When last viewed, the behemoths of Big Ten basketball were shuffling off with heads bowed, trying to slip unnoticed into the off-season. For they had all been defeated on the first weekend of the NCAA tournament.
Now they are busy plotting their returns. Their coaches will gather Sunday near O’Hare International Airport to discuss what we might see in the months ahead. Already we know what we will not see.
We will not see nine of the 10 players who composed the first and second All-Big Ten teams last season. We also will not see eight of the league’s top 10 scorers or nine of its top 10 rebounders. We won’t even see nine of its top 10 players in steals or nine of its top 10 in minutes played.
Only one new coach joins the league this season. That is Kelvin Sampson, who left Oklahoma to replace Mike Davis at Indiana.
But the familiar faces who do return have a slew of new faces to guide, which is why these are the biggest questions they’ll be answering under the roar of airport traffic.
When will Greg Oden play?
Ohio State’s 7-foot-1-inch center highlights its acclaimed freshman class. This bunch has already been anointed with a nickname, the “Thad Five,” and is the reason the Buckeyes are a fixture in everyone’s preseason Top 10.
But even before coach Thad Matta can start blending his newcomers with the veterans from last year’s regular-season champs, Oden must get healthy. He had surgery on his right wrist in June and is not expected back until mid-December, which means Matta also will be fielding a complementary question: Will Oden’s late start give the Buckeyes enough time to develop the chemistry needed by any team aspiring to greatness?
Is there anything Alando Tucker cannot do?
Wisconsin’s fifth-year senior forward is the league’s top returning performer and the favorite for player of the year. He is part of a system that rarely produces histrionics or highlight clips, which is why he is often overlooked when the great ones are discussed.
But he skies, scores inside and out, rebounds with an attitude and steps forward to take the shot with the game on the line. There is nothing not to like about him.
So what do you like better, the experience of veterans or the promise of freshmen?
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The Big Ten race is expected to come down to Ohio State and Wisconsin, which will put that question to the test. The Buckeyes do have some experience, notably junior point guard Jamar Butler, but lost four starters.
The Badgers, in contrast, lost just one player in starting forward Ray Nixon and return senior point guard Kammron Taylor and a host of veterans familiar with coach Bo Ryan’s sticky style of play.
Can Michigan State make it 10 in a row?
During the Spartans’ long run as their conference’s flagship, this was not an issue. But this year they are an enigma as they go after their 10th straight NCAA tournament appearance under coach Tom Izzo.
Gone are Maurice Ager, Paul Davis and Shannon Brown, who provided 72 percent of last year’s scoring and 45 percent of the rebounding. Replacing them are . . . well, that’s the question.
Who is chief of the Illini?
There are talented players at Illinois, but many will be asked to expand their repertoires and assume new roles. With Dee Brown joining Deron Williams in the NBA, the biggest slot that must be filled is that of team leader.
As the season approaches, there are certainly more questions:
– Can Purdue, so awful the last two years, do what many expect it to do and make some noise again?
– Can Michigan, so baffling the last two years, finally return to the NCAA tournament, which it last did in 1998?
– Can Penn State, so long associated with football, gain a basketball identity, which it began to do at the end of last season?
– Does Iowa have any big men?
– Do Minnesota and Northwestern have any chance?
And then there is Sampson, an Indiana favorite already, and all those adjustments he and his Hoosiers must make as they get to know each other. There will surely be questions about that.
But after Indianapolis high school phenom Eric Gordon backed out of his commitment to Illinois and chose Indiana, the even bigger question is this:
Will Sampson and Bruce Weber shake hands before their teams meet Jan. 23 in Champaign?
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