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Michigan State

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BigEastPhil

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For those who casually follow College BB, Michigan State is as good as a squad to win it all this year.

Izzo was shocked that Miles Bridges returned to school and Izzo has gone on record stating that Jaren Jackson Jr - a freshman - may be the best ever that he has coached - and that says a lot.

And of course we have a home and home with them...:)
 
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Michigan State roster is stacked. They lose nobody from last year. Tum Tum, Langford, Winston all returning with great ball handling skills. Langford could have a big year and Winston's passing and vision is world class. For post play, they get back Gavin Schilling and Nick Ward is a force to be reckon with. They're poised for a great year.
 
They may finish 4th or worse in B1G. Purdue, Maryland, Minnesota, Northwestern, Michigan, Iowa, and Penn State are all very good.
 
Rutgers is going to be a thorn in the side of many of those teams with maybe the exceptions of MSU and Purdue. I’m not saying we are better. I’m saying that if you don’t come to play against Rutgers you could easily end up with a Loss.
 
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I just don't see Maryland, Michigan, Iowa and Penn State being in the same class as Sparty, NW or Minnesota. The Penn State coach is probably on the hot seat and we split our 2 games with them last year.
 
Michigan I think was still pretty young last year so they will be very tough. Not sure about the rest. I’m sure Northwestern will be very good but I agree about Penn State and MSU and Purdue are the elite teams.
 
Here’s what I do know for sure about Rutgers basketball. When we do come up with a winning record in the league, you’ll know it’s real from where we stand on a national level. Top to bottom, this is one difficult basketball conference and even when we start qualifying for post season like the NIT, we are going to be a tough out.
 
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knights1212 said:
I just don't see Maryland, Michigan, Iowa and Penn State being in the same class as Sparty, NW or Minnesota. The Penn State coach is probably on the hot seat and we split our 2 games with them last year.
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I can see separating Penn State from that group. I like Maryland and Iowa a lot. I like penn State talent, not sure I like the team and possibly the coach.
 
bowlgoal said:
Michigan I think was still pretty young last year so they will be very tough. Not sure about the rest. I’m sure Northwestern will be very good but I agree about Penn State and MSU and Purdue are the elite teams.
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I think they lose DJ Wagner and I know they lose Walton.
 
Greene Rice FIG said:
I think they lose DJ Wagner and I know they lose Walton.
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Yeah they lose Walton and DJ Wilson. Also important they lose Zak Irving. Mo Wagner decided to return. He had declared for the draft but didn't hire an agent. Replacing both Walton and Irving is going to be difficult. Also Wilson had an important role last year and was clutch hitting the 3.
 
I really don't see the love with Minnesota and northwestern

Think they are NCAA one and done types and I don't expect them to be top four ...good teams but not ones to make the next step that everyone assumes they will make

Same with penn state

Maryland is gojng to be very good

Michigan state looks like a 1 seed
 
Scarlet Shack said:
I really don't see the love with Minnesota and northwestern

Think they are NCAA one and done types and I don't expect them to be top four ...good teams but not ones to make the next step that everyone assumes they will make

Same with penn state

Maryland is gojng to be very good

Michigan state looks like a 1 seed
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Agree with you on Michigan State and Maryland. Love for NW and Minn. based on last year and continued growth and development.

NW loses Lumpkin and Taphorn, however, gains back Falzon from injury. Everything else is intact from an NCAA tournament team. Lumpkin was a critical rebounding component and they'll need to figure that out. Taphorn was off the bench and primarily a 3 point shooter. Falzon should be an upgrade.

Minn. also loses no one except for Akeem Springs. Springs was the 5th leading scorer at 9.5 ppg. Washington from the Bronx coming in is a highly touted recruit.

What's so tough about the B1G this year is so many players from last year are returning. This is clearly not a one-and-done league and coaching staffs emphasize development. Should be a fun league to watch.
 
I didn't follow Penn State closely at all last year. What makes them an "elite" in the B1G? New recruits? Senior heavy?

(I'm asking honestly, not causing trouble.)
 
I thought some of PSU's young guys were pretty good but watching Iowa at years end I made a mental note that these guys are going to be good in 2017-2018.

NW will be solid-----they defend well and I think playing 2-3 rounds deep in a tournament makes a team better.

My question on Md would be who handles the ball ?
 
TDIrish27 said:
I thought some of PSU's young guys were pretty good but watching Iowa at years end I made a mental note that these guys are going to be good in 2017-2018.

NW will be solid-----they defend well and I think playing 2-3 rounds deep in a tournament makes a team better.

My question on Md would be who handles the ball ?
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Cowan... like he did last year...
 
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RURM85 said:
Yeah they lose Walton and DJ Wilson. Also important they lose Zak Irving. Mo Wagner decided to return. He had declared for the draft but didn't hire an agent. Replacing both Walton and Irving is going to be difficult. Also Wilson had an important role last year and was clutch hitting the 3.
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they will replace walton with jaaron simmons grad transfer from ohio. averaged 16 and 7 assist the last couple years shot 40% from 3. they will replace zak irving with kentucky transfer charles mathews. he sat out last year. was a 5 star out of high school. big time athlete. should be the best defensive team beilen has had.
 
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studed said:
they will replace walton with jaaron simmons grad transfer from ohio. averaged 16 and 7 assist the last couple years shot 40% from 3. they will replace zak irving with kentucky transfer charles mathews. he sat out last year. was a 5 star out of high school. big time athlete. should be the best defensive team beilen has had.
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Walton/Irving led the country in minutes played, 2 top Michigan scorers, 2 top Michigan in assists, 2 out of the top 3 in rebounds (with DJ Wilson, Michigan loses their top 3 rebounders), and most importantly, these guys came up clutch in big moments, especially Walton. Although Walton missed the last shot against Oregon, both Walton and Irving coming down the stretch in that game kept them in it. Without these 2 players, Michigan would not hang with Oregon. Watching Walton his Junior year, I couldn't understand why the analysts would sing his praise. I got it last year. Walton carried the team in critical situations and played bigger than his stats.

I don't watch any MAC basketball except for an occasional OOC game when a B1G team plays a MAC team and have not watched Simmons. Looks like Simmons has approx. the same ppg as Walton did last year, however, we'll see if he could do that against B1G defenses and in crunch time. The other kid sounds like he has tremendous potential. We'll see if these 2 players can lead Michigan to a sweet sixteen as Walton/Irving did.
 
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Scangg said:
Penn State isn't finishing above Michigan State come on now
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I think i am in the minority with Penn State. i really like their point guard and big man. Virtually everyone is back.

I don't have a handle if they come back better OR is there no improvement.
 
RURM85 said:
Agree with you on Michigan State and Maryland. Love for NW and Minn. based on last year and continued growth and development.

NW loses Lumpkin and Taphorn, however, gains back Falzon from injury. Everything else is intact from an NCAA tournament team. Lumpkin was a critical rebounding component and they'll need to figure that out. Taphorn was off the bench and primarily a 3 point shooter. Falzon should be an upgrade.

Minn. also loses no one except for Akeem Springs. Springs was the 5th leading scorer at 9.5 ppg. Washington from the Bronx coming in is a highly touted recruit.

What's so tough about the B1G this year is so many players from last year are returning. This is clearly not a one-and-done league and coaching staffs emphasize development. Should be a fun league to watch.
Click to expand...

It's hard to predict the B1G, but Northwestern should be pretty good. Lumpkin and Tap had their moments, but both were primarily role players. Bryant McIntosh, Vic Law and Scottie Lindsey provide a solid veteran nucleus. Lindsey, probably the team's best player most of the year, missed a considerable stretch with injury last year that almost kept them out of the tourney. In addition to Falzon, they'll get Rapolas Ivanauskas, a redshirt freshman who was out with injuries last year. He was a Rivals top 100 player who had offers from Iowa and Purdue, among others. Pardon should take a step up at center and Barret Benson, his backup, got a lot of minutes as a frosh last year and should also be improved.

Good luck at Rutgers. I think you hired a good coach to improve your team there.
 
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PhilaPhans said:
I didn't follow Penn State closely at all last year. What makes them an "elite" in the B1G? New recruits? Senior heavy?

(I'm asking honestly, not causing trouble.)
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The coach is finally tapping into the elite recruits from the Philly area, which no PSU coach was able to do in forever. They have some talent. No one has ever won at PSU except when they made the Sweet 16 run 20 years ago. It's odd, because Penn State would be in the national championship hunt for badminton within 2 years if they decided to start a program.
 
Greene Rice FIG said:
Scangg said:
Penn State isn't finishing above Michigan State come on now
Click to expand...

I think i am in the minority with Penn State. i really like their point guard and big man. Virtually everyone is back.

I don't have a handle if they come back better OR is there no improvement.
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They will be tough and have some good players but I wouldn't put them up with the elite of the conference. Miss the old days of them being basement dwellers.
 
Scangg said:
They will be tough and have some good players but I wouldn't put them up with the elite of the conference. Miss the old days of them being basement dwellers.
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If they go 6-12 in conference and fire Chambers they'll pass us and go right in the basement.
 
Greene Rice FIG said:
I think i am in the minority with Penn State. i really like their point guard and big man. Virtually everyone is back.

I don't have a handle if they come back better OR is there no improvement.
Click to expand...

Coaches poll has them picked #9 in the conference. Not sure you are the "only one". They could be pretty good.
 
Minnesota 15
Northwestern 20
Purdue 21
Wisconsin 33
Maryland 34
Michigan 37

Penn state and everyone else 0 votes
 
Early GRFIG NCAA predictions (with seeds)
2 Purdue
3 Michigan State
5 Maryland
5 Michigan
8 Iowa
9 Northwestern
9 Minnesota

NIT Penn State and Wisconsin
 
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