Big Ten Basketball: Early takeaways after first week of 2020-21 season

Interpreting the conferences wins and losses

It does not matter if you win or lose, it is how well you play the game. During the set of games during the first seven days, member teams of the Big Ten conference have won games to the tune of 37-4, more importantly, is what the coaches learned, whether it was in victory or defeat.

Prior to Michigan State’s victory over Duke Tuesday night, the biggest victory a Big Ten team had was either Michigan State over Notre Dame or Indiana over Providence. The opportunities for additional big wins went awry as Indiana lost to No. 17 Texas and Illinois fell to No.2  Baylor.

In the most normal of seasons, teams that have March aspirations use early-season non-conference games versus mid-major opponents as an opportunity to progress. The 2020-21 season is like no other and coaches are using these games accordingly. With limited practices, the threat of last-minute cancellations, and no exhibition games, coaches are in two frames of mind.

The ranked coaches need to understand what they are working with prior to conference play, which will be of heightened importance this season. While unranked coaches and players are pushing themselves versus the tough competition and doing what they can to get a quality win on a nationally televised game as ranked coaches are essentially getting in a glorified scrimmage.

With the threat of COVID possibly putting one, if not multiple players on the sidelines for two weeks or more, coaches need all serviceable players prepared. A win is a win, and there is no better example than Illinois defeating Ohio by a score of 77-75, yet moving up from No. 8 to No. 5 thanks to losses by Villanova and Virginia.

Not knowing who will be in uniform from one week to the next, coaches not only need players to get minutes off the bench but meaningful minutes in a game that has not entered garbage time. In addition, coaches need to get every player experience in various positions. It is all too easy for a coach to prevent a blow-out from happening, and  “working on stuff” outside of a scrimmage is a sure-fire way to do so.