2008 Woodie Awards
Point/Counterpoint: Who will win the Big Ten Tournament?
DI Sports Staff
Issue date: 3/13/08 Section: Sports
Wisconsin - by Alex Johnson
The Big Ten is not the "big stage" despite Talib Kweli and the slam poetry squad's overdressed commercials. I just wanted to clear that up before I make it sound like Wisconsin is a national-title contender - it's not, and neither is any other conference team.
The Badgers have the best discipline - by far - and they also have the best balance, maybe not like Indiana's Eric Gordon-D.J. White but as a team.
Purdue benefited from cupcake conference games, and it is solid but not scary. Robbie Hummel? Yeah, he's good, but he can't handle the Badgers, Spartans, or Hoosiers when it matters most.
Indiana is very talented, but Gordon gets some lucky ex-Illini Dee Brown-type shots to drop. Plus that T-shirt's got to go. I'm glad he's not playing for the Orange Crush, otherwise Indiana and Illinois would have both merged toward the already very mediocre middle of the Big Ten.
Michigan State, I actually like a lot more than Pur-don't and Indiana - the Spartans run the court with athletic, fast, basketball-smart players. But they do it on an inconsistent basis. I don't believe Tom Izzo can count on night-in, night-out consistency as Bo Ryan can depend on from the Badgers.
Wisconsin is just too good. Those monstrous Scandinavian post players are immovable objects in the paint and play much smarter than a lot of college bigs. Throw in Michael Flowers, Marcus Landry, and the rest of the Badger backcourt, it's a balancing act rivaling those weird French circuses.
The Badgers will win the Big Ten Tournament.
Michigan State - by Brian Cardile
So Michigan State lost to Iowa. So what? That futile showing was an anomaly in what was otherwise an impressive year for the Spartans. A year that, I believe, will include a championship at the Big Ten Tournament.
While Michigan State (24-7, 12-6) enters this weekend's tourney as the No. 4 seed, the team is tops in the league in three key statistical areas.
First, field-goal percentage. To win tournament games, a team needs to put the ball in the basket, and no other Big Ten squad does this more efficiently than Michigan State (48.6 percent).
Second, the Spartans top the conference with 18.03 assists per game. This is a sign of an unselfish team that has good chemistry.
Finally, Michigan State leads the Big Ten in rebounding margin at plus-7.6 a game. Whoever the Spartans play will not have many second-chance opportunities around the basket.
Need more proof?
The Spartans boast a win against No. 8 Texas, and a close loss to No. 2 UCLA, and coach Tom Izzo knows how to get his team ready for the postseason (a national title and four Final Four appearances prove that).
Finally, Michigan State has beat each of the teams seeded above it in this weekend's tournament - except Wisconsin - to which the Spartans fell in Madison. Michigan State beat No. 2 seed Purdue earlier this season, 78-75, and embarrassed third-seeded Indiana, 103-74, two weeks ago.
So long as the Spartans put up more than the 36 points they posted two months ago in their loss to Iowa, they have a great shot to take the Big Ten Tournament title.
Purdue - by Jeff Pawola
Finishing second in the Big Ten with a conference record of 15-3, Purdue can expect to bring home a championship this weekend.
For their first game, the Boilermakers will await the winner of the Penn State-Illinois game, and although no team likes to take any opponent lightly, it's hard to consider either of these two teams a threat. Purdue has a combined record of 4-0 against them and won by a total of 51 points, so chalk up a victory for the Boilermakers.
Moving onto the semifinals, Purdue will presumably play Indiana, and despite the Boilermakers' loss earlier in the season, it's hard to take a team seriously when its star player, Eric Gordon, wears a T-shirt underneath his jersey (take note, Iowa).
Despite the undershirt, Gordon will be overmatched by Purdue's guard Chris Kramer, the Big Ten's defensive Player of the Year. The Boilermakers also have the advantage on the sideline. Coach Matt Painter won the Big Ten Coach of the Year, while Indiana's coaching situation is a laughingstock.
Assuming Wisconsin does what it has done all year, Purdue will find itself facing Wisconsin in the finals. Wisconsin has a perfect 16-0 record against Big Ten teams other then Purdue, and it should have an easy road to the finals. Unfortunately for the Badgers, it gets a lot harder once they get to the finals.
Purdue went 2-0 against Wisconsin in the regular season, and with the tournament taking place at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis - only 65 miles south of West Lafayette, Ind. - Purdue should be able to claim the title in front of its home crowd, so mark that as a championship for Purdue.
Indiana - by Mike Brownlee
The Hoosiers boast the Big Ten Player of the Year in D.J. White (who after years of speculation has announced he indeed will go pro after this season) and the Big Ten Freshman of the Year in Eric Gordon. Indiana has four starters who average more than 10 points a game, including Gordon at a league-leading 21.5 a clip.
With all that firepower, the Hoosiers will hoist the Big Ten Tournament hardware this weekend, just in time for Seth Davis and his hair to dole out pearls of wisdom about who got a good draw and who was hosed by the selection committee.
Amid the swirl of scandal, the Hoosiers lost their last two under former coach Kelvin Sampson, but interim coach Dan Dakich, White, and Gordon refused to let the season spiral out of control. Indiana won its first three with Dakich and posted an 8-3 record under his tutelage to finish with a 25-6 record and a No. 3 seed in the Big Ten Tournament.
With Dakich keeping the team focused and White and Gordon doing their inside-outside thing, Indiana will get over losing two of its last three to end the regular season.
When you're watching the March 16 championship game in Indianapolis (reminiscing about Luke Recker's buzzer-beater against Indiana in 2002 and missing the Hawkeyes' National Invitational Tournament days), you'll see Indiana use its offensive firepower to regain Big Ten supremacy.
The Big Ten is not the "big stage" despite Talib Kweli and the slam poetry squad's overdressed commercials. I just wanted to clear that up before I make it sound like Wisconsin is a national-title contender - it's not, and neither is any other conference team.
The Badgers have the best discipline - by far - and they also have the best balance, maybe not like Indiana's Eric Gordon-D.J. White but as a team.
Purdue benefited from cupcake conference games, and it is solid but not scary. Robbie Hummel? Yeah, he's good, but he can't handle the Badgers, Spartans, or Hoosiers when it matters most.
Indiana is very talented, but Gordon gets some lucky ex-Illini Dee Brown-type shots to drop. Plus that T-shirt's got to go. I'm glad he's not playing for the Orange Crush, otherwise Indiana and Illinois would have both merged toward the already very mediocre middle of the Big Ten.
Michigan State, I actually like a lot more than Pur-don't and Indiana - the Spartans run the court with athletic, fast, basketball-smart players. But they do it on an inconsistent basis. I don't believe Tom Izzo can count on night-in, night-out consistency as Bo Ryan can depend on from the Badgers.
Wisconsin is just too good. Those monstrous Scandinavian post players are immovable objects in the paint and play much smarter than a lot of college bigs. Throw in Michael Flowers, Marcus Landry, and the rest of the Badger backcourt, it's a balancing act rivaling those weird French circuses.
The Badgers will win the Big Ten Tournament.
Michigan State - by Brian Cardile
So Michigan State lost to Iowa. So what? That futile showing was an anomaly in what was otherwise an impressive year for the Spartans. A year that, I believe, will include a championship at the Big Ten Tournament.
While Michigan State (24-7, 12-6) enters this weekend's tourney as the No. 4 seed, the team is tops in the league in three key statistical areas.
First, field-goal percentage. To win tournament games, a team needs to put the ball in the basket, and no other Big Ten squad does this more efficiently than Michigan State (48.6 percent).
Second, the Spartans top the conference with 18.03 assists per game. This is a sign of an unselfish team that has good chemistry.
Finally, Michigan State leads the Big Ten in rebounding margin at plus-7.6 a game. Whoever the Spartans play will not have many second-chance opportunities around the basket.
Need more proof?
The Spartans boast a win against No. 8 Texas, and a close loss to No. 2 UCLA, and coach Tom Izzo knows how to get his team ready for the postseason (a national title and four Final Four appearances prove that).
Finally, Michigan State has beat each of the teams seeded above it in this weekend's tournament - except Wisconsin - to which the Spartans fell in Madison. Michigan State beat No. 2 seed Purdue earlier this season, 78-75, and embarrassed third-seeded Indiana, 103-74, two weeks ago.
So long as the Spartans put up more than the 36 points they posted two months ago in their loss to Iowa, they have a great shot to take the Big Ten Tournament title.
Purdue - by Jeff Pawola
Finishing second in the Big Ten with a conference record of 15-3, Purdue can expect to bring home a championship this weekend.
For their first game, the Boilermakers will await the winner of the Penn State-Illinois game, and although no team likes to take any opponent lightly, it's hard to consider either of these two teams a threat. Purdue has a combined record of 4-0 against them and won by a total of 51 points, so chalk up a victory for the Boilermakers.
Moving onto the semifinals, Purdue will presumably play Indiana, and despite the Boilermakers' loss earlier in the season, it's hard to take a team seriously when its star player, Eric Gordon, wears a T-shirt underneath his jersey (take note, Iowa).
Despite the undershirt, Gordon will be overmatched by Purdue's guard Chris Kramer, the Big Ten's defensive Player of the Year. The Boilermakers also have the advantage on the sideline. Coach Matt Painter won the Big Ten Coach of the Year, while Indiana's coaching situation is a laughingstock.
Assuming Wisconsin does what it has done all year, Purdue will find itself facing Wisconsin in the finals. Wisconsin has a perfect 16-0 record against Big Ten teams other then Purdue, and it should have an easy road to the finals. Unfortunately for the Badgers, it gets a lot harder once they get to the finals.
Purdue went 2-0 against Wisconsin in the regular season, and with the tournament taking place at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis - only 65 miles south of West Lafayette, Ind. - Purdue should be able to claim the title in front of its home crowd, so mark that as a championship for Purdue.
Indiana - by Mike Brownlee
The Hoosiers boast the Big Ten Player of the Year in D.J. White (who after years of speculation has announced he indeed will go pro after this season) and the Big Ten Freshman of the Year in Eric Gordon. Indiana has four starters who average more than 10 points a game, including Gordon at a league-leading 21.5 a clip.
With all that firepower, the Hoosiers will hoist the Big Ten Tournament hardware this weekend, just in time for Seth Davis and his hair to dole out pearls of wisdom about who got a good draw and who was hosed by the selection committee.
Amid the swirl of scandal, the Hoosiers lost their last two under former coach Kelvin Sampson, but interim coach Dan Dakich, White, and Gordon refused to let the season spiral out of control. Indiana won its first three with Dakich and posted an 8-3 record under his tutelage to finish with a 25-6 record and a No. 3 seed in the Big Ten Tournament.
With Dakich keeping the team focused and White and Gordon doing their inside-outside thing, Indiana will get over losing two of its last three to end the regular season.
When you're watching the March 16 championship game in Indianapolis (reminiscing about Luke Recker's buzzer-beater against Indiana in 2002 and missing the Hawkeyes' National Invitational Tournament days), you'll see Indiana use its offensive firepower to regain Big Ten supremacy.
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
JW Haga
posted 3/13/08 @ 7:57 AM CST
Kansas by 11 in the Big Ten, oops Eleven, okay Twelve Championship game
John
posted 3/13/08 @ 10:03 AM CST
A couple of weak points against Purdue. Cupcake conference games? They played at MSU, at Wisconsin, and at Indiana. The two teams they played once were Minnesota and IU. (Continued…)
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