What is the coach of Coppin St thinking ($$)? He plays Marquette friday night and then I open the paper and see they are playing Indiana at 11am today. What time did the bus pull into Bloomington? I'm sure he has a realistic view on his chances of winning these games but how, with any integrity, do you get up in front of your team and ask them to play hard?
Trips to rust belt cities like Milwaukee and Bloomington are reward enough!
Quote from: 6Under20 on December 22, 2007, 08:55:20 AM
What is the coach of Coppin St thinking ($$)? He plays Marquette friday night and then I open the paper and see they are playing Indiana at 11am today. What time did the bus pull into Bloomington? I'm sure he has a realistic view on his chances of winning these games but how, with any integrity, do you get up in front of your team and ask them to play hard?
Cash (big arenas), recruiting ("we play..."), ESPN highlight reel (in the backround, but on the E anyway), OOC weekend games at big arenas during the holidays when students are off ("we can fit you in"), prep for his conference play, travel costs, RPI boost in a weak conference. Fang is a legend of a coach. They were close with Ohio St. actually during this trip--that tidbit can go a long way for a mid-minor regional school. After MU pulled away, his starters hit the pine. The old barnstorming days of college hoops still abound for 80% of the schools. He wasn't expecting an upset.
Supposedly it wasn't his idea. A quote from the Yahoo game story:
QuoteCoppin State coach Fang Mitchell clearly wasn't looking forward to the trip — because he apparently wasn't the guy who scheduled it.
"It was an administrative error, but it's not me," Mitchell said. "It wasn't me, OK. That's all I can say."
I did not see the game last night -- backdoor to ESPN360 failed me -- but listening to it and reading the recap, it did not sound like the team described in today's Indianapolis Star:
Hurryin' Hoosiers? Perhaps not
IU's opponent today, Coppin State, is renowned for slowing the tempo of its games
By Terry Hutchens
terry.hutchens@indystar.com
December 22, 2007
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Coach Kelvin Sampson said Indiana won't see many basketball teams like today's opponent, Coppin State.
The Eagles like to slow the tempo, keep the game in the halfcourt, and run the shot clock down inside 10 seconds on every possession.
Coppin State averages 57 points. IU averages 83. It will be the ultimate contrast in styles.
But Sampson is quick to point out that playing teams like this can have long-range benefits.
"If we're fortunate enough to make the tournament this year, you never know when you're going to play a game like that," Sampson said. "You just never know. I think it's good to play different styles of teams. If you look around the country at the different scores, these so-called mid-majors are pretty good. You had better be ready to play these guys."
Just ask Ohio State. The Buckeyes played Coppin State two weeks ago and managed just 47 points. Fortunately for them, they limited the Eagles to 39. The Buckeyes made 18-of-41 shots and were outrebounded by 10.
"I watched the Ohio State tape and they were trying to attack and score as much as they could, and they were held to 47 points," Sampson said. "Ohio State wasn't trying to slow them down. They were pressing them, trying to speed it up.
"I think this is the 10th time I've played (Coppin State) and I don't think I've ever had a team play good against them. And that's just because of the style of play. They want to slow it down."
Sampson said Coppin State will use a 1-2-2 full-court press, then drop back into a 2-3 zone.
Coppin's defense is designed to slow you down, not create turnovers.
"And then they'll drop back into a zone and pack in it, and make you pass the ball four or five times, and then you look up and you're at the end of the shot clock," Sampson said. "Not because you want to be.
"It's a lot easier to slow a team down than it is to speed it up. It's hard to speed up a team that doesn't want to be."
Jamarcus Ellis believes Sampson but said No. 13 Indiana (9-1) still will try to make Coppin State play its tempo.
"If we come out playing with intensity and play great defense, we can change them into our game and make them play up and down the floor," Ellis said. "We need to try to pressure them 94 feet the whole game. We are going to try and make them play our style of basketball instead of just letting them walk the ball up the court and control the tempo of the game."
Actually, I agree with the article. I was at the game and it seemed like CSU was always draining the shot clock to the last few seconds. In fact, their first possession was a shot-clock turnover. Definitely a slow-it-down style of play.
CSU is down 2 at halftime.
IU- 28
CSU- 26
The article does seem to be pretty accurate from what I saw too.. We just never let them manage any aspect of the game. There were a few times where they started slowing down the game (late first half) but every time they started we shut them down and enforced our pace.
We did a LOT of passing yesterday.. that was one thing that jumped out at me as a great thing. Sometimes we would get the ball in two or three times but not have a really good look and pass it sharply right back out to a free jumper. That recognition and shot selection is definitely an improvement. We're playing smarter in that way than we have in games past.
Coppin state only down 71-44 vs. indiana with 3:45.. not great but quite as bad as they did yesterday against us.. especially considering the quick turnaround.
I guess losing by 27 is better than losing by 47. Especially with that turnaround.
Maybe they didn't take a bus to Bloomington, I think they took one of them fancy flying machines! ;D
Mbakwe flew em ;)