Big 10 Tournament Thread

[chw42]

I would drool over a 7 or better seed, seriously didn't think this team was going to make it at all going into the season.

 

As long as we don't have to play the #1 seed in the round of 32, I'll be very happy.

[bigruss]

It's way too early to say that. Rice is going to be pretty big addition and I think Egwu is going to be a force next year. We also don't know about transfers (5th year seniors), how the freshmen will be, and other player progressions (Henry, Abrams, etc).

I've got high hopes that this Desmond Lee guy from some New Mexico CC transfers here to give us some quality minutes at the 2.

[chw42]

It's way too early to say that. Rice is going to be pretty big addition and I think Egwu is going to be a force next year. We also don't know about transfers (5th year seniors), how the freshmen will be, and other player progressions (Henry, Abrams, etc).

 

I'd also like to see how Bertrand improves his game and how he'll do with a much bigger role on the team next year.

[ZoomSlowik]

I was just watching Jalen Rose and Digger Phelps on ESPN talking about U of I/Minnesota/Iowa and they're fairly clueless. Their main point was that you shouldn't be in the tournament if you are under .500 in conference and Iowa could/should be in with a win over NU.

 

THEY DIDN'T BEAT ANYONE THIS YEAR!!!

 

Well, okay, that's a slight exaggeration: they beat Wisconsin, Illinois and Minnesota at home (and I guess Iowa State), but you just spent the last couple minutes s***ting all over the last two teams. The 4 teams that they only played once were MSU, Michigan, OSU and Illinois, so why should we care that they had one more conference win than Illinois and Minnesota?

Edited March 14, 2013 by ZoomSlowik

[caulfield12]

I saw one of those "bracketologists" on TV the other day. He claimed not only would Iowa have to beat MSU, they would have to get to Sunday to get in. They were so close to being a really good team this season. I think they lost 5 conference games where they had the lead the last 2 minutes. Its one of the pitfalls of having a young team. They should be really good next year. Only losing May, and supposedly Uthoff has been their best player in practice, although that usually is the standard line for guys who aren't playing, and Jok seems to be a pretty good recruit. He was really highly thought of as an 8th grader. Supposedly Weber offered him a scholarship. Injured his knee, had surgery and really struggled. Apparently the surgery was botched up. Had another surgery and was really good this year. He lives in Des Moines but I think he's from the Sudan. Maybe he can be Loul Deng II.

 

 

Basabe looked like a monster his freshman year and regressed. Marble was injured for a key game they really needed him. All those early painful losses by razor thin margins and the horrible January conference start.

 

White and Oglesby have been up and down all year, and then you have two freshman in Gesell and Clemmons, and they've battled some injuries as well.

 

All things considered, things are still looking so much better than the end of the Lickliter years...but it is quite annoying to see how well Alford is doing in New Mexico after he just up and abandoned the program and left it in horrible shape and perhaps the legacy of the most unpopular coach in school history after replacing the most popular in Dr. Tom.

 

Losing Ben Brust, Cody Larson and Aaron Fuller was another crushing blow. So the one year Lickliter was successful recruiting and they lose those kids to Wisconsin and Florida.

 

They definitely have to make the tournament next year...those are fair expectations, it will be Year 4 for McCaffrey and seven years removed from an NCAA appearance if they miss again with a loss to MSU.

[chw42]

I was just watching Jalen Rose and Digger Phelps on ESPN talking about U of I/Minnesota/Iowa and they're fairly clueless. Their main point was that you shouldn't be in the tournament if you are under .500 in conference and Iowa could/should be in with a win over NU.

 

THEY DIDN'T BEAT ANYONE THIS YEAR!!!

 

Well, okay, that's a slight exaggeration: they beat Wisconsin, Illinois and Minnesota at home (and I guess Iowa State), but you just spent the last couple minutes s***ting all over the last two teams. The 4 teams that they only played once were MSU, Michigan, OSU and Illinois, so why should we care that they had one more conference win that Illinois and Minnesota?

 

Was this on First Take? lol

[Soxfest]

They were safe before that game but now they should be looking at a 7 seed or higher.

Losing last 3 there could of been some doubt...................8 or 9 seed now!

[whitesoxfan99]

Losing last 3 there could of been some doubt...................8 or 9 seed now!

 

Not really. Illinois was a head of a ton of teams on the NCAA tourney pecking order.

[clyons]

I was just watching Jalen Rose and Digger Phelps on ESPN talking about U of I/Minnesota/Iowa and they're fairly clueless. Their main point was that you shouldn't be in the tournament if you are under .500 in conference

 

Yeah, that's just cliche spouting and pretty lazy "analysis" in light of the strength of this particular conference.

[Boogua]

I'd also like to see how Bertrand improves his game and how he'll do with a much bigger role on the team next year.

He's an interesting case. Earlier this season I thought he was getting better and would be a force next year, but his play in conference (especially the Iowa game- my god...) makes me hesitant on whether or not he'll even be a starter next year.

[whitesoxfan99]

It's way too early to say that. Rice is going to be pretty big addition and I think Egwu is going to be a force next year. We also don't know about transfers (5th year seniors), how the freshmen will be, and other player progressions (Henry, Abrams, etc).

 

Fine. Sucks is too strong of a word but we are looking at a bubble team at best with the current roster and recruits. You add a really good 5th year transfer and Desmond Lee is really good than maybe it is different but otherwise you need Henry, Egwu and Abrams to make massive jumps to make the tourney.

[Dick Allen]

I was just watching Jalen Rose and Digger Phelps on ESPN talking about U of I/Minnesota/Iowa and they're fairly clueless. Their main point was that you shouldn't be in the tournament if you are under .500 in conference and Iowa could/should be in with a win over NU.

 

THEY DIDN'T BEAT ANYONE THIS YEAR!!!

 

Well, okay, that's a slight exaggeration: they beat Wisconsin, Illinois and Minnesota at home (and I guess Iowa State), but you just spent the last couple minutes s***ting all over the last two teams. The 4 teams that they only played once were MSU, Michigan, OSU and Illinois, so why should we care that they had one more conference win than Illinois and Minnesota?

Truth be told, lack of big wins or not, Iowa right now is just as good of a basketball team as Illinois or Minnesota and they are in. Iowa has to beat NU, beat MSU and win another to get in. If Iowa is 9-9 in the Big 10 without beating anybody, the 8-10 teams who have beaten good teams have some brutal losses. But that is how it is. Its not like any of them are going to win. Many years ago, back when Jalen was playing and Digger was coaching, that was a general rule. If you weren't at least .500 in your conference, you were NIT bound at best.

Edited March 14, 2013 by Dick Allen

[Jenksismyhero]

Fine. Sucks is too strong of a word but we are looking at a bubble team at best with the current roster and recruits. You add a really good 5th year transfer and Desmond Lee is really good than maybe it is different but otherwise you need Henry, Egwu and Abrams to make massive jumps to make the tourney.

 

Rice is a PG right? That should help Abrams, who can dribble the ball but can't set anyone up. Egwu needs to be more consistent and stay out of foul trouble. He didn't show much growth this year. Henry is probably the most improved, especially the last month. I was surprised he didn't get more playing time today, but I didn't get to watch the whole game so maybe there was a good reason. IMO he's the key for next year. If he can make a jump defensively and be more confident on the offensive end they're a tourney team. If not, Illinois will be terrible next year.

[whitesoxfan99]

Truth be told, lack of big wins or not, Iowa right now is just as good of a basketball team as Illinois or Minnesota and they are in. Iowa has to beat NU, beat MSU and win another to get in. If Iowa is 9-9 in the Big 10 without beating anybody, the 8-10 teams who have beaten good teams have some brutal losses. But that is how it is. Its not like any of them are going to win. Many years ago, back when Jalen was playing and Digger was coaching, that was a general rule. If you weren't at least .500 in your conference, you were NIT bound at best.

 

Illinois and Minnesota also didn't play a ridiculously weak non-conference schedule and despite playing better schedules in the non-conference had fewer losses coming into Big 10 play than Iowa. Iowa has only themselves to blame for horrific non-conference scheduling. Seriously, most people on this board could have put together a smarter schedule than what Iowa played this year.

[whitesoxfan99]

Rice is a PG right? That should help Abrams, who can dribble the ball but can't set anyone up. Egwu needs to be more consistent and stay out of foul trouble. He didn't show much growth this year. Henry is probably the most improved, especially the last month. I was surprised he didn't get more playing time today, but I didn't get to watch the whole game so maybe there was a good reason. IMO he's the key for next year. If he can make a jump defensively and be more confident on the offensive end they're a tourney team. If not, Illinois will be terrible next year.

 

Rice is a wing who is built like an NFL linebacker. Solid scorer at Rice but wasn't particularly efficient.

[Dick Allen]

Basabe looked like a monster his freshman year and regressed. Marble was injured for a key game they really needed him. All those early painful losses by razor thin margins and the horrible January conference start.

 

White and Oglesby have been up and down all year, and then you have two freshman in Gesell and Clemmons, and they've battled some injuries as well.

 

All things considered, things are still looking so much better than the end of the Lickliter years...but it is quite annoying to see how well Alford is doing in New Mexico after he just up and abandoned the program and left it in horrible shape and perhaps the legacy of the most unpopular coach in school history after replacing the most popular in Dr. Tom.

 

Losing Ben Brust, Cody Larson and Aaron Fuller was another crushing blow. So the one year Lickliter was successful recruiting and they lose those kids to Wisconsin and Florida.

 

They definitely have to make the tournament next year...those are fair expectations, it will be Year 4 for McCaffrey and seven years removed from an NCAA appearance if they miss again with a loss to MSU.

Basabe has been pretty good this year. Brust hurt, Larson was a bust anyway and Fuller wasn't a difference maker. Marble stayed on board and Basabe decommitted from Sienna to come with Fran, so the Hawks did OK there. White is really good. I think Woodbury will be a beast when he gets a little stronger. He was pretty much a stiff this season, but is aggressive. I think he just wasn't used to playing against anyone his size. He could make a big leap next year. Gessell and Clemmons had their moments but as Al McGwire used to say, the best thing about freshman is they become sophomores. Oglesby had one of the worst shooting percentages in the nation, and supposedly doesn't miss in practice. It's all in his head. If he can get that straighten out, you're looking at a team that can do a lot of damage in the future.

Edited March 14, 2013 by Dick Allen

[LittleHurt05]

Truth be told, lack of big wins or not, Iowa right now is just as good of a basketball team as Illinois or Minnesota and they are in. Iowa has to beat NU, beat MSU and win another to get in. If Iowa is 9-9 in the Big 10 without beating anybody, the 8-10 teams who have beaten good teams have some brutal losses. But that is how it is. Its not like any of them are going to win. Many years ago, back when Jalen was playing and Digger was coaching, that was a general rule. If you weren't at least .500 in your conference, you were NIT bound at best.

 

From 1985-1994, 15 teams made the tourney with a losing conference record. From 2001-2012, 10 teams have.

[bigruss]

Rice is a PG right? That should help Abrams, who can dribble the ball but can't set anyone up. Egwu needs to be more consistent and stay out of foul trouble. He didn't show much growth this year. Henry is probably the most improved, especially the last month. I was surprised he didn't get more playing time today, but I didn't get to watch the whole game so maybe there was a good reason. IMO he's the key for next year. If he can make a jump defensively and be more confident on the offensive end they're a tourney team. If not, Illinois will be terrible next year.

Rice is more of a 2/3 than a 1.

[Dick Allen]

From 1985-1994, 15 teams made the tourney with a losing conference record. From 2001-2012, 10 teams have.

How many of them won their conference tournament? And your numbers still suggest on average about 1 a year. Personally, I think they should get rid of the stupid play in game and just add another round and make it a 128 team field. Let just about everyone in. You can take RPI and all that crap, the bottom line is the top 65 teams aren't in the tournament. Just make it 128. They will make more money.

Edited March 14, 2013 by Dick Allen

[LittleHurt05]

How many of them won their conference tournament?

 

Zero. All at-larges.

[bigruss]

How many of them won their conference tournament? And your numbers still suggest on average about 1 a year. Personally, I think they should get rid of the stupid play in game and just add another round and make it a 128 team field. Let just about everyone in. You can take RPI and all that crap, the bottom line is the top 65 teams aren't in the tournament. Just make it 128. They will make more money.

Why even have a regular season?

 

That sounds terrible.

[Buehrle>Wood]

A requirement of .500 in conference record is incredibly stupid.

 

Conference record should not be considered at all. Oh right, its not, since that's the logical thing to do.

[ZoomSlowik]

Truth be told, lack of big wins or not, Iowa right now is just as good of a basketball team as Illinois or Minnesota and they are in. Iowa has to beat NU, beat MSU and win another to get in. If Iowa is 9-9 in the Big 10 without beating anybody, the 8-10 teams who have beaten good teams have some brutal losses. But that is how it is. Its not like any of them are going to win. Many years ago, back when Jalen was playing and Digger was coaching, that was a general rule. If you weren't at least .500 in your conference, you were NIT bound at best.

 

Not exactly true since Iowa had a loss at Nebraska. It helped quite a bit that the worst team that they only played once was Illinois. Minnesota only played Purdue and Penn State once and Illinois missed a game against Penn State as well as the previously mentioned Iowa game. An extra game each against the worst team in the league could easily swing that one game, not to mention that there was another winnable game for both of them.

[Dick Allen]

Why even have a regular season?

 

That sounds terrible.

 

How many of the 65 teams in the tournament have a legitimate chance of winning it? Adding another round brings in more revenue and takes every slight off the table. And if one of the top 10 teams lose to a team ranked #120 or lower, they would have probably not won the tournament anyway.

[bigruss]

How many of the 65 teams in the tournament have a legitimate chance of winning it? Adding another round brings in more revenue and takes every slight off the table. And if one of the top 10 teams lose to a team ranked #120 or lower, they would have probably not won the tournament anyway.

Again, why even have a regular season then?

 

Because those upset chances between the #120 teams vs the #10 teams should be during the season.