Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all. Welcome to the 2nd annual Big Ten Basketball Christmas Gift Exchange, where I give all 18 Big Ten teams or their fans something (maybe useful) for the holidays.
Illinois - 2 Year NBA Draft Rule
Last year, Kasparas Jakucionis was expected to be a one and done, and it was known there was at least a possibility Will Riley would also be one. However, if the NBA made it so there had to be two years of college basketball, that’d help out the Illini a lot. Keaton Wagler is the name this season, who like Will Riley, seems headed towards being a potential one and done player before entering the NBA draft. Ranked #211 in his class, Illinois hit big on Wagler so far, and their reward may be that Wagler ends up playing less than 40 collegiate games.
Indiana - Consistency
Indiana fans are a bit distracted with football right now, but the basketball team has had its flashes. However, they’ve also had spurts where it looks like they don’t click at all. On the season, Indiana has had a game where they shot 54% from three, one where they shot 16%, and a lot spread out in between. This is a team built on three point shooting, and naturally the variance is going to happen, but it feels like this Hoosiers team is really built on being able to knockdown threes.
Iowa - Big Ten size
I do think Iowa can figure it out without having the traditional Big Ten size, but it’ll be the biggest thing going into conference play. They got pounced on by Michigan State, a very quick wake up call for the Hawkeyes. Iowa has talent, but they don’t really have the prototypical Big Ten size down low. Rebounding hasn’t necessarily been a strength for this team, and they have been just fine protecting the rim. Having someone they could throw in down low would at least alleviate some of the pressure.
Maryland - Year 3 Buzz Williams
If you look at what Buzz Williams did at his last two coaching stops, he had a bit of a rebuild for a year or two before reaching the tournament with Virginia Tech and Texas A&M. This seems like it may be on the same trajectory at Maryland, as they have a long way to go to try and make a tournament this season. However, Buzz has showed he can get programs there, but it just doesn’t happen early on.
Michigan - Blinders
What are you supposed to get the best team in the country? They got Yaxel to return from the NBA draft, have answered every question people have had about them in the preseason, and they have one of the best coaches in the country. I chose to give them blinders to just keep being focused on what they’re doing, because it has very clearly been working.
Michigan State - Jase Richardson
Let’s imagine a world for just a second where Jase Richardson doesn’t develop into a one and done player, but decides to return to East Lansing for one more season before going to the NBA.
If we think about what Michigan State needs on this year’s roster, Jase Richardson checks off all the boxes. He can be the shooter and perimeter scorer for this team, help with some point guard responsibilities, and make the perimeter defense of this team even better. Richardson wasn’t projected to be a one and done guy, but he quickly developed into one. Credit to him for being able to do so, but also he would’ve been exactly what this Spartans team needed.
Minnesota - Jump shot making
Minnesota is generating more open catch and shoot threes than almost anybody in the country. Unfortunately for them, they’re in the bottom 20% in the country in actually making those shots. The process has been there for the Gophers, and that isn’t something to completely ignore, but also at some point the results have to match up.
Nebraska - Rabbit foot
Nebraska has had one of the best starts of the season for any team in the country, and this has been one of the best starts in Nebrasketball history. This gift isn’t to say at all that they’re just a “lucky” team, and if you read any of my preseason content you’d know I thought this was a tournament caliber team. However, they play a very high variance style with taking a lot of threes and forcing other teams to take a lot of threes. It’s all gone their way right now (because they’re a good team), but I’m sure they wouldn’t mind getting a few more shooting bounces going their way.
Northwestern - More game reps
This Northwestern team has a solid top three in Nick Martinelli, Arrinten Page, and Jayden Reid, although Page and Reid haven’t been quite as consistent as of late. Still, there’s real talent there. The issue is that the rest of their roster really just doesn’t have a lot of games under their belt, and the guard/wing room has a lot of figuring out to do.
Ohio State - Heart monitors
Ohio State fans have had maybe the most stressful non conference of any team in the country, having had 4 games decided by a single point, and two other games decided by only a couple of possessions. When facing a power conference opponent, there has been no such thing as a stress free night for the Buckeyes, and I’m sure the fans have had their heart rate increase a lot by watching these early games.
Oregon - Wing development
This Oregon season hasn’t gone how anyone has wanted early on, but when you look at their roster, they have a good top 3 of Nate Bittle, Jackson Shelstad, and KJ Evans. However, they don’t have a true standout wing, and T.K. Simpkins has been the one to somewhat consistently step up. This team has the talent to turn it around, but they feel a wing or two away, even though they have multiple options on the team.
Penn State - A time machine
Penn State has one of the youngest teams in all of D1 basketball. They have some talent there between guys like Freddie Dilione, Kayden Mingo, and Melih Tunca, but there’s also a ton of inexperience. This year Penn State may get an upset win or two, but this roster largely feels built to try and win next year, especially if Kayden Mingo’s brother commits to Penn State. Take the time machine and jump one year into the future to see where this Nittany Lions team really is at.
Purdue - A Neuralyzer from Men In Black
In the Men in Black movies, the agents are able to use a device called a neuralyzer to wipe memories from people that see the flash. Purdue gets this to be able to use it on college basketball fans and make them forget about the Iowa State game. It’s a bit of a dark cloud hanging over the heads of what has otherwise been a tremendous non conference schedule.
Rutgers - Hibernation
I don’t want to fully call this season over for Rutgers, but it feels very much like it’s already there. Rutgers fans should have the ability to simply just hibernate this winter and not have to endure the Scarlet Knights struggles. Wake up refreshed in the spring, looking to see what transfers and freshmen Rutgers has added for next season.
UCLA - Healthy Donovan Dent
Donovan Dent has dealt with some injuries this season, although he’s only missed one game. The injury and recovery doesn’t explain away all the faults for him and UCLA this season, but it’s been noticeable that he seems a bit hindered at times. I’m hoping that some rest around the holidays can help Dent get to the 100% player that UCLA needs.
USC - Pokemon Center
In the Pokemon video games, there are these things called Pokemon Centers. There’s one in every town, and what they do is allow you to bring any injured Pokemon in to be able to revive them and heal them up to 100% health. USC would look a lot different right now if those existed as their two starting guards in Alijah Arenas and Rodney Rice have been hurt. Rice is done for the season, and Arenas is most likely done for the year, although there is a chance he could return late in the year. Amarion Dickerson is also presumably out for the rest of the season.
Washington - Modern offense
Washington has sort of fallen into the model that Mike Woodson ran at Indiana which included taking a lot of pull up 2s, isolations, and post ups. Things that aren’t necessarily included are three point shooting, spacing, and ball movement. Washington has the skill to win the way they play, but they could benefit a lot from having more floor spacing and shooting on the floor.
Wisconsin - Bench mob depth
Wisconsin last season obviously benefitted a lot from John Tonje dominating, but Wisconsin was sneaky deep with their roster, and Greg Gard was very comfortable utilizing his bench. There simply isn’t a Carter Gilmore or Kamari McGee on the roster right now, and it makes it difficult for Wisconsin to be able to trust their starting five, a bunch that all have had individual good games, but there hasn’t been the consistency needed.
Brutal Christmas gift for this Rutgers fan. Realistic, too.