Jesse Baumgartner is an RTC contributor.  In this piece he’ll review the five things he loved and hated about the previous week of college basketball. This week Jesse decides to liberate us of our Kentucky readers — seriously, Jesse, why do you hate our website? — takes pleasure in Clemson’s frustration, and finally figures out that Matt Painter is a top-notch leader of men. Wildcat and Tiger fans, we’ll make sure Jesse gets your hate mail.

The Five Things I Loved This Week

I LOVED…..looking at the countdown to March Madness last week and seeing it was just a mere 54 days until my favorite three weeks in sports. Then I heard a Gus Johnson cackle – OhhAhhWOWWW!!! — on CBS this weekend. In fact, it made me go back and watch this highlight compilation — just to get my Gus fix.  The Madness is drawing near.

I LOVED…..Syracuse’s zone. I had a buddy bring this to my attention this weekend while ‘Cuse-Nova was on TV, and it’s so true. College basketball is the game of constant change, what with players graduating, coaches moving, etc. But the 2-3 zone is one piece you can bank on every year, without fail. Jim Boeheim stands by his trademark D, and though at times it might be mediocre, it’s never bad. How amazing is it that teams still can’t completely figure it out after all these years?

The Boeheim Zone Often Vexes Opponents, Even Still

I LOVED…..the transformation of Washington’s Isaiah Thomas. As a west coast resident I probably see way more of the Pac-10 than most, but this has been stunning. UW put Thomas at the point after Abdul Gaddy went down for the year, and he’s suddenly changed from a sometimes-too-selfish scorer into a pint-sized version of Steve Nash. Here’s a guy that averaged 2.6 and 3.4 assists a game his first two years, and had more than six dimes just once this season prior to Gaddy’s injury. Since then? Try 9, 8, 7 13, 10 and 8. Plus, he’s averaging 20.2 PPG over those six games. Take a look if you get a chance, because I swear Lorenzo Romar’s staff made him stop practicing and watching nonstop tape of the Phoenix Suns. Lots of over-penetration while keeping the dribble and a pass-first mentality that just wasn’t there before.

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1. It’s been a weird few weeks for Christian Standhardinger, hasn’t it? He left Nebraska in mid-season last month even though just about everyone predicted he’d have a breakout season this year. Soon after, he said he planned to transfer and play next season at La Salle. On Wednesday the world learned that over the weekend Herr Standhardinger was found having sex with a 19-year old girl in a park in Lincoln. We’ve been hearing and reading a lot of jokes on this matter, but La Salle isn’t laughing. Explorers’ coach John Giannini announced yesterday that any transfer ambitions the Munich native had have now been given das Boot now that Standhardinger has been tagged (as well as his companion) with a public indecency charge.
2. The Bahamas is the new Maui. Calm down, travel connoisseurs, we’re just talking in terms of basketball. And we’re still kidding. This past weekend, though, the NCAA voted to give exempt status to the Bahamas, meaning teams that play in tournaments there can count their participation as one game instead of three. The Battle at Atlantis (held last month) will become the Battle 4 Atlantis, it will be held around Thanksgiving, and it will be played in a ballroom. What is it with these Caribbean events being held in ballrooms? Somebody build a gym! Ballroom or not, the chance to play two holiday tournaments in Maui and the Bahamas in consecutive seasons doesn’t sound too bad.
3. Where do you stand on this whole John Calipari swearing issue? It looks like people aren’t surprised at the language used (most coaches are guilty of this) but rather the name-calling aspect. Again, this happens everywhere. Calipari just got caught on TV, and he’s apologized. What really surprises us are the folks who say they “wouldn’t have taken it” or that “nobody’s calling me [that name] in public.” So, a free education, chance to play for a pipeline program, lots of television exposure, a shot at a championship — you’d give all that up for pride? We doubt the big talkers in these complaints would have actually walked off in mid-game or left school the next day had they found themselves in the same spot. We’re not defending Calipari, but we are defending Terrence Jones. He was the target, and he took it, went out and played, and hasn’t said a word about it — not a single tweet of dissention, not a single remark to the media.
4. Mike Holmes is finished at Coastal Carolina. Jeff Goodman reports that Holmes has now been given the heave-ho at his second school, having been shown the door at South Carolina last season. Both dismissals were the result of altercations with teammates, Goodman confirms, and he explains why one Chanticleer had to wear a protective mask on his face in a recent win. You’ve got to credit CCU coach Cliff Ellis for sticking to his principles on this (we’re lookin’ at you, Mississippi State) and bouncing Holmes despite the senior’s production. Coastal Carolina is 16-2 and 7-0 in the Big South, and Holmes led the team in rebounding with 8.4 RPG and was second in scoring, putting up 14.0 PPG.
5. We sent out a couple of tweets on this subject last night, but please, allow us to offer a team for you to watch over these last six weeks of the regular season: Belmont. They’re nestled among several tall trees at 28th in the KenPom ratings, and at 16-3 (8-0), they are spanking the rest of the Atlantic Sun with an in-conference margin of victory of 29 points. Coach Rick Byrd’s deep bench isn’t an accident, and the team’s success to this point is a product of how Byrd interestingly distributes playing time and marshals his talent. The three blemishes on the record were all away, to in-staters Tennessee (twice, away!) and Vanderbilt, not exactly bad losses. Anyone want to face them in the first round?