Definitely not MattD. He never purposely said stupid crap like this guy. And a discussion could be had with him.
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YeaâŚany chance he gets voted off the island? I really enjoy this forum and respect the observations of most and its cool you guys love the team/coach/game as much as I do. I deal with enough BS during the day to have to deal with this egomaniac! Itâs not a contest to see whoâs right but rather a great learning opportunity!
Go Blue!
OSU is hammering IU. Obviously lots of factors in performance and lots of time before final assessments are made, but kind of interesting to think that before the year it was thought that IU scored big on the coaching carousel while OSU did well but kinda had to settle.
And Illinois is demolishing Rutgers and looks like theyâre going to get a winning streak going. Can Underwood pull off another second half conference run? They have to go to OSU next but then have a few winnable games.
Another good question⌠If Nebraska finishes 5-1 and loses to Michigan in the 2nd round of Big ten tourney⌠do they make the tournament?
No. Might need to beat Michigan and Purdue.
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I think OSU just has more talent than an IU squad that reflected Crean coming to the end of his cycle. I think theyâre both pretty good coaches and will both eventually elevate this conference for the BIGâs next up cycle.
People donât like this opinion, but I also think Matta coached that team down badly for the last few years and the culture sure seemed broken. Guys getting theirs, hucking shots, a guy like Mickey Mitchell playing major minutes being badly out of shape - I think itâs telling that heâs a functional player for a pretty good ASU team.
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I figured as much. Itâs crazy to think though that 13-5 and 4th place in the Big Ten still lands you on the bubble. Has anything like that ever happened before? Speaks to the down year in our conference.
It takes a perfect storm like an underwhelming team with 0 good non-conference wins, 1 win against a tourney team in conference at home, in a down year for good team in conference
It also speaks to the wildly unbalanced schedule. Also, Nebraska is a pretty good team. The additions of Palmer, Copeland and Gill have made a huge difference.
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Transfer U
2 big ten teams mentioned here. https://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-men/article/2018-01-30/college-basketball-6-teams-who-have-flipped-narrative
Michigan State looked like they flipped a switch against Penn State in the second half and got the win. When theyâre on they look scary good.
At Penn State is going to be a very very difficult game for Michigan to win.
Im always less wary of teams that dont seem to really ârun offense.â When PSU was taking it to MSU, in the first half, Carr was just making a bunch of ISO tough shots.
But, I agree that they will be tough because they play good defense and have some physically imposing athletes at all 3 phases: Carr, guard/Stephens, forward/Watkins, Center; and Reavesâ defense could give Matthews fits. Curious to see if Watikins can stick with Moe on the perimeter, assuming they dont switch everything.
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Iâm also just assuming that Carr will have a career game against Michigan like everyone else.
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It is bizarre how PSU does not seem to have any sort of offense. They have some nice individual pieces but they look like a bunch of guys playing together for the first time. No teamwork at all.
PSU, Minnesota, and Rutgers just dont seem to run any sets. All of those teams prioritize size/athleticism over skill, so thatâs probably part of it. And ârunning offenseâ doesnât always lead to scoring: Indiana, NW, Wisconsin, and Illinois all have a lower offensive efficiency than Minny and PSU. Idk, maybe @umhoops could tell me Iâm wrong Im just not catching the sets, because theyâre subtle or something.
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Totally agree. I think Carr and Stevens are studs with garner, Watkins, and reaves viable other pieces. I expected them to be better than they are.
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This is going to be a bit long, I apologize.
What is everyoneâs thought on the current group of Big Ten coaches? I was wondering why the Big Ten was so down this year and was thinking about how many of the coaches in the conference are actually above average.
Here are my thoughts
Quality coaches: Painter, Izzo, Beilein, Turgeon
First year coaches: Holtman (looks really good so far), Miller and Underwood, both of whom are struggling but their past suggests they are good coaches
Who is the next best coach?
-Miles has only made the tourney once in his first five years and probably wonât make it this year
-Chambers hasnât made the tourney or finished better then 7 - 11 in conference play in his first six years and probably wont make it this year
-Chris Collins made the tourney in year four but brought back essentially the same team and they are really bad
-Greg Gard did really well with Bo Ryanâs players but things have slipped a lot this year and is there anyone on that team that good outside of Happ?
-Pitino is a Pitino, I donât like him and Minnesota not very good again this year
-McCaffery had a good three year run, but slipped a bit last year and is just bad this year
-Steve Pikiell is maybe a good coach but coaches at Rutgers so who knows, its Rutgers
That seems to be a pretty poor bottom half of the conference coaching wise but I was wondering if I am being unfair? Does anyone think one or more of those seven can turn their programs into semi-regular tourney teams? Should any or all of those schools be expecting more?
Thanks for reading and sorry again for the length.
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I think if you look through the coaching profiles of the bottom half of a lot of power-5 leagues they might be underwhelming.
We are learning that Gard is indeed a big drop off from Ryan this year and that might get worse before it gets better.
McCaffery, Milkes, Chambers, Pitino ⌠Have mostly had flashes (a tourney berth or a nice recruiting class), but Iâm not sure if they can elevate to the next the level.
Maryland fans would also tell you they want Tugreon on the hot seat but that feels particularly harsh to me.
I think the bigger problem is that a lot of blue blood Big Ten schools â Indiana, Wisconsin, Illinois â are in a transition and that makes the pool of potential elites much smaller.
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Where have all the 
B1G picks gone?!
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