Big Ten down this year but next year

L

longtimer

Well-Known Member
Big Ten started the year with no great teams and has diminished since then. Michigan State the annual top 10 was clearly rebuilding and the top teams Purdue Wisconsin Indiana and Maryland were certainly not great. Since then Maryland Indiana and Wisconsin have really hit the skids and Purdue hasnt played well. Minnesota (i hate to say) may be playing the best and Northwestern looks to be a tournament team but overall the Big Ten may be lucky to have a team or two make it to the sweet 16
Next year however the league should be much better. I see Michigan State regaining top 10 status. Teams like Northwestern, Penn State, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio State and Iowa should all be better and in the hunt for the tournament. Wisconsin and Purdue could take a hit especially if Purdue has someone leave early. Maryland? not sure Losing Trimble may not be as big a deal as once thought. In any event I think the Big Ten will be very competitive next year. Hopefull Iowa can land in first division which should get us into the tournament
 


I think Swanigan is for sure going pro. Not sure what else he has left to do at Purdue. Even if he's a second rounder and spends a year in the D League...these days the D league has been shown to be better than college bball as far as developing players.

Wisconsin loses 4 of their top 5 scorers due to graduation: Koenig, Hayes, Showalter, Brown. They take the biggest hit and I think finally they fall back to earth next year.

Minnesota loses very little. About 10 PPG. They are going to be good next year, sadly. I would guess preseason ranked even.

Michigan loses Walton, and he's the main facilitator on that team. They also lose Irvin. I'm not as high on that team as other people are.

Indiana returns I think every single person on their team. If Anunoby returns fully healthy, they might be the team to beat next year. They did beat North Carolina and Kansas this year. If Crean survives this season, his job is definitely on the line next season.

I think every other team is a giant question mark for next year, including Iowa and Michigan State.
 


mopkins said:
I think Swanigan is for sure going pro. Not sure what else he has left to do at Purdue. Even if he's a second rounder and spends a year in the D League...these days the D league has been shown to be better than college bball as far as developing players.

Wisconsin loses 4 of their top 5 scorers due to graduation: Koenig, Hayes, Showalter, Brown. They take the biggest hit and I think finally they fall back to earth next year.

Minnesota loses very little. About 10 PPG. They are going to be good next year, sadly. I would guess preseason ranked even.

Michigan loses Walton, and he's the main facilitator on that team. They also lose Irvin. I'm not as high on that team as other people are.

Indiana returns I think every single person on their team. If Anunoby returns fully healthy, they might be the team to beat next year. They did beat North Carolina and Kansas this year. If Crean survives this season, his job is definitely on the line next season.

I think every other team is a giant question mark for next year, including Iowa and Michigan State.
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I think Iowa and MSU will have some of the least amount of question marks tho
 


InGoodCo said:
I think Iowa and MSU will have some of the least amount of question marks tho
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I meant as far as overall success next year. Iowa is losing 21 points and 30 minutes per game from one player next year. Also Jok was the guy that every team planned around and tried to stop....which helped other guys sneak in under the radar.
 


mopkins said:
I meant as far as overall success next year. Iowa is losing 21 points and 30 minutes per game from one player next year. Also Jok was the guy that every team planned around and tried to stop....which helped other guys sneak in under the radar.
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I get that, but they also return 4 starters and 10-11 players with playing experience. Iowa will go into next season with the perception of being one of the better teams in the league... IMO
 


Iowa just has some holes they really need to fill. They desperately need rebounding (Jok is currently the team leader in rebounds). I'm assuming Fran will consider rebounding a huge offseason emphasis for Pemsl and Cook. Plus they have a couple more bigs coming in next year. So hopefully it gets corrected.

A guard who can create their own shot off the dribble, or get penetration off the dribble would be a huge need as well. I thought Moss would fill that this year, and he's shown flashes, but just not consistently
 


A lot of this is IF guys return. I think Indiana is decimated next year by OG and Bryant leaving. Draft Express has both of them in the top 35.

IMO, Minny, MSU, Maryland, and Iowa are the top 4.

One thing to consider when thinking about early entries going forward is the NBA has a new CBA starting next year allowing teams to sign 2 players to sort of 2 way NBA/D-League contract, and those guys will make a lot more than current D-League players. Salaries went from minimum 19.5k to max 26k, to 50k and 75k respectively. Plus anybody who gets a call up will earn 205k on average.

http://fansided.com/2016/12/23/nba-cba-dleague-salary-contracts/

It's much less of a risk to end up in the D-League now as you can still make a pretty good salary.
 


mopkins said:
Iowa just has some holes they really need to fill. They desperately need rebounding (Jok is currently the team leader in rebounds). I'm assuming Fran will consider rebounding a huge offseason emphasis for Pemsl and Cook. Plus they have a couple more bigs coming in next year. So hopefully it gets corrected.

A guard who can create their own shot off the dribble, or get penetration off the dribble would be a huge need as well. I thought Moss would fill that this year, and he's shown flashes, but just not consistently
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Iowa is bringing in 2 6'11" guys and Moss will be a year older and wiser, he's a frosh - he's going to be good IMO - Iowa has some holes to fill, I agree, but in comparison - the holes are going to look like a lot less than others when you factor in it returns every single player but 1. He's a big 1 for sure, but I like the make up of Moss, Jbo, Williams and Ellingson next season all being a year older and more experienced. Suddenly we have pretty good experience in our guards even if those spots aren't wildly talented. Also, what a ton forget to take into account is most of these guys were the best player on their team in HS and playing against other players that can't hold their jocks. None of them ever have had to play defense before. Not really. None of them have had to box out, none of them have had to rebound before this season. I mean, they can, they just have always been that much better than the other guy their entire lives. It takes time for that kind of clicking and chemistry. This team is going to be way ahead of some others next year IMO. MSU, MINNE and IOWA will all be considered contenders.
 




Way too early to tell. Iowa has a lot of returning talent, but Ohio State, Michigan, Indiana, Maryland and Michigan State can restock talent quicker than the Hawkeyes, just look at the track records. So while I think this team will get better I am not going to get the horse too far out front because the historically better teams can still pass them

College basketball is such a different animal. A couple of stud freshman, one and done or not and you are conference champs
 


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