(ESPN) 5 Burning Questions: B1G Hoops (Michigan Mention & Early B1G Rankings)

Submitted by SolidSmeef on

ESPN had a short article on 5 burning questions for the B1G hoops conference.  It featured 2 Michigan mentions

But first, they started with an early rankings 

Early Big Ten Power Rankings

1. Michigan State
2. Michigan
3. Maryland
4. Purdue
5. Nebraska
6. Wisconsin
7. Indiana
8. Ohio State
9. Penn State
10. Minnesota
11. Iowa
12. Northwestern
13. Illinois
14. Rutgers

 

The Mentions 

1. Can the Big Ten rehab its postseason performance?

Michigan's run to the national championship game helped the Big Ten save a bit of face in the NCAA tournament, but it was still a disappointing postseason for the conference. Only four teams earned tourney bids -- the lowest total since 2008 -- and the drought for winning a national championship stretched to 18 years.

A championship might not be in the cards in 2019 as Michigan State has to reset its roster and the rest of the league lacks the star power to warrant inclusion in that conversation. The middle part of the league, though, needs to be able to earn enough respect to send a few more teams to the tournament.

 

2. Five Players to Watch

 Charles MatthewsMichigan

Another veteran who flirted with the NBA before returning to school, Matthews found his stride in the Wolverines' tournament run last season. He averaged 14.8 points in the postseason and emerged as someone who could take big shots in big spots.

The former transfer from Kentucky has now been in Ann Arbor long enough to make this team his own, especially if he continues to develop into a more efficient offensive player under John Beilein.

Link for those that like that sort of thing

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/24324241/big-ten-hopes-better-ncaa-tournament-haul-2018-19-season

stephenrjking

August 15th, 2018 at 2:57 PM ^

If MSU really is the best team in the conference (heh) then the B1G will be down again this season, because MSU just lost two first round picks and surprisingly good teams like OSU seriously stepped back as well. And Nick Ward is one of the "players to watch," which bodes poorly for the league's talent level. 

It's good news for us, insomuch as it will take time for the young players to find their niche, and a mediocre conference will give them a chance to get wins while they're doing so. But, without question, Michigan has some questions to answer after losing Wagner, MAAR, and Robinson. Hopefully guys like Iggy can start answering those questions quickly.

Farnn

August 15th, 2018 at 3:19 PM ^

I don't see how any objective comparison between MSU/Michigan comes out with MSU ahead.  They lost more to the draft, had a worse recruiting class in 2017 and 2018 and flamed out in the NCAA tournament against Syracuse.

I don't follow B1G basketball much outside of Michigan, but on paper I wonder if they finish better than 3rd in the conference.

stephenrjking

August 15th, 2018 at 4:28 PM ^

We lost a fair amount as well, of course, and perhaps there's an argument to be made that the losses are extra painful due to how vital their skills were to Beilein's style (if Izzo completely misused JJJ, Beilein's use of Mo's combination of size and shooting ability masterfully eviscerated opposing defenses). 

But, yeah, putting MSU at the top of the conference seems like an "Izzo will probably be good shrug emoji" type hand-wave. There may be questions about how Michigan replaces shooting, but no more than how Izzo replaces all of that key talent he couldn't do much with last year, when Michigan proved on the court it was the better team. 

We've been wondering when the national basketball media will wake up to the fact that Beilein is a great coach that is every bit Izzo's equal (his superior in the last six years), but the answer is, "not yet."

Oh well. MSU can have its coach with an artificially boosted reputation, we'll take Beilein and his actual on-court successes.

Stringer Bell

August 15th, 2018 at 3:39 PM ^

Winston is good but he still struggles with athletic PGs (of which I guess there aren't many in the Big Ten).  Langford is very meh, and Ward spends half the time on the bench.  Plus I haven't looked at the schedule but I'm guessing MSU's conference schedule won't be as laughably easy as it was this past year.  We'll see but I expect a significant step back for them.

Farnn

August 15th, 2018 at 3:30 PM ^

They have Winston too who can be a high efficiency player unless he's guarded by Zavier Simpson.  Not sure Langford will be great, as a 5 star recruit it shouldn't take until year 3 for him to play to his potential.

Mike Damone

August 15th, 2018 at 3:36 PM ^

Why do we get ranked below Sparty?  We beat them twice last year handily.  We both lose two starters - and the two they lost were lottery picks.  And their core is Winston, Langford and Ward?  Give me a break.

Doesn't the press ever learn?

Michigan is by far the better team in 2018-19.

Fuck Sparty, and Go Blue!

MGoBender

August 17th, 2018 at 11:52 AM ^

Probably because the reasons you beat MSU are now in the NBA.

I give opposing fans the benefit of the doubt, but this is a weak-ass argument.  Michigan loses Wagner and... Rahk and Duncan.  The later two are immensely replaceable.  Really, outside a 4ish game stretch from Rahk, neither were playing to the level we thought they should during the regular B10 season.

Michigan brings back the best ball defender in the league, Charles Matthews - probably a first rounder next year, Jordan Poole - maybe another first rounder, and has an ideal Beilein recruiting class coming in.  Brazdeikis could be our leading scorer, even with Matthews and Poole.  Brazdeikis and Teske will collectively make up the hole left by Wagner.

MSU loses lotto picks and replaces them with what?

LSAClassOf2000

August 15th, 2018 at 5:16 PM ^

I mean, is Michigan State basically the basketball version of Notre Dame football when it comes to the pundits? Some writers are all about them in the preseason and then when we're about halfway through the schedule, there's either silence or justifications for underperformance.