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I wouldn't bother reading that guy's slant if I were you - he's got some definite biases. Very anti-UM, very pro-MSU. Doesn't really view OSU fairly IMO.
 

FWIW, I just read that guys write-up of the Gophers from last spring after the BTT and it was on point.
 

mattw1067 said:
FWIW, I just read that guys write-up of the Gophers from last spring after the BTT and it was on point.
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You're one of the Sparty fans here, correct? Or am I thinking of someone else?
 

the state of basketball my ass. Illinois or indiana take that title easy
 


I only read the part on MN, but I thought it was pretty accurate (especially considering it's from last spring). The only big problem was putting us at 7th. Who the hell is number 6?
 

underground629 said:
I only read the part on MN, but I thought it was pretty accurate (especially considering it's from last spring). The only big problem was putting us at 7th. Who the hell is number 6?
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1. Michigan State
2. Purdue
3. Ohio State
4. Illinois
5. Wisconsin
6. Northwestern
7. Minnesota
8. Indiana
9. Penn State
10. Iowa
11. Michigan

I think putting Northwestern ahead of Minnesota is crap, and I think putting Illinois ahead of Wisconsin is crap, in fact I might even put Illinois behind Minnesota. And I think Iowa is the worst team in the conference. I don't see how NIT bound Illinois is 4th in the conference, but in the section about Minnesota, he did say that the gap between 4 and 7 is much smaller than that of 7 and 8, which I agree with.

And this year it looks like he has Penn State, Iowa, and Michigan in 9th, 10th, and 11th respectively. I would still put Iowa at the bottom though.
 

Illinois returns all of their important players and brings in a very good recruiting class. Whether they produce or not is yet to be seen, but the talent and potential is certainly there for them to be a very good team. We'll see what happens. Minnesota should definitely be ahead of Northwestern though. Call me biased, but I'm hoping for a top 4 finish, anything higher would just be gravy.
 

Cayman said:
1. Michigan State
2. Purdue
3. Ohio State
4. Illinois
5. Wisconsin
6. Northwestern
7. Minnesota
8. Indiana
9. Penn State
10. Iowa
11. Michigan

I think putting Northwestern ahead of Minnesota is crap, and I think putting Illinois ahead of Wisconsin is crap, in fact I might even put Illinois behind Minnesota. And I think Iowa is the worst team in the conference. I don't see how NIT bound Illinois is 4th in the conference, but in the section about Minnesota, he did say that the gap between 4 and 7 is much smaller than that of 7 and 8, which I agree with.

And this year it looks like he has Penn State, Iowa, and Michigan in 9th, 10th, and 11th respectively. I would still put Iowa at the bottom though.
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Putting Illinois in the NIT already is pretty bold. They were one of the first teams out on Selection Sunday last year, and return nearly all their contributors, plus I wouldn't be surprised if DJ Richardson has a big year. He was pretty dang good as a freshman, but was inconsistent and made some poor/forced shot decisions at times from what I saw. A year of experience can help eliminate those things.

I'd bump us up to 5th and slide down UW and NW a spot, but I'd agree that the 4-7 spots are very close. I sincerely hope Michigan gets 11th, it'd be nice to beat them again.
 



The gap between one and six is small-really small. You've six teams that can win it. Northwestern is seventh IMV and they've got an outside chance if it all came together. Losing Coble hurts. Purdue losing Hummel is massive. Minnesota will be good to very, very good. Sullinger is probably the real deal and Illinois has a fat roster that's done squat-all so far with much to prove.
 

Illinois could be pretty good. I think they are a tournament team, not an NIT team. My guess changes a lot but today I'm feeling like:

1. Michigan St
2. Ohio St
3. Illinois
4. Minnesota
5. Purdue
6. Wisconsin
7. NW

The thing is, I'm not very confident in Michigan St...I think they are overrated nationally as we begin the year. Lucas needs to come back from that achilles. Ohio St has a great lineup, but no point guard. Illinois was OK last year, but they return everyone and add a few freshman, so they should be better. We are looking better. Purdue was a disaster without Hummel last year. Wisconsin has the best player in the conference, but the rest of their team seems to be *&^!#*&^!#*&^!#*&^!#tier than usual. NW is annually tricky and they have a little talent.

I think anything could happen in this conference.
 

No idea how good he will be, but Ohio State is actually bringing in a point guard this year in Aaron Craft. If nothing else he should already have some chemistry with Sullinger, Sibert, and Weatherspoon as they all played together on the same AAU team.
 

The Big L said:
Putting Illinois in the NIT already is pretty bold. They were one of the first teams out on Selection Sunday last year, and return nearly all their contributors, plus I wouldn't be surprised if DJ Richardson has a big year. He was pretty dang good as a freshman, but was inconsistent and made some poor/forced shot decisions at times from what I saw. A year of experience can help eliminate those things.

I'd bump us up to 5th and slide down UW and NW a spot, but I'd agree that the 4-7 spots are very close. I sincerely hope Michigan gets 11th, it'd be nice to beat them again.
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This was a Spring Preview, it said. I guess I paid more attention to the word "spring" than "preview" and read it as an assessment of where the teams should be at the end of the 2009-2010 season, and that Illinois team should not be ranked that high. But seeing as it is a preview of this coming season, I can see why Illinois would be up there, and I would put Northwestern and possibly Wisconsin below Minnesota, maybe even Purdue at this point, and it will be interesting to see how Ohio State does without Evan Turner, seeing as they struggled somewhat without him last year. Even if Sullinger is the real deal, he is a center I believe, and probably would not be the jack-of-all-trades that Turner was, being an exceptional player on both offense and defense.
 



Wow. 0 chance Northwestern finishes ahead of us. I think Illinois is overrated but they'll still make the tournament. Definitely agree on Iowa. I don't see how there's any way they aren't the worst team in the conference.

Cayman said:
1. Michigan State
2. Purdue
3. Ohio State
4. Illinois
5. Wisconsin
6. Northwestern
7. Minnesota
8. Indiana
9. Penn State
10. Iowa
11. Michigan

I think putting Northwestern ahead of Minnesota is crap, and I think putting Illinois ahead of Wisconsin is crap, in fact I might even put Illinois behind Minnesota. And I think Iowa is the worst team in the conference. I don't see how NIT bound Illinois is 4th in the conference, but in the section about Minnesota, he did say that the gap between 4 and 7 is much smaller than that of 7 and 8, which I agree with.

And this year it looks like he has Penn State, Iowa, and Michigan in 9th, 10th, and 11th respectively. I would still put Iowa at the bottom though.
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I suppose when the article was written Coble was probably still on the team. At least I would hope so. I still would've put us ahead of them though. Anyway, I'd say there are 6 teams in the conference this year. Is NW really a threat to even be top 6?
 

underground629 said:
I suppose when the article was written Coble was probably still on the team. At least I would hope so. I still would've put us ahead of them though. Anyway, I'd say there are 6 teams in the conference this year. Is NW really a threat to even be top 6?
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He now has his fall preview of Northwestern out, coming in at #7 in the conference, meaning Minnesota is ahead of them. So far he has

7. Northwestern
8. Indiana
9. Penn State
10. Iowa
11. Michigan
 

That makes sense. Should be an exciting battle for last place between Iowa and Michigan.

Cayman said:
He now has his fall preview of Northwestern out, coming in at #7 in the conference, meaning Minnesota is ahead of them. So far he has

7. Northwestern
8. Indiana
9. Penn State
10. Iowa
11. Michigan
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OSUfan said:
You're one of the Sparty fans here, correct? Or am I thinking of someone else?
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No, you must be thinking of someone else, Gophers all the way over here.
 

underground629 said:
That makes sense. Should be an exciting battle for last place between Iowa and Michigan.
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Iowa seems like a lock to be the worst team in the conference. That being said, McCaffery was a good hire and I expect him to do some good things in the future.
 

I think they will be too. I guess the blog has Michigan as the worse team though.

I told Evan McMillan, a preferred walk-on at Iowa for football, that he should try to walk-on to the bball team. He was a pretty damn good bball player at SPA. He has good size and athleticism and it's not like they have many good players at Iowa this year.

Dirk Diggler said:
Iowa seems like a lock to be the worst team in the conference. That being said, McCaffery was a good hire and I expect him to do some good things in the future.
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underground629 said:
Wow. 0 chance Northwestern finishes ahead of us. I think Illinois is overrated but they'll still make the tournament. Definitely agree on Iowa. I don't see how there's any way they aren't the worst team in the conference.
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I don't usually rank Illinois, but I think you are wrong about Illinois being overrated. Four seniors return. Of those, McCamey is first team all conference. Tisdale gained 25 much needed pounds. He led the league in field goal percentage and finished second in free throw percentage. Davis led the league in rebounding.

No juniors.

The sophomore class has DJ Richardson, the Big Ten FOY. Brandon Paul is due for a breakout year. And Tyler Griffey is the second best shooter on the team after Tisdale.

It is the freshmen who will add the extra talent needed for a deep run. imo Jereme Richmond will start and is already one of the best players on the team. Meyers Leonard is an athletic freak at 7-0 feet tall. If you have never seen him, you will be stunned by some of the stuff he can do at his size. He is a future NBA player. imo Crandall Head may be the best athlete on the team. The younger brother of Luther, he needs to get back into playing form after missing his senior year with injury. However, he is already one of the better defenders on the team. Joseph Bertrand will probably be 11th man, but he has won every slam dunk title he has ever entered. I just don't know where he will play this year.

This is the most athletic team at Illinois since the 89 Flying Illini. imo If Weber can blend the three classes, it could be a special year in Champaign.

Those of you that have seen me post over the years on here know that I rarely make bold predictions about Illinois. I am not saying they will win the league. It is a very tough league. But I think you are mistaken about them being overrated. Based on what?

If you go off last year, early play in nonconference cost them an NCAA bid. If you are thinking that Minnesota will have a great year (and I agree), remember that Illinois finished ahead of them last year in league play, lost no players of consequence, and added just as much as Minnesota to their roster. imo
 


I guess the term overrated is pretty relative. Most of the rankings that I've seen have them around an average of 12 if I had to guess. They just aren't proven enough to have that kind of ranking. They return everyone, but they were still a bubble team last year. They have a very impressive freshmen class coming in but I think people tend to overestimate the potential of freshmen to contribute right away. It's not like you guys are bringing in top 10 players in this class either.

combes1 said:
I don't usually rank Illinois, but I think you are wrong about Illinois being overrated. Four seniors return. Of those, McCamey is first team all conference. Tisdale gained 25 much needed pounds. He led the league in field goal percentage and finished second in free throw percentage. Davis led the league in rebounding.

No juniors.

The sophomore class has DJ Richardson, the Big Ten FOY. Brandon Paul is due for a breakout year. And Tyler Griffey is the second best shooter on the team after Tisdale.

It is the freshmen who will add the extra talent needed for a deep run. imo Jereme Richmond will start and is already one of the best players on the team. Meyers Leonard is an athletic freak at 7-0 feet tall. If you have never seen him, you will be stunned by some of the stuff he can do at his size. He is a future NBA player. imo Crandall Head may be the best athlete on the team. The younger brother of Luther, he needs to get back into playing form after missing his senior year with injury. However, he is already one of the better defenders on the team. Joseph Bertrand will probably be 11th man, but he has won every slam dunk title he has ever entered. I just don't know where he will play this year.

This is the most athletic team at Illinois since the 89 Flying Illini. imo If Weber can blend the three classes, it could be a special year in Champaign.

Those of you that have seen me post over the years on here know that I rarely make bold predictions about Illinois. I am not saying they will win the league. It is a very tough league. But I think you are mistaken about them being overrated. Based on what?

If you go off last year, early play in nonconference cost them an NCAA bid. If you are thinking that Minnesota will have a great year (and I agree), remember that Illinois finished ahead of them last year in league play, lost no players of consequence, and added just as much as Minnesota to their roster. imo
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There may be some biasm and I don't necessarily agree with the order of the rankings, but you can't deny that he seems to have a pretty strong grasp on the dynamics of the all the teams. I think he was spot-on with the Gopher analysis, for the time when most of it was written in the Spring. I always look forward to his blogs.
 

His analysis of us was actually more accurate than a lot of the espn and local writers.
 

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