Norm Peterson

The thing that bothers me about officiating in the Big Ten is that it is ALWAYS bad because it is ALWAYS so inconsistent. A play will go one way one game and then the other way the next. Even different in different halves of the same basketball game. For instance, offensive big man lowers his shoulder into chest of defensive player to create space and defensive player goes down. Pick one: It's EITHER a charge or a flop/no-call. But that very play might be called one way in one half and differently in the next half of the same game. Or moving screens. Ignored completely one half and then called scrupulously tight the next. And beyond the inconsistency is the lack of transparency/accountability. Coaches and players can't criticize the refs. Which is OK generally. But sometimes refs DESERVE to be called out. Who's gonna call them out in a publicly meaningful way if the coaches cannot? The Big Ten Network? LOL

My concern wasn't that he celebrates or over-celebrates. My concern was that, all season long, he has been getting his pocket picked and then looking at the refs and shrugging his shoulders like, hey, why didn't I get a call there? Every time he gets picked, every time he gets bumped, he's looking around for a ref to complain to. I'm sure other teams will see this and try to get into his head. He had 16 points in the first half against CU, gets T'd up at the end of the first half, and went 2 for 8 shooting in the 2nd half, including I think 3 missed layups, and O fer from 3-point range, and scored just 4 more points after halftime. Now, maybe I'm overthinking this and it's not really an issue. We'll see how things go from here. And I'll be happy to withdraw these comments if the progress of the season proves me wrong.

Respectfully, I think you missed the point. I'm noticing a season-long pattern. Not just the CU game. I even described a situation from the exhibition game where he seemed more concerned about not getting a call than the fact he rolled his ankle. It's something I think needs to be nipped in the bud while the season is still young. What you said about the other players in the CU game was certainly true. And I'm OK with you calling them out. But KT is not above reproach.

OK, I'm just going to throw this out there. Bash me if you want. I'm thinking maybe fame has gone to Keisei's head a little bit. Or something. Listen, you might be referred to as "The Japanese Steph Curry" but you're not actually Steph Curry and you're not going to get those calls. So this is the scenario: Keisei foolishly (some might say "selfishly") dribbles into trouble, gets stripped clean, and immediately looks to the refs and shrugs his shoulders like he should have gotten a call. Keisei, quit whining to the refs and just get back on D. This behavior has been going on for awhile now. When he rolled his ankle, he got up and limped down court gesturing at the officials like he was more mad about the no-call than in pain from getting hurt. Keisei, quit acting like a prima donna. Go back to being the lovable sharpshooter who played like it was just a joy to be on the floor. We liked that guy a lot.

nothing went right this game. Give me the shim-shams over that nonsense.

Did anyone see Ramel today? Did not see him. Did not see his dad behind the bench. What’s up?

Too bad Purdue won't be undefeated when we beat them. It would have been pretty cool to have two undefeated Big Ten teams going at each other that late in the season.

5 games to watch this weekend. 5 Games to Watch This Weekend: Kansas, UConn Tangle in Showdown | FanDuel Research

If I've learned nothing else over the last 10 years, I've learned that if something doesn't add up to an actuary, it doesn't add up.

No, he's gotta start a brawl with Creighton players or you don't pay him. Be firm about this. And it's gotta be when their starters are on the bench and he has to get them to leave the bench or it's no deal. Maybe tell him you'll pay him $200 for every CU starter that leaves the bench and walks out onto the floor during the brawl.

Have you considered paying a reserve on the Okie State team some serious beer money to start a bench-clearing brawl in the 2nd half?

So I'm watching Syracuse vs. LSU and Miami vs. Kentucky last night on the SEC vs. ACC challenge thing. And the thought that struck me, just going by the eyeball test, was we're better than basically every team I'm watching in these two games other than Kentucky, and Miami is probably close. And then I check their Kenpom rankings today and see that, yep, Kenpom pretty much agrees. Eyeball test still works.

I think we're pretty good, but I still went with 2-2 because ... 1) That's a murderer's row 4-game stretch; 2) Winning streaks are hard to sustain because you'll have an off-night every now and again and one of your opponents could get hot; 3) It's tough winning on the road even against inferior teams and KSU is certainly on par with us if not possibly a little better, so an awful lot would have to go our way to pick up that W.

Seems reasonable.