2020-2021 B1G Basketball Thread

[betarhoalphadelta]

Okay... So Purdue...

Graduating seniors:

Jahaad Proctor - G - GT from High Point. Brought in because we needed a guard after Carsen left early, and he had the ability to create off the dribble and also drain 3s off screens. Well, he didn't exactly become Carsen against B1G defenses. Not horrible, still a good addition, but never lit the world on fire.

Evan Boudreaux - F - GT from Dartmouth. Came in as the rare GT with two years of eligibility. Spent his first year at the 5, which was a bad position, and then due to injury and the emergence of Tre Williams ended up getting edged out. He ended up swapping to the 4 (his more natural position) this year. He looked good in the non-con, then slipped production-wise as conference play started, before something lighting a fire under his ass and causing him to really come on late in the year. Either way, he has a deficit of athleticism, but tries to make it up with effort and heart. 

Tommy Luce - G - The Human Victory Cigar. The walk-on who was 7-0 against IU and 4-0 in Assembly Hall, the latter [at least] a first in Purdue history. I believe Purdue was 42-2 when Luce played. Crowd favorite. I can't imagine what we'll do without him...

Returning players: 

Center: Matt Haarms (Rs Sr), Trevion Williams (Jr), Emmanuel Dowuona (Rs So). Haarms and Tre are your rotation here. There was some thought that you might see "twin towers" this year, but mostly it didn't happen because Dowuona wasn't really ready to play and I think Painter was worried about foul trouble. On top of that, it's VERY matchup-dependent to need twin towers. But both Haarms and Tre are seasoned players. Haarms has more of a PnR/PnP game, and plays better rolling to the basket rather than posting up. He's also the big-time defender and rim-protector. Tre is the opposite--the post up offensive guy who has good court vision to pass out of the post with some crafty back-to-the basket moves. But his deficits are his defense and his ability to deal with the strongest B1G centers since he's only 6'9". If he can't bully you with size, he runs out of options.

Forward: Only returning player is Aaron Wheeler (RS Jr). The 6'9" athlete impressed in limited minutes as a RS freshman, shooting well from 3 and was a good rebounder. His RS sophomore campaign was less impressive. He improved his rebounding, and his defense was adequate, but he went into a serious shooting slump and never used his athleticism to get to the rim. He doesn't appear to have the ball skills to create off the bounce, and when he got the ball in traffic he looked tentative and didn't go strong to the hoop. At the very least, his silver lining was that he managed to hit free throws when needed, which helped Purdue in a number of games. Nobody understands why he can't hit 3s any more, but at least he's hitting FTs. 

Shooting Guard: Returning you have Sasha Stefanovich (RS Jr), Eric Hunter Jr (Jr)... Sasha is your 3pt specialist, who showed some crafty moves off the bounce from time to time. Hunter played backup PG to Nojel last year, and seemed to play a little better off the ball this year, and dramatically improved his scoring from his frosh to soph year. He's a jack-of-all-trades offensively, but without any elite individual skills. So we're trying to figure out what he is.

Point Guard: Returning you have Nojel Eastern (Sr) and Isaiah Thompson (So). Eastern is a big-body defensive specialist who has yet to have figured out his offensive game. And calling him a "point guard" is not really accurate, because he's kinda a guy who brings the ball up and initiates the offense but really doesn't participate after that... Isaiah Thompson came in unheralded as the younger brother of PJ, but became an offensive spark off the bench and started hitting 3s about mid-season. His offensive game is still in progress, and he's still undersized to be relied on to finish at the rim or really stand up defensively, but perhaps the off-season will help that.

New Players:

Redshirts: Mason Gillis (F) and Brandon Newman (G). Gillis had major injury problems during HS and is >2 years from meaningful action. We don't know what we're going to get from him, but there are high hopes since our only other 4 is Wheeler. So... We'll see. Newman came in as a very highly touted recruit behind a number of other guys... This one we have a lot higher expectations for, but conversely maybe slightly less need. Newman should be a shooter, and that *is* something we really need.

Incoming frosh: Jaden Ivey (SG), Ethan Morton (PG), Zach Edey (C). Edey is almost assuredly a redshirt. He's a project and there are multiple players ahead of him as a center. Ivey is a coach's son (mom is a coach at ND) and looks to be ready on day one. Morton at 6'6" with ability to score and distribute looks to also be ready from day one. Neither Ivey nor Morton are expected to RS. 

Conclusion:

We'll see. This year was a disappointment because it didn't appear that the pieces fit. There are some good pieces coming in, but we still have a hole at the 4 spot and we need the shooters to show up like they didn't this year. TBD, I guess...

[ELA]

Morton has become a bit of a local darling, by staying at his local HS, in a depressed steel town north of Pittsburgh, and has them rolling through the state playoffs.  This is a school that has generally been so bad at sports over the past two decades, they opted to play out of their geographical section going forward, because they can no longer compete with Pittsburgh area districts.

I've been to the courthouse up in Butler, more buildings boarded up than open.  Natural gas industry helped a little.  Not sure if they could have beaten the Philly schools, but it's a shame well probably never get to see it now.  He's probably the second most high profile basketball player from Western PA in my 14 years living here, behind only Dajuan Blair.  And Blair had the advantage of playing for a city school, and committing to Pitt.

[FearlessF]

The commitment leaves Nebraska one scholarship over the 13-man limit, but attrition is expected as head basketball coach Fred Hoiberg will begin meeting with current members of the Husker team. The addition of Webster gives Nebraska additional backcourt depth in the event that point guard Cam Mack does not return next season. Mack announced Thursday that he was declaring for the NBA, but not hiring an agent so that he can retain his eligibility. Guard Dachon Burke indicated last week that he is focusing on graduation, meaning his future with the program could also be cloudy.

Nebraska guard Jervay Green has entered the transfer portal, per a source.

Green, a 6-foot-3, 200-pound shooting guard originally from Denver averaged 8.2 points and 4.2 rebounds per game in his one season in Lincoln. Green appeared in 29 games, making 15 starts after seeing his minutes decline after he was taken out of the starting lineup.

Green, who came to Nebraska from Western Nebraska Community College, initially committed to former head coach Tim Miles, but stayed committed to the Big Red after head coach Fred Hoiberg was hired last spring. 

The move puts Nebraska at the 13 scholarship limit following the commitment of Western Illinois transfer Kobe Webster over the weekend.

[LetsGoPeay]

The Hoosiers going forward:

Seniors lost: 

• Devonte Green - One of the most "feast or famine" Hoosiers I think I've ever seen. He at least was interesting. Unfortunately, he was also pretty much the only outside threat IU had, albeit a wildly inconsistent one.
• De'Ron Davis - He finally seemed to find his niche as muscle off the bench in his senior year. He provided size and strength but not much else. 
• Joey Brunk - Had some solid games but he looked like a guy that hadn't played much at Butler for most of the year. Smart player and used his basketball intelligence to make a lot of hidden contributions to the team but just not athletic enough for the Big Ten.

Possible Departees:

• Trayce Jackson-Davis (Freshman Forward) - Can't shoot outside of 5' and is only slightly less left hand dominant than Frederick Sykes. Still, his athleticism, strength, and rebounding will be intriguing and there's probably more than a few NBA teams that see a raw product they can mold. As of right now he's announced that he's staying but it would be irresponsible for him to not at least get an eval from the NBA.
• Damezi Anderson (Sophomore Forward) - Came to IU with a reputation as a shooter. Still haven't seen it. I'd say the likelihood that he transfers is about 70%.
• Justin Smith (Junior Forward) - His attitude and "uncoachableness" were obvious quite a bit throughout the season. Didn't seem to get along with his teammates or the coaching staff. Without having any inside info I would say that Smith and Green were the two most challenging players this year. I'm not sure where he stands academically but I could see him leaving either as a grad transfer or as a traditional transfer.

Impact Returnees:

• Al Durham (Junior Guard) - Streaky player and solid defender. All of the sudden a heretofore unseen chippiness emerged this year. I'm not sure what that's all about. He'll be a 10-12 ppg game player next year. Unfortunately, he can't consistently do what IU needs most; shoot from outside.
• Armaan Franklin (Freshman Guard) - Looks to be a very solid four year player going forward. Good defender, makes good decisions. Has potential to be a good shooter. 
• Robert Phinisee (Sophomore PG) - Always solid. Rarely spectacular. Should keep improving as a shooter. Will probably be a 14-16ppg guy. 
• Jerome Hunter (RS Freshman Forward) - Was rusty after coming off of basically two years of inactivity due to injuries and a scary blood clot disorder in his leg. Was a well regarded athletic 3 and D kind of guy coming out of high school. Hopefully he can still get there.
• Race Thompson (RS Sophomore Forward) - Came into his own as a high effort interior guy this year. Should continue that role next year. 

Incoming Freshmen: 

• Anthony Leal - 6'5" SG - Hometown kid - Highly regarded as a shooter. Could probably play some point. Highly intelligent and well coached in high school. May struggle a bit because he's not super athletic.
• Jordan Geronimo - 6'6" SF - Emerged as an under the radar guy after last summer. Very athletic and a developing shooter. Looks like he could eventually be a small ball PF.
• Trey Galloway - 6'4" SG - Coach's kid and plays like it. Has a bit of an old man game but is a sneaky athlete. Finishes old man moves with dunks and athletic reverse layups. Is a decent shooter but battled a wrist injury all year.
• Khristian Lander - 6'2" PG - He's currently in the class of 2021 but there's a 90% chance he reclassifies to graduate this year. #1 PG in his class and #11 overall player in the class of 2021. Hyper athletic and quick while still being a true PG. Not a great shooter. Shoots like a kid that has always been able to just get by people and get to the rim. That's going to have to change.

All in all, there are still some glaring weaknesses on this roster for next year; primarily shooting and a little more size. If TJD comes back as expected he and Thompson will be the only players over 6'8" on the roster. If they get in foul trouble then IU becomes very small. Small teams that can't shoot don't win. I would guess that there are at least two departures outside of the seniors this offseason and the shooting and size issues are addressed in the grad transfer market. Even with that, I have a hard time seeing IU doing anything other than being a mid to lower tier Big Ten team and hanging around the wrong side of the bubble... so pretty much the same as this year. If that comes to pass I'd expect Archie's seat to get very hot.

[MichiFan87]

I didn't think Michigan had any reason to explore the grad transfer market this year (especially if/when Josh Christopher commits as expected), but apparently they're a prime contender along with Arizona for Mike Smith from Columbia, who is the top rated option on Barttorvik's list. It was previously reported that Aiken from Harvard is also interested in Michigan:

http://www.barttorvik.com/playerstat.php?link=y&xvalue=grads&year=2020&minmin=0&top=353&start=20191101&end=20200501

[bayareabadger]

Wisconsin's only senior said he wouldn't come back even if he got the option. Didn't want to start on a PHD. 

[ELA]

Wisconsin's only senior said he wouldn't come back even if he got the option. Didn't want to start on a PHD.

Winston falls in the same boat, even though he hasn't come out and said it.  MSU had a football player learn last fall that football and law school don't really mix.

[MaximumSam]

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2020/03/17/simulating-2020-ncaa-tournament-an-attempt-stave-off-march-sadness/%3foutputType=amp

The Washington Post did a very deep dive in simulating the NCAA Tourney and your 2020 national champs are:

The Ohio State Buckeyes

I'm hanging a banner

[847badgerfan]

Wisconsin's only senior said he wouldn't come back even if he got the option. Didn't want to start on a PHD.

He could start a second Masters, preferably in engineering.

[MaximumSam]

Your defending champs, The Ohio State Buckeyes

Definitely leaving:

Andre Wesson, Forward: Elder Wesson developed into a pretty good shooter for the Buckeyes, hitting 42% from three this year.  He was a flexible, dependable player who could do a lot of things (he even played center last year).  He was not the most dynamic wing though, and couldn't really create much of his own offense.

Probably leaving:

Kaleb Wesson, Center: He explored the draft process last year, came back, lost weight and really focused on his three point shooting, also hitting 42% from three.  It seems pretty likely he will explore the NBA for real this time.  He was much more solid defensively, is a good rebounder, and his inside/outside game was tough on opponents.  However, his post game never really got that great - it was somewhat inefficient and I wouldn't mind that next year we don't waste possessions on it.

Returnees:

Seniors

Kyle Young, F/C: Young can't seem to catch a break, missing the time the past two seasons with a broken leg, a sprained ankle, and appendicitis.  But he's going to be the big man next year and I'm hopeful for a bit of a breakout next year.  He was quite efficient on his offense close to the basket, and shot 63% from two.  He is also a strong defender and rebounder.  He will not post up as much as Kaleb, but the bigger issue is he can't shoot like Kaleb.  He only shot 15% from three, and if that doesn't improve teams will ignore him away from the basket.  

CJ Walker, PG: He had a bit of an up and down season, though by the end of the season he was playing quite well.  PG play was a big part of the Buckeyes improvement this year, as it turns out it is handy to have a point guard.  He had an o-rating over 100 his last seven games, and he looked much more comfortable attacking the basket.  A senior point guard is a good thing.

Juniors:

Duane Washington, G: Seemed to up his game this year, playing as a secondary point guard and working to find open threes, where he shot 39%.  He also worked on attacking the basket more, though that was kind of ugly and he only shot 41% from two.  If he can get that number up he will really be something.

Luther Muhammad, G: Kind of an inverse Washington.  His offensive game was pretty limited, but he has really blossomed into being a perimeter stopper.  Would love to see him develop a post game or something that he can rely on offensively, right now all he does is shoot open threes.  

Justice Sueing, F: A transfer from Cal, where he was a good player on a bad team.  Will step in for Andre Wesson, and has the reputation as a much better  offensive player.  We shall see.

Musa Jallow, G/F: Took a redshirt this year after dealing with a foot injury.  Not really sure what to expect from him - he didn't give them much his first two years, but at times looked quite talented.  

Justin Ahrens, G/F: Struggled to find minutes this year, and didn't do anything but shoot threes.  Really.  He took 62 shots this year and 57 of them were threes. 

Sophomores:

EJ Liddell, F: A talented player that the staff is excited about.  He was somewhat limited to post stuff early on, but when Young got hurt he played a lot of minutes and his confidence grew.  Developing an outside shot is key for him, not sure they can play he and Young at the same time if he can't shoot threes.  More confident in his ability to develop a shot than Young's though.

DJ Carton, G: Obviously a big question mark here given he left the team for mental health reasons.  If he comes back he is a very talented NBA lottery prospect, so it would be nice to have him back.

Alonzo Gaffney, F: Didn't play at all down the stretch due to mysterious reasons.  Don't be surprised if he transfers.  If he comes back, he's an athletic but raw player and I'm not sure what to expect.

Ibrahim Diallo, C: Another athletic but raw guy, though that was always the expectation.  The hope is he becomes good enough to be able to come in at center next year and protect the rim.  

New Guys:

Zeb Key, F: A three star prospect who has some old man game to him.  Might catch some minutes because of them being thin near the basket.

Eugene Brown, F: A four star wing guy, will be tough to break through next year.

Possibly Seth Towns, F: Transfer from Harvard set to announce his destination soon.  He's from Columbus and there has been a lot of smoke for him coming, but Duke recently got in the mix too.

[847badgerfan]

Your defending champs, The Ohio State Buckeyes

I've read that this quarantine thing can cause delusion.

[MaximumSam]

I've read that this quarantine thing can cause delusion.

Buddy it's science and now is not the time to question science

[847badgerfan]

Well, I'm a scientist and I always have questions. That used to be a good thing. 

[MaximumSam]

Welp. Sounds like Carton is leaving the Buckeyes.