Allow me to quickly recap this past week of Big Ten basketball - Purdue is still somehow dominating, the Hoosiers and Badgers are sticking around and Kelvin Sampson is an idiot. I think that pretty much covers it. As has been the story of the season, it remains a 3-4 horse race for the top of the Big Ten, but Purdue has quickly jumped ahead of the pack and established themselves as the team to be. Who'd a thunk it! There's still enough games left in the season for this to change, but honestly I don't see Purdue losing this momentum anytime soon.
Team with the Best Week - Purdue. I admit, the Boilermakers should have garnered this award last week. Call it an act of stubbornness or stupidity or anything else that starts with an "s", but at least I can look back upon my mistake now and laugh (or as an Indiana alum, cry). Damn the Boilers are playing some incredible basketball though, and it's all thanks to a great coach in Matt Painter and a slew of talented young, Indiana-native talent (Robbie Hummel, Scott Martin, E'Twaun Moore, etc.) It will take a lot to bring down this train, as Purdue sits atop the Big Ten, ALONE.
Player of the Week - Robbie Hummel, Purdue. There's no question about this one; Hummel is playing his best basketball of the year at the perfect time of year. The freshman notched a game-high 24 points and 11 boards on Tuesday night in the Boilers' 60-54 win against Michigan State and was Purdue's leading scorer last Saturday in the Boilers' big win against Wisconsin. Quick summary: this guy can flat out shoot the rock (51% from the field, 85.5% free throws and an incredible 47% three-point shooting). Right now Hummel is on top of the Big Ten World -
Team with the Worst Week - TAKE A WILD GUESS, Indiana. Can things get any worse for the Hoosiers right now? Wait, allow me to rephrase - can Kelvin Sampson create any bigger/better/more ridiculous problems for the Hoosiers? A.J. Ratliff, a former Indiana Mr. Basketball and fairly solid contributor to the team, has already left the Hoosiers squad. While it is likely unrelated to any of the recruiting snafus that have taken place, it's still a negative for IU. Next, the Hoosiers lost last night to Wisconsin, marking their 4th loss of the year - and the 4th loss against a ranked opponent. For a top 25 team, the Hoosiers haven't played anybody this season that has resembled a top-tier squad and have yet to really assert themselves as a legit contender for a Big Ten title. Hoosier fans beware - things could get worse, much worse, before they get any better. Oh yeah, and Bob Knight won't be coming back to save you either.
Bruce Weber Moment of the Week - In lieu of Kelvin Sampson being a big fat liar, I'll lay off Bruce for this week and this week alone.
Games to Watch - 2/16 Michigan State @ Indiana (ESPN Gameday will be there to talk about Kelvin Sampson the ENTIRE game)
2/18 Michigan @ Ohio State
2/19 Purdue @ Indiana
2/20 Wisconsin @ Illinois
1 comments:
STF - You're on the mark with Purdue. Matt Painter has them playing smart, tough and together. It doesn't hurt that frosh E'Twaun Moore and Robbie Hummel are big time talents either. They're a fun team to watch.
As for Bruce Weber, give him some props for getting Illinois to play so exceptionally hard and well at Minnesota on the heels of that emotional Double OT loss to IU and Eric Gordon last week. Illinois could've packed up the tent but they're hanging tough.
I would also say that this weekend's game between the Spartans and IU is huge. Michigan State really needs a win and I think they're catching an IU team in disarray, plus, remember, IU still hasn't beaten a top tier team all season.
td lawlor
www.hoopraker.com
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