First, I have to start with a rant. Eddie Hightower is a moron. He and his crew called one of the more disgusting games I've seen in quite some time. At one point he called 4 straight travels. The replays revealed that there might have been 1, a stretch if there were 2. Later in the game there was a blatant walk by Morgan. No call. Just off the charts drunk-howler monkey-corkyretarded bad.
That said, both teams played like crap and honestly no one deserved a win. They both should have an asterisk next to this game. *1/2 win **2 losses
The BigTen Network gets on my bad side already by, in a move that could only be explained by dipping into the ESPN2 cameraman talent pool, SHOWING ME THE PERSON THAT JUST SCORED A BASKET FOR 15 SECONDS after the basket is scored. What does that mean? It means that a fastbreaking team, say...MSU for instance, is now all the way down the floor and there is either A.) a foul, B.) a basket, or as in the case of the Iowa game C.) a turnover. Meanwhile I'm watching the remarkable skill set of Joe Blow as he backpedals down the floor. That's what I tune in for. THAT is what I went to a bar for, since Comcrap Cable doesn't carry BTN. Thank you BigTen Network, for continuing the sucky coverage I used to get for free (see: $100+/month) on ESPN2.
Finally to the game. It was bad. In this one I have to give the credit to everyone, and I do mean everyone. Izzo sucked. Neitzel sucked. Walton sucked. Morgan sucked. Suton...well, he was Suton. Also not listed, but just as sucky: everyone.
No defense. None. Honestly, the only reason that it wasn't a 30 point loss was Iowa's overall crappy and talentless nature. I give 50% of the fault to the team and 50% to the refs. We shot 4 freethrows (I'll hit on that later) while Iowa shot, I believe, 29. It's hard to play defense when you don't know what is a foul and what is not.
Offense. Just wow. Worst game I've ever seen. Neitzel was BAD. Morgan traveled more than he wowed. The team shot around 28% for the game, but what made the difference (because yes, despite that % they could have won the game) was the amount of turnovers and the times at which they occurred. It seemed like about 50% of the possession we didn't even get a shot off. Now factor in the 28% and you have 14%. We scored, by my very rough math, on 14% of our possessions. That's an overstatement, but not by much. We really had no offense at all. No offensive rebounds and no inside out game. More on that to come.
Izzo didn't snap them out of it. He didn't seem to makes us of timeouts. He didn't find an effective lineup. It was a mess. He can't play the game and I don't second guess his prep work, but in game he's been so-so. We NEVER score out of timeout anymore. Hell, we're lucky to inbound the ball to our own players. If we inbound the ball, to our own player, in the front court...WEW! That's like a little victory.
The refs truly ruined our rhythm and offense. Iowa played "good defense" according to critics. I saw handchecking and holding 30 feet from the basket. That has always killed MSU teams (except with Mateen who had strength, poise, and handles). Ref's forced MSU to run an offense from 30 feet with their backs to the basket. Shots didn't fall. Travels, moving screens, and bad passes made for empty (shotless) possessions. It was disgusting and troubling. There wasn't one good thing to take from the game. It is something you never would have seen from any other team I can remember. Even in big losses we've had single players have good games. No one played well. No one played decent.
People who sucked: the coaches, the captains, the players, the refs. Other than that...well probably Gus too...but other than...oh right, Iowa's team as well...I think that's it...oh the BigTen Network. They were horrible too. So was Trippers. Smoking needs to be outlawed in public. Or there should be true smoking sections (see: chambers).
Here's to whipping on Ohio State to get the taste out. Something tells me the slide continues in a tight one. OSU is good as a team and has one of the most polished freshmen big men the BigTen has seen in a while. Oden (last year for OSU) was just dominant on the interior. This guy Kushtafalksjlakjt (good faith effort on the spelling cause I don't really care) can step out and hit a longer shot, makes moves in the lane, and finish at the line. He's going to be good. Suton should have a tough night.
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