Entries from November 2007 ↓

By Adam Kiefaber

Everyone is picking the top three, so I’m following suit.

I was going to breakdown every team completely, but it was eating a lot of time.

I realized that the season is right around the corner (Nov. 9 - first Big Ten game) and that there will be plenty of time to evaluate the Big Ten before the start of conference play.

1) Michigan State
Why: Not much of a surprise pick here. Every media source will have Michigan State and Indiana at the top. Coach Tom Izzo’s MSU team overachieved last season. All five starters return from a team that went 23-12 last season. Plus, the team adds three top-notch true freshmen in guards Chris Allen, Kalin Lucas and small forward Durrell Summers.

Best Player: Senior guard Drew Neitzel (left) is the preseason Big Ten Player of Year. Neitzel averaged 18.1 points and 4.3 assists per game last year. Sophomore forward Raymar Morgan is the second best player on this team and could become a star this season. Last year, he averaged 11.7 points and 5.2 rebounds per game.

Best Newcomer: Kalin Lucas, who is described as a “lighting quick point guard”, scored 29 points in MSU’s Green-White scrimmage. In the contest, Lucas made 13-of-16 shots. Fellow freshman Chris Allen scored 21 points and has ability to drill the long three with consistently.

Possible Breakout Player: Junior forward Marquise Gray or senior center Drew Naymick. Gray averaged 6.8 points and 5.5 rebounds per game last season. Watching Gray play last year you could see that he possess great athletic ability. Naymick averaged only 3.7 points and 3.9 rebounds last year. Most of the time, Naymick didn’t look to score, but in the Green-White scrimmage he scored 15 points and grabbed 12 rebounds.

Starting Lineup: PG Travis Walton (Jr.), SG Drew Neitzel (Sr.), SF Raymar Morgan (So.), PF Marquise Gray (Jr.), C Drew Naymick (Sr.)
Key Bench Players: C/F Goran Suton (Jr.), F Isaiah Dahlman (So.), C Idong Ibok (Jr.) - and the three talented true freshmen.

2) Indiana
Why: A lot of recent attention on Indiana has been negative. Head coach Kelvin Sampson and his three-way calling could turn out to be a distraction for this talented team. According to The Sports Xchange, Sampson had been prohibited from three-way calling with recruits as part of the penalty imposed by the NCAA for exceeding the rule for number of phones calls to recruits while coaching at Oklahoma. Indiana had to reduce its number of scholarships by one and prevented Sampson from taking a $500,000 raise.

Best Player: Senior forward D.J. White (right), who led the U.S. in the Pan-Am Games over the summer, averaged 12.8 points, 7.3 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game last year. White is the heart and soul of this team.

Best Newcomer: Freshman guard Eric Gordon is considered by some to be the top recruit in the nation. Last year, he was named Indiana’s Mr. Basketball. At North Central High School in Indianapolis he averaged 29 points, 6.2 rebounds and 3.3 assists. Forward Jamarcus Ellis was named the national junior college player of the year last year and will make an instant impact.

Possible Breakout Player: Sophomore guard Armon Bassett played well last year, averaging 9.7 points and 3.1 assists per game. Bassett has improved his three-point shot and will be should get more looks with 06-07 starting guards Roderick Wilmont and Earl Calloway lost to graduation.

Starting Lineup: PG Armon Bassett (So.), SG Eric Gordon (Fr.), SF Jamarcus Ellis (Fr.), PF D.J. White (Sr.), PF Lance Stemler (Sr.)
Key Bench Players: SG A.J. Ratliff (Sr. - out first eight games for academics), PF DeAndre Thomas (Fr.), G Jordan Crawford (Fr.)

3) Ohio State

Why: The Buckeyes could be a surprise team during the 07-08 season. When I say surprise that could mean good or bad. OSU loses four starters including NBA lottery picks Greg Oden and Mike Conley Jr. However, head coach Thad Matta continues to recruit the best players. This year OSU could be good, but in the near future the Buckeyes should be great.

Best Player: Senior Jamar Butler (left) moved over from point guard to shooting guard to make room for Mike Conley Jr. last year. This year he is back at the point where he averaged 10.1 points and 4.6 assists per game in 05-06. Last year, he averaged 8.5 points and 3.6 assists per game. This offseason, Butler has reportedly lost a bunch of weight and wants to be more of a slasher like Conley was last year.

Best Newcomer: 7-1 true freshman center Kosta Koufos will replace Greg Oden. Unlike Oden, Koufos can hit the three. In his senior year at Glen Oak High School he scored 25.9 points, 15.4 rebounds and 5.2 blocked shots per game. Fellow true freshman Jon Diebler could turn out to be a big scorer for the Bucks.

Possible Breakout Player: Sophomore guard/forward David Lighty was another huge recruit in that amazing recruiting class last year. He didn’t get the looks last year that he will this season. Lighty could lead this team in scoring after averaging only 3.7 points per game last season.

Starting Lineup: PG Jamar Butler (Sr.), SG David Lighty (So.), PF Othello Hunter (Sr.), PF Matt Terwilliger (Sr.), C Kosta Koufos (Fr.)
Key Bench Players: G/F Eric Turner (Fr.), G/F Eric Wallace (Fr.), G Jon Diebler (Fr.), PF Dallas Lauderdale (Fr.), PF Kyle Madsen (So.), G P.J. Hill (So.).

4) Wisconsin
The Badgers lose Alando Tucker and Kammron Taylor and who knows when Michael Flowers will play. However, somehow this team is always good.

5) Illinois
Not much is expected from this team. However, the Fighting Illini have a pair of good senior forwards in Shaun Pruitt and Brian Randle. This team could surprise and finish near the top of the Big Ten.

6) Minnesota
Tubby Smith will looking to prove that his is a good coach. All five starters return, but they return from a team that finished 9-22.

7) Michigan
Another team with a new head coach. John Beilein is a great coach and he needs to be, as Michigan returns only starter. This team is young and I expect them to play good basketball by conference play behind Beilein.

8) Purdue
The Boilermakers finally made the NCAA Tournament last year and was leading eventual champ Florida at halftime. Supposedly they got a good recruiting class this year, but their top two scorers are gone.

The Next Three
9) Penn State - 10) Northwestern - 11) Iowa

All three should struggle

- GO TO Eleven Warriors - THERE IS A NICE RECAP ON OSU’s EXHIBITION GAME -

By Adam Kiefaber

The week is finally here!

Wisconsin week - and -

it is Buckeye Lane’s turn to host the Big Ten Roundtable of Bloggers.

Let’s see how the fellow blogger answered my questions -

There’s the list of the bloggers that got their answers in by the deadline:

Lake The Posts
Black Shoe Diaries
Off the Tracks
The Hoosier Report
The Buckeye Blog
The Nittany Line

1) With the Big Ten season about to be wrapped up, it is a little easier to predict what Bowl games are possible for your school. Tell me what Bowl games would interest you as a fan. Where do you want to go? More importantly, who do you want to play?

Go see what the The Buckeye Blog says about Ohio State, “I can’t believe we are on the home stretch of the Big Ten season already. As for the Buckeyes, we are all looking to New Orleans for the BCS National Championship game. Anything else at this point would be a letdown. As for a matchup? Anybody got a coin for me to flip?”

Black Shoe Diaries (PSU blog) wants to play an SEC team in the Capital One or Outback bowls. However, BSD thinks that PSU won’t make it to the Capital One, and maybe an Alamo Bowl against a Big 12 team will take place. The Nittany Line wants an SEC team as well in the Outback bowl. Lake The Posts (Northwestern blog) wants any Bowl except for a trip to the Motor City. Off the Tracks (Purdue blog) wants to visit the Alamo. The Hooiser Report will take anything since their team hasn’t been to a bowl game in 14 years.

2) In honor of Black Shoe Diaries’ question about the Big Ten Moron Coach of the Year Award. Tell me who is the most disappointing player in the Big Ten this season. Also, tell me who is the most disappointing on your team.

Black Shoe Diaries says, “Aw shucks. Nice to know BSD is leaving a legacy of suck with the Big Ten Bloggers. I am thoroughly unimpressed with Juice Williams. He was supposed to be the next Troy Smith or Vince Young this year. So far he blows.” On PSU he nominates the obvious choice in Austin Scott.

The Nittany Line picks a player from their team - “Most disappointing player in the Big Ten is on Penn State. Without a doubt, it has to be Justin King. This guy was the shutdown corner that teams dream about last year and has become totally unfocused and sloppy.”

LTP says Curtis Painter and he is disappointed in Corey Wooten (and rest of D-line) on NW. Off the Tracks says the entire Minnesota defense and on his team - the Purdue defensive line. The Hooiser Report isn’t impressed with Michigan’s freshman QB Ryan Mallet. The Buckeye Blog goes with a different Michigan QB (Chad Henne - view at your own risk - bad language)

3) Ohio State is rumored to be building a giant buckeye nut outside the football stadium. This will lead to the new tradition of “rubbing the nut.” I’m sure Michigan fans will use that against us. I know it is pretty late to start new traditions in the Big Ten, but pitch me a new tradition idea for your school.

“You serious, Clark? A big nut? The nut-head with arms and legs isn’t enough? IU already has “The Rock” for pregame rubbing purposes. It may sound trite, but I would prefer to add winning games and filling the stadium as IU traditions before adding anything else.” - The Hoosier Report

Off the Tracks on new traditions, “This was actually a discussion on the Purdue football message boards not too long ago. I would love to see us come up with some kind of flashy nickname for Ross-Ade Stadium and get into the tradition of everyone wearing black for a game. I’d love to nickname the place the Depot, the Rail Yard, or the End of the Line. I am a huge fan of the train theme because of its uniqueness. One that I love, but not many people know about is that we put the hat of every team we beat on the cowcatcher of the Boilermaker special during football season. I think we could build this one up more as well by symbolically doing it at midfield after home games.”

Unlike the Cubbies, LTP wants NW to have more night games. BSD wants PSU to sing the fight song after games. The Buckeye Blog likes how coach Tressel added the fight song after games and thought I was joking about the nut. I seriously heard this from a credible source.

BONUS ROUND

- You are a big-fight promoter - Talk up your team’s mascot and how/why they could kick the living crap out of any opposing team’s mascot - inspired by Oregon’s mascot

Lake The Posts says, “We’d kick the heck out of the skunk at Wisconsin, we’d eat Chief Illiniwek if he were still here, but I’d hate to meet Purdue Pete or Sparty in a dark alley.”

BSD- “Are you kidding me? The Nittany Lion doesn’t kick the crap out of other mascots. He kills them.” Great video on his site Black Shoe Diaries

Off the Tracks likes Pete’s chances since he carries a giant hammer.

- Now you’re an agent - Convince me that you have the top 2008 NFL Draft pick on your team -

LTP says that junior DT John Gill is the best NFL prospect on NW. BSD says it’s Dan Conner on PSU.

Overall, no one thinks they have a #1 NFL prospect. Either the Big Ten Bloggers are getting bitter or they just can’t lie.

I’ll go for the latter.

Thanks for all who participated - sorry if I didn’t get your answers in time -