Big Ten Basketball 2020-21 Discussion (Part 2)

This is a very optimistic way to view it

Yeah, Iā€™m not trying to compare the two rostersā€¦ Just pointing out that there are high hopes for an up transfer to be a starter for both teams (Jones/Walker), a five-star freshman to be a plug and play starter (Houstan/Christie) and another freshman to fight for starter minutes (Diabate/Akins).

Obviously, Hunter Dickinson is the huge difference between the two rosters.

I just think people are fine penciling in those three for Michigan and less sure of a similar situation for MSU ā€“ and yes I realize that having Hunter on the roster will at least help them transition.

Iā€™m interested in ā€œWhatā€™s the difference between Houstan and Christie?ā€. I feel like I know very little about Christie besides the fact that heā€™s a plus shooter.

Is it at simple as theyā€™re similar players except Houstan has extra size/bulk/played better comp?

Just my opinion but I think Christie has more off the dribble shot creator shake right now, but Houstan is a more elite spot shooter and bigger. Different archetypes but similar prestige is how I view them.

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Thatā€™s true haha. I think the limited sample size numbers back up that Bingham can be a very good rim protector but Iā€™m not high on Sissoko at all.

Ok? I didnā€™t really make my post with any comparison to MSU. I donā€™t think MSU will finish higher than Purdue. I think, as I said, that Purdue with be around 15-20 vs the top ten that I see in too early polls.

They finished 25th on Kenpom last year. Very difficult for me to see the pieces they have push them higher than 10th, the high benchmark you posted re-MSU.

When Ivey played last year he demanded a lot of usage. So if Ivey plays more than yeah they could be playing through Trevion less.

As simple as possible, I think Christie is more of a 3/2 while Houstan is more of a 4/3. Both are smarter players than they are athletic.

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Yeah and I guess at that point I question if Ivey can really be much more efficient of an option at a higher usage. I never fell in love with his game much personally. Iā€™m not really 100% confident in this, but I will say that Iā€™ll deactivate my account, become a monk, buy a round of beers for every regular user here, and learn the sitar if Purdue ends up with a 1 or 2 seed this next year.

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but I will say that Iā€™ll deactivate my account, become a monk, but a round of beers for every regular user here, and learn the sitar if Purdue ends up with a 1 or 2 seed this next year.

[Takes a screenshot]

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Iā€™m okay with this because if a large gathering can go to a bar in 9 months Iā€™ll be content with the normalcy of earth to the point where the drinks wonā€™t matter lol

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Iā€™m more interested in you becoming a monk

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Any reason to think one will be a better defender at their position than the other? I guess if both are limited athletically, the edge could go to the 6ā€™8" guy with good wingspan, but could also see Houstan struggling to guard quicker/smaller college 3s.

I honestly havenā€™t really watched enough of Christie in the last 18 months to really have a great idea about him defensively.

Purdue has more options than MSU almost across the board. They are far better on the interior. And with guys like Ivey and Newman and Stefanovic plus a couple really good incoming freshman they should have more firepower on the perimeter as well.

Iā€™m not sure where Purdue finishes overall, but they have to be favored to be ahead of MSU at this point.

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Purdue has enough weapons to finish in the top 10. Is it likely? Probably not, but definitely possible.

Cool. I donā€™t think they will.

You seem to have been quite clear on that all along

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I think the way I would say it is this - Michigan can still be a good team if Jones is ā€œjust okā€ because they have Eli and then three bullets in the chamber to fill the rest of the guard minutes. Eli isnā€™t a great option at PG and the other three are totally unprovenā€¦but it is pretty easy to see Michigan being just fine if Jones is a role playing 20mpg guy.

MSU feels like they need to hit on more lottery tickets because they donā€™t have Eliā€¦unless you really believe Gabe Brown is going to make a leap as a senior. Walker has to be Mike Smith and probably even consume more usage. I think they have to fill 120 minutes with Walker, Akins, Christie, Brown, and Hoggardā€¦maaaaybe Brooks. I think MSU hopes that looks like this:

PG - Walker (30mpg - up transfer); Akins (10mpg - true freshman)
SG - Brown (20mpg - never played that much); Akins (15mpg - true freshman)
SF - Christie (30mpg - true freshman); Brown (10mpg - never played that much)

4 guys for three spotsā€¦none of whom are a sure thing.

the thing with Brown is that he provides almost nothing off the dribble and has anemic (almost non existent) assist numbers. He fits better as a small ball 4 than a guard, except they have Hauser taking that role.