ESPNdeux

Murray getting away with a ton of contact the last few minutes.

Fair point regarding the zone comment. Maybe I should've said they play zones differently, rather than more... And honestly I don't think that the lesser shooting has anything to do with the amount of physical play. I think it has to do with the strategy and style of play. I'm not claiming to be an expert. I'm just going off of what I've seen in my personal experiences...

Is my thinking accurate on this one... the 10th was always at the Fieldhouse until the one year it was moved BoKY Center with the 9th? Was that when the decision was made to move it around? Or is that even accurate?

I've watched both games (KY and IN) the past few years, and spoken to quite a few people about it as well. Here are the conclusions that have come up... You all tell me if you agree. 1. Kentucky officials, in general, allow more to go on in terms of bumping, hand checking, and generally allowing teams to 'muck it up.' Freedom of movement is allowed in Indiana. It's more of 'the beautiful game' there, where as you'll get far more 'rock fights' in KY. 2. Indiana has proportionally more shooters than KY. The best teams in Indiana have 4 to 5 kids on the floor that can shoot it from beyond the arc at all times, and almost always the ball handling guards. A premium is placed on shooting the ball in IN. In KY, far more teams have the 'designated shooter(s)' whereas you are more likely to see hard drives to the rim. (This aids in that theory about more physical play in Kentucky) 3. The above lead to some different coaching style changes. A lot of subtle things... Indiana coaches are more likely to play some zone as they want to protect against foul trouble and it's harder to guard without picking up a few. Have talked to a lot of KY coaches that like 'force middle to the help' whereas in Indiana they like to force baseline to avoid the kickouts to opposite side shooters. Basically, it's a lot of things that stem from two basic theories... Indiana has more shooters, and Kentucky is allowed to be more physical defensively. I may be struck down as a Kentuckian for saying this, but generally the quality of basketball is a bit better overall in Indiana, and it can simply be explained by population... More to choose from usually will get you better athletes in the long run. And this rule generally applies to the top and bottom of the spectrum. The best teams are usually a little better than the best in KY, and the lower level teams in IN are just a little better usually than the lower level teams in KY. The key word here being usually. The That said, nothing that Indiana offers compares with the Sweet 16. Though taking in a day of regionals in IN is good basketball, you only see 4 teams, and the format changes the way teams play (game in the morning, game at night).... I actually think the most exciting tournaments in Indiana are the sectional tournaments, which would be the equivalent to districts here in KY. Those of you that see both sides... What do you think?

It's easy to judge from the outside.... Sometimes kids only motivation for being in school, and thus graduating is to play basketball (or said other sport)... It's not always clear cut in every situation... Maybe some kids get too many chances, but some coaches have to make tougher decisions than others...

Villa built a 24 point halftime lead before Dayton came charging back in the 2nd half. Schutzman had 26 for Villa. Spicker had an impressive game. Didn't score much but was all over the floor doing other things. Had a ton of boards from the point guard position. McDaniel had 15 second half points to lead Daytons comeback, and Garcia got hot late for 13. Villa gets a few days off before going to Bellevue Tuesday. Dayton has to regroup quickly as they get Carrol County at home Saturday.

All in all it actually sounds like Dayton was fairly competitive for a DIII school vs a regional contender. Do the Devils have the horses to make a run in DIII this year?

Who publishes this poll?

Whitlock's article is crap. Its so easy for everyone to judge the decision by Andy because it didn't work. But if you're a confident NFL QB with a 4 time pro bowler against a 3rd string corner with no safety help over top, you're going to take the shot. The problem wasn't the decision. It was the execution. If he throws it 5 yards farther, it's a TD or PI. He didn't, so the execution, that's on him. But the decision, no way. It was obvious.

Here's a question for you all that I was discussing with some people... Is this a 'big game'? A few I was talking too said for sure this could be a defining game for the Bengals because of the feeling it would provoke and what it could 'prove.' Others pointed to the Green Bay game a few years ago as proof that each game is only one game and a microcosm of the season. They also said it's not even a division or conference game. Me personally, I think that on a national scale a W would do wonders for them being taken seriously. But if they lose it's certainly not a season ender by any means.

It has to be Watt... He takes over a game from the defensive end position like few ever have. And then he decided to contribute on offense and special teams occasionally as well.

I would guess we don't see him for awhile now with the two injuries so close and because of Moore's play.

What I just read equates to... "I'm losing the knee down argument, I'll talk about their conference affiliation and bad defense now...."

To be quite frank, unless you are A) a coach for UC, or B) a coach for Memphis, then I don't believe you had access to coaches film. Neither does anyone else. Any in all of this 'coaches film' nonsense, I believe we've forgotten that, unless I am thinking incorrectly, the referees have the same tv angles that we saw. They sure as heck aren't streaming the team footage to the replay booth anyways.

C'mon man... Every analyst on social media is baffled by the call but somehow you found his knee 'grazed the turf'... Must be one of those UC haters...

Fixed that

If I'm wearing the stripes, I have unnecessary roughness on 44 Red. Everybody loves a pancake block but not 5 yards off the sideline.... I don't really see anything from 32 white that warrants anything... That's just me...

How does it not?! Clearly, without a system that produces pieces that people want to trade for, then we wouldn't have the pieces we had! I don't see how that is hard to understand! And your argument is now changing. First it was the players weren't good enough, the system wasn't good enough, and now it's that the players didn't actually win anything anyways so it shouldn't matter. Pick an argument! This is why I am selective on who to and not to talk baseball with... You either get it, or you don't...

Stubbs and Hanigan were brought up in the Reds system. Hanigan was a particularly impressive development, as he was undrafted. Phillips was brought here via a trade for Jeff Stevens. He was a product of the Reds farm system. Choo came over in a trade for Drew Stubbs, Didi Gregorius, and another Reds prospect. All of them were members of the Reds farm system. I believe Hernandez was a FA signing. So. You have that one.

Basically the entire team is home grown... The entire core of the team that went to the playoffs 3 times was homegrown outside about 2 players... The Cubs, Astros, Indians, Pirates, and Royals were terrible for years before starting a run. Similarly, the Reds did the same thing. It's the cycle that small market clubs go through (the Cubs being the outlier to 'small market' because they mismanaged their money for years).

When did he touch him?

To be quite frank about it, as a whole, we wholeheartedly ALWAYS look directly at the player when something like this happens and blame him. When in reality, what happened last night was Welke had a terrible night calling balls and strikes, he blew a strike call on a ball that was 3 inches off the plate, then he got upset because he has a previous beef with Votto. THEN, when Votto tried to do the right thing and compose his thoughts when asking for time, he denied him time, like he was a little leaguer rather than a guy hitting .400 since the ASG. Now, Votto will be the one that is looked at in a negative light and the one that has to answer the questions from the media, while Welke will get on his plane to the next series and ride back into anonymity. Honestly, it was a bullheaded move by Welke and Votto told him about it. I guess Welke needs reminder that no one is here to see him, because he sure decided he was going to be the show last night. I fully, wholeheartedly 100% support Joey. He didn't spit on him. He didn't do anything except get in his face and tell him what he thought of him, and I don't blame him a bit. Bill Welke was flat out wrong, and he should be the one suspended. We can't just assume the one with the most power is the one that is always right.

How are field conditions Mustang?

Sounds like a lot of momentum for the Breds

Is this one at Bellevue or Brossart? If at Bleelvue, be prepared for an absolute mud pit. Unless something has recently changed, field takes days to drain, and will all that rain it will look like mud wrestling.