This video is HILARIOUS!!!
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Iād be surprised if we are in fact in the running or even recruited him.
My current take:
- Ohio State
- Purdue
- Michigan
- Maryland
- Michigan State
- Indiana
- Rutgers
- Wisconsin
- Illinois
- Iowa
- Penn State
- Minnesota
- Nebraska
- Northwestern
I donāt love Maryland at #4 but I have a tough time bumping MSU or Indiana above them. 6-11 is packed super tightly.
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Who will be the Rutgers starters next year? I know they lost a lot of guys.
Surprised at Illinois being that low. I feel like theyāre #7 and then thereās a huge drop-off to the rest of the league, where anyone could finish in any order
I think itās reasonable to put OSU at #1 assuming retention of Washington and Liddell. Purdue at #2? If not for Painter Iād be iffy on that call, but Painter is the coach in those conference who does the most with the least, and he gets everyone back. Fair enough.
My tiers:
CONTENDERS: OSU, Purdue, Michigan
TOURNAMENT TEAMS: Maryland, MSU, Indiana, Illinois
BUBBLE: two teams emerge from the rest of that mess. DGAF other than hope itās not Wisconsin.
Man I canāt help but think thatās pretty rosy prediction for your boys. Why do you see Rutgers finishing so high? And why so low on Nebraska? I would be inclined to switch those two if I had to
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I know Illinois lost a lot, but I can also name their top six players - all of whom have some solid P6 experience - so that puts them ahead of Rutgers and Wisconsin for sure. In fact, I think both of those two are toward the bottom as I canāt figure out how theyāre putting five guys on the court. Illinois has three good guards, Granderson, Williams, and the transfer center from Florida. Not a contender, but top half.
Nowā¦sell me on Purdue. I know theyāre a trendy pick and ranked in the top ten for the crazy early lists. I think theyāre a ācontenderāā¦but I still feel like they have some holes and part of their success was based on a bit of a mirage. They only played the top three B10 teams once each and went 0-3. They were just 13-8 before they closed on a 5-game winning streakā¦which was against the worst teams in the conference. They did beat OSU a couple of times in close games so Iāll give them thatā¦but their next best win was - Maryland?
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Completely agree with all you said on Purdue. Have to give Painter credit, but they are way overrated, IMO. Didnāt play a tough schedule, got whooped when they did. I think their extremely fluky win @ MSU was a huge swing point for both teams. If that result switched, MSU isnāt in the play-in and Purdue is not a protected seed (not that it mattered much for them).
Also need to be sold on Maryland actually putting the pieces together. Problem as noted is if you knock down Maryland and Purdue, who do you raise up? MSU? Indiana? I could buy it given Izzoās track record and Woodson being more competent than Miller (not saying much) but I donāt really like those rosters either. Lots to change I am sure, but really think the league is going to be down big time.
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Yeah - I donāt knock anyone for believing theyāll be goodā¦but they were not as good as their record last season. I think bringing everyone back, with a great coach, and a trendy āsuperstar in the makingā in Ivey has people a bit too hyped. That said, Iād be surprised if they ever left the top 25 this year, and a top 4 finish in the B1G is pretty dang realistic.
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sounds to me like you are building a case for B1G Champion Nebraska
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Somebodyās gotta finish near the top, and Purdueās got a reasonable case you can make. Less question marks than most others.
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Know itās based off this year, which is throwing things off, but Michigan finding a way to play 4 less games again while winning the B1G would draw a hilarious amount of salt
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So, for Rutgers I think Ron Harper Jr. is going to come back and Iāve heard good things from people I trust about Jaden Jones and Cliff Omoruyi. Losing Myles Johnson is a massive blow and we need another frontcourt depth piece for sure, but Aundre Hyatt is a good addition on the wing.
Pikiell can pretty much always engineer a workable defense. Omoruyi wasnāt as big of a dropoff on that side of the ball from Johnson as I wouldāve guessed (offensively itās a different story). Iād expect to them to be in the 5th-7th in the conference on that side of the ball and some shooting luck like they got in 2019-20 could put them closer to the top. Thereās a ton of length on the roster so even with Jacob Young and Myles Johnson departing I like the defense.
Our team rebounding outside of Johnson was a disaster. I donāt have a good reason why but Pikiellās team have ranked top-75 in offensive rebounding in 8 of the past 10 years (top-50 six times), so I think it recovers. The defensive rebounding also took a giant step back despite basically the same roster; itās not like Shaq Carter or Akwasi Yeboah was the difference. So I think just given the coaching background and the things he stresses I see the rebounding improving.
Offensively, look, itās going to be a Pikiell team. Harper isnāt as good as he was in November/December but heās also not as bad as he was in January/February. Baker is a perfectly cromulent Big Ten guard (102 and 100 ORtg in conference the past two seasons after being a major āempty caloriesā guy as a freshman and sophomore), and I think either he returns or weāre able to find someone around as good in the portal. Paul Mulcahy is the kind of annoying player that Big Ten teams have been killing us with for years. He found his 3-point shot late last season and doesnāt do anything stupid on offenseā¦ in fact heās probably too passive but that can be worked on.
Hyatt can be an efficient player in the right role. Caleb McConnell is IMO one of the top defenders in the league, and I think has some offensive upside (to be playable rather than a black hole). He basically hasnāt been healthy the past two seasons.
Admittedly a lot of my optimism comes down to what I think of Harper and Jaden Jones, who is kind of the positionless dream at 6ā8" with guard skills. He went viral as a kid in one of those āthis fifth grader has ridiculous handles!ā videos. He was the leading scorer on the championship team at some top-150 camp last year, then enrolled midway last season. I like him to come in and be a consistent player as a freshman. Not a star, but wonāt need to be.
Thatās the sorta rose colored glasses view. Obviously the downside is Harper goes pro, or comes back and shoots like he did in the second half. And Omoruyi doesnāt take the step forward to be a starting B1G center, etc. Thereās definitely downside, but I see plenty of downside for Wisconsin, Illinois, and Iowa (the three teams I ranked just behind Rutgers) too.
@ReegsShannon I made these projections assuming Cockburn goes pro. Jump them up to 5th if he returns.
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re: Nebraska
They have a loooooong way to go and Iām not sure one 5* gets them thereā¦ Look at the prospects ranked 17-27 (McGowens is #24) the past few years. These guys arenāt program-changers. The only green on their KenPom page is defensive FTA/FGA (mainly because they werenāt interested in playing defense, so they didnāt foul) and defensive 3P%, which is not very reliable.
Purdue is in the āWisconsin - rank them top 5 because they bring everyone backā category for me. Potential fraudsā¦but the difference is Jaden Iveyās ceiling is way higher and if he goes superstar mode next season theyāll be a problem. I would have them closer to 10-15 though preseason than fringe top 5.
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I think itās fair to call this rotation deep but what is the ceiling? We just saw at MSU what happens when you have 12 guys who are playable but not very good.
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Purdue also has a couple of top 50 recruits coming in which should provide upgrade options at the 4 compared to Wheeler
That roster certainly isnāt bad but it doesnāt have much real pop to it. And I think an Underwood coached team needs a guy or two who really pops (Kofi, Ayo). But thats still solidā¦ at least at the guard spots.