0 0 Tuesday Novembe , 2 20 // The Michigan Daily 7B The basketball season is right around the corner and the Big Ten - like last year - seems to be the deepest and most competi- tive conference in the nation. It boasts four teams in the AP Top 25, and two more that received votes. Michigan will look to garner wins in a conference in which nearly anyone can come out on top should be low but this year (perhaps anyone but the Wolverines). Below are the five Big Ten contenders that are predicted to make h ef ih i eli a run in the NCAA Tournament. TABLE OF CONTENTS BLAKE'S BULKING UP: With the absence of any proven big men, Blake McLimans will try this season to show that he's ready to step up. 4 TWO HOOSIERS AND A WHISPER: In Indiana, the land of basketball giants, how Zack Novak and Stu Douglass became Wolverines. BIG TEN PREVIEW: We break down every Big Ten team's odds of making it to the Tournament, identify crucial players and weigh in on what Michigan will have to do to beat them. PUT FAITH IN BEILEIN: Ben Estes admits that Michigan's bas- 7m ketball team probably won't be good this year. But that doesn't mean you should lose your faith. It's Beilein's fourth year in Wolverine territory and he faces the daunting task of turning a bunch of young guys into Big Ten players. He's proven himself as a coach who turns things around before. But can he replace the talent of Manny Harris and Deshawn Sims? Daily Basketball Beat Ben Estes, Chantel Jennings, Luke Pasch, Zak Pyzik No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Year Hometown 0 Zack Novak G 6-4 210 Jr. Chesterton, Ind. 1 Stu Douglass G 6-3 190 Jr. Carmel, Ind. 2 Jordan Dumars G 6-5 220 So. Detroit, Mich. 4 Darius Morris G 6-4 190 So. Los Angeles, Calif. 5 Eso Akunne G 6-3 220 So. Ann Arbor, Mich. 10 Tim Hardaway, Jr. G 6-5 185 Fr. Miami, Fla. 13 Matt Vogrich G 6-4 190 So. Lake Forest, Ill. 15 Jon Horford F 6-9 220 Fr. Grand Ledge, Mich. 20 Josh Bartelstein G 6-2 205 So. Highland Park, Ill. 22 Blake McLimans F 6-10 240 RS Fr. Hamburg, N.Y. 23 Evan Smotrycz F 6-9 225 Fr. Reading, Mass. 32 Corey Person G 6-3 200 RS So. Kalamazoo, Mich. 45 Colton Christian F 6-6 215 Fr. Bellevue, Wash. 52 Jordan Morgan F 6-8 240 RS Fr. Detroit, Mich. Purdue Boilerakers First Matchup: In Ann Aror, * December 28, 2 p.m. It uses the talent that it has (which is arguably the best in the country). So the Boilermakers lost senior forward Robbie Hummel to an ACL tear. The Wolverines lost Ben Cronin and they're dealing with it; injuries happen. And though Hummel is a tad bit better, an injury is an injury. Purdue still has two of the five preseason all-conference team play- ers - seniors JaJuan Johnson and E'Twaun Moore. Johnson and Moore, along with Hummel, were pre- dicted by many to lead the No. 1 team in the con- ference prior to Hummel's tear. But after the injury, Michigan State and Ohio State leapfrogged the Boilermakers. With six upperclassmen, the Boiler- makers should be just fine come tournament time. To unranked teams in the Big Ten. It is necessary for Purdue to beat everyone that it's expected to beat because it's unlikely that it will win the games it's not supposed to win. For instance, Purdue dropped both contests to Michigan State last year by an accumulative 21 points and split with Ohio State. Since Purdue is returning essentially the same team minus Hummel, it's likely that the Boil- ermakers will have ddjA vu, unless they get their act together and just beat the eight teams they're sup- posed to be better than. It's simple, but genuine. Purdue plays sloppy. More specifically, Boiler- maker coach Matt Painter said at Media Day that the team struggles to rebound. Painter said that if his squad doesn't rebound well then teams at the bottom of the pack like Michigan and Penn State might have a chance to pull off the upset. It doesn't seem likely that the Boilermakers will have issues treating Michigan like a younger sister, especially since Michigan is pretty short compared to the five Purdue players that clock in at six-foot-eight or greater. Then again, it gives the Wolverine faithful some hope. BY ZAK PYZIK |DAILY SPORTS WRITER Wisconsin Badgers First Matchup: In Madison, January 5, 8:30 p.m. Coach Bo Ryan has anything to say about it. Ryan is entering his loth season as the Badgers' coach, and he joined the 600-win club after defeat- ing Wofford in last year's NCAA tournament. Ryan has won 71 percent of his games in the Big Ten - better than any other coach in the conference. He is the second-fastest coach in history to reach 100 Big Ten wins after collecting that third digit against Indiana last year. Ryan's basketball genius in addi- tion to a Badger roster of six seniors should get the job done in the conference. Also, given an easy out- of-conerfence schedule, it looks like Wisconsin is en route to its 10th tournament appearance under Ryan. (Yes, you read that correctly. Every year). At home. That's Wisconsin's strength. The Kohl Center in Madison is arguably the most difficult road venue in the conference. Wisconsin has won 93 percent of its home games under Ryan - a total record ofe136-11. If Wisconsin can win15-plus home games as it's done this entire decade, then it is very likely the Badgers will be fine. But if they let their home dominance slip from underneath them, the veterans may find themselves ina situation they've never been in before. Ultimately, don't count on Wisconsin blowing it at home this season. Dr. Emmett Brown of Back to the Future builds a modern time machine that can take the Wolver- ines' 12 freshmen and sophomores and make them seniors. Maybe then they'll be ready. Michigan was actually really close last year to pulling off the upset. In the Wolverines' matchup against Wiscon- sin in Madison, Michigan lost just 54-48. That's kind of close. And in that game, the Wolverines looked good. Manny Harris and DeShawn Sims racked up 34 of the 48 total points. Maybe they'll do the same thing this year. Oh no, wait ... J Center spread design by Maureen Stych Cover photo by Sam Wolson STAFF PICKS The Daily basketball writers do their best to predict what will happen in the world of college basketball this season. "He's always going to have things that you weren't prepared for, so you almost have to put yourself in his head.... there's a little bit different angst in your stom- ach when you're coaching against him. There's no doubt about it." hen Indiana coach Tom Crean said this at Big Ten Media Day, he wasn't talk- ing about esteemed Michigan State coach Tom Izzo, the coach of six Final Four teams, nor was he referring to other household coach- ing names like Ohio State's Thad Matta, or Minnesota's Tubby Smith. BEN He wasn't even ESTES referring to coach- ing against tough Big Ten players as Spartans guard Kalin Lucas, who was chosen as the conference's Preseason Player of the Year for the second straight season, or other stars like Pur- due center JuJuan Johnson and Illinois guard Demetri McCamey. No, Crean was talking about a man set to lead a team that is nothing more than an afterthought in most analysts' minds for the upcoming basketball sea- son: John Beilein. Everyone has the same question for the Wolverines as they are set to embark on what almost promises to be a rough year: how is Michigan, which lost its two best players, supposed to outperform last year's disappointing 15-17 team? If the Wolverines couldn't compete in the Big Ten with all-conference ath- letes like Manny Harris and DeShawn Sims, how are they supposed to do bet- ter without them? The short answer is simply that they won't. It's a harsh reality, but it's a reality nonetheless. The Wolverines are too inexperienced and too unskilled (at least in terms of veteran talent) to real- istically compete for an NCAA berth. Even the NIT could be a stretch as far as any possibility of postseason play. It's never a good thing for a teamto not have any seniors, and in Michigan's case, even the two upperclassmen they do have - juniors Stu Douglass and Zack Novak - certainly aren't, by defi- nition, stars. The Wolverines will be forced to rely on many players who haven't played in a single collegiate basketball game. Beilein has already said that all six of his true and redshirt freshmen will get significant playing time, and at least two will likely be in the starting lineup. All in all, those yearning for the days of the Fab Five or even the 2008-09 NCAA tournament team will have to wait at least another season. But it won't be all doom and gloom for this team. There's a refreshing energy surrounding this group of play- ers. They will tell you that chemistry problems on last year's squad are over- blown, but it's clear that this team is much tighter and more cohesive than the last edition - perhaps the only bers- efit of losing Harris, who didn't always seem to buy in to the "team concept." And the fact that they are young and that they won't know any better could actually be a positive - they aren't experienced enough to realize that they're "supposed" to lose games. They'll make plenty of mistakes, sure, but it won't stop them from getting right back up and fighting some more.- Most important, Michigan has Beilein. The coach enters his 33rd season as a head man for a reason - as Crean and all his other peers have recognized, Beilein's ahell of a coach. Despite the struggles of his first and third seasons in Ann Arbor, his overall track record speaks for itself, and now the team is finally made up of his own players. Beilein - "the wizard of college basketball," according to Illinois coach Bruce Weber - is widely regarded as a great teacher, and this season he has the ultimate group of pupils: young and inexperienced, but ready, willing and determined to learn. The mistakes will be copious, but so will be the improvement. Make no mistake, these youngsters are talented - freshman guard Tim Hardaway Jr. might even already be the Wolverines' best player - and they'll show their potential plenty of times. The Big Ten is as strong as it's ever been, but Michigan will be scrappy enough to compete with everyone it plays, especially considering how sophisticated Beilein's schemes are. The Wolverines may be at least a year away, but they'll progress closer to where they need to be much more than most think as the season unfolds. So don't expect excellence. Don't expect the Wolverines to threaten for a conference title, and don't expect a miracle run to the Big Dance. Expect poor play at times, perhaps a lot of the- time. But also expect plenty of improve- ment. Expect Michigan to get as much out of its ability as humanly possible. Expect that by the time March rolls around, this team and program will be in a much better place. And if you expect that these Wolver- ines won't play inspired, expect to be surprised. -Estes can be reached at benestesumich.edu Bien Chantel Estes Jennings LUKe dK Pasch Pyzik Michigan regular season record 13-18 16-15 14-17 17-14 BigTen Champion Michigan State Michigan State Illinois Michigan State Big Ten second place Illinois Illinois Michigan State Purdue Big Ten third place Ohio State Furdue Ohio State Wisconsin Michigan finish 9th 7th 8th 7th Ohio Slate Iino no Illinois SBig Ten MVP Demetri McCamey, Illinois Kahin Lucas, Michigan State McCamey Lucas Bg T h of th Tom Izzo Izzo Bruce Weber Tom Crean Big Ten surprise team Indiana Minnesota Minnesota Penn State Michigan MVP Zack Novak Tim Hardaway Jr. Novak Hardaway Jr. National playerof the year Jacob Pllen, Kansas State Kyle Singler, Duke Fallen Singlet Mchigan' season ends here CI st roundI 2nd round CBI Quarterfinas NIT 2nd round NCAA "Bracket Buster" Murray State BYU Old Dominion Cornell NCAA Final Four Pitt Michigan State Duke Duke Michigan State Pitt Michigan State Michigan State Florida Duke Illinois Purdue Illinois Baylor Kansas State Cornell IOWA MINNESOTA The Hawkeyes are in trouble. Iowa's roster has just Assuming that senior captain Al Nolen remains stu- two seniors. T.J. Sayre is a walk-on who has almost no dious, the Golden Gophers should finish better than game experience, but forward Jarryd Cole could possi- last season. Nolen missed the final 17 games of the bly help Iowa win some games. Last year, Cole averaged 2009-10 season because of academic ineligibility. So eight points and five rebounds a game. His presence in long as there are no surprises, he will start when he the post can only help the Hawkweyes in conference returns. According to coach Tubby Smith at Big Ten play, but don't expect any miracle out of Iowa - it's in Media Day, Nolen's ball handling skills and defensive a rebuilding phase. On the bright side, the Hawkeyes patience have improved. Smith also commented that should be a contender in 2012. They have six true fresh- Nolen has matured. With his skill and leadership, he men just waiting for their chance to play. is a serious threat.