Only three undefeated teams are left in the nation after Duke and Syracuse suffered their first losses of the season within the past week. Who will be the next team to go down? Ohio State travels to Illinois on Saturday and Kansas hosts Texas. TWTW wouldn’t be shocked if San Diego State is the only unbeaten team remaining in this space next week.
What We Learned
Kemba Walker Is The Governor: He Always Saves You At the Last Moment (J. Woike/Hartford Courant)
When ESPN uses its full arsenal, it can put on a great day of college basketball. Monday (in honor of MLK Day) ESPN had a 24 Hours of Hoops Lite. They gave us four great games, three of which pitted two teams in the top 25 against each other, while the other featured a nice matchup in Kansas-Baylor.
***** – quit your job and divorce your wife if that’s what it takes to watch this game live
**** – best watched live, but if you must, tivo and watch it tonight as soon as you get home
*** – set your tivo but make sure you watch it later
** – set your tivo but we’ll forgive you if it stays in the queue until 2013
* – don’t waste bandwidth (yours or the tivo’s) of any kind on this game
Brian Otskey is an RTC contributor.
A few teams face key road tests tonight, one night after the home squads went 3-1 in the season debut of ESPN’s Big Monday. All rankings from RTC and all times eastern.
#19 Michigan State @ #18 Illinois – 7 pm on ESPN (****)
A Top 50 Rebounder, Green Has Been Solid Of Late For MSU (Excepting That 2-10 Against Penn State)
The Spartans needed overtime to dispatch their last two opponents at home, Wisconsin and Northwestern. Michigan State is doing just enough to get by as Korie Lucious and Durrell Summers have struggled lately. Lucious went 0-8 from the floor against Northwestern while Summers has scored just seven points in the last two games. For MSU to have any sustained success going forward, Tom Izzo must get these two players going somehow. Luckily for them, Draymond Green has stepped up, averaging 21/8.5 over the last two games.
Illinois freshman forward Jereme Richmond sought to put to rest rampant rumors surrounding a possible transfer by releasing a statement on Monday that, despite some personal issues that caused him to miss two practices last week, he will remain “an Illini for life.” He also sat out the Wisconsin game over the weekend after driving to Madison from his Waukegan, Illinois, home rather than taking the team bus from Champaign with the rest of the players. Like many freshmen, Richmond has found the college game much more difficult than anticipated — his minutes and offensive output have dropped since Big Ten play began (in part due to a nagging Achilles injury), but he’s certainly capable of producing (8/5) for Bruce Weber in limited minutes. He just needs to keep his head up and continue to work hard; his time will come.
The Nike Hoop Summit team was announced over the weekend, with Kentucky and Duke as the big winners. This team will face the World Select team on April 9 in Portland, and generally tries to choose the ten best high school seniors in America. The complete list: Anthony Davis, Michael Gilchrist & Marquis Teague (Kentucky); Austin Rivers & Quinn Cook (Duke); Rakeem Christmas (Syracuse); Tony Wroten (Washington); Bradley Beal (Florida); James McAdoo (UNC); Adonis Thomas (Memphis).
Jeff Goodman describes the current state of Sean Miller’s Arizona Wildcat program in year two of its rebuild. Everybody knows from his time at Xavier that the guy can coach, but despite the Wildcats’ current 15-3 overall record (4-1 in the Pac-10), he’s still lacking the across-the-board talent that Arizona teams in years past became accustomed to. At one time in the mid-2000s, for example, UA had produced more current NBA players than any other collegiate program in America. With the hope that super-soph Derrick Williams returns for his junior season and a top recruiting class featuring point guard Josiah Turner from Sacramento on the way, Miller believes that Y3 of the renaissance in the desert could be the season that gets the Wildcats back into the national consciousness.
It’s not often that you’ll read a rival school write so fondly about a place where its basketball program took it on the chin to the tune of a 7-52 (.119) record the last half-century, but this piece from Steven M. Sipple discusses how much he’ll miss visiting Allen Fieldhouse as a member of the press corps for Nebraska basketball after the Huskers move permanently to the Big Ten next season. But that’s what happens when you’re a football school playing a basketball game — you refer to things like “charm” and “fun” while getting waxed over and over again. We dare say that Husker fans won’t find the Big House or Horseshoe quite so endearing if they win 12% of their games there over the next 60 years.
If you are interested in participating in our ATB2 feature, send in your submissions to rushthecourt@gmail.com. We will add to this post throughout the day as the submissions come in so keep on sending them.
Top 25 Game
West Virginia 68, #8 Purdue 64: “Last year, the Mountaineers were ranked 6th and came into Mackey on Jan 1 and got run out of the gym by the then #4 Boilermakers. This year, Purdue had to travel to the hills of West Virginia and WVU returned the favor.” (Boiled Sports)
Other Game of Interest
Georgia Tech 78, UNC 58: “A team depends on its starters. They set the tenor of the game from the opening tip; they have a gameplan to execute, and they’re the most talented players on the team. It’s their job to be prepared from the moment the whistle blows. Sure, occasionally you’ll need a bench player to bail them out when the other team has their number, or the rhythm is off and they need a moment to regroup. But for the most part, these are the guys you win the game with. For the second straight game, the entire UNC starting lineup was pulled before the first TV timeout. It only went downhill from there.” (Carolina March)
News/Analysis
Does Memphis’ Record This Year Prove Cal is a Great Coach?: Asking if the Tigers struggles this season might help John Calipari’s reputation. (A Sea of Blue)
Breaking News: There Is No News On Bruce Pearl: Questioning the media’s handling of the Bruce Pearl situation. (Rocky Top Talk)
Four Things We Learned from Maryland’s Loss to Villanova: Looking back at the Terrapins loss at Villanova and what it revealed about them. (Testudo Times)
A (semi) Statistical Recap of Kansas vs Nebraska: Using KenPom’s four factors to look at the Jayhawks close victory over Nebraska. (Rock Chalk Talk)
When we reported on Angel Garcia leaving Memphis to pursue a professional career in Spain approximately a month ago, we jokingly noted that it could be the start of a new trend. It turns out that we may be onto something as Kansas State recently announced that Freddy Asprilla, a transfer from Florida International, had opted to leave the school to pursue a professional career overseas. While it appears that Asprilla was having some difficulty to adjusting to playing under Frank Martin, his AAU coach states that the real reason he turned pro was to earn money to support his ill mother. We wish Freddy the best of luck in his professional career (particularly if the latter is true).
We usually don’t pay attention to mock drafts or player ratings until the end of the season when players are deciding whether or not to go pro, but Chad Ford’s most recent Top 100 caught our eye because of how the top players are rated: (1) Perry Jones (talented, but very inconsistent — four points in a loss at FSU followed by zero points in a close win over Texas Southern); (2) Kyrie Irving (phenomenal, but injured with a toe injury that apparently cannot be described); (3) Harrison Barnes (the preseason #1, but very disappointing so far); (4) Enes Kanter (a talented inside player, but banned from playing this year); (5) Terrence Jones (phenomenal this season); (6) Jared Sullinger (your current national player of the year favorite). Outside of the dominance of freshman in the top six, we are struck by the fact that the two most productive players are rated below an inconsistent big man, a point guard with an injury that nobody can figure out, a massively disappointing freshman, and a Turkish big man who was given the NCAA’s equivalent of an individual death penalty.
The New York Times takes a look at something that we mentioned earlier this season and we expect that many of you have also considered–the Kalin Lucas you see post-injury is not the same player you saw last year. We aren’t sure if it was just poor editing on the part of the The New York Times, but we were surprised by the fact that Tom Izzo was, in fact, surprised to realize that Lucas wouldn’t have the same explosiveness he had last year after a relatively short period of rehab. Our question all along has been how long will it take Lucas to return to a reasonable representation of what he was last year. The answer to that will likely hold the key to whether or not the Spartans can turn around their season in time.
It technically isn’t college basketball, but we are assuming many of you tuned into ESPN2 on Friday night to catch Michael Gilchrist and Austin Rivers square off. Both players had solid games, but in the end Gilchrist and his St. Patrick team (ranked 2nd nationally) were too much for Rivers and his Winter Park squad. We are assuming that plenty of Kentucky and Duke fans tuned in to watch two players who are expected to be the next superstars for their programs. One thing that struck us was how so many of the St. Patrick players looked to at least be college players at some level while the Winter Park players looked more like high schoolers.
Finally, in light of the struggles of many highly ranked teams on the road this season, we found the question — How many points is Cameron Indoor Stadium worth? — posed by Gary Williams to reporters on Friday to be particularly interesting. We know that the Vegas odds-makers probably have a number at least for general home team advantage if not team-specific home court advantages. So our question to you is how many points is the home court worth at some of the toughest places to play in country?
If you are interested in participating in our ATB2 feature, send in your submissions to rushthecourt@gmail.com. We will add to this post throughout the day as the submissions come in so keep on sending them.
Top 25 Games
#2 Ohio State 69, Penn State 66: “The Buckeyes continued their impressive start today, clearing the final hurdle in potenitally becoming the number 1 ranked team in college basketball when the new polls come out Monday, as Sullinger and Craft combined for 38. In front of an impressive sell out crowd at the Schott, Ohio State won 69-66 to move to 18-0 and set the mark for the third best start in school history, passing the 17-0 start by the 1990-91 team. It was the 14th straight time they have beaten Penn State.” (Eleven Warriors)
#3 Kansas 63, Nebraska 60: “In a battle of two contrasting styles, defense ruled the day. The Huskers boast one of the top defenses in the country while the Kansas Jayhawks are one of the most efficient on the offensive end. Ask anyone which side might give and most would probably say the Huskers wouldn’t be able to turn back the Jayhawk offense. That just wasn’t the case.” (Rock Chalk Talk)
#4 Syracuse 67, Cincinnati 52: “The good thing about watching an opponent with a hot-hand beyond the three-point line in the first half that is you know it’s going to be impossible for them to keep up that pace in the second half. So if you can withstand their hot streak and still have a lead at the half, you’re in good shape. Such was the case when the Bearcats came out ice-cold in the second half and the Orange cruised to a 67-52 victory.” (Troy Nunes is an Absolute Magician)
#7 Villanova 74, Maryland 66: “Jordan Williams extended his double-double streak to 11, but Maryland went over seven scoreless minutes, gave up a 17-0 run, and blew a 12-point lead as Villanova came back to defeat the Terrapins, 74-66.” (Testudo Times or Villanova by the Numbers)
#16 Texas A&M 91, #11 Missouri 89 (OT): “Losses like this are the primary reason college football and college basketball are different. In football, a loss like this would linger for a week and potentially cost Mizzou any hope at a conference title and solid bowl revenue. In basketball, it’s just a missed opportunity for a resume booster. Mizzou fought well and lost, and now they have to fight hard some more.” (Rock M Nation)
#13 Kentucky 82, LSU 44: “This was one of those games that was almost over before it started. The LSU Tigers took a 2-game SEC winning streak into Rupp Arena and came out bloody on the other side. It was a forgettable day for LSU, and a return to form for the Kentucky Wildcats.” (A Sea of Blue)
#14 Texas 66, Oklahoma 46: “The Texas Longhorns pulled away from the Oklahoma Sooners early in the second half and cruised to a 66-46 victory. For the second straight conference game, the Texas opponent was clearly overmatched.” (Burnt Orange Nation)
#19 Georgetown 74, Rutgers 65: “In an early season must-win game, the Georgetown Hoyas showed that they’re not ready to be counted out just yet, beating the Rutgers Scarlet Knights 74-65. The Hoyas were led by Austin Freeman’s 25 points and a career high 9 rebounds. The Hoya Trinity of Freeman, Chris Wright, and Jason Clark combined for 53 points.” (Casual Hoya)
Tennessee 67, #23 Vanderbilt 64: “The Tennessee Volunteers basketball team this season has been lured to dangerous places by the power of the switch. Up for Brevard. Down for Indianapolis. Up for a 7-game joy ride to begin the season, including absolutely huge wins over both Pitt and Villanova, two of the Big East’s best teams who’ve so far not lost to anyone else. Down for a somber extended-game backseat ride in the Hearse. Up for Memphis. Down for Arkansas. And today, down for the first half and up for the second, and the contrast could not have been more pronounced.” (Rocky Top Talk)
If you are interested in participating in our ATB2 feature, send in your submissions to rushthecourt@gmail.com. We will add to this post throughout the day as the submissions come in so keep on sending them.
Pre-Game Analysis
#11 Missouri at #16 Texas A&M: A preview of what might be the best game of the weekend in what will be the Aggies toughest game so far this season. (Rock M Nation)
#15 Illinois at #17 Wisconsin: The Illini try to bounce back from a loss at Penn State against a Badger team that they beat at home less than two weeks ago. (Hail to the Orange)
#19 Georgetown at Rutgers: Analyzing the Hoyas trip to New Jersey on the heels of a disastrous stretch that has left some questioning the team. (Casual Hoya)
Michigan at Indiana: The Wolverines come to Assembly Hall after losing close games against Kansas and Ohio State. (Inside the Hall: Preview and Hoosier Quotes; UM Hoops: Preview and Q&A)
Marquette at Louisville: The Eagles look to build on their big win over Notre Dame against a Louisville team that has not beaten a quality opponent in over a month. (Cracked Sidewalks or Anonymous Eagle)
Dayton at Xavier: Previewing a big Atlantic 10 match-up featuring two of the top teams in the conference. (Pickin Splinters)
Wake Forest at Virginia Tech: The Hokies look to rebound after a rough start to ACC play against a Demon Deacon team that might be one of the worst in any of the major conferences. (Tech Hoops)
That’s Debatable is back for another year of expert opinions, ridiculous assertions and general know-it-all-itude. Remember, kids, there are no stupid answers, just stupid people. We’ll try to do one of these each week during the season. We’re fairly discerning around here, but if you want to be included, send us an email with your take telling us why at rushthecourt@yahoo.com.
This Week’s Topic: The NCAA has taken a lot of flak in the last week for its seeming inconsistency in recent rulings involving Cam Newton, the Ohio State football players and Enes Kanter, among others. Give us your ideas on how the NCAA should handle an increasingly complex environment involving the eligibility issues of its student-athletes. Can it be consistent?
Andrew Murawa, RTC contributor
If the NCAA can at least be consistent in attempting to look out for the best interests of student-athletes, while maintaining as near a level playing field as possible for all schools to compete upon, that should be enough. In the Kanter case, it seemed to me that Kanter didn’t do anything inherently “wrong.” He accepted money from a Turkish professional team above and beyond expenses for housing, education and the like, but Kanter never showed any real interest in becoming a professional. If he had wanted to be a professional, he could have been pulling a salary overseas for years now, but he made the commitment to come to the United States and try to compete at the college level. If the NCAA was going to rule with the best interests of the student-athlete in mind, Kanter would have been eligible at some point, after an appropriate penalty and his repayment of whatever additional funds he received. The NCAA is never going to be able to come up with a one-size-fits-all solution to these types of amateurism cases, and comparing the circumstances and motives behind each individual case will never be exact, but if they can consistently rule in a manner protective of its student-athletes – while still protecting the goal of amateurism – they’ll at least be serving their mission.
Tom Wolfmeyer, RTC contributor
Transparency, transparency, transparency. The NCAA’s biggest problem in my eyes is that nobody seems to be able to predict how rules will be interpreted or penalties handed out in a given case. And then when the organization is questioned, they have trouble articulating the nuance and distinguishing between decisions. The only way to combat this is with complete transparency in how their enforcement system works and the decision-making matrix that the NCAA uses to establish guidelines for punishment. If Cam Newton’s situation is indeed different than Enes Kanter’s, and his is different than Derrick Rose’s, et al., then the NCAA needs to inform us as to the specific criteria used to make decisions and then follow those same guidelines in future, similar cases. The way it stands now is entirely too ambiguous, which ultimately creates an appearance of the NCAA enforcement folks playing favorites and impropriety. And isn’t that the exact thing that the NCAA purports to be working for — a level playing field with a fair and just system?
Brian Otskey, RTC contributor
I think it’s impossible for the NCAA to be consistent when it comes to every student-athlete. I know Cam Newton was basically shopped around but I don’t follow college football and don’t know anything beyond that so it’s not my place to comment on that or the Ohio State football controversy. What I do know is that Enes Kanter is a professional athlete. He played for a professional team and received $33,000 above his necessary expenses, according to the university and the NCAA. The outrage from Dick Vitale and others that the NCAA declared him ineligible to get back at John Calipari is ludicrous. Kanter would be ineligible no matter what team he played for and teams knew he was a risk while recruiting him. I can’t blame Kentucky for taking a risk with a potentially great reward but let’s stop with the conspiracy theories about this. When it comes to Josh Selby, that money wasn’t even 15% of what Kanter was paid, though it does seem strange that he’s allowed to pay it back and play while Kanter cannot. The bottom line is that it’s impossible to create one rigid standard for everyone. Each situation should be looked at on a case-by-case basis.
The Lede. Thursday night was angry because it had to follow Wednesday night’s ridiculous bounty of hoops and the Florida State upset of Duke. Still, there were some compelling storylines to follow on tonight’s slate, including a streak on the line at Minnesota, some serious glare coming off the Jackson Pollock painting that is Oregon’s new floor, and whether or not Seth Greenberg and Virginia Tech would have enough players to finish their game at North Carolina.
Your Watercooler Moment. For those in the East who stayed up long enough to see it, here’s a look at what people saw on the broadcast of the debut of Oregon’s Matthew Knight Arena:
The glare you see is not a product of taking a picture of a television with a camera. In reality, it looked even worse than this. The central part (the “non-tree” portion) of the floor is comprised of very light-colored wood, and as you can see, the light from the long strip of lights along the ceiling bounces right off of that wood, through the camera, and onto your screaming retinas. In high-def it was atrocious, and if the game was shown on HDTVs in sports bars around the country, it could aptly be described as a civic danger. During the game, everybody from Sports Illustrated writers to ESPN personalities were commenting on it through Twitter; one friend even said he had to wear sunglasses while watching the game. The hot shots who came up with the design for this court should be able to figure out some lighting scheme that will provide sufficient illumination for basketball while also letting home viewers enjoy the floor in all its, er…glory. Let’s hope so.
If you are interested in participating in our ATB2 feature, send in your submissions to rushthecourt@gmail.com. We will add to this post throughout the day as the submissions come in so keep on sending them.
Top 25 Games
#2 Ohio State 68, Michigan 64: “William Buford led four Buckeyes in double figures with 19 and Ohio State survived a prolonged field goal drought by hitting 11/14 free throws over the final 8:37 to outlast Michigan 68-64 tonight in Crisler Arena.” (Eleven Warriors or UM Hoops: Player Interviews)
#5 Pittsburgh 72, #19 Georgetown 57: “What is there to say about tonight? Everything that could have went wrong for Georgetown ended up happening in a soul-crushing demolition by Pittsburgh. The Hoyas came out in front of a capacity crowd, and save for five minutes in the second half, seemed to be the only 13 guys that didn’t want to be in the building. Losing 72-57 at home on ESPN is demoralizing enough, but to do so in such a listless way is all the more disappointing. We didn’t play offense, we didn’t play defense, we didn’t rebound, we didn’t hit free throws, we just existed. In my six plus years as a Georgetown fan, I have never seen a game this depressing.” (Casual Hoya)
#7 Villanova 88, Louisville 74: “t was a long day for the Cards in the bright lights of Philly. After starting off hot, Nova’s adjustments in the second half to prevent open three point looks proved to be our downfall. Most of us knew the crazy hot shooting couldn’t last, and the real world caught up to us in a brutal stretch that put the game out of reach.” (Card Chronicle)
