2019 PF Kevin Cross

[ColoradoHusk]

I'm surprised you don't think Purdue's big guys were "effective big men".

Honestly, I just missed them.

 

[BigRedBuster]

Taking this review a little deeper, I looked at the B1G rosters and tried to identify the "effective big men" who were 6'10" or taller.  This is from 2018-19, but it should be reflective of the general "size" in the Big Ten.  These are the effective big men I found:

Iowa -- Luke Garza

Maryland -- Bruno Fernando and Jalen Smith

Michigan -- John Teske

Minnesota -- Daniel Oturu

Ohio State -- Kaleb Wesson (technically only 6'9", but at 270 lbs, I am calling him big enough)

Rutgers -- Shaq Doorson and Myles Johnson (calling these two "effective" may be stretches)

Wisconsin -- Ethan Happ

Purdue - Ivan Drago

So, I found that half of the Big Ten teams have big men who are any good at all.  They may give a smaller, Hoiberg roster trouble when NU is on defense, but I think with NU's pace and space style of Hoiberg's offense, it could more than make up for points given up on the other end.  I think when people think "Big Ten" basketball, there is the reputation of every roster carrying 2-3 quality near-7-footers who can dominate inside.  I think we have shown that in reality, NU won't be a supremely "undersized" as we think, especially in a couple years when the young guys are able to gain size and other transfers come in who are 21-22 years old (with man bodies) and are 6'7"-6'9" tall.

Again, the main part of this discussion was before we landed two 6;8" guys.  We would be way undersized if we played only with 6'6" and smaller thin guys.

Now, what you have shown is that 57% of the conference had an effective big man 6"10 or taller.  

Here is the season ending B1G standings:

MSU

Purdue

Michigan

Wisconsin

Maryland

Iowa

Minnesota

OSU

Indiana

PSU

Illinois

Rutgers

Nebraska

Northwestern

The ones on your list are in red.

See a trend?

 

[ColoradoHusk]

Again, the main part of this discussion was before we landed two 6;8" guys.  We would be way undersized if we played only with 6'6" and smaller thin guys.

Now, what you have shown is that 57% of the conference had an effective big man 6"10 or taller.  

Here is the season ending B1G standings:

MSU

Purdue

Michigan

Wisconsin

Maryland

Iowa

Minnesota

OSU

Indiana

PSU

Illinois

Rutgers

Nebraska

Northwestern

The ones on your list are in red.

See a trend?

That's a fair comment to make.  Size is a factor to success for a lot of B1G teams.  Those teams are generally built on slowing the game down and focusing on D.

Hoiberg is trying a different approach for the conference.  I guess we will see who is right in the long run.  NU hasn't been very competitive trying it the "traditional Big Ten way", and I think Hoiberg's approach could be perfect for Nebraska to be competitive.  Despite the great facilities and fan support, NU will not "out recruit" the traditional Big Ten powers.  However, I think Hoiberg can be successful with a different style of basketball and type of recruit.  IMO, NU has to be contrarian to do well in basketball.

 

[ECisGod]

Taking this review a little deeper, I looked at the B1G rosters and tried to identify the "effective big men" who were 6'10" or taller.  This is from 2018-19, but it should be reflective of the general "size" in the Big Ten.  These are the effective big men I found:

Iowa -- Luke Garza

Maryland -- Bruno Fernando and Jalen Smith

Michigan -- John Teske

Minnesota -- Daniel Oturu

Ohio State -- Kaleb Wesson (technically only 6'9", but at 270 lbs, I am calling him big enough)

Purdue -- Matt Haarms and Trevion Williams

Rutgers -- Shaq Doorson and Myles Johnson (calling these two "effective" may be stretches)

Wisconsin -- Ethan Happ

So, I found that just over half of the Big Ten teams have big men who are any good at all.  They may give a smaller, Hoiberg roster trouble when NU is on defense, but I think with NU's pace and space style of Hoiberg's offense, it could more than make up for points given up on the other end.  I think when people think "Big Ten" basketball, there is the reputation of every roster carrying 2-3 quality near-7-footers who can dominate inside.  I think we have shown that in reality, NU won't be a supremely "undersized" as we think, especially in a couple years when the young guys are able to gain size and other transfers come in who are 21-22 years old (with man bodies) and are 6'7"-6'9" tall.

EDIT:  Added Purdue's big guys because I forgot to check their roster.

Fernando, Doorson & Happ are all gone next year.  Haven't looked to see what anyone else has coming in next year.

Ohio State has a 7', 200 lb commit (hasn't signed yet)

Maryland has a 7' 2', 230 lb signed

Minnesota has a 6' 10", 220 lb signed

Illinois has a 6' 10" signed and a 6' 10", 200 lb commit.

 

[Atbone95]

Delete.

 

[seaofred92]

[No message]