tOfficial B1G Thread 2017-2018

[Great Dayne]

Badgers offer top 15 four star PG Ethan Mortan. 6'4" out of Butler

"It's a great school," he said. "They've made the tournament 19 years in a row. They've finished top four in the Big Ten 17 years in a row. I love the success, the way they play. I seem to fit and play like a lot of guys who are there. The culture and everything makes it a very attractive place."

This what i like about out of state kids who WANT to be here.
They seem to know the program here better than the instate kids.
The Badgers are elite enough now to recruit nationally. Stop promising instate kids
and waiting for them to make up their minds. Go with the best available many of whom are better than the instate players...and there are plenty out there who would love to be in Madison.

 

[Great Dayne]

Badgers steal a former Michigan commit in the 6'9" PF in Taylor Currie. He's the 44th ranked PF in his class and was recruited by Michigan, Xavier, OSU, Florida, Iowa and West Virginia. That's a nice treat on Halloween.

Michigan PF Taylor Currie commits to Wisconsin

 

[Great Dayne]

Iverson was voted as the breakout player of 2017. IDK, his decision making was poor and skills were raw. The only thing he showed consistently was good defense and athletic dunks. I think if anyone is going to breakout it's Brevin Pritzl. Dude was a four star recruit in 2015 and sat out his first year from his injury, was slowly added into the lineup last year to receive more minutes. In the off season he scored 28 points vs an Australian pro team that lost to OKC by 1 point. I think this kid could post 15 ppg this season. Also, Van Vilet who didn't see the court for his first year as a 7ft three point specialist due to the NCAA rules not allowing a previous pro player to play in his first year. His second year was a disappointment because his ego got in the way. He believed the offense should revolve around him chucking three's and he didn't have to play in the system or play defense. Well, GG let him sit on the bench for majority of the year with that mentality. reports are in the off season he was considering transferring then he had a change of heart and worked hard with his coaches to develop his all around game and play within the system. He earned the starting PF spot and coaches said he was the most improved player by far. He's in his third season now which is when Frank the Tank went from nobody to an all american player. IDK if he'll make that big of a jump but a 7 footer with great 3 pt range and is committed to playing defense can only bring good things to this team.

Starting five

C: Happ
PF: Van Vilet
F: Iverson
SG: Pritzl
PG: Trice

First of the Bench SG/F Kobe King and PG Davidson both freshmen

Iverson Named Under the Radar Breakout Candidate in 2017-18

 

[rmilia1]

The transfer of Christian Williams has yanked the redshirt of off Connor McCaffery for this year . Thank God . Backup PG was my only real area of concern . Now Iowa should be golden

 

[Great Dayne]

UW 69 UNI 28

Kobe King the freshman scored 15 off the bench.

 

[Great Dayne]

I know the season hasn't even started but after watching this team vs pro teams in Australia and New Zealand (went 4-1) combined with easily handling Missouri (2 NBA prospects and NCAA tournament team) and obliterating UNI (projected conference winner) this team is looking much better than last season. I mean they lost by one point on a last second buzzer beater (refs gave the opponent some home cooking as well) to a pro team that was beat by OKC a playoff NBA team by just one point.

They're playing more like a team. I believe having Vitto Brown who was very inconsistent at shooting and way too many turnovers, and Hayes was just a ball hog that killed the team chemistry and was a low FG% low efficiency player actually hurt this team in many ways.

Happ will be able to dominate now and he has more shooters that can bail him out when he's double teamed. The defense looks even better as well. Happ should be a POY candidate and I believe Kobe King and Davidson will be freshmen of the year candidates. Both have NBA bodies and are playing like 4 year veterans already. Reauvers still looks green but is offensively gifted. He might be the 10th man off the bench at the PF spot.

I will stick with my prediction of finishing 4th in the Big and being an 8 seed but I can see them potentially shocking many people by winning the BIG and being a 2 seed but a good amount of growth would need to occur during the season. At worst they finish as a 6th seed and barely make it into the NCAA tournament.

 

[rmilia1]

After tonight's 96 point effort Iowa wraps up their off-season averaging 104 ppg in their 6 exhibition games ( including the Eurotrip ). Offense is going to be potent all year . If the D is ANY good Iowa should win 22-24 games no problem .

 

[Great Dayne]

Badgers 85 Blue Devils 56

Badgers were without their starting PG for the entire game and the starting SG was injured during the early in the second half. Kobe King scored 17 points and looks NBA ready. Davidson started at PG and did very well with 13 points 4 ast and 4 reb. The young freshmen look like they might fight for freshmen of the year in the BIG. Badgers went 7-1 in the preseason with the one loss being a 1 point loss on a hail Mary game winner vs an Australian Pro team that lost to the Oklahoma City Thunder by 1 point. Obviously that doesn't mean this team can beat NBA teams but they have a few players that might make NBA squads with Happ and Kobe King for sure.

 

[rmilia1]

Nick Baer out 3-4 weeks with a hand injury . That sucks , he's an important piece for Iowa

 

[Great Dayne]

Michigan State. struggled to beat Ferris St. at home. That's not what any final four team would do. They just don't impress me and are being all hyped up just like last season.

 

[ericd7633]

Michigan State. struggled to beat Ferris St. at home. That's not what any final four team would do. They just don't impress me and are being all hyped up just like last season.

You're reading way to much into these secret scrimmages and exhibition games. Syracuse lost to a D2 school in 2010 and went on to finish the year ranked #1 heading into the tournament.

 

[rmilia1]

You're reading way to much into these secret scrimmages and exhibition games. Syracuse lost to a D2 school in 2010 and went on to finish the year ranked #1 heading into the tournament.

MSU lost to GVSU in exhibition the year they won the title . The Iowa team that got all the way up to 3 in the country 2 years ago lost in exhibition . It happens

 

[ericd7633]

MSU lost to GVSU in exhibition the year they won the title . The Iowa team that got all the way up to 3 in the country 2 years ago lost in exhibition . It happens

Yeah, I'm sure there were other examples. The point is it doesn't really mean all that much. If Michigan State looks bad against North Florida, then the discussion can start at that point.

 

[Great Dayne]

You're reading way to much into these secret scrimmages and exhibition games. Syracuse lost to a D2 school in 2010 and went on to finish the year ranked #1 heading into the tournament.

Depends on how many of the Syracuse starters actually played. Also, it's just an anomaly. Meanwhile MSU hasn't shown me that they took this magical monster step after being a slightly above average team last season

 

[iowajerms]

BTN - Bold predictions for 2017-18 Big Ten men's basketball season

Stephen Bardo: Iowa will finish in the Top 4 in the Big Ten. Not many people have mentioned the size (Luke Garza) and depth of this team. Iowa is a hungry bunch that will wreak havoc on the league.

Jon Crispin: The Big Ten will have four teams in the Sweet Sixteen this year. I’ve got Michigan State, Purdue, Northwestern and Iowa as the Big Ten’s Cinderella this season. Northwestern will be a matchup nightmare for NCAA tourney opponents and Iowa will be peaking at the right time to make a run. If Minnesota can stay healthy, keep Reggie Lynch on the floor and develop some depth throughout the season, they’ll be in the mix too.

Tom Dienhart: Penn State will make the NCAA tourney. Yep. The Nittany Lions will go dancing for the first time since 2011. Pat Chambers finally has this program ready to breakthrough in his seventh season in State College. Chambers has had just one postseason appearance with the Nittany Lions, getting to the CBI in 2013-14. But this is his most talented roster yet, led by guys like Tony Carr, Shep Garner and Lamar Stevens. And it will help when Mike Watkins returns from suspension.

Robbie Hummel: Iowa finishes in the Top 5 in the Big Ten. Iowa loses Peter Jok, last year’s leading scorer in the conference, but its young and talented depth will guide it to a top-five finish in the conference this season.

Andy Katz: Kobe King will be one of the most important freshmen in the country.King will start the season coming off the bench. But the Wisconsin guard will end up having a critical role throughout the season. He can post, score facing the basket, make shots and can be a distributor. His piston-like frame puts him in position to be a tough matchup for opposing teams. If the Badgers are once again going to be a top five Big Ten and at least NCAA Tournament round of 32 team then King will have a large say in the matter.

Shon Morris: Robert Johnson of Indiana will be an all-conference player. He will be the focus of Indiana’s attack and will not have to defer offensively as he has in the past. He has been a very good barometer of Indiana’s success throughout his career and is a versatile defender.

Alex Roux: A record eight Big Ten teams will make the NCAA tournament. The conference was criticized heavily last year for a lack of firepower at the top, but teams clustered around the middle of the conference were solid enough to secure seven berths in the Dance. I expect many of those middle-tier teams to improve and all seven to return to the tournament, with at least one team from last year left out in the cold (Penn State, Indiana, Illinois, perhaps?) sneaking in to secure a record eight tournament bids.

Brent Yarina: Carsen Edwards leads the Big Ten in scoring. Few, if any, players in the conference can create and get his shot better than the Purdue sophomore. He may have some inconsistent nights, but his ability to score in bunches and get to the line, plus Matt Painter’s willingness to give him the green light, will yield a prolific scorer.

 

[Great Dayne]

Easy Win for the Badgers tonight. Happ with the usual 20 and 10 with 2 steals. I don't think he scored in the first half. Andy Van Vilet the professional European player showed he is a unicorn (7 footer with guard skills) Now in his third season like Frank the tank was before he started to dominate. He ended up with 18 points and 9 rebounds and was 4/5 from downtown. I warned you guys about him 2 years ago and now he's going to take over this conference like the Tank did.

Future freshman of the year in Kobe King had a poor performance with 6 measly points and Davidson had 5. This team looks miles better than the team from last year. Defensively they are much better and on offense the ball moves so much better without Brown and Hayes. Also the bench is much deeper as well. Can't wait for this team to prove the morons that predicted them to be seventh in the conference.

 

[rmilia1]

Lol at Indiana losing by 21 to Indiana St

 

[Lions=TeHsUcKs]

Lol at Indiana losing by 21 to Indiana St

 

[rmilia1]

Good start for Iowa. Starters sat the last 12 minutes in a 33 point win. Freshman looked good especially Garza who had 16 and 5 in 18 minutes on 6 out of 6 shooting . Team shot great from 3 as well. Overall very nice start to the season

 

[Great Dayne]

Lol at Indiana losing by 21 to Indiana St

Lol indeed. At least no other BIG team lost. Although Northwestern won but just 4 and the Minnesota defense wasn't impressive. Illinois had the biggest margin victory.