2008-2009 College Basketball Thread......

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

It's that time of the year again. First official practices commence this Friday evening, October 17th. No polls out just yet, but here's a pretty good site that previews many of the major and mid-major conference teams for those that are interested if you want to get a feel for each team.

2008 College Basketball Preview: 2008-2009 NCAA College Basketball Previews (http://www.collegesports-fans.com/basketball-previews/2008-2009-ncaa-preview.html)

[MJ4H]

Very excited about our young team this year. Returning almost nobody of note, all new team, very young. Major ups and downs, but a lot of talent and a fun system to play in. Really looking forward to seeing Rotnei Clarke and Courtney Fortson play. Should have outstanding guard play at some point this season, if not right off the bat.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Very excited about our young team this year. Returning almost nobody of note, all new team, very young. Major ups and downs, but a lot of talent and a fun system to play in. Really looking forward to seeing Rotnei Clarke and Courtney Fortson play. Should have outstanding guard play at some point this season, if not right off the bat.

Saw a pretty good article with a lot of Pelphrey comments the other day. He admits that they're facing a rebuilding year, but hopes to still perform well......

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/oct/13/pelphrey-says-hes-rebuilding-at-arkansas/

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Here's a Top 25 ranking from Andy Katz......

ESPN - Tar Heels on top as season sets to begin - Men's College Basketball (http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/columns/story?id=3640708)

[cartman]

Sounds like North Carolina and Texas are working out a deal to play a game at the new Cowboys stadium in Arlington:

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/stories/101408dnspouthoops.10cf9e370.html

[DeToxRox]

I'm excited for year two under Bieline. He has some recruits that fit his system, plus Laval Lucas-Perry, who transfered from Arizona, is eligible in December, giving us a lot more depth then we had last year.

I think we'll get back to the NIT this year, and then next year finally make a move to the tournament.

[timmynausea]

West Virginia got a huge commitment today in 6'9" Turkish PF Deniz Kilicli. He had offers from UCLA, UConn, Kentucky and others. Rivals only has him as a 3 star for now, but a UCLA assistant called him "more skilled than Kevin Love" so I expect him to go up. I believe he's just arrived in the states and is playing at Mountain State Academy in Beckley, WV this year.

As far as this season, WVU could be really good, but we'll be depending on 3 freshman for a lot of minutes. We're lacking a true center, and we'll miss Joe Alexander. I still think we'll make the tournament.

[MrBug708]

No assistant really said that, it was more of a paraphrased off the mark comment by an assistant. Otherwise UCLA would be in hot water! But I doubt he's really as skilled as Kevin Love since Love was a once in a generation college player :)

UCLA is looking to make their fourth straight final four with more success this year then in years past. The PAC-10 looks to be really weak

[GoldenEagle]

I am still not over last season and probably never will be.

[timmynausea]

From a newspaper article 3 or 4 weeks ago:

When trying to find out exactly what kind of player Mountain State Academy’s Deniz Kilicli was, a UCLA assistant coach told the tale of the talent from Turkey.

“He is more skilled than Kevin Love,” the Bruins assistant said Friday after MSU’s practice at Van Meter Gymnasium. “They’re different type players, but he is more skilled than Kevin.”

The Register-Herald, Beckley, West Virginia - ‘More skilled than Kevin Love’ (http://www.register-herald.com/sports/local_story_265230841.html?keyword=topstory)

[cartman]

Texas gets a huge commitment from Jordan Hamilton, out of Compton, CA. Rivals has him #5 and Scout has him #13. The Horns have been working on landing him for the last two seasons, and were in a fierce battle with USC.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Texas gets a huge commitment from Jordan Hamilton, out of Compton, CA. Rivals has him #5 and Scout has him #13. The Horns have been working on landing him for the last two seasons, and were in a fierce battle with USC.

That Texas fanbase has to be one of the most puzzling situations I've ever seen. All Rick Barnes does is bring in star recruits, finish in the top 2 in conference, and make the NCAA tourney just about every year. Despite all of that, the arena is rarely full except for the biggest games of the year. If they dropped that kind of talent in Columbia, MO, there wouldn't be a seat in the house all year long.

[cartman]

That Texas fanbase has to be one of the most puzzling situations I've ever seen. All Rick Barnes does is bring in star recruits, finish in the top 2 in conference, and make the NCAA tourney just about every year. Despite all of that, the arena is rarely full except for the biggest games of the year. If they dropped that kind of talent in Columbia, MO, there wouldn't be a seat in the house all year long.

Even so, they still had the 22nd best home attendance figure out of all 300+ Division 1 teams, averaging 12,700 with a capacity of 16,700. (2006-2007 figures). There are a LOT of bad seats at Erwin Center, and that plays pretty heavily into it.

2006-2007 Men’s College Basketball Top 25 Attendance « BrandDunk (http://branddunk.wordpress.com/2008/03/28/2007-mens-college-basketball-top-25-attendance/)

[JeeberD]

Really looking forward to the Miners season. Senior SG Stephon Jackson should become the Miners all time leading scorer, and the first Miner to ever score over 2000 points. He'll be leading a young team, but most of the youngsters got valuable playing time as freshmen last year. Memphis transfer Kareem Cooper has apparently been VERY impressive in practice and looks to be a monster in the paint.

We're hoping for a top two or three finish in CUSA and hopefully an NCAA bid...

[Chief Rum]

Fitting to see this thread today.

The Coach turned a spry and chipper 98 today. Here's to another 98, Coach Wooden.

[Groundhog]

Looking forward to seeing how Aussies Patty Mills (St. Mary's) and Ater Majok (UConn - Aussie by way of Africa, at least) do this year. I'm predicting a big year from Mills in particular given his performance at the Olympics.

[Izulde]

MJ4H are you going to the Red/White game?

[MJ4H]

Pretty sure I have to be at a high school football game that night. If not, I will definitely try.

[wade moore]

Very excited about our young team this year. Returning almost nobody of note, all new team, very young. Major ups and downs, but a lot of talent and a fun system to play in. Really looking forward to seeing Rotnei Clarke and Courtney Fortson play. Should have outstanding guard play at some point this season, if not right off the bat.


Matt - been meaning to ask you.

Any opinions/thoughts on Sean McCurdy? He starts this year for my W&M Tribe after sitting out his transfer year last year.

[MJ4H]

Oh cool. Forgot about him. He is a good kid but not quite the level of talent we needed at the time. There were a few that thought he was the future at guard and we weren't developing him by giving him enough PT, but I think most of us realized he didn't have what it takes at the SEC level. That said, he was pretty good at distributing while he was here, just turnover prone. No idea what his upside is, but he could definitely be a nice addition for your team.

I could be more vague if you'd like. :)

[Butter]

Dayton Flyers, baby! Coming back with the most talented player in the A-10, Chris Wright, and one of the best recruiting classes UD has had in years. Looking forward to a fun year in the Atlantic Ten... because the OOC schedule is complete shit, frankly.

[wade moore]

Oh cool. Forgot about him. He is a good kid but not quite the level of talent we needed at the time. There were a few that thought he was the future at guard and we weren't developing him by giving him enough PT, but I think most of us realized he didn't have what it takes at the SEC level. That said, he was pretty good at distributing while he was here, just turnover prone. No idea what his upside is, but he could definitely be a nice addition for your team.

I could be more vague if you'd like. :)

I mean really, if there were even a few people that thought he could be the future at Guard at an SEC school that's good news for us. We are a team that has consistently fell in the bottom 1/3 of a league that is a 1 bid, sometimes 2 bid, league. Yeah, we've had some high profile teams with upsets (with George Mason of course being the poster child), but again - bottom 1/3.

We had a breakout year last year (went to the conference final) and only lost one major contributor. What was one of our biggest problems? No true PG. If McCurdy could step into our offense and distribute, that is pretty huge for us. Frees up our best shooter from having to be the distributor.


Anyway - for me.

I'm very excited about the CAA season this year. There's a lot of young talent and some traditional doormats (like W&M) are trying to make a move this year. It's always a fun league to follow imo as the talent is quite good, even though not Major level. You can always get a good seat and we have 4 schools in VA so going to away games is very manageable. I generally go to all W&M home games and 3 or 4 away games a year - and then spend the entire weekend in Richmond, VA for the conference tournament.

[MJ4H]

It is very possible that you will be pleased with McCurdy. Hopefully he does well with his chance.

[Radii]

UNC has been preseason #1 before, but I don't think my personal expectations have ever been higher than they are for this team.

[Neuqua]

UNC has been preseason #1 before, but I don't think my personal expectations have ever been higher than they are for this team.

Forget baseball season already? Be aware...

[MrBug708]

From a newspaper article 3 or 4 weeks ago:

When trying to find out exactly what kind of player Mountain State Academy’s Deniz Kilicli was, a UCLA assistant coach told the tale of the talent from Turkey.

“He is more skilled than Kevin Love,” the Bruins assistant said Friday after MSU’s practice at Van Meter Gymnasium. “They’re different type players, but he is more skilled than Kevin.”

The Register-Herald, Beckley, West Virginia - ‘More skilled than Kevin Love’ (http://www.register-herald.com/sports/local_story_265230841.html?keyword=topstory)

I know the article, but he wasn't quoted. It's been debated at length on a few boards to see if UCLA actually created a violation

[MrBug708]

Texas gets a huge commitment from Jordan Hamilton, out of Compton, CA. Rivals has him #5 and Scout has him #13. The Horns have been working on landing him for the last two seasons, and were in a fierce battle with USC.

He's an interesting kid, but UCLA told him no thanks :) I'm not sure if he's even qualified yet?

[General Mike]

Rutgers has a pair of nice recruits coming in in the form of SG Mike Rosario (Rutgers' 1st Men's McDonalds All-American) and C Greg Echenique. There's a good chance both guys start from day 1, especially with the suspension of Forward JR Inman to start the season.

I think Rutgers could be over .500 this year.

[Wolfpack]

UNC has been preseason #1 before, but I don't think my personal expectations have ever been higher than they are for this team.

As much as it pains me to deal with UNC as they are this year, they are the team to beat. This also is a great chance for Roy to cement his legacy and actually one-up Dean a bit. Dean had many teams that rated #1 in preseason, but they rarely followed through with an NCAA championship, leaving a somewhat dim assessment of Dean's legacy to me. Yes, he won a freightload of games and was consistently a great coach with a great team, but the NCAAs were always a problem with him. Given his relatively consistent level of top ACC finishes, he should have won more than two national championships.

Roy, on the other hand, hasn't really had a team like this since he came to UNC. He's had the burden when at Kansas a couple of times, but never like this at UNC. Dean struggled to win it all with this kind of talent. Can Roy do better?

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Midnight madness practices are tonight! Exciting stuff.

Thought I'd pass on some pretty funny stuff from the kickoff luncheon for the Coaches vs. Cancer project that was held in KC last week. Coaches Norm Stewart, Mike Anderson, Bill Self, and Frank Martin were all in attendance.

Norm Stewart talked about a 1997 loss at home to Coppin State and Head Coach Fang Mitchell. Of course that Coppin State team turned out to be pretty good and beat No. 2-seeded South Carolina in the NCAA Tournament as a No. 15-seed, but he recalled walking across the floor to shake Coach Mitchell's hand and said "Great game, Coach. Congratulations".

But as he walked away, he tracked down Coach Mitchell one more time: "You weren't supposed to win the God-damn game. We are supposed to get the win, you just get the damn guaranteed money."

Coach Bill Self told a story about guarding Missouri's Jeff Strong in a MU-OSU game and how Strong may have "accidentally" slipped and hit his head in front of the Missouri bench. Coach Stewart yelled at Self, called him over and said "Self, you are the dirtiest player in this league."

Coach Norm Stewart quickly responded at the podium, "Well you were, and we always had to put our best defensive player on you (Self) ... when we wanted our player to rest".

And MU Coach Anderson didn't hesitate to add to the Bill Self dog pile saying: "Guard Bill? Heck, he was easy to guard, he never got off the bench."

KSU Coach Frank Martin's response? "I never had a chance to see Bill (Self) and Mike (Anderson) play in college, but I have to admit, I didn't watch a lot of Tulsa and Oklahoma State games when I was in the fifth grade."

[DeToxRox]

Manny Harris is the best player in the Big 10, and is going to average 19 ppg, and UM will beat MSU at least once this year.

I said it.

[cartman]

Sounds like Lute Olson is stepping down for good this time:

ESPN - Source: Lute Olson to step down as Universtity of Arizona coach (http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=3659611)

[DeToxRox]

Arizona is denying it but it sounds pretty certain he is done.

[Pumpy Tudors]

Not gonna be a good season for me, as I have lower expectations for my two favorite teams. First, I expected Memphis to win the national championship last year, and they nearly did it, of course. They'll still be very good, I'm sure, but I think asking for another title game appearance is a bit much.

As for my alma mater, New Orleans probably doesn't stand a chance of competing for the Sun Belt title. Bo McCalebb, the best player in recent school history, exhausted his eligibility and is now playing in Turkey. I like the guys who are returning, but they'll never replace Bo. Seriously, Bo was such a great college player, and it's a shame that very few people got to watch him play. He had the ability to take over a game and win it for the Privateers all by himself. That's a lot to ask from anyone else on that team.

Maybe I should start following Division II basketball. Go Seton Hill, I guess?

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

I was going to post this earlier, but forgot to do so. Yahoo Sports is doing an insider series about the Memphis Tigers as they prepare for the upcoming season. The first set of videos was just posted. 10 episodes in all will be produced. The video about their backup center and his contract with Coach Cal to lose 70 lbs is pretty good stuff............

College Basketball on Rivals.com – Full Court Press (http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/fullcourtpress/)

[CU Tiger]

I'm interested in seeing how Coach Purnell can handle the our team this year without Mays.

I will be very disappointed if we finish out of the top 25 though

[miami_fan]

Sounds like Lute Olson is stepping down for good this time:

ESPN - Source: Lute Olson to step down as Universtity of Arizona coach (http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=3659611)

It will be interesting to see how this plays out. Hopefully this is not a health issue. IIRC Kevin O'Neil was designated as Lute's successor last year but got the boot when Olson said he was coming back and he did not want O'Neil around. Now they don't have Olson OR O'Neil.

[LloydLungs]

As for my alma mater, New Orleans probably doesn't stand a chance of competing for the Sun Belt title.

True, we won't win a title, but I also think UNO will out-perform the last place finish being predicted in every publication/poll I've seen so far. Big emotional lift this year with our return to Lakefront Arena. You just have no idea. I swore I would never set foot in the Chamber of Horrors again after last season (I broke my promise to see roller derby a couple weeks ago, but still...).

Think the Saints' return to the Superdome on a much lesser scale. I like UNO to be semi-respectable this year, although I am not looking forward to re-opening the Arena with NC State, with 11 new players, with the Pack wanting revenge for last season, and ZERO exhibition games to prepare... even Sidney Lowe shouldn't be able to screw this one up.

[Wolfpack]

True, we won't win a title, but I also think UNO will out-perform the last place finish being predicted in every publication/poll I've seen so far. Big emotional lift this year with our return to Lakefront Arena. You just have no idea. I swore I would never set foot in the Chamber of Horrors again after last season (I broke my promise to see roller derby a couple weeks ago, but still...).

Think the Saints' return to the Superdome on a much lesser scale. I like UNO to be semi-respectable this year, although I am not looking forward to re-opening the Arena with NC State, with 11 new players, with the Pack wanting revenge for last season, and ZERO exhibition games to prepare... even Sidney Lowe shouldn't be able to screw this one up.

I'm not sure whether to be upset at this or not. :D

[Arles]

It will be interesting to see how this plays out. Hopefully this is not a health issue. IIRC Kevin O'Neil was designated as Lute's successor last year but got the boot when Olson said he was coming back and he did not want O'Neil around. Now they don't have Olson OR O'Neil.
O'Neill was a disaster. Half the players were either going to go pro or transfer if he stayed on.

As to Lute, he had missed three events for "health reasons" earlier in the week (Ast coach Reggie Geary had filled in for him). I have a feeling there's some health-related issues at play here.

AZ football coach Mike Stoops said this tonight: ""I just hope and pray he's in good health and happy with his decision. "

All signs point to a health issue and that would be real unfortunate. Lute put Arizona on the map and has been a gentleman his entire career. Back when I covered the team for the school paper, he would stay after press conferences to do one-on-ones with us all the time - something no other major coach would do in any sport.

[IMetTrentGreen]

He's an interesting kid, but UCLA told him no thanks :) I'm not sure if he's even qualified yet?

I'm 100% sure that this is true, you being the most reasonable, non-homer on Earth.

I think MBBF is going to pop in next to tell us that Sony said no thanks to Halo.

Just curious, though, did UCLA tell him no thanks before he fell in love with Texas as a sophomore, or after?

Hey, Jessica Alba! No thanks! That sure showed her.

[Balldog]

I'm interested in seeing Ohio State's newest big guy, BJ Mullens. He's got an Oden body but has offensive skills, not as dominate defensively though.

It should be interesting to see how things go without Butler running the point too.

[Chief Rum]

I'm 100% sure that this is true, you being the most reasonable, non-homer on Earth.

I think MBBF is going to pop in next to tell us that Sony said no thanks to Halo.

Just curious, though, did UCLA tell him no thanks before he fell in love with Texas as a sophomore, or after?

Hey, Jessica Alba! No thanks! That sure showed her.

So, I just want to make sure I have this right. You, of all people, are accusing MrBug of homerism? You. I mean, it's really you, right? Not some normal, reasonable non-super-Hookemhorns-homer who managed to find your account login, but you as we have known you, bleeding orange and one of the biggest homers around ever. That's you, isn't it?

Okay, got it.

[GoldenEagle]

I think Memphis will be better than what the expectations are, but I am a homer in every since of the word. I bleed reflex blue and medium gray, so take my opinion with a big grain of salt please.

[cartman]

so take my opinion with a big grain of salt please.

Dude, how about Lot's wife. :D

I think Memphis is going to be fine. Calipari always brings in top recruits, and they are still the class of Conference USA.

[JPhillips]

O'Neill was a disaster. Half the players were either going to go pro or transfer if he stayed on.

As to Lute, he had missed three events for "health reasons" earlier in the week (Ast coach Reggie Geary had filled in for him). I have a feeling there's some health-related issues at play here.

AZ football coach Mike Stoops said this tonight: ""I just hope and pray he's in good health and happy with his decision. "

All signs point to a health issue and that would be real unfortunate. Lute put Arizona on the map and has been a gentleman his entire career. Back when I covered the team for the school paper, he would stay after press conferences to do one-on-ones with us all the time - something no other major coach would do in any sport.

Vitale mentioned health issues every time I heard him yesterday.

[scooper]

Dayton Flyers, baby! Coming back with the most talented player in the A-10, Chris Wright, and one of the best recruiting classes UD has had in years. Looking forward to a fun year in the Atlantic Ten... because the OOC schedule is complete shit, frankly.

Not every A-10 game should be fun.

http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/thumb/9/92/180px-XavierMusketeers.png

[Arles]

O'Neill was a disaster. Half the players were either going to go pro or transfer if he stayed on.

As to Lute, he had missed three events for "health reasons" earlier in the week (Ast coach Reggie Geary had filled in for him). I have a feeling there's some health-related issues at play here.

AZ football coach Mike Stoops said this tonight: ""I just hope and pray he's in good health and happy with his decision. "

All signs point to a health issue and that would be real unfortunate. Lute put Arizona on the map and has been a gentleman his entire career. Back when I covered the team for the school paper, he would stay after press conferences to do one-on-ones with us all the time - something no other major coach would do in any sport.
So, after ESPN and most major news outlets ripped Lute for retiring (even though many knew there were health reasons), we now know that he had a stroke and that's why he's retiring:

ESPN - Doctor: Former Arizona Wildcats coach Lute Olson had stroke within last year (http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=3669415)

[Radii]

ESPN - North Carolina Tarheels star Tyler Hansbrough sidelined with shin injury (http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=3674076)


Oh dear.

[MrBug708]

UCLA is only practicing 8 players right now :)

The lineup is Aboya, Keefe, Shipp, Holiday, and Collison.

[MrBug708]

I'm 100% sure that this is true, you being the most reasonable, non-homer on Earth.

I think MBBF is going to pop in next to tell us that Sony said no thanks to Halo.

Just curious, though, did UCLA tell him no thanks before he fell in love with Texas as a sophomore, or after?

Hey, Jessica Alba! No thanks! That sure showed her.

What does being a homer have to do with anything? He's had such academic problems where he had to be reclassified as class of 2009 instead of being in the class of 2008. But sure, UCLA isn't even going to offer a top 25 kid 20 minutes from their campus at a position where they needed someone athletic.

Homer indeed!

[MrBug708]

Hey IMTG, Jordan Hamilton is ineligible for all sports this academic year...

[Izulde]

After watching the Hogs' exhibition game with MJ4H, I've reached the following conclusions about Arkansas's basketball team this year.

1. We're going to get killed by teams who have size inside
Our tallest guys are 6'9 and they're not exactly the bruiser type. We really need to develop some kind of post game or teams will just blanket the hell out of our perimeter game and we'll be in trouble. Michael Washington really knows how to draw a charge and has some nice inside moves, but he's not a true five. Unfortunately, we don't have any big men, so he's it.

2. This is a very young, very exciting team that should score a ton of points.
Yes it was an exhibition game and against a podunk opponent at that, but Rotnei Clarke is going to light up the scoreboard game after game. I'll go on record right now as saying he'll get strong consideration for SEC Freshman of the Year and maybe even receive some national attention. The kid can flat out shoot and what's better, he hustles his ass on the floor. I'm going to love watching his first two years.

Courtney Fortson, our freshman PG, has some serious game, but in my opinion, right now he drives too often. I'm sure that'll change once he realizes that's not going to cut it as much as he likes to do it, but he's got the moves and it's just a matter of maturation and adapting to the Division I college game.

Overall, I noticed this is a very fast, very athletic team with a ton of talent and potential. This is also a team that runs its ass off and has a lot of guys that show great hustle. But with only three guys on the squad who logged any minutes at all in a Razorback uniform, there's going to be a period of adjustment and chemistry building. How quickly they develop that rapport and sense of cohesion, is, I think, going to be a key indicator of how this season goes. The future looks fantastic, though, especially if we can pick up a legit big man to bang around in the post.

3. Michael Sanchez should see the court as little as possible.
He was one of the starters in tonight's lineup, which went:

PG Courtney Fortson (FR)
SG Rotnei Clarke (FR)
3G Stefan Welsh (JR)
PF Michael Sanchez (RS FR)
C Michael Washington (JR)

Sanchez is ox-slow, has a permanently dazed look on his face and just doesn't have the skills on offense -or- defense, particularly in this system. He tries hard, but he simply can't cut it.

Personally, I really like Jason Henry (FR) from what I saw of him. He can pass, shoot, defend and rebound, but on the other hand, perhaps his versatility as a G/F would best be served to come off the bench. Then again, Montrell McDonald (JR/Juco Transfer) is a G/F as well. I'd personally hesitate to put Andre Clark (FR) in as the starter, because then the only guy with any size we have on the bench is Brandon Moore (FR). Both Clark and Moore are 6'9, as is Washington. So on second thought, I'll go back to the suggested lineup of:

PG Fortson
SG Clarke
3G Welsh
PF Henry
C Washington

Depending on how quickly they gel, I think the Razorbacks can surprise some people this season and end up with an at-large NCAA bid or at the very least an NIT invite.

Oh yeah... #4.

4. We have some seriously hot cheerleaders this year

:D

[MrBug708]

Size is overrated in the college game. Most teams have a true four playing the five position and a physical wing player as their PF

[Karlifornia]

Size is overrated in the college game. Most teams have a true four playing the five position and a physical wing player as their PF

That's not true. Size is overrated in the PRO game. Roy Hibbert would have played 10 minutes a game if he were 6'8". Tim Young would have been d-II if he were 6'8".

[MJ4H]

Hahaha very well done Izulde and a-freaking men to #4. I think we will be ok with Washington inside for awhile and I think Andre Clark will develop for the spot, too. The rest of what you said is pretty spot on, but I'm not as concerned about Fortson driving as you are. There were only a couple of times when I thought it didn't work out well. I think he finished with 11 assists or something like that. Haven't seen a guard like this at Arkansas since Kareem Reid at least and this guy makes Kareem Reid look terrible (of course, he was).

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Mizzou had their first exhibition game last night. On the positive side, the defense looked great and forced 38(!) turnovers. On the down side, we gave up 22 turnovers. There were 7 new players playing their first game at Mizzou, so it probably shouldn't be too surprising that they were a bit sloppy on the offensive end. One good thing about the new players is that the energy level was extremely high, which is something Mizzou has been missing at times in the past couple of seasons.

One more exhibition game and then Mizzou heads off to Puerto Rico to face Xavier in the opening round possibly followed by Virginia Tech and Memphis.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Size is overrated in the college game. Most teams have a true four playing the five position and a physical wing player as their PF

There's a lot of coaches that now subscribe to 'arm height' when recruiting players. They're much less interested in their actual height. What they measure now is the height of a player from the floor to the tip of their fingers extended over their head. There's a lot of 6'8-6'9 players that have extremely long arms and can run and jump much better than a 7'0 player with a similar arm height.

[MJ4H]

4. We have some seriously hot cheerleaders this year

:D



This caused major difficulties in focusing on the game last night.
http://www.nmnathletics.com.edgesuite.net/pics10/400/RL/RLTQXNMRJJPHTEA.20080806230845.jpg

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

This caused major difficulties in focusing on the game last night.
http://www.nmnathletics.com.edgesuite.net/pics10/400/RL/RLTQXNMRJJPHTEA.20080806230845.jpg




Cousin of yours? Wife? Both? :D

BTW.....it sucks that Arkansas didn't want to renew the Mizzou series. Always thought it was a lot of fun.

[MJ4H]

Izulde and I are unbelieveable close to being in this picture. Literally feet away out of the frame on the left. Grrrr

http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v376/193/89/20606313/n20606313_35235450_5340.jpg

[Izulde]

Izulde and I are unbelieveable close to being in this picture. Literally feet away out of the frame on the left. Grrrr

http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v376/193/89/20606313/n20606313_35235450_5340.jpg

SIT DOWN BRIDGES!

Yep, we're -just- out of that picture. :(

[BishopMVP]

Some may say it's only a D2 opponent. Some will say it doesn't count for our RPI or even their record. Some will say our biggest weakness (rebounding/interior play in general) wasn't answered considering we were tied in rebounds. I say, screw it, we're 1-0 and face Southern Illinois tomorrow night for the right to play Duke at MSG. UMass 90-71 over Arkansas-Monticello.

[MrBug708]

Fall Signing period is today. UCLA inked some solid talent, about a Top 10 class or so and are waiting on whether or not they can get Mike Moser to verbal still.

UCLA also won fairly easily tonight. The defense needs work, but 5 freshmen playing some solid minutes will do that for Howland

[illinifan999]

I say, screw it, we're 1-0 and face Southern Illinois tomorrow night for the right to play Duke at MSG..

It was an UNBELIEVABLE game tonight. Gaffney came out in warmups trying to act all cocky towards the crowd, and when he was walking back to the lockeroom, he pointed up to the student section. He then proceeded to dunk a put-back in and screamed towards the student section. After that, he was singled out and it was great. We had pretty loud chants of "Gaffney sucks" going the entire game.

Scary situation when one of our big men took a tumble, and fell into the knee of one of your big men (can't remember the name, big white dude with a beard) and he came out with crutches and a lot of ice around his knee.

The officiating was terrible, seemed like SIU was getting called for any sort of touch, and the refs called an intentional foul on a layup when it was plainly obvious he was going for the ball. Then they didn't call one, when our big man just leveled a guard on a layup. Don't know if he realized he fucked up the first call and was just giving it away, but I couldn't believe it, I mean he just used his entire body and flung it at the guy in mid-air.

Dillard looks like he's going to be something special once he gets the mental part of the game down and doesn't telegraph his passes so bad. He came up with some huge baskets though in the second half. Towards the end, Gaffney wouldn't even look up at us.

But UMass looked really good, the guards were hitting some unbelievable shots, I mean, hand-in-the-face fadeaway type shit. They were out and running the entire first half and were penetrating very nicely. Great game, great atmosphere, and UMass played really well in a place that's not easy to play in.

[DeToxRox]

Michigan is gonna play UCLA next Thursday .. While we won't win I still think we'll show up for most of the game but UCLA is going to be too much.

[MrBug708]

Your coach owns our coach though

[wade moore]

Fall Signing period is today. UCLA inked some solid talent, about a Top 10 class or so and are waiting on whether or not they can get Mike Moser to verbal still.

UCLA also won fairly easily tonight. The defense needs work, but 5 freshmen playing some solid minutes will do that for Howland

William and Mary signed two quality recruits from North Carolina. No one anyone here would know I wouldn't think, but good gets for the level of program we are. Kyle Gaillard and Matt Rum for anyone that cares.

If anyone on any of the recruiting sites has info, i'd love to hear it ;). Apparently Gaillard had serious interest (maybe an offer) from Michigan.

[Chief Rum]

William and Mary signed two quality recruits from North Carolina. No one anyone here would know I wouldn't think, but good gets for the level of program we are. Kyle Gaillard and Matt Rum for anyone that cares.

If anyone on any of the recruiting sites has info, i'd love to hear it ;). Apparently Gaillard had serious interest (maybe an offer) from Michigan.

lol...Matt Rum?

I'll have to follow this young man's career, I think.

[BishopMVP]

It was an UNBELIEVABLE game tonight. Gaffney came out in warmups trying to act all cocky towards the crowd, and when he was walking back to the lockeroom, he pointed up to the student section. He then proceeded to dunk a put-back in and screamed towards the student section. After that, he was singled out and it was great. We had pretty loud chants of "Gaffney sucks" going the entire game.

Scary situation when one of our big men took a tumble, and fell into the knee of one of your big men (can't remember the name, big white dude with a beard) and he came out with crutches and a lot of ice around his knee.

The officiating was terrible, seemed like SIU was getting called for any sort of touch, and the refs called an intentional foul on a layup when it was plainly obvious he was going for the ball. Then they didn't call one, when our big man just leveled a guard on a layup. Don't know if he realized he fucked up the first call and was just giving it away, but I couldn't believe it, I mean he just used his entire body and flung it at the guy in mid-air.

Dillard looks like he's going to be something special once he gets the mental part of the game down and doesn't telegraph his passes so bad. He came up with some huge baskets though in the second half. Towards the end, Gaffney wouldn't even look up at us.

But UMass looked really good, the guards were hitting some unbelievable shots, I mean, hand-in-the-face fadeaway type shit. They were out and running the entire first half and were penetrating very nicely. Great game, great atmosphere, and UMass played really well in a place that's not easy to play in.That's weird about Gaffney - he was basically a recruited walk-on who became a hustle guy and earned a scholarship. He was always excitable, but I'm not sure why he'd talk shit - he can't shoot anything other than a lay-up. Looking at the box score, you'd think he had a fantastic game 6/9 with 7 blocks and 2 steals.

The big guy is Luke Bonner, Matt Bonner's younger, more awkward brother. He might be done for the season, and while I feel bad for him (he's a hilarious, nice kid by all accounts), I don't think we'd lose that much. He just can't run with the other players and doesn't fit the styles we've played. We'll definitely take our lumps now with essentially only freshmen up front after Gaffney, but I think we'll be a better team by conference play.

Our guards are absolutely legit. Harris and Gurley are straight ballers shooting the rock, and sounded like both played well. Chris Lowe might be the best of the bunch, and there is talk of him being A-10 PoY candidate, which is why your pg/gameplan has to be absolutely commended. 0 assists and 10 turnovers? That's the worst game of his career and probably his life, and I would have loved to see the game so I could see if it was your pg's defense or what that caused it.

Overall, I didn't expect a win going into SIU (you've lost what, 3 games in 6 years there or something?) so I'm not really bothered by this loss. It's gonna take the team some time to adjust to the DDM, and while I'm not entirely sure it's a better fit for our current personnel than Ford's offense was (Lowe needs to be in fast breaks more - there's no guard quicker in the open court than him - and Kellogg has them running much less in practice which may have hurt our stamine at the end there (hard to say without watching)) it's certainly helping recruiting and UMass' profile. Now go beat Duke.

[illinifan999]

Oh yeah, your guards are 100% legit. I mean, everytime they had an open look the entire stadium was groaning. I was holding my head and closing my eyes when they had an open three. It was seriously gross how they would just knock shit down.

SIU's game it seems since I've gotten here has been how they hit the three point bucket. If they hit it, it's all good (like the 2nd half), if they don't, it's awful (like the first half). Our freshman PG looks like he'll be amazing in 2 or 3 years, but as a freshman he's telegraphing so bad. He's got a crossover that reminded me of AI, so I'm hopeful that once he gets more experience he's gonna be just amazing for our program, same with the rest of our freshman.

But if college basketball gave out an MVP based on just how valuable a player is to a team, Bryan Mullins would win it hands down. He is so important to this team, they would not win a game without him. I saw him when he was waiting to get in the game by the scorers table, and he was coaching everyone from there. He really is just an amazing kid, I've met him, he's dating a girl that I know, he is just the definition of a great college basketball leader, I could not run out of compliments for him.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Boy, UCLA had a helluva time last night against Miami (OH). Ended up only winning by 5.

[Butter]

Miami does that to everyone. They rarely get blown out because of the style they play.

[MrBug708]

Boy, UCLA had a helluva time last night against Miami (OH). Ended up only winning by 5.

Miami played some good D and UCLA's freshmen have struggled with the offense so far

[DeToxRox]

Miami played some good D and UCLA's freshmen have struggled with the offense so far

Be ready for the Manny Harris experience!

I honestly think he'll be the best player on the court, ahead of Collison. Harris does it all and has really matured over last year. He is finally using his body to make plays and is showing faith in his teammates.

Kid will be a first rounder, sadly however, it'll probably be after this year.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Mizzou fans are watering at the mouth about this news. DeMarcus Cousins is refusing to sign with UAB unless they include a release clause if there is a coaching change. PLEASE tell me that the UAB AD is dumb enough to stick to his guns. I'm sure the AD at Mizzou would be more than happy to give him that clause.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/recruiting/basketball/2008-11-13-signing-cousins_N.htm?csp=34

[Wolfpack]

VMI beats Kentucky at Rupp 111-103. Bet that seat Billy Gillespie's sitting on just went from lukewarm to volcanic.

[sooner333]

Blake Griffin with 25 pts, 18 reb in the first game of the season. Oklahoma beat up a pretty decent American team (NCAA tourney team returning its four top scorers). Looking forward to Tuesday's potential matchup with Davidson in the Preseason NIT in Norman.

[Izulde]

I didn't get a chance to go to the game because I couldn't get tickets in time, but Arkansas beat Southeastern Louisiana 91-87 in OT. It's a little worrying that we needed overtime to beat the Lions, but I suppose it's still gelling.

I'm annoyed to note that Sanchez got the start. He crimps our style badly and needs to be limited to an end-bench role. And WTF did Henry only get 10 minutes?

Looking at the box score, Washington absolutely owned with 30 points, 14 rebounds and a block. Forston grabbed 18 points, 7 assists and a steal, but also turned the ball over 6 times. MJ4H, were you at the game and if so, how did the TOs happen? Was he being stupid and driving too much?

Clarke finished with 17 points including 5 of 8 from 3-point range. Man this kid's career is going to be awesome to watch.

[MJ4H]

Nope, had a high school football playoff game last night north of Tulsa. We were getting updates throughout via cell phone, though. Didn't look good for most of the game. Nice to see Washington play like that. I think that is actually encouraging. SELA is a veteran team with some talent on offense. It wasn't too surprising to struggle, and I was glad to see the fight. I think the problems can be cleaned up. I mean, I hope.

[MJ4H]

DOLA

Yeah and I second the WTF on Sanchez. I have a feeling this is going to start pissing me off soon.

[Radii]

UNC opens the season at home vs Penn. It was close for about 15 minutes, UNC went on a solid run to end the first half and led by 15-18 most of the second half. They got very sloppy and complacent for awhile in the 2nd half and let Penn get it down to 10 with 5 minutes left, but got it together and finished the game off.

With Hansbrough and Ginyard out with injuries, Freshmen Ed Davis and Tyler Zeller saw lots of action. Zeller scored 18 but only managed 1 rebound, he did get to the line for 10 FT attempts though. Davis impressed me more with 10 points/14 rebounds.

It was great seeing Bobby Frasor back out on the floor.

Final was 86-71, the speed on offense really wasn't there today, but it was a fine performance for an opening game.

[Wolfpack]

UNC opens the season at home vs Penn. It was close for about 15 minutes, UNC went on a solid run to end the first half and led by 15-18 most of the second half. They got very sloppy and complacent for awhile in the 2nd half and let Penn get it down to 10 with 5 minutes left, but got it together and finished the game off.

With Hansbrough and Ginyard out with injuries, Freshmen Ed Davis and Tyler Zeller saw lots of action. Zeller scored 18 but only managed 1 rebound, he did get to the line for 10 FT attempts though. Davis impressed me more with 10 points/14 rebounds.

It was great seeing Bobby Frasor back out on the floor.

Final was 86-71, the speed on offense really wasn't there today, but it was a fine performance for an opening game.

I saw the initial part of the game and was a little surprised that Penn hung as well as they did with UNC. Do you think the lack of Hansborough makes that much of a difference to Carolina or was it something else?

[JonInMiddleGA]

#13 Tennessee avoids a repeat of last year's close game against UTC (76-70) and routs the Mocs 114-75.

[Chief Rum]

I saw the initial part of the game and was a little surprised that Penn hung as well as they did with UNC. Do you think the lack of Hansborough makes that much of a difference to Carolina or was it something else?

Doesn't Penn run the same slowdown offense that everyone in the Ivy seems to run? I would guess the same thing happened here as to UCLA on Thursday--just a disciplined system-based team facing a talented squad that probably didn't take them as seriously as they could have. And even so, UNC led by more than 10 for most of it.

[Radii]

I saw the initial part of the game and was a little surprised that Penn hung as well as they did with UNC. Do you think the lack of Hansborough makes that much of a difference to Carolina or was it something else?


Lack of Hansbrough certainly has something to do with it but I think mainly its just having three freshmen playing their first game fairly heavily in the rotation, and Frasor hasn't played a game in a year. When UNC doesn't come out of the gate running on every possession they don't blow people out early/easily.


Penn is picked 2nd in the Ivy League too and they really aren't bad. UNC played them last year and the game went about the same IIRC.

[Radii]

Doesn't Penn run the same slowdown offense that everyone in the Ivy seems to run?

They are definitely disciplined but they don't' really run a Princeton style offense. They seemed more than happy to look for open shots early'ish in the shot clock, and to take them if they were there. There were a couple 3 point shooters that looked to have the green light any time.

[henry296]

Penn has never played the "Princeton" system. In fact, they prefer to be an uptempo team as their coach used to be an assistant under Jim Calhoun.

Radii is right they played last year. While Penn started well for the first 5 minutes they lost by 35 and only 15 this year. Penn is very young starting 1 Freshman and 2 sophomores. Most of the Penn fans are very happy with the performance of the team and should be much better than last year's down year and make a strong run for the NCAA bid.

The key when Penn kept it close for the first 13 minutes was very good 3 point shooting. For the last 7 minutes, Penn went a bit cold and the overall size of UNC took over.

[MrBug708]

Be ready for the Manny Harris experience!

I honestly think he'll be the best player on the court, ahead of Collison. Harris does it all and has really matured over last year. He is finally using his body to make plays and is showing faith in his teammates.

Kid will be a first rounder, sadly however, it'll probably be after this year.

I dunno, Darren COllison has his good and bad moments, but the kid still has a 17/15 performance as well as a game where he lit up a team for 37 points

[DeToxRox]

I dunno, Darren COllison has his good and bad moments, but the kid still has a 17/15 performance as well as a game where he lit up a team for 37 points

Oh I agree. Collison is a beast, but Harris (albeit not vs the best opponents) was electric in Ann Arbor. His game was Northeastern, with 28 points, 10 rebounds and 8 assists from the 3 was insane.

That said, I am not sure the other guys will be able to hit the shots so early. It's still a young team who relies on the outside jumpers and if it gets ugly early, UM won't probably ever recover.

[CU Tiger]

Clemson starts 2-0 plays in the final of some season opening tournament today against Temple.
And has a top 20 rated class coming in.

Coach Purnell is doing the right things, even if behind the scenes.

[BishopMVP]

For our west coast and night owl brethren, I get my first chance to see UMass tonight (Monday), 11:59PM eastern at Memphis on ESPN. I don't know whether it will be close or a blowout, as they dominate us size-wise, but we've got guards who can shoot and there are a ton of storylines between Calipari's history here, Kellogg's time as an assistant at Memphis and both teams running the up-tempo DDM.

[Butter]

Clemson starts 2-0 plays in the final of some season opening tournament today against Temple.
And has a top 20 rated class coming in.

Coach Purnell is doing the right things, even if behind the scenes.

Solid neutral court win over Temple in the Charleston tourney final. Good omen for the Tigers. Two road games against Charlotte and Illinois pose the biggest test during the run-up to conference play now for Clemson.

Dayton with a squeaker over Wofford to open the season, 52-49. Lots of nervous freshmen on the floor for Dayton. Wofford visits Clemson this week, so let's see how good/bad a performance this was for the Flyers.

[GoldenEagle]

Xavier Henry will announce he is playing at Memphis tomorrow.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Xavier Henry will announce he is playing at Memphis tomorrow.

That opens the door for a couple of guards to sign at Kansas. I'm sure we'll see the dominoes start to fall.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Any Niagara fans? As of this morning, they are the #1 team in the RPI rankings. Salute!

RealTimeRPI.com Men's College Basketball Rating Percentage Index (RPI) Ratings - A leading sports ratings and resources community on the Internet (http://www.realtimerpi.com/rpi_Men.html)

[GoldenEagle]

I stayed up last night to watch Memphis play last night. We did not shoot the ball particularly well, but once again our length and athleticism will wear folks down. Tyreke Evans had a good game but the freshman I am most excited about is Wesley Witherspoon. He reminds me of a young Penny. He glides down the court and has a good outside shot and can handle the ball. He is a 6'8 PG. The kid is a baller.

[BishopMVP]

I stayed up last night to watch Memphis play last night. We did not shoot the ball particularly well, but once again our length and athleticism will wear folks down. Tyreke Evans had a good game but the freshman I am most excited about is Wesley Witherspoon. He reminds me of a young Penny. He glides down the court and has a good outside shot and can handle the ball. He is a 6'8 PG. The kid is a baller.Wow, that was not fun at all. I would say my worst fears about the offense were proven true - other than Harris and the freshmen, our personnel doesn't fit it well (Lowe is phenomenal on fast breaks, but we don't seem to get any of those anymore and Gurley is a spot-up shooter who we're asking to beat guys off the dribble and pull up) but really, the offense is about being more athletic 1v1 than the man guarding you and there isn't a more athletic team in the country than Memphis. I mean, other than Kemp do you guys have a player shorter than 6'6 with a huge wingspan? Other than the 400-pd guy do you have anyone who can't run a 4.5 40 or jump 40"+? We turned the ball over 15 more times than we could afford to (it seemed 80% of your points first half were breakaway dunks) but that full-court press you guys were throwing out there was the most terrifying thing I've ever seen. You guys even have the better looking Calipari daughter attending your school.

There were some bright spots. Ricky Harris continues to look great this year and in the offense, and you have to love seeing an ex-walk on who I played against (and lost badly to) in intramurals (Gaffney) throwing up 16pts 19reb with 5 blocks and 3 steals. Tyrell Lynch didn't look bad before foul trouble got him

I also wasn't a huge fan of the officials - too many ticky-tack fouls and carries/travels being called. I know they make it a point of emphasis early in the year and it falls off by conference play every year, but it's still annoying. Also, when it's still within 10 points in the second half or UMass is winning in the first, I'd appreciate the announcers paid a little attention to the game actually happening than talking about their All-American teams or games happening the next day.

[Karlifornia]

Oklahoma is beating the Davidson Currys. Oklahoma up like 4, but Curry with 17 so far in the half. Watching him this season should be as fun as watching Adam Morrison was during his last year at Gonzaga

[mauchow]

Wisconsin is looking like a completely different team this year. A new look for Bo Ryan. The big players underneath are gone and Wisconsin has gone with a really fast team, which I am liking very much so far. Leuer looks great as does Landry. The Guards will be great, too, I believe.

[JeeberD]

Watching my Miners for the first time this year, against a Georgia Southern team that beat Houston last week. It was see-saw most of the first half with GSU taking a 2 point lead at the half, but the Miners are pulling away now behind 29 points from sophomore stud Randy Culpepper...

[Karlifornia]

What were the pre-season odds for UNC winning the title? They have to be the heaviest favorites in years.

[Radii]

extremely entertaining finish between davidson and oklahoma here, OU only up 3 now with 45 seconds left.

Curry has 42 points, Griffin for OU with 25 points/20 boards.

[Radii]

What were the pre-season odds for UNC winning the title? They have to be the heaviest favorites in years.

NCAA Tournament - Preseason Betting Lines (http://collegebasketball.about.com/od/ncaatournament/a/ncaa-odds.htm)

9:4 apparently. That's insane.

[INDalltheway]

So Arizona may have the dumbest players in the nation? Discuss...

[INDalltheway]

Dola

These announcers could be the dumbest in the nation also.

[INDalltheway]

Double Dola

Purdue is pretty darn good this year.

[MrBug708]

Fail

[Radii]

So Arizona may have the dumbest players in the nation? Discuss...

Just saw the highlights, that was... amazing? I dunno, that foul was something alright.

[Radii]

ESPN - Wrist injury will sideline North Carolina Tar Heels forward Tyler Zeller indefinitely (http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=3713121)

Doh. I have not been impressed with Zeller at all so far, but still, this isn't a good thing.

[Groundhog]

Patrick Mills has 27 points, 5 assists, and 6 steals in St. Mary's win over Fresno State.

[Wolfpack]

ESPN - Wrist injury will sideline North Carolina Tar Heels forward Tyler Zeller indefinitely (http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=3713121)

Doh. I have not been impressed with Zeller at all so far, but still, this isn't a good thing.


Can I play a tune from the world's smallest violin for you? :D

[GoldenEagle]

Wow, that was not fun at all. I would say my worst fears about the offense were proven true - other than Harris and the freshmen, our personnel doesn't fit it well (Lowe is phenomenal on fast breaks, but we don't seem to get any of those anymore and Gurley is a spot-up shooter who we're asking to beat guys off the dribble and pull up) but really, the offense is about being more athletic 1v1 than the man guarding you and there isn't a more athletic team in the country than Memphis. I mean, other than Kemp do you guys have a player shorter than 6'6 with a huge wingspan? Other than the 400-pd guy do you have anyone who can't run a 4.5 40 or jump 40"+? We turned the ball over 15 more times than we could afford to (it seemed 80% of your points first half were breakaway dunks) but that full-court press you guys were throwing out there was the most terrifying thing I've ever seen. You guys even have the better looking Calipari daughter attending your school.

I think your offense will improve. Memphis is just a really, really good defensive team. It is just hard to score when you have that much athleticism and length on the court. Also, UMass tried to come out running and gunning and just can't do that against Memphis. We could put Witherspoon, Anderson, Evans, Doizer, and Taggart on the floor and sit back in a zone. Niles, the big guy, has lost something like 60 lbs. Our one weakness is depth in the post. We have Doizer, Taggart, Niles and that is it. We have a couple of big men who are still waiting on academic elgibillity. I think our full court press may be better than last year, but we don't have the depth to make it 40 minutes of hell. Cal would never do that anway. We do have the better looking Cal daughter.

I also wasn't a huge fan of the officials - too many ticky-tack fouls and carries/travels being called. I know they make it a point of emphasis early in the year and it falls off by conference play every year, but it's still annoying. Also, when it's still within 10 points in the second half or UMass is winning in the first, I'd appreciate the announcers paid a little attention to the game actually happening than talking about their All-American teams or games happening the next day.

There never seemed to be a good flow to the game. I would like to say Memphis shot the ball poor due to the late start and the officials calling everything. The announcers did seem to talk about everything about the game. There would be subitutions made and I would have no idea who came in for who. It was frustrating.

Was this series a home and home? Memphis will be fun to watch next year.

[Radii]

Can I play a tune from the world's smallest violin for you? :D

OMG OMG OMG HANSBRO GINYARD AND NOW ZELLAR TEH SKY IT IZ FALLINGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

;)

[sooner333]

Was at the OU-Davidson game last night. What a performance by two very special players, who at what they do are the best in the country, without a doubt. Curry just has such a sweet touch and getting to the line 14 times proves that he is more than just a guy who shoots threes off screens. He had only 18 of his points on three-pointers...not even half. He can drive to the lane. Easily a Reggie Miller type guy in the NBA, moreso than a JJ Redick.

Griffin is a monster this year and he really seems to take it to a new level. He's so athletic and seems so much more in control and confident in his game at all times. He's currently averaging 23/19.3. Despite Dick Vitale not having him in his first or second team All-American list (and saying he needs another year or so), he will be a top-three pick.

[Radii]

heh wow, update on Zellar's status, exactly how much it changes UNC's title chances I would not think very much, but I feel bad for the kid:

ESPN - North Carolina Tar Heels' Tyler Zeller likely out for year with broken wrist (http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=3713121)

[Radii]

Despite Dick Vitale not having him in his first or second team All-American list (and saying he needs another year or so), he will be a top-three pick.

I don't think you get to go towards the 'no respect' card for Griffin here ;)

ESPN - ESPN.com All-America Teams (http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/preview2008/news/story?id=3701249)

Everyone else but Vitale has him on the first team at ESPN, and a couple guys pick him for national player of the year. More offensive than Vitale's selections may be Fran Frischilla's:


Blake Griffin, F, Oklahoma State


:D

[BishopMVP]

There never seemed to be a good flow to the game. I would like to say Memphis shot the ball poor due to the late start and the officials calling everything. The announcers did seem to talk about everything about the game. There would be substitutions made and I would have no idea who came in for who. It was frustrating.

Was this series a home and home? Memphis will be fun to watch next year.I think it is a home and 'home'. Cal was quoted along the lines of "ESPN asked us to do a game with the A-10 and I told them I wouldn't do it home and home, but with Derek coaching there I agreed."

I still think the return game may be in Boston, or at least Springfield, and obviously Gonzaga and Kentucky have backed out of their agreements the past 2 years, but barring anything unforeseen, Cal won't do that.

[sooner333]

Haha, I wasn't trying to play no respect, more like Vitale is losing it. I mean, I could see him saying he might not be one of the top ten players in the nation just because he's a high pro prospect. But to have Mike Patrick offer up Blake when Dick is listing his top players and have him say "he needs another year or so" is on the brink of lunacy.

What do you think of Ford's system and do you think it will work at the big conference level? Mizzou's tried with Anderson from UAB (not sure exactly how the styles are different except for maybe Anderson is press based, and Ford is more up-tempo) with not so great results as of now.

[clemsonfan]

Clemson is looking good so far. Maybe they will have a good season!

Meanwhile, the Lady Tigers beat the Gamecocks last night! Woo hoo!

[MrBug708]

UCLA-Michigan about to start up. Whoever wins this game doesn't have a prayer of beating Duke if they get the same officials from the SUI game

[Chief Rum]

UCLA-Michigan about to start up. Whoever wins this game doesn't have a prayer of beating Duke if they get the same officials from the SUI game

You mean the officials that came to the game in the Duke team bus?

[cmp]

Michigan up 4 with the ball and 15 seconds left.

[cmp]

Great win for Michigan.

[MrBug708]

SUI-UCLA is going to be one dull game, worse then this one.

Shipp is so bad for a 5th year senior, oh my

[Radii]

tsk tsk, so worried about preparing to blame the refs for future games that you forgot to wait til your team won the current one. Go Michigan!

[MrBug708]

tsk tsk, so worried about preparing to blame the refs for future games that you forgot to wait til your team won the current one. Go Michigan!

Who did that?

[Karlifornia]

tsk tsk, so worried about preparing to blame the refs for future games that you forgot to wait til your team won the current one. Go Michigan!

Radii-

Bug can worry about the refs all he wants, and it won't affect the team. Since Coach Howland has come to Westwood, his teams have been nothing but classy, no-excuse players, which makes it even worse when they beat Stanford :(

[Chief Rum]

tsk tsk, so worried about preparing to blame the refs for future games that you forgot to wait til your team won the current one. Go Michigan!

Strangely enough, I can call out bad reffing even when it doesn't involve my team. And, of course, no one should know better than you what officials can be like with Duke.

Good game by Michigan tonight. Beilein really has a system that gives Howland teams fits--this is the third time in four games against Beilein teams that highly ranked UCLA teams have lost to them. Harris is a big time player, and there are some other guys who seem pretty decent, too. I hope they give Duke all they can handle.

As for UCLA, this team's a work in progress. The freshmen have a long way to go to get to where they can even approach replacing the depth we had last year. They'll get there, but it's going to take time. Well, except for Holliday, that kid can just flat play now.

As for the seniors and upperclassmen, really, only Collison showed up. Aboya was about what he is (so at least he didn't get worse). Shipp was just awful, showing he's essentially a worse player today than when he was a fireshman. Keefe was a non-entity, Roll was cringe-worthy at times, and Drago was making bad decisions all game. These guys are solid backups from past teams--this is their chance to grab a hold of their opportunities. If they don't, I don't have any qualms with letting the freshmen just all play and start building for next year.

I'm in a bind on Howland. You can't argue results, and he certainly gets them. But the inability to devise an offense that can attack a zone, any zone, and his rigid insistence on a boring passing attack that only results in miserable contested outside shots while the shot clock buzzer rings is a huge limitation on the potential of this team. This team has the kind of athleticism and guard/wing talent that they should be playing a pressure D and fast breaking every chance they get.

[MrBug708]

*sigh* Im with you Chief

[Karlifornia]

In a bind on Howland? Well, I can't defend you there. That's poor form. 98% of programs would love Ben Howland as their coach.

It's not every year you go through the preseason without a disappointing loss.

[st.cronin]

In a bind on Howland? Well, I can't defend you there. That's poor form. 98% of programs would love Ben Howland as their coach.

It's not every year you go through the preseason without a disappointing loss.

Word. There are some programs where it seems like if the team doesn't go undefeated the fans are unhappy. I can't imagine what it would be like to root for a team with that level of expectations.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Mizzou managed to give Xavier a gift yesterday. Mizzou outplayed Xavier the whole game and then managed to make 1-9 free throws down the stretch to lose the game. Unbelievable wasted opportunity there. What was even worse was that 7 of those misses were by seniors.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Looks like Mizzou will face USC on Sunday as long as they don't get upset by the Mocs later today. Should be good matchup.

[Radii]

Who did that?

ignore me, just my frustration with the continuing proliferation of bitching about referees instead of actually discussing basketball. See last season's rant:

Front Office Football Central - View Single Post - Official 2007-2008 College Basketball Thread (http://operationsports.com/fofc/showpost.php?p=1679403&postcount=898)

[Samdari]

98% of programs would love Ben Howland as their coach.

Can you even name 7 that wouldn't?

Duke.

Ok, I'm done.

[GoldenEagle]

Word. There are some programs where it seems like if the team doesn't go undefeated the fans are unhappy. I can't imagine what it would be like to root for a team with that level of expectations.

It hurts really bad when you lose.

[Radii]

Word. There are some programs where it seems like if the team doesn't go undefeated the fans are unhappy. I can't imagine what it would be like to root for a team with that level of expectations.

Fans expecting undefeated seasons are crazy! To me its only a failed season if my team doesn't make the final four. Much more reasonable ;)

[Radii]

It hurts really bad when you lose.

Hurting in a loss and questioning the ability of a coach that has taken your team to 3 straight final fours to get the most out of his players is the big difference here I believe.

[DeToxRox]

What an absolutely huge win for Michigan.

If we play this game in December, it's a loss, but we had UCLA at the perfect time, and won an ugly game.

Is this a game that'll turn the program around right away? No. But this is a great resume game on the off chance we can get into the bubble picture.

I felt like this team was a year away from the dance, but it could happen this year if we can split these two games in two weeks with Duke, and hit B10 play 10-2.

From there a 10-8 record (plus a game vs UConn in Feb which could go either way) and 2 wins in the B10 tourney could seal Michigan for it's first tourney in a decade.

[Butter]

As a fan that's been there and done that (see University of Dayton, 2007-08 season), don't get your hopes up too high too early. One big early win does not a season make. There's a long way to go.

But it was a very good win for UM.

[BishopMVP]

What do you think of Ford's system and do you think it will work at the big conference level? Mizzou's tried with Anderson from UAB (not sure exactly how the styles are different except for maybe Anderson is press based, and Ford is more up-tempo) with not so great results as of now.I'm not that enamored with Travis Ford's system on offense, especially with the 3-point line moving back. At UMass, he had 3 phenomenal players in Lasme, Freeman and Forbes leading the team, and he hasn't shown he can recruit big men at all. (He has been fantastic at recruiting/coaching Guards. I mean, Chris Lowe was an unrecruited borderline 2/3-star sitting there unsigned in August and he'll probably be UMass' all-time assist leader. Ricky Harris averaged 18 a game as a Sophomore, and David Gibbs has NBA-talent.) At the same time, I really believe getting athletes and then running pressure defenses and offenses that like to get out in the open floor and fast-break are what almost every team should be doing. Tennessee under Pearl, Memphis under Cal and even Kansas/UNC under Roy are big time teams I think have been very successful using this tactic.

Under the system, it's not even like we had good games and bad games, there would instead be horrific 10-minute stretches and great 10-minute stretches. Games were simultaneously exciting and frustrating to watch - it didn't matter if we were up 10 or down 10, the deficit would be reversed within 5 minutes. That'll probably excite the fanbase early on during the rise up, when making the NIT/competing for an at-large is considered an achievement, but will probably frustrate the fanbase and turn on him once they're expected to make the NCAA's. And of course whether he can recruit a legitimate big man is yet to be answered.

In another sense, it really doesn't matter - if the UK job opens up, he'll be jumping there in a second.

[MJ4H]

Izulde, did you catch Sanchezz going off for 12 and 12 last night when UC Davis pulled some size out to guard Rotnei. Those that were there were saying things like "looked great," "coming out party," and "not an oafish buffoon."

Shocking.

[Izulde]

Izulde, did you catch Sanchezz going off for 12 and 12 last night when UC Davis pulled some size out to guard Rotnei. Those that were there were saying things like "looked great," "coming out party," and "not an oafish buffoon."

Shocking.

Nope, I still haven't managed to get off my ass and get tickets yet.

Did we win last night?

And hey, maybe Sanchez won't totally suck snozberries after all.

....I'm calling this one a fluke, though.

[Chief Rum]

In a bind on Howland? Well, I can't defend you there. That's poor form. 98% of programs would love Ben Howland as their coach.

It's not every year you go through the preseason without a disappointing loss.

In a bind, as in, everything you say above is completely true, so it's disappointing that a guy that is such a terrific coach doesn't improve in this area. I'm certainly not advocating his removal. I just want to see problem areas addressed. For the most part, they are.

I don't see why it's poor form to criticize where there's room to criticize. Not like we don't give him enough plaudits.

[Chief Rum]

Word. There are some programs where it seems like if the team doesn't go undefeated the fans are unhappy. I can't imagine what it would be like to root for a team with that level of expectations.

Aren't you a Patriots fan? :confused:

[Chief Rum]

Hurting in a loss and questioning the ability of a coach that has taken your team to 3 straight final fours to get the most out of his players is the big difference here I believe.

Wow, really, you guys have taken one comment and really gone overboard here. No one here's in a mob mentality, let's hang Howland in efigy mode.

I'm not sure why it's such a big deal that a couple fans would be disappointed in one or two aspects of a team's coaching, even if it's overall very successful. Would an Indiana fan have been called out like this if he said Knight needs anger management lessons? Would a UNC fan be grilled because he thinks Williams' teams need to play better in Final Fours?

This is fair commentary here. Howland is a very, very, very good coach. I wouldn't give him up for anyone except Wooden, much less Coach K or anyone else.

That doesn't mean as I a fan can't point out a flaw or two that could use some work.

You guys really need to remind yourselves that the Internet is at best a sub-mediocre medium for the transfer of tone and context.

[Radii]

Would a UNC fan be grilled because he thinks Williams' teams need to play better in Final Fours?

2 final fours, 1 title where it matters. I'm quite fine with it. ;)

[st.cronin]

Would an Indiana fan have been called out like this if he said Knight needs anger management lessons?

That's a completely different situation.

Would a UNC fan be grilled because he thinks Williams' teams need to play better in Final Fours?

Yes, absolutely. Michigan fans who bitched about Lloyd Carr were laughed at; LSU fans who have compared Les Miles to Larry Coker are ridiculed.

[MJ4H]

Nope, I still haven't managed to get off my ass and get tickets yet.

Did we win last night?

And hey, maybe Sanchez won't totally suck snozberries after all.

....I'm calling this one a fluke, though.

Yeah, we won by 9 or so. Led by 10 pretty much the whole way. Every time we'd push it to 15 they'd hit a series of treys to get right back in it. Never truly threatened, though. Fortson had more turnovers than assists and we were 1-14 from three point line. Weird game, but a win is a win.

[Chief Rum]

2 final fours, 1 title where it matters. I'm quite fine with it. ;)

Yeah, YOU are. ;) I made the wrong choice there. Let's see what would have happened to a KU fan.

[Chief Rum]

That's a completely different situation.

How? It's a flaw that could have, and probably did, hurt the performance of his teams.



Yes, absolutely. Michigan fans who bitched about Lloyd Carr were laughed at; LSU fans who have compared Les Miles to Larry Coker are ridiculed.

Michigan fans were right to criticize Carr. He made plenty of mistakes, and was never on the level of Schembechler. Is he a very good coach? Yes. That doesn't mean he's above criticism. UM fans had every right to take him to task for his faults.

Your second example is a poor one, a worse example than you suggest mine was with Knight. That's comparing two completely different coaches, and Coker largely sucked. That would be like me comparing Howland to John Jay. Any fan doing that would rightly be lampooned.

But that's apples and oranges. No one's talking about comparison. What we're talking about is how you want to take away my right to be critical about the flaws of the team I follow.

[st.cronin]

What we're talking about is how you want to take away my right to be critical about the flaws of the team I follow.

You can be as critical of Howland as you want, I'm just pointing out that to fans of other schools it comes across as demented.

[Chief Rum]

You can be as critical of Howland as you want, I'm just pointing out that to fans of other schools it comes across as demented.

Well, that's a them issue. Unfortunately, people didn't look inward or look logically at the problem, but instead attacked Bug and me.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I'm just pointing out that to fans of other schools it comes across as demented.

Maybe to some, but definitely not to all.

Hell, GT is a long way from being in the plane of Duke, Kentucky, UNC, and such but even I didn't think there was anything unjustified about the observation here.

[MrBug708]

I'm not sure what the big deal is? Howland has done wonders to the UCLA program, but as Chief said, he's not without criticism. I wouldn't trade him for any other coach in the nation, not even Roy. Ben Howland and the Shipp's might be the only people in the world who think Josh Shipp was helping UCLA win yesterday. If it's painfully obvious to a guy like me (who sucks at basketball), I can't understand the desire to give him more minutes? I'd take Ryan Walcott over Josh Shipp right now (There is a reference for you Chiefy)

[st.cronin]

Well I think Bo Ryan is awesome. That is all.

[st.cronin]

dola, Mike Eaves is pretty bad ass too. The jury is still out on Bret Bielema. If it weren't for that tattoo, I'd like him a lot more.

[Chief Rum]

I'm not sure what the big deal is? Howland has done wonders to the UCLA program, but as Chief said, he's not without criticism. I wouldn't trade him for any other coach in the nation, not even Roy. Ben Howland and the Shipp's might be the only people in the world who think Josh Shipp was helping UCLA win yesterday. If it's painfully obvious to a guy like me (who sucks at basketball), I can't understand the desire to give him more minutes? I'd take Ryan Walcott over Josh Shipp right now (There is a reference for you Chiefy)

Wow, that's a ref I wasn't expecting. ;)

Not sure I would go that far, either, lol. But yeah, Shipp should be better by now than he has become.

[Karlifornia]

If it weren't for that tattoo, I'd like him a lot more.

Well, I guess we'd never get along too well. C'est la vie.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Georgia Tech in the process of trailing all day & possibly losing to Mercer. A 25-9 run has pulled them back to within 67-65 after trailing by 18 in the second half. 2:45 left

edit to add: And no, I don't care if Mercer does already have wins over Alabama & Auburn this season.

edit 2x: Headed to overtime as we miraculously manage to hit a pair of FT's to tie it at 69 and then deflect Mercer's last shot attempt. GT just 10-23 from the line today.

[JonInMiddleGA]

GT wins it 82-76 in overtime. Still a sorry performance for much of the day.

[MJ4H]

Subscribed to the Arkansas official pay service for online content called "Razorvision" just to watch tonight's game. Quality is pretty good and it is only $10 a month so I might keep it. Either way I've got a month to watch the live broadcasts and on-demand archives of stuff that they already broadcast this year.

Tonight's game is at Missouri State. They are debuting their new John Q. Hammond stadium tonight, so they may be pretty emotionally charged, making it a scary game. Same way I am with the football team this year, though, I'm not terribly concerned with wins and losses, but good coaching and improvement. Going to be a long way back from the damage done to our athletics program by the Broyles senile years, so I'm pretty patient.

I guess I'll report back on the game soon. About to tip now.

[MJ4H]

One of the worst halves of basketball I've ever seen. I've seen some bad basketball by Razorback teams in the last 14 years, believe me, but that was among the worst. I can handle losing to a bad team playing over their heads on an emotional night. What I can't handle is getting blown out by a bad team that is playing badly. I mean, Missouri State looks terrible and it took us scoring the last 4 points of the half to get back within single digits.

Halftime score: Missouri State 28, Arkansas 20.

TWENTY.

[CU Tiger]

Clemson hangs on to beat Charlotte (they will always be UNCC to me) by 1.

A bit sloppy but Bobby Lutz has had our number. I am really surprised he hasnt moved into a major D1 job.

5-0. Cant complain

[JonInMiddleGA]

5-0. Cant complain

What's the conference after today? Something like 37-1 I think.

[Radii]

What's the conference after today? Something like 37-1 I think.

37-2, boston college lost to saint louis tonight in addition to the va tech loss last night.

[MJ4H]

Came back and actually took the lead before reverting back to sucking. I shut it down with Arkansas down by 4 and without the ball with less than 10 seconds to go. As much as I could stomach to watch.

[Butter]

37-2, boston college lost to saint louis tonight in addition to the va tech loss last night.

Va Tech lost to.... Xavier.

A10 reprazent.

[CU Tiger]

ACC V Big Ten Challenge should be fun this year....

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Really happy to see Mizzou knock off a ranked team yesterday. Was also pretty impressed to see the Xavier team that Mizzou and Virginia Tech both should have been manage to pull the upset of Memphis. Bad day for ranked teams in Puerto Rico.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

For those that were not aware, the College Basketball Hall of Fame inductions happened yesterday. Great to see and hear some of these great coaches, players, and personalities talk about their college basketball experiences. Jim Phelan was wonderful and it was nice to see a lot of the Arkansas people show up for Nolan Richardson's induction.......

Nolan Richardson

http://www.kansascity.com/sports/story/906034.html

Jim Phelan

http://www.kansascity.com/sports/story/906029.html

Charles Barkley

http://www.kansascity.com/sports/story/906058.html

Billy Packer

http://www.kansascity.com/sports/story/906042.html

Dick Vitale

http://www.kansascity.com/sports/story/906046.html

Danny Manning

http://www.kansascity.com/sports/story/906050.html

Arnie Ferrin

Arnie Ferrin - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnie_Ferrin)

[JeeberD]

A UNLV team that's on the cusp of breaking into the top 25 comes to El Paso tonight to take on the Miners. This is a big game for the Miners, it'll show how far we've come and how far we have yet to go. I honestly think the Miners can take this one and show that they're a legit team to contend with this year...

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Seriously, is there a reason why Stephon Curry at Davidson shouldn't be considered one of the top 3 players in the country? He put up 39 last night. He's the focus of the defense in every single game and just puts the team on his shoulders and carries them. Better yet, he does it in the flow of the offense and gets his teammates involved. He's just an incredible player.

[cartman]

Hell of a game between #8 Notre Dame and #6 Texas out at the Maui Invitational. The Irish eeked out an 81-80 win. AJ Abrams almost hit the miracle half court shot as time expired, but it bounced off the front of the rim.

[Radii]

I saw the end of the irish/texas game, very entertaining. I'm very much looking forward to UNC/Notre Dame now.

[SirFozzie]

Heh. Stephen Curry was held scoreless today in the Davidson-Loyola game, but that was because the other coach told his team to double team him all over the court, no matter what.

So Curry just stood in the corner with his two defenders on him, and the rest of his teammates had a four on three powerplay on offense.

Davidson won 78-48

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Heh. Stephen Curry was held scoreless today in the Davidson-Loyola game, but that was because the other coach told his team to double team him all over the court, no matter what.

So Curry just stood in the corner with his two defenders on him, and the rest of his teammates had a four on three powerplay on offense.

Davidson won 78-48

LOL. Very interesting. I'm guessing that tactic won't be used in future matchups.

[SirFozzie]

The coach was very proud, stating that Loyola was able to do something Oklahoma couldn't. and that ten years from now, people wouldn't remember the result of the game, but they would remember that they had kept Curry scoreless

[MJ4H]

fail

[MJ4H]

Arkansas travels to Pelphrey's old stomping grounds to take on South Alabama tonight. Would be impressive to pull this one off on the road. At the first break it's 15-12 South Alabama. We seem to not defend three pointers this season.

[DeToxRox]

Arkansas travels to Pelphrey's old stomping grounds to take on South Alabama tonight. Would be impressive to pull this one off on the road. At the first break it's 15-12 South Alabama. We seem to not defend three pointers this season.

A couple kids I played hockey with play for South Alabama. The Tabet twins, Philip and Charles. Two big boys out there. Not sure how often they play though.

[MJ4H]

Philip just fouled Montrell McDonald so he's in. 30-26 Arkansas with 8 and change to go in the first half, btw.

[JonInMiddleGA]

A couple kids I played hockey with play for South Alabama. The Tabet twins, Philip and Charles. Two big boys out there. Not sure how often they play though.

Charles is a sophomore who has played in their two blowouts this year, 2 mins in one, 12 mins in the other. Averaging 2ppg & 5rpg.

Philip is a junior who has appeared in all of their games so far, averaging 6 minutes per game, 1.0ppg & 0.5 rpg.

[Izulde]

Charles is a sophomore who has played in their two blowouts this year, 2 mins in one, 12 mins in the other. Averaging 2ppg & 5rpg.


Averaging 5 rebounds a game in just 14 minutes total play?

That's impressive. :D

[DeToxRox]

Charles is a sophomore who has played in their two blowouts this year, 2 mins in one, 12 mins in the other. Averaging 2ppg & 5rpg.

Philip is a junior who has appeared in all of their games so far, averaging 6 minutes per game, 1.0ppg & 0.5 rpg.

Thanks for the heads up. They quit hockey when every time they hit someone it was an elbowing penalty. Some fucking towers there.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Averaging 5 rebounds a game in just 14 minutes total play?That's impressive. :D

Yep. Credited with 9 rebounds in just 12 minutes of action in their 93-64 win over Florida A&M.

[MJ4H]

Perimeter defense completely optional tonight. Both teams shooting well over 50% from 3, South Alabama leads 45-44 at halftime.

8/12 for Arkansas on 3 pointers, I know S Alabama was 6/11 late in the half and I think they made another one and missed another one, so I'm guessing 7/13 for them. Missed what the announcer guy (who keeps saying Courtney Forston instead of Courtney Fortson argghh) was the correct stat for S Alabama, though.

Our threes seem to be wide open, but we are frequently contesting theirs. I hope they cool off on the contested ones in the second half, because they are making way too many of them. Fortson and Clarke aren't going to cool down on open treys, so if we keep getting them, hopefully that will be the difference.

Clarke made 76 three pointers in a row once in an exhibition in high school.

edit: halftime graphic shows 6/14 from three for S Alabama. Whatever. Liars.

[sterlingice]

Yeah, YOU are. ;) I made the wrong choice there. Let's see what would have happened to a KU fan.

Hey, how'd we get drug into this conversation?

Seriously, tho. I know a lot of KU fans critical of Roy and how "soft" his teams always were. But all teams have their strengths and weaknesses and winning the title or even making the Final Four requires a massive dose of luck.

Frankly, Roy was unlucky at KU more than anything, with not winning it all with some of the teams he had. That "maligned" offense that lost to Syracuse in the title game was the same one that jumped out on a 27-6 run early in a Final Four game and completely dismantled a good Marquette team by 33- best half of basketball I think I've ever seen.

SI

[MJ4H]

Arkansas gets a 3 from Stefan Welsh to take a 2 point lead with 3 seconds to go. Currently shooting free throws. Just went final 79-77 Arkansas win.

Welsh went nuts tonight. Complete ball hog, had probably twice as many shots as anyone else. Had a career high 24 points, but was just launching it any time he had a shot. Made up for it a bit with the 3 at the end for the win, but somewhat concerning.

Big win, showed a lot of fight.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Welsh went nuts tonight. Complete ball hog, had probably twice as many shots as anyone else.

Try more than twice as many. 24, to next high Fortson 11 and Clarke 10.
Then again, he was also second on the team in assists with 4 (to Fortson's 5).

[MJ4H]

And Fortson outscored Welsh. I don't know what the heck that was, but it needs to be ratcheted back about 10 notches for the future. I appreciate the big shot at the end, but christ, pass up a shot now and then.

[Izulde]

And Fortson outscored Welsh. I don't know what the heck that was, but it needs to be ratcheted back about 10 notches for the future. I appreciate the big shot at the end, but christ, pass up a shot now and then.

Did Henry get many minutes?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Hansbrough & UNC trying to pull away from the Irish now, up by 15 with 15 minutes to play.

[MJ4H]

Did Henry get many minutes?

Henry is suspended indefinitely. Apparently nothing major, but several smaller things and Pelphrey drew the line.

[Izulde]

Henry is suspended indefinitely. Apparently nothing major, but several smaller things and Pelphrey drew the line.

Doh! Thanks.

[JonInMiddleGA]

McAlerney hits 10 threes & finishes with 39 for Notre Dame but it was far far too little as UNC wins going away in Maui 102-87.

[MrBug708]

The coach was very proud, stating that Loyola was able to do something Oklahoma couldn't. and that ten years from now, people wouldn't remember the result of the game, but they would remember that they had kept Curry scoreless

Certainly another factor in why a kid might choose to go pro

[Radii]

McAlerney hits 10 threes & finishes with 39 for Notre Dame but it was far far too little as UNC wins going away in Maui 102-87.

That kid can shoot, with him and Harengody the Irish are going to be in the top 10 most of the season I assume.

I'm obviously thrilled with how UNC played, I remain incredibly happy with the play of the 'other' big men, Deon Thompson and freshman Ed Davis. Hansbrough's 34 is of course nice to see.

There will be another hopefully great matchup during the ACC - Big 10 Challenge next week with UNC hosting Michigan State.

[JeeberDMack]

Miners go to Anaheim and come out with a 13 point win against St Mary's in the first round of the 76 Classic. They managed to hold on to their double digit first half lead, something they weren't able to do Monday against UNLV. Looks like we're probably taking on Wake Forest tomorrow in the second round...

[Groundhog]

I didn't catch the St. Mary's-UTEP game, but looks like UTEP did a job on Mills - 5-20 shooting and 4 turnovers. Youch.

[JeeberDMack]

I wasn't able to watch the game, but it sounds like very quick, very athletic soph guard Randy Culpepper guarded him much of the game. It took its toll, though...Randy fouled out of the game, but not before scoring 20 points.

The funny thing is that Randy isn't knowm for his D at all...he's an explosive offensive player.

[sterlingice]

Back to the old SN, Jeebs?

SI

[terpkristin]

We were eating dinner during the Maryland - Michigan State game, but I was pretty stoked to see the Terps pull out the win. My DVR didn't record it, but at least I got to see highlights.

/tk

[JonInMiddleGA]

Pretty good matchup underway for a Friday afternoon - Tennessee & Georgetown in the semi-finals of the Old Spice Classic. Tied at 14 with 14 minutes left in the first half.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

I took a peek at the Big 12 slate today and noticed some pretty good matchups.....

OU/Purdue
Texas Tech/Pittsburgh
Baylor/Arizona State
Kansas State/Kentucky
OK State/Michigan State
A&M/Tulsa

[Radii]

Pretty good matchup underway for a Friday afternoon - Tennessee & Georgetown in the semi-finals of the Old Spice Classic. Tied at 14 with 14 minutes left in the first half.

Excellent 1st half between these two. 39-37 Tennessee at the half.

[Radii]

75-71 Tennessee with 3 minutes to go. Georgetown led by 8 with 9 minutes to go, nice turnaround by the Vols.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Cameron Tatum knocks down several threes and the Vols come away with a nice 90-78 win over Georgetown in spite of foul trouble for Wayne Chism. Solid comeback for UT and a nice win in the early season.

[INDalltheway]

I really hope Oklahoma continues to shoot without getting Griffin a touch. I think that will help our chances a little bit! Go Purdue!

[JeeberDMack]

Miners down 42-33 at the half. We were within two with about two and a half to go, but let Wake go on a 7-0 to end the half...

[INDalltheway]

I know Purdue plays physical but 32 free throws to 2? Seriously?

[JonInMiddleGA]

A couple of good games on TV tonight.

Tennessee & Gonzaga in the c'ship of the Old Spice Classic on ESPN2 underway already, 11-10 'Zags early.

On ESPN it's the women's turn tonight as UConn hosts Oklahoma, #1 vs #4.

[JeeberD]

UTEP is about to take on #14 Arizona State in the consolation game of the 76 Classic on ESPNU. The Miners took #24 Wake Forest right down to the wire the other day, hopefully we can put it together and get a win over a Top 25 team for the first time since '01...

[JonInMiddleGA]

Gonzaga up four on Tennessee at the half, meanwhile UConn women having their way with OU 50-31 with a couple of minutes left in the first half.

[Karlifornia]

Gonzaga up four on Tennessee at the half, meanwhile UConn women having their way with OU 50-31 with a couple of minutes left in the first half.

Gonzaga looks really good on paper this year. Heytvelt (spelling, probably), Daye, and (my favorite college player) Jeremy Pargo lead the squad. I'm thinking sweet 16 for them this year.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Pargo looks very good tonight. Hell, the whole team looks good tonight, leading by as many as 18 in the latter stages of the second half. Under five minutes left now, Zags by 12.

[MrBug708]

UCLA - Texas

Should be a solid game, not like last years game with more talent, but still should be fun to watch. UCLA got their early loss of the year out of their way so I would expect Howland to come out strong

[cartman]

UCLA - Texas

Should be a solid game, not like last years game with more talent, but still should be fun to watch. UCLA got their early loss of the year out of their way so I would expect Howland to come out strong

I'm looking forward to this game as well. There is a slight chance I'll be there. UCLA will be looking for revenge, after the loss Texas hung on them at home last season.

[Radii]

UNC crushes Michigan State by 35 in Detroit. Ed Davis continues to be the most impressive addition to the team by far, and I am loving Deon Thompson's improvement.

This should be the last game capable of presenting the Tar Heels with a challenge out of conference. They do have road games at Valpo and Nevada in December.

[Dr. Sak]

Nice win for Penn State on the road against Georgia Tech.

[terpkristin]

I was proud of how Maryland got their heads out of their butts and came back strong in the 2nd half to top Michigan.

/tk

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Some early conference rankings

Kenpom:

1. ACC
2. Big East
3. Big 10
4. Big 12
5. Pac 10
6. SEC

http://kenpom.com

Realtime RPI:

1. Big 10
2. ACC
3. Big East
4. Big 12
5. SEC
6. West Coast

RealTimeRPI.com Men's College Basketball Rating Percentage Index (RPI) Ratings - A leading sports ratings and resources community on the Internet (http://www.realtimerpi.com/rpi_Men.html)

[MJ4H]

I'm love Courtney Fortson

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[MrBug708]

I'm looking forward to this game as well. There is a slight chance I'll be there. UCLA will be looking for revenge, after the loss Texas hung on them at home last season.

THis game was never billed as a revenge game and UCLA certainly isn't trying to do much to change that line of thinking either

[cartman]

Texas up by 9 at the half.

[Chief Rum]

UCLA making a run.

Damn, that Abrams can shoot from anywhere.

[cartman]

Nice win for the Horns over the Bruins, 68-64.

[Chief Rum]

Good win for Texas. Good experience for young UCLA. Probably a game that helps them both come March.

Lots of odd things to comment on this one, from weird floor decisions in the last couple minutes to what I thought was a little ref help for UCLA to keep the ball in UT's end. With all those opportunities, pretty surprising the Bruins failed to score a point.

Abrams is just an awesome shooter. He killed us tonight (although he tried to keep us in it at the end by missing a FT).

[MrBug708]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v655/tnpr2/shippit.jpg

[Karlifornia]

UCLA now and UCLA in February/March aren't going to be reminiscent of each other (at least I'm guessing). The PAC-10 is also down this year. UCLA, ASU, and I'm saying Oregon will finish 1,2,3.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

After watching Oklahoma eek out a win over USC last night, I won't have any problems continuing to dislike that program. The whining from the OU players and coaches was borderline intolerable last night. Blake Griffin needs to realize that he's going to get whacked on occasion and learn to deal with it.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

You'll be seeing this picture on signs all across the Big 12 this year when OU comes to town............

Blake Griffin In Drag: Blake Griffin's Milkshake Brings All The Boys To The Yard (http://deadspin.com/5101826/blake-griffins-milkshake-brings-all-the-boys-to-the-yard)

[Radii]

Michigan is leading Duke by 3 with 6 minutes to go in Ann Arbor.

[cmp]

Michigan with another win over a Top 5 team.

[Radii]

Michigan 81, Duke 73. Go Wolverines!

[kingnebwsu]

My alma mater Wright State is struggling like crazy. We are 0-6 in a season where we were picked by almost every publication to finish 1st or 2nd in the Horizon League. We have 3 players out with injury, including our top scorer from last year. We just dropped the first 2 games of the conference season in Wisconsin. Butler had a huge road win at preseason favorite Cleveland State. Butler is a young team but they appear to be one of the teams to beat yet again.

Needless to say, us folks in Raider-land are quite bummed out right now. But we have the best coach in the conference in Brad Brownell and I think we're going to turn this around. I think that Wright State will be in it at the end of the season but WSU has a long way to go until then. First thing first, we need to just get 1 win to get the ball rolling.

I know this isn't a post about your BCS-conference team, but it's the team that I really cheer for. Go Raiders! :)

[DeToxRox]

Just some interesting rumor, but Arizona wants Izzo, and apparently Izzo is interested.

Take it FWIW.

[MrBug708]

Not much of a new rumor, but I would be stunned if true. Why would any coach go to Arizona after Lute Olson? It's never good to follow a legend and Arizona is going to be epically bad for two years after this year

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Big win for Mizzou yesterday. Absolutely manhandled a Cal team that had been playing pretty well. We'll likely be 9-1 (and probably ranked) heading into the big border battle against Illinois. Hoping to break the long losing streak against the Illini.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

dola

Ping Mizzou fans in St. Louis. Bragging Rights tickets just went on sale on Ticketmaster. Get 'em while you can.

[JeeberD]

So Mizzou has a basketball rivalry with Illinois but a football rivalry with Kansas? Seems a bit odd to me...

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

So Mizzou has a basketball rivalry with Illinois but a football rivalry with Kansas? Seems a bit odd to me...

The Mizzou/Kansas rivalry in basketball is much bigger. Mizzou has the best record of any school in the conference against Kansas overall. Also, Norm Stewart was the only conference coach to have a winning record against Roy Williams, which is obviously saying something given the strength of the program under Roy.

The Illinois rivalry is much more recent in its origins.

When you're the only flagship school in a state, you pretty much have to make your rivalries with your out-of-state neighbors.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Geez, I'm guessing Mr. Tucker would have preferred that Iowa just said that he violated team rules and left it at that..........

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- Freshman guard Anthony Tucker, Iowa's leading scorer, was suspended indefinitely for a violation of team rules.

Associate Sports Information Director Steve Roe said Lickliter did not want to elaborate anymore on the suspension on Sunday, and would likely face questions about it at a news conference on Monday.

Tucker was averaging 13.1 points per game for Iowa (7-2). He had 24 points in an 87-68 loss to West Virginia on Nov. 28, including shooting 6-of-9 on 3-pointers

[MJ4H]

wow

[spleen1015]

Just some interesting rumor, but Arizona wants Izzo, and apparently Izzo is interested.

Take it FWIW.

Izzo is from Michigan. No way this happens.

[spleen1015]

Geez, I'm guessing Mr. Tucker would have preferred that Iowa just said that he violated team rules and left it at that..........

ROFL.

[DeToxRox]

Izzo is from Michigan. No way this happens.

I agree, and he probably will only step dowm from MSU hoops to become the MSU AD, but you can also see Izzo is getting burnt out here. I would give credence to him considering a move.

[sterlingice]

Geez, I'm guessing Mr. Tucker would have preferred that Iowa just said that he violated team rules and left it at that..........

Yeah, that's probably a good spin on that. I think "violation of team rules" would have worked out a bit better.

SI

[Chief Rum]

My favorite part of that portion of the article Mizzou posted is...

Associate Sports Information Director Steve Roe said Lickliter did not want to elaborate anymore on the suspension on Sunday...

lol, what details is exactly is he holding back? Jeez, how about this for negative recruiting?

"Coach Lickliter recruits gay basketball players...and then throws them under the bus publically."

The kid's responsible for his own voyeurism, of course, but, damn, he just got completely railroaded here by his own coach!