear you down so you can't score. For them to win against more talented teams, they have to make you play ugly and wear you down so you can't score well. Michigan is too good offensively. This wasn't a good match up for VCU.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Mar 23, 2013 -> 12:46 AM) And thats a team who regularly makes the sweet 16 Read today that Wisky has been eliminated by a higher seed (or lower depending on how you look at it) 5 out of the last 7 years.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 22, 2013 -> 08:31 PM) QFT QFT?