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Top Big Ten Backcourts

Jun 13, 2024
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1. Penn St.
2. Purdue
3. Ohio State.
4. Iowa
5. Wisconsin
6. Maryland
7. Oregon
8. Michigan St.
9. Ucla
10.Michigan
11.Rutgers
12.Illinois
13.Nebraska
14.Indiana
15.Northwestern
16.USC
17.Minnesota
18.Washington
* Based on player overall stats
 
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Yeh, maybe not.
What's the stat that weighs their DEFENSE?????? Cuz THAT is the stat that is way off here.
Been pretty disappointed by the play of our veteran guards. Not that they aren't working their butts off, they ARE. The problem is they are still getting taken out of games by other teams aggressive defense. And struggle to stay in front of players at the other tend.
Overmatched physically too often for now upper class players. That part has been a problem for 3 seasons now, improvement be damned.
Fletch is bigger and stronger but still struggles to get his shots off and defend at the other end.
Same basically with Braden who's improved in many ways, but now a bit wilder with passes again, the jump pass issue is back, and he's not shooting/scoring enough for someone that was predicted to be the POY preseason.
Does the teams success depend on the play of these 2 getting better?
No! It's also the other 3 spots not doing "enough" (in the biggest games) at THIS POINT in the season.
We knew coming in there would be adversity and guess what? We were right.
Long season and lots of coaching adjustments to come. I'm confident we (ok they) will figure it out.
And a player or 2 will step up and be accountable.
Both these guys too talented to not get over the current hump.
 
1. Penn St.
2. Purdue
3. Ohio State.
4. Iowa
5. Wisconsin
6. Maryland
7. Oregon
8. Michigan St.
9. Ucla
10.Michigan
11.Rutgers
12.Illinois
13.Nebraska
14.Indiana
15.Northwestern
16.USC
17.Minnesota
18.Washington
* Based on player overall stats

Hmm...I haven't seen enough, but doing this after Penn St loss probably leads to some bias. I'd have Purdue lower after that egg.

Top gaurd teams in B1G in no order:

Ohio State
Illiniois
Rutgers (Harper alone puts them up there)
Oregon
Penn St
Wisconsin

Not including UCLA because I haven't seen 1 minute of them.

Not having a 3rd consistent gaurd hurts Purdue. Neither Braden or Fletch have been consistent either and both have become less aggressive it seems. They are also average defenders.

If Colvin keeps improving and Cox or Harris hit stride then maybe Purdue can enter that conversation with above group.
 
Hmm...I haven't seen enough, but doing this after Penn St loss probably leads to some bias. I'd have Purdue lower after that egg.

Top gaurd teams in B1G in no order:

Ohio State
Illiniois
Rutgers (Harper alone puts them up there)
Oregon
Penn St
Wisconsin


Not having a 3rd consistent gaurd hurts Purdue. Neither Braden or Fletch have been consistent either and both have become less aggressive it seems. They are also average defenders.
And yet Purdue has played by far the hardest schedule in the BT, 8-2, 3-2 vs Quad1, 2 losses on true road games, against top 5 rated Marquette, and another 1 against very underrated Penn St.! How does a team win with just average guards who can't play defense. Who on Purdue has made them a top 10 team? The above numbers are after that Penn St. egg. Stats are based off a players offense and defense! Braden alone will make Purdue one of the best college backcourts! To not put Purdue in the top 6 of the BT is _______!
 
Colvin, Cox, Harris, and Heide will continue to improve. Coaching staff needs to use Colvin and Heide more to break presses instead of allowing the other teams take away valuable clock time and tire Braden out. Most of the time we just pass the ball back to Braden and he breaks the press by dribbling through it. We need to punish teams that press us by moving the ball quickly upcourt and stealing baskets with Colvin, Heide, or TKR "hanging on rims".
 
Hmm...I haven't seen enough, but doing this after Penn St loss probably leads to some bias. I'd have Purdue lower after that egg.

Top gaurd teams in B1G in no order:

Ohio State
Illiniois
Rutgers (Harper alone puts them up there)
Oregon
Penn St
Wisconsin

Not including UCLA because I haven't seen 1 minute of them.

Not having a 3rd consistent gaurd hurts Purdue. Neither Braden or Fletch have been consistent either and both have become less aggressive it seems. They are also average defenders.

If Colvin keeps improving and Cox or Harris hit stride then maybe Purdue can enter that conversation with above group.

UCLA has the Mack the Mack Truck who will terrorize us going to the hole with abandon. You will know him soon enough. He's a very good guard, not great, but against our interior D, he might look phenomenal.

I still like Smith as top 1st or 2nd team ALL B10. Loyer, bless his heart, D drags the pair down as pairing the two on D is a problem....Smith average, Loyer below average. Still love his deadly 3 pt shooting and his ability to draw fouls by being a floor mop....and is why CMP plays him.
 
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UCLA has the Mack the Mack Truck who will terrorize us going to the hole with abandon. You will know him soon enough. He's a very good guard, not great, but against our interior D, he might look phenomenal.

I still like Smith as top 1st or 2nd team ALL B10. Loyer, bless his heart, D drags the pair down as pairing the two on D is a problem....Smith average, Loyer below average. Still love his deadly 3 pt shooting and his ability to draw fouls by being a floor mop....and is why CMP plays him.
Still very much early days. I think Braden is the best PG in the conference still next to Baldwin. There are not really any top tier shooting guards in the Big 10 that come to mind, so I can see 1st team all big ten go to Braden and Baldwin. Think Harper should be second team.
 
Still very much early days. I think Braden is the best PG in the conference still next to Baldwin. There are not really any top tier shooting guards in the Big 10 that come to mind, so I can see 1st team all big ten go to Braden and Baldwin. Think Harper should be second team.

Yes agree. They might both make 1st team?? But if not 2nd team there if voters choose it for him and Baldwin, for 1st team. Voters likely put Harper on one of top 3 teams, but he is extremely impressive early.

One thing for sure, I wouldn't trade Smith for any of them and there are several that impress me including Thornton.
 
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Yeh, maybe not.
What's the stat that weighs their DEFENSE?????? Cuz THAT is the stat that is way off here.
Been pretty disappointed by the play of our veteran guards. Not that they aren't working their butts off, they ARE. The problem is they are still getting taken out of games by other teams aggressive defense. And struggle to stay in front of players at the other tend.
Overmatched physically too often for now upper class players. That part has been a problem for 3 seasons now, improvement be damned.
Fletch is bigger and stronger but still struggles to get his shots off and defend at the other end.
Same basically with Braden who's improved in many ways, but now a bit wilder with passes again, the jump pass issue is back, and he's not shooting/scoring enough for someone that was predicted to be the POY preseason.
Does the teams success depend on the play of these 2 getting better?
No! It's also the other 3 spots not doing "enough" (in the biggest games) at THIS POINT in the season.
We knew coming in there would be adversity and guess what? We were right.
Long season and lots of coaching adjustments to come. I'm confident we (ok they) will figure it out.
And a player or 2 will step up and be accountable.
Both these guys too talented to not get over the current hump.
Yeah they suck.
 
Yes agree. They might both make 1st team?? But if not 2nd team there if voters choose it for him and Baldwin, for 1st team. Voters likely put Harper on one of top 3 teams, but he is extremely impressive early.

One thing for sure, I wouldn't trade Smith for any of them and there are several that impress me including Thornton.
To me, it’s tough to put a guy who averages 4-5 turnovers a game as first team all b1G and that even includes wolf from Michigan, but he’s crazy good at his size.
 
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Yes agree. They might both make 1st team?? But if not 2nd team there if voters choose it for him and Baldwin, for 1st team. Voters likely put Harper on one of top 3 teams, but he is extremely impressive early.

One thing for sure, I wouldn't trade Smith for any of them and there are several that impress me including Thornton.
Latest Evan Myia Stats, Box BPR
1. Only Player in the country rated above 7, Kam Jones Marquette at 7.08
2. John Broome at 6.65
3. Braden Smith at 6.58
4. Ryan Nembhard at 5.79
Only 6 players rated above 5.0
Only 26 players rated above 4.0
This is of all NCAA players!
Only 4 players in the Big Ten are rated above 4.0!
 
It’s still early December. I never put too much stock in these early Big Ten games. Penn State will hit rough patches for certain. I haven’t seen most of the backcourts in the conference, but I’ll stick with Braden and Fletch.
We will get to see how Penn state does on the road vs Rutgers. Can Baldwin shut down Harper? Can they shut down Bailey?

Oddly enough, both star players for both teams are named Ace (Baldwin and Bailey 😂)
 
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