9:00 pm: Purdue @ Michigan State: The Spartans are sitting by themselves at the top of the Big Ten standings, but that lead, which was three games just a week ago, is now down to one. With four teams just a game off the pace in the loss column, there are going to be plenty of Big Ten fans rooting for the Boilermakers tonight.
Michigan State will either be without Kalin Lucas, or with a limited Kalin Lucas (he is officially listed as questionable). While the Spartans showed that they definitely have some talent beyond Lucas Saturday night, there are two major problems that they faced without him against Illinois - scoring in the half court and turnovers. Purdue is an excellent defensive team, especially in the half court, which will only exacerbate those problems.
7:00 pm: Illinois @ Wisconsin: The Illini head to Madison to take on the Badgers in the second of their brutal eight game finish in the Big Ten. Illinois has a nice record, but when you take a closer look at it, you will see that Michigan State is really their only win of significance in league play. They catch another break as they get the Badgers without Leuer. But Wisconsin beat Michigan State (who had Lucas when they got down by double digits) in the Kohl Center without Leuer.
7:00 pm: Tennessee @ Vanderbilt: In the first meeting between these two this season, Vandy used a late run and some clutch shooting from Jermaine Beal to knock off the Vols. Both of these teams are currently sitting a game behind Kentucky in the SEC East standings, with the loser dropping into a tie for third with Florida.
Tennessee is in the midst of their toughest two game stretch of the season, as they head to Lexington to play Kentucky next. If the Vols are serious about becoming a contender in this league this season, they likely need to sweep those two games.
Other notable games
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Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Tuesday's Pregame Beat
The BIAH Quotables
This a new feature we are trying out here at BIAH this season. Throughout the week, we are going to post some notable quotes or excerpts that show up in our google reader. Stupid people say stupid things 24 hours a day, and being somehow associated with the college hoops landscape does not preclude that fact. That said, we will not limit our quotables to the simple and idiotic, as the insightful and intelligent will also be highlighted. Feel free to pass along any quotables you stumble across to contactbiah@gmail.com or hit us up on twitter.
No team has been more red-hot over the past week or so than the South Florida Bulls. Dominique Jones and his near-30 ppg have carried the Bulls to four straight conference wins, none bigger than the 72-64 victory over the #8-ranked Georgetown Hoyas.
Head coach Stan Heath has nothing but praise for Jones: Dominique Jones is just the straw that stirs the drink for our basketball team.
Well that's an interesting way to put it, but he's absolutely right.
Jones was more than fired up after the victory in D.C. in which he scored 22 of his 29 points in the second half: I've done been everywhere the past two years -- Big East -- they see us lose and they just say all kind of things. I'm not a person of revenge, but it feels good to look in those same people's faces, like, 'Hey, I'm laughing at the end of it.'
Eamonn Brennan has another way of describing Jones: He sort of plays the way I assumed highly recruited Cincinnati forward Lance Stephenson would play -- physical, face-up, I'm-going-to-the-hole-now-try-to-stop-me sort of stuff. Stephenson has that potential, but Jones is already there.
10,000 people braved the Siberian conditions in the Nation's Capital to see #7 Georgetown defeat #2 Villanova, 103-90. Dana O'Neil was one of those brave people. Here's how she finished off her piece about the game: The Hoyas slept in a downtown hotel on Friday night to make sure they could get to their game on Saturday, but once the win was in the books, they had to figure out how to get home.
Seton Hall got smacked around by Pittsburgh for 40 minutes. The end result was a 83-58 laugher in Pittsburgh. Allot of things went wrong for the Pirates. But lack of discipline might have been the worst:
Told some other undergrads walked from campus, Thompson smirked.
"That's a great idea; you guys can walk back with your classmates," he said.
No doubt their feet wouldn't touch the ground. Not after a win like this.-Discipline. Jeremy Hazell responded to coming off the bench by picking up a technical foul as part of a double-technical with Jermaine Dixon, halfway through the first half.
North Carolina is in the middle of a gigantic downward-spiral. The last thing they need to do is let their minds stray elsewhere:
Not to be outdone, Bobby Gonzalez wouldn't let Hazell tie him in technicals accumulated for the season as Gonzo responded with one of his own halfway through the second half.
Herb Pope was fouled and heading to the stripe with the Pirates trailing by 14 when Gonzalez felt it was appropriate to pick up a technical. You read that correctly.
Pope was fouled and getting ready to shoot two free throws when Bobby Gonzalez iced him, picking up a T, sending Ashton Gibbs to the line to shoot a pair of free throws for Pittsburgh. After Gibbs made one-of-two, Pope would get his turn to shoot the original free throws and bricked both. Gonzalez surely knows how to hurt his team at the most inopportune times. Ight I get the point Maryland fans y'all kno what hotel and room we are staying at
This is a tweet from UNC sophomore Ed Davis, clearly posted-up in a College Park hotel, twelve hours before a do-or-die road game versus the Terps.
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What is Dillard's?
Let's play a game for a second.
Pretend you are a basketball player for a school like, say, Oklahoma. Now pretend that your basketball team, which has been struggling this season, just beat a heated rival for your best win of the season; a win that will hopefully turn your team's fortunes in the other direction.
What do you do to celebrate?
Go out to dinner with family that's in town? Partake in the massive amounts of underage partying? Maybe try and meet one of the many good-looking young women that tend to populate a campus like Oklahoma's? All of the above?
I mean, that's what I would do.
But I'm not Steven Pledger or Andrew Fitzgerald.
Because to celebrate the win over Texas, Pledger and Fitzgerald, both freshman on OU's basketball team, decided to try and shoplift some t-shirts from Dillard's, a store at the Sooner Fashion Mall in Norman. They weren't arrested, but the were cited and allowed to leave by the store's security.
Idiots.
Oklahoma plays Texas Tech tonight in what is basically a must-win game for the Sooners if they want to keep their tournament hopes alive. Now, Jeff Capel must make a decision on whether or not these two will be allowed to play. Pledger is averaging 6.5 ppg while Fitzgerald is scoring 3.7 ppg.
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A quick tempo-free breakdown
A quick, tempo-free look at some of the marquee Big East games this weekend, courtesy of Ray Floriani.
A quick look back on two particular Big East games of note from Saturday.
Georgetown 103, Villanova 90
What’s wrong with the Wildcats they say? Not a whole lot except they ran into a very tough team on their home floor still smarting from a home loss to South Florida. Issues were brought up regarding the Villanova defense. Granted it was better last year with a few more experienced interior players but the numbers aren’t drastically different.
- Villanova '09: Off. Efficiency = 109, Def. Efficiency = 98
- Villanova '10: Off. Efficiency = 115, Def. Efficiency = 102
The schedule has been in Villanova’s favor say some. Granted they did face Rutgers and St. John’s and entertained Seton Hall at home. Jay Wright’s team has swept Marquette, already defeated Georgetown at home and walked out of Freedom Hall with a W. Not a shabby resume to date.
You can pin some of Villanova’s problems Saturday on two factors, fouls and pace. Villanova committed 38 fouls and Georgetown shot 39 of 50 from the line (to Villanova’s 17 of 23). The Hoyas pushed the pace to an 89 possession tempo, a good fifteen higher than Villanova’s average Big East place. No doubt that ’NASCAR’ tempo had a bearing on Nova’s foul frequency.
West Virginia 79 St. John’s 60
In a game at Madison Square Garden this was your ‘tale of two halves’.
- West Virginia's offensive efficiency: 1st half - 61; for the game - 115.
- St. John's offensive efficiency: 1st half - 92; for the game - 87.
The second half numbers:
- West Virginia: 57 points on 33 possessions for an efficiency of 187.
- St. John's: 27 points on 33 possessions for an efficiency of 82.
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Umm, what was Brady Morningstar doing?
I'm sure you all saw this last night as well, but can we just take a moment to reflect on the hilarity of this free throw attempt?
If that had gone in, would it have counted?
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Memphis loses Pierre Henderson-Niles
Memphis has had some serious roster issues this season, especially along their front line.
Angel Garcia is just now coming back from a knee injury. Martin Ngaloro, a french kid that was supposed to play as a freshman for the Tigers this season, never made it to the States after injuring his knee. Latavious Williams, the jewel of Pastner's class this season, decided he would rather play pro ball than go to college. Shawn Taggart went pro as well.
Is Pierre Henderson-Niles gone due to attitude problems? Wouldn't really be a surprise. That's his hand telling a UAB fan what the five fingers said to the face.(photo credit: CBSSports)
Basically, Pastner was going to have just Will Coleman, a JuCo transfer, and Pierre Henderson-Niles up front this season.
Now, he is left with just Coleman as Pastner announced that PHN is not longer a Memphis Tiger.
"As I told the team, I have a soft spot for Pierre, and I really want to see him do well," Pastner said. "He's a fine young man, and I am proud of how hard he worked to get in shape to play this season and also how hard he worked in the classroom so that he can graduate in May. Moving forward, we will do all we can for Pierre as he finishes up the academic work toward completing his degree. We wish Pierre nothing but the best."
"This is nothing negative. He didn't do anything against the law or anything like that," Pastner told ESPN.com on Monday night. "I like the young man. I have a soft spot for him. It was just at this point, we both agree it's time to go forward."
According to a source for Gary Parrish (who has written for the Memphis Commercial-Appeal, does a show on Memphis radio, and basically will be the go-to source for any Tiger related news), the reason for PHN leaving the team was a result of attitude problems, but that this was a "mutual decision".
PHN was in the news quite a bit over the past two summers as he worked on getting his big body back into shape. He was a very highly touted recruit early in high school, but as he kept packing on the pounds, he struggled to maintain his quickness and explosiveness. Depending on who you asked, his weight was somewhere in the 350-375 lb range, but he is now down to somewhere between 275-300 lb. Hopefully, he can continue to keep the weight off and stay healthy.
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Monday's Shootaround: WVU-Nova and Kansas-Texas disappoint
Kansas 80, Texas 68: As recently as three weeks ago, this was thought to be a match-up of potentially the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the country. That thought was half right, as Texas continued their slide into mediocrity by getting dismantled by the Jayhawks. Early on, this looked like it was going to be a game, as Texas took an early 14-8 lead. But Kansas responded in a big way, going on a 22-0 run over the next 11 minutes (yes, they held Texas scoreless for 11 minutes) and taking complete control of the game. Texas would get the lead to 10 at the half, and after Kansas surged to a 19 point lead in the second half, the Longhorns got it back to eight at one point, but that was it.
While a lot of people are going to ask 'What's wrong with Texas?' (we've been there and done that already), the real question should be 'How good is Kansas?' Kansas dominated the glass, controlled play in the paint, held Texas to 37% shooting, forced 17 turnovers, and scored 27 points off of those turnovers. I know Texas has been struggling mightily, and if you ignore J'Covan Brown going crazy in the final minutes of a game that was already decided (he scored 24 points in the final nine minutes, and Texas had only scored 36 as a team up to that point), Kansas completely shut down Texas offensively.
The Jayhawks have as much offensive firepower in the country, they are deep, they are big, and they can really get after it on the defensive side of the ball. Perhaps the scariest part is that they still aren't exactly playing at their full potential. I know teams like Syracuse and Kentucky are excellent this season, but Kansas has to be considered the favorite for the national title.
Villanova 82, West Virginia 75: Tell me if you've heard this one before: Scottie Reynolds took over down the stretch, scoring 19 of his 21 points in the final 13 minutes, and Villanova won on the road against West Virginia.
But it wasn't the play of Reynolds that won this game. In fact, believe it or not, it was probably Villanova's defense that did it. The Wildcats forced WVU into quite a few bad shots, and did an adequate job cleaning up the glass. West Virginia only got 15 offensive rebounds, which is a relatively small number when you consider how much of a size advantage the 'Eers had. But perhaps more impressive was Reggie Redding's performance on Da'Sean Butler. Butler finished just 2-12 from the floor for 13 points.
The win put Villanova into a tie with Syracuse for the top spot in the Big East, two games ahead of West Virginia.
Other notable scores
Monday's Best
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Monday, February 8, 2010
Tuesday Morning Dump
- It seems like all the big guns were in Texas last night: Parrish, Goodman, Winn, Katz, DeCourcy times two.
- Seth Davis details the change in chemistry amongst the Georgetown Hoyas
- Joe Lunardi gives us his new brackets. A handful of Big East teams are on the fence. (This is Lunardi's time of the year. We will no doubt be seeing him weekly if not daily for the next 34 days)
- Yup, Selection Sunday is just 34 days away. Here is a list of important tournament dates. Get your calenders ready.
- Indiana's Matt Roth is still out
- Tennessee's Cameron Tatum might not play against Vanderbilt
- Michigan State's Kalin Lucas' status is still questionable
- The SEC might not have multiple #1-seeds, but they have a bunch of good teams. Arkansas is definitely one of those good teams
- Tulsa will retire the #12 jersey during Saturday's game against Memphis
- I love it when Gary Parrish knows he's right
- The two most influential Philly coaches get into Big 5 Hall of Fame
- Fans try to heat up Ernie Kent's seat
- Mike DeCourcy drains a 3-pointer
- Ken Pomeroy defends Todd Bozeman
- Adam Zagoria on WVU's Kevin Jones... He's not actually on Jones... He's just... He's... You know what I mean!
- Projecting the field: Oh hey look, Virginia Tech is on the bubble...again
- The Longhorn faithful are starting to get upset. Jayhawk fans are upset with Texas too
- The week ahead for the Volunteers
- What to watch for this week
- A look at Louisville stat rankings
- Georgetown offers a scholarship to New Jersey guard
- People in Durham like Lance Thomas
- Seems like nothing is going right for the Seton Hall Pirates
- It's been a rough go for Roy Williams
- Get this, coach Calipari is actually impressed with his team's performance. Have the 'Cats actually gotten better?
- Did you see Texas' funky new uniforms last night?
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Monday's Pregame Beat
7:00 pm: Villanova @ West Virginia: Villanova is just beginning what may be the toughest late-season schedule in the country. Just two days removed from getting a beatdown at the hands of Georgetown during a blizzard on Saturday, the Wildcats will travel to West Virginia to kick off Rivalry Week.
This is an interesting matchup of styles. Villanova is a guard-oriented team that has been struggling on the defensive end of the floor at times this season. In that game against Georgetown, the Wildcats gave up 103 points, the first time since 2004 that a team has broken the century mark against them. West Virginia is a forward-dominated team, relying on their defensive ability and their aggressiveness going to the offensive glass. Anyone can tell you that the key to this game is going to be Nova's ability to rebound the basketball.
That said, West Virginia has been struggling at the start of games recently, needing comebacks to knock off both St. John's and Louisville. One of the things that Huggins has been doing is using a 1-3-1 zone that is very similar to the one that John Beilein uses. (Side Note: I heard on one broadcast that Huggy Bear had Joe Mazzulla draw it up one day on a whim, but haven't been able to find the story anywhere. Any readers know what happened?) I think that Huggins may be forced to use this defense simply because Villanova has too many talented guards.
9:00 pm: Kansas @ Texas: The Longhorns have been fading fast. Their most obvious problem is that their best offensive team can't defend, and their best defensive team can't score, a problem that is magnified when just looking at their perimeter players. There are other problems as well - Rick Barnes hasn't been able to find a way to take advantage of Dexter Pittman inside, they lack a true go-to scorer, its impossible to run an offense with Jordan Hamilton on the floor - but right now Texas just simply cannot put a complete team on the court. As a result, rotations are getting quicker, roles are being redefined, and the Horns are losing.
But as much as they have been struggling of late, what you need to remember is this was the No. 1 team in the country at one point in the season, and rightfully so. The talent is there for Texas to be a Final Four team.
Kansas, on the other hand, continues to play at less than 100% while they try to figure out exactly what they are going to get from certain guys. Is Sherron Collins going to be a facilitator or a go-to scorer? Is Cole Aldrich going to gt touches on the offensive end? Will Xavier Henry start hitting shots from the perimeter? When will Tyshawn Taylor break out of this funk? The issue for Kansas is that right now, the best team that they can put on the floor is not their best team. Brady Morningstar and Tyrell Reed have been getting crunch time minutes, and nothing against those two, they are excellent ball players, but Taylor and Henry are more talented. The scary part? Despite that, the Jayhawks have one loss on the season and are 8-0 in the Big XII with a three game lead.
Other notable games
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2/8 - College Hoops Week in Review: Malcolm Delaney and UNLV
What we learned this week: Could the Atlantic 10 actually get six teams into the NCAA Tournament? Right now, that looks like a very real possibility. Temple is in, and Xavier is all but a lock. Rhode Island, who has an excellent computer profile most likely a result of their 8-2 record on the road, is probably in if they can beat Richmond at home or Temple on the road. Richmond very well could have cemented their bid by beating Temple on Saturday, giving them the marquee victory they were missing. Dayton probably still has some work to do, but what better way to get started than by beating a conference rival and league-leader by 25 points?
The ironic part in all of this is that Charlotte, who is actually leading the A-10 in the standings, probably has the most work to do. They have the lowest RPI of the group and have played by far the weakest schedule. While a 22 point win at Louisville is nice, as is a win at Richmond, losing to Duke by 42 and Old Dominion by 33 might have made those wins a wash. They do own a marquee win, beating Temple at home, but 15 of their 18 wins have come against teams with RPI's in the triple digits. The 49ers will have a chance to rectify that, as they play Dayton (road), Xavier (home), URI (road) and Richmond (home) in their last seven games. Win two of those, and beat the teams they are supposed to beat, and Charlotte is dancing.
Conference USA, on the other hand, is fading. Right now, it looks like the only team with a real shot of getting an at-large berth is UAB, and even that is looking a bit iffy right now if the Blazers struggle down the stretch. The biggest problem for C-USA is simply a lack of quality wins. Between the four teams that are competing for the regular season title (UAB, UTEP, Memphis, Tulsa), they have a grand total of one top RPI 25 win and three other top 50 wins. C-USA is interesting because, like the A-10, the team leading the conference doesn't have the best chance of getting an at-large bid. UTEP, at 8-1, as a one game lead over UAB and Tulsa, and a game and a half lead over Memphis.
Memphis blew a great chance to really bolster their resume by losing at home on Saturday to a Gonzaga team that beat Portland on Thursday in Washington in a game that tipped at 11pm. That was far from a fresh Zags team, and the Tigers still lost late. Tulsa will also get a chance on the 25th as they travel to Cameron Indoor. They likely need a win there if they want to remain in the conversation.
Who, if anyone, gets an at-large bid from C-USA, and who wins the league title, will likely be determined on the last day of the regular season. Tulsa plays at Memphis and UAB plays at UTEP on March 6th.
Kansas has struggled a bit of late, needing overtime to beat Colorado and struggling to put away Nebraska, two Big XII cellar dwellers. As is customary given the time of year, questions have arisen over whether or not the Jayhawks really are as good as we think they should/could be. Its a fair question, as neither Sherron Collins or Cole Aldrich have put up the numbers they did last, which made them shoe-ins for the pre-season all-american team. Xavier Henry has faded after a hot start to the year. Tyshawn Taylor has yet to show up this season. But despite all those questions marks, Kansas is still undefeated at the mid point of the conference season, leading the best conference in the country by three games with eight to play.
To be fair, Kansas does have a bit of a backloaded schedule. They have to play at Texas, at Texas A&M, at Oklahoma State, and at Missouri, while also getting Kansas State and Oklahoma at home.
Speaking of Oklahoma, if they could only play every game in Norman, they would probably win a national title. They are 0-4 in the league on the road (including losses to Iowa State and Nebraska), they lost at VCU, at Gonzaga, and to UTEP, San Diego, and Houston on neutral courts. But they've beaten Texas, Missouri, and Oklahoma State at home.
Don't count out Oklahoma State just yet. Like the Sooners, they have struggled a bit on the road, losing to Tulsa, Rhode Island, Baylor, Texas Tech, and Texas A&M away from Gallagher-Iba. They have also now lost three games in a row, but two of those (at Missouri and at home to Texas) were without Ray Penn, and the third (at Tech) came with James Anderson in serious foul trouble. The Cowboys have a tough schedule down the stretch, but at least they are now at full strength.
The SEC West may actually be as bad as the Pac-10. Unless Ole Miss can do something to turn their season around, that division may not be getting an at-large bid. The Rebels are 36th in the RPI, but they have just one top 50 win. It just so happens that the one top 50 win is over Kansas State, which is what is keeping them in the conversation. But, as I mentioned, Ole Miss has been struggling of late, losing two in a row before having to make a 23 point second half comeback against Alabama.
Mississippi State has lost four of their last five games, dropping their record to 16-7. They have just two losses worth anything -- Old Dominion and at Ole Miss -- and are currently sitting in third place in SEC West. The leader? Arkansas. That should tell you something.
Both the Big East and the ACC is a mess in the middle of the league. Duke looks to be the best team in the ACC, but they struggle on the road and seem to once again be lacking a real low post scoring presence. In the Big East, Villanova, West Virginia, Syracuse, and Georgetown have asserted themselves as the favorites in the league, with Pitt not all that far behind. But past those teams, no one is asserting themselves. There are 14 teams, seven in each league, that are floating somewhere around the bubble. There is a lot of work to be done by teams in both leagues, and a lot of games with bubble significance. While the end of the season and the conference tournaments always make or break the tournament destiny for a couple of teams, there is going to be a lot of moving and shaking in both the Big East and the ACC in the next month.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Malcolm Delaney, Virginia Tech
If you follow Delaney on twitter, than you know that he believes that his Hokies' team is as good as anyone in the ACC. I'm not going to lie, I doubted Tech for a while. I was one of the people being vocal about the fact that Tech has not played a tough schedule and hasn't beaten anyone.
Malcolm Delaney is carrying the Hokies.
(photo credit: Collegiate Times)
And while I still have my doubts about the Hokies, the reason I'm starting to believe is Delaney. He led Tech to a 2-0 week, beating both UNC and Clemson, while averaging 25.5 ppg and 4.0 apg. Overall, Va Tech has won four of five in the ACC, and is now just a game back of Duke and Maryland in the loss column. Perhaps more impressive is that Virginia Tech is now on the verge of earning an at-large bid. They still have tough road games at Duke and at Georgia Tech, but their other six games are very winnable. If Virginia Tech gets to 10-6 in the ACC, are they going dancing?
Delaney, who made 27 of his 30 free throws on the week, is the ACC's leading scorer and a favorite for conference player of the year.
They were good too
TEAM OF THE WEEK: UNLV Rebels
UNLV all but locked up a spot in the tournament with a 2-0 week. They knocked off Wyoming on the road on Wednesday, but it was their performance against BYU on Saturday in Vegas that earned them the Team of the Week honor. UNLV torched BYU, taking a lead as big as 29 in the first half. With the win, UNLV moves into a three-way first place tie in the competitive MWC race with BYU and New Mexico. The Rebels have split with BYU and beat New Mexico in their first meeting.
Tre'Von Willis scored 33 points against BYU.
(photo credit: WaPo)
UNLV already had a couple nice wins over Louisville and Arizona, and also won at the Pit in New Mexico, which is not an easy thing to do. With this win over BYU, the Rebels essentially ensured the MWC will be a three-bid league. The scary part? UNLV is still playing without Derrick Jasper.
They were good too
MATCH-UPS IN THE A-10
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What coach is calling out the Tar Heels?
North Carolina is struggling. They have lost six out of seven, the last few coming in blow out fashion. They aren't making the tournament, despite the fact they have a lot of talent on their roster.
That's what youth will do to you.
A lot of people have been theorizing as to why the Heels have struggled so much this season. Back court inexperience, defensive issues, no leadership, one-dimensional big men. You name it, and someone, somewhere, has likely brought it up.
Over the weekend, the Washington Post's Steve Yanda caught up with a coach that had already played UNC this season and got his thoughts on the Heels. Some of the highlights:They don't run as many things this year, and I think that's out of necessity. I don't think they have as much in their playbook this year, and they lost a lot of people that were really good last year, too, that had been in that system three or four years. Now they're trying to do it with inexperienced kids.
[Ed Davis is] fairly limited offensively to eight feet and in, and so I think people are being very physical with him," the coach said. "And I think the inability of point guards to ge him the ball and the inability of their youth to run the system properly, I think he's gotten better; he's just not stronger.
As their young kids learn their defense, it kind of feeds on each other. They get the game going up and down, get some steals, get some easy baskets, you know, I mean that's a team that's averaging even in league play last year probably 90 points a game. This year they're averaging 70. And some of that is the offense, but some of that is not creating as much on defense. In league play, their opponents have more assists than turnovers. They only have 41 steals in six games. In the past they got a lot more than that.
Nothing too scathing in there, and there is also nothing that we haven't heard before.
That said, I'm still curious as to who it was.
From some of his quotes, you can infer that his team played UNC last season as well, which makes the ACC coaches and the coaches for Michigan State, College of Charleston, and Rutgers (Kentucky and Nevada have changed coaches) possible. I don't know why Yanda would be in touch, right now, with any of the out of conference guys, which leads me to believe that it is a league coach that made the comments.
UNC has played Virginia, Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, Clemson, Wake Forest, and NC State. Tony Bennett came to Virginia this season, so he's probably out. My guess would be either Oliver Purnell, Seth Greenberg, or Dino Gaudio. On Saturday, UVa played Wake Forest and Va Tech played Clemson.
Did Yanda get in touch with one of the coaches prior to the Saturday games?
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POSTERIZED: Yea, you probably want CJ Leslie on your roster
So when you get embarrassed by a cross over, you have your "ankles broken". When someone dunks on you, you have been "posterized".
What's the term when you get your shot blocked?
And not just blocked, when someone blocks your shot, and jumps over you in he process?
Go to the :10 second mark, then meet me after the jump.
That, ladies and gentlemen, was CJ Leslie. No matter when you look, Leslie is one of the top 20 recruits in the country, and being pursued by, well, any school with a basketball team.
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The DMV has some dedicated fans
With the DC Metro region getting obliterated by two feet of snow on Friday night and into Saturday, both the Villanova and North Carolina basketball teams, who were playing at Georgetown and Maryland, respectively, made their way into town early to avoid the problems of traveling in a blizzard.
How bad was it?
Well, a number of games were postponed, as was the television broadcast for the Pitt-Seton Hall game.
Seriously, the area hasn't seen a snow flake in over 36 hours, and no one will be going to work or school today.
But a little snow storm couldn't keep away Georgetown or Maryland fans this weekend, as both crowds were praised after the game.
The Hoyas got 10,387 fans, the majority of whom were students, that were rowdy enough to make the Verizon Center seem full.
Yes, the two dudes on the left are wearing kilts. Seriously.
"It was unbelievable," Georgetown Coach John Thompson III said of the fan support for the sold-out game. "For everyone to come out, it's truly appreciated. We feed off of our crowd. For everyone to make the effort to get down here, on behalf of our team, our institution, we want to thank them."
Georgetown's campus is about a three mile walk from the Verizon Center, and many of the students simply threw on their snow boots and got to hiking.
The story was much the same for Maryland, who got back to campus early Friday morning after playing a Thursday night game against Florida State. The Terps, who were expecting many of their season ticket holders to be unable to make it all the way to campus, invited anyone with a student ID to attend the game for free.
Smart move.
Maryland already has one of the most raucous student sections, and by opening the doors to 3,000 more students that were hyped for free tickets to the North Carolina game, it created an atmosphere that was the "Loudest I’ve ever seen it since I was here", according to Greivis Vasquez.
That is how student sections are supposed to be.
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Weekend Buzzer Beaters
There were a few (ED Note: If anyone knows of any video of the Houston-SMU finish or of Auburn's prayer to force OT, please send it along):
Lawrence Westbrook beats Penn State:
This was only at halftime, but its still pretty impressive:
Should this have counted? For my money ... I have no idea. The final play happens around the 2:15 mark, and the only good replay is at the 4:00 minute mark:
Arkansas-Little Rock whens a game from half court:
And another angle:
70 footer for the win in women's hoops:
Yeah, but this is the winner.
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Sunday, February 7, 2010
Monday Morning Dump
- The Big Ten commissioner is against tournament expansion
- Defending big time athletics
- Remember this name: Andre Drummond
- Florida State has to give back a lot of their victories
- Jeff Goodman critiques Kyle Singler's performance during the Boston College game
- Malcolm Lee made a controversial tweet over the weekend. Bruins fans flipped, but Lee said it was just some of the poetry he's been writing.
- Great read on Greg Monroe
- Brian Williams has been reinstated
- And there's one fan...
- Some reaction to the Memphis-Gonzaga game
- FSU students get racial with Greivis Vasquez
- Oh god, enough of this kid already
- You make the call: should this game-winner have counted?
- There's no great, but DeCourcy just wants more good
- So, is the Big Ten really up for grabs? And Tom Izzo reacts to the loss to Illinois
- Is anybody still interested in the Kansas v. Texas matchup? Mike DeCourcy still is
- No charges against Arkansas players
Ehh, not a fan
This was better
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Trends in the West Virginia game
West Virginia came out slow and lethargic at Madison Square Garden yesterday, and as a result allowed St. John's to jump out to a 33-19 lead at the break. The Johnnies pushed that lead to as much as 16 during the second half, but West Virginia came back.
The 'Neers, down 45-32 with 14:16 left in the game, would go on a 16-0 run to take the lead and outscored St. John's 47-15 during the rest of the game.
You shouldn't be surprised. No lead is safe in the Big East this season. Take a look at some of these comebacks:
I'm sure there are a few that I missed as well (it doesn't even include the 12 point lead WVU overcame against Ohio State).
So as you can see, you never turn off a Big East game until the final whistle sounds.
This game also highlighted another trend we've seen this season.
Namely, Da'Sean Butler hitting big shots. In this one, Butler hit four threes and scored a three-point play as West Virginia made their game changing push in the second half. This came a week after he hit a game-winning 15 footer against Louisville, which was his third game-winner of the season (he scored on a layup to beat Cleveland State early in the season and knocked down a turnaround 18 footer to beat Marquette). Do I even need to mention the number of big shots he hit against Ohio State down the stretch?
There are a number of games that have established reputations for being big time clutch performers this season (Scottie Reynolds, Devan Downey, Nic Wise, Sherron Collins, Chandler Parsons), but no one has hit as many big shots as Butler has this year.
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Wait, is Villanova really a Final Four team? Could Georgetown be?
Luke Winn told us about this back in December.
He does an early warnings list every season right around the New Year. You see, no team has reached the Final Four in the last six years with a defensive efficiency outside the top 25. And only one team has reached the Elite 8 with a defensive efficiency outside the top 51 (West Virginia in 2005 was rated 83rd).
At the time he wrote the piece Villanova was 95th in the country in defensive efficiency. While the return of Reggie Redding and Mouph Yarou has helped them shore up their defense a little bit, the Wildcats are still just 63rd in the country in defensive efficiency today.
Now take a look at the Wildcats schedule.
Who have they beaten? Who are their best wins?
Dayton is in a tie for fifth in the A-10. Ole Miss is now third in a very mediocre SEC West. Maryland is one of the few tournament contenders with fewer quality wins than Villanova. Marquette is good, but Nova shouldn't be need to go down to the final possessions to beat them. Villanova's only good win came at home against Georgetown, but that was, in a way, nullified yesterday afternoon at the Verizon Center.
Georgetown looked like a Final Four team on Saturday. Villanova didn't.
(photo credit: Examiner)
Just like they did against Duke last Saturday, Georgetown's offense picked apart Villanova's defense. They started by pounding the ball into Monroe. After a couple of early buckets and a couple of early fouls on Antonio Pena, Villanova had to start collapsing inside. That allowed Georgetown's shooters daylight, and boy did they make the Wildcats pay, hitting 10-19 from deep.
After digging themselves a 50-31 hole at the half, Villanova threw on a press in the second half, and while they got the lead down to 10 on a couple of occasions, Nova was never able to string together enough stops to really ever make a threat.
"I'm not that concerned," Nova coach Jay Wright said. "Once you're down 19 to a team like this, it's a different game. You don't want to come in here and press or trap this team, but then you don't have a choice. They get into that rhythm and then you're in trouble."
Georgetown was able to score or draw a foul on seemingly every possession in the second half. They whipped the ball around the perimeter, picking up assists on 21 of their 27 made field goals. They got to the line 50 times. Basically, they were able to do anything they wanted to offensively.
"We have good players, we have unselfish players," Georgetown coach John Thompson III said after the game. "And they've done a terrific job of helping each other and making sure the right person gets the shot out of our offense."
It says a lot about Villanova defensively and how much they miss Dwayne Anderson and Shane Clark.
But what does it say about the Hoyas?
Is this Georgetown team really one that can make a run at a Final Four?
Georgetown runs a system that allows them to control the game. They are disciplined enough offensively to know what is a good shot and unselfish enough to keep moving the ball until that shot comes available. They can play a man-to-man or zone defense equally well, and are rebounding much better overall this season.
Basically, when Georgetown is playing their game and playing it well, it takes you out of what you want to do as an opponent.
"We're as good as we want to be," Monroe said. "Coach always stresses that in games it's always about us. Other teams are going to do things, different things are going to happen, but it's about what we do."
He's right.
With Julian Vaughn playing the way he has the last month, they have a front line that can match-up with most in the Big East. When Jason Clark is playing well, they have four guys that can go for 20 on a given night. And, perhaps most surprisingly, their bench has actually become an asset. Jerelle Benimon is big, strong, and active, and provides a lot of hustle and toughness. Hollis Thompson plays some defense and knocks down open looks.
What makes the Georgetown offense so effective is Greg Monroe. Like Roy Hibbert and Jeff Green before him, Monroe understands this offense well enough and is a talented enough passer than the Hoyas can run their sets through him. It takes a lot of pressure off of guys like Chris Wright and Jason Clark, who are not natural point guards as much as they are natural scorers (Wright) and slahsers/defenders (Clark).
The bottom line is that the Hoyas have the talent, the size, and the coaching to make a Final Four. They proved that against Duke and Villanova.
But keep in mind with this team that consistency as become an issue. They looked great the last two Saturdays, they also lost to South Florida at home on Wednesday and got outscored by 31 in the final 37 minutes at Syracuse two Big Mondays ago.
So what about Villanova?
While they clearly have the potential to be a Final Four team -- hell, they made it last season and returned a number of key pieces -- we will find out a lot about the Wildcats this month. They still have to play West Virginia twice, travel to Cincinnati, Pitt, and Syracuse, and play UConn at home.
Win a few of those road trips, and then we'll talk about a Final Four.
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Free throws stopped the comeback, but its not why Texas lost yesterday
Texas lost at Oklahoma yesterday, and if you watched any of the talking heads break down the game, the one thing you heard consistently was that free throws cost Texas the game.
Its not necessarily wrong. The Longhorns did shoot 10-27 from the foul line for the game, and just 4-11 in the second half while they were trying to make a comeback from a 19 point deficit.
But that's not why they lost.
They lost because they managed to get themselves down 19 points to an Oklahoma team that was basically playing without Willie Warren.
Tommy Mason-Griffin went for 24 points and 4 assists last night.(photo credit: The Globe and Mail)
Texas looked horrendous for the first 22 minutes of the game. They couldn't get any stops against Oklahoma. Tommy Mason-Griffin absolutely torched the Horns in the first half. Dogus Balbay and Justin Mason, two very good defenders, both had their ankles broken a few times as TMG went for 16 first half points. He was able to use the dribble to get himself open on the perimeter, and didn't miss many jump shots. When he couldn't get loose, TMG was able to get by his man and into the paint, finding Cade Davis, who went for 20 and 10 while knocking down four threes.
Offensively, the Horns were just as bad. It seems like Texas, as a team, doesn't know what they want to do offensively. They have trouble getting the ball inside to Damion James and Dexter Pittman, they have guards that penetrate and take wild shots way too often, and they really lack a go-to scorer. The latter is probably the biggest issue for Rick Barnes, seeing as the last few years his offense as basically been clear out and give the ball to Kevin Durant/DJ Augustin/AJ Abrams.
And then there is Jordan Hamilton.
Hamilton went nuts against Oklahoma State, scoring 27 points and carrying the Horns in the second half. It was a disaster in disguise.
You see, Hamilton is a chucker. When he gets the ball in his hands, in all likelihood a shot is going up. Not necessarily a good shot, either. Too many possessions get wasted when Hamilton forces up a tough runner or a contested jumper. It wouldn't be a problem, however, if Hamilton played every close at least close to how well he played in Stillwater.
But he doesn't.
In fact, over the last six games (not including the 27 point outburst), Hamilton scored just 29 points on 11-43 shooting. He's not the guy you want taking 10-15 shots a game thinking he can score 25 a night.
The bottom line for Texas, and the main reason they are struggling right now, is that their best offensive players cannot defend, and their best defensive players are inept on the offensive end. Justin Mason and Dogus Balbay, despite leaving their ankles on the court trying to guard TMG, are bot very, very good defenders. Offensively, there really isn't much there for either of them. Hell, defenses even play 10 feet off of Balbay on the perimeter begging him to shoot.
J'Covan Brown and Hamilton are quite the opposite. Both are capable of creating their own shot and scoring points, but Brown couldn't guard a fence post if he tried, and Hamilton simply doesn't try.
This creates quite a dilemma for Rick Barnes. Do you leave your defensive unit out there and hope Avery Bradley and James can get you enough points, or do you put your offensive players on the court, and hope that you simply outscore your opponent?
Yesterday, it got to the point that Barnes was forced to go offense-defense, rotating through Hamilton/Brown and Mason/Balbay, for a good chuck of the second half.
And Texas responded.
They made a run to cut a 19 point lead down to five. Maybe if they had hit their free throws, they would have completed the comeback.
But if they hadn't dug themselves a 19 point with poor shot selection and questionable defensive effort, they wouldn't have needed the comeback.
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Friday, February 5, 2010
Games outside the Big Six will have a lot of influence on Saturday
There are 148 games to be played on Saturday.
21 of them involve top 25 teams.
Seven of them involved top ten teams. One of those games features two top ten teams.
And while you will want to keep an eye on all of them, the most important and intriguing games of the day don't take place in the major conferences. They will be played in the MWC, in the A-10, and in C-USA.
Like its been for the last few years, the bubble is weak this season. The difference this year is that with the Pac-10 being down, the SEC West approaching Pac-10 territory, and the middle of the Big East looking weaker by the loss, the number of bids available for mid-major schools is higher than usual, and certainly will be more than the four at-larges they received last season.
Its to the point that there is a real possibility more than one of the aforementioned leagues could get four (or more) teams in. The results from Saturday may go along way towards deciding who celebrates on Selection Sunday and who is banished to the dead man walking tournament NIT.
Conference USA: There are only four teams that really have a chance of still getting an at-large bid this year - Memphis, UTEP, Tulsa, and UAB.
3:00 pm: UAB @ Rice: UAB probably has the best non-conference resume in the league, as they picked up wins over Cincinnati, Butler, and Georgia as well as winning at Kent State and surprising Arkansas. But the Blazers have lost their last two games, with both coming to teams they are currently competing with for the C-USA title and the at-large bids. The Blazers cannot afford to lose three games in a row, especially when the third is against cellar dweller Rice, even in it is on the road.
4:00 pm: Gonzaga @ Memphis: Gonzaga could use this win, but Memphis needs this win. They are 16-6 on the season, but their RPI is sitting at an unimpressive 68th and they have two losses to teams with RPI's around the 200's (UMass and SMU). Their best win came against UAB at home, and after that ... Oakland? Marshall? There is not much on this resume, and Gonzaga is a team in the RPI top 30. A loss here would come very close to ensuring the Tigers need to win the C-USA tournament.
10:00 pm: Tulsa @ UTEP: The Golden Hurricane and the Miners are currently sitting in a tie for first place in the league, which gives this game even more meaning. Tulsa is in pretty bad shape in terms on an at-large bid. They do have a 21 point win over Oklahoma State, but they've only played four other games against teams with top 100 RPI's, with their lone win coming against Marshall on Wednesday. UTEP is in a similar situation, and while their RPI is a bit lower than Tulsa's (72nd vs. 55th), they have some nice wins. They won at Memphis, at UAB, and at New Mexico State as well as picking up a neutral court win over Oklahoma.
Atlantic-10
12:00 pm: Xavier @ Dayton: The Muskies are all but in at this point. They have no bad losses (the worst loss is a neutral court loss to Marquette, who is not as bad as their 61st RPI indicates) and own a win over Cincinnati, Charlotte, Dayton, and Rhode Island. Xavier is 23rd in the RPI right now, and barring a collapse, a team with that RPI is not going to miss the tournament. Dayton, on the other hand, has some work to do. Wins over Old Dominion and Georgia Tech are nice, but with an RPI in the low 30's, they can't afford a swoon. A loss to Xavier, who has already beaten Dayton this year, would drop the Flyers to 4-4 in the league. Can the A-10 really send a team that ends up in fifth or sixth? Its too early to call it a must win, but its a we-really-need-this win.
2:00 pm: Temple @ Richmond: The Owls are basically in. A win over Villanova and no glaring losses will do that for you. But Richmond has some work to do. They've put together some nice wins (Mississippi State, Missouri, Old Dominion, Florida), but they've lost a couple games they could have won (South Carolina, William & Mary, VCU). Richmond doesn't have a great win, and still plays each of the other top six A-10 teams. They will have their chances to improve their resume, but they need to win those games in order to actually improve it.
Mountain West: The great thing about the MWC this weekend is that the four teams with a shot at an at-large bid play each other. If you get the Mountain station, tune in. Or at least TiVo it.
4:00 pm: BYU @ UNLV: BYU is in, and may actually be the best team out west. UNLV, however, still needs to pad their resume a bit. They did beat Louisville and Arizona out of conference, but those wins are not as impressive today as they would have been five years ago. They have also picked up a couple quality wins in conference play (at New Mexico, SDSU), but they probably need to do more. UNLV will make or break their bid in the next three games, as they play BYU, UNM, and SDSU in the next eight days.
6:00 pm: SDSU @ New Mexico: New Mexico ensured their bid by taking care of business out of conference (wins over Cal, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, and Dayton) and beating BYU last week. SDSU is in a much more dire situation. They do own a win over New Mexico already, but their only other win of significance is against Arizona. The Aztecs will get some chances to secure a bid, and this is by no means a make-or-break game, especially considering this game is played at the Pit and SDSU has already beaten UNM. But it is safe to say that SDSU really needs this game.
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POSTERIZED: Marqus Blakely strikes again
We all know who Marqus Blakely is by now. He's the do-it-all forward for the Vermont Catamounts that gave us this dunk and this dunk, and was even featured by Kenpom himself.
Well, he struck again. Check out the one minute mark.
Yow. Zers.
(h/t CHJ)
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