KTrahan – Rush The Court

Season In Review: Michigan Wolverines

KTrahan — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 16:30:29 +0000

Now that the season has wrapped up, we’ll do a quick look back at each Big Ten team’s season, as well as a look at the future. Next up are the Michigan Wolverines.

The Good

Michigan’s Season Was a Resounding Success

What a roller coaster season it was for Michigan. The Wolverines headed into the season with a lot of hype, eventually vaulting to No. 1 in the rankings. After a short stint at the top spot in the polls, the team struggled to stay there — even falling to Penn State along the way — and dropping to a No. 5 [...]

Final 2012-13 Big Ten Power Rankings

KTrahan — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 16:10:32 +0000

The Big Ten was the best conference in America this season, and as we close up shop here at the Big Ten microsite, it’s time to frame things with our final Power Rankings of the year.

Michigan Was the Second Team Left Standing This Season

Michigan — After slumping for much of the end of the season and the Big Ten Tournament, Michigan finally played like the team it could be during March Madness. What’s amazing is how much the Wolverines benefited from players not named Trey Burke or Tim Hardaway, specifically Mitch McGary, who will be a favorite for [...]

Season in Review: Northwestern Wildcats

KTrahan — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 18:31:10 +0000

Now that the 2012-13 college basketball season has come to a close, we’re doing a review of each Big Ten team’s season, as well as looking ahead to next year. Today’s team: the Northwestern Wildcats.

Bill Carmody Couldn’t Find Enough Answers This Season (Credit: ChicagoNow)

The Good

It was tough to find much good in Evanston this year, mainly because just about everything that could go wrong did go wrong. This was supposed to be Northwestern’s most talented team ever, but a slew of injuries meant the Wildcats essentially had to play with mostly guards and freshmen all season. The result [...]

Challenges Aplenty for Chris Collins at Northwestern

KTrahan — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 23:59:54 +0000

Northwestern announced the hiring of Duke associate head coach Chris Collins as its new head coach last week, and on Tuesday, the Collins era will officially begin in Evanston with an introductory press conference. There was little drama in this coaching search — everyone knew all along the job was Collins’ if he wanted it, and he took it, citing the chance to come home (he’s a Northbrook, Illinois, native) and lead a high-major program. But Northwestern isn’t just any high-major program. Truthfully, it could be the toughest job in all of college basketball. The Wildcats have never been to the [...]

Mitch McGary Impressive, More Thoughts on Michigan’s Win Over Penn State

KTrahan — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 22:05:51 +0000

Kevin Trahan writes for the Big Ten Microsite and covers Northwestern sports for InsideNU.com. Follow him on Twitter at @k_trahan for Big Ten Tournament updates.

Michigan is off to the second round of the Big Ten Tournament for a date with Wisconsin after an 83-66 win over Penn State in the first round. The Wolverines’ struggles this season with the Nittany Lions continued in the first half, as they led by just two at halftime, but they pulled away in the second half for an easy win. Five UM players scored in double figures, led by Trey Burke with 21.

Here are [...]

Brandon Paul: Certified Gopher Killer

KTrahan — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 19:38:13 +0000

Throughout his career, Brandon Paul has been touted as an ultra-talented player who struggles with inconsistency. Sometimes he showcases his impressive range and versatility, while other times he seems to disappear from the moment. In Thursday’s opening round Big Ten Tournament game, Paul rose to the moment, and then some. He scored 25 of the Illini’s 51 points on 10-of-16 shooting, and was 4-of-8 from beyond the arc in his team’s victory over Minnesota. But he saved his best for last, hitting a 15-footer at the buzzer to get his team a date with Indiana in the second round of the [...]

Big Ten M5: 03.13.12 Edition

KTrahan — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 13:01:10 +0000

Ohio State has had its struggles this season, particularly in finding a consistent offensive threat outside of Deshaun Thomas. However, the Buckeyes have gone on a hot streak as of late — ironically, they’ve done it in a stretch when Thomas has struggled — and surged to grab the No. 2 seed in the upcoming Big Ten Tournament. Late-season surges such as this are nothing new under coach Thad Matta. As the Columbus Dispatch points out, Matta’s teams have won 15 consecutive games in the final week of the regular season, a streak that dates back to 2005. This year [...]

Big Ten M5: 03.12.13 Edition

KTrahan — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 13:01:16 +0000

As if the end of Sunday’s Indiana-Michigan game wasn’t crazy enough, Tom Crean made it even more interesting when he approached Michigan assistant Jeff Meyer to confront him about his time as an assistant at IU. Crean told Meyer that he “helped wreck the program.” Meyer was a Hoosiers assistant under Kelvin Sampson and was partially responsible for some of the NCAA sanctions leveled against the program in the late 2000s. Crean said he later called to apologize and that his actions were inappropriate, but Michigan coach John Beilein wasn’t happy. “We’re never going to use victory or defeat as [...]

Big Ten M5: 03.07.13 Edition

KTrahan — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 14:01:07 +0000

The postgame scene at Assembly Hall after Indiana’s loss to Ohio State on Tuesday night was… well, it’s tough to really describe it. “Odd” doesn’t really do it justice. Following the loss, The Hoosiers held a ceremony for their departing seniors and cut down the nets to celebrate clinching a share of the Big Ten title, thanks to a Michigan win over Michigan State two days earlier. IU won, but it lost. It was celebrating, but the scene was depressing. It’s strange that IU was so set on having a net-cutting ceremony that it didn’t wait until the Big Ten [...]

Big Ten Power Rankings: March 2 Edition

KTrahan — Sat, 02 Mar 2013 17:06:54 +0000

In this week’s power rankings, we give each team a grade for the month of February. This week’s voters were Deepak Jayanti, Joey Nowak and Kevin Trahan.

Indiana Hoosiers: For awhile there, it looked like Indiana had secured itself as the top team in the country in a year when it’s been very difficult to figure out who the top team really is. However, the Hoosiers showed that they’re human this week, falling to Minnesota in Minneapolis. Victor Oladipo and Jordan Hulls played well, but IU was dominated inside by Minnesota’s stellar front court, led by Trevor Mbakwe. The Hoosiers certainly have [...]

Big Ten M5: 02.15.13 Edition

KTrahan — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 14:01:54 +0000

It’s been a rough few weeks for Glenn Robinson III, one of Michigan’s highly-touted freshmen who started the season strong, but then fell into a cold stretch. As Robinson III has struggled, so has his team, which has dropped consecutive games after finding itself at No. 1 in the nation just a few weeks ago. Robinson III’s five-game struggle has resulted in lower shooting and rebounding numbers, and it’s affected the Wolverines’ entire offense. When he scores at least 10 points, Michigan is 15-0; when he scores less than 10, the Wolverines are 5-4. Over the past five games, he [...]

Big Ten M5: 02.14.13 Edition

KTrahan — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 14:01:34 +0000

Michigan State was always considered one of the better teams in the Big Ten, but it hadn’t been considered one of the favorites for the conference title to this point. The Spartans’ blowout win over Michigan on Tuesday night represented a shift in that thinking. MSU is peaking at just the right time after some inconsistency early in the season. Veterans Derrick Nix, Keith Appling and Branden Dawson are all stepping up, along with star freshmen Gary Harris and Denzel Valentine. Tom Izzo’s teams are notorious for their ability to turn things on at the end of the season and [...]

Breaking Down Iowa’s Best Path to the Dance

KTrahan — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 15:15:29 +0000

What can we make of Iowa right now? That’s a tough question to answer. Most people would probably agree that the Hawkeyes are better than their 4-7 Big Ten record. Some would say it’s impressive that Iowa has hung with so many good teams — such as Ohio State, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Indiana, Michigan State. Some would say the fact that the Hawkeyes can’t get over the hump shows that they’re still a year away. Some would say both. As the schedule cools down, Iowa’s conference record will inevitably improve. That means the Hawkeyes will likely be inserted back into the [...]

The Battle for Sixth Place in the Big Ten is More Important Than You Think

KTrahan — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 23:05:12 +0000

The battle for the top of the Big Ten this season has been well-documented. Indiana and Michigan look like the front-runners right now, but Michigan State has a chance to threaten for the conference crown as well. Then there’s Ohio State and Wisconsin, both of which have knocked off and hung with the top tier teams this season. Unless there’s a major turn of events in the next few weeks, those five teams will occupy the #1-#5 seeds in the Big Ten Tournament, although the order is completely up in the air. The jockeying for position among those teams will [...]

Big Ten Power Rankings: February 8 Edition

KTrahan — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 20:56:57 +0000

In this week’s power rankings, we take a look at each team’s biggest concern. Voters this week were Deepak Jayanti, Joey Nowak and Kevin Trahan.

1. Michigan Wolverines: Last weekend’s Michigan-Indiana game was supposed to be the game of the year. However, the Michigan-Ohio State game later in the week may have taken the cake. The Wolverines fought off some early adversity in that game and came back to beat the Buckeyes in overtime. Michigan’s remaining schedule isn’t too tough — Indiana still has to come to the Crisler Arena — and the Wolverines should be able to retain the top spot [...]