Magic’s Blue Blood Brigade (Conference Tourney Part 7)

We’re back with Part 7 of our College Conference Knockout Tournament! Check out our rules and some context for the tourney in Part 1 here. We cover the 6 seed this week and it’s a good one, a powerhouse conference home to some college hoops royalty…

The Big Ten Conference

If anything, I suspect that most readers will be surprised to see the Big 10 seeded this low. It’s one of the oldest conferences still in existence, it has cradled a multitude of future Hall of Famers, and it boasts five title-winning programs in Indiana, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, and Wisconsin.¹ And yet there are still five other conferences ahead of it. As we’ll see, this is largely due to the top-heavy nature of the membership. Schools like the aforementioned five are undeniably among the best programs ever, but the schools inhabiting the other half of the league like Nebraska, Northwestern, Penn State, and Rutgers have a glaring dearth of NBA talent which drags the conference’s seeding down. So let’s see how the roster fills out with this mix of high-end and low-end talent:²

• PG — Magic Johnson (Michigan State — 906 Total NBA Games Played)
  SG — John Havlicek (Ohio State — 1,270)
  SF — Michael Finley (Wisconsin — 1,103)
  PF — Kevin McHale (Minnesota — 971)
  C — Chris Webber (Michigan — 831)
  B — Don Adams (Northwestern — 523)
  B — Fred Brown (Iowa — 963)
  B — Kevin Huerter (Maryland — 349)
  B — Red Kerr (Illinois — 905)
  B — Brad Miller (Purdue — 868)
  B — Lamar Stevens (Penn State — 165)
  B — Isiah Thomas (Indiana — 979)
• Total Games Played — 9,833

First off, Magic Johnson is the cornerstone of this team. Despite a plethora of other great Spartan options in the likes of Kevin Willis, Zach Randolph, Draymond Green, Steve Smith, Johnny Green, Jason Richardson, Ralph Simpson, and Morris Peterson, among others, Magic is still in a league of his own. Given his status as one of the all-time greats, as well as his uniquely energetic and splashy play style, the rest of the Big Ten squad was selected with Magic in mind to exploit his amazing skillset…

…With one exception — The Indiana representative. Like Michigan State, Indiana has a battalion of formidable players including the Van Arsdale twins, Victor Oladipo, Walt Bellamy, George McGinnis, Eric Gordon, Quinn Buckner, and Jon McGlocklin, but one player stands above them all much like Magic with Michigan State… Isiah Thomas. Unfortunately, Isiah plays the same position as Magic. Also unfortunate, their styles do not mesh at all, as neither is a knockdown shooter or lockdown defender. As a result, Isiah does practically nothing at all to help maximize Magic’s talent, or perhaps to even successfully coexist with him on the court in general. And yet, Isiah was such an impactful player in his own right and, like Magic, one of the best to ever play, so I still felt that he had to make this team even if it does mean he’ll be spending a lot of time on the bench backing up Magic.

The attributes I valued in players who could coexist with Magic boiled down to three things: speed (specifically the ability to run with Magic on a fast break), defense, and shooting and/or cutting abilities in a halfcourt offense. Fortunately, a player who is practically the perfect combination of those attributes also happened to be a Big Ten alumni in Ohio State’s John Havlicek. Hondo was renowned for his ability to run all game long without ever getting winded. He could easily pace Magic on a fast break, spot up for jumpers around him, or execute a perfectly timed cut for a signature Magic no-look pass, all the while providing elite perimeter defense on the other end of the court. I felt like Jerry Lucas or Michael Redd could also fit well with Magic, but Havlicek is the embodiment of the preferred attributes listed above and is just about a perfect complement for Magic.

Unfortunately, we don’t have any other options that check the box for all the preferred attributes. In fact, we have only a handful that check even two of the boxes. The four at the forefront of that group are Michael Finley, Kevin McHale, Glen Rice, and Chris Webber.

Finley has little competition from his fellow Wisconsin alumni, so he makes the team and slots in as a scoring wing and fast break running mate for Magic.

McHale’s Minnesota counterparts include enticing options like Lou Hudson, Mychal Thompson, Bobby Jackson, Jim Brewer, and Archie Clark, but none come close to McHale. He may not be an ideal partner for Magic in a fast break and he can’t stretch the floor, but McHale’s defense could be critical for this Big Ten team and his half-court offense and ability to create his own shot will undoubtedly come in handy when the fast break stalls. Furthermore, McHale’s experience and success with another passing savant in Larry Bird is proof of his capability and malleability to play alongside superstars.

Obviously, Webber and Rice are both Michigan Wolverines though, so one of them had to be left out. Rice would immediately slot in as the team’s best shooter and would be a deadly floor-stretching option. That being said, Webber is faster and a better defender and playmaker. Furthermore, I feel like Webber and McHale could be perfect partners in a small-ball frontcourt. Despite neither being taller than 6'10, both offer amazing rim protection, recovery abilities, and rotation defense, meaning they could easily hold their own on that side of the ball against larger competition. On offense, both offer just enough jump shooting to stay out of each other’s way in the post, both are strong enough passers to operate a one-two game from the pivot, and both can create their own shots from the post or play a slashing role. The more I thought about it, the more I loved the idea of Webber playing the five and filling out a small-ball starting lineup with Magic, Havlicek, Finley, and McHale. Spacing could be an issue, but I think this is still the best starting lineup possible given the Big Ten options.

There are no other obvious inclusions beyond that group. Deron Williams is probably the best overall available player remaining, but he’d have to be a third string point guard behind Magic and Isiah. Perhaps he could provide some off-ball shooting, but that advantage wasn’t enough to warrant his inclusion. In fact, there aren’t a ton of shooting options from any of the remaining schools. The only name that jumped out was Kevin Huerter from Maryland. Given Maryland’s recent addition to the Big Ten, there weren’t many options available from the Terps so Huerter made the cut surprisingly easily.

Even with the omission of Deron Williams, Illinois still provided the best pool of remaining talent, including the likes of Derek Harper, Eddie Johnson, Kendall Gill, Red Kerr, Don Ohl, Andy Phillip, Nick Anderson, and Donnie Freeman. Harper and Phillip face the same positional issue as Williams so neither of them got much consideration. I initially preferred Nick Anderson as he could serve as another shooter alongside Huerter, but I ultimately opted for Kerr. Given the small Webber-McHale frontcourt in the starting lineup, I felt that adding another big man or two was still necessary and Kerr could serve as an emergency big man in case the team needs to size up. Kerr isn’t ideal, but I felt that he was the safest pick. That being said, I wouldn’t begrudge anyone who preferred the other Illini options, particularly Anderson.

Purdue also had a few strong options in the likes of Joe Barry Carroll, Glenn Robinson, Terry Dischinger, and Brad Miller. Miller is my preferred choice in the group and serves as another potential big man alongside Kerr, rounding out a four-man big rotation of McHale-Webber-Kerr-Miller. He’s not as physical as Kerr, but plays a more modern game that could thrive alongside Magic.

After focusing on size with Kerr and Miller, I opted for bench scoring with Fred Brown as the Iowa representative. Don Nelson, John Johnson, BJ Armstrong, Ricky Davis, and even Keegan Murray got consideration but I felt that Brown would be a good spark plug and shooter for the squad.³

I wasn’t particularly excited about any of the options from Nebraska, Northwestern, Rutgers, or Penn State, and begrudgingly settled on Lamar Stevens from Penn State and Don Adams from Northwestern. Bryce McGowens and Isaiah Roby were the only options from Nebraska and Rutgers did not have any options.

As much as I love this starting five, I’m equally uncomfortable with this bench. Beyond Isiah, I just don’t think there are enough options to buoy the team while its starters rest. I tinkered with the bench a ton, but even slotting in the likes of Nick Anderson, Glenn Robinson, Ricky Davis, Keegan Murray, or Don Nelson in place of the selected players doesn’t much improve the situation. Regardless, I’m always going to be confident in a team led by Magic, particularly when it’s supported by the likes of Isiah, McHale, Webber, and Havlicek.

Footnotes

¹ I don’t include current Big Ten member Maryland in this group since their national championship occurred while they were members of the ACC.

² For reference, here are the eligible Big Ten schools and the timeframes from which we are able to select players:

Illinois from 1896 to the present; Minnesota from 1896 to the present; Northwestern from 1896 to the present; Purdue from 1896 to the present; Wisconsin from 1896 to the present; Michigan from 1896 to the present; University of Chicago from 1896 to 1946; Indiana from 1899 to the present; Iowa from 1899 to the present; Ohio State from 1912 to the present; Michigan State from 1950 to the present; Penn State from 1990 to the present; Nebraska from 2011 to the present; Maryland from 2014 to the present; Rutgers from 2014 to the present

³ I really wanted to include Connie Hawkins as a potential Hawkeye representative but ultimately couldn’t bring myself to justify it. Hawkins would’ve been a perfect addition to this squad.