ISU Arch Madness Preview and Game Thread -- 3-4-2018

[Sloth84]

Yes. Give us a plus game out of two of those 3.....and we win. In particular we need krut to have a game to offset the isu height advantage. He needs to be aggressive at the basket and draw fouls. And porter will have to play him more than normal 20 minutes.

Let’s go boys. Let’s win this thing!!!!!!

[Sloth84]

As for game logistics. It won’t be a sell out so plenty of seats available. At the box and on the street. Likely to save some money by buying on the street. We saw a couple parking lots walking from the hotel to the game. $5 event parking. So cmon down. It’s easy.

[birdfan10]

Congratulations, best of luck to you all. You've got a great team that deserves to dance no matter the results this afternoon, but we have been there before.

Hope my Redbirds pull it off after failing 5 times in the past 8 years! Someone's long tournament drought ends today.

[RamblerSam]

So true about Krut. Don’t want to pick on him because he’s been critical to our success. Throughout the year he was a beast so often under the basket. Great pivot moves and a complete tenaciousness. He’s the one guy that seems rattled by the big stage and a Nationally televised game might not help (I’m assuming Custer’s poor play is cold and ankle related because I don’t think he rattles). Hope Krut shows all of us what he can do. He can be a true force. That said Audre better bring his A game because I think we will need that senior swagger. Let’s Do It!!!

[swellafelon]

Las Vegas has the Ramblers 7.5 - 8 point favorites. Honestly seems a tad too much to me.

[swellafelon]

This will NOT happen, but I think it would be a good move to play Avery some in the first half because he has fresh legs. At least give him a chance to see how he responds to the moment.

[RamblerSam]

Yep. That will not happen. You will never see Avery again.

Btw, a BIG tip of the cap to Marques Townes. Without him this last 2 games we are watching the semis and finals from RoPa. Thanks for stepping out on the big stage.

[swellafelon]

You will never see Avery again.

I'd put a little more stock in this prediction if it didn't come from the same guy who said Milton Doyle had "zero" chance of playing in the NBA.

viewtopic.php?f=12&t=1989&p=20089#p20089

[ToledoRambler]

I think Avery has talent but unless some guys foul out you won’t see him - and considering nobody has fouled out of a game all season, you’re looking at a 0.1 chance. He’s got talent but the last game is not the time to start tinkering with team chemistry on the court. I also wouldn’t want to see him go into the fame with an “I’m gonna prove to you why you should have played me” mentality. That’s dangerous and could quickly take away valuable possessions for us.

Krutwig proved in the Florida game he can step up in big game situations. If he struggles today it’s not because he’s a freshmen. He knows how to play and I expect him to have a great game.

Custer does not have to play like the player of the year to win this game. We saw that in the regular season finale. We just need him to take care of the ball, distribute, and hit the wide open shot when it’s there.

Looking forward to seeing what appears to be our teams favorite play where Donte comes off a back screen and Custer finds him in the air at the basket. It seems to work 50 percent of the time and we missed it yeRerday so all signs point to a successful one today. Watch for it.

Richardson could be the guy that wins this one for us. Redbirds are a turnover prone team and Ben needs to be the one to force their guards into making the same mistakes they’ve made all season. Also, if he takes another hit to the face in this game I’m calling BS and it will be tough to convince me otherwise that it’s anything less than intentional by the Redbirds to knock him out of the game.

[swellafelon]

I hope the Ramblers break out of their recent long range shooting slump and return to form. We were a poor 4-17 on 3s against UNI and a mediocre 9-27 against Bradley. If we could get back to shooting 40% on 3s against ISU (who plays a lot of zone) we should be in good shape.