A Tacit Mutiny

Watching Gordon and many of his teammates’ listless, half-hearted performances in Indianapolis last weekend it was evident that with a few exceptions, D.J. White most notably, the team was struggling to maintain full investment in the late season at hand. Though the team’s loyalty to their fallen coach was admirable, that many of them appeared to be participating in what was a tacit mutiny was hard to watch, harder to rationalize.

This was especially true in light of the continued warrior efforts of the program’s most loyal member, senior White, who had either the maturity, pride, or deeper allegiance to Cream and Crimson that allowed him to transcend the Sampson distractions and give full, passionate effort. Unfortunately, even players of his heart and talent cannot succeed without a few good men by his side.

The Raleigh Eyesore

Lack of effort is always most noticeable on the defensive end of the floor and in the realm of rebounding, loose ball retrieval, and movement without the ball on offense. In all of these departments all but White, Armon Bassett, and Lance Stemler failed to engage. Sonny Weems’ career game, the Razorbacks’ 49-point second half, the rebounding deficit, and the number of times Hoosier players resembled statues in their half-court offensive sets all pointed to a team that was, to a great degree, merely going through the motions.

While the immaturity of Jamarcus Ellis and DeAndre Thomas had obvious precedents, Gordon’s inability or unwillingness to join White in the good fight for Hoosier pride was harder to witness. Unlike true superstars, at no point last night did it appear Gordon even wanted the ball. Certainly Arkansas was defending him with interest, but great players have a way of willing themselves through screens and double-teams, getting the ball, and making plays despite the concentrated efforts to deny the same.

Instead Gordon settled for bad shots, failed to pursue the ball, didn’t rebound, threw only one assist, and generally looked like a guy who wanted the pressure, the game, indeed the season to just go away. While Gordon’s conspicuous flame-out was partly the result of Sampson who enabled him rather than challenged him to add dimension to his game over the season, it also does not reflect well on the will and desire aspects of his game.

Too Bad He Didn’t Stick With Weber

Given the remarkable improvement Weber fostered with Demetri McCamey over the season, it is clear Gordon would’ve been better served in Champaign from a basketball development standpoint. And given Sampson’s abuse of the program, the resulting victimization of his players, and the season’s spin-out there is no question Gordon made the wrong choice of college coach.

While Gordon can distance himself quickly from he and his father’s bad decision with an NBA escape hatch ready and waiting, it remains to be seen whether his game will evidence more than just great potential and will mature into something truly great.

Perhaps his millions in the bank will mollify him, but something says his NBA bench-sitting next year and beyond will give Gordon many pained moments to think about the what ifs and disappointments of his short college career and the coach who so profoundly failed him.

The Long View

Over the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament, the success of the Wisconsin Badgers (31-4) and the Michigan State Spartans (27-8) serves as a clarifying reminder to take the myopic view of pundits who don’t let their ignorance of Big Ten basketball dissuade them from speaking in certainties with a grain a Mediterranean sea salt. Putting two teams in the Sweet 16 this season, one more than the Carolina-centric ACC, should invigorate the souls of basketball purists who appreciate player development, hard work, adherence to detail and, teamwork.

Without question, the conference is in transition with teams such as Michigan, Iowa, Minnesota and Illinois acclimating themselves to new coaches or in rebuilding mode. Still, Indiana was clicking on all cylinders until Kelvin Sampson’s past caught up with him and Purdue arrived one year ahead of schedule. Left unprepared to weather exodous of Mike Conley, Jr., Ohio State struggled to mix chemistry with their considerable talent until late in the season.

Guided by new coaches John Beilein (who left his West Virginia program in Sweet 16 condition) and Tubby Smith and Todd Lickliter (who left behind NCAA Tournament worthy programs at Kentucky and Butler respectively), the current bottom of the conference will soon bring a competitive parity within the league while putting 7 to 8 teams into the National mix year in and year out.

Sweet Spartans

After two wins that left the pundit class shaking their collective noggins, Tom Izzo leads his Spartans to their seventh Sweet 16 in the last 11 years. Understandably, expectations are customarily high amongst Spartan fans. Coming off a strong finish to last season, the Spartans were uniformly expected to reach the rarefied air of the nation’s basketball elite. They had coaching, talent and two stars, one established in senior Drew Neitzel and one emerging in sophomore Raymar Morgan. What they didn’t have was consistency.

After a solid conference pre-season blemished by only a five point loss to UCLA, the Spartans lost themselves somewhere between Iowa City and State College and they consequently stumbled badly to Indiana and Ohio State. But despite the late season mini-slide, in two Big Ten Tournament games, one a win against a tough Ohio State team and one a loss against Wisconsin, the Spartans, and Neitzel in particular, started to find their groove. To those who failed to watch the nuance of the Spartans’ season as an arc, such minor details as better post play, better passing and aggressiveness are lost in translation.

Defense Matters

Still, it was no surprise the streaking Atlantic 10 Champions, Fran Dunphy’s Temple Owls was the popular pick to beat Michigan State in round one. In round two, big, bad Big East Champion Pittsburgh was expected to hammer the Spartans. In an 11 point Sparty win, 65-54, Michigan State showed the resilience and confidence to withstand the Pitt comeback.

In both games, defense carried the day. Against Temple, the Spartans put the shackles on the trendy Owl combo of Mark Tyndale and Dionte Christmas, limiting the pair to a combined two first-half points and 7-of-26 shooting for the game. Against Pitt, the Spartans’ perimeter defense essentially eliminated star guards Ronald Ramon (1-of-9) and Levance Fields (1-of-5).

Michigan State has the talent, the depth and the mettle earned from a season of adversity in the Big Ten to beat number one seed Memphis. It’s right there for them. As it often does in the Tournament, defense will carry the day and thus far, the Spartans have acquitted themselves well. If they continue to defend, paying particular attention to the dribbler, a rematch against December victim Texas stands between them and the Final Four.

I’m Bored

“The team you don’t want to see is Wisconsin,” claims Washington Post/ESPN columnist Michael Wilbon, they’re “[N]ot fun.” Erstwhile Big Ten basketball guru, WFAN’s Mike Francesca says “Wisconsin is boring” and “Beasley will kill them.” Slate’s Robert Weintraub, sounding more like a five-year old on a rainy day, simply wants to be “entertain[ed].”

This small yet representative sample of drivel comes from the ill-informed who don’t truly grasp the college game. But, fortunately, Hoopraker is not on an island in its appreciation for Wisconsin or the Big Ten. One of America’s finest sportswriters and one who actually attends Big Ten games, the Chicago Tribune’s Skip Myslenski puts it like this:

“Wisconsin is a delight appreciated best by the aficionado or the coach doomed to face it. The casual observer cannot relish its work, and even those performers who must play it rarely comprehend fully just what they are about to confront. The Badgers are rife with nuance and subtleties, with basic fundamentals and old-fashioned rules. They do not dazzle with flash nor lop off a head with a broad axe. They just go about their business and stick an opponent here, nick an opponent there, jab an opponent until its blood is drained and all life has seeped from it.”

Like Michigan State, the Badgers’ accomplishments are undervalued. Despite consecutive 30 win seasons, they elicit little respect outside the knowledgeable fans that witness the effects of well-coached, fundamental basketball on a nightly basis in Dane County and around the Big Ten. In an age where attention spans are short and dunks by one and doners are considered more ESPN-ready than forty minutes of team hoops, most casual observers can muster little more than a shrug of their slumped shoulders.

A Perfect Offense

Wisconsin wins. With Bo Ryan running what may be a perfect offense and the nation’s best defense, team-oriented and straight man-to-man, Wisconsin’s reign as an elite basketball program is built to last. Their spacing is beautiful, their passing is crisp, their defense is maddeningly consistent. They’re disciplined, smart, confident and resilient. The Badgers recruit kids who want to play in Madison and it shows. And Ryan develops players once they arrive on campus, from Trevan Hughes to Michael Flowers from Jason Bohannon to Joe Krabbenhoft and Marcus Landry .

On Wisconsin

As it has all season, Wisconsin has earned its way into the Sweet 16 with defense. The Badgers given little hope of escaping the 2nd round against with the Michael Beasley nebula-powered Kansas State or OJ Mayo’s USC Trojans. The Badgers throttled Kansas State 72-55, shut down Beasley to the chagrin of Francesca and through strong perimeter defense, forced Kansas State into an 0-13 night on three-pointers. In round one, the Badgers endured an out of body experience from Cal-State Fullerton’s Josh Akognon, a former Badger Kingpin Dick Bennett/Washington State recruit and thoroughly beat Fullerton 71-56.

Current media darling Davidson and its quick release shooting star 6-3 guard Stephen Curry stand between a Wisconsin trip to the Elite Eight in Ford Field on Friday night. Michael Flowers, who has plenty of experience defending great shooters, will challenge Curry as he’s not been challenged in the Tournament thus far. Kansas and Bill Self await provided they delay another NCAA meltdown against 12 seed Villanova.

Hardly Callow Youth

Though Baylor coach Scott Drew (Butler ‘93) remembers Robbie Hummel and Scott Martin as day campers at his father’s Valparaiso summer camps, on Thursday afternoon he will be able to assess firsthand how well they and their youthful Boilermaker teammates have aged from a basketball standpoint.

While those who have observed them closely have already drawn favorable conclusions, Purdue’s frosh in name only will at last be introduced to the fans beyond the Midwest. Suffice to say, Bliss’ upperclassmen laden Bears will discover that the Big Ten’s second place team plays a brand of smart, disciplined basketball that is mature beyond its years. And though many are trying to put Painter’s Boilermakers into the “year away” box, this is a team capable of more than token March showing.

The Frolicking Bears

Baylor brings the bruise of an opening round loss against the Big 12’s worst team in its conference tournament, a game in which Colorado scored 17 points in the second overtime to win. This was hardly an aberrant defensive performance for a Baylor team that surrenders 74.4 points per game, good enough for dead last in its conference.

Drew’s team, spearheaded by five speedy and athletic guards, succeeded in the Big 12 and elsewhere by outrunning and outgunning opponents. The Bears have been involved in six 100-point and five 90-point games this season, including a 100-90 loss to Bill Self’s Kansas on February 9. When things are going well for the Bears, they are the ones dictating tempo and their preferred tempo is track meet.

Welcome To The Big Ten Grindhouse

Perhaps a better predictor of Thursday’s matchup is the Bears’ 67-64 loss to Washington State on November 30th. Like Bennett, Painter is not one to concede things on the defensive end. The Boiler guard corps with its length and physicality should provide a good test for their eager to gunsling Baylor counterparts.

One of the things Hoopraker observed at last weekend’s Big Ten tournament in Indy was the close proximity at which Purdue defends. Boilermaker defense is literally chin-to-chin, chest-to-chest by default. Not only was it discomforting to many of their well acquainted Big Ten foes, it is not likely to make unaccustomed teams like Baylor very happy either. And making it more deadly, the Boilers do not commit cheap fouls. They defend very physically, but with great control.

Purdue’s saavy and patience on the offensive end will also ensure a game that finishes well south of NBA point totals. Indeed, this will likely be a grindhouse game in the Big Ten tradition where smarts and execution are put into stark relief by a lower possession, slower ballgame. While Hummel, Martin and company know how to probe a defense deep into the shot clock in order to yield high percentage looks, it remains to be seen how well Drew’s Bears fare at the same task.

Who Got Gordon, But Was It Worth It

Having indulged in much gloating and Bruce Weber bashing since their luring of Eric Gordon to Bloomington, the Hoosier fan base and the program many of them have followed blindly into Swamp Sampson face a March reckoning of whether their prized catch’s six-month allegiance was worth the trouble.

Failing to win a Big Ten regular season title and bowing out to the conference’s sixth-seeded Gophers despite playing in front of a home-state sea of Crimson, the Hoosier season and the star around which it has revolved get one more opportunity to become more than just a scandal-plagued, overhyped afterthought.

March Is For Closers

Friday’s game against Arkansas gives Gordon and his Hoosiers a chance to turn the tide of three losses in its last four games and perhaps begin to write a redemptive March story. For a Hoosier team that has considerable talent, inside-outside superstars, and a coach whose interim status belies great experience as both a head coach and twelve years at the side of Bob Knight, a spring swan dive should not be so easily excused.

While one is assured that senior D.J. White will leave everything he has on the floor, it is the play of their newest McDonald’s All-American and homestate hero that will be most integral to their success. With the latter half of the Big Ten season souring his jumpshot and turning him into a drive first, pass last free agent, Gordon needs to rediscover the complete game that made him such a hot commodity last summer.

Despite Quinn Buckneresque strength and an off-the-dribble game that requires constant double-teams, Gordon has fallen into a pattern where he looks for his own shot to the abandonment of the team game. Certainly no one is going to complain when he’s making high percentage scoring opportunities for himself and continuing to make free-throws.

But given the degree that defenses are keying on him, it behooves him to start throwing more dimes and thereby broadening the Hoosier offense attack. As Wisconsin, Purdue, and Michigan State prove at their best, it’s much harder to guard a team that can score from five points on the floor.

Hype Or The Real Deal

The games of March go a long way to determining what players and teams are made of. Hoosier partisans, Big Ten fans, and NBA scouts alike will be looking to see if Gordon possesses more than just a good tool kit, but also the kind of mettle and big-game leadership that the best players have in abundance.

And this year’s Indiana team, if they can get their head space right, has the kind of combustible mix that could do serious damage in the brackets. A confident, team-on-his-back Gordon, a down-low beast like White, and a potent band of swingmen in Bassett, Crawford, Ellis and Stemler; if these elements can somehow coalesce and rise against the adversity of the last few weeks in Hoosier country, Tyler Hansbrough and his Tarheels have good reason to be afraid.

If the Hoosiers do not respond to the challenge, the bleak near future for the program will not be softened even temporarily and the short stints of Kelvin Sampson and Eric Gordon will leave nothing but damage and hollow feelings. Perhaps this would be the just result, but for the sake of loyal Hoosiers like D.J. and Dakich and the conference at large, it would be interesting to see a Big Ten scare put into the ACC’s darlings.

Ebanks’ Next Step

According to his prep school coach at St. Thomas More, Jere Quinn, has asked for and will recieve his release. Ebanks is again considering the finalist in his first round of recruitment, Rutgers, as well as two recent entrants with much more national glamor, Memphis and Texas.

On the surface, Rutgers (11-20) seems an odd fit for the No. 9 recruit in the class of 2008 not to mention a long shot with John Calipari and Rick Barnes in the mix. However, the Scarlet Knights recruited Ebanks extremely hard for a long time and its boosts the intangibles of being within driving distance for Ebanks’ family as well as having one of Ebanks’ father’s close friends as an assistant, Craig Carter. Ebanks went for national prestige in selecting IU in November and it’s possible he’ll do so again.

IU’s Next Step

With Ebanks and (as reported by Inside the Hall) point guard recruit Terrell Holloway (Harmony Community School, Cincinnati, OH) receiving releases from their LOI, Indiana’s 2008 recruiting class, as expected, has unraveled. With interim head coach Dan Dakich patrolling the sidelines on borrowed time as IU has assembled a coaching search committee, IU lacks stability at the top of its basketball program. With Big Ten Player of the Year D.J. White graduating and Eric Gordon likely leaving Bloomington after a short stint on campus, IU has gaping holes in its team headed into next season. With sanctions anticipated for NCAA violations incurred during Sampson’s tumultuous reign, IU nevertheless choose keep its team in this year’s team Tournament and deal with the ramifications at a later time and with players who had no relationship to Sampson.

In the meantime, to the chagrin of Hoosiers fans, Purdue’s Matt Painter among other coaches of national prominence (Thad Matta and Todd Lickliter e.g.) are well-positioned to exploit the uncertainty in Bloomington. Having garnered the first of what will become many Coach of the Year awards, Painter has established Purdue, with its 90% graduation rates, numerous all-academic players, and 25 wins this season as the in-state counterweight to the IU basketball program left hanging in the wind by Sampson.

Make this One Count

Still, IU can atone for the sins of Sampson and actually put its program in a much more enviable long term position by making its next hire count. Hopefully, IU has learned the lessons of its last two hires and finds the best fit for what is one of the best coaching jobs in the country.

Irrelevant Chatter

The white noise emanating from the high-priced decorative plants in Bristol, Connecticut to the derisive aspersions on the Big Ten from talking heads who either don’t watch basketball or possess no true understanding of the game has been constant since the NCAA Tournament bracket was announced.

Plainly apparent to Hoopraker from its perch in Conseco this weekend was the irrelevancy of this bias chatter to Bo Ryan, Matt Painter and Tom Izzo. These coaches operate on another plain from the sketch comedy writers and charlatans who have infiltrated ESPN. They coach and in the process they’ve assembled three teams with the ability to represent their respective Universities and the entire conference with pride.

While the Purdue loss to Illinois on Friday was the most memorable, hard fought and uniformly well-played tournament game, the semi-final between Michigan State and Wisconsin reinforced several truisms: Wisconsin plays some of if not the best basketball in the country and Michigan State is talented, well-coached and can beat anyone. In a year where there is no true dominant national team, neglecting to appreciate the Badgers and the Spartans would be a grave mistake.

Badgers United

Under Bo Ryan, the Wisconsin Badgers (29-4) have evolved, game by game, into a cohesive and consistent team. Steadfastly controlling the game with a uniformly patient and surgical offense, they routinely take the clock to the ten second mark before attacking the basket. When they do, it’s with precision and purpose. A Landry post move, a Flowers jumper, a Bohannon pass or a Krabbenhoft offensive rebound deflates the emotions of the most weathered opponent; against undisciplined teams, Wisconsin’s patience drains the life and heart from them like a boa constrictor.

In winning 23 of their last 25, including on the road in Austin, the Badgers are not only very good, they don’t rattle. Against Michigan State (25-8), despite falling behind by 12 in the second half they stayed within their system, refusing to show the slightest of panic.

After watching the Badgers three days in a row, it’s obvious the team resolutely believes in its coach and his principles. No player takes a possession off, not even a segment within a possession. To a man, the Badgers have no mental lapses on the defensive end. Ryan’s rotation is deep and versatile. Landry and Bohannon have emerged into true threats on the offensive end and Flowers is an veritable equalizer on the defensive end. Basketball is a team game and Wisconsin is a true team, not flashy, perhaps not glamorous, and lacking media ready star power, but a team nonetheless. And one to be reckoned with.

On Thursday, the Badgers play a small Cal-State Fullerton (24-8) team where no starter is taller than 6′5″. Once they survive the upset bid, the Badgers play the winner of USC-Kansas State, the epitome of egocentric 1 on 5 basketball. Wisconsin has already dispatched a similar, albeit much better, version of these teams twice this season, Eric Gordon’s Indiana Hoosiers. More than one Wisconsin fan is optimistic.

Neitzel Finds His Groove

Rarely does a team find itself in a loss but in the wake of a cacophony of whistles led by Ted Hilary’s cialis fueled crew in the Big Ten semi-finals, the Spartans enter the NCAA Tournament under the radar, potent and dangerous. While they continue to demonstrate some troubling tendencies of impatience on the offensive end, the Spartans beat a very good defensive team in Ohio State (a team that’s finally playing it’s best basketball) and then battled to a referee induced draw with the nearly flawless Badgers. The Spartans have the talent to compete with any team in the country and in Conseco they showed they’re ready to win in March.

As was abundantly evident this weekend, senior guard Drew Neitzel remains the catalyst. For Spartan fans, it was encouraging to see Neitzel reassert himself in Indy and in the process rediscover the range on his deadly jump shot. While Raymar Morgan would definitely benefit from some of Neitzel’s mojo on offense (go up strong Raymar), well-rounded efforts were turned in by Goran Suton and Travis Walton, who’s defensive intensity and leadership can’t be undervalued in March.

Toss Some Dimes

Going forward, it’s worth observing that in crucial situations against Wisconsin, Izzo again turned possessions over to freshman guard Kalin Lucas who in turn attacked the basket with his head down, not looking for his teammates and with no intention of passing the ball. If Michigan State intends to run into the second weekend, they’ll likely need to offer some variation on Lucas’ shoot first game. Putting the ball back in the hands of their senior leader Neitzel would be one commendable variation.

The Spartans (who also beat Texas) play Fran Dunphy’s Temple Owls (22-12) on Friday and provided they survive the challenge, a physical Pittsburgh Panthers team (26-9) likely awaits them on Saturday. Like Badgers fans, Enlightened Spartan is confident heading into the weekend (column 2, post 3).

Without two more wins this weekend the Gophers will likely be NIT-bound by virtue of their sub-five hundred conference ledger. Nonetheless, when Blake Hoffarber’s imitation of Laettner found the bottom of the well at Conseco Friday night it was the sight and sound of justice served.

This was one of the least impressive forty minutes of basketball Hoopraker has witnessed all season, but at least the end result was redeeming. Through 39 minutes, 58.5 seconds this was a game played by two teams whose offensive schemes can best be described as freelance.

Free Eric Gordon

On the Hoosier side of the ball it is evident Dakich has made the decision to not interfere with the prevailing Sampsonesque notions of Eric Gordon-on-five offense with occasional dump-downs or garbage putbacks by White. In lieu of these options one of the other Indiana guards launches an ill-conceived jumpshot or attempts a one-on-five drive to the rack. This is atomized offense, a far cry from the kind of smart, surgical, five-man halfcourt offense that has led Wisconsin and Purdue to the top of the conference and is keeping Illinois alive this weekend.

Gordon, for his part, seems to have a good understanding with the Big Ten officials if Friday’s kid glove treatment is representative. With his jumpshot looking increasingly suspect, the putative superstar’s game has become one-dimensional, consisting entirely of bulling his way to the hoop, throwing the ball towards the rim, and collecting yet another suspect foul call. From Hoopraker’s perch at Conseco’s midcourt, the number of offensive fouls that Gordon gets away with is startling.

Tubby Ball

Though it is premature to make any kind of final pronouncement about the nature of Tubby Ball in Gopherland, his team’s offensive characteristics at this stage seem to also be mostly freelance in nature. There is a lot of desultory dribbling, not a lot of movement without the ball, and more often than not, the offense is reduced to one player trying to make a play on his own.

Fortunately, rapidly emerging players like Damian Johnson are making their share of plays. Certainly McKenzie and Westbrook enjoy dominating the ball and also have the athleticism to play one-on-one offense, sometimes to good effect. Somewhat dispiriting however was the number of times the Gophers were reduced to awkward, disorganized sets out of timeouts.

For the forseeable future as Tubby brings in deeper, more talented rosters, the results may well be commensurate or better. Against Illinois today, though, a team that will bring one of the best team defenses to the battle, it will be interesting to see how Tubby’s offense fares.

News Flash

The dilettantes and bandwagon hoppers who have been maligning Bruce Weber’s poor recruiting classes are receiving some stiff rebukes. Obvious to Hoopraker long, long ago, Demetri McCamey is a very good basketball player and is well on his way to evolving into another of the program’s superstar point guards. But McCamey is far from the complete picture of his recent successes on the trail.

Anyone paying attention should have noticed the strides Mike Davis, Tisdale, and Jeff Jordan have made this year thanks to Weber’s tutelage. With McCamey and also not forgetting Bill Cole, this is fast emerging as one of the conference’s best recruiting classes, and one that will be around Champaign for long beyond Eric Gordon’s migration to an NBA bench. It’s time to jump back on the Brucewagon.

Spartans Need Patience

Kalin Lucas provides a speed component to the Spartans that can be either a devastating weapon or a turnover engine. The push the ball, play fast mantra, while superbly effective at times, can also be a trap for Izzo’s team. There were countless offensive trips yesterday when more patience, a few extra passes and cuts might have yielded higher percentage looks.

Lucas and company need to find a better speed-slow balance, knowing when to push and when to put the brake on a bit and force defenses to guard for longer stretches. When the team tries to force the speed at inopportune times, the result is often bad shots and/or turnovers. They are definitely going to need to exercise greater offensive discipline to get by the Badgers today.

Of course, if Drew Neitzel shoots like he did Friday, that will excuse some of the impatience-born mistakes that they have displayed all season. That said, a deep March run by the Spartans is predicated on finding the balance between their fast and fastest speeds.

The Other Side of Close

A motivated Illinois team (14-18) took the Conseco Fieldhouse court yesterday afternoon. The Illini had a spring in the legs and a sense of confidence in their demeanor. From the tip, Weber’s motion offense moved in sync, creating open looks. There’s no question, when Illinois runs its sets, makes crisp passes, strong cuts and screens, their offense is a pleasure to watch and a bear to defend.

Chief among the conundrums they’ve encountered this season is the ability to stay within the offense and make the numerous open shots it creates. In the first half, led by Brian Randle and Trent Meacham, the Illini did and they looked nothing like a bottom of the conference team.

To the credit of Penn State, the Lions also stayed within themselves. They switched defenses, stayed in their offense and battled. The toll of a season of close losses, including three in overtime, is never far from their mind and the burden is palpable. But in Conseco, pushed by Randle and the leadership of emerging point guard Demtri McCamey, Illini refused to wilt and as a result, they ran off the court with a poetic last second win on a beautiful pass from Meacham to Chester Frazier.

Zebras on Cialis Redux

In the win, an assertive Brian Randle scored 17 points, made free throws, played his customary great defense. Simply put, he catalyzed the Illini. Randle’s career has been checkered with injuries that have robbed him the opportunity to fulfill the considerable talent of his game. Another hurdle for Randle, and one out of his control, is the burden of being refereed by officials who can’t grasp his defensive abilities.

Although a fifth year senior, Randle receives less respect from Rich Falk’s crew of zebras than IU’s Eric Gordon or, for that matter, Minnesota’s Al Nolen. Invariably are out of position, the referees are apparently unable to comprehend how a player can play such defense so well. As a result, they throw up their hands and blow their whistles. There is no other rationale explanation for the phantom calls Randle endures game in and game out.

Three in a Row

At the end of his steak dinner and as his team respectfully filed out of the dining room, Bruce Weber casually called out to his assistant Jerrance Howard to meet him back in the hotel to go over film of Purdue. The Boilermakers await the Illini tonight in Conseco and present a considerable challenge. Still, the Illini have the ability to compete and beat Purdue. The question is whether they have the confidence.

Youth Served

Despite their son not playing on account of a season ending knee injury, Geary Claxton’s parents, fixtures at Penn State games, nevertheless made the trip from Connecticut. They nearly witnessed a remarkable win. While the Illini ultimately prevailed, earning the win, the effort of Penn State (15-16) and the coaching Ed DeChellis cannot be overlooked or underestimated.

With Claxton hurt and Jamelle Cornley on crutches, DeChellis started four freshmen and a junior college transfer. Led by ultra-quick and confident freshman point guard Talor Battle, the future is bright for the Lions. Cornely returns for his senior season and a more experienced group of long and athletic freshmen, who refused to quit against Illinois, and in the process showed a great feel and respect for the game.

Sparty Needs A Groove

This afternoon’s most intriguing match up pits a resurgent Ohio State team desperately in need of another win against the talented yet enigmatic Spartans. Last weekend in the regrettably named Value City Arena, Ohio State beat the Spartans 63-54 when Michigan State succumbed to a late surge of pressure defense en route to squandering a 10 point second half lead.

In a quick turnaround, the rematch carries enormous significance to the immediate futures of both teams. Michigan State must win in order to restore much-needed confidence or risk becoming footnote, at best, to a season that commenced with great promise. The formula for Michigan State is old news: Drew Neitzel, Raymar Morgan and Goran Suton to show up and play well and they need to take care of the ball.

Ohio State Needs a W

For Ohio State, they must win if they hope to play their way into the NCAA Tournament. As it was in Buckeyes’ first meeting with the Spartans in East Lansing, the Buckeyes continue to place their fortunes on the shrugged shoulders of senior Jamar Butler. While freshman Evan Turner has emerged as the only consistent and dynamic compliment to Butler in Ohio State’s mini-late season run, Butler is Ohio State’s engine.

They should expect the Spartans to respond to last weekend’s loss much as the Spartans did against IU; Izzo will have his team ready. The question, as it‘s been for much of its season, is whether Ohio State will play with passion commensurate to their talent. As Penn State showed yesterday, youth is no excuse.

The Hoopraker charter touched down in Indy by mid-morning. After the requisite glad-handing and assumption of our media badges from conference staffers, we soon found ourselves the back seat captives of a local taxi driver-hustler whose U-turns, feigned stupidity, and double-speak won him more than a few taunts from the New Yorkers in his company.

Midwestern trickery finds no purchase in the midst of grizzled Gothamites. Consider him reformed. Our four day Big Ten odyssey had begun.

Northwestern’s Masterful Twenty Minutes

The Carmody Experience at Northwestern wrote two more chapters at Conseco today, the first buoying those who continue to hold out hope for a Wildcat breakthrough under his leadership, the second yet another example of the negative pathologies that have plagued his eight years in Evanston.

After a crisply, at times sublimely executed first half and a 13-point bulge at intermission, this from a team manhandled by the Gophers in the season’s previous meeting by 19- and 20-points respectively, Carmody seemed to have arrived at some key adjustments for the third meeting.

Met by an overconfident, unfocused performance by the Gophers in the initial twenty minutes, Carmody’s Princeton sets looked particularly sharp and potent, yielding its usual bevy of wide open looks and backdoors. And unlike many a previous instance when the Wildcats have failed to convert such opportunities, Coble and Thompson led a solid first half shooting performance.

What’s more, the Northwestern defense that had surrendered 82 and 92 points to the Gophers in the earlier two games, was effective. The injury to grape-crusher Spencer Tollackson, a crafty and bulky pivot the Wildcats have had no defensive answer for, certainly didn’t hurt either.

Fits Of Brilliance

When Carmody’s teams play halves or segments of games like the first twenty minutes in Indy, the fires of hope go from dead to slow kindle. Watching the Wildcats string perfect passes through the thicket of defenders for uncontested layups, seeing how many clear shots the crisp ball reversals and cuts yield, one becomes convinced that Carmody and his Pete Carril inheritance are a perfect marriage for Northwestern.

Seeing how the system can confound teams with considerable talent advantages and put the brakes on quicker teams, it is a system that should forgive some of the unique recruiting challenges that exist there and allow the program to compete in an rigorous power conference. Tubby’s Gophers certainly were put into a reactive muddle by it initially.

The Execution Problem

But then there’s a persistent rub to this argument and it arrived in the first eight minutes of the second half. The Wildcat sets started to get a little less efficient, a few errant passes, a couple blown layups, some lapses in defensive pressure on the ball and the advantage evaporates. Admirably, the Wildcats responded to the Gopher run with some timely threes from Moore and pushed back to a five-point lead.

Soon after, though, the erosion resumed in the form of three straight turnovers. Though credit must be paid to the increase in defensive intensity from the Gophers, the turnovers were largely attributable to poor execution from Northwestern. Add an airball and missed front-end by usually reliable Coble and a final possession dribble-drive into a Gopher trap by Sterling Williams and the game was sealed.

A Loss Is A Loss

While the loss looks more reasonable as this three-point final margin did, the reflection on Carmody is no less severe. The breakdowns in mental toughness, bad decision-making and execution that have plagued his teams over the past eight seasons occur and recur and doom the team to continued losses.

Until Carmody can correct these lapses in execution whether by recruiting or coaching there is little to suggest his results are going to be considerably better. A tight game like the one Thursday may keep the Wildcat faithful engaged for a longer duration, but the end result and its causation is the same.

Signs Of Promise

As an aside, it was good to see Jeremy Nash and Ivan Peljusic getting increased minutes for Carmody yesterday. These are two players whose aggression, energy, and confidence have been in short supply the last eight years in Evanston. Though injuries have slowed Nash somewhat this season, one would’ve liked to have seen Carmody use this troubled season to give him, Peljusic, and Capocci longer stretches of gametime than he has to date. These are the kind of ballplayers who seem to possess the kind of attitudinal bounce and toughness that might help Carmody turn a corner.

Tubby’s Honeymoon Is Over

The cult of personality shine that Tubby has brought to the Twin Minny should not be discounted and given the positive vibes about his 2008 class, there is considerable reason for optimism. That said, though victorious, Tubby’s Gophers were a largely uninspired bunch today. They were not ready to play from the opening tip, a fact that wouldn’t have been so forgiving with a stronger opponent.

As it stands today Gophers under Tubby have yet to achieve a single overachieving win. They’ve certainly improved from the bottomed-out debacle of the previous season, but unlike Beilein’s Michigan and Lickliter’s Iowa they have yet to achieve a signature, breakthrough win.

Perhaps that win will arrive today against the Hoosiers. Perhaps not. But the Gopher fan base and interested observers are eager to see when the Tubby effect will make that next great stride from honeymoon vibes to real deal.

As in year’s past, the results below are certified by waitress Kay and the accounting firm of Monte And Stepson, “Oh, we’ll get your money, don’t you worry ’bout that,” providing timely, aggressive results since Monte’s parole in 2002.

Hoopraker would like to honor the following individuals as graduating the season with honors. Thanks for the inspired basketball gentleman.

2007-08 Hoopraker All-Big Ten Teams

First Team

Jamar Butler, Sr., Ohio State
Eric Gordon, Fr., Indiana
Robbie Hummel, Fr., Purdue
D.J. White, Sr., Indiana
Brian Butch, Sr., Wisconsin

Butler salvaged Ohio State’s season nightly as he proved to be the only player Matta could depend upon. Gordon affirmed the belief of many observers that his talents transcend the collegiate game. After an emotional lull from the post-Sampson trauma, Gordon is well-positioned to exploit his nearly unstoppable game throughout March. Apart from corralling a 4.0 gpa in his first semester at Purdue, Hummel unveiled a complete basketball repertoire well-versed in fundamentals as mundane as following your own shot, which inevitably win games. DJ White was a beast throughout is remarkable senior season. On a team in the mold of Madison’s progressive tradition and founded on democratic principles of sharing, Butch was the glue.

Second Team

Drew Neitzel, Sr., Michigan State
E’Twaun Moore, Fr., Purdue
Michael Flowers, Sr. Wisconsin
Kevin Coble, So., Northwestern
Raymar Morgan, So., Michigan State

Also meriting consideration here were Marcus Landry, Craig Moore, Tony Freeman, Shaun Pruitt, Jamelle Cornley, Geary Claxton. Claxton, the Tweener who Roared would surely have been a repeat Hoopraker first teamer this season if not for the knee injury that sidelined him in the Wisconsin game in January. After an offseason in which he nobly attended to the care for his cancer-stricken mother, Coble returned to Evanston in January and turned in another stellar season for Carmody, a coach who still needs more Cobles to wear purple. Flowers, who memorably nailed a three pointer and sealed a win in Austin with his defense, is the motor to the Badgers as Butch is their heart. The Spartans placed Neitzel and Morgan on the second team. While bother players had solid statistical seasons, they seemed destined to first team status at the season’s start but they plateaued as the season progressed. Whether Sparty can get its groove back will be decided on how these two play in Indianapolis this weekend.

All-Freshman Team

Manny Harris
Michael Thompson
Kosta Koufos
Kalin Lucas
Demetri McCamey
Evan Turner

Due to a counting error by Monte, we’ll take six here. By not repeating Gordon, Hummel, and Moore on this list we allowed for the inclusion of solid first years from Thompson, McCamey and Turner. This was the strongest Big Ten freshmen class in recent memory. McCamey, like most frosh, was inconsistent but he demonstrated the skills that will place him in the elite category of point guards next season. In East Lansing, Kalin Lucas supplanted a team captain as a starter and has emerged, like Mike Conley did last year, as a game changer when the shot clock hits single digits. A slashing and confident scorer, Turner’s emergence in the February has been the most compelling reason Ohio State finds itself one victory against Michigan State on Friday from cementing its invitation to the Big Dance. Harris is a complete guard for Michigan upon whom Beilein relied heavily. Koufos, a player of considerable talent, put together solid numbers in his first (and perhaps only) season despite participating passively in Ohio State’s offense for much of the year. Thompson, like Gordon, Moore, and Harris, found himself leading his team as a frosh and he did so admirably and with Coble, Northwestern has a foundation.

Player of the Year

D.J. White

A unanimous selection. A senior year to remember.

Coach of the Year

Bo Ryan, Matt Painter

Both coaches, at the peak of the powers, turned in remarkable performances. For Ryan, his Big Ten legacy is further cemented by assembling a collection of “slightly better than average players” and turning them into Champions. At Purdue, Matt Painter has given credibility to Hoopraker’s longstanding confidence that he would reestablish Purdue as an eminent Big Ten program and one built for the long haul. For basketball purists, both Wisconsin and Purdue are heartening watch play. Ryan and Painter are not only the best coaches in the Big Ten, they are among the best coaches in the Country. A nod also goes out to Penn State’s Ed DeChellis who managed to scrabble together a 7-9 conference mark, with wins against Michigan State and Indiana, despite the debilitating injuries to Claxton and Cornley.

With a respectful nod to Shan Foster, another fourth year of national merit, D.J. White is turning in the finest senior season in the land. Along with frosh man-child Eric Gordon, White has led the Hoosiers through the sound and fury of the Kelvin Sampson tempest to a 25-6 mark and a 14-4, 3rd place finish in the Big Ten.

And it is White, the heart and soul of this year’s Indiana team, who will largely determine if the Hoosiers are able to coalesce around what is his third coach in four seasons and become an Indiana team worthy of the school’s gilded March tradition.

A Hoosier Good And True

In a career marred by injury, the resignation of fellow Alabaman Mike Davis who recruited him to Bloomington, and the recent crash and burn of the coach who had inspired him to return to campus and elevate his game, White has persevered into a Hoosier good and true.

Given the trials of his sophomore season in which he played in only five games due to a recurring foot fracture and watched as Davis was driven to the wall by dwindling results and an unforgiving fan base, it would’ve been understandable if White had traded in his candystripes and joined Davis and best friend Robert Vaden for a fresh start in Birmingham.

Instead, demonstrating a loyalty to program that is as admirable as it is increasingly exotic, White stayed with his school of first choosing. After a junior year defined by solid, if not always inspired play - excused perhaps by the return from injury and the adjustment to Sampson’s physically demanding methodologies - White has developed into one of the country’s preeminent double-double producers and a proud heir to the Hoosier tradition of tough, relentless frontcourters.

More Than A Mere Tangent

While the national media have already framed the player of the year debate as a two-person battle between Michael Beasley and Tyler Hansbrough, White should be more than a mere tangent in the discussion. With all due respect to Beasley, a spectacularly gifted player who will make one NBA general manager very happy in June, White’s nineteen double-doubles, overall leadership, and better team results give him the edge over the freshman.

Unlike Beasley whose Kansas State team is little more than an enablement device for his professional value maximization, White (and Hansbrough) are producing within team oriented systems that depress their overall numbers. When you consider that Frank Martin’s offense is Beasley-centric to the tune of 18 shots per game (versus 13.5 and 10.2 for Hansbrough and White respectively), one gets some measure of this fact. Beasley’s 26 double-doubles and overall numbers are impressively gaudy, but are mitigated by the degree to which he is, like Kevin Durant last year, getting an NBA-like green light.

Though Hansbrough is a substantive, deserving player of the year nominee and also should be commended for his commitment to his program and the college game, White’s 60% field goal percentage (versus 54% for Hansbrough and Beasley) and potent work on the defensive end puts him right into the discussion. And though it is leaning into gale force, partisan winds, Hansbrough and Beasley have benefited from playing in conferences that go, at best, only three deep.

White, meanwhile, has been doing nightly battle in a Big Ten that has the most teams in the top 25 (four) and will likely place five teams into the Dance. Despite continued attempts to diminish its reputation, the conference continues to equal if not exceed the other power conferences as far as both poll representation and overall depth. There is a reason the Big Ten has placed the most teams in the Final Four of any conference (nine in nine years).

Saluting The Big Ten’s Senior Citizens

Whatever the degree of national recognition, White is reaping the rewards of his decision to return and the work ethic that has made his a senior year to remember. For several other Big Ten seniors, this March and, if they are blessed with good Dance cards, Aprils, will contain their final days of college basketball. To their dedication, perseverance, and acknowledging the degree to which a Division I scholarship basketball is a rare summit in itself, Hoopraker salutes them.

Illinois

Chris Hicks: former student athletic trainer turned walk-on

Shaun Pruitt: yeoman numbers throughout a challenging season

Brian Randle: injuries marred what was a virtuoso talent

Indiana

Adam Ahlfeld: walk-on, son of 1972-75 Hoosier Steve Ahlfeld

Lance Stemler: tough competitor, dangerous perimeter shooter

D.J. White: see above, consensus Big Ten player of the year

Mike White: Hoosiers need his continued intangibles and effort

Iowa

Justin Johnson: idled under Alford’s neglect, potent marksman for Lickliter

Kurt Looby: relative newcomer to the U.S. and Naismith’s game, long defender

Seth Gorney: again, improved under Lickliter, some strong conference showings

Michigan

Ron Coleman: reliable, heavy minutes for four years

Michigan State

Drew Neitzel: Academic All-American 2008, Spartan heart and soul for four stellar years, Final Four bookends?

Drew Naymick: another well-taught Izzo big man, opportunistic scorer from 15 feet in, great shot blocker

Minnesota

Dan Coleman: freakishly gifted, explosive athlete, ceiling-setter for Gophers

Lawrence McKenzie: slasher/scorer can be a difference maker

Ryan Saunders: injury plagued final seasons, heir to pop’s coaching legacy

Spencer Tollackson: deceptively crafty, multi-skilled big man, theater major

Northwestern

Tonjua Jones: walk-on from football team notches another varsity letter

Jason Okrzesik: Rice transfer maximized under Carmody

Ohio State

Jamar Butler: Jim O’Brien recruit, arguably the league’s best point guard

Othello Hunter: super athlete, plays hard, often a momentum-changer

Matt Terwilliger: adapted well to Matta’s perimeter focus

Penn State

Geary Claxton: The Tweener That Roared, one of the conference’s most impressive players

Mike Walker: another dangerous shooter, 17 points in win over Virginia Tech

Brandon Hassell: stepped into increased minutes for DeChellis, solid rebounder

PurdueTarrance Crump: another lethal role-player for Painter

Wisconsin

Brian Butch: integral to the Big Ten champs success, huge developmental strides under Bo

Tanner Bronson: future member of Bo Ryan coaching tree

Michael Flowers: does everything Bo wants on both ends, gamer extraordinaire, more big games in March and April?

Greg Steimsma: yet another superb testament to why big men continue to flock to Madison

Like his mentor whose success formula is unduly dependent on McDonald’s All-American level recruitment, Amaker’s hunger for top drawer players may have him on the receiving end of the NCAA’s scrutiny, if not penalty. While it remains to be seen whether Amaker’s trouble evolves into a Sampsonesque fall from grace, it goes a long way towards finally obliterating the false notion of him as an exemplar of class, propriety, and student-athleticism.

Of course, when one considers the NCAA’s reporting on academic performance, none of this should come as a particular surprise. Coach K’s 67% graduation rate and Amaker’s 57% rate at Michigan do not jibe with the PR of them as leaders of programs where academics are prioritized beyond a minimal lip service.

Myths Debunked

What the latest allegations do confirm is that Amaker, like the coach who developed him, depends on a recruiting strategy where getting elite talent is more important than upholding the academic standards of the host institution. And as the latest scenario at Harvard suggests, that it may be worth breaking NCAA rules to gain a recruiting advantage.

While lowering admissions’ standards for athletes is hardly breaking news for the system at large, that Amaker and Coach K have for so long luxuriated in the perception of being peerless models of books and ball, the level of hypocrisy is striking. It goes without saying that Duke and now apparently Harvard are complicit, institutions willing to harbor basketball programs that are dramatically incongruous to the general student body from an academic standpoint.

Poor Comparisons

Those who continue to make comparisons between Duke, Stanford and schools like Vanderbilt and Northwestern overlook the obvious differences. While the former two have decided that winning is worth supporting a severe double-standard for admissions, the other schools have not been so willing. Like Duke, Stanford’s 67% basketball graduation rate is indicative of the depressing underbelly to the program’s success.

Vanderbilt’s 83% and Northwestern’s 89% rates suggest a different approach, one that Vanderbilt is proving can also achieve pretty good winning percentages. The climb is much steeper and the twenty win seasons less frequent, but success at such schools, when it does occur, has much greater meaning.

Recruiter First, Coach Last

Perhaps even more unfortunate is that Harvard hired and has apparently decided to enable a coach who, even with top recruiting classes, has shown little evidence he can coach them to full potential. Even with the short-cuts there is little in his resume to suggest Amaker has the coaching chops to outdo his Ivy League counterparts like Steve Donahue at Cornell or Craig Robinson at Brown.

Yet another wormy apple on the Krzyzewski coaching tree that includes ethically-challenged Quin Snyder and pink-slipped David Henderson, Amaker and his fellow Blue Demon Kenny Blakeney may too be well on their way to rot and descent.

What is becoming readily apparent is that among the most central lessons imparted by Coach K to his acolytes, whether directly or by example, is that blue-chip recruitment should be pursued even when it creates troubling incongruities with the institution.

While Coach K’s epic haul of McDonald’s All-Americans over his tenure has been achieved with Duke’s complicity and Amaker seems to have forged a similar “look the other way” pact with Harvard, the idea that they are sterling examples of winning the right way needs to be categorized for what it is - pure myth.

Memphis Reaches Out To Ebanks

According to reliable reports out of New York and confirmed by Ebanks’ coach at St. Thomas More, Jere Quinn, Memphis is actively courting Ebanks. Quinn also confirmed he’ll be meeting with Ebanks and Ebanks’ “AAU people,” including Lawrence McGugins, the head of Team Takeover, this week. “We’re going to try and make a quick assessment of what they’re trying to do,” Quinn said. “We’re hoping to get together soon. Memphis has contacted us,” Quinn said. “I know they’ve contacted his [Ebanks’] AAU people.”

Aside from the underbelly of college recruitment as conducted in the shadows by surrogates to teenage prodigies like Ebanks, it’s clear an issue has arisen. According to most reports, IU hasn’t formally released Ebanks from his National Letter of Intent nor has Ebanks formally requested such release as required by the NCAA. The rules are clear. Under NCAA regulations, and as reiterated in the explicit terms of NLI, there can be no further recruitment of a individual player once the NLI is signed. If the report referenced above is indeed accurate, Memphis, through its overt courtship of a committed IU recruit, (ed. n.b., and any other school that contact Ebanks before he is released) appears to have violated the spirit if not the letter of the NLI.

NLI Article 9 - Recruiting Ban After Signing

I understand all participating conferences and institutions are obligated to respect my signing and shall cease to recruit me upon my signing this NLI. I shall notify any recruiter who contacts me that I have signed an NLI. Once I enroll in the institution named in this document, the NLI Recruiting Ban is no longer in effect, and I shall be governed by applicable NCAA recruiting bylaws.”

Simply put, if Ebanks hasn’t been released, he can’t be recruited.

That Side Agreement

Rumors persist that Ebanks negotiated a special provision in his NLI that gave him the special option of terminating his commitment if Sampson was terminated. While it may be possible for Ebanks to have negotiated an agreement with Indiana in the wake of the initial disclosure of the allegations of Sampson’s misconduct which modified the standard terms of NLI Article 19 (that coaching changes won’t invalidate the NLI), such side agreement would not obviate the non-recruitment ban.

In any event, the NLI provides, to all recruits, the ability to rescind the NLI if the NCAA or the University determines rules of recruitment were violated in the recruitment of the player. Such right would belong to Ebanks if IU or the NCAA concluded Sampson violated NCAA rules in his recruitment.

NLI Article 7(f) - Recruiting Rules Violation.

If the institution (or a representative of its athletics interests) named in this document violated NCAA or conference rules while recruiting me (as found through the NCAA or conference enforcement process or acknowledged by the institution), this NLI shall be declared null and void if the violation results in my need for eligibility reinstatement by the NCAA student-athlete reinstatement staff.

Whether the NLI or a special agreement with IU controls Ebanks’ commitment, since IU has yet to release Ebanks, under non-recruitment ban of NLI Article 9 an overzealous, looking for a leg up on potential suitors of a released Ebanks, Memphis program finds itself knee deep in the recruiting muck.

Recruiting the Prima Dona

Regardless of the outcome of Ebanks’ recruitment, it’s likely he intends to be on a college campus, wherever it may be, for a mere six months. In that respect, the inherent risks to recruiting the one and doners like Ebanks become more evident. And in the end, how many of them are worth the trouble? With Ebanks’ loyalty to IU nothing more than vapor, it’s readily apparent all the one and doners are looking for is a college coach and program to use as an enablement device for their immediate NBA aspirations.

As Bruce Weber and Mike Davis should have learned from the ill-fated recruitments of Eric Gordon and Josh Smith respectively (a heralded 2004 class that also included DJ White, AJ Ratliff, Robert Vaden and James Hardy) recruiting one and doners may be an expedient device to placate the short term memories of the fan base but you set yourself up for a steep fall.

In the end, after using the program to audition for scouts, the one and doners are gone and program continuity suffers. Unless they lead their school to a National Championship, something few of them achieve in one year, their contribution to the long term stability to the program is ephemeral.

DJ Elsass contributed to this article.

Another Freshman Guard

If there is any positive development from the ruins of All-Big senior Geary Claxton’s season-ending knee injury, it’s been the rapid acceleration of Battle’s development. Aside from laying ruin to Penn State’s hopes for the season, the Claxton injury left an clutch-player void in State College.  Although prone to the inconsistencies freshmen usually endure, Battle  has answered the call.  As he did in a hard fought comeback win against Iowa last week, Battle has filled the void with combination of confidence and the willingness to demand the ball when the outcome of the game is in the balance.

Against Michigan this past weekend, he led Penn State (14-14, 6-10) to its fourth-straight Big Ten home victory with a 69-61 win over Michigan (9-20, 5-12). Building on that win total will be daunting as Penn State and its talented freshman travel to Madison on Wednesday. Still, Battle’s day with Brent, Steve and Erin will come.

Smart Boilers

It’s generally recognized that Purdue plays smart basketball and, so long as Matt Painter patrols the sidelines of Mackey, the Boilermakers will continue to play smart basketball for the foreseeable future. From the talented freshmen through the upperclassmen, the Boilermakers have demonstrated the principles of an adherence to fundamentals and and unselfish play. In West Lafayette, the team is more important than the individual.

Except when it comes to the books. Led by Academic-All Big Ten players Chris Kramer (3.5 gpa), Tarrance Crump (3.3 gpa) and Bobby Riddell (3.75 gpa), Purdue has the highest team GPA in the Conference. According to the report published in the Lafayette Journal-Carrier, if the freshmen and junior college transfers were eligible for inclusion, 10 of the 14 players on the roster would’ve been Academic All-Big selections. Robbie Hummel, for example, is not only smart enough to follow up his own shot, he nailed down a 4.0 in his first semester on campus.

With the expectations placed on student-athletes and those in conferences such as the Big Ten in particular, the travel and late night mid-week games to accommodate the insatiable appetite of television requires loads of discipline in the classroom. Purdue’s recent accomplishment is yet another great reason to tip your hardhat to Painter and his team.

Remember Latrell

Hoopraker would like to extend a welcome to the greater NYC area to one of our favorite Big Ten players in recent years, Devin Harris. Badgercentric reminds us of Harris’ recruiting class partner, former roommate and longtime friend Latrell Fleming (Milwaukee-Marshall), a high flying scorer who was unable to play for the Wisconsin after a heart ailment was discovered when he collapsed in a grueling pre-season workout at the legendary Elver Park Hill. Although he never played hoops again, Wisconsin kept Fleming on a basketball scholarship and installed Fleming as a student-assistant coach for Bo Ryan.

“Latrell was a tremendous, complete guard who had a great outside shot; he could really shoot the ball,” former UW-Madison assistant coach and Washington State head man Tony Bennett said. “He was a great ball handler, he had a lot of tricks, and he could cross people up. He was a natural point guard who could really stroke it. The combination of him and Devin (Harris) would have been lethal.”

Reasons To Believe

With several credible performances of late, including a road win in Ann Arbor that cracked the Big Ten goose egg for his program, Bill Carmody is attempting to make a case against those who have arrived at dire conclusions about his tenure.

One can only hope, however, that Carmody’s ninth year in Evanston provides the final verdict on his leadership of a program whose apologists do it no favors by continuing to generate more excuses for failure than reasons for success. Though the challenges of a losing tradition, a rigorous but far from uncompliant admissions policy, and an unforgiving Big Ten are not for the yellow, the task is far from Sisyphean.

The chance to play right away in a major conference, a scholarship that is worth approximately $200K, a resume-gilding degree, a powerful alumni network, the nation’s third largest media market, and a picturesque campus is just the lead paragraph of the recruiting brochure. At the coach’s disposal is a rich talent pool in the backyard and countless basketball alumni whose Northwestern stories both as student-athletes and post-graduates are living, breathing sales tools for the program.

The Living Tradition

With program stalwarts like Shon Morris, Kevin Rankin, Evan Eschmeyer, Jitim Young, Winston Blake, and Tim Doyle, among others, as examples of the high upsides of the Northwestern case, there is no reason for poor confidence. When their resumes extend to the NBA, All-American and All-Big Ten teams, the Northwestern law and business schools, and impressive professional experiences, there is plenty to talk about with prospective parents and players.

Fortunately Carmody has tapped into at least one exemplar of the program’s merits by tasking Tavaras Hardy to the recruiting trail. Hardy has had a dramatic effect on the perception of the program, especially locally where Carmody, due to East Coast-centricity, a Croatian frequent flyer program, or other reasons, had struggled to find traction.

A gritty rebounder, jack of all trades, and distinguished student-athlete during his playing days, Hardy is yet another example of the kind of alumnus that should have been front and center in Carmody’s recruiting strategy from day one. Like Jitim Young, Sterling Williams, and Jeremy Nash, he is a Chicagoland product who has helped to erode the notion of Northwestern as being inaccessible and/or largely invisible to local coaches and players.

Lessons From Football

The institutional commitment to the program, while not financially reckless, is unquestionable and starts at the top with President Beinen.  Along with former Athletic Director Mark Murphy, Beinen has given his highest revenue coaches the kind of resources that, as Randy Walker and Pat Fitzgerald have shown, is supportive of competitive recruiting and favorable results.

Perhaps telling is that tireless, buck stops here Walker and his successor have never wasted much oxygen on excuse-making. Instead Walker marched his team to Big Ten respectability and bowl berths while Fitzgerald continues to roll up his sleeves and win recruiting battles against some of the nation’s toniest programs.

While comparisons between football and basketball are not exact tools of evaluation, the fact that the programs have arrived at very different levels of success and overall perception is worth noting. Walker and Fitzgerald may have benefited modestly from the Rose Bowl berth of Gary Barnett’s tenure, but it was hardly the kind of sustained momentum that completely eradicated the ghosts of bad tradition. This is especially true when you consider Barnett, distracted by all the outside job interviews, went 8-16 in his final two seasons in Evanston and laid a Big Ten goose egg in his final year.

Admittedly, Barnett’s successes did help generate enthusiasm around the program and additional school, alumni, and booster investment with the Ryan Field improvements, new weight and locker rooms. But winning earns such investments. While not overlooking his many faults, he did provide an example of how hustle, can-do spirit, and raising of expectations can transform even seemingly intractable cultures of losing.

There are lessons to be learned from how Barnett’s breakthrough was achieved and how Walker and Fitzgerald have carried things forward. Attitude and personality matter.

Make Welsh-Ryan An Asset

There is no question that belief and hard work are much more effective tools for change than excuse-making and blame-gaming. The persistent griping about Welsh-Ryan whether from fans or from inside the program is self-defeating and cart before horse thinking. Like Barnett it is best to win first, complain about facilities second. It’s amazing how the wallets come out for winners.

The biggest problem with Welsh-Ryan is that it is either empty or filled primarily with rival fans. Generate greater enthusiasm for the program and Welsh-Ryan, given its pit-like size, has the potential to become a powerful home court advantage.

Murphy’s Disappointment Becomes Phillips’ Mandate

To his credit Mark Murphy was not among the excuse-makers, at least on the public record, citing the absence of a basketball breakthrough the “biggest disappointment” of his tenure at Northwestern. Hopefully new AD Jim Phillips will carry Murphy’s discontent forward and keep the pressure on the program.

The Season At Hand

Thanks to the evolution of Craig Moore into a Big Ten junior of distinction in the season’s second half, the playing into shape of Kevin Coble, and some long overdue breakouts of friskiness from previously bench-buried and/or injured players like Ivan Puljusic and Jeremy Nash, the team has looked better in the last two weeks.

That said, the results this season should be viewed with a critical eye. The graduations of Tim Doyle and Vince Scott and the Coble absence were not meaningless but are far from adequate explanations. What will likely be a twenty loss season and a dead last, one or two win finish in conference for an eighth-year coach just doesn’t support persuasive excuse-making.

When one considers the first-year results of Beilein, Lickliter, and Tubby, it becomes clear that Carmody needs to find a new gear or he will find himself eating even more exhaust in the years to come. The Big Ten’s coaching talent, impressive before, is becoming mercilessly good.

Next Year And Beyond

Hopefully Davide Curletti, the new addition to Carmody’s class of 2008 will, along with John Shurna, be the rebounder the program desperately needs. No one would complain if Carmody won the occasional battle for players like Luke Harangody or Robbie Hummel, but the fact is the program doesn’t need that level of recruit to achieve a breakthrough.

Players like Shon Morris, Brian Schwabe, Andre Goode, Rankin, Brody Deren, or Hardy were not stratospheric blue-chippers. They were tough-minded big men that Rich Falk and Bill Foster were able to bring to Evanston despite the same lack of tradition that the excuse-makers keep trumpeting. These kind of players are well within the program’s reach. That they haven’t arrived under Carmody’s watch has been unfortunate and punitive.

With Beinen as a loyal advocate until his retirement in August 2009 Carmody may well survive even another bottomed out ninth life. But seasons of these kind of lows cannot be excused as business as usual at Northwestern. If the program is to achieve breakthrough, expectations and demands from the university, the program, and its fans need to be higher.

Without putting an exact metric on it, Carmody needs to make a big, unmistakable step towards the notion of breakthrough next season. With even the program’s insiders suggesting next year is going to be the one, it is time to hold Carmody to it.

In beating the Spartans, the Badgers controlled the pace of the game with trademarked defense and patience on offense, helped in large measure by a school record one turnover for which Joe Krabbenhoft dutifully accepted responsibility. The Badgers used a decisive 11-2 run late in the game to provide for the final margin in a game that was in actuality much closer on the scoreboard. However, the tenor of the game was managed by Wisconsin as the Spartans never were able to threaten the obstacles presented by the Badgers’ precision on both ends of the court.

Ultimately the Spartans were on the wrong end of a pitch perfect night in the Kohl Center and left Madison with more questions than answers. Now staggering into to a rematch with Indiana on Sunday, having lost three of their last five, including four straight road games, the window for a Spartan revival is beginning to close.

Workingman’s Red

Set to the cadence of a dribble, Ryan’s proprietary Swing Offense is blue collar poetry. Against Michigan State, the Badgers executed their offense with a surgical precision and patience that relegated the Spartans to the uncustomary position of flummoxed bystanders.

At its essence, Wisconsin’s Swing Offense is fluidity of players in motion and ball movement where everyone, from bigs Brian Butch, Greg Stiemsma and Marcus Landry to guards Michael Flowers, Jason Bohannon and Trevon Hughes (not to mention Hoopraker favorite Krabbenhoft) must competently play on the perimeter and in the post on any given possession. When working in concert, as they were against the Spartans, the Badgers are as smooth as a Rathskeller Ale on the Union Terrace.

As this year’s version of the Badgers makes clear, Ryan ingrains in his players the import of setting solid screens, cutting hard to the basket and passing ball. Unlike the Princeton offense or its derivatives as run by Northwestern’s Bill Carmody or Michigan’s John Beilein, the Swing Offense emphasizes delivering the ball to the post where the Badgers find high percentage shots or, at the least, an opportunity to get to the free throw line.

For example, when Hughes makes an entry pass to Landry, Butch or a host of others and after the defense has been forced to switch on account of all the ball movement, screens and cuts, the Badgers often find themselves the beneficiary of defenders out of position, out of their comfort zone or in mismatches. It presents a formidable challenge to the best of teams. For a thorough breakdown of the Swing Offense from an Xs and Os perspective, check out Coaching Better Basketball.

Getting Badgers

What makes Wisconsin’s Swing so enviable is its its versatility. As Ryan knows best, the Swing Offense requires disciplined, smart basketball players but not necessarily the glossy five-star recruit that makes a decent coach look  better than he is.  A look at Wisconsin’s roster and Ryan’s keen ability to stock his team with smart basketball players that meld naturally into the Badger program becomes obvious. While Wisconsin excelled with under the radar recruits such as Alando Tucker and Devin Harris before him who eventually developed under Ryan’s tutelage into All-Americans, this year’s version may be Ryan’s best yet, without any stars but complete with hardworking players who thoroughly understand their roles.

While Wisconsin’s Swing is effective using a variety of players, it is also effective against a variety of players from methodical Northwestern to athletic Indiana and Ohio State. Against man to man defenses that apply pressure, Wisconsin can take advantage of aggressive overplays. Against zone defenses, after cuts in the lane and several ball reversals and pass fakes, Wisconsin can attack before the zone shifts. It’s an offense difficult to defend, a pleasure to watch and worthy of emulation having proven its value in the gaudy win totals accumulated by Ryan from Platteville to Madison.

Son of a Butch

To many, the name Thad Matta resonates more loudly as the best coach in the Big Ten than the man who has the highest winning percentage of anyone who has coached basketball for 20 years or more, winning over 77% of his games. Perhaps Ryan’s 1950’s persona and classical approach to the game doesn’t light up the minds with the same glow as the athletic recruiting classes of Matta, Bill Self, Rick Barnes, or Bruce Pearl.

No matter for Wisconsin because the Badgers continue to play high quality basketball that wins games as well as the hearts of basketball purists. Through the inevitable transitions of season to season, Ryan succeeds through a consistent and concise set of basketball principles: take care of the ball, play defense, pass the ball and wait for the open shot. With these steadfast principles, Wisconsin is not only successful, they’re a pure joy to watch.

Waiting for Drew

As discussed on Spartans Weblog, Spartan Nation is understandably confused as to the culprit of Michigan State’s recent infirmity. In some cases, fingers are pointed in the direction of the coach, from questioning whether Izzo overreacts to player mistakes to whether the Spartan offense is in need of tweak here and there. What is certain, as viewed from the comfortable distance afforded by a fictitious shrink’s couch many miles from the Breslin Center, is the Spartans’ self-esteem appears too reliant on the mercurial shooting of senior Drew Neitzel.

Confidence is a fragile beast. Against Wisconsin, whether by Izzo’s design or by coincidence, most of the Spartans watched and waited with hope that Neitzel’s shots would start to drop through the nylon. They kept watching and waiting albeit futilely. With Neitzel hounded by his four-year nemesis Michael Flowers into a 1-10 bricklaying session, the Spartans conveyed a look of trepidation rather than aggression, particularly in the second half. The results that flowed translated into 42 points, another conference road loss, and a questionable state of confidence.

March Lion

As we enter March, the Spartans should have enough competitive players to surmount the inevitable ebbs and flows of Neitzel’s jump shot and the distances teams go to stop it. Whether the two most obvious candidates on the offensive end, Raymar Morgan and Kalin Lucas, assert themselves, will go a long way in determining the outcome of Michigan State’s season.

Still, if viewed in isolation, the loss at the Kohl Center was a loss to a team playing to the best of its ability before their home fans. But in the context of an IU blowout and an 10-5 Big Ten record, it’s difficult not to conclude, as many Spartan fans do, Michigan State is underachieving. If the Spartans are to reclaim their season in the next three weeks, the lessons of their losses must be appreciated while the page must be turned. It’s a delicate balance but their confidence depends on it as does their opportunity for redemption against IU on Sunday in the Breslin Center.

April’s Hot Seat

While it remains to be seen whether the program’s path to redemption will include banners and hardware this season, the future of the program beyond April will be depend largely on an athletic director whose judgment the past two years has given more reasons to doubt than believe. While there may be reason to still speculate about his job security, it seems from today’s vantage point that Rick Greenspan will be charged with the task of delivering the program its third head coach since Bob Knight.

After the slow fatigue of the Mike Davis tenure and with a program facing stiff, but as yet indeterminate penalties and a compromised recruiting cycle for 2008-09 thanks to his successor, Greenspan needs to make the kind of uplifting, high approval rating hire that will give IU basketball and its fan base a rallying point for the tough times ahead.

The decision to appoint Hoosier family fixture Dakich as interim was an auspicious first step, but Greenspan’s next official basketball hire will define his IU legacy and his own professional future in Bloomington. Whether his judgment is up to the task will be the operative question of the spring and summer.

Elements of the spin generating from Bloomington are that it was former president Herbert who was most instrumental in bringing Sampson onboard. In this set of unsubstantiated rumors, Greenspan was said to have favored Mark Few, Kevin Stallings, or John Beilein only to be trumped by Herbert’s advocacy for Sampson.

Certainly, if it is true, Greenspan’s reputation is the beneficiary. All three of those alternatives have excellent resumes as not only winners but coaches who conduct their business with integrity and propriety.

Speculative Science

While Beilein isn’t leaving Ann Arbor anytime soon, the other two would still constitute solid, thoughtful hires. Though Few couldn’t keep Josh Heytvelt from taking a couple rides on the Magic Mushroom Express, the overall complexion of his program has been not unlike that of Majerus’ at Utah, clean and overachieving. It’s hard to imagine Few hasn’t gotten high-major offers every off-season for the past decade. The fact that he hasn’t left Spokane may be a strong indication that he’s there for the duration.

Kevin Stallings (Purdue ‘82), a coach thanks to solid success at Illinois State (1994-99) and his conspicuous breakthroughs the past two seasons at Vanderbilt (Sweet 16 2007), has been on the tongues of many programs’ fan bases of late. Currently at 24-4, 18th in the AP poll, and fresh off a humbling of Bruce Pearl’s track squad, Stallings is dispelling any remaining myths about elite academic institutions being antithetical to high-level basketball success. Stallings, an Illinois schoolboy (Collinsville, IL.) and Keady protege, has serious chops, integrity, and the kind of competitive zeal that Joakim Noah will corroborate. Would the IU nation invite a Boilermaker into their inner sanctum?

Of course, the kind of speculation suggested by the rumor-mill whether it is the names cited above, Randy Wittman, Sean Miller, or Scott Skiles is valuable more for its entertainment than anything else. Trying to divine the coaching short-lists of athletic directors is speculative science indeed. Analyzing the track records of major media journalists in this department would betray a lot of sub-Mendoza averages and this despite privileged levels of access.

The Credibility Test

That said, Greenspan’s choice will be a final referendum on his credibility and most importantly, will determine how quickly his host institution regains what had been one of the most unimpeachable basketball programs from a success-to-sanctions ratio over the past half century.

Of course, anyone looking for a primer on good basketball human resources wouldn’t be poorly served by looking across the conference to Iowa City and Ann Arbor. While Lickliter and Beilein will not provide the kind of short-cut timetables that the most impatient factions of fan bases clamor for, they are making marked, highly impressive strides for their new programs and will win the right way.

Greenspan needs to add yet another exemplar to what is already the nation’s finest coaching roster of any conference. And once they have him installed, patience will be in order. Instant success, especially given the sanctions and recruiting disruption, will not be supportable. With Sampson as a cautionary tale, instant success should often be viewed with great skepticism.

Live The Moment

In the meantime it is reassuring to see D.J. and company taking good, long strides toward Dakich. The season at hand still has stratospheric potential and it would be one of the finer college basketball stories of recent memory if the Hoosiers and their interim could enjoy a healing March dance together. And who knows, maybe Dakich will write a compelling argument for himself in the next month and a half. Despite the Sampson storm clouds, there are several reasons for optimism, present and future, in Bloomington.

No Easy Arbiter

Wisconsin (23-4, 13-2) gave no quarter and beat the Buckeyes 58-53 with proprietary Badger blend of patience, balance, discipline and execution. The customary basketball export of Dane County finds UW-Madison among the most formidable teams in the Country and, once again, atop the Big Ten pile.

Through a sustained defensive effort and a subtle second-half mental adjustment that virtually eliminated turnovers, the Badgers wore Ohio State down psychologically and took advantage of their tendencies. A typical Matta team, taking quick shots, making poor decisions, and lacking patience to stick with what works (dribble penetration, passing out of the post), the Buckeyes played right into the crease of Bo Ryan’s playbook. End of story.

After the Wisconsin game and with a trip to Indiana looming, what’s left of Ohio State’s self-confidence is in doubt. The players are sniping with one another, David Lighty has some form of game-induced narcolepsy and Matta has finally heard enough chirping from Jamar Butler, disciplining the dubious veteran presence to the bench after 97 consecutive starts. For a team many pundits presumed could make a run deep into March simply by reloading their talented-gene pool, Ohio State now looks more like a bad chemistry lesson.

A Lesson Learned

The emphasis of Tom Izzo’s practices since the 80-61 loss to Indiana, a game in which they played fast and loose with the ball, was disclosed in redemption wins in the Breslin Center over Penn State (86-49) and Iowa (66-52). The Spartans, in back to back games, treated the ball as if it were the last cup at a kegger, turning it over 7 and 5 times respectively. By playing stronger with the ball, the Spartans enter the final turn to the conference season hoping to have found a lasting remedy to their Achilles Heel.

More Morgan

Against Indiana, the Spartans received a combined total of three points from Morgan, Goran Suton and Marquise Gray. Izzo also apparently spent the week bending the ear of his good-natured sophomore from Akron-Canton McKinley High School as Morgan, in a total of 40 minutes, made 13 of 14 shots in the two wins. A confident Morgan takes Michigan State to another level. After a solid week, the Spartans are off to Madison where they’ll seek to reclaim their identity as conference heavies.

Spartan Nation, too, suspects Iowa and Penn State was what the doctored ordered as they’re looking for Sparty win out, straight through Indiana in the Breslin Center on March 2 and into Conseco where they’ll hoist the Tournament Trophy. The next step, however, is the first, and that’s in Wisconsin.

Money All Spent

In the retrospect afforded by a turn of the page, the first week in February marked the last stand this season for Illinois basketball. After playing to the bottom of its emotional well in an overtime loss to Eric Gordon and Indiana, Losing to IU in overtime, blowing out Minnesota in Williams Arena and then losing to Penn State 51-50, the Fighting Illini (11-17, 3-12) have seemingly exhausted all reserves remaining in Champaign. The toll of 12 conference losses for a team that lost 12 in the previous three years has become heavy indeed.

Be Michigan

This weekend, Illinois lost 49-43 to an evolving Michigan team (9-18-5-10) secured their fourth win in five games in Crisler Arena. While Bruce Weber has assuredly pulled all rabbits from his hat in an effort to maintain some ballast on his Good Ship Illini, perhaps his players can look to those in Ann Arbor for inspiration. While their seasons are lost in terms of a winning records and whatever preseason dreams they possessed, both teams are playing for the future.

It seems cruel to expect but the Illini must dig a little deeper during a week off. While they possess more close losses to good teams then most teams should, the Illini are playing now for their individual self-respect. As Michigan establishes with each baby step it takes, Illinois needs to remain aggressive; their cuts need to be quicker; their passes sharper; and they defensive effort constant. With games at Iowa and home against Michigan State and Minnesota, Illinois has a chance, in small part, to reclaim a lost season and a puncher’s chance to somehow making it click in February.

Clouds Over Richmond

In the week he saw Brian Randle play his last game for Illinois and opening the door for the transfer of Brian Carlwell, Bruce Weber also learned the jewel of his 2010 recruiting class, stratospherically regarded high school sophomore Jereme Richmond was kicked off his high school team. Unfortunately, it was Richmond’s second official bout with trouble (he punched a teammate in November 2007) and certainly one to give serious pause to Weber.

As Hoopraker examined earlier this season, the perils of coaches offering scholarships to sophomores are serious on several levels. The trend, led by Ohio State’s Thad Matta, of dipping deep into the pool for high school freshmen and sophomore (and in Matta’s case, an eighth grader) is replete with risk and ripe for abuse. Jereme Richmond’s recent travails are far from conclusive as to his character and ultimate development as a person first and a player second. Still, whether Richmond has the maturity to flaunt a scholarship from Illinois and remain teachable is questionable.

In the wake the Eric Gordon’s ill-fated recruitment for which Illinois is suffering mightily, extending the reach of major college coaches into a well of children, albeit athletically gifted ones, is fraught with risks, for the University and the student-athlete.

A Shadow Of A Team

While all members of the Indiana team showed up for the game, it was clear from their performances on the floor that they were not the same team that has battled successfully to date for the Big Ten Championship. While interim coach Dakich escaped with a narrow victory, he knows that the burden of getting this team back to playing at the high performance levels they have displayed throughout the Big Ten slate, particularly in recent wins over Michigan State and Purdue, will be the principal challenge of his coaching career.

On the other bench Carmody, even if the result was severely distorted by a distracted Hoosier performance, may benefit from the perception of a competitive game. But he too has the challenge of salvaging something positive from this lackluster season and it would be a mistake to take too many positives away from this game.

Missing Defenses

It was clear that defense was not going to be a part of this game from the beginning toss. Both teams were able to shoot freely and defense did not seem to be the focus of either team. For Dakich the fact that his team allowed Northwestern to break 80 points is an indication of the uphill battle he has in bringing his team back together after the Sampson fiasco this past week. The highest point total for Northwestern in previous Big Ten games was 68 twice against Michigan and Penn State.

In their first game in Bloomington the Wildcats were held to 63 points. Had Sampson been in the coaching box for the game this past Saturday, it is near certain that the Wildcats would not have been able to pull off 8 backcuts that yielded wide-open lay-ups and 16 points. No other Big Ten team has surrendered this many points to the Northwestern backdoor attack.

While the backcut is occasionally successful for Northwestern when the opposing teams lose their defensive concentration, it seldom yields this many points in a single game. Dakich obviously had no answer for the backcuts since no adjustments seemed evident in the Hoosier’s play. Another sign of lackluster Hoosier defense was Kevin Coble’s career-high 37-point outing.

In recent games the opposing Big Ten foes had been very effective in containing Coble’s scoring by assigning one of their best defensive players to shadow him throughout the game. Anyone who has watched Northwestern play this year knows that keeping Coble from scoring is the key to beating them as they have a limited number of other productive scorers. In the three games prior to Indiana, Coble’s biggest output was a high of 14 points with a low of 4 points coming against Ohio State, one of the best defensive teams in the Big Ten. In the first game with Indiana he scored 12 points.

Playing strong team defense requires intensity both physically and mentally. It requires players to do things that often are not natural and instinctive. Good defensive play is not recognized and rewarded by the average fan so players have to be taught to maintain strong defensive postures throughout the game. A significant cost of the stressful week for the Hoosiers was a total breakdown in their defensive intensity.

White’s Pursuit of Excellence

Most Big Ten fans would agree that D.J. White is the strongest candidate for Conference Player of the Year. Indeed many college basketball observers have recognized him as a strong candidate for Naismith Player of the Year award. Given what D.J. has experienced in his four years of college basketball at Indiana, his performance this year has been magnificent.

He already had weathered the firing of Mike Davis who recruited him from his Alabama roots to come play for Indiana. Enduring yet another round of pain and sorrow in losing Sampson, a coach who had gained his trust and full commitment, probably affects no other Indiana player more deeply that it does White.

While displaying tremendous potential to be a strong post player during this first two years at Indiana, he did not come close to realizing it. Enter Kelvin Sampson who was not only very instrumental in keeping White at Indiana, but very effective in convincing him that he could be a great player in his final years at IU with hard work and in-game intensity. Those who have seen him over his four years tenure will attest to the fact that he is performing at a very different level this year. Sampson can take full credit for this turnaround.

Hoosier Heart And Soul

Saturday night D.J. had a strong first half, easily scoring when he received the ball or worked to grab offensive rebounds. He was 5 for 5 in field goals during the first half, but just before the half ended, he hurt his hand in play under the basket, possibly a severely spraining his thumb. He was quite visible in displaying the pain as the half came to a close.

In the second half Indiana did not run their offense through White as they had in the first half. Whether it was due to his sprained hand, one can only speculate. Had they continued to use White extensively in their offensive sets, I am convinced that the outcome of this game would have been far different as Northwestern has no answers for a player of White’s skill and power. White did not score a single field goal in the second half, having attempted only one.

He made all six of his free throws in the second half, and ended the game with 16 quiet points. White obviously was feeling the emotional exhaustion of the week and he was unable to sustain the passion he has displayed for the game over 40 minutes. The lack of a typical White offensive game is another major factor that figured heavily in the closeness of this game.

He has far too much at stake. His team will need him to continue his consistent strong play in scoring and rebounding. The success of the Hoosiers in the Big Ten NCAA tournaments will be determined by the success Dakich has in getting White to continue his strong efforts.

The Stretch Run

While Dakich has been a head coach, he has not faced the challenge he now confronts of putting a very good Hoosier team immediately back into focus. It is a tall order, but there is little time and virtually no margin for error. While their schedule is favorable, they must travel to East Lansing for a tough match-up with the Spartans. They face a hungry Buckeye team at home and a Minnesota team that would like to sneak into the NCAA tournament. A big win for the Gophers in Bloomington would be the quality win they have been seeking all season. The Hoosier’s final game is in Happy Valley where Michigan State was ambushed earlier this season.

Fishing Lessons, Et Al

While the factors are not identical Dakich may want to consult with Steve Fisher who took over the ‘88-‘89 Michigan Wolverine team after Bill Frieder announced that he was bolting for the Arizona State head coaching job. Frieder assumed he would be allowed to take his Michigan team to the NCAA, but A.D. Bo Schembeckler intervened and stated “I want a Michigan man coaching the Wolverines in the Tournament.” Steve Fisher took over as interim and guided the Wolverines to their only NCAA Championship. Fisher was named head coach after the tournament run. So Fisher may have some sage advice that can be helpful.

Another powerful motivator in athletic competition is to exhort the team to “win for the coach!” In this case, an effective ploy might be: “win it for Coach Sampson”. Given the circumstances surrounding Sampson’s departure, exploiting the strong relationships the team members have to Sampson will be tricky, but it should be effective in this situation to keep the team focused. Players endure a great deal during a season and, if they like their coach, they develop great loyalty to their coach and they will overcome all types of adversity in the pursuit of wins.

Loyalty to Sampson is strongly rooted in the Indiana team and it will not go away quickly. Dakich would be well advised to tap into this reservoir of loyalty to sustain the performance of his team. Stay tuned to see whether Dakich is able to pass these major leadership tests.

Who Needs Enemies

Whether the slurs and arrows come from the bird-bath depth of USA Today-style media, the ADHD realm of ESPN, or putative Big Ten experts such as the one quoted below, the conference receives the same dismissals about both its slow-ball aesthetic and its lack of competitiveness with the other power conferences, especially the ACC.

On low-possession per game Big Ten basketball:

“It’s just that, Hoya exceptions notwithstanding, this particular symptom more often than not coincides with the disease: really boring basketball. Indeed, unnecessarily boring basketball. The Big Ten has to divest itself of a mistaken belief in its cognitive DNA: that going faster means you’re not playing defense. It’s not true, it never has been true, and until a new coach or two comes into the league and proves it’s not true (by playing a Roy Williams style and reaping the rewards in recruiting), we may be doomed to more 60-possession games.” – Big Ten Wonk, March 2007

While Hoopraker isn’t one to begrudge another’s basketball preferences (we prefer to privately ridicule them), it does seem tragic (wink) that someone self-anointed as a Big Ten Wonk would’ve chosen allegiance and thereby be doomed to suffer a conference whose slow-ball identity has prevailed for decades.

And with the additions of Lickliter and Beilein this aesthetic does not appear to be undergoing any kind of swift reformation. Perhaps this explains why the Wonk left the Big Ten beat. We at Hoopraker, firmly against doom and suffering, wish him quick recovery from the post-trauma of his years blogging the conference.

Fighting Through Boredom

Embedded in the erstwhile Wonk’s critique, however, is a possible explanation for the conference’s lack of favor from the national media. With the sports event cycle and its media coverage being pushed into a Ritalin-driven pace where style trumps substance, top ten lists, sound bytes and the highlight reel stand-in for the full story, where the games of December and January, indeed the whole conference season’s significance is defined as little more than a barely sufferable warm-up for the NCAA tournament, perhaps in such a hyper climate of low attention span and rushing to the endgame, the Big Ten’s relatively glacial mode of play has become even more incongruous.

In other words, who wants to suffer the sight of Wisconsin and Purdue scoring 116 points between them on January 26 with great defense and patient, high percentage offense when you can watch Duke and Maryland sprint up and down the floor the next night and put up 177? What’s more, the Duke game has the added bonus of featuring a half-dozen or more McDonald’s All-Americans while the fans at Mackey must somehow maintain interest in a contest that includes only one who goes by the less than hype-inspiring sobriquet The Polar Bear.

The Wonk Prescriptive

To correct the conference’s perception problem and taking the lead from the Wonk, the solution is clear. Bo Ryan, Matt Painter, John Beilein, and last year’s National Coach of the Year Todd Lickliter, among others, need to deprogram their decades of basketball study and gain some much needed clarity about how to coach a faster, more entertaining brand of basketball.

If they would just surrender their delusions about good defense requiring slow offense, they could speed things up, increase the conference’s entertainment value, and be able to attract McDonald’s All-Americans and one-and-doners by the bushel-load. Then, at last, the Big Ten would emerge from its cobwebs and arthritic, foolhardy notions about the game, see the light of high possession basketball, and begin to enjoy the juicy apples of the modern age. Finally, then, the conference would be relevant again.

Indeed, the Big Ten would be less unsightly if the conference’s coaches wised up and began to emulate the approach of their colleague Thad Matta. Matta’s basketball product hues closest to the ACC/Wonk’s preference for faster offense coupled with good defense. And Matta’s much lauded recruiting classes provide clear proof that this is the kind of basketball favored by the preponderance of blue-chip athletes. Speed up the offense, recruit and prosper!

Purdue For Beginners

With the USA Today article as representative, the journalists assigned to the national college basketball beat are often handicapped by a distant relationship to the teams and conferences they are evaluating. To wit, Mr. Garcia mounts his argument around the premise that because a relatively young Purdue team is at the top of the conference standings, the Big Ten is down. Overlooking signs to the contrary, he also suggests that the lower half of the conference is no more than an impotent mash of patsies.

Obvious to those close to the conference, the Purdue that lost to Wofford on December 19 is a cheap replica of today’s league-leading Boilermakers. Anyone who has watched the team’s evolution under Painter the last three years realizes this team is no mere fluke. And though Painter’s frosh are still fighting for recognition amidst the Gordon, Beasley, Kevin Love, OJ Mayo frenzy, taken as a whole they are arguably the best recruiting class in the country.

It’s unfortunate it hasn’t dawned on Mr. Garcia, but Purdue is a very good basketball team. Fortunately, there will be several years ahead for him to catch up to the truth of this program.

More Than The Frontrunner

Joining the Boilers at the upper ledger of the conference are three more ballclubs that can play with anyone in the country. This year’s Wisconsin club is not far from the standard of the nationally 4th-ranked Badger team of last season. And given the way Bo has brought his deep, balanced roster along, his team this year may be a more complete and dangerous team than last year’s where much of the offense ran through two players, Alando Tucker and Kammron Taylor.

Indiana, depending on its ability to rally around each other and interim Dan Dakich, has the talent to make the last weeks of the season special for the IU program that is in much need of basketball uplift.

And though many have prematurely relegated Izzo’s Spartans to discount status, they are a team that when playing at the peak of their powers has the highest upside in the league. Like last year’s Purdue team that finished fourth in the league at 9-7 but played the best March basketball of any conference team, one should not overlook Izzo’s touch for the stretch run.

The Usual Traps

Looking at RPIs, won-loss records, individual games, and the ACC-Big Ten challenge in isolation is a trap that fails to account for the season as a five-month growing medium. The best coaches, of which the Big Ten has a deep roster, can take roster shake-ups, Wofford losses, and 36-point offensive nights and turn them, via months of good teaching, into basketball gold. The Big Ten’s NCAA performances, placing nine teams in the Final Four the past nine seasons, are just one reminder of this fact.

Growth in the Arbor

While its two most talented players, sophomore DeShawn Sims and freshman Manny Harris, were the first to grasp the rudiments of Beilein’s coaching philosophy, it’s the development of frosh point Kelvin Grady and borderline Big Ten role players such as Anthony Wright, Zach Gibson, and Ekpe Udoh, which is most responsible for Michigan’s steady progression from conference footnote to a potential conference spoiler.

Where some teams and coaches would have been captured in the vortex of mind-numbing losses, Michigan as remained focused on their next step. Consequently, and evident from the 64-61 loss to Wisconsin on January 22 in the Kohl Center, the entire Michigan roster is playing with greater confidence and, not surprisingly, they’re competing.

With solid ball movement and good spacing, Beilein’s offense is providing uncontested jump shots and layups which, as the season churns, are being made with greater frequency. On defensive end, where Michigan once struggled with missed assignments, slow feet and blown rebounds, the Wolverines are beginning to demonstrate the requisite toughness to sustain forty minutes of defense without significant gaps of intensity.

Until Beilein stocks his roster with better shooters and more players, including Arizona transfer Leval Lucas-Perry, Michigan is thin and understanably prone to scoring droughts, turnovers and defensive lapses. Still, through prolonged losing streaks and disheartening losses, Beilein remained patient and steadfast to his principles and now, in an Upper Midwestern winter, the fruits of Michigan’s collective efforts are in bloom.

Quick Learners

Like Todd Lickliter’s Iowa Hawkeyes who were destroyed in their first meeting with the Buckeyes only to resolutely defeat them in a rematch, Michigan won its grudge match against the Buckeyes through a methodical manhandling of a more talented but less disciplined Ohio State team. As they found themselves in Columbus, Michigan was pressured late in the game but, unlike their first meeting, Blue refused to fold and in the process put a serious laceration in Matta’s quest for a third straight NCAA appearance.

In the six seasons Tommy Amaker, um, coached Michigan, the Wolverines were mentally weak, essentially ran no organized offense and played passive, if any, defense. Amaker placed his fortunes in the hands of the talent his Duke pedigree enabled him to lure to Ann Arbor and the results were a colossal disappointment to Blue fans. A polar opposite of the coaching deficient Amaker, Beilein has started figuratively from scratch in building Michigan’s program upon an organized structure that will soon, not later, ensconce Michigan basketball in its traditional place atop of the conference.

Gauze Please

Losers of 6 of their last 9 games, Tubby Smith and his Golden Gophers (15-9, 5-7) need to make a stand for their season in Williams Arena. In a 77-65 in their last meeting against Michigan in Ann Arbor, Minnesota road the hot shooting and aggressiveness of Dan Coleman, the two Larry’s (McKenzie and Westbrook) and Spencer Tollackson. Since then, Coleman has for the most part reverted to the passivity that in prior seasons stunted his promise and frustrated his coaches while McKenzie has gone into offensive hibernation.

While Minnesota has the ability to overcome McKenzie’s shooting deficiencies with the talents of freshmen Blake Hoffbarber and Al Nolen, they face a much greater challenge when Coleman poses as a maroon and gold wallflower. While Minnesota needs Coleman to fulfill his ability, if there is one player who has the capability to energize Minnesota on defense and to compensate to some extent for the random disappearance of Coleman, it’s Damian Johnson who, along with Michigan’s DeShawn Sims, is one of the most improved and effective sophomores in the conference.

A Better Big Ten

As the season enters its February endgame, tonight’s contest in frozen Minnesota will serve as an appropriate bellwether on the relative progress of two teams in transition. From the state of the programs they inherited, it’s clear Michigan and Minnesota are moving with the current, tacking sail to a day when they will consistently compete, like their bitter rivals Wisconsin and Michigan State, for the conference titl