Big Ten Basketball 2020-21 Discussion (Part 1)

“Steve Pikiell reminds me of John Beilein, especially as an adult male” - Dan Dakich

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“New Brunswick reminds me of Madison” - Dan Dakich

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Rutgers seems greater than the sum of its parts
Illinois seems less than the sum of its parts

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Good observation.

What a tough conference for freshmen. There is so much experience in the conference, and today was a good example of how a veteran team can just be too much for even the most talented freshman to handle. Miller is really talented, and he looked like he was in way over his head today. I can’t imagine a tougher conference than the B1G this season.

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:face_vomiting:

Type words here

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What is the general consensus here on Michigan having the 31st best defense in the country according the the website Kenpom.com? It’s hard for me to say they’re that good based on the games so far, although the past couple have shown improvements for sure.

If possible I’d like to hear from @buckets12 @ReegsShannon @kturnup @umhoops @BigBoutros and @ucntseemoi, but opinions of others are more than welcome too

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I don’t think your eyes are deceiving you. Preseason adjustments are doing a lot of work there. BT has them as the 33rd defense… but only 81st when you remove preseason adjustments.

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I’ll say this – one of the brightest signs of Juwan’s first year that has continued this year is opponent AST rate. The best way you can help yourself defensively in the college game is to freeze the ball. We were elite last year in opponent AST rate (5th) and 3pt rate (7th). This year opponents are getting off way more 3s but we haven’t had a similar backslide in allowing ball movement.

I think both numbers make sense – 33rd with projections baked in and 81st without – because we’ve regressed in opponent 3s but we’re still deploying a defensive scheme that should be successful over time.

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@ReegsShannon walking back into the thread counting his money…

Then he remembers he has to sweat out another 25 minutes of Chris Collins.

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Michigan State is desperately missing their Nick Ward/Xavier Tillman high-usage guy inside.

PS: First post here, big fan of the podcast @umhoops… Rutgers fan and /r/CollegeBasketball mod loving the Big Ten chatter.

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Yeah agreed with @ReegsShannon on defense. I’d bet we settle more in the 40-60 range by end of year. The UCF and Penn State performances were really solid though and make me more optimistic that the defensive ceiling could be higher.

More surprised kenpom has the offense 9th right now.

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Our offensive ranking right now is highly reflective of HD’s play. Ultra elite at 2pt% and avoiding shot contests.

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Welcome to the site.

First things first, where do you stand on Iowa?

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:joy: Luckily I’m 2-0 on the day already from betting UConn and Rutgers, so I’m playing with house money at this point even if Chris Collins gets on the floor and starts barking.

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Boy NW putting it to Sparty. Up 11.

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I mean, Joe Wieskamp hitting a banked-in corner 3 is burned into my brain so not exactly warm and fuzzy. I can see them winning (or tying at least) the conference at like 14-6 and then having a cold-shooting night and losing in the Sweet 16.

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Hauser just hurt his knee

edit: limps to the locker room but walking on both feet.