My Mom’s Thoughts on Big Ten Basketball

Six years ago, I wrote one of my favorite articles for this site. I called my mom and her friend and asked them what they thought of every B1G bball coach. You can read it here. While I didn’t call my mom’s friend this year, I did talk to my mom about Purdue and Big Ten basketball in general.

My mom watches every Purdue game, reads the message boards and the Purdue rivals site, and watches other college basketball games almost every night. I put the questions into general categories, with the best one first.

Coaches

Who is your coach of the year?

Matt Painter, absolutely. He took a team that was expected to do a lot lower and he got them right up to the top.

What do you think about Izzo?

I do not care for Izzo. Izzo cries when everything is going well. Izzo cries when everything is not going well. It seems like he is very, very emotional for a coach.

What do think about the Wisconsin coach?

I think he’s pretty good, but he’s got big shoes to get into having to replace Bo. I think Bo was really good. One of the best Big Ten coaches.

Do you think Nebraska will fire their coach?

I hope not. I like the personality of the Nebraska coach. I think he is funny at times. If they hold onto him another couple of years, it might get a whole lot better. I think he knows what he is doing. I understand the fans get down when they are losing. But you gotta ask who are you are going to get that is better?

Do you think Fran was right to cuss at the ref and call him a cheater?

No, I don’t think anybody’s right to cuss at officials and call them a cheater. Especially after a game. I think he knows that.

Are you still mad at Northwestern for firing Bill Carmody?

Yes. This is a sore subject with me. I really enjoyed watching him coach. He would drink his coffee and it was neat to see what he would be doing at the game.

Do you think Walter McCarty will be a good coach for Evansville? (Mom is from Evansville)

Yes I do. I think he has done a good job this year, and he is good at PR. He goes a lot of places and promotes Evansville; he’s done a lot for the players. In three or four years they might be contenders if he recruits well. Him being from Evansville is really a plus too.

Big Ten Tournament

Who is going to win the Big Ten Tournament?

I would hope Purdue would, but I don’t know. I am trying to figure out who else would and I can only come up with Michigan, or maybe Indiana since they have their back to the wall.

What are your rankings of the Big Ten Tournament venues?

1. Indianapolis, by far. It has so many good restaurants around there and good accommodations around there. Indiana is the state that is known for its basketball and we should have the Big Ten tourney here all the time.
2. I would never go to Chicago, but it is second because it is close.
3. New York.
4. The reason Washington, D.C. is last is because nothing good ever happens in Washington, D.C.

NCAA Tournament

Which Big Ten team do you think will go farthest in the NCAA tournament?

Because they’ve done so well, I’m going to say Purdue. I’m also going to say Michigan, Michigan State.

Do you think Indiana deserves to be in the tournament?

If I was looking at it right now, I would say no. If they do well in the BTT, then I would say yes. My brother wants them to play in the NIT and win it. That would give them more experience and help them with next year.

Purdue

What are your thoughts about Purdue this year?

I think it was one of the most exciting years this year. When we kept winning and people really didn’t think we were going to. This made it even sweeter.

Which player on Purdue did the best this year?

Carsen Edwards. He doesn’t make every shot, but he makes most of them. He puts energy into the whole team and I think he works hard and he is serious about winning.

Do you think he is going to come back and play next season?

50/50. If he does leave, I wish him well. He’s really been a good player for us.

Why do other teams’ fans dislike Haarms?

He always puts his hands and his arms up and they don’t like that. They don’t care for his size or his hair. Especially in basketball if you do good, then everybody will get mad at you. So it is good that they don’t like him.

Media

When you watch games on TV, which announcers are the best?

I like Robbie Hummel and Stephen Bardo.

Which TV announcers are the worst?

Dan Dakich and Dick Vitale.

Who is your favorite Purdue media personality?

I like Brian Neubert’s wrap videos and Gold on Black. The best part of the videos is at the end where Brian thanks us for reading and watching Gold and Black.

Random

Do you like the courts with all of the designs on them?

No I don’t at all. They are too big and I don’t like them. We are playing basketball, we’re not there to watch those huge things on the courts.

What are your favorite team name in college sports?

Evansville Aces because it’s neat that no one else has it. One time when someone else was talking about the Aces team he said, “That guy, he’s their ace.” And another guy said, “They’re all aces.”