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Color me stupid. In my NCAA pool, I had Wisconsin and Purdue in the Final Four. With North Carolina and Memphis. Holy Stephen Curry. After seeing them perform -- or is misperform the proper word? -- I have to wonder what it will take for the Big Ten to become competitive again.
At least I wasn't dumb enough to pick Michigan State over Memphis.
Against Davidson, Big Ten champion Wisconsin looked like a team that was struggling to learn how to play the game and Davidson was doing the teaching. Michigan State looked even worse.
Big Ten basketball teams, like their football brethren, are a step or two slower than their rivals. Unless you're competing against the Mid-American Conference. They look like they're still playing in the 1950s and 1960s, like they are running in concrete.
That's not all. They don't jump as high, they aren't as aggressive, they aren't as athletic and they seem to lack skills that their opponents take for granted.
Who's doing the recruiting around here? Who is evaluating the talent? Why do the SEC, the Big 12, the ACC, the Pac-10 and the Big East get all the good players? What happened to the Big Ten?
One Chicago sports columnist recently wrote that North Carolina's Tyler Hansbrough is vastly overrated. What game is he watching? Would you trade Hansbrough for Brian Butch?
When was the last time the Big Ten produced a truly great player? Magic Johnson? That was almost 30 years ago, wasn't it? Now the Big Ten builds its own television network to promote its product and this is what we get?
Is it because, as often has been hinted, that high standards at Big Ten schools weed out many outstanding prospects who don't qualify but are accepted at schools in the SEC and Big 12?
But the recent academic scandal at Minnesota and the revelations about preferential treatment being given to athletes at Michigan make you wonder if that's all a myth, just an excuse for failure to recruit as well as Kansas or Duke or North Carolina or UCLA or Georgetown.
When it comes down to it, only one Big Ten basketball coach, Michigan State's Tom Izzo, has a national reputation as a big-time recruiter. He earned it as an assistant to Jud Heathcote and hasn't lost his touch. Or has he?
After Memphis, even Izzo has to be wondering which direction the Big Ten is going. Or where it's gone.
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STYLES MAKE FIGHTS, DON'T BLAME THE BIG TEN, THEY PLAY
A DIFFERENT BRAND OF BASKETBALL.
WISCONSIN AND MICHIGAN STATE DIDN'T HAVE THE TALENT TO
COMPETE WITH DAVIDSON OR MEMPHIS.
THIS IS WHY BRUCE WEBER HAS GONE OUT AND RECRUITED LIKE
A MAN POSSESSED, HE IS GETTING ORAL COMMITTMENTS FROM
PLAYERS LIKE A CRANDALL HEAD, WHO COULD PLAY FOR A
MEMPHIS OR KANSAS, BUT INSTEAD HOPEFULLY THIS YOUNG MAN
WITH ALL THE OTHER RECRUITS WILL LEAD THE FIGHTING ILLINI BACK TO THE FINAL FOUR.
DON'T FORGET TUBBY SMITH IS COACHING AT MINNESOTA, HE
KNOWS WHAT HE IS DOING, THEY WILL BE A FORCE IN THE NEAR FUTURE!
AND PURDUE PLAYED FOUR FRESHMAN ALOT DURING THE SEASON!
TAYLOR- THE BIG TEN WILL MAKE YOU PROUD ONCE AGAIN!
Posted by: PHIL SMITH JR | March 30, 2008 02:35 AM
CONGRATS TO SHERRON COLLINS AND DERRICK ROSE ON MAKING
IT TO THE FINAL FOUR!
I REMEMBER WHEN SHERRON WAS A FRESHMAN AT CRANE, HE WAS
THE SIX MAN, HE HELPED THE COUGARS TO THE CPS CHAMPIONSHIP.
HIS JUNIOR YEAR HE HELPED LEAD THE COUGARS DOWNSTATE!
HIS SENIOR YEAR- MCDONALDS ALL-AMERICAN GAME!
BILL SELF WOULD SHOW UP AT HIS FOOTBALL GAMES, HE
WORKED HARD TO RECRUIT SHERRON, AND NOW THEY BOTH CAN
ENJOY THE FINAL FOUR NEXT WEEKEND.
CONGRATS TO ANTHONY LONGSTREET, HIS THIRD PLAYER TO
MAKE IT TO THE FINAL FOUR.
TONY ALLEN, WILL BYNUM ALSO PLAYED IN THE FINAL FOUR!
DERRICK ROSE JOINS NICK ANDERSON, AND ERVIN SMALL,
FORMER SIMEON STARS TO PLAY IN THE FINAL FOUR!
Posted by: PHIL SMITH JR | March 30, 2008 09:53 PM
Phil
caps lock dude. turn it off
and hansbrough is totally overrated. if the refs did not allow him to lower his shoulder and charge every time he had the ball, or travel every time he made a move in the post, he would score at half his current rate. is he better than butch. probably, but i also bet every team in the ACC wished they had Stephen Curry on their team right now.
Posted by: sean thomas | April 1, 2008 08:29 AM
HANSBROUGH ISN'T OVERRATED, IN FACT HE MIGHT BE UNDER-
RATED. HE WILL MAKE A GREAT PRO!
HE IS A FIRST TEAM ALL-AMERICAN, AND RIGHTFULLY SO,
PLEASE DON'T HATE ON PSYCHO-T, AND I HOPE HE COMES
BACK FOR HIS SENIOR SEASON, BUT IF HE DOESN'T, I WOULD
DEFINITELY DRAFT HIM IN THE TOP TEN!
WHO IS GOING TO THE FINAL FOUR CURRY OR HANSBROUGH?
Posted by: PHIL SMITH JR | April 1, 2008 02:39 PM
The "recent" academic scandal at Minnesota happened almost 10 years ago.
Posted by: Lee Bowyer | April 2, 2008 07:57 AM
Texas lost to 2 big ten schools O.S.U. AND M.S.U dureing the regular season, when the tourny starts its all about seedings and match-ups you have to concider who beat those teams and what those teams do after.
Posted by: bggdaddy | April 2, 2008 10:43 AM
The Illinis begest weaknes was at guard yet 2 guards from Chicago made it to the final 4 , do the math.
Posted by: bggdaddy | April 2, 2008 10:49 AM
EVEN IF ROSE AND GORDON HAD PLAYED AT ILLINOIS THIS
PAST SEASON, THEY WOULD HAVE HAD TO SCORE 70 POINTS
A GAME TO MAKE THAT ENGINE GO.
ILLINOIS HAD PROBLEMS WITH INSIDE PLAY, MR. PRUITT
SHOULD HAVE DEVELOPED A RIGHT HAND BY NOW. HE CAN ONLY
GO LEFT. HE ISN'T WILLIS REED!
THE KID FROM SIMEON BROCK PLAYED BETTER ON THE INSIDE
THAN ANYONE ON THE TEAM AND HE'S ONLY 6'5" AT THE MOST!
ILLINOIS WILL NEVER HAVE ANOTHER DOWN SEASON!
ALEX LEGION IS IN TOWN, STAN SIMPSON IS COMING TO TOWN!
AND COMING TO TOWN IN THE FUTURE IS THE ONE AND ONLY
CRANDALL HEAD!
Posted by: PHIL SMITH JR | April 2, 2008 08:30 PM
WHAT DO YOU THINK ROSE VS. COLLINS FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP? THREE CHEERS FOR THE CHICAGO PUBLIC
LEAGUE! CRANE VS. SIMEON!
PLEASE TELL US IN YOUR HUMBLE OPINION, THE TOP 5
PLAYERS IN EACH SCHOOL'S HISTORY?
Posted by: PHIL SMITH JR | April 6, 2008 04:45 AM