GBMWolverine: Big Ten Basketball — Should be Big — Tournament Hopefuls — Preview
Posted at 4:00pm — 12/28/2011
GBMWolverine: Big Ten Basketball — Should be Big — Tournament Hopefuls — Preview
Part one of the annual GBMWolverine Big Ten Basketball preview discussed two teams that will have extreme difficulty making the post-season tournament, Iowa and Penn State. The next two teams to be discussed, Nebraska and Northwestern, are viewed as having a chance to make the March dance, especially with the new expanded format. Nebraska is a decent team and Northwestern is better than decent. But both are in the Big Ten and will play teams weekly in the top twenty.
Nebraska enters the Big Ten having played in the very tough Big Twelve Conference, pre-implosion, so the Cornhuskers will not be intimidated or a welcomed patsy. Still, the last few years have not been overly productive for Nebraska basketball. Part of the equation is playing in a league with basketball powers such as Kansas and a bunch of teams that seem to take turns rising and falling in the elevator of success.
Nebraska enters this Big Ten season with three loses having played a good but not spectacular schedule.
The Huskers start with experience in leading scorer 6’ 2” guard Bo Spencer. He is averaging 16 points per game but is hitting less than 42% from the field. This is due in part to a low 32% from three-point land. Do not foul Bo, as he is an 86% shooter from the line.
A second veteran that is playing well is 6’ 11” center Jorge Brain Diaz. He is averaging around 11 points and five rebounds per game.
Two other Huskers, senior guard Toney McCray and junior guard Dylan Tilley are near double figures in scoring. Both are tall guards and help with the rebounding needs. McCray is an excellent shooter.
Nebraska has more inside help in 6’10” junior Brandon Ubel. Several others of the tall variety are not playing or playing little.
Nebraska is a very good foul shooting team and rebounds well. The inside defense is solid but the turnovers are on the high side.
Northwestern is a good team, again maybe not quite good enough. The Wildcats have had good opportunities to make the tournament the last two seasons, but second half and even last minute collapses have doomed Northwestern’s chances of finally making the big stage.
This team is very well coached by Bill Carmody and his Princeton-based cut, backdoor, and high post offense that passes to eat up time and move the defense remains a beautiful thing to watch.
The Wildcats enter the season with only two losses, both against excellent teams. The preseason record has been very good in preceding years as well, so, a familiar gambit.
Northwestern can score, more outside than inside, but score the cats can do.
The scoring is led by a familiar name, John Shurna, a 6’ 9” sharp-shooting forward averaging nearly 20 points per game. When this guy is hot, he is as good a scorer as in the entire conference. His fellow forward, Drew Crawford is hitting 18 points per game. The two forwards help out with rebounding to a moderate degree but shooting and scoring remain the strong points with both shooting over a 45% field goal percentage.
Another familiar face, senior Luka Mirkovic, returns at center. Luka is averaging over 8 points per game and hands out some nice assists from the high post. He has been known to set a tough pick now and then.
This year the guard scoring is by committee with many contributing but no guard throwing up big numbers.
Shooting will again be a big part of Northwestern’s season. The field goal percentage is 45 and the three-point percentage is near the 38 percent that teams use as a barometer as to whether or not the three is a viable strategy.
Please comment on our GBMWolverine Message Board about this article and read what others comment.
You can contact us at our e-mail address: GBMWolverine
Written by GBMWolverine Staff
Go Blue — Wear Maize!