Breaking News: Big Ten Rosters to Be Very Well Stocked in 2011
by KJ@theonlycolors on May 8, 2010 10:03 PM CDT
in Michigan State Spartans Basketball
Email
PrintAll five Big Ten underclassmen who had declared for the NBA Draft but not hired an agent have decided to withdraw their names and return for the 2010-2011 college season:
- JaJuan Johnson and E`Twaun Moore will be back at Purdue.
- Demetri McCamey and Mike Davis will be back at Illinois.
- Talor Battle will be back at Penn State.
The only two Big Ten underclassmen remaining in the draft were the two players everyone fully expected to go: Evan Turner and Manny Harris.
These decisions mean that 9 of the 15 players on the coaches' three 2010 all-Big Ten teams will return for the 2011 season (10 of 15 based on the media's picks). That includes four of the five first-team picks: McCamey, Moore, Kalin Lucas, and Robbie Hummel. The league loses only four departing seniors from the three all-league squads: DeShawn Sims, Trevon Hughes, Jason Bohannon, and Raymar Morgan. Digging a little deeper, 16 15 of the top 21 finishers in conference-only PORPAG will be back next season. [Edited: Forgot about Chris Babb transfer from PSU.]
Looking at Brent Yarina's very reasonable-looking power rankings, the top four teams on the list will have extremely solid starting lineups:
- Purdue will have what could very well be the top trio of stars in the country in Hummel, Johnson, and Moore--all three of them seniors--with a nice cast of younger players to fill in the other two slots (Jackson, Barlow, Byrd, Bade, three incoming freshmen).
- Lucas, Allen, Summers, Green, Roe. That's 61 games of NCAA Tournament experience. (That goes down to 58 games if you substitute Lucious for Allen.)
- Illinois will start three or four seniors (McCamey, Davis, Tisdale, Cole), with the two freshman guards from the past season (Richardson, Paul) filling in the remaining 1-2 starting pots and three four-star recruits joining the mix.
- Ohio State returns four-fifths of its iron man quintet (Buford, Diebler, Lighty, Lauderdale), with incoming five-star big men Jared Sullinger and DeShaun Thomas adding low-post scoring punch.
(It goes without saying that Wisconsin, as always, will fully compensate for the loss of their senior leaders to infiltrate the ranks of the conference title contender. Note that two of the four graduating all-conference picks were Badgers. No matter.)
If the league's top players can stay health this time around, the chase for the 2011 Big Ten basketball crown could be even more exhilarating--and a good deal more satisfying--than the 2010 title scrum was.
19 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
Yikes!
The B10 will be some kind of tough this year. 11 games could win the conference, depending on the schedule of course.
Anyone else think Purdue...
is getting a free pass for being thoroughly mediocre at point guard? Is it because they run so much of their offense through Hummel?
As long as they find a pg who won't turn it over
and can play defense, Purdue will be just fine. Lewis Jackson will presumably be that guy for them: he was pretty quiet this past season, but he was injured for much of it – the year before he made the Big Ten All-Freshman Team. They won’t need points, or really even a lot of assists, from that slot. What might be more damaging will be trying to replace Kramer. He was a real ‘glue’ guy for them, and losing those kinds of players sometimes hurts more than you think.
Finally of course is the injury situation. As far as I know (I don’t really follow them), Purdue will be thin on experience at the point guard position, so if Jackson doesn’t work out or gets hurt, they could struggle some. And the big 3 will get a ton of minutes and touches, and another injury there will obviously hurt a ton.
But yeah, road wins will be at a premium again next year. UW, Minnesota will be solid again, even losing Westbrook, Illinois will be a brutal game, Purdue, OSU even with Turner gone. As a Hoosier fan I am biased, but Indiana will be a tough out in Bloomington if Maurice Creek recovers fully. Shoot, Northwestern will probably be better than they were this year, and they were decent. Talor Battle will be back for Penn State, and he gives us fits.
Thank goodness for Iowa.
I know Jackson can guard....
but he’s so limited offensively that by the end of the season teams weren’t even checking the guy, daring him to shoot.
Purdue has a highly touted freshman combo guard coming in, he could end up starting in the backcourt along with Moore. I do agree with you about Jackson, I don’t think he’s very good. As good as Purdue’s big 3 is, and it’s really really good, I think there are some big questions after that offensively. Then again, all they need from the supporting cast is to play defense, not turn the ball over, and let the big 3 score the ball.
Right - Purdue doesn't need more scoring
Would Matt Painter like a scoring point guard who can also defend, somebody like Kalin Lucas? Sure he would. He’d probably like an athletic 7-foot center too, so he could move Johnson to the 4. And I bet while he’s at it, Painter’d like peace in the Middle East as well. But he doesn’t need any of those things to approach 30 wins this season.
This is college basketball, and most programs would like two consistent scoring threats. Barring injury Purdue has three on any night, nearly guaranteed. They’ll probably get about 60 points combined each game from Hummel, Johnson, and Moore. And that’s about all they’ll need, because Purdue does not need to score a lot of points to win. In their last 13 games (all Hummel-less), only one team scored more than 65 on the Boilermakers – Duke, who only got 70 – and it’s not because Purdue played really slowly. In fact they were near the national average in possessions per game. Painter’s team ranked #3 nationally in Pomeroy’s defensive efficiency statistic. If Jackson can keep them at that level defensively, Painter won’t care if he can’t shoot. Heck, Jackson probably won’t be allowed to shoot. His job will be to get it to the guys who can, as efficiently as possible.
by nothsa on May 9, 2010 3:30 PM CDT up reply actions 1 recs
There's no way they'll be as good defensively without Kramer.
They’ll be good, but not at the level they were at last season.
good post nothsa
I spit up a little laughing.
No literally, I did.
I’ve always undervalued Purdue because I think they are talented, but never quite talented enough to make an NCAA run. But we’ll see if one more year together helps.
by Graham Filler on May 19, 2010 11:34 AM CDT up reply actions
Glue
Purdue is going to be really, really good.
I agree that it will be interesting to see what the loss of Kramer will impact their defense: as MSU knows, losing that ability to virtually shut down the other team’s primary scorer is a tremendous asset and will win a lot of games (although Purdue isn’t losing anyone as savvy as Suton in addition, which was our fate last year). The Big Ten is going to be a gauntlet next year.
by RobbingGormanThomas on May 9, 2010 5:31 PM CDT reply actions
This is going to be one heck of an exciting season.
Usually I don’t get anxious for basketball until October, by when my football team has usually thoroughly embarrassed themselves…but I’m already getting antsy. This is going to be fun.
Didn't PSU lose 2 other players to transfer?
I know Babb transferred, who was really coming on toward the end of the season as a #2 scoring option for them. I thought another underclassman who got good minutes also transferred. At any rate, Battle coming back to PSU is good for them, but it certainly doesn’t put them in the conversation for the top half of the league.
by Ducking Delvon on May 10, 2010 11:24 AM CDT reply actions
Other transfer is Bill Edwards
Who didn’t get much PT last season.
Babb was one of the 16 top PORPAG returners I had counted. Edited post to reflect 15 of top 21 PORPAGgers returning.
Fight for The Only Colors: Green and White!
by KJ@theonlycolors on May 10, 2010 11:37 AM CDT up reply actions
If there were ever a year to dominate the ACC-BT challenge
this is it. The league is stacked with talented, experienced teams. It should be a fun season barring any more injuries. We had really bad luck with those this year (as a league, not just MSU) so hopefully everyone will emerge unscathed this coming year.
Yeaaa..
except – MSU unfairly is placed on the road again. Purdue is on the road. Ohio State is on the road.
Only OSU
I believe we are heading into Year 2 of the current schedule rotation, which means we’ll get IU only at home and OSU only on the road. Everyone else will be played home and away.
by Ducking Delvon on May 10, 2010 4:12 PM CDT up reply actions
He meant in the ACC/B10 challenge I believe.
I know Purdue will be on the road, and apparently MSU and OSU will be as well.
Matchups
Purdue @ Va Tech – Delaney is coming back to decent Hokie squad and Blacksburg can be a hostile road matchup, but the Hokies had a mediocre record last year, only playing the top 5 teams in the ACC (other than VT) once managing a 10-6 record and practically no one outside of conference. If Purdue can keep the guard combo of Delaney & Hudson (combined 35 ppg, 7 rpg, 6.5 apg) relatively under wraps, there’s no reason a dominant Purdue team can’t win. Edge Purdue
OSU @ FSU – Florida State loses their star center and dominant defensive presence Solomon Alabi to the draft. Ohio State returns key pieces save for Turner and reloads with a top recruiting class. Slight Edge to Ohio State.
UNC @ Illinois – Illinois catches UNC at a perfect time as the Heels search for a post player to replace the Wear twins. The more important question is when will Roy write another book to blast David and Travis? Harrison Barnes (SF) and Reggie Bullock (SG) appear to be instant playmakers, unlike last couple of classes. But Illinois has too much talent… and too much post presence for a young Carolina team to handle in Champaign. Slight Edge to Illinois.
NC State @ Wisconsin – I’m sorry, but I just can’t hop on the NC State bandwagon. Yes, three five-star recruits (C.J. Leslie, Lorenzo Brown, and Ryan Harrow) will make this team more competitive, but that isn’t necessarily a giant leap of faith. Five-star players like J.J. Hickson and Brandon Costner never flourished to their potential under the worst coach in the ACC (Sidney Lowe). As much as Wisconsin will miss Hughes and Bohannon, Wisconsin will remain a competent team that will pick apart the Wolfpack. Although, this will be one game that I’ll be pulling for the ACC to win. Edge to Wisconsin.
Indiana @ BC. Not much positive to say about either team. New BC coach and only one commit this year. Indiana is… well Indiana. The Eagles won on the road in the Challenge last year, so the Slight Edge goes to BC.
MSU @ Dook – I have a feeling the Flop Devils are going to miss Zoubek more than most realize. They haven’t performed well without a solid post presence in the past. And losing Scheyer, who shot unconsciously especially the past two seasons, will be huge. Slight edge goes to Dook because MSU plays poorly on the road early in the season and Cameron Indoor will be quite rowdy.
Of the six known matchups, ACC has the edge in two of them and four of them have Big Ten teams on the road.
Remaining teams:
Minnesota, Michigan, Northwestern, Iowa, Penn St. for the Big Ten.
Maryland, Clemson, Wake Forest, Georgia Tech, Virginia for the ACC.
Not so sure
The bottom of the Big Ten is very weak. Iowa, Michigan and Indiana will all be on the road and Penn State will host Maryland. An 0-4 record in those games will be very difficult to overcome. And MSU and Illinois will have very tough games as well. I see it coming down to the wire again.
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
Related FanPosts on The Only Colors
Related FanShots on The Only Colors
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Certain photos copyright © 2012 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
