1.  Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim won his 900th game narrowly over Detroit last night and while the rest of the Internet is off celebrating his worthy and incredible milestone, the good folks over at Casual Hoya decided to celebrate the occasion in a much different way — by putting together an exhaustive list of all the issues and arrests involving the Syracuse basketball program since Boeheim has been in charge.  Of course every coach who has that many years under his belt is sure to have overseen his fair share of less-than-savory characters and many programs have similar legal issues, but it is still quite an impressive list of mischief, borderline criminal behavior, and outright criminal behavior displayed by the fine men who have worn the orange. I am sure plenty of folks from the righteous corners of the Internet will condemn a post of this nature in the wake of Boeheim’s big day, but in my opinion, the money he earns and his own candor in interviews make the head coach fair game for some excellent tongue-in-cheek ribbing like this. In fact, I wish we could see a list like this for every coach who has stayed with one program for more than two decades.
2. Poor Kevin Ollie. The first-year Connecticut coach has almost no job security, a limited roster from a talent standpoint, and now he has to deal with the fallout of the crumbling of the Big East. This guy just can’t catch a break. When asked for his feelings on the sudden departures of the Catholic 7, Ollie basically said he didn’t have any, which is good, because worrying about conference realignment is not his job and he clearly has enough on his plate already. The Huskies are the clear losers in conference realignment, left for dead in the shell of the Big East with an unknown future, and as that situation grows murkier, the more you will hear calls for UConn athletic director Warde Manuel to give Ollie the job. Manuel seems set on waiting for a larger sample size of games before extending his rookie head coach, which is fine, but he just better hope that if Ollie isn’t the guy that he has someone else in mind, because selling a UConn job with stormy weather still ahead won’t be easy.
3. This is a cool financial look at what’s ahead for members of the Catholic 7, involving a lot of rough math on whether these new schools will be able to stay afloat without the financial support of a football conference. Marquette, Villanova, and Providence were the only members of the seven to turn a profit from their basketball programs and concerns about NCAA Tournament units and TV deal revenues mean that the schools will need to find creative ways to make a buck or two from their hoops squads, which, as you might expect, spend a lot of money. There is a lot of good, in-depth information in this piece that the average fan might not be aware of, so be sure to read through the entire thing, even if it is quite lengthy.
4. Tomorrow will be the first Crosstown Classic between intracity rivals Xavier and Cincinnati since last season’s infamous brawl, but while everyone in the media pretty much insists on using the brawl as their story peg, most of the players and coaches involved have moved on and are hoping that everyone else can do the same. Bearcats’ point guard Cashmere Wright‘s point about all the players actually involved in the brawl now gone is a fair one. Yancy Gates, Mark Lyons, Tu Holloway, and Octavius Ellis have all moved on and it seems unlikely that any of the current players will bring back any bad blood. These programs play tough, physical, hard-nosed basketball, and it would be a shame if that brand of basketball didn’t show up on Wednesday night for fear of inciting yet another fracas. The hope for everyone, fans included, is that the game can remain competitive and gritty without getting violent. If that happens, we will likely be treated to an excellent game and the first true test of the season for Mick Cronin’s undefeated Bearcats.
5. Who is ready for a good ole fashioned family affair on Wednesday night when Rick Pitino and Louisville square off with son Richard Pitino and Florida International? You better believe that Pitino’s ever-quotable wife Joanne would have something to say on the matter (as a side note, Joanne Pitino is rapidly shattering records for most spousal mentions on a college basketball blog), and it sounds like everyone is predicting a Cardinals’ blowout. The younger Pitino inherited a depleted squad at FIU and is just beginning the rebuilding effort, with help from his overbearing father, who just can’t seem to stop coaching basketball even when his own team isn’t involved. This story doesn’t involve any earth-shattering information, but it is a chance for the entertaining Pitino family to get another chance to introduce themselves to the public and frankly, they don’t disappoint. I, for one, hope the elder Pitino never retires. College basketball just won’t be the same without him.

Chris Johnson is an RTC Columnist. He can be reached @ChrisDJohnsonn.

Tonight’s Lede. It All Comes Together For Jim Boeheim. College basketball is littered with great coaches, leaders who elevate their respective programs with a handful occupying various leagues across the country. Transcending “great” and becoming “legendary” requires a sustained period of excellence. You can count these select few on one hand. Jim Boeheim belonged in this rarefied air even before Monday night’s remarkable achievement when he became just the third Division I men’s basketball head coach in history to reach 900 wins, and the first to do so in an uninterrupted tenure at one institution. Boeheim attended Syracuse as a college student and varsity basketball player, took up an assistant job there for seven years, then rose to the head coaching position, a title he has maintained with aplomb, visionary thinking and progressive leadership, for more than 30 years. Monday night’s culminating win, a 72-68 triumph over would-be spoiler Detroit, ties a bow around the longstanding brilliance of Boeheim’s work within and around the program. I don’t know when Boeheim will retire, but if the 68-year-old decides to call it quits as early as after this season, his career will have been one of the greatest we’ve ever seen. A well-deserved tip of the cap is very much in order.

Your Watercooler Moment. Two Big Transfer Debuts.

The Tigers Need Brown To Help Offset the Loss of Dixon (Photo credit: Getty Images).

Similar storylines tethered UNLV and Missouri’s season projections in varying degrees to the ability of transfers to step in and contribute right away. For Missouri, most of the talk surrounded UConn big man Alex Oriakhi and Auburn swingman Earnest Ross. Oregon transfer Jabari Brown was less of a central storyline not because of a lack of talent or physical tools, but for the timetable of his eligibility. Brown’s services became more urgent, though, once guard Michael Dixon was suspended and eventually left school over a sexual assault accusation. UNLV’s situation follows the same rough outline, in that an elbow injury to forward Mike Moser – previously conceived as just one piece of arguably the nation’s deepest frontcourt – turned Pitt transfer Khem Birch’s arrival into a critical, much less ancillary, entry into UNLV’s frontcourt rotation. Both players made their highly anticipated debuts on Monday night, and the results went pretty much as you’d expect. Birch and Brown showed some rust in their first taste of major college hoops in 12 months. Brown had 12 points on 3-of-9 shooting (including 1-of-7 from three), but it’s hard to infer anything beyond an encouraging first run, simply for the fact that the Tigers doubled South Carolina State on the scoreboard in a 102-51 rout. The Rebels, meanwhile, were taken to the brink at UTEP, and were one Konner Tucker three-point jumper away from taking a bad loss. In 14 minutes, Birch submitted just four points and three rebounds. How well these players fit into their new teams is a time-tested analysis that can’t be decided on one night’s action. We’ll get a better read on the newcomers over the next couple of months. After one game, the general consensus is lukewarm if slightly encouraging. Concluding anything more would be uninformed guesswork.

Tonight’s Quick Hits…

• UConn Pays Homage to Newtown Tragedy. The Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings had massive rippling effects not just on national news shows but in the sports world. Major sports teams around the country, from professional leagues to college, paid tribute to the victims in various ways. UConn followed suit by holding a moment of silence before its game against Maryland-Eastern Shore tonight, donning green patches with the letters “SH” and several players, including star point guard Ryan Boatwright, inscribing the initials on their faces in a visually poignant tribute that fit the severity of the events. Kudos to the UConn athletic department for coming through with a strong emotional statement to distinguish the tragedy’s geographically-proximate institution by not only setting aside a moment for respect and remembrance, but also implementing a visual token to emphasize the importance of the tribute alongside the basketball game being played. Read the rest of this entry »

Michael Vernetti is the West Coast Conference correspondent for RTC.

Looking Back

Bye-bye Gonzaga? Shuffling through the barrage of reports, rumors, and guesses that emerged from the defection of the Catholic Seven from the Big East Conference, one could conclude that:

1. Gonzaga might join a new alliance of those seven plus some other basketball-only schools to form a new super-conference.
2. Saint Mary’s might also join the party.
3. Neither Gonzaga nor Saint Mary’s were ever in the plans of the Seven.
4. That the WCC already has what the Catholic Seven are seeking: a mostly homogeneous group of geographically contiguous schools with a common academic philosophy and a commitment to quality basketball.

Involving the WCC in the Big East blow-up was mostly the work of Gonzaga coach Mark Few and his ever-reliable mouthpiece, Andy Katz of ESPN. Katz reported last Wednesday (December 12), before the seven departing schools had announced a decision, that, “Sources say the Zags would love to part with the West Coast Conference and be a member of a national, branded basketball conference… the Zags are looking out for themselves and would like to be positioned with fellow national Catholic-based schools instead of regional ones in the WCC.”

Is Gonzaga going to jump ship? Only time will tell (AP)

No one familiar with Few’s musings a few weeks ago was worried about what would happen to Gonzaga in the case of a BCS/everybody else-type split in the college basketball ranks had any doubts who Katz’s source was. And it is safe to say that no one else belonging to or friendly with the WCC appreciated Few’s willingness to throw the conference under the bus on the basis of some unfounded worries about an imminent basketball schism.

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Kyle Wiltjer indicated he would be more aggressive after a 6-of-30 cold streak from beyond the arc, but he didn’t need to against Lipscomb on Saturday because the Bison left him wide open. He was 7-of-9 from behind the three-point line, scoring 23 points to lead the Cats to a demonstrative victory. Following UK’s victory previous over Portland, Wiltjer said he needed to do more to get open. “Trying to be more aggressive,” he said. “Trying to get easier baskets. Mix it up a little bit.” But the overarching question for Kentucky becomes: When Wiljter is closely guarded, can he adapt to become the offensive threat the Wildcats need in the half court set? We analyzed his game on Saturday for clues to whether Wiltjer can become more than simply a catch and shoot player.

Wiltjer Had a Bunch of These on Saturday

We tracked each of Wiltjer’s 12 shot attempts on Saturday with the result, whether the shot was open or contested, and how many dribbles Wiltjer used:

Each of Kentucky’s Kyle Wiltjer’s shot attempts on Saturday against Lipscomb.

Wiltjer is the definition of a “catch and shoot” player. So far this year, 64% of Wiltjer’s shot attempts have been three-point field goals. And at least on Saturday, who can fault him? Ten of his shot attempts were wide open. On the two contested attempts, Wiltjer adjusted with at least one dribble. With under 14 minutes remaining in the second half, a Lipscomb defender flew out to disrupt one of Wiltjer’s wide open three-point attempts. Wiltjer pumped fake before taking one dribble to avoid the defender. Several minutes later, Wiltjer put the ball on the floor again, this time dribbling twice for a crafty up-and-under move. He missed that attempt but displayed an ability to shake a defender by using the bounce in the process. Though this is an extremely small sample size, the information is important to serve as a baseline for what Wiltjer can do in a game against weaker competition when he is left wide open at the three-point line.

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There wasn’t a ton of discussion about the selections for this week’s honors. Anyone who was near a television or inside the McKale Center on Saturday night had a good idea where these things were going. So, without further ado, let’s get to celebrating the Wildcats.

Team of the Week – Arizona

For the third consecutive week, the Wildcats earn our team of the week honor, this time in unanimous fashion with no other possibilities even discussed. It wasn’t always pretty, but Arizona defended its home court and the Pac-12’s honor on Saturday night, coming back from as many as 11 down in the second half against Florida to take its first lead since very early in the game in the final seconds. They forced three turnovers in the final 61 seconds and erased a six-point deficit in that span to pull out a one-point home win and establish themselves as legitimate factors in the national conversation. There were plenty of bumps along the way, but the Wildcats hung tough throughout, limiting turnovers against a disruptive Gator defense, finishing both halves incredibly strong (they outscored UF by a combined 15-0 in the final two minutes of both halves), and showing that even without that traditional point guard, they’ve got enough savvy leadership on this team to get by. And, the scary thing is, their trio of freshman bigs combined to shoot just 4-of-10 from the field for nine points with nine rebounds mixed in there. In other words, there is still plenty of room for improvement with this squad.

Mark Lyons’ Game-Winner In the Closing Moments Lifted Arizona To A Thrilling Win Over Florida (Mike Christy, Arizona Daily Star)

Player of the Week – Mark Lyons, Arizona

Like those freshman bigs, Lyons is still a work in progress in his current role. There were some occasional bad decisions Saturday night that made you want to say, um, Arizona, about that point guard thing… but, that’s the thing; they were very occasional. And, when all the chips were down, Lyons took the outcome upon himself and hit a great runner over the Gators’ Patric Young to win the game. You could make arguments for Solomon Hill or Nick Johnson as the best player on the floor for the Wildcats on Saturday night, but in a game where the team fought and scrapped and clawed its way to have a chance to win in the closing moments, it was Lyons who came up large and sent the partisan crowd home happy.

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On the heels of Arizona’s thrilling win over Florida on Saturday night, we asked our Pac-12 correspondents, including Adam Butler of Pachoops, to share their takeaways from the game.

Adam Butler: Many are quick to call Arizona a young team and that’s a fair argument. They’re a team whose hype has centered around a phenomenal recruiting class that we’re all very aware of at this point. Saturday night, those three freshmen combined for nine points and nine rebounds. Now I’m most certainly not calling them a disappointment. Grant Jerrett hit two crucial jumpers down the stretch and Kaleb Tarczewski and Brandon Ashley each had a defensive impact on the game. But the name of that game – outside of it being a tremendous basketball contest – was Arizona’s seniors. Solomon Hill made every big play the Wildcats needed and asserted his game. And Mark Lyons? I won’t even talk about the shot because it’s too easy to gush about. I loved the moment immediately prior as Lyons was screaming for the screen to come. Jerrett was tardy and Lyons was ready to end that game. He knew what needed to happen and everyone in that arena knew who was going to get it done. He did it and after the game he was quick to say that fellow senior Kevin Parrom’s effort was the game changer. Those three went for 39/8/8 on Saturday night. It’s the day and age of one-and-dones but I’ll gladly take these seasoned veterans unrattled by the magnitude or environment they’re in. Saturday was Arizona’s first major test, but it most certainly wasn’t Parrom, Hill, or Lyons’ first exam. The scary part? What happens when those freshmen rise to the occasion, too?

Arizona Kicks Off The Celebration After A Stunning Come-From-Behind Win Saturday Night

Andrew Murawa: For me, it is not even so much anything about either of the teams (although there was certainly plenty to be learned about both) that stands out to me about the game, but more about the nature of the sport. While we’ve had a fun first month and a half worth of the college basketball season, and while there have been some fun atmospheres from time to time, can we all not agree that the atmosphere Saturday night in Tucson was electric, and blew the roof off of 99.9% (and I’m probably being generous there) of the games we’ve seen so far this year? I’ve got nothing again some of those Thanksgiving week tournament games that are played in front of a couple hundred people or so; I’d rather have those games played in front of empty arenas than not played at all. And some of these neutral site events that have been conjured up recently have been exceedingly cool (the Crossroads Classic and the Champions Classic are singled out for their awesomeness). But can you imagine the difference in the atmosphere of this game had it been played at, say, the US Airways Center in Phoenix. I get that coaches like to get their team some experience playing in bigger arenas in advance of the NCAA Tournament. But, for the sake of the sport that is being trashed by so many other externalities, can we please try to limit neutral site games in favor of scheduling some challenging non-conference opponents and give the fans who support the sport, not to mention the kids that play in the games, the best possible iteration of college basketball?

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With semester exams rudely disrupting the slate of games for the better part of last week, college hoops fans across the country eagerly waited for Saturday to roll around as 88 Division I games tipped off. There was one game, however, that dominated the rest. You may have heard that Butler knocked off previously unbeaten Indiana and shocked the country in the process—yet again. The Bulldogs enter the Top 25 for the first time all season, while Indiana falls from #2 to #5. Later that day, Arizona stormed back to beat Florida in dramatic fashion, but the Wildcats’ win certainly was overshadowed by Butler, and rightfully so.

This week’s QnD after the jump…

Quick ‘n Dirty Analysis.

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Occasionally this season, we’ll take a brief spin around the conference and take a look at some players, teams and trends that have caught our eye over the course of recent games.

Jordan Bachynski – Let’s get right to what he does really well: blocking shots. The 7’2” junior is currently second in the nation with 53 blocked shots this season and he’s currently swatting roughly 18% of all of his opponents’ two-pointers. Before you explain away all of those blocked shots with his height, understand that there are more than a couple of seven-footers around the nation with no such luck. Washington’s Aziz N’Diaye, for example, is a seven-footer, with inarguably more athleticism than Bachynski, and he’s only blocking about 4% of opponents’ two-pointers. No, Bachynski has plenty of the tools that make a great shot-blocker, aside from just the obvious physical traits: He’s got great timing, keeps plenty of space between offensive players and himself, and, when he recognizes a shot, closes quickly. Sure, the majority of his early swats are against smaller players from lesser conferences (against Arkansas, Creighton and DePaul, the three most talented teams ASU has played, he’s blocked just six combined shots; he’s blocked at least six in five other games), but he’ll likely still lead the Pac-12 in swats in conference play. Even better news for the Sun Devils is that they are regularly gaining possession of the ball after Bachynski’s blocked shots; per ASU, only six of his 53 blocks have gone out of bounds and 32 times the Sun Devils have been able to secure the ball after the block. Normally, a prolific shot-blocker gets himself out of position on the defensive glass by going after the swats, but Bachynski has done a good job of not only blocking shots but recovering in time to grab better than 21% of all defensive rebound opportunities, although that number, too, has dipped against quality competition and will dip again come conference play.

Jordan Bachynski’s Shotblocking and Rebounding Numbers Will Dip Some In Conference Play, But He’s Still A Major Positive For the Sun Devils

Offensively, he’s still a work in progress, but he is continually improving. He’s got a solid jump hook around the rim, he runs the floor pretty well in transition, and he does a halfway decent job of getting on the offensive glass, especially for a team that doesn’t spend a lot of energy trying to rebound on that end. His biggest problem offensively, and one that is likely to persist, is the fact that he’s a little soft. Against Sacramento State, there was one sequence where he was rejected not once, but twice, by a smaller guy inside the semi-circle. Now, I’m not sure who that Sac State player was who made that play, but looking up and down their roster, I don’t see a guy who is within a half-foot in height of Bachynski. That’s a relatively unforgivable sin. The other issue he is continuing to have is his free throw shooting. Last year he finished the season well from the line, hitting better than 70% in the last 10 games. This year, his free throw shooting has dropped back down under 60%. It’s still an improvement over the 55% he shot over the course of last year (and that was including that 70% run down the stretch), but his struggles there allow opponents to be physical with him and risk sending him to the line. All told, Bachynski has made great strides over his career and is still going to be an effective player for the Sun Devils in conference play, but don’t expect triple-doubles once the level of competition spikes.

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We’re now five full weeks into the 2012-13 college basketball season, plenty of time to get a read on some of the teams that everyone thought was better or worse than their preseason projections. So how does Las Vegas view it? Check the following list, which shows a number of popular schools with three correlated columns: each school’s preseason odds to win the national title (“Preseason”); its current odds to win the national title (“1st Qtr”); and the plus/minus in the interim. Note that we’ve normalized these odds to add up to 100% so that you’re viewing true odds relative to all of the other teams vying for the title this year. All odds were taken from TheGreek.com.

One other editing note is that these odds were taken and calculated prior to Saturday’s action (i.e., Butler’s upset win over Indiana and Arizona’s win over Florida).

 Some QnD analysis…

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1. It’s not often you hear a coach say they almost feel guilty after a win, but that was the case on Saturday after Arizona‘s thrilling, come-from-behind victory against Florida. “There’s a side of me that almost feels guilty because they were the better team for most of the game, but it doesn’t always work out that way,” said Wildcat head coach Sean Miller. While there’s no argument against the Gators being the better team for the majority of the night, Arizona played hard and made some crucial stops in the final minutes to put themselves in a position to win it. And Mark Lyons did just that, dropping a floater with seven seconds to play to give Zona its first lead since the 17:35 mark of the first half. They likely won’t need any late-game heroics in their next two outings against Oral Roberts and East Tennessee State, but possible match-ups against Miami (FL) and San Diego State await the cardiac Cats.
2. Two three-pointers and 16 turnovers. A solid power conference opponent. A half-filled arena with students on break. These factors alone could have combined for an Oregon upset on Saturday, but a terrific defensive performance by the Ducks negated their second-lowest scoring output of the season. While Dana Altman may not have been pleased with the outcome, escaping with another résumé-building victory by 22 points, is nothing to be too down about. The Cornhuskers did play the game how they wanted to play it, dominating the pace and successfully denying most Oregon opportunities inside the paint. But the Ducks answered on the other side of the court, forcing all those Husker turnovers and a 30.6% clip from the field. It will be interesting to see how Altman’s bunch bounces back on Wednesday against UTEP, another team that will try to play the game at an agonizing pace.
3. Arizona State’s 17-point home loss at the hands of DePaul on Wednesday took a lot of excitement out of its 9-2 opening mark, but there have been a pair of significant stories coming out of the desert early in the season. One of those belongs to senior guard Carrick Felix, who has been the man on the side holding everything together while freshman sensation Jahii Carson shines in the spotlight. Without this duo, even against this type of schedule, the 9-2 Sun Devils could be a 7-4 type of team similar to the past. If Herb Sendek can get some continued production out of Jordan Bachynski, ASU has the pieces in place to surprise a lot of people come Pac-12 play.
4. It was another case of “one step forward, two steps back” at Washington over the weekend. After a solid win at Seattle U. on Thursday, the Huskies came out slow and looking ugly against Jackson State two days later. They would eventually pull out a 75-67 victory against the 0-8 Tigers, who are still in the midst of a three-game road trip through the state of Washington, and an 11-game trip to start the season. What’s most concerning is the fact that Lorenzo Romar sensed his team needed Saturday off after a draining game against the Redhawks. Get used to it boys, conference play is right around the corner.
5. Is it another underachieving season in Los Angeles, or has USC fallen victim to a challenging non-conference schedule and still has time to turn it around? Junior Omar Oraby believes the latter, saying that the difficult slate of opponents has prepared the Trojans for a bounce back in Pac-12 action. It’s concerning that SC’s best game so far has been an overtime win against a 6-4 Texas squad, but we’ll take Oraby’s word for it. They did certainly make some strides in Saturday’s game against UC Riverside, which resulted in a 70-26 thrashing of the Highlanders.