Interesting Strategy, Coach(Erik Scheponik)
INDIANA vs. MSU from Saturday
Not sure if I should downgrade the Indiana Hoosiers or not. If I do, it won’t be because of their overall talent level which I still have a lot of faith in, it will be because of possible dissension between Kelvin Sampson and a couple of his seniors. Up 10 at the half in East Lansing, and already without the services of PG Earl Calloway, Sampson played starting guards Jr.. Ratliff and 5th yr.Sr Wilmont (both very good, battle-tested players) about 5 and 7 minutes respectively in the 2nd half. He played a walk-on guard over both of them. Their benching proved insurmountable, as the Hoosiers blew not only a 10 point lead, but failed to cover as +6.5-7 pt. dogs.
In the post-game comments, Sampson said that 2nd half turnovers absolutely killed them. Well, Ratliff and Wilmont combined for 2 turnovers. Wilmont did not shoot well, but is a good defensive player, and Ratliff was 4-8 in the first half with 2 threes. I give IU a very good chance of winning this game if those two are not benched. Not sure what went down, but can’t believe that Sampson handled this correctly. Will be interesting to follow.
Erik Scheponik
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