This was a crazy week in the Big 10. Illinois loses at Indiana. Michigan State loses at home to Michigan. Penn State beats Wisconsin. John Shurna-less Northwestern takes Ohio State to the wire. With that being said, for most schools we have reached the halfway point in the Big 10 season. We're going to do the Review a bit differently this week; as you can see, the Power Rankings are broken up into tiers. Who is in the Big 10 race still, who should feel comfortable about their tournament hopes, and who is on the bubble.
Power Rankings
The Favorite
1) Ohio State (22-0, 9-0). Ohio State put up a statement win at home against Purdue, winning 87-64 and giving themselves a 2 game cushion at the top of the Big 10. Saturday, the Buckeyes went down to the wire, at Northwestern, with Northwestern missing John Shurna, and held on for a 58-57 win. Ohio State has a bad habit of letting inferior teams hang around, but their experience in close games is invaluable. Case in point, at the end of the Northwestern game, Ohio State's last possession was a thing of beauty. Thad Matta had enough confidence in his team to not use a timeout, Jon Diebler popped out to the wing behind a Sullinger screen and then fed the post. Sullinger was fouled, made 1 of 2 at the line, and the game was over. Ohio State will not panic in close games and that will serve them quite well in March. Ohio State hosts Michigan Thursday and then begins a key stretch of two games, at Minnesota Sunday, and then at Wisconsin February 12. Ohio State has only played four Big 10 road games thus far, at Iowa, at Indiana, at Michigan, and at Illinois. Only the win at Illinois counts as a quality win. The moral of the story, Ohio State still has work to do to win the Big 10.
The Contender
2) Purdue (18-4, 7-2). The Boilers suffered a humiliating defeat at Ohio State that dropped them two games back in the Big 10 race, but they rebounded with a comfortable 73-61 home win against Minnesota. We have mentioned this before in the Big 10 Review, but it bears repeating. E'Twaun Moore continues to struggle (7-26 from the floor this week) and when Moore struggles, Purdue will need consistent offense from someone other than JuJuan Johnson (22 against Ohio State, 24 against Minnesota) to win tough games. Against Ohio State, no one stepped up. Against Minnesota, Purdue got 15 points from Ryne Smith and 13 points from Lewis Jackson. Purdue, like Ohio State, has benefited from a soft early Big 10 road schedule (wins at Penn State and Michigan, losses at Minnesota and Ohio State) and will be tested this week with their only game a trip to Kohl and Wisconsin Tuesday. A win at Kohl would make Purdue's title hopes much brighter.
Safely in the Tournament
3) Wisconsin (15-5, 5-3). Wisconsin's contender status took a hit with the loss at Penn State. Wisconsin shot 32% in the second half, letting a 13 point lead slip. Jordan Taylor, Jon Leuer and Keaton Nankivil combined to score 45 of Wisconsin's points. The rest of the roster attempted a total of 13 shots. Now, Wisconsin has not suffered a bad loss all season so as things stand (at Illinois, at Michigan State, at Penn State), they are safely in the tournament, but they will need a few good road wins the rest of the way to pull themselves back into the Big 10 race. Wisconsin has a huge week ahead, hosting Purdue Tuesday and hosting reeling Michigan State Sunday. Wisconsin needs a 2-0 week to keep their dimming Big 10 title hopes alive.
4) Minnesota (16-5, 5-4). Minnesota moves ahead of #6 in the Power Rankings for the first time this season (largely due to the failures of the teams below them). Minnesota began life without Al Nolen with an 81-70 home win over Northwestern and then lost 73-61 at Purdue. Austin Hollins has taken Nolen's minutes and played well against Northwestern (though he struggled at Purdue). Trevor Mbakwe (17 points 12 rebounds at Purdue, 18 points 14 rebounds against Northwestern) and Blake Hoffarber (34 points total for the week) are the constants on Minnesota's roster. While Minnesota is essentially out of the Big 10 race, they have not suffered a bad loss in conference (they did lose at home to a poor Virginia team out of conference; in the Big 10, they lost at Wisconsin, at Michigan State, at Ohio State and at Purdue). This week, Minnesota travels to Indiana Wednesday and hosts Ohio State Sunday. Minnesota needs to continue to take care of business to remain comfortably in the tournament.
On the Bubble
5) Penn State (12-8, 5-4). Penn State is much less talented than Michigan State and Illinois, but Penn State is clearly no fluke, with home wins over Michigan State, Illinois and Wisconsin. Taylor Battle outplayed Jordan Taylor against Wisconsin and exploded for 20 second half points in the win. Now, I have Penn State ahead of Illinois and Michigan State as a result of (1) head to head wins over both; and (2) their worst loss (at Michigan) is better than Illinois (at Indiana) or Michigan State (home against Michigan). With that being said, Penn State has a long road to climb to make the tournament. To begin with, the unbalanced schedule kills them. They do not play Iowa or Indiana again. They play Northwestern twice and host Michigan, but their other 6 games are against the top half of the Big 10. They also have to explain losses at Mississippi (1-5 in the SEC) and home against Maine (though Maine is 8-1 in the American East). Penn State travels to Champaign Tuesday and hosts Michigan Sunday as they look to continue their dream season.
6) Illinois (14-7, 4-4). Ugh. That is all I can say after the 52-49 loss at Indiana. Demetri McCamey has been awful the past few games (2-11 against the Hoosiers) but in the past, McCamey has managed to create offense for his teammates when his shot has not been there. Well, he was limited to 3 assists against Indiana and did not seem the slightest bit interested in attacking the basket. For a team that has a limited number of creators, the Illini need McCamey to win games. They need McCamey creating offense for himself and his teammates and that has been missing. Last year, the Illini were one of the last teams left out of the NCAAs, in spite of 10 wins in the Big 10 (including a win at Wisconsin). Why did they end up on the wrong side of the bubble? Early season losses to Utah and Bradley (in addition to a home loss to Minnesota which probably put the Gophers in ahead of the Illini). Well, this year, the Illini are going to have to explain away losses to UIC (6-16 overall) and Indiana. To that end, the Illini have a critical 5 game stretch coming up. This week they host Penn State Tuesday and travel to Northwestern Saturday. They travel to Minnesota, and then host Purdue and Michigan in the following three games. The Illini must win at least 4 of those 5 games to feel comfortable again as they still have to play at Purdue, at Michigan State and at Ohio State down the stretch.
7) Michigan State (13-8, 5-4). Wow. Michigan State is living on the edge right now. After an ugly home loss to Michigan, the Spartans were extremely fortunate to escape East Lansing with an overtime win over Indiana, holding on 84-83. The Spartans were saved by some missed free throws by Jerimiah Rivers down the stretch, and a pair of made free throws by Draymond Green. Michigan State now has three overtime wins in the Big 10 (at Northwestern, home against Wisconsin and Indiana) and in two of them (Wisconsin and Indiana) they absolutely should have lost. The Spartans also lost their top scorer off the bench, Korie Lucious, to a season ending suspension. Michigan State travels to Iowa Wednesday and to Wisconsin Sunday as they try to keep their NCAA hopes alive.
NIT bound
8) Northwestern (13-8, 3-7). Northwestern had a rough week, losing at Minnesota and then dropping a heartbreaker at home against Ohio State (without John Shurna). We have written here before, and it bears repeating, Northwestern cannot afford moral victories. They will point to the Ohio State loss and the two losses to Michigan State (65-62 at home, 71-67 in overtime on the road) as the reason they are not on the bubble. Northwestern does have a slim NCAA chance still. They host Illinois Saturday (an absolute must win) and then have 5 straight games against Michigan, Indiana, Iowa and Penn State (twice). Northwestern probably needs all 6 of those games to have a chance at making the tournament.
9) Michigan (13-9, 3-6). Michigan had a huge week. They made their season, winning in East Lansing and then beat Iowa 87-73 on their home floor Sunday (in a game where they led Iowa by 21 midway through the second half before needing to withstand a late Iowa run - Iowa cut it to 8 late). Clearly the best week Michigan had all year. Michigan was 10-21 from three against the Spartans and 14-28 against Iowa. Darius Morris continues to do a little bit of everything (17 points 8 assists and 4 rebounds against Michigan State and 12 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds against Iowa). We said it last week, and will repeat it here. If Michigan holds teams to around 60 points, they will play some good teams very close. Michigan needs to get to 6 wins in the Big 10 to make the NIT (they would be 16-15 heading into the Big 10 tournament). They will have to work to get one of those wins in the coming week, traveling to Ohio State Tuesday and Penn State Sunday.
Looking for bright spots
10) Indiana (11-11, 2-7). The Hoosiers made their season this week with a 52-49 win over Illinois. That was Tom Crean's first win over a top 25 team since arriving in Bloomington. And credit Indiana. They out hustled Illinois and came up with every big rebound in the second half. Then, Indiana went out and forced Michigan State to overtime in East Lansing. A huge week for Indiana. Now, the question IU fans are asking is whether the Verdell Jones injury was addition by subtraction this week. Jones averages just under 13 points per game and leads the team with 3.6 assists per game. But he also averages 3.6 turnovers. Indiana will look to ride their momentum with two home games this week, hosting Minnesota on Wednesday and Iowa Saturday.
11) Iowa (8-13, 1-8). Back to the bottom. Iowa lost 65-51 at Penn State and 87-73 in Ann Arbor. The Hawkeyes have shown character all year, battling back in games against Illinois, Ohio State and Michigan. Iowa's bright spot this season has been the occasionally brilliant (though often inconsistent) play of freshman Melsahn Basabe. Basabe struggled against Penn State (4 points and 2 rebounds) but he barely missed his 4th 20 point, 10 rebound performance of the Big 10 season, going for 25 points and 8 rebounds in the loss to Michigan. Basabe gives Iowa something to be optimistic about going forward. Iowa has an interesting week ahead. They host Michigan State Wednesday and travel to Bloomington to face Indiana Saturday, with a chance to net their second conference win.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Thursday, January 27, 2011
5-minute Major [28 January 2011]
The major is in the mental hospital (diagnosis: crazy), celebrating the Illini's return to the NIT; the Blue and Orange dropped a stinker to Indiana, 49-52 in Bloomington.....And the Big Ten bottom feeder hits just kept on coming as Michigan State fell to Michigan, 57-61.....In other woeful Illinois news, Derrick Rose revealed he has two stomach ulcers; what this means to his playing time is unclear, but Chicago faithful should assume all bad news is really bad news.....The Twins will be retiring Bert Blyleven's No. 28 just before he's inducted in the Hall of Fame this summer; if you haven't watched Bert be interviewed about his call, you're not wondering why it took him so long to get in; that guy is just a good man.....At ease.
Murphy's Pub: The Indiana Rivalry
Illinois and Indiana square off for the 165th time tonight in Bloomington. Remarkably, in the 164 prior meetings, both teams have 82 wins. And if the Illini do not take the series lead tonight, it will be an epic disaster.
Illinois has never had a true geographical rival in basketball. Northwestern has never been relevant. Michigan State and Illinois developed a “rivalry” over the past decade, but that “rivalry” exists only because Michigan State and Illinois have played at a fairly similar level over that time. And it is really a very friendly rivalry. Tom Izzo and Bruce Weber say nothing but nice things to each other. There is no bad blood.
When I was in school (for the first four years anyway), Iowa was the natural rival. Given the large number of kids from the Chicago suburbs matriculating in Iowa City, there was sufficient fan interaction to make that a game to circle. Add in the historical hatred stemming from Bruce Pearl (boooooooo) and his illegal tape recording of Deon Thomas while an assistant at Iowa (a history lesson for another day) and there will always be bad blood between Iowa and Illinois. The Iowa rivalry fell on hard times after Iowa fell into basketball obscurity.
But Indiana is Illinois’ most bitter basketball rival, both currently and historically. Bobby Knight and Lou Henson may be great friends now, but there were not many frostier relationships when they coached opposite each other. To sum up this relationship, Knight thought Henson was dirty and went so far as to not shake hands with Henson after a game in 1991, leading to Henson’s famous quote wherein he referred to Knight as “a classic bully.” Henson went on to say that the whole state of Indiana was intimidated by Knight. Indiana fans were not amused. Fast forward to the Eric Gordon saga (cliff notes version for those new to sports in the Midwest, Gordon committed to Illinois while Mike Davis was the Hoosiers’ coach, then de-committed and committed to Indiana after Kelvin Sampson was hired. They played an ugly game in Champaign the next year wherein the Gordon family showed up wearing “Got Gordon” t-shirts and Gordon’s mother allegedly was struck by a cup filled with ice. Weber refused to shake hands with Sampson after the game). Well, as we all know, in the aftermath of the Gordon saga, Kelvin Sampson was found to be quite dirty and the Indiana program imploded. Turns out that some Indiana fans blame Weber and the attention of the Gordon fallout for shining a light on the dirty deeds of their once clean program. Indiana fans were polled prior to the Illini traveling to Bloomington the next year and asked, if they could only one team that year, Illinois or Purdue, who would they want to beat. Illinois won by a margin of 2 to 1. And the Purdue-Indiana rivalry is vicious.
Add to the history the fact that Indiana fans are some of the worst homers in the world (and I recognize that all fan bases - yes even Illinois, take a trip to Illiniboard.com if you don't believe me - are full of irrational and delusional fans, but trust me that Indiana has the highest proportion of those fans of any group I have been around). Tom Crean has landed some impressive recruits over the next two years. A co-worker of mine attributed that to the fact that “Indiana has the most tradition of any college basketball program in the country.” Yeah, because these kids totally were alive when the Hoosiers went undefeated in 1987. But that is absolutely the local sentiment. Indiana fans called into sports radio programs to gloat both times Robbie Hummel went out with ACL tears. And most of them still worship the ground upon which Bobby Knight walked and chastise Myles Brand for finally saying enough is enough and sending Knight packing.
There have been classic games. Shaun Pruitt will always be remembered for missing free throws against Indiana in ‘08 that would have won that ugly game in regulation. The enduring moment of the rivalry was Nick Anderson catching, turning, and burying a 35 foot three pointer at the buzzer in Bloomington in ‘89, probably the most memorable moment in Illinois basketball history until the Elite 8 game against Arizona in ‘05. And recently, the games have been close in spite of a monumental gap in talent. Illinois needed a layup at the buzzer by Demetri McCamey to win, in Champaign, last year 72-70. The Illini had to erase a 15 point deficit to win at Indiana last year as well. Yes, the rivalry is alive and well.
So for the 165th time, the Illini and the Hoosiers square off. Cheers to a continued, bitter rivalry and let’s get an Illini win tonight.
5-minute Major [27 January 2011]
Though he denied having made up his mind, Michigan State guard Korie Lucious will likely transfer to another school to finish his collegiate career.....The Pistons dropped yet another, 100-109, to the Nuggets as their former point guard, Chauncey Billups, connected on 6 threes.....Indiana dropped it's 6th straight to the Magic in a lopsided 111-96 loss at home.....Milwaukee entered the fourth quarter in their matchup with the Hawks down 11, and entered the locker room with a 98-90 win; did someone forget to tell them that the Central division is supposed to play worse at the end of games?.....Trevor Mbakwe let 18 points and 14 rebounds set the one for Minnesota's hammering of Northwestern 81-70.....Cincinnati continued this year's tradition of beating bad teams badly, topping Rutgers 72-56.....Scandal to watch: the University of Iowa said Wednesday that the reason 13 football players were hospitalized was a grueling practice regiment; we'll see how this goes.....At ease.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Reflecting on the 2010 Bears
I'm ready to talk about it. The Bears lost to the Packers in the NFC Championship game. Jay Cutler was injured (seriously, he was, and the criticism of him is absurd). The coaching was not phenomenal (really Lovie, punting from the Packers 31 yard line down 14? That 11 yard punt was extremely helpful). But I'm over it. Really, I am (it helps that there are practically no Packers fans in Indy; I imagine they are insufferable to be around). So what will I remember about the 2010 Bears?
The Good
My buddy Tom and I were looking over the Bears' schedule back in August. And frankly, there were not many wins to be found. I may have actually said, "Best case scenario for the Bears, they win 8 games" (I did actually say that). Thus, by winning the division and making the playoffs, the Bears were playing with the house's money. Making the NFC Championship game, well if you had told me the Bears would be playing, at home, last Sunday, I would have said, "In a charity game?"
Brian Urlacher bounced back. Urlacher was lost for the '09 season in Week 1 with a wrist injury. He has struggled to shed blocks for years. People said he was was done (I may have said that). But against the Packers in the NFC Championship game, Urlacher was great. He had a huge sack to force the Packers out of field goal range in the first half. He had an interception in the red zone that, but for an amazing individual effort by Aaron Rodgers would have been a touchdown (the fiance, who loves Urlacher, was furious at him for not running Rodgers over, but I digress). I don't know how many years Urlacher has left (I just realized he was a rookie when I was a Senior in high school), but seeing him flash his old self this year was great.
Julius Peppers made the defense 10x better. Peppers is a pass rushing monster. I have talked about Peppers before, but it bears repeating here. Peppers is a nightmare for any left tackle in the league. And he is athletic enough to make ridiculous defensive plays (see Peppers' absurd interception against the Panthers). Julius Peppers as a Bear for the next several years makes me extremely optimistic about the Bears' defense going forward.
Devin Hester. There is not much more exciting than seeing a punt sail into the air with Hester waiting patiently for a chance to weave some magic. Jeff Joniak put it best when, in 2007, Hester returned his second punt return for a touchdown against the Rams, "Devin Hester, you are ridiculous!" Or maybe Tony Dungy said it best before the Super Bowl the same year, "Devin Hester is a weapon, he is a nuclear weapon. So you are never quite comfortable when your enemy has a nuclear weapon... He can score from anywhere on the field at any time, and that is not a good feeling." Well, Devin Hester is back. And he makes the Bears so much more dangerous when he is returning punts.
The Bad
The wide receivers. Johnny Knox is fast. So is Devin Hester. But somehow neither of them are effective at getting separation. The Bears need to upgrade the wide receiver position badly. When you invest an entire draft in a rocket armed quarterback, shouldn't you give him a decent wide receiver? I like Knox, I like Hester, but neither of them are a number 1, or even a number 2 wide receiver in the NFL.
The offensive line. Jay Cutler was sacked 1000000000000000 times this year. Literally. Cutler was sacked that many times. They got better as the season progressed and were fantastic against the Seahawks in the Divisional Round. But the Bears need to protect Cutler. And to do that, the offensive line needs to improve. Whether through the draft or free agency, the Bears' line needs to get better.
So at the end of the day, this was a great season for the Bears. The Bears need to have a strong draft next year to inject some youth into an aging defense and need to add playmakers on the offensive line and at the wide receiver position. But that's something to worry about in 2011. Until then, a tip of my imaginary cap to the 2010 Chicago Bears. A memorable team, a memorable year. One hell of a ride.
The Good
My buddy Tom and I were looking over the Bears' schedule back in August. And frankly, there were not many wins to be found. I may have actually said, "Best case scenario for the Bears, they win 8 games" (I did actually say that). Thus, by winning the division and making the playoffs, the Bears were playing with the house's money. Making the NFC Championship game, well if you had told me the Bears would be playing, at home, last Sunday, I would have said, "In a charity game?"
Brian Urlacher bounced back. Urlacher was lost for the '09 season in Week 1 with a wrist injury. He has struggled to shed blocks for years. People said he was was done (I may have said that). But against the Packers in the NFC Championship game, Urlacher was great. He had a huge sack to force the Packers out of field goal range in the first half. He had an interception in the red zone that, but for an amazing individual effort by Aaron Rodgers would have been a touchdown (the fiance, who loves Urlacher, was furious at him for not running Rodgers over, but I digress). I don't know how many years Urlacher has left (I just realized he was a rookie when I was a Senior in high school), but seeing him flash his old self this year was great.
Julius Peppers made the defense 10x better. Peppers is a pass rushing monster. I have talked about Peppers before, but it bears repeating here. Peppers is a nightmare for any left tackle in the league. And he is athletic enough to make ridiculous defensive plays (see Peppers' absurd interception against the Panthers). Julius Peppers as a Bear for the next several years makes me extremely optimistic about the Bears' defense going forward.
Devin Hester. There is not much more exciting than seeing a punt sail into the air with Hester waiting patiently for a chance to weave some magic. Jeff Joniak put it best when, in 2007, Hester returned his second punt return for a touchdown against the Rams, "Devin Hester, you are ridiculous!" Or maybe Tony Dungy said it best before the Super Bowl the same year, "Devin Hester is a weapon, he is a nuclear weapon. So you are never quite comfortable when your enemy has a nuclear weapon... He can score from anywhere on the field at any time, and that is not a good feeling." Well, Devin Hester is back. And he makes the Bears so much more dangerous when he is returning punts.
The Bad
The wide receivers. Johnny Knox is fast. So is Devin Hester. But somehow neither of them are effective at getting separation. The Bears need to upgrade the wide receiver position badly. When you invest an entire draft in a rocket armed quarterback, shouldn't you give him a decent wide receiver? I like Knox, I like Hester, but neither of them are a number 1, or even a number 2 wide receiver in the NFL.
The offensive line. Jay Cutler was sacked 1000000000000000 times this year. Literally. Cutler was sacked that many times. They got better as the season progressed and were fantastic against the Seahawks in the Divisional Round. But the Bears need to protect Cutler. And to do that, the offensive line needs to improve. Whether through the draft or free agency, the Bears' line needs to get better.
So at the end of the day, this was a great season for the Bears. The Bears need to have a strong draft next year to inject some youth into an aging defense and need to add playmakers on the offensive line and at the wide receiver position. But that's something to worry about in 2011. Until then, a tip of my imaginary cap to the 2010 Chicago Bears. A memorable team, a memorable year. One hell of a ride.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
5-minute Major [26 January 2011]
How good is No. 1 THE University? Well, way better than I gave them credit for; they absolutely demolished No. 12 Purdue, 87-64; Welcome back, Kendrick Perkins; your first challenge? The mighty Cavs at Boston; Cavs lose 18 in a row, 112-95; Corey Crawford looked like corey crawford (note: lowercase) on Tuesday night letting 4 of just 22 shots in the goal in a 4-2 Wild win over the Blackhawks.....Marquette made a move on No. 5 UConn, but Jae Crowder shot a miserable 4-13 for the Golden Eagles and the Huskies won, 76-68.....The Jayhawks rebounded after their first home loss in like 42 years by beating the very-scary-come-tournament-time Buffaloes in Boulder, 82-78.....Chad Ochocinco has legally changed his name to -- Chad Johnson! Who's gonna buy that?.....At ease.
5-minute Major [25 January 2011]
There should be a new national No. 2 next week as Pitt was topped at home by Ben Hansbrough and the No. 14 Irish.....Finally, a nice road win for the Pistons; with five players in double-figures, Detroit soundly beat the Magic in Orlando, 103-96.....Is Kurt Thomas the NBA's answer to Kenny Lofton? Thomas led the Bulls in Milwaukee with 22 points as Chicago topped the Bucks, 92-83.....Yes, the Cavs lost their 27th of the last 28, but they had a last-second shot to win it; that this team is even competitive is a miracle.....Kevin Love put up his 30th consecutive double-double (24/17), and the Wolves lost 129-125 to the Rockets......The "Terrible Towel," possibly the lamer cousin of the Thunder Stick, is made by a towel ompany in, you guessed it, Wisconsin; if I had a dime for every time a towel company was faced with a critical loyalty/business issue.....At Ease.
Monday, January 24, 2011
Deconstructing Jay Cutler
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| "Who am I...?" |
But, a funny thing happened on the way to the Superbowl. Jay Cutler got terrible. Not "made young player mistakes," not "displayed flashes of brilliance with a few tweaks," but was actively bad. He cranked up his interceptions by almost 50%. He showed almost no ability to evade tacklers in the backfield, and little more to just get rid of the ball. Pressure was a four-letter word, and the concept didn't make him rise to greatness, but to yell at his offensive line and make disgusted faces. The Vanderbilt standout displayed no Southern charm, instead regularly diving right under the skin of reporters (and, inevitably, their readers).
And then another funny thing happened, this time on the way to a decent pick in the 2011 NFL Draft. Jay Cutler held the reins of a pretty good offense on the team that was the class of the NFC North. Granted, he didn't exactly hold those reins in his mouth, but it was a comfortable ride. Cutler "cut down" his interceptions to one a game on average ( I know, but it felt pretty good). His total yards were way down, but he seemed to be transitioning into Mike Martz's offense. The Bears' once golden signal calling prospect looked to be turning into a golden actuality. Sure, Cutler still had his detractors, but the Bears were winning, and kept winning, even in the playoffs.
Until they lost. And lost badly. The 21-14 score in the NFC title game was not reflective of how much worse the Bears played than their opponents. Oh, and the opponents were the Packers. Oh, oh, and Cutler sat practically the entire second half. Welcome back, haters. Sports radio was brimming with discussion of Cutler's (lack of) toughness and (lack of) leadership. There were conflicting stories of whether Cutler deemed himself unfit to play, or whether it was Lovie Smith (the team stepped up and defended their quarterback, saying he wanted to get back in the game; and it finally came out that Smith was the culprit and Cutler had a sprained MCL). All this, and third-stringer Caleb Hanie was on the field for both touchdowns. Was it a case of incredibly poor luck? Was the regular season a mirage?
The answer to both questions is no. The Packers are an excellent team (who will be the favorites against a dominant Pittsburgh team in the Super Bowl). The Bears were not the benefactors of fortune in the regular season, and they weren't on the short end, luckwise, in the championship game. Chicago's got a good football team that needs some work in the off-season. And, in a perfect world, some of that work would go towards the quarterback.
Everybody is in a huff about toughness, but Cutler is plenty tough. He was sacked an astounding 52 times this season (that's 12 more than 2nd place Joe Flacco), and still managed to start all but one game. He had a real nice stiff arm on a run in yesterday's game. And I've never see him halfheartedly run after a defender that just intercepted the ball, Cutler sprints to tackle. I'm sure you all see where this is going.
The fact is, Cutler's just not that good. Don't get me wrong, he's a fine quarterback, but he's no franchise-maker. In case you missed it, his toughness examples are due to his own mistakes. No doubt, the offensive line has been atrocious at times, but nobody's ever accused Cutler of throwing the ball away too soon. He's got an arm that makes it possible to throw off balance or across his body, but you never know what you'll get when he rolls out of the pocket; might be a nice stiff arm, might get lit up for a fumble. And did I mention that he averaged just over an interception a game?
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| Kyle Orton on the bench |
Of course you wouldn't. And you shouldn't heap too much on Jay Cutler either. He's got some reasonable upside, but one stat the box score doesn't show is how many yards and touchdowns come on plays where Cutler puts some air under it and lets his receiver make a play. This is one of the big reasons Cutler appeared so much more impressive once the offense started to feature Greg Olsen and Earl Bennett. Although Devin Hester and Johnny Knox are exciting, their size makes them near useless on jump balls. Hester is fantastic when his legs are already moving, meaning he could benefit greatly from a quarterback who could rifle a short pass right into his hip pocket and allow him to keep stride. This will not happen under Cutler. He's just not great on the short shots on the button, which is also partly why he can't get rid of the ball: he waits on someone getting open downfield.
So, what should we expect? Realistically, more than a few bad decisions and some great looking touch passes deep that won't ever be regular. Certainly a physical freak like Calvin or Andre Johnson could open up Cutler's most impressive attribute. But, until that receiver comes along, let's all stop pretending like Jay Cutler is a soft underachiever, and recognize that he's an above average quarterback...for the Bears.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
5-minute Major [24 January 2011]
Super Bowl is set: the Packers (21-14 over the Bears; Jay Cutler sat most of the second half) will face the Steelers (24-19 over the Jets) in 2 weeks; based on the performance of both the winners, it'll probably be more exciting to catch the first half than the second.....The Flyers made their case for having improved since losing to the Blackhawks in last year's Stanley Cup Finals by beating the Hawks 4-1 behind Sergei Bobrovsky's 30 saves; the score does not even come close to depicting just how one-sided this game was; walking in and out of my living room, I asked three different times "Are the flyers on the power play?" when they were not.....Northwestern sure didn't look like the upstarts some think they are, losing at home to Wisconsin, 78-46; freshman Josh Gasser recorded the first triple double in Wisconsin history.....Carson Palmer says "Trade me, or I'll retire," is Cincinnati intimidated by either position?.....At ease.
Big 10 Review: Week 4
Week 4. Straight into the Best Win and Worst Loss of the week.
Best Win
Ohio State 73 Illinois 68. The Buckeyes played an extremely soft schedule to date. Their best road win in the Big 10 was at Michigan. And then Ohio State, at the under 12 minute timeout, was down 8, at Illinois in a sea of orange. The Buckeyes calmly went on a 14-0 run over the next 4 minutes and rolled on to a huge win. The win finally gives Ohio State a statement win in conference and gives the Buckeyes an early leg up in the conference race.
Worst Loss
Wisconsin 78 Northwestern 46. At Welsh-Ryan Arena, Northwestern again failed to beat one of the top six teams in the conference. Northwestern was thoroughly dominated in all facets of the game and is running out of opportunities to earn a statement win and a chance at an NCAA tournament berth.
Power Rankings
1) Ohio State (20-0, 7-0). Ohio State destroyed Iowa in Columbus early in the week, 70-48. They then held on for the aforementioned 73-68 win over Illinois. Ohio State is the first team in the top 6 in Big 10 play to obtain a major road win. The guy that gets all the headlines after the Illinois game is Jared Sullinger. 27 points and 16 rebounds (13-15 from the foul line) will do that. But the other, more unsung hero for Ohio State was Aaron Craft. The freshman point guard chased Demetri McCamey for 31 minutes and helped limit him to just 5 points and 5 assists. Craft takes a lot of the defensive pressure off David Lighty, allowing Lighty to continue to play major minutes (Lighty, Diebler and Sullinger all played 40 minutes against Illinois). Ohio State will look to gain more ground on their rivals in the Big 10 race when they host Purdue Tuesday. They also travel to Northwestern Saturday.
2) Purdue (17-3, 6-1). Purdue barely survived Penn State at home early in the week. JuJuan Johnson made a jumper with 3 seconds left to give Purdue a 63-62 win. Purdue then outplayed Michigan State in a huge 86-76 win at home. E'Twaun Moore appears to be back. He was 7-15 (16 points) against Penn State and 9-18 (26 points) against Michigan State. If Moore continues to shoot the ball well, Purdue will be difficult to beat, wherever they play, whenever they play. Purdue with a big week ahead of them, traveling to Ohio State Tuesday before hosting Minnesota Sunday.
3) Wisconsin (15-4, 5-2). Wisconsin took care of business this week, beating Indiana in a closer than expected 69-60 win at Kohl before destroying Northwestern on the road Sunday. Jordan Taylor continues to look like the best point guard in the Big 10, rattling off 28 points and 8 assists against Indiana and 14 points and 4 assists against Northwestern. Wisconsin only plays once this week, traveling to Penn State in what is clearly a dangerous game. If Wisconsin wins at Penn State, they will pick up a win that eluded both Michigan State and Illinois and obtain a little separation from the rest of the pack below them.
4) Michigan State (12-7, 4-3). Even though they lost twice this week, including at Illinois, Michigan State did not lose at home (unlike Illinois) and, therefore, remains ahead of the Illini in the Power Rankings (the other loss was a 10 point loss at Purdue). Durrell Summers is struggling, Kalin Lucas is struggling. A decent argument can be made that Delvon Roe has been Michigan State’s best player over the past couple weeks. With that being said, Michigan State has a fairly soft week. They host Michigan Thursday and Indiana Sunday. Anything less than a 2-0 week will be an unmitigated disaster. Tom Izzo has to hope that a lower level of competition will wake up his struggling veterans.
5) Illinois (14-6, 4-3). The Illini picked up a nice win over Michigan State and, really, gave away the game against Ohio State late. As it stands, the Illini are the only team in the top 6 to have lost at home and face a fairly insurmountable challenge to pull themselves back into the Big 10 race. The good news this week for the Illini was the inspired play of Jereme Richmond (14 points 5 rebounds 3 assists against Michigan State; 18 points 10 rebounds against Ohio State). Richmond did not score by beating players off the dribble, he did not score by posting up, rather he flashed some unreal off the ball movement to create space and his assortment of head fakes make him very, very dangerous at the rim. His involvement in the offense is a huge plus for the Illini going forward (and hopefully means reduced minutes from Mike Davis). The Illini play just once this week, traveling to Bloomington Thursday to face Indiana.
6) Minnesota (15-4, 4-3). The Gophers only played once this week, holding off a tough challenge from Michigan at home in a 69-64 win. The story for Minnesota, again, however is news off the court. Al Nolen, their starting point guard, broke his foot and will likely be out 4 weeks. Given the loss of Devoe Joseph (transfer two weeks ago) an already depleted Minnesota backcourt will be decimated by this loss. Nolen is the Gophers’ defensive heart (he averages over 2 steals a game); huge loss for Minnesota. The Gophers host Northwestern Wednesday and travel to Purdue Saturday, the last opportunity for Minnesota to net a meaningful road win. Anything less than 2-0 this week all but puts the Big 10 title out of reach.
7) Penn State (10-8, 3-4). Penn State suffers another heartbreaker, losing 63-62 to Purdue in the game’s final seconds (at Purdue). Penn State is officially the team no one wants to play. Penn State’s supporting cast (everyone other than Taylor Battle) continue to shoot at an extremely efficient clip. Unfortunately, Penn State took too many bad losses in the preseason (see Maine) to really have much of a tournament shot without a few more upsets. They get a chance to do just that this week when they host Wisconsin Saturday (they also host Iowa Tuesday).
8) Northwestern (13-6, 3-5). A three game week for the Wildcats saw them handily beat Michigan and SIU-Edwardsville at home before suffering an embarrassing home loss to Wisconsin. While Minnesota struggles to find a statement road win, Northwestern struggles to beat anyone better than them. Northwestern needs to win one of their next 3 games (at Minnesota Wednesday, home against Ohio State Saturday, home against Illinois the next week) to try and play themselves back onto the bubble.
9) Michigan (11-9, 1-6). Michigan lost handily to Northwestern (74-60) and fought hard in a losing effort at Minnesota (69-64). Michigan needs to hold teams to 65 points or less to have a chance (they shoot 43% as a team). The Wolverines travel to their arch rivals in East Lansing Thursday and host Iowa Sunday. Michigan will no doubt play the Spartans tough. Look for a scrappy, low scoring game.
10) Iowa (8-11, 1-6). Iowa back out of the cellar!! They were blown out by Ohio State in Columbus, but then beat Indiana 91-77 in Iowa City. Melsahn Basabe had another big game with 20 points and 10 rebounds (his third 20-10 of the Big 10 season) in the win over Indiana. The freshman has been a huge bright spot in an otherwise dismal season for the Hawkeyes. Iowa travels to Penn State Thursday and Michigan Sunday.
11) Indiana (10-10, 1-6). The Hoosiers lost Maurice Creek to injury for the second straight season AND lost to Iowa (and Wisconsin). Tough week. Christian Watford had a career high 30 points and added 8 rebounds in the loss to Iowa. Tom Crean, however, was not impressed. In an interview with the Indianapolis Star, Crean said, “You can’t score 30 points and give up the points that he gave up.” When you lose to Iowa by 14 points, you have bigger problems than the guy that scored 30 points and had 8 rebounds. But the comments will endear Crean to a fanbase that venerates Bobby Knight. The Hoosiers host Illinois and travel to East Lansing this week.
Best Win
Ohio State 73 Illinois 68. The Buckeyes played an extremely soft schedule to date. Their best road win in the Big 10 was at Michigan. And then Ohio State, at the under 12 minute timeout, was down 8, at Illinois in a sea of orange. The Buckeyes calmly went on a 14-0 run over the next 4 minutes and rolled on to a huge win. The win finally gives Ohio State a statement win in conference and gives the Buckeyes an early leg up in the conference race.
Worst Loss
Wisconsin 78 Northwestern 46. At Welsh-Ryan Arena, Northwestern again failed to beat one of the top six teams in the conference. Northwestern was thoroughly dominated in all facets of the game and is running out of opportunities to earn a statement win and a chance at an NCAA tournament berth.
Power Rankings
1) Ohio State (20-0, 7-0). Ohio State destroyed Iowa in Columbus early in the week, 70-48. They then held on for the aforementioned 73-68 win over Illinois. Ohio State is the first team in the top 6 in Big 10 play to obtain a major road win. The guy that gets all the headlines after the Illinois game is Jared Sullinger. 27 points and 16 rebounds (13-15 from the foul line) will do that. But the other, more unsung hero for Ohio State was Aaron Craft. The freshman point guard chased Demetri McCamey for 31 minutes and helped limit him to just 5 points and 5 assists. Craft takes a lot of the defensive pressure off David Lighty, allowing Lighty to continue to play major minutes (Lighty, Diebler and Sullinger all played 40 minutes against Illinois). Ohio State will look to gain more ground on their rivals in the Big 10 race when they host Purdue Tuesday. They also travel to Northwestern Saturday.
2) Purdue (17-3, 6-1). Purdue barely survived Penn State at home early in the week. JuJuan Johnson made a jumper with 3 seconds left to give Purdue a 63-62 win. Purdue then outplayed Michigan State in a huge 86-76 win at home. E'Twaun Moore appears to be back. He was 7-15 (16 points) against Penn State and 9-18 (26 points) against Michigan State. If Moore continues to shoot the ball well, Purdue will be difficult to beat, wherever they play, whenever they play. Purdue with a big week ahead of them, traveling to Ohio State Tuesday before hosting Minnesota Sunday.
3) Wisconsin (15-4, 5-2). Wisconsin took care of business this week, beating Indiana in a closer than expected 69-60 win at Kohl before destroying Northwestern on the road Sunday. Jordan Taylor continues to look like the best point guard in the Big 10, rattling off 28 points and 8 assists against Indiana and 14 points and 4 assists against Northwestern. Wisconsin only plays once this week, traveling to Penn State in what is clearly a dangerous game. If Wisconsin wins at Penn State, they will pick up a win that eluded both Michigan State and Illinois and obtain a little separation from the rest of the pack below them.
4) Michigan State (12-7, 4-3). Even though they lost twice this week, including at Illinois, Michigan State did not lose at home (unlike Illinois) and, therefore, remains ahead of the Illini in the Power Rankings (the other loss was a 10 point loss at Purdue). Durrell Summers is struggling, Kalin Lucas is struggling. A decent argument can be made that Delvon Roe has been Michigan State’s best player over the past couple weeks. With that being said, Michigan State has a fairly soft week. They host Michigan Thursday and Indiana Sunday. Anything less than a 2-0 week will be an unmitigated disaster. Tom Izzo has to hope that a lower level of competition will wake up his struggling veterans.
5) Illinois (14-6, 4-3). The Illini picked up a nice win over Michigan State and, really, gave away the game against Ohio State late. As it stands, the Illini are the only team in the top 6 to have lost at home and face a fairly insurmountable challenge to pull themselves back into the Big 10 race. The good news this week for the Illini was the inspired play of Jereme Richmond (14 points 5 rebounds 3 assists against Michigan State; 18 points 10 rebounds against Ohio State). Richmond did not score by beating players off the dribble, he did not score by posting up, rather he flashed some unreal off the ball movement to create space and his assortment of head fakes make him very, very dangerous at the rim. His involvement in the offense is a huge plus for the Illini going forward (and hopefully means reduced minutes from Mike Davis). The Illini play just once this week, traveling to Bloomington Thursday to face Indiana.
6) Minnesota (15-4, 4-3). The Gophers only played once this week, holding off a tough challenge from Michigan at home in a 69-64 win. The story for Minnesota, again, however is news off the court. Al Nolen, their starting point guard, broke his foot and will likely be out 4 weeks. Given the loss of Devoe Joseph (transfer two weeks ago) an already depleted Minnesota backcourt will be decimated by this loss. Nolen is the Gophers’ defensive heart (he averages over 2 steals a game); huge loss for Minnesota. The Gophers host Northwestern Wednesday and travel to Purdue Saturday, the last opportunity for Minnesota to net a meaningful road win. Anything less than 2-0 this week all but puts the Big 10 title out of reach.
7) Penn State (10-8, 3-4). Penn State suffers another heartbreaker, losing 63-62 to Purdue in the game’s final seconds (at Purdue). Penn State is officially the team no one wants to play. Penn State’s supporting cast (everyone other than Taylor Battle) continue to shoot at an extremely efficient clip. Unfortunately, Penn State took too many bad losses in the preseason (see Maine) to really have much of a tournament shot without a few more upsets. They get a chance to do just that this week when they host Wisconsin Saturday (they also host Iowa Tuesday).
8) Northwestern (13-6, 3-5). A three game week for the Wildcats saw them handily beat Michigan and SIU-Edwardsville at home before suffering an embarrassing home loss to Wisconsin. While Minnesota struggles to find a statement road win, Northwestern struggles to beat anyone better than them. Northwestern needs to win one of their next 3 games (at Minnesota Wednesday, home against Ohio State Saturday, home against Illinois the next week) to try and play themselves back onto the bubble.
9) Michigan (11-9, 1-6). Michigan lost handily to Northwestern (74-60) and fought hard in a losing effort at Minnesota (69-64). Michigan needs to hold teams to 65 points or less to have a chance (they shoot 43% as a team). The Wolverines travel to their arch rivals in East Lansing Thursday and host Iowa Sunday. Michigan will no doubt play the Spartans tough. Look for a scrappy, low scoring game.
10) Iowa (8-11, 1-6). Iowa back out of the cellar!! They were blown out by Ohio State in Columbus, but then beat Indiana 91-77 in Iowa City. Melsahn Basabe had another big game with 20 points and 10 rebounds (his third 20-10 of the Big 10 season) in the win over Indiana. The freshman has been a huge bright spot in an otherwise dismal season for the Hawkeyes. Iowa travels to Penn State Thursday and Michigan Sunday.
11) Indiana (10-10, 1-6). The Hoosiers lost Maurice Creek to injury for the second straight season AND lost to Iowa (and Wisconsin). Tough week. Christian Watford had a career high 30 points and added 8 rebounds in the loss to Iowa. Tom Crean, however, was not impressed. In an interview with the Indianapolis Star, Crean said, “You can’t score 30 points and give up the points that he gave up.” When you lose to Iowa by 14 points, you have bigger problems than the guy that scored 30 points and had 8 rebounds. But the comments will endear Crean to a fanbase that venerates Bobby Knight. The Hoosiers host Illinois and travel to East Lansing this week.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
5-minute Major [21 January 2011]
In what might have been the slowest Bulls game in the Derrick Rose era, the bulls collected exactly zero fast-break points in an 82-77 win over the Mavericks.....In a move that may come back to haunt the Blackhawks, the Red Wings signed best-available goalie, Evgeni Nabokov to a one-year deal; the Wings won't likely need Nabokov, but they seemed to want him off the table.....Indiana is the only team in the Big Ten to have a winning record at Wisconsin; but, most of those were built up a while ago, and the Hoosiers dropped their 10th in a row at the Kohl Center, 69-60.....Slow day.....At ease.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
5-minute Major [20 January 2011]
OK, OK, Ohio State is quite legit; in the battle of "eyes" the newly No. 1 Bucks roasted the unranked (and winless in the Big Ten) Hawks, 70-48; the question now becomes how to beat them; and one presumes the answer lies in limiting David Lighty (18 points).....The Cavs lost their 14th in a row to the Suns; the silver lining is that the Heat haven't won a game since LeBron James's "karma" comment.....Minnesota was finally able to sign Carl Pavano to a 2-year, $16.5 million contract, settling most of their off-season business; perhaps the bigger story is that GM Bill Smith has somehow managed to open the historically tight wallet of owner Jim Pohlad to the tune of about $113 million this Opening Day.....The formerly undefeated (wasn't every team at one point undefeated?) Bearcats suffered their third loss in four games to the Irish, 66-58.....It took a JaJuan Johnson jumper with 3 seconds remaining to give the Boilermakers a 63-62 win over the Nittany Lions at Purdue.....In the battle of young guys who grab lots of rebounds, Blake Griffin scored more points, and his Clippers topped Kevin Love's T-Wolves, 126-111.....Welcome back, Niklas Backstrom! After missing nine games with a sore hip, the Wild's best netminder was a perfect 37 of 37 in shutting out the Flames, 6-0.....At ease.
Byron Scott For Coach of the Year...
WHAT?!?! Now, just wait a minute. I understand the Cavs are the proud owners of the NBA's longest losing streak. That the Cavs were nearly doubled-up by the Lakers but a week ago. That the Cavaliers are the only team in the league still named after an adjective. But, they are also named after a noun, "one having the spirit or bearing of a knight; a courtly gentleman; gallant." The Cavs are on the rise! Well, no, they're not. They're easily the worst team in league, and hold little to no ability to improve their situation.
Then what the heck am I talking about?
Like the Cy Young, the Red Auerbach Trophy overvalues wins. And, although it does a great job of recognizing positive win differential between seasons with the same or similar squad, it does little for teams that have been decimated by free agency. The award almost never rewards tactics (Tex Winter's triangle offense was commended by giving the award to Phil Jackson). It almost always requires "getting the most" out of a young star.
Byron Scott is aware of these tendencies. He won the award in the 07-08 season with the New Orleans Hornets. Those Hornets won a ton of games, had a win differential of +17 from the previous season, and used almost no tactics because Scott got so much artistry out of his young superstar Chris Paul.
Has Scott lost a step? Did he forget how to coach in the last few years? Not even close. The conditions just aren't ripe for the traditional award. These Cavs will not (cannot?) win many games this season. Even if the team did still sport quality players, they likely would have had a negative win differential this season, having won 61 last year. This years Cleveland stands no chance without tactics (and so Scott will use them). And there is nothing resembling a young star on the team (although J.J. Hickson still has potential to be great).
No, this year is easily Scott's toughest assignment as a player or coach. And what he's doing is nothing short of remarkable. Coach Scott is coaching. His Cavs are giving up a whopping 104.9 points per game, and have by far the worst point differential at -11.3. So, it's imperative to step up the D. On Tuesday he was quoted as saying "If you make a mistake by not getting up and doing what you're supposed to do, next dead ball, come to the bench. Cause you're coming out." And on Wednesday night, that's exactly what happened. The Suns built a 17-point lead in the third quarter, and Scott made good on his promise. The response: The Cavs allowed just 3 points in the first 6 minutes of the fourth. Sure, they weren't able to sustain the intensity, but Scott's philosophy was embraced. J.J. Hickson is clearly the closest the team has to a ray of hope, and a fan favorite, but even he can be -- and has been -- benched been Scott. Hickson had his best +/- in ages at -2. Not All-star caliber, but a far cry from the -27 he put up against the Nuggets.
Here's the thing: Byron Scott is not coaching for his job. Unlike NFL coaches who kick field goals with 3 minutes to go, trailing by 27, just to avoid the shutout, Scott will bench his hottest hand if the philosophy is not being followed. He knows Jamario Moon is a likely one-man highlight reel, but doesn't even start him, because, frankly, he's not a starter. He had the heart (funny word to use for the devil) torn from the team before he even got there, and was told to contend with scraps. Forget contend. Cavs owner, Dan Gilbert PROMISED the Cavs would win a championship before the Heat. But, Scott continues to plod along, developing a team, seeing that promise become more and more unrealistic.
But, the number one pick looms. Scott knows it. And he knows that if he puts together a team of complements before the star gets there, that positive win differential is right around the corner.
Carmelo Anthony and the Relationship Between Player and Team
We are ostensibly a blog about sports in the Midwest, but every once in awhile a national issue arises that demands our attention. Carmelo Anthony, and his quest to be traded is one such issue.
For those of you who have not been following this soap opera, Carmelo Anthony is in the final year of his contract with the Denver Nuggets. He has made it very clear that he is not planning to re-sign in Denver and that, ideally, he would find himself in New York next year (why anyone would want to leave Denver is beyond me). Now, obviously an athlete, when their contract is up, has the ability to play wherever they please. Well, here is the issue with Carmelo Anthony. Unlike in Major League baseball, the Nuggets will not be awarded a compensatory draft pick if Melo signs elsewhere. Unlike in the NFL, the Nuggets cannot place a franchise tag on Melo, essentially making him the highest paid player at his position for a year to prevent him from leaving. No, if he signs elsewhere, the Nuggets will receive absolutely no compensation. This is an absolutely crucial point because a star in the NBA impacts a team in an exponentially greater manner than anywhere else in sports. As a result, the Nuggets are trying to trade Carmelo Anthony.
The Nuggets are looking for some combination of young talent and future draft picks to move Carmelo Anthony, and they want to move him fast because the Nuggets crowd is rapidly turning on Melo. Well, the Knicks lack desirable young talent and have very, very few picks to get a deal done. The New Jersey Nets, on the other hand, had picks and Derrick Favors, a young, quality talent that no one else could offer. The Nets could also offer something to Melo. They could offer a Russian billionaire owner who will absolutely spend money. They could offer Brook Lopez, a strong young post player who has regressed a little this year, as a compliment. They could offer a new, state of the art arena in Brooklyn (which, last I heard, is in New York).
Today, however, the Nets walked away from the trade in what had been a long, horribly public, negotiation. Why did the Nets walk away? After being granted permission to talk to Melo about a potential contract extension, something happened and the meeting never took place. When asked about why Anthony never spoke to him, the Russian billionaire said, "Maybe the carrier pigeon got lost" (I don't know if something got lost in the translation, but that is a phenomenal quote).
And here is my issue with all this. Carmelo Anthony has a relationship with the city of Denver and his fans. They stuck with him through good times (a ride to the Conference finals two years ago) and bad. They spent money on jerseys, they spent money on tickets, they cheered for him, they defended him. Is it asking too much for Carmelo Anthony to take a meeting?
Players have quit on teams to force trades for 60 cents on the dollar (Vince Carter, I'm looking at you). Players have announced they will not re-sign, have not been traded out of spite by the owner, and then left their team a talentless wasteland (Chris Bosh, I'm looking at you - ironically enough, both Carter and Bosh gave the middle finger to the city of Toronto). The loser in all this is never the player, and it is rarely the owner. But the fans ALWAYS lose. Carmelo Anthony had an opportunity to mitigate Nuggets fans suffering. I am not saying he had to accept a trade to the Nets. All he had to do was take a meeting.
The end result of this, the Nuggets will probably end up taking the best trade package the Knicks can offer them (a poo poo platter of mediocre players). Melo will be happy in New York and the Nuggets owner will still be incredibly wealthy. The Nuggets fans will lose as the franchise is mired in years of, at best, mediocrity.
For those of you who have not been following this soap opera, Carmelo Anthony is in the final year of his contract with the Denver Nuggets. He has made it very clear that he is not planning to re-sign in Denver and that, ideally, he would find himself in New York next year (why anyone would want to leave Denver is beyond me). Now, obviously an athlete, when their contract is up, has the ability to play wherever they please. Well, here is the issue with Carmelo Anthony. Unlike in Major League baseball, the Nuggets will not be awarded a compensatory draft pick if Melo signs elsewhere. Unlike in the NFL, the Nuggets cannot place a franchise tag on Melo, essentially making him the highest paid player at his position for a year to prevent him from leaving. No, if he signs elsewhere, the Nuggets will receive absolutely no compensation. This is an absolutely crucial point because a star in the NBA impacts a team in an exponentially greater manner than anywhere else in sports. As a result, the Nuggets are trying to trade Carmelo Anthony.
The Nuggets are looking for some combination of young talent and future draft picks to move Carmelo Anthony, and they want to move him fast because the Nuggets crowd is rapidly turning on Melo. Well, the Knicks lack desirable young talent and have very, very few picks to get a deal done. The New Jersey Nets, on the other hand, had picks and Derrick Favors, a young, quality talent that no one else could offer. The Nets could also offer something to Melo. They could offer a Russian billionaire owner who will absolutely spend money. They could offer Brook Lopez, a strong young post player who has regressed a little this year, as a compliment. They could offer a new, state of the art arena in Brooklyn (which, last I heard, is in New York).
Today, however, the Nets walked away from the trade in what had been a long, horribly public, negotiation. Why did the Nets walk away? After being granted permission to talk to Melo about a potential contract extension, something happened and the meeting never took place. When asked about why Anthony never spoke to him, the Russian billionaire said, "Maybe the carrier pigeon got lost" (I don't know if something got lost in the translation, but that is a phenomenal quote).
And here is my issue with all this. Carmelo Anthony has a relationship with the city of Denver and his fans. They stuck with him through good times (a ride to the Conference finals two years ago) and bad. They spent money on jerseys, they spent money on tickets, they cheered for him, they defended him. Is it asking too much for Carmelo Anthony to take a meeting?
Players have quit on teams to force trades for 60 cents on the dollar (Vince Carter, I'm looking at you). Players have announced they will not re-sign, have not been traded out of spite by the owner, and then left their team a talentless wasteland (Chris Bosh, I'm looking at you - ironically enough, both Carter and Bosh gave the middle finger to the city of Toronto). The loser in all this is never the player, and it is rarely the owner. But the fans ALWAYS lose. Carmelo Anthony had an opportunity to mitigate Nuggets fans suffering. I am not saying he had to accept a trade to the Nets. All he had to do was take a meeting.
The end result of this, the Nuggets will probably end up taking the best trade package the Knicks can offer them (a poo poo platter of mediocre players). Melo will be happy in New York and the Nuggets owner will still be incredibly wealthy. The Nuggets fans will lose as the franchise is mired in years of, at best, mediocrity.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
5-minute Major [18 January 2011]
Annnnd we're back.....Home court, held; the Illini topped Michigan State, 70-62, in Champaign; will be nice for Illinois if Brandon Paul can keep playing that kind of defense while they find an offensive complement for McCamey (or maybe his scoring is the complement).....The Bulls couldn't count on Derrick Rose to knock down a last-second shot, so they lost by one, 83-82, at the UC.....Who are the Dallas Mavericks? Even the Pistons beat them, 103-89.....The Red Wings did their best to put shots on goal, but Marc-Andre Fleury was too nimble and stopped all but one of the 37, while his Penguins offense knocked in 4.....Gil Meche told the Royals he'd rather retire than have shoulder surgery; he left $12 million of his contract on the table and is only 32.....Have the Wild found a solution at goalie in Anton Khudobin (31-32 saves in 4-1 win), or were they just playing the Oilers?.....Mark it down: the St. Louis Rams are going to the playoffs next year; the team signed Josh McDaniels to be the new Offensive Coordinator; don't look at Denver's record to check his credentials; the abyss that was the Broncos has much more to do with McDaniels inability to wield the complete decision making power he was given.....Matt Capps signed a 1-year, $7.5 million contract with the Twins; how did MLB not schedule Twins/Sox to end the season?.....At ease.
Jay Cutler Chasing Redemption
The Bears play Sunday for the right to go to the Super Bowl. At home. Against the Packers. A year ago at this time (hell, 3 months ago), the Super Bowl was a goal, far off in the future. The Bears were coming off a wildly disappointing 7-9 season. Jay Cutler, their prize offseason acquisition, had thrown an astonishing 26 interceptions. The future looked bleak in Soldier Field.
I drove to Champaign for an Illinois game at the end of October of this year, a drive relevant to this column because I had access to the Score, Chicago sports radio. Callers were hammering the Bears. They were 4-3, coming off back to back losses to Washington and Seattle. The offensive line was woeful. Jay Cutler was spending more time on his back than under center. The Bears were 4-3 because of a disputed TD catch week 1 against the lions, and in spite of one of the worst games played by a quarterback in NFL history in week 5 (a 23-6 win over Carolina where Todd Collins was 6-16 with 4 interceptions).
Fast forward to Sunday. A day that started with an absolutely electric performance of the National Anthem. A performance straight out of a Blackhawks game at the old Chicago Stadium. It was a perfect moment as snow flurries drifted onto the field and the Bears, once more, transformed into the Monsters of the Midway.
After the game, as the fans celebrated, looking ahead to the first playoff meeting in the greatest, longest, and most storied rivalry in the NFL since the week after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, Jay Cutler was interviewed on the sidelines, a step closer to vindication.
There are two ways Jay Cutler’s career can go: he can either go down in history as the greatest Bears quarterback of all time, or he can be Rex Grossman. The Bears traded their 2010 draft for the strong armed quarterback, and, before Cutler played a down for the Bears, they were on the cover of Sports Illustrated, projected to win their first Super Bowl since 1985. Never, in the long history of Bears football, has a quarterback been subject to such expectations.
Jay Cutler is a lot of things. One thing that he is not is a friendly, gregarious guy. Cutler will not be featured in any commercials chanting “Cut that meat!” like Peyton Manning. He is an extremely difficult interview, unlike Tom Brady. And that rubs people like Rick Riley the wrong way leading to a completely unnecessary column from Riley last week slamming Cutler. Buried, deep in that column, as he discussed how unlikeable Cutler is, Riley hid this gem, “He's a giving person who does things behind the scenes and hates it when he gets found out. A few days before Christmas, he and Cavallari brought presents for an entire ward of sick hospital kids. A reporter for the Sun-Times got wind of it and asked him about it. Cutler refused to discuss it.” Riley wrote the above as if donating gifts because he wanted to, rather than for the cameras, is a bad thing. Cutler may wear his hat backward (is Riley 90, complaining about that?), and he may not be outgoing or well spoken, but he deserved better than the Riley column.
On Sunday, Cutler was magnificent. He started the game by making a perfect throw through the wind and snow to Greg Olsen for a long touchdown. Cutler ran for touchdowns (2 touchdowns and 43 yards on the ground), he made every throw in the book, and he showed leadership, yelling encouragement to his offensive line as they gave him days to throw. Cutler is not a perfect quarterback, and he was not perfect Sunday (he was bailed out on an awful throw at the goal line when a sure interception was dropped). He is going to take chances, and make a throw or two every game that make you cringe. When Cutler is playing like he did against Seattle, you live with the bad decisions because the good far outweighs the bad.
Over time, Cutler is not going to be judged by a Divisional win over Seattle. Fans forget performances early in the playoffs. If you bring up Rex Grossman, no one will talk about a 282 yard performance in an overtime Divisional round win over Seattle in 2006. People will, however, tell you about fumbled snaps and an awful Super Bowl performance that same year. Cutler will absolutely be judged by how he performs this coming Sunday. There is a reason that Lovie Smith’s first goal upon becoming head coach of the Bears was to beat the Packers. The hatred between the franchises and their fan bases runs deep. Not to overstate the importance of this game, but there are Bears fans who consider a 5-11 season a success if you beat the Packers twice.
If Cutler struggles Sunday and the Bears lose, Cutler will just be that inconsistent quarterback we all knew he was. But if Cutler is magnificent, if he leads the Bears to victory over their archrival with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line, everything that happened prior to this - every interception, every poor interview, every single time that he failed to connect with the fan base. Every single one of those things will be forgiven, if not completely forgotten.
I drove to Champaign for an Illinois game at the end of October of this year, a drive relevant to this column because I had access to the Score, Chicago sports radio. Callers were hammering the Bears. They were 4-3, coming off back to back losses to Washington and Seattle. The offensive line was woeful. Jay Cutler was spending more time on his back than under center. The Bears were 4-3 because of a disputed TD catch week 1 against the lions, and in spite of one of the worst games played by a quarterback in NFL history in week 5 (a 23-6 win over Carolina where Todd Collins was 6-16 with 4 interceptions).
Fast forward to Sunday. A day that started with an absolutely electric performance of the National Anthem. A performance straight out of a Blackhawks game at the old Chicago Stadium. It was a perfect moment as snow flurries drifted onto the field and the Bears, once more, transformed into the Monsters of the Midway.
After the game, as the fans celebrated, looking ahead to the first playoff meeting in the greatest, longest, and most storied rivalry in the NFL since the week after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, Jay Cutler was interviewed on the sidelines, a step closer to vindication.
There are two ways Jay Cutler’s career can go: he can either go down in history as the greatest Bears quarterback of all time, or he can be Rex Grossman. The Bears traded their 2010 draft for the strong armed quarterback, and, before Cutler played a down for the Bears, they were on the cover of Sports Illustrated, projected to win their first Super Bowl since 1985. Never, in the long history of Bears football, has a quarterback been subject to such expectations.
Jay Cutler is a lot of things. One thing that he is not is a friendly, gregarious guy. Cutler will not be featured in any commercials chanting “Cut that meat!” like Peyton Manning. He is an extremely difficult interview, unlike Tom Brady. And that rubs people like Rick Riley the wrong way leading to a completely unnecessary column from Riley last week slamming Cutler. Buried, deep in that column, as he discussed how unlikeable Cutler is, Riley hid this gem, “He's a giving person who does things behind the scenes and hates it when he gets found out. A few days before Christmas, he and Cavallari brought presents for an entire ward of sick hospital kids. A reporter for the Sun-Times got wind of it and asked him about it. Cutler refused to discuss it.” Riley wrote the above as if donating gifts because he wanted to, rather than for the cameras, is a bad thing. Cutler may wear his hat backward (is Riley 90, complaining about that?), and he may not be outgoing or well spoken, but he deserved better than the Riley column.
On Sunday, Cutler was magnificent. He started the game by making a perfect throw through the wind and snow to Greg Olsen for a long touchdown. Cutler ran for touchdowns (2 touchdowns and 43 yards on the ground), he made every throw in the book, and he showed leadership, yelling encouragement to his offensive line as they gave him days to throw. Cutler is not a perfect quarterback, and he was not perfect Sunday (he was bailed out on an awful throw at the goal line when a sure interception was dropped). He is going to take chances, and make a throw or two every game that make you cringe. When Cutler is playing like he did against Seattle, you live with the bad decisions because the good far outweighs the bad.
Over time, Cutler is not going to be judged by a Divisional win over Seattle. Fans forget performances early in the playoffs. If you bring up Rex Grossman, no one will talk about a 282 yard performance in an overtime Divisional round win over Seattle in 2006. People will, however, tell you about fumbled snaps and an awful Super Bowl performance that same year. Cutler will absolutely be judged by how he performs this coming Sunday. There is a reason that Lovie Smith’s first goal upon becoming head coach of the Bears was to beat the Packers. The hatred between the franchises and their fan bases runs deep. Not to overstate the importance of this game, but there are Bears fans who consider a 5-11 season a success if you beat the Packers twice.
If Cutler struggles Sunday and the Bears lose, Cutler will just be that inconsistent quarterback we all knew he was. But if Cutler is magnificent, if he leads the Bears to victory over their archrival with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line, everything that happened prior to this - every interception, every poor interview, every single time that he failed to connect with the fan base. Every single one of those things will be forgiven, if not completely forgotten.
Sunday, January 16, 2011
The Big 10 Review: Week 3
An interesting week in the Big 10 with a few teams missing some big opportunities. Ohio State makes it through another week unscathed and is the lone undefeated team in Big 10 play after Purdue suffered a heartbreaking loss at Minnesota. Illinois hurt their Big 10 chances by losing at Penn State and Wisconsin left a major opportunity on the table when they blew a late lead at Michigan State. No one expected to compete for the Big 10 title has lost a home game yet.
Best Win - This has to go to Penn State, hanging on to beat Illinois 57-55 in beating consecutive ranked opponents for the first time since 1954. Taylor Battle was incredibly clutch, hitting a few very important threes late, including about a 35 footer as the shot clock expired. Penn State was active defensively and, just like in the win against Michigan State, they forced Illinois to turn the ball over and over.
Worst Loss - The worst loss distinction falls to Wisconsin this week, losing to Michigan State in East Lansing in a game that Wisconsin led by 9 with 4 minutes to play, and by 5 with 1:17 to play. Wisconsin lost an opportunity to pull out a win that Ohio State, Purdue, Illinois and Minnesota will struggle to pull off. As such, Wisconsin has the worst loss of the week.
Power Rankings
1) Ohio State (18-0, 5-0). Ohio State had a 2-0 week, winning at Ann Arbor 68-64 and escaping with a home win over Penn State 69-66. The Buckeyes continue to let inferior teams hang around and have struggled mightily to close out games. As we have mentioned before, Ohio State has the best starting 5 in the league, but they are barely going 7 deep right now. Aaron Craft is logging huge minutes (and played some terrific defense on Taylor Battle at the end of the Penn State game), but Deshaun Thomas is the only other sub that is playing at all. Against Michigan, Lighty and Buford played 40 minutes, Diebler 38 minutes and Sullinger 35 minutes. Craft played 32 minutes off the bench. Those kind of minutes could explain why the Buckeyes are struggling to close out games. The Buckeyes host Iowa Wednesday and then have their first road test of the season when they travel to Illinois Saturday.
2) Purdue (15-3, 4-1). After Ohio State, no one has looked particularly good. Wisconsin and even Michigan State could lay claim to the second spot. Purdue's best win in the Big 10 thus far looks like a win at Penn State. And they had a rough week, losing a game they should have won at Minnesota 70-67 and then losing to West Virginia 68-64 (another game Purdue should have won). Against Minnesota, Purdue wasted 29 points and 11 rebounds from JaJuan Johnson. E'Twaun Moore was 2-14 and Ryne Smith was just 1-4 after shooting 11-14 from three the week before. Purdue had plenty of chances. Neither team scored in the final 3:17 of the game. Purdue wasted another good effort from Johnson at West Virginia as he had 26 points and 7 rebounds in Morganstown. E'Twaun Moore, however was 6-18 and Ryne Smith was a non-factor. If Moore continues to struggle, Purdue will not hold the number 2 spot in the power rankings much longer. Purdue hosts Penn State on Wednesday and Michigan State Saturday.
3) Wisconsin (13-4, 3-2). As stated above, Wisconsin wasted a huge opportunity this week when they choked away the game in East Lansing. They rebounded very well Saturday in an unwatchable, but well deserved, 76-66 win over Illinois in Madison. Why was that game unwatchable? Because in the second half, the officials made the decision to not allow either team to play defense without calling a foul. Demetri McCamey shot 21 free throws for Illinois and Jordan Taylor shot 18 for Wisconsin. The game lasted almost two and a half hours. But Wisconsin was the better team and continues to be a very difficult out at home. While Purdue struggles to find a consistent second scorer, Wisconsin may have found a reliable third option in Keaton Nankivil. Nankivil, your typical good shooting and strong rebounding Wisconsin big man, has now reached double figures in 8 of his last 9 games. Nankivil has proven a perfect complement to Taylor and Jon Leuer in the Big 10. The Badgers host Indiana on Thursday and travel to Northwestern Sunday.
4) Michigan State (12-5, 4-1). Michigan State leapfrogs back over Illinois in the power rankings behind two overtime wins this week. They grabbed the aforementioned win over Wisconsin 64-61 and then held off Northwestern 71-67 in overtime at home. Durrell Summers struggled mightily this week as the Spartans leading scoring heading into the week was a combined 3-11 from the floor. Freshman guard Keith Appling had a coming out party of sorts scoring 19 against Northwestern. Michigan State is hoping that Appling will provide them with another scoring option going forward. Michigan State has an extremely important week ahead with road games at Illinois Tuesday and Purdue Saturday. Winning one of those two would make Michigan State feel very good going forward.
5) Illinois (13-5, 3-2). Just an awful week for the Illini with losses at Penn State and at Wisconsin. The Illini are far too reliant on Demetri McCamey for offense. There really is not much more to their struggles than that. Unlike Purdue, Wisconsin or Michigan State, Illinois cannot overcome bad games from their star. McCamey was 3-8 against Penn State and 3-13 (though 17-21 from the foul line) against Wisconsin. If McCamey is not scoring, Illinois is not winning. Of their other options, Brandon Paul is staying more within himself and played well against Wisconsin (15 points), but is still far too inconsistent (most notably in his shot selection). Mike Tisdale is not strong enough to establish position in the post against good teams and is pretty much just a 7 foot jump shooter (Mike Davis has similar issues). Jereme Richmond is not a good enough ball handler or shooter yet to provide more than hustle points. DJ Richardson is just a jump shooter. The bottom line is that Illinois goes as McCamey goes. They will look to rebound this week with home games against Michigan State Tuesday and Ohio State Saturday. A 2-0 week is necessary for the Illini to bounce back in the Big 10 race.
6) Minnesota (14-4, 3-3). Minnesota survived the brutal portion of their schedule, and has survived significant team unrest on top of that (Devoe Joseph transfers, Trevor Mbakwe is arrested). While the Gophers have been unable to steal that marquee road game (losing at Michigan State, Ohio State and Wisconsin), they have held serve at home and remain in the Big 10 race through three weeks. Blake Hoffarber carried Minnesota to a huge home win against Purdue early in the week (26 points on 10-15 shooting in a 70-67 win). Mbakwe had 16 points and 12 rebounds "off the bench" against Iowa (he played 35 minutes) as the Gophers overcame a poor night from Hoffarber (2-10 from the floor). Minnesota has just one game this week, heading to Ann Arbor Saturday.
7) Penn State (10-7, 3-3). Unlike every team below them, Penn State has finished tough games. They closed out games at home against both Michigan State and Illinois (57-55 this week) and have proven that they are a team no one in the conference wants to play (as evidenced by their 69-66 loss at Ohio State). Taylor Battle is still the star (26 points against Illinois and 15 against Ohio State). The supporting case, however, is thriving when Battle sees increased attention. Against Ohio State, Battle was just 5-17 from the floor, but the other 4 starters were 19-25. The Nittany Lions are no longer just the Taylor Battles. Penn State has only one game this week, traveling to Purdue Wednesday.
8) Northwestern (11-5, 2-4). Northwestern put in a dominant performance at Iowa early this week but they let another game slip away against Michigan State, losing in overtime at East Lansing Saturday. Again, if Northwestern is to make the NCAA tournament, they will need to win those games. Northwestern has another extremely important week with three home games, hosting Michigan Tuesday, SIU-Edwardsville Thursday, and Wisconsin Sunday. A 3-0 week for Northwestern would go a long way toward helping them back into the NCAA tournament picture.
9) Michigan (11-7, 1-4). Michigan is a very difficult team to figure out. Last weekend, they take Kansas to overtime. Tuesday, they battle against Ohio State, losing 68-64. But then Saturday, they are blown out at Indiana 80-61 in a game they were never really in. The answer to Michigan is that they have to defend well to win. When you shot 43% as a team, you need to hold teams to under 70 points to have a chance to win. Michigan travels to Northwestern Tuesday and hosts Minnesota Saturday.
10) Indiana (10-8, 1-4). Indiana is out of the Hobbserver cellar behind an impressive 80-61home win over Michigan. With that being said, allow me to blow your mind with the following stat: Indiana is 9th in the country in field goal percentage. 9th... in the entire country. This may be a bad Indiana team, and this may be (is) more or less indicative of Indiana's soft preseason schedule than anything else, but it is an impressive state nonetheless. Indiana will look to build on their first Big 10 win with a Sunday showdown at Iowa. They also travel to Kohl Thursday to play Wisconsin.
11) Iowa (7-10, 0-5). Welcome to the Hobbserver cellar Iowa. The last winless team in Big 10 play, Iowa was blown out by Northwestern Wednesday and struggled against Minnesota in a 69-59 loss Sunday. Freshman Melsahn Basabe had his second huge game of the Big 10 season with 20 points and 13 rebounds against a tough Minnesota frontcourt. Iowa travels to Ohio State Wednesday before starting a stretch of 3 winnable games by hosting Indiana Sunday.
Best Win - This has to go to Penn State, hanging on to beat Illinois 57-55 in beating consecutive ranked opponents for the first time since 1954. Taylor Battle was incredibly clutch, hitting a few very important threes late, including about a 35 footer as the shot clock expired. Penn State was active defensively and, just like in the win against Michigan State, they forced Illinois to turn the ball over and over.
Worst Loss - The worst loss distinction falls to Wisconsin this week, losing to Michigan State in East Lansing in a game that Wisconsin led by 9 with 4 minutes to play, and by 5 with 1:17 to play. Wisconsin lost an opportunity to pull out a win that Ohio State, Purdue, Illinois and Minnesota will struggle to pull off. As such, Wisconsin has the worst loss of the week.
Power Rankings
1) Ohio State (18-0, 5-0). Ohio State had a 2-0 week, winning at Ann Arbor 68-64 and escaping with a home win over Penn State 69-66. The Buckeyes continue to let inferior teams hang around and have struggled mightily to close out games. As we have mentioned before, Ohio State has the best starting 5 in the league, but they are barely going 7 deep right now. Aaron Craft is logging huge minutes (and played some terrific defense on Taylor Battle at the end of the Penn State game), but Deshaun Thomas is the only other sub that is playing at all. Against Michigan, Lighty and Buford played 40 minutes, Diebler 38 minutes and Sullinger 35 minutes. Craft played 32 minutes off the bench. Those kind of minutes could explain why the Buckeyes are struggling to close out games. The Buckeyes host Iowa Wednesday and then have their first road test of the season when they travel to Illinois Saturday.
2) Purdue (15-3, 4-1). After Ohio State, no one has looked particularly good. Wisconsin and even Michigan State could lay claim to the second spot. Purdue's best win in the Big 10 thus far looks like a win at Penn State. And they had a rough week, losing a game they should have won at Minnesota 70-67 and then losing to West Virginia 68-64 (another game Purdue should have won). Against Minnesota, Purdue wasted 29 points and 11 rebounds from JaJuan Johnson. E'Twaun Moore was 2-14 and Ryne Smith was just 1-4 after shooting 11-14 from three the week before. Purdue had plenty of chances. Neither team scored in the final 3:17 of the game. Purdue wasted another good effort from Johnson at West Virginia as he had 26 points and 7 rebounds in Morganstown. E'Twaun Moore, however was 6-18 and Ryne Smith was a non-factor. If Moore continues to struggle, Purdue will not hold the number 2 spot in the power rankings much longer. Purdue hosts Penn State on Wednesday and Michigan State Saturday.
3) Wisconsin (13-4, 3-2). As stated above, Wisconsin wasted a huge opportunity this week when they choked away the game in East Lansing. They rebounded very well Saturday in an unwatchable, but well deserved, 76-66 win over Illinois in Madison. Why was that game unwatchable? Because in the second half, the officials made the decision to not allow either team to play defense without calling a foul. Demetri McCamey shot 21 free throws for Illinois and Jordan Taylor shot 18 for Wisconsin. The game lasted almost two and a half hours. But Wisconsin was the better team and continues to be a very difficult out at home. While Purdue struggles to find a consistent second scorer, Wisconsin may have found a reliable third option in Keaton Nankivil. Nankivil, your typical good shooting and strong rebounding Wisconsin big man, has now reached double figures in 8 of his last 9 games. Nankivil has proven a perfect complement to Taylor and Jon Leuer in the Big 10. The Badgers host Indiana on Thursday and travel to Northwestern Sunday.
4) Michigan State (12-5, 4-1). Michigan State leapfrogs back over Illinois in the power rankings behind two overtime wins this week. They grabbed the aforementioned win over Wisconsin 64-61 and then held off Northwestern 71-67 in overtime at home. Durrell Summers struggled mightily this week as the Spartans leading scoring heading into the week was a combined 3-11 from the floor. Freshman guard Keith Appling had a coming out party of sorts scoring 19 against Northwestern. Michigan State is hoping that Appling will provide them with another scoring option going forward. Michigan State has an extremely important week ahead with road games at Illinois Tuesday and Purdue Saturday. Winning one of those two would make Michigan State feel very good going forward.
5) Illinois (13-5, 3-2). Just an awful week for the Illini with losses at Penn State and at Wisconsin. The Illini are far too reliant on Demetri McCamey for offense. There really is not much more to their struggles than that. Unlike Purdue, Wisconsin or Michigan State, Illinois cannot overcome bad games from their star. McCamey was 3-8 against Penn State and 3-13 (though 17-21 from the foul line) against Wisconsin. If McCamey is not scoring, Illinois is not winning. Of their other options, Brandon Paul is staying more within himself and played well against Wisconsin (15 points), but is still far too inconsistent (most notably in his shot selection). Mike Tisdale is not strong enough to establish position in the post against good teams and is pretty much just a 7 foot jump shooter (Mike Davis has similar issues). Jereme Richmond is not a good enough ball handler or shooter yet to provide more than hustle points. DJ Richardson is just a jump shooter. The bottom line is that Illinois goes as McCamey goes. They will look to rebound this week with home games against Michigan State Tuesday and Ohio State Saturday. A 2-0 week is necessary for the Illini to bounce back in the Big 10 race.
6) Minnesota (14-4, 3-3). Minnesota survived the brutal portion of their schedule, and has survived significant team unrest on top of that (Devoe Joseph transfers, Trevor Mbakwe is arrested). While the Gophers have been unable to steal that marquee road game (losing at Michigan State, Ohio State and Wisconsin), they have held serve at home and remain in the Big 10 race through three weeks. Blake Hoffarber carried Minnesota to a huge home win against Purdue early in the week (26 points on 10-15 shooting in a 70-67 win). Mbakwe had 16 points and 12 rebounds "off the bench" against Iowa (he played 35 minutes) as the Gophers overcame a poor night from Hoffarber (2-10 from the floor). Minnesota has just one game this week, heading to Ann Arbor Saturday.
7) Penn State (10-7, 3-3). Unlike every team below them, Penn State has finished tough games. They closed out games at home against both Michigan State and Illinois (57-55 this week) and have proven that they are a team no one in the conference wants to play (as evidenced by their 69-66 loss at Ohio State). Taylor Battle is still the star (26 points against Illinois and 15 against Ohio State). The supporting case, however, is thriving when Battle sees increased attention. Against Ohio State, Battle was just 5-17 from the floor, but the other 4 starters were 19-25. The Nittany Lions are no longer just the Taylor Battles. Penn State has only one game this week, traveling to Purdue Wednesday.
8) Northwestern (11-5, 2-4). Northwestern put in a dominant performance at Iowa early this week but they let another game slip away against Michigan State, losing in overtime at East Lansing Saturday. Again, if Northwestern is to make the NCAA tournament, they will need to win those games. Northwestern has another extremely important week with three home games, hosting Michigan Tuesday, SIU-Edwardsville Thursday, and Wisconsin Sunday. A 3-0 week for Northwestern would go a long way toward helping them back into the NCAA tournament picture.
9) Michigan (11-7, 1-4). Michigan is a very difficult team to figure out. Last weekend, they take Kansas to overtime. Tuesday, they battle against Ohio State, losing 68-64. But then Saturday, they are blown out at Indiana 80-61 in a game they were never really in. The answer to Michigan is that they have to defend well to win. When you shot 43% as a team, you need to hold teams to under 70 points to have a chance to win. Michigan travels to Northwestern Tuesday and hosts Minnesota Saturday.
10) Indiana (10-8, 1-4). Indiana is out of the Hobbserver cellar behind an impressive 80-61home win over Michigan. With that being said, allow me to blow your mind with the following stat: Indiana is 9th in the country in field goal percentage. 9th... in the entire country. This may be a bad Indiana team, and this may be (is) more or less indicative of Indiana's soft preseason schedule than anything else, but it is an impressive state nonetheless. Indiana will look to build on their first Big 10 win with a Sunday showdown at Iowa. They also travel to Kohl Thursday to play Wisconsin.
11) Iowa (7-10, 0-5). Welcome to the Hobbserver cellar Iowa. The last winless team in Big 10 play, Iowa was blown out by Northwestern Wednesday and struggled against Minnesota in a 69-59 loss Sunday. Freshman Melsahn Basabe had his second huge game of the Big 10 season with 20 points and 13 rebounds against a tough Minnesota frontcourt. Iowa travels to Ohio State Wednesday before starting a stretch of 3 winnable games by hosting Indiana Sunday.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
5-minute Major [14 January 2011]
**Two things before I get to the happenings: 1) it's official, we've run out of Creative Commons major pictures; don't be surprised to see some recycling; 2) The Major himself will be on leave through Tuesday; he hopes you'll make it -- Jones**
The Browns have a new head coach; Pat Shurmur will be the liege of Colt McCoy, and one imagines they'll both share whatever fate together; Shurmur's been the Offensive Coordinator of the Rams the past two seasons (look what he did with Sam Bradford), but has never been a head coach at any level.....Blake Hoffarber's 26 points led the No. 25 Gophers to an important win over No. 8 Purdue, 70-67; Does anyone really think the Big Ten winner this season won't have at least two in-conference losses?.....Happy 8th win T-Wolves! All it took was a 35-point, 11-rebound effort from Kevin Love and a visit from the 10-win Wizards.....UIC dropped their 10th of their last 11; Know who the win was against?.....That's about it. Enjoy your weekend.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
5-minute Major [13 January 2011]
Determined not to be the next in the Original 6 line to get toppled by Colorado, the Hawks leaned on Corey Crawford's second-straight shutout, beating the Avs 4-0.....But, in basketball, a former Chicago player of unrealized potential did the Bulls in; Tyrus Thomas's 17 points and 13 rebounds (in just 30 minutes!) paced the Robertcats in a 96-91 win.....Don't you feel bad for the Favres? Their son's tremendous fall from grace has to have been hard on the rest of his family's good name; oh, and his younger sister's arrest in a meth lab Thursday.....Northwestern sure meant it when they walked into Carver-Hawkeye Arena Wednesday night; the Wildcats' first 7 field goals were threes and they cruised to a 90-71 win over Iowa....Just as the Major thought it had figured out Ohio State, they take another squeaker, 68-64 at Michigan; the game did, however, cement the theory that forwards big enough to stand with Jared Sullinger can be OSU's undoing.....Brandon Rush finally got the start over Mike Dunleavy and it paid off big; Rush had 20 points to lead the Pacers to a 102-89 victory over the not-too-shabby Mavs.....The hits just keep on coming for the unranked Buffaloes, Colorado's latest ranked team defeat? Kansas State.....Now, I know this won't be a novel thing to write in about 20 minutes, but it doesn't make it feel any less good: On the very same day LeBron James tweeted that the Cavs enormous loss last night was due to the fact that "Karma's a b****" and that "God is always watching," (a tweet James denied even authoring before the game) the Heat fall to the Clippers; the SAME DAY; there are instant karma people in the world, then there's LeBron James; Oh, and the last shot of the game? An LBJ brick.....So very at ease.
Murphy's Pub: Sadness in Champaign
I try not to write about the Illini too much (really, I do... no, seriously). But we have a motto here at Murphy’s Pub: anytime the Illini lose to Penn State in basketball on the same day that a running back who shattered school records foregoes his senior year of eligibility, you have to take a trip to Murphy’s Pub.
I am going to address Mikel Leshoure first, as he declared for the NFL draft yesterday. It was a pleasure to watch Leshoure run at Illinois. He left some true statement games that will rank up there with Howard Griffith scoring 8 touchdowns against Southern Illinois in 1990 and Red Grange galloping through Michigan back in the roaring 20s. Leshoure had what will go down in Illini lore as the “Wrigley Game” where he shredded Northwestern for 330 yards (eclipsing the previous school record of 315 set by Robert Holcombe - one of the most underrated running backs in Illinois history - but, as usual, I digress). He also ran for 184 yards and 3 touchdowns in the bowl win over Baylor.
Now, let me preface this by saying that former Illini succeeding at the next level can only provide positive press for the program going forward. Hopefully Leshoure runs a 4.4 or a 4.5 40 at the combine and ends up being taken in the first 3 rounds of the draft. With that being said, the unfortunate thing for the Illini is that they are not as talent rich as the programs that routinely lose multiple Juniors to the NFL. The Illini do not have a 5 star freshman recruit waiting in the wings (to replace Leshoure, Martez Wilson, or, inevitably Corey Liuget). What they have is Jason Ford (who needs to commit this offseason to getting the weight down if he is to be an every down back) and Troy Pollard (who is undersized and has thrived in a change of pace back role). Illinois will be worse next year because Leshoure left. But hopefully Leshoure will have a long, productive career in the NFL and prove to be an ambassador for the program in the years to come.
Now, onto the truly depressing news. The Illini were Taylor Battled last night in their 57-55 loss to Penn State (Battle was amazing late, even hitting a three from about 5 steps in front of half court as the shot clock expired late in the second half). So what do I take away from this game? Bullet points for brevity:
• I have this Illinois team figured out. They can beat anyone in the country and, on an off night, they can lose to any team in the country. McCamey is their only player who has shown a consistent ability to create going toward the basket (Brandon Paul is the only other player who has shown flashes of that ability). Thus, they are reliant on their jump shooting. On a night when they do not have the jump shot, the Illini can lose to UIC or Penn State because they struggle to get to the free throw line and manufacture points.
• Illinois tightens up down the stretch in close games. From about the 3:30 mark to the end of the game, Illinois had one successful possession - when McCamey penetrated, drew defenders, and found Bill Cole for an easy layup to tie the game. Other possessions involved everyone standing around watching McCamey - shades of Illinois 2006 when the Illini offense late was “stand around and watch Dee Brown” - and inevitably resulted in a turnover or a poor shot.
• This is the type of loss you have to avoid in the Big 10. Now, if Penn State keeps stealing home games from the top teams in the Big 10, then maybe this loss will not look so bad come Selection Sunday. But, as the Illini learned last year, bad losses can ultimately be the difference between the NCAAs and the NIT. Hopefully the Illini recover from this and stay off the NCAA bubble. Regardless, last night’s loss dealt a huge blow to any hopes the Illini have of winning the Big 10 title. The Illini can put their title hopes back on course by stealing a win at Wisconsin Saturday, but they will need to shoot Wisconsin out of the gym to do so. If they don't, this will be a truly depressing week at Murphy's Pub.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
5-minute Major [12 January 2011]
Funny how bad weather in one place makes another place laugh; The Bucks-Hawks game was postponed in Atlanta due to "severe weather"; if you're wondering, at 11:30 p.m. tonight in Atlanta it's 30 degrees with 0% chance of precipitation.....Owwwwch; the Illini fell to the mighty Nittany Lions, 57-55, and Wisconsin blew a lead to Michigan State, losing 61-64 in overtime.....Sheesh; the Hobbserver's hope that Tubby Smith would show better judgment than Gene Chizik was shattered Tuesday when the Minnesota coach chose NOT to suspend Trevor Mbakwe for his arrest on allegations of violating a restraining order; Mbakwe's actions are being called a "lapse in judgment".....16 in a row for the Timberwolves; losses.....Jose Theodore was pulled after giving up 4 goals in 25 shots; and the Wild lost to the Predators, 5-1.....What happened to Michigan football? What used to be a job pro coaches would leave for, has now been turned down by Les Miles, and given to San Diego State head coach, Brady Hoke.....At ease.
Monday, January 10, 2011
5-minute Major [11 January 2011]
Congratulations to the Auburn Tigers, your BCS National Champions for 2011; Michael Dyer outshone Cam Newton with 143 yards rushing; a rollercoaster of a game ended 24-21, and the Ducks couldn't find their stride until too late; there were two lamentable things: 1) Nick Fairly certainly lived up to his reputation as both a dominant force and a dirty player, and 2) one might bet money on the fact that Newton has an undiagnosed concussion as I type; Auburn coach, Gene Chizik failed miserably both in not reprimanding the dirty play of his college athletes and by failing to address a potentially serious injury because he was afraid to take his star player out for even a down; Shame on you, Coach Chizik.....Call it 10 in a row for the Bulls over the Pistons (95-82), and call this little gesture the silliest thing Derrick Rose has done to date.....Solve Ben Hansbrough, solve the Irish; Marquette did just that, and beat No. 11 Notre Dame handily, 79-57.....It's finally official: Bill Carmody will coach Northwestern basketball for at least the next 2 years.....Continuing it's role as thorn-in-the-side-of-hockey-towns, the Avalanche beat the Red Wings, 5-4; the Avs are 8-2 against Original 6 teams this year.....University of Minnesota forward Trevor Mbakwe was arrested on Monday for allegedly posting something on the Facebook page of a woman who had a restraining order against him; thankfully his coach is Tubby Smith and not Gene Chizik.....At ease.
Murphy's Pub: Martez Wilson Enters the Draft
I remember where I was when Martez Wilson committed to play football at Illinois. There is only one other football commitment I can say that about (Arrelious Benn - my roommates in law school and I actually saved the video of Benn committing on our DVR for months - but I digress). Wilson was a “can’t miss” prospect. He was freakishly athletic and strong. A 5 star recruit who could have gone anywhere he wanted. He was going to be a pass rushing defensive end the likes of which had not graced Champaign since the days of Simeon Rice. There were some that considered him the most significant recruit of Ron Zook’s magical first few recruiting classes at Illinois.
And Martez Wilson had his “wow” moments. His freshman year, he was a gunner on the Illini punt team. Gunners are usually the fastest players on the team, so a linebacker/defensive end filling that role was astonishing. Wilson was called on, in limited circumstances, to rush the passer, but he struggled to grasp the intricacies of a college defense, whether at defensive end or linebacker. He seemed to struggle with concepts beyond, “get the quarterback.” But it was ok, we all assumed, because ‘Tez would figure it out. Just wait until his Sophomore year. He was going to make everyone forget about Ron Turner. He was going to bring back a defensive swagger not seen at Illinois since the mid 90s.
But his Sophomore year, Wilson struggled again. He made plays that took your breath away because he was so fast and so athletic, but he was often out of position. I remember watching Martez Wilson get torched in the opening game of his Sophomore year against Missouri. How could someone that fast, that athletic, that talented, look so out of place? And then, Wilson was involved in a far more serious altercation outside a Champaign bar, when he was stabbed. In the days after the stabbing, there was awful rhetoric being spewed at Wilson on Illinois message boards. People seemed to take this incident as further evidence of why Wilson would never live up to his limitless potential. But in the aftermath, we learned that Wilson was stabbed coming to the aid of a friend.
Wilson would end up missing his Junior season entirely as a result of neck surgery (he suffered a herniated disc in the season opener and would later receive a medical redshirt). It seemed that his potential would never be reached.
His (redshirt) Junior year, Martez Wilson was the starting middle linebacker on an Illinois defense that largely over achieved. With Corey Liuget, Wilson was the heart and soul of that defense. He ended the year at Illinois with a team leading 112 tackles, 4 sacks and an interception. The defense spurred the Illini to their first bowl win in 11 years.
Today, Martez Wilson made himself eligible for the NFL draft. He reportedly will earn his degree this May. So how will I remember Martez Wilson? I hope I will remember Martez Wilson, not for his early struggles, or as a player who never realized the full extent of his enormous potential, but rather for his tale of personal redemption. As he announced his intention to forego his final year of eligibility, Wilson said, “College has been a great experience, and I have matured greatly. I appreciate what I have now and I have been making good decisions.” If that is the case, then years from now, as we raise our glasses at Murphy’s Pub, and talk about the Illini of old, we will talk about Martez Wilson, who grew from a young, immature talent into a man in his four years in Champaign.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
5-minute Major [10 January 2011]
Green Bay rolls on and has a date in Atlanta after a 21-16 victory over the Eagles; the Bears will get the rematch with the unpredictable Seahawks.....The Hobbserver's earlier question of the for real-ness of the No. 2 Buckeyes has been answered, to an extent; THE University beat the Gophers in a squeaker, 67-64, and proved they can win without a dominant performance by Jared Sullinger.....Baltimore whupped Kansas City, 30-7; KC's only points came on one great run by Jamaal Charles.....The Wolverines fell to the No. 3 Jayhawks, 67-60; but, a slightly better long range shooting day from Tim Hardaway, Jr. (2-10 from three) might have meant an upset.....It took the Stars to solve the resurgent Wild, blanking them while scoring four Ryne Smith connected on 6 of 9 from deep and led the No. 10 Boilermakers to a 75-52 drubbing of the Hawkeyes.....The No. 25 Bearcats finally took a loss at No. 7 Villanova, 72-61, primarily because they had no answer for the Wildcats' Corey Fisher.....T-Wolves lost again.....Pacers, too.....Well done, Corey Crawford; he turned away all 29 shots the Isles threw at him; The Hawks netted 5 in the win.....At ease.
The Big 10 Review: Week 2
The week that was in the Big 10 - Week 2. After two weeks, the Big 10 race in beginning to take shape. Winning the Big 10 title requires teams to hold serve at home, beat the teams they are better than on the road, and steal a few games against the top teams on the road. Minnesota is running out of opportunities to steal a quality road win. Michigan State's title hopes take a huge hit with a loss at Penn State. Ohio State, Purdue, Wisconsin and Illinois managed to avoid any hits to their title hopes, winning the games they were supposed to win. No one in the top 6 has found that true statement win through two weeks. Same format as last week: Best Win, Worst Loss, and Power Rankings. Without further adieu...
Best Win: Illinois 88-63 over Northwestern. Just a clinic by the Illini, the best performance Illinois has had all year, maybe the best performance by anyone in the Big 10 all year. The Illini shot 70.5% from the floor and were 9-14 from the arc. They outrebounded Northwestern 33-16 (in large part because Illinois only missed 13 field goals all game). The game was over by halftime. A great win for the Illini against a desperate Northwestern team.
Worst Loss: Michigan State losses 66-62 to Penn State Saturday. Now, while the Hobbserver did predict that Penn State would beat one of the top 6 in the Big 10, I could not have predicted that Penn State would beat Michigan State while Taylor Battle shot 3-14 from the floor. Battle still did everything else well (6 assists and 6 rebounds) and Penn State only turned the ball over 5 times. Michigan State killed themselves at the free throw line (10-20). Izzo needs to right this ship quickly or Michigan State could find themselves squarely on the NCAA bubble.
1) Ohio State (16-0, 3-0). THE Ohio State University had an interesting week. In my mind, Ohio State came back to the pack a little this week. The Buckeyes led Iowa (in Iowa City) by 13 with 6 minutes to play at midweek. That 13 point lead was down to 3 with 29 seconds left, before Ohio State finally iced the game, winning 73-68. On Sunday, the Buckeyes led Minnesota 55-37 with 8 minutes to play. Again, they failed to put the game away and watched Minnesota miss a three at the buzzer that would have sent the game into overtime, holding on for a 67-64 win (and this game was in Columbus). So what do we take away from this week for the Buckeyes? A lack of depth hurts them (they only go 7 deep). The lack of any consistent point guard play could be an issue (they rely on freshman point guard Aaron Craft to give them minutes at the point - and Craft is not even a starter). But Ohio State still has the most talented starting 5 in the Big 10, they still have a balanced attack offensively (Lighty, Diebler, Buford and Sullinger can all score 20+ on any given night), and they still defend extremely well. As a result, Ohio State still maintains the top spot in the power rankings, even after an underwhelming week of basketball. The Buckeyes travel to Michigan Wednesday and host Penn State Saturday. Really, Ohio State will not be tested again until they travel to Illinois on January 22.
2) Wisconsin (12-3, 2-1). The Badgers had just one game this past week, a 66-50 home win against Michigan (outscoring the Wolverines 40-22 in the second half). Jordan Taylor continued his extremely strong Big 10 play with 20 points and 8 rebounds. The Badgers have a huge week ahead of them, traveling to East Lansing to face a reeling Michigan State team Tuesday before hosting Illinois on Saturday. If Wisconsin can manage two wins in the coming week, they will position themselves well in the Big 10 race.
3) Purdue (15-1, 4-0). Purdue closed out an easy four game stretch to open their Big 10 season with comfortable wins at Penn State (83-68) and home against Iowa (75-52), after opening wins over Michigan and Northwestern. Purdue overcame poor shooting performances from E'Twaun Moore in both games (2-10 against Penn State and 5-15 against Iowa). Purdue, however, hopes that they have found their missing third scoring option. Ryne Smith had a torrid week, scoring 20 points against Penn State and 18 against Iowa while shooting an astonishing 11-14 from three. No one expects Smith to continue to shoot that well, but if he can provide a consistent three point threat going forward, Purdue is going to be extremely difficult to beat. Purdue will be tested this week with a road game against Minnesota Wednesday, and a road game at West Virginia on Sunday. An undefeated week for Purdue would be impressive indeed.
4) Illinois (13-3, 3-0). As mentioned above, Illinois looked spectacular in destroying Northwestern this week. Perhaps the best news out of the Northwestern game is the continuing improvement of Myers Leonard (11 points). The freshman center needs to continue to improve (beyond his spectacular dunking ability), especially on the defensive end, to give the Illini a backup center to the foul prone Mike Tisdale. Two road games this week for the Illini, at Penn State Tuesday and at Wisconsin Saturday. Bruce Weber is one of the only coaches in the Big 10 with any manner of success at Kohl. The Illini were better than Wisconsin in Champaign earlier this season, but will need to be much better to steal a win at Kohl for the second straight year.
5) Michigan State (10-5, 2-1). Michigan State had a rough week. They won a game they should not have at Northwestern at midweek (65-62), and then dropped a shocker at Penn State Saturday. The Spartans need to find any sort of production from their bench (10 points from the bench against Northwestern, 14 against Penn State). This is an extremely important week for the Spartans, with two home games (Wisconsin Tuesday, Northwestern Saturday) that are as close to must wins as you can find this early in the season (the following week sees the Spartans travel to Illinois and Purdue). Tom Izzo and his trio of veterans (Draymond Green, Kalin Lucas and Durrell Summers) need to get their act together, and fast.
6) Minnesota (12-4, 1-3). The Golden Gophers picked up their first win in Big 10 play this week, in a closer than expected 67-63 home win against Indiana (in a game the Gophers actually trailed with 8 minutes left). And they battled back in the aforementioned 67-64 loss at Ohio State. Minnesota's toughest loss of the week, however, may have been when Devoe Joseph was granted a release from his scholarship. Joseph was suspended for the first 6 games of the season, but averaged 11.3 points per game in the 8 games he played prior to requesting his release. Minnesota loses a very valuable scorer on a team that does not have a lot of creators. The loss of Joseph was never more evident than at the end of the Ohio State game. Down 3, with the ball, with 18 seconds left, Tubby Smith called a timeout. The play Minnesota designed was drawn up for Blake Hoffarber, Minnesota's best shooter. Ohio State read the play, Dallas Lauderdale hedged out on the screen denying Hoffarber the ball. Al Nolen dribbled at the top of the key for another several seconds, handing the ball off to Austin Hollins for an extremely contested 3 as time expired. Joseph would have been able to create a three for himself off the dribble after Hoffarber was denied the ball and Minnesota would have had a much better chance to force overtime. Minnesota has a must win game at home against Purdue Thursday and hosts Iowa Sunday. The Gophers need a 2-0 week to get back into the Big 10 race.
7) Northwestern (10-4, 1-3). Really a week that ends up as a huge negative for Northwestern. This has been written many times, and in many places this week, but it bears repeating here: if Northwestern is to make the NCAA tournament for the first time in school history, then they must move beyond "moral victories." And their loss to Michigan State this week (65-62) was a huge opportunity lost. Northwestern should have won that game, but instead, the Spartans valiantly held on and Northwestern took a hit. Northwestern then ran into a buzzsaw in Champaign at midweek. Just about everyone in the country would have lost at Illinois that day. But Northwestern does take a small consolation out of this week, securing their first Big 10 win by blowing out Indiana Sunday. Now, Northwestern has some things going for them still: (1) they play everyone below them in this power ranking twice (though Michigan, Penn State and, to a lesser extent, Iowa have shown that they are a tough out any given night); and (2) the "never made the NCAA tournament" storyline is compelling enough that it might propel the Wildcats over teams with similar or slightly better resumes and into the tournament. To get to that point, I believe Northwestern needs to go 10-8 in the conference. Doable, yes. But they would be in a much better position if they had held on at home against Michigan State this week. In the week ahead, Northwestern features two road games: at Iowa Wednesday and at Michigan State Saturday. The Iowa game is a must win for their tournament hopes.
8) Michigan (11-5, 1-2). I was absolutely ready to move Penn State ahead of Michigan on the heels of Penn State's upset win over Michigan State and Michigan's underwhelming 66-50 loss at Wisconsin in the middle of the week. And then Michigan just battled against Kansas, coming back from down 12 midway through the second half to force overtime before ultimately losing 67-60. Michigan was extremely active in their 1-3-1 and Kansas had a very, very difficult time penetrating the middle of, and scoring against, that zone (forcing 16 Kansas turnovers and limiting them to under 36% shooting). Michigan's crowd was loud and definitely helped keep Michigan from folding both down the stretch in regulation and in overtime. Michigan will continue to have trouble scoring throughout the Big 10 season as Darius Morris and Tim Hardaway, Jr. are still Michigan's only real scoring threats. Michigan, however, has a scrappy third guard in Zach Novak (just under 7 rebounds a game) who is the type of high energy player every school in the Big 10 would like to have and really is representative of Michigan's effort. In spite of their offensive struggles, close losses to Syracuse earlier in the season, and Kansas Sunday, show just how difficult Michigan can be to play. Michigan hosts Ohio State Wednesday and travels to Indiana Saturday. Will Michigan be able to maintain the intensity from the Kansas loss and have a good week?
9) Penn State (9-6, 2-2). The Nittany Lions had a great week. They may have lost handily (83-68) at home against Purdue, but they followed that up with a fantastic home win against Michigan State (as stated above). Taylor Battle had a rough week, going 6-22 in the loss to Purdue and 3-14 in the win against Michigan State, but the rest of the Nittany Lions are reaping the benefits from the increased attention Battle is seeing as evidenced by Jeff Brooks averaging better than 17 points per game in Big 10 play. Penn State has a difficult week ahead as they host Illinois on Tuesday and travel to Columbus to face the Buckeyes on Saturday.
10) Iowa (7-8, 0-3). Unlike Northwestern, the young Hawkeyes can afford moral victories. They picked up quite the moral victory this week, battling against Ohio State, in a close 73-68 loss in Iowa City before losing badly at Purdue Sunday. The Hawkeyes hope that the Ohio State game was a coming out party for Freshman center Melsahn Basabe (22 points and 13 rebounds). Basabe, as any freshmen not named Jared Sullinger is want to do, came back to earth, struggling against Purdue (8 points, 3 rebounds, 4 turnovers). Still, Iowa is playing hard and has not backed down against anyone yet, and that is a tribute to first year coach Fran McCaffery. Iowa hosts Northwestern and visits Minnesota this week as they search for their first conference win.
11) Indiana (9-8, 0-4). Living in Hoosier country, I have way too much exposure to this awful basketball team. Indiana fans are not accustomed to subpar basketball teams, and their patience is growing thin. But there was optimism after a close loss at Minnesota at midweek (67-63 and Indiana actually led with 8 minutes to play). The Indiana fans want to see the Hoosiers play with effort and compete. To that end, the Hoosiers succeeded in Minneapolis and failed in surrendering 93 points at Northwestern. The Hoosiers only play once in the coming week, home Saturday against Michigan, as they try to secure their first Big 10 win of the season.
Best Win: Illinois 88-63 over Northwestern. Just a clinic by the Illini, the best performance Illinois has had all year, maybe the best performance by anyone in the Big 10 all year. The Illini shot 70.5% from the floor and were 9-14 from the arc. They outrebounded Northwestern 33-16 (in large part because Illinois only missed 13 field goals all game). The game was over by halftime. A great win for the Illini against a desperate Northwestern team.
Worst Loss: Michigan State losses 66-62 to Penn State Saturday. Now, while the Hobbserver did predict that Penn State would beat one of the top 6 in the Big 10, I could not have predicted that Penn State would beat Michigan State while Taylor Battle shot 3-14 from the floor. Battle still did everything else well (6 assists and 6 rebounds) and Penn State only turned the ball over 5 times. Michigan State killed themselves at the free throw line (10-20). Izzo needs to right this ship quickly or Michigan State could find themselves squarely on the NCAA bubble.
1) Ohio State (16-0, 3-0). THE Ohio State University had an interesting week. In my mind, Ohio State came back to the pack a little this week. The Buckeyes led Iowa (in Iowa City) by 13 with 6 minutes to play at midweek. That 13 point lead was down to 3 with 29 seconds left, before Ohio State finally iced the game, winning 73-68. On Sunday, the Buckeyes led Minnesota 55-37 with 8 minutes to play. Again, they failed to put the game away and watched Minnesota miss a three at the buzzer that would have sent the game into overtime, holding on for a 67-64 win (and this game was in Columbus). So what do we take away from this week for the Buckeyes? A lack of depth hurts them (they only go 7 deep). The lack of any consistent point guard play could be an issue (they rely on freshman point guard Aaron Craft to give them minutes at the point - and Craft is not even a starter). But Ohio State still has the most talented starting 5 in the Big 10, they still have a balanced attack offensively (Lighty, Diebler, Buford and Sullinger can all score 20+ on any given night), and they still defend extremely well. As a result, Ohio State still maintains the top spot in the power rankings, even after an underwhelming week of basketball. The Buckeyes travel to Michigan Wednesday and host Penn State Saturday. Really, Ohio State will not be tested again until they travel to Illinois on January 22.
2) Wisconsin (12-3, 2-1). The Badgers had just one game this past week, a 66-50 home win against Michigan (outscoring the Wolverines 40-22 in the second half). Jordan Taylor continued his extremely strong Big 10 play with 20 points and 8 rebounds. The Badgers have a huge week ahead of them, traveling to East Lansing to face a reeling Michigan State team Tuesday before hosting Illinois on Saturday. If Wisconsin can manage two wins in the coming week, they will position themselves well in the Big 10 race.
3) Purdue (15-1, 4-0). Purdue closed out an easy four game stretch to open their Big 10 season with comfortable wins at Penn State (83-68) and home against Iowa (75-52), after opening wins over Michigan and Northwestern. Purdue overcame poor shooting performances from E'Twaun Moore in both games (2-10 against Penn State and 5-15 against Iowa). Purdue, however, hopes that they have found their missing third scoring option. Ryne Smith had a torrid week, scoring 20 points against Penn State and 18 against Iowa while shooting an astonishing 11-14 from three. No one expects Smith to continue to shoot that well, but if he can provide a consistent three point threat going forward, Purdue is going to be extremely difficult to beat. Purdue will be tested this week with a road game against Minnesota Wednesday, and a road game at West Virginia on Sunday. An undefeated week for Purdue would be impressive indeed.
4) Illinois (13-3, 3-0). As mentioned above, Illinois looked spectacular in destroying Northwestern this week. Perhaps the best news out of the Northwestern game is the continuing improvement of Myers Leonard (11 points). The freshman center needs to continue to improve (beyond his spectacular dunking ability), especially on the defensive end, to give the Illini a backup center to the foul prone Mike Tisdale. Two road games this week for the Illini, at Penn State Tuesday and at Wisconsin Saturday. Bruce Weber is one of the only coaches in the Big 10 with any manner of success at Kohl. The Illini were better than Wisconsin in Champaign earlier this season, but will need to be much better to steal a win at Kohl for the second straight year.
5) Michigan State (10-5, 2-1). Michigan State had a rough week. They won a game they should not have at Northwestern at midweek (65-62), and then dropped a shocker at Penn State Saturday. The Spartans need to find any sort of production from their bench (10 points from the bench against Northwestern, 14 against Penn State). This is an extremely important week for the Spartans, with two home games (Wisconsin Tuesday, Northwestern Saturday) that are as close to must wins as you can find this early in the season (the following week sees the Spartans travel to Illinois and Purdue). Tom Izzo and his trio of veterans (Draymond Green, Kalin Lucas and Durrell Summers) need to get their act together, and fast.
6) Minnesota (12-4, 1-3). The Golden Gophers picked up their first win in Big 10 play this week, in a closer than expected 67-63 home win against Indiana (in a game the Gophers actually trailed with 8 minutes left). And they battled back in the aforementioned 67-64 loss at Ohio State. Minnesota's toughest loss of the week, however, may have been when Devoe Joseph was granted a release from his scholarship. Joseph was suspended for the first 6 games of the season, but averaged 11.3 points per game in the 8 games he played prior to requesting his release. Minnesota loses a very valuable scorer on a team that does not have a lot of creators. The loss of Joseph was never more evident than at the end of the Ohio State game. Down 3, with the ball, with 18 seconds left, Tubby Smith called a timeout. The play Minnesota designed was drawn up for Blake Hoffarber, Minnesota's best shooter. Ohio State read the play, Dallas Lauderdale hedged out on the screen denying Hoffarber the ball. Al Nolen dribbled at the top of the key for another several seconds, handing the ball off to Austin Hollins for an extremely contested 3 as time expired. Joseph would have been able to create a three for himself off the dribble after Hoffarber was denied the ball and Minnesota would have had a much better chance to force overtime. Minnesota has a must win game at home against Purdue Thursday and hosts Iowa Sunday. The Gophers need a 2-0 week to get back into the Big 10 race.
7) Northwestern (10-4, 1-3). Really a week that ends up as a huge negative for Northwestern. This has been written many times, and in many places this week, but it bears repeating here: if Northwestern is to make the NCAA tournament for the first time in school history, then they must move beyond "moral victories." And their loss to Michigan State this week (65-62) was a huge opportunity lost. Northwestern should have won that game, but instead, the Spartans valiantly held on and Northwestern took a hit. Northwestern then ran into a buzzsaw in Champaign at midweek. Just about everyone in the country would have lost at Illinois that day. But Northwestern does take a small consolation out of this week, securing their first Big 10 win by blowing out Indiana Sunday. Now, Northwestern has some things going for them still: (1) they play everyone below them in this power ranking twice (though Michigan, Penn State and, to a lesser extent, Iowa have shown that they are a tough out any given night); and (2) the "never made the NCAA tournament" storyline is compelling enough that it might propel the Wildcats over teams with similar or slightly better resumes and into the tournament. To get to that point, I believe Northwestern needs to go 10-8 in the conference. Doable, yes. But they would be in a much better position if they had held on at home against Michigan State this week. In the week ahead, Northwestern features two road games: at Iowa Wednesday and at Michigan State Saturday. The Iowa game is a must win for their tournament hopes.
8) Michigan (11-5, 1-2). I was absolutely ready to move Penn State ahead of Michigan on the heels of Penn State's upset win over Michigan State and Michigan's underwhelming 66-50 loss at Wisconsin in the middle of the week. And then Michigan just battled against Kansas, coming back from down 12 midway through the second half to force overtime before ultimately losing 67-60. Michigan was extremely active in their 1-3-1 and Kansas had a very, very difficult time penetrating the middle of, and scoring against, that zone (forcing 16 Kansas turnovers and limiting them to under 36% shooting). Michigan's crowd was loud and definitely helped keep Michigan from folding both down the stretch in regulation and in overtime. Michigan will continue to have trouble scoring throughout the Big 10 season as Darius Morris and Tim Hardaway, Jr. are still Michigan's only real scoring threats. Michigan, however, has a scrappy third guard in Zach Novak (just under 7 rebounds a game) who is the type of high energy player every school in the Big 10 would like to have and really is representative of Michigan's effort. In spite of their offensive struggles, close losses to Syracuse earlier in the season, and Kansas Sunday, show just how difficult Michigan can be to play. Michigan hosts Ohio State Wednesday and travels to Indiana Saturday. Will Michigan be able to maintain the intensity from the Kansas loss and have a good week?
9) Penn State (9-6, 2-2). The Nittany Lions had a great week. They may have lost handily (83-68) at home against Purdue, but they followed that up with a fantastic home win against Michigan State (as stated above). Taylor Battle had a rough week, going 6-22 in the loss to Purdue and 3-14 in the win against Michigan State, but the rest of the Nittany Lions are reaping the benefits from the increased attention Battle is seeing as evidenced by Jeff Brooks averaging better than 17 points per game in Big 10 play. Penn State has a difficult week ahead as they host Illinois on Tuesday and travel to Columbus to face the Buckeyes on Saturday.
10) Iowa (7-8, 0-3). Unlike Northwestern, the young Hawkeyes can afford moral victories. They picked up quite the moral victory this week, battling against Ohio State, in a close 73-68 loss in Iowa City before losing badly at Purdue Sunday. The Hawkeyes hope that the Ohio State game was a coming out party for Freshman center Melsahn Basabe (22 points and 13 rebounds). Basabe, as any freshmen not named Jared Sullinger is want to do, came back to earth, struggling against Purdue (8 points, 3 rebounds, 4 turnovers). Still, Iowa is playing hard and has not backed down against anyone yet, and that is a tribute to first year coach Fran McCaffery. Iowa hosts Northwestern and visits Minnesota this week as they search for their first conference win.
11) Indiana (9-8, 0-4). Living in Hoosier country, I have way too much exposure to this awful basketball team. Indiana fans are not accustomed to subpar basketball teams, and their patience is growing thin. But there was optimism after a close loss at Minnesota at midweek (67-63 and Indiana actually led with 8 minutes to play). The Indiana fans want to see the Hoosiers play with effort and compete. To that end, the Hoosiers succeeded in Minneapolis and failed in surrendering 93 points at Northwestern. The Hoosiers only play once in the coming week, home Saturday against Michigan, as they try to secure their first Big 10 win of the season.
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