It's a cold Friday morning here in Bellmore, NY. I have survived the Microsoft Outlook Cutover at work, though there is much more work to do. With the Mrs. off on Fridays and no need to be at work at 8:00 am, I felt the need to promote a tournament I went to last year.
If you get a chance, go to the 2nd Annual Charleston Classic, Thursday November 19 - November 22. TWELVE games over FOUR days. We were there last year for two days (it was a three day tournament last year) and I wrote two articles on it. Here's the first and this is the second. Charleston is a really wonderful city. Old southern charm, great southern architecture and lots of fun things to do. Plus it's warm!!! (temperatures were in the high 70's when we were there last year)
Best yet is the Carolina First Arena on the campus of Charleston. It's right smack in the middle of campus, which happens to be right smack in the middle of downtown South Carolina. It seats 5,000 and was very nicely done. Hopefully they fixed the roof drainage issues from last year (read my second article).
Last year I got to see three NCAA teams play in the tournament; Clemson (who won the tournament), Temple and East Tennessee State. I also got to see why the College of Charleston and their 27 win team beat Davidson twice last season. This year the teams playing are South Carolina, 2009 NIT champion Penn State, University of Miami, Davidson, South Florida, LaSalle, Tulane and UNC Wilmington.
Some really solid teams playing in this tournament. Now this is my only beef. What's missing here? That's right, the College of Charleston is not playing in the Charleston Classic, yet archrival Davidson is. Charleston will be in Hawaii playing in the inaugural Diamond Head Classic during that time. Yeah, Hawaii in November, I can see that.
But if you can't afford to go to Hawaii to see the Cougars play, take the trip to Charleston. I would have gone again this year but alas Kansas awaits me next Friday (and I am only allowed one road trip in November). The hotels are relatively inexpensive, there is good live music there and make sure to eat at Hyman's seafood if you go! Plus twelve games in four days!! Do the Charleston!
Friday, November 6, 2009
Monday, November 2, 2009
A Must Read
Kyle Whelliston is one of my favorite writers. Not just on college basketball, but in general. I always look forward to a new posting on the Mid Majority. I didn't get a chance to read his sixth season starting article which came online yesterday, but I read it today.
All I can say is....Wow. This might be his best article yet. If you are looking for college basketball insight, this is not the article. But if you want read about the story of one man's journey of the past year of his thoughts, his look on life and the possible end of his college basketball writing career, this is an article for you. It's a very revealing, honest look into a person's soul. And it is written so, so well.
I have had the honor of communicating with Kyle the past couple of years via e-mail and I consider him a friend. For those of you familiar with the Mid Majority, Bally is the Official mascot of the Mid Majority. And I purchased two Ballys in the Spring. The picture of the two Ballys with my sons Matthew and Jonathan while playing their favorite hoops games is on the side of the home page of this site. It's one of my favorite pictures of them and it always reminds me of Kyle and the Mid Majority.
If you are a fan of my site, I ask you one favor. Go to the Mid Majority site and read the November 1st article entitled "Prologue: Everything's Different Now".
As I wrote this, my older son Matthew came in asking a question. After he did, he noticed one of his small counter top basketball hoops and started singing "Basketball, Basketball" and took the hoop away looking for a ball to play. I kid you not.
Kyle, that one was for you. Here's to another great season of the Mid Majority!
PS - I already see Kyle has written a new article today called "The ESPN Years". Can't wait to read it!
All I can say is....Wow. This might be his best article yet. If you are looking for college basketball insight, this is not the article. But if you want read about the story of one man's journey of the past year of his thoughts, his look on life and the possible end of his college basketball writing career, this is an article for you. It's a very revealing, honest look into a person's soul. And it is written so, so well.
I have had the honor of communicating with Kyle the past couple of years via e-mail and I consider him a friend. For those of you familiar with the Mid Majority, Bally is the Official mascot of the Mid Majority. And I purchased two Ballys in the Spring. The picture of the two Ballys with my sons Matthew and Jonathan while playing their favorite hoops games is on the side of the home page of this site. It's one of my favorite pictures of them and it always reminds me of Kyle and the Mid Majority.
If you are a fan of my site, I ask you one favor. Go to the Mid Majority site and read the November 1st article entitled "Prologue: Everything's Different Now".
As I wrote this, my older son Matthew came in asking a question. After he did, he noticed one of his small counter top basketball hoops and started singing "Basketball, Basketball" and took the hoop away looking for a ball to play. I kid you not.
Kyle, that one was for you. Here's to another great season of the Mid Majority!
PS - I already see Kyle has written a new article today called "The ESPN Years". Can't wait to read it!
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Hofstra Blue White Scrimmage
So I attended the annual Hofstra Men's Basketball Blue-White Scrimmage yesterday. It was my first look at the 2009-10 team which featured Hofstra's several new additions to the team. Only five players are returning from the 2008-09 team which finished fifth in the CAA and lost to Old Dominion by one in the CAA quarterfinals.
However, those five returning players were all starters at one time or another from last season. This includes junior Charles Jenkins, a First Team All CAA selection last season. Also returning are juniors Greg Washington and Nathaniel Lester and seniors Miklos Szabo and Cornelius Vines. The newcomers are juco transfer Brad Kelleher, a native Australian, and freshmen Chaz Williams, David Imes, Yves Jules, Halil Kanacevic and walk on Matt Grogan. The Pride also have another freshman, forward Paul Bilbo, who looks like he will be redshirted, and junior transfer Mike Moore. Moore, who transferred from basketball purgatory, Fordham, will have to sit out a season.
It's incredibly hard to tell from a scrimmage how good a team is but I did see a few things that I will point out.
First the returning players
Charles Jenkins - Jenkins, the 2008-09 Haggerty Award winner, is one of the best mid major college basketball players around. He didn't do too much in the scrimmage offensive wise. But what I did notice is that several times he pulled some of the freshman aside giving advice on plays they did wrong. Based on this, he seems to be taking more of a leadership role, which can only help when you have six newcomers. If he can be more consistent with an outside jumper, Jenkins will be devastating this season.
Greg Washington - For a 6 foot 10 inch forward, Washington can move down the court. On the positive side, he seemed more aggressive taking the ball to the hoop than last season. He also seems to be in midseason form with that nice 15 foot jumper. On the negative side, he still made some silly fouls that he cannot afford to make, especially this season (more on that later). He is still thin, though he seems to have added a little muscle.
Miklos Szabo - Szabo was out a significant amount of time last season with a foot injury. That seems to have hampered his development. He is prone to foul trouble and yesterday was no different. He played very well in the first half of the scrimmage, was aggressive and even showed his three point shooting touch. However, he was called for several offensive fouls for hooking the defender. Szabo also downright disappeared in the second half after that good first half. Szabo is by far the biggest in size on the Pride and he will be sorely needed this season.
Nathaniel Lester - Hofstra fans have been waiting for him to bust out. He was a highly touted freshman and has shown at times the promise he had coming in from Canarsie High School in 2007. However, he has not been consistent. Lester has a new short haircut and looked aggressive at times during the scrimmage. His outside jumper still is erratic for someone who is supposed to be able to bury the three. The Pride needs the junior to be the consistent second scorer on the team.
Cornelius Vines - The Pride's second leading scorer last season also has a new short haircut and is aggressive as he was last year. He is not afraid to shoot the three but he is still not consistent with it. The question is will he or Lester be the second starting scoring guard for the Pride. Chances are he will be the first player off the bench. The Pride will need his scoring.
Now the new players
Chaz Williams - He is everything as advertised. Fast, exciting and small. He is not 5 foot 9. He is more like 5 foot 7. But he is extremely quick and yet he seems to make good decisions with the ball. He made one pretty behind the back pass to Jenkins. And he is not afraid to drive to the basket. In fact, he showed his hops by dunking. The jury is still out on whether he can shoot an outside jumper consistently. He didn't shoot the ball much from the outside but he buried one long jumper. If he can run the point effectively, unlike Greg Johnson last season, the Pride offense will be better than last season.
Brad Kelleher - The Australian looks to be a find for the Pride. He runs the point very effectively and he buried three 3 pointers during the scrimmage. The juco transfer from Midland College in Texas is very polished and a vocal leader. I really really was impressed with Kelleher yesterday. Next to Williams, he was the best newcomer on the floor yesterday. He will be one of the first guys off the bench for the Pride.
David Imes - The freshman from Winchendon Prep is athletic and works hard under the boards. He didn't show much offensive skill nor an outside shot. Will he develop into a legitimate four, a scoring wing player? Not sure. Kind of reminds me of the recently graduated Darren Townes. He will need to provide minutes off the bench because the Pride are short on big men (especially if Bilbo is redshirted).
Yves Jules - Jules along with Imes were highly touted prospects for the Pride that were both sent to Winchendon Prep last season to get their grades in line to be able to enter Hofstra this season. Jules was a teammate of Lester's at Canarsie. Like Imes he didn't show much offense nor an outside shot. But he has hops and is very fast, perhaps as fast as Williams. He is also not afraid to go inside and battle for rebounds. Jules is another very fast guard to bring off the bench for the Pride.
Halil Kanacevic - The 6 foot 8 forward from Staten Island seems to have added some muscle to his frame. At the start, he looks to be the backup center/power forward to Szabo. He struggled defensively during the scrimmage causing several fouls. But he has some post moves, is aggressive and kind of reminds me of former Pride player Auremius Kieza. Kanacevic supposedly is capable of shooting a three like Kieza but he didn't feature that during the scrimmage. He is a work in progress but has some potential.
David Grogan – The walk on is probably the last player off the bench. But unlike the usual last player off the bench for the Pride, he actually has some size (6 foot 5). And he can actually shoot the three (he hit a couple of three pointers). Don’t expect him to play much, but the Pride have had worse players in this spot (who were actually scholarship players).
Overall, the Pride are much more athletic than last season. Jules and Williams are quick. Hiccup quick. Outside of Szabo, the other big men are more agile than last season’s group. However, they will need to be agile because outside of Szabo, they are not very big. Nor is there a lot of depth overall, especially in the frontcourt. The Pride only dressed eleven players and only four are considered big men; Szabo, Washington, Imes and Kanacevic. Lester can and has played the four at six foot five, so you may see more of that.
Based on what I saw, I expect the Pride to play more of an up tempo game. Last season, Hofstra struggled to score points, finishing in the lower third in scoring in the CAA. This was due to a plodding offense with not much movement, which often looked to Charles Jenkins for scoring.
So with a smaller, more agile team, it may be in their best interest to run and gun more. Don’t be surprised if you see a lot of four guard sets with Lester playing the four and Washington as the five. That could be a very interesting group to watch. However, Hofstra may struggle against teams with size like Old Dominion and Drexel.
The lineup looks to be right now Chaz Williams at point, Jenkins (obviously) and Lester as the other two guards with Washington and Szabo up front. This is subject to change. I wouldn’t be surprised if Hofstra coach Tom Pecora will start different lineups against more athletic teams like VCU and James Madison to take advantage of his more athletic team.
The next chance I will get to see Hofstra play will be their first game of the season against Kansas in Lawrence on November 13. Like this scrimmage, a road game against the # 1 ranked team in the country will not be the most accurate judge of how this Hofstra team will be this season. But it certainly will be a baptism by fire for the newcomers. Welcome to Division I college basketball boys!
However, those five returning players were all starters at one time or another from last season. This includes junior Charles Jenkins, a First Team All CAA selection last season. Also returning are juniors Greg Washington and Nathaniel Lester and seniors Miklos Szabo and Cornelius Vines. The newcomers are juco transfer Brad Kelleher, a native Australian, and freshmen Chaz Williams, David Imes, Yves Jules, Halil Kanacevic and walk on Matt Grogan. The Pride also have another freshman, forward Paul Bilbo, who looks like he will be redshirted, and junior transfer Mike Moore. Moore, who transferred from basketball purgatory, Fordham, will have to sit out a season.
It's incredibly hard to tell from a scrimmage how good a team is but I did see a few things that I will point out.
First the returning players
Charles Jenkins - Jenkins, the 2008-09 Haggerty Award winner, is one of the best mid major college basketball players around. He didn't do too much in the scrimmage offensive wise. But what I did notice is that several times he pulled some of the freshman aside giving advice on plays they did wrong. Based on this, he seems to be taking more of a leadership role, which can only help when you have six newcomers. If he can be more consistent with an outside jumper, Jenkins will be devastating this season.
Greg Washington - For a 6 foot 10 inch forward, Washington can move down the court. On the positive side, he seemed more aggressive taking the ball to the hoop than last season. He also seems to be in midseason form with that nice 15 foot jumper. On the negative side, he still made some silly fouls that he cannot afford to make, especially this season (more on that later). He is still thin, though he seems to have added a little muscle.
Miklos Szabo - Szabo was out a significant amount of time last season with a foot injury. That seems to have hampered his development. He is prone to foul trouble and yesterday was no different. He played very well in the first half of the scrimmage, was aggressive and even showed his three point shooting touch. However, he was called for several offensive fouls for hooking the defender. Szabo also downright disappeared in the second half after that good first half. Szabo is by far the biggest in size on the Pride and he will be sorely needed this season.
Nathaniel Lester - Hofstra fans have been waiting for him to bust out. He was a highly touted freshman and has shown at times the promise he had coming in from Canarsie High School in 2007. However, he has not been consistent. Lester has a new short haircut and looked aggressive at times during the scrimmage. His outside jumper still is erratic for someone who is supposed to be able to bury the three. The Pride needs the junior to be the consistent second scorer on the team.
Cornelius Vines - The Pride's second leading scorer last season also has a new short haircut and is aggressive as he was last year. He is not afraid to shoot the three but he is still not consistent with it. The question is will he or Lester be the second starting scoring guard for the Pride. Chances are he will be the first player off the bench. The Pride will need his scoring.
Now the new players
Chaz Williams - He is everything as advertised. Fast, exciting and small. He is not 5 foot 9. He is more like 5 foot 7. But he is extremely quick and yet he seems to make good decisions with the ball. He made one pretty behind the back pass to Jenkins. And he is not afraid to drive to the basket. In fact, he showed his hops by dunking. The jury is still out on whether he can shoot an outside jumper consistently. He didn't shoot the ball much from the outside but he buried one long jumper. If he can run the point effectively, unlike Greg Johnson last season, the Pride offense will be better than last season.
Brad Kelleher - The Australian looks to be a find for the Pride. He runs the point very effectively and he buried three 3 pointers during the scrimmage. The juco transfer from Midland College in Texas is very polished and a vocal leader. I really really was impressed with Kelleher yesterday. Next to Williams, he was the best newcomer on the floor yesterday. He will be one of the first guys off the bench for the Pride.
David Imes - The freshman from Winchendon Prep is athletic and works hard under the boards. He didn't show much offensive skill nor an outside shot. Will he develop into a legitimate four, a scoring wing player? Not sure. Kind of reminds me of the recently graduated Darren Townes. He will need to provide minutes off the bench because the Pride are short on big men (especially if Bilbo is redshirted).
Yves Jules - Jules along with Imes were highly touted prospects for the Pride that were both sent to Winchendon Prep last season to get their grades in line to be able to enter Hofstra this season. Jules was a teammate of Lester's at Canarsie. Like Imes he didn't show much offense nor an outside shot. But he has hops and is very fast, perhaps as fast as Williams. He is also not afraid to go inside and battle for rebounds. Jules is another very fast guard to bring off the bench for the Pride.
Halil Kanacevic - The 6 foot 8 forward from Staten Island seems to have added some muscle to his frame. At the start, he looks to be the backup center/power forward to Szabo. He struggled defensively during the scrimmage causing several fouls. But he has some post moves, is aggressive and kind of reminds me of former Pride player Auremius Kieza. Kanacevic supposedly is capable of shooting a three like Kieza but he didn't feature that during the scrimmage. He is a work in progress but has some potential.
David Grogan – The walk on is probably the last player off the bench. But unlike the usual last player off the bench for the Pride, he actually has some size (6 foot 5). And he can actually shoot the three (he hit a couple of three pointers). Don’t expect him to play much, but the Pride have had worse players in this spot (who were actually scholarship players).
Overall, the Pride are much more athletic than last season. Jules and Williams are quick. Hiccup quick. Outside of Szabo, the other big men are more agile than last season’s group. However, they will need to be agile because outside of Szabo, they are not very big. Nor is there a lot of depth overall, especially in the frontcourt. The Pride only dressed eleven players and only four are considered big men; Szabo, Washington, Imes and Kanacevic. Lester can and has played the four at six foot five, so you may see more of that.
Based on what I saw, I expect the Pride to play more of an up tempo game. Last season, Hofstra struggled to score points, finishing in the lower third in scoring in the CAA. This was due to a plodding offense with not much movement, which often looked to Charles Jenkins for scoring.
So with a smaller, more agile team, it may be in their best interest to run and gun more. Don’t be surprised if you see a lot of four guard sets with Lester playing the four and Washington as the five. That could be a very interesting group to watch. However, Hofstra may struggle against teams with size like Old Dominion and Drexel.
The lineup looks to be right now Chaz Williams at point, Jenkins (obviously) and Lester as the other two guards with Washington and Szabo up front. This is subject to change. I wouldn’t be surprised if Hofstra coach Tom Pecora will start different lineups against more athletic teams like VCU and James Madison to take advantage of his more athletic team.
The next chance I will get to see Hofstra play will be their first game of the season against Kansas in Lawrence on November 13. Like this scrimmage, a road game against the # 1 ranked team in the country will not be the most accurate judge of how this Hofstra team will be this season. But it certainly will be a baptism by fire for the newcomers. Welcome to Division I college basketball boys!
Friday, October 23, 2009
Litos Always Has the Scoops
You'll first notice that I added a couple of new sites on the left hand side. First, is Michael Litos' always terrific coverage of the CAA at CAA Hoops. Second, I have been meaning to add the often witty Defiantly Dutch site link of Jerry Beach to our site and I finally got around to doing that.
First, check out Beach's posting on CAA Predictions. Then check out Litos' site for the Coaches Poll and CAA television coverage. Nice to see the Charleston Classic is back. It's kind of funny seeing where the coaches think everyone is going to finish. I am going to give away a little bit of my CAA preview here. I think they have VCU too high and James Madison too low. Everything else seems almost right (I also think Hofstra is a little too low and ODU a little too high - more on that in my CAA preview).
But three weeks from today, at this time I will be on a flight to Kansas City, eventually heading to Lawrence, Kansas. Preseason Number One Kansas vs. Number One in My Heart Hofstra (hey, you have to be true to your school). CAN NOT WAIT!
First, check out Beach's posting on CAA Predictions. Then check out Litos' site for the Coaches Poll and CAA television coverage. Nice to see the Charleston Classic is back. It's kind of funny seeing where the coaches think everyone is going to finish. I am going to give away a little bit of my CAA preview here. I think they have VCU too high and James Madison too low. Everything else seems almost right (I also think Hofstra is a little too low and ODU a little too high - more on that in my CAA preview).
But three weeks from today, at this time I will be on a flight to Kansas City, eventually heading to Lawrence, Kansas. Preseason Number One Kansas vs. Number One in My Heart Hofstra (hey, you have to be true to your school). CAN NOT WAIT!
Thursday, October 22, 2009
What Goes Around Comes Around for Binghamton
Earlier this year on my blog, I noted a couple of articles about the shady doings at Binghamton, including Kyle Whelliston's commentary about "the hired guns" that Binghamton brought in. The New York Times article from February is a much more scathing account of what coach Kevin Broadus, with university blessing, did as far as recruit players with checkered backgrounds. Broadus' fellow America East coaches were so sickened by Binghamton's questionable tactics that they unanimously voted as a block for Marcus Blakely for America East Player of the Year over many considered the best player in the America East, the Bearcats' D.J. Rivera. Rivera, the Bearcats leading scorer, averaged 20 points per game for Binghamton last season.
Well, you reap what you sow and it's come back at Binghamton in spades. First, guard Emanuel Mayben, the Bearcats third leading scorer and assist leader, was arrested on possession and attempted distribution of cocaine. Mayben was immediately dismissed from the team. Then after Binghamton University President Lois DeFleur noted in a prepared statement that "This behavior does not reflect the quality of our program and the hundreds of student athletes at Binghamton University," five other Binghamton players, including Rivera and Malik Allen, the team's fourth leading scorer, were dismissed from the team.
One of the other players dismissed was Rutgers' transfer Cory Chandler, who averaged 11.5 points as a freshman at Rutgers, but lost playing time during his sophomore year. Chandler ended up being dismissed from Rutgers due to a violation of athletic department policy. Now Chandler has been dismissed again from another athletic program.
Then the man who hired Kevin Broadus, Binghamton Athletic Director, Joel Thirer, resigned shortly after the dismissal of the six Binghamton players. In a press statement that announced Thirer's resignation, DeFleur stated that she has directed Broadus to provide her with a recruitment and supervision plan for the basketball team. She also said an external consultant also will audit the athletic program to make sure it complies with America East and NCAA policies and procedures.
Then, it was announced that the State University of New York would pursue an independent review of Binghamton's athletic program following the dismissals of the six basketball team members. The SUNY Chancellor. Nancy Zimpher, who as president at Cincinnati University was responsible for the dismissal of former basketball coach Bob Huggins, announced that an executive committee of the Board of Trustees would over see the audit. The audit will be led by retired New York Chief Judge Judith Kaye (who I have actually met when she has spoken in the past at Hofstra Law School).
However, the Bearcats men's basketball dam continued to spring leaks as it was then next reported by newly appointed Interim Athletic Director Jim Norris that Broadus violated NCAA rules with illegal contact of prospective recruits. This resulted in Binghamton suspending off campus recruiting for the men's basketball team. As Andy Katz reported, the violations were apparently due to Broadus speaking to two prep guards on the first day of the evaluation period, an absolute no-no in NCAA recruiting rules.
Finally, the Bearcats tried to plug the dam leaks by placing Broadus on an indefinite paid leave of absence. Norris named assistant coach Mark Macon (yes the former Temple guard) as interim head coach.
The amazing thing about this all was that all these events occurred in the span of less than one month. Once Mayben was arrested and dismissed, it was like knocking down a wall of dominoes with the Binghamton team. Basically, this is the risk you take by taking second and third chances with players. Katz' article notes a comment by Dennis Wolff, former head coach of Boston University questioning why would Broadus do this with an America East team stating "It's a mid-major league that gets one bid"
It's a good question, but I think I have a good answer. That answer lies simply in the first paragraph of that New York Times Article I mentioned above;
I remember being at the Binghamton Events Center back in November of 2004 when the Events Center in Vestal had just recently opened up. My friend Tony Terentieff and I saw Hofstra defeat Binghamton 76-63. This was a year before I started writing my blog. I remember noting to Tieff at the time that it was a really nice arena (minus the scoreboard which didn't have a large digital screen but had the old moving advertising screen boards instead). But I wondered also why was this arena built, considering it wasn't even half full that night. I mean Binghamton was never known for its athletics.
Well as the Times article notes, "The Bearcats finally have what DeFleur and Thirer have yearned for since ignoring a faculty senate vote and pushing the athletic program to Division I in 2001". It's really the vision that DeFleur, a former college basketball player, and the now former AD Thirer wanted. A Division I SUNY athletics school like Albany, Stony Brook and Buffalo. But they wanted a more - an NCAA Tournament team. And thus the deal with the devil, Broadus.
Here's the kicker. Outside of Albany's famed NCAA tournament game against UConn in 2006 and Buffalo's first winning Bowl season in college football this past season, these three schools really haven't been on the Division I athletic spotlight. Stony Brook is known for it's academics not it's athletics. And they are all either America East schools or in Buffalo's case, a member of the Mid American Conference. Chances are they never will truly be in the athletic spotlight, well in a positive sense. And there's nothing wrong with that.
However, by giving leeway to Broadus and his questionable recruiting tactics, Thirer and DeFleur have now put Binghamton in the national spotlight, of course in a negative way. For the past month, thanks to all these stories, Binghamton has been featured on ESPN's College Basketball home page. Binghamton now has its name along with Memphis as being the examples of "What Not to Do in College Basketball Recruiting".
Not exactly the spotlight DeFleur and Thirer were looking for eight years ago. But when they hired Broadus, that was the risk they took. They got the NCAA tournament glory and the filled to capacity $33 million arena they were looking for with the Binghamton Men's team (they sold out their America East Championship win vs UMBC). But the price they paid will set back their program and the University's name for years to come.
This will probably result in DeFleur's eventual resignation. She and Thirer allowed this to happen. The Times article clearly shows Broadus' recruited players that had shaky academic backgrounds and the questionable "diploma mill schools" from which Broadus recruited players.
I'll close by what Patrick Nero, the America East Commissioner stated about Binghamton in the Times article. He stated he had spoken with the Binghamton administration about Binghamton’s off-court issues and then said the following;
Nero couldn't have been more Nostradamus if he tried. Wonder how he feels now.
Well, you reap what you sow and it's come back at Binghamton in spades. First, guard Emanuel Mayben, the Bearcats third leading scorer and assist leader, was arrested on possession and attempted distribution of cocaine. Mayben was immediately dismissed from the team. Then after Binghamton University President Lois DeFleur noted in a prepared statement that "This behavior does not reflect the quality of our program and the hundreds of student athletes at Binghamton University," five other Binghamton players, including Rivera and Malik Allen, the team's fourth leading scorer, were dismissed from the team.
One of the other players dismissed was Rutgers' transfer Cory Chandler, who averaged 11.5 points as a freshman at Rutgers, but lost playing time during his sophomore year. Chandler ended up being dismissed from Rutgers due to a violation of athletic department policy. Now Chandler has been dismissed again from another athletic program.
Then the man who hired Kevin Broadus, Binghamton Athletic Director, Joel Thirer, resigned shortly after the dismissal of the six Binghamton players. In a press statement that announced Thirer's resignation, DeFleur stated that she has directed Broadus to provide her with a recruitment and supervision plan for the basketball team. She also said an external consultant also will audit the athletic program to make sure it complies with America East and NCAA policies and procedures.
Then, it was announced that the State University of New York would pursue an independent review of Binghamton's athletic program following the dismissals of the six basketball team members. The SUNY Chancellor. Nancy Zimpher, who as president at Cincinnati University was responsible for the dismissal of former basketball coach Bob Huggins, announced that an executive committee of the Board of Trustees would over see the audit. The audit will be led by retired New York Chief Judge Judith Kaye (who I have actually met when she has spoken in the past at Hofstra Law School).
However, the Bearcats men's basketball dam continued to spring leaks as it was then next reported by newly appointed Interim Athletic Director Jim Norris that Broadus violated NCAA rules with illegal contact of prospective recruits. This resulted in Binghamton suspending off campus recruiting for the men's basketball team. As Andy Katz reported, the violations were apparently due to Broadus speaking to two prep guards on the first day of the evaluation period, an absolute no-no in NCAA recruiting rules.
Finally, the Bearcats tried to plug the dam leaks by placing Broadus on an indefinite paid leave of absence. Norris named assistant coach Mark Macon (yes the former Temple guard) as interim head coach.
The amazing thing about this all was that all these events occurred in the span of less than one month. Once Mayben was arrested and dismissed, it was like knocking down a wall of dominoes with the Binghamton team. Basically, this is the risk you take by taking second and third chances with players. Katz' article notes a comment by Dennis Wolff, former head coach of Boston University questioning why would Broadus do this with an America East team stating "It's a mid-major league that gets one bid"
It's a good question, but I think I have a good answer. That answer lies simply in the first paragraph of that New York Times Article I mentioned above;
Sitting 10 rows up at midcourt, Binghamton University’s president, Lois B. DeFleur, and athletic director, Joel Thirer, can look around the $33 million campus events center and see their dream of Division I men’s basketball unfold.
I remember being at the Binghamton Events Center back in November of 2004 when the Events Center in Vestal had just recently opened up. My friend Tony Terentieff and I saw Hofstra defeat Binghamton 76-63. This was a year before I started writing my blog. I remember noting to Tieff at the time that it was a really nice arena (minus the scoreboard which didn't have a large digital screen but had the old moving advertising screen boards instead). But I wondered also why was this arena built, considering it wasn't even half full that night. I mean Binghamton was never known for its athletics.
Well as the Times article notes, "The Bearcats finally have what DeFleur and Thirer have yearned for since ignoring a faculty senate vote and pushing the athletic program to Division I in 2001". It's really the vision that DeFleur, a former college basketball player, and the now former AD Thirer wanted. A Division I SUNY athletics school like Albany, Stony Brook and Buffalo. But they wanted a more - an NCAA Tournament team. And thus the deal with the devil, Broadus.
Here's the kicker. Outside of Albany's famed NCAA tournament game against UConn in 2006 and Buffalo's first winning Bowl season in college football this past season, these three schools really haven't been on the Division I athletic spotlight. Stony Brook is known for it's academics not it's athletics. And they are all either America East schools or in Buffalo's case, a member of the Mid American Conference. Chances are they never will truly be in the athletic spotlight, well in a positive sense. And there's nothing wrong with that.
However, by giving leeway to Broadus and his questionable recruiting tactics, Thirer and DeFleur have now put Binghamton in the national spotlight, of course in a negative way. For the past month, thanks to all these stories, Binghamton has been featured on ESPN's College Basketball home page. Binghamton now has its name along with Memphis as being the examples of "What Not to Do in College Basketball Recruiting".
Not exactly the spotlight DeFleur and Thirer were looking for eight years ago. But when they hired Broadus, that was the risk they took. They got the NCAA tournament glory and the filled to capacity $33 million arena they were looking for with the Binghamton Men's team (they sold out their America East Championship win vs UMBC). But the price they paid will set back their program and the University's name for years to come.
This will probably result in DeFleur's eventual resignation. She and Thirer allowed this to happen. The Times article clearly shows Broadus' recruited players that had shaky academic backgrounds and the questionable "diploma mill schools" from which Broadus recruited players.
I'll close by what Patrick Nero, the America East Commissioner stated about Binghamton in the Times article. He stated he had spoken with the Binghamton administration about Binghamton’s off-court issues and then said the following;
“I don’t know how I’ll feel a year from now or six months from now. Certainly there have been signs there that made me concerned.”"
Nero couldn't have been more Nostradamus if he tried. Wonder how he feels now.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
The Hardwood is Back and Kansas is Booked!
Now that the Minnesota Twins won an epic extra inning game against the Detroit Tigers yesterday, that win marks the end of the MLB regular season. It also marks the beginning of our season, the college basketball season. I am sure you are saying, "What do you mean? College basketball doesn't start until the middle of next month!!"
Well, oh contrare, it is the start of the college basketball season for me. Yesterday I got a phone call from Daniel Solow, the Assistant Athletic Director at Hofstra. Daniel, a good guy who I have met several times, was calling me about my season tickets. See, Hofstra, like many other schools, does a re-seating of their basketball seats every few years and this was the year for the latest re-seating. This is based on various criteria, such as how many years you have been a season ticket holder, being a member of the Hofstra Pride Club, the University's alumni booster group, donations to the Pride Club etc etc. If you are wondering, I have had season tickets for the past eight years, and I am a member of the Pride Club (which means I have donated a decent amount of money to the University that I call home. :-)).
Well, the last time they had the re-seating a few years ago, I lost the seats I once had due to being lower on the above criteria. Those seats were lower level mid court on the same side as the team benches. I had witnessed many special games in those seats, especially the magical 2005-06 run Hofstra had that year.
So the evening that I went to get my new seats, Mark Cox, the former Hofstra assistant AD, who I know well, knew I wasn't happy. But all that changed. He brought me to the opposite of the court, Section 111, row D. He told me that he liked these seats even better than the ones I previously had.
He was so right. The seats were mid court, lower than my previous seats and actually have even helped in my blog posts. That's because the seats allow you get to see the coaches and the players on the other side, a view I didn't have when sitting on the other side. You get to see a lot of the emotion on the team benches and even get to see how the coaches are managing the game. And there is nothing better than watching the antics of Bruiser Flint during a Hofstra-Drexel game. Can't thank Mark Cox enough for those seats.
So when Daniel called yesterday, I knew he was calling about the re-seating. It was a very quick conversation. "So Gary, would you like to keep the same seats or move to another section". My reply, "I'll gladly keep the same seats". Daniel replied "I thought so." When my friends Mal and Tieff, my compadres in Hofstra basketball, heard the news, they were quite happy!
So thus, my college basketball season started on a great note. Daniel even had me call Maria Corvino, who I also know and is always pleasant to talk to on the Preseason NIT tickets at Storrs. Thanks Daniel!
But actually, my season started even sooner last week. This is when I booked my flight for Kansas City and my hotel for Lawrence Kansas on November 13. Yup, I am going to be at Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kansas for the start of the basketball season for both Kansas and Hofstra. My friend Grant Hayden, a KU alum, has already got mid-court seats. It should be a rocking good time. I already even have my headline for my blog posting the day after that game. :-)
Well, oh contrare, it is the start of the college basketball season for me. Yesterday I got a phone call from Daniel Solow, the Assistant Athletic Director at Hofstra. Daniel, a good guy who I have met several times, was calling me about my season tickets. See, Hofstra, like many other schools, does a re-seating of their basketball seats every few years and this was the year for the latest re-seating. This is based on various criteria, such as how many years you have been a season ticket holder, being a member of the Hofstra Pride Club, the University's alumni booster group, donations to the Pride Club etc etc. If you are wondering, I have had season tickets for the past eight years, and I am a member of the Pride Club (which means I have donated a decent amount of money to the University that I call home. :-)).
Well, the last time they had the re-seating a few years ago, I lost the seats I once had due to being lower on the above criteria. Those seats were lower level mid court on the same side as the team benches. I had witnessed many special games in those seats, especially the magical 2005-06 run Hofstra had that year.
So the evening that I went to get my new seats, Mark Cox, the former Hofstra assistant AD, who I know well, knew I wasn't happy. But all that changed. He brought me to the opposite of the court, Section 111, row D. He told me that he liked these seats even better than the ones I previously had.
He was so right. The seats were mid court, lower than my previous seats and actually have even helped in my blog posts. That's because the seats allow you get to see the coaches and the players on the other side, a view I didn't have when sitting on the other side. You get to see a lot of the emotion on the team benches and even get to see how the coaches are managing the game. And there is nothing better than watching the antics of Bruiser Flint during a Hofstra-Drexel game. Can't thank Mark Cox enough for those seats.
So when Daniel called yesterday, I knew he was calling about the re-seating. It was a very quick conversation. "So Gary, would you like to keep the same seats or move to another section". My reply, "I'll gladly keep the same seats". Daniel replied "I thought so." When my friends Mal and Tieff, my compadres in Hofstra basketball, heard the news, they were quite happy!
So thus, my college basketball season started on a great note. Daniel even had me call Maria Corvino, who I also know and is always pleasant to talk to on the Preseason NIT tickets at Storrs. Thanks Daniel!
But actually, my season started even sooner last week. This is when I booked my flight for Kansas City and my hotel for Lawrence Kansas on November 13. Yup, I am going to be at Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kansas for the start of the basketball season for both Kansas and Hofstra. My friend Grant Hayden, a KU alum, has already got mid-court seats. It should be a rocking good time. I already even have my headline for my blog posting the day after that game. :-)
Friday, June 26, 2009
Mid Majors and the NBA Draft, Plus Draft Musings
So, as I am warranted to do each year, I watched the NBA draft last night. Now this year's NBA draft was special in that four mid major players who I had seen a great deal of were going to be drafted for certain in this draft - Stephen Curry (Davidson), Austin Daye (Gonzaga), Eric Maynor (VCU) and Patty Mills (St Mary's). Where they were going was anybody's guess. But there was some drama and a surprise at the end of the second round.
But before I get into my draft musings, after reading my column, you must, I mean you MUST read Bill Simmons NBA Draft Diary. It's typical hysterical Simmons. But he missed a few things, which I will add in my column.
Curry was figured to be selected no later than eighth by the Knicks, who truly coveted Curry. And why not, Curry had one of his biggest moments of this past season lighting up West Virginia at the Garden for 27 points in a Davidson come from behind win. My friend Mal was there at the game (I had to oversee exams) and he said the crowd went nuts for Curry at the end. Bet there was a few Knicks fans there.
But before the huge letdown, there were several other picks first. Blake Griffin of course, was selected first overall by the Clippers. All I could think of when Griffin was drafted was "I'm going to hell in a bucket, baby. But at least I am enjoying the ride". Well hopefully like the Grateful Dead song says, Griffin will get lots of cash for going to basketball hell.
Then the Grizzlies took Hasheem Thabeet. When Jay Bilas started talking about Thabeet getting owned by DeJuan Blair and needing to get stronger, all I could think of was Dwight Howard postering the kid and then doing a Superman pose. Thabeet is not that good when facing good competition. A little worried about this pick.
Then Oklahoma City came up. Thought for sure Rubio or Curry would go here. Surprise, James Harden goes here. And that's ok, Harden was a damn good scorer at ASU. Fits nicely here.
Ok Sacramento was up. Thought for sure they would go for Curry or Rubio. Nope, Tyreke Evans. Ok, I guess. Don't think he is Derrick Rose, but he is a stud. Point guard? Not certain on that.
So now Minnesota has the next two picks. Thought for certain it's a Rubio-Curry Daily Double. The first part is right in that they draft Rubio. He's a love him or hate him pick. I thought he played well against the U.S. Olympic team in China, so to me he's fine. Not sure he can keep up with NBA point guards on the defensive end.
Well neither did the Timberwolves I think, cause...wait for it....instead of drafting Curry, they drafted Johnny Flynn from Syracuse. Now he IS definitely a point guard. So while Minnesota has been getting hammered about drafting two point guards in a row, I said there has to be a plan. So while in the shower this morning reviewing my thoughts for this column, I said to myself "Hmmmm, my guess is that they see Rubio as a combo guard and Flynn as the true point." That might work. Yeah, I think Rubio may not be quick enough to guard a true #1 but he is certainly tall enough and quick enough to guard a #2. Not bad actually.
So here is where the Garden faithful are getting nervous. One team stands in between the Knicks and Curry. Golden State and Don Nelson. I can hear it in the background after the Wolves selected Flynn. I was on the road listening to the Rubio and Flynn picks on ESPN radio. I quickly race into Ace Hardware and grab what I need, pay for it, nearly leave the store without said item and get back into my car. Ok, they are still talking about the Warriors being on the clock.
So now think about it. Don Nelson. Former Knick coach, ceremoniously shown the gate courtesy of Patrick Ewing and Knick brass. Could Nelly come back and screw the Knicks and take Curry. Doug Gottlieb says something like "I have it on good authority that the Warriors want to select Jordan Hill (the double double power forward from Arizona)." Perhaps there's light at the end of the tunnel. Perhaps finally I will go back to being the big Knicks fan I was growing up and through the Patrick Ewing glory days (please don't mention the name "John Starks" to me. I just got convulsions writing that)
Ok the pick is in. As I am hearing David Stern say "With the seventh pick of the NBA draft, the Golden State Warriors select...". I am waiting to hear a J pronounced. It never comes..
"Stephen Curry..". My head shot straight up as if someone punched me hard in the stomach. The light at the end of the tunnel was an oncoming train. Nelly screwed the Knicks again. The chance to see Steph Curry on a regular basis at MSG lighting up the Garden for 30 goes up in smoke. Nelly must be really enjoying this.
The charred remains? Knicks take Jordan Hill next. Great, another Arizona forward picked by the Knicks. Yeah how did that work out with Michael Wright and Channing Frye?! Ugh. My friend Mo Goldman swears Hill will be good. Then I listen to his interview with Mark Jones. Eeek. Not good.
Now here's the kicker. The Knicks later trade cash and a future pick to LA for the 29th pick, which was Toney Douglas from Florida State. Good player, not Curry. Couldn't the Knicks have offered the 8th and 29th picks to Minnesota for the 6th? I bet you Flynn would have been available to the Wolves at #8. Many had Flynn at around #10. Alas, Donnie Walsh wasn't smart enough to pull that one off. Great, just what the Knicks need, another power forward. They get Hill, then trade for..wait for it. Darko Milcic, he of the huge #2 bust of the Pistons. Oh brother. Then remember, they drafted that stiff with the stiff back Gallinari last year who is a power forward and they already have the really good, really underrated David Lee. Somewhere Lee is right now having a "WTF?!" moment.
By the way, best exchange of the night between Mal and me. Mal texts me saying "Why did Jerry Buss accept $3 million from the Knicks??? Did he lose too much money on High Stakes Poker?
I replied "Didn't you meet the Knicks new assistant GM, Daniel Negraneau?"
Mal replies with a LOL.
So now, it's where Daye and Maynor fall next. Daye goes to Detroit at #15. I am not a fan of Daye and he doesn't seem to fit in with the classic Pistons style. Pistons - rough, hard working lunch pail team - think Laimbeer, Mahorn, Ben Wallace, Rasheed Wallace. Daye -frail, thin, takes plays off. He has a lot of talent, can shoot the three, is long and blocks shots well. But I watched him more than enough to say he needed to stay in school another year. There are times where he is just flat out invisible.
Then there's Maynor. Really the most underrated guard in the draft and if you read Bill Simmons column above (and I said you MUST), he loves Maynor. Kid was a point guard all his life. He was dominant at VCU. Just real solid. Can pass, can drive, hit the floater, hit the pull up jumper. And here's the kicker, I have read where they say his weakness is his three point range.
Are you serious?? I have probably watched as many VCU games on TV as anyone. I have seen him in person against Hofstra several times, saw him in four years of CAA tournaments (three of which I saw live) and the games against Duke, Pitt and UCLA in the NCAA Tournament. The kid can flat out nail the three. We're talking NBA three. I saw him bury a 30 footer against Hofstra this past season. Please. The kid is a flat out assassin from the outside.
So what team takes a solid player like Maynor. How about a solid team like the Utah Jazz at #20? Jerry Sloan and company. Figures. A team that knows a thing or two about great point guards (hello John Stockton) takes Maynor. Perfect fit. Knicks should have traded down and got Maynor. Duh!
So that left one Patrick Mills. But before I get to that. Dejuan Blair drops like a stone. Bilas had him as the 14th best overall player in the draft. But he's never taken in the first round. What is he too short? Oh, it's that he doesn't have any ACLs in his knees. Here's the thing. Never missed a game at Pitt. Never missed a practice.
So more geniuses like Chris Wallace, Mike Dunleavy and Joe Dumars pass him up for stiffs and frail power forwards. Surely there is one team smart enough to realize how much a beast Blair is. I saw that game where Blair had Thabeet for lunch. I saw a lot of Pitt games. Blair is the man.
So what team is smart enough to take a guy who is first round material but is now in the second round?
Try the perenially really good San Antonio Spurs at pick #37. Now I had the Spurs taking Mills here, but I can't blame them on this one. Here's what Chad Ford of ESPN wrote
"Are you kidding me? How do these guys fall into San Antonio's lap? Tony Parker at 29? Ginobili late in the second? Now Blair here? This is a great pick for the Spurs. He might be able to start in San Antonio if Duncan plays the 5. This late in the draft, his knee issues aren't much of a risk; he's just a really cheap rebounder. The Spurs are getting an A+ tonight."
Exactly. A steal. Flat out steal. I bet Blair can't wait to play Thabeet again, stick his butt out on a boxout and send Hasheen into the second row. This is why Popovich and the Spurs are great. And the Knicks had TWO shots at him and take Hill and Douglas instead. If you couldn't trade for Curry, why not draft Blair. Sigh.
Once the Spurs fail to draft him, Mills drops like a stone. Hello, the kid scored 20 against the U.S Olympic team. Did anyone see him blow by Curry time and time again in that NIT game. I did.
As I about to call it a night and reconfirm my thought that Mills should have stayed in school and would have been a first round pick next year, one team realized the mistakes others made. The up and coming Portland Trail Blazers. Yeah, Mills driving the lane, blowing by Tyreke Evans and then kicking out to Brandon Roy for an open three. I see that clear as day. Too bad others didn't. Oh yeah, another guy the Knicks could have had. Couldn't you see Patty in the D'Antoni system? Definitely.
The surprise of the night. The Celtics draft Lester "Done Ruthless" Hudson from UTM with the #60 pick. Hudson is a prolific scorer, has a huge following on the Mid Majority, Kyle Whelliston loves him and Bilas had him as one of his best players available in the second round. Hopefully it works out for him
So five mid major guys got drafted. Good for them. But on average, this draft was typical of stupid NBA general managers. This is why I don't watch the NBA. Only a few teams get it. Like the Jazz, the Spurs, the Blazers and the Celts. Geez, all those teams made the playoffs last year...wonder why? :-)
But before I get into my draft musings, after reading my column, you must, I mean you MUST read Bill Simmons NBA Draft Diary. It's typical hysterical Simmons. But he missed a few things, which I will add in my column.
Curry was figured to be selected no later than eighth by the Knicks, who truly coveted Curry. And why not, Curry had one of his biggest moments of this past season lighting up West Virginia at the Garden for 27 points in a Davidson come from behind win. My friend Mal was there at the game (I had to oversee exams) and he said the crowd went nuts for Curry at the end. Bet there was a few Knicks fans there.
But before the huge letdown, there were several other picks first. Blake Griffin of course, was selected first overall by the Clippers. All I could think of when Griffin was drafted was "I'm going to hell in a bucket, baby. But at least I am enjoying the ride". Well hopefully like the Grateful Dead song says, Griffin will get lots of cash for going to basketball hell.
Then the Grizzlies took Hasheem Thabeet. When Jay Bilas started talking about Thabeet getting owned by DeJuan Blair and needing to get stronger, all I could think of was Dwight Howard postering the kid and then doing a Superman pose. Thabeet is not that good when facing good competition. A little worried about this pick.
Then Oklahoma City came up. Thought for sure Rubio or Curry would go here. Surprise, James Harden goes here. And that's ok, Harden was a damn good scorer at ASU. Fits nicely here.
Ok Sacramento was up. Thought for sure they would go for Curry or Rubio. Nope, Tyreke Evans. Ok, I guess. Don't think he is Derrick Rose, but he is a stud. Point guard? Not certain on that.
So now Minnesota has the next two picks. Thought for certain it's a Rubio-Curry Daily Double. The first part is right in that they draft Rubio. He's a love him or hate him pick. I thought he played well against the U.S. Olympic team in China, so to me he's fine. Not sure he can keep up with NBA point guards on the defensive end.
Well neither did the Timberwolves I think, cause...wait for it....instead of drafting Curry, they drafted Johnny Flynn from Syracuse. Now he IS definitely a point guard. So while Minnesota has been getting hammered about drafting two point guards in a row, I said there has to be a plan. So while in the shower this morning reviewing my thoughts for this column, I said to myself "Hmmmm, my guess is that they see Rubio as a combo guard and Flynn as the true point." That might work. Yeah, I think Rubio may not be quick enough to guard a true #1 but he is certainly tall enough and quick enough to guard a #2. Not bad actually.
So here is where the Garden faithful are getting nervous. One team stands in between the Knicks and Curry. Golden State and Don Nelson. I can hear it in the background after the Wolves selected Flynn. I was on the road listening to the Rubio and Flynn picks on ESPN radio. I quickly race into Ace Hardware and grab what I need, pay for it, nearly leave the store without said item and get back into my car. Ok, they are still talking about the Warriors being on the clock.
So now think about it. Don Nelson. Former Knick coach, ceremoniously shown the gate courtesy of Patrick Ewing and Knick brass. Could Nelly come back and screw the Knicks and take Curry. Doug Gottlieb says something like "I have it on good authority that the Warriors want to select Jordan Hill (the double double power forward from Arizona)." Perhaps there's light at the end of the tunnel. Perhaps finally I will go back to being the big Knicks fan I was growing up and through the Patrick Ewing glory days (please don't mention the name "John Starks" to me. I just got convulsions writing that)
Ok the pick is in. As I am hearing David Stern say "With the seventh pick of the NBA draft, the Golden State Warriors select...". I am waiting to hear a J pronounced. It never comes..
"Stephen Curry..". My head shot straight up as if someone punched me hard in the stomach. The light at the end of the tunnel was an oncoming train. Nelly screwed the Knicks again. The chance to see Steph Curry on a regular basis at MSG lighting up the Garden for 30 goes up in smoke. Nelly must be really enjoying this.
The charred remains? Knicks take Jordan Hill next. Great, another Arizona forward picked by the Knicks. Yeah how did that work out with Michael Wright and Channing Frye?! Ugh. My friend Mo Goldman swears Hill will be good. Then I listen to his interview with Mark Jones. Eeek. Not good.
Now here's the kicker. The Knicks later trade cash and a future pick to LA for the 29th pick, which was Toney Douglas from Florida State. Good player, not Curry. Couldn't the Knicks have offered the 8th and 29th picks to Minnesota for the 6th? I bet you Flynn would have been available to the Wolves at #8. Many had Flynn at around #10. Alas, Donnie Walsh wasn't smart enough to pull that one off. Great, just what the Knicks need, another power forward. They get Hill, then trade for..wait for it. Darko Milcic, he of the huge #2 bust of the Pistons. Oh brother. Then remember, they drafted that stiff with the stiff back Gallinari last year who is a power forward and they already have the really good, really underrated David Lee. Somewhere Lee is right now having a "WTF?!" moment.
By the way, best exchange of the night between Mal and me. Mal texts me saying "Why did Jerry Buss accept $3 million from the Knicks??? Did he lose too much money on High Stakes Poker?
I replied "Didn't you meet the Knicks new assistant GM, Daniel Negraneau?"
Mal replies with a LOL.
So now, it's where Daye and Maynor fall next. Daye goes to Detroit at #15. I am not a fan of Daye and he doesn't seem to fit in with the classic Pistons style. Pistons - rough, hard working lunch pail team - think Laimbeer, Mahorn, Ben Wallace, Rasheed Wallace. Daye -frail, thin, takes plays off. He has a lot of talent, can shoot the three, is long and blocks shots well. But I watched him more than enough to say he needed to stay in school another year. There are times where he is just flat out invisible.
Then there's Maynor. Really the most underrated guard in the draft and if you read Bill Simmons column above (and I said you MUST), he loves Maynor. Kid was a point guard all his life. He was dominant at VCU. Just real solid. Can pass, can drive, hit the floater, hit the pull up jumper. And here's the kicker, I have read where they say his weakness is his three point range.
Are you serious?? I have probably watched as many VCU games on TV as anyone. I have seen him in person against Hofstra several times, saw him in four years of CAA tournaments (three of which I saw live) and the games against Duke, Pitt and UCLA in the NCAA Tournament. The kid can flat out nail the three. We're talking NBA three. I saw him bury a 30 footer against Hofstra this past season. Please. The kid is a flat out assassin from the outside.
So what team takes a solid player like Maynor. How about a solid team like the Utah Jazz at #20? Jerry Sloan and company. Figures. A team that knows a thing or two about great point guards (hello John Stockton) takes Maynor. Perfect fit. Knicks should have traded down and got Maynor. Duh!
So that left one Patrick Mills. But before I get to that. Dejuan Blair drops like a stone. Bilas had him as the 14th best overall player in the draft. But he's never taken in the first round. What is he too short? Oh, it's that he doesn't have any ACLs in his knees. Here's the thing. Never missed a game at Pitt. Never missed a practice.
So more geniuses like Chris Wallace, Mike Dunleavy and Joe Dumars pass him up for stiffs and frail power forwards. Surely there is one team smart enough to realize how much a beast Blair is. I saw that game where Blair had Thabeet for lunch. I saw a lot of Pitt games. Blair is the man.
So what team is smart enough to take a guy who is first round material but is now in the second round?
Try the perenially really good San Antonio Spurs at pick #37. Now I had the Spurs taking Mills here, but I can't blame them on this one. Here's what Chad Ford of ESPN wrote
"Are you kidding me? How do these guys fall into San Antonio's lap? Tony Parker at 29? Ginobili late in the second? Now Blair here? This is a great pick for the Spurs. He might be able to start in San Antonio if Duncan plays the 5. This late in the draft, his knee issues aren't much of a risk; he's just a really cheap rebounder. The Spurs are getting an A+ tonight."
Exactly. A steal. Flat out steal. I bet Blair can't wait to play Thabeet again, stick his butt out on a boxout and send Hasheen into the second row. This is why Popovich and the Spurs are great. And the Knicks had TWO shots at him and take Hill and Douglas instead. If you couldn't trade for Curry, why not draft Blair. Sigh.
Once the Spurs fail to draft him, Mills drops like a stone. Hello, the kid scored 20 against the U.S Olympic team. Did anyone see him blow by Curry time and time again in that NIT game. I did.
As I about to call it a night and reconfirm my thought that Mills should have stayed in school and would have been a first round pick next year, one team realized the mistakes others made. The up and coming Portland Trail Blazers. Yeah, Mills driving the lane, blowing by Tyreke Evans and then kicking out to Brandon Roy for an open three. I see that clear as day. Too bad others didn't. Oh yeah, another guy the Knicks could have had. Couldn't you see Patty in the D'Antoni system? Definitely.
The surprise of the night. The Celtics draft Lester "Done Ruthless" Hudson from UTM with the #60 pick. Hudson is a prolific scorer, has a huge following on the Mid Majority, Kyle Whelliston loves him and Bilas had him as one of his best players available in the second round. Hopefully it works out for him
So five mid major guys got drafted. Good for them. But on average, this draft was typical of stupid NBA general managers. This is why I don't watch the NBA. Only a few teams get it. Like the Jazz, the Spurs, the Blazers and the Celts. Geez, all those teams made the playoffs last year...wonder why? :-)
Saturday, June 13, 2009
It's All About Hofstra,,,Well, Almost
We're back with our first post in nearly two months and it's all about the Pride. Well, almost.
Several things have happened in the past couple of months if you are a Hofstra fan. First, many of you CAA diehards may already know that Hofstra is looking to move into the Atlantic 10. The Pride have felt like a fish out of water in the Virginia based conference and are looking for a more Northeast profile. However, I find it hard to believe that the A10 would be interested in Hofstra. Currently the A10 has 14 schools/teams - ok, you could say 13 schools and Fordham, who had a horrible 1-15 record in conference and was 3-25 overall ("Moore" on Fordham in a second - and you'll see why the pun as well). But Hofstra has not made the NCAA tournament since 2001, even though it has three NIT appearances and four 20 win seasons during that span since 2001.
The A10 would need to have another school come along with Hofstra to make it 16. The logical school would be Drexel, since the A10 features many other Philadelphia based schools - Temple, St Joseph's and LaSalle. As for Hofstra, a more logical and likely choice might be the MAAC. Now many Hofstra fans might think the MAAC is a step down. But actually in the past two basketball seasons, the MAAC is on par, or I think ahead of the CAA at the top of their conferences, with Siena having won three games in the NCAA Tournament, and the success of Niagara as well this season. It's a serious consideration Hofstra will need to make.
Now the reasoning for my "Moore on Fordham" pun. Former Fordham guard Mike Moore is transferring to Hofstra. At least unlike many CAA transfers who played at the end of their previous larger school's bench, Moore was an integral part of the Ram lineup. The six foot five inch guard/forward was the second leading scorer for the Rams, averaging 12.8 points per game. He led the team in three pointers. Moore is a streaky player as the above linked article shows. But he seems to have a knack for scoring in the second half of games, and Hofstra woefully needs scoring. Despite being a 21-11 team, the Pride were at the bottom of many CAA categories. He will sit out a year, but will have two years of eligibility left and should be an integral part of a good nucleus in his junior year. Hofstra has five players returning from this past season's team including first team All CAA Charles Jenkins (who is only a junior..damn), Nathaniel Lester, Greg Washington and Miklos Szabo. Hofstra has seven new players coming in, so when Moore joins in 2010-11, he should fit in nicely.
Now for the Piece De Resistance. So, what are you doing November 13? Got any plans? How do you feel about Lawrence, Kansas? Well apparently the Pride feel fine about that. It seems that Hofstra is putting the finishing touches on starting the season at the likely preseason # 1 ranked Kansas Jayhawks. Jerry Beach, who is kind of enough to have a link to my site on his often very witty Defiantly Dutch site, has an article about this, complete with quotes from Pride A.D. Jack Hayes. Now Jerry has the game as Sunday, November 15. My source, my friend and KU alum, Grant Hayden has his source stating it as November 13. To me that makes more sense, since the next game the Jayhawks play would be November 17 at Memphis.
It's pretty funny how Jerry talks about the last few season's opening games that Hofstra has had prior to this year's. Clemson, Holy Cross, Charlotte and Florida International. Hmm, Clemson at the Charleston Classic. Yup was there. Charleston, wonderful city and got to see some good basketball teams too (Clemson is better than Jerry gives them credit for). Year before, drive to Worcester, Mass. Yup did that too. Before that, the lovely weekend trip to Charlotte in November 2006. Did that too (the golf on Saturday was better than the loss to Charlotte - the beginning of a disappointing season that 06-07 year). I think Florida International was home in 2005..can't remember that. If it was, I was there. :-)
Either way, I know my plans for the November 13th weekend. Going to the land of Mr. Naismith. Wouldn't miss it for the world. :-)
Now I said almost all of this was about Hofstra. There's a little matter known as the NBA draft coming up soon. And there are three players that I have written about often in this column who are affected by this; Stephen Curry, Eric Maynor, and Patty Mills. All are expected to be taken in the first round, with the possible exception of Mills, who is supposed to go in the early second round.
There was an article in yesterday's Newsday noting Curry is not scheduling any more pre-draft workouts with other teams in hopes that will tell teams other than the Knicks not to draft him. The Knicks have the eighth overall pick and have serious interest in Curry, who left Davidson one year early for the draft and already has hired an agent. However, other mock drafts on ESPN, CNN/SI and other on-line publications have Curry going as high as fourth to the Kings (CNN/SI) or sixth to the Timberwolves (ESPN). Needless to say, any questions about Curry's point guard ability or quickness is being answered in these mock drafts (I am still reminded of ESPN 1050's Michael Kay comparing him to J.J. Reddick - riiiight).
As for VCU's Maynor, the senior graduate looks to be a solid mid to late first round pick. CNN/SI and ESPN both have Maynor going 17th to the Sixers. Drexel fans can tell you how good Maynor is. Soon Sixers fans may know too. And disregard that talk about Maynor's shooting range. Hofstra fans can tell you that his range is just fine. Trust me on that.
As for Mills, his stock has slipped, like unfortunately I thought it would. Mills right now is listed at NBADraft.Net as going early in round two to the Spurs at 37 (hmm, an eventual replacement for the similarly sized Tony Parker?). Mills has already announced that he is staying in the draft. Unlike Maynor and Curry, Mills has experience playing against professionals, having been the starting guard for the national Australian team in the 2008 Olympics. He had 20 points against the U.S. Olympic Team. However, the concerns are that Mills is small for a point guard (6 foot even), has an erratic shot and NBA teams did not get a true full season look at Mills, since missed a significant amount of time due to injury this past season.
However, having watched him enough, I do believe he is NBA caliber. There is that quality performance against the best NBA players in the world. He is also hiccup quick and outplayed Curry in their second round NIT matchup at St Mary's, which was won by the Gaels.
But, as noted in a previous article, I stated that it was a mistake for Mills to come out in this draft. It was a year too soon. This year's draft is very guard heavy draft and as previously noted, Mills doesn't have a full two year college resume to use as a reference. Mills should have stayed in school where combined with the returning Omar Samhan, the St Mary's Gaels would have been the favorites to win the West Coast Conference. A full season as a junior, combined with some potential NCAA tournament experience would have solidly put Mills in the first round in next year's draft, thus guaranteeing a him a larger contract.
I will say this. If Curry is drafted by the Knicks, I will become a Knicks fan again. I lost interest in NBA basketball the past few years because I think it's too one on one, boring etc. I used to be a huge Knicks fan from the days of Reed/Debusschere/Bradley/Frazier/Monroe through Bernard King through Patrick Ewing. It would be nice to see a premium player that I have watched extensively in Curry play in a Knicks uniform. (Being at that 2008 NCAA first round in Raleigh is forever etched in my brain). We'll see.
Have a lovely weekend.
Several things have happened in the past couple of months if you are a Hofstra fan. First, many of you CAA diehards may already know that Hofstra is looking to move into the Atlantic 10. The Pride have felt like a fish out of water in the Virginia based conference and are looking for a more Northeast profile. However, I find it hard to believe that the A10 would be interested in Hofstra. Currently the A10 has 14 schools/teams - ok, you could say 13 schools and Fordham, who had a horrible 1-15 record in conference and was 3-25 overall ("Moore" on Fordham in a second - and you'll see why the pun as well). But Hofstra has not made the NCAA tournament since 2001, even though it has three NIT appearances and four 20 win seasons during that span since 2001.
The A10 would need to have another school come along with Hofstra to make it 16. The logical school would be Drexel, since the A10 features many other Philadelphia based schools - Temple, St Joseph's and LaSalle. As for Hofstra, a more logical and likely choice might be the MAAC. Now many Hofstra fans might think the MAAC is a step down. But actually in the past two basketball seasons, the MAAC is on par, or I think ahead of the CAA at the top of their conferences, with Siena having won three games in the NCAA Tournament, and the success of Niagara as well this season. It's a serious consideration Hofstra will need to make.
Now the reasoning for my "Moore on Fordham" pun. Former Fordham guard Mike Moore is transferring to Hofstra. At least unlike many CAA transfers who played at the end of their previous larger school's bench, Moore was an integral part of the Ram lineup. The six foot five inch guard/forward was the second leading scorer for the Rams, averaging 12.8 points per game. He led the team in three pointers. Moore is a streaky player as the above linked article shows. But he seems to have a knack for scoring in the second half of games, and Hofstra woefully needs scoring. Despite being a 21-11 team, the Pride were at the bottom of many CAA categories. He will sit out a year, but will have two years of eligibility left and should be an integral part of a good nucleus in his junior year. Hofstra has five players returning from this past season's team including first team All CAA Charles Jenkins (who is only a junior..damn), Nathaniel Lester, Greg Washington and Miklos Szabo. Hofstra has seven new players coming in, so when Moore joins in 2010-11, he should fit in nicely.
Now for the Piece De Resistance. So, what are you doing November 13? Got any plans? How do you feel about Lawrence, Kansas? Well apparently the Pride feel fine about that. It seems that Hofstra is putting the finishing touches on starting the season at the likely preseason # 1 ranked Kansas Jayhawks. Jerry Beach, who is kind of enough to have a link to my site on his often very witty Defiantly Dutch site, has an article about this, complete with quotes from Pride A.D. Jack Hayes. Now Jerry has the game as Sunday, November 15. My source, my friend and KU alum, Grant Hayden has his source stating it as November 13. To me that makes more sense, since the next game the Jayhawks play would be November 17 at Memphis.
It's pretty funny how Jerry talks about the last few season's opening games that Hofstra has had prior to this year's. Clemson, Holy Cross, Charlotte and Florida International. Hmm, Clemson at the Charleston Classic. Yup was there. Charleston, wonderful city and got to see some good basketball teams too (Clemson is better than Jerry gives them credit for). Year before, drive to Worcester, Mass. Yup did that too. Before that, the lovely weekend trip to Charlotte in November 2006. Did that too (the golf on Saturday was better than the loss to Charlotte - the beginning of a disappointing season that 06-07 year). I think Florida International was home in 2005..can't remember that. If it was, I was there. :-)
Either way, I know my plans for the November 13th weekend. Going to the land of Mr. Naismith. Wouldn't miss it for the world. :-)
Now I said almost all of this was about Hofstra. There's a little matter known as the NBA draft coming up soon. And there are three players that I have written about often in this column who are affected by this; Stephen Curry, Eric Maynor, and Patty Mills. All are expected to be taken in the first round, with the possible exception of Mills, who is supposed to go in the early second round.
There was an article in yesterday's Newsday noting Curry is not scheduling any more pre-draft workouts with other teams in hopes that will tell teams other than the Knicks not to draft him. The Knicks have the eighth overall pick and have serious interest in Curry, who left Davidson one year early for the draft and already has hired an agent. However, other mock drafts on ESPN, CNN/SI and other on-line publications have Curry going as high as fourth to the Kings (CNN/SI) or sixth to the Timberwolves (ESPN). Needless to say, any questions about Curry's point guard ability or quickness is being answered in these mock drafts (I am still reminded of ESPN 1050's Michael Kay comparing him to J.J. Reddick - riiiight).
As for VCU's Maynor, the senior graduate looks to be a solid mid to late first round pick. CNN/SI and ESPN both have Maynor going 17th to the Sixers. Drexel fans can tell you how good Maynor is. Soon Sixers fans may know too. And disregard that talk about Maynor's shooting range. Hofstra fans can tell you that his range is just fine. Trust me on that.
As for Mills, his stock has slipped, like unfortunately I thought it would. Mills right now is listed at NBADraft.Net as going early in round two to the Spurs at 37 (hmm, an eventual replacement for the similarly sized Tony Parker?). Mills has already announced that he is staying in the draft. Unlike Maynor and Curry, Mills has experience playing against professionals, having been the starting guard for the national Australian team in the 2008 Olympics. He had 20 points against the U.S. Olympic Team. However, the concerns are that Mills is small for a point guard (6 foot even), has an erratic shot and NBA teams did not get a true full season look at Mills, since missed a significant amount of time due to injury this past season.
However, having watched him enough, I do believe he is NBA caliber. There is that quality performance against the best NBA players in the world. He is also hiccup quick and outplayed Curry in their second round NIT matchup at St Mary's, which was won by the Gaels.
But, as noted in a previous article, I stated that it was a mistake for Mills to come out in this draft. It was a year too soon. This year's draft is very guard heavy draft and as previously noted, Mills doesn't have a full two year college resume to use as a reference. Mills should have stayed in school where combined with the returning Omar Samhan, the St Mary's Gaels would have been the favorites to win the West Coast Conference. A full season as a junior, combined with some potential NCAA tournament experience would have solidly put Mills in the first round in next year's draft, thus guaranteeing a him a larger contract.
I will say this. If Curry is drafted by the Knicks, I will become a Knicks fan again. I lost interest in NBA basketball the past few years because I think it's too one on one, boring etc. I used to be a huge Knicks fan from the days of Reed/Debusschere/Bradley/Frazier/Monroe through Bernard King through Patrick Ewing. It would be nice to see a premium player that I have watched extensively in Curry play in a Knicks uniform. (Being at that 2008 NCAA first round in Raleigh is forever etched in my brain). We'll see.
Have a lovely weekend.
Monday, April 20, 2009
CAA Transfers and Lunardi Gets It Right
The CAA has several players in the past couple of weeks transfer. First, JMU sophomore guard Ben Ratner realized the numbers game with the Dukes and decided best to transfer. Next, UNC Wilmington lost their two best freshman, as Kevon Moore and Jerel Stephenson have decided to transfer. This means this past season's stunningly bad Seahawks are now even worse. Coach Benny Moss' job is on the line this season. Seldom used Northeastern forward Erik Etherly transferred to Loyola Md. Finally, VCU's starting point guard, Joey Rodriguez, decided to transfer after coach Anthony Grant left to take the Alabama job. With the loss of Eric Maynor due to graduation and now a two year starter in Rodriguez, again I ask, is Larry Sanders soon to follow.
This past week, Joe Lunardi wrote two terrific articles on ESPN "Re-examining the At-Large Eye Test",and the followup, "Making the Case for Mid-Majors". In the first article, Lunardi discusses how the NCAA picks teams from the BCS conferences over non BCS teams that may be more deserving. Lunardi puts it "As in when 'doing everything you reasonably can' isn't enough to get into the NCAA tournament ahead of the big boys. Lunardi bases it on the following;
Lunardi also talks in the article about the NCAA selection committee using RPI more than they say they do.
I had a different take on who I thought was worthy for selection, as when I made my case for Creighton and St Mary's back in March, two teams that I thought that did 'everything they reasonably can" to make the tournament. But as a good friend of mine in college basketball has stated to me, each NCAA Tournament Selection Committee uses a different set of rules to justify their selections. In other words, no set criteria whatsoever. God forbid using a Moore Primer!
The second Lunardi article is even better. In that article, Lunardi comes right out and says the following in the beginning of the article.
Lunardi goes on further to say the Jay Bilas idea of having "The best 64 teams in the tournament", thus getting rid of the automatic berths for low mid major conferences, would not work (more on that in a future posting). As Lunardi puts it, this would result in "a split on the order of the Football Bowl Subdivision and Football Championship Subdivision", that would in large part result in the question of whether the remaining upper division schools could schedule 30 games on a season.
But the main point of Lunardi's article comes up in the next couple of paragraphs. Lunardi actually breaks down the NCAA tournament records of teams with losing conference records that make the NCAA Tournament (taking into account not only the regular season but their conference tournament records - mostly one and done) . He also compares it to the record of non-BCS conference teams.
But here's a scarier statistic. In light of mid majors doing phenomenally well in the NCAA Tournament in recent years, look what's happened
So how do you solve this problem of the NCAA Selection Committee selecting mediocre BCS teams that go nowhere anyhow (Arizona folks was a fluke this season, lets face it)? Look at what Lunardi's solution would be.
But the fact is, that will never happen. The No Clue At All won't allow that to happen. God forbid we have set criteria. But as Lunardi says isn't the idea "that every team in the field actually achieve something"? Or as I put it "As a result you will have an even better tournament. Isn't that the idea?! "
Yeah that's the idea. As Lunardi says, "There's still a place for a 7-9 team, by the way. It's called the NIT. " Yup, and don't worry guys, CM Newton will take care of you there.
Ladies and Gentleman, there's a new Mid Majors Champion. His name...Joe Lunardi. Maybe, just maybe more important voices like Lunardi's will pop up and maybe, just maybe, that .500 conference criteria might finally get put in place.
This past week, Joe Lunardi wrote two terrific articles on ESPN "Re-examining the At-Large Eye Test",and the followup, "Making the Case for Mid-Majors". In the first article, Lunardi discusses how the NCAA picks teams from the BCS conferences over non BCS teams that may be more deserving. Lunardi puts it "As in when 'doing everything you reasonably can' isn't enough to get into the NCAA tournament ahead of the big boys. Lunardi bases it on the following;
A few years back, a conscious and well-meaning distinction was made between the 34 "best" teams for at-large consideration and the 34 "most deserving." The former took precedence over the latter, whereas for me they had always been one and the same. I disagreed with the distinction at the time, and I am fundamentally opposed to it today.Isn't it great that the NCAA, otherwise known in this column as No Clue At All, made that distinction?! If you read Lunardi's article, he uses various statistical categories to show that three teams, San Diego State, Wisconsin and Creighton warranted selection over Arizona, St Mary's and Penn State. Of course, Wisconsin did make it but Arizona made it over more worthy San Diego State or Creighton.
Lunardi also talks in the article about the NCAA selection committee using RPI more than they say they do.
The NCAA maintains that it only uses the RPI as an organizational tool, yet every team data sheet available to the committee is stuffed with RPI breakdowns. Teams are voted into the tournament because of things like top 50 wins (Arizona) and excluded because of an RPI subset like a sub-300 nonconference schedule (Penn State). That sounds like more than organization to me; it sounds like applied evidence.If the NCAA is going to use pieces of the RPI for its selections, it might as well use the whole RPI set of criteria for its selections. Be consistent. Oh I forgot, this is the NCAA (more on that in a second).
I had a different take on who I thought was worthy for selection, as when I made my case for Creighton and St Mary's back in March, two teams that I thought that did 'everything they reasonably can" to make the tournament. But as a good friend of mine in college basketball has stated to me, each NCAA Tournament Selection Committee uses a different set of rules to justify their selections. In other words, no set criteria whatsoever. God forbid using a Moore Primer!
The second Lunardi article is even better. In that article, Lunardi comes right out and says the following in the beginning of the article.
What I object to is the at-large selection of a team (Arizona) to play for a national championship (twice, actually) with an 18-21 record in its own conference over the past two seasons. If you can't win at least half the time in your own league, what makes you worthy to compete for a championship against the best teams from every other league?This is exactly what I noted in my article a month ago entitled "Just Some Post Selection Sunday Thoughts".
Message to the NCAA. Stop rewarding mediocrity. Stop giving .500 conference teams at large bids that go 2-9 on the road (with the two wins over the worst two teams in the PAC-10) because they won big home games and have a 25 year reputation..."Finally, someone else gets that!
Lunardi goes on further to say the Jay Bilas idea of having "The best 64 teams in the tournament", thus getting rid of the automatic berths for low mid major conferences, would not work (more on that in a future posting). As Lunardi puts it, this would result in "a split on the order of the Football Bowl Subdivision and Football Championship Subdivision", that would in large part result in the question of whether the remaining upper division schools could schedule 30 games on a season.
But the main point of Lunardi's article comes up in the next couple of paragraphs. Lunardi actually breaks down the NCAA tournament records of teams with losing conference records that make the NCAA Tournament (taking into account not only the regular season but their conference tournament records - mostly one and done) . He also compares it to the record of non-BCS conference teams.
Well, lo and behold, statistics that prove my point. Teams that are considered mid major or non power conference teams DO BETTER than mediocre BCS teams in the Big Dance. In fact, Lunardi states that in the 25 years since the 64/65 team format, 46 teams (FORTY SIX!) with losing conference records have made the NCAA Tournament. Of those 46, only six made the Sweet 16 and only one, NC State in 1986, made the Elite Eight. In other words, they are usually one and done.Overall, these 46 teams -- despite an average seed of 8.9 -- have won less than 40 percent of their NCAA tournament games (.395 to be precise). In the past 10 years, the numbers are even worse (13 teams, .350 winning percentage), when, by seeding, the figure should be much closer to 50 percent. Dare I suggest that we can do better than have losing conference teams in the NCAA tournament field?
Non-BCS at-large candidates, by comparison, win an even 40 percent of the time -- this despite being seeded to lose (a 10.9 seed average, two spots worse than their BCS counterparts) and less favorable geographic placement. We also have seen a Final Four team from this group -- George Mason, 2006 -- as well as four others in the Elite Eight.
But here's a scarier statistic. In light of mid majors doing phenomenally well in the NCAA Tournament in recent years, look what's happened
This all is such a big deal because, in spite of what you might have heard, the power conferences are a bit of a "closed system" with respect to scheduling. Membership in the BCS leagues has not changed in the past three years. Yet the number of games played by BCS schools against their closest competitors -- the Atlantic 10, Conference USA, MVC, Mid-American, Mountain West and WAC -- continues to decline. It has dropped more than 7 percent, in fact, in just the past two years. Worse, the non-BCS schools get home games against their BCS rivals less than a quarter of the time and neutral court matchups only slightly more often.Think about it. In light of all the facts stating how non BCS schools fare as at large teams, if you are a big conference school, how do you make sure that you improve your chances of making the NCAA tournament? Schedule less games against the non BCS schools. I remember vividly Dick Vitale, of all people, making this case on the ESPN NCAA Post Selection Show and Jay Bilas shooting him down. Well guess what Jay, Dick is right and Lunardi just proved it.
So how do you solve this problem of the NCAA Selection Committee selecting mediocre BCS teams that go nowhere anyhow (Arizona folks was a fluke this season, lets face it)? Look at what Lunardi's solution would be.
Now does that sound familiar? Look what I wrote a month ago, in the same article I mentioned above, right after the NCAA Selection Show.Here's something the BCS folks should understand: You have to be tournament-eligible (just like being bowl-eligible in college football). I've written it a thousand times. Show me at least a .500 conference record -- and I'll even give you the chance to reach it (or blow it) in your conference tournament -- and I'll show you an at-large bid. If not, too bad.
The public, I think, understands this intuitively. The NCAA tournament should be for winners, and there is 25 years' worth of data supporting the notion. If that doesn't work for NC State or Alabama or Iowa State or Providence, no one is holding a gun to their heads to stay in power conferences (and I highly doubt we'll see a sudden exodus).
If the NCAA had the kahones to do it, there would be an easy way to solve the at large bid process. This is something I am pretty sure I have noted before too. To be considered for an at large berth, you must have an above .500 conference record during the regular season.Lunardi says you have to be at least .500. To me, that's mediocrity. So I take it a step further. You have to be ABOVE .500. Unlike my case, in Lunardi's case, Maryland, Arizona and Minnesota would not have made it. Michigan would have. But that's ok, I would settle for Lunardi's criteria. Based on his criteria, you would have on average, two more teams from non BCS conferences that actually earned their way into the dance.
Of course, below .500 conference teams can make the tournament by winning the conference tournament, but this way it makes teams EARN their way into the dance and doesn't reward mediocrity.
If you had this policy in place, the following teams wouldn't even had been under consideration; Maryland, Arizona, Minnesota and Michigan. There are a lot of angry Penn State fans tonight who would have been probably appeased had this rule been in effect. Chances are Penn State, 10-8 in the Big Ten would be in the dance as a result.
But the fact is, that will never happen. The No Clue At All won't allow that to happen. God forbid we have set criteria. But as Lunardi says isn't the idea "that every team in the field actually achieve something"? Or as I put it "As a result you will have an even better tournament. Isn't that the idea?! "
Yeah that's the idea. As Lunardi says, "There's still a place for a 7-9 team, by the way. It's called the NIT. " Yup, and don't worry guys, CM Newton will take care of you there.
Ladies and Gentleman, there's a new Mid Majors Champion. His name...Joe Lunardi. Maybe, just maybe more important voices like Lunardi's will pop up and maybe, just maybe, that .500 conference criteria might finally get put in place.
Friday, April 17, 2009
Mills Declares for Draft
St Mary's Sophomore Patty Mills announced that he was declaring for the NBA draft yesterday. However, Mills will not hire an agent, which is a terrific move. This way, as most of you know, Mills can drop out of the draft if he believes his draft status is not that strong prior to the draft, or is not drafted (highly unlikely) and can return to school.
I think the wisest decision Patty Mills can make is to talk to Marty Blake, the director of NBA Scouting Services and who runs his own scouting service. Mills will get a good idea of where he would be drafted. No one, I mean NO ONE, knows more about basketball talent than Marty Blake. I would love to hear where Blake thinks Mills would go in this year's draft.
Having watched Mills often enough this past season, I think he would benefit from another year in school. He needs to work on his point guard skills a little more as well as his shooting. Plus, his St Mary's Gaels return basically everyone sans Diamon Simpson. I think if Mills returns to the Gaels and teams up with the increasingly talented Omar Samhan, the Gaels could very well win the WCC. That would give Mills increased exposure for next year's NBA draft.
I think the wisest decision Patty Mills can make is to talk to Marty Blake, the director of NBA Scouting Services and who runs his own scouting service. Mills will get a good idea of where he would be drafted. No one, I mean NO ONE, knows more about basketball talent than Marty Blake. I would love to hear where Blake thinks Mills would go in this year's draft.
Having watched Mills often enough this past season, I think he would benefit from another year in school. He needs to work on his point guard skills a little more as well as his shooting. Plus, his St Mary's Gaels return basically everyone sans Diamon Simpson. I think if Mills returns to the Gaels and teams up with the increasingly talented Omar Samhan, the Gaels could very well win the WCC. That would give Mills increased exposure for next year's NBA draft.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Coaching Changes/Extensions and the NCAA Is At It Again
Things are always changing in the basketball universe.
In the world of mid major basketball, Anthony Grant left VCU for Alabama. So what do the Rams do? They pilfer another assistant from the University of Florida, Shaka Smart. Smart was an assistant at Florida last season. Prior to that, Smart was an assistant at Clemson for two seasons, and previously was an assistant at Akron for three seasons. Smart promises "the most exciting style of basketball in the CAA" and will continue the Rams style of pressure started by Grant.
Apparently VCU has a direct line with Florida Coach Billy Donovan. Rams' AD Norwood Teague said he frequently contacted Donovan during the process and Donovan highly recommended Smart. It's the second straight Florida assistant that VCU hired. Grant was previously Donovan's top assistant at Florida.
Smart wasted no time connecting with his players as noted by Rams' point guard Joey Rodriguez. Rodriguez stated "He told every kid on the team where he'd seen them play before." Apparently Smart is indeed that, smart. Hopefully he will be able to keep Larry Sanders there at VCU.
While some coaches change jobs, some get extensions. Hofstra coach Tom Pecora got an extension through the 2014 season. No financial terms were disclosed. Pecora has led the Pride to 2o wins in four of the last five seasons. In fact, Pecora and assistant coach Michael Kelly authored an article "Attacking Pressure Defense", that was recently publised in FIBA's magazine. No truth to the rumor that the article stated basically " Just Give the Ball to Charles Jenkins." :-)
Actually, when Pecora last had his guard trifecta of Carlos Rivera, Loren Stokes and Antoine Agudio together in the 2006-07 season , they did an excellent job in breaking VCU's press ( and yes, that's the VCU that beat Duke in the first round of the NCAA tourney) I was at that game and it was proof that given good guards, Pecora's style can break pressure defenses quite well.
Dell Curry said that his son Stephen should be making his decision on whether to declare for the NBA draft or return to Davidson for his senior season this week. Here's hoping for the latter. He needs one more season of getting stronger and working on his D.
Meanwhile the NCAA again shows why their initials stand for "No Clue At All". Now Facebook fan groups are now considered "recruiting sites". A NC state student puts up a Facebook group site called "John Wall PLEASE come to NC STATE!!". Over 700 people signed up for the group, which has all the recruiting power of a gnat. Then the NCAA forces NC State's compliance director to send a "cease and desist letter" to Taylor Moseley, the student who put up the site. Moseley had to comply, otherwise he would face "further action".
What further action would that be? CM Newton coming to his dorm room to discuss how to seed a NIT bracket? NO, NO, NOT THAT!! By the way, did anyone notice what happened to San Diego State once they were on a neutal site in the NIT? A fourteen point loss by Baylor. Still can't get over them getting a one seed over St Mary's despite a neutral site loss to the Gaels earlier in the season. If you don't think the Cox Center was the difference in that game vs. St Mary's in the quarters, you weren't watching.
Sorry to digress. Back to point. So say if a recruit gets a free cup of lemonade from a kid's lemonade stand and the little kid says "Come to Hofstra", is that stand now a recruiting site? Would that mean a Hofstra compliance officer would deliver "a cease and desist" letter to a five year old? Based on the No Clue At All, the answer to both questions is yes!
Another example why the NCAA is a joke. A bad joke. The NCAA needs to be spending more time getting its athletes to graduate than spending time overseeing Facebook groups.
In the world of mid major basketball, Anthony Grant left VCU for Alabama. So what do the Rams do? They pilfer another assistant from the University of Florida, Shaka Smart. Smart was an assistant at Florida last season. Prior to that, Smart was an assistant at Clemson for two seasons, and previously was an assistant at Akron for three seasons. Smart promises "the most exciting style of basketball in the CAA" and will continue the Rams style of pressure started by Grant.
Apparently VCU has a direct line with Florida Coach Billy Donovan. Rams' AD Norwood Teague said he frequently contacted Donovan during the process and Donovan highly recommended Smart. It's the second straight Florida assistant that VCU hired. Grant was previously Donovan's top assistant at Florida.
Smart wasted no time connecting with his players as noted by Rams' point guard Joey Rodriguez. Rodriguez stated "He told every kid on the team where he'd seen them play before." Apparently Smart is indeed that, smart. Hopefully he will be able to keep Larry Sanders there at VCU.
While some coaches change jobs, some get extensions. Hofstra coach Tom Pecora got an extension through the 2014 season. No financial terms were disclosed. Pecora has led the Pride to 2o wins in four of the last five seasons. In fact, Pecora and assistant coach Michael Kelly authored an article "Attacking Pressure Defense", that was recently publised in FIBA's magazine. No truth to the rumor that the article stated basically " Just Give the Ball to Charles Jenkins." :-)
Actually, when Pecora last had his guard trifecta of Carlos Rivera, Loren Stokes and Antoine Agudio together in the 2006-07 season , they did an excellent job in breaking VCU's press ( and yes, that's the VCU that beat Duke in the first round of the NCAA tourney) I was at that game and it was proof that given good guards, Pecora's style can break pressure defenses quite well.
Dell Curry said that his son Stephen should be making his decision on whether to declare for the NBA draft or return to Davidson for his senior season this week. Here's hoping for the latter. He needs one more season of getting stronger and working on his D.
Meanwhile the NCAA again shows why their initials stand for "No Clue At All". Now Facebook fan groups are now considered "recruiting sites". A NC state student puts up a Facebook group site called "John Wall PLEASE come to NC STATE!!". Over 700 people signed up for the group, which has all the recruiting power of a gnat. Then the NCAA forces NC State's compliance director to send a "cease and desist letter" to Taylor Moseley, the student who put up the site. Moseley had to comply, otherwise he would face "further action".
What further action would that be? CM Newton coming to his dorm room to discuss how to seed a NIT bracket? NO, NO, NOT THAT!! By the way, did anyone notice what happened to San Diego State once they were on a neutal site in the NIT? A fourteen point loss by Baylor. Still can't get over them getting a one seed over St Mary's despite a neutral site loss to the Gaels earlier in the season. If you don't think the Cox Center was the difference in that game vs. St Mary's in the quarters, you weren't watching.
Sorry to digress. Back to point. So say if a recruit gets a free cup of lemonade from a kid's lemonade stand and the little kid says "Come to Hofstra", is that stand now a recruiting site? Would that mean a Hofstra compliance officer would deliver "a cease and desist" letter to a five year old? Based on the No Clue At All, the answer to both questions is yes!
Another example why the NCAA is a joke. A bad joke. The NCAA needs to be spending more time getting its athletes to graduate than spending time overseeing Facebook groups.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
The Universe is Back
It may not be in order, but the universe is back.
This is the first real post of the Alternate College Basketball Universe since I changed the name. A lot has gone on since that last post.
Anthony Grant IS the new head coach at Alabama. He is making two million a year. TWOOO MILLLLLION. About 4-5 times he was making at VCU. As I noted in a previous post, the question of the day...does Larry Sanders follow him to Alabama? For those who don't remember, when Ron Everhart left Northeastern a few years back for Duquesne, shotblocker extraordinare Shawn James went with him. The similarities are there. Both sophomores, both dominate in the paint and have increasingly potential scoring abilities.
By the way, had not Shawn James stupidly declared for the NBA draft last season, do you think Duquesne might have won the A10 championship this season? They made the finals of the A10 Tournament without him. Yup, what could have been. Another example of someone who should have talked to Marty Blake (Google him to find out who he is).
As much as I am happy for a CAA team to win the inaugural CIT, did anyone really know that ODU won that thing? However, the win over Bradley in the championship game wasn't the interesting note there. I am still trying to figure out how they beat fellow CAA member James Madison 81-43 in the semifinals! The teams during the season actually won on each other's home courts with the margin in either game no larger than eight. Don't cry for the Dukes though. They will be VERY good next year with that nucleus of Julius Wells, Devon Moore, Pierre Curtis, Andrey Semenov and Dazz Thornton.
By the way in that final against Bradley, Frank Harrell had 18 points and 15 rebounds in that 56-52 at Bradley for ODU. Harrell played the second half of the season with a stress fracture in his leg. But his postgame comments are what did it for me too. As you know, I am a big fan of Monarchs coach Blaine Taylor, and wrote a story about him earlier in the season. Here's what Harrell had to say after the win over the Braves.
"I'm just so glad we won. It's the first tournament championship I've ever won. Ever. What a great team and what a great coach."
And Taylor cemented his status with me with this gem of a quote.
"I feel kind of bad for Bradley. They played a great game. But we won it and we ain't giving it back."
Awesome.
Not so awesome is hearing the news that Seth Curry is transferring to the Evil Empire, aka Duke. After all the speculation of it being an A10 team or perhaps even Wake Forest. No, it has to be the Dukies. Hey good for Seth Curry. Maybe Coach K is learning what I have been saying for the past three years. Their guards (which he recruits obviously) are not very good. VCU exploited that two years ago and Villanova exploited it again in the Sweet 16. Teams with good guards will beat Duke. Perhaps Seth Curry will change that. But I will say this, I have more respect for his brother Stephen now. You never saw Stephen transfer after his freshman year at Davidson. Or his sophomore year when he led the Wildcats to the Elite Eight. The kid is class all the way.
Next posting, the year in pictures.
This is the first real post of the Alternate College Basketball Universe since I changed the name. A lot has gone on since that last post.
Anthony Grant IS the new head coach at Alabama. He is making two million a year. TWOOO MILLLLLION. About 4-5 times he was making at VCU. As I noted in a previous post, the question of the day...does Larry Sanders follow him to Alabama? For those who don't remember, when Ron Everhart left Northeastern a few years back for Duquesne, shotblocker extraordinare Shawn James went with him. The similarities are there. Both sophomores, both dominate in the paint and have increasingly potential scoring abilities.
By the way, had not Shawn James stupidly declared for the NBA draft last season, do you think Duquesne might have won the A10 championship this season? They made the finals of the A10 Tournament without him. Yup, what could have been. Another example of someone who should have talked to Marty Blake (Google him to find out who he is).
As much as I am happy for a CAA team to win the inaugural CIT, did anyone really know that ODU won that thing? However, the win over Bradley in the championship game wasn't the interesting note there. I am still trying to figure out how they beat fellow CAA member James Madison 81-43 in the semifinals! The teams during the season actually won on each other's home courts with the margin in either game no larger than eight. Don't cry for the Dukes though. They will be VERY good next year with that nucleus of Julius Wells, Devon Moore, Pierre Curtis, Andrey Semenov and Dazz Thornton.
By the way in that final against Bradley, Frank Harrell had 18 points and 15 rebounds in that 56-52 at Bradley for ODU. Harrell played the second half of the season with a stress fracture in his leg. But his postgame comments are what did it for me too. As you know, I am a big fan of Monarchs coach Blaine Taylor, and wrote a story about him earlier in the season. Here's what Harrell had to say after the win over the Braves.
"I'm just so glad we won. It's the first tournament championship I've ever won. Ever. What a great team and what a great coach."
And Taylor cemented his status with me with this gem of a quote.
"I feel kind of bad for Bradley. They played a great game. But we won it and we ain't giving it back."
Awesome.
Not so awesome is hearing the news that Seth Curry is transferring to the Evil Empire, aka Duke. After all the speculation of it being an A10 team or perhaps even Wake Forest. No, it has to be the Dukies. Hey good for Seth Curry. Maybe Coach K is learning what I have been saying for the past three years. Their guards (which he recruits obviously) are not very good. VCU exploited that two years ago and Villanova exploited it again in the Sweet 16. Teams with good guards will beat Duke. Perhaps Seth Curry will change that. But I will say this, I have more respect for his brother Stephen now. You never saw Stephen transfer after his freshman year at Davidson. Or his sophomore year when he led the Wildcats to the Elite Eight. The kid is class all the way.
Next posting, the year in pictures.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Notice the Change?
Yes, I have changed the name of this site. I have been thinking about this for a while. A lot of my writing deals with mid major basketball, the 22 conferences that compromise that fiefdom (remember the A10 is not a mid major here. It's a "Wannabe Conference", which is what I also call the Mountain West and Conference USA. More on that in a future column).
But a lot of my writing in the past few seasons has dealt with women's college basketball, specifically the Iona Lady Gaels, coached by my friend Anthony Bozzella. Also, in the past year I have written about Division II (C.W. Post who lost a heartbreaker in the D II Quarterfinals last night in OT - more tomorrow) and Division III (my articles on St Joseph's and coach John Mateyko, a Jim Larranaga disciple). So to me, there is more to the college basketball universe than just the mid majors (don't worry, my home base is still Hofstra, so the mid majors will still gets lots of virtual ink here). So thus the name change. Welcome to the Alternate College Basketball Universe. And yes, once in a while I will talk about the Power Conferences. But here, they are just a small part of this universe. :-)
But a lot of my writing in the past few seasons has dealt with women's college basketball, specifically the Iona Lady Gaels, coached by my friend Anthony Bozzella. Also, in the past year I have written about Division II (C.W. Post who lost a heartbreaker in the D II Quarterfinals last night in OT - more tomorrow) and Division III (my articles on St Joseph's and coach John Mateyko, a Jim Larranaga disciple). So to me, there is more to the college basketball universe than just the mid majors (don't worry, my home base is still Hofstra, so the mid majors will still gets lots of virtual ink here). So thus the name change. Welcome to the Alternate College Basketball Universe. And yes, once in a while I will talk about the Power Conferences. But here, they are just a small part of this universe. :-)
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Quick Notes
A couple of news items in the "not surprising" category.
Seth Curry and his 20.2 points per game scoring average are transferring from Liberty after one season. I have noted a few times on here that it was surprising he was at Liberty and not at Davidson where he could have teamed with his brother Steph and made Davidson a serious force to be reckoned with this year. I would be surprised if he ends up transferring to Davidson since a) he has to sit out a year and his brother only has a season left and b) it's not quite up to what Curry says is taking "advantage of new opportunities that may be available to me in a higher-rated conference".
I am not sure Curry is quite power conference material, say Virginia Tech where his dad went to school. I might be wrong but my guess is that he ends up in the A10 perhaps on Richmond.
Our second not surprising story is Anthony Grant made a second visit to the University of Alabama today. With Eric Maynor graduating and next season potentially being a struggle in the first year without him as a coach of VCU, Grant is making the most of his two NCAA Tournament appearances. Stick a fork in him, he will be shortly named coach of the Crimson Tide. The concern VCU fans should have is whether Larry Sanders will follow him to Alabama. Don't be surprised if you see that happen.
A key thing to note in tonight's St Mary's - San Diego State game at 9:00 PM on ESPN2. Diamon Simpson needs to shoot better from the free throw line. He was 0 for 5 from the line Monday against Davidson and some of the shots were absolutely brutal. One of them hit the bottom front of the rim with only the top third of the basketball. It was ugly. His shooting style from the line is consistently low line drive and barely gets above the rim. Thus his shooting percentage is 59 percent. Don't be surprised if it is close tonight that the Aztecs pull a "Hack a Shaq" and foul him a lot.
In the Division II Quarterfinals, #2 ranked C.W. Post takes on #1 Findlay, Ohio in the final game of the day (8:30 PM Eastern start) in Springfield Mass. You can see the video here. How the #2 ranked team takes on the #1 ranked team in the country in the quarters is beyond me. Who is doing the pairing, C.M. Newton? The Division II semifinals are tomorrow night with the championship on Saturday afternoon in Springfield, Mass.
Finally, here's something that involves college basketball, well in a way. I was at a conference in Philadelphia which features the users of the campus integrated system/web portal that many universities use, including Hofstra. Well yesterday, they had a contest of what school had the best web portal (if you don't know what that is, go to wikipedia). Hofstra was one of the contestants (and finished second to Plymouth State). The contest was called "Luminus Idol" (Luminius is the name of the portal system that many of universities, including Hofstra use)
Anyway, Texas A&M was supposed to be one of the contestants. When the host announced it was Texas A&M's turn, no one ever came up. After a few seconds, the contest host then stated "I guess no one from A&M showed up."
I shouted out "That's OK. They didn't show up for UConn either!"
A loud "OOOOOOOHHH" followed up with a good number of laughs. (as you know UConn smoked Texas A&M by 26 in ironically Philly on Saturday)
Thought you would all enjoy that.
Seth Curry and his 20.2 points per game scoring average are transferring from Liberty after one season. I have noted a few times on here that it was surprising he was at Liberty and not at Davidson where he could have teamed with his brother Steph and made Davidson a serious force to be reckoned with this year. I would be surprised if he ends up transferring to Davidson since a) he has to sit out a year and his brother only has a season left and b) it's not quite up to what Curry says is taking "advantage of new opportunities that may be available to me in a higher-rated conference".
I am not sure Curry is quite power conference material, say Virginia Tech where his dad went to school. I might be wrong but my guess is that he ends up in the A10 perhaps on Richmond.
Our second not surprising story is Anthony Grant made a second visit to the University of Alabama today. With Eric Maynor graduating and next season potentially being a struggle in the first year without him as a coach of VCU, Grant is making the most of his two NCAA Tournament appearances. Stick a fork in him, he will be shortly named coach of the Crimson Tide. The concern VCU fans should have is whether Larry Sanders will follow him to Alabama. Don't be surprised if you see that happen.
A key thing to note in tonight's St Mary's - San Diego State game at 9:00 PM on ESPN2. Diamon Simpson needs to shoot better from the free throw line. He was 0 for 5 from the line Monday against Davidson and some of the shots were absolutely brutal. One of them hit the bottom front of the rim with only the top third of the basketball. It was ugly. His shooting style from the line is consistently low line drive and barely gets above the rim. Thus his shooting percentage is 59 percent. Don't be surprised if it is close tonight that the Aztecs pull a "Hack a Shaq" and foul him a lot.
In the Division II Quarterfinals, #2 ranked C.W. Post takes on #1 Findlay, Ohio in the final game of the day (8:30 PM Eastern start) in Springfield Mass. You can see the video here. How the #2 ranked team takes on the #1 ranked team in the country in the quarters is beyond me. Who is doing the pairing, C.M. Newton? The Division II semifinals are tomorrow night with the championship on Saturday afternoon in Springfield, Mass.
Finally, here's something that involves college basketball, well in a way. I was at a conference in Philadelphia which features the users of the campus integrated system/web portal that many universities use, including Hofstra. Well yesterday, they had a contest of what school had the best web portal (if you don't know what that is, go to wikipedia). Hofstra was one of the contestants (and finished second to Plymouth State). The contest was called "Luminus Idol" (Luminius is the name of the portal system that many of universities, including Hofstra use)
Anyway, Texas A&M was supposed to be one of the contestants. When the host announced it was Texas A&M's turn, no one ever came up. After a few seconds, the contest host then stated "I guess no one from A&M showed up."
I shouted out "That's OK. They didn't show up for UConn either!"
A loud "OOOOOOOHHH" followed up with a good number of laughs. (as you know UConn smoked Texas A&M by 26 in ironically Philly on Saturday)
Thought you would all enjoy that.
Greetings from Philadelphia
This will be a short post because I have to check out today and I have to go to the morning session of the conference before I head to home. I have been here in Philly since Sunday and its been non stop sessions during the day, then hanging out with fellow Hofstra Colleagues at night, sans my 11:30 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. trip to the hotel bar to watch Davidson - St Mary's.
If anyone watched at least the first half of the game, you saw a very entertaining 20 minutes. It was like mano a mano, Patty Mills vs. Stephen Curry. There was Curry nailing that center court three from seemingly 3o plus feet to put Davidson up early 11-6. All net. Then there is Mills, who is sooo quick. That reverse layup down the lane later in the first half was just a treat. The first half ended with St Mary's up three 36-33.
Davidson tied it a 36, as who else, Curry, fired a three. But then Mills came back with a layup to put St Mary's back up. The Gaels eventually pulled away in the second half as Davidson had no answer for Mills along with Omar Samhan and Diamon Simpson, the dynamic front court duo for St Mary's. St Mary's would go on to the NIT quarterfinals with a 82-68 win.
It was Double Double night for the Gaels as Mills had 23 points and a career high 1o assists. Simpson had 12 points and 15 rebounds while Samhan had 18 points and 9 rebounds, as the Gaels outrebounded the Wildcats 45-36. Curry had 26 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists. But as much as I love watching Curry and the Wildcats, there is no true second consistent scoring option for the Wildcats. Wil Archambault had 10 points and Andrew Lovedale had 9 points and 10 rebounds, but combined they shot just 7 of 20 from the field.
Watching the game, I felt that the rest of the country was denied from watching these two teams play each other in the NCAA tournament. Instead, most of the country had to stay up late to see two good teams with two great players play in the NIT.
On Sunday, I didn't get to see any of the games, sans the second part of the second half of the Louisville-Siena game where the Saints came back to take the lead only to lose at the end. By the way, what a team Siena has. They were down 12 early in the second half to the #1 overall seed in the tournament and came back and took a four point lead. Only Hasbrouck graduates from this Saints team, so we'll see them again next year.
I didn't see Cleveland State get beat by Arizona (more on that in a second). So, there is really only one mid major left, Gonzaga. Remember, the A10 is not considered a mid major here, thus Xavier, doesn't count. If you don't like that, go talk to Linda Bruno, commissioner of the A10.
It's a chalk fest Sweet 16. Outside of Arizona, who remember folks is not a cinderella because they are a power conference team, all the other teams left are #1 - #4 seeds. That's just amazing. I think you might see some upsets in the Sweet 16 round, but nothing like a #10 beating a #1 (sorry Arizona, your run ends with Louisville). No Davidson, no George Mason, no Southern Illinois or Western Kentucky. Kinda of boring in a way, no?
Remember, tonight, on ESPN2 at 9:00 pm, the last mid major left in the NIT (after Creighton blew a late lead at home to Kentucky, ugh), St Mary's is at San Diego State, as again the boys at the NCAA have no clue about seeding. The #2 seed in the "West" NIT bracket Gaels beat the #1 seed Aztecs on a neutral site. Yet the Gaels are at the Aztecs. Gotta love CM Newton. Hopefully Mills, Samhan and Simpson and company escape the Gaslamp Quarter with a win and allow the MSG folks a chance to seem them in the Mecca. If they make to the Garden, I will be there!
If anyone watched at least the first half of the game, you saw a very entertaining 20 minutes. It was like mano a mano, Patty Mills vs. Stephen Curry. There was Curry nailing that center court three from seemingly 3o plus feet to put Davidson up early 11-6. All net. Then there is Mills, who is sooo quick. That reverse layup down the lane later in the first half was just a treat. The first half ended with St Mary's up three 36-33.
Davidson tied it a 36, as who else, Curry, fired a three. But then Mills came back with a layup to put St Mary's back up. The Gaels eventually pulled away in the second half as Davidson had no answer for Mills along with Omar Samhan and Diamon Simpson, the dynamic front court duo for St Mary's. St Mary's would go on to the NIT quarterfinals with a 82-68 win.
It was Double Double night for the Gaels as Mills had 23 points and a career high 1o assists. Simpson had 12 points and 15 rebounds while Samhan had 18 points and 9 rebounds, as the Gaels outrebounded the Wildcats 45-36. Curry had 26 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists. But as much as I love watching Curry and the Wildcats, there is no true second consistent scoring option for the Wildcats. Wil Archambault had 10 points and Andrew Lovedale had 9 points and 10 rebounds, but combined they shot just 7 of 20 from the field.
Watching the game, I felt that the rest of the country was denied from watching these two teams play each other in the NCAA tournament. Instead, most of the country had to stay up late to see two good teams with two great players play in the NIT.
On Sunday, I didn't get to see any of the games, sans the second part of the second half of the Louisville-Siena game where the Saints came back to take the lead only to lose at the end. By the way, what a team Siena has. They were down 12 early in the second half to the #1 overall seed in the tournament and came back and took a four point lead. Only Hasbrouck graduates from this Saints team, so we'll see them again next year.
I didn't see Cleveland State get beat by Arizona (more on that in a second). So, there is really only one mid major left, Gonzaga. Remember, the A10 is not considered a mid major here, thus Xavier, doesn't count. If you don't like that, go talk to Linda Bruno, commissioner of the A10.
It's a chalk fest Sweet 16. Outside of Arizona, who remember folks is not a cinderella because they are a power conference team, all the other teams left are #1 - #4 seeds. That's just amazing. I think you might see some upsets in the Sweet 16 round, but nothing like a #10 beating a #1 (sorry Arizona, your run ends with Louisville). No Davidson, no George Mason, no Southern Illinois or Western Kentucky. Kinda of boring in a way, no?
Remember, tonight, on ESPN2 at 9:00 pm, the last mid major left in the NIT (after Creighton blew a late lead at home to Kentucky, ugh), St Mary's is at San Diego State, as again the boys at the NCAA have no clue about seeding. The #2 seed in the "West" NIT bracket Gaels beat the #1 seed Aztecs on a neutral site. Yet the Gaels are at the Aztecs. Gotta love CM Newton. Hopefully Mills, Samhan and Simpson and company escape the Gaslamp Quarter with a win and allow the MSG folks a chance to seem them in the Mecca. If they make to the Garden, I will be there!
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Review of the First Two Days of the Tourney
Nothing like having a major conference at work put a kabbash on trying to watch the afternoon first round NCAA games. On Thursday evening, my friends and I went over our friend Don's house, who cordially invited us to watch all the games on his Direct TV package in his home theater system, complete with five TVs, one large one in the center. The UCLA cheerleaders and the VCU kickline look great in large high def. :-) So thus it was some Mike's hard lemonade, some various snacks, a comfy chair and some good college basketball. Last night, I had an online baseball draft, so in one browser tab I was listening to Arizona wax Utah (and cursing out the fact that the Mountain West teams were so bad they were getting blown out by mediocre PAC-10 teams), then watching dribs of Cleveland State and Wake Forest, while drafting Albert Pujols and Dustin Pedroia.
On the first day of action, well, there was only one major upset, and I should have seen it coming but didn't. I did say in my preview of this game "I can see the Hilltoppers winning here". Perhaps I should have trusted my vision more. #12 Western Kentucky thoroughly outplayed Illinois for 38 minutes then held onto beat Illinois 76-72 in the Portland Regional. It's the second straight year the Hilltoppers knocked off a #5 seed. Last season, Western Kentucky beat Drake in the first round of the Tampa Regional. The Hilltoppers had all five of their starters score in double figures led by Steffphon Pettigrew who had 17. Only one of those five is a senior. Damn. As for the Illini, well to paraphrase the song, "I never promised you a second round in the Rose Garden."
As for near upsets, first - Maryland over Cal and Michigan over Clemson do not really count as upsets. A #10 over a #7 when it involves two power conference teams, uh no.
Well as for what I would consider an upset, some teasers but no real skin. :-) During the day in the South Region, Butler was down 9-0 early to LSU. It took the Bulldogs a while but with about 14 and half minutes left in the second half, they went up 44-43 on the Tigers. They would again comeback and be ahead by one, 54-53 with eight minutes left, but it was their last lead of the game as they lost 75-71. What hurt Butler the most was 11 steals by LSU, which is very uncharacteristic of a Butler team. Matt Howard led Butler with 22 points.
Around the same time in the West Region #15 Cal State Northridge put the fear of god into #2 Memphis and a lot of people with the Tigers in their brackets. For about 33 minutes, the Matadors played the game of their lives. Their lead in the second half at one time was as much as six, 62-56 with 10 minutes left. But finally the Tigers overcame the mighty bull killers with a game ending 20-6 run.
In the West region, # 12 Northern Iowa felt right at home playing #5 Purdue. Despite being down 14 points early in the second half , the Panthers plodded their way back but couldn't get closer than four points, losing 61-56 to the Boilermakers in what could best be described as "Northern Iowa meets the Big Ten and You Get a MAC game" matchup.
In the evening on Thursday, as I sat in my comfy chair with my Mike's Lemonade in hand and mesmerized by five TVs, I was going to see some interesting games. In the East in Philly, #3 Villanova took on #14 American. The Wildcats were expecting to handily beat the Eagles. As did I. The Eagles had other plans, specifically Garrison Carr and Derrick Mercer. As Carr and Mercer started burying shots from the outside, Villanova tried to follow suit and failed miserably. As Jay Bilas railed about the Wildcats needing to go inside, American went on its merry own way and went up 41-31 at the half.
The Nova fans had to be stunned and the four of us were watching with great pleasure, even if our brackets looked like they might be going up in smoke, at the possibility of a major upset. As my friend Dr J was texting me with "We may have found this year's Curry" in Garrison Carr, the Eagles came out and scored the first four points of the second half. It was a 14 point lead now.
But Villanova must have got an earful from Mr. GQ at the half and starting scoring inside on layups and foul shots. And the Wildcats started pressing. The Eagles were able to break the press but seemed content to set their offense instead of making them. As my friend Mal yelled at the screen "Points are your friend!" , the Wildcats chipped at the lead. Then the crucial decision by Jeff Jones that sealed American's fate. He sat Carr when the senior guard got his fourth foul. The Eagles offense was never the same. Nova took the lead 58-55 on a Dwayne Anderson three with less than six and a half minutes left and the Wildcats never trailed again. Carr came back in and hit a jumper to cut the lead to five 62-57 with 4:30 left, but the damage was done. Nova went on to win 80-67. Carr had 22 points and Mercer added 17 for the Eagles.
Meanwhile in a battle of mid majors, you had the Zags face the Zips as Gonzaga got more than they expected from a MAC tested Akron team. Akron came out and dictated the pace. That meant MAC basketball -slow, plodding, methodical basketball with physicality. Lots of physicality. Not quite the Morgan State take down of Blake Griffin that night, but close enough.
Thus, Akron was up for a good part of the game, leading 46-41 with 15:25 left. Then the Zags took over. The Zags first took the lead with a 9-3 spurt. Then Gonzaga took the lead for good with a 23-3 run which included Josh Heytvelt scoring ten of the twenty three points. The run also featured three forced turnovers on Zag forward Brett McKnight. The Zags over the Zips 77-64 as Gonzaga shot 52 percent as Heytvelt had 22 points and 8 rebounds.
Then was the game near and dear to our CAA following hearts, VCU vs UCLA. Maynor vs. Collison. Sanders vs Oboya.. The Rams kickline vs. the UCLA Cheerleaders. Can I call that last one a draw and take both?!
The game was really two parts. The game with Larry Sanders on the court and the game with Larry Sanders on the bench. The first half was pretty even with the Rams having a one point lead 23-22 with 5:11 left. Then Larry Sanders got his second foul and went to the bench. With Sanders on the bench, Eric Maynor had no other options for scoring. With Sanders on the bench , the Bruins had no one to contest them in the lane. UCLA went on a 13-2 run to end the half to go up 35-25.
In the second half, Sanders avoided foul trouble for the most part. Thus the Rams were able to chip away on the Bruins' lead cutting it to five several times over the first ten minutes. However, VCU could not get any closer and UCLA actually extended the lead to eleven 57-46 with six and a half minutes left. The Rams did them no favors by missing six of eleven free throws during this time, including missing the front end of an one and one three times.
Yet VCU came back. A 16-6 run centered around who else Eric Maynor cut the Bruins lead to one 63-62 with 1:19 left. Still up a point, the Bruins ran the clock down on their last possession, "pulling a Hofstra", but Sanders blocked Collison's shot attempt with 22 seconds left and the Rams had the ball. After a timeout, Maynor got the ball and started driving on Collison. But instead of driving to the basket for a potential "Maynor", his patented floater in the lane, he pulled back and tried a fade away jumper. It clanked off the rim and the Bruins held on for 65-64 win.
Very simply put, if Sanders is not out of the game for that critical 11 point UCLA run, the Rams win. My friends Mal, Tieff and I talked about that (Dr J also texted me when Jones did that with Carr). When you have a critical game with not much leeway and Sanders is such an important player, don't you keep him in (and say to him, whatever you do, don't leave your feet and foul).
With Sanders in the game, he kept UCLA from scoring in the lane with his four blocks (he altered many others) and there were no second shots with his 11 rebounds (he also had 10 points). Without him, UCLA eleven point run. That was the difference in the game. Maynor led the Rams with 21 points while all five UCLA starters were in double figures including the incredibly quick Jrue Holiday with 13 points while Josh Shipp had 16 points.
Yesterday, again during the day there were very few upsets and none that involved a true mid major. Utah State had a four point lead with 3:42 left but Marquette came back for a one point win 58-57. Watching the game, the highlight for me was a missed Aggie three pointer and when Aggie center Gary Wilkinson went for the rebound, the Eagles Lazar Hayward boxed Wilkinson out by hip checking him out of bounds while the ball bounced harmlessly out of bounds. No call. Typical.
North Dakota State was game but fell short in their attempt to beat Kansas. Ben Woodside singlehandely kept the Bison in the game with his 37 points on 13 of 23 from the field but too much Sherron Collins (32 points ) and Cole Aldrich (23 points, 13 rebounds) as the Bison lost to the Jayhawks 84-74.
The closest to an upset might have been of all the things the #16 seed Buccaneers of ETSU giving #1 Pitt fits in the first round of the East Regional. Despite last having a lead of 15-13 with twelve minutes left, the Bucs' law firm of Smith, Pegram and Tiggs kept the Bucs close the entire game. With 4:28 left, after a three by Kevin Tiggs, the lead was two for Pitt, 59-57. But the Panthers outscored the Bucs 13-5 the rest of the game as Pitt won 72-62. DeJuan Blair had 27 points and 13 rebounds and Sam Young had 14 points and 13 rebounds to lead Pitt
The only upset was #11 Dayton knocking off #6 West Virginia in the Midwest regional as Chris Wright had 27 points and 10 rebounds. Once the Flyers took the lead 4-3 with 18:42 left in the first half, they would never trail again. West Virginia would get it within two several times in the second half but never could take the lead.
So the evening came. So far there were really only two upsets, One involving a mid major as Western Kentucky dominated Illinois. The other involving a pseudo mid major, A10 Dayton controlling West Virginia. The usually reliable Butler went down to LSU. The dangerous VCU fell just short of knocking off UCLA. The trendy picks, North Dakota State and Utah State were game but couldn't close the deal. Afew lower seed upstarts, American, Cal St Northridge and ETSU gave their opponents great scares but fell short. So the mid majors were looking at only two teams, Gonzaga and Western Kentucky moving to the Round of 32, unless Siena and Cleveland State, two teams I predicted to make the second round, could save the day (remember here at this site, the A10 is not a mid major).
Save the day they did. But first there were two other evening upsets. In the West Region, Arizona's Nic Wise had a feel day driving into the lane and scorching a slow Utah team for 29 points. The still not worthy of an at large bid #12 seeded Wildcats scored 50 second half points enroute to an 84-71 in over the #5 seeded lethargic Utes. Second, #11 USC came back from a halftime deficit and double up #6 BC in the second half winning handily 72-55 in a Midwest Region game. Taj Gibson, Dwight Lewis, and DeMar DeRozan combined for 62 points and 21 rebounds for the Trojans.
However a#10 over a #7 is not really much of an upset. A #5 over a #12 is. But let's get something straight. Arizona is NOT a cinderella, which i am hearing today. A cinderella is a team that doesn't supposedly belong in the next round or further rounds. Arizona is a team with a long standing power conference tradition of 25 straight years in the tournament. A cinderella is a Western Kentucky, Cleveland State or a Siena. Teams not from power conferences that are not supposed to get into the Round of 32 let alone the Sweet 16. Even Gonzaga, a long standing basketball power, is considered an interloper due to playing in the mid major West Coast Conference.
So now onto the REAL upsets. First Team Lockdown, the Vikings of Cleveland State just overwhelmed perhaps the most undisciplined team that my friend Dr J and I have ever seen, the Demon Deacons of Wake Forest. It started right off the bat with Cedric Jackson and Norris Cole nailed three three pointers and it was 9-0 Vikings. Then it was 18-6, then 29-12. as Wake Forest only hit of five of their first shots while Cleveland State hit on eleven of their first 20. There were also four steals by the Vikings during that time.
You could have turned off the game right there, but if you were watching it like me, did it seem to you that the crowd was real dead the entire second half? It was really eerily quiet and relatively empty. Did all the Demon Deacons fans go home atthe half? Anyway, Jackson, Cole and J'Nathan Bullock, combined for 62 points, 13 assists and 13 rebounds as Cleveland State crushed Wake Forest 84-69. Wake actually shot 52 percent from the field but Cleveland State had 15 more FG attempts as the Demon Deacons had 18 turnovers to the Vikings 6.
Finally, there was Siena - Ohio State. What a way to end the night. A veteran Saints team playing a young Buckeyes team in the Buckeye's back yard, Dayton Ohio, thus a loud O-H-I-O chanting supportive crowd that Siena had to deal with. The Buckeyes got off to a quick 8-3 start but the Saints quickly tied it back at eight all. That was a common theme in the first half as Ohio State would pull ahead then Siena would come back. The lead was five at the half 28-23.
However, the start of the second half was not kind to Siena. Ohio State pulled out to a 41-30 lead. But just as they did for most of the game, the Saints marched back in (cmon you knew the pun was coming). A 9-0 run cut the lead to two, 41-39 with 10:41. But as I watched the second part of the half, I wondered if Siena could come back to tie it. It took nearly eight minutes, but finally Ryan Rossiter tied the game up at 49 with 2:57 left. But then it seemed Siena let up as Ohio State scored seven of the next ten points and again the Buckeyes were up 56-52 with 55 seconds left and Ohio State with the ball at the line.
Then the critical moment that Buckeye fans will be complaining about for the next nine months. B. J. Mullens missed both free throws and Siena had life. And the Saints took advantage. Kenny Hasbrouck, who struggled the entire game, buried a three to cut the lead to one, 56-55. After an Evan Turner miss, Siena had a chance to win the game, but Hasbrouck was fouled on his way to a layup that just missed being a three point play. Hasbrouck, a surprising weak free throw shooter for such a good scorer, only hit one of two free throws and tied the game. Another Ohio State miss and the game went into overtime.
The Saints then took the lead for the first time since it was 3-2 by scoring the first four points to take a 60-56 lead. But Ohio State would score eight of the next ten points and the Saints again were down three with nine seconds left. But as I texted to my friend Dr J, "You can always count on someone named Moore", Ronald Moore buried a three pointer to tie the game at 65 and thus it was onto a second overtime.
The second overtime was just like the first, Siena went ahead 68-65, then Ohio State tied it up on an Evan Turner three. After Moore hit one of two free throws (ok, so us Moores need work on our free throws), Turner again hit a shot to put Ohio State up 72-71. Again, staring at the end of the season in front of a hostile crowd, Siena reached down one more time. And who else do you go to? Ronald Moore. Moore buried another three with two seconds left to put the Saints up 74-72. Ohio State missed a long desperation shot and Siena moved on to the second round for the second year in a row.
Just like the entire season, it was a team effort for Siena. The entire starting five scored in double digits led by Edwin Ubiles 20 points. All five Saints starters played 44 minutes or longer with Alex Franklin playing the full 50 minutes. Amazing. Hopefully they will have slept late today. They will need it facing #1 Midwest seed Louisville tomorrow.
So after two days, we have four legitimate mid major teams left; Western Kentucky,Gonzaga, Cleveland State and Siena. The Hilltoppers and Zags play each other tonight, so one is guaranteed a sweet sixteen. Maybe Cleveland State and Siena will join them too.
On the first day of action, well, there was only one major upset, and I should have seen it coming but didn't. I did say in my preview of this game "I can see the Hilltoppers winning here". Perhaps I should have trusted my vision more. #12 Western Kentucky thoroughly outplayed Illinois for 38 minutes then held onto beat Illinois 76-72 in the Portland Regional. It's the second straight year the Hilltoppers knocked off a #5 seed. Last season, Western Kentucky beat Drake in the first round of the Tampa Regional. The Hilltoppers had all five of their starters score in double figures led by Steffphon Pettigrew who had 17. Only one of those five is a senior. Damn. As for the Illini, well to paraphrase the song, "I never promised you a second round in the Rose Garden."
As for near upsets, first - Maryland over Cal and Michigan over Clemson do not really count as upsets. A #10 over a #7 when it involves two power conference teams, uh no.
Well as for what I would consider an upset, some teasers but no real skin. :-) During the day in the South Region, Butler was down 9-0 early to LSU. It took the Bulldogs a while but with about 14 and half minutes left in the second half, they went up 44-43 on the Tigers. They would again comeback and be ahead by one, 54-53 with eight minutes left, but it was their last lead of the game as they lost 75-71. What hurt Butler the most was 11 steals by LSU, which is very uncharacteristic of a Butler team. Matt Howard led Butler with 22 points.
Around the same time in the West Region #15 Cal State Northridge put the fear of god into #2 Memphis and a lot of people with the Tigers in their brackets. For about 33 minutes, the Matadors played the game of their lives. Their lead in the second half at one time was as much as six, 62-56 with 10 minutes left. But finally the Tigers overcame the mighty bull killers with a game ending 20-6 run.
In the West region, # 12 Northern Iowa felt right at home playing #5 Purdue. Despite being down 14 points early in the second half , the Panthers plodded their way back but couldn't get closer than four points, losing 61-56 to the Boilermakers in what could best be described as "Northern Iowa meets the Big Ten and You Get a MAC game" matchup.
In the evening on Thursday, as I sat in my comfy chair with my Mike's Lemonade in hand and mesmerized by five TVs, I was going to see some interesting games. In the East in Philly, #3 Villanova took on #14 American. The Wildcats were expecting to handily beat the Eagles. As did I. The Eagles had other plans, specifically Garrison Carr and Derrick Mercer. As Carr and Mercer started burying shots from the outside, Villanova tried to follow suit and failed miserably. As Jay Bilas railed about the Wildcats needing to go inside, American went on its merry own way and went up 41-31 at the half.
The Nova fans had to be stunned and the four of us were watching with great pleasure, even if our brackets looked like they might be going up in smoke, at the possibility of a major upset. As my friend Dr J was texting me with "We may have found this year's Curry" in Garrison Carr, the Eagles came out and scored the first four points of the second half. It was a 14 point lead now.
But Villanova must have got an earful from Mr. GQ at the half and starting scoring inside on layups and foul shots. And the Wildcats started pressing. The Eagles were able to break the press but seemed content to set their offense instead of making them. As my friend Mal yelled at the screen "Points are your friend!" , the Wildcats chipped at the lead. Then the crucial decision by Jeff Jones that sealed American's fate. He sat Carr when the senior guard got his fourth foul. The Eagles offense was never the same. Nova took the lead 58-55 on a Dwayne Anderson three with less than six and a half minutes left and the Wildcats never trailed again. Carr came back in and hit a jumper to cut the lead to five 62-57 with 4:30 left, but the damage was done. Nova went on to win 80-67. Carr had 22 points and Mercer added 17 for the Eagles.
Meanwhile in a battle of mid majors, you had the Zags face the Zips as Gonzaga got more than they expected from a MAC tested Akron team. Akron came out and dictated the pace. That meant MAC basketball -slow, plodding, methodical basketball with physicality. Lots of physicality. Not quite the Morgan State take down of Blake Griffin that night, but close enough.
Thus, Akron was up for a good part of the game, leading 46-41 with 15:25 left. Then the Zags took over. The Zags first took the lead with a 9-3 spurt. Then Gonzaga took the lead for good with a 23-3 run which included Josh Heytvelt scoring ten of the twenty three points. The run also featured three forced turnovers on Zag forward Brett McKnight. The Zags over the Zips 77-64 as Gonzaga shot 52 percent as Heytvelt had 22 points and 8 rebounds.
Then was the game near and dear to our CAA following hearts, VCU vs UCLA. Maynor vs. Collison. Sanders vs Oboya.. The Rams kickline vs. the UCLA Cheerleaders. Can I call that last one a draw and take both?!
The game was really two parts. The game with Larry Sanders on the court and the game with Larry Sanders on the bench. The first half was pretty even with the Rams having a one point lead 23-22 with 5:11 left. Then Larry Sanders got his second foul and went to the bench. With Sanders on the bench, Eric Maynor had no other options for scoring. With Sanders on the bench , the Bruins had no one to contest them in the lane. UCLA went on a 13-2 run to end the half to go up 35-25.
In the second half, Sanders avoided foul trouble for the most part. Thus the Rams were able to chip away on the Bruins' lead cutting it to five several times over the first ten minutes. However, VCU could not get any closer and UCLA actually extended the lead to eleven 57-46 with six and a half minutes left. The Rams did them no favors by missing six of eleven free throws during this time, including missing the front end of an one and one three times.
Yet VCU came back. A 16-6 run centered around who else Eric Maynor cut the Bruins lead to one 63-62 with 1:19 left. Still up a point, the Bruins ran the clock down on their last possession, "pulling a Hofstra", but Sanders blocked Collison's shot attempt with 22 seconds left and the Rams had the ball. After a timeout, Maynor got the ball and started driving on Collison. But instead of driving to the basket for a potential "Maynor", his patented floater in the lane, he pulled back and tried a fade away jumper. It clanked off the rim and the Bruins held on for 65-64 win.
Very simply put, if Sanders is not out of the game for that critical 11 point UCLA run, the Rams win. My friends Mal, Tieff and I talked about that (Dr J also texted me when Jones did that with Carr). When you have a critical game with not much leeway and Sanders is such an important player, don't you keep him in (and say to him, whatever you do, don't leave your feet and foul).
With Sanders in the game, he kept UCLA from scoring in the lane with his four blocks (he altered many others) and there were no second shots with his 11 rebounds (he also had 10 points). Without him, UCLA eleven point run. That was the difference in the game. Maynor led the Rams with 21 points while all five UCLA starters were in double figures including the incredibly quick Jrue Holiday with 13 points while Josh Shipp had 16 points.
Yesterday, again during the day there were very few upsets and none that involved a true mid major. Utah State had a four point lead with 3:42 left but Marquette came back for a one point win 58-57. Watching the game, the highlight for me was a missed Aggie three pointer and when Aggie center Gary Wilkinson went for the rebound, the Eagles Lazar Hayward boxed Wilkinson out by hip checking him out of bounds while the ball bounced harmlessly out of bounds. No call. Typical.
North Dakota State was game but fell short in their attempt to beat Kansas. Ben Woodside singlehandely kept the Bison in the game with his 37 points on 13 of 23 from the field but too much Sherron Collins (32 points ) and Cole Aldrich (23 points, 13 rebounds) as the Bison lost to the Jayhawks 84-74.
The closest to an upset might have been of all the things the #16 seed Buccaneers of ETSU giving #1 Pitt fits in the first round of the East Regional. Despite last having a lead of 15-13 with twelve minutes left, the Bucs' law firm of Smith, Pegram and Tiggs kept the Bucs close the entire game. With 4:28 left, after a three by Kevin Tiggs, the lead was two for Pitt, 59-57. But the Panthers outscored the Bucs 13-5 the rest of the game as Pitt won 72-62. DeJuan Blair had 27 points and 13 rebounds and Sam Young had 14 points and 13 rebounds to lead Pitt
The only upset was #11 Dayton knocking off #6 West Virginia in the Midwest regional as Chris Wright had 27 points and 10 rebounds. Once the Flyers took the lead 4-3 with 18:42 left in the first half, they would never trail again. West Virginia would get it within two several times in the second half but never could take the lead.
So the evening came. So far there were really only two upsets, One involving a mid major as Western Kentucky dominated Illinois. The other involving a pseudo mid major, A10 Dayton controlling West Virginia. The usually reliable Butler went down to LSU. The dangerous VCU fell just short of knocking off UCLA. The trendy picks, North Dakota State and Utah State were game but couldn't close the deal. Afew lower seed upstarts, American, Cal St Northridge and ETSU gave their opponents great scares but fell short. So the mid majors were looking at only two teams, Gonzaga and Western Kentucky moving to the Round of 32, unless Siena and Cleveland State, two teams I predicted to make the second round, could save the day (remember here at this site, the A10 is not a mid major).
Save the day they did. But first there were two other evening upsets. In the West Region, Arizona's Nic Wise had a feel day driving into the lane and scorching a slow Utah team for 29 points. The still not worthy of an at large bid #12 seeded Wildcats scored 50 second half points enroute to an 84-71 in over the #5 seeded lethargic Utes. Second, #11 USC came back from a halftime deficit and double up #6 BC in the second half winning handily 72-55 in a Midwest Region game. Taj Gibson, Dwight Lewis, and DeMar DeRozan combined for 62 points and 21 rebounds for the Trojans.
However a#10 over a #7 is not really much of an upset. A #5 over a #12 is. But let's get something straight. Arizona is NOT a cinderella, which i am hearing today. A cinderella is a team that doesn't supposedly belong in the next round or further rounds. Arizona is a team with a long standing power conference tradition of 25 straight years in the tournament. A cinderella is a Western Kentucky, Cleveland State or a Siena. Teams not from power conferences that are not supposed to get into the Round of 32 let alone the Sweet 16. Even Gonzaga, a long standing basketball power, is considered an interloper due to playing in the mid major West Coast Conference.
So now onto the REAL upsets. First Team Lockdown, the Vikings of Cleveland State just overwhelmed perhaps the most undisciplined team that my friend Dr J and I have ever seen, the Demon Deacons of Wake Forest. It started right off the bat with Cedric Jackson and Norris Cole nailed three three pointers and it was 9-0 Vikings. Then it was 18-6, then 29-12. as Wake Forest only hit of five of their first shots while Cleveland State hit on eleven of their first 20. There were also four steals by the Vikings during that time.
You could have turned off the game right there, but if you were watching it like me, did it seem to you that the crowd was real dead the entire second half? It was really eerily quiet and relatively empty. Did all the Demon Deacons fans go home atthe half? Anyway, Jackson, Cole and J'Nathan Bullock, combined for 62 points, 13 assists and 13 rebounds as Cleveland State crushed Wake Forest 84-69. Wake actually shot 52 percent from the field but Cleveland State had 15 more FG attempts as the Demon Deacons had 18 turnovers to the Vikings 6.
Finally, there was Siena - Ohio State. What a way to end the night. A veteran Saints team playing a young Buckeyes team in the Buckeye's back yard, Dayton Ohio, thus a loud O-H-I-O chanting supportive crowd that Siena had to deal with. The Buckeyes got off to a quick 8-3 start but the Saints quickly tied it back at eight all. That was a common theme in the first half as Ohio State would pull ahead then Siena would come back. The lead was five at the half 28-23.
However, the start of the second half was not kind to Siena. Ohio State pulled out to a 41-30 lead. But just as they did for most of the game, the Saints marched back in (cmon you knew the pun was coming). A 9-0 run cut the lead to two, 41-39 with 10:41. But as I watched the second part of the half, I wondered if Siena could come back to tie it. It took nearly eight minutes, but finally Ryan Rossiter tied the game up at 49 with 2:57 left. But then it seemed Siena let up as Ohio State scored seven of the next ten points and again the Buckeyes were up 56-52 with 55 seconds left and Ohio State with the ball at the line.
Then the critical moment that Buckeye fans will be complaining about for the next nine months. B. J. Mullens missed both free throws and Siena had life. And the Saints took advantage. Kenny Hasbrouck, who struggled the entire game, buried a three to cut the lead to one, 56-55. After an Evan Turner miss, Siena had a chance to win the game, but Hasbrouck was fouled on his way to a layup that just missed being a three point play. Hasbrouck, a surprising weak free throw shooter for such a good scorer, only hit one of two free throws and tied the game. Another Ohio State miss and the game went into overtime.
The Saints then took the lead for the first time since it was 3-2 by scoring the first four points to take a 60-56 lead. But Ohio State would score eight of the next ten points and the Saints again were down three with nine seconds left. But as I texted to my friend Dr J, "You can always count on someone named Moore", Ronald Moore buried a three pointer to tie the game at 65 and thus it was onto a second overtime.
The second overtime was just like the first, Siena went ahead 68-65, then Ohio State tied it up on an Evan Turner three. After Moore hit one of two free throws (ok, so us Moores need work on our free throws), Turner again hit a shot to put Ohio State up 72-71. Again, staring at the end of the season in front of a hostile crowd, Siena reached down one more time. And who else do you go to? Ronald Moore. Moore buried another three with two seconds left to put the Saints up 74-72. Ohio State missed a long desperation shot and Siena moved on to the second round for the second year in a row.
Just like the entire season, it was a team effort for Siena. The entire starting five scored in double digits led by Edwin Ubiles 20 points. All five Saints starters played 44 minutes or longer with Alex Franklin playing the full 50 minutes. Amazing. Hopefully they will have slept late today. They will need it facing #1 Midwest seed Louisville tomorrow.
So after two days, we have four legitimate mid major teams left; Western Kentucky,Gonzaga, Cleveland State and Siena. The Hilltoppers and Zags play each other tonight, so one is guaranteed a sweet sixteen. Maybe Cleveland State and Siena will join them too.
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