2020-21 big ten basketball

Previously: The Usual Categories, The Official Big Ten Awards Roundtable

Alright, let's get weird.

Regular Season Awards: The Unusual Categories

BEST SURPRISE: EJ LIDDELL, OHIO STATE

For the player who's most exceeded preseason expectations, which isn't quite the same thing as most improved player.

Not much has changed since I gave this same award to him midway through the conference season:

We barely mentioned Liddell in our season preview roundtable, and while I had a chance to look smart when I finally brought him up, I blew it by only bringing him up in the context of being undersized for his position. The 6'7" post player has improved in nearly every meaningful statistical category despite getting most of his minutes at center instead of his more natural fit at power forward. ...

Instead of Liddell being a reason OSU is held back, he's the best player on what's once again one of the country's more surprisingly successful teams. He can function as the only interior presence in a five-out attack or play next to Kyle Young, who's often planted in the dunker spot waiting for dumpoffs and offensive rebounds.

A true three-level scorer, Liddell opened up OSU's top-five offense with his ability to score at all three levels, especially with fellow big Kyle Young adding the corner three-pointer to his arsenal. While both are undersized, they still did big man stuff—other than protect the rim—at a high level, giving Chris Holtmann the unusual luxury of playing two bigs in a five-out system.

Liddell scored well into the double figures most every game because his versatile offensive game gave him a route to attack pretty much any defender. He could bully smaller players or drag slower-footed centers into the deep water with both his spot-up shooting and his face-up game:

Liddell found a way to either mitigate his weaknesses or turn them into strengths. I'd love to see him next to more of a traditional center who still can stretch the floor, though I realize those aren't exactly easy to find, so OSU could construct a title-caliber defense. (In theory. In practice, OSU being bad at defense is actually good, in my opinion.) Instead, they merely built a championship-level offense around a 6'7, 240-pound big man.

Other contenders: Donta Scott, Jacob Young, Hunter Dickinson

[Hit THE JUMP for worst surprise, most extreme JAS™, the JJJ award, disaster factory, and more.]

The Big Ten has released their all-conference teams and awards, and as usual we are baffled and opinionated.

WHAT THE HELL?

Ace: Sorry, sorry, I realize that isn’t a specific question.

Seth: No it is the appropriate response. "Lol" is the only other conceivable one.

Brian: I think we have to start having basketball coaches watch basketball. This thing where they don't do that isn't working out.

Seth: Here are their selections, fwiw:

COACHES

Player of the year/DPoY in bold, *means he wasn’t a media selection.

Freshman of the Year: Hunter Dickinson, Michigan
6th Man: Andre Curbelo, Illinois
Coach of the Year: Juwan Howard, Michigan

MEDIA

Freshman of the Year: Hunter Dickinson, Michigan
Coach of the Year: Juwan Howard, Michigan

[We’ll talk about all of this at the jump. Spoiler: no, we can’t be bought off by giving Dickinson 1st team if that 1st team has four true centers]

Scores from last week (home team listed second):

• Rutgers 51, Nebraska 72
• Illinois 76, Michigan 53
• Wisconsin 69, Purdue 73
• Indiana 58, MSU 64
• Minnesota 65, PSU 84
• Northwestern 60, Maryland 55
• MSU 50, Michigan 69
• Nebraska 64, Iowa 102
• Illinois 73, OSU 68
• Indiana 58, Purdue 67
• Rutgers 77, Minnesota 70 (OT)
• Michigan 64, MSU 70
• Wisconsin 73, Iowa 77
• Nebraska 78, Northwestern 79
• PSU 66, Maryland 61

As you're probably aware, Illinois closed strong enough to whinge about Michigan ducking, uh, Northwestern, Penn State, and Indiana. Purdue, meanwhile, took advantage of Ohio State's tough late-season schedule to slip past them for the #4 seed in the Big Ten Tournament. On the other end, Maryland stumbled to the finish line, though they're still in good shape for an NCAA bid.

The Final Regular Season Standings

Indiana and Minnesota are missing the tournament barring miracle BTT runs. Incidentally, there are rumors that both Archie Miller and Richard Pitino will be looking for new jobs this offseason.

The Actual All-Conference Awards

Are a debacle. They will be discussed in a separate post.

[Hit THE JUMP for awards that make sense.]