It was a big week of big matchups for the Big Ten. So let’s see what we learned about the conference this week including a discussion of the Michigan Wolverines as this week’s spotlight team. I’ll hit the Iowa loss to Eastern Illinois, Purdue showing out without Edey, a WTF? Illinois performance and do an out of conference update on the Big East. Finally, I’ll end with a look ahead to next week.
Week 7 Spotlight Team: Michigan Wolverines
Michigan’s lone game this week was a 76-80 loss to the North Carolina Tarheels.
The Wolverines just lost starting guard Jaelin Llewellyn (transfer from Princeton) for the season. Dug McDaniel and Kobe Bufkin are now thrust into the lead guard roles for the Wolverines. That is a lot of youth in the backcourt for Juwan Howard. His son Jett Howard is a freshman wing to pair next to them. Terrance Williams and Hunter Dickinson round out the starting 5.
When I think of Michigan I think of John Beilein’s read and react offense. Think quick cuts, quick decisions, movement, hard drives, kick outs to open shots, nice dump off passes, etc. You do not see that with this Michigan team. Juwan Howard’s Michigan team stands still off ball. They run simple zoom or curl actions with no movement out of them just to create predictable jumpers for the three backcourt players. In the UNC game, the Wolverines had way too much isolation plays and way too little passing.
This game was pretty damning for Michigan. They showed little heart and were consistently out-hustled by the Tar Heels. They had 2 assists at halftime and 6 turnovers. Jett Howard got in foul trouble and couldn’t keep the ball. Hunter Dickinson is in a funk. Dickinson was punked all game by Armando Bacot. At one point Dickinson traveled on an easy dunk off a wide open roll. He finished as a no-show with 9 points. Not a first team All-Big Ten performance for him.
Terrence Williams isn’t a threat offensively but plays good defense and rebounds well. Duke transfer Joey Baker gave some good minutes off the bench. Thats all the positive notes I had on Michigan. Caleb Love is good guys. Michigan’s young backcourt got outplayed by Love and RJ Davis.
I might have held out hope for too long for this Michigan team. The results just keep going the opponents way. The Wolverines might not make the tournament. Juwan Howard and co. need to turn it around in conference play.
It’s hard for me to not think of what this team could have been with Caleb Houstan and Moussa Diabate. You could argue both left for the draft too early. If they stayed people were talking about this Michigan team being a final four contender. Now Michigan is sooo young. Will more people leave too early? Jett Howard likely will. Michigan did well in the tournament but also were an 11 seed before that. Can Howard coach teams mainly made up of underclassmen?
Overall, I think it’s time to reconsider expectations for this Michigan team. Maybe it is unfair to think of them as a top 16 team and Big Ten Title favorite. Maybe we need to start lowering the bar to match the youth of their starting lineup. Can this Michigan team win 12+ games in conference and win a game as a higher seed in March Madness? Maybe that is a more fair expectation for them. Can the younger players take this year and build on it next year? We now get to start seeing what kind of program Juwan Howard will have as the last remaining pieces from the Beilein era disappear.
Iowa Upset by Eastern Illinois
Iowa loses to Eastern Illinois in one of the biggest upsets in recorded betting history. I mean what is there to say? Iowa can’t be losing to borderline D-II directional schools.
Purdue without Edey
No edey no problem!
Redshirt freshman Trey Kaufmann-Renn steps right up and shows that Purdue is a factory for big men. This game highlights how Purdue is a well oiled machine under Coach Painter. The engine is built around post ups creating high quality looks for a well coached big man.
Beyond the bigs, Braden Smith had an excellent first half. Mason Gillis finally had signs of life. Purdue will need Morton to score at some point this year (28% from 3 after 40% last year).
Illinois blown out by Mizzou
In another bizarre game Illinois gets crushed in the Border rivalry against Mizzou. Similar to last weeks Maryland game let’s just agree to forget this game happened. Illinois hasn’t been disappointing so far! Step away from the panic button. Hey, stop it!
No-Explanation Power Rankings
The No-Explanation Committee really wants to discuss the internal dilemmas they are facing at this point in the year. They would love to talk to the media about the struggle of knowing that IU is better than Wisconsin but has a worse resume and the difficulty of ranking them. The committee is dying to talk about how difficult it is to rank the mess of teams from 4-12. It really is in their heart to create a discussion on biases and why that might affect certain teams in the ranking more than others. Sadly, their job refuses any explanation for their straw poll. So, here are their rankings without further comment…
- Purdue
- Indiana
- Wisconsin
- Maryland
- Ohio State
- Rutgers
- Illinois
- Michigan State
- Michigan
- Penn State
- Iowa
- Northwestern
- Nebraska
- Minnesota
Beyond the Arc: Big East Check-in
We aren’t just a Big Ten blog. Here are some updates on another conference to keep you in the loop nationally.
- UConn is the favorite
- Creighton forgot how to shoot but also forgot how to stay healthy.
- Villanova is hanging around with Cam Whitmore back. Keep in mind a slow start out of conference doesn’t affect Big East standings.
- Providence already has two overtime wins. Can Ed Cooley build on a “program year” last year?
- Marquette surprised people to start the year. How will they fare in conference?
- Xavier has a great starting 5 and not much else. How far can they ride that lineup?
- St. Johns is 11-1. How will they hold up with tougher competition?
- Thad Matta is in Year one (sort of) at Butler and Shaheen Holloway in Year one at Seton Hall
- Can Georgetown win a game in conference? Will Patrick Ewing survive the season?
Next Week’s Big Games
- New Years Day
- Maryland at Michigan
- Iowa at Penn State
- Ohio State at Northwestern
- Conference play in full swing!
- Next week’s spotlight team is Iowa. Excited to break down the Hawkeyes with you then!