The GBMW Big Ten Pre-conference Basketball Review

Posted at 12:00pm -- 12/28/2009




The GBMW Big Ten Pre-conference Basketball Review

The Big Ten will be rough and ready this year. The conference flexed some muscle by finally winning a close 6-5 ACC and Big Ten match-up. There have been a few ugly loses for the resume as well. But ugly loses will not create long-term roadblocks in a league that has eleven highly successful head coaches.

The preview will be presented in three parts. First off, the teams that appear to have a legitimate chance of winning the title and making a national run will be discussed. Second, a large collection of teams that could finish anywhere from 4th to ninth will be discussed in a section called “the cement mixer.” Finally, two teams who appear to have little chance of finishing in the main pack of the Big Ten standings will be discussed.

The three teams that the author believes have the most legitimate chance of winning a championship and advancing to the Elite Eight or beyond are Michigan State, Purdue, and Ohio State. Some would consider Ohio State as somewhat of a surprise with the recent devastating injury to Evan Turner, but Ohio State in the past five years has possessed as much basketball talent as any team in the nation, possibly excepting North Carolina.

Michigan State is the choice to win the conference yet again. Yes, the Spartans have three losses, but as always the losses are to notable teams. And as usual, the Spartans are likely to get better. The Spartans have already again played tough competition on the road and will be battle tested.

In the Big Ten a team needs a minimum of three notable contributors and two just does not seem to get the job done. The Spartans have multiple scorers and rebounders. This is most beneficial since a team is not forced to sink or swim on a single player or duo’s contribution for any one game.

The league’s best true point guard resides in East Lansing in Kalin Lucas and Draymond Green, Raymar Morgan, Devon Roe, and Korie Lucious contribute to the depth across the board in both rebounding and scoring.

As always, The Spartans will play a transition game that will greatly punish any team that sleeps for a microsecond. And Michigan State is very athletic and can match up with almost any team in the nation.

Purdue, because of a perfect 11-0 record is the pick of many to win a conference title and this certainly could happen. The formula in West Lafayette is chemistry and balance. Also throw in the success mix the refused to be acknowledged strategy of gathering five good players that may not be quite good enough for the NBA,

Purdue fits the need three model with Eitwaun Moore, Robbie Hummel, and JaJuan Johnson. But this team also has nine players that could be described as solid contributors. The Boilers need to step up the three’s a little and rebounding could be a little bit of a hiccup. But this team will be highly seeded in the tournament.

Ohio State meets the three model as well, and would fit a four model if Turner had not been injured. Ohio State starts off tough in the league schedule and ends up much more favorable. This is a break since the talk in Cowtown is now that Evan will be back sooner rather than later. But broken vertebrae are not precise timetables. Evan’s scoring will be missed but not as much as his rebounding, point play direction, and ability to just take over a game. The other three major contributors are fellow pro prospects (along with Turner) William Buford and David Lighty, along with the stand in a spot shooter Jon Diebler. This team may have the best shooting in the Big Ten and plays solid defense, based on putting better athletes on the floor. Diebler is finally coming around, but teams that pressure him on his shot have had success stopping his outside threat. After a tough start, Buford is lighting it up.

It will be a little tough to crystal ball the final results of Ohio State since the preseason schedule was essentially 2-2 against good competition, with all other games being cinch wins. This team will survive the loss of Turner, but may get off to a slow start on the road in the Big Ten.

Tomorrow, the most interesting group will be discussed, the teams that will be scrambling for the fourth, fifth, sixth, and maybe ever a seventh tournament spot. These are teams that are in the cement mixer and likely need a 9-9-conference record to receive an invite. Going 9-9 will be a challenge for most or all of these teams in this batch and hence home court serve will be critical. Some will make it and some will not.

Thank you for reading GBMW.

Written by Doc4blu

Go Blue -- Wear Maize!