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Jon Rothstein has interesting Starting 5 for IOWA: Tony, Payton, PMac, Kris, Filip. Has them 9th in the B1G

Franisdaman

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Jon wrote about the B1G on Aug 8. The B1G is such a toss up to him that he has Iowa projected to finish 9th and also calls Iowa a sleeper team.

Do you like Jon's starting 5 for IOWA? Note that Payton has stated that he is practicing the 2, 3 and 4.

Jon's Aug 8 B1G Power Rankings:

1. Indiana
2. Purdue
3. Michigan
4. Ohio State
5. Michigan State
6. Illinois
7. Wisconsin
8. Rutgers
9. Iowa

Projected Starting 5:
G
Tony Perkins
G Peyton Sandfort
F Patrick McCaffery
F Kris Murray
C Filip Rebraca

Projected Bench: Connor McCaffery, Josh Ogundele, Ahron Ulis, Riley Mulvey, Luc Laketa, Carter Kingsbury, Dasonte Bowen, Josh Dix

Key Losses: Keegan Murray, Jordan Bohannon

Key Newcomers: Dasonte Bowen, Josh Dix

......................................................................

10. Maryland
11. Northwestern
12. Penn State
13. Minnesota
14. Nebraska


Preseason All-Big Ten First Team
Kris Murray, Iowa
Cliff Omoruyi, Rutgers
Trayce Jackson-Davis, Indiana
Hunter Dickinson, Michigan
Zach Edey, Purdue

Big Ten Co-Preseason Player of the Year
Trayce Jackson-Davis, Indiana
Hunter Dickinson, Michigan

Big Ten Preseason Sleeper
Iowa



The FULL Story:
 
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He picks Iowa 9th….and then picks Iowa as the conference sleeper…..hmmm.

I think the B10 is wide open this year…not sure that some of the coaches or teams he has at the top are proven yet….certainly not dominant. It should be a very interesting season and with the pre conference schedule the Hawks have this year we should be well prepared for tough competition.
 
He picks Iowa 9th….and then picks Iowa as the conference sleeper…..hmmm.

I think the B10 is wide open this year…not sure that some of the coaches or teams he has at the top are proven yet….certainly not dominant. It should be a very interesting season and with the pre conference schedule the Hawks have this year we should be well prepared for tough competition.

Yeah, I found us being considered a sleeper interesting, too.

I agree with you; 9th might not be as bad as it sounds because is there a B1G team that Iowa won't match up well against?

I wonder if he stuck Payton into the starting line up because he trusts Payton more than he does Ulis. It will be interesting to see what Fran decides....
 
If I remember correctly the media picked them for 9th last year as well. I am too lazy to look it up but I believe that Fran’s teams have generally outperformed preseason prognostications.
 
Honestly I do not see clear cut tiers at this point.
IU has the most back but I do not see a dominant team at all this year.
Almost everyone in the league lost huge contributors off of last year's rosters.
I see a real jumble 1-10 in the league this year.
Agreed. Indiana has a ton returning, but that isn't always the best thing. TJD has zero outside game and it's not as if IU was great last year. If forced to pick a winner, I'd probably go with Purdue or Michigan. But definitely a lot of good teams, maybe no great ones.
 
I agree Peyton will be pushing to start because he and Kris should be our most efficient (PER) offensive players. He's a bucket.

However, last year our 2nd best scorer PER wise came off the bench (Kris) and it worked well from a substitution standpoint and you can still get 25 mpg that way. I could see him coming off the bench that way as long as he gets that many minutes. He's not a guy you only give 20 mpg to imo - he will command more.

Fran seems likely to want to start Bowen. If it was between Ulis and Perkins for PG I do think he may be tempted to start Perkins, but with the starting lineup the way the article had it you really only have Bowen, Ulis, Dix and Connor coming off the bench as perimeter guys and then Mulvey. Only Dix and Bowen can really score of that group, so I'm pretty sure that starting lineup won't happen as we'd get stuck with rotations that can't score.
 
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Perkins isn't a good enough ballhandler yet to be a full time pg.

Ulis or Bowen starts at pg.

I think Sandfort will be the 2nd or 3rd best player but probably be the 1st guy off the bench. I don't like him at all at the 2. He's a 3 or 4.

Iowas best lineup will be

1. Ulis/Bowwen
2. Perkins
3. Patrick
4. Sandfort
5. Kris
 
Outside of Indiana, Iowa is the most experienced team coming back.

Michigan State being that high is only because of the name on the front of their jerseys and who the head coach is--most Michigan State fans are thinking they'll struggle to make the tournament this year due to their extreme lack of depth.

Purdue picked up their only true PG on the roster during the 11th hour of portal season after missing out on their top 3 or 4 choices. I don't think they're competing for a Big Ten regular season title like Jon's suggesting here.

Wisconsin's entire season depends on how big of a leap Chucky Hepburn takes. I like Wahl, but I think he's best as a secondary scoring option. They're like Iowa, always projected in middle of pack and surpass expectations.

I think Indiana is in tier by themselves on paper, then Michigan and Illinois just below that. My tier 2B is Iowa, Ohio St, Purdue, and Wisconsin. Those 7 are who I think make the tournament safely with the next tier: Michigan St, Rutgers, Maryland, Penn St. all being bubble teams.
 
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Perkins isn't a good enough ballhandler yet to be a full time pg.

Ulis or Bowen starts at pg.

I think Sandfort will be the 2nd or 3rd best player but probably be the 1st guy off the bench. I don't like him at all at the 2. He's a 3 or 4.

Iowas best lineup will be

1. Ulis/Bowwen
2. Perkins
3. Patrick
4. Sandfort
5. Kris
Yeah Rothstein got Iowa’s best players into the starting lineup, but I don’t think it’s what Fran will roll with. With scorers in Pat, Kris, and Tony all in the starting lineup, I imagine that Fran will want a facilitator running point, with good scoring ability being a bonus. With Ahron being a good defender, solid facilitator, and quality experience, he makes a lot of sense

Major 6th Man of the Year vibes from Sandfort this year. We need scoring off the bench anyways, and not sure where it’s coming from if we stack the starting lineup with a bunch of guys who all need a lot of shots. I actually think the team is a lot more balanced with PS coming off the bench
 
Agreed. Indiana has a ton returning, but that isn't always the best thing. TJD has zero outside game and it's not as if IU was great last year. If forced to pick a winner, I'd probably go with Purdue or Michigan. But definitely a lot of good teams, maybe no great ones.
Boy, I thought Indiana was playing as good as anyone at the end of the B1G season, especially on the defensive end. I expect them to dominate the league this coming season.
 
If I remember correctly the media picked them for 9th last year as well. I am too lazy to look it up but I believe that Fran’s teams have generally outperformed preseason prognostications.

On August 11, 2021, Rothstein predicted Iowa 10th in the B1G. We finished as the 5 seed in the B1G Tournament of course
 
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I think Fran starts with these 5

Ulis or Bowen
Perkins
Pat
Kris
Filip
That’s my bet as well…..then Sandfort off the bench as a capable starter/high level player, Bowen pushing hard for time and getting the starters spot at PG, Connor as the utility guy that can help at the one through 4…..and hopefully Mulvey or JO are able to give some good minutes in the post.
 
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That’s my bet as well…..then Sandfort off the bench as a capable starter/high level player, Bowen pushing hard for time and getting the starters spot at PG, Connor as the utility guy that can help at the one through 4…..and hopefully Mulvey or JO are able to give some good minutes in the post.

Fran has 11 scholarship players. In the tougher games it will be interesting to see how many are in the rotation and much Josh Dix, Josh O, and Riley play. And will any of the walk ons see action if Dix is not quite ready?
 
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No team that was under 500 the year before has won the B1G since Indiana around 30ish years ago.

Indiana finished the regular season losing 7 of 9. They were a 17 point comeback against Michigan in their opening B1G game from missing the tournament altogether. Lost badly to St Mary's in the tournament.

Picking them because everyone else loses a lot requires one to think that the rest of the coaches don't know what they're doing with building their rosters. That's improbable.

Purdue seems like a good pick because they're one of the few teams with a good center that also has shooting around them. Their motion offense has given them a chance to be good on offense without an elite PG in the past. It'll be interesting to see what their backup bigs can do, because Edey won't be able to play 30 minutes and they'll need post scoring for 40 minutes.

I'm probably lower on this year's team preseason in comparison to last, but that says more about last year to me. 9th is too low.
 
Perkins isn't a good enough ballhandler yet to be a full time pg.

Ulis or Bowen starts at pg.

I think Sandfort will be the 2nd or 3rd best player but probably be the 1st guy off the bench. I don't like him at all at the 2. He's a 3 or 4.

Iowas best lineup will be

1. Ulis/Bowwen
2. Perkins
3. Patrick
4. Sandfort
5. Kris
This.
 
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Heard Bowen is looking really good. Josh O, not so much
I pretty much think that Mulvey fully leapfrogs Josh this year and is the de facto backup big man. I very much hope I’m wrong and Josh takes a big step this year, but kind of think he may be back in the portal next year with Freeman and potentially Estrella coming in

Estrella wants early playing time, and it won’t be Josh O blocking him, I promise you that
 
Outside of Indiana, Iowa is the most experienced team coming back.

Michigan State being that high is only because of the name on the front of their jerseys and who the head coach is--most Michigan State fans are thinking they'll struggle to make the tournament this year due to their extreme lack of depth.

Purdue picked up their only true PG on the roster during the 11th hour of portal season after missing out on their top 3 or 4 choices. I don't think they're competing for a Big Ten regular season title like Jon's suggesting here.

Wisconsin's entire season depends on how big of a leap Chucky Hepburn takes. I like Wahl, but I think he's best as a secondary scoring option. They're like Iowa, always projected in middle of pack and surpass expectations.

I think Indiana is in tier by themselves on paper, then Michigan and Illinois just below that. My tier 2B is Iowa, Ohio St, Purdue, and Wisconsin. Those 7 are who I think make the tournament safely with the next tier: Michigan St, Rutgers, Maryland, Penn St. all being bubble teams.
I don’t get the IU love. Yes, they return a lot, but from a pretty bad team. They played well right at BTT time but were mediocre before and lost by 30 in the NCAA tourney. They have not been a good shooting team. Will that change? Their five star freshman is not known for his shooting.

MSU overrated. Purdue overrated. Illinois and Iowa underrated.
 
I pretty much think that Mulvey fully leapfrogs Josh this year and is the de facto backup big man. I very much hope I’m wrong and Josh takes a big step this year, but kind of think he may be back in the portal next year with Freeman and potentially Estrella coming in

Estrella wants early playing time, and it won’t be Josh O blocking him, I promise you that
Yep, agree. I think we see a good amount of small ball and then Mulvey eats up any pt left after Philip.

I think the ship has sailed on big Josh.

I don't expect to see him get much if any meaningful pt going forward.
 
I don’t get the IU love. Yes, they return a lot, but from a pretty bad team. They played well right at BTT time but were mediocre before and lost by 30 in the NCAA tourney. They have not been a good shooting team. Will that change? Their five star freshman is not known for his shooting.

MSU overrated. Purdue overrated. Illinois and Iowa underrated.
Indiana returns a lot and brings in 2 five stars and a four star. That's the thing, most teams are replacing a lot of pieces from last year's teams--Indiana isn't and has a top 15 recruiting class. Could those freshman bust? Sure. But so could anyone else's freshmen/transfers. To your point about the tournament blowout--I'm not trying to make excuses for them, but they got completely screwed by their travel accommodations by the NCAA. They couldn't leave for Portland until almost 4AM after their First-Four win due to the NCAA not getting them a big enough plane to travel.


Also, I can't believe I'm defending Indiana. I'll go rinse my mouth out with soap.
 
Perkins is a 2, Sandfort is not.
I like Tony for some spot minutes at 1, but certainly not carrying the load.
Sandfort could have a really good season. Mostly at the 3 spot, occasionally 4.
 
Boy, I thought Indiana was playing as good as anyone at the end of the B1G season, especially on the defensive end. I expect them to dominate the league this coming season.
Indiana lost 7 of 9 to close the regular season last year, including losses to Rutgers and Northwestern (Rutgers was in Bloomington). Then they won 2 games in the BTT, lost to Iowa. Beat Wyoming in the First Four, then got boat-raced by St. Mary's.

I like the talent they have coming back and they have a very good recruiting class coming in. But they did not close year strong. They do play defense, and they play hard. If they improve from mediocre on offense to average/above average, they will be very good.
 
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Indiana returns a lot and brings in 2 five stars and a four star. That's the thing, most teams are replacing a lot of pieces from last year's teams--Indiana isn't and has a top 15 recruiting class. Could those freshman bust? Sure. But so could anyone else's freshmen/transfers. To your point about the tournament blowout--I'm not trying to make excuses for them, but they got completely screwed by their travel accommodations by the NCAA. They couldn't leave for Portland until almost 4AM after their First-Four win due to the NCAA not getting them a big enough plane to travel.


Also, I can't believe I'm defending Indiana. I'll go rinse my mouth out with soap.
Yes it is hard to defend IU, but they do have talent returning and a lot coming in. Will that all come together? That is the mystery. Lot of good teams this year in the league, probably not any team with a good shot at going to Final 4.
 
Indiana lost 7 of 9 to close the regular season last year, including losses to Rutgers and Northwestern (Rutgers was in Bloomington). Then they won 2 games in the BTT, lost to Iowa. Beat Wyoming in the First Four, then got boat-raced by St. Mary's.

I like the talent they have coming back and they have a very good recruiting class coming in. But they did not close year strong. They do play defense, and they play hard. If they improve from mediocre on offense to average/above average, they will be very good.
Didn't they also have 4 guys out due to injury and/or suspension during that stint before bigten tournament play?
 
Perkins is a 2, Sandfort is not.
I like Tony for some spot minutes at 1, but certainly not carrying the load.
Sandfort could have a really good season. Mostly at the 3 spot, occasionally 4.
I'm with you, but it completely depends on how Fran feels about what he has in Ulis and Bowen. If he feels like Sandfort being on the floor adds more incrementally than what he gains by having Ulis and/or Bowen at point then he might go that route. Given what transpired last year, it shouldn't surprise anyone when Fran favors having as many shooters on the floor as possible over pretty much anything else. Putting Sandfort at the two us pretty much the only way that he gets 20+ minutes thus year.
 
I seriously can't get a read on this team the last few years. I was excited for last year because I thought we would be much improved on defense, which started to happen later in the year. I have lower expectations for this year just missing Keegan. 9th could be right... but so could 2nd. No idea what to expect from the conference teams as well.
 
I seriously can't get a read on this team the last few years. I was excited for last year because I thought we would be much improved on defense, which started to happen later in the year. I have lower expectations for this year just missing Keegan. 9th could be right... but so could 2nd. No idea what to expect from the conference teams as well.
The league seems more unsettled than usual, adding to the difficulty of slotting in Iowa who is also minus their best, by a large margin, player from the previous year.
I suspect Kris will be great, but it's unreasonable to expect him to have a Keegan like season.
Ultimately, as with every other season, I'm most interested in how they perform in the NCAA tourney. If they finish 7th in the league and then make the sweet 16 that would be a good year.
 
I seriously can't get a read on this team the last few years. I was excited for last year because I thought we would be much improved on defense, which started to happen later in the year. I have lower expectations for this year just missing Keegan. 9th could be right... but so could 2nd. No idea what to expect from the conference teams as well.
That's ok, the experts usually don't either ;)
 
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I seriously can't get a read on this team the last few years. I was excited for last year because I thought we would be much improved on defense, which started to happen later in the year. I have lower expectations for this year just missing Keegan. 9th could be right... but so could 2nd. No idea what to expect from the conference teams as well.
We were never going to get any defense from JBO. At the 2 or the point he just wasn't going to provide the defense needed. Should be a little different this season. Now we just need to retain most of his offense
 
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