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2013-2014 B1G Men's Basketball

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buckeyeintn said:
And what does any of that have to do with my post in response to your post about Crean not having a perfect team (a term you used twice) last year?
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Clearly not getting past the Sweet 16 is some dark mark for Crean last season according to some. But realistically I don't think IU truly underachieved in the tournament in the sense that they lost to a helluva team in Syracuse which had perhaps the frontrunner for NBA ROY this season in Carter-Williams as well as some other very talented players. OSU fans don't hold it against Matta that they lost to KY in the Sweet 16 with the 2011 team, kind of a similar situation to what Crean had last year. This year is a rough year for IU but Crean deserves a lot of credit for what he led that team to last season and not some sort of stigma.
 
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DZ83CK said:
Clearly not getting past the Sweet 16 is some dark mark for Crean last season according to some. But realistically I don't think IU truly underachieved in the tournament in the sense that they lost to a helluva team in Syracuse which had perhaps the frontrunner for NBA ROY this season in Carter-Williams as well as some other very talented players. OSU fans don't hold it against Matta that they lost to KY in the Sweet 16 with the 2011 team, kind of a similar situation to what Crean had last year. This year is a rough year for IU but Crean deserves a lot of credit for what he led that team to last season and not some sort of stigma.
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I just got an idea why not take your sorry ass posts over to some IU board if you have a man crush on the guy.
 
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LitlBuck said:
I just got an idea why not take your sorry ass posts over to some IU board if you have a man crush on the guy.
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Hey Crean isn't one of my favorite coaches. Honestly I don't mind people making fun of him but in terms of having a winning team he did a good job to get that team to where they were in 2012 and 2013, and I think they'll be back to a high level sometime in the near future. He might be unsavory but he is not a bad coach - if he were a bad coach he never would've gotten that program back to the Sweet 16 or winning the Big Ten in the first place.
 
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DZ83CK said:
Hey Crean isn't one of my favorite coaches. Honestly I don't mind people making fun of him but in terms of having a winning team he did a good job to get that team to where they were in 2012 and 2013, and I think they'll be back to a high level sometime in the near future. He might be unsavory but he is not a bad coach - if he were a bad coach he never would've gotten that program back to the Sweet 16 or winning the Big Ten in the first place.
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James Blackmon Jr. may be his saving grace next year. Kid is a baller.

As far as this year go, what a season so far in the BigTen. Actually rooting for Nebraska to get (stay?) in the bubble discussion- they have an easy close to the season, may need an extra win in the conference tournament.
 
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OHSportsFan said:
James Blackmon Jr. may be his saving grace next year. Kid is a baller.

As far as this year go, what a season so far in the BigTen. Actually rooting for Nebraska to get (stay?) in the bubble discussion- they have an easy close to the season, may need an extra win in the conference tournament.
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Yeah, Blackmon is going to be big for IU moving forward.

It is interesting how Nebraska has found their way onto the bubble now. I didn't expect that to happen this season but they have a real shot now. Nebraska this season has a much better squad than last season in terms of the talent on that roster. It will be interesting to monitor if they get in, I tend to doubt they will but you've got to give Tim Miles a lot of credit as he's turned that program up a couple notches without much time to do so.
 
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The only team in the B1G that realistically is a top 10 team right now is a healthy MSU. But this is an MSU team that lost at home to Nebraska and UNC (4th in ACC) and on a neutral site to G-Town (7th in the BE). This is not the same B1G that it was last year. Yes, teams from the bottom half have improved, but what has occurred is also a result of the top teams taking a step back.

Its difficult to compare basketball to football because there are so few non-conf games in football. IF the top team in the SEC had lost 2 non-conf games, surely that would affect conference perception. The two teams leading the B1G right now have 6 non-conf losses between them.
 
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wigmon said:
The only team in the B1G that realistically is a top 10 team right now is a healthy MSU. But this is an MSU team that lost at home to Nebraska and UNC (4th in ACC) and on a neutral site to G-Town (7th in the BE). This is not the same B1G that it was last year. Yes, teams from the bottom half have improved, but what has occurred is also a result of the top teams taking a step back.
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You're kidding, right? MSU has been saddled with injuries all season. I'd take Iowa and Wisconsin over any of San Diego St., Cincinnati and St. Louis (all in the top 10 right now in the coaches poll) on a neutral floor. And I'd take MSU on a neutral floor against any of those and several others in the top 10 right now.
 
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Not kidding in the least. As mentioned, a healthy MSU team is a top 10 team. I don't see that any other B1G is worthy of being ranked that high. You can take Iowa and Wisky all you want over those other teams, but the reality is that neither team is that consistently good. Could they beat SDSU or Cincy or even Syracuse? OF course. There isn't any team in the country that can't be beaten. I just don't happen to think that top 10 teams should get beat badly at home by Northwestern. They also lost pretty bad to MN who was playing without their best player who was hurt on the first play of the game. Iowa hasn't had any terrible losses, but they lost at home to MSU who was playing without Payne or Dawson. When Iowa and Wisky shoot well from deep, they look like really good teams. SDSU and Cincy play pretty good D and wouldn't give up many good looks to either of those teams.

MSU is the class of the league when healthy (they aren't healthy). There are 5 or 6 other teams that can compete with top 10 teams, but aren't worthy of being ranked in the top 10. Iowa has enough talent/depth to be there, but they are wildly inconsistent shooting the ball. Wisconsin has to shoot great to win. When they find it difficult to get open three's, they look very average and the top teams will make them look that way.

I could see an argument for St. Louis to not be in the top 10 (they are 10th right now) as they don't have any big wins. They have some good wins and only 2 close losses to good teams. But I could make an argument for UK, ISU, Creighton, Louisville (not in AP top 10) better than I could for Iowa or Wisky. Wisky had some of good wins (the FL and MSU wins are tainted due to the number of injuries those teams had, but is really helping their comp rankings), but has lost to 3 teams that would likely be out of the NCAA and as noted, the home loss to NW (a team that they had beaten by 27 a few weeks earlier) shows exactly how anyone can beat Wisky. If Iowa was more consistent shooting the ball, I could see them as a top 10 team.
 
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wigmon said:
Not kidding in the least. As mentioned, a healthy MSU team is a top 10 team. I don't see that any other B1G is worthy of being ranked that high. You can take Iowa and Wisky all you want over those other teams, but the reality is that neither team is that consistently good. Could they beat SDSU or Cincy or even Syracuse? OF course. There isn't any team in the country that can't be beaten. I just don't happen to think that top 10 teams should get beat badly at home by Northwestern. They also lost pretty bad to MN who was playing without their best player who was hurt on the first play of the game. Iowa hasn't had any terrible losses, but they lost at home to MSU who was playing without Payne or Dawson. When Iowa and Wisky shoot well from deep, they look like really good teams. SDSU and Cincy play pretty good D and wouldn't give up many good looks to either of those teams.

MSU is the class of the league when healthy (they aren't healthy). There are 5 or 6 other teams that can compete with top 10 teams, but aren't worthy of being ranked in the top 10. Iowa has enough talent/depth to be there, but they are wildly inconsistent shooting the ball. Wisconsin has to shoot great to win. When they find it difficult to get open three's, they look very average and the top teams will make them look that way.

I could see an argument for St. Louis to not be in the top 10 (they are 10th right now) as they don't have any big wins. They have some good wins and only 2 close losses to good teams. But I could make an argument for UK, ISU, Creighton, Louisville (not in AP top 10) better than I could for Iowa or Wisky. Wisky had some of good wins (the FL and MSU wins are tainted due to the number of injuries those teams had, but is really helping their comp rankings), but has lost to 3 teams that would likely be out of the NCAA and as noted, the home loss to NW (a team that they had beaten by 27 a few weeks earlier) shows exactly how anyone can beat Wisky. If Iowa was more consistent shooting the ball, I could see them as a top 10 team.
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Eh, you could make those same arguments about almost any team in the top 10 besides Syracuse:

San Diego St. has a bad loss to Wyoming, barely got by a putrid Utah St. team, etc.
Wichita St. (while we're talking about teams without any big wins) has no big wins and seemingly is in a dogfight every time out in a bad conference.
Cincy lost to New Mexico and Xavier.
Villanova lost to Creighton twice (to say nothing of the loss against Iowa, one of the teams you're claiming shouldn't be in the top 10).
Florida lost to Wisconsin and plays in a terrible conference.

More could be said here, but you get the point.
 
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Plain and simple, the BiG is a tournament conference. Once it's on the line, the superior coaching and physical play will show its mettle.

The only thing stopping the conference from having a clear cut champion is the lack of a great shooting team. We really just don't have one right now.
 
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