Happy New Year, everyone! After a brief hiatus over the holidays, the RTC Podblast is back for the first edition of 2014 and ready to get on with the rest of the season! As always, Shane Connolly (@sconnolly114) hosts the proceedings, guiding the guys through topics that included the biggest takeaway from games the last two weeks, a number of injuries and suspensions that have come down lately, and most importantly, #rootforthesuit. A full rundown is below. We’ll be back on our regular schedule with the next full RTC Podcast dropping on Tuesday.

Make sure to add the RTC Podcast to your iTunes lineup so that you’ll automatically upload it on your listening device after we record. And feel free to contact us through Twitter or email — we’re listening.

Rush the Court was in Lexington today for the Kentucky-Louisville game from Rupp Arena.

Three Key Takeaways.

John Calipari Moved to 78-2 at Rupp Arena With a Win Over Louisville.

1. Louisville Won’t Repeat Unless Mangok Mathiang Becomes a Trusted Defensive Finisher. The Louisville big man came into tonight’s game as a freshman starter with elite-level numbers — an offensive rating that ranks among the nation’s 100 best players, a top 25 ranking in offensive rebounding percentage, and a top 75 ranking in block percentage. So what’s the problem? The issue is that he only plays 18 minutes per game (22 tonight), which suggests that Rick Pitino doesn’t trust him as much as he does some of his veterans like Stephan Van Treese, Montrezl Harrell, Luke Hancock and Chane Behanan. Van Treese doesn’t bring much other than a big body for spot minutes to the table, but the latter three — while key contributors, all — are simply not big enough to compete with the elite big men around the country. A lineup where 6’5″ Wayne Blackshear is expected to defend seven-footer Willie Cauley-Stein in the post is simply ridiculous. Pitino needs one more reliable defensive post player whom he can trust down the stretch of close games, and Mathiang is really his only viable option there. 
   
2. Kentucky Playing Most of the Second Half Without Julius Randle Will Serve Dividends Later. For an extended period of the second half, Kentucky star forward Julius Randle was sidelined with cramps, briefly re-entering the game with about 12 minutes remaining only to beg out a few seconds later. The key stretch was from around the 14-minute mark to the six-minute mark, as the Wildcats, led by Andrew Harrison and James Young, outscored the Cardinals 15-4 to take a commanding lead in what had been a tight one. Not only is this huge for a young team’s confidence, but the black hole aspect of a post-up by Randle was removed from the offensive equation (and why wouldn’t you keep feeding a guy who had 17 points on 7-of-8 shooting in the first half?), and Kentucky’s offense actually got better as a result. Penetration-and-kick became the offense, and the Harrison twins are as good as any guards in the country at both getting shots up in the lane and finessing them into the hole. Young, with a jumper and a three of his own during this stretch, did his part, but the key takeaway here is that the other Wildcats are also incredibly talented offensive players, and tonight revealed a dimension that they can rely on in the case of foul trouble or injury to Randle down the line.
3. Kentucky’s Ceiling is Higher than Louisville’s. It’s tough to draw deep conclusions from a young team playing at home in front of a rabid crowd that willed them through. But after seeing both teams in person today, it’s obvious enough that in the battle of which team has fewer flaws and a higher potential ceiling, it is Kentucky. Even though the Wildcats are a lot younger than Louisville and exhibit it by making a lot of dumb mistakes (and missing half their free throws), they have more guys who can just go get buckets when called upon. Few teams in the country have that luxury — maybe Arizona and Kansas, perhaps Duke and Florida — but the Wildcats of November will look a lot different than the one of March, and we’re seeing that transformation happening right before our eyes.

Star of the Game. Andrew Harrison, Kentucky. He didn’t have the greatest shooting night at 6-of-16 from the field for 18 points and four assists, but as mentioned above, he was the spark that led his team to victory when Randle left the game. It was really a matter of his penetration into the paint which allowed him to call his own number for floaters a few times as well as to find kickouts for James Young’s jumpers. His brother Aaron came on strong at the end, for what was probably the best combined game for the Texas twins in a Kentucky uniform. Certainly the best meaningful game. 

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Happy Holidays, everyone! Before we head into the crazy weekend before Christmas, we wanted to get this week’s RTC Podblast out. A quick look back at the top storylines from this week’s games and a preview of a sneaky good holiday weekend to come. As always, Shane Connolly (@sconnolly114) hosts, and the complete rundown is below. We’ll be back on Monday with a Christmas Week Edition. Stay safe out there, guys.

Make sure to add the RTC Podcast to your iTunes lineup so that you’ll automatically upload it on your listening device after we record. And feel free to contact us through Twitter or email — we’re listening.

It was a slower than slow week last week around College Basketball Land, but we were rewarded for our wait with an exciting weekend of early-season blockbusters. In this week’s RTC Podcast, hosted by Shane Connolly (@sconnolly114), the guys break down all the big games of the weekend, starting with Arizona’s comeback win over Michigan in Ann Arbor, and work our way through all the compelling action from last weekend. We also discussed our favorite players to watch in the entire college hoops landscape this season, and were honored to have ESPN analyst Jay Bilas join us for this week’s Rush the Take, where he extolled on some of the teams he’s seen recently, talks some Jimmy V (the coach and the event), and reflects on his longtime nemesis, the NCAA. It’s great stuff, and you should definitely have a listen.

Jay Bilas Joined Us This Week to Talk Some Hoops

The complete rundown is below. Make sure to add the RTC Podcast to your iTunes lineup so that you’ll automatically upload it on your listening device after we record. And feel free to contact us through Twitter or email — we’re listening.

• 0:00-4:43 – Arizona Reinforces Its #1 Ranking
• 4:43-8:56 – UNC Notches Another Big Win…
• 8:56-14:16 – …and Kentucky Notches Another Disappointing Loss
• 14:16-17:33 – CyHawk Rivalry Produces Some Hilton Magic on Friday Night
• 17:33-19:11 – Other Weekend Highlights
• 19:11-32:15 – Rush the Take With Jay Bilas
• 32:15-38:26 – Favorite Players To Watch
• 38:26-47:01 – Previewing This Week

With the single best day of college basketball games facing us on Saturday, this week’s RTC Podblast is almost singularly committed to previewing and talking through some of the biggest match-ups. OK, we made some time to talk about Florida and Kansas too, but the majority of the ‘blast looks ahead to the likes of Iowa-Iowa State, Michigan-Arizona, Kentucky-North Carolina and a number of other really interesting weekend games. As always, Shane Connolly (@sconnolly114) hosts, and despite his penchant for choosing road teams, he carefully leads us through what is without question the biggest weekend of the 2013 part of the season schedule.

Make sure to add the RTC Podcast to your iTunes lineup so that you’ll automatically upload it on your listening device after we record. And feel free to contact us through Twitter or email — we’re listening.

• 0:00 – 7:05 – Reflecting on Kansas vs. Florida
• 7:06 – 9:40 – Iowa vs Iowa State Preview
• 9:41 – 13:50 – Michigan vs. Arizona Preview
• 13:51 – 17:35 – Kentucky vs. UNC Preview
• 17:36 – 22:03 – All the Other Great Games This Weekend

As we head into finals week at many schools across the nation, it’s time to take a step back and look at some of the superlatives from the “first quarter” of the regular season. In this week’s RTC Podcast, we also welcome CBS Sports‘ analyst Doug Gottlieb to the show, where he gives us his takes on some of the early surprises and disappointments of the young season. As always, Shane Connolly is your host (@sconnolly114), and feel free to jump around the 47-minute program using the rundown below. And don’t forget to check back on Fridays for our weekly RTC Podblast, a shorter-and-sweeter quick takes review of the week’s games and a look forward to the weekends.

Doug Gottlieb Gives Us His Takes on the First Quarter of the Season

Make sure to add the RTC Podcast to your iTunes lineup so that you’ll automatically upload it on your listening device after we record. And feel free to contact us through Twitter or email — we’re listening.

• o0:00-6:07 – Colorado’s Well-Deserved RTC
• 6:07-8:44 – Kansas’ Long Term Prospects
• 8:44-13:53 – Kentucky Solves Shooting Woes for One Game, Loses Anyway
• 13:53-15:49 – Things Don’t Get Easier for Kansas and Kentucky
• 15:49-18:01 – Talking Baylor’s Ceiling
• 18:01-28:58 – Rush The Takes With Doug Gottlieb
• 28:58-33:00 – Player of the Year Discussion
• 33:00-36:09 – Coach of the Year Discussion
• 36:09-41:04 – Re-evaluating the Resumes of Iowa State and Baylor
• 41:04- Preview This Week/Wrap

Tis the season everyone… it’s RTC Podblast time. In this week’s quick and dirty version, the guys dig into just what in the hell is going on with this year’s North Carolina team, talk through some of the takeaways from this week’s ACC/Big Ten Challenge, and look forward to some of the most interesting games of the upcoming weekend (conclusion: snowboarding weekend). As always, Shane Connolly (@sconnolly114) hosts, and the complete rundown is listed below.

Make sure to add the RTC Podcast to your iTunes lineup so that you’ll automatically upload it on your listening device after we record. And feel free to contact us through Twitter or email — we’re listening.

• 0:00-9:52 – Trying to Solve the Mystery in East Lansing
• 9:52-12:08 – ACC Middle Tier Still a Question Mark
• 12:08-14:14 – Michigan in Trouble
• 14:14-19:26 – Weekend Preview/Wrap

Here’s hoping everyone out there in College Basketball Nation had a tryptophantastic Feast Week of hoops, hops and holiday cheer (please, take the keyboard away from us now). With so much great action around the western hemisphere last week, the RTC Podcast crew (hosted by Shane Connolly (@sconnolly114)) had a lot to catch up on this week. We think we did our best, as you can see below with the long laundry list of topics that we tried to cover.

ESPN Analyst Dan Dakich Joins Us on This Week’s RTC Podcast

We also welcomed ESPN analyst Dan Dakich to the Rush the Takes segment of the show this week, as he gave us some takes on Feast Week as well as some of the upcoming Big Ten/ACC Challenge match-ups set to tip off later tonight (he’ll be in Syracuse for the Orange and Hoosiers). The rundown is below if you’d like to skip around to the most interesting parts. Make sure to add the RTC Podcast to your iTunes lineup so that you’ll automatically upload it on your listening device after we record. And feel free to contact us through Twitter or email — we’re listening.

• 0:00-4:10 – UConn Beats Florida/Feast Week Excitement
• 4:10-5:41 – Villanova wins the Battle 4 Atlantis
• 5:41-6:42 – Arizona Downs Duke At the Garden
• 6:42-7:46 – Syracuse Validates Their Rank in Maui
• 7:46-8:35 – Wichita State Wins Pulls Some Quality Under The Radar Wins
• 8:35-9:42 – Memphis Gets Revenge
• 9:42-10:31 – Dayton Makes a Statement in Maui
• 10:31-11:21 – UMass Still Getting Love For Early Tournament Win
• 11:21-12:35 – San Diego State: The Only Winner in a Messy Wooden Legacy
• 12:35-14:05 – Creighton Lets Down After Good Start In Anaheim
• 14:05-15:11 – Marquette Still Can’t Score
• 15:11-16:41 – Arizona State Goes From Good to Bad to Worse
• 16:41-17:44 – Oklahoma State’s Flaws Finally Show
• 17:44-18:47 – Gonzaga’s Missed Opportunity in Maui
• 18:47-20:39 – Kansas and Andrew Wiggins Backlash Part 2
• 20:39-22:14 – Duke Can’t Get Their Statement Win
• 22:14-32:27 – Rush The Takes With Dan Dakich
• 32:27-34:18 – Memphis Wants Randy’s Respect
• 34:18-36:47 – UNC????
• 36:47-38:49 – Atmosphere In Early Games
• 38:49-41:19 – Ranking Villanova After Their Great Week
• 41:19-46:27 – Big 10/ACC Challenge Preview/Wrap

We’re now two weeks into the season and there’s not a whole lot more clarity in the poll than there was last week. Michigan State is a strong #1, but #2 Kansas is nipping on the Spartans’ heels and #3 Kentucky and #4 Arizona are not far behind. Then things start to get muddled. Louisville put doubt into everyone’s minds with its no-show versus North Carolina, while Oklahoma State is soaring as a result of its fantastic beatdown of Memphis. Duke‘s close call versus Vermont led pollsters to devalue the Blue Devils, while Connecticut‘s close win over Indiana pushed the Huskies to the edge of the Top 10. And then there are a bunch of teams that people still haven’t gotten a great handle on — the good news is that for schools like Syracuse, Gonzaga and Creighton, we’ll know a lot more about them at this time next week — Feast Week will make sure of it. The quick n’ dirty analysis of this week’s poll is after the jump.

Quick n’ Dirty Analysis:

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Who Won the Week? is a regular column that will outline and discuss three winners and losers from the previous week. The author of this column is Kenny Ocker (@KennyOcker), a Spokane-based sportswriter best known for his willingness to drive (or bike!) anywhere to watch a basketball game. And man, will those be tested this winter. 

WINNER: Duke

Parker Has Been Outstanding So Far This Season

The Blue Devils went 3-0 in the past week – star freshman Jabari Parker had 21 points in each of the games, with 10 rebounds in two of them and nine in the other – vanquishing Florida Atlantic, UNC-Asheville and East Carolina to move to 4-1 on the season and to qualify for the New York portion of the NIT Season Tip-Off, where Arizona may await. But what Duke did off the court might be even more impressive, reeling in three five-star recruits: package deal Jahlil Okafor and Tyus Jones last Friday, followed by Justise Winslow on Thursday. Okafor, the nation’s top player according to Rivals, and Jones, the nation’s second-rated point guard, had agreed to play together in college despite growing up in different states; the pair has the potential to one-and-done their way to a national championship, especially with some strong supporting pieces around them. As a lanky wing defender capable of driving hard to the basket, Winslow and his talents fit right in with what Okafor and Winslow will bring to campus. Now, to get Parker to pull a Marcus Smart and come back to school…

(Related winners: Parker. Related losers: The rest of the ACC.)

LOSER: The rest of the ACC

Speak of the devil. (No, not the Devils. We already did that.) The conference gacked away a series of winnable games over the last week, which can’t help the status of a league hyped to be the best this season (if not all-time). North Carolina, missing Leslie McDonald and P.J. Hairston, was felled by a last-minute three-pointer from Belmont’s J.J. Mann, at home on Sunday. Notre Dame led for only a few minutes in an 83-70 home loss Sunday to Indiana State, shooting 37 percent in the process. Maryland lost 90-83 at home to a beleaguered Oregon State squad, surrendering 60 points combined for the Beavers’ Roberto Nelson and Devon Collier, and 60 percent shooting, too. Georgia Tech turned the ball over 19 times and allowed two 20-point scorers for Dayton, which won 82-72 in Atlanta on Wednesday. North Carolina State lost only the sixth game the ACC has ever lost to the MEAC at home Wednesday, falling 82-72 to LeVelle Moton’s North Carolina Central squad. Boston College fell Thursday to UConn 72-70 at Madison Square Garden, which is at least defensible, save for the fact that the Eagles got to New York despite losing at home to Toledo last week. (Hooray, predetermined tournament finals!) This one might come back to bite ACC squads in the butt come Selection Sunday, but until then… let’s just call this a forgettable week for the conference and move on.

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