GopherHole: 2011-12 Big Ten Basketball Preview Series

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This is the first in a series of articles previewing Big Ten teams for the 2011-12 basketball season. The first day of the NCAA men’s basketball regular season is more than five weeks away and a lot can change in a short time, but the outlook for each of this year's teams is coming into focus.

With that, we start with our pick for twelfth place in the conference: the Penn State Nittany Lions.

http://www.forums.gopherhole.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1495
 

I'm not gonna lie - I didn't even know there was this much info on Penn State. This is probably the best preview I've seen. Can't wait to see the better 11 teams!
 

Not your run of the mill preview. Well done JB. If the Nitts finish 10th or higher, Chambers should be B1G Coach of the Year.
 

Wow, great job JB! I realize that I am not adding to the discussion, but I think great work should be acknowledged.
 





GW, with what I see and hear in Lincoln, you are very much spot on with your review of the Huskers. The fan base is pretty much behind Sadler,though there are certainly becoming more fans getting impatient with Doc. They are excited about the new practice facility and the new arena. Doc has been assured by Dr. Tom that he will open the new arena. I am looking forward to seeing the Gophers twice this season, ironically it will be both the Husker games.
 




Nice work JB! Indiana sounds great. If they're #9, then we're going to have trouble in the B1G this year. I can really see Indiana doing damage this year.
 


Another nice summation, JB. NU has some nice pieces, but the loss of Juice Thompson arguably is the single most significant loss absorbed by any B1G team. Just can't see the Mildcats taking a step up with Thompson now graduated. That said, look for NU to beat the Gophers in Evanston, once again.
 

They will have a harder time this year to have those backdoor passes. Gophers are much faster this year.

Go Gophers
 






Great profile on Minnesota Gopher Warrior. Very well done.

The natives will be quite restless if your 7th place BT finish comes to fruition. It will be hard to justify a new 5 year $10MM extension if the first five years don't produce a better than 6th place BT finish.

Go Gophers!!
 

I'm surprised you aren't a little more optimistic with the rest of the teams ahead of us losing bigger pieces. I don't think Michigan will be nearly as good as predicted and I'm not sure how Illinois is any better than us. Does Purdue have much more than Robbie?

Gopher Warrior said:
The home team is up... #7 Minnesota.
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underground629 said:
I'm surprised you aren't a little more optimistic with the rest of the teams ahead of us losing bigger pieces. I don't think Michigan will be nearly as good as predicted and I'm not sure how Illinois is any better than us. Does Purdue have much more than Robbie?
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I understand the question on Illinois and Purdue. There are a number of reasons why I put Minnesota behind those two, but one is that inexperience of Gophers is in their backcourt; not so for the other two.

The #6 Illinois preview is up and should help explain what I believe Illinois has got going for them this year.
 



Section201 said:
How is Robbie physically? Can he really last a whole season? How much of the Purdue rating is based on Robbie playing as he has in the past?

I wish the kid luck but after two "incidents" I have to wonder.
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I'm sure there are a lot of crossed fingers, but he's practicing and everyone is saying he looks real good. Shot is great, moving just fine. If you were a Purdue fan, I don't know how you couldn't feel a little uneasy about it, but all systems are go for now.

I'm assuming some rust, but if he plays anywhere in the ballpark like he did two seasons ago, Purdue looks fine. Even without, there are a lot of mediocre teams in the conference.

Two other note on them... (1) about half of their team has had leg/knee/foot surgeries in the last year to two years, so Hummel isn't the only injury concern.. but, every team deals with injuries. (2) Mackey Arena and the connected structures have gone through some nice updates. Sounds like they'll be all complete by next month. Even a nice new weight room.. no walking across the street for the Boiler boys when they want to pump some iron.
 


Gopher Warrior said:
Wisconsin is in at #4.

Certainly this is not in line with most views of their team, but I sincerely don't believe they are a great team.
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I have not heard anyone refer to them as a great team. Depends on your definition of great, I guess. They have a chance to have a very good year and when you have a first team all american at point guard, anything can happen.

You really did not say anything earth shattering, everyone is wondering how they will replace Leuer and Nankvil. People either have faith that Ryan has people ready to step into new roles or they don't. If history is any indication, they are going to be fine.

Your articles would have more credibility if you left out the cheap shots. It reads like a bitter 12 year old wrote the piece.
 

GVBadger said:
I have not heard anyone refer to them as a great team. Depends on your definition of great, I guess. They have a chance to have a very good year and when you have a first team all american at point guard, anything can happen.

You really did not say anything earth shattering, everyone is wondering how they will replace Leuer and Nankvil. People either have faith that Ryan has people ready to step into new roles or they don't. If history is any indication, they are going to be fine.

Your articles would have more credibility if you left out the cheap shots. It reads like a bitter 12 year old wrote the piece.
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Wow. I can't begin to imagine how stressful it is to be constantly worrying about what other people are saying about your team. For the life of me, I can't figure out why the insecurity level of the UW sports teams is as high as it is.

Just out of curiousity, can you tell me what the Indiana fans are saying about Badgers hoops on their board this year? I haven't had time to go over and check. I also heard a rumor that the Ohio State fans were dissing the Badgers on their board. Thought I'd give you a courtesy heads up so you can go check it out, get them straightened out.
 

Pretty fair write-up in my opinion. My take would go as follows. I tend to believe that Taylor, Gasser, Bruesewitz and Berggren are for sure starters. I think Evans is probably the most likely to start at the other frontcourt position, which would mean Bruesewitz would be the SF. I have my doubts, but I'm hopeful that the lightbulb comes on for Rob Wilson this season and he pushes for a starting job. If he is able to do that, Bruesewitz can probably slide to the 4 to make room for Wilson at the 3. It would be nice to have those six returnees as the core.

Reports from last season were pretty positive on Evan Anderson, so it's probably fair to assume that he will get some meaningful minutes this season. It will be tough for him to match up, so the opponent will have to have a true big for Evan to get on the floor, but he should be able to contribute up front. The buzz on Brust was also pretty good, so I expect him to be a player this season as well. With both Taylor and Gasser capable ball-handlers, Brust could probably come in and play next to either one, which should give Bo some nice flexibility in the backcourt.

I also expect two of the freshmen to contribute. In the backcourt, Traevon Jackson appears to be more physically ready and could be a solid defender, so I would guess that he'll get a few minutes. Marshall is buried behind the best player, so his freshman season could be similar to Kam Taylor's. I heard some really good things about Jarrod Uthoff this summer, and I believe he has a chance to be a star before his career is done in Madison. UW could need some help scoring up front this season, and Uthoff's skills could provide that. His problem will likely be his lack of bulk, but hopefully his skills can compensate for that.

Not sure where this team can finish in the Big 10 this season. Based on Bo's track record, it's tough to predict something outside the top 4, but there are a lot of unknowns in the conference this season. Should be interesting to see how things develop.
 

UWOle said:
Pretty fair write-up in my opinion. My take would go as follows. I tend to believe that Taylor, Gasser, Bruesewitz and Berggren are for sure starters. I think Evans is probably the most likely to start at the other frontcourt position, which would mean Bruesewitz would be the SF. I have my doubts, but I'm hopeful that the lightbulb comes on for Rob Wilson this season and he pushes for a starting job. If he is able to do that, Bruesewitz can probably slide to the 4 to make room for Wilson at the 3. It would be nice to have those six returnees as the core.

Reports from last season were pretty positive on Evan Anderson, so it's probably fair to assume that he will get some meaningful minutes this season. It will be tough for him to match up, so the opponent will have to have a true big for Evan to get on the floor, but he should be able to contribute up front. The buzz on Brust was also pretty good, so I expect him to be a player this season as well. With both Taylor and Gasser capable ball-handlers, Brust could probably come in and play next to either one, which should give Bo some nice flexibility in the backcourt.

I also expect two of the freshmen to contribute. In the backcourt, Traevon Jackson appears to be more physically ready and could be a solid defender, so I would guess that he'll get a few minutes. Marshall is buried behind the best player, so his freshman season could be similar to Kam Taylor's. I heard some really good things about Jarrod Uthoff this summer, and I believe he has a chance to be a star before his career is done in Madison. UW could need some help scoring up front this season, and Uthoff's skills could provide that. His problem will likely be his lack of bulk, but hopefully his skills can compensate for that.

Not sure where this team can finish in the Big 10 this season. Based on Bo's track record, it's tough to predict something outside the top 4, but there are a lot of unknowns in the conference this season. Should be interesting to see how things develop.
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Good stuff, as always, UWOle. It's always nice to hear your input.
 

Ogee Oglethorpe said:
Wow. I can't begin to imagine how stressful it is to be constantly worrying about what other people are saying about your team. For the life of me, I can't figure out why the insecurity level of the UW sports teams is as high as it is.

Just out of curiousity, can you tell me what the Indiana fans are saying about Badgers hoops on their board this year? I haven't had time to go over and check. I also heard a rumor that the Ohio State fans were dissing the Badgers on their board. Thought I'd give you a courtesy heads up so you can go check it out, get them straightened out.
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I don't care what people say about the Badgers. If I did, I wouldn't read this board.

My point, which you missed, is that if you are going to write a preview piece for a reputable website like the Gopher Hole, you come off as juvenile by putting cheap shots in it that take away from the many valid opinions of the article. Gopher Warrior is obviously well informed and has valid opinions. I had no issue with the basketball opinions as he had, which I clearly stated. Everyone is wondering the same thing. After predicting two or three of Ryan's teams would not make the NCAA tournament when analyzing the preseason roster and the questions that existed, and being proven wrong, I have given up on that.

It is only my opinion that he would be taken more seriously as a journalist when writing a preview column like that, that he leave the snide comments out of it. If the column was titled "My Opinion of UW Basketball, the color red and Bo Ryan specifically" then that is another story. When previewing the entire conference for a quality site like this, I think there is a different standard.
 

GVBadger said:
I don't care what people say about the Badgers. If I did, I wouldn't read this board.

My point, which you missed, is that if you are going to write a preview piece for a reputable website like the Gopher Hole, you come off as juvenile by putting cheap shots in it that take away from the many valid opinions of the article. Gopher Warrior is obviously well informed and has valid opinions. I had no issue with the basketball opinions as he had, which I clearly stated. Everyone is wondering the same thing. After predicting two or three of Ryan's teams would not make the NCAA tournament when analyzing the preseason roster and the questions that existed, and being proven wrong, I have given up on that.

It is only my opinion that he would be taken more seriously as a journalist when writing a preview column like that, that he leave the snide comments out of it. If the column was titled "My Opinion of UW Basketball, the color red and Bo Ryan specifically" then that is another story. When previewing the entire conference for a quality site like this, I think there is a different standard.
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You can be taken seriously and have a humerous / making fun angle to your writing. Bill Simmons at least has made a living at it.
 

Another good one, GW. Excellent breakdown of the Badgers. ... and you have lightened up my day with a few good yuks.
 

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