Rush The Court

Finals week is the absolute worst. You’re stuck at the library through the wee hours of the morning, cramming information that you may or may not have ever seen before into your brain and trying to memorize it for 24 to 48 hours (what, you didn’t study like that?). On top of that, there is legitimately no watchable college basketball throughout the week, which is actually way worse for people like myself who aren’t in college anymore. Only five Big Ten teams played a game this week, and the rest of them have not played since last weekend. It was a super boring week for almost all college basketball fans, and the Big Ten was no different. The Layup Line is back but on a small diet for week five due to all the inactivity around the nation; it promises to eat and drink its way through Christmas Eve next week and come back strong.

REPORT CARD

A: Northwestern Wildcats

Sure, Northwestern annihilated two of the 12 worst teams in the country (actually) this week, but they looked damn good doing it and earned themselves a promotion to the no. 45 ranking in the Bilas Index. Many pundits (like myself) were high on Northwestern heading into the season but low on them when Vic Law was lost for the season. They have yet to beat a ranked team, and their strength of schedule to date is incredibly weak (338^th nationally), but wins are wins. They’ve proven they have the experience and balance to win games they should (see Virginia Tech and Missouri) as well as stay competitive in games they probably shouldn’t (see North Carolina). In what looks to be a fairly weak Big Ten this year, the Wildcats could have some prime opportunities to do something special.

B: Malcolm Hill

Much like most of the Big Ten teams, Ilinois only played one game this week against dreadful Illinois-Chicago and only won by four. Take Malcolm Hill out of the equation and they’d likely have lost this game, the Yale game and the Chicago State game. The junior’s length and athleticism make him a mismatch for a lot of opposing guards, and the play of him and Kendrick Nunn have impressively kept this team floating just above water. Hill can certainly stand to improve his shot, but the “underrated-ness” of his all-around game cannot go unstated. He’s third in the Big Ten in points (17.1) and free throw attempts (65), sixth in steals (1.45) and 12^th in assists (3.9). Here’s to hoping Hill can help the Illini win their last two games of the non-conference season (South Dakota and Missouri) so they can enter conference play on a hot five-game win streak.

F: Rutgers Scarlet Knights

It’s week five of the Layup Line, and you have yet to read a damn thing about Rutgers basketball… until now. Not that you care, of course. After losing four games in a five game stretch, the Scarlet Knights took a 34-point beating on Saturday at rock solid George Washington, finishing with a measly 49 points. You’d be hard pressed to look around the country and find many offenses as bad as or worse than this one. They’ve scored less than 60 points in six of 10 games and have lost by an average of 15.7 points in their six losses. This is an absolutely awful team that will be lucky to win three games in conference play. Rutgers fans (what?): Feel free to continue your Rip Van Winkle ways. See you never.

TWO THINGS I LIKE

1. Caleb Swanigan’s Chances of B1G Freshman POY: Quick, who leads the Big Ten in rebounding? If you guessed A.J. Hammons or Isaac Haas because they’re, you know, both over seven feet, then consider yourself an idiot – the title of this point should’ve been enough. The obvious answer is the other very large Purdue Boilermaker, Caleb Swanigan. Now, I’m not one to analyze the art of the box out since I make no effort myself to box out during pickup ball, but this guy can really do whatever he pleases when that ball goes up. He’s a monster on the glass – could be one of the best college rebounders in my time – and he’s only a freshman. Swanigan is averaging 15.0 points, 10.3 rebounds and 4.3 assists in his past three games, recorded his fourth double-double of the season last week, earned his second Big Ten Freshman of the Week award in only five weeks and is, without question, the front-runner for Big Ten Freshman Player of the Year. Can’t wait to see him go to work against his rugged conference opponents.
2. Michigan State’s Unselfish Offense: This week’s near unanimous #1 ranked team didn’t see much action this week, so let’s take a second to drool over their beautiful offense and teamwork. The Spartans currently own the best assist rate in the nation, assisting on 80 percent of its made field goals. Denzel Valentine is second nationally in that category with a ridiculous 45.7 percent assist rate – crazy to think that a 6’5” point forward is assisting on nearly half of his team’s shots, but can’t say it’s surprising. What a team Tom Izzo has again in East Lansing. Can’t say that’s surprising, either.

TWO THINGS I DON’T LIKE

1. Bo Ryan’s Retirement: There’s a lot out of great material out there on Bo Ryan and what he means to the Wisconsin basketball program, starting with this great piece by my colleague, Brendan Brody, so I’ll keep this short and sweet. Growing up in the suburbs of Chicago and attending college at a Big Ten school, I’ve been following Big Ten basketball all my life. Since 2001 (Ryan’s first season at the helm), we’ve seen great coaches like Tom Izzo, Bill Self, Gary Williams, Thad Matta and John Beilein come, go or stay. Bo Ryan was as good as any. He had a vision for how he wanted his team to operate, and he fulfilled that vision to a tee. Everything was about teaching his under-recruited players how to play efficient team basketball in his system. Take smart shots, spread the floor through great shooting, avoid turnovers, and play defense with your feet and not your body to avoid fouls. This was the name of Bo Ryan’s game. For 15 years, it was beautiful to watch basketball be played in Madison. Slow, boring and methodical? Sure. But as beautiful as can be. Never once did a Ryan-coached Badger team not earn a bid to the NCAA tournament, and never once did any of those teams not finish in the top four of the Big Ten standings. Although beating Duke in the NCAA Championship game in April would have been the cherry on top of an absolutely brilliant coaching career, Ryan can still ride off into the sunset with his head held high. Greg Gard surely has his work cut out for him this season, but Ryan has been coaching basketball in the state of Wisconsin since 1976. Something tells me he’ll still be around the Badger program, in some capacity, for a long time.
2. Michigan’s Lack of Point Guard Depth: Derrick Walton, whose legs are actually made of papier-mâché, came back Tuesday from a two-week hiatus due to a sprained ankle and looked decent – 16 points on 5/10 shooting, only one turnover but zero assists. Problem is, he had to play 34 minutes, and will continue to do so, as there is literally no other true point guard on this roster who can play meaningful minutes. The loss of Spike Albrecht, who announced that he was ending his basketball career due to an ongoing hip injury, will hurt a lot more than people think. And if Walton happens to go down again, which is highly likely given his track record, the Wolverines will be in deep trouble – Caris LeVert can’t do everything (or can he?). This is definitely something to keep an eye on as we head into the new year.

POMEROY RATINGS

With virtually zero meaningful games played all week in college basketball, the KenPom ratings had minimal fluctuation. Taking the week off. They’ll be back next round.