U of M MEN'S BASKETBALL: 2018-2019

[hack]

Not sure there is an early entry for M, Matthews play has dropped off in B1G play and no one else was ready. I expect Matthews to leave but I don't see much of an NBA future for him.

Yeah. Great defender but the 3 needs to be there and just isn't. I don't know if he might as well still go or not. He's going second-round anyways. Outside shot at first-round money if he fixes his shot. He's made improvement this year. It would be insane to see all of them back next year. INSANE. I'd be happy to limit it to him and one of Poole or Iggy. Would be very, very happy to get both Poole and Iggy back. Poole is the bigger threat. Iggy could have great tournament, but still I think the NBA sees the lack of athleticism and that he's a tweener. If Poole goes we need to hope Nunez is ready, becuase distance shooting will again be the problem.

But that's next year. This year is still fuggin awesome.

[Kstat]

Meh loss. One of those games where nothing goes right for you on the road against a desperate team. It happens.

[WM Wolverine]

Iggy is already 20 years old, should think of him as a sophomore... A year in a S&C program could see him improve his athletic ability enough to take his game to another level...

Matthews is a fourth year, red shirt junior; I've seen both progression and regression in his game. More scoring is expected of him this season and he's forcing shots that are low percentage... Agree his 3pt shot is his ticket to the NBA and it's not there.

[hack]

Yeah. Iggy has a Sanderson bump available to him, and needs to learn how to better absorb contact and shield his shot from blockers. And firm up that 3. He's still a really good prospect.

What I means about Matthews is that he's a fringe prospect now and it could benefit him to come back. It's not like Mo, who was who we was and so might as well have come out. But there's an argument that Matthews could improve his position by coming back another year and continuing that improvement arc from 3 and the FT line. None of his off-the-dribble stuff is relevant to the NBA. Won't ever translate. Hardly does in college.

[Cody_Russell]

Matthews would be lucky to be a late 2nd Round pick. His inconsistencies on offense and poor shooting (FT and 3s) don't translate well for a NBA SG.
Though I'm sure he could make money in the G league or some other country playing professional basketball.
Point being, I don't see the NBA being the main reason for Matthews leaving after this season (if he does...)

Michigan? Things are fine. Hoping someone (Johns) emerges off the bench to give the core 7 players some help.
Decent chance to go 7-2 or 6-3 down the stretch. Win the B10 tourney and you have a shot at getting the best 2 seed. Tennessee, Duke, Virginia, and Gonzaga don't seem to be slowing down.

[hack]

I won't be disappointed with a 2 seed if MSU wins the conference.

[hack]

Good night in Big Ten basketball. Michigan takes sole possession of first place and I love an Izzo press conference after a Sparty loss.

Nice to see Iggy breaking past the wall he had hit. Good job by Beilein getting him those pick-and-pop looks. More for Teske too pls.

Poole was Poole, Simpson was Simpson. The defense a little shaky on P/R. Rutgers saw something there.

Nice to also see some crappy programs with signs of life. Rutgers and Illinois could pull their way up out of irrelevance.

[Hannibal]

Illinois and Rutgers are spoiling a lot of B1G seasons. The perception of the conference would have probably been better if the teams in the middle had all beaten up on them and they had each ended up 2-18 in the conference. (e.g. Nebraska)

[hack]

Yeah, agreed. There are no legitimately bad teams. Those two in particular have their game plans and are pretty good at executing them.

[Hannibal]

Prognosticators were predicting possibly 10 teams in the tourney from the conference but it looks like it will be no more than 8, thanks to Nebraska and Indiana shitting the bed.

[hack]

The computers say Illinois has played the toughest sked in the country. If they can pull the major upset in Madison or in W Lafayette, and win most of their other games against peer teams, I could see them sneaking in. Indiana could recover and sneak in as well. But I think those things are less likely than more.

[iam416]

Sneaking in where? If they win out they're 16-15, 12-8. I really can't see an at-large 16-15 team.

Indiana has 6 home games and 3 road games to close out. They also have wins over Louisville and Marquette. If they can beat Ohio State at home (no problem) and split with Purdue and Iowa then that gets them to 6 conference wins. If they can find 3 more wins then they're in at 18-13, 9-11 (IMO).

I agree that it's unlikely IU rights the ship given how terrible they've been (but for the game at EL). But I think they have a better chance than Illinois -- which I rate as one of those < 1% things. And I also agree (I think) that Illinois is better than IU at this stage of the season. But, man, that hole they dug is just so big.

[hack]

I've heard from quite a few of the pundits that a .500 record in conference should be good enough. Illinois dug a hole, but SOS is best in country. No way they do it without winning on the road in WF or Madison, so of course it's a serious longshot unless they absolutely run the table otherwise, or come pretty close and then knock off a top team in the conference tournament.

[iam416]

Perhaps those pundits aren't considering the possibility of Illinois. 10-10 is 14-17 overall. That would be a historic at-large bid.

.500 is the definitely the goal for Ohio State and Indiana and even UNL. I would think 10-10 gets all of those teams in. Hell, 10-10 probably gets Rutgers in.

[hack]

Good point -- I hadn't considered their overall record. And perhaps it's just that I like Brad Underwood, which I really do.