~2017-18 Big Ten Basketball Thread~

[grillrat]

......Stupid Germans.

[bayareabadger]

Not looking good for Big Red tonight. Not seeing that signature defense we've all come to know and love (Badger fans, only, loved it).

Like I said, there is a lot to learn, and what I'm learning so far is that they are finally in danger of not finishing in the top 4 of this conference.

So far, so ugly.

Rallied back, lots of fight.
I'm thinking this group will round into form. They just gave mighty fights to top-25 teams. UW might come through non-conference with a so-so record, but the schedule is brutal. Get a 1-2 wins there and hold their own in conference, should be OK.

[847badgerfan]

I liked that they didn't quit. That bodes well for the future. Something is wrong with Trice though. Not liking what I'm seeing there so far.

Davison is a tough SOB who needs to play more.

On to UCLA tonight now.

[bayareabadger]

I liked that they didn't quit. That bodes well for the future. Something is wrong with Trice though. Not liking what I'm seeing there so far.

Davison is a tough SOB who needs to play more.

On to UCLA tonight now.

Trice is having trouble transitioning to the guy at the end of the clock. His size doesn't help, but Gard seems to have the faith in him Bo often had in guys. 
I'll quietly hope he goes the same was as one of the the last guys to find his way into being a lead guard despite some ugly early shooting. We had a couple that turned out OK.

[ELA]

Michael Porter Jr. done for the year with back surgery.  Was the #1 overall recruit until Bagley reclassified from 2018 to 2017.

[ELA]

Iowa loses to UL Lafayette in the first round of their holiday tournament

And follows that with a loss to South Dakota State in the consolation bracket.  Yikes

[NickSmith4Three]

Michael Porter Jr. done for the year with back surgery.  Was the #1 overall recruit until Bagley reclassified from 2018 to 2017.


Too bad for the kid.  Have to imagine he enters the draft after this

Braggin' Rights game got a little easier for the Illini

[jhetfield99]

It's a little early to be wondering that.  If Purdue wins Battle of Atlantis by beating Nova and Zona they'll jump to 6th or better in the country.

I do agree that outside of Minn, MSU, and Purdue the conference doesn't appear to be too formidable. 

Northwestern got fat and happy by making and winning in the Dance and don't know how to handle success.  The only reason they were preseason 19 was media-darling status.  I think Mich, MD, and Wisc will be pretty good.  I think PSU has the talent to sneak in to the tourney like they seem to do every 5 to 6 years.  I'd say they or OSU will be the last team from the conference in.

It appears the bottom has already fallen out at Iowa.  IU has looked awful, IL is at least a year away, Rutgers still is in the conference so I'm forced to mention them and I doubt Neb is anything more than a .500 team.

[MichiFan87]

Last night's LSU game was a very disappointing with the way it ended (though the Tigers are clearly much improved even if they only end up in the NIT), but most of the problems are fixable, as Michigan almost always gets better through the season, especially when the team is young like this year's team. I think they can and probably should beat VCU. It's just too bad they got stuck playing Chaminade instead of another team in the bracket.

Anyway, it's good to see Matthews finally emerging on offense. I'm not sold that he's a future pro or all-BigTen caliber player, but he's definitely better than Irvin was.

The PG situation is still uncertain, but Eli Brooks is finally getting significant minutes and looks more comfortable than Simmons or Simpson do on offense. Jordan Poole also finally got a decent amount of playing time, and looked better than Ibi Watson, if nothing else, so he should be backing up Matthews and Abdur-Rahkman. Teske is good enough as a backup center. Isaah Livers is okay as a backup forward but not ready for major minutes. Hopefully that'll change during the season since he'll be starting next year.

Overall, this team won't probably challenge for the Big Ten, but they should be a top 40 team and be dangerous enough to beat a top team when they play well.

[847badgerfan]

I'm not sold on UW being good yet, even though Greg Gard things they will be. They had UCLA beat and they let it slip away. It was not on TV but this was in the paper:

*****************************************

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Wisconsin coach Greg Gard loved the effort Tuesday night against No. 23 UCLA.
The execution at various times in the consolation game of the Hall of Fame Classic, particularly in the final 3 1/2 minutes, left him sick.

"Now we can’t turn the ball over in three of our last eight possessions and have five points in eight possessions," Gard said after UCLA wiped out a six-point deficit and stole a 72-70 victory at the Sprint Center.

"You don’t close out games with that type of a statistic. It is the execution and part of that is maturity."

Also, UW had a 12 point lead in the 1st half with under 2 minutes and went scoreless. Their lead at the half was down to 7.

[ELA]

The problem is Wisconsin is not very good now, but I don't doubt they will be the most improved team as the season progresses, which is going to damage the Big Ten's chances at more and better bids/seeding.

I think MSU had a year in like 2004ish were they were really young, played a killed schedule and lost like 6 OOC games, but then went like 13-3 in the Big Ten, and the conference only got 3 teams in.  I think MSU doing so poorly OOC and then a young team improving and running through the conference with relative ease hurt the rep.  So Bucky, but for the good of the number of bids, and the quality of our seeds, you guys having another top 4 finish is just about the worst case scenario.

[847badgerfan]

I dunno if UW helps or hurts the conference and don't much care. Based on some of the early returns, this is not gonna be a banner year anyway. Iowa seems to flat out suck. Northwestern is already a disappointment. Rutgers, Nebraska and Penn State probably are what they have been lately.

Minny has played mostly cupcakes, but that will change soon, so we'll see. Then there is Purdue and MSU to rely on. The rest are all huge questions.

[ELA]

I dunno if UW helps or hurts the conference and don't much care. Based on some of the early returns, this is not gonna be a banner year anyway. Iowa seems to flat out suck. Northwestern is already a disappointment. Rutgers, Nebraska and Penn State probably are what they have been lately.

Minny has played mostly cupcakes, but that will change soon, so we'll see. Then there is Purdue and MSU to rely on. The rest are all huge questions.

I don't care much about the conference other than how it impacts MSU, and the weaker the conference is perceived, the more it hurts MSU.  I get UW fans wouldn't much care, but for fans of the other 13 schools, the worst case scenario is for a team to pick up a bunch of OOC losses, and then improve and be successful in conference play.  It won't be looked at as UW improving, but as the conference being weak.

[847badgerfan]

I think it's actually worse for the conference to get more bids and go home after one game. That's why I don't care much. It just looks like a bad year and it also looks like the ACC is gonna have a feast on our boys.