jayschool

And the paranoia, sense of doom and general lethargy during and immediately after a game. Or is that just me?

This guy is on our team:

You talking about the Norfolk Broomball Association? Just a couple of years, if I remember correctly.

I can't answer a hypothetical, but I'm not a sore loser, so there's that. And I immediately noted his disdain for Mack's actions, so thanks for assuming I'm a 5-year-old pouting about a loss. I thought we knew each other better, Matt.

I transcribed Dakich's comments about Mack needing to shut up and about Wagner not deserving a T because "The greatest players in basketball history trash talk. It's part of the game. This isn't tiddlywinks. This isn't high tea. This is dudes ballin' and competin' against each other." Then I tweeted @dandakich. Let's see if he responds.

True. It also underscores the fact that Cam is our only legit Big Ten player. Mack is the only piece on this team that should be starting next year unless others make drastic improvements. Thor should be a great sixth man. Burke should be a nice spark off the bench. Cross may develop into a solid B1G-level 4, but he isn't now. He seems to hold the most promise if he's not asked to guard 6-11 centers down low. Yvan needs a lot of polish right now, but the potential is there. Easley also needs a little work. He's not a Big Ten player this year, though he gives us quality minutes. Arop is at least two years away. Green's clock is ticking. Loudly. Allen, Walker, Banton, Mayen and Stevenson all have a chance to be starters next year, unless the practice squad's success is driven by Lil' Pike and Porter, of course.

Think about that 2008-2009 mighty mite team that finished 8-8 in the Big Ten. They weren't any taller than we are now, maybe even shorter. But they had tougher, more experienced players who knew how hard they had to work to succeed. Most importantly, Ade Dagunduro was a 6-5 senior and a MAN. Yvan is a 17-year-old BOY. Steve Harley was a 6-2 senior and strong. Cam Mack is a 6-0 sophomore and skinny.

He was much more careless with the ball in the first half than I've seen since the opening couple of games. I consider that a good thing. If he realizes he has holes in his game, I'm confident that he'll work hard on them with Hoiberg/Lutz and come back next year with better handles, better finishes and a better supporting cast.

Dakich in the first half after a Mack made 3: "He doesn't need to do all that. Just run back down the court." Dakich in the second half after a Moritz block: "Why do officials insert themselves in the game like that? Let the guys play the game." To summarize: short black guy for Nebraska expresses some joy — bad; tall white guy for Michigan expresses emotion — part of the game. Got it, Dan.

Dude needs to work on finishing around the rim. Of course, if we had a big who was a legit big and a threat from outside, the lane would be open for him to finish.

The fact that we sold out a 15,000-seat arena for a 7-13 club that is part of a program that has experienced the least success of any power program in the country looks very good on TV. At Penn State, there's nobody there to leave.

Everybody's a nightmare matchup for a team that is undersized, under-experienced, under-talented and under the gun to win another game before the year ends. But we'll show up, I imagine.

Beat Penn State!

Name the Michigan assistant coach we beat for the NIT championship.

I get why we're 2-7: two freshman posts, one of whom is 17 years old and neither of whom is really a post, 14 new players, no height, terrible FT shooting, etc. But why is Michigan so bad? Good height, great talent all over the court ...

This Day-kitsch or Doo-kuch or whatever his name is, is a doooooosh.

I mean, Brad Davison plays the game with little emotion, but he's a fucking psychopath who tries to injure the other team. But he's a hard-working, stone-faced white guy, so that's cool, I guess.

Is Kavas capable of putting up a little resistance in the paint? I know he can't move his feet, but we give up 5-6 inches with every post-up. Mack covering Johns was comical.

I get it, but if you're not going to win many games, celebrate the small victories. Games are, well, games.

Dakich: "Mack's team is terrible, they're not going to win many games, and he shouldn't have any joy in his game." Hey, Dan: GFY.

Defensive juggernaut Iowa holds Wisconsin to 29 percent shooting on 8-of-28 from 3-point land. (FWIW, Iowa was 3-of-20, so those loud noises I heard coming from just west of my house were the rims meeting balls at Carver-Rockeye Arena.)

Thor doesn't qualify yet as a Big Ten leader for FG percentage or 3-point percentage because he apparently hasn't taken enough shots. But if he did, he would be first in 3-point percentage at 45.9. The current leader is OSU's Duane Washington at 42.9. Thor has 74 attempts in 20 games, or 3.7 per game. All others in the top 10 have averaged at least 5 per game. Thor is also our only 50+ percent FG shooter, and along with Charlie Easley, our only 70+ percent FT shooter. He's third on the team in rebounds (4.5 rpg) behind Ouedraogo and Mack.

I hope the team maintains a positive attitude throughout the losses. There are at least a couple wins left in them. Also, good for Rutgers. I know they went to the Final Four back in 70-something, but think about their NCAA drought. Their fans deserve a good thing or two. I mean, they live in Jersey, for dog's sake.

Beat the Wolverines!

There goes our at-large NCAA bid. Gotta win the tournament now.