2018-2019 B1G Basketball Thread

[ELA]

I get the Bingham upside, but man, I really think Williams is going to be the best recruit out of MI next year.  Purdue ain't a bad spot to go as a big 

[ELA]

Langford out again.

Ahrens looks like he should be good to go though.

Assuming he gets back to 100%, this Langford injury could be a blessing, the way Aaron Henry has blossomed defensively.  To lose our best perimeter defender and not skip a beat, get him back, and I'll say this is MSUs best defensive team ever.  Last year had freaky shot blocking ability, but wasn't built to defend the way most teams play now.

[MaximumSam]

Early B1G season KenPom

1. MSU (3)
2. UM (6)
3. Wisconsin (13)
4. Nebraska (16)
5. Purdue (17)
6. Maryland (20)
7. OSU (24)
8. Indiana (28)
9. Iowa (43)
10. NW (49)
11. Minnesota (58)
12. PSU (60)
13. Illinois (106)
14. Rutgers (115)

[medinabuckeye1]

Minnesota is already at +2 based on their home win over UNL and their road win over UW so I will make that move with the next update unless they lose a game they shouldn't in the next week or so.  

Within a few hours of me typing that, Minnesota lost a home game to Maryland.  Worse, it wasn't all that close.  The game was competitive for about the first 30 minutes but after that the Terps pulled away and won by 15.  
Minnesota has become the hardest team to slot into a tier.  There have only been five "upsets" and the Gophers have been involved in three of them:

• On December 5 they won a home game over Nebraska.  This would not be an "upset" if we moved Minnesota up to tier-3.  
• On January 3 they won a road game over Wisconsin.  In order to eliminate this "upset" we would have to move (Minnesota up / Wisconsin down) a combined four tiers.  
• Last night (Jan 8) they lost a home game to Maryland.  This would not be an upset if we moved Minnesota down or Maryland up.  

[JerseyTerrapin]

Within a few hours of me typing that, Minnesota lost a home game to Maryland.  Worse, it wasn't all that close.  The game was competitive for about the first 30 minutes but after that the Terps pulled away and won by 15.  
Minnesota has become the hardest team to slot into a tier.  There have only been five "upsets" and the Gophers have been involved in three of them:

• On December 5 they won a home game over Nebraska.  This would not be an "upset" if we moved Minnesota up to tier-3.  
• On January 3 they won a road game over Wisconsin.  In order to eliminate this "upset" we would have to move (Minnesota up / Wisconsin down) a combined four tiers.  
• Last night (Jan 8) they lost a home game to Maryland.  This would not be an upset if we moved Minnesota down or Maryland up.  

I think Maryland is also hard to slot because not only are they extremely young (such an overused cliche anymore), the young players have so much upside that the team is improving really quickly.  For instance, Jalen Smith (true freshman 5-star recruit) wasn't a huge factor in November and December, but it looks like he's heading for double-double territory and his scoring has jagged up significantly as he learns the college game.

[HailHailMSP]

I think Maryland is also hard to slot because not only are they extremely young (such an overused cliche anymore), the young players have so much upside that the team is improving really quickly.  For instance, Jalen Smith (true freshman 5-star recruit) wasn't a huge factor in November and December, but it looks like he's heading for double-double territory and his scoring has jagged up significantly as he learns the college game.

Agree with the comments above. I think both are enigma's. They may each bite a tier 1 or tier 2 team, but also could blow a game against a Tier 4 team. We'll probably say the same about Nebraska at some point as well. 

[Entropy]

I'm already saying it about UNL...  they have one identity at home and another on the road.

[HailHailMSP]

Assuming he gets back to 100%, this Langford injury could be a blessing, the way Aaron Henry has blossomed defensively.  To lose our best perimeter defender and not skip a beat, get him back, and I'll say this is MSUs best defensive team ever.  Last year had freaky shot blocking ability, but wasn't built to defend the way most teams play now.

It forces development and depth for stubborn coaches who wouldn't explore it otherwise. I think the same is true of Michigan with Livers, provided these back spasms can be sorted out. It has given Johns valuable minutes against really good competition. 

[ELA]

OSU down 1 at Rutgers at the break.  They've had a number of bad first halves against bad teams.

[MaximumSam]

OSU down 1 at Rutgers at the break.  They've had a number of bad first halves against bad teams.

This is true. Also they were ahead at halftime in both their losses. I'm not sure what to root for in the first half any more.

[MaximumSam]

Good for Rutgers

[Brutus Buckeye]

sigh. 

[ELA]

Did MSU beat them twice?

[Brutus Buckeye]

Not yet.