Deepak is a writer for the Big Ten microsite of RTC. Follow him on Twitter for more about B1G hoops at @dee_b1g.

In four out of the seven Wolverines’ losses this season, Trey Burke has taken more than 20 shot attempts from the field, which limited his ability to involve his teammates. Wisconsin and Indiana in particular did a great job of keeping Burke away from the paint, forcing him to take tough shots from beyond the arc. Even though this recipe could be used by other teams in the NCAA Tournament during the next couple of weeks, it may not be successful because there are only a few guys in the nation that can keep Burke in front of them. Not only do the Hoosiers have Victor Oladipo – arguably the best on-ball defender in the country (along with Aaron Craft) – but they also have athletic big guys such as Cody Zeller and Christian Watford who defend the pick-and-roll very well. The Badgers on the other hand have Ben Brust who has been an underrated defender this season and he did an excellent job of pushing Burke into tough positions on the floor. Once you step out of the Big Ten, there are very few guards in the country who can contain Burke; which is the main reason why the Wolverines can still make it well past the Sweet Sixteen in the NCAA tournament.

There aren’t many guards in the nation who can lock down Trey Burke. (annarbor.com)

The potential top seeds outside of the Big Ten include Duke, Louisville, Georgetown, Kansas and Gonzaga. Assuming that Michigan won’t be in the same region as Indiana, it is likely that the Wolverines will square off against one of those teams during the second weekend. The Blue Devils’ backcourt of Seth Curry and Quinn Cook are not known for their defense and asking freshman guard Rasheed Sulaimon to guard the best player in the country is simply asking too much. Although the Hoyas play great team defense, none of their guards can defend Burke one-on-one at the top of the key. Brandon Paul torched Gonzaga’s backcourt for 35 points on the road which shows that a talented player like Burke could have his way against them. The Jayhawks on the other hand are a tough defensive team and Travis Releford will probably take the defensive assignment of the sophomore guard. Releford can use his size to push Burke out of the lane but it can be argued that he is not quick enough to hang with Burke on his crossovers. Rick Pitino’s Cardinals will throw a funky zone at them and force the Wolverines to beat them from beyond the arc, but John Beilein has the sharpshooters – Tim Hardaway Jr. (38% 3FG) and Nik Stauskas (45% 3FG) – who could catch on fire on any given night.

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Deepak is a writer for the Big Ten microsite of RTC. Follow him on Twitter for more about B1G hoops at @dee_b1g.

Nowadays, everybody is a bracketologist and the potential list of 68 teams changes every five minutes even if there aren’t any games going on. Just because predictions are everywhere doesn’t mean there shouldn’t be because that is one of the best aspects of conference tournament weekend. ESPN’s Joe Lunardi’s bracket as of mid-day on March 13 has seven Big Ten teams as locks in the NCAA Tournament and the eighth team is Iowa. The Hawkeyes are in the final eight left out of the field but they control their own destiny in Chicago this weekend because if they win two games in the Big Ten Tournament including a victory over Michigan State, their stock should clearly be on the rise by Selection Sunday.

Devyn Marble (middle) will need to dominate in the Big Ten tournament in order to secure a bid to the NCAA tournament.

At the risk of looking ahead to the second day of the tournament, Iowa first needs to beat Northwestern on Thursday. The Wildcats have had trouble scoring against the Hawkeyes, as they scored just 50 and 51 points respectively in their games during the season. Without Drew Crawford and Jarod Swopshire in the lineup, the Wildcats don’t pose any real threat offensively, so unless Devyn Marble and his teammates come out sluggish, they should be able to win the game. It is unlikely that Fran McCaffery will tolerate a slow start in the first game of the event considering the stakes. Assuming that his team can get past Northwestern, Iowa is somewhat lucky because they play in the bottom half of the bracket because the bye teams — Ohio State and Michigan State — can be beaten with a tendency by each to sometimes slump offensively.

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Deepak is a writer for the Big Ten microsite of RTC. Follow him on Twitter for more about B1G hoops at @dee_b1g.

If you tuned into ESPN’s Sportscenter last night or any sports channel for that matter, you would have seen “the roll” that gave Indiana its first outright Big Ten title in 20 years. After two months of arguably the most competitive regular season in recent history, Jordan Morgan’s tip-in rolled off the rim and the Hoosiers beat the Wolverines 72-71 to win the conference crown and probably lock up a #1 seed for the NCAA Tournament. The game will be remembered for the final play and Trey Burke’s missed free throw on the previous front end of a one-and-one, but the first 39 minutes featured two competitive teams that had scouted each other effectively and showed that they were ready for postseason basketball. The following are three key thoughts about one of the best games of the season.

Victor Oladipo may have gained a slight edge in the Player of the Year stakes against Trey Burke on Sunday.

1. Once again, the Hoosiers forced Burke to beat them with his jumper: After two games against Burke, the Hoosiers’ Victor Oladipo has essentially written the book about how to make Burke one-dimensional — take away his dribble penetration and make him beat you with his jumper. Burke has averaged about 14 field goal attempts throughout the season but in both games against Indiana, he has taken 24 and 20 shots, respectively. Sure, Burke averaged 22.5 PPG in those two but he seems to be out of rhythm when he can’t drive to the basket to get his wings — Glenn Robinson and Nik Stauskas — active and involved in the offense. Oladipo and even Yogi Ferrell during certain possessions played excellent defense against the pick-and-roll, challenging Burke to drain shots from beyond the arc. John Beilein’s offense needs the wings to be more involved, but watching Burke hoist long-range shots is not part of the plan. It isn’t like the talented point guard is a ballhog, but Oladipo’s defense on Sunday never let him get into his normal rhythm because he took almost twice the number of shots than he usually does in a game. Read the rest of this entry »

Deepak is a writer for the Big Ten microsite of RTC. Follow him on Twitter for more about B1G hoops at @dee_b1g.

After playing 17 games and beating up on each other for over two months, the Big Ten regular season champion will be determined during the final weekend. Only four teams – Michigan State, Michigan, Ohio State, and Indiana – are in contention for the regular season title, but there are some other match-ups whose outcome will play a huge factor in the seeding for the NCAA Tournament (Minnesota, Illinois) or keep their hopes for a bid alive (Iowa). Let’s review the key games for this weekend.

Trevor Mbakwe and the Gophers need to figure out their issues on the offensive end of the court against Purdue. (AP)

• Minnesota at Purdue (12:00 PM EST, Big Ten Network): Matt Painter should be a candidate for the Big Ten Coach of the Year award because after a rough start during the non-conference season, Painter’s young team has tremendously improved and it may be one of the hottest teams in the league right now. As if winning on the road in Madison wasn’t impressive enough, they almost took down Michigan on Wednesday night in West Lafayette. If Sandi Marcius hadn’t left the game during the second half with an ankle sprain, they may have upset the Wolverines because he was playing terrific defense in the paint against Michigan’s pick-and-roll. Combine their recent intensity along with the emotions of Senior Day in West Lafayette, and D.J. Byrd and company will give the Gophers a tough time on Saturday. The Gophers will enter this game with their own issues on the offensive end as they scored fewer than 50 points against Nebraska on the road. Tubby Smith’s team is a near-lock for the NCAA Tournament but losing two games on the road to finish the regular season against teams that won’t sniff the Dance will hurt their seeding. A loss to Purdue and a 1-1 record in the Big Ten Tournament may put them in the #10 seed range on Selection Sunday. Read the rest of this entry »

Deepak is a writer for the Big Ten microsite of Rush The Court. Follow him on Twitter for more about B1G hoops at @dee_b1g.

When you are ranked in the top 10 and loaded with talent such as Trey Burke, Tim Hardaway and Glenn Robinson III that could be drafted in the first round of the NBA Draft, expectations will be high in March. It may seem like we are picking on the Wolverines as they head into the postseason but despite their obvious offensive talent, they need to figure out a way to contain guards from penetrating into the paint. Burke has been phenomenal during both games this month — 21 points against Michigan State and 24 against Purdue — to keep his team in the hunt for a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. But last night’s comeback win in West Lafayette exemplified the Wolverines’ often porous defense against guards who can get into the paint, especially off the pick-and-roll.

John Beilein’s team is ready for March but they need to tighten their defense if they want to make a Final Four

A couple of key defensive metrics indicate the Wolverines’ weakness on defense: They rank ninth in the conference in opponents’ shooting (49.1% effective FG%) and dead last in blocks (6.6%). The latter statistic can be explained because Jordan Morgan isn’t necessarily a great shot-blocker and Mitch McGary is still learning how to play defense without picking up cheap fouls. But blocks don’t matter too much as long as there is good help defense when opposing guards get past the first layer of defense at the perimeter into the paint. Last night’s game is a good case study for the Wolverines’ confusion on defense as Purdue’s Terone Johnson torched them for 32 points and shot 12-of-17 from the field. Johnson isn’t known to take his man off the dribble effectively but can shoot a deadly floater in the lane if he is not defended off the pick-and-roll. With A.J.Hammons and Sandi Marcius setting high ball screens on the left side of the floor, Johnson was able to roll to his right consistently during the second half because Morgan and McGary couldn’t recover in time to defend him. The Boilermakers are not necessarily known for their offense, as they rank ninth in the league in scoring just 0.96 points per possession, but they got their way offensively to score 75 points last night. Another bottom feeder, the Nittany Lions (0.89 points per possession), scored 84 points to notch their first win against Beilein’s defense. It has been a consistent theme during the conference season for the Wolverines and it may come to bite them again in the postseason if they can’t make some notable adjustments.

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Deepak is a writer for the Big Ten microsite of Rush The Court. Follow him on Twitter for more about B1G hoops at @dee_b1g.

Many conference rivalries in college hoops have the luxury of a rematch during the season, unlike in college football. On the gridiron, rivals that happen to be ranked in the top 10 only play once during the regular season so the fans of the losing team are always left with a bunch of “what if” questions that remain unanswered. We don’t have to worry about that situation in Big Ten hoops this year as Michigan had a rematch against Michigan State and will play Indiana on March 10 in Ann Arbor. Over two weeks ago, the Wolverines were hammered in East Lansing and John Beilein’s team came out ready yesterday, especially after losing to a conference-winless Nittany Lions on Thursday. Trey Burke stole the show with 21 points and eight assists while turning the ball only twice. That performance will set up the Burke vs. Victor Oladipo showdown (for NPOY?) next Sunday, but in the meantime, let’s review three observations from the Wolverines’ big win over the Spartans.

The Wolverines won without Nik Stauskas’ long-range shot on Sunday.

1. The Wolverines prove that they can win without the three-point shot: One of the knocks on the Wolverines’ offense in February was that they relied on the long-range game too much, but yesterday’s win showed that their offensive sets can produce more than that. Michigan’s best shooter Nik Stauskas barely played (only four minutes) because of twelve stitches on his forehead and the team collectively shot 0-of-12 from beyond the arc as a result. Most of Burke’s eight assists were a result of the pick-and-roll at the top of the key with Mitch McGary and Jordan Morgan. Screens set on the perimeter allowed Burke to go to his right toward the high post, opening up several backdoor layups to Caris LeVert (eight points) and McGary (11 points) as the defense collapsed to guard Burke from his penetration. Even more impressive than his assists was Burke’s discipline in sticking with the offensive plays that worked and not moving away from the game plan – he only took three attempts all game from beyond the arc. Exploiting a weakness in the defense and adjusting the game plan during live action is necessary for the Wolverines against tough defensive teams in March because once they find a seam, the opposition will be forced to give them open looks from the wings for Stauskas and Glenn Robinson III. Read the rest of this entry »

1. March is upon us and as teams wind down their regular season over the next week, they will also honor the senior classes during the last home game. Illinois seniors – D.J.Richardson, Brandon Paul, Sam McLaurin, Tyler Griffey – did not want to lose their last home to Nebraska, a team that they couldn’t afford to lose on Saturday. Fortunately for them, Tracy Abrams chipped in 16 points to lead the Illini to a 72-65 win over the Cornhuskers and the seniors were very emotional in Champaign. “I was under my shirt crying,’’ said guard Brandon Paul, who evidently shed a few tears after the grind-it-out victory. The Illini finish the regular season with two road games against Iowa and Ohio State; they could use one more win to lock in a good seed for the NCAA tournament.
2. While the Illini seniors won their last home, the Badgers’ senior class were upset by the Boilermakers on Sunday. Matt Painter’s team stunned the Badgers by beating them 69-56 and dominated for most of the second half at the Kohl Center. Mike Breuesewitz, Ryan Evans, and Jared Bergren shot a combined 9-24 from the field in a loss that will be booked under the “bad” category by the selection committee on Selection Sunday. “They were just hitting tough shots. This game kind of reminded me of the Cornell game my freshman year,” Evans said, referring to the 2010 NCAA tournament game in which the Big Red shot 61.1 percent from the field and 53.6 percent from three in an 87-69 defeat of the Badgers.
3. Senior guard Julian Welch (3.3 PPG and 1.6 APG) of the Gophers had a great performance on Saturday against Penn State by scoring 10 points and dishing out seven assists. Welch hasn’t seen much playing time during the season so far because Tubby Smith has used a tight rotation, but this performance could catapult his minutes over the next few weeks as they get ready for the postseason. “It’s just been hard for him to get into the lineup,” Smith said. “It’s always tough when you’re a senior and a junior college transfer and the expectations were to play a lot more. But he showed a lot of character in stepping up today. I’ve got a lot more confidence in him now.”
4. Fran McCaffery’s Hawkeyes have had some issues offensively over the past two weeks and the first half against Indiana over the weekend was no different because they only scored 14 points. The Hoosiers led 26-14 at the halftime and pulled away to win 73-60 at home as they inch towards a Big Ten title. “I wouldn’t call it a freeze-up,” Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said. “It was a really good defensive effort by a good defensive team.” The Hawkeyes can’t afford to fall behind in the first half on Tuesday against the Illini because they could really use that game to make a case for the Selection Committe that they deserve a bid to the NCAA tournament.
5. Speaking of the Hoosiers, freshman Yogi Ferrell scored a career-high 19 points and dished out five assists against the Hawkeyes. Senior guard Jordan Hulls has struggled against Iowa, shooting 0-17 during the two games this season, but Ferrell had a huge offensive game. After the game, head coach Tom Crean said,  “Tonight he went to the rim and didn’t try to get the contact. In the Minnesota game, he tried to get the contact, and he didn’t get either. Tonight he really focused on making the basket, and he did a much better job with that.” Ferrell hasn’t carried the offensive load this season but having a game like this one should help his confidence as the Hoosiers get ready to make a run at the Final Four and potential the national title.

Deepak is a writer for the Big Ten microsite of Rush The Court. Follow him on Twitter for more about B1G hoops at @dee_b1g.

If you weren’t already convinced that the Big Ten is the most competitive conference in college hoops, the games in February should have showed you enough to change your opinion. The games featured buzzer-beaters, multiple overtimes and quite a few upsets over the past 28 days, but March could take it to another level. The obvious questions for each team in March will revolve around its performance in the postseason tournaments, but there are more intriguing questions on our minds about the next month. Let’s address five specific questions that that we will track about some of the best Big Ten teams in March.

Can Trey Burke take his game to another level in March? (AP Photo/T. Ding)

1. Can Trey Burke get back into the conversation for NPOY? Burke is still considered the top guard in the nation and hasn’t fallen out of the conversation for NPOY, but it feels like he has flown under the radar a little bit during February – partly because the Wolverines have had some tough losses on the road to Wisconsin, Michigan State and (yeesh) Penn State, and it also didn’t help his case that Indiana’s Victor Oladipo has repeatedly proven that he may be the best player in the Big Ten. Burke’s scoring average hasn’t dropped but he has taken more shots than he would prefer to keep his team competitive on the road. Burke will have two big opportunities in Ann Arbor soon – against Michigan State and Indiana – to again showcase his game in the national spotlight and prove that he is ready to lead the Wolverines to a Final Four.
   
2. Who is Michigan State’s go-to guy in March? We have seen flashes of brilliance from Adreian Payne and Gary Harris over the past two weeks but can Tom Izzo rely on a forward who hasn’t consistently looked for his offense and a freshman guard during the clutch this postseason? If Payne wants to be that guy, he needs to demand the ball during the final minutes but he hasn’t been that assertive this year. Izzo would love to have Keith Appling be that guy because he already has the ball in his hands during the final moments and can create his own shot off the dribble. The junior guard had an off-night against Indiana (six points) and Ohio State (three points) but the Spartans need him to score 15 PPG in order to make it to the third weekend of the NCAA Tournament. Read the rest of this entry »

Deepak is a writer for the Big Ten microsite of Rush The Court. Follow him on Twitter for more about B1G hoops at @dee_b1g.

After 27 games which include just three losses, you begin to wonder if the Hoosiers have any glaring weaknesses that can be exploited during the postseason. At the beginning of the year, especially after Derek Elston’s injury, I wasn’t sure if they would have enough interior depth to beat elite teams in case Cody Zeller picked up a couple of quick fouls in the first half. Because if Zeller is forced to sit, Tom Crean would would have to go with a smaller lineup of Christian Watford, Will Sheehey or (gulp) freshman Hanner Perea in the frontcourt. Although Watford and Sheehey are capable of defending a 6’8” power forward, they wouldn’t be as effective on the offensive end if forced to exert so much energy on defense. But looking back at the Hoosiers’ season so far, Zeller has somehow managed to stay out of foul trouble, a very impressive feat considering that the Hoosiers have already played Minnesota and Michigan State. He has picked up four fouls in just three games: against Jacksonville, Penn State, and Georgetown. Opposing coaches can clearly see that with Zeller on the bench, the inside is open, but they haven’t yet succeeded in exploiting that weakness. Let’s examine how he has managed to stay out of foul trouble and if it could be an issue in the upcoming NCAA Tournament.

Cody Zeller has shown that he is a smart player on defense. (Photo credit: Sandra Dukes/US Presswire)

Crean has done an effective job of putting Zeller in comfortable positions on the defensive end of the floor. By using the zone against good offenses for certain stretches of the game, Zeller is not asked to face off against the opposition’s best forward. Let’s take both of the games against Michigan State to illustrate this game plan:

Spartan forwards Derrick Nix and Adreian Payne have the size and the footwork in the paint to get Zeller into foul trouble, but neither was successful in either of their attempts this season. Zeller covered the paint as part of the zone during the first game in Bloomington and even though it opened up some opportunities for Payne to attack through the backdoor (resulting in a couple of highlight dunks), it kept Zeller from picking up easy fouls. The zone helps “hide” the sophomore forward for a decent portion of the game. When forced to play man, Crean opted not to put Zeller on Nix, but used Watford there instead. At first glance, asking Watford to guard Nix seems like a terrible idea, but Zeller was quick to double-team the MSU big man and force him to pick up his dribble. Very rarely do big men in college possess a great ability to pass the ball out of a double team, especially if a seven-footer with quick hands is trying to swat the ball from behind. Nix scored just eight points in each of the two games against Indiana. The zone combined with smart defensive positioning has helped Zeller stay out of foul trouble and this strategy could be used against any other team that has a similarly versatile forward in the low post.

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Deepak is a writer for the Big Ten microsite of Rush The Court. Follow him on Twitter for more about B1G hoops at @dee_b1g.

In addition to bubble talk over the next few weeks, bracketologists will consider teams’ resumes based on their quality wins even if they are a lock for an at-large bid. The most recent bracket prediction by ESPN’s Joe Lunardi has Ohio State slated as a #5 seed in the East Region, but after Sunday’s 68-60 win over Michigan State, the Buckeyes can begin to make a case for an even higher seed. Other than their win in January over Michigan, OSU does not have many quality wins on their resume. They couldn’t keep up with Kansas at home and they were close but came up short against Michigan State on the road a few weeks ago. On the flip side, they don’t have any “bad” losses either, so they are just stuck in the middle of the road where they might have to settle for a mid-range seed unless they can rack up some wins over highly-ranked opponents soon. Aaron Craft willed his team to a huge win yesterday and it means more than just a boost to their resume because they did it on a day when Deshaun Thomas was not offensively effective.

Aaron Craft (left) made sure the Buckeyes sealed a win over the top-ranked Spartans on Sunday.

Thad Matta‘s squad beat Tom Izzo‘s team in their own game — they won “ugly” by playing stingy defense and basically out-muscling their opponent during the second half. Thomas finished the game with 14 points but shot just 4-of-16 from the field. He was held scoreless for 15 minutes during the first half as the Spartans’ Branden Dawson and Adreian Payne hounded him with their length and intensity. To make matters worse, the Spartans outrebounded the Buckeyes by six, which didn’t help OSU in the paint either. But after 25 minutes of just hanging around the game, Matta urged his team to step up on defense and Craft executed on the court.

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