Hoopraker

Two teams sit at the precipice.  After losses by Minnesota and Northwestern in their Conference openers, both teams can give substantial credence to the promise of their successful non-conference seasons with wins over Ohio State and Michigan State respectively.  Losses by the Gophers or the Wildcats, however, will dent the confidence and perhaps the duration of their recent revivals. Read the rest of this entry »

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Happy New Year from Hoopraker.  I feel remarkably well for a guy who stayed up far past his bedtime and found no mercy from a son who came calling, race cars in hand, at 6:00 am.  Anyway, a big day in the Big Ten, from Williams Arena, to Ann Arbor proves a tenant of the Big Ten Conference: defense wins. Read the rest of this entry »

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The reign of Purdue’s Chris Kramer as the Big Ten’s finest defensive player is over.  Rather than a knock on Kramer, it’s an acknowledgment that Minnesota’s Damian Johnson is a remarkable player and a defensive force.  After hounding future lottery pick Earl Clark into a miserable shooting game in the Golden Gophers’ 70-64 win over Louisville, Johnson gets another shot at proving his mettle when Raymar Morgan and Michigan State hit Williams Arena at high noon. Read the rest of this entry »

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With the conclusion of the non-conference slate of games comes a moment of solitude where we acknowledge the blossoming of last season’s promise into this season’s reality.  Outside the shadow of Mount Nittany, it may be a mild surprise that Conference’s best backcourt thus far comes from Penn State. The reign of Talor Battle and Stanley Pringle, however, may be short-lived as the Big Ten is loaded with talented guards. Read the rest of this entry »

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One Z-Pack, two refills of penicillin, one bottle of Advil (maybe more) and a room scattered with Kleenex.  It’s been a deep and dark December at Hoopraker.  In two weeks marked by our infirmity, a few simple truths have become self-evident for the basketball teams at Purdue, Wisconsin, and Michigan State.  Read the rest of this entry »

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The Northwestern Wildcats helped even out the split of games in the ACC/Big10 matchups by beating the Florida State Seminoles 73 to 59 last night in Evanston before 3537 fans.  For a long time fan and watcher of Wildcat basketball there were some reasons to gain some optimism that things may be heading in the right direction for the Cats.  Read the rest of this entry »

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They’ve been such an easy mark for the better part of fifty years.  But, with an influx of talent and size combined the maturation of several key players, Northwestern, yes Northwestern, is poised to become more than an also ran of Big Ten basketball this season.  Customarily overlooked and routinely disparaged, Northwestern has an opportunity to crack the upper division in the Big Ten and with it (yes, Lake the Posts)…post-season play. Read the rest of this entry »

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Duke hammered Purdue by 16 in a game that never seemed that close. Illinois first blew a lead and then its last possession en route to 2 point loss to Clemson.  Iowa fought back against Boston College only to lose as a freshman bricked the front end of a 1 and 1 with less than a second left.  Minnesota controlled Virginia in what could be the first in a string of solid Gopher wins.  Ohio State fought back from a huge early hole to beat Miami on the road.  And Wisconsin stood up and slapped Big Ten basher Seth Greenberg and Virginia Tech on a last second drive by Travon Hughes.  Six games of the Big Ten/ACC Challenge down, six to go. Read the rest of this entry »

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