2019-2020 B1G Basketball Thread

[medinabuckeye1]

As @MaximumSam pointed out, the Buckeyes add a much needed transfer PG.  CJ Walker had to sit out this year because he was a traditional transfer, not one of the newer graduate transfers.  

Walker previously played two seasons at Florida State so he will be a Junior in the 2019-2020 season.  As a sophomore at FSU in 2017-2018 he started and averaged 23.2 MPG, 8.0 PPG, and 2.4 APG.  His addition should help a lot.  

In addition, Ohio State has the B1G's #1 ranked (#12 nationally) recruiting class with three four-star freshmen coming in.  The incoming freshmen are:

DJ Carton:  A 6-1, 190# PG from Iowa.  He is the #28 ranked recruit nationally, #4 at PG.  

Alonzo Gaffney:  A 6-9, 190# F from New Hampshire.  He is the #42 ranked recruit nationally, #10 at SF.  

EJ Liddell:  A 6-6, 220# F from Illinois.  He is the #45 ranked recruit nationally, #9 at PF.  

In addition to the two Seniors who contributed significant minutes that I listed above, the Buckeyes also lose little-used Senior Joey Lane.  Lane is a G who played in just nine games this past season.  

[Anonymous Coward]

and yet only fans of TT'sUN are posting here. 😈

I'm not sure what TT'sUN is but I'm putting a vote in for TTUN > TSUN. I had to laugh last week when I realized that there actually is a TSUN, Tennessee State University - Nashville. 

[medinabuckeye1]

The Buckeyes projected roster for 2019-2020:

Seniors:

• Andre Wesson, 6-6 F:  For anyone who hasn't been paying attention at all, Andre is Kaleb's older brother.  As a junior in the 2018-2019 season he contributed 30 MPG, 8.6 PPG, 4.1 RPG, and 1.8 APG.  
• Danny Hummer, 6-0 G:  Hummer averaged 2.3 MPG in just nine games played in 2018-2019.  

Juniors:

• CJ Walker, 6-1 G:  As noted above, his last action was as a sophomore at FSU in 2017-2018 where he averaged 23.2 MPG, 8.0 PPG, and 2.4 APG.  
• Kyle Young, 6-8 F:  He contributed 20.5 MPG, 6.0 PPG, 4.4 RPG, and 0.9 APG in 2018-2019.  
• Kaleb Wesson, 6-9 F:  He contributed 25.9 MPG, 14.6 PPG, 6.9 RPG, and 1.8 APG in 2018-2019.  
• Musa Jallow, 6-5 G:  He contributed 15.0 MPG, 2.9 RPG, 2.9 RPG, and 0.7 APG in 2018-2019.  

Sophomores:

• Duane Washington JR, 6-3 G:  He contributed 17.2 MPG, 7.0 PPG, 2.5 RPG, and 1.1 APG in 2018-2019.  
• Luther Muhammad, 6-3 G:  He contributed 26.6 MPG, 7.6 PPG, 2.7 RPG, and 1.7 APG in 2018-2019.  
• Justin Ahrens, 6-5 F:  He contributed 9.6 MPG, 3.2 PPG, 1.8 RPG, and 0.3 APG in 2018-2019.  
• Jaedon LeDee, 6-9 F:  He contributed 6.6 MPG, 3.0 PPG, 1.7 RPG, and 0.2 APG in 2018-2019.  

Freshmen:

• DJ Carton, 6-1 G:  A highly ranked PG from Iowa
• Alonzo Gaffney, 6-9 F:  A highly ranked F from New Hampshire
• EJ Liddell, 6-6 F:  A highly ranked F from Illinois
• Harrison Hoofkin, 6-5 G:  Hoofkin is a walk-on who I think qualifies for a redshirt for 2018-2019

Probable starters in bold, I agree with @MaximumSam 's assessment of likely starters.  

What the Buckeyes need to replace (assuming nobody leaves early) is about 58 minutes at the guard positions that contributed about 20 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists in those minutes.  My best guess is that CJ Walker will replace about half of those minutes with the rest replaced by additional minutes for Washington and Jallow along with some minutes for the freshman DJ Carton.  

The forwards should be unchanged from last year except for the addition of more depth.  The Wesson brothers will almost certainly start with Young, Ahrens, LeDee, and the two freshman providing ample depth.  In fact, there is so much depth on paper that the weaker of the two freshman might wind up getting redshirted for lack of available minutes.  

Looking WAY ahead I would guess that both Wessons will leave after the 2019-2020 season so the coaching staff will want to get plenty of experience for their likely 2020-2021 replacements (Young, Ahrens, LeDee, Gaffney, and Liddell).  

[ELA]

Tim Miles fired

[medinabuckeye1]

My early thoughts/prediction for Ohio State:

As I noted above, the two losses (CJ Jackson and Keyshawn Woods) were good contributors but hardly superstars.  IMHO, the addition of CJ Walker, additional minutes for Washington and Jallow, and some minutes for the freshman PG recruit (DJ Carton) along with typical year-over-year development for the returning players should be somewhere close to a wash.  Ie, guard play should be about the same as last year.  

Where Ohio State should really improve is in the paint.  The Wesson brothers will each be a year older with another year of experience so they *SHOULD* be better and Ohio State should improve.  

As I see it:

Reasonable but pessimistic projection:
The guard play regresses slightly while the Wesson brothers stagnate and the 2019-2020 team is about the same as this year:  a borderline tournament team.  

Middle projection:
The guard play is roughly a wash while the Wesson brothers improve slightly and the 2019-2020 team is a little better than this year:  a 6-8 seed.  

Reasonable but optimistic projection:
The guard play improves while the Wesson brothers also improve significantly and the 2019-2020 team is significantly better than this year:  a 3-5 seed.  

In theory the 2019-2020 Buckeyes could fall outside of that range.  Everything could go wrong and they could miss the tournament by a mile or everything could go right and they could be an even higher seed but I see that as the reasonable range.  

Other thoughts?

[medinabuckeye1]

Here is how Ohio State did this year against each team in the B1G:

• 16-4 MSU:  0-3, Lost by 7 in BTT, Lost by 9 at home, Lost by 18 on the road
• 16-4 PU:  0-2, Lost by 8 at home, Lost by 35 on the road
• 15-5 M:  0-1, lost by 16 on the road
• 14-6 UW:  0-1, lost at home in OT
• 13-7 UMD:  0-2, lost by 14 at home, lost by 10 on the road
• 10-10 IA:  1-1, lost by 10 on the road, won by 20 at home
• 9-11 MN:  1-0, won by 20 at home
• 8-12 IU:  2-0, won by 4 in BTT, won by 3 on the road
• 7-13 RU:  1-1, won by 14 at home, lost by 3 on the road
• 7-13 PSU:  1-0, won by 4 at home
• 7-13 IL:  1-1, won by 10 at a "neutral site" (United Center), lost by 7 at home
• 6-14 UNL:  1-0, won by 10 on the road
• 4-16 NU:  1-1, won by 14 at home, lost by 18 on the road

Games decided by single digits in bold.  

The Buckeyes only won two games against teams that finished with a better record but the odd thing is that neither of those were close:  They beat Iowa and Minnesota by 20 points each.  The Buckeyes had four single-digit losses to teams that finished with a better record:

• An OT loss to Wisconsin
• A 7 point loss to MSU in the BTT
• An 8 point loss to PU at home
• A 9 point loss to MSU at home

In addition to those four close losses to better teams the Buckeyes had two single-digit losses to inferior teams:

• A 3 point loss to Rutgers on the road
• A 7 point loss to Illinois on the road

Ohio State's two wins over Indiana were obviously crucial to the Buckeyes getting into the tournament and those were by just seven points combined.  

Ohio State had a pretty poor record in close (defined here as single-digit) games of just 3-6 which suggests that even a slight improvement could yield a significant improvement in record.  

[847badgerfan]

Tim Miles fired

I'd like to know what their plan is. Maybe they think Dana Altman will come home??

[MarqHusker]

I'll bet on T. Lue.   Not advocating, just a wild prediction .

[bayareabadger]

I'd like to know what their plan is. Maybe they think Dana Altman will come home??

Hoiberg is the name still out there. For some reason. 

[bayareabadger]

I'll dig in on UW's roster at some point, but freshman PG Tai Strickland just left. 

He was a taller, high-ceiling, developmental type who just looked out of sorts when he played this year. Gard liked him enough to not redshirt him (at least Gard said that). But he also played like 11 minutes in 20 conference games.

Creates a little more flex in the short term, either for a grad transfer or a late-rising big they like. UW has entered a really weird zone with the roster, which I can't tell if it's because I'm too close that I perceive roster overloads at spots or not. 

[847badgerfan]

Good riddance.

[bayareabadger]

Good riddance.

A little strong there?

[847badgerfan]

A little strong there?

I didn't appreciate his tweets, and the ones he "liked", that were disparaging of Wisconsin's players who actually were getting minutes. Don't need that in Madison. So, yeah. Bye.

[ELA]

Yeah, that ain't good