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player ready...Gary Reinmuth’s picks
Player of the year
No hanging-chad recounts or Supreme Court rulings necessary. The voters got this one right the first time. Wisconsin’s Kirk Penney had a nice year, but no player in the Big Ten was more consistent, more effective, more unstoppable or more impressive when he had to be than the mild-mannered Illinois senior from Lincoln, Brian Cook. Cook led the league in scoring (20 ppg), reached the 20-point mark 16 times and his gutty game against Michigan–when he scored 26 of his 30 points in the second half–was unforgettable.
Coach of the year
Wisconsin’s Bo Ryan. Has Dick Bennett really been gone for two years? Everybody who wondered whether Ryan could make the jump from Platteville to Milwaukee to Madison, raise your hand. With two conference championships, a 16-0 record at the Kohl Center and his second straight coach-of-the-year award, Ryan has made the transition look as smooth as melted mozzarella.
Freshmen of the year
Tie between Illinois’ Dee Brown and Michigan’s Daniel Horton. Horton’s shooting almost single-handedly lifted the Wolverines out of the darkness of an 0-6 start and pending NCAA sanctions, turning them into the surprise team of the year. Brown’s energy, enthusiasm, quickness and inner confidence transformed the young Illini into a cohesive unit that exceeded expectations.
Most excuses
At various times personable Indiana coach Mike Davis blamed his team’s late-season slump on: lack of senior leadership, poor three-point shooting, officials (see: Kentucky), the Big Ten schedule (too many long trips), pressure to live up to last year’s trip to the Final Four–and himself.
Best excuses
How close did Illinois come to winning at least a share of the Big Ten regular-season title? If Alan Anderson’s three-pointer at the buzzer had come at the end of the game instead of at the half, the officials would have been permitted to check the replay and see what the TV audience saw: The shot left his hand after the buzzer. Without the momentum that basket provided, Michigan State might not have gone on to pull out a 68-65 win. Devin Harris’ winning free throw with four-tenths of a second left for Wisconsin added insult to the Illini’s what-if misery.
Comeback of the year
Turns out Purdue’s Gene Keady wasn’t over the coaching hill after all, he just stumbled a little on the summit. Keady, 66, proved there’s a lot of fire left by going back to basics with his Boilermakers and teaching them how to play defense like Purdue teams of the past. The road eventually took a toll, but not before Purdue regained some of its pride.
Best atmosphere, Part 1
The Kohl Center was ablaze with Badger red last Wednesday, but the fire under Wisconsin was set by a sellout crowd that was there to celebrate the school’s first outright Big Ten crowd since 1947 and wouldn’t take defeat for an answer. Illinois coach Bill Self likened the ruckus to a great NCAA tournament game.
Best atmosphere, Part 2
For all the whining that the Assembly Hall is too cold, too old and that the seats are too remote, the old barn has never sounded so good–or loud.
Best performance under stress
With the Buckeyes decimated all season by injuries, Ohio State coach Jim O’Brien wanted to give senior guard Brent Darby a rest, but couldn’t. Darby didn’t complain. He just kept playing and playing and playing, averaging 18.1 points and 38 minutes per game even as OSU’s season went down the drain.
Shocker of the year
Penn State 58, Wisconsin 57, Feb. 19 at State College. The Nittany Lions are young, can’t shoot (10th in scoring, 11th in field-goal percentage), don’t rebound very well (10th in rebounding margin) or play real tough defense (11th) and won only two Big Ten games. But one of them was against the league champion. A 9-0 run in the final 1:42 ended a 10-game losing streak.
Neil Milbert’s picks
Player of the year
Wisconsin’s Kirk Penney was by far the best player on the best team in the league. True, conference scoring champion Brian Cook of Illinois had a superb season. But take Cook out of the Illini’s lineup and there would remain a roster filled with heavily recruited players. Take away Penney from Wisconsin, and you have a collection of no-names.
Coach of the year
The choice of Wisconsin’s Bo Ryan is a no-brainer. Although the Badgers last year won a share of the Big Ten regular-season title for the first time since 1947, few expected them to repeat, especially after they lost their first two conference games.
Freshman of the year
Indiana’s Bracey Wright wins a photo finish with two other guards, Illinois’ Dee Brown and Michigan’s Daniel Horton of Michigan. Without Wright, the Hoosiers hit the skids. If Wright had stayed healthy all season, the Hoosiers wouldn’t have had to settle for a dismal–by Indiana standards–.500 record in the conference and a tie for sixth in the regular-season race.
Michigan’s renaissance
The Wolverines are ineligible for participation in the NCAA and NIT events as self-inflicted punishment for alleged violations that took place in the Ed Martin booster scandal. And making the season seem more depressing, they began it by losing their first six games. But then coach Tommy Amaker’s team had an incredible turnabout–winning 13 straight, including their first six in the Big Ten, and they wound up tied for third in the conference standings.
The last shall beat the first
Last-place Penn State upset conference champion Wisconsin 58-57 on Feb. 19.
Finally
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Northwestern had lost 26 straight games to Indiana before humbling the Hoosiers 74-61 on Feb. 5 in Welsh-Ryan Arena.
The smirk is back in style
After suffering through a 5-13 season in the Big Ten last year, Gene Keady, the dean of conference coaches, unexpectedly had Purdue back in the thick of the race. The Boilermakers tied for third in the standings with a 10-6 record and are taking an 18-9 overall mark into the conference tournament. Don’t be surprised to see Keady’s smirking face and inimitable hairdo on championship Sunday.
Knight impersonation
Indiana coach Mike Davis spent the Big Ten season trying to make people forget what happened in non-conference play in late December. Making like his predecessor Bob Knight, Davis threw a terrible temper tantrum during the Hoosiers’ Dec. 21 loss to Kentucky. He was suspended for the Dec. 31 game against Ball State, received a public reprimand from the university and had to write a letter of apology to Bert Smith, the object of his tirade, and the other referees.
Paper Lions
Penn State fans had a hunch it was going to be a long year when the Nittany Lions were trounced by two Ivy League opponents in December, losing to Yale 84-64 at home and at Penn 67-32. The Nittany Lions’ tale of woe continued in the Big Ten. Their 2-14 record equaled their worst conference showing since they came into the league in 1993 and compiled the same record. The low point was a 70-36 loss to Michigan State on Jan. 22.
The Hawkeyes’ horror show
Iowa missed its first nine field-goal attempts and turned the ball over nine times before scoring its first basket with 8 minutes 37 seconds elapsed in the Hawkeyes’ 82-54 loss at Michigan State last week.
Fred Mitchell’s picks
Player of the year
Brian Cook of Illinois is the most polished big man in the conference. His deft touch along the baseline, effective presence around the post and high percentage at the foul line made him the most consistent of the star performers in the conference. Other players who merited consideration included Wisconsin’s Kirk Penney, Michigan’s LaVell Blanchard and Purdue’s Willie Deane.
Coach of the year
Wisconsin’s Bo Ryan. Ryan became the first coach in league history to earn coach-of-the-year honors in his first two seasons in the conference. Ryan led Wisconsin to its first outright championship since 1947 and its first back-to-back titles since 1924.
Freshman of the year
Michigan’s Daniel Horton ranked sixth in Big Ten games with a 16.2 points-per-game average and third in assists at 4.62. Other prominent freshmen in the conference included Illinois’ James Augustine and Dee Brown, Indiana’s Bracey Wright, Wisconsin’s Alando Tucker and Northwestern’s T.J. Parker.
Gene’s pool
The surprise team of the year was Purdue. The Boilermakers were dominant in Mackey Arena and the players were willing to defer individual stats for the good of the team. Coach Gene Keady was able to immediately resurrect a team that had lost a school-worst 18 games in 2001-02. Keady proved to his critics that he had not lost his touch while reaffirming the respect from his peers.
Cats’ meow
Northwestern’s upset wins over Indiana and Purdue in successive weeks represented memorable moments for the underdogs who managed just three Big Ten victories during the regular season. NU’s win over Indiana was its first since 1988–a span of 26 games.
Lowe and behold
Defensively, Purdue’s Kenneth Lowe led the charge. Lowe, who missed the entire 2001-02 season due to injury, helped Purdue improve from 10th in scoring defense last year (71.5 ppg) to sixth this season (65.7) as the team won 10 conference games for the first time in three years.
Young and restless
The best little big man was Northwestern’s Jitim Young. The 6-foot-2-inch junior guard from Gordon Tech was not afraid to mix it up with the big men along with the baseline for rebounds.
Lights out
The best streak shooters in the Big Ten included Penn State’s Brandon Watkins, Michigan State’s Chris Hill, Wisconsin’s Penney, Ohio State’s Brent Darby and Purdue’s Deane.
.4 seconds
Wisconsin’s narrow victory over Illinois at the Kohl Center at the end of the regular season stands out as one of the most electric moments of the year.