Figured I might as well start a thread devoted to just the Big Ten so it doesnt get lost in the Random Chatter which will likely get filled with BE, Pac-12, Big-12 and Mid Major news.

Since Ohio State will be hosting Duke as part of the ACC-Big Ten Challenge, therefore making it BIG-related, I'd like to use this platform to discuss the hegemony of Duke Basketball over the past ten decades.

Beginning at the turn of last century, a man named "Cap" Card brought a relatively unfamiliar game consisting of a ball and a basket to the quaint North Carolina town of Durham. Basket ball, as the game would popularly become known, rose to soaring heights of success at Duke under Vic Bubas...I'm joking. Lol. But, I thought I'd turn this into a Duke thread before it somehow became one anyhow. (Not sure if anyone's noticed, but the ACC-Big Ten Challenge thread is now about woes of the Blue Devils in ACC football:rolleyes

Fuck. Duke.

This thread is a good idea, though. We could probably create one for the ACC, too.

Back to BIG discussion...

Laley, is Sunday's Indiana-Butler game going to be televised on satellite anywhere? I didn't see it listed on ESPN anywhere, but sometimes they add games later. I'd like to see this.

Hb31187 wrote:****. Duke.

LOL.

reclegend22;983957 wrote:This thread is a good idea, though. We could probably create one for the ACC, too.

Back to BIG discussion...

Laley, is Sunday's Indiana-Butler game going to be televised on satellite anywhere? I didn't see it listed on ESPN anywhere, but sometimes they add games later. I'd like to see this.

I figured the Duke/UNC guys would start an ACC one as well as Az for SEC maybe. Thats why I left them off my list that would be in Random Chatter. I just didnt feel like starting those right now, especially since I wont really look to post in them, but more join the discussion you all have.

As for IU-Butler. It is on BTN. http://indiana.rivals.com/bschedule.asp

LaQuniton Ross given the greenlight to return Dec 8?

http://www.buckeyextra.com/content/blogs/hoops-and-scoops/2011/11/laquinton-ross-eligible.html

Could be huge for the Buckeyes. By most accounts he was the best freshman in preseason camp.

Yeah this is random B1G chatter. go fuck yourself with that duke bullshit

chicago510;984034 wrote:LaQuniton Ross given the greenlight to return Dec 8?

http://www.buckeyextra.com/content/blogs/hoops-and-scoops/2011/11/laquinton-ross-eligible.html

Could be huge for the Buckeyes. By most accounts he was the best freshman in preseason camp.

If the summer reports were accurate, he provides a big wing that has the ability to make the 3 with consistency -- something this team is sorely lacking right now. Shooting is its weakness; especially long range shooting. Buford ended last year with a nice percentage, but he was streaky from game to game. Sibert is the only other player I've seen so far who is somewhat consistent from 3. All others have clanked the iron too much.

Poor free throw shooting from everyone not named Sullinger, Buford or Thomas can also be discussed elsewhere. Just awful.

Laley23 wrote:As for IU-Butler. It is on BTN. http://indiana.rivals.com/bschedule.asp

Thanks. I was going to be disappointed if it wasn't televised. I'm not sure how good of a game it will be (Indiana seems to be playing pretty fluidly -- albeit against difficult-to-gauge competition -- and a bit better than the Bulldogs right now), but it'll be great to see two historical programs from the basketball capital of the world go at it in Hoosierland.

reclegend22;984231 wrote:Thanks. I was going to be disappointed if it wasn't televised. I'm not sure how good of a game it will be (Indiana seems to be playing pretty fluidly -- albeit against difficult-to-gauge competition -- and a bit better than the Bulldogs right now), but it'll be great to see two historical programs from the basketball capital of the world go at it in Hoosierland.

I expect it to be close. I know Butler lost @Evansville and Indiana won big @Evansville. But it would be foolish to believe that game will have bearing on Sundays encounter.

I'm watching the Michign vs Duke game. I don't know who to root for. I want the Big Ten to do well but Duke coming to Columbus undefeated sounds so exciting.

Duke-OSU is going to be fun. Obviously Sullinger will get his against the foul-prone Plumlees. Thomas-Kelly is an interesting matchup as is Rivers-Craft. Duke has a ton of guard depth and can stroke the 3, but I feel better about that with the emergence of Lenzelle on defense.

I think I would favor Duke slightly in Cameron, but OSU has the slight edge in the Schott.

OSU is going to have to play some pretty good defense to beat Duke, because the Buckeyes have shown little ability to hit 3s consistently so far. They don't want to get into an outside scoring contest, because they simply don't have the horses to do that this year (where's Jon Diebler when you need him!?)

I am going to guess the strategy with Duke will be to pound the ball inside and use the edge in athletic ability underneath the basket to win. That means people are going to have to make their foul shots -- besides Sullinger and Thomas.

I'm really looking forward to watching Dawkins and Buford face off offensively. Dawkins can be a bit up and down point-wise from game to game, which sometimes is attributed to limited touches and the fact that it just doesn't seem as if enough focus is put into getting him the ball, but I think the Blue Devils are going to need Andre to have a big night and hit four or five from deep to escape with a win. If you look back on some of Duke's tougher road games in the past couple of years -- at Wisconsin in '09, Georgia Tech in the '10 ACC title game, Baylor in Houston in the '10 NCAAs, K-State in Kansas City in '10 and Michigan State this year at MSG -- Andre Dawkins' production has been a key factor in the success of the Blue Devils offensive attack. He's incredibly important to this team.

I'm also looking forward to see Austin Rivers get his chance to face "the man," the impenetrable Aaron Craft. Rivers may in fact struggle against Craft -- while Austin played extremely well in Maui tonight, demonstrating better patience and decision-making with the ball in his hands, he's still very keyed up a lot of the time -- but it will be an exciting match-up on the series' that it does occur nonetheless as both players have been given so much attention this season.

I don't think Craft draws Rivers. I think Smith draws Rivers and Craft gets Curry. Lenzelle Smith is taller and longer than Craft and a better match-up for OSU. Tough decision for Matta because Rivers likes to penetrate the lane and Craft might be more suited to slowing him down.

Duke has looked really good this year and played a better schedule than has OSU.As with all Duke teams, the 3 ball is paramount. OSU must defend the 3-point line if they expect to hang with the Blue Devils. Duke is hitting almost 46% of their 3 point shots. If OSU gets down early, I'm not sure they have the fire power to come back.OSU is 16/61 behind the arc and 69% at the free throw line. This has not been a good shooting team to date.

I agree that Craft will be matched up against Duke's starting point guard, Seth Curry. But over the course of the game Craft and Rivers will probably face off against each other on at least a few series', and I think those occurrences will be the most entertaining and very interesting with regard to both players -- Craft for his praise as being one of the best on-ball defenders in the country and Rivers for his praise as one of the most gifted penetrators.

If anyone wasn't sure, Iowa still sucks. 16 point home loss to the Campbell Fighting Camels tonight.

Indiana set to take on Butler tonight at 7pm on BTN. 1 of 5 big to semi-big OOC games for the Hoosiers. Passed first test easily @ Evansville. Still have NCST, Notre Dame and Kentucky on the docket. ND looks a lot worse now without Abro, but the game is in Indy, so anything can happen.

Butler is struggling without Shelvin Mack. They should be back next year though with Clarke coming in. Marshall and Smith are going to be a great combo up-front as upperclassman.

Brad Stevens' bunch playing tough in Assembly Hall, primarily behind the playmaking ability of Chrishawn Hopkins. Certainly no Shelvin Mack, but Hopkins is a nice scoring guard for Butler. If he develops a dependable three-point shot (he's hovering around 30%), the sophomore could develop into the next in a long lineage of really good Butler guards (Darnell Archey, Brandon Miller, A.J. Graves, Mack) over the past decade.

Indiana closing out strong, now up 61 to 46 on Butler. The Hoosiers, while not quite there yet, definitely look close to putting it all together. They have a lot of talent in Zeller, Watford, Oladipo, Sheehey and company. Looking to improve to 6-0.

reclegend22;990155 wrote:Indiana closing out strong, now up 61 to 46 on Butler. The Hoosiers, while not quite there yet, definitely look close to putting it all together. They have a lot of talent in Zeller, Watford, Oladipo, Sheehey and company. Looking to improve to 6-0.

Indiana really did close out strong. It was a very good showing the last 10 minutes. First 30 was a bit rough to watch. Open shots being missed all over the place, but defensively both teams played tough.

Watford had a horrible game. Forced shots, didnt rebound at all, was just terrible. Jones III was bad as well, which is why I am so pleased with a 15+ point victory when 2 of our returning "stars" sucked, for lack of a better term.

IU is building the program back up. Sheehey, Oladipo, Hulls and Zeller are the main guys with Yogi Ferrell, Hanner Perea and Jeremy Hollowell joining next season. Watford will be a big plus as a SR with his skill set to help out as well. Im not sure he will even be in the starting line-up next season, but he is a tremendous talent to have as our 4th scoring option, if not lower.

Trevor Mbakwe is out for the year with a Torn ACL. Tough break for the kid and Gophers. Minny is in some major trouble now.

Writerbuckeye;984188 wrote:Poor free throw shooting from everyone not named Sullinger, Buford or Thomas can also be discussed elsewhere. Just awful.

Doesn't concern me that much. The top 4 players from OSU all shoot above 70%. Those 4 will get to the line 95% of the time. But the 3pt shooting is definately a concern. Craft is shooting just aweful from the outside. Buford is the lone player who can consistantly knock down a jumper. And he still tends to disappear for long stretches in a game.