ADVERTISEMENT

Excellent win tonight with 5 guys in double figures and Bryce had 9.

goru7

All American
Gold Member
Dec 12, 2005
5,815
6,831
113
We have gotten I guess to the point that a BIG 10 win is ho hum for this board but that would be a mistake. One of our better shooting games , 56% from 2 , 45% from 3 and 93% from the foul line going an incredible 26-28. Each player was confident shooting as Tyson , JMike and Zach shot the ball in rhythm without hestitation. Offensively we are getting better.
Dylan makes the team go and his hustle tonight with 9 assists and 6 steals to go along his 25 points , not to mention the hustle to the ball to keep possession or other high IQ plays , were off the charts. 6 steals were ridiculously good. He is that good and as good as any guard in the country. We go as he goes.
Ace , another quiet night , being denied the ball a lot. He still hit 2 huge threes in each half. Funny , but it seems to me that when Dylan is going off , ACE gets passive and lets Dylan do his thing but is also not fully engaged on the boards . Only when Dylan was hurt or rarely struggling does ACE turn into a mad man and score 25-35 , 10 or more rebounds , 2-3 blocks and a few assists and a monster. Wonder if they can both go off together down the stretch. ACE didn’t want to rebound tonight which was unfortunate since we were getting killed on the boards but at least a couple of blocks .
JMike and Bryce having their best games of the year offensively. JMike limited his drive into trees to 1 and actually hit one and shot the ball confidently . His 8-8 from the line was massive. He still doesn’t fight over screens and doesn’t keep his man in front of him so I am still down on his defense.
Bryce 4-4 with 2 great put back dunks and a nice and one layup. Has to help his confidence. He is trying real hard on defense but because of his weight he still gets pushed around. He still gets some steals and deflections and was very active . Glad they burned the redshirt.

Thought Lathan had an outstanding second half until getting stripped 2x late. His scoring and rebounding was good but I thought his defense denying the pass to their center was outstanding. He hedged high and recovered a few times. His best defensive half of the year. His foul shooting is outstanding and was also massive tonight.
Tyson and Zach hit some timely shots and contributed tonight across the stat sheet. We needed everyone contribution and hope it becomes consistent.

USC two guards Claude the grad transfer and Yates , the outstanding freshmen were phenomenal but we shut down the rest of their team and why we won. JMike could not stay in front of Claude and the geo came too late from our bigs. Claude has done this to about 5 BIG 10 teams so hope no one was suprised.
Yates has been outstanding the last 7-8 games as Claude was hurt and missed 2-3 games after they beat Michigan State and Illinois. He is quick as hell and his 16 matching Dylan’s16 in the first half was fun to watch.
Now I think they have the same problem that we have with Dylan and ACE that is Claude started hot and then came out in first half , not sure he had foul trouble , but then Yates took over and got his 16 at the half. Then in second half , Claude took over completely and Yates was a non factor until the last 2-3 minutes. He had 16 at the half and then 18 with 2-3 minutes left as Claude dominated the ball and the shots.

All in all , we got up 15 or 17 against a decent USC team and of course we let up too soon and let them give us a little heart palpitations for a few minutes but our foul shooting was outstanding for the win. Did not like our rebounding effort tonight on the defense end as all 5 players on the floor must rebound before we get out on the break and their getting 2-3 offensive boards or balls just hitting the floor after a shot really sucked and unfortunately 28 games in , the guys must be reminded they all must rebound.

Very good win and we are right there with 3 left and 7-10 in the conference with the 9th spot right there as Indiana , Nebraska and Ohio State also with 7 wins. One game at a time. Team is finally healthy and supporting cast is playing better. Just need our players to actually try and keep their opponent in front of them.
 
Other than working on his body this summer, I would love to see Lathan become more decisive.
He needs to learn to attack the rim without hesitation,
He's too afraid of getting blocked at the rim. He should have scored on one today if he went up strong right away but stopped and pumped faked a couple times which lead to him being blocked
 
He's too afraid of getting blocked at the rim. He should have scored on one today if he went up strong right away but stopped and pumped faked a couple times which lead to him being blocked
It is a bit of an issue for a guy who will play close to the rim, that he has very little lift and lacks explosiveness. He should be more decisive when he gets the ball. I actually think he plays better further from the basket than from right underneath or at the basket. Lathan has a nice touch and can shoot the ball, as evidenced by his free throws. He also hit a jumper today near the free throw line. I really think his game is eventually more suited to be like a Coleman Hawkins type playing away from the basket than a traditional Big 10 center camping right near the hoop. Lathan can shoot, can take slower guys off the dribble, can be a Pick and Pop guy who can knock down a shot from the elbow or just inside the free throw line. Trying to make explosive plays at the rim is just not his game and likely won’t be based upon his athleticism.
 
  • Like
Reactions: BossNJ
We have gotten I guess to the point that a BIG 10 win is ho hum for this board but that would be a mistake. One of our better shooting games , 56% from 2 , 45% from 3 and 93% from the foul line going an incredible 26-28. Each player was confident shooting as Tyson , JMike and Zach shot the ball in rhythm without hestitation. Offensively we are getting better.
Dylan makes the team go and his hustle tonight with 9 assists and 6 steals to go along his 25 points , not to mention the hustle to the ball to keep possession or other high IQ plays , were off the charts. 6 steals were ridiculously good. He is that good and as good as any guard in the country. We go as he goes.
Ace , another quiet night , being denied the ball a lot. He still hit 2 huge threes in each half. Funny , but it seems to me that when Dylan is going off , ACE gets passive and lets Dylan do his thing but is also not fully engaged on the boards . Only when Dylan was hurt or rarely struggling does ACE turn into a mad man and score 25-35 , 10 or more rebounds , 2-3 blocks and a few assists and a monster. Wonder if they can both go off together down the stretch. ACE didn’t want to rebound tonight which was unfortunate since we were getting killed on the boards but at least a couple of blocks .
JMike and Bryce having their best games of the year offensively. JMike limited his drive into trees to 1 and actually hit one and shot the ball confidently . His 8-8 from the line was massive. He still doesn’t fight over screens and doesn’t keep his man in front of him so I am still down on his defense.
Bryce 4-4 with 2 great put back dunks and a nice and one layup. Has to help his confidence. He is trying real hard on defense but because of his weight he still gets pushed around. He still gets some steals and deflections and was very active . Glad they burned the redshirt.

Thought Lathan had an outstanding second half until getting stripped 2x late. His scoring and rebounding was good but I thought his defense denying the pass to their center was outstanding. He hedged high and recovered a few times. His best defensive half of the year. His foul shooting is outstanding and was also massive tonight.
Tyson and Zach hit some timely shots and contributed tonight across the stat sheet. We needed everyone contribution and hope it becomes consistent.

USC two guards Claude the grad transfer and Yates , the outstanding freshmen were phenomenal but we shut down the rest of their team and why we won. JMike could not stay in front of Claude and the geo came too late from our bigs. Claude has done this to about 5 BIG 10 teams so hope no one was suprised.
Yates has been outstanding the last 7-8 games as Claude was hurt and missed 2-3 games after they beat Michigan State and Illinois. He is quick as hell and his 16 matching Dylan’s16 in the first half was fun to watch.
Now I think they have the same problem that we have with Dylan and ACE that is Claude started hot and then came out in first half , not sure he had foul trouble , but then Yates took over and got his 16 at the half. Then in second half , Claude took over completely and Yates was a non factor until the last 2-3 minutes. He had 16 at the half and then 18 with 2-3 minutes left as Claude dominated the ball and the shots.

All in all , we got up 15 or 17 against a decent USC team and of course we let up too soon and let them give us a little heart palpitations for a few minutes but our foul shooting was outstanding for the win. Did not like our rebounding effort tonight on the defense end as all 5 players on the floor must rebound before we get out on the break and their getting 2-3 offensive boards or balls just hitting the floor after a shot really sucked and unfortunately 28 games in , the guys must be reminded they all must rebound.

Very good win and we are right there with 3 left and 7-10 in the conference with the 9th spot right there as Indiana , Nebraska and Ohio State also with 7 wins. One game at a time. Team is finally healthy and supporting cast is playing better. Just need our players to actually try and keep their opponent in front of them.
62% from 2, even better. 56% combined 2 and 3.
 
  • Like
Reactions: goru7
Didn't participate in the game thread and I don't want to come across as one who doesn't recognize a solid effort and great results. The offense and bench is really coming on. A bit too scary at the end but the foul shots mattered! They always do and we made them big time. Besides the development of Grant and Dortch, as noted JMAc being under control and Zach is making captain like plays not called scoring. He's busting it on defense and his enthusiasm for that Dorch finish after his pass is great to see. JW also under control (or at least finishing lol) and Acuff? Nice.
Now if we could just dribble less, move more, and learn to pass the damn ball better. And the lane is an EZ Pass express lane for the other team...but we're clearly guard play. Unfortunately the woulda-coulda-shoulda is now firmly back in play. BUT just keep getting better and give us a solid ending to the season.
 
Last edited:
Bryce Dortch won me over yesterday. Not his 9 points. Kid plays D. I hope we keep him.
All this doom and gloom. We are likely retaining all 3 of our freshman class. Two are starters and Bryce just started playing and contributing. They are not walking into starter roles at this level anywhere else. But they are all getting better every day.

This board and the crap spewed about losing guys should stop
 
All this doom and gloom. We are likely retaining all 3 of our freshman class. Two are starters and Bryce just started playing and contributing. They are not walking into starter roles at this level anywhere else. But they are all getting better every day.

This board and the crap spewed about losing guys should stop

I’m not worried about losing any of them. The question is really how many do we end up wanting to keep TBH. We’re losing 5 players to graduation / NBA and we have 4 frosh coming in. Our defense is historically bad and not a recipe for long term winning. We need to bring in players that will help correct that at all costs but we also need to replace over 60% of our offensive production. We will not have a competitive team if we simply retain our existing roster and bring in only one new player from the portal.
 
Didn't participate in the game thread and I don't want to come across as one who doesn't recognize a solid effort and great results. The offense and bench is really coming on. A bit too scary at the end but the foul shots mattered! They always do and we made them big time. Besides the development of Grant and Dortch, as noted JMAc being under control and Zach is making captain like plays not called scoring. He's busting it on defense and his enthusiasm for that Dorch finish after his pass is great to see. JW also under control (or at least finishing lol) and Acuff? Nice.
Now if we could just dribble less, move more, and learn to pass the damn ball better. And the lane is an EZ Pass express lane for the other team...but we're clearly guard play. Unfortunately the woulda-coulda-shoulda is now firmly back in play. BUT just keep getting better and give us a solid ending to the season.
Good post.
 
  • Like
Reactions: DHajekRC84
We have gotten I guess to the point that a BIG 10 win is ho hum for this board but that would be a mistake. One of our better shooting games , 56% from 2 , 45% from 3 and 93% from the foul line going an incredible 26-28. Each player was confident shooting as Tyson , JMike and Zach shot the ball in rhythm without hestitation. Offensively we are getting better.
Dylan makes the team go and his hustle tonight with 9 assists and 6 steals to go along his 25 points , not to mention the hustle to the ball to keep possession or other high IQ plays , were off the charts. 6 steals were ridiculously good. He is that good and as good as any guard in the country. We go as he goes.
Ace , another quiet night , being denied the ball a lot. He still hit 2 huge threes in each half. Funny , but it seems to me that when Dylan is going off , ACE gets passive and lets Dylan do his thing but is also not fully engaged on the boards . Only when Dylan was hurt or rarely struggling does ACE turn into a mad man and score 25-35 , 10 or more rebounds , 2-3 blocks and a few assists and a monster. Wonder if they can both go off together down the stretch. ACE didn’t want to rebound tonight which was unfortunate since we were getting killed on the boards but at least a couple of blocks .
JMike and Bryce having their best games of the year offensively. JMike limited his drive into trees to 1 and actually hit one and shot the ball confidently . His 8-8 from the line was massive. He still doesn’t fight over screens and doesn’t keep his man in front of him so I am still down on his defense.
Bryce 4-4 with 2 great put back dunks and a nice and one layup. Has to help his confidence. He is trying real hard on defense but because of his weight he still gets pushed around. He still gets some steals and deflections and was very active . Glad they burned the redshirt.

Thought Lathan had an outstanding second half until getting stripped 2x late. His scoring and rebounding was good but I thought his defense denying the pass to their center was outstanding. He hedged high and recovered a few times. His best defensive half of the year. His foul shooting is outstanding and was also massive tonight.
Tyson and Zach hit some timely shots and contributed tonight across the stat sheet. We needed everyone contribution and hope it becomes consistent.

USC two guards Claude the grad transfer and Yates , the outstanding freshmen were phenomenal but we shut down the rest of their team and why we won. JMike could not stay in front of Claude and the geo came too late from our bigs. Claude has done this to about 5 BIG 10 teams so hope no one was suprised.
Yates has been outstanding the last 7-8 games as Claude was hurt and missed 2-3 games after they beat Michigan State and Illinois. He is quick as hell and his 16 matching Dylan’s16 in the first half was fun to watch.
Now I think they have the same problem that we have with Dylan and ACE that is Claude started hot and then came out in first half , not sure he had foul trouble , but then Yates took over and got his 16 at the half. Then in second half , Claude took over completely and Yates was a non factor until the last 2-3 minutes. He had 16 at the half and then 18 with 2-3 minutes left as Claude dominated the ball and the shots.

All in all , we got up 15 or 17 against a decent USC team and of course we let up too soon and let them give us a little heart palpitations for a few minutes but our foul shooting was outstanding for the win. Did not like our rebounding effort tonight on the defense end as all 5 players on the floor must rebound before we get out on the break and their getting 2-3 offensive boards or balls just hitting the floor after a shot really sucked and unfortunately 28 games in , the guys must be reminded they all must rebound.

Very good win and we are right there with 3 left and 7-10 in the conference with the 9th spot right there as Indiana , Nebraska and Ohio State also with 7 wins. One game at a time. Team is finally healthy and supporting cast is playing better. Just need our players to actually try and keep their opponent in front of them.
HO HUM?

All due respect and appreciate the rest of your post but acting like we need to celebrate and throw confetti for a B10 win is why our expectations and complacency for average play is so skewed.

Were asking our team to win literally 50-55% of their big ten games per year (10-10 or 11-9) and not screw up the non-conference to secure a bid year in and year out... so celebrating a B10 win like its a march madness game or the national championship each time we win one is silly and speaks to why we are stuck in delusion of being able to rebound or turn things around when the path to success is thinner by the day

That being said it was a good win but pack it up and move on to the next one it was probably our 2nd worst B10 win this year from a quality win standpoint
 
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT