2011-12 Season Tipoff: The Northern Illinois Huskies

…unless fun just means another exhibition-type game to blow out opponents so that our walk-ons can play double-digit minutes.

Look, for the last 4 yrs, our record is 107-33 and MSU 105-40. But yet, when it comes to who’s the better team, I’d bet the vast majority of the country would say MSU. This is the perception, sad but true. It’s like asking the general public whose QBs have more yards in the NFL: Purdue of ND? We know the real fact but we also know that a lot of folks would say ND. And this matters b/c perception is what the 5-star recruits (heck, actually it applies to pretty much all teenagers) based on when they decide which school to go to.

And part of that has to do with the fact that we are playing Northern Illinois and MSU is playing UNC in CA and then in three days they are playing Duke in NY. It’s crazy schedule and A LOT of travel, and they might get blown out badly, but that’s what generates buzz! That’s what caught the attention of basketball fans! That’s what excites recruits to come play on your team. If you want to be considered the best, you have to play the best (and win a fair amount).

And for crying out loud this is the Mackey dedication game. It’s supposed to be a BIG thing that we might not have another kind of game like this in our life time. We got a John Wooden-coached UCLA team last time, and now, what, a Northern Illinois that doesn’t even have a winning record?!!? Oh, I understand that teams aren’t willing to come to play us on our court even if we offered to go back next year. Hey, if that’s the case, sweeten the offer and at some point, some decent team will come and play! This is a perfect opportunity to generate some buzz and publicity to attract top recruits, and yet we blow it on Northern Illinois that would be nothing but just like an exhibition game.

The schedule this year is set, but there should be really no excuse for next year. Painter demanded and got top money and top resources. Now I demand top-level competition for our team. Especially with the Class of 2012 and 13, we should take on the mentality that we’ll play anyone anywhere. We need to get more national exposure or else people will still get the perception that MSU or OSU is the face of the B1G (no, it should be us, who has won the most games, the most B1G champion and has winning records against anyone – but does any casual fan know?). Until we do that, until we get away from the Northern Illinois to the likes of UNC and Duke we’ll still be forever viewed as the “other” school in Indiana (or worse, ppl don’t even know where we are).

Last I heard is that until one guy steps up (or actually, takes a step back and agree to redshirt), Painter is just gonna keep both on the bench to save their redshirt. This sounds a crazy lose-lose situation, as the frosh won’t get to play when they are the ones who need the playing time and experience the most. By having no-one red-shirt, this is essentially like having TWO guys red-shirted.

1. With regards to developing the bench, I had that same thought last year as you but I think Painter once mentioned that his philosophy is to award PT based on how well you do it practice. So unless you step up and play very good D in practice, he is not gonna award you PT to “develop” you. Well, he’s the coach and that’s his way.

2. The fast-breaking lineup would be great if we have at least one of the athletic forsh available. Sounds like at this point no one gets the official red-shirt and so both are now getting the unofficial red-shirt (i.e. neither are playing to preserve their red-shirt).