ADVERTISEMENT

Iowa at #5 and other BT, BTT, and NCAA tourney comments

mushroomgod_1

All-American
Apr 9, 2012
8,160
8,667
113
Just some random comments to throw out there at season's end....

--I've almost entirely watched BT teams this year......I really like to watch Iowa, and in particular Garza & Joe W., but aren't there some other teams out there better than Iowa for #5? Seems more like a #10 team. They're going to be the #2 seed that all the experts pick to be an upset victim. It appears that Wieskamp's injury won't keep him out long.......if he doesn't play in the BTT, does Iowa fall to a 3?

--Speaking of Garza........he's gets a hell of a lot of friendly calls from BT refs. Not so much on the O end, but defensively and on the boards. NCAA tourney refs might not be so accommodating....on the other hand, Garza will be a load to handle for teams that haven't played Iowa before. I feel like Iowa will be a tough team for other teams to prepare for, so that kind of mitigates my opinion that they appear to be over-rated and are ripe for an upset.

--Speaking of guys who get a lot of calls.........for some reason Aaron Henry gets a hell of a lot of touch fouls, both when driving and when pulling up in the lane. I think it's because Izzo intimidates the hell out of the refs, and AH is the closest thing they have to an AA.

--No word yet on Brook's injury.....it appeared to be more serious than Wieskamp's. I don't think they win the BTT without Brooks playing. Again, I hope he's back for the NCAAs.

--Anybody seen Nebraska recently? Amazing that they immediately got better when Allen left the team (why didn't that happen for us with DeVonte?). With him gone, McGowens and Kobe Webster have picked up their games. I'm really surprised Fred H didn't see the problem and do something about it before the season was shot.

--Finally, how about Maryland? Before the season, a lot of posters (including me) talked about Maryland having been an under-achieving team the last few years. We said Mark Turgeon wasn't much of a coach. Well....he certainly outcoached CAM this year. He got a lot out of those two 6'8" grad transfers who looked like meh prospects. To me, the MD & IU situations go to show when you have a single player (TJD, Romeo) who is or appears to be some much better than the rest of the team, you're likely to have chemistry issues unless you 1. have a strong-willed coach (eg...Alford & RMK, Henry & Izzo) or 2. a selfless star (eg..Garza). Not slamming TJD, but his personality wasn't the best fit for what is otherwise a limited roster.
 
Last edited:
Surprised no mention of Illinois? If a B10 team is going to win it all, it's going to be Illinois. Ayo is the best guard in America and Cockburn is an absolute load. They have just enough complimentary pieces to cut down the nets. I know this is the strongest the B10 has been in years top to bottom, but think you're going to see some disappointment.

Michigan at times has looked unstoppable and then this last week happened. Wagner and Livers can be as good as anyone in the country on any given night but they really like a consistent go to player. Wisconsin and Ohio State are wildly overrated in my opinion and without anyone taller than 6'8, Ohio State seems ripe for a first weekend flameout, especially if shots aren't falling. Defensively they struggle big time.

Iowa can shoot themselves into the F4 or lose to a 7/10 who can match them point for point. Neither would shock me but betting on Fran with the season on the line is something I'd err on the side of caution. Purdue is a potential match-up nightmare for someone, but this is the least impressive shooting team I've seen from a Painter-coached team in some years. Guards, not bigs, win tournament games and Purdue's guards are going to need to get hot from the perimeter.

The month of March belongs to Izzo and his team is playing its basketball all year. I see all the makings of a run to the S16 as a 10 seed and then after that all bets are off. Have to wonder if Izzo is dreading the B10 tournament as a run to the semi's could push MSU into the dreaded 8/9 line with a potential game between Gonzaga or Baylor looming.
 
  • Like
Reactions: kkott
--Finally, how about Maryland? Before the season, a lot of posters (including me) talked about Maryland having been an under-achieving team the last few years. We said Mark Turgeon wasn't much of a coach. Well....he certainly outcoached CAM this year. He got a lot out of those two 6'8" grad transfers who looked like meh prospects. To me, the MD & IU situations go to show when you have a single player (TJD, Romeo) who is or appears to be some much better than the rest of the team, you're likely to have chemistry issues unless you 1. have a strong-willed coach (eg...Alford & RMK, Henry & Izzo) or 2. a selfless star (eg..Garza). Not slamming TJD, but his personality wasn't the best fit for what is otherwise a limited roster.

Maryland likely deserves to be in given their resume and Turg definitely deserves some COY recognition but they've had two extremely bad losses to end the year and have a rematch with MSU in the BTT. Lose to MSU and finish 15-13 on a 3 game skid I wouldn't feel as comfortable as I was a week ago. Still a good coaching job nonetheless given losing his top 2 players. This is only the 2nd year Turg has finished outside the top 4 in the B10 standings. I don't think anyone has ever accused him of being a bad regular season coach.
 
Maryland likely deserves to be in given their resume and Turg definitely deserves some COY recognition but they've had two extremely bad losses to end the year and have a rematch with MSU in the BTT. Lose to MSU and finish 15-13 on a 3 game skid I wouldn't feel as comfortable as I was a week ago. Still a good coaching job nonetheless given losing his top 2 players. This is only the 2nd year Turg has finished outside the top 4 in the B10 standings. I don't think anyone has ever accused him of being a bad regular season coach.


Those two losses were real head scratchers after they trashed Rutgers & MSU. I really feel like they mentally let down after they beat MSU....like they felt they had the tourney bid cinched. I do feel like they'll get in if they lose in a very close game with MSU. If they get creamed, they may be out...last impression and all.

I heard a commentator mention that MSU leads the BT in fouling, and they certainly deserve it. Imo, they get away with a lot of crap on D and on the boards. And, conversely, Henry gets a ton of calls. So I'm hoping MD beats them. Should be a very good game.
 
  • Like
Reactions: F.Fletch
Surprised no mention of Illinois? If a B10 team is going to win it all, it's going to be Illinois. Ayo is the best guard in America and Cockburn is an absolute load. They have just enough complimentary pieces to cut down the nets. I know this is the strongest the B10 has been in years top to bottom, but think you're going to see some disappointment.

Michigan at times has looked unstoppable and then this last week happened. Wagner and Livers can be as good as anyone in the country on any given night but they really like a consistent go to player. Wisconsin and Ohio State are wildly overrated in my opinion and without anyone taller than 6'8, Ohio State seems ripe for a first weekend flameout, especially if shots aren't falling. Defensively they struggle big time.

Iowa can shoot themselves into the F4 or lose to a 7/10 who can match them point for point. Neither would shock me but betting on Fran with the season on the line is something I'd err on the side of caution. Purdue is a potential match-up nightmare for someone, but this is the least impressive shooting team I've seen from a Painter-coached team in some years. Guards, not bigs, win tournament games and Purdue's guards are going to need to get hot from the perimeter.

The month of March belongs to Izzo and his team is playing its basketball all year. I see all the makings of a run to the S16 as a 10 seed and then after that all bets are off. Have to wonder if Izzo is dreading the B10 tournament as a run to the semi's could push MSU into the dreaded 8/9 line with a potential game between Gonzaga or Baylor looming.

I think I agree with you about Michigan & Illinois, even putting aside issues with Brook's knee. I think the keys for them are Frazier & Miller, both of whom appear to be trending up. Ayo & Cockburn are good, but not good enough if Frazier & Miller & Miller are off. I frankly feel that Illinois has not yet met it's potential, with the #1 reason being less than expected production from Frazier. Losing Ayo for a game or two might work to their advantage, however, because it put the onus on Frazier & Miller to step up, and they did.

As for Michigan......I do feel that they are suddenly vulnerable somehow. They would miss Brooks a ton, obviously, but so much of their success has been about good vibes/good chemistry, and losing Brooks for a short time (hopefully) and losing to MSU after trashing them earlier.....not the way you want to enter the BTT.
Dickinson & Livers are studs, and so is Wagner, most of the time. But he disappears sometimes, especially on the boards, and Smith is highly skilled, but can be shut down by a quick defender with length. So...they seem to be a little shaky right now, but they remain a FF & NC contender if Brooks is ok. Assuming Brooks is healthy, Wagner is the wild card.

I agree OSU is over-rated as a FF contender, but I don't see them losing in the first WE. I think they'll at least get to the Sweet 16. They are a tough-mined bunch.

I agree that Iowa is wildly unpredictable. IF JW is healthy I could see them getting to the final 8. But they definitely could lose in the second game of the 1st round. I feel like Bohannon is the wild card, one way or the other.
 
Maryland likely deserves to be in given their resume and Turg definitely deserves some COY recognition but they've had two extremely bad losses to end the year and have a rematch with MSU in the BTT. Lose to MSU and finish 15-13 on a 3 game skid I wouldn't feel as comfortable as I was a week ago. Still a good coaching job nonetheless given losing his top 2 players. This is only the 2nd year Turg has finished outside the top 4 in the B10 standings. I don't think anyone has ever accused him of being a bad regular season coach.
I cannot believe that IU beat Iowa twice, let alone much of anybody in the Big Ten. Archie is awful and I fully expect another lame effort on Thursday.
 
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT