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What do you got us in the B1G?

Cavanagh.6

Benchwarmer
May 30, 2019
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I say 6th.

MSU, then in no particular order Maryland, ILL, OSU, Wisconsin. Us and MI fight it out for 6th. Then we draw the dreaded 8 seed in the tourney.

I really wanna see this team with no stars, but a bunch of solid players(I was not a Romeo fan) A good coach should do well. Show me something Arch!
 
I'm not sure yet until I get a look at teams, but on paper MSU, Maryland and OSU stand out. Teams like Purdue, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa and Penn State are sort of wild card. Rutgers won't be easy.

I think Wisconsin has to show that an interior presence, either by Reuvers or their transfer big guy, will have to show that they can score the way they did inside out, as last year. If they can't score and draw doubles, King and Pritzl and Davison will be much less effective.

Michigan has to figure out a new system. I am still skeptical of Howard as a coach, and will be until he proves otherwise.

Illinois could make a big jump if they can defend.

Purdue, in my opinion, has tons of questions, but their defense should keep games close. If Newman and Hunter step up, they will compete with most teams.

OSU looks to be pretty loaded. Maryland has a ton of talent, as does MSU.

For IU to make the tourney someone has to emerge as a leader, and they have to play better than the sum of their individual talents. And the have to hit shots.
 
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I don't know but IU's good enough to make the NCAA tournament.

Outside of MSU it's a projected down year in conference and that was the only team we could beat last year.
 
I don't know but IU's good enough to make the NCAA tournament.

Outside of MSU it's a projected down year in conference and that was the only team we could beat last year.
How many teams from the Big Ten will be in the tournament? 6? 7? Probably 7 at most. Yes, it seems plausible for us to place high enough. Winning one or two marquee nonconference games will be important.
 
It's MSU and then about 8 to 10 teams.

People are high on OSU because of their freshman. They should be high on their future because of them...not the present. One will probably be really productive and two will probably struggle.

The interesting thing about Purdue that no one is talking about is they lost their offensive coach who was really, really good (per Jordan Sperber) as he took a head coaching job. Purdue had a really strong, adaptive offense based on it's personnel which Painter never showed before and few teams have....so this guy was a huge loss to their coaching staff supposedly.

I gotta think the magic at Michigan left with Beline. Wagner is supposed to be a potential stud recruit but...it's Howard's first go as a brand new coach with a worse roster than last year.

Wisconsin doesn't scare me.

Illinois had a good two weeks around a disasterous season. I know Ayo is a returning five star and the roster is improved but not sure it's improved enough to make that big of a jump.

Anyway like I said, it's MSU than anyone's guess. We could finish 2nd to 12th.

I like our roster, it's size, it's two deep with closely skilled players (Davis-Brunk, TJD-Race, Hunter-Smith, Green-Durham, Rob-Green with Anderson and Franklin the wildcards which should lead to less valleys, drop in skill level as we sub. Pretty much all are 4 stars).

I'm going to say 5th and let my bias error on the high side.
 
5th
Make NCAA Tournament
Win some games in BTT for a change.
 
6th and in the Dance...
But it's crazy early...One or two injuries for other teams or US !
Then who know's ?
 
How many teams from the Big Ten will be in the tournament? 6? 7? Probably 7 at most. Yes, it seems plausible for us to place high enough. Winning one or two marquee nonconference games will be important.
Here is the Palm view of who is in and who is not. Probably way too early.

Linky
 
To be successful this season the upper classmen are going to have to improve lots more year-over-year this year than they have in the past and we're going to need significant contributions from a least a couple of the newcomers. Offense is the area for concern. Its extremely difficult to size up this team on paper. I'm just hoping we can at least make it interesting.
 
Purdue is playing very well with their talent. I wish IU was somewhat predictable, but a long ways from even that...
 
5 main returnees, 2 of whom should automatically be better (Davis and Phinisee).
4 unknowns who could help vault IU's chances: Anderson, Thompson, Brunk, and especially Hunter.
1 likely new starter ready to contribute- Jackson-Davis.

Smith, Durham, and Green all have their flaws but they could potentially have solid years and certainly give IU a solid core of returning possible starters. They can score and they can defend how Miller wants them to.

It is a season where unknowns and intangibles will play a role, and WILL shape the future of IU basketball.

There was a recent tweet: "IU fans, don't sleep on Jerome Hunter this year". I don't think anyone is sleeping. More likely, we are hoping he is George Gervin.
 
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In basketball? I'd say 5th or 6th. In command of the English language based on your topic? I'd say dead last.

I don't remember making this thread. I was higher then the Swiss Alps last night. We agree on the 5th or 6th in basketball!
 
I say 6th.

MSU, then in no particular order Maryland, ILL, OSU, Wisconsin. Us and MI fight it out for 6th. Then we draw the dreaded 8 seed in the tourney.

I really wanna see this team with no stars, but a bunch of solid players(I was not a Romeo fan) A good coach should do well. Show me something Arch!

I wish I could say I was hopeful. But I'd be lying. I'd guess in the 7-10 range.

And I also have to say that it's depressing to see a post from an IU fan saying these two things:

1) A good coach should do well
2) I say 6th

6th isn't "well" -- it's middling. So either you have a different definition than I do of what "doing well" is, or you don't think Archie is a "good coach."

Either way, it's a sad commentary.
 
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1 - MSU - hate them but clear pick at the top

2 - OSU - deepest team Holtmann has had and he's proven to get the most out of his teams so far.

3 - Maryland has as much talent as Ohio st if not more but I'll take Holtmann over Turgeon every single day

4/5 - Purdue/Michigan - both lose a lot of scoring but bring back some very good upperclassman defenders and some other players who should pick up the scoring with increased roles. I'd take Purdue over Michigan because of the coaching right now.

6 - Illinois - feels low for the talent they have but they actually need to prove they are in the top half of the league again.

(7-10) - I could see any order of IU, Iowa, penn st, and Wisconsin happening. I think 1 or 2 could make the tournament and depending on that another 1 or 2 make the NIT.

11 - Rutgers - if they kept everyone hey could have then it likely would've been the best Rutgers team since joining the big ten. It still could be but I don't see them being better than anyone above.

12 - Minnesota - I'm just not a fan of their current roster or staff.

13 - Northwestern - lost a lot off of the worst team in the league last year but it'll be hard to be worse than Nebraska in the conference.

14 - Nebraska - this team is going to be BAD
 
I wish I could say I was hopeful. But I'd be lying. I'd guess in the 7-10 range.

And I also have to say that it's depressing to see a post from an IU fan saying these two things:

1) A good coach should do well
2) I say 6th

6th isn't "well" -- it's middling. So either you have a different definition than I do of what "doing well" is, or you don't think Archie is a "good coach."

Either way, it's a sad commentary.

I've been watching a ton of old Arizona games and it's striking how similar the Miller brothers teams look from a style.

Sean Miller, as we know from the FBI stuff, has had a ton of five stars...but what's interesting is his offense, like Archie isn't really set up for one guy to dominate the ball.

He does wear you down defensively, tries to strike quickly in transition and tends to have a bunch of dudes scoring in double figures vs again, a dominant scorer.

It's our offense and it can get stagnant but...he's won a ton and was a constant top five team after a couple great showings at Xavier.

Before the FBI mess, Sean was the supposed favorite for UNC. That's pretty high praise.

I think a lot of people are upset simply because we had Romeo and didn't dominate. I don't think the Millers are best set to feature a star offensively.

Arizona had the #1 team in the country and the longest winning streak with the following lineup.

C - Tarczewski (seven foot goon, came in a five star and left undrafted).
PF - 6'9" Brandon Ashley (he couldn't shoot much out five to ten feet)
SF - 6'7" Stanley Johnson (came in as a top 3 recruit as a freshman. Averaged around 14 pts per game at 28 minutes. Surprisingly shot almost 40% from 3 as he is known in the NBA as a guy who can't shoot).
SG - 6'3" Gabe York (I believe he was an unranked guard out of HS)
PG - 6'1" TJ McConnell (I believe he was an unranked guard who transferred from Duquesne).

Their first guy off the bench was Hollis Jefferson. An athletic energy guy who subbed for Johnson or Ashley and was atrocious from 3 (around 20%).

Johnson was their leading scorer at a little less than 14 a game.

They had four guys in double figures (Johnson, Ashley, Hollis Jefferson and McConnell) and two guys just under 10 with York and Tarczewski.

If Hunter can play and is the real deal...I think we can compare structurally to that team.

Tarczewski to Davis/Brunk (beefy goon)
Ashley to TJD (shot blocking pogo stick who can't score from outside 10 feet)
Johnson/Jefferson to Hunter/Smith (6'7" rim runners)
York to Green (6'3" shooting guards)
McConnell to Rob (6'1" fast and steady points).

If you take ten points off that Arizona team's results (which is a massive handicap) you get around a 22-8 record going into the post season.

If things break well injury wise...I think that's doable.
 
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1 - MSU - hate them but clear pick at the top

2 - OSU - deepest team Holtmann has had and he's proven to get the most out of his teams so far.

3 - Maryland has as much talent as Ohio st if not more but I'll take Holtmann over Turgeon every single day

4/5 - Purdue/Michigan - both lose a lot of scoring but bring back some very good upperclassman defenders and some other players who should pick up the scoring with increased roles. I'd take Purdue over Michigan because of the coaching right now.

6 - Illinois - feels low for the talent they have but they actually need to prove they are in the top half of the league again.

(7-10) - I could see any order of IU, Iowa, penn st, and Wisconsin happening. I think 1 or 2 could make the tournament and depending on that another 1 or 2 make the NIT.

11 - Rutgers - if they kept everyone hey could have then it likely would've been the best Rutgers team since joining the big ten. It still could be but I don't see them being better than anyone above.

12 - Minnesota - I'm just not a fan of their current roster or staff.

13 - Northwestern - lost a lot off of the worst team in the league last year but it'll be hard to be worse than Nebraska in the conference.

14 - Nebraska - this team is going to be BAD

Heck, PU should be higher than that...I mean RP, Romeo and TJD would never have gotten off of your bench. At least that is what I read from the experts in WL.
 
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I've been watching a ton of old Arizona games and it's striking how similar the Miller brothers teams look from a style.

Sean Miller, as we know from the FBI stuff, has had a ton of five stars...but what's interesting is his offense, like Archie isn't really set up for one guy to dominate the ball.

He does wear you down defensively, tries to strike quickly in transition and tends to have a bunch of dudes scoring in double figures vs again, a dominant scorer.

It's our offense and it can get stagnant but...he's won a ton and was a constant top five team after a couple great showings at Xavier.

Before the FBI mess, Sean was the supposed favorite for UNC. That's pretty high praise.

I think a lot of people are upset simply because we had Romeo and didn't dominate. I don't think the Millers are best set to feature a star offensively.

Arizona had the #1 team in the country and the longest winning streak with the following lineup.

C - Tarczewski (seven foot goon, came in a five star and left undrafted).
PF - 6'9" Brandon Ashley (he couldn't shoot much out five to ten feet)
SF - 6'7" Stanley Johnson (came in as a top 3 recruit as a freshman. Averaged around 14 pts per game at 28 minutes. Surprisingly shot almost 40% from 3 as he is known in the NBA as a guy who can't shoot).
SG - 6'3" Gabe York (I believe he was an unranked guard out of HS)
PG - 6'1" TJ McConnell (I believe he was an unranked guard who transferred from Duquesne).

Their first guy off the bench was Hollis Jefferson. An athletic energy guy who subbed for Johnson or Ashley and was atrocious from 3 (around 20%).

Johnson was their leading scorer at a little less than 14 a game.

They had four guys in double figures (Johnson, Ashley, Hollis Jefferson and McConnell) and two guys just under 10 with York and Tarczewski.

If Hunter can play and is the real deal...I think we can compare structurally to that team.

Tarczewski to Davis/Brunk (beefy goon)
Ashley to TJD (shot blocking pogo stick who can't score from outside 10 feet)
Johnson/Jefferson to Hunter/Smith (6'7" rim runners)
York to Green (6'3" shooting guards)
McConnell to Rob (6'1" fast and steady points).

If you take ten points off that Arizona team's results (which is a massive handicap) you get around a 22-8 record going into the post season.

If things break well injury wise...I think that's doable.

I remember that team well. Johnson and and Ashley were amazing. Tarczewski was one of my favorites. I think we are a real poor mans version of that team at 3-5. They were much better IMO. guard play we are a bit better I would say.

I totally agree with you on Archies style, and it is designed not to have a star in it. These pieces should be great for Archie. Also a big reason why it is a make or brake year for me. I don't need to see anything after this if he cant win with this squad.
 
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Heck, PU should be higher than that...I mean RP, Romeo and TJD would never have gotten off of your bench. At least that is what I read from the experts in WL.
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I’ll go with 4th because it’s preseason and why the heck not. I also think that the expectations this year would be wildly different this year if IU managed to win one more stinking game and made the tournament last year. Making the tournament = oh they should be good. Missing the tournament = they suck out loud.
 
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Illinois is the wise guy choice to be the big turnaround team in the Big Ten, but I really think it will be IU. I think they should be in the hunt for the regular season title along with MSU, Maryland and maybe Ohio St.. Imo Purdue, Illinois, Iowa and Nebraska are maybe a year away, but Painter has been rolling lately, making it tough to discount the Boilers. I think Hoiberg brought in a bunch of talented guys which are likely to need a year together to get chemistry, but the two juco's could be studs.
 
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Illinois is the wise guy choice to be the big turnaround team in the Big Ten, but I really think it will be IU. I think they should be in the hunt for the regular season title along with MSU, Maryland and maybe Ohio St.. Imo Purdue, Illinois, Iowa and Nebraska are maybe a year away, but Painter has been rolling lately, making it tough to discount the Boilers. I think Hoiberg brought in a bunch of talented guys which are likely to need a year together to get chemistry, but the two juco's could be studs.
Hoiberg will win quickly. They won’t blame ‘locker room chemistry’ the way Archie’s Hoosiers lay it on...
 
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