They have a high eff. margin in conference because they lead the conference by a mile in turnover margin.
I mean Purdue had an eFG% of 74.5 at Iowa. Iowa’s was 43.8% in that game. They lost by 10 and it was a single digit margin for a good chunk of the 2nd half. If there was a way to find the average margin for a game where the eFG% difference was >30%, the average margin would probably be at least 30+ points.
It’s hard to blow a team like that out. And when they do shoot well, they curb stomp teams.
Seth Davis asked a few B1G coaches about conference teams. Here is some of what they had to say about Michigan and MSU…
Michigan. “They have one of the most dominating presences in all of college basketball with [Hunter Dickinson], but their younger players have been a little streaky. If you can take [Eli Brooks] out on the perimeter and make those other guys make shots, that’s a way to beat them. [Caleb Houstan] has elite talent no doubt, but to play at this level at that age, it’s a huge adjustment. I don’t care what your recruiting ranking is. The physicality and speed of the Big Ten catches up on those guys. If Houstan was a backup you’d love him, but as a starter he’s not ready. DeVante’ Jones is figuring things out. Dickinson is tough, but I’d still rather them makes 2s than 3s.”
Michigan State. “They have good players, but they don’t have anyone who’s elite like they have in the past. They’re playing point guard by committee with [Tyson Walker] and A.J. Hoggard. [Max Christie] is solid, but he’s young. He’s the one guy in their lineup who’s not really physical. Defensively he’s still figuring things out. [Gabe Brown] was great early, but now he’s going through the lulls a little bit. They don’t have as much of a post presence as they’ve had in the past. They crash four and sometimes all five on the offensive glass, so if you can get a rebound there you can make them pay for that. They’re one of the leaders in our league in turnovers. The reason they have those problems is their wing players are not ballhandling wings. It puts a lot of pressure on their guards.”
Another BS refshow in the PSU game. Izzo rode the refs all first half, Harrar just draws a ton of contact without a call, PSU coach yells about it, immediate tech.
I can’t stand the way these refs are throwing around technicals and are so inconsistent with what is a foul and what isn’t.
PSU coach was mad and demonstrative for sure…but the tech was so fast. No walking away, no warning, no diffusing the situation. Current fouls are 5-0 in MSU favor.
Update:. I don’t know this refs name, but he’s made two ridiculously demonstrative calls along the baseline. The latest was a block/charge call that looked like it was wrong. MSU leads the foul situation 8-2. I can see why PSUs fans are going nuts.
Down goes MSU! 62-58…no record for Izzo. This conference is tough this time of year. Honestly, there really isn’t much of a difference between most of the teams (except Nebraska).
I have a 30 year old, MSU Alum son. When John Harrar was in the transfer portal last year, we agreed he was a Tom Izzo wet dream if he could get him. Today he was his nightmare!
