Big Ten Basketball 2022-23 Discussion

Cole Bajema played 10 games at Mich and had a 145 ORtg

edit oh darn it was 9 games

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If he was so good he would have played more minutes

Definitely a side of him that seems to like to troll his own fan base.

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If Beilein was still the coach he wouldn’t be trolling Michigan so much.

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30 posts were merged into an existing topic: More B1G Expansion

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZTRdoWcqU/?k=1 Checking in on an old friend

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Kyle Young is a weird player for me to think about. He was annoying and frustrating to play against and he was a true OSU guy. But I really respected the way he played hard and did the little things without trying to do too much. He’s what I hoped Brandon Johns would be.

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I thought OSU was a much better team with Kyle Young.

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I went to the Moneyball event tonight, hard to take much away at all but it’s no fun not to try.

Kohler had 42 points in the first game but he looks like he’s 6’7”, 6’8” max and played a team with no center. His offensive package is as advertised when not guarded by a big ten center tho. Sissoko didn’t play. Hoggard and Walker matched up and both looked like the same guys essentially. Hoggard was 1 for 7 from three and every one had side spin. He also was openly complaining about his non-D1 backcourt pairing the whole game. Was somewhat funny but made for horrible basketball.

Game 2 Holloman and Carson Cooper were the only MSU players. Holloman airballed three three pointers and was unnoticeable compared to all the non-D1 guys. He might have been hurt but it was bad bad. Cooper is athletically way ahead of Kohler and can get shoulder level at the rim but I don’t see a playable player there.

Akins put on a show game 3. Everyone keeps saying he’ll play a ton at the 3 so he can get on the floor but I think it’s crazy if he doesn’t cut into Walker/Hoggard’s roles at some point. His handle and passing flashes are really special. Had 21 points at half with a bunch of step back threes mixed in. Pierre Brooks had 19 at half and looked like the guy who scored 40 a game against bad competition in high school. Lots of shuffle step shot creation stuff I didn’t realize he had. Curious how it will translate in Big Ten play but I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s an ok bench guy.

Malik Hall was really steady and clearly the leader of the bunch. Shot looked great and had some highlight dunks mixed in.

My Spartan buddy I went with was inconsolable through the first two games saying “we’re down so bad” but after the Akins game now insists they’re “back”

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??? like just his height and weight? or Kohler is like a YMCA badazz trickster?

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Kohler pulled a gorgeous Dickinson-esque baseline spin and ended up wide open with momentum for a reverse dunk. He got hung by the rim.

Anything he did was rim-grazer level. Won’t be a rim protector at all. And pretty slow laterally. He really looks like a 4 disguising as a 5 too

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Were Hoggard and Walker in the game that finished like 60-57?

I assume Keon Coleman put up 60 or so?

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Nope that low scoring one was Holloman + all the non D1 guys. But weirdly it was a more enjoyable game because they actually tried and it stayed competitive. Walker and Hoggard’s was by far the least exciting. Zero effort all around

Thank you for this report! I was listening to an MSU hoops pod (SICKO mode for sure) and they said it seemed like Kohler is the best freshman offensive 5 they’ve had since Zach Randolph. Skipped past Ward, went right to Z-Bo.

Interesting comment on Holloman’s shooting. They noted the night before he was 6/6 from deep and has long arms. They expect him to play some, even if it’s minutes comparable to Akins’ freshman year.

They also noted Cooper’s athleticism, attributed some of it to playing goalie in soccer until recently, and wouldn’t be surprised if he’s ahead of Sissoko pretty quickly.

This has been discussed ad nauseum, but rough MSU minutes breakdown:

5: Kohler 25, Hauser 5, Cooper/Sissoko 10 (or 5 fouls, whichever comes first)
4: Hauser 23, Hall 17
3: Hall 11, Akins 12, Brooks 17
2: Akins 16, Walker 15, Holloman 9
1: Hoggard 28, Walker 12

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Kohler playing more minutes than Hauser? :thinking: Sorry, I see you have 5 minutes for Hauser at the 5.

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28 > 25, Dylan. Or is this Brendan posting under your handle?

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Izzo rarely seems to play anyone 30 mpg, so that’s a constraint I built in.

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Either way, the idea that the idea that Kohler, Hauser and Hall will all play around the same number of minutes feels off. I would imagine the two veteran guys are closer to 30 and Kohler is closer to 20.

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Sure, but Marcus Bingham played 18 mpg last year… now Kohler is gonna play 25?

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