MBB Preseason Predictions
With Big ten media only 2 days away Brendan F. Quinn wrote an article on mlive about his preseason Big Ten predictions. Interesting read and wanted to discuss because BASKETBALL!!! Thoughts??
http://www.mlive.com/wolverines/index.ssf/2014/10/my_preseason_big_ten_…
Projected Big Ten Standings
1) Wisconsin
2) Ohio State
3) Michigan
4) Nebraska
5) Michigan State
6) Illinois
7) Iowa
8) Maryland
9) Minnesota
10) Indiana
11) Northwestern
12) Purdue
13) Penn State
14) Rutgers
Preseason All-Big Ten Team
Sam Dekker, F, Wisconsin
Yogi Ferrell, G, Indiana
Frank Kaminsky, F, Wisconsin
Terran Petteway, G, Nebraska
Derrick Walton Jr., G, Michigan
Player of the Year
Sam Dekker, F, Wisconsin
October 14th, 2014 at 1:22 PM ^
i cant believe he left LeVert from his all-big ten team and Derrick Walton in. Is there no other great PG in the big ten this year?
October 14th, 2014 at 1:27 PM ^
Agree about LeVert. If Walton is 1st team...look out.
October 14th, 2014 at 1:27 PM ^
October 14th, 2014 at 1:32 PM ^
I'd have had him over Walton and LeVert as the other guard.
And even though I like Petteway a lot, I highly doubt he'll be better than LeVert this year. Except he's kinda their only scoring option so he might have better numbers I guess.
October 14th, 2014 at 1:57 PM ^
October 14th, 2014 at 1:34 PM ^
October 14th, 2014 at 1:40 PM ^
I have no idea how much the lefty thing really matters, but since it's the preseason I'm going to be full of blind hope that it's the secret ingredient the team has been missing.
October 14th, 2014 at 1:46 PM ^
October 14th, 2014 at 1:47 PM ^
Don't get the OSU love.
Also, lol @ Caris not being on the list.
October 14th, 2014 at 1:52 PM ^
October 14th, 2014 at 2:04 PM ^
or else they're going to have to win games 41-39.
October 14th, 2014 at 1:47 PM ^
A few random predictions:
-Michigan has the best backcourt in the B1G
-Wisconsin finishes 3rd in the B1G
-DJ Wilson and Doyle receive playing time over Donnal by the end of the year
-Branden Dawson has a disappointing year compared to expectations
-Illinois surprises people and finishes in the top 4 of the B1G
October 14th, 2014 at 2:10 PM ^
October 14th, 2014 at 3:06 PM ^
Let that sink in for a minute.
Now die laughing.
October 14th, 2014 at 1:50 PM ^
I think the loss of Kaminsky is gonna be huge for staee. Now a streaky Trice is their best shooter returning. Might be struggle city for the weirdos in EL.
October 14th, 2014 at 5:07 PM ^
October 14th, 2014 at 1:52 PM ^
Is Evan Smotrycz still on Maryland?
October 14th, 2014 at 1:53 PM ^
October 14th, 2014 at 1:55 PM ^
3rd straight B1G POY
October 14th, 2014 at 2:18 PM ^
and beilein
October 14th, 2014 at 3:03 PM ^
I, like most of you, have a favorite moment for every great player. Caris' moment, for now, is this shot. It completely changed the game and the look on Izzo's face as Caris runs by him (eerily reminiscent of Woodson running by David Boston). I would pay a lot of money for a picture from the corner that shows the ball going in, Caris running down court, Izzo crying and the student section rejoicing. I mean like a couple hundred unframed.
October 14th, 2014 at 1:56 PM ^
October 14th, 2014 at 1:56 PM ^
October 14th, 2014 at 2:03 PM ^
They won't have as many air balls from the 3 point line. So that's a big improvement for them.
October 14th, 2014 at 2:23 PM ^
October 14th, 2014 at 2:51 PM ^
but that's about it. He can't shoot, and has a tendency to disappear in the offense. The OSU defense should take a step back with Craft gone.
October 14th, 2014 at 3:15 PM ^
Shannon Scott is basically another Craft: all defense, no offense. Amir Williams is basically the same player he was as a freshman. Sam Thompson is a high flier for sure but that's about it.
Their freshmen better score a lot or this team will struggle to break 60 points against decent competition.
October 14th, 2014 at 4:47 PM ^
Matta is a very good coach. I'm sure that's a factor in the hype.
October 14th, 2014 at 4:58 PM ^
October 14th, 2014 at 2:04 PM ^
October 14th, 2014 at 2:16 PM ^
Without good predictive data, of course, it's difficult to make much more than a guess, but then that is precisely what Quinn did. In any case, without assigning specific rank order, I would say Michigan in the top three or four - which I would consider the teams to have a realizable shot at winning the conference - is a pretty good bet. I'll admit that I am kind of curious to see how Nebraska does this year actually - theirs is an interesting developing story, I think, especially after they found that other gear in February.
October 14th, 2014 at 3:04 PM ^
MSU vs Injuries for the Natty.
IZZONED
October 14th, 2014 at 3:14 PM ^
2 years ago we had the best player on the court with Burke. Last year Stauskas was usually the best player on the court. Nice thing about Caris is he's a better defender.
October 14th, 2014 at 3:14 PM ^
I see someone is picking OSU to be good yet again even though they're not as good as everyone thinks.
October 14th, 2014 at 3:16 PM ^
October 14th, 2014 at 4:59 PM ^
October 14th, 2014 at 5:00 PM ^
October 14th, 2014 at 3:30 PM ^
October 14th, 2014 at 3:54 PM ^
But let's scale it back if that's where your expectations are...if he's GREAT but not Elite, there is no one on this board that should be whining.
Our expectations for LeVert and this team scare me. Beilein is not a wizard. He's a great coach, I personally think he's the best coach in the nation. But UK, Duke, MSU, UNC, UCLA...they've all had some down years that didn't live up to their typical success.
If Michigan is a bottom of the top 25 type team this year and we return everyone except LeVert for 15-16, then I think you raise the expectations back up to Elite 8/Final Four level.
October 14th, 2014 at 7:40 PM ^
October 14th, 2014 at 4:15 PM ^
I think the standings are somewhat accurate. I'd flip MSU and Nebraska, but I see a clump of teams (including Michigan) at that 3-5 tier and then another clump at the 6-9 tier.
Michigan is going to be the kind of team that beats Wisconsin, but loses to someone it has no business losing to. Kind of like a few years ago when we had some great wins and then lost @PSU.
Last year
| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | Seed | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #7 Michigan | 15 | – | 3 | .833 | 28 | – | 9 | .757 | 2 | ||||
| #12 Wisconsin | 12 | – | 6 | .667 | 30 | – | 8 | .789 | 2 | ||||
| #11 Michigan State † | 12 | – | 6 | .667 | 29 | – | 9 | .763 | 4 | ||||
| Nebraska | 11 | – | 7 | .611 | 19 | – | 13 | .594 | 11 | ||||
| #22 Ohio State | 10 | – | 8 | .556 | 25 | – | 10 | .714 | 6 |
I see us third, but we won't have as many good wins as MSU had last year - I'm putting us as a 6 seed. The B1G won't be as good this year as it has been the last 2 years. I'd put the B1G the last 2 years up against any 2 year stretch in any conference in the past 15 years. Including the ACC and Big East. It was THAT good, IMO.
LeVert, to me, is a VERY good #2...he's not a leading guy night in and night out in my eyes. Not with the attention of the defense and the load of carrying a team.
I've said this before and I get bashed, but I think he's THJ. Which is a VERY good #2.
I think he's drafted somewhere around 20th in the upcoming NBA draft and I think he has a solid career as a 3rd option on a really good team or a 2nd option on a bad team.
I see Michigan finishing 3rd in the conference, by tiebreakers and things of that nature. I think it'll be very close between 3rd and 5th. Something like:
| Team | W | L | Seed | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wisconsin | 14 | – | 4 | 2 | ||||
| Ohio State | 13 | – | 5 | 4 | ||||
| Michigan | 12 | – | 6 | 6 | ||||
| Michigan State | 12 | – | 6 | 7 | ||||
| Nebraska | 11 | – | 7 | 8 |
As for All-Conference, just because I see LeVert as a very good #2 and not an elite player doesn't mean he won't be All-Conference.
IMO, LeVert is first team All-B1G (but not POY), Walton is 2nd team, Irvin is 3rd team.
This team as a 6 or 7-seed...wins their first game, upsets the higher ranked team in the Round of 32, and gets bows out in the Sweet 16.
Regardless if I'm right or wrong, I think this is where the expectations should be. This would still be a very good year and if everyone but LeVert returns, you're talking about a Final Four team the following year.
October 14th, 2014 at 5:05 PM ^
October 15th, 2014 at 2:17 PM ^
I think we'll get a ton more...I was just showing the top 5.
I could see us getting more teams in this year than last year. I'll say 8.
| Team | W | L | Seed | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wisconsin | 14 | – | 4 | 2 | ||||
| Ohio State | 13 | – | 5 | 4 | ||||
| Michigan | 12 | – | 6 | 6 | ||||
| Michigan State | 12 | – | 6 | 7 | ||||
| Nebraska | 11 | – | 7 | 8 | ||||
| Iowa | 10 | – | 8 | 10 | ||||
| Maryland | 9 | – | 9 | 11 | ||||
| Illinois | 9 | – | 9 | 12 |
October 14th, 2014 at 4:25 PM ^
I think LeVert can take a Stauskas jump, but I don't necessarily think he will. I think we can expect something closer to 14 or 15 ppg. Also, I think many of us discounted how good of a distributor Stauskas was. The stats didn't necessarily show it, but he had a knack for finding JMo and Horford underneath the basket at many key points. There's nothing that says Caris won't be able to do the same, but there's nothing that pointed to it last season. That being said, I think Caris will be the guy but not to the point that Stauskas was.
Here's the thing as well. I don't think we need Caris to take a Stauskas jump for us to compete for a Big Ten title. I think Irvin and Walton will take huge jumps and Chatman can be expected to provide key minutes. The biggest question mark will come with the big men. Donnal redshirting probably helped significantly, but he's no Jordan Morgan. I'm really hoping that Donnal, Doyle, and Wilson can really gel and mature by the time we get into the grind of Big Ten play. If we can get 10-15 points from the threesome each game I will be pleased because we don't necessarily need scoring from the position. Interior defense and rebounding will be the biggest concern moving forward.
I think Beilein's magic continues, and we finish top four in the Big Ten. I'm going to aim high as well and say we get a four seed in the tourney and make the Elite Eight again but are once again stunned by (insert previously under-achieving blue blood team who makes huge jump in the tourney).
October 14th, 2014 at 4:57 PM ^
Michigan finish top 3 in B1G with a Sweet 16 appearance.
LeVert is 1st team all-B1G while Irvin and Walton gets 2nd team. Chatman and Doyle gets all-freshmen team. JB eats subs and it was crazy.
October 14th, 2014 at 5:03 PM ^
October 14th, 2014 at 5:29 PM ^
i was so high on him last year, and i think he has all the tools to be the best player on this team.
October 14th, 2014 at 7:59 PM ^
this is like christmas eve for me.
on paper, this team looks ok but flawed.
but, after the last 3 years, it seems possible that any of derrick, caris, or irvin could compete for npoy. who knows what we'll get this season. cant come soon enough though.
October 14th, 2014 at 9:58 PM ^
really? Michigan as 3rd best? OSU has NEVER had a final four caliber team within the last 20 years, Michigan will finish 1st i gaurentee it! Belien can devolp players better then anybody and we have talent... Levert, walton and irvin are next B1G 3 trio. Spike has expirence and now we have katman and donnell? Wisconsin is always good, Msu as well! Go blue! THUMBS UP ITO THIS POST IF YOU AGREE MICHIGAN WILL FINISH 1ST!