Big Ten All-Conference Awards

#102      
So question to those who are upset at the coach of the year award.
Should the award go to the coach of the team who overachieved or the team who had the most success?

It is very disingenuous to say that Painter doesn't deserve the award and also say that Brad Underwood should have won or won in the past.
Painter will more than likely coach his team to THIRTY wins before even the NCAA tournament begins.
Purdue NEVER fell below rank #4 THE ENTIRE SEASON.
Painter brought back the reigning player of the year, kept key pieces on the roster in Smith and Loyer, and added key trasnfers like Lance Jones to complement Edey.

Fred Hoiberg took a Nebraska team that finished 12th last year, was predicted to be about the same this year, all the way to 3rd.

The sad fact is that Brad does a great job of making this team competitive in the offseason. Most voters do not take into account the offseason moves. Keeping TSJ and Coleman, adding Domask, Guerrier, and Harmon, and developing an offense around them was absolutely genius. The expectations going into the season are usually positive and finishing 2nd is about where we were projected.
I would have assumed that Brad would get more buzz if we could have won or shared the B1G title, but the fact is, Purdue beat us twice.

If there was an award for coach of the last 5 years, Brad wins.
If there was a General Manager of the year award, Brad wins.
But there's not. Fred and Matt both deserve the title of coach of the year. (I wish they just picked one tho :/ )
I agree with pretty much everything you said. The one thing I'd throw out there is that Brad lead us to a 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament in 2020-21, which in and of itself is deserving of coach of the year in the conference. But considering it was only his third season and how bad we were for about a decade before his hiring, that's pretty impressive. Unfortunately, my least favorite coach won it that year and his record would indicate he probably should have. It seems Brad has had a little bad luck on his side when it comes to winning COTY. But I'd bet he cares more about conference titles and deep runs in March than winning COTY. If he keeps doing what he's been doing since coming here he'll get 1 or 2 COTY awards is my guess.
But you are correct, there are a lot of factors that go into COTY (or there should be). Painter is a great coach and I think Brad is right there with him.
 
#108      
An Illinois head coach has only won COTY 2x in program history. I'm not saying there's any bias, but feels weird that a program as solid as ours has only two conference COTY awards in roughly 50 years.

Purdue - 12
OSU - 9
Indiana - 6
Wisconsin - 6
Michigan - 5
Michigan State - 5
Illinois - 2
Iowa - 2
Minnesota - 2
Northwestern - 2
Nebraska - 2
Maryland - 1
PSU - 1
Rutgers - 0
True.To know a coach worth look at how much they make and how long they have been there. Those COY awards mean nothing

Holman won in 2018 and about 5 years later was fired
Pitino won in 2017 and lasted 3 more seasons
 
#109      
All Defensive Team:
Ace Baldwin, PSU
Cliff Omoruyi, Rutgers
Zach Edey, Purdue
Chucky Hepburn, Wisc
Kel'el Ware, IU
Brooks Barnhizer, Northwestern
Zach I get. Hepburn gets a lot of steals.
. Everybody else ? I think TSJ and Coleman are as good as anybody else on this list.
 
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#110      
Well that's not assistant coaching now is it?
I guess so, haha. Diebler, a really awful assistant coach but amazing interim head coach? I guess his success at head coaching does strike home that OSU underperformed incredibly while he was an assistant, and only through upwards promotion into a spot where he could do less overall damage is how OSU became successful. I get it, at least that sounds like the corporate way
 
#112      

foby

Bonnaroo Land
I believe CoHawk didn't get it because he failed to have much success against several big men. However, I believe this to be true; CoHawk could guard Baldwin, Hepburn or Barnhizer and effectively shut them down. The same could not be said of Edey, Ware or CO. CoHawk is by far the most versatile defender in the league, but having to guard the 5 so much did not allow him to regularly display his greatness.
 
#113      
Painter is incredibly overrated as a coach. Sorry. The guy almost always has at least one awesome player on his team. Who wouldn't win with the team he has the last 4-5 years?

I feel the opposite. Purdue isn't a recruiting powerhouse, and yet he's had some top notch talent and seems to always have a decent to great roster. Every post-game I've watched of his is insightful, respectful, and shows an even keeled coach. Kind of refreshing compared to some of the drama queens the BIG has had. I think he's gotten better over time --has adapted to the game over a long period. Has a 201-116 conference record. That's almost as good as Izzo.

The one knock on him is his tournament resume. Several S16s and an elite 8, but hasn't had the deep run when he's had his best teams.
 
#115      

Big Jack

Decatur
I think we should just name it the "Juwan Howard Coaching Way Beyond Their Ability Award."
Matt Jones Agree GIF by CBS
 
#117      
I have seen literally no one argue that Buie is better than Shannon on the court, which tells me exactly where the problem lies.
Do you not see who was unanimous and who wasn't? It's literally right there in your face. That should be your first clue that some literally argue Buie over TSJ. I've heard that the entire year from the college basketball 'experts'. The latest being Mark Titus a week or so ago saying he's the 2nd best player in the conference on his podcast.
 
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#123      

Champaign Toast

Fan since Kiwane Garris
So happy for our three all-conference guys. Hawkins deserved a bit more love, though.

This year's team has been much, much more satisfying to watch than last year's. The main difference for me has been the way Domask has balanced the strengths of Hawkins and Shannon.

We had already seen that the latter two were marquee players. Hope to be watching those guys in the NBA.

I suspect that Hawkins' improved shooting numbers owe something--beyond the shots he put up at Ubben and the new, relaxed mindset--to Domask absorbing pressure, allowing Hawkins to play freer, take fewer shots at the last seconds of the shot clock, and create less for himself on the perimeter.

We have won a number of games by giving the ball to Domask in clutch moments. Mike LaTulip commented a year ago that a go-to offensive player wasn't necessarily essential beyond possibly being a decoy. His point was that anyone could take a big shot. I love the idea in theory, however I remember how many games the Bulls won because they put the ball in Michael Jordan's hands in clutch moments and the other team didn't have Michael Jordan.

In my opinion, our best clutch bucket-getter last year turned out to be Jayden Epps. I am happy to continue to root for the departed guys and see him and Skyy Clark landing premier roles and scoring a lot at Georgetown and Louisville, albeit their point totals are accompanied by low field goal percentages and losing records.

I have an inkling that RJ Melendez would have done well as a member of this year's team. I always thought he was a good cutter, put-back guy, and did well when the ball was moving and he could read the defense during our offensive sets. I see similarities between his and Guerrier's playing styles, although Guerrier is the stronger rebounder, can defend a center, and shoots much better from behind the three point line.

Hope the Illini get sent to Brooklyn for the subregional, so I can see them live for a second time!
 
#124      
Underwood is a very effective recruiter, and that is probably the most important single attribute in coaching success. If by 'coaching' we mean 'teaching' and 'improving player performance' then recruiting is not part of coaching. But if we mean 'coach that wins' -- and in college, unlike HS or NBA, the coach IS the recruiter/NBA front office executive -- then I think Coach Underwood deserves to be Coach of the Year ONE of these years! His record is better than his peers over the last 5 (?) years I believe. That is not luck.