~2017-18 Big Ten Basketball Thread~

[847badgerfan]

Also noteworthy is that OSU and the fraternal MI twins are the only three schools to be in our top-seven for both Helmets and Hoops, whereas Minnesota, Rutgers and Illinois are the only three to achieve dual bottom-seven status.

It feels weird that UW is not in that top 7 club for both, after being there for the past couple of decades.

[Brutus Buckeye]

Also weird is that Nebraska is top seven in Hoops and bottom seven in Football, instead of the other way around. 

[betarhoalphadelta]

According to Bleacher Report, here are the Top 10 Teams Built to Dominate March Madness...

They basically say that elite defense is essentially a must. But some of the critical things that define teams poised to go to the Final Four or all the way are:

• KenPom Top-20 defensive efficiency (Purdue is 5th)
• At least one multiyear starter in the backcourt (PJ Thompson, Dakota Mathias as guards, Carsen Edwards is a soph and started last year)
• At least one player with a proven ability to catch fire from three-point range (PJ, Dakota, Cline, CEdwards, and VEdwards can all light it up)
• A positive turnover margin (Purdue is +1.8 per game)
• A bunch of quality wins (Sagarin has us 3-0 vs his top 25 and 7-1 vs his top 50)
• At least one lengthy winning streak before the end of January (currently won 14 straight)

Hence why they rated Purdue as their #1. 

MSU was #5, BTW.

[ELA]

According to Bleacher Report, here are the Top 10 Teams Built to Dominate March Madness...

They basically say that elite defense is essentially a must. But some of the critical things that define teams poised to go to the Final Four or all the way are:

• KenPom Top-20 defensive efficiency (Purdue is 5th)
• At least one multiyear starter in the backcourt (PJ Thompson, Dakota Mathias as guards, Carsen Edwards is a soph and started last year)
• At least one player with a proven ability to catch fire from three-point range (PJ, Dakota, Cline, CEdwards, and VEdwards can all light it up)
• A positive turnover margin (Purdue is +1.8 per game)
• A bunch of quality wins (Sagarin has us 3-0 vs his top 25 and 7-1 vs his top 50)
• At least one lengthy winning streak before the end of January (currently won 14 straight)

Hence why they rated Purdue as their #1.

MSU was #5, BTW.

I can't disagree.  They really only have one March obstacle to overcome

[medinabuckeye1]

Looking forward to this weekend's games:

Friday:
Indiana at Michigan State:  Are the Hoosiers getting better or are they just playing bad opponents?  Can MSU get out of their now three-game slump and get back to looking like the team that was ranked #1 a couple weeks ago?  MSU and IU are tied at 4-2 but IU's wins are over Iowa, MN, PSU, and NU.  Their only road win was over a reeling MN team.  The winner stays within two games of the top of the conference.  

Illinois at Wisconsin:  Wisconsin's long streaks of making the NCAA streak and finishing in the top-4 of the conference are on life support at this point.  They are 2-4 in the league and below .500 overall.  They would need to win our (or very close to it) to have a chance to keep either streak alive (excepting of course that, at least in theory, they could keep their NCAA streak alive by winning the BTT at MSG in NYC).  The Badgers should beat a now 0-6 Illinois team and with Iowa coming up next week they might keep their dreams alive for another week.  

Saturday:
Purdue at Iowa:  The Boilermakers are 7-0 and this is far from their toughest test.  It shouldn't be much of a game but it is at Carver-Hawkeye . . .

Penn State at Northwestern:  If the Lions could get a road win here it would help to make up for their home losses to both Wisconsin and Minnesota. Still, their at-large bid hopes are fading fast.  Northwestern is a MAJOR disappointment this year.  They are running out of time to turn it around.  

Ohio State vs Minnesota (at MSG):  The surprising Buckeyes are tied atop the conference at 7-0 while the surprising (the other way) Gophers are reeling at 3-5.  A month or so ago I thought this was a sure win for the Gophers.  Now it looks like Ohio State is a heavy favorite.  We'll see.  

Sunday:
Rutgers at Michigan:  Michigan needs a bounce-back after getting run off the court in Lincoln.  The Scarlet Knights looked pretty good at home against Iowa and would love to keep that going but I just don't see it happening.  

[betarhoalphadelta]

I can't disagree.  They really only have one March obstacle to overcome

Ouch!
Also, not exactly correct. While people like to lambast Painter for never getting past the Sweet 16, very few of his teams were truly expected to. Even the best team he's ever had prior to this year, the year when Hummel/Johnson/Moore were juniors and Kramer was a senior, the ACL tear Hummel had derailed the season. 
Every year Purdue has made the sweet 16, they faced the 1 seed in that game. They never were the ones to get lucky enough to have the 8/9 winner knock off the 1. Up until last year, the other 1 seeds they faced were UConn (made it to the Final Four) and Duke (won the whole damn thing).
Last year, Purdue had a good team, but was still only a 4 seed. They faced Kansas in the Sweet 16, held the lead for much of the first half, and the game was within 2 points about 5 minutes into the 2nd half. And then Kansas just went crazy and couldn't miss. 
And that team last year had a problem. They just weren't athletic enough. Swanigan was a beast, but he can't guard an athletic 4. Haas is a human mountain, but can't guard away from the basket. Carsen Edwards was athletic, but he was still a freshman playing too fast for himself.
This year's different. Carsen is letting the game flow to him but still can turn up the pace on command. Haarms is the athletic, tall stretch big that can help against more athletic 4's or 5's that give Haas trouble. Eastern is a frosh point guard who can play enough minutes and is a big, 6'6" guy who is athletic enough to give opponents fits when he defends. And that's who you have supporting the cast of 4 seniors who have all basically started together since their freshman years and know the game inside and out.
I'm not sure how Purdue is going to finish the season. But I honestly believe that this is Matt Painter's best team -- even better than the Hummel/Johnson/Moore/Kramer year before Hummel's injury. This team lost the Big Ten Player of the Year... And got better.

[jhetfield99]

Looking more and more like Maryland or bust for getting a 5th team in though.  I just have a hard time seeing the conference getting only 4.

I wouldn't count out Neb.  PSU is still the team that I argue hard should be in the mix and hasn't really been close.

[mcwterps1]

Schneider Herard just committed. 

A transfer out of Mississippi State. 

Can play middle of next year I believe. 

[medinabuckeye1]

For the next two minutes the Buckeyes are alone in first place in the B1G

[betarhoalphadelta]

Purdue just set the record for most made 3-pointers in a conference game with 20, and tied the most made 3-pointers for a B1G team in any game. And they've been going deep into the bench for the last 10 minutes of the game.

[medinabuckeye1]

Nice

[ELA]

Purdue wasted that on Iowa.  They would have run any team in the country out of the gym today.

[Brutus Buckeye]

Buckeyes remain undefeated in Conference play, tied for first place atop the Big Ten standings. 

[MaximumSam]

Buckeyes remain undefeated in Conference play, tied for first place atop the Big Ten standings.

I didn't see the game.  The box score was weird, the Bucks only made 4 threes and only shot 10 free throws, but won in a walk