Game Preview: Minnesota Gophers vs. Indiana Hoosiers

Once again, rather than rehashing everything I wrote in the previous game vs. Indiana's preview (which you can peruse at your leisure right here), I'm going to just focus on some things that have changed since the last time these two teams met, a hard fought 67-63 Gopher win here in Minneapolis.

1)  So, like, is Indiana good now?  Let's not get crazy.  Despite the win over Illinois (vastly overrated) and pushing Michigan State to overtime (vastlier overrated), this still isn't a very good team, but there's no doubt they're are pesky, plucky, gritty, and very David Eckstein-y.  On top of that, they have actually developed one of the better offenses (efficiency wise) in the country, ranking at #41 in the country in that metric, although that's still 8th in the Big Ten.  The nearly all white guy Hoosiers are an excellent shooting team, knocking down 38.4% of their threes (37th) and 52.6% of their twos (29th) and any team that has the ability to shoot like that can be dangerous on any given night.

2)  What's up with this Jordan Hulls cat?  He's slowly developing into a hell of a point guard.  With Maurice Creek slowed and now out with that knee injury and Verdell Jones banged up as well, somebody had to step up and help out Christian Watford, and Hulls answered the call.  After scoring in double figures in just 5 of the team's first 12 games, he's now hit that mark in 10 of the last 11, and scored 17 and 18 in those two big games against the Illini and Spartans.  He can get loose from three (49% this year), but one of his biggest strength is putting the ball on the floor and getting into the lane.  I'm not so worried about Watford, because he does the majority of his damage inside and the Gopher bigs held him down in Minneapolis, but I'm very concerned about who checks Hulls with Nolen out.  That will probably decide this matchup. 

3)  Can the Hoosiers follow Purdue's blueprint to slowing the Gopher offense?  Purdue held the Gophers to their second-lowest point total of the season (and Wisconsin shouldn't count) and one of the main ways they did it was staying up in Hoffarber's face and making it very difficult to get the offense started anywhere near where it should, leaving Blake to pass off to the wing further out than they'd like.  I'd love to say this was an anomaly due to a great defender, but Purdue used Ryne freaking Smith.  With Hoff's (god love 'em) inability to drive past his defender, Indiana won't need a lightning quick defender to replicate this success.  All they'll need is a pesky, annoying white dude, and that is something their is no shortage of in Bloomington.

4)  So are we screwed without Al Nolen then?  If you remember back to the last time these teams played, the Gophers fell behind and were only able to come back and grab the win due to some incredible play from Nolen, causing me to write this love missive (which is probably more romantic than anything I've ever said to Mrs. W, sadly).  The way he brought the team back was simple enough:  getting passed his man and into the lane, then either scoring or finding an open teammate; simple enough for him, I should say.  Since the Gophers currently lack any player with the capacity to do that, other than maybe Chip Armelin whose ball-handling is too suspect, I'd say this doesn't bode well for them. 

5)  Is this a must win, and can they do it?  I wouldn't say it is a must win, because I think I'd actually be more impressed with a win than disheartened by a loss, but it is the kind of game that can help put a more accurate label on this team.  Road wins are always hard to come by in the Big Ten, and kenpom.com predicts that although the Gophers win it will be by a mere point, so you can expect a hard fought game.  I still believe that the three-big lineup is a huge weapon, and one that could potentially destroy Indiana (along with many other teams), but the Purdue game reminded me that it doesn't matter how good your big guys are, somebody has to get them the ball.

Indiana 66, Gophers 60

6)  Wait, after you wrote all this you just saw the news that Christian Watford is out for an indefinite period with a wrist injury.  Doesn't this change everything you wrote?  Yes.  Yes it does.  Now they're whiter, pluckier, and nearly devoid of any talent.

Gophers 70, Indiana 58

And finally, my Big Ten Power Poll for the week:

1)  Ohio State Buckeyes.  Not only the best team in the conference, but the best team in the country.

2)  Wisconsin Badgers.  No big surprise they were able to beat Purdue at home, but it was impressive the way they were able to come back with a minute left after squandering a 6-point lead late.  Who could have guessed Ryan Evans would be the guy who hit the biggest shot of the game? 

3)  Purdue Boilermakers.  They look good and definitely pass the eye test, but I can't really get on board until they manage a really good win.  Their two best victories are home wins over Michigan State and Minnesota - not the most impressive resume. 

4)  Minnesota Gophers.  Whether they are merely an NCAA Tournament team or an NCAA Tournament team that can do some damage depends on the success of the 3-big lineup, Blake's ability to handle the point, and the development of some freshman (and if Rodney Williams can step up an offer some consistent scoring).  That's probably too many ifs for this team to make a significant March run.

5)  Illinois Fighting Illini.  Most overrated team in America. 

6)  Penn State Nittany Lions.  Jeff Brooks went down with a shoulder injury last night and Penn State needed either Andrew Jones or David Jackson to step up to give them an inside presence if they were going to compete with Illinois - neither could do it.  If Brooks is out for any kind of extended period of time, even more than 1 game, kiss that long shot NCAA bid good-bye.

7)  Michigan State Spartans.  Most underachieving team in the country, or just that overrated?  Watching them try to play defense, I'm starting to lean towards the latter.  Something has to change, and in a hurry, or you're looking at an NIT team.  If anybody can figure this out, it's Izzo.

8)  Northwestern Wildcats.  The only thing keeping them this high is that they've beaten the three teams below them.  What a disappointing season for them.

9)  Michigan Wolverines.  Two game win streak is a nice start towards turning the ship around.  With a lot of youth on board - there isn't a single senior on the roster - they could be setting themselves up to be a nice sleeper team next year.

10)  Indiana Hoosiers.  The big win over Illinois finally gives Crean something to build on, but did the choke away of a second one (at Mich State) deflate the momentum?  If that didn't do it, the injury to Watford probably did - that's a killer.

11)  Iowa Hawkeyes.  The signs of life out of Indiana and Michigan doom Iowa to the basement

Big 10 Power Poll - 5 Questions

Gopher Nation from The Daily Gopher is another participant in Myron Medcalf's Big 10 Power Poll for startibune.com, and he sent out 5 questions to all the voters.  Check TDG on Monday for his recap of everybody's answers, mine are below with his questions in bold:

1 - The Gophers endured probably the most difficult start to the Big Ten season that one could imagine.  On the road against three of the league's best all resulted in a loss, though two of those games were one possessions games with under a minute to go.  Now Purdue is the only road game left against an upper-tier Big Ten team, but what about the other road games?  What road game against a mid or lower tier team concerns you the most and why?

Every single one.  But, if I'm forced to pick just a single game I'll take the game at Iowa on February 13th.  Penn State is an obvious choice, but by the time the Gophers head to their place PSU might not be considered a lower tier team anymore, and there are a couple things going against the Gophers when they head to Iowa.  First, that would be the most damaging game to lose in terms of an NCAA Tournament resume, so that right there has me half convinced they're going to lose.  A bigger worry is a look at exactly when they head to Iowa - it's right after home games against Ohio State and Illinois.  Can you see the Gophers getting one or two very big, nice home wins and then going and laying an egg the next time out in Iowa City?  Of course you can, you're a Gopher fan.  You've been here before. 

2 - The short bench and minutes played by starters has been a hot topic lately.  To me there are two angles to this topic.  First of all this means we are forced to rely on a few true freshmen in the backcourt for the rest of the Big Ten season.  By the time we get to the Big Ten tournament which of the freshmen will step up (if any) and be a consistent factor off the bench.  Secondly, can the current starters (plus Iverson) continue to play the extended minutes they are playing for the remaining schedule?  Will they be able to apply pressure defense and play transition offense without wearing down?  

It's definitely not a positive.  I still think Hollins and Armelin have good potential (and Walker, but he's out for the year) but they certainly aren't ready to play heavy minutes yet, so what choice does Tubby really have?  Those two are capable of giving the team a combined 25-30 minutes each game, slanted towards whichever one seems to have his head on straight that game, and I think I could handle Ahanmisi for about 10 minutes.  Which means Rodney, Nolen, and Hoffarber have to play about 28 minutes or so apiece each night.  With Nolen and Blake getting more like 30-32, that means Rodney needs to play just 22-25 each night, and Mbakwe, Sampson, and Iverson need to play right around 28 per game as well.  That's a lot of minutes for the six main guys, but I don't see any choice.  If Ohio State can do it, why not the Gophers?

3 - The Gophers haven’t won a Big Ten title, officially, since 1982. Even if you include the vacated Big Ten title in 1997, this program has finished top three in the Big Ten two times since the 1980-81 season.  “What will it take for this program to make the strides necessary to compete for Big Ten titles in basketball?”

Talent.  Talent wins out.  Good coaches can coach lesser players up, but in order to really compete at the top of the basketball world you need talent and that comes from recruiting.  Whether it's getting the highly rated prospects or identifying future stars that aren't as nationally recognized, the talent needs to get better.  Tubby has certainly upgraded the level of player coming here since he took over, but right now the program is at a "compete for a B10 title every 4 years or so when a really good class are seniors" and not in the class of the perennial contenders in the conference.  

4 - Let's move on to some Big Ten talk.  We've all been participating in the power poll and Ohio State has been the near unanimous #1 all season.  It would be hard to argue that anyone else will win the league but when all is said and done who will be the second best team in the conference and why?

Wow, that is tough to say because every team is flawed.  Purdue and Wisconsin are both completely reliant on their duos.  Michigan State might be the most talented on paper but they are a mess right now.  The Gophers are still the Gophers.  I'd have to go with Illinois by default.  They're a good, but not great, team and have enough talent spread out amongst all their players to be a threat on any given night, so I'd expect they'll end up finishing second when the season schedule is through.  They'll also lose in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, and that's a guarantee.

5 - The Barn...stand up or sit down? Here is your opportunity to rant...

I will never, ever understand why people think they have the right to tell other people how to cheer for their favorite team.  Not everybody is a yeller, and guess what?  I think when you yell instructions to the players or refer to them by their first names that makes you an idiot with more than a touch of delusion.  How do you like that?  Stand if you want, sit if you want.  Nobody should be able to make you sit down if you want to stand, and nobody should try to make you stand up if you want to sit.  Seriously, just leave people alone, weirdos.

Big Ten Power Poll - 01.19.2011

My vote for this week's Big Ten Power Poll. 

1.  Ohio State Buckeyes - Might be starting to show some chinks in the armor, struggling to single digits wins against Penn State, Michigan, Minnesota, and Iowa.  Even more of a concern:  in their five Big Ten games thus far they've been out-rebounded three times and allowed their opponent to shoot at least 50% three times.  Those are the kind of trends that catch up to you eventually, especially since their conference schedule has been soft out of the gate.

2.  Purdue Boilermakers.  Starting to wonder a bit about this team, because although they don't have any bad losses, they don't really have any good wins, either.  We'll find out more quickly, because their schedule is brutally tough for the rest of the month.  One thing they'll need is for E'Twaun Moore to get his shot back, and get it back quickly:  he's 15 for 57 (26%) in their last four games, and they aren't going to beat anybody if he isn't scoring.

3.  Illinois Fighting Illini.  Only their loss to Penn State last week keeps them out of the #2 spot for me, but I still think they're too shaky at the end of games and that McCamey isn't good down the stretch and that it will kill them in either the first or second round in March, but the fact that they were able to hold Michigan State off and get a big win on Tuesday is a step in the right direction.

4.  Minnesota Gophers.  Huge win over Purdue (and avoidance of a let-down game against Iowa) vault them back into the "top of the league" conversation.  They've yet to go on the road against one of the bottom tier Big 10 teams, so this weekend's game against Michigan will be a major test.  That's the kind of game you don't lose if you're a true Big 10 contender, something this team will still have to prove.

5.  Wisconsin Badgers.  Bounced back after a heart-breaking blown opportunity to snag a road win in East Lansing with a convincing 10 point win over the Illini back in Madison.  Still, Badger backers can't feel too good about giving that game away to Sparty.  Their team, the #1 team in the nation at avoiding turnovers, turned the ball over 3 times in the final 1:08 - more than they did in the entire game against Minnesota earlier in the year.

6.  Michigan State Spartans.  I know we're used to Michigan State teams starting slowly and peaking in March, but this year's team just doesn't have that same feel.  They're losing their road games and just barely squeaking by with wins at home, and are very, very close to being 1-5 in Big Ten play rather than 4-2.  Last night against Illinois they managed to keep their turnovers, their achilles' heel so far this year, under control, but couldn't shoot (just 39% from the floor) or play defense (Illinois shot 53%).  I will be absolutely shocked if they do anything in March, because they look absolutely dreadful out there. 

7.  Penn State Nittany Lions.  Well, they're certainly making a run, and an impressive one at that.  They couldn't quite pull it off against Ohio State, losing by 3 in Columbus, but prior to that picked up nice wins two ranked teams; Illinois and Michigan State.  If they had done anything, and I mean anything, in their non-conference run they'd be sitting in pretty good shape for an NCAA bid.  As it stands, however, they're still going to have to be pretty flawless.

8.  Northwestern Wildcats.  Missed out on a huge opportunity to get the marquee win they lack when they lost to Michigan State in overtime, and now they have 3 Big Ten wins against bottom tier teams and are 0-4 against contenders.  They still have some very tough games coming up, as does everybody in this conference, but they also have a really easy stretch in February where they could easily go 5-0.  If they can beat some of the upper division squads, and soon, they could still end up on the NCAA Tournament bubble, but they need to start getting wins.

9.  Michigan Wolverines.  They've played three of the best teams in the country (Syracuse, Ohio State, and Kansas) and have played tough, losing by 3, losing in overtime, and losing by 4, but they are also 1-5 in Big Ten play which includes blowout losses to Indiana and Northwestern in the last week.  Tough team to figure out, but it's clear they can beat anybody or lose to anybody in the conference on any given day.

10.  Indiana Hoosiers.  Playing better of late, getting their first Big Ten victory with a blow-out against Michigan, but they just aren't a good team.  It sounds like Maurice Creek may be done for the season, which is for the best because he's clearly not healthy.  Best case is he rests up, gets near his freshman form, Cody Zeller sticks with the Hoosiers and Christian Watford doesn't go pro - then you might have something here.

11.  Iowa Hawkeyes.  It seems like there are some nice pieces in place for the future, especially Melsahn Basabe who could become Iowa's version of Trevor Mbakwe in a couple of years, but they certainly aren't there yet.  They've scared Ohio State and Minnesota and will probably score an upset somewhere along the line but any more than 3 Big Ten wins would be a shocker.


Looking forward, this week in the Big Ten is pretty much a snoozefest now until the weekend, but there are a few solid barnburners:  Ohio State at Illinois and Michigan State at Purdue on Saturday, and then Wisconsin at Northwestern on Sunday.  Michigan State could really use a big win, but at Purdue is no easy feat, but the pressure is really on Northwestern.  Their margin of error is tiny if they still want to grab an NCAA bid, and they have to hold server at Welsh-Ryan, which means beating the Badgers.  

Big Ten Power Poll - 1.12.2011

My Big Ten rankings.  As per usual, you can find the overall poll on Myron Medcalf's blog at startribune.com, usually around mid-day Wednesday.


1.  Ohio State Buckeyes.  I'm still not sure how the Gophers managed to make there matchup with OSU a three-point game, but I'm not going to fault Ohio State for it.  The Buckeyes have a perfect blend of size, athleticism, shooting, ball-handling, and defense.  Their seventh man (DeShaun Thomas) would be a starter on every other Big Ten team, and the best player on more than a handful.  It's hard to envision any circumstance right now where they don't end up a #1 seed in March.

2.  Purdue Boilermakers.  They continue to impress me week after week with their play, but if you look at their schedule it's been kind of weak.  Even their start in the Big Ten (4-0) can partially be attributed to poor competition (vs. Northwestern and Iowa, at Michigan and Penn State).  This is a huge week for the Boilers, with trips to Minneapolis (vs. a upper division Big Ten squad) and Morgantown, WV (vs. an upper division Big East team).  We'll know a lot more about the Boilers come Sunday.

3.  Michigan State Spartans.  Season-changing win?  I'm not quite ready to go that far, but that's what the announcer on ESPN called it last night.  Things certainly weren't going well in Sparty-land, and with 2:39 left in the second half against Wisconsin last night with Michigan State down seven it looked like things were going to continue to get worse.  Maybe this is the win they needed to turn things around.

4.  Wisconsin Badgers.  An uncharacteristic late game collapse by a Bo Ryan team kept them from a huge road win last night at Michigan State, but even with that missed opportunity I think it's time to admit that Wisconsin belongs up with the contenders for the Big Ten crown.  God it kills me to admit that.  Bo Ryan must be some kind of wizard.

5.  Illinois Fighting Illini.  I'm still not quite buying into Illinois, mainly because they seem to turn the ball over at the worst times, they turn it over way too often, and Demetri McCamey is an asset for 38 minutes and then becomes a liability in the final two.  They'll win their home games, lose their road games to good teams, end up a 5 seed, and be upset by Utah State or something.

6.  Minnesota Gophers.  Thursday's home game against Purdue maybe isn't a must win, but it's certainly a must compete.  The Gophers have lost a lot of fans' confidence with lackluster play against poor teams and an understandably slow start.  I think most fans are patient but anxious, and a blow out at home by the Boilers will send a lot of fans metaphorically home for the season.  In any case, Sunday's match with Iowa is definitely a must-win.

7.  Northwestern Wildcats.  If their swiss cheese defense - worst in the conference in both scoring and shooting defense - doesn't keep them out of the NCAA Tournament, the ankle injury to John Shurna might.  Despite scoring 24 points last time out against Indiana something isn't right - he's grabbed a total of zero rebounds in the last two games combined.

8.  Penn State Nittany Lions.  This isn't the first time Talor Battle has put the Nittany Lions on his back and nearly single-handedly won a game for Penn State over his four years there, so last night's win over Illinois isn't a huge shock.  The interesting thing will be to see if it's more of an aberration (like the last 3 years) or if this mean's Penn State is really a contender for an at-large bid in March.  Back-to-back wins over contending teams says they might be for real. 

9.  Michigan Wolverines.  This is the team I'm having the hardest time ranking.  They were looking like the top of the bottom, the kind of team that beats up on the teams below them, but can't quite compete with the top level teams and I was comfortable with that.  Then they go and push one of the three or four best teams in the entire country, Kansas, to overtime.  Add in their near-win over Syracuse earlier this year, and they could be better than we think.  If they can hang with Ohio State when they come to Ann Arbor on Wednesday it may be time to start paying more attention here.

10.  Iowa Hawkeyes.  So far they're looking like a pesky team at home looking to finally grab an upset.  This could be the week with Northwestern in town.  Young guys, particularly freshmen Melsahn Basabe and Zack McCabae and sophomore Eric May, at least give Iowa hope for the future.

11.  Indiana Hoosiers.  I had high hopes for the Hoosiers as a sleeper coming into this year, but Maurice Creek is clearly not all the way healed and the rest of the talent is sub-par outside of Watford.  Cody Zeller can't get to Bloomington fast enough.  They have a rare chance to grab a Big 10 win this week with Michigan coming to town.

Big Ten Power Poll - 12.29.2010

 My ballot for this week's Star Tribune Big 10 Power Poll, which you can find here at Myron Medcalf's blog page:


1.  Ohio State Buckeyes.  An absolute crushing of Tennessee-Martin does nothing to hurt their status.  They are still looking like they are head and shoulders above everybody else in the conference.

2.  Purdue Boilermakers.  It's a good thing for the rest of the conference that Robbie Hummel got hurt because JaJuan Johnson and E'Twaun Moore are basically unstoppable.  They completely destroyed Michigan in Ann Arbor, and any time you can beat a Big Ten foe in their arena by more than 20 you deservea big bump up.


3.  Michigan State Spartans.  Looking at their roster they might be the best team in the conference, but it's tough to know what to make of them since they were just 1-4 against good teams.  Three of the losses are pretty explainable, but a truly elite team doesn't lose to Texas by double-digits at home.  If this wasn't a Tom Izzo team I'd be pretty concerned.


4.  Illinois Fighting Illini.  Back-to-back poor shooting nights and late game collapses have the Illini riding a two-game losing streak as they head to Carver-Hawkeye Arena to take on Iowa.  They way they collapsed in the final minute in both of their recent losses is a huge read flag.  I will personally guarantee you this team loses in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

5.  Wisconsin Badgers.  Looking fairly solid, but how good can a team be when they rely almost completely on the three-pointer?  They're going to beat some teams they shouldn't when they're hot, and lose to some teams they shouldn't when they are ice cold.  Also they're boring and I hate them.

6.  Minnesota Gophers.  The loss to Wisconsin in Madison wasn't unexpected, but it's still disappointing.  They just seem like something is missing.  I thought the return of Nolen would bring whatever it was back, but this still doesn't look anything like the same team that won the Puerto Rico Tip-Off, and I don't even know why or what exactly it is. 

7.  Northwestern Wildcats.  I don't know how to describe them other than pathetic.  They've absolutely dominated some really terrible teams, but as soon as they run up against a half-way decent, but probably not tournament type, squad in St. Johns they roll-over and die.  They're going to need to go at least 10-8 in conference to get an at-large bid.  Just an awful schedule, I have no idea what they were thinking.

8.  Michigan Wolverines.  So much for being a mini-sleeper in conference.  You can't be a surprise team if you can't at least defend your home court, and against Purdue on Tuesday they were completely defenseless.

9.  Penn State Nittany Lions.  I can't move them up any higher thanks to that loss to Maine, but beating Indiana on the road was a big first step for Penn State.  Their road to an at-large bid is razor thin so every game is huge, and that was one they definitely needed.

10.  Iowa Hawkeyes.  The Hawkeyes get a chance to take on an Illinois team that is coming off back-to-back losses, one understandable (Missouri) and one not (UIC).  With the game in Iowa City the Hawkeyes have a huge opportunity to get a big win.

11.  Indiana Hoosiers.  It's awfully tough to find any good things to say about Indiana right now.  They had a rough go of it in the holiday tournament they played in Vegas. losing to Colorado and Northern Iowa, and then came home and lost their Big Ten opener to Penn State in Bloomington.  They have 9 wins, but 7 are against some of the worst teams in the country and the other two are against teams that are merely bad.  This could get ugly.

Big Ten Power Poll - 12.21.2010

My Big 10 power poll for the week.  Once again, you can see the total results on Myron Medcalf's blog on startribune.com, usually updated mid-day Wednesday.  Last week's results are here.


1.  Ohio State Buckeyes.  As the late great Fred Durst once sang, "Keep rollin' rollin' rollin' rollin', keep rollin' rollin' rollin' rollin', keep rollin' rollin' rollin' rollin, keep rollin' rollin' rollin' rollin."  Quite the wordsmith.  Seriously though, Jared Sullinger is what nightmares are made of. 

2.  Michigan State Spartans.  Have a good chance to help remind everybody how good they actually are on Wednesday when the play Texas.  On one hand, the schedule has been brutal.  On the other, they're just 1-3 against good teams.  Even if those teams are some of the best in the country, Michigan State is supposed to be there too.  They may not NEED to beat Texas, but it would sure help. 

3.  Illinois Fighting Illini.  The loss to Paul Carter and UIC is likely just a blip on the radar, but going 0-3 shooting and turning the ball over twice all in the final 15 seconds of a close game against an inferior opponent may be symptomatic of a larger issue - lack of a ball handler.  I know McCamey has the assist numbers, but you can't convince me he's a true point guard.  You watch, that will be their achilles heel come March.

4.  Wisconsin Badgers.  Somebody needs to step up and claim this fourth spot, but lately all four teams who could be worthy here have been playing cupcakes.  I'm going with the Badgers here on the strength of their big win over Marquette, even if it was a week ago.  Nobody cares about beating Green Bay.  Especially the Vikings. 

5.  Minnesota Gophers.  On one hand, their tournament resume looks great thanks to wins over North Carolina, West Virginia, and a handful of mid-majors who have tournament aspirations.  On the other hand, I've seen with my own eyes their slow starts and poor defense since Al Nolen went down, but luckily it was during the easiest part of their schedule so they only ended up with one loss.  Was it just missing Nolen, or is it something larger?  We'll find out, or at least get a clue, on Thursday when he returns against South Dakota State - a team that already beat Iowa this year.

6.  Purdue Boilermakers.  You know, this team really doesn't have much of a resume right now.  The have so-so wins over Oakland, Alabama, and Virginia Tech, but nothing that really stands out.  Their only game against a truly good team was the loss versus Richmond.  I actually think they're better than the 6th best team in the conference, I'd probably put them third or fourth based on talent, but until they show it - and figure out who is going to help out Moore and Johnson - I've got to put them here.  

7.  Michigan Wolverines.  Wins over Clemson, Utah, and Oakland show that Michigan isn't going to be a pushover this year, and their near miss against Syracuse shows that they can play well enough to upset some people.  They aren't going to be in the NCAA Tournament this year, but things are finally starting to move in the right direction for John Beilein.  Maybe addition by subtraction is a real thing after all.  

8.  Northwestern Wildcats.  I was actually becoming a believer.  I had them all penciled in for the fifth spot based on their ability to take care of business and blow out the bad teams they were playing, all I needed was a little proof that they could handle a decent opponent.  Like St. John's, who they played in the MSG Holiday Festival Championship.  Who blew them away, handing the Wildcats a loss in their only chance to pick up a quality win outside the conference.  With their god awful schedule, it's going to be an uphill battle for them to make their first NCAA Tournament.

9.  Indiana Hoosiers.  The 9-2 record looks pretty, but they've beaten up on some really bad teams while losing in their only two "real" contests (vs. Kentucky and vs. Boston College).  I'm really looking forward to seeing how they handle this week's Las Vegas Classic, where they get Northern Iowa in the first round and then either New Mexico or Colorado.  This game could go a long way towards telling us if the Hoosiers are an upset threat, or just hopeless for another season.

10.  Iowa Hawkeyes.  Actually manage to get out of the cellar on my ballot, something I didn't think would happen at any point this year.  I also didn't think they'd win five games all year, and they already have eight after beating Louisiana Tech.  I know think they'll probably win four Big Ten games:  one against Penn State, one against Indiana, and two shockers.  Let's hope one of them isn't against the Gophers. 

11.  Penn State Nittany Lions.  Ouch.  The loss to Maine essentially guarantees that Talor Battle's career will end without a single NCAA Tournament appearance.  Missing on every opportunity to get a good win and then piling on this bad loss is just an ugly, ugly start to the season, and disappointing on many, man levels.  On the bright side, Jeff Brooks has stepped up to give them a legit second option behind Battle.  Unfortunately it doesn't seem to matter.


Two final things:

1.  I am now desperately in love with Emma Stone

2.  This is the funniest video ever, and it's not even close (no sound needed):

Big Ten Power Poll, 12-15-2010

My ballot for the Star Tribune's Big 10 Power Poll.  I took a good long look at each team's overall resume this time instead of just adjusting up and down based on the last week's results.  It didn't make all that much of a difference, actually.  The overall poll is found on Myron Medcalf's blog at this link, and is usually posted by mid-day on Wednesday.


1.  Ohio State Buckeyes.  The only team where I can't find any flaws so far.  They've beaten some very good teams (Florida, Florida State), handled decent teams with ease (Morehead State by 19, IUPUI by 21, Miami-OH by 19), and blown out the bad teams (average margin of victory = 35 vs. sub-200 teams).  Clearly the class of the league with a great balance of scorers.  They're going to be awfully difficult to beat.

2.  Illinois Fighting Illini.  Other than the overtime loss to Texas, the Illini actually have the most impressive overall body of work in the conference.  Wins over North Carolina, Gonzaga, Maryland, and Oakland, and other than playing Toledo they haven't played a sub-200 type team.  If they can beat Missouri next Wednesday it's going to be awfully tough to keep them out of the top spot.

3.  Michigan State Spartans.  The record isn't the best, but that schedule is absolutely brutal.  The do have a great win over Washington and there's no shame in losing to Duke, Syracuse, or UCONN - especially how they were playing at the time.  And, once again, there's no use worrying about Sparty in December.  Izzo always builds for March.

4.  Wisconsin Badgers.  Any of three teams could rank here, but I'm going with Wisconsin on the strength of their recent wins over Marquette and NC State, and the fact that their win over Boston College is starting to look better and better.  Jon Leuer and Jordan Taylor are a hell of a 1-2 punch, and, no shocker here, they're currently one of the most efficient offenses in the country right now.

5.  Purdue Boilermakers.  Their only loss is still the neutral court loss to Richmond who is looking like the class of the A-10 right now.  Other than that there are some decent wins (Alabama, Virginia Tech, Oakland) but nothing that truly stands out.  Still wondering who that third scorer might be?  Maybe they don't need one.


6.  Minnesota Gophers.  Even though their win over West Virginia is arguably the best win by any Big Ten team, their defensive struggles keep me from putting them any higher.  If they had been playing anybody but cupcakes these last two weeks there would be a few more losses in that record.  Maybe this is a case of being so close that I see every wart, but they just aren't a very good team right now.  Hurry back Al.

7.  Michigan Wolverines.  Wins over Clemson, Harvard, and Utah along with keeping the game close against Syracuse (closer than Michigan State did) are better than anything the team's below them have accomplished this year.  Plus I can't get over Darius Morris.  Did you know he's second in the country in assist rate?  48% of Wolverine baskets when he's on the court come from his assists?  And he's leading the team in scoring while shooting 55%!  Sleeper candidate for Big Ten POY right here.

8.  Northwestern Wildcats.  Maybe I need to have them above Michigan, but this is the emptiest 6-0 I've ever seen.  The win over Georgia Tech was so-so as was their win over Creighton, but outside of that it's just a bunch of sub-300 creampuffs.  Not the way to get into the NCAA Tournament for the first time.  Next week they play in a tournament that has them looking at a likely matchup with St. John's in Madison Square Garden.  They have to win that one, or they might have already knocked themselves out of at-large consideration with that schedule.

9.  Indiana Hoosiers.  Seven wins and two losses is all well and good, but have you see the quality of competition?  Their best win is against a 5-5 Wright State squad that has two of its wins over non Division I schools, and five of the other six wins are against sub-200 teams.  This might be an ugly B10 season for Indiana.

10.  Penn State Nittany Lions.  The loss to Virginia Tech assures Penn State will come into conference play without a good win on their ledger.  Their win over Duquesne is decent and there are no bad losses so they aren't out of it, but they'll have to go on a nice run in the Big 10 if they want to get Talor Battle to the NCAA Tournament.

11.  Iowa Hawkeyes.  The win over Northern Iowa was nice, but other than the win over Alabama in the Paradise Jam there are no other remotely decent wins here, and there are some very bad losses.  The Hawkeyes are going to be better than I expected, but that really isn't saying much at all.


It's clear to me that Ohio State is the best team in the league with Illinois and Michigan State right there.  Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Purdue are on the next tier, and it's awfully tough to separate them right now.  I'd put Michigan and Northwestern in the next group, although Northwestern has the potential to move up a tier once they finally play somebody.  Indiana is probably a half-step above Penn State right now, and the Lions are about a half step above Iowa.  Seems pretty clear to me, until conference play starts and we get a better idea of how everybody matches up against each other.

Minnesota Gophers 83, St. Joseph's Hawks 73

Well it wasn't exactly pretty and didn't really cement the Gophers as a top 25 team, but a win is a win, a road win is always good, and not losing to a terrible terrible terrible team is even better.  St. Joe's hit 9 threes to stay in the game, which is too high, but shot just 31% because they had to hoist 29 attempts just to make those 9 trey-balls.  A cynic would say that St. Joe's really should have made more because they kept getting open look after open look, but are just a poor shooting team.  And that's exactly what I say.  The perimeter defense is still terrible, but at least they got a win.  I'm going to just jump ahead to the player-by-player comments here before I get way too negative after a win.  And yes, I was the kind of sucker who paid cash money so I could watch this game.

Devoe Joseph (19 pts, 3 assists, 4-6 on threes):   Those of you out there who complain about him not moving the ball enough or trying to do too much on his own, I'm very sorry to tell you this, but you are idiots.  He's not a point guard, he's a shooting guard being forced to play point, so naturally he's not going to be a elite distributor.  He's a pure scorer, and he hit a couple of huge threes down the stretch to make sure the Gophers didn't lose this game.  Once again, stop complaining about him.  If you don't I will come to your house hit you in the balls with a tiny hammer.

Ralph Sampson (10 pts, 5 rebs):  Pretty ugly overall for Ralph, whether because CJ Aiken is a good defender or because his dad was in attendance and sending weird satan vibes his way I couldn't tell you, but he did seem to perk up in the second half of the second half, and just in time.  He hit a couple of very nice buckets late right as St. Joe's was attempting to make a run, and he still looks so insanely smooth (think Rob Thomas featuring Santana) out there, but this tendency to shrink when he finds resistance is troubling.  As a freshman it's almost expected, but as a junior I'm a little bit irritated. 

Rodney Williams (2 pts, 1 reb):  Maybe the worst game he's played.  Got in foul trouble early and ended up playing just 8 minutes.  Let's move on.

Blake Hoffarber (14 pts, 3 assists, 4-6 on threes):  He still leaves a lot to be desired on the defensive end - both on and off the ball - but when he came up limping after hitting a three-pointer in the first half you can bet I was holding my breath in horror (just like at the end of the Blair Witch Project, which I don't care who you are if you didn't think that was scary in the theater you're either a liar or a moron).  He's just such a steadying influence on this team, not to mention he's shooting out of his head this year, and for him that's saying something.  I can't get over how much he means to this team.  I never, ever imagined myself saying that.     

Trevor Mbakwe (12 points, 16 rebounds):  Player of the game, which is something I have a feeling we're going to be saying a lot.  He nearly had a double-double at half time and kind of faded a bit, and he shot a brutal 16-footer early in the game that reminded everyone why he shouldn't be wandering outside of the paint very often, but he's just such a POWER FORWARD.  I love it.  It's like a regular player ate one of those magic mushrooms from Mario Brothers, he's just a beast.  Here's an awesome summary from the game play-by-play:

Awesome.  It would have been better if he scored instead of turned the ball over, of course, but still awesome.

Maurice Walker (10 points, 5 rebs, 4 assists):  The night belonged to Mo, who not only put up some excellent numbers but displayed enthusiasm and emotion (and effort) he hadn't really shown yet this year.  He was demanding the ball in the post, scoring when it was there and finding open teammates when it wasn't, and then yelling, chest-pounding, and generally whooping it up out there.  It was unreal from somebody who seemed disinterested a large chunk of the year thus far.  Seriously it was like Taco Bell announced they were going to an all-you-can-eat business model.

Chip Armelin (4 points, 4 rebs):  Not to overstate things, but this guy is amazing to watch.  He never, ever stops moving, and when the Gopher offense does that stupid crap when it stagnates and everybody looks lost having a guy who likes to run from baseline-to-baseline for fun can be a major asset, and that's what he did when St. Joe's went zone.  His numbers don't look all that great, but he is a major component of this team and a huge part of how well the offense plays on any given night.

Austin Hollins (6 pts, 4 assists, 4 steals):  Steady.  Guy is just steady, which is a major compliment for a freshman.  Other than a semi-flashy steal late and perhaps one of the worst air-balled wide open three-pointers in the history of basketball he pretty much went unnoticed.  Maybe it's his play, or maybe it's because I was watching a crappy internet feed while holding a screaming baby and trying to get Wonderbaby^TM to stop throwing Teddy Grahams at the dragons on the TV, but I just don't take much notice of him.  Much like that baby I just mentioned.  Dude is just steady.  Like Eddie.

Colton Iverson (0 pts, 3 rebs):  Outside of those statues on Easter Island that were obviously put there by aliens or time travelers, I've never seen anybody or anything so effective at just taking up space.  There will be teams he just can't play against due to his physical limitations (which would be moving at relatively the same speed as those same statues), but St. Joe's ain't one of 'em.

Maverick Ahanmisi (6 pts):  This is way up on the list of things I wasn't expecting to say at any point in the next four years, but Mav looked quite good out there today.  Not that this is a huge bar here, but I think he already looks like a better player than Justin Cobbs.  Now, we haven't gotten into conference play yet so things can change, but swapping Cobbsy for Maverick looks pretty good to me right now.


Lastly, here is the link to this week's Star Tribune Big 10 Power Poll as presented by Myron P. Medcalf.  Check it out for the overall rankings.

Here is the ballot I submitted (remember this is through Tuesday's games):


1.  Ohio State Buckeyes - They haven't played since the last poll, but nobody can convince me there's a better Big Ten team.

2.  Michigan State Spartans -  Definitely in the upper tier with Ohio State, but if this was anybody other than the Spartans with their reputation for slow starts and runs in March, I'd be very concerned with their inability to beat any top-flight teams.

3.  Illiinois Fighting Illini - A very nice win over Gonzaga shows the Illini's early season struggles are behind them, they are deep and are seemingly getting better every time out - a scary proposition.

4.  Purdue Boilermakers - It feels like they're struggling, but really the loss to Richmond is the only blip on their schedule.  Wins last week at Virginia Tech and vs. Alabama might not be exactly marquee, but they are quality.

5.  Wisconsin Badgers - It might have been a fluke, but NC State should be a bubble team at worst this year and Wisconsin throttled them by 40.  Jon Leuer might very well be the best player in the conference.

6.  Northwestern Wildcats - The only undefeated team in the conference other than Ohio State, Northwestern has handled their business against inferior opponents.  Unfortunately the schedule is empty as can be until Big Ten play starts, so we won't really be able to get a handle on how good Northwestern is until then.

7.  Minnesota Gophers - The loss to Virginia and narrow win over Cornell exposed some pretty big weaknesses in the Gophers.  It's tough to say how things would look if Al Nolen wasn't hurt,

8.  Michigan Wolverines - I still think people are sleeping on the Wolverines a bit.  That win over Clemson is a good one, and .  Darius Morris is the real deal, if they get anything out of their front court (and Jordan Morgan suddenly looks interesting) they could shock a team or two.

9.  Indiana Hoosiers -The record looks nice at 7-1, but those seven wins were against teams with a combined 12 wins against Division I teams combined - not exactly murderer's row.  Let's see how they fare against Kentucky on Saturday, that will let us know if we need to pay attention or not.

10.  Penn State Nittany Lions -  Saturday's win over Duquesne is decent, but the Nittany Lions still need to get a big win - they've whiffed against Ole Miss and Maryland so far.  Sunday's game against Virginia Tech is their last chance before conference play, but getting taken to the wire by Mount St. Mary's doesn't bode well for their chances..


11.  Iowa Hawkeyes -  The win over Northern Iowa pulls them closer to leaving the cellar.  Too bad UNI is way down this year.


Actually I'm kind of thinking this is separating itself into tiers pretty clearly.  You have the Spartans and Buckeyes in a class by themselves at the top, with Illinois a half-step below.  Then Purdue, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Northwestern in another tier.  Below them is Michigan and Indiana, and then in a final, sad tier is Penn State and Iowa.  Obviously there could be some shifting here and there, but it's pretty clear to me where the teams separate themselves from each other.

Did you know mannequins don't have a weiner?

Big Ten Power Poll - 12/1/2010

It's getting harder and harder to rank these teams for Myron Medcalf's poll on the Star Tribune each week.  Mostly because almost every Big Ten basketball team has disappointed in some way lately.  You can check out the poll on Medcalf's blog right here.


1.  Ohio State Buckeyes.  With their win at Florida State last night along with their earlier win at Florida the Buckeyes might now have the two most impressive wins by anybody in the whole conference.  Other than depth I'm not seeing any weaknesses in this team - through their top seven they are absolutely loaded.  

2.  Michigan State Spartans.  The game against Duke will let us know exactly where Sparty is right now.  But does it really matter where they are in December?  You know where they'll be in March.

3.  Illinois Fighting Illini.  The win over North Carolina was decisive and impressive, but I'm starting to wonder just how difficult that really is?  Still, Illinois has some nice looking wins already and are balanced and deep.  Starting to look like a definite Sweet 16 type of team.

4.  Northwestern Wildcats.  The schedule is still soft, but Northwestern is taking care of business and easy wins over Creighton and Georgia Tech this week were a step up in competition, but posed no issue for the Wildcats.  Shurna-Thompson-Crawford is actually a dynamic trio, as weird as that is to say about a Northwestern team.

5.  Purdue Boilermakers.  The loss to Richmond is disconcerting, but not a disaster since they're one of the better A-10 teams.  They still need a third scorer to emerge, but so far nobody has shown enough consistency to be the guy. 


6.  Minnesota Gophers.  Absolutely pathetic effort led to not only losing to Virginia, but getting humiliated in the process.  Yes, they were missing Al Nolen and Rodney Williams left early due to injury, but that can't excuse poor effort.   

7.  Michigan Wolverines.  Hung tough with Syracuse in the Legends' Classic but couldn't get the job done, and followed that up with a unimpressive effort in a loss to UTEP.  I was prepared to have them 10th, but the big win over Clemson - hard fought, on the road, and in never a doubt fashion - props them up quite a bit.  Darius Morris is the best point guard in the league, and it's not even close.

8.  Wisconsin Badgers.  The trip to Orlando has to be considered a disappointment, the Badgers come home 2-1 but without a single win over a probable NCAA tournament team.  Wisconsin is now 0-2 against probable tournament teams, and it would serve them well to beat NC State coming up.

9.  Indiana Hoosiers.  They're sitting at 6-0, but have yet to play anybody.  Their upcoming Big 10/ACC Challenge match against Boston College will be a match-up of two teams that are looking better than expected so far this year.  And Christian Watford is amazing.

10.  Penn State Nittany Lions.  The loss earlier in the week to Ole Miss was PSU's first chance at a quality win.  They have a huge opportunity coming up with Maryland coming to State College - it sets up very well for a big Penn State upset.  I'm calling it now.

11.  Iowa Hawkeyes.  Tough loss at Wake Forest keeps Iowa in the cellar.  They have a couple nice looking players who seem to be developing and gelling.  They're going to upset somebody once we hit Big Ten play.

Big Ten Power Poll 11.23.2010

Here is my ballot for this week's Big 10 Power Poll, which you can find over on Myron Medcalf's blog on startribune.com each week.  Last week's is here.


1.  Ohio State Buckeyes.  That win over Florida last week is still the best win of any Big Ten team, and the 19-point win over Morehead State is nice as well.  Plus, have you seen these guys play?  Yikes.

2.  Minnesota Gophers.  North Carolina's loss to Vanderbilt took a little of the luster off the Gophers win, but the weekend in Puerto Rico served notice to the Big Ten that Minnesota is a contender with five wins over possible tournament teams already.  Even in the traditionally physical Big Ten, I'm not sure who can deal with the size and skill combination the Gophers can bring.

3.  Illinois Fighting Illini.  Nothing wrong with a third-place finish in the Coaches vs. Cancer classic, especially when your win is over Maryland and your loss was to Texas in OT.  If one of the trio of wings emerges (Brandon Paul, Jereme Richmond, DJ Richardson) they're going to be lethal.

4.  Purdue Boilermakers.   While most of the rest of the Big Ten contenders are playing in high quality tournaments against NCAA Tournament caliber competition, Purdue played Austin Peay in the Chicago Invitational Challenge.  What ever happened to challenging yourself when you think you're a national title contender?  I should knock them down another couple of spots on general principle.

5.  Michigan State Spartans.  Struggling against Chaminade and losing to UCONN in Maui shows that the Spartans aren't bulletproof, particularly since they lost to UCONN in late game meltdown fashion.  Talentwise they're still in the top 2, but results-wise they're closer to the middle; although there's little doubt Izzo will have them back at the top soon enough.

6.  Wisconsin Badgers.  Wisconsin's loss to UNLV over the weekend wasn't necessarily unexpected - on the road against a probably NCAA Tournament team - but it does drop them to the bottom of the contenders list.  They have a great opportunity to build their resume over Thanksgiving at the Old Spice Classic because they should be one of the two best teams in the field (along with Temple).

7.  Michigan Wolverines.  Bumping Michigan to the top of the lower tier this week, because even though they haven't played a quality opponent they have taken care of business with an average margin of victory of 24 points in their three games.  Tim Hardaway Jr. and Darius Morris are starting to look like a dynamic back court; it'll be interesting to see how they do against Syracuse on Friday.

8.  Northwestern Wildcats.  Still haven't played anybody, and haven't looked all that impressive in their wins over cupcakes, struggling to a win over Texas-Pan American.  With their horrid non-conference schedule, the Wildcats' margin for error is razor thin.

9.  Indiana Hoosiers.  They're beating up on bad teams, which is an improvement from last year at least.  Maurice Creek hasn't been the same player he was last year before he got hurt, but his 19 point outburst against Evansville is a sign that he may still get back to that level.

10.  Penn State Nittany Lions.  Yet another team that hasn't played anybody, and even with that soft schedule they don't have a 20-point win.  On the bright side, it's looking like Penn State might have a breakout star (and some help for Talor Battle) in forward Jeff Brooks, who's averaging 17 points a game after putting up just 7.4 last year.

11.  Iowa Hawkeyes.  When I saw Iowa beat Alabama, a supposed tournament team this year, I thought I was going to have to move them up.  Then the Tide lost to a terrible terrible terrible St. Peter's team, Iowa lost to Dan Monson and Long Beach, and everything suddenly made sense.  Even with Gatens back, this is a very poor Iowa squad.


Upcoming this week:

Michigan State will play in the third place game at the Maui Invitational against the loser of Washington and Kentucky.  That's still an opportunity to get a high quality win, and for the Spartans to reassert themselves as a final four contender.  A 1-2 trip isn't disastrous, but would be a huge disappointment.

Another tournament goer is Wisconsin, who travels to Orlando for the Old Spice Classic.  There are bunch of middling teams involved this year, and Wisconsin and Temple should end up the class of tournament, but wins over most of the other teams (Cal, Georgia, Notre Dame, and Texas A&M in particular) are going to be good wins come March.  Big opportunity for the Badgers here.

Basically only three other games of note the rest of the week:  Michigan will play Syracuse in New Jersey, Penn State will play at Ole Miss, and Northwestern welcomes Creighton to Evanston.  For the Wildcats it's their first opponent worth a damn, while Penn State needs wins of that caliber if they want to grab an NCAA bid, and for the Wolverines we get to find out if they're any good. 

I'm gonna say no.

Big Ten Power Poll - 11.16.2010

I was lucky enough to be a part of the Star Tribune's Myron Medcalf's power poll, which I will link to once he gets it up and running tomorrow.  My submission is here:

(Link to the poll, now up and running)

1.  Ohio State Buckeyes.  Not only do they have the biggest and most impressive win after beating Florida tonight, but their one possible weakness - point guard - doesn't look like a weakness any more.  Freshman Aaron Craft has 14 assists against just 3 turnovers in their two games.  Oh, and fellow freshman Jared Sullinger is averaging 22 points and 12 rebounds.  Look out.

2.  Michigan State Spartans.  Off the court issues and injuries don't seem to be affecting Sparty, and I don't know why I would ever doubt an Izzo team.  They head to Maui next week, where we should get an idea if they're a national title favorite, or merely a contender.

3.  Illinois Fighting Illini.  We'll know more about Illinois after this week's Coaches vs. Cancer tourney where they play Texas and either Maryland or Pitt, but they've looked good in their three games since struggling in their exhibition contests.

4.  Minnesota Gophers.  If you're ranking the quality of wins by Big Ten teams thus far, the Gophers probably have #2 and #3 with their wins over Wofford and Siena.  The only problem is the Siena game exposed a few too many flaws to put them in the upper tier.  Like several other Big Ten teams they're in an upcoming tournament with several other qualities teams and we'll know more after we see how that shakes out. 

5. Purdue Boilermakers.  Tough to know how they're going to be with Hummel on the shelf when their only game was against Howard.  I'm slotting them below the Gophers due to Minnesota's two quality wins already, but above Wisconsin since they made the Sweet 16 last year with basically the same team.

6. Wisconsin Badgers.  Beating up on Prairie View and North Dakota isn't going to impress anybody.  Going to UNLV this weekend and playing the Rebels right when they get Tre'Von Willis back will.

7.  Northwestern Wildcats.  Got to give the Cats for opening on the road and taking care of business, but their non-conference schedule is so weak this year it would take monumental collapses from the teams above them for Northwestern to move up in this poll before conference play starts.  It may also keep them from their first NCAA bid.

8. Indiana Hoosiers.  Indiana is out to a 3-0 start, and even if they haven't really played anybody their win over a so-so Wright State team by 23 is the most impressive win out of the conference's bottom feeders.


9.  Penn State Nittany Lions.  Barely knocked off St. Joseph's tonight.  This does not bode well for Talor Battle's chances to finally make it to an NCAA Tournament.


10. Michigan Wolverines.  Played, and beat, a team in South Carolina Upstate that I'm not even sure is Division I in their opener.  Although I suppose if they stick to that level of competition it's pretty much the only way they'll have a good season.

11.  Iowa Hawkeyes.  If there was any doubt who the worst team in the Big Ten was going to be this year, and their probably shouldn't have been, the Hawkeyes erased it by losing to South Dakota State.  When Gatens is back from injury they might have enough offense to steal an upset win here or there, but I can't foresee any possible way they move out of this 11th spot at any point.