THIS IS A WEEKLY BIG TEN PLAYER OF THE YEAR WATCH, by Luke Maiers.
The Big Ten is going to be a dog fight all the way until tournament time, and I truly believe that any team in the conference can make a run in the Big Ten Tournament. There were some impressive stat lines thrown up this week, but none more impressive than Ethan Haap’s performance against Minnesota on Saturday. Then there were players like Peter Jok who wasn’t his normal wet self the last seven days. There is a newcomer to the watch list this week, so let’s check it out.
Watch List:
5. Melo Trimble- On Thursday night in Iowa city, this man came to ball by taking down the Hawkeyes, 84-76. Trimble lit up Iowa City, and he was doing it all. He tallied 20 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists. After the Terrapins blew a big lead, Trimble took over the game and put another “W” in the win column.
4. Thomas Bryant- Indiana notched two wins this week and Bryant remained consistent averaging 14 points and 7.5 boards in those games. Granted, Blackmon clinched the game for the Hoosiers, but Bryant’s physical play definitely helped. Bryant is hanging in this race right now, but with March right around the corner, he could climb the ladder.
3. Peter Jok- Jok was only damp this week, struggling a lot against Northwestern and only having a decent game against Maryland. He drops a spot this week, partly because of his play, but the majority being Haap’s game against the Gophers. Jok is a pure shooter, though, so I anticipate him splashing some shots this week.
2. Ethan Haap- 28 points, 12 rebounds, 6 assists, and 5 blocks. Yeah, that is an absolutely an absurd stat line. College basketball hasn’t seen numbers like that in a long time, and now we see how high the ceiling is for this young baller. Bronson Koenig flexed his clutch bone and the Badgers ultimately got the dub over Minnesota. The Badgers are looking good, but a big reason as to why is the performance of their big man.
1. Caleb Swanigan– Death, taxes, and Caleb Swanigan getting a double-double. What else is new? Swanigan leads all of college basketball this season with 16 double-doubles and he just isn’t crawling over ten points. He has become a versatile big man that is well in control of this race. Swanigan’s improvement from last season to this season was unpredictable. Safe bet this week is that he will continue to improve on his current stats.
Banging Team Performance of the Week:
The nod this week goes to Purdue’s performance against Illinois on Tuesday. The Boilermakers were sizzling from the floor but they were also crashing the glass. Purdue out rebounded the Illini by seven, while shooting 60% from the field, 47% from three, and 91% from the line. If a team were to play and lose a game while shooting like that, I wouldn’t believe it. Purdue responded nicely after that loss to Iowa as they have spun out two straight wins.
