waggy
No Lifer
Ok this is nuts. CBS calls and forces the NCAA to change the time a came is played. giving little rest to one team! this is nuts!
Clang, clang, clang goes semi
Weary Michigan State likely done in by CBS' switch, writes Skip Myslenski
By Skip Myslenski
Published March 12, 2006
INDIANAPOLIS -- Forget plays fit for the highlight reel. Better instead to look at legs as limp as linguine.
And all those numbers that clutter up the stat sheet? Mere byproducts of attention spans shorter than an ant's stride.
Know what the dominant shot was Saturday in Iowa's 53-48 victory over Michigan State in their Big Ten tournament semifinal? The perimeter jumper clanging off the front of the rim, which is a sure sign of a shooter with tired legs.
Know the symbolic shot of that same travesty, which mocked the ticket buyer looking for his money's worth? A picture of Spartans coach Tom Izzo at rest in his chair, which he rarely uses during a game with the intensity that was absent here.
But what else can you expect when you bow to the cash cow and agree to a made-for-TV disaster?
Last summer, fresh with the memory of Illinois' long run at No. 1, CBS asked the Big Ten to switch its tournament schedule so that the top seed would play the late game on Saturday.
The conference agreed to that request and here is what happened:
Iowa, which played in the first game of Friday's evening session, got back to its hotel at 9:30 p.m.
Michigan State, after its emotional victory over Illinois in the nightcap, reached its hotel shortly after midnight.
Both were back at Conseco Fieldhouse Saturday to go after each other at 1:40 p.m. locally, three hours earlier than they would have if the switch hadn't been made.
That meant the Spartans were playing their second game in about 14 hours and their third in about 44 hours. That left them as chipper as the members of a funeral cortege.
There are limits to how many hours a truck driver can operate his vehicle and that is true too for pilots, flight attendants and emergency room personnel. Michigan State's players?
"The answer's no. Fatigue had zero to do with the loss," Izzo said after his team's desultory loss. "Zero. Zero, zero, zero. So don't use it, don't say it, don't even ask it. It had nothing to do with the loss."
But those were just brave words, a coach skirting excuses, and they could do nothing to eradicate the facts.
Consider this. Eleven times this season Michigan State had scored 39 or more points in the first half alone. On Saturday, the Spartans got their 40th point with 1:28 remaining--in the game.
Or this. A staple of Izzo's offense is The Blitz, which sends players running after an opponent's made shot. On Saturday, knowing he needed to keep his guards fresh, he called it off, choosing instead to walk the ball up the court.
Or this. His team had twice as many turnovers as assists (18-9). It had one seven-minute stretch in which it went scoreless. And it had another three-minute stretch in which four straight jumpers fell short and a pair of foul shots did the same, though one did bounce in off the front of the rim.
Each is a sure sign of fatigue, either mental or physical.
"Right. Yeah," Spartans point guard Drew Neitzel agreed when this was pointed out to him. "There's nothing I can say. . . . It's a long season. Playing three games in a row is tough, but that's not an excuse."
Even Izzo had to concede somewhat.
"I think 14 hours, a 14-hour turnaround is tough, mentally that's tough," he said grudgingly. "I'm still confused on why [we made the time switch], to be honest with you. I never heard of it. I didn't really pay attention because I knew we'd have to play a lot of games and it didn't really matter to me when we played. But I think it's tough on the student-athlete. Very tough."
Of course, there is no guarantee his Spartans would have performed better with the three hours that were bartered away from them. But, at the very least, ticket-buyers would have had a better chance of getting their money's worth.
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smyslenski@tribune.com
Text
Clang, clang, clang goes semi
Weary Michigan State likely done in by CBS' switch, writes Skip Myslenski
By Skip Myslenski
Published March 12, 2006
INDIANAPOLIS -- Forget plays fit for the highlight reel. Better instead to look at legs as limp as linguine.
And all those numbers that clutter up the stat sheet? Mere byproducts of attention spans shorter than an ant's stride.
Know what the dominant shot was Saturday in Iowa's 53-48 victory over Michigan State in their Big Ten tournament semifinal? The perimeter jumper clanging off the front of the rim, which is a sure sign of a shooter with tired legs.
Know the symbolic shot of that same travesty, which mocked the ticket buyer looking for his money's worth? A picture of Spartans coach Tom Izzo at rest in his chair, which he rarely uses during a game with the intensity that was absent here.
But what else can you expect when you bow to the cash cow and agree to a made-for-TV disaster?
Last summer, fresh with the memory of Illinois' long run at No. 1, CBS asked the Big Ten to switch its tournament schedule so that the top seed would play the late game on Saturday.
The conference agreed to that request and here is what happened:
Iowa, which played in the first game of Friday's evening session, got back to its hotel at 9:30 p.m.
Michigan State, after its emotional victory over Illinois in the nightcap, reached its hotel shortly after midnight.
Both were back at Conseco Fieldhouse Saturday to go after each other at 1:40 p.m. locally, three hours earlier than they would have if the switch hadn't been made.
That meant the Spartans were playing their second game in about 14 hours and their third in about 44 hours. That left them as chipper as the members of a funeral cortege.
There are limits to how many hours a truck driver can operate his vehicle and that is true too for pilots, flight attendants and emergency room personnel. Michigan State's players?
"The answer's no. Fatigue had zero to do with the loss," Izzo said after his team's desultory loss. "Zero. Zero, zero, zero. So don't use it, don't say it, don't even ask it. It had nothing to do with the loss."
But those were just brave words, a coach skirting excuses, and they could do nothing to eradicate the facts.
Consider this. Eleven times this season Michigan State had scored 39 or more points in the first half alone. On Saturday, the Spartans got their 40th point with 1:28 remaining--in the game.
Or this. A staple of Izzo's offense is The Blitz, which sends players running after an opponent's made shot. On Saturday, knowing he needed to keep his guards fresh, he called it off, choosing instead to walk the ball up the court.
Or this. His team had twice as many turnovers as assists (18-9). It had one seven-minute stretch in which it went scoreless. And it had another three-minute stretch in which four straight jumpers fell short and a pair of foul shots did the same, though one did bounce in off the front of the rim.
Each is a sure sign of fatigue, either mental or physical.
"Right. Yeah," Spartans point guard Drew Neitzel agreed when this was pointed out to him. "There's nothing I can say. . . . It's a long season. Playing three games in a row is tough, but that's not an excuse."
Even Izzo had to concede somewhat.
"I think 14 hours, a 14-hour turnaround is tough, mentally that's tough," he said grudgingly. "I'm still confused on why [we made the time switch], to be honest with you. I never heard of it. I didn't really pay attention because I knew we'd have to play a lot of games and it didn't really matter to me when we played. But I think it's tough on the student-athlete. Very tough."
Of course, there is no guarantee his Spartans would have performed better with the three hours that were bartered away from them. But, at the very least, ticket-buyers would have had a better chance of getting their money's worth.
----------
smyslenski@tribune.com
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