Hlas Column: Big Ten Basketball is Defense and, uh, Defense

The Michigan men’s basketball team plays Iowa today, giving us hope.

Maybe one or both of the teams will crack 50, 55, or — dare I say it? — 60 points in the game.

The Wolverines did tally 74 in their 12-point home win over Minnesota Thursday. Perhaps the momentum of that effort will send Carver-Hawkeye Arena back in time, when teams sometimes traded scores on consecutive possessions.

Living here, we think offense appearing to be played in quicksand is a Hawkeye thing. Yes, Iowa does rank 304th of the 330 Division I teams in scoring with 60.6 points per game. That’s 31 less than North Carolina averages.

But the Hawkeyes reside in a conference that plays different ball than most other American leagues.

“The Big Ten puts a huge emphasis on defense,” said Big Ten Network studio analyst Tim Doyle. “The ACC and the Big East, they’re more willing to give up a hoop thinking they’ll get a hoop on the next possession.”

OK, Doyle’s a Big Ten Network guy and a former Big Ten player. He played very well for three seasons at Northwestern after transferring from St. John’s, near his hometown on Long Island.

But he doesn’t sound like a Big Ten puppet on the air, or off it.

“I don’t know if it’s in the water,” he said, “but it does seem like guys on the East Coast and maybe the SEC are more athletic. I don’t know what it is. Maybe it’s what the farmers are feeding us here.”

Through Thursday’s games, these were the points per team in conference games of the six BCS leagues: 1. ACC 73.1, 2. SEC 72.0, 3. (tie) Big 12 and Big East 71.0, 5. Pac-10 67.1, 6. Big Ten 63.4.

“But look at the defensive production,” Doyle said. “Look at points-per-game allowed, field goal percentage defense. Look at the assist-to-turnover ratio. They aren’t gaudy or sexy categories, but the Big Ten dominates them.”

If you like that kind of ball, it’s great. But take the names off the uniforms and which do you think would get more of a following, the Big 12 or Big East with seven teams apiece averaging over 76 points per game, or the Big Ten, with only Michigan State (79th at 73.8 ppg) among the nation’s top 145 teams in scoring?

Seven Big Ten teams are among the country’s top 45 in scoring defense. Iowa is 12th at 58.9 points allowed per game. Even as short-handed as they’ve been lately, the Hawkeyes play good defense.

But the only time defense-dominated ball captures the public’s fancy is when it leads to lots of wins.

Nothing makes Penn State’s 38-33 win at Illinois last Wednesday satisfying. Had that score been posted in a Big East or ACC gym, America would have howled in disgust. But since it occurred in Big Ten play, it’s more amusing than shocking.

Ultimately, though, can Big Ten teams cut through the NCAA tournament? Doyle says yes, and he has history on his side.

Since Michigan State was the last Big Ten team to win it all, in 2000, five more conference teams have been to the Final Four. Illinois and MSU went in the same year, 2005.

In those same eight seasons only the ACC (seven) and Big 12 (six) had as many Final Four representatives.

“I know this is hard to believe,” Doyle said, “but I think the Big Ten is poised to have a nice NCAA tourney.

“Look at the non-conference season. Purdue lost to Oklahoma in overtime, Oklahoma is No. 2 in the country, and Purdue gave that game away. I think Oklahoma shot 50 free throws (46, actually) and Purdue had five.

“Illinois beat the crap out of Missouri (75-59), for lack of a better word, in St. Louis.

“Nationally, the league doesn’t have the sexy rankings or five teams in the Top 25. But it has the strengths-of-schedules, the RPIs that the tournament committee looks at.”

None of which changes the facts the ACC and Big 12 and Big East tournaments will be more enjoyable to watch than the Big Ten tourney.

Nor does it change the fact Michigan-Iowa isn’t likely to be as entertaining as today’s Syracuse-Villanova or Wake Forest-Duke games.

But Doyle says better days are coming for the Hawkeyes. He calls himself a big fan of Iowa Coach Todd Lickliter, and likes Lickliter’s nucleus of young players.

“Jeff Peterson’s improved his game,” said Doyle. “If he and (Cyrus) Tate are healthy, and if (Anthony) Tucker was there, they’d have seven or eight wins in the conference.

“Jake Kelly and (Matt) Gatens, I really like them. Gatens is going to be one of those guys who are rock-solid, and Peterson will be a rock-solid point guard.”

But we live in the present, and Doyle doesn’t pretend the Hawkeyes will wow their Big Ten Network audience with offensive artistry today.

“They would put a glass eye to sleep,” he said.

Today, All Football Recruiting Classes are Full of Class

 

Every college football program in America got much better this week.

The headlines tell the tales.

Cardinal crop is as deep, talented as any in years — San Francisco Chronicle

Spartans excited about recruiting class — Detroit Free Press

UCLA joins USC among nation’s top recruiting classes — Los Angeles Times

Then I read The Gazette’s Page 1C headline about Iowa’s recruiting. It was stunning and troubling.

Iowa’s recruiting not in the stars

Apparently the Hawkeyes didn’t land a ton of five-star recruits. And that’s just sad.

Not really, of course. It would be tedious to list the many few-star signees that went on to become All-Big Ten players for Iowa in the last decade.

(Les) Miles wins recruiting national championship for LSU — Monroe News-Star

(Jim) Leavitt glowing after USF recruiting haul — Sportingnews.com

(Bo) Pelini’s staff finds rich recruiting soil far from Midlands — Omaha World-Herald

Hard-core Hawkeye fans won’t soon forget the winter of 2005.

Seven of Iowa’s 2005 signees-to-be played in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl in San Antonio for high school standouts.

Ryan Bain, Tyler Blum, Jake Christensen, Dan Doering, Tony Moeaki, Dace Richardson, Trey Stross.

Bain and Christensen are no longer with the program. The other five are still Hawkeyes, but have had injury-plagued careers. Maybe one or all of them will have big senior seasons.

Only two members of Iowa’s 2005 recruiting class started for the Hawkeyes at the end of the 2008 season, linebacker Pat Angerer and offensive lineman Kyle Calloway.

When Bettendorf’s Angerer committed to Iowa in August 2004, it rated six paragraphs in The Gazette. That’s no criticism of our coverage. Angerer wasn’t a recruiting “name.”

Angerer had a terrific junior season in ‘08, and figures to be a defensive anchor as a senior.

Calloway wasn’t a nobody in Recruiting World, but he wasn’t one of the 5-star/gold-star guys that had Hawkeye fans frothing at this time four years ago.

Iowa has 19 signees this year. Pick one of those with a shorter bio and fewer stars. Tell your friends this is the guy to watch in a few years.

You’ll eventually look like a football genius.

Lane Kiffin (right): Rage Against the (Gators) Machine

Recruiting doesn’t make everyone look good, though. New Tennessee head coach Lane Kiffin certainly rattled some Southeastern Conference cages Thursday.

They do things differently in the football-mad SEC: Tennessee held a “recruiting celebration” at the Knoxville Convention Center, and almost 1,000 fans showed up.

Referring to an alleged recruiting violation by Florida Coach Urban Meyer in pursuit of eventual Tennessee signee Nu’Keese Richardson, Kiffin told the gathering:

“I’m going to turn Florida in right now in front of you. Nu’Keese was here on campus (on his recruiting visit) and his phone kept ringing.

“One of our coaches said, ‘Nu’Keese, who’s that?’ He said, ‘Urban Meyer.’

“Just so you know, when a recruit is on another campus, you can’t call him. I love the fact that Urban had to cheat and still didn’t get him.”

The response of Florida Athletic Director Jeremy Foley:

“There was no rule violation and we have confirmed this with the Southeastern Conference.

“(Kiffin’s) comments not only slandered our coach, but he violated SEC rules by publicly criticizing another coach and institution.”

But not all is unpleasant with the Gators. Meyer signed a receiver from Sanford, Fla., named Andre Debose.

“I don’t want to single any guy out,” Meyer said, “but he is as good as there is. I think he is the best player in America.”

Sometimes, as Florida quarterback Tim Tebow has proved, the most-touted recruits do turn out to be special players.

So tell your friends Debose is the guy to watch in the next two years.

You’ll eventually look like a football genius.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

South Carolina Players Know Iowa – Most of Them, Anyway

Drew Tate, an old favorite of South Carolina linebacker Eric Norwood

TAMPA, Fla. — When two teams get thrown together in a bowl game, they often don’t know a lot about each other or where they’re from.

Monday, I asked several South Carolina Gamecocks what they knew about Iowa Hawkeyes football and the state of Iowa in particular. The first answer I got gave me pause, but others saved the day.

“Iowa potatoes, that’s about it,” said USC defensive tackle Nathan Pepper.

But Pepper didn’t know the reference when I asked him if he was related to Sgt. Pepper of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club fame, either.

Most of what I got from Gamecock players was respect for their peers from a time zone to the west.

“I used to watch Iowa games when I was in high school,” said Carolina linebacker Eric Norwood. “Drew Tate, all those guys.

“I actually liked Drew Tate. He was from Texas and I moved from Dallas, Texas. So I was a big fan of Drew Tate. And they used to have Matt Roth, (Jonathan) Babineaux and those guys. I’m very familiar with them.”

Carolina wide receiver Moe Brown said “When I was in high school I used to watch Iowa a little bit. I used to play Iowa on my game system. Just because they had good ratings. They had a pretty good receiver and quarterback — I can’t recall their names right now.”

USC center Garrett Anderson said “There’s a lot of history there.”

“I’ve always known them to be very hard-nosed on defense. Big linebackers that just love to hit, big defensive linemen that are very physical.

“I think of home-grown guys. Guys who grew up on the farm, big men, physical guys. That builds a different football team.

“We look forward to playing these guys because where we come from there’s not a lot of teams like that.”

USC cornerback Stoney Woodson made an official visit to Iowa State before signing with South Carolina. His memories of the Iowa trip:

“It’s a lot of fields, really, stuff like that. I know a lot of good names come from Iowa, like Bob Sanders.

“Big people, you know? Big and physical. Big Ten, right?”

Brown has never been to Iowa. His mental image of the state is “A bunch of open fields. Country. Cold.

“I hate the cold. I despise the cold. One of their players was saying it was negative-2 when they were leaving Iowa. I can only imagine that.”

Gamecocks offensive tackle Justin Sorensen made no bones about it. He didn’t know anything about Iowa. He said something about it being on the “flip side of North Dakota,” or something like that.

“I’m from Canada, anyway,” Sorensen said. “I don’t really know a whole lot about Iowa. It’s Midwest, right?”

Vancouver Island, B.C.: Home of one SEC football player

Sorensen is from Vancouver Island, B.C., a fabulous place. He is one of only three non-Southerners on South Carolina’s roster.

“I wanted to play in the SEC and this was my only scholarship offer from there,” he said. “When I was in high school I thought the SEC was the best conference in the country, and I still do.”

Ex-Hawkeye News: Tyler Smith, Bruce Pearl and Chuck Long

Tyler Smith, the Iowa basketball player for all of one year until Steve Alford left Iowa for New Mexico, had a fine year for an extremely fine Tennessee team last season.

Then he wanted to turn pro.

Then he got worked out and worked on on by an extremely persuasive person. That’s his current coach, Bruce Pearl.

Smith said he thinks he would have been a late first-round NBA draft pick. But mock drafts dropped him steadily into the second round. There’s no guaranteed money there. Pearl convinced him to stay at Tennessee one more season to try to work his way up to higher part of the first round of the 2009 draft.

Smith bought it. He was just named the Southeastern Conference Preseason Player of the Year.

http://www.govolsxtra.com/news/2008/oct/22/workout-convinced-smith-to-stay/?partner=RSS

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2008/oct/23/vol-wants-to-make-mark/

Meanwhile, former Iowa quarterback and assistant coach Chuck Long is at the other end of the spectrum. His team is 1-6 after a 70-7 loss at New Mexico last week.

Nothing provides less confidence than a vote of confidence from an athletic director. Nonetheless, that’s what Long got from his AD, Jeff Schemmel.

Schemmel said Long will be his coach through at least the end of the 2009 season.

“He has done everything as well as any football coach I’ve seen during my 20 years (in collegiate athletics), with the exception of putting wins on the scoreboard,” Schemmel said, “and I believe he’ll do that.”

Long’s career record is 8-23. He inherited a lousy program, and it has remained that way. Long’s team has had a ridiculous number of injuries.

One of the reader comments on the San Diego Union-Tribune story about this didn’t concur with Schemmel.

“I for one would like to know what EXACTLY Long does ‘just as well as any coach’ Schemmel has seen in 20+ years. . . . Give us some specifics to back up the general comment. Otherwise it just seems like a hollow and desperate plea. . . .  From Long’s very first year the marks of a well coached team have been missing (discipline, motivation, preparation, physical health). Sometimes I wonder if Schemmel is in cahoots with the professors who want to abolish the program.”

http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/aztecs/20081022-1551-bn22sdsu.html