Also, Rutgers had one of their best (if not the best) 3PT shooting games of the season. Mack and Jack were playing their best ball for them.
2015-2016 Big Ten Overview
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Also, Rutgers had one of their best (if not the best) 3PT shooting games of the season. Mack and Jack were playing their best ball for them.
Iowa isn't going to do sh^t this year.Just a suggestion. When you post each school, put the school's name in the title of the post so we can find it later witout
This is a team that is getting no respect from preseason prognosticators. Yes, they lost White, but they bring back much of the team that finished tied with us for third place. I don't get why nobody likes Iowa next year? They are still going to be a tough team to play against, and might be better than last year.
Several other schools think that because they got this or that freshman player, they will suddenly junp from a lower half finish to the top 3 in the BIG (I won't mention them by name, lest they come an repeat the same "expert opinions" we have all heard). What they are saying is that they will somehow by-pass this team, amoung others, and place higher. I don't see Iowa going away. Am I missing something? I know they are our most hated rivals, but come on.
GS
I don't think they'll fall off too much IF they have improved shooting from their guards and get a significant contribution or two from its newcomers.
I think Ohio State could have a bigger drop off than Iowa from last season to this season. Can JaQuan Lyle really play the 1 for them? If not, it looks like they only have one other viable option. They will be as inexperienced as any Ohio State team I can think of under Thad Matta.
Reasons? I know they are our most hated rival, but we need not disparage them too badly. I think they will be better than OSU. The question in my mind, when I look at the BIG line up this coming year, is are they going to be better than IU or Michigan? They had much better record last year, and IU has essentially the same set of guards, unlike Michigan who had most of ther team on injuried reserve. Will Iowa still be better? I didn't get toi see the Iowa vs IU game, so I have no idea how they matched up.
Iowa- serious depth issues. If Gessell, Uthoff, and Pokey can carry them, they could be OK. I just don't see their small core of marquee players being able to drag along the rest of the sub-par talent on that team. McCaffrey is really underperforming in recruiting to compete at a high level in the BigTen14. At least OSU has studs on the roster. Lyle, Giddens, Grandstaff, Diop, Tate, Loving were all top 50 recruits. I never doubt Matta's ability to produce with a tight rotation. Experience is nice....but it's overrated when you have top-flight talent. OSU has it. Add in Thompson and Mitchell and they have some decent depth. Iowa will struggle to finish upper half and I do not consider them a threat in the least. They will not be better than IU or Michigan.
I'll throw out a team that I'm almost certain will be better than Iowa this year: Northwestern.
GS
I'll throw out a team that I'm almost certain will be better than Iowa this year: Northwestern.
GS
GS Thomas, post:
I'll throw out a team that I'm almost certain will be better than Iowa this year: Northwestern.
Response:
Northwestern has had Crean's number the past few years. It would be an interesting twist to the cream & crimson crowd to finish behind the Wildcats. Maybe this is their year. NW has not been an easy game over the recent years.
I would have to agree with you on the recruiting issues at Iowa. Macaffry (sp?) seems to be a pretty good X&O coach, but mabe not so good yet at recruiting. I have come to beleive that recruiting is a learned talent that some D1 coaches need to work on to get better.
I'll throw out a team that I'm almost certain will be better than Iowa this year: Northwestern.
Response:
Northwestern has had Crean's number the past few years. It would be an interesting twist to the cream & crimson crowd to finish behind the Wildcats. Maybe this is their year. NW has not been an easy game over the recent years.
I would have to agree with you on the recruiting issues at Iowa. Macaffry (sp?) seems to be a pretty good X&O coach, but mabe not so good yet at recruiting. I have come to beleive that recruiting is a learned talent that some D1 coaches need to work on to get better.
White and Olaseni will be tough to replace. They were the two Hawkeyes to consistently get to the rim and to the line and they were each very efficient doing both. White's true shooting percentage of 63.3% was off the charts good for a volume scorer and Olaseni wasn't too far behind at 58.5%.
As far as magnitude of impact, I think that Iowa losing White is similar to when Robbie Hummel graduated from Purdue. It will be a big loss to overcome.
Eye-owa (just poking fun.....at Purdue's "hated" rival) and Ohio State are two of the harder teams to assess IMO and probably two of the more volatile/inconsistent as to predicting results. Just when you think you have them figured out, along comes a surprise......good or bad. Although I don't see either team ending up winning the conference title, they can still give teams trouble.....depending upon when/where the game is played.
The Hawkeyes are also good for at least one head-scratcher a season where a game is seemingly in hand, and then control is lost with several poor possessions over a ten minute stretch. I also wonder what the over/under is for timing on Fran's first "T" this year. Also, odds on who picks up a "T" first......Fran or CMP?
Northwestern will be interesting to follow. Demps is a SR this year, I think. Purdue has had trouble with him in the past.
The Hawkeyes are also good for at least one head-scratcher a season where a game is seemingly in hand, and then control is lost with several poor possessions over a ten minute stretch. I also wonder what the over/under is for timing on Fran's first "T" this year. Also, odds on who picks up a "T" first......Fran or CMP?
Northwestern will be interesting to follow. Demps is a SR this year, I think. Purdue has had trouble with him in the past.
A lot of B1G teams have had trouble with Demps. He's never been a particularly good shooter, percentage-wise, but he often seems to make shots when the game is on the line.
I just saw that PG Tracy Abrams of Illinois tore an achilles and will be out with an injury for the second season in a row. I'm going to assume that he will apply for a 6th year of eligibility now (a la Jess Settles for Iowa in the late '90's).
I just saw that PG Tracy Abrams of Illinois tore an achilles and will be out with an injury for the second season in a row. I'm going to assume that he will apply for a 6th year of eligibility now (a la Jess Settles for Iowa in the late '90's).
Awful news. Hate to hear of that. Hope he can recover and get back on the court for the following season.
It might mean that Coleman-Lands will play point guard. Unfortunately, he's dealing with a stress fracture of his own, but that should be fine by the time the season starts, I would think.
Jaylon Tate (the guy P.J. Thompson famously stole the ball from on Senior Day last season) is their closest thing to a "true" PG and he's gotten plenty of PT through his first two seasons. He'll probably get the nod but Coleman-Lands, freshman swingman D.J. Williams (I read that Groce might have him bring the ball up at times), Kendrick Nunn, and Malcolm Hill can probably provide some secondary help for Tate. Still, losing Abrams again has to hinder them some in that area.
"Or Evan Eschmeyer"
That's right. He missed his first two seasons because of injuries, didn't he? I think PG Dan Earl of Penn State was another one that missed two seasons and had a collegiate career that spanned over six seasons. Weirdly, all three of them (Settles, Eschmeyer, Earl) arrived at their respective colleges in the 1993-1994 school year and completed their final season of eligibility during the 1998-1999 school year.
Wasn't it stress fractures that kept J Taylor from playing and practicing last year? Some may be minor, but often those take a long time to heal.
Fair point. It would really stink for Illinois if it lingers throughout the season. They've had their share of bad luck recently.
Yesterday, Illinois added La Salle graduate transfer guard Khalid Lewis. He gives them another option at the 1 this season.
Darius Paul can be crossed off of Illinois' roster. After transferring from Western Michigan, Brandon Paul's younger brother managed to get suspended for a year (opting to go to JC last season) and now dismissed from the program without playing a single game for Illinois.
Well, with Emmitt Holt gone, IU might be about as thin up front as they were last season. I know Thomas Bryant will still be there but unless one of their other newbies (Juwan Morgan or O.G. Anunoby) make a significant impact in the paint this season, Bryant is probably going to be their only real consistent post-up threat. Anyway, the IU roster changes will be updated.
(Note: Tim Priller is not listed because he wasn't a regular rotation guy as a freshman.)
(Note: Tim Priller is not listed because he wasn't a regular rotation guy as a freshman.)
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