Early look at 2017-18 Big Ten Power Rankings: Minnesota at #2

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MadtownGopher said:
I don't disagree with a single thing you said. It was a great summary and exactly what I meant when I said "they don't look like it on paper." Crazy things happen though. Who would have thought the Gophers would finish top 4 and Indiana would miss the tournament? Thus, I wouldn't be surprised if everything goes their way and they sneak into the top 4 yet again. Obviously I would not be surprised if they finished in the bottom half as well. Lots of unknowns on that team, probably more than any other team in the conference, other than maybe Indiana.
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Touche! This season's Minnesota is a good comparison to next year's Wisconsin. If you look at their roster through a very optimistic lens, you could reasonably see them sneaking into the 4th spot. I'll make a firm prediction of 7th for the Badgers, which assumes that one or two teams suffer injuries and fall to the bottom half.
 

Mich St. depth was hurt by Clark and Bess' transfer. Throw in late injury to SG Harris and the team was lacking on the wing. I could see Winston playing some SG as he is a good shooter.

pg Nairn, Winston
Sg McQuaid, Winston
SF Langford,
PF Ward, J Jackson, Goins
C Schilling, Tillman

If this is the lineup and they get Bowen to play SF so Langford can play more of the SG spot it looks pretty talented. It still looks solid without him.






Tim1406 said:
Its too early to tell in my mind. Wait 2ish weeks and then we'll know about MSU. Bridges and Bowen(50:50 Arizona MSU on 247 crystal ball) need to make their choices for us to know If MSU will be the preseason favorite or just in the top tier. I don't think there is 1 favorite next year but really a group of 3 teams(now after Melo sign an agent) of Purdue, MN and MSU.
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march madness said:
Mich St. depth was hurt by Clark and Bess' transfer. Throw in late injury to SG Harris and the team was lacking on the wing. I could see Winston playing some SG as he is a good shooter.

pg Nairn, Winston
Sg McQuaid, Winston
SF Langford,
PF Ward, J Jackson, Goins
C Schilling, Tillman

If this is the lineup and they get Bowen to play SF so Langford can play more of the SG spot it looks pretty talented. It still looks solid without him.
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If Izzo starts Tum Tum over Winston, he's too loyal to his seniors. He needs to turn that program over to Winston like he did with Draymond Green & then Denzel Valentine. Tum Tum a perfect guy to come off the bench and bring energy. Can't start him any longer when you have a point-guard talent like Winston. Tum Tum in the game for Sparty is like playing 4 on 5 on offense.
 

GopherHoopsFan said:
Touche! This season's Minnesota is a good comparison to next year's Wisconsin. If you look at their roster through a very optimistic lens, you could reasonably see them sneaking into the 4th spot. I'll make a firm prediction of 7th for the Badgers, which assumes that one or two teams suffer injuries and fall to the bottom half.
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I think the Badgers will take their lumps in January, I am guessing next year we will get them once in Madison so hopefully it is an earlyish match up. I think once roles are established and the freshman are up to speed they'll come around in February. It's less of a knock on them and more of a compliment to how tough the conference will be. Sparty, Gophs, Maryland, NW, Iowa, Purdue, Michigan, Indiana is still a wild card. Penn State will be better as their star freshmen will be sophomores and Gardner will be a senior. Counting Wisconsin that's ten pretty good teams in the league
 

Really interesting conference season ahead. Great thread. On paper the Gophers are #1 or 2 for me. I worry about the leadership void of Springs. Pitino really emphasized that importance all along and then after his injury. We did not play with the same body language or even like the same team, the last two games. (I realize we also lost Springs defense and points but I think we could absorb those losses...we just didn't look confident or comfortable two times in a row) I know we have a summer and winter to become a "new" team but we gotta find a swagger and at the same get used to being favorites. We don't have an established program identity like Michigan State. We didn't win the conference like Purdue. Etc We have the pieces on paper. I think Pitino will do a great job but it is not going to be an easy season. This past season was an easier challenge than the one ahead...coaching an underdog is much easier.

Wisconsin has proven to be amazing. But those guys graduated now. It's now a new era. I will be shocked if Wisconsin is a top 6 team next year.
I think we have added two better coaches to the conference in Miller and Underwood. There will be no easy wins for any team.
 


The Badgers should definitely be an interesting team to watch next season. A few years ago I would have been worried about the turnover they're going to experience, but I've seen them overcome the questions so many times at this point that I guess I'll just believe things are going to work out until they don't.

Here's what they're looking at:

Frontcourt - Happ, Illikainen, Thomas, Van Vliet, Reuvers
Wings - Iverson, Pritzl, Aleem Ford (redshirt who has impressed this season), Kobe King
Backcourt - Trice, Hill, Davison

The keys to the season, for me, are Trice and Iverson. If they're able to grow their games the way I think they can the Badgers will be fine and finish in the top four. If one of Illikainen, Thomas and Van Vliet can provide 15 good minutes per night? Wonderful. Add in the fact that Pritzl flashed some good things this year and that I think they basically have Josh Gasser part two in Brad Davison and I'm a little more optimistic than many on this board.
 

GopherHoopsFan said:
I can only go on what I've seen of current Badgers and future Badgers, but I do not like (I mean, I do like) what I've seen. Trice does not look like the guy, I would just pressure the ball like crazy, and see how he responds (hopefully like he did vs. Nova & FLA). Iverson has proven little, and if Happ is in foul trouble they're up a creek. This whole "always" find a way theme is lazy to me. They aren't going to have the following pieces next year:

- Bo Ryan (Gard is not his equal)
- Bronson Koenig (He was basically their savior in every memorable game)
- Nigel Hayes (mr. consistency)
- Vitto Brown (reliable)
- Showalter (that scrappy little WI player)

Instead of just forecasting another good season, how about some actual names that will vault them over the following teams:

Purdue
Minn
MSU
MI
Mary
NW
IU

Honestly, I have a VERY hard time seeing them finishing ahead of those teams.

Obviously, the bulk of the load will fall on the shoulders of the following players:

- Happ: Clearly the lynchpin. Great player if he's on his game, but prone to foul trouble... and he'll be the frontcourt onus
- Iverson: 15 mpg. Has shown flashes
- Trice: 18 mpg. Serviceable backup to Koenig, but hasn't shown ability to take over
- Hill: 10 mpg. 1.5 pts/gm. Disappeared on the court mostly.
- Pritzl: 8 mpg. Good hustle guy?
- Illikainen: 8 mpg. meh.

With the following freshmen to help:

- Davison: Obviously a good HS player. Seems to be a heady PG. Maybe he's a starter? No way he matches up with B1G best though as a freshman.
- Reuvers: Same as above, word for word (minus the PG).
- King: I know absolutely nothing about this 3-star SG

I do believe that the Wisconsin scheme will prove effective, and permit them to hover slightly below .500 (which was good for 9th this year).

From my perspective, if they can't feed the ball down to Happ all game long this team is going to have a very hard time winning games in the B1G.
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You cannot go by the rankings with King, he is a 3 star bu could very well be 4/5 star if he wasn't injured which took a huge toll on his rankings. He was Mr. Basketball in WI and may get some huge minutes to back up Pritzl or possibly even start. The cupboard is not empty over at Wisconsin but it is not the usual suspects, there are a lot of questions marks who is going to make the leap. Some think it is going to be Pritzl. We all know Iverson will defend, rebound, and dunk the crap out of the basketball. Happ was a 3rd team all-american, consensus top 15 player in the country as a sophomore so Sconny always has that going for them. Trice is meh, but we shall see how Davison plays. Reuvers may get some minutes off the bench as well, depends on if he puts on weight...skill is there. I can see a starting line up of:

PG - Trice with Davison backing up
SG - Pritzl with Hill backing up and King possibly getting some minutes here.
SF - Iverson (will get lions share of minutes at this position) with King getting some minutes here, King plays extremely physical and is about 6'5.
PF - Illikainen, 7 foot Andy Van Vliet, and Reuvers fighting it out for minutes at the 4 spot.
C - Happ (will get lions share of minutes as long as he can stay out of foul trouble) with 6'8 260 banger Thomas provided a spark while Happ is on the bench.

I am not trying to say that Sconny will finish top 4, but more like 6-8 is appropriate. I would not be shocked if we did finish 4 or 5 though.
 

BuckyGopher said:
You cannot go by the rankings with King, he is a 3 star bu could very well be 4/5 star if he wasn't injured which took a huge toll on his rankings. He was Mr. Basketball in WI and may get some huge minutes to back up Pritzl or possibly even start. The cupboard is not empty over at Wisconsin but it is not the usual suspects, there are a lot of questions marks who is going to make the leap. Some think it is going to be Pritzl. We all know Iverson will defend, rebound, and dunk the crap out of the basketball. Happ was a 3rd team all-american, consensus top 15 player in the country as a sophomore so Sconny always has that going for them. Trice is meh, but we shall see how Davison plays. Reuvers may get some minutes off the bench as well, depends on if he puts on weight...skill is there. I can see a starting line up of:

PG - Trice with Davison backing up
SG - Pritzl with Hill backing up and King possibly getting some minutes here.
SF - Iverson (will get lions share of minutes at this position) with King getting some minutes here, King plays extremely physical and is about 6'5.
PF - Illikainen, 7 foot Andy Van Vliet, and Reuvers fighting it out for minutes at the 4 spot.
C - Happ (will get lions share of minutes as long as he can stay out of foul trouble) with 6'8 260 banger Thomas provided a spark while Happ is on the bench.

I am not trying to say that Sconny will finish top 4, but more like 6-8 is appropriate. I would not be shocked if we did finish 4 or 5 though.
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That Sconnie team is going to be extremely limited offensively and an absolute disaster to watch. Gonna be a renaissance to the badgers we've all grown to hate.
 

Assuming Melo, Swanigan, Bridges, Thompson, and Edwards are gone here is my way too early projection for next year:

1. Michigan St
2. Minnesota
3. Northwestern
4. Michigan
5. Maryland
6. Indiana
7. Purdue
8. Penn State
9. Iowa
10. Wisconsin
11. Illinois
12. Rutgers
13. Ohio State
14. Nebraska

Miles and Matta lose their jobs. Think it ends up being a lot like this year where there are a good number of solid teams, but no real contenders. Maybe Michigan State if some of some of the sophomores-to-be really turn a corner, or if Bridges were to come back. It'll be pretty wide open though. Can MN or NW take that next step and get into conference title contention? Will there be a push from Penn State or Iowa who were both pretty young this year? Can Archie lead a Hoosier revival? What will we find out about Greg Gard and the Badgers now that he turns over many of his starters for the first time?

This could change slightly based on the conference schedules.
 



Cannot be afraid of high expectations, Minnesotans in general just suck at setting expectations and immediately bail out when **** doesn't go perfect.

This team could be in the Final Four next year and it shouldn't surprise anyone who is paying attention - gonna be one for the books.
 

westcoastgopher11 said:
Cannot be afraid of high expectations, Minnesotans in general just suck at setting expectations and immediately bail out when **** doesn't go perfect.

This team could be in the Final Four next year and it shouldn't surprise anyone who is paying attention - gonna be one for the books.
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Unfortunately, the 2016 Vikings did nothing but cement this ideology. When we lose at Arkansas next Nov/Dec casual fans will say 'see! same old, same old' and probably check out until mid-January. Just the way it is.
 

westcoastgopher11 said:
Cannot be afraid of high expectations, Minnesotans in general just suck at setting expectations and immediately bail out when **** doesn't go perfect.

This team could be in the Final Four next year and it shouldn't surprise anyone who is paying attention - gonna be one for the books.
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They also set expectations unrealistically high making them tough to achieve. I think it's pretty crazy to think this team could be a final 4 team with 0 likely candidates for ap first team.

Let's just win a tournament game first.
 

Winasota Gopher said:
They also set expectations unrealistically high making them tough to achieve. I think it's pretty crazy to think this team could be a final 4 team with 0 likely candidates for ap first team.

Let's just win a tournament game first.
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There's usually at least 1 Final Four team without any 1st, 2nd, and 3rd team All Americans. This year it's South Carolina. Last year it was Villanova and Syracuse. Michigan St in 2015. Wisconsin in 2014.
 



GopherWeatherGuy said:
There's usually at least 1 Final Four team without any 1st, 2nd, and 3rd team All Americans. This year it's South Carolina. Last year it was Villanova and Syracuse. Michigan St in 2015. Wisconsin in 2014.
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Usually that team doesn't start the season thinking they are a final four contender. I'm not saying it can't happen, I'm saying in my experience, Minnesotans while being afraid of expectations, generally struggle with setting realistic expectations.
 

I understand that people want to discuss the potential of other teams in the B1G, but can we stop changing this into a fckg detailed breakdown of Sconny?


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Winasota Gopher said:
Usually that team doesn't start the season thinking they are a final four contender. I'm not saying it can't happen, I'm saying in my experience, Minnesotans while being afraid of expectations, generally struggle with setting realistic expectations.
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If we all think the Gophers can win the B1G title next year, then I don't think it's a stretch to think they can make a run to the Final Four as well.
 

I commend this board on a pretty even keeled analysis of the B1G and especially Wisconsin in 2017-18.
It's funny though that with all the high expectations put on the Gophers and deservedly so. The fans are very apprehensive about being the hunted and afraid to take in the accolades coming their way. Contrast this to the Wisconsin fans where no one has given the program any credit for past performance and the expectations from other fan bases have them finishing 10-11th the Wisconsin fans continue to be optimistic as ever.
Put me down as predicting another 4th place or higher finish for Wisconsin.
I see it this way
top 4 in any order. Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan St. Purdue.
 

Bigeddysprings said:
I commend this board on a pretty even keeled analysis of the B1G and especially Wisconsin in 2017-18.
It's funny though that with all the high expectations put on the Gophers and deservedly so. The fans are very apprehensive about being the hunted and afraid to take in the accolades coming their way. Contrast this to the Wisconsin fans where no one has given the program any credit for past performance and the expectations from other fan bases have them finishing 10-11th the Wisconsin fans continue to be optimistic as ever.
Put me down as predicting another 4th place or higher finish for Wisconsin.
I see it this way
top 4 in any order. Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan St. Purdue.
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I'm with you BES. I know that the streak of top four finishes will end at some point, but I'm kind of in a "I'll believe it when I see it" frame of mind. Swap out Northwestern for Purdue and that's my top four.
 

Radio Badger said:
I'm with you BES. I know that the streak of top four finishes will end at some point, but I'm kind of in a "I'll believe it when I see it" frame of mind. Swap out Northwestern for Purdue and that's my top four.
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Wisconsin has earned the benefit of the doubt from its years and years of consistency but if ever there was a year to put the streak in jeopardy, next year could be it. You have the combination of losing 4 experienced starters with what looks to be a very deep and good B1G.
 

Bigeddysprings said:
I commend this board on a pretty even keeled analysis of the B1G and especially Wisconsin in 2017-18.
It's funny though that with all the high expectations put on the Gophers and deservedly so. The fans are very apprehensive about being the hunted and afraid to take in the accolades coming their way. Contrast this to the Wisconsin fans where no one has given the program any credit for past performance and the expectations from other fan bases have them finishing 10-11th the Wisconsin fans continue to be optimistic as ever.
Put me down as predicting another 4th place or higher finish for Wisconsin.
I see it this way
top 4 in any order. Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan St. Purdue.
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I think Wisconsin has a high chance of falling out of the top 4.

I would be extremely surprised however if they're not in the hunt, they find a way frustrating enough. They'll just slow pace even further if they don't hit shots
 

alchemy2u said:
I understand that people want to discuss the potential of other teams in the B1G, but can we stop changing this into a fckg detailed breakdown of Sconny?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
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At some point we need to move on from our obsession with them
 

macgopher said:
agreed. Like Wisconsin or not, but every year Wisconsin develops players and shows off unexpected surprises.
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Wisconsin under Bo Ryan did that. There is no guarantee that their uncannily automatic success will continue after Ryan. University of Houston under Guy Lewis used to get players like Elvin Hayes, Hakeem Olajuwon, Clyde Drexler, Otis Birdsong, Don Chaney, and Dwight Jones. In the decades since Lewis, the program hasn't done much at all. Under Ralph Miller, Oregon St. was a western powerhouse. After Miller, they've been mostly a western pushover.
 

Wisconsin = who cares?

There is more discussion about the badgers in this thread then the Gophers; even though the topic is the Gophers being picked second....amazing. Talk about living rent free.
 

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