This was a highly anticipated game in Conference USA, and a great opportunity for Turnaround Tom and the Houston Cougs to get a high profile win against the #1 Memphis Tigers. Given the hype, the game started (no surprise) too jittery with the players too amp'ed up and hyped up for the game.
The first ominous clouds over Houston's chances for a win were seen in the horizon when Memphis had a horrible start with turnovers galore, yet Houston only had a a few points to show for.
And the Tigers slowly but steadily jumped ahead, in their typical Conference USA road game fashion where teams feed on the crowd initially and cling on, and then Memphis takes over in the second half, and the home team tries to make a comeback, makes a push, and Memphis staves them off and leaves the arena with yet another arena.
The night was even sweeter for used-car salesman John Calipari and Memphis Tigers fans as the other undefeated team in the country, the Kansas Jayhakws, lost a rivarly road game at Little Manhattan.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Memphis at Houston
Calipari: We are not getting every call like Duke and North Carolina
Oh the gems one finds when browsing through college basketball coaches shows. In this week's installment, Calipari said "we don't get every call like Duke and North Carolina". Oh boy!
Ask the teams in Conference USA who gets better treatment by the officials in C-USA conference games. Is it Duke, North Carolina (who don't play in C-USA), Memphis, or the other 11 CUSA teams?
The show was recorded after they beat GoneZaga but before they played Houston last night.
Calipari also revealed that he and Mark Few agreed to extend the Gonzaga vs Memphis basketball series. The series would have ended next year when the Calipari Tigers visit the Gonzaga "Few Fighters" in Spokane in 2008-2009. This is good news as this is a fun game to watch, and it is also entertaining in terms of RPI and polling.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Week #12 of the BlogPoll Top 25 has been published!
Week #12 of the growing BlogPoll Top 25 has been published. Also available in Google Doc, it shows the final vote, the average rank of each team, and how each blogger voted!
The Calipari Tigers are at #1, while the Bucknell Jayhawks are a close second. The two Tobacci road teams follow, with the multiple-fouls-per-possession Bruins at #5. Last team in? Jim Calhoun's "spirited" and "computed" Huskies! Last team out? St. Mary's, whose Monday loss sent it to a downward spiral, and out of the top 25!
For a list of participating bloggers, visit the Intro to the BlogPoll Top 25 post. If you are a college hoops blogger and interested in jumping aboard, just let any of the participating bloggers know, or go directly to our fearless blogpoll commissioner at March to Madness.
OTL: Religion and the NFL while Oregon apologizes to UCLA for the ...love
Today's Outside the Lines (3pm eastern, 12pm pacific) has a centerpiece story that tackles religion and sports, and more specifically NFL players. ESPN has a video preview of this. Their big question is "why do players feel compelled to bring their faith to the field and is it always appropriate?". We blog, you decide!
More details on upcoming OTL episodes, at the OTL page.
Also in the latest OTL email message, there is a mention of the Oregon Athletics Director apologizing to Kevin Love and UCLA for all the ...love Oregon fans showed the Beached Whale and his dad, clad head-to-toe in UCLA gear.
If Kentucky fans "affectionately" call Pitino "Traitor Rick", then what nickname should Oregon fans use to call their one time great Stan Love?
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Saint Mary's punishes Eddie Sutton for getting a WCC coach fired
Sure it was just a conference game, but I'm sure the WCC coaches were not particularly thrilled with the way Eddie "The Loser" Sutton conspired with the Jesuits of USF to get their current coach fired mis-season and take over the program. No wonder St Mary's blew out the USF Dons at their own home court up at the hill top.
Why would the WCC coaches be upset with this? Because they could be next! Other than Mark Few, none of the other WCC coaches are big names, so if a big name coach decides he wants back in, they could get fired mid-season!
The Eddie "The Loser" Sutton situation established a bad precedence. Imagine if Mike Montgomerry expressed interest in a WCC. The AD could use the Eddie Sutton situation, and get the coach fired and install MM.
Speaking of MM, he had an interesting interview with Eddie "The Loser" Sutton, stuck at 799. As expected, Sutton tried to cover up his unethical return to coaching. In the first part of the interview, he said he couldn't sit at home and then had to return to coaching. Then he mentioned that he's only at USF for the remainder of the season, and after that he's going to go back to his "other" projects. At least the politicians have a group of professional liars assistants to help them get their stories straight :)
Monday, January 28, 2008
Live-blogging the Week #12 BlogPoll Top 25 vote
Time to submit the BlogPoll Top 25 Vote for this week! So here is how I am voting:
#1: Toss-up: Memphis or Kansas? Kansas or Memphis? Since I don't see any difference, I'll just give Memphis the #1 this week, and Kansas #2.
#3: UCLA: The fact that they are hard to beat gives the edge over the Tobacco Road which follows. UNC leads Duke because they are a better team with inside and out game, versus the Dookies with inside and sideline game:)
But Georgetown is ahead of the Tobacco road duo as well. Why? Because just like UCLA, Georgetown can win games during the last four minutes.
Tennessee takes the #7 spot, simply because I can't find a team to put ahead of them. The #8 spot is a three-way battle between Butler, Michigan State and Washington State. Throw them in a hat, and ... pull them out!
At #11, we give the mid-majors some love. People are singing the praises of Drake, and their record looks good given that they don't have the scheduling luxuries of a BCS team. Four road wins in the Valley of Darkness. I haven't watched them play which is probably why they are ranked high :)
The run and gun duo of Texas and Arizona continues, with Texas being all over the place, and we have to average them somewhere in-between, while Arizona played like a top 10 team twice this week. But they need to deliver more quality games and wins before they move in the top 10.
From here on, things are even messier. Let's see how to sort them out. Indiana's home loss to the UConn Minus Two Huskies makes them look a lot worse because they haven't beaten any team in the RPI top 40 (best wins: @ Southern Illinois, Illinois State, @ Minn). Given EG, DJ White, and that I can't find any other team to put here, Indiana gets the #14 but walking on eggshells.
#15 we have probably the craziest team of the year: Xavier. They win big and lose big. Where do you rank them? Some will say too high, others would say too low. This is crazy. Ultimately, their strong RPI numbers, including five top 50 wins, get them this spot.
Next up, St Mary's at #16, Marquette at #17, Ole Miss at #18, Oklahoma at #19 (four top 50 wins). Looks like St Mary's lost! Given the softness of the WCC schedule, they should be "punished" for the loss. So everyone shifts up one spot, and St. Mary's goes to #21.
Then another team that is better than its record, USC, with OJ Mayonthal and crew, at #20, with Stanford at #21.
Then, desperately looking for teams to put in the top 25, Vandy is at #22, and Oregon may seem a crazy or wild, but if you watched the games, you have seen that they are a good team and a match up nightmare. The record alone does not tell the whole story. Had it not been for the Hairston injury they could have swept both SoCals.
At #24, we give mid-majors some love and pick Kent State, sight unseen, based on their record.
And at #25, we have an even harder time picking a team out of the mess! If South Alabama had beaten a team in the top 99, then I would give them consideration. Tempted to pick Georgia Tech - they are now able to play well and win on the road. How about UConn? Okay, enough, Michael Beasley wins out and gets Kansas State the #25 :) I could pick about 50 different teams in this spot!
Georgetown at West Virginia
If Wiki needed an example of a Big East slugfest game, I have this to nominate! But don't let the slugfest fool you, this was a hard fought game.
And this is a game that showcased why I have Georgetown in such a high regard. They play down to the competition, but after the last TV time-out, the cape is off, and the Super-Hoyas emerge: Super-Hoya Jessie Sapp hit an "onions" three, and Super-Hoya's son Patrick Ewing blocked a potentially game winning shot by the Hugginseers to seal and steal a conference road game.
Huggins should be in consideration for Coach of the Year. If anyone needed any evidence that Bog Thuggins belongs to the Basketball Hall of Fame, his work at West Virginia is a great example. You have to be a great basketball coach to be able to take a team designed to play Beilein-ball and turn it into the best it can be.
Roy Hibbert is a breath of fresh air in that he's a very unconventional seven footer with basketball skills. One possession he looks like a lumbering seven footer, in another possession he looks like he understands the game as if he was a fifty year old ball coach.
USC at Oregon
USC jumped on to a lead and was so comfortable at Mac Court that Daniel Hackett was making "adjustments" in the middle of the court!
But the Nike Ducks came back when many thought all was lost. And it wasn't the run and gun, but rather Ernie Kent's hack-a-Trojan strategy, combined with a barrage of three pointers made. And it worked! The Nike Ducks made a comeback and tied the game and sent it to overtime.
After a brief scoreboard technobabble delay, the game tipped off, and the delay gave Tim Floyd time to broker a deal on the dark side of the moon, and every three pointer the Trojans took, even the wild ones, were on target. But strangely Ernie Kent did not go to the Hack-a-Trojan strategy during the overtime, and USC went back to So-Cal with a sweep.
The game started with a promise of an exciting game, then devolved into a slugfest, but picked up in the second half and turned dramatic towards the end.
So what does this mean for Oregon? Well for one thing they have to start accumulating wins. The good performances are not good enough. But having said that, this team could have beaten UCLA - if Malik Hairston did not miss the last quarter due to injury - or if the zebras did not allow UCLA to play multiple-foul per possession defense. Essentially the UCLA loss, counted for two, since that loss carried over in the USC game (and that's what Ernie Kent said).
Sunday, January 27, 2008
The real reason the Big East went to 16 teams in the conference tourney
What is the real reason the Big East went to a 16-team conference tourney? Sure, a big reason was the bottom four colleges and coaches feeling "left out", but the real reason they did it was NCAA bids. Despite its size, the Big East did not get as many teams percentage-wise as they thought they would, especially when comparing to the Pac-10 or the ACC.
So how does an extra day of games help? It likely adds another bid for the Big East. Why? Because when you play extra games, you will have more wins - four to be precise. And since most of the teams involved with these games will be bubble-related teams, they will have a chance for more wins. Sure, it could also lead to bad losses for seeds #5 and #6, but it also gives them a chance for another Big East win, thus fudging the numbers even more in Big East's favor.
Stanford at California
Local, in-state and intra-city rivalries tend to be more unpredictable than other games, in conference or out of conference. But in this case, chalk won.
Once again the zebras managed to disrupt the flow of the game and playing time for key players, with Brook Lopez missing a large chunk of the first half, and a number of players getting fouls that, well, perhaps were not necessary. So why are the zebras having so much power in deciding the game? Isn't the game about the players? It's high time to modernizae the fouling situation, and go to six or more fouls or even get rid of the fouling out, and adjust the penalties for extra fouls.
The main reason I've been having doubts about Stanford and left them out of the top 25 are their guards. For a team that is loaded with solid big men, the guards are just not a good match. Other than Goods, the rest of their guards are Big West or WCC starters. Not that they are not good players, but neither Mitch Johnson, Landry Fields or Drew Shiller are Pac-10 starters. By the way, Landry Fields has grown to 6'11" since I started writing this post ;-)
Not sure why Trent Johnson didn't recruit more guards. Guards are easier to get, and if he was able to get so many quality big men at Stanford, I'm sure he could find a point guard of that caliber.
Now when I say that, I don't expect a Mayo, Bayless, Rose, or Jason Kidd, but someone like Hernandez would have been just what the doctor ordered for Stanford's perimeter game.
Despite all that, they were able to beat Cal, who has exactly the same problem with the point guard position. The Omar Wilkes excuse doesn't fly. Wilkes was a classic wing. Clearly tiny Randle and the euro-guard are not Pac-10 starters. Ben Braun also has a lot of big men, but he wasn't able to get them a point guard to do them justice.
What's the frequency Trent Johnson and Ben Braun? Perhaps you should trade one of your big men for Nic Wise. Oops, no trades in college :)
Ryan Anderson was frustrated, Brook Lopez is turning into a second half menace for the opponent, Drew Shiller got his chance for PT, and Jamal Boykin was effective around the basket before the last TV timeout. Then he was just not able to make layups from half a foot away.
Washington State at Arizona State
It was a tale of two "frustrations" and a comeback. At the start of the first half, Herb Sendek's mad scientist match-up zone gave the Cougars headaches. But as the half progressed, the Cougs started to "solve" the match-up zone.
The second half started in similar fashion but with the roles reversed. Arizona State was frustrated by the Wazoooo defense, and couldn't hit the desert from the Grand Canyon ;-)
Arizona State tried to make a comeback, and they came close to winning the game on the last play, but their prized freshman James Harden was unable to score on the tough Cougs d-fence, giving the Cougs a nice road win and giving them a +3 in the Tim Floyd Pac-10 standings.
As mentioned last week, Arizona State was not as good as their record looked, and that was evident in the way they melted down at Stanford last week, and their inability to win a game at home this week - although they did face a solid resurgenent Washington team and a tough team to beat in the Cougs. The NIT/CBI may look not enough given their record, but when you dig into their record, and also look at where they were last year, the NIT/CBI would be a great improvement year to year.
Saturday, January 26, 2008
March Madness on Demand free VIP passes available now!
CBS and friends are promoting their free VIP passes for online March Madness On-Demand! All you have to do is sign up at NCAA.com. It is free! And if it's free, I'll take three!
Obviously you'll need a computer with a broadband internet connection for these. As this is free, the quality of service may vary, depending on traffic loads and such. But you can't complain about FREE!
Washington at Arizona
The ghost of Wildcat teams past showed up at McKale this week, with Arizona delivering two similar performances, with a parade of threes, and Jordan Hill staying out of foul trouble and being very effective on both ends of the court. That was almost unfair to the Washington Huskies who got derailed by the three blind mice referees who got Hansbro-West two fouls in the first five minutes of the game.
The arrival of Jerryd Bayless was a gift from the heavens for Kevin "0-to-Red in 5 seconds" O'Neill. Because let's face it, if O'Neill was coaching a team of Moody Blues (Shakur, Chris Rodgers, Salim Stoudamire), there would have been a lot of fireworks and transfers and suspensions. But Bayless has a mentality and personality that is very compatible with Kevin O'Neill, and having the point guard of the team buy-in what the new coach is preaching is very crucial!
Despite the final score, and the foul situation, this was a very well played game, which is why we gave it the "game of the year nominee" - which should read "well played game".
One positive thing for the Huskies was the way Joe The Wolf played, and he played because Hansbro-West was in foul trouble. So where does Romar go from here? A split in Arizona was not a bad result. They certainly would have wanted to have a better showing at McKale, and if Brockman was not tagged with those two fouls, it would have been a closer game for sure! Can they make a "Nate Robinson"-like run like they did a few years ago? We blog you decide!
Why we need six fouls or more
We don't play with peach baskets. We have three pointers. We are moving the three point line. So why are we stuck with five fouls? The players are getting stronger, bigger, wider, and faster. The court has remained the same. The paint has remained the same. The players are bound to foul more. And on top of that, we have some incompetent or overly anxious zebras that dictate who plays because of the way they call the games.
This game was a classic example of the zebras derailing a team's game plan, by giving Brockman two quick fouls in the first five minutes of the game. The first foul was certainly iffy at best, I'm not sure about the second. To add insult to injury, they gave him a quick 3rd foul at the start of the second half.
Gonzaga at Memphis
Gonzaga played about as well as team could play in a loss at the home of a recently crowned #1 team. Despite the loss, GoneZaga earned a lot of basketball "cred" with the way they played, reacted and adjusted to the Calipari onslaught. It was interesting to see that Few started the three tough cookies (Pargo, Pendo, Bouldin) even though the Moody Blues Duo would have given him a lot more offense.
Memphis once again showed a little bit of everything. It's really hard to pin-point whether this team has the patterns of a national champion or an elite 8 team. The zone was once again something that baffled the Tigers, and the free throws unpredictability is a dangerous thing when faced with tougher opponents away from home.
I've seen both of Memphis games this week, and it hasn't made my choice for #1 any easier. Kansas or Memphis? I may have to resort to running a very complicated algorithm, commonly referred to as "the coin toss" ;-)
Meanwhile Jimmy Dykes got a couple of good lines, "Few Fighters", and "Mother in Law defense" - not to be confused with "Brother in Law" defense or Phil Jackson's Brokeback Mountain defense.
Memphis at Tulsa
The bad news for Memphis is that they were unable to score 60 points. The good news is that their opponent scored just 41. And that meant a typical Memphis conference USA road win. The home team, feeding on the irrationally exhuberant crowd managed to stay in the game, until some point in the second half Memphis pulls away and makes it a game of cat and mouse.
This was a good chance for 7-footer Jerome Jordan of Tulsa to get some exposure, and certainly this player could become an NBA first rounder by the time he graduates. But he wasn't enough to stop Memphis from scoring.
Joey "can't make a layup" Dorsey was a monster rebounding wise, but had a hard time making practice layups. Perhaps the 7-footer Jordan was on the back of his mind, and perhaps he reminded him of his nirvana performance against Greg Oden in the 2007 Elite 8.
And while the Memphis offense was held down to under 60, their defense was what won the game for them as Tulsa could not really score. And this is perhaps the key to Memphis making it to the Final Four. Playing on both sides of the court.
The #1 ranking gave the Joe Biden of college basketball coaches a chance to get in front of the three cameras that escaped him so far ;-)
Joe Lunardi's Bracketology on ESPN News every Monday and Friday
If you are fans of Bracketology or Joe Lunardi, be sure to watch or record the Hot List on ESPN News, every Monday and Friday. The show airs 3pm to 6pm eastern time (12pm to 3pm pacific), and Lunardi usually has one segment, sometimes two. He talks about the latest updates in the world of bracketology as you would expect.
If you want more Lunardi, check the Saint Joseph's coaches show on CSTV and locally in Philly. The show, staring the one and only Phil Martelli, airs on CSTV on Fridays. Check local listings for Philly air times. Lunardi is Martelli's sidekick on the talk show. Basketball however is not a major topic! The irony of that! Martelli is working it like Letterman or Leno. I kid you not!
Lunardi is actually an employee of the university. Not sure what he actually does for the university. He is their Professor of Bracketology?
Breaking News: Jerome Dyson and Doug Wiggins suspended indefinitely
Jerome Slice 'n' Dyson and Doug "Helen of Troy of the Big East" were suspended indefinitely for undisclosed reasons. This would be disasterous for UConn as they are facing Indiana today on a nationally broadcast game on CBS Sports! Ouch for the Huskies - just when they started gelling and making progress!
And a public service announcement: If you live in a Big East city, check your laptops ;-) (Yes, a cheap shot but couldn't resist it!)
Pitino: ESPN Analysts instead of coaches should vote in the polls!
In this week's "Courtside with Rick Pitino" called the Coaches Poll "fraudulent" and recommended that ESPN Analysts should be voting instead of basketball coaches, because coaches don't have time to follow all teams across the country and they usually hand them off to assistants et al.
During the coaches show, there was an ad for Pitino's weight loss program ("urban active") for $1,800 per person. Very affordable ;-) Move over Jenny Craig, here comes Jenny Craigino!
Friday, January 25, 2008
2007-2008 College Hoops TV Guide January 2008
Welcome to our January 2008 college hoops TV listings! We also have the February 2008 TV listings, December 2007 college hoops TV listings, available as well as the November 2007 college hoops TV listings.
Check your local listings for availability and air times
Listings can be changed by the channels at the last minute, so always double-check with your local provider
Tue January 1, 2008
Wedn January 2, 2008
Thur January 3, 2008
Fri January 4, 2008
Sat January 5, 2008
Relive your favorite 2007 NCAA Tournament games
Sun January 6, 2008
Mon January 7, 2008
Tue January 8, 2008
Don't miss a game with TiVo!
Wedn January 9, 2008
Thur January 10, 2008
Fri January 11, 2008
Sat January 12, 2008
Sunday January 13, 2008
Monday January 14, 2008
Tuesday January 15, 2008
Wedn January 16, 2008
Thur January 17, 2008
Fri January 18, 2008
Sat January 19, 2008
Sun January 20, 2008
Mon January 21, 2008
Tue January 22, 2008
Wedn January 23, 2008
Thur January 24, 2008
Fri January 25, 2008
Sat January 26, 2008
Sun January 27, 2008
Mon Jan 28, 2008
Tue Jan 29, 2008
Wedn Jan 30, 2008
Thur Jan 31, 2008
February 2008
The action continues in our February 2008 College Hoops TV listings.
Direct from the Source
Time-shift your favorite games with...
The Philips DVDR3575H/37 DVD Recorder with Hard Drive. Read more on this topic.
High School Basketball TV Schedule
The ESPN family of networks will bring us 15 high school hoops games this season. Details in this printer-friendly edition of ESPN High School. Some of the upcoming stars that will be spotlighted include Tyreke Evans, Samardo Samuels, J'Rue Holiday, Delvon Roe, Brandon Jennings, Lance Stephenson, Dexter Strickland, and lots more!
UCLA at Oregon
Kevin Love got a lot of negatively charged love in his first game back home in a UCLA uniform. Daddy (Oregon great) running around wearing layers of UCLA clothing (according to Marques Johnson) did not help the situation at all.
But ultimately the game was decided on the court, and the Beached Whale almost had a 20-20 (24pts, 18reb) despite getting hammered by the Ducks. And E-Kent did not even play all of his space-eaters: Mitch Platt, F. Dors, and once-promising seven footer R. Schaefer (sp?).
UCLA's "defense" was exposed once again - it's really good when they are allowed to foul multiple times per possession. That wasn't the case during the USC game, and look at the result. Don't get me wrong, they do have a good defense, but what makes there defense so great is that they are fouling multiple teams.
But they can also win games in the last four minutes. This is something that both UCLA and Georgetown (eg Syracuse on Big Monday) have shown that they can do over and over. It's hard to beat a team when they have this "secret weapon" in their arsenal! Not to be confused with soccer club Arsenal.
Oregon had a great opportunity for a high profile win, but because freshman point K. Brown was too amped up, and Malik Hairston missed most of the last quarter of the game due to injury, the team had to depend heavily on Mighty Mouse. And Mighty Mouse makes a lose canon look organized and under control ;-)
Now there is some more pressure on the Nike Ducks to beat the USC Condoms. With USC "finding itself" again, this won't be easy, but it will be a good win for the Ducks. Their Pac-10 record is good - they haven't had a bad loss so far. We already mentioned that Washington played much better with Overton as the point, and that was not a bad Oregon loss. And lo and behold, Washington wins at ASU, adding another dangerous team in the Pac-10.
And before you count out the Washington Husker-Dos, remember that it was indeed another shortie point guard a few years ago that turned Washington from 0-5 to an NCAA darling, which ended up losing to Mike Anderson's UAB in an instant classic in the NCAAs. Is Overton the next Nate Robinson impact-wise? We blog, you decide!
Washington State at Arizona
Another day at the office in the Pac-10. It looks like every week seems to have at least a couple of NCAA-caliber games, even though there are only 9 games per week in the Pac-10.
Two years ago this game would have been the definition of contrasting styles, with Dick Bennett slugfesting the fest out of a slugfest, and the Arizona Moody Blues running and gunning with Olson and Rosboro turning a blind eye to a defense-optional mentality.
Fast forward to today, the teams are a lot closer in style than one would think. Both teams employ their own neo-slugfest style of play, with lots of defense, but running when having the advantage.
FSN took a "fair and balanced" approached to the basketball analysis, as they brought in both the FSN Arizona analyst (accountant Bob Elliot) and the FSN Northwest analyst (coach Bob Weiss). Just like their other fair and balanced program, it wasn't balanced, Elliot was the Hannity and Weiss was the Colmes ;-)
Arizona defended its home court and rained 3s like crazy to defeat the Washington State Cougars. Both coaches tried to create favorable matchups in the game by adjusting their rotations. O'Neill played more Zany Johnson and Kirk W and less Fendi and Armani. Washington State started Arizona "killah" Harmeling. And if Lute Olson was coaching, Harmeling would have probably scored another 31 points with 7 three-pointers and Wazoo won the game.
But unlike Lute, once Harmeling hit a couple of early shots in a row, the soft-spoken O'Neill took a time-out before even the first TV time-out and gave his team a red-in-the-face Sopranos-style "pep talk". That was effective as they managed to to shut off Harmeling's water for the game.
Arizona hit an unusual number of threes, as if the buckets Arizona was shooting at were adjusted to be wider. That more than the net 3-4 "home court" calls earlier in the game was what gave Arizona a dominant victory over Wazoo.
On the other hand, D-Low did not have his usual second half performance and was only able to score in D-Low fashion when the game was almost decided. Kyle Weaver tried to stem the tide, but the Arizona threes caused a team-wide "daggerization" effect and sealed the game.
And this is where I have my questions with Washington State. While Arizona is not a top 10 team at the moment, they played like a top 10 team last night, thanks to a strong home court, a parade of threes, Jordan Hill not getting in foul trouble, and a net of 3-4 favorable "home-court" calls - along with Kevin O'Neill defense. And guess what, Washington State behaved the same way they did when they played UCLA. And that brought back Vandy flashbacks too. Which reinforces what I thought before: they may not be able to beat a top 10 team. They'll probably get at least one more chance (UCLA at home) before the post-season.
And this is where Arron Baynes may be the key to a Wazoooo run to the Elite 8. If Baynes can become a consistent scoring threat inside, he can open up the perimeter game for someone like D-Low or Harmeling to sink a 6-pack of three pointers.
NBA League Pass Free Preview week
NBA fans, the NBA League Pass will be having a free week preview, starting January 21, 2008 and ending on January 27, 2008. That's right, free preview, which means you can watch every game shown on the League Pass, along with NBA-TV, if it's not already part of your cable package. This with Comcast Cable. We do not know if other cable systems will also be offering this promotion.
This depends on your cable system, a number of cable systems have moved the NBA League Pass to digital cable, so even though it is free, you would need a digital cable box to be able to watch them. I doubt they are going to make these available through unencrypted QAM.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Rick Majerus gets in trouble for the wrong reason!
Those who watched Majerus on TV as a basketball analyst know that he did not bother to "filter" what he said. It was streaming out. And we had some fun and exciting quotes from Majerus. From "shower decorum" to "MILFing" and a whole lot more. There are a few websites that keep track of all Majerus-speak.
Ironically though what got Majerus in "trouble" was none of that, but rather his comments on ...abortion! You see Majerus works for a university of the Catholic persuasion and made those comments when speaking in support of a presidential nominee. That angered the Giant Spider, which texted the Saint Louis Archbishop and asked him to fire up the Spanish Inquisition and start a Witch Hunt for someone who dared defend a woman's fundamental human right to have control over her own body.
Also discussed at With Leather. More stories on this at Ball Hype!
Herb Sendek got Jay John fired!
I had a draft post that never got around to posting saying how the success of Herb Sendek at Arizona State was going to get Jay John fired in the spring.
Well, it looks like the Oregon State AD beat me to it by a few months! Poor Jay John is gone! The first strike of course when Tony Bennett and his neo-slugfest style of play had a great season last year. But one could point that the Tony Bennett success was built upon the Dick Bennett years, so it wasn't as if Tony had a one-year wonder.
So that bought Jay John some more time. But then comes Herb Sendek at Arizona State. In year #2 they got from a perennial bottom feeder to sitting on top of the Pac-10, and landing a top caliber recruit.
So now the pressure reaches boiling point. With fellow Pac-10 bottom dwellers WSU and ASU ranked in the top 25, the situation looks very bleak at OSU, and all of a sudden, the NBA mentality kicks in, and it's bye bye Jay John!
Monday, January 21, 2008
Deciding the vote for week #11 of the Blogger's Poll
We are about to submit the NHT vote for week #11 of the Blogger's Poll Top 25. Some of the picks may be seen as a bit off-the-wall, because we do not follow the typical poll mentality of a team going up if they win and down if they lose. Instead, each week we pick the best 25 teams using our "secret" formula. The formula is so secret we are not even allowed to look at it ;-)
So the first thing to determine is who is #1. Well, as we mentioned before, there is something lacking with UNC as we saw once again. Memphis is good but they have not played as many tough games as the other teams. Tennessee is on the rise, but I have to see more from them before I give them a top five rating. I'm getting the same feeling when Texas was a high flyer. So it's wait and see for Tennessee!
So that leaves *gasp* the Kansas Jayhawks at #1. They do have loads of talent and a reasonable chance to win almost all of the remaining regular season games, but I don't seem the winning it all in April just yet.
I think most people are over-reacting on the UCLA loss. As much as I dislike the way
Ben Howland is neo-slugfesting the storied Bruins program, they are a very hard team to beat. And they lost to the Condoms in the Battle of Los Angeles. Tim Floyd is a master mind at these type of games. Let's not forget Davon Jefferson is junior-age, Taj Gibson is senior-age, OJ Mayo is sophomore-age, so they may not have as much college experience, but they are certainly not kids. I believe Dwight Lewis had at least one year of post-graduate as well. Danielle Hackett counters that since he arrived on-campus a year earlier. Anyway, we've been high on USC since the start of the season, and we think they are one of the top 25 teams, despite their issues.
Similar to UCLA, Georgetown is another team that is tough to beat which is why we rank them so high. They are not going to wow teams with +30 or +50 dunkfests, but they'll beat them where it counts. Allowance for their Pitt loss was made :)
This puts the detested, infested Dookies at #6, while Indiana gets the #7 spot because we couldn't find anyone else to put at the #7 spot.
Tennessee is #8 for the reasons we mentioned above - despite their high RPI/SOS! The qualitative component of our rating drops them down at the moment. Sorry Vols fans :)
Izzo State is #9 despite their 10 point game at Iowa ;-) We are still not sold on this team, but we have to rank teams in the top 10 even if we don't believe they are top 10 caliber teams! That's the theory of poll voting relativity ;-)
Washington State neo-slugfests at #10, and the Dayton Flyers are the top non-BCS team at #11.
At this point, it's really a big mess as to who we think is next! Oh what a mess with capital M!
So here we go, Butler at #12 because they are the big fundamental and that is at times worth a few extra points in close games. Next we putting the two teams that gave us the biggest headache, Xavier and Arizona. Arizona gets a boost because of the whole Lute Olson situation, and Xavier because well, they are good when they are good :) We always discount in-state or inter-city rivarly losses because they are rivarly games - both X and Zona lost one this year.
By the way, for all the results, RPI and SOS numbers, we use KenPom's RPI as our reference.
Moving along, at #15 we issue a "strong buy" on Oregon which probably means they are going to lose their next five games ;-) It looks like the Ducks are now finding themselves, and they don't depend on mighty mouse making wild shots as much. Maaaarty Leunen has developed into a very solid college player, and so has Malik Hairston.
At #16 we have Marquette, which is the Big East version of Oregon in some ways. A&M and their growing pains are at #17. Ole Miss is at #18 based on the numbers, we haven't seen them play this season, so we have to go by the numbers.
Then we have the run and gun duo of Texas, and Vandy. Bonus points for playing basketball, and not neo-slugfest!
The full force Louisville Cardinals are looking very good, and despite the Gonzo loss over the weekend, they are jumping into the top 20!
Then at #22 we have USC because the combination of Tim Floyd and the talent on the court is hard to beat, despite of their growing pains and such.
Next we have three "honorary" mentions, Baylor at #23 having a solid season, Drake at #24 doing well in the Valley of Darkness, and Gary Walters doing an excellent job at Cleveland State by the Lake. His hire was not a mistake by the lake!
We could have easily put at a dozen other teams in the top 25, but we are only allowed to pick 25! However, some teams were left out for specific reasonsWi:
The following teams could have easily been included: Rhode, UMass, St. Mary's, Mississippi State, Stanford, West Virginia, Nova (their NC State loss was due to a zebra), Ohio State, Florida, Arkansas, Jorge Mason, Kansas State, etc...
Sunday, January 20, 2008
The Return of the Gary!
This was a gift from the heavens for Gary Williams. After a few years of struggles, drama and relative obscurity, along with Dookies chanting "you're not our rival", The Gary has once again managed to make a splash! The Gary Strikes Back!
What am I talking about? Maryland visited the Dean Smith Center and came out with a big W! That's right, the Turtles beat the Rams, oops, the Tar Heels! We will have more on this game in our new 2007-2008 feature, the Game Critic later today.
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Week #10 of the Blog Poll Top 25 was published earlier on!
Week #10 of the Blogger's Poll top 25 was published earlier this week, in Google Doc format, so all the readers can read what each voter voted. We have complete transparency in the blogger's poll!
We were running behind schedule this week so we did not submit a vote for NCAA Hoops Today, so the aggregate poll vote is not as crazy this week ;-)
The Calipari Tigers edged the Ole Roy TarHeels by two first place votes and captured the #1 spot. Kansas received two first place votes and finished at #3. Kansas continues to impress, but my big question is: Bill Self has never gone past the Elite 8. Can he do it? :)
UCLA's neo-slugfest and Tennessee's Pearl-crazy style of play round-up the top 5, with Duke stinking up the #6 spot and Bennett's neo-slugfest taking up #7.
Butler continues to get mid-major love, despite the fact that they are a mid-major-conference team and coached by a fifteen year old assistant ;-)
Dayton at #14 leads a wave of three A-10 schools into the top 25, while Drake, a team composed of Daleks, makes its BlogPoll Top 25 debut at #23.
In the inflated balloon department we have Miami at #24, Clemson at #25. If I was voting, they could have been voted out!!! Arggggg!
After a quick look I noticed that Looooeyville did not receive any votes. After this week's performance you can bet a number of bloggers will be adding it to their top 25. But can they stay healthy (Padgett, Palacios) and can they stay out of trouble (Caracter, Clark)? I think as long as they have three of those four they will be fine.
My upcoming vote will weigh that in and Lewisville will get a top 20 vote from this crazy blog!
If you want to join the blogger's poll, just ask any of the participating bloggers! The website addresses of all participating blogs can be found in the BlogPoll Vote doc - just click on the blog name!
Eddie "The Loser" Sutton: Call it Karma, Divine Justice and Nemesis all in one
We already expressed our strong opinions on the way Eddie "The Loser" Sutton stumbled back into the coaching seat this season.
Well, a few weeks later, we are pleased with the results! The notorious loser, drunkard and cheater is still winless. Now that's what I call karma, divine justice and nemesis all combined together! Winless! Take that Eddie Loser Sutton!
Are we harsh on him? Yes we are. For someone who aspires to be a hall of famer, and has a checkered past, the last thing he needed to do is conspire with the USF administration to get rid of their current coach mid-season.
Friday, January 18, 2008
Stanford at Oregon
This was a very well played game for the most part, playing the game the way it was meant to be played. Kudos to both teams, coaches and players for representing the game so well in front of a national TV audience on CBS Sports with the Governator (Bill Raftery) calling the game.
The offense dried up towards the end of the game (or perhaps the defense picked up), but the low turnovers made this a very pleasant game to watch.
Each team went to its strengths, Stanford took advantage of their size advantage inside, with Brook Lopez rehearsing his NBA moves against the Oregon smalls. Oregon went to their strength, the run and gun, mismatch-causing small team, with Mighty Mouse breaking ankles and Malik Hairston malik'ing the defense, and Leunen being the "tough fundamental".
But don't get me wrong, if you peruse the Oregon roster you will find lots of size there, it's just that Ernie Kent prefers to play with the smaller guys, partly because they are faster, partly because they are better than the big guys, and partly because it's cool :)
In my opinion, Stanford continues to under-achieve. Granted, they had their share of injuries and issues, but it's very rare that a team has two solid 7-footers. To not be able to capitalize on them is disappointing. It sort of reminds us of the failure of Rob Evans at Arizona State when he had a program-changing player in Ike Diogu. After one good year and an NCAA tournament bid, they were unable to capitalize on having Diogu for the next two years. Is Trent Johnson heading into Rob Evans territory? Probably not, but he has two game-changers, Evans only had one.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Proposal: Assorted Triple Double, a new term
It's very rare to get a triple double in college, partially because of the way the game is played and partially because the game is only 40 minutes long and the shot clock is 35 seconds long, and a number of coaches embrace a slow style of play, slugfests and neo-slugfests.
So my proposal is to use a new term to spotlight statistical performances with impact, the assorted triple double.
So what is an assorted triple double? You have a traditional double-double, and then if you add the remaining categories, you have more than ten. For example, take Danny Green's performance in a recent game, he had 13 points, 14 rebounds, 6 assists, 4 steals and 1 block. This doesn't register as a triple double, but it registers as an assorted triple double, and can be used to highlight his impact in that game.
What do you think? :)
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
No They Didn't! (ESPN Ticker said Upset!)
Memo to ESPN, please educate your people in what is an upset. Jay Bilas has come up with some nice explanations and definitions. Please ask Mr Bilas to write it up in a memo and send it to all your employees so they can memorize it and understand what an upset is.
What is prompting this rant? During Saturday's TV coverage, there was a ticker update at the bottom of the screen (ESPN or ESPN2 I don't remember) talking of an upset alert, Kentucky about to beat Vandy at Rupp arena.
An upset? Are you serious? Since when is Kentucky winning a conference game at Rupp Arena an upset? Granted Billy the G did not have a good start, but it's still a conference game, it's still Kentucky, and it's still Rupp Arena.
ESPN, please educate your masses! Just because a ranked team loses a road game it doesn't make it an upset! This is just plain silly. Please teach your employees and get rid of the poll-drone mentality!
But the silliness goes even further than this. An example from the past: a team ranked #17 at home beats team #10, in a conference game, and they still call it an upset!
Is this yet another manifestation of rampant idiocracy?
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Arizona at Houston
Every year this game promises to be an exciting up and down affair and every year it starts not so. This game was the crowning of Jerryd Bayless as an impact player, let alone an impact freshman.
Without Bayless Arizona looked like an NITish team, with Bayless in the line-up they looked like a good NCAA team. Bayless was a gift for Kevin O'Neill, because he has a player with similar mentality and toughness, which helps propagate and distribute the toughness throughout the team. And I'm not saying that just because he had a career high of 33 and "owned" the Houston defense for a good chunk of the game.
Unlike Bayless, Mayo does not have this type of an impact on his team, and that is perhaps the #1 lesson that OJ "Ooops, I'm not the next Michael Jordan" Mayo needs to learn.
Back to the game, Jordan Hill was Gulliver in the paint, but when he got in foul trouble (see what I was talking about w.r.t. foul troubles?) Fendi Onobun was a great match for the smaller or lean Houston forwards. Plus it was a homecoming game for him.
Nic "Hoops" Wise started the game and I hope O'Neill realizes that he needs to start Nic "Hoops" Wise if he wants the team to have good starts instead of falling behind. Brillmaier is a solid rotation player, but they put baskets to score, and with Wise on the floor it gives Bayless more options.
Houston is perpetually in an "almost there" status. Turnaround Tom has turned them around from the *gasp* Clyde Drexel coaching era, but they are nowhere near the Guy Lewis era. Speaking of which, the coach himself, along with some of his star pupils, like Clyde Glyde Drexler, Don Chaney and Big-E (what?) were there en masse to watch the game.
The most impressive player on the Cougars roster was freshman point guard Zamal (not Jamal). At times he was running like a kitten on Red Bull (don't try this at home please!), but he gave Bayless a taste of his own medicine, and none of the Arizona guards were able to stop him.
Unfortunately for TT (Turnaout Tom) that was about it. Other players had flashes and good moments but no else was able to deliver consistently. And TT has a lot of plaeyrs on the behch. Part of the problem of course was that Arizona was able to control the tempo, with conventional and unconventional ways, which did not allow TT to scramble the game. He did have a segment in the middle of the second half where the game got scrambled, the fans got wild, and the Cougars made a small comeback, but that was not enough.
What do I mean by controlling the tempo in unconventional ways? Arizona was pushing the ball to the frontcourt, not necessarily to score every time, but to prevent Houston from scrambling full-court. Aye! Almost reminds you of the Ben Howland philosophy of using the fast-break for defensive purposes!
What have they done with my Pac-10???
UConn at Georgetown
Oh boy! The game started choppy but it turned into a game of the year nominee by the time it was all said and done! UConn had a great game, with Jim Calhoun not coaching due to a health related issue. Coincidence or not? Perhaps Blaney is able to get the players to perform better - his personality is diametrically (I was told to use this word, I don't know what it means) opposed to that of Calhoun.
In a sense this game was a mini-version of the 2007 Elite 8, where UConn has a nice lead, but in the last couple of minutes Georgetown toughed up and won the game! And how did they win the game? Hibbert for three!
This was a good game for both teams, UConn is starting to play to their potential and hype, and Georgetown continues to win games, even though they may not look as pretty or impressive street-ball-wise as some of the other top 10 teams.
Moving Austin Freeman in the starting line-up was a great move by the new Yoda of college basketball coaches (JT 3). Patrick Ewing is more suited for an energy role off the bench, while Freeman gives them more versatility on both ends of the court.
On top of that Georgetown has a solid nine-man rotation to use, which can be great in an NCAA tourney situation with foul trouble or injuries or match-up difficulties. I have no doubt that this Georgetown team is at least an Elite 8 team, with reasonable chances of making it to the Final Four again, and quite possibly to the Real Big Monday game!
Rantology: Why we need six fouls or more
This game was another indication that games are affected and ruined by foul calls. The game of basketball should be decided by the players on the court, not by over-zealous trigger-happy zebras. This was a classic game of two seven footers. People tuned in to watch them. The teams prepared for the games. The two seven-footers NEEDED this game for their own basketball development. Why let three zebras with a pea in their mouth affect their playing time? This is ridiculous!
Memo to the frozen in evolution giant spiders at the NCAA: Move to six fouls or get rid of the whole fouling out! The game has evolved, it's time for the rules to evolve to catch up with the game! Just like we are not playing with peach baskets, and we added things like the three pointer. Evolve and intelligently design the rules! Stop being "statusists!".
Monday, January 14, 2008
NBA: Joakim Noah benched by ...teammates!
A darling of the world of college hoops in the last couple of years, Joakim Noah was He was benched by his own teammates! (Fox Sports story). That's right benched by a unanimous vote by his own teammates!
Apparently Noah had a confrontation with an assistant coach (Star Tribune). The blogosphere is also buzziing about this story, see the SEC Talk boards, MySpace Sports (they have Sports?), Larry Brown Sports, and Rosen's blog.
The ultimate NCAA team is not so team-friendly in the NBA! First head coach Billy "The Diva" Donovan has a long and winding saga about his coaching future, first non-interest interest in Kentucky, then non-interest interest in the Orlando Tragic. Now his star pupil and ultimate team player mixes it up with an NBA assistant coach. Oh dear!
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Washington State at UCLA
The Washington State team from 2005-2006 showed up in the first part of the game, and combined with another solid performance by the Beached Whale (Kevin Love), the UCLA Bruins took a comfortable lead in the game.
Or so they thought. With about two minutes left in the game, The Wazoooo Cougars hit about half a dozen three pointers, gave the Bruins fans a scare, and almost managed to send the game into overtime, and could have caused the UCLA players an "Ammo tears" moment.
Derrick Low scored 24 in the second half, but where was he in the first half? The game was in the 70s despite Jay Bilas categorically stating that it wouldn't be in the 70s. Of course that was partially caused by fouling UCLA players and Wazoo hitting a barrage of threes during the last few minutes.
This was a classic deer in the headlights moment for Washington State. UCLA had already played a number of high profile games this season, and a number of their players had back-to-back Final Four experience. Wazoo on the other hand played a rather comfortable and comforting schedule, and this was probably their biggest game of the season.
Their initial deer in the headlights reaction was what took them out of contention, and perhaps exposed them a little bit. The game was not as close as the final score indicates, but then again, Wazoo was just a three pointer away from major drama.
So what does this tell us? UCLA is going to be hard to beat this season, that's for sure. Note that Howland limited Mata's PT and played more basketball skilled Keefe - to match up with the more fundamental Cougars.
Washington State on the other hand may be headed to another second round exit, since so far they have only beaten teams that would likely not make it past the first round of the NCAA tournament. Then again, they didn't play any other top tier teams, so we have to wait and see. Can they beat UCLA on their home court? Come back in February and we'll find out!
NC State at North Carolina
Was NC State that horrible or was North Carolana's defense that good? Probably somewhere in between, but non the less it was an impressive defensive display by the Tar Heels in the first half. And this wasn't just any team, but one of their in-state rivals.
The Red jacket did not help NC State, or perhaps it was the red jacket that allowed them to score in the first half. Jay Bilas pounced and pounded on the Wolfpack while they were down which I am sure will make him some new friends in Wolfpack country ;-)
Danny Green looks more and more like a key player that could determine whether North Carolina wins it all or not. A lot of teams don't have a player as good on their whole roster, let alone bringing him off the bench. Dancing move strictly option.
Where does NC State go from where? They are lucky there is no relegation in the ACC, otherwise they would find themselves replaced by Davidson :-) Some point out to team chemistry problems partially because of the impact of super-frosh JJ Hickson. We blog, you decide, we do not know.
Roy Williams kept his starters in the game, not sure if he was reliving the Georgetown Elite 8 game or just using it as practice time or perhaps it was a side-effect of the Clemson. But he also showed "restraint" by having a *gasp* eight man rotation.
I doubt UNC is going to have such a dominating performance every game this season, but if they do, make room for another banner!
Horizon Fitness T74 Treadmill: While watching college hoops game on TV
This is a good way to watch a game and burn calories at the same time! Jump on the treadmill! Why sit in front of the TV and load up on bad calories when you can burn calories while watching TV instead? One treadmill option is the Horizon Fitness T74 Treadmill offered on special today only at Amazon as their gold box deal of the day for $800 with free super saver shipping. The treadmill ships in the original manufacturer packaging. Don't expect it to come in one of those cutesy Amazon book boxes ;-)
There are three customer reviews and lots of product info at the Amazon product page, and of course, Google is always your friend.
Washington State at USC
DavOn Jefferson was DavOff Jefferson as Roger Walters suspended him for the game for "undisclosed reasons". That hurt USC as the experienced Cougars sliced and diced them (or rather picked and popped them). Hold the Mayo, OJ is not the USC savior people were expecting!
This was a classic neo-Bennett game, with threes, select runs, and Baynes space-eating inside, although most of the first half was more of a classic Dick Bennett slugfest. Perhaps the emergence of Baynes inside is what could be the difference for the Cougars between a second round NCAA exit and an Elite 8 run. You heard it here! You heard me! Not that I am Chief Payne of the House of Payne ;-)
Pink Floyd has his work cut out for him. The team looks much better on paper than on the court and that's not something a coach wants to see happening. Especially when you have a super dooper freshman playing and your team is playing worse than it did before. I'm sure they'll figure it out eventually, but will it be enough, or will they square off with Kentucky in the post-season NIT Final Four? :)
Friday, January 11, 2008
College basketball program valuations by Forbes (and most with 1000+ scorers)
During the broadcast of the West Virginia at Louisville game on ESPN2, they mentioned an interesting statistic which I forgot to mention yesterday in the game critic post: Which college basketball programs have the most players that have scored 1000 or more points during their career?
The answer, according to the ESPN announcers is North Carolina, tied with Louisville as soon as Juan Diego Tello Palacios scores a couple more points (or he may have had already during the game - I did not track). The number of players you ask? 58!
The broadcasters also referenced a recent Forbes magazine valuation of college basketball programs in dollars and sense terms. Want to find out more about that? Here is the story at Forbes.com. The story was last updated on January 2, 2008 by Peter J. Schwartz. Be sure to check the story to find out how they came up with their valuations.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
West Virginia at Louisville
Pitino vs Huggins! 500 vs 600! A former Conference USA rivarly! Did the game live up to its billing? Nope! Did defense win? Yes, the buckets were not easy to make. Did anyone get injured from Louisville? Nope!
This was an almost must-win game for Louisville and a nice-to-have road win for Cincy West Virginia.
But Louisville had a rather comfortable night against the "Beileineers", with a four-pack of servicable forwards at Pitino's disposal. And it was indeed the two coming off the bench (Padget and Earl Clark) who had the biggest impact on the game. T-Will did good without scoring, and Edgar Sosa made it clear that Pitino needs to recruit point guards for 2008-2009 and beyond.
Despite the Huggins-bias from the ESPN play by play guy, Huggins was caught by the cameras smiling and laughing at the zebras multiple times. Silly play by play clones! Stop repeating non-sensically whatever crapola you remember from watching Sportscenter ;-)
And speaking of crapola, will someone please teach ESPN's Karl Ravech how to count the commercial breaks during the half time show so he can actually tell when the second half is about to start and when they are coming back for another half-time show segment. It's really not that hard to count: Let's teach Karl: One, Two, Three!
As you can see there's not much to say about the game! :)
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
Arizona at Arizona State
The Duel in the Dessert started like a Missouri Valley conference game, and it was only very late in the first half that the game picked up in terms of basketball play on offense. The script of the game was different this time.
For one thing, Arizona did not fall behind, but rather started the game ahead and kept the lead throughout the game. For another thing, Arizona State actually made a comeback, instead of having their traditional meltdown when facing off the Lute Olson Cats.
James Harden was almost unstoppable in the second half, Kevin O'Neill refused to change his defensive schemes, and ASU slowly managed to get back in the game and force an overtime.
The overtime was a sea-saw battle and Arizona State ended up getting a storming the court win over their "rivals" who had won 24 of the last 25 "rivarly" games before tonight.
Kevin O'Neill continued with his unpredictable rotations, with Kirk Walters and Jamelle Horne seeing no court time at all. Infact some could argue that O'Neill was ...zany as he asked Zane Johnson to remove the red shirt and put on the blue shirt. All that so that he played five minutes in the first half? As you may recall Lute lifted the redshirt off Kirk Walters a few years ago.
The strange thing is that both Walters and Horne would have been good matchups, especially Walters going against Pendergraph and House of Duke Boetang. Horne is fast enough that he could match up with Shipp or whoever else was playing the undersized four.
Herb Sendek has indeed surprised many people with this quick turnaround. A lot of people thought that it would take him 3-4 years and there were no guarantees he would be able to do it. Of course the season is far from over, but for Arizona State standards, he already has three conference wins, and *gasp* a 3-0 conference start. When was the last time ASU won more than 3 conference games in a whole season?
If you missed this game, you can catch a repeat on Fox College Sports or FSN-Arizona (for those with the regional FSN satellite package). Speaking of TV, this is the January 2008 college hoops tv guide.
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
North Carolina at Clemson
Was this the game that Wayne Ellington went from a talented player with mad skillz into a Rashad McCants-type killah? If yes, mark North Carolina as one of the four Final Four teams. And were the last 2 minutes of regulation and last play of the overtime a microcosm of Clemson's 2006-2007 season or just how the game ebbed and flowed? We blog, you decide!
Clemson looked great for most of the game, they were able to run and gun with the Tar Heels, beat them at their own game at times, and their four bigs put Tyler Hansbro in a straight-jacket and made him look like a frustrated average player. KC Rivers was making shots left and right, and freshman Demontez Stitt looked like a skinny version of Tywon Lawson at times.
Then came the last two minutes of regulation. Clemson starting slipping up, Hansbro woke up a little bit, and the UNC TarHeels got back in the game and tied it. But Clemson could have won - they had two chances to do so in the last play of regulation and they blew it - they blew an almost uncontested layup (perhaps the injury and crumps got James Mays in that play).
But a similar story developed in the overtime. David "Harry" Potter was magic during the OT and gave Clemson a nice boost, but with five seconds left from the win, he went for the heroic steal instead of just staying in front of Wayne Ellington and bothering him. The result? Ellington hit a Rashad McCants like dagger and that made Ole Roy jump up and down in joy before he realized the cameras were on.
UNC needs a better way to deal with their backup point guard. Since I play Coach Blogjerus on the net, I recommend UNC to put Q-Thomas in the game while Tywon Lawson is still there, and let them play together for a couple of minutes. That way Q-Thomas picks up the game vibes without having to be thrown into the fire. Then you take out Tywon Lawson, so Q doesn't get the baptism by fire.
Why have I just said that? Because unlike Star Trek's Q who can just clap his hands and undo things, UNC's Q cannot do that and undo his three back-to-back turnovers that let Clemson back in the game in the first half and gave them a lot confidence.
The good news for UNC was that they were able to get an "onions" win on the road without Bobby Fraser and Alex Stepheson and make a winning play with five seconds left. And Ole Roy put Clemson's sharpshooter in a straight-jacket. Although Marcus Ginyard deserves most of the credit for that.
The good news for Clemson is that they are not as bad as last year's team, and they were just one play away from winning the game, both in regulation and in overtime. What does that mean? Time will tell! We will have to wait and see how they do against other NCAA-bound teams before we make up our mind. But because of their performance, I have voted them in the BlogPoll Top 25 at #24. This is the first time this year I have voted for the Clemson Tigers in the Top 25 :)
Week #8 of the Blog Poll Top 25 was published!
I forgot to mention this earlier on, the holiday rush got to us too! Week #8 of the Bloggers BlogPoll Top 25 has been published at Vegas Watch. This was last week's poll. This week's poll will be published in the next few hours.
There you can see there the final result as well as how each participating blogger voted using the free Google Docs - you can open the worksheet in your browser and see how each one of the bloggers voted!
How about this week's poll? I submitted my vote last night and as I mentioned earlier I put Clemson in the Top 25 for the first time this year! Other "surprises": Louisville is back at #21 based on how well they play with Juan Diego Tello Ramon Rodrigo Alfonso Palacios and David "I wanted to play for Ole Roy" Padgett. Arizona remains as their loss at home to Oregon was "discounted" by the absence of Jerryd Bayless. Oklahoma is at #19 as they are now starting to play Capel-ball. He is not that bad for a Dookie after all. The further he stays away from Durham, the more the Coach Krapola effect will wear out :-)
After their "onions" win at Clemson, I gave UNC the nod for #1, with the Calipari Tigers at #2, and as much as I hate the Ben Howland slugfest style of play, they are hard to beat, so I gave them the #3 spot. Another team that has shown they can find ways to win games is Georgetown at #4. A team (and a coach) that has not shown they can win games that really really matter but has plenty of talent is Kansas, which is why they are #5.
The rest of the teams were ranked but the votes were just too close to call at the moment. If I ranked them four hours later, I can guarantee you, it would have been a different ranking for sure!
Monday, January 07, 2008
USC at Stanford
This was an ugly game. Ugly! If it wasn't for a "spurt" in the last five minutes which included intentional fouling by USC in order to make a comeback, this game would have been won in the 40s! Ouch! It was an ugly 52-46 (or something like that).
Nevertheless the win counts as a win and the Cardinal (not Cardinals) defended their home court and prevented a 0-2 conference start. The Lopez twins once again were friends of foul, Lawrence Hill has taken a step back, and the guards are the big question for Trent Johnson.
The FSN game was interesting to listen to as well as former Stanford head coach Mike Montgomerry was the analyst. MM seems to start to get accustomed to the analyst gig and he is starting to actually provide some insight - sort of like a Majerus-type of an analyst.
USC was a disaster, and this is confusing. Tim Floyd tried a different line-up (discipline of players or matchups?) - with a perimeter oriented starting five instead of his usual starting five. USC's touted players looked quite pedestrian during the game, and they just couldn't score.
This game was so ugly it made Missouri Valley Games with Southern Illinois look pretty ;-)
UCLA at California
This was a relatively low-scoring game, but it was not an ugly game. It was instead an intense game with lots of defense. Once again UCLA "Georgetown'ed" its opponents on the defensive end, and the Cal Bears fell too far behind to be able to make a comeback.
Cal has a really bizarre roster, and don't use the Omar Wilkes early departure as an excuse. They only have one mini-me point guard and a euro-guard and that's it. Typically a team should have at least four guards, not two. On the other hand Ben Braun is loaded in big men, and he doesn't even have room for Jordan Wilkes to play and has a "Yao Ming" red-shirting. With Theo Robertson injured, Braun's options are even fewer on the perimeter.
But Howland won the Ben vs Ben face-off, and managed to sweep their road trip making them the early leader in the Pac-10 ...primaries!
Russell Westbrook continued to have some impressive moments, including a "posterization" (or YouTube'd) moment dunking from Telegraph Avenue. The "Beached Whale" (Kevin Love) continued to be effective while not necessarily dazzling.
Louisville at Kentucky
If this was a movie, an appropriate title would be "The Return of the Injured". Juan Diego Tello Palacios and David Padgett for the Cardinals and Jodie Meeks and Derrick Jasper for Kentucky. This was not their first game since returning from injury but it was their first high profile game on national network TV (CBS Sports).
A new wrinkle was added to this rivarly last March, when Billy Gillispie beat Rick Pitino at Rupp Arena in the 2nd round of the NCAA tournament in dramatic fashion. Fast forward now, Billy G is the Kentucky coach, once again squaring off with Pitino as the place of his coronation.
Despite Earl Clark being suspended for a game for undisclosed reasons, the presence of Palacios and Padgett seems to have kept the Pitinoville youngster in check and they grabbed the game early and were able to hold on when Kentucky attempted a couple of comebacks. But really the game was decided early on.
Billy G is a very stubborn man by his own admission, which is perhaps why he insists on full gameday practices which goes against conventional wisdom and UK tradition. But if that wasn't enough, Billy G is developing a scorched earth / sour loser late game strategy where he fouls and fouls even when the game is clearly decided. He did this once again, prolonging the game to save his arse from further embarrassement. I'm sure his interpretation is playing tough.
Given that Billy G was able to turn around both UTEP and A&M in similar fashion he can point to his past and excuse all the struggles of this year. At UTEP and A&M no one would even notice, but at a large stage like this, you can't just get away with it. This looked like it was going to be an easy transition in the pre-season, but things are going to get ugly before they get pretty. Given time, I'm sure he can turn it around, but he'd better get to the NCAAs in Year 2!
With Palacios and Padgett providing experience and stability, Louisville is on a path to finding its preseason ranking. With the addition of the football guy (can't spell his name), Pitino has a rotation of five forwards, T-Will, four perimeter guards and a designated shooter (Scott). Plenty of bodies to play Pitino-style basketball without worrying too much about fatigue. Just like in years past, Pitino's seasons seem to have a designated slump and a winning streak in them. The question for this team is whether the winnning streak comes in late January or late February and March.
PS> I forgot to mention, Billy Packer had his senior moment when he mentioned Eddie Sutton as the Kentucky basketball coach. Oh Billy, did you forget to drink your Coca Cola? :)
