Big Ten Basketball Power Poll (Hater's Edition):

Here's a Power Poll on the Top Ten figures/subjects in the Big Ten that I hate the most:

1. Thad Matta - He compared his freshmen duo (Craft and Sullinger) to playing like Stockton and Malone against Penn State. OK...do you watch basketball or just recruit? First off, your playing an improved Penn State...but, in all honesty they are still Penn State. Second of all...no pick and rolls were converted by those two...that was a staple of Stockton/Malone. This is what happened the majority of the time: feed Sullinger in the post/one on one he usually scores...feed Sullinger/double team comes and he kicks it to WIDE OPEN Craft because they didn't care if he shot the ball...rather have him than Diebler, Lighty or Buford get a good look.

2. Bo Ryan - Ugly, ugly game against Illinois. There were probably about 50 fouls called. No flow...majority of points were all scored at the free throw line = win for Wisconsin. Memo to Bo Ryan: Quit complaing to the refs...if you don't like the blocking calls they are calling on your guys than you should probably stop recruiting the slow footed white guys that can't keep up with the McCamey's of the world.

3. Luka Mirkovic - Can we darken that see through protective mask so we don't have to see your face when you go berserk every time you score? This is not hockey...scoring actually happens frequently in basketball...even in the Big Ten. I can't wait until you meet Minnesota's front court.

4. Ryne Smith - He's one of those asshole three point assassins. Cocky as hell when he's on. He'll make his shot and leave his follow through up in the air as he's running back on defense/or the huddle during a TV timeout. Plus, his parents had to give him the 'Ryne' Sandberg spelling for his first name...for that alone...he'll be present on this poll for a long time.

5. Michigan's Roster - What is John Beilein doing? If you can shoot a three at a decent clip, you should ask Mr. Beilein for a scholarship. They didn't have one single REBOUND (offense or defense) in the first TEN minutes against a bad to moderately bad Indiana team. Guess what he recruited for next year...yep, two more guards. Plus, if you add in that Manny Harris and DeShawn Sims were more Tommy Amaker's recruits than his, then what has John Beilein actually done? He did not inherit a massive mess like Indiana and Iowa (twice) were when new coaches came on the scene for those programs...this is ridiculous. With all this said...they'll probably beat Minnesota this coming Saturday night.

6. Feeding the Post/Minnesota Style - I have a feeling Jared Sullinger would be just OK in a Gophers uniform, simply because for whatever reason we can't make an entry pass into the post. We have a distinct size advantage over pretty much everyone else in the league, however we can't take advantage because we can't get the ball down there. Is it the guards simply not being able to or don't want to...or the post guys not sustaining position...?? I was so excited last year during the Big Ten tourney because I thought the lights went on during that run and everything clicked that it all starts with pounding the ball inside...well, I guess not.

7. Northwestern having TWO basketball analysts on BTN - I've brought this up in other social forums. Northwestern has NEVER made the NCAA Tournament EVER. And they have Tim Doyle and Shonn Morris both working games as analysts. I'm not doubting their basketball acumen, but I just find it a tad regional and biased that they both have jobs on the Big Ten Network doing the same job(s). And not to rip on Northwestern any more (I do however have a $30 bet that they wouldn't make the NCAA tourney though...and it's looking good up to this point), but basketball has been one of the more balanced sports in the conference (unlike football)...and they still haven't done anything in their existence.

By the way, Quinn Buckner was doing the Indiana vs Michigan game on Saturday night...what happened to his career...he was ahead of Clark Kellogg at one point on CBS.

8. Tom Crean - Kind of subtle...but, I re-winded and re-winded it again...and Tom Crean is an asshole. After his FIRST Big Ten victory of the year over Michigan...he flew through the line with quick bullshit handshakes and stormed out of the arena like his shit doesn't stink. Are you serious...?? You're on rebuilding year number three and still very minimal progress has been made by your program. I'd slow your roll if I was you.

9. Michigan State's comebacks - These are getting old already...two in one week against both Wisconsin and Northwestern. I will say I saw the collapse of both, and at least there were no significant calls that normally Izzo gets just because he's Tom Izzo that altered the result of the game(s).

10. Hype on Penn State - They defended their home court well and competed and stuck with Ohio State. But, let's not get too crazy on the Penn State bandwagon...they've already got seven losses (UGLY one to Maine) and look at their remaining Big 10 schedule. They only get Indiana (already played them) and Iowa once this year on their schedule...good luck in the NIT.

SBG