Big Ten/ACC Challenge open thread

Submitted by ThadMattasagoblin on

Iowa beating UNC 5-2 on ESPN, Notre dame beating MSU 18-16 on ESPN2, and Virginia Tech beating PSU 15-10 on the U.

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cobra14

December 3rd, 2014 at 9:33 PM ^

If a Valentine is your best player you aren't going to be a great team. Dawson is so overrated it's not even funny anymore. Love watching them lose.

Joined: 05/16/2012

MGoPoints: 8448

Louie C

December 3rd, 2014 at 9:50 PM ^

I live in Spartyland, and that's all the paper says is how this is Valentine's team and I'm like OK...you guys are doomed. And to think they were throwing shade on the previous group. LOL!

Joined: 11/16/2009

MGoPoints: 1135

SFBlue

December 3rd, 2014 at 9:37 PM ^

Sparty No!!!! Opted for watching Iowa, which was a grisly game. As poorly called as it was played. Dick V pretty much phones it in these days.

Joined: 11/02/2009

MGoPoints: 15699

Wolverine Devotee

December 3rd, 2014 at 9:40 PM ^

This is fucking great.

Michigan wins, state loses, osu loses. 

Rutgers made more of an impact in this challenge than sparty. 

Joined: 06/29/2009

MGoPoints: 31528

MH20

December 3rd, 2014 at 9:39 PM ^

No Smot in the Virginia/Maryland game.  Broke his foot in the preseason, came back recently and then reinjured the same foot in their last game.  Bummer for him.

Joined: 10/30/2008

MGoPoints: 40988

MilkSteak

December 3rd, 2014 at 9:39 PM ^

Sidenote: Brandon Dawson is going to eat our big men alive. Doyle is the only guy who has a shot at being effective, but he'll probably be on the bench most of the game in foul trouble.

Joined: 04/18/2011

MGoPoints: 3069

alum96

December 3rd, 2014 at 9:55 PM ^

Dirk is a pretty damn good athlete.

Kaminsky is not really.  If he had Mitch's athleticism he would be top 12-15 in the draft IMO.  When he played UK's athletes he was overwhelmed; he will face those type of guys every night in the NBA.

Okafor on the other hand is going to be something else.

Joined: 04/28/2012

MGoPoints: 82804

alum96

December 3rd, 2014 at 9:58 PM ^

I've watched pieces of Kansas Duke and NC games this year and NC and Kansas are way below what they used to be.  Lots of attrition and the incoming players are either not as good or its way too early.  But I dont see a ton of elite talent outside of Okafor on these teams.  Perry Ellis at Kansas is good but he is a 1 man team.   UK is obviously in a league of their own but outside of that this is a tourney I think we may see a lot of non traditional names in the sweet 16 - I could see a lot of these brand names being upset this year.   They are just not at the level they have been in recent years (ex UK).

Joined: 04/28/2012

MGoPoints: 82804

alum96

December 3rd, 2014 at 11:47 PM ^

Bill Self has some Mack Brown in him.  I just dont think he is elite.  He gets loads of talent there but they just rarely play up to the talent.  Right now they are basically Perry Ellis and nothing else.  The distance between Cliff Alexander (#4 in the country) and Okafor (#1) is a massive gulf.  I've only seen Alexander twice but if you didnt tell me he was #4 in the country I'd think he was just a bif goof who relies on being tall - he has no game at all other than overpowering people and he is not even that overpowering for a 240 lb dude.  Okafor is a lot more like Julius Randle in that he actually can play basketball but he is physically even more beastly.

I am not sure what is going on with NC but to their credit they won the NC 6 years ago and 2 elite 8s since so will give them a pass.  Their issues are more short term and seem to coincide with what Calipari is doing.  Back to back double digit loss seasons and this looks like the 3rd in a row which is not good enough down there.  Maybe UK is just sucking up too much of the talent that would normally be shared among Kansas, UNC, Duke...

Anyhow I'd love Mr. Beilien to have a few of these top 10-15 kids to see what he could do with them.

Joined: 04/28/2012

MGoPoints: 82804

MaizeAndBlueWahoo

December 4th, 2014 at 8:18 AM ^

Roy Williams is more of an administrator than a coach.  He can certainly assemble talent (not hard at UNC) but he doesn't do a great job of fitting the talent together or into his system.  And his players don't develop a hell of a lot.  What you see as a freshman is more or less what you get.  I've heard it said, for example, that Nate Britt could be a bona fide star in the right system, but he's not the kind of player Roy is asking him to be, and James Michael McAdoo was going to be the next great Carolina star, but fizzled out pretty awfully.

Joined: 07/02/2008

MGoPoints: 41586

goblue16

December 3rd, 2014 at 10:05 PM ^

Bo Ryan develops his players that's the key. Very similar to Beilein he can bring a 3 star average recruit and in 2 years turn him into an NBA draft pick. Wisconsin does not recruit anywhere near IU OSU or MSu but they compete for the big ten title every year for the last 12+ years

Joined: 03/28/2010

MGoPoints: 17468