On to MSU

[PCHawk]

Interesting-the ESPN bubble watch feature as of this morning has MSU as a lock, with Iowa as a "should be in".
B10 record- Iowa 10-6, same as MSU, overall- 19-8 IA, 18-9 MSU, record against ranked teams, IA 6-3, MSU 3-4.

Typical. Why am I not surprised.

It's unreal.

 

[chucktownhawk]

Riddle me this, why has MSU become so beatable? In early conference pay they appeared to be the Spartans of old. But they became mere mortals and started losing. Can anyone explain why?

I think coaches around the league have finally caught up, and they're tired of getting Izzo'ed. Look at Iowa, PSU, Illinois, Rutgers.....More wins changes attitudes and kids start looking at these programs. MSU losing sends a signal to kids looking. Maybe Izzo needs to step down pretty soon; he's lost his luster. Who knows, just my $.02

 

[HawksMN]

Interesting-the ESPN bubble watch feature as of this morning has MSU as a lock, with Iowa as a "should be in".
B10 record- Iowa 10-6, same as MSU, overall- 19-8 IA, 18-9 MSU, record against ranked teams, IA 6-3, MSU 3-4.

Typical. Why am I not surprised.

No kidding? Personally, Iowa locked it up last night with a Top 25 win. However I would not want to go in with 5 straight losses, that may put the Hawks around the 10-11 line you don't want to be there. However Lunardi has Iowa as a 6 right now. Would LOVE to keep that or even bump it up one. What do you think....to keep the 6 IMO must win two of final four and at least one in the BTT??

 

[1977Hawkeye]

Winning @MSU is never easy and I still can't pick a W in this one, but this seems like one of the more winnable games up there that I can remember for quite a while.

 

[SpiderRico]

We're in the NCAAs, now we're just playing for seeding. A 2-2 finish probably keeps us at a 6. A 3-1 finish gets us a 5. And a sweep gets us a 4.

But since about 1997, with only a few exceptions, Breslin has been a house of horrors for us. Even worse than Mackey has. The key will be the first 4 minutes of each half. If we can stay with them in both of those 4 minute stretches, we've got a chance to pull this out. If not, we'll get run out of the gym. The key will be JW. We can't just rely on one player (Garza) because of the way MSU will be mugging him. We need a second scorer out there.

Getting the extended rest thru the weekend will be nice. Hopefully that'll allow enough time to even get CJF back. If we can get him back and he can still be money from 3, that opens up so much for both Garza and JW.

Looking forward to seeing how this team responds on Tuesday.

 

[SteveGarvey1]

ESPN right now gives Iowa a 19.4% chance to win in East lansing. I just hope they don't pull a Purdue again. If the Hawkeyes can steal this game then....amazing.

Who knows maybe Iowa wins and Maryland drops a couple. Suddenly Iowa has a shot at the title...although not a good shot.

I'd actually go double that to 38.8%, or 39% if you want to round up.

 

[SteveGarvey1]

Yeah, ESPN is already coming out with some mumble jumble about how MSU represents the B1G's best chance to win a national championship, bows to Izzo, etc.

They obviously haven't paid much attention to the league this year. Maryland is legit. Penn State could win a regional. Iowa and Illinois aren't chopped liver. Wisconsin just finds a way. Rutgers is right on the cusp, needs to learn how to win on the road.

I wouldn't want to face any of those teams in the NCAA's.

CNN doesn't want Bernie to be the nominee just like ESPN doesn't want Iowa to win the B1G title. Did I do that right conspiracy theorists?

 

[Hawkfnntn]

Think he'll start Jack Hoiberg against us? Pfff we could only be so lucky

 

[ModebaSan]

I’m more interested who the officiating crew is gonna be. If that bald headed fart, DJ Carstensen’s crew is there, I’ll chalk this one up as a loss before the game even starts. Mark my words.

 

[WindsorHawk]

In my opinion Sparty just doesn’t have a true robin to Winston. Tillman is more of a defense and rebounding guy and Henry really hasn’t been as consistent as they would have liked. What does this mean? It means they are asking Winston to carry more of a burden than even he can handle, it means they are asking Tillman to try to do more offensively than he can handle.

If they had a healthy Josh Langford, who could get them some easy buckets and lesson the burden on Winston and Tillman I think they probably would have won the league.

Either way this is the time of year Izzo’s teams typically start to peak. I won’t be the least bit surprised to see them make a run in March.

I will be shocked if they make a run. Note...My definition of a run is at least 3 NCAA wins.

 

[tweeterhawk]

I’m more interested who the officiating crew is gonna be. If that bald headed fart, DJ Carstensen’s crew is there, I’ll chalk this one up as a loss before the game even starts. Mark my words.

You mean this asshat? Yeah.

 

[ModebaSan]

You mean this asshat? Yeah.

Yeah, that’s the guy! Him and his crew are up there with Jim Bain in my book.

 

[HawkGold]

Iowa is in. A couple of 30 point losses would not help.

 

[dahlhawk]

You mean this asshat? Yeah.

I'm so sick of watching Izzo spend half the game snoozing with the refs, and the refs acting like teenage girls at an (insert teen boy band here) concert. I don't know why refs ever felt the need to start explaining their every call to career coaches. Just officiate the game, be neutral and avoid the appearance of bias, and call what you see. Maybe this year with the shine off MSU's glory, maybe Iowa gets a fair shot.

 

[MelroseHawkins]

Boy if there is ever a year to get them at the Breslin Center, it's this year. Strap em' up and ball out boys!

 

[MelroseHawkins]

I know most of us have this as a loss, mainly because we never play well there and we all know that there will be felonies committed in the paint and not called. However, saying that, we can win this game. We match up favorably to MSU.

1. Nobody will be able to body up Garza. He will out-size and out-muscle anyone that MSU has by far.
2. Playing the big lineup with Kreiner, nobody will be able to body him up either.
3. I think this is the opponent we have been waiting for to see Joe T shine. He has the capability to severely limit Winston as long as he stays out of foul trouble. I hope Fran instills confidence in him that he will stick with him through the 5th foul because he will probably use it.
4. I think the matchups of Brown/Wieskamp and Ahrens/CMac will push, although I do believe that Brown will be a problem we have to deal with all game because with Kriener on Tillman, Brown is going to want to take Garza out to the 3 line.

I think we can hammer MSU on the block in a very similar fashion to what we did to OSU. If we can value each possession, bring the energy and stick to the plan I think we can pull it out.

Unfortunately the bold above is a stretch. Joe is still young and has shown to make mistakes against less pressure he will see on the road at Mich St. Yea, that would be great if what you say comes to fruition, but the odds are stacked this year. Mich St. usually defends in your face past the 3 line and pressures. Teams typically don't play well at Breslin including veteran teams. But, as a team I like Iowa's chances

 

[MelroseHawkins]

Yeah, ESPN is already coming out with some mumble jumble about how MSU represents the B1G's best chance to win a national championship, bows to Izzo, etc.

They obviously haven't paid much attention to the league this year. Maryland is legit. Penn State could win a regional. Iowa and Illinois aren't chopped liver. Wisconsin just finds a way. Rutgers is right on the cusp, needs to learn how to win on the road.

I wouldn't want to face any of those teams in the NCAA's.

I fucking loathe ESPN.

 

[MelroseHawkins]

I fully expect to run into a buzzsaw at MSU

Their backs are against the wall, definitely agree. Iowa needs to win the first 5 minutes of the start of the game and half. Hold off that initial surge and fall into game. Try to dictate pace.

 

[MelroseHawkins]

CNN doesn't want Bernie to be the nominee just like ESPN doesn't want Iowa to win the B1G title. Did I do that right conspiracy theorists?

What, CNN is still around? I loathe them the same as ESPN.

 

[Lionhawk]

It's unreal.

Add to that, Jerry Palm has Michigan at a 5 and Iowa at a 6.

Old school bias perhaps???