1. Frank Haith compared Royce White to Magic Johnson earlier this week, a comment White himself called “outrageous.” Now, his own coach has compared him to Kevin Garnett, as if he didn’t have enough expectations placed on him already. After a triple-double against Texas A&M, White will be a nightmare matchup for Missouri, a team that travels to Ames tonight for another road contest. Defensively, White may end up guarding Kim English or another guard or wing, but the forward isn’t worried. “I’ve guarded wing players before,” White said.
2. Tyshawn Taylor and social media just do not mix. The senior point guard, who’s been no stranger to online controversies during his career, called out his critics on Twitter in a harsh manner last week. Fans were attacking Taylor on the website for his turnovers, which have been well-documented this season. Taylor fired back: “If half that talk about ball could actually ball,” Taylor said, “but y’all can’t do (so you’re) stuck to being a fan.” As coach Bill Self said, Taylor probably just needs to step away from the computer and be the better man here. But Taylor’s actually got a point. A lot of these clowns mocking Taylor for his turnovers probably couldn’t run a mile without passing out, much less start at point guard for a Top 25 basketball team. As Kareem Abdul-Jabbar once famously said in Airplane, “Tell your old man to drag Walton and Lanier up and down the court for 48 minutes.” Same thing applies here, Twitter bozos.
3. And since we’re on the topic of KU controversy, Self is fending off criticism from former guard Josh Selby these days. Selby has apparently told Memphis Grizzlies’ officials that the Kansas head coach held him back at Kansas. Of course, the always interesting Kim English of Missouri also set off this firestorm by revealing some of Selby’s comments about Self on a radio station in Kansas City. English, a good friend of Selby’s from Baltimore, told a radio host that Selby regretted his decision to go to Kansas. Self, though, isn’t about to let anybody bully his program. “You shouldn’t use certain words over the airwaves, but that’s absolute crap,” Self said.
4. After losing to Missouri and Kansas to start Big 12 play, Oklahoma finally played some equal competition in Oklahoma State on Monday in the Bedlam series. Unfortunately, Lon Kruger’s rebuilding job took a step back in an ugly loss to a beatable opponent. The article even calls the game the low point of the season, a fair label considering Kruger’s team thrived against weak competition in November and December. The Sooners’ offense struggled, and leading scorer Steven Pledger did not help the matter by making just three of 13 shot attempts.
5. Once considered a contender in the Big 12, Texas A&M has fallen apart lately. The Aggies, now 0-2 in the league, rank near the bottom of the conference in almost every offensive category. They have scored the fewest points, they are the worst three-point shooting team, and they are the worst at free throws. But hey, Billy Kennedy‘s team is ninth in field goal percentage! Kennedy says it’s a result of poor shot selection and a lack of an attacking mentality offensively. A&M better figure it out soon, or its NCAA Tournament hopes could vanish quickly.

Congratulations, Big 12 teams. You’ve all now played one-eighteenth of your conference schedule. For the next two months, you will suffer through hard-fought battles week after week until this wild league sorts itself out. After one game, it’s impossible to tell what exactly will happen from now until the first weekend in March. But each Big 12 opener at least gave us a little insight into this crazy conference. In alphabetical order, here’s what you need to know about Opening Week:

1. Baylor has not played flawless basketball this season, but don’t exactly take that as a criticism. The Bears are undefeated and off to the best start in school history, and yet they still have a lot of room for improvement. Although it handled Texas A&M from start to finish in Waco on Monday, Scott Drew’s team still finished with 16 turnovers and shot just 2-12 from beyond the arc. Guard play in particular was a problem: Pierre Jackson finished with seven turnovers, and Brady Heslip did not score. And yet the Bears’ 61-52 victory was hardly in doubt until a modest comeback by the Aggies at the very end of the game. Perry Jones, who did not play well in a win over Mississippi State on national television last week, redeemed himself with a double-double as BU’s frontcourt overpowered the normally physical Aggies. The guards will make the difference this season for Drew, and though they struggled in the Big 12 opener, that trend should not continue. Jackson, Heslip, A.J. Walton and Gary Franklin are an underrated group.
2. Iowa State is not a pushover this season. These guys can really shoot the heck out of the basketball, and they won their first Big 12 opener in five seasons by knocking off Texas 77-71 on Wednesday night. Yes, the Longhorns have problems of their own– more on that later– but Fred Hoiberg‘s team defended well, played with outstanding energy and got every shot it wanted on the offensive end. Iowa State made 10-of-21 three-pointers, and not a single trey came from Scott Christopherson, one of the top three-point shooters in Big 12 history from a percentage standpoint. Chris Babb and Anthony Booker combined to make eight of those shots, but forward Royce White controlled this game by getting to the free throw line and posing a matchup problem for UT. The Longhorns are small on the front line, and White exploited them by using his quickness. He announced to the Big 12 that he will not be easy to defend this winter.
   

   Bill Self's Team Made a Statement On Wednesday Night

3. Kansas looked like a Big 12 champion again by spanking Kansas State at the Phog on Wednesday night. Sure, the Jayhawks cooled off after building an early 18-point lead, and the Wildcats jumped back into the game in the second half. By the end of the contest, though, KU had run away with this rivalry by beating Frank Martin at his own game. Kansas State thought it could rattle the Jayhawks with its high-pressure style and tenacious rebounding, but Thomas Robinson proved once again that he’s not afraid of anybody. Forget the loss to Davidson. Tyshawn Taylor may turn the ball over too much, and the offense may not always look crisp, but Bill Self‘s team will defend and it will not back down from a challenge. 17 offensive rebounds and a +24 margin on the boards against a Frank Martin team is proof of that. Read the rest of this entry »

Brian Otskey is the Big East correspondent for RTC and a regular contributor. You can find him @botskey on Twitter. See bottom of the post for the Official RTC Star System.

It’s a relatively light night of hoops but two interesting games in the South should have your attention this evening.

Texas A&M at #5 Baylor – 7:00 PM EST on ESPNU (***)

• The Baylor Bears keep winning as they head into a conference showdown with in-state rival Texas A&M tonight. This figures to be a good match-up for Baylor although it needs to ensure it controls the pace. Texas A&M gets 65.2% of its points from two-point range (third in the nation) but interior defense happens to be Baylor’s biggest strength. The Bears allow only 39.3% shooting from inside the arc with Perry Jones III and company patrolling the paint. Defensively, look for Scott Drew’s team to try to pick up the pace and pressure Texas A&M’s guards. The Bears force a turnover 24.6% of the time although both teams don’t handle the ball particularly well.
• Texas A&M is not comfortable playing at a faster pace but therein lies the dilemma. The Aggies don’t run efficient enough half court offense to succeed in a slower-paced game, especially against the strong Baylor defense. Billy Kennedy’s team should take a page out of Louisville’s playbook against Kentucky. A&M should pressure Baylor and try to get turnovers at certain times, but not throughout the entire game. Texas A&M may actually hurt itself while trying to force Baylor into turnovers, something that will speed up the game where the Bears’ superior athletes can take over. Texas A&M has to establish Ray Turner and David Loubeau inside while Khris Middleton uses his versatility to stretch Baylor’s defense, opening up seams. Getting Elston Turner going from long range would also be advantageous for A&M, a team that doesn’t rely much at all on the trifecta. Turner had 20 points on 3-5 shooting from deep in a loss against Florida last month.
• For Texas A&M to have a chance on the road, it must rebound, rebound, and rebound some more in addition to controlling pace. If the Aggies don’t score inside off second chance opportunities or in transition, Baylor will win this game easily. Keep an eye on Baylor’s perimeter shooting. Texas A&M ranks #6 in three-point defense and will look to shut down Brady Heslip and Pierre Jackson. Even if the Aggies are successful in that regard, they need to do a whole lot more to pull the upset.

Read the rest of this entry »

1. As a walk-on for more than two years, Bubu Palo has been a bargain for Iowa State. Palo emerged as a reliable backup point guard, and it’s not a stretch to say he may be the most underrated role player in the league. Thanks to those contributors, the Cyclones have placed Palo on scholarship, and we can’t think of a more rewarding late holiday present. Palo, who grew up in Ames, learned after the end of the fall semester that he won’t have to pay for school this spring. So far, he’s averaging more than two assists per game in 2011-12, and he’s also a tenacious defender with a knack for doing the little things on the court. That sounds like a scholarship player to us.
2. Jeff Goodman at CBS wrote this recap of the Big 12 season so far to prepare us for conference play next week. Interestingly, he chose Baylor above Missouri, not that there’s anything wrong with that. It’s just that the Tigers have been the trendy pick in the media to win this conference. Right now, it does at least look like a three-team race between BU, MU and Kansas, though it’s impossible to tell how the year will shake out. Texas A&M has struggled even since Khris Middleton returned, but Billy Kennedy should eventually get things rolling in College Station.
3. Frank Martin is always great for a sound bite. This time, he made some interesting comments about his team’s offensive play, and he’s actually quite pleased with the way this team has scored. “I get a kick when I read people saying we play bad offense and we’re averaging almost 80 points a game. If we play good offense, how much would we score?” You heard the man: Kansas State can score this year. It’s not just a defensive stalwart. Rodney McGruder is a full-fledged star scorer, and Will Spradling has been the answer at the point. The Wildcats have a ton of different offensive options both in the starting lineup and on the bench, so it’d be a mistake to label this team as a gritty, offensively-challenged group.
4. With Indiana and Louisville both losing this week, Missouri is now one of just four unbeaten teams in Division I basketball. How much does that mean exactly? Well, it means almost nothing at this point. The Tigers will play their first true road game of the season tonight at Old Dominion, and we’ll find out if MU has improved in this area after finishing 1-7 on the road in Big 12 play last year. If MU can turn into road warriors, who knows how long this little run could last? To stay undefeated entering a College Gameday showdown with Kansas on February 4, the Tigers would have to win at ODU, Kansas State and Baylor, among others. It’s possible, sure, but the Tigers will probably falter at some point before that game.
5. Texas Tech isn’t a good basketball team right now, and people don’t like to watch bad teams lose. That’s why the TTU athletic department is offering one-dollar tickets for an upcoming game against Southeastern Louisiana. That’s not a bad deal, especially if the Red Raiders can score a win against an overmatched opponent. Apparently, this promotion was also in play during a recent win over Cal State Bakersfield, and it’ll be interesting to see how long it lasts. Our guess is the ticket prices will probably rise just a tad once Billy Gillispie turns this program around.

GAME OF THE WEEK

• Texas A&M (8-1) at Florida (7-2), Orange Bowl Classic, Saturday 1:30 p.m. CT

Texas A&M Will Play A "Neutral" Game in The State of Florida Against the Gators

The key individual match-up is… Dash Harris vs. Erving Walker. Although Texas A&M’s schedule has not been demanding, this team could have really slipped had Dash Harris not played so steadily. The senior point guard is known for his defense, but offensively, Harris has kept the Aggies afloat without Middleton by making good decisions and taking care of the basketball. He won’t score much, but he’s irreplaceable as a distributor in this offense. And as a defensive stopper, he has the skills to slow down Erving Walker. Harris has a few inches on Walker, and he’s as quick as any guard in the nation. No matter the defender, though, it’s up to Walker to rise to the challenge. He looks to score much more than Harris, and at times, he has looked terrific with the ball in his hands. When he has struggled, it has been his own fault: against Arizona, for example, he settled for quick threes and forced up 16 shots. If he doesn’t settle down against Harris, Walker could be in for a tough night.

Brian Otskey is the Big East correspondent for RTC and a regular contributor. You can find him @botskey on Twitter. See bottom of the post for the Official RTC Star System.

With Dead Week mercifully over, we finally have some good games to enjoy this Saturday despite Sunday being a very slow day in the hoops world.

#6 Baylor @ BYU – 2:00 PM EST Saturday on BYU TV (****)

Perry Jones Leads Baylor into Provo Saturday (AP)

• The Bears have had difficulty on the road in past seasons but they already passed one important test, demolishing Northwestern in Chicago a couple weeks ago. This game, however, will be an even better measure to see where the highly-rated Bears are really at. The Marriott Center is a notoriously difficult place to play but Baylor has a clear talent edge in this game. BU welcomes Gary Franklin, now eligible after the first semester, to an already highly skilled roster. Franklin didn’t play all that well at California last season but he was a four star recruit out of high school. He should help the Bears out at the point guard position, a place where turnovers are still an issue. Baylor averages 16 turnovers a game and that will be dangerous playing on the road against a team like BYU that likes to push the pace. 5.8 of those 16 turnovers come from the point guard position so Scott Drew is hoping that Franklin can help handle the ball. How Franklin will fit in alongside Pierre Jackson and A.J. Walton remains a question mark.
• BYU’s top six scorers are all 6’5” or taller, an important factor against the length and athleticism of Baylor’s front line. Noah Hartsock, Brandon Davies and Charles Abouo do the bulk of the damage for Dave Rose, as those three are his top scorers and rebounders. Hartsock in particular has been outstanding, scoring in double figures in every game thus far. All three will have to play well in order for BYU to pull the upset because Baylor’s front court is strong, deep and talented. With Quincy Acy blocking 3.3 shots a game, BYU’s big men should find it more difficult to score inside on Saturday. The Cougars have to get their outside game going as well. Baylor’s defense is very average against the three and BYU has three big deep threats, Abouo, Stephen Rogers and Brock Zylstra. Going up against the top-ranked interior defense in the nation, BYU needs its outside shots to fall in order to win. However, the Cougars can’t afford to settle for threes if they aren’t falling. They must get something going in the paint, even against such a strong defense, in order to balance out their offense.
• This is an important game for both clubs. Baylor has played only two teams of note so far while BYU’s best win is over a mediocre Oregon team. Baylor shoots well (49.1% FG) but the biggest difference this season has been its defense. The Bears allow only 33.3% shooting inside the arc and their defensive efficiency has been terrific. Both teams get most of their offense from their respective front courts but Baylor may have the ultimate edge with Cory Jefferson off the bench. He adds some scoring punch and, more importantly, rebounding and depth for the Bears. For the Cougars to win, they’ll have to force turnovers to get points in transition because it’ll be awfully tough to score inside in the half court. In addition to making its threes, BYU must rebound well and get to the line while putting the Baylor big men in foul trouble. However, BYU ranks #295 in free throw rate and Baylor doesn’t foul too often. Although BYU rarely loses at home, this is a game Baylor can win. There are some who still doubt the Bears but a win here would put them on their way towards legitimate national recognition.

Texas A&M vs. #10 Florida (at Sunrise, FL) – 2:30 PM EST Saturday on FSN (***)

Read the rest of this entry »

1. For the first time this season, Kansas State allowed its freshmen to talk to the media, and we uncovered a few interesting facts about Thomas Gipson and Angel Rodriguez in the process. One of the more intriguing comments made by coach Frank Martin regarded Rodriguez and a comparison to former Wildcat Denis Clemente. Clemente, the catalyst for an Elite Eight team under Martin, isn’t much like Rodriguez, according to Martin. But that’s also not a bad thing. Martin said Rodriguez lacks the speed of Clemente — but then again, he’s so fast that everybody is slow compared to him– but he also said he makes up for that by being more “crafty.”
2. When we heard Missouri players allude to the fact that Mike Anderson did not watch video of other teams as MU’s head coach, we laughed off the accusations. That’s crazy talk. Right? Well, maybe not entirely. According to this article in the Columbia Tribune, Anderson’s teams did in fact watch game tape, but they did not engage in the activity nearly to the extent that Frank Haith‘s staff does. Now, Anderson has done just fine as a head coach by qualifying for six NCAA Tournaments at both UAB and Missouri, so this is no knock on his style of coaching. But it is very eye-opening to get an inside look at Haith’s techniques as a head coach.
3. It’s not necessarily news, but here’s an interesting thought we hadn’t considered yet: Of the four new coaches in the Big 12, all of them have previously coached in the league before as head coaches or assistants. Again, this isn’t groundbreaking, and Missouri’s Frank Haith and Texas A&M’s Billy Kennedy will both be gone to the SEC next year anyway. Still, maybe this explains why the coaches have enjoyed modest success in their first seasons.
4. Like we mentioned yesterday, Oklahoma is off to a solid 7-1 start under new coach Lon Kruger. And more people are starting to take notice. Oklahoma will need to prove itself in Big 12 play, but this just simply looks like a different team. It’s more mature, more disciplined and more understanding of how to win at the Division I level. An NCAA Tournament bid could be right around the corner, and that would have sounded crazy just a few months ago.
5. In another part of the state, Oklahoma State’s LeBryan Nash has had to deal with all sorts of expectations thanks to his status as a highly-recruited freshman. The promising wing is finally learning how to win at this level, and it’s no surprise that it’s taken him a little while to get a hang of things. In the end, Nash will be OSU’s best player, by far. But like most freshmen, it’s hard for Nash to play at the college level because the game doesn’t come as easy as it it did in high school. Once that the adjustment period is over, though, we can’t wait to watch Nash in the Big 12.

1. Tonight is it: Bob Huggins returns to the state of Kansas to face Kansas State, which he spurned for West Virginia after the 2006-07 season. Despite the fan outrage– Huggins spent just one year at KSU, after all– there’s no denying he helped build the successful program Frank Martin currently oversees. True, Huggins did not even make the NCAA Tournament in his lone season as the Wildcats’ head coach, but he overachieved with a blue-collar roster and made the NIT. From there, he left his stamp on the program by luring Michael Beasley and Bill Walker to Manhattan, Kansas. As the article points out, he could have easily taken his entire coaching staff and those two star recruits with him to West Virginia. He didn’t, however, and it set up a solid foundation for Martin.
2. Kansas’s Jeff Withey was once a heralded recruit when he originally committed to Arizona. After leaving for Kansas, Withey toiled in anonymity for awhile, but he’s back in action this season as a key contributor. The junior center nearly tallied a triple-double on Tuesday, and he has started every game so far this season. With Thomas Robinson and Tyshawn Taylor the only players on the roster with major experience at the Big 12 level, Withey’s continued production is a must for Bill Self.
3. We all know the difficult story of Billy Kennedy, who had to take a break as Texas A&M‘s coach this fall due to a diagnosis of Parkinson’s. Luckily, he’s starting to regain his strength and normal level of energy. That’s great news for the Aggies, who should also get star wing Khris Middleton back from an injury very soon. A&M has lost just one game thus far, and it has handled the inferior opponents on its schedule. From here, the season should only trend uphill.
4. Iowa State is Newcomer U with so many transfers this season, but freshman Percy Gibson is starting to make a name for himself as well. Gibson started his first game of young career on Tuesday in a win over Prairie View A&M, scoring 15 points and grabbing seven rebounds. Although he may not stay in the starting lineup, he’s poised to earn major playing time with his performance so far this year.
5. If Missouri keeps winning, you will probably see quite a few more articles that are basically mea culpas for criticizing the hiring of Frank Haith, which at the time was widely criticized and had little support from fans or analysts. If they did so privately, they certainly wouldn’t have gone public with that opinion. Haith had very little success at Miami, and there was almost nothing to suggest he could succeed in Columbia. That, folks, is why they play the games. Haith’s team hasn’t lost yet, and it looks like the top team in the Big 12 right now with blowout wins over Notre Dame, Cal, and Villanova. 

Khris Middleton could be returning to Texas A&M at exactly the right time.

The preseason All-Big 12 wing played in the Aggies’ season opener, but he underwent surgery for a partially torn meniscus in mid-November and has not played since. According to a tweet by Jon Rothstein today, Middleton participated in a full practice yesterday for the first time since his injury. Although no news outlets have reported anything about his official return yet, we’ve got to think A&M will have its star back by the time it plays Florida on December 17.

Middleton Is Back on the Practice Court After a Knee Injury

Without Middleton, the Aggies have managed to avoid disaster. At 6-1, they own a one-point win over St. John’s and have handled all of the inferior opponents on their schedule. But Billy Kennedy’s squad has also looked far from perfect. In its only true test of the season against Mississippi State in the NIT Tip-Off at the Garden, the Bulldogs embarrassed the Aggies, running away with the game during the first 10 minutes of regulation. Without Middleton, A&M looked lost offensively, and that has carried over throughout his month out of action. A&M struggled to pull away from the likes of Alcorn State and Stephen F. Austin, and they have been especially poor from three-point range. Against Alcorn, for example, they missed all 17 three-pointers they attempted.

If Middleton can return to A&M sometime during the next week, he could suit up for the game on Saturday against Louisiana-Monroe. The Aggies can survive without Middleton in the short term, but they’ll need him at full strength when they face the Gators. Middleton brings more than just his 14.4 points per game from the 2010-11 campaign. With a developed inside game as well the ability to shoot, he’s a matchup problem for almost every team. When he hits the court for the first time since his surgery, the dynamics of A&M’s team will change dramatically — for the better.

Steve Fetch is the RTC correspondent for the Big 12. You can also find his musings online at Rock Chalk Talk or on Twitter @fetch9.

Reader’s Take

The Week That Was 

• J’Covan Carrying Longhorns: In what could quickly turn into a weekly J’Covan Brown watch, the Texas guard had 17 in a loss to NC State and was dreadful in a closer-than-it-looked 56-40 win over Sam Houston State. Brown had exploded onto the scene early but some questions over his efficiency have cropped up again: Brown went just 3-12 from two-point range against Sam Houston State. With Texas currently ranked as the 34th best offense by Ken Pomeroy, the Longhorns need Brown, their best offensive player, to be a lot better if they want to be one of the top teams in the league this year.

• Tigers Get ‘Em Talking: More ridiculous offense from Missouri. The Tigers played two 70-possession games this week and scored 87 and 92 points in them. That’s good against anyone. They currently have the fourth-best three point shooting team in the country and turn it over at a rate higher than just four teams. The same question – What will they do when having to play a team with some size? – will probably linger until conference play, but it’s clear over the first month of the year that their guards are as good as any backcourt in the country.

• The Big Picture: For all the talk that the Big 12 might be down this year, it sure doesn’t seem that way, as they are 38-10 so far this year and two of those losses were Kansas’s defeats at the hands of Kentucky and Duke, both on neutral courts. The league’s two worst losses no doubt belong to Texas Tech, who has dropped games to both DePaul and Indiana State.

Marcus Denmon And The Tigers Can't Help But Give A Smirk, Considering The Buzz They've Generated So Far. (AP Photo/L.G. Patterson)

Power Rankings

1. Missouri (6-0): The Missouri stat that surprised me the most this week is their rebounding numbers: The Tigers snatch just 28.4% of the available offensive rebounds, which is 270th nationally. It’s very strange that a team that thrives on pressuring opponents and forcing them to speed up would be so focused on getting back defensively rather than crashing the boards. Of course, it could be more that the team wants to set up its press, but it is something to watch for sure.
2. Kansas (3-2): After senior Tyshawn Taylor had 11 turnovers in a hard fought Maui Invitational championship game, several Kansas fans took shots at the guard and he responded on Twitter. Thomas Robinson was named to the Maui all-tournament team after putting up double-doubles in each game, but his struggles facing double teams highlight a potential concern for the Jayhawks. If he’s not scoring efficiently, Kansas could find it extremely difficult to repeat as Big 12 champs. One possible answer is the emergence of junior Jeff Withey. Withey had 14 points and 10 rebounds against Duke and might find himself matched up with Jared Sullinger in a little over a week when the Buckeyes pay a visit to Allen Fieldhouse. Read the rest of this entry »