Games of the year: Cleveland State at Syracuse (Monday)

ESPN Classic has started a new series where they are showing some of the best games of the 2008-2009 season at the 9pm eastern (6pm pacific) time slot on Monday nights. Last week they showed Davidson at Oklahoma in the pre-season NIT semi-finals. This Monday they will be showing Cleveland State's dramatic game at the Carrier Dome against Syracuse. So be sure to set your timers, alarms, calendars, VCRs and DVRs since this game was not (as far as I recall) broadcast on ESPN or ESPN2 when it originally aired.

Frenzied USC comeback shrinks the bubble by one!

This was a very breezy and offensive game as the USC Trojans mounted an epic second half counter-offensive chipping away forcefully at the Arizona State lead. The Sun Devils were trying to hold on to their first conference championship, in a fight against both the determined Trojans and time, and the latter won!

This means a bubble spot disappears as it is handed off to the USC Trojans with their AQ (automatic qualifier). And this USC team could do some damage in the tourney. There is no OJ "Diva" Mayo, this is a more team-oriented team, and with more players being available than during most of the season, the Trojans can give many teams a headache. Especially considering their height and length.

Herb Sendek has exceeded expectations in his first two years at ASU, and perhaps made NC State fans wander. The conference championship would have been icing on the cake for this season, but you can't have it all.

And the sad nature of the current selection process is that a basketball team like USC would have been left out, while a handful of ugly Big10 teams would be in. At least in this case, USC took matters in their own hands :)

Holy cow, that was the game of the year

You know it when you watch it. Just like the Maui invitational of a couple of years ago with the Ammo heroics, the six overtime marathon of UConn and Syracuse is etched in history. Already, ESPN has shown the game on ESPN Classic and it is currently airing on ESPNU as we speak.

This was an amazing game, how did all the players managed to keep going after six overtimes with very little rest? Unlike a regular 40-minute game with 2-minute time-outs every four-minutes, there were fewer and shorter time-outs in-between the overtimes.

Ultimately the Flynnstones managed to win the sixth overtime on ...points and go home with a big win for the ages.

Once again, Syracuse and the Big East tournament means drama, excitement and heroics!

Syracuse of course almost won the game at regulation when Devendork made a clutch three pointers that was milliseconds away from actually counting.

Devendork also showed why he has such a bad reputation, from thug-fouls to jumping on tables like Conan the Barbarian!

We are all Wake Forest fans this year!

Thank you Wake Forest! Thank you! An awesome with a capital-A win! Despite the fact that Wake started falling apart, they managed to keep it together and win this game by executing with less than three seconds left! Wooohoooo!!!!!!!

Wake grabbed a commanding lead, but a combination of poor free throw decision, bad decisions by their two lead guards, and of course Duke's 6th man (the Zebras), managed to slow Wake's offense and score enough points for the Dookies to make the game competitive and even winnable for you. Even Dick Vitale thought one of those calls should have gone the other way, and Dookie Vitale is a bigger Duke cheerleader than the Duke's booster club :)

Oh what a great game :-) Go WAKE FOREST Go! Go WAKE FOREST Go! Go WAKE FOREST Go! Go WAKE FOREST Go! Go WAKE FOREST Go! Go WAKE FOREST Go!


Wake's future in March?
Now the big question for Wake Forest is the future. They look like they could be a team of a destiny with a Final Four run and beyond. However, they also look like a team that could have a deer-in-the-headlights first week in the NCAA tourney and get bounced out. We were certainly disappointed by the decisions made by their two lead guards in the last eight minutes, they were charging ahead on offense as if they were 10 points behind, instead of backing out, reading the defense, and then attacking. I'm sure this is something Dino Gaudio will be working on in the next few days.

And speaking of Dino Gaudio, what an amazing job he has done at Wake Forest, carrying on the tradition of the late and beloved Skip Prosser! And during the half-time interview, one could have easily be hearing Skip Prosser uttering the exact same words.


Goodbye #1 for the Dookies
So what happens to the Dookies from here on? They win a lot more games (thank you Zebras!), and they stumble in the NCAAs to our great excitement :)

I'm not sure what Coach K does to his players in the secret dungeons of Cameron Indoor Cave, but they have that blank stare, as if he has stolen their souls and replaced then with Wojo-clone-souls ;-) And if they are not deemed as "stars", it seems like Coach K de-claws them offensively, and they just can't shoot or make a basket.

Of course talking about Duke, there's also the elephant in the room, the team is a little bit "too milky" and that can obviously raise some socio-political concerns. Perhaps that's why Paulus was benched, so the starting line-up would be a little bit more "diverse".


Wake should really become the new #1
You know, if you are the #4 team and you beat the #1 team, you should take over the #1 spot, instead of UConn who will likely beat easily a couple of non-Top-25 Big East teams.


Silly Rules needing to change revisited
Once again, silly rules that need to be modernized affected the game but not decidedly so. The five fouls is just plain silly and so is the absence of a semi-circle under the basket, something that took away a couple of legitimate Wake Forest baskets.

Again, the game is basketball, not human pinball. Having players stand under the basket and take charges is not a basketball skill, it's a not-basketball skill! Fix it NCAA!


If you missed the game...
If you missed the game or want to enjoy it again and again and again, then head on over to ESPN360.com and watch the replay for FREE :-)

Pitino strikes again, beats Pitt Nemesis

Three years in a row the upstart Jamie Dixon and the non-stop-fouling Pitt Panthers kicked the celebrated PitinoVille out of the Big East tournament. Three years in a row. Finally, the Cardinals get revenge by beating the #1 and undefeated Pitt Panthers and kicking them out of the both ranks.

Pitt of course is yet another team that can make the case for six fouls or unlimited fouls as their beastly DJ Blair was riddled with fouls. Come on now, we want the players to play, not sit on the bench and watch! This is one of the many rules that really need to be looked at and CHANGED. Change we can believe in!

Without being able to foul on every possession and without their space-eater, the Pitt Panthers were "exposed" as yet another Big East team. However, DJ Blair is the game-changer. As long as he is in the game, Pitt is transformed into a Final Four potential team.

Pitino on the other hand added another line in his Hall of Fame resume, beating an undefeated #1 team, five seasons after the December 2003 victory over #1 Kentucky. But it's not a bed of roses for the Cardinals either. This was a hard-fought victory, and the team has its issues (and moods). Despite the fact that Louisville has strung a few wins in a row, they don't look as good as their recent record may seem to indicate.

Big Monday recap: Notre Dame at Louisville

It was the start of Big Monday, with the Improv Trio (Raftery, Bilas, McDonut), and the Reece-Digger duo in the studio. The big guns at ESPN, sans the divas, Vitale and of course Bob Knight.

It was an exciting up and down game, just like college basketball should be played. Notre Dame showed how they can beat any team and lose to any team. Certainly with a 7-player rotation, overtime games put them at a disadvantage.

Louisville fans may be pointing out that they actually won the game at the end of regulation, but they probably liked the end-result better, with a solid performance in overtime against the tired Domers.

Louisville is loaded with talent, they have three game-changing players, but Earl Clark needs to improve a lot on decision making and shot-selection, and Samardo Samuels needs to watch A LOT of Elton Brand video before even thinking of leaving college before 2012.

Talent is not enough however, and Pitino needs to continue blending and mending them as a team.

Notre Dame on the other hand has the winning formula - they can beat teams by scoring fewer field goals because they are raining three. So that can keep them in many games they shouldn't be in. But the 7-man rotation may be a limiting factor for a March run, and the Fighting Seven may get worn out before the Big East conference season is over.

The way things are, it may be harder to win the Big East than win the National Championship!

North Carolina at Wake Forest recap

While not topping the January 2005 game (Chris Paul vs Raymond Felton in three overtimes), this was a "game of the year nominee" in our opinion. In the grand scheme of things, the outcome may have been favorable for both teams.

Wake Forest gets the big bright spotlight win that now matches their record. North Carolina was able to stay in the game despite horrible performance shooting wise and with some of their stars being invisible/erased by the defense.

Two losses in a row will "open the ears" of the UNC stars to more "coaching" and at the same time lower expectations for the season and post-season.

Wake Forest on the other hand shows that they are indeed for real, this is no Clemson who crumbles the moment they play a Sweet16-capable team. They certainly have a versatile rotation with players they can mix and match depending on the situation.

The unassuming Dino Gaudio has done a great job in carrying on the tradition of the beloved Skip Prosser, and the future looks bright for the Deacons.

The absence of Ginyard and the injury of Zeller actually had an impact on this game, as UNC badly needed a fourth big body when Wake was playing big, and they needed someone taller/longer to harass Jeff Teague who made a lot of future-money today. Ironically adding Ishmael Smith to the line-up allowed UNC to put a taller player on Teague than Lawson, but by the time they figured that out it was too late.

Lawson was once again "exposed" as an NBA prospect and so was Hansbro when facing the trees, although Hansbrough is not likely going to be facing triple-teams in the NBA. The Wake Forest trees simply blocked him and shut off his water.

Danny Green has once again shown why he is the MVP of this team, while from the Wake Forest side, LD Williams is a very versatile player who (because of his size/width) can create mismatch against smaller/bigger players.

But obviously the star of the game, the star with a capital S was ...Jeff Teague!

Kentucky at Louisville recap

Unfortunately we are not able to watch as many games this season as we usually do, but of the games we have seen so far, this is one of the "game of the year" nominees. The Kentucky Wildcats refused to go away, and the PitinoVille team failed to lose the game ;-) Literally!

Billy "Clyde" Gillispie could have used Acie Law (or a clone of him) right about now! Patrick Patterson showed why he was a highly ranked player and Perry Stevenson showed why every team needs a player a like him. But ultimately you have to take care of the ball and put the ball in the basket, and without a true point guard, it's not easy.

Pitino managed to squeak by with a victory in this rivarly, which is also a personal rivalry as Gillispie's A&M beat Pitino at Rupp Arena in the NCAA tourney before Gillispie became the next Kentucky head coach.

This is year #8 of the Pitino era at Louisville, but it's certainly nowhere near as close to his year #8 at Kentucky. Things come and go in circles, perhaps Pitino will find himself getting ...Denny Crum'ed!

But with the boatloads of raw talent, can a solid point guard or play maker emerge and make the team click? If yes, Louisville can reach its potential. If not, it will be a loooooooong season with lots of transfers in the spring :)

And of course the spotlight once again falls on Edgar Sosa who showed signs of recovery, at times playing like Sebastian Sosa, at other times he looked like off-court-Telfair Sosa ;-)

Battle of Seattle Recap: UConn beats GoneZaga!

I finally got around to watching the Battle of Seattle, a great overtime game, where UConn managed to comeback and out-onion the Zags and get a great road victory and "re-discover" themselves at the same time.

This is not your Ammo's Zags though. They can play defense. Really. They do! Look at the numbers! Their defensive field goal percentage is under 40%. Yes, we are talking about the Zags! The type of raw athletic talent and potential of the Zags roster is really equivalent to what you can find in most of the upper-echelon "BCS" teams. Infact a number of them would LOVE to have as good of a raw talent level as the Zags.

And that poses an interesting question, because with this type of talent and style of play, Mark Few has shown that he can both recruit and coach at just about any college program in the country. Is he perhaps, perhaps, auditioning for the Arizona job? Because his team looks like some of the best Arizona teams of the past!

On the other side of the aisle, after two years of troubles and headaches, the talented collection of UConn Huskies are starting to gel together and grow and mature. No more "laptops" and coaches-gone-wild. They certainly have the Hall of Famer coach who is still sharp as a tack, and they have a game-changer inside in Hasheem "shot-blocking" Thabeet - when the zebras are not picking on him - (see my post on what rules must change) - they have Slice-n-Dice Dyson, and a whole lot more!

Barring any surprises or injuries, it would be a major shocker if both of these teams did not make the second weekend in March. How far can they go from there is the big question. They both certainly have a high ceiling!

Memphis at Georgetown recap

This was a great start of the season for CBS, with enough defensive and offensive stretches to keep fans of both happy, an overtime and tons of lead changes to keep fans of drama happy, lots of skill-moves, inside-play and such. Only ones disappointed are shooting-fans as the threes were definitely in a ...recession.

Both teams showed that if they develop according to their talent, and the stars align, they could squeak their way to the Final Four! Both teams could easily make it to the second weekend for sure!

But they both have lots of challenges first. Memphis may have again a super-frosh, but this is a different type of freshman. As Derrick Rose improved, so did the Tigers team. On the other hand, with Tyreke Evans, it may be the other way round, the Tigers team has to improve and lift Tyreke Evans. As we saw in this game, he hasn't met a shot he didn't like, and he hasn't met a bad decision he didn't like either.

Don't cry for the Tigers though, they are just now integrating Simpkins, and they could have a "traditional" guard if CJ Henry recovers and is able to catch up with the rest of the team.

Georgetown of course has the super-frosh, Greg Monroe (thank you Greg for not going to Duke!) But it's not just the Greg Monroe show. For a college team, Georgetown's backcourt trio is quite solid, with the short quick guard in Chris Wright and the two versatile power-guards in Freeman and Sapp. Considering their style of play, this may be the best backcourt trio for the team they play for!

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).

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.

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.

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!".

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 :)

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.

Georgetown at Memphis

Wow! That was a nice game! And how can you watch another game today after that game? It's like having a dollar store wine after you had a $500 bottle wine! Wowie!

With Dorsey and Hibbert in foul trouble in the first half, the game was faster than most people thought it would be with both teams scoring 40+. Nice! A sea-saw battle with Georgetown taking the reigns early and the Tigers breaking free late in the first half.

Rosie O'Derrick once again started the game showcasing his perimeter offense. Perhaps the USC triangle-and-two straightjacket was what got his perimeter game rebooted. And the Tigers are now grateful for that. Georgetown played like Georgetown for the most part, but at times in the half the crowd and the relentless Memphis pressure managed to get to them. But earlier in the game they were able to punish the Tigers with run-outs and beating them at their own game.

The second half showed more side-effects of the pressure and the crowd on the Hoyas, and perhaps the most telling of all was a wild three pointer from almost half court by promising freshman Chris Wright. As you may recall Chris Wright got injured in the preseason and he was supposed to miss this season altogether - at least that's what we were told during the preseason. But obviously he didn't!

Hibbert probably lost money in this game, and while Big John (John Thompson the old Hoyas coach) was calling him "Big Stiff" in an affectionate-motivational kind of way, I am more inclined to call him Mecha-Hibbert. He is more mechanical than stiff. But he can certainly be effective in the NBA with his size and passing skills. Just don't expect him to be a Shaq or a Tim Duncan, but do expect a NBA team with Hibbert in its rotation to do well in wins and losses and have NBA playoff runs. All in my opinion of course.

Calipari was wild during the game, and I'm not talking about the technical foul. He used a 12-man rotation in the first half, and a 6-man rotation in the second half. Wow! But that may have been a blessing in disguise as the first half foul trouble on Dozier and Dorsey kept them fresh and ready for the second half. The second half was where CDR woke up and started scoring, and his performance prompted Calipari to take him out of the game at the end, so the crowd would give him some deserved props.

And it was the six starters that won the game for Memphis, and after their very solid performance in the second half, perhaps we may see more tightening of the rotation during close or big games by Calipari.

We even saw space-eaters Hashim Bailey and Pierre Niles for a few minutes in the first half. Well okay, that was Pierre Niles. Hashim Bailey made a mini-brief guest appearance when someone busted Pierre Niles's nose.

This was a good game for Georgetown as it showed them that they are not invincible and showed some areas where they need to work and improve. Obviously if this was an NCAA game it would have probably been played at a neutral court, and without the crowd's influence we may have had a different outcome.

Nevertheless it showed that their freshmen are freshmen (Chris Wright in particular), but Georgetown has a very solid and versatile rotation that can punish and grind teams but also beat them at their own game. Can they do that for 40 minutes? That may be what decides how far Georgetown goes this season. Despite their second half performance, this game has improved the value of Georgetown's basketball stock in my eyes.

This four-game series has the additional benefit that Georgetown and Memphis will likely avoid each other until either the Final Four or the Championship game. The NCAA selection committee and its computers prefer not to have re-runs during the tourney, but don't be surprised if this game ends up being played again in April under much brighter lights!

This was obviously a solid game of the year nominee and if you have it on DVR, be sure to save it on VHS or DVD if you are a basketball junkie! It was awesoem with capital A! It would have been even nicer if the score was closer and more like the first half, but we can't expect perfection :)


Opinions on the game around the internet
Now let's see what other websites and blogs are saying out this game, starting with College Hoops Journal who thinks that Memphis may be cutting down the nets in April. FanIQ has a live thread, while Hoopskills thinks this was the game of the year.

Hoya Hoops has the boxscore of the game, while the Examiner recaps the game. Fox Sports has a recap as well. More on this at Yet another basketball blog (that's the name of the blog, not an editorial comment by the way).

The Big Lead sings the praises of Jay Bilas in taking over for Dookie Vitale, and I would like to strongly agree with that. Infact this game was much more fun to watch without Vitale screaming and yelling at the wrong point in the game, or engaged in tireless self-promotion, and the like. But as you may have noticed, Bilas was trying to "spice it up" a bit by closing the TV timeout breaks with something "loud", including the obligatory "Rafterism".

CSTV's Hang Time says CDR gives CPR, while WMCTV covers the game as well. Sports from Two Burns thins Georgetown falls short.

And if you missed our preview of the game, be sure to take a look.

And before we go, a reminder: Check the college basketball TV schedule of December 2007 be sure to visit and bookmark this blog!

Pitt vs Duke

Move over over-rated Pitt big men (yes, you Aaron Gray and Levon Kendall), here comes a really effective big man, the new Big Baby, DeJuan Blair, or DJ Blair. And he sure was mixing it up on the court last night, getting close to a 20-20 in points and rebounds. And a big thank you to DJ Blair for being instrumental in defeating the Dookies! Thank you DJ Blair!

As I had predicted in my game preview earlier (master of the obvious prediction), Duke "won the zebra game", as they got the majority of the calls, but perhaps not as many as they usually do. But that did not phase the Pitt Panthers who made a comeback after they got punched in the mouth by the Dookies.

The game was supposed to be a high scoring affair because both teams are allegedly playing fast this season, but instead it was a high-stakes wrestling match, interrupted by basketball moments. Mike Cook can attest to that as he had what looked like a serious knee injury.

LaVance Fields won the game in overtime with a step-back three in the face of the Dookies, and that couldn't make fans of Pitt and anti-fans of Duke any happier! Thank you LaVance Fields!

More on this game from Pitt Blather, Pitt Rivals, CSTV's Slogville (CSTV uses the term "slogs" to describe "sports blogs").

Even more coverage by 850 the Buzz (a blog that uses a radio format?), the News Leader, Pitt Live, College Hoops Journal, and Sportsocracy.

Be sure to plan your weekend of college hoops using our December TV Guide!

Speaking of TV, the game was called by Jay Bilas, standing in for Dick Vitale. It looks like Bilas will also do the Georgetown at Memphis game as well. More on this in the random college hoops thoughts post.

Vandy at DePaul

The first half can be summarized with this: "Coach, it Burns!". DePaul looked very impressive in the first half while Vandy looked like it got frozen by the ice storms. DePaul could do no wrong and their players looked like stars in the making.

The situation continued in the second half with DePaul building an 18 point lead, but then things started reversing, with Vandy slowly but steadily chipping away at the score and sending the game to overtime where they grabbed the W by the horns - as it is often the case when a team loses a big lead and the game heads to overtime. Good old Mo(mentum).

Jerry Wainwright has a lot more to worry than messing up his hair during the half-time report ;-) What was a microcosm perhaps of DePaul in the last few years was how they played in the last two minutes of regulation and allowed Vandy to send the game to overtime: They played as if it was an AAU game Taking a shot just 5 seconds into the possession, silly foul on defense, not concentrating at the foul line, woofing at each other instead of getting things done, not understanding the game situation (fouls, score, time remaining, etc). Wainwright has his work cut out for him.

Having said all that though this was my first full game look at DePaul and they have shown a lot of promise and potential. It looks like they are going to be like last year's team, all over the place, and the new CBI may in the end be what allows them some post-season play.

The game itself was "turnovery" at times, but unlike the Cincy at Xavier game, it was fast and entertaining, the way basketball should be played. Are you reading this basketball coaches? *cough* Ben Howland, Salukis, etc *cough* Infact we are making it a game of the year nominee. (We are very generous with the nominations).

This was also the first full Vandy game I watched. Needless to say the first half was not good, but it doesn't look like it was representative of their performance YTD. The second half was more like it, and their experience and basketball savvy showed late in the second when Vandy players made basketball plays while DePaul players made AAU plays. And that was the difference. Some of the Princeton fundamentals came in handy late in the game as well.

More on this game at VU Commodores, Vanderbilt Sports Online, BallHype, and RUWT?, and AOL Sports Fanhouse

Cal at Kansas State

In yet another unofficial Big 12 Pac 10 Hardwood Series Challenge Invitational, the Cal Bears and Kansas State squared off in the snow. The real Billy Walker that was a top 10 2007 recruit when he was in high school showed up with a career high in points and rebounds putting 30 points on the Cal Bears and being very solid at the free throw line. This despite Cal "containing" Beasley to a 19/10 or so game.

Frank Martin reshuffled his line-up and it paid off. The starting gig got Billy Walker fired up, and Clent Stewart returned as he continues to recover from his injury. Also in the line-up he inserted high-energy Merriewether (sp?). If Billy Walker plays at a 20/10 game level, and one of the wings is able to hit three, watch out Big 12!

Cal started each half with spectacular blocks on Beasley from DeVon Hardin. But Hardin got two early foul troubles that essentially removed him from the game. Ben Braun needs to trade two of his one hundred forwards/centers for two guards because he only has two guards and one walk-on. How can a team with so many big men not be able to recruit guards? Hello Ben Braun? And on top of that, Jamal Boykin will become eligible at the end of the semester, giving them anotere versatile team player in the rotation.

Cal looked a lot better than I expected given that DeVon Hardin was taken out of the flow of the game, and Boykin is not there yet. The biggest question mark for Cal is the little guys, Randle is too tiny, Knezevic may be a bit too mid-majorish, and those are the two starting guards at the moment. But Anderson and Vierneisel (sp?) are good ball handlers which can help the situation.

More on this game at GoPowerCat.com, video highlights from Fox Sports, a recap from Pac-10.org, Merc News, and Cal Rivals.