Official 2011-12 College Basketball Thread

[wade moore]

With schedules finally taking full shape, I thought I'd start this thread.

William and Mary is coming off of a tough year, but has strong young player returning and a freshman that may be the best they've ever recruited - the Maryland Gatorade Player of the Year Marcus Thornton.

As I looked at the schedule, one game jumped out at me of interest to this board:

12/18 @ Missouri

Do I finally have a chance to trash talk with MBBF?!

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

With schedules finally taking full shape, I thought I'd start this thread.

William and Mary is coming off of a tough year, but has strong young player returning and a freshman that may be the best they've ever recruited - the Maryland Gatorade Player of the Year Marcus Thornton.

As I looked at the schedule, one game jumped out at me of interest to this board:

12/18 @ Missouri

Do I finally have a chance to trash talk with MBBF?!

Better yet, grab a flight and I'll put you in some very good seats for that game if you're interested. :)

[wade moore]

Better yet, grab a flight and I'll put you in some very good seats for that game if you're interested. :)

That would be so amazing, but I'm not sure that I could make it happen.

I'll look around though. If I could find a good deal, the wife and I might make the trip.

What's the best airport to fly into?

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

That would be so amazing, but I'm not sure that I could make it happen.

I'll look around though. If I could find a good deal, the wife and I might make the trip.

What's the best airport to fly into?

STL and KC would both work. I'd guess that STL would be a bit cheaper depending on the airline. Bit shorter drive from STL as well.

[Chief Rum]

Good to get this thread going. I think we have stretched the other one as far as it should go.

Looking forward to the Maui Classic this year. Duke, UCLA, Memphis, Kansas, Tennessee, Georgetown and Michigan. Assuming they win their first round games against cupcake opponents (for the most part).

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Early non-qualifier for Kansas.

Highly-touted prospect Braeden Anderson won't play for Kansas Jayhawks - ESPN (http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/6979729/highly-touted-prospect-braeden-anderson-play-kansas-jayhawks?ex_cid=Twitter_collhoops_6979729)

[MrBug708]

UCLA lands the #4 player in the nation, Kyle Anderson, out of New Jersey

[Logan]

Wow, I can't wait to read the Seton Hall Rivals board. Congrats.

[Chief Rum]

Landing Anderson is huge for UCLA. It now looks good for Shabazz Muhammad to come out to Westwood as well, although he's going to wait until spring to decide. And the coaches are trying with Tony Parker (the Georgia center), too.

Could be a big time class for UCLA.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Rodney Purvis committed to NC State today. Really good pickup for them.

[wade moore]

HiFi - Our schools again cross paths. Strangely, we play Liberty TWICE this year, once home and once away.

[wade moore]

That's one of the stranger items I've seen on a schedule. It's due to the folks running the 2k/Coaches vs Cancer not finalizing teams and schedules until less than two weeks ago. I'm sure LU/W&M would have avoided the home and home otherwise.

Yup agreed. A bit awkward, but nothing they could do about it at that point.

[DeToxRox]

A lot of smoke coming out of Ann Arbor that Mitch McGary could drop for the Wolverines any time now. I still won't believe it until it happens, and I don't care that the kid is a one and done; this would be the biggest recruiting coup for UM Hoops since Webber.

[Matthean]

Devon Roe retired from MSU due to on going knee problems.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Lawrence Bowers blows his ACL out in a pick-up game. Out for the season.

Ugh.

[digamma]

Keith Wright on the 50 person Wooden Award Watch List. That says a lot about what is going on in Cambridge.

[panerd]

Lawrence Bowers blows his ACL out in a pick-up game. Out for the season.

Ugh.

Yeah that could cost us 5-10 games. Damn. Damn. :mad:

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Yeah that could cost us 5-10 games. Damn. Damn. :mad:

Nice article in newspaper today. Always love to see the players do good things.

Bad news can't keep Missouri's Bowers away from read-to-children program - Columbia Missourian (http://www.columbiamissourian.com/stories/2011/10/04/missouri-basketball-player-laurence-bowers-reads-children-despite-bad-news/)

[MrBug708]

Colorado has a nice class built up

[Chief Rum]

Colorado has a nice class built up

There are some stronger players available out west this year, and Colorado is doing a good job of taking advantage of the limitation of scholarships at bigger schools, and the fact UCLA is looking at almost all national level guys instad of staying in their home region.

[hoopsguy]

Devon Roe retired from MSU due to on going knee problems.

Sad to hear. It sounds like he was just an animal in high school back before the knee issues arose. And from what I've seen reported, he seems like a good kid and one that you would root for when not playing against your own team.

[BishopMVP]

UCLA lands the #4 player in the nation, Kyle Anderson, out of New JerseyI'll be interested to see how he does in college. Sounds like a really unique and special offensive player, but also someone who you'll have to help out a lot on defense.

[Chief Rum]

I'll be interested to see how he does in college. Sounds like a really unique and special offensive player, but also someone who you'll have to help out a lot on defense.

The thought (not from staff, but from scouting circles) is that Anderson will defend the 4 against smaller 4's, and the 3 against bigger teams (where the 3 is more like a smaller 4 than a bigger guard).

But that has been a concern voiced a number of times on UCLA fan boards. It's also thought that while his athleticism leaves something to be desired, Anderson on the actual court of play is no zero defense, that he is as exceptionally skilled and knowledgeable on defense as he is on offense, and counters his deficiencies with positioning and anticipation. He's also fairly long, so that helps.

But there is no question he could use being in a zone defense, and Howland just doesn't run those, except in truly desperate times (like the 2009-10 season, with "Ole" Dragovic in the lineup).

[General Mike]

Rutgers will go to the NIT at least.

[JeeberD]

UTEP landed a top 5 JUCO player in Kenny Williams, and got a verbal from Rivals #69 player Twymond Howard a couple of weeks ago. Tim Floyd is bringing in some top-notch talent to El Paso...

[MrBug708]

UCLA loses their PG recruit, Dominic Artis, to a decommit. I would say that Oregon or possibly Cal is the likely destination. Fallout of the Kyle Anderson verbal

[DeToxRox]

Duke insiders are saying that Michigan is the heavy favorite to land McGary now. Coupled with the fact the kid canceled all remaining visits and it is looking almost too good for UM right now.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Tom Crean in some hot water........

What in the world was Tom Crean thinking? - College Basketball Nation Blog - ESPN (http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketballnation/post/_/id/36567/what-in-the-world-was-tom-crean-thinking)

[Izulde]

Nice article on UNLV head coach Dave Rice on the recruiting trail. I'm really, really looking forward to this season, both in recruiting and on the court, especially after the football team disappointed again.

A Day in the Life: On the recruiting trail with UNLV coach Dave Rice - Las Vegas Sun (http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2011/jul/26/day-recruiting-trail-rice-072611/)

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Preseason poll is out for the Big 12. KU and A&M tie for first.

Kansas, A&M Picked To Win Men's Basketball Title - Big 12 Conference - Official Athletic Site (http://www.big12sports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=10410&ATCLID=205314008)

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Dola

Kansas loses two players for the season to eligibility issues, including 5-star freshman Ben McLemore.

http://www2.kusports.com/news/2011/oct/14/ku-freshmen-ben-mclemore-jamari-traylor-ineligible/

[Izulde]

Belated Mountain West preseason posting:

UNLV picked second in MWC preseason media poll - Las Vegas Sun (http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2011/oct/12/unlv-picked-second-mountain-west-preseason-media-p/)

I feel like we can and should win the conference this year - BYU no longer has Jimmer and SDSU lost most of their scoring. Don't really see New Mexico as all that much to worry about TBH.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Wade,

Single game tickets are now on sale. December 18th still has some available. :D

[wade moore]

Wade,

Single game tickets are now on sale. December 18th still has some available. :D

Heh. Airline tickets are just too expensive.

Unfortunately we've found out that 3 of our guys (2 starters, one key backup), one of which is CAA 1st team, have various injuries that may make them miss the first month or two of the season :(. Even worse, ALL in the front-court.

[RPI-Fan]

Belated Mountain West preseason posting:

UNLV picked second in MWC preseason media poll - Las Vegas Sun (http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2011/oct/12/unlv-picked-second-mountain-west-preseason-media-p/)

I feel like we can and should win the conference this year - BYU no longer has Jimmer and SDSU lost most of their scoring. Don't really see New Mexico as all that much to worry about TBH.

BYU isn't in UNLV's conference.

[Suburban Rhythm]

Ummm..

Rick Pitino uses relationship analogy to describe Big East defectors Syracuse and Pittsburgh (http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/college/2011/10/19/2011-10-19_rick_pitino_uses_relationship_analogy_to_describe_big_east_defectors_syracuse_an.html?r=sports)


Louisville (http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Louisville+Cardinals+(Basketball)) basketball coach Rick Pitino (http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Rick+Pitino) had strong words for Big East (http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Big+East+Conference) defectors Syracuse (http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Syracuse+Orange+(Basketball)) and Pittsburgh (http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Pittsburgh+Panthers+(Basketball)) Wednesday in Manhattan (http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Manhattan) at the league's annual media day.
Unfortunately for him, he chose the wrong analogy to make his point.
"My problem is not them leaving," he said. "My problem is you did it in 48 hours. Don't run away with a girl after one date when you've been dating someone else for three or four years. You've been dating this woman for 30 years, show a little respect."

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

I've made my thoughts on Scott Drew pretty clear, but was sad to see that his parents are both fighting cancer. Have met Homer Drew on a couple of occasions and have heard nothing but good things about him.

Baylor coach Scott Drew comments on parents fighting cancer - ESPN Dallas (http://espn.go.com/dallas/ncb/story/_/id/7129064/baylor-coach-scott-drew-comments-parents-fighting-cancer)

[Ksyrup]

Read that FSU is picked third in the ACC this year - only the second time they've been picked that high. Guess the conference sucks. They are also #26 (first team outside the top 25) in one of the polls. Apparently some people are optimistic that bringing in a real point guard will allow us to win more games rather than hold teams to 30% shooting and 45 points, but lose because we commit 25 TOs.

[Radii]

Guess the conference sucks.

Yup :( UNC+Duke + dear god please someone anyone win some games... again... maybe FSU will be good.

[Izulde]

BYU isn't in UNLV's conference.

Ah right. I keep forgetting about that WCC arrangement. Thanks.

[Kodos]

Tom Crean in some hot water........

What in the world was Tom Crean thinking? - College Basketball Nation Blog - ESPN (http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketballnation/post/_/id/36567/what-in-the-world-was-tom-crean-thinking)

I'd say lukewarm at worst. These things happen everywhere. No big deal. He made a simple mistake.

[molson]

First coach's poll is out:

NCAA College Basketball Polls, College Basketball Rankings, NCAA Basketball Polls - ESPN (http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/rankings/_/poll/2)

Pretty surprised to see Syracuse at #5...there really wasn't a lot of off-season hype about the team being loaded this year. I guess people expect Jardine/Joseph/Triche to move up to superstar status.

[molson]

Ummm..

Rick Pitino uses relationship analogy to describe Big East defectors Syracuse and Pittsburgh (http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/college/2011/10/19/2011-10-19_rick_pitino_uses_relationship_analogy_to_describe_big_east_defectors_syracuse_an.html?r=sports)

The analogy would have been clearer to me if he worked in a restaurant table somehow.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Surprised to see Mizzou in the top 25. Great guards, but really hard to say what happens down low with Bowers out.

[Lathum]

They are also #26 (first team outside the top 25) .

Is that how that works?

[Ksyrup]

Based on vote totals, yes. I'm not sure what the reason or purpose for stopping at 25 is, but it's nothing more than a list of vote totals from 1 to X. Same in football.

[Chief Rum]

UCLA is #20. They have guard depth issues, but they may have the biggest front line in basketball with 6'10" uber-sized Josh Smith, 6'11" Anthony Stover backing him up, and the two 6'10" Wear twins and Brendan Lane backing up Reeves Nelson, a "tiny" 6'7 power plug who plays bigger than he is.

Arizona is #16, whcih surprises me a little. Certainly a team with a lot of talent, but very young. I don't think the voters are properly considering just how much of an impact Derrick Williams had on that team, or that they also lost second leading scorer Momo Jones.

[Izulde]

UNLV at #36 feels about right to me. Our perimeter play should be fantastic this year, but I'm still not sold on our big man situation.

[Marmel]

First coach's poll is out:

NCAA College Basketball Polls, College Basketball Rankings, NCAA Basketball Polls - ESPN (http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/rankings/_/poll/2)

Pretty surprised to see Syracuse at #5...there really wasn't a lot of off-season hype about the team being loaded this year. I guess people expect Jardine/Joseph/Triche to move up to superstar status.

I don't know whether #5 is legit or not to be honest, but you have a 5th year senior, a 4th year senior and a junior who is a 3 year starter now, to go along with a 6 other returning players and 3 freshmen, 2 of which are burger boys. Basically, 9 of the top 10 players from last year return along with 3 highly touted freshmen. I don't know if anybody becomes a superstar, and I believe you need one to win the tournament, but top to bottom they might be the most talented team in the country.

Edit to just add: a second 5 of Waiters, Carter-Williams, CJ Fair/Xmas (whoever doesn't start), Keita and Southerland/Mookie Jones might be a top 25 team. But again, without a go-to guy, they might top out at Elite 8. Jardine or Joseph could break out, or it could be freshman Carter-Williams, or most likely none of them.

[molson]

I don't know whether #5 is legit or not to be honest, but you have a 5th year senior, a 4th year senior and a junior who is a 3 year starter now, to go along with a 6 other returning players and 3 freshmen, 2 of which are burger boys. Basically, 9 of the top 10 players from last year return along with 3 highly touted freshmen. I don't know if anybody becomes a superstar, and I believe you need one to win the tournament, but top to bottom they might be the most talented team in the country.

Edit to just add: a second 5 of Waiters, Carter-Williams, CJ Fair/Xmas (whoever doesn't start), Keita and Southerland/Mookie Jones might be a top 25 team. But again, without a go-to guy, they might top out at Elite 8. Jardine or Joseph could break out, or it could be freshman Carter-Williams, or most likely none of them.

I'm not a super-close follower of Syracuse athletics, but checking out the blogs after the high ranking - it seems the consensus is very cynical, that when Boeheim has a team ranked this high, he blows it - and that he's better at building lesser-talented teams through the course of a season, than he is at utilizing A-level talent.

But I'm positive this is the highest pre-season ranking since I became a 'Cuse fan (my Freshman year in '96), so it's a bit unreal....not sure I see the talent that justifies it, but can't wait for the season to start. I do trust Boeheim - he's the man.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Beasley implicates Huggins in cheating scandal.......

Beasley Confesses NCAA Sins, Implicates Huggins (http://network.yardbarker.com/college_basketball/article_external/beasley_confesses_ncaa_sins_implicates_huggins/7678198)

[DeToxRox]

Mitch McGary is deciding next week between Michigan, Duke and Florida. God how I hope it's Michigan.

[mauchow]

Wisconsin at 15 sounds about right. A great pg in Jordan Taylor returning while losing leuer and nankavil. We've got some good youngsters coming in but this will definitely be a season where we may start out up and down but we'll finish very strong and have a legit shot at the sweet 16 again.

[Atocep]

Beasley implicates Huggins in cheating scandal.......

Beasley Confesses NCAA Sins, Implicates Huggins (http://network.yardbarker.com/college_basketball/article_external/beasley_confesses_ncaa_sins_implicates_huggins/7678198)


Wasn't this a loophole in the rules that the NCAA acknowledged and then subsequently closed early last year? There now has to be a 2 year period before and after the player enrolls when you hire someone linked to the player.

[MrBug708]

STORRS Conn. (AP)—Changes in NCAA rules are expected to keep defending national-champion Connecticut from participating in the 2013 NCAA men’s basketball tournament.

Under the rules adopted Thursday by the NCAA’s Division I Board of Directors, a school cannot participate in the 2013 tournament unless it has a two-year average score of 930 or a four-year average score of 900 on the NCAA’s annual Academic Progress Rate, which measures the academic performance of student athletes.

Connecticut’s score for the 2009-10 school year was 826. A UConn official has said the 2010-11 score will be approximately 975. That would not be high enough. It would give Connecticut a two-year score of 900.5 and a four-year average of 888.5.

The NCAA confirmed Thursday that scores from those years will be used to determine eligibility.

[DeToxRox]

Mitch McGary is announcing Thursday and is between Michigan and Duke. Most expect it to go Michigan's way. Would be unbelievable.

[MrBug708]

Tarc to Arizona

I hope Mitch picks duke because Parker to duke is starting to pick up steam

[Izulde]

Rosco Allen committed to Stanford over North Carolina and UNLV. Can't fault him that IMO.

[Chief Rum]

Tarc to Arizona

I hope Mitch picks duke because Parker to duke is starting to pick up steam

I think it's closer than people thought, but I am still reasonably confident that Parker picks UCLA.

[DeToxRox]

Mitch McGary is making his choice at 5 PM EST on ESPNU. Everyone says it's Michigan but I have to see it to believe it.

[MrBug708]

And he is off to Michigan

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Kenpom rankings are out for 2012.........

http://kenpom.com/

[DeToxRox]

And he is off to Michigan

Absolutely huge get for Michigan. It will solidify a consensus top 10 class and even if its for one year, give us a potentially elite front court with Smot, Morgan and Horford.

[Chubby]

Kenpom rankings are out for 2012.........

http://kenpom.com/

4 of top 7 in ACC :D

[Izulde]

UNLV #18 in Pomeroy Rankings. Nice! We played like shit in our first exhibition though, so still kinks to work out.

[Radii]

Kenpom rankings are out for 2012.........

http://kenpom.com/

polls already getting it wrong, UNC 2 spots too low!

I'm really looking forward to this aircraft carrier game w/ Michigan State, should be fun.

[DeToxRox]

I am more fired up than ever for Michigan this year. We should start slow as Trey Burke assimilates himself into the offense but we should pick it up as the year progresses.

Really excited for Maui to start.

[wade moore]

Kenpom rankings are out for 2012.........

http://kenpom.com/

160, woohoo!

;)

FWIW - W&M will be a part of the first nationally televised game of the season (at least I believe that's the case) playing St. John's on ESPNU at 7pm on Monday.

I was more excited about the game before we got a bunch of front-court injuries, but still think we've got a decent shot at an upset.

[Chief Rum]

160, woohoo!

;)

FWIW - W&M will be a part of the first nationally televised game of the season (at least I believe that's the case) playing St. John's on ESPNU at 7pm on Monday.

I was more excited about the game before we got a bunch of front-court injuries, but still think we've got a decent shot at an upset.

You have a great chance. The other team is coached by Steve Lavin.

[Chief Rum]

I am more fired up than ever for Michigan this year. We should start slow as Trey Burke assimilates himself into the offense but we should pick it up as the year progresses.

Really excited for Maui to start.

Also looking forward to Maui. It's a great lineup this year. UCLA and Michigan might even meet. Of course, it seems like we schedule home-and-homes with each other every few years anyway.

[Chief Rum]

Kenpom rankings are out for 2012.........

http://kenpom.com/

They really rate the Pac 12 low, but I think that's going to change as we get into the season. There are several strong teams in the conference this year. Maybe only fringe national candidates, but they deserve better than the lower 30s-upper 40s.

[molson]

How can you have an "advanced" statistical team ranking before the season starts?

[DeToxRox]

Also looking forward to Maui. It's a great lineup this year. UCLA and Michigan might even meet. Of course, it seems like we schedule home-and-homes with each other every few years anyway.

Indeed. Always enjoy the games with UCLA. We've had Kansas and Duke the last couple of years, so I hope something with UCLA occurs in the near future.

[wade moore]

You have a great chance. The other team is coached by Steve Lavin.

Well, and Steve Lavin wasn't coaching at the exhibition game they had on ESPN3 recently?

Not sure if he will be at that game? Haven't looked it up.

[JeeberD]

Ugh, the Miners lost to Eastern New Mexico by 11 (and were down by 22 at one point) in our first exhibition game last night. Yes, we're a VERY young team, and yes, our two most experienced players didn't play last night...but there's still no excuse for getting our asses handed to us by a team that New Mexico State beat by 50 the night before. It could be a very long season...

[Chief Rum]

Well, and Steve Lavin wasn't coaching at the exhibition game they had on ESPN3 recently?

Not sure if he will be at that game? Haven't looked it up.

Lavin's teams are capable of wild results. Or at least they were at UCLA, and I got the impression from afar that it was true again last year at St. John's.

Lavin's team will sometimes absolute demolish a team they shouldn't, and then they'll play another team just as strong, but instead of showing up again, they will do the opposite, play even worse, and get blown out big time ugly.

When it comes to teams they "don't take serious" (and sorry that's probably their mindset with W&M), it's a virtual guarantee they will underperform when coached by Lavin. Which gives bad teams lots of opportunities to beat Lavin's teams.

I don't know what happened in any exhibitions for the Johnnies this year, or why Lavin wouldn't be coaching against you guys, so not sure what you're referencing there. I don't generally pay any attention to exhibition results for college basketball.

But if you want to get a good read on what's behind my thoughts on Lavin, feel free and do a search in the archive for "Chief Rum" and "Lavin", and you should find 16-17 point diatribe about Lavin from back in 2003 when he was finally let go by UCLA. To my knowledge, not one thing I said there has changed about how he does stuff in the eight years since.

[cartman]

I'm interested to see how Texas does after losing their top 3 players to the draft last season. They have a highly rated recruiting class coming in, but the line up is going to be one of the greenest that Barnes has ever had. They have three big games in December coming up against UCLA, Temple, and the Tar Heels.

[Marmel]

I don't know what happened in any exhibitions for the Johnnies this year, or why Lavin wouldn't be coaching against you guys, so not sure what you're referencing there.

He had prostate cancer surgery last month.

[Chief Rum]

He had prostate cancer surgery last month.

Ah ha, missed that. Terrible coach, but always seemed like a decent guy, so I hope he has a quick and complete recovery.

[wade moore]

Well there you go.

I don't pay attention to exhibitions either, but someone tweeted that St. Johns was on ESPN3 and losing to a DIII school, so I tuned into the last 5 minutes (they won fwiw).

[Pumpy Tudors]

please memphis go back to being good

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

How can you have an "advanced" statistical team ranking before the season starts?

You have to read the fine print of the analysis. The rankings use some data from last year until around ten games into the season. After that, it's all current year data.

[panerd]

Look forward to round robin play in the big 12 this year. Never seemed fair any other way. Plus it adds more conference games... sure beats playing Missouri Southern or Binghampton just to fill out the schedule.

[dave731]

Just talked with my brother who is deployed in Afghanistan right now but is due home in January. I am going out to Manhattan, KS where he is stationed here at home and we are looking at catching the Kansas/Kansas State game on 2/13!! I am a huge Kansas fan and have been one for as long as I can remember though I think it had to do with the 1988 team and my childhood. His wife has been accepted into K State and I'm not sure if she is starting this spring or not but I am super stoked for this game...I have been stuck on the East Coast catching Clemson, Wofford, and Presbyterian College games for the most part. It will be pretty cool to visit the Octagon of Doom!!

[spleen1015]

Season starts tonight on ESPNU.

Looking forward to this season. Duke gets started Friday.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Thanks for the heads up. Will have to do some split-screen work tonight.

[wade moore]

The Johnnies v Bill & Mary starting now. It's so nice to have some hoops that count.

W&M looked good in the first half, but the athleticism of St. John's and the injury problems caught up with them.

They didn't really talk about it like they did with St. John's, but we had 3 front court players able to play tonight, two of them just fresh off of injuries that had them out for weeks.

Of the 3 healthy, two of them would be around 4th, 5th, or 6th option if we had all of our guys healthy. That caught up with us eventually.

Saw some things I really liked, saw a talented young freshman experience his first college bball game against the Big East, and saw some things that worry me if we can't get healthy.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Signing Day is tomorrow.

[wade moore]

Yeah, I'm glad Liberty gets you guys early on in the year. If you're healthy, I can only imagine how good your team can be after seeing how well your team played last night.

Of course, Liberty had our top returning scorer transfer to Arizona State, lost our second leading scorer to injury for the year, a sophomore who was expected to be our top post player off the bench to injury for the year, and now our freshman PF/C who is on the Polish U-21 team for a few weeks with a dislocated elbow on his shooting arm. It should be a couple of MASH unit games just like last night.

Reminds me..

Do you guys stream games online or anything?

[wade moore]

Usually so. There's libertychannel.com. You'll have to check week by week as they don't update it more than that. There's the in house sports network, and I'm guessing they'll at least broadcast the home W&M game.

If it doesn't pop up there, the first place I check is vipbox.tv.

Cool deal. Yeah, I'd rather pay the school if I have the option before going to something like vipbox, but always good as a last resort.

[Arles]

Arizona is real young, but also talented. I think they are going to be a little rough in pre-conference play, but should be a lot better by Christmas. I'm not sure how they're ranked 16, but they should be a top 25 team by the end of the season.

[wade moore]

Libertychannel.com streams for free and it looks like both W&M games are going to stream there.

Well, I'll be at one ;).

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Oklahoma cited by NCAA for major violations........

Oklahoma Sooners -- NCAA finds major violations in men's basketball - ESPN (http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/7220727/oklahoma-sooners-ncaa-finds-major-violations-men-basketball)

[Radii]

7pm tonight on ESPN for the Carrier Classic between Michigan State and UNC, cannot wait!

[spleen1015]

7pm tonight on ESPN for the Carrier Classic between Michigan State and UNC, cannot wait!

I am looking forward to watching this as well.

Duke's season tips off at 9pm. Can't wait!

[cartman]

I'm heading to the Texas-Boston game on Sunday. Have no idea how the Horns are gonna look. J'Covan Brown is gonna have to score a lot of points this season.

[Matthean]

UNC finally showing its talent, but State looks like they will be a much better rebounding team this year.

[Lathum]

UCLA, wow.

[Radii]

UCLA, wow.

teehee. Awesome.

[MrBug708]

The Wears are actually our best players. I don't know if that's good or bad at this point

[Matthean]

Via Facebook....

Him: I agree. What better way to watch MSU choke then to watch them choke on National TV!

Me: In order to choke one at least needs to be favored. MSU did all right considering they are rebuilding and UNC is stacked this year.

Him: UNC? Stacked? Seriously? You must not be a college basketball fan?

Me: They return 7 players from last year and are the number one team in the country. They have 62 of the number one votes in the AP poll. The rest of the country has 3. They have 30 of the number one votes in the ESPN poll, and the rest of the country has 1. Maybe somehow that doesn't define a stacked team(it does), but an unranked team getting beat by 12 to the widely agreed upon number one team in the country certainly isn't choking.

Waiting on the response. :lol:

[jbergey22]

Via Facebook....









Waiting on the response. :lol:

People like that arent worth your time. He says you must not be a college basketball fan while telling you NC isnt stacked...LOL

Vegas had NC as 9 point favs. I friend of mine asked me if he should take NC but I told him no. I learned a long time ago to not bet against Izzo as a dog. NC is completely loaded though so that person you were having the conversation with was a complete fool.

[cartman]

Just got back from the Texas-Boston U game. The Horns are very raw. But they seem to have bought into the defense first philosophy. They were swarming on defense. J'Covan Brown had a big night with 28, and one of the newcomers, Julien Lewis scored 18.

The glaring weak spot was on the boards. They are gonna have a hard time against teams with big front lines.

[dave731]

Cal was having some issues with George Washington early but I think it is more Cal beating themselves than anything else. Looks like the ship is being righted for them.

I did get to go see the Wofford/Emory and Henry game tonight...(yea, I know). Wofford is in a rebuilding year but they have a freshman, Karl Cochran, that I really like. I think Coach Young will go to him pretty regularly off the bench and may end up working him into the starting lineup at some point. They open conference play against Davidson on Dec. 1 and I'm going to try and get to that one as well.

[Wolfpack]

State wins a pair over the weekend to start out. Not too surprising considering it was UNC-Asheville and Morehead State. Well...maybe a little surprising. State, especially under Lowe, was prone to awful games against lower-level competition that would require some hard effort late to secure the win (or sometimes, the upset happened). State fans, including yours truly, have been burned too much in years gone by to think too highly of these outcomes (at least one internet poster posted a Lucy-with-the-football image), but there is a feeling of optimism that really hasn't been felt in quite some time.

[tarcone]

1st time in years Im excited about Iowa. They are in the last season of their Lickliter players. McCaffery says the team can go 11 deep, which is great. He is implementing more of his press and run and gun offense. Next season we have the 16th ranked class coming according to ESPN. Things are looking up in Iowa City.

[britrock88]

Matchups like Texas/Boston U and Cal/GWU grind my gourd... can't you schools find games with less expensive/resource-consuming travel involved?

[wade moore]

Well HiFi, the first game of our in-season home and home is tonight ;).

W&M has struggled mightily with the myriad of injuries to our front court. We have another front court player since the LAST time I talked about injuries that is out.

I don't know much about Liberty this year, but if you've got anything in the way of a front court, you'll probably be in good shape. I'll be at the game and let you know how they look ;).

[cartman]

Matchups like Texas/Boston U and Cal/GWU grind my gourd... can't you schools find games with less expensive/resource-consuming travel involved?

The Texas-Boston U game was part of the nine team "TicketCity Legends Classic" tourney, so that took care of at least part of the travel costs. The next game in the series for Texas is against Rhode Island on Tuesday. Strange part is that the tip-off is at 3pm. Not sure why they scheduled a mid-day game during the week.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

The Texas-Boston U game was part of the nine team "TicketCity Legends Classic" tourney, so that took care of at least part of the travel costs. The next game in the series for Texas is against Rhode Island on Tuesday. Strange part is that the tip-off is at 3pm. Not sure why they scheduled a mid-day game during the week.

The ESPN college basketball 24 hour marathon has been held for several years now. The Texas game is part of that marathon.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Really neat addition by the NCAA for the basketball stat geeks. The NCAA has scanned in all the old end-of-season stat sheets for teams going back to the 1947-1948 season. They're in PDF format and most are either handwritten or typed. Just select the team and 'Basketball' in the query box at the following link.......

http://web1.ncaa.org/stats/StatsSrv/careersearch

[dawgfan]

Reeves Nelson quitting UCLA...?

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/sports_blog/2011/11/ucla-basketball-ben-howland-meeting-with-reeves-nelson.html

[cartman]

Tuesday is that weird all day college hoops thing ESPN does now to kick off the season.

I had completely blanked on that. I always thought they did that on a Fri/Sat or Sat/Sun. But looking at the history, it has been on a Tuesday.

[SirFozzie]

Game-by-game preview of the College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon - ESPN (http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/page/Tipoff-game-by-game-preview-of-the-marathon/game-game-preview-college-hoops-tip-marathon)

All 21 games in 25 hours ESPN is showing starting at midnight tonight

[DeToxRox]

Watching Michigan's freshman PG Trey Burke, I cannot help but be reminded of Kalin Lucas. It's not quite a total resemblance but man do I ever see it.

[BishopMVP]

Won't really know until the Thanksgiving tournament at Atlantis, but UMass is looking like an NIT team and a contender for 3rd in the A-10 as long as 5'6 So. PG Chaz Williams (transfer from Hofstra) stays healthy. 19/9 in his first game, 20/10 tonight, and while we've had a solid collection of athletes the past couple years we've really been missing that PG that can push the ball effectively in transition or beat guys 1v1 in halfcourt sets.

[EagleFan]

Forgot about the 24 hours of college basketball day. Guess I don't really need sleep. Not even a huge basketball fan but I love the atmosphere of these games (which is magnified exponentially when March Madness arrives).

[EagleFan]

Either Gonzaga is really good or Washington State sucks... or both.

At least that's how it looks so far.

[dawgfan]

Either Gonzaga is really good or Washington State sucks... or both.

At least that's how it looks so far.
WSU lost (by far) their two best players, so this is expected to be a rebuilding year for them.

[dave731]

Best game of the entire 21 game mess might be Belmont-Memphis at noon. That Belmont squad should scare every major team they face.
I hate I am going to miss that one as I will be at work...Kansas/Kentucky should be pretty good as well though I expect my Jayhawks to lose.

[sterlingice]

I hate I am going to miss that one as I will be at work...Kansas/Kentucky should be pretty good as well though I expect my Jayhawks to lose.

Yeah- I'm not even sure what to expect from us this year. The team is just not that deep.

SI

[Thomkal]

And the big sigh of relief you heard coming from the Myrtle Beach area yesterday was due to the NCAA finally giving its ruling on the violation with the men's basketball program. Coastal reported it back in July 2010 and it took them this long to figure out that one player wore an illegal t-shirt to his signing day ceremony. Meanwhile Coastal was forced to suspend its leading scorer in case there was more to it in than that for the rest of the season in February of this year, causing Coastal (along with other stuff going on) to completely collapse when they were on their way to a Big South title and potentially a good seed in the NCAA's.

It really took the NCAA this long to rule on a illegal t-shirt? Granted the stupid player involved lied to them about it which was just incredibly stupid and probably led to him leaving the program instead of facing the music. And they had to check the whole program out I suppose, but an illegal t-shirt reported back in July 2010 leads to this long of an investigation? ridiculous.

So at least the big weight hanging over the program is lifted and they will need it as LSU comes to town. This game was supposed to be the opening of the new arena Coastal is building, but of course its not ready yet, so LSU will have to play in tiny Kimbel Arena, holding about 1,000 people. Coastal played at LSU last season and shocked many with a upset win in overtime. Both leading scorers are gone from the team that did that and there were lots of questions about how good/bad Coastal would be this season. They beat up on two Division III teams to start this season so this will be the first real test for the new lineup.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Pretty good game between WVU and Kent St. WVU sloppy on the offensive end.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Hoo boy. WVU-Kent State all tied up. Like watching a boxing match. So glad to have college basketball back on the radar.

[Chief Rum]

Reeves Nelson quitting UCLA...?

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/sports_blog/2011/11/ucla-basketball-ben-howland-meeting-with-reeves-nelson.html

Just suspended indefinitely. But we all know that's likely going to end up permanent.

[sterlingice]

And the big sigh of relief you heard coming from the Myrtle Beach area yesterday was due to the NCAA finally giving its ruling on the violation with the men's basketball program. Coastal reported it back in July 2010 and it took them this long to figure out that one player wore an illegal t-shirt to his signing day ceremony. Meanwhile Coastal was forced to suspend its leading scorer in case there was more to it in than that for the rest of the season in February of this year, causing Coastal (along with other stuff going on) to completely collapse when they were on their way to a Big South title and potentially a good seed in the NCAA's.

It really took the NCAA this long to rule on a illegal t-shirt? Granted the stupid player involved lied to them about it which was just incredibly stupid and probably led to him leaving the program instead of facing the music. And they had to check the whole program out I suppose, but an illegal t-shirt reported back in July 2010 leads to this long of an investigation? ridiculous.

So at least the big weight hanging over the program is lifted and they will need it as LSU comes to town. This game was supposed to be the opening of the new arena Coastal is building, but of course its not ready yet, so LSU will have to play in tiny Kimbel Arena, holding about 1,000 people. Coastal played at LSU last season and shocked many with a upset win in overtime. Both leading scorers are gone from the team that did that and there were lots of questions about how good/bad Coastal would be this season. They beat up on two Division III teams to start this season so this will be the first real test for the new lineup.

I expect similarly proportional penalties for Ohio State and Miami. I think that means Miami will hear back in August of 2084 and will receive 137 death penalties

SI

[whomario]

one of those idiot stickers almost injured a memphis player ...

Fun start to that game (Belmont-Memphis), although Belmont plays incredibly "naive", trying bad layups against way superior athletes for instance.

[Kodos]

Indiana is looking better this season. Victor Oladipo is quite an athlete and is attacking the basket regularly. Cody Zeller is looking good. Lots of shot blocks, rebounds, steals. IU needs to work at getting the ball to him on offense more. Lots of energy on display from the team as a whole. I think this is the year IU finally gets back into the top half of the Big Ten. And things get brighter next year when the second-rated recruiting class shows up on campus. Having a real point guard (Yogi) on the team will be a very nice change of pace.

[Atocep]

Hoo boy. WVU-Kent State all tied up. Like watching a boxing match. So glad to have college basketball back on the radar.

7 Freshman (not including 4th year freshman Truck Bryant) is going to make this a frustrating team to watch at times. Today was one of those times.

Next year's team should be very, very good though.

[sterlingice]

Get this game going already! It's already almost 10 and I don't think I will be able to stay up and watch all night :(

SI

[Thomkal]

LSU may never play Coastal Carolina again, because for the second year in a row, Coastal has upset them! Score this time was 71-63. Led by 10 at the half then hung on for the win. The main reason for the win was Coastal's domination on the bounds, outrebounding LSU 53-34.

I'm very surprised with this win given what they have been through and who they lost coming into this season. Too bad the new Arena wasn't ready to open yet for this given the result. Next big game for them will be on Tuesday when they play at Clemson.

[sterlingice]

Ok, I'm going to have to go to sleep now but we're not looking bad at the half. It's a sloppy, early season game but KU has looked like the better team. They're not as talented, I don't think but UK has that really young and sloppy look. They have more room to grow as the season progresses while I don't see a ton of young guys that are going to improve a lot with Kansas.

SI

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

LSU may never play Coastal Carolina again, because for the second year in a row, Coastal has upset them! Score this time was 71-63. Led by 10 at the half then hung on for the win. The main reason for the win was Coastal's domination on the bounds, outrebounding LSU 53-34.

I'm very surprised with this win given what they have been through and who they lost coming into this season. Too bad the new Arena wasn't ready to open yet for this given the result. Next big game for them will be on Tuesday when they play at Clemson.

Yeah, Mizzou fans were doing some scoreboard watching tonight. Saw that South Carolina lost to Elon(!) and Vandy struggled against Bucknell. Toss in a Florida loss at OSU and it was a pretty rough night for SEC teams.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Ok, I'm going to have to go to sleep now but we're not looking bad at the half. It's a sloppy, early season game but KU has looked like the better team. They're not as talented, I don't think but UK has that really young and sloppy look. They have more room to grow as the season progresses while I don't see a ton of young guys that are going to improve a lot with Kansas.

SI

Yeah, Bill Self is going to need to work a little magic this year. Robinson and Taylor are obviously talented, but some pretty rough pieces surrounding those two players. Good part about basketball is that you can make a successful team around a couple of core players.

[dave731]

Yeah, Bill Self is going to need to work a little magic this year. Robinson and Taylor are obviously talented, but some pretty rough pieces surrounding those two players. Good part about basketball is that you can make a successful team around a couple of core players.
This thing is getting away from Kansas here...need a run!

And I think I despise this Kentucky team more than the John Wall team...

[MrBug708]

UCLA = Bad

[Lathum]

Ok, I'm going to have to go to sleep now but we're not looking bad at the half. It's a sloppy, early season game but KU has looked like the better team. They're not as talented, I don't think but UK has that really young and sloppy look. They have more room to grow as the season progresses while I don't see a ton of young guys that are going to improve a lot with Kansas.

SI

You will not wake up happy...

[Lathum]

UCLA = Bad

yeah, pretty horrible.

[RedKingGold]

Nova squeaks by La Salle in overtime at the Pavilion. I can't decide whether this Nova team is good or not. Theoretically, they should be better than last year without ball-hog Corey Fisher and with Yarou, Cheek and Wayns another year older.

The X-Factor is still JayVaughn Pinkson. If he can fulfill his potential and stay out of trouble - he was suspended for pretty much all of last year after an assault - he could be the guy that pushes this team to Big East title contention.

More likely, however, I see Nova as a 20-10 record team with a second round or Sweet 16 NCAA exit.

[sterlingice]

You will not wake up happy...

I suppose not. But it wasn't unsurprising and I can't get too upset about game 3 of the season, particularly when it's a 10 point loss to a Final Four contender. MBBF hit the nail right on the head- there are a lot of really rough pieces around one true stud (Robinson) and another nice player in Taylor. We're in for a longer year than we're used to and I think it's fairly likely our Big XII title streak ends but we're still NCAA tourney bound. It'll be good for some of the fan base that just took for granted we had an awesome team and was used to taking that for granted ("what? we didn't make the final four because of a fluke loss in the tourney? fire self!")

SI

[dave731]

I suppose not. But it wasn't unsurprising and I can't get too upset about game 3 of the season, particularly when it's a 10 point loss to a Final Four contender. MBBF hit the nail right on the head- there are a lot of really rough pieces around one true stud (Robinson) and another nice player in Taylor. We're in for a longer year than we're used to and I think it's fairly likely our Big XII title streak ends but we're still NCAA tourney bound. It'll be good for some of the fan base that just took for granted we had an awesome team and was used to taking that for granted ("what? we didn't make the final four because of a fluke loss in the tourney? fire self!")

SI
I can remember some fans wanting to fire Roy Williams for not winning it all when he was at KU. Yep...fire the coach with the highest winning pct. in Division I since he took the job at Kansas?! Fans don't understand how hard it is to win it all...especially in basketball. You can play a mediocre team where one or two guys rise to the occasion and play like Larry Bird or Magic Johnson and then you're heading home.

This Kansas team will be in full rebuild mode for most of the season. I would look to see what the team is doing in early January to see what kind of run we are going to put together in the tourney. Taylor was trying to do it all last night and KU can't rely on that to win games against quality opponents. I also didn't see Kansas go inside as much as I'd have liked but that may have been due to Kentucky's defense moreso than anything else. I wish the players that declared would have known about the lockout. Imagine having the Morris twins and Selby back for this year! Sigh...

[jbergey22]

I was expecting a fall from Kansas last year and they were once again a top 5 team. They seem to find a way with these kids that are finally getting their chance. Ive counted them out too many times to think they wont be a top 10 team like always this year.

Who in the Big 12 is expected to be better than them? Baylor has A LOT of talent but the coaching will mess it up(also I expect their PG issues to become a problem), Mizzou is Mizzou, Texas is young.

[sterlingice]

I can remember some fans wanting to fire Roy Williams for not winning it all when he was at KU. Yep...fire the coach with the highest winning pct. in Division I since he took the job at Kansas?! Fans don't understand how hard it is to win it all...especially in basketball. You can play a mediocre team where one or two guys rise to the occasion and play like Larry Bird or Magic Johnson and then you're heading home.

This Kansas team will be in full rebuild mode for most of the season. I would look to see what the team is doing in early January to see what kind of run we are going to put together in the tourney. Taylor was trying to do it all last night and KU can't rely on that to win games against quality opponents. I also didn't see Kansas go inside as much as I'd have liked but that may have been due to Kentucky's defense moreso than anything else. I wish the players that declared would have known about the lockout. Imagine having the Morris twins and Selby back for this year! Sigh...

Damn you, Ali Farokhmanesh! :D

Yeah, that team would have been awesome. National title contender for sure- old, experienced, deep, and talented.

That said, if I'm playing Kansas this year, I collapse 3 guys down low to drown out Robinson and make the guards beat you off the perimeter. Tyshawn Taylor seems to me like a poor man's Keith Langford- not as good at driving maybe a little better shooter. If that's the second best player on your team, you're just not going to be an elite team. That formula is going to make for some nights where we badly struggle for offense. That said, the team is still long, like most Bill Self teams, and defense will keep us in the game most nights.

Maui should be a nice barometer for the team. Georgetown should make for a good test- unraked but usually a good squad. Hopefully we can win that and try out the championship side of the bracket. UCLA and Chaminade aren't looking too difficult this year, but who knows. And then another game against a quality ranked team (or Tennessee who would have beaten some ranked teams to get there and thus would be ranked after).

SI

[jbergey22]

I thought Memphis looked great yesterday. All of them athletes learned to shoot over the summer. I dont see anyone in cUSA touching them. Beating up on Belmont is no small feat.

[Butter]

Good Lord, UCLA... losing to Loyola Marymount and Middle Tennessee State at home to start the season? I expected better of you.

The arena was empty last night too, so is there something going on there I don't know about?

[Butter]

Maui should be a nice barometer for the team. Georgetown should make for a good test- unraked but usually a good squad.

Georgetown and my yard have something in common.

[jbergey22]

Good Lord, UCLA... losing to Loyola Marymount and Middle Tennessee State at home to start the season? I expected better of you.

The arena was empty last night too, so is there something going on there I don't know about?

Their best player(Reeves Nelson) was suspended for 'conduct detrimental to the team.' Some extreme chemistry issues would be my guess.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

I was expecting a fall from Kansas last year and they were once again a top 5 team. They seem to find a way with these kids that are finally getting their chance. Ive counted them out too many times to think they wont be a top 10 team like always this year.

Who in the Big 12 is expected to be better than them? Baylor has A LOT of talent but the coaching will mess it up(also I expect their PG issues to become a problem), Mizzou is Mizzou, Texas is young.

Yeah, I'd agree with you. KU is still the favorite unless they prove otherwise. Most of it depends on how KU plays on the road. They're going to go 8-1 at home at a minimum.

[sterlingice]

Georgetown and my yard have something in common.

Tall with lots of grass?
White and covered in snow?
Cold and dying?
Poorly manicured?
Smells like dog poo?
Gets stepped on a lot?
Has a dinosaur living in it?

I need a little help here! I'm not very bright!

SI

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Was amazed to look at the UCLA box score and see that UCLA took 18 more shots than Middle Tenn. St. and STILL lost. They also took five more free throws than MTSU.

I would note that likely no one knows about LaRon Dendy outside of the Big 12, but he's a helluva player. It was a big loss when he transferred away from Iowa State to MTSU.

[Pumpy Tudors]

I'm attending the next two games at Pitt (against Long Beach State and La Salle). I'm really excited to see the Oakland Zoo in action. I've never been to a Pitt basketball game before. Because I live in the general area and know a lot of Pitt alumni, I've become a bit of a Pitt fan, so Let's Go Pitt!

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Nova squeaks by La Salle in overtime at the Pavilion. I can't decide whether this Nova team is good or not. Theoretically, they should be better than last year without ball-hog Corey Fisher and with Yarou, Cheek and Wayns another year older.

The X-Factor is still JayVaughn Pinkson. If he can fulfill his potential and stay out of trouble - he was suspended for pretty much all of last year after an assault - he could be the guy that pushes this team to Big East title contention.

More likely, however, I see Nova as a 20-10 record team with a second round or Sweet 16 NCAA exit.

Looking forward to the Mizzou-Nova game in a couple weeks. Good test for our guys on a neutral court.

[Izulde]

UNLV now 2-0 after beating UNR 71-67 last night. Big lead for most of the game and held the Wolfpack to 32% shooting overall, but allowed them back in it late in the game, and frankly could've very well lost. Would've pissed me off, too, because I hate losing to UNR in any sport, let alone basketball.

Justin Hawkins, who looked good in flashes last year, has been hot to start the season. 28 points against Grand Canyon in the opener and the team's leading scorer last night with 13 points.

Still very much concerned about the post game, especially with Carlos Lopez battling an ankle injury.

New staff and new system, so it's still too early to draw any real conclusions, although IMO there's a lot of work that needs to be done. Mountain West seems down this season compared to last year, so I'm guessing we should be able to win the conference. At the very least, an NCAA bid should be a lock. I don't see us getting any further than maybe the Sweet 16, though. Even that would be an improvement over the plateau effect we had with Kruger's last few seasons.

[Butter]

Georgetown and my yard have something in common.

Maui should be a nice barometer for the team. Georgetown should make for a good test- unraked

I need a little help here! I'm not very bright!

You just made a simple typo, and I was just being a dick. Nothing major.

[sterlingice]

And I was bright enough to miss it twice, even. D'oh :D

SI

[Pumpy Tudors]

I think Pitt is going to ban me from all of their basketball games now. The first time I attend a Pitt game, their 58-game non-conference home winning streak gets snapped. We'll see if they let me into the building next Tuesday when I try to attend their game against La Salle.

[Matthean]

Michigan tied with Western Illinois at half.

[tarcone]

Iowa has scored 96, 95, and 88. Yes, it is against weak competition. But these are not your Hawks of years past.

[Matthean]

Michigan tied with Western Illinois at half.

Ends up being a 4 point win for Michigan. Maui tourney is next, but right now Michigan looks like a long was away from NCAA tourney ready.

[Atocep]

I think Pitt is going to ban me from all of their basketball games now. The first time I attend a Pitt game, their 58-game non-conference home winning streak gets snapped. We'll see if they let me into the building next Tuesday when I try to attend their game against La Salle.

Next game against WVU at Pitt is on me.

[Swaggs]

Next game against WVU at Pitt is on me.

I say we chip in and get him season tickets for football and basketball. :)

[Izulde]

Routed Canisius 95-70. And damned if Mike Moser isn't looking the answer to my concerns about our post game. 19 points, 9 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 blocks. We're 3-0 right now and Moser's first three games:

Grand Canyon - 16 points, 20 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals
UNR - 8 points, 11 rebounds, 5 steals, 2 blocks
Canisius - 19 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals, 2 blocks

Granted he's had 3 turnovers in every single game so far but he's looking much more polished than I thought he would. I know a lot of people were high on his potential, but I thought it'd be another year before he broke out.

Maybe the time is now.

[Butter]

Ends up being a 4 point win for Michigan. Maui tourney is next, but right now Michigan looks like a long was away from NCAA tourney ready.

Considering my beloved Dayton Flyers beat Western Illinois by 32 in our home opener, then promptly went on the road and lost to Miami (O.), I would be worried if I were you. Very worried.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Mizzou finally got through their warm-up games last night, beating Niagara. Awfully please with what we've seen of the four-guard offense thus far. If Kim English continues to play this well at the 4 spot, we're going to be better than I anticipated.

Next up is the semis and final of the tourney in KC. We have Notre Dame on Monday night and then play Georgia or Cal the next night. Got seats for both nights 10 rows from the floor. Excited to get out and see some good games for a couple nights!

[wade moore]

Mizzou is going to abuse W&M :(.

[cartman]

Wow, another plane related tragedy for Oklahoma State. Their women's basketball coach and an assistant were killed in a plane crash in Arkansas. :(

[MJ4H]

I really hope the rumors I'm hearing on hogville this morning aren't true, but they probably are.

[cartman]

Care to expound?

[MJ4H]

Marshawn Powell tore his ACL and it out for the season is the rumor. Still just a rumor. Absolutely nothing substantial.

[digamma]

Pretty excited about going to the Harvard-Loyola Marymount game tomorrow.

[MJ4H]

Marshawn Powell tore his ACL and it out for the season is the rumor. Still just a rumor. Absolutely nothing substantial.

Definitely hurt and out for tonight, but apparently the players are on info lockdown, not even allowed on twitter, etc. Probably a bad sign. Supposedly they are waiting on the results of an MRI, but they already know it's a season-ender.

Pardon me while I curse like a sailor.

:banghead:

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Definitely hurt and out for tonight, but apparently the players are on info lockdown, not even allowed on twitter, etc. Probably a bad sign. Supposedly they are waiting on the results of an MRI, but they already know it's a season-ender.

Pardon me while I curse like a sailor.

:banghead:

I finally got a chance to watch Arkansas tonight. I have to admit it was pretty frightening to watch. For all the good things that the pressure game provides, the detractors pointed out the losses Anderson had at Mizzou where average teams came in and got easy baskets and offensive rebound putbacks at key points in the game that repeatedly killed us.

Watching that Arkansas game tonight was like a bad nightmare I've lived before. When that Arkansas defense got fired up at key moments, they heavily overplayed the ball and gave up a lot of key offensive rebounds. They also got caught on ball rotation and left the back side wide open.

Obviously the Powell injury hurt, but what happened tonight was a common thing in his last season at Mizzou.

[Lathum]

sigh. Romar schedules Washington to go to St. Louis so that Scott Suggs can play in front of family and friends. Turns out Suggs is out with a toe injury and the game starts at 9 AM PST and we come out and can't throw the ball in the ocean. Epic fail so far.

[digamma]

Pretty excited about going to the Harvard-Loyola Marymount game tomorrow.

Harvard wins 77-67. Looked very good at times and just so-so at times. We aren't the borderline top 25 team some pundits are saying, but we should easily win the Ivy League and get to the dance. There is no one in the league that will be able to stop Kyle Casey and Keith Wright.

The next two weeks are interesting. The Battle of Atlantis next week includes Utah, FSU and UConn. Then we have an away game at UConn the first week of December.

[wade moore]

Harvard wins 77-67. Looked very good at times and just so-so at times. We aren't the borderline top 25 team some pundits are saying, but we should easily win the Ivy League and get to the dance. There is no one in the league that will be able to stop Kyle Casey and Keith Wright.

The next two weeks are interesting. The Battle of Atlantis next week includes Utah, FSU and UConn. Then we have an away game at UConn the first week of December.

Glad you got to see a win. Would love to see Harvard make noise outside of the Ivy.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

The bad news? Texas lost to Oregon St.

The good news? No one was able to watch it. It was on the Longhorn Network.

[dawgfan]

The Pac-12 is all over the place right now.

[tarcone]

Reality check for Iowa. Creighton spanked us. We couldnt make a basket and they didnt miss much.

[dawgfan]

2011 5-star SG prospect Jabari Brown has left Oregon after just 2 games.

[cartman]

For the 2nd consecutive week, J'Covan Brown was named Big 12 player of the week. He is gonna have to carry the load while all of the freshmen get accustomed to playing college ball. The Horns have 9 scholarship players, 6 of them are true freshmen.

[DeToxRox]

Michigan and Memphis just tipped off on the deuce.

[Matthean]

Michigan up 37-31 at the half. Hello offense, nice to meet you. Maybe you can stick around. The fact that Michigan is beating anybody by 10 on the boards is just amazing.

[DeToxRox]

Is Josh Pastner the worst X's and O's coach in hoops? Does Memphis have an offensive game plan besides be more athletic than the other team? Memphis is going to obviously win games and probably win this game today, but as a game coach Pastner seems like the absolute worst.

[jbergey22]

Is Josh Pastner the worst X's and O's coach in hoops? Does Memphis have an offensive game plan besides be more athletic than the other team? Memphis is going to obviously win games and probably win this game today, but as a game coach Pastner seems like the absolute worst.

Drive and kick is the offense. It was laughable last year some games when they didnt have much for shooting.

[Warhammer]

A lot of this game depends on how the officiating goes. If UM can play Big 10 defense, Memphis will get frustrated. Memphis' big problem is their depth down low. That's why Michigan is getting to the boards.

[Matthean]

Memphis is going to obviously win games and probably win this game today

Michigan up by 12 now. If Michigan had a saving grace in their earlier games, it's due to their defensive style of play. It would be a rather big screw up for them to lose it at this point.

P.S. I don't see Luke Walton getting a coaching job anytime soon. :lol:

[DeToxRox]

Impressive win for Michigan. Couldn't shoot the three but played great D and rebounded tremendously. Excited to see us match up vs Duke (most likely) tomorrow night. I do not see us winning that game but still, it'll be a great litmus test.

[RomaGoth]

I haven't followed college basketball much in recent years, but excited to see Michigan gaining relevancy again. Nice win today over Memphis.

[Izulde]

92-55 win for UNLV over Morgan State. I can't wait to see if they play UNC in the Las Vegas Invitational, as that'll be the first real test of the season, IMO.

Runnin' Rebels are shooting 40% as a team from long-range, so I don't expect to see a lot of zone against them. And wow, Mike Moser continues to amaze - 23 points, 17 rebounds, 6 assists, and 5 steals. Also got named Mountain West Player of the Week.

Somebody posted that Moser reminds them of Shawn Marion, only with better outside shooting. Not sure about that, but I thought it was an interesting (and promising) comparison.

[Chief Rum]

Moser...Stanback... Looks at Howland.

smh

[Izulde]

Yeah, makes you wonder how UCLA would look now if they still had both Moser and Stanback, rather than their transferring to UNLV.

[Chief Rum]

Yeah, makes you wonder how UCLA would look now if they still had both Moser and Stanback, rather than their transferring to UNLV.

Well, Stanback is too thin to defend the four and too slow to really defend the three, so he wouldn't have solved UCLA's primary problem, which is perimeter defense. But at least Stanback would provide some legit offense and provide another 3 to a roster devoid of them. Moser would have been perfect. He's like a Reeves Nelson without the attitude and he actually tries on defense. And he could play a tough-nosed three or work in some time against smaller fours.

[sterlingice]

I don't think I'm making it to our game since it starts at midnight :(

SI

[Lathum]

OMG, UCLA is losing by 6 late in the first half to Chaminade.

[Matthean]

OMG, UCLA is losing by 6 late in the first half to Chaminade.

Perfect storm for it to happen.

[dave731]

I don't think I'm making it to our game since it starts at midnight :(

SI
Yea...I have to be up at 6am....hopefully ESPN3 will have the replay up tomorrow.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Boy, helluva thumping administered by Mizzou tonight. Notre Dame was only a three point dog. Abromaitis got his points, but ND otherwise looked outclassed. Denmon has really matured along with Flip Pressey.

It's somewhat odd. Mizzou seems to be just as up-tempo on offense, but they're much more disciplined on the defensive end and have really improved their rebounding despite being smaller than last year up front.

Should be a dandy matchup with Cal tomorrow night in the finals.

[digamma]

Does anyone know what HMINO means as a college basketball reference? On context, it seems to be something about bad teams, but can't put it all together. Have seen it on twitter and the like.

[jbergey22]

Does anyone know what HMINO means as a college basketball reference? On context, it seems to be something about bad teams, but can't put it all together. Have seen it on twitter and the like.

Never heard of it. Keep doing a search and I keep getting Spanish references.

[jbergey22]

Should be a dandy matchup with Cal tomorrow night in the finals.

For sure. Should be exciting. Both teams played great tonight.

[digamma]

Never heard of it. Keep doing a search and I keep getting Spanish references.

Found it. High Major in Name Only. Saw it as a reference to BC getting blown out by UMass.

[BishopMVP]

Found it. High Major in Name Only. Saw it as a reference to BC getting blown out by UMass.:D I was at that game tonight and BC might be the worst ACC basketball team ever. I don't know if they'd even go .500 in America East or the Patriot League.

UMass is interesting so far - we're in the Atlantis tournament with UConn/Harvard/Utah/an opening game against FSU, so I'll know more after we play some real teams, but I think we can be a borderline NCAA team this year. We still shoot too many 3's, but a lot of good athletes and we're really pressuring on D. FSU will be a good measuring stick in that sense because it'll be the first game we're not superior athletes at every position.

[sterlingice]

Yay. KU with a solid win and a slightly more palatable start time of 9:30 tonight against UCLA

SI

[Chief Rum]

OMG, UCLA is losing by 6 late in the first half to Chaminade.

Yeah, like Matthean said, it basically took a Herculean effort for Cahminade to pull that off to that point. UCLA ended up winning by 32.

Although Kansas is a very young team, I suspect the athleticism they always recruit will come forth in the game tonight against UCLA, and that's something UCLA can't compete against. Only thing I could see UCLA doing is a steady diet of post feeds, which will be difficult for KU to defend if UCLA's talented bigs come to play. But since UCLA has no shooters or any serious threats to drive to the basket, KU can easily sag on the interior and double and tripel team any touches there. It could get ugly.

[Atocep]

I think Pitt is going to ban me from all of their basketball games now. The first time I attend a Pitt game, their 58-game non-conference home winning streak gets snapped. We'll see if they let me into the building next Tuesday when I try to attend their game against La Salle.

I think you sat a little bit differently or something. I need you to back to what you were doing the first game.

[DeToxRox]

No one will beat Duke when they shoot like they did tonight. Still, we managed to make a game of it at least to an extent. Trey Burke looked exceptional. Excited to watch us play UCLA tomorrow.

[jbergey22]

The last thing we need in this thread is more Mizzou hype but damn are they playing well. Completely dominated a very good Cal team. The are making up for their lack of bigs by great perimeter defense and ball pressure.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

The last thing we need in this thread is more Mizzou hype but damn are they playing well. Completely dominated a very good Cal team. The are making up for their lack of bigs by great perimeter defense and ball pressure.

The only thing more unexpected than a 30 point thumping of Notre Dame was a 40 point thumping of Cal. We knew coming into the season that MU's guard play was amongst the best in the nation. They went out and proved it over the last couple of days. That was downright scary.

Next big test after a couple home cupcakes is Villanova in NYC.

[spleen1015]

No one will beat Duke when they shoot like they did tonight. Still, we managed to make a game of it at least to an extent. Trey Burke looked exceptional. Excited to watch us play UCLA tomorrow.

One thing that drives me crazy about Coach K is that he goes to the spread offense too early. In 2 of their games this year they went spread with a double digit lead with about 5 minutes to go and the other team was able to get back into the game because of it.

[Thomkal]

Coastal Carolina with the win at Clemson last night. They're now 5-0 with that win and one over LSU. The Big South may already be won.

Woot! was just watching the highlights-They were down by 13 at one point in the first half, and 8 at halftime. down by 4 with a minute to go, but Chris Gradingo followed up on his own missed jump shot to put in the winning layup as time expired. First win ever against Clemson in 6 tries-but Clemson not looking very good this year as they had lost to College of Charleston in the game before this one. But still a big win and I have to say I'm surprised-given the turmoil they were coming off of from last season and the loss of the leading point scorer, I thought they would struggle this season at least early on. The addition of Gadingo has been a big boost for the team, and he might be the leading scorer on the team by season's end.

Big South could be wild this season. Presbyterian has an upset win against a then ranked Cincinatti team, NC Asheville looking good too. Campbell is undefeated as well.

[Izulde]

75-52 win over Cal-Poly but it was fairly close for most of the game. They did a good job in the first half of taking away the perimeter attack and forcing a slower pace to only be down by 7 at the half. Then we just wore them down.

Balanced offense helped the win too, including Massamba's 10 points and 9 rebounds. I like watching the roly poly dude play even though he's too slow to fit very well in the run and gun.

Another bigger test Friday against USC. I suspect the Trojans will try and play the same kind of physical, slow it down style that Cal-Poly did. Just wish it was at the Thomas and Mack instead of the Orleans Arena.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Pretty surprised at how poor the defense is on the Duke/Kansas game thus far. It's a fun game to watch, but really would think that these teams would defend the basket a bit better.

[cartman]

Pretty surprised at how poor the defense is on the Duke/Kansas game thus far. It's a fun game to watch, but really would think that these teams would defend the basket a bit better.

Well, to be honest, neither one of them is led by a coach like Frank Haith.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Well, to be honest, neither one of them is led by a coach like Frank Haith.

Your profound grasp of the obvious is duly noted. Thanks Dickie V.

[cartman]

Your profound grasp of the obvious is duly noted. Thanks Dickie V.

Thanks. Dickie V is in the Basketball Hall of Fame.

[sterlingice]

You'll have to forgive MBBF, cartman. He can't dish out a non-backhanded compliment to anything he's not a zealot about. It's just his way.

SI

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Thanks. Dickie V is in the Basketball Hall of Fame.

Yes, he is. But most would note that it has far less to do with his basketball knowledge and far more to do with his ambassador status in the game. I've met him and he's a very nice guy, but he offers very little insight in his commentary anymore. There are many commentators that do a much better job analyzing the game than he does.

[cartman]

Yes, he is. But most would note that it has far less to do with his basketball knowledge and far more to do with his ambassador status in the game. I've met him and he's a very nice guy, but he offers very little insight in his commentary anymore. There are many commentators that do a much better job analyzing the game than he does.

You were the one that brought Dickie V up, not me. Let it be said that Frank Haith was a much loved assistant at the University of Texas under Rick Barnes.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

You were the one that brought Dickie V up, not me. Let it be said that Frank Haith was a much loved assistant at the University of Texas under Rick Barnes.

And he was a much maligned coach at the University of Miami. We don't know which we have just yet.

With that said, do you actually have a take on the Duke/Kansas game or are you hear to start meaningless message board scuffles? I'd rather talk Duke/Kansas.

[cartman]

I'd rather talk Duke/Kansas.

With your well documented disdain for KU, I'm sure you would like to have a rational discussion about the game. :rolleyes:

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Duke on a big run. Got KU on their heels a bit.

[sterlingice]

I'm surprised it's been this close. I really didn't think we would be in this game at this point- I figured they'd have us at arm's length (~7-10 point lead) by now, kindof like what Kentucky did to us.

SI

[sterlingice]

Well, we just got gifted an offensive foul.

SI

[tarcone]

Iowa lost to Campbell. :(

[Radii]

Iowa lost to Campbell. :(

Go Fighting Camels!! I have a soft sport for them having attended a basketball camp there in middle school.

[Radii]

With your well documented disdain for KU, I'm sure you would like to have a rational discussion about the game. :rolleyes:

I'll chime in with my disdain for Duke to keep things even. GO JAYHAWKS.

[sterlingice]

I think the crazy desperation heave might have finished us off

SI

[Radii]

ugh, what a killer three.

[cartman]

What a pure luck 3.

[sterlingice]

That was a really fun game for early in the season, tho

SI

[MrBug708]

Poor UCLA

[Thomkal]

Holy Big South Batman.

Coastal Carolina over both LSU and Clemson.
Presbyterian over Cincinnati.
Campbell over Iowa.

It's a shame Liberty is every kind of awful this season with injuries and transfers taking out most of the talent. Gonna be in for some nearly illegal spankings.

Woot Big South!

[jbergey22]

Joe Jackson with one of the biggest bonehead plays I have ever seen for Memphis yesterday.

With 42 seconds left in the game, 35 seconds on the shot clock, Memphis is up 2 points. Georgetown puts a little pressure on him so he decides to dribble into the lane and promptly throw it out of bounds with around 30 seconds left in the game. Georgetown then scores the game tying field goal. Memphis then loses in overtime.

I could not believe what I was seeing when it happened. At worst Georgetown should have been down 2 with around 5-10 seconds left in the game.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

[digamma]

Harvard crushed Utah last night 75-47. The Boston Globe writer who covers Harvard though says that Utah might be the worst team Harvard has played to this point. Considering we opened with MIT, that is really saying something.

Big step up in class today against FSU in the semifinals of the Atlantis tournament.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Harvard crushed Utah last night 75-47. The Boston Globe writer who covers Harvard though says that Utah might be the worst team Harvard has played to this point. Considering we opened with MIT, that is really saying something.

Big step up in class today against FSU in the semifinals of the Atlantis tournament.

Most of the Pac-12 has been a nightmare thus far. It's going to be one of those years where they struggle to get more than 3 invites to the big dance, even with more teams.

[BishopMVP]

Harvard crushed Utah last night 75-47. The Boston Globe writer who covers Harvard though says that Utah might be the worst team Harvard has played to this point. Considering we opened with MIT, that is really saying something.

Big step up in class today against FSU in the semifinals of the Atlantis tournament.I actually thought UMass looked much better than the final score (73-53) against FSU, but 2-23 from 3 killed us. FSU is a great team defensively (led nation in opponents FG% the past 2 seasons) but we were still missing open shots. Oh well, would've liked a shot vs. Harvard or UConn.

[DeToxRox]

Harvard and FSU are tied at 14 at the half.

[MJ4H]

welp

[digamma]

Harvard and FSU are tied at 14 at the half.

And the Crimson pull through with a 46-41 win. UConn was upset on the other half of the bracket, so Harvard plays Central Florida for Atlantis tomorrow. I think we get the city or at least the hotel if we win.

Really physical defense from both teams. FSU neutralized a lot of Harvard's strengths...I think our two bigs only had about 10 points combined. But we had a couple of big 3's down the stretch to win.

[Radii]

And the Crimson pull through with a 46-41 win. UConn was upset on the other half of the bracket, so Harvard plays Central Florida for Atlantis tomorrow. I think we get the city or at least the hotel if we win.

Its a really nice hotel, not bad!

[Izulde]

66-55 win for UNLV over USC to stay undefeated. With UNC leading South Carolina comfortably last time I checked, tomorrow's championship game should be an excellent test of just how far the Rebels are from being considered elite status.

[Young Drachma]

Griffin Lentsch's record 89 points for Grinnell College were all part of a plan - ESPN (http://espn.go.com/espn/commentary/story/_/page/howard-111125/griffin-lentsch-record-89-points-grinnell-college-were-all-part-plan)

D3 guy from Grinnell College in IA (where they run an offense system that keeps them among the top scoring teams in any division of NCAA basketball) scores 89 points earlier this week in a game against Principia.

[Izulde]

For those who are interested, UNLV vs #1 North Carolina will be on ESPN 2 tonight at 7:30 PST/10:30 EST.

Looking forward to the game, Radii. ;)

[Radii]

For those who are interested, UNLV vs #1 North Carolina will be on ESPN 2 tonight at 7:30 PST/10:30 EST.

Looking forward to the game, Radii. ;)

I would wish you luck but I wouldn't mean it in the slightest. ;) Glad to see its got a late enough start that its on TV on a busy football day.

[Izulde]

42-38 Tarheels up at half. Been a close game the whole way.

[cartman]

Jay Bilas looks like he is trying not to laugh every time he looks at his co-announcer.

[Izulde]

50-42 UNLV lead early in second. Runnin Rebels on fire

[Izulde]

Man, what a game this has been so far. I'm worried about our foul trouble, though

[MrBug708]

UCLA transfers beat UNC

[Izulde]

90-80 win over 1 UNC and still undefeated!!!!! THE RUNNIN' REBELS ARE BACK, BABY!!!!! :) :) :)

(Okay, so we're probably Sweet 16 at most this year, but after yet another sad sack year in football and seasons of merely being decent under Kruger, it feels damn great to get a win like this.)