Bill Hupp is the RTC correspondent for the Big Ten Conference. Follow him on Twitter (@Bill_Hupp) for his thoughts on hoops, food, PR, interesting fridge magnets and life.
Reader’s Take
The Week That Was:
House of Payne: Michigan State sophomore center Adreian Payne picked an excellent time to have the game of his career. The 6’11’’ sophomore has shown flashes of potential this year, but was particularly efficient against Ohio State. Payne finished 6-6 from the field for 15 points, grabbed four boards and blocked two shots – and more importantly, he frustrated Ohio State star Jared Sullinger with his wiry athleticism on the defensive end. Sure, Sullinger finished with 17 points and 16 rebounds, but he also turned it over 10 times and seemed to let the refs affect his play.
Woes of Weber: That smoke you see emanating from Champaign might be coming from Bruce Weber’s increasingly hot seat. New AD Mike Thomas has already shown one under-performing head coach (Ron Zook) the door, and now the Illini have gone from leading the Big Ten at 4-1 to dropping six of their last seven and in danger of missing the NCAA Tournament. As many Illinois fans will attest, this team just makes too many of the same frustrating mistakes on a continuous basis.
Hummel A Handful: The Robbie Hummel that Boilermaker fans have been waiting for all season long finally emerged on Saturday against Northwestern. The senior tallied a season-high 27 points, nine rebounds and a couple blocks while logging 39 minutes of playing time. As badly as Northwestern needed to win that game, it was equally as valuable to Purdue, which couldn’t afford drop back-to-back games at Mackey Arena (especially with Michigan State coming to town in a week).
Tom Izzo Has The Spartans Vying For The Top Spot In The Conference.
Power Rankings
Michigan State (20-5, 9-3) – An even more impressive factor in Michigan State’s recent success is that they’re winning despite the shaky play of Keith Appling. The sophomore point guard seemed to be turning the corner in his new position early in the conference season, but he’s taken a few steps back since then. His accuracy from distance has slipped from 41% to 27% this season, and he had seven turnovers with no assists in their win over Ohio State.
Ohio State (21-4, 9-3) – Where has the Bucks’ offense gone? In two of their last three games, OSU has been held under 53 points. Granted, their opponents were defensive stalwarts Wisconsin and Michigan State, but still, this a team that is second in the Big Ten in scoring offense at nearly 73 points per game. Read the rest of this entry »
Saturday’s loss to Michigan State was certainly a tough one to swallow for Ohio State, which passed up a prime opportunity to create some distance in the Big Ten standings and move their home winning streak to 40 games. But the Buckeyes were dismal on offense, and the Spartans controlled the game nearly throughout. And, says All-American center Jared Sullinger, it was easy to tell the Buckeyes were frustrated. After further review, Sullinger said he and his teammates acted like “spoiled brats” during the game, complaining about calls and arguing with one another. It was clear the Spartans succeeded in taking Ohio State out of its game plan, but the Buckeyes have a chance back on track this week with critical games at Minnesota and Michigan.
Speaking of the Wolverines, they have quietly kept themselves right in the thick of this conference race, and have every reason to be considered a contender for their first conference title since 1986. Michigan is half a game behind Ohio State and Michigan State, but has a game remaining against the Buckeyes (the Wolverines split their season series against the Spartans) and, among those three teams, Michigan has arguably the easiest road the rest of the way. The Maize and Blue will host ESPN’s College GameDay on Saturday in its only game this week.
Iowa coach Fran McCaffery probably doesn’t get a chance to autograph too many items bearing Michigan State insignia, but he’s made an exception. The chair that McCaffery so famously slammed on the Breslin Center floor during the Spartans’ 95-61 blowout win against the Hawkeyes earlier this year was signed and auctioned off at a recent Iowa baseball fundraiser. The message McCaffery wrote? “Coach with passion!” Sounds about right.
The quiet grumbling concerning Bruce Weber‘s job security are starting to evolve into a hearty growl in Champaign, where Illinois has lost six of its last seven games, placing its head coach firmly on the hot seat. This chatter has been going on for some time, but Weber may be running out of time, writes The News Gazette’s Loren Tate. Athletic director Mike Thomas said he will “filter out the emotion” when making an end-of-the-season evaluation about Weber, the same treatment football coach Ron Zook received. Will Weber suffer the same fate?
Every coach has his buzz words, and one of Tom Crean‘s favorites is “deflections.” If you listen to the Indiana coach’s postgame remarks or follow him on Twitter, he often preaches how important deflections are to his team’s performance. And now his players are starting to speak his language. According to the Indianapolis Star‘s Terry Hutchens, Crean jumped on the deflections bandwagon when he was an assistant at Western Kentucky under Ralph Willard in the early 1990s. A deflection — Victor Oladipo is the team leader with 220 — is considered a steal, blocked shot, tip, or a charge.
We are starting to see things shake themselves out in the Big Ten standings, but all it takes is one full slate of games to change that in a flash. There’s a nice lineup on Thursday night, so let’s take a look at the implications of three games around the conference.
#23 Wisconsin at Minnesota, 7 PM ET
It has certainly been a topsy-turvy season of sorts for the Badgers, who have been uncharacteristically mediocre at home, but made up for it with staunch play on the road. This is another test for Wisconsin as it tries to keep pace atop the standings and a critical game for Minnesota’s NCAA Tournament chances. The Golden Gophers are on the bubble with a tough road ahead so they need to capitalize on all reasonable home opportunities with a return date set in Madison for February 28. The Badgers can put the conference’s top scoring defense to the test, while Minnesota — shooting 36% this season, third in the conference, from 3-point range — will try to knock the Badgers down from deep. This game comes down to how well Minnesota, 10th in the Big Ten in turnover margin, protects the ball at home against a stingy Badgers defense.
Illinois at #22 Indiana, 8 PM ET
These teams are neck-and-neck in the standings, 3 1/2 games behind first-place Ohio State, but Illinois needs this one just a bit more than Indiana. That said, with the way the Hoosiers have performed at home versus Illinois’ inconsistent play, it will be a tall order for Bruce Weber‘s group. It’s the lone meeting of the year between these two groups, and the Fighting Illini are sure to need another heroic effort out of Brandon Paul (he has scored in double figures in each of his Big Ten games) to keep up with Indiana’s high-flying offense. A loss Thursday and the Hoosiers just may switch places with the Illini in terms of NCAA Tournament chances.
Illinois is going to need a big effort out of Brandon Paul at Indiana. (Joe Robbins/Getty)
It’s been years since Wisconsin put forth this level of mediocrity at home — the Badgers’ four home losses this year equals their total of home defeats in the previous three years combined — so Wisconsin has had to make up for it elsewhere. If you aren’t superb at home, that leaves no other option than to play well on the road. Heading into its game at Minnesota, Wisconsin is 5-2 away from the Kohl Center, the club’s best road record since it won the Big Ten regular season and conference tournament titles in 2008.
Draymond Green continues to put up All-Big Ten-caliber numbers with yet another double-double on Wednesday night against Penn State. Michigan State‘s two meetings coming up against Ohio State in the next few weeks will likely not only determine the conference champion, but the Big Ten Player of the Year between he and Jared Sullinger. Green leads the league with 13 double-doubles, but Michigan State fans won’t have much more time with the senior captain. So what kind of future does Green have beyond Michigan State? He has a variety of influences he uses to help guide his way.
Scott Dochterman from The Gazette wants to know if it’s too early to talk RPI for Iowa. The better question might be — is it too late? The Hawkeyes are certainly on the outside looking in when it comes to the NCAA Tournament, but Dochterman says this game against Northwestern would go a long way for Iowa’s RPI and strength of schedule, which gets a bit of a boost from the tough conference. A win Thursday would give the Hawkeyes their first three-game winning streak since 2007 and beating another bubble team (Northwestern has an RPI of #36) would certainly lend a hand.
According to the Big Ten Geeks, Tuesday night’s Ohio State–Purdue game was a special one, particularly for Big Ten fans who are used to the slug-it-out nature of play in the conference. The 87-84 Ohio State victory was certainly a change of pace after Illinois beat Michigan State, 42-41, just a week ago. Among the rare highlights: Purdue, in a close losing effort, did not turn the ball over in the second half. Both teams had an efficiency of better than 1.30 per trip, setting season-highs for both groups. Both teams also shot above 50% from three-point range. And Purdue continued to have greater success working with a smaller lineup. By Big Ten standards, the game was certainly a rarity. Any chance we see one like it again this season?
As for what worked for Ohio State in the victory, the Columbus Dispatch‘s Michael Arace gives credit to Buckeyes coach Thad Matta. The team’s defense and half-court offense have both come a long way, Arace says, and those components make the Buckeyes that much harder to take down. The team doesn’t so much rely on the three-point game as it did with players like Jon Diebler and David Lighty running on the wings, and the Buckeyes are the nation’s top defense this season. These changes could make Ohio State better than ever come the NCAA Tournament this year.
Bill Hupp is the RTC correspondent for the Big Ten Conference. Follow him on Twitter (@Bill_Hupp) for his thoughts on hoops, food, PR, various city river walks and life.
Reader’s Take
The Week That Was:
Halfway Home: As of this week, the regular season conference schedule is officially more than halfway done. And – with apologies to Dennis Green– teams are pretty much who we thought they were at the beginning of the season. Ohio State is the class of the conference; Michigan State, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Indiana are solid NCAA Tournament teams; Purdue, Minnesota, Illinois, and Northwestern are fighting for seeding while Iowa, Nebraska, and PennState pick up the rear. Of course, there have been some upsets and many compelling games, but now that the dust is starting to settle, the cream of the crop has risen to the top.
Super Shurna: Leave it to a savvy veteran to catch fire at just the right time. With Northwestern’s hopes of making its first NCAA Tournament fading fast, John Shurna won co-Big Ten Player of the Week honors after he shot a blistering 71% from the field and averaged 26 points, four rebounds, and two steals to lead the injury-depleted Wildcats to a home win over Nebraska and a road victory over Illinois. Shurna is up there with Michigan State’s Draymond Green and Wisconsin’s Jordan Taylor as the most valuable players to their respective teams.
Close Calls: Illinois may be struggling at the moment, but they aren’t getting blown out. Each of the Illini’s last six games has been decided by five points or less. Unfortunately for the Orange Crush, they are just 2-4 in those games. Now they get to go on the road for four of their next five, starting with a doozy of a week with games at Indiana and at Michigan.
Will Draymond Green And The Spartans Snap Ohio State's Impressive Winning Streak In Columbus Saturday? (Al Goldis/AP)
Power Rankings
Ohio State (21-3, 9-2) – With the amount of scoring options Thad Matta has, it’s really just a matter of if Ohio State wants to defend you. They didn’t do that against Indiana or Brandon Paul (though he was just on fire that day), and sure enough, they lost both games.Purdue gave the Scarlet-and-Gray all they could handle before OSU escaped with an 84-81 win.Buckeyes face an interesting test when Michigan State comes calling to Columbus on Saturday. A win would put them in a comfortable position to win the regular season crown.
Michigan State (18-5, 7-3) – All of East Lansing waited with baited breath to learn the results of Draymond Green’s MRI. After Green left the game with a minor knee injury, Michigan State struggled mightily in a 42-41 upset loss.They bounced back nicely against their in-state rivals, and sure enough, Green led them with 14 points and 16 boards. As good a season as State has had, it could be even better: Two of the three conference losses have been by a single point on the road. Read the rest of this entry »
Michigan faces off against Nebraska tonight at 8:30 PM EST on the Big Ten Network, but their bench will be significantly shorter. That’s because sophomore center Jon Horford and freshman guard Carlton Brundidge will remain in Ann Arbor to be treated for injuries. With two other redshirt freshmen also not making the trip, head coach John Beilein says the Wolverines will come in “11 strong” to face the Cornhuskers. Tonight will mark the first time that Beilein has ever been to the state of Nebraska.
After dispatching in-state foe Michigan this past Sunday, this Michigan State team is looking a lot like Spartan teams of old: dull and boring. And that’s a good thing according to Tom Izzo. The Spartans will host Penn State this evening and will be charged with slowing down dynamic Nittany Lions guard Tim Frazier. This is an important game for Izzo’s squad as they ready for a showdown with Ohio State on Saturday.
While Purdue ultimately fell to Ohio State last night 87-84, the game was not without highlights for the Boilermakers. Purdue’s Kelsey Barlow rose up and delivered a SICK one-turned-two-handed jam over Buckeye big man Jared Sullinger. Sullinger did have the last laugh finishing with 18 points and 6 boards in the victory.
Iowa fans have had plenty of reason to reminisce thanks to the talents of Roy Marble Jr. thus far. Of course, that gives local writers plenty of reasons to dig back old photographs and recount stories of teams past. It also doesn’t hurt when Roy Marble Sr. joined the likes of B.J. Armstrong to become part of one of the most entertaining and successful teams in Iowa basketball history.
While there is (and should be) plenty of focus on the current teams in the Big Ten, fans are always looking down the road and trying to gauge future success. And the future looks bright for the league with Indiana currently ranked as having the #3 recruiting class in the nation for 2012-13. Michigan checks in at #7 overall, with a couple of more Big Ten teams in the Top 25.
We’re halfway home in Big Ten conference play and it’s easy to argue that the conference race is no more sorted out now than it was on day one. But we can still take a good, hard look at how teams have performed and what we can reasonably expect from them the rest of the way. Here’s our midseason team evaluations, grading each squad on its overall performance through the non-conference slate and first half of Big Ten play. We also have offer a best- and worst-case scenario for each club the rest of the way, as well as a more reasonable expectation.
Illinois (16-6 overall, 5-4 Big Ten)
Overall Grade: B
Worst-case scenario: Illinois beats Northwestern this week, but wins just three more games the rest of the way (at Nebraska, against Purdue and against Iowa).
Best-case scenario: The Fighting Illini maintain homecourt advantage the rest of way, handling Purdue and Michigan and stealing back-to-back road wins in Ann Arbor and Bloomington to pad their resume.
Reasonable expectation: With trips to Indiana, Michigan, Ohio State and Wisconsin remaining, the Illini have an uphill climb ahead of them. And that’s not good news for Bruce Weber.
Indiana (17-5 overall, 5-5 Big Ten)
Crean Has Indiana Looking Up But He Needs Some Road Wins
Overall Grade: B+
Worst-case scenario: The Hoosiers continue to struggle on the road, and lose at Michigan, Purdue and Minnesota. Sprinkle a home loss to Michigan State in there, and they finish with a 9-9 conference record. The Goodwill stores in Bloomington are overwhelmed with once-trendy “We’re Baaaaack” t-shirts.
Best-case scenario: Cody Zeller finds the mojo he was working with early in the season, and leads the Hoosiers to the Sweet Sixteen as Tom Crean is named Big Ten Coach of the Year.
Reasonable expectation: The Hoosiers are not the Top 10 team many thought they suddenly were early on, but they can do enough to get into the NCAA Tournament and solidify an overachieving season.
Iowa (11-11 overall, 3-6 Big Ten)
Overall Grade: C+
Worst-case scenario: The Hawkeyes split meetings against Penn State and Northwestern, lose at Nebraska and are blown out by Indiana and Wisconsin at home.
Best-case scenario: Iowa picks up the pace against some of the weakest competition in the league, and goes 5-4 the rest of the way.
Reasonable expectation: Most of the heavy lifting is out of the way, but Iowa will hover around .500 the rest of the season.
Bill Hupp is the RTC correspondent for the Big Ten Conference. Follow him on Twitter (@Bill_Hupp) for his thoughts on hoops, food, PR, various city river walks, and life.
Reader’s Take
The Week That Was
Tom Izzo is a Big Ten Legend: The emotional Michigan native won his 400th career game this week when Tom Izzo guided the Spartans to a comfortable 68-52 home win over Minnesota. No matter who leaves, the guy simply gets the most out of his teams year in and year out by emphasizing selflessness, defense, rebounding and toughness. There’s a reason that Michigan State always seems to be playing its best ball by the time March rolls around.
Up Comes Frazier!: Raise your hand at home if you had Penn State’s Tim Frazier as a likely first-team All-Big Ten candidate in February. If you did, you are a basketball savant and should be writing this column [Ed. Note: Or you are a Penn State homer.]. The 6’2” junior dominated against Penn State’s soft non-conference schedule, but hasn’t slowed down in Big Ten play. In league games, he is leading the conference in scoring (18.7 PPG), assists (5.3 APG), and steals (2.5. SPG). Admittedly, wins have been hard to come by for the Nittany Lions this season, but Frazier has been a bright spot in Happy Valley.
Welcome Back, Wisco: With Bo Ryan still at the helm, nobody thought Wisconsin would be down for long, and while it hasn’t always been pretty, the Badgers ran their current winning streak to five games after they downed Indiana at the Kohl Center this week. During this streak, they ground out tough road wins over Purdue and Illinois and claimed home victories over Nebraska, Northwestern and Indiana.
After a 3-2 start to conference play, Ohio State Has Won Its Last Four Games By A Combined 90 Points. (Al Messerschmidt/Getty)
Power Rankings
Ohio State (19-3, 7-2) – Value City Arena isn’t the first Big Ten gym to come to mind when you think of fearsome places to play in the conference, but teams that have entered “The Grey” recently haven’t had much success. The students are passionate and the place is big and cavernous, more of a professional arena than a cozy college gymnasium. There’s a reason why the Buckeyes have won 38 straight at VCA andare winning their home Big Ten games in the nation’s best conference (according to the RPI) by an average of 24 points.
Michigan State (17-4, 6-2) – Perhaps the most encouraging thing about Michigan State’s win over Minnesota was that it proved that point guard Keith Appling can go 1-8 from the field and score seven points … and the Spartans can still win by double digits. Freshman Branden Dawson continues to show flashes of brilliance, as he stepped up to score 16 points in Appling’s stead. Someone needs to provide a second scoring option to Draymond Green and if it can’t be Applingthat day, it falls to Dawson or Valpo transfer Brandon Wood. Read the rest of this entry »
Bill Hupp is the RTC correspondent for the Big Ten Conference. Follow him on Twitter @Bill_Hupp for his thoughts on hoops, food, Russian nesting dolls and life.
Reader’s Take
The Week That Was:
Gophers Golden Again: Not only did Minnesota win its first two conference games of the season this week, it’s the first time since 2009 that the Golden Gophers have won back-to-back conference road games. UM was led by freshman and Minneapolis native Joe Coleman, whom Tubby Smith inserted into the starting lineup three games ago. This week, Coleman hit four free throws in the final minute to help Minnesota hang on for a 77-74 upset at No. 7 Indiana, then exploded for a career-high 23 points in a win over Penn State. Nobody thought the Gophers were as bad as their original 0-4 Big Ten mark indicated, but learning how to win close games can build a young team’s confidence quickly.
Brandon Paul Pops Off in Champaign: Illinois junior guard Brandon Paul came into the Ohio State game averaging 12.1 points per game, but he earned Big Ten Player of the Week honors after he dropped a career-high 43 points out of nowhere on the Buckeyes. Paul’s 28 points in the second half included some very tough, contested shots near the end of a close game (full video highlights below). His 43 points were the third-most in a game in school history and the most since Andy Kaufmann went for 46 against Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 1990.
Brandon Paul's Game To Remember Against Ohio State Stole The Headlines From The Big Ten Race (Heather Coit/AP)
Back in Black: Wearing black jerseys at home in a must-win game against No. 7 Michigan State, the Wildcats got an inspired effort from backup center DavideCurletti, who made his first start of the season and finished with season-high 17 points and six rebounds. He gave great energy for Bill Carmody while starting in place of the ineffective Luka Mirkovic. Teams had been averaging just 59.6 points against the Spartans through the first 17 games, but MSU allowed Northwestern to shoot 54 percent in the second half to pull away for an 81-74 win. We’ve said before that the Wildcats would pull off an upset or two in conference play if they shot the ball well, and that’s exactly what happened in Evanston.
Power Rankings
Ohio State (16-3, 4-2) – It’s doesn’t seem fair for opposing teams when Lenzelle Smith Jr., a.k.a. “Ohio State’s forgotten starter” can hit 10-of-12 from the field, score 28 points and grab seven rebounds on a whim. It’s really a “pick your poison” scenario when you are playing a team with so many potential offensive threats.
Michigan State (15-3, 4-1) – Draymond Green may be a bruising power forward at 6’7’’ and 230 pounds, but he has shown a nice touch from the outside this season. Besides being a force down low, Green leads the Spartans with 24 triples on the season. It’s an offensive skill that has “Day-Day” (as Tom Izzo calls him) a virtual lock for first-team All-Big Ten honors.
Indiana (15-3, 3-3) – Some uncharacteristically poor three-point shooting this week spelled doom for the Hoosiers, who dropped games to Minnesota and Ohio State. A team that averages nearly 50% from beyond the arc was a combined 11 for 39 (28%). They feel behind early in both games and couldn’t shoot their way back into either contest. One positive this week was that Cody Zeller averaged 19.5 points in the losses.
Illinois (14-3, 4-1) – With his imposing size and impressive array of skills, the Illini should have the premier go-to scorer in the conference in center Meyers Leonard. Yet too often, it seems like he is catching the ball facing the basket, instead of posting up on the block where he could turn and score over his left shoulder or kick it out to three-pointer shooters like Brandon Paulor D.J. Richardson. Leonard needs to park himself down low where he can maximize his offensive efficiency.
Michigan (14-4, 4-2) – Michigan barely survived Northwestern at home in OT, then got blasted by 16 at Iowa. In both games, it seemed like the Wolverines stopped attacking the basket and were content to settle for threes, jacking up 30 against NU and 31 against Iowa. Their motion offense, cutting and dribble penetration gets them easy buckets at the rim, so they struggle to score when they get too willing to fire from long range.
Wisconsin (14-5, 3-3) – It wasn’t especially pretty against Purdue or Nebraska, but the Badgers earned a pair of hard-fought five-point wins to even their conference mark at 3-3. Needing a win to snap a three-game losing streak, Wisconsin blitzed Purdue early hitting five of their first six threes to build a 22-4 lead. They came back to earth after that, however, shooting 2 of 18 from distance against the Cornhuskers.
Purdue (13-5, 3-2) – Purdue faced a desperate Wisconsin team and dug themselves a 22-4 first half hole at Mackey Arena a before battling back and eventually falling. It’s not a good sign for the Boilers when Lewis Jackson finishes with two points and the team only hits 33% of their three-point field goal attempts.
Minnesota (14-5, 2-4) – With star Trevor Mbawke sidelined, the Gophers needed other players to step up and help Rodney Williams shoulder the scoring load. Well, it looks like Joe Coleman, Austin Hollins and Julian Welch are starting to come of age. You knew Tubby Smith had plenty of athleticism and talent at The Barn, it was just a matter of fitting the right pieces together. Now he has five starters who are averaging between 8.3 and 12.5 points per game in conference play.
Northwestern (12-5, 2-3) – Teams often struggle once conference play begins because their young point guard takes a few steps back. Not Northwestern, where starting guard Dave Sobolewski leads the Big Ten and is near the top of the nationally with a 4. 2 assist-to-turnover ratio, and really excels at backdoor feeds.
Iowa (11-8, 3-3) – Talk about an enigma of a team. After getting destroyed by an average of 32.5 points in road losses to Ohio St. and Michigan St., the Hawks turned around and cruised past Michigan, 75-59 at home on Saturday. Iowa can light up the scoreboard when its shots are falling, which is why they’ve scored 75 points or more in nine of their 11 wins this season.
Nebraska (9-8, 1-5) – Where were you when Nebraska won their first Big Ten game in school history? Since getting pasted by Ohio State, the Cornhuskers sandwiched their lone conference triumph over Penn State between narrow five-point road losses at Illinois and Wisconsin, holding all three opponents under 60 points. They don’t score much, but NU seems to be a natural fit for the conference in terms of their grinding, methodical style of play.
Penn State (9-10, 1-5) – One of the most difficult, but important things to teach a young team is how to defend on a nightly basis. The Nittany Lions have dropped three straight, and in each loss, allowed their opponent to shoot over 50%. That’s not going to cut it in any conference, let alone the deepest and toughest in the country.
Lenzelle Smith, Jr., Showed The Nation That The Buckeyes Go Beyond Sullinger, Craft And Buford (Getty)
Looking Ahead
Tuesday, 1/17: No. 9 Michigan State @ No. 19 Michigan – One of the most underrated rivalries in college hoops has added significance this season with each team being in the hunt for a Big Ten title. State is looking to rebound after having their 15-game winning streak snapped at Northwestern, while the Wolverines are trying to remain unbeaten at home (11-0). Look for whoever wins the intriguing PG battle between emerging Spartans sophomore Keith Appling and Michigan’s stud freshman Trey Burke to win the game.
Wednesday, 1/18: Northwestern @ Wisconsin– An important game between two teams with similar styles each desperate to continue the momentum built this past weekend. Both are pretty reliant on the three-point shot (NU first, Wisconsin fourth in three-pointers per game), so whoever has the hotter hand should emerge victorious.
Saturday, 1/21: Purdue @ No. 9 Michigan State – The Boilers could use a signature win (Butler and Illinois don’t count) to impress the Selection Committee. As always, Ryne Smith and co. will have to knock down treys, but that’s a tall order against MSU, which is stingy on the perimeter (second in conference allowing 30.2% from three).
Caught on Film
It’s amazing how a player’s success on offensive end can carry over to his defensive performance. Brandon Paul poured in 43 points, the highest single-game point total in the Big Ten in 20 years. But he also made his presence felt defensively, grabbing a couple steals and swatting four emphatic shots. As you can see from the below video, he was on fire from distance and a monster on the defensive end.
The people over at Basketball Prospectus do some interesting statistical analysis and the latest project by Drew Cannon appears to be no different. Cannon is borrowing on the work of several others most notably the Marquette blog Cracked Sidewalks to build on a Value Add statistic for college basketball players. Cannon explains the basic statistical analysis in his post yesterday. Some people may get scared away by the use of variables and equations, but it is a rather simple analysis (the regressions involved in calculating the constants are a bit more complex). Cannon promises to release his Value Add rankings, which are only for offensive production, later in the day so be on the look out for it and we will be sure to link to it tomorrow with our thoughts on the results.
It is Tuesday so you know that means another edition of Hoop Thoughts from Seth Davis. Technically it comes out on Monday afternoon, but that’s too late to make our Monday M5. This week Seth takes a look at 10 bubble teams who helped themselves and 10 bubble teams who hurt themselves with their non-conference schedules. If you are a neutral observer and have been following closely the 20 teams he selected should not be a surprise, but if you are a fan of a bubble team and maybe be a little delusional (and all fans are to some extent) it could be a sobering reminder that your team has quite a bit of work cut out for them.
In an attempt to prevent another massive Nevin Shapiro-like scandal from occurring Miami has announced that its boosters would no longer be allowed to entertain student-athletes. For those of you who weren’t highly recruited athletes coming out of college, the NCAA allows “an occasional meal from a representative of athletics interests on infrequent and special occasions”, but this goes much further. As you would expect some current Miami boosters are not thrilled by the decision and expect it to have a negative influence on donations. For a program that already suffers from an apathetic fan base, this decision could further hinder any hopes of rebuilding the program into an athletic powerhouse.
Last week during a blowout loss at Michigan State, Iowa coach Fran McCaffery picked up a technical and responded by slamming a chair down on the court. Afterwards, the Big Ten was critical of McCaffery’s actions, but did not punish him and did not ask him to apologize. Instead, they simply hoped that he would not do something similar in the future. Yesterday, the athletic director at Iowa said that McCaffery’s actions had crossed a line, but again declined to punish McCaffery or seek any form of apology. For his part, McCaffery does not seem to be the least bit remorseful so don’t be surprised if we see this sort of juvenile behavior from him in the future.
Just when you thought the drama surrounding North Carolina‘s retreat from the court on Saturday was over, Roy Williams dropped this little gem during a local radio show: he meant to take his entire team off the court for the final 14.2 seconds of its 33-point loss at Florida State. Roy apologized to the five players who remained on the court saying his intent was to get everybody off the floor. While it is noble of Roy to defend the group, which included three walk-ons who so bravely risked their lives for the honor of their school, it does raise the question as to whether he intended to forfeit the game, which is what he would have been doing if he had taken everybody off the court.
