My favorite was when the game was tied in the 2nd half, we gave up a 3 and then on offense Zed just walked into the ball as Bruce was dribbling it for a turnover. That was the sequence that sums up the team right now.

RE BOUND ING

I agree with you, yet only Sensabaugh is subject to the quick hook after a bad D possession or turnover… sigh

Our half court offense is so bad at the end of close games. Time and again.

The call that they missed in our favor on Key going for a rebound early in the 2nd is going to cost us the game. They’ve gotten every single call since.

The defensive rebounding is pathetic. Impossible to get enough stops in a close game when your opponent gets 90% of their misses back.

Also Holden getting targeted on D and a turnover, he was the guy to pull if you want Sueing in.

After the 2 tech FTs: immediate turnover on inbound leads to a fast break layup, double dribble by Ice and then ridiculous make up call on us fouling a 3 shooter. We have a gift for not only giving up leads, but in record time.

You could see rebounding was an emphasis in the first 10 minutes. Unfortunately by halftime it was back to normal, meaning bad. Last Sunday on the road we had a small lead at half and opened the 2nd on the bad end of a 14-0 run or  something close to that. We’ll see if a lesson was learned but the way this team has been going this feels like a game we’ll lose.

Predictably, the Ice-McNeil-Holden-Brown-Okpara lineup killed the offense. Cmon Holtmann.

Really similar mindset here, I’ve been a Holtmann supporter and posted that I wasn’t worried but rather encouraged after the Purdue loss. That’s no longer the case. The biggest concern is the lack of energy and intensity from the players which is a reflection of the coaches. I noted while watching the game Brice showing no emotion whatsoever after a big and-1 during our short lived comeback in the middle of the 2nd half. We’ve seen that emotion from him on similar plays earlier in the year. Also the 2nd game in a row loose balls were seemingly 90% to the opponent. Hopefully this is rock bottom for the season but with the road stretch coming who knows? Hard to believe the stagnant offense we watched last night is the 3rd best in the nation per Kenpom. Might be selective memory, but feels like the ball movement was better in the non conference - way too many zero and one pass possessions last night. This post ended up being all over the place but it’s hard not to feel pretty down on this team at the moment.

Offense was worse than usual, but the closest we got to a stop in the last 3:30 or so was a foul where MD split the FTs. Not good enough, another reason we can’t win a close game.

Hopefully Holtmann learned through this second half that we have more use for Gayle’s D and limited O than Holden’s theoretical O and zero D.

Without even commenting on the offensive implosion so start the 2H, we’re not winning any B1G road games with this defense. Maryland O isn’t even good.

Ok Crispin, enough with the “game is tied or tOSU is ahead, but my eyes tell me Marlyand is dominating this game”

I’m not even mad after that game. Losing Key so early when going against Edey and still playing well enough to win is encouraging. Random observations as I watched:

-Brice in general is just awesome. Professional, controlled three level scorer. Morton’s flopping was all they could do to stop him a couple times.

-A couple calls to remember in a game we lost by 2: the goaltend on Brice in the 1st when the ball was below the rim (and by definition not on its way down) and the missed illegal screen on Gillis in the 2nd which led to a wide open 3 (Gayle ended up on the ground out of bounds on the baseline)

-Funny moment after Gayle got called for a foul on the perimeter with around 10:00 left. You could hear a tOSU coach yell “they have 3 fouls all game” and then Purdue got called for their first 2 of the half: offensive on their backup 5 and then a pretty soft one on the other end

-I’ve watched a few Purdue games and didn’t even notice Jenkins. 3/3 3FG with 2 contested was killer. 

-Braden Smith will be a Mo Wagner level antagonist in the B1G the next few years

-Thornton got a pretty long break in the 2nd which is inconsistent with how rotations have been in prior games, came back with a few minutes left. Related- the offense died when Ice was in for Bruce and Brice was also out in the 1st. In the future I’d like to see Brice on the floor if Ice is the only ball handler

-Some obvious ones - Felix is already an asset and will be really good come this postseason and next year; Sueing soft bounce pass at the end was a killer. After UNC and this we will see the press more often

This is my first post but I’ve read the boards for a while. I’m a Holtmann supporter and have some nitpicks but generally think he managed the game well considering the Key injury. I’m optimistic this team can go where no Holtmann team has before, the S16