Big Ten
Coaches, style of play
Now that’s more like it.
Most ranked matchups this season have either been sloppy or one-sided. The Paradise Jame championship was neither.
Purdue’s 73-72 win against Tennessee was nearly everything one could hope for in a Top 10 showdown – in November, or any month.
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Foot injuries prompt worry among college basketball coaches. Sometimes little things that appear innocuous turn out to be season-ending. North Carolina’s Marcus Ginyard experienced this last season when a stress fracture delayed his season, then ended it.
OK, so it didn’t derail the Heels’ title run, but not everyone has their depth.
Case in point: Purdue, and the recent surgery to point guard Lewis Jackson.
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On a night when college hoops’ top two teams escaped upsets, what’d we learn?
That Cole Aldrich and Sherron Collins are the key to Kansas’ season? Or that Kalin Lucas is Michigan State’s go-to guy? We knew all that going in.
Try this: Don’t forget recent history because Gonzaga and Memphis are actually good. Again.
The old cliché still applies, I guess. The more things change – both teams lost four starters from last season – the more they stay the same.
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A catchy moniker goes a long way.
It’s hard for college basketball fans to think of Duke without also picturing the Cameron Crazies, their loud and usually creative student section. It’s gotten to the point where the Crazies get more attention than some college hoops teams, given that ESPN did a feature on one of ‘em last year.
Well, Indiana wants a piece of that action.
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Blogging must come easily to Ohio State basketball players.
Last year, Club Trillion, a blog started by three Ohio State bench players – Mark Titus, Kyle Madsen and Danny Peters – became a minor Web sensation thanks to Titus’ funny bits riffing on life on the Buckeye bench.
So what’s life like as an Ohio State starter? Maybe Evan Turner can fill us in.
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Whoa. Minnesota déjà vu.
A day after announcing that forward Trevor Mbwake won’t play until his court issues are resolved, Gophers coach Tubby Smith revealed that star freshman Royce White is suspended indefinitely. He faces misdemeanor charges of theft and fifth-degree assault after being accused of shoplifting at the Mall of America.
That leaves Minnesota without its top two newcomers, a pair of skilled, athletic 6-8 forwards who could eventually start for a Top 25 team.
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The “what if?” game can torment a fan base, no matter how much their team’s won.
Perhaps that’s the a reason why Hoosier fans should steer clear of the new book “When the Games Was Ours,” by Larry Bird and Magic Johnson.
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In case you missed it, Minnesota basketball is relevant again.
Entering his third season, Tubby Smith’s molded his team into something Kentucky fans would recognize – a strong defensive unit that relies on winning low-scoring games because it doesn’t shoot well. Still, the Gophers return all five starters from an NCAA tournament team, which was enough to land in the preseason polls.
In short, the Gophers should be good this season. But they could be a March darkhorse if a few player issues are resolved.
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Sounds like John Beilein is college basketball’s version of Roger Ebert. Michigan’s coach is always watching tape
When he started coaching in 1976, Beilein poured over game tapes, which morphed from Super 8 to Beta and VHS as he advanced through the coaching ranks. By the time he reached West Virginia, his laptop was his own personal movie theater.
Now, there’s not a day that goes by when he’s not showing a Wolverine something on the computer.
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Thad Matta’s no dummy. Ohio State enters the season without a good option at point guard, so he’s doing the next best thing. Maybe even the better thing.
Turner ended up leading OSU in scoring (17.3), rebounds (7.1), assists (4.0), steals (1.8) and was its best 3-point shooter (44 percent).
As a result, expect to see even more of Turner at point this season. Matta wants the ball in his hands as much as possible. I’d say expect to see a lot more of him overall, but that’d be tough. He played in 90 percent of Ohio State’s available minutes last season. When you have a player like that, why not?
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