1. Soaring To Glory: Five expectations for Boston College in the upcoming year. To make a long story short, the Eagles will get better and win more games (especially next season). Favorite expectation: “Victories in ACC game(s)”. I love it because it’s vague. If it’s just one game, are the rest moral victories? Halftime victories? The possibilities are endless. I do agree the Eagles should get much better as the season goes on. I’m not sure whether that’s worth two ACC wins, though the bottom of the conference is certainly weak enough.
2. Independent Weekly: Looking for a rant about Duke pasting Pennsylvania? You’ve come to the right place. Clearly, Adam Sobsey is tired of guarantee games that largely finance smaller athletic departments (seriously, check out Grambling State’s schedule starting with nine of 10 games on the road). Oh, it also has Star Wars references.
   

   At one point, Penn head coach Jerome Allen (a former four-year star player for the Quakers in the 1990s) could be heard calling a defensive set to his charges. He may have been saying ‘double flex’ or something like that, but mixed into the minor din of the sedate New Year’s Day crowd at Cameron, it sounded for all the world like he was shouting, ‘Boba Fett! Boba Fett!’ And indeed it would have taken a hired gun, a clone specimen, a rogue bounty hunter from the Dark Side, to give the Quakers a fighting chance last night. But, of course, Duke is the Evil Empire, right? Krzyzewski (and Calipari et al) have already recruited all the Boba Fetts. They go by names like John Wall and Austin Rivers—very obviously aliases. Some of them, like the Plumli, are even clone specimens.

3. Testudo Times: This article reads like a giant exhalation. And Maryland fans should be very pleased with the team’s December performance after a rocky start. Additionally, Pe’Shon Howard‘s return and Alex Len‘s debut give Mark Turgeon two more talented players to introduce into the rotation. The most interesting thing about the duo’s addition is the team’s new tempo. Without Howard and Len, Turgeon’s team looked like one of his past teams and was significantly below average in adjusted pace. Against Albany the Terrapins picked up the pace significantly, adding seven possessions (which would place them near the top of D-I). Keep an eye on this team’s style of play going into conference action.
4. Fayetteville Observer: Check out the key players for each ACC team as the conference looks to improve on a lackluster start. Personally, I totally forgot about Florida State’s Ian Miller (who failed to academically qualify last semester); he scored 17 in the Seminoles’ loss to Princeton.
5. The Sporting News: Old, wise coaches — Mike Krzyzewski and Roy Williams made the cut (and Gary Williams would’ve certainly made it had he not retired) — choose to avoid non-conference road games. To be clear, the coaches’ success probably plays an important role in being able to keep respect while avoiding the crapshoots that are road games. Invites to the NCAA Tournament are mainly about conference performance (for power conference teams at least).

GIF of the Day: Miami struggled to put UNCG away last night. This guy had a lot to do with it.

Awesome UNCG Alley-Hoop Against Miami (Mocksession)

1. Boston Globe: Al Skinner got fired from Boston College because of the perception that he wasn’t recruiting at the same level he used to (currently, he’s still looking for that next college job as an AAU coach). But if you look at the recruits he had lined up for the Eagles before he left, they’re all performing very well at various schools around the country. I still don’t see a go-to guy on Boston College’s team if you add this bunch to the roster, but it’s certainly worth mentioning after the Eagles fell to 5-8 after being blown out by Harvard.
2. Orangeburg Times and Democrat: It was a long flight home for Clemson after losing two of its three games in the Diamond Head Classic. Because of Oliver Purnell’s notorious non-conference schedules the Tigers are off to their worst start since 2003 at a disappointing 7-6. Despite generous preseason numbers, Clemson saw its ranking from Ken Pomeroy drop steadily over the first few weeks as the losses continued piling up. Barring a miraculous conference season (read: winning the ACC Tournament), it looks like Clemson’s streak of five straight NCAA Tournament appearances will end.
3. Washington Times: Maryland quietly bettered its resume with six straight wins, albeit against unimpressive competition. The Terrapins finally got a wire-to-wire win against Samford Saturday thanks to strong games from Pe’Shon Howard, Terrell Stoglin and Nick Faust. The win came after Mark Turgeon threw the entire team out of practice the day before. Faust finally found the basket from long range (playing off the ball has helped his game). Today the team looks to continue its winning streak against Cornell before heading into conference play.
4. Baltimore Sports Report: Luckily, expansion speculation and rumors have died down, but the moves from earlier this year leave several conferences with the challenge (or in the ACC’s case, opportunity) of rebranding (or reestablishing) the conference with its new members. The Big East has the most work to do, trying to move from a regional to national footprint, while the ACC looks to reclaim its basketball dominance with Syracuse and Pittsburgh preparing to join in the next couple of years. It was one thing to talk about, but the augmented conferences will be very interesting to watch going forward.
5. Wilmington Star News: What were the top 10 ACC stories of 2011? Brett Friedlander does a pretty good job paring the list down, but I totally disagree with his ordering. I know Miami‘s scandal has fallen out of the news with other scandals and its ongoing investigation, but it or conference expansion has to be number one. Mark Gottfried‘s hire was a big splash in North Carolina, but it was way less important than Gary Williams’ retirement or overall coaching upheaval for the conference. The list is still worth a read.

EXTRA: Finally, take a second and read over the inspiring story of a Duke fan who couldn’t pull against Pennsylvania yesterday because the school saved his life after his liver failed.

Please accept my sincerest apologies for the absent Morning Five yesterday. I hope a double-dose of links will help ease the pain.

1. Run The Floor: In case you can’t tell, I’m a big fan of defensive charting. Michael Rogner has charted the defensive work of Bernard James, John Henson, Josh Smith and Anthony Davis. Putting on your ACC goggles, you can also check his piece over at Tomahawk Nation that ignores the non-Seminole players. The findings are very interesting. Basically, without Chris Singleton, the Seminole defense is elite with James in the game and above average with him on the bench. With James on the court, Leonard Hamilton’s squad allows only 0.75 points per possession, but with him on the bench it allows 0.91 points per possession. That’s a gigantic difference. For comparison’s sake, Henson “only” affects North Carolina’s defense by 0.11 points per possession.
2. Durham Herald-Sun: James Michael McAdoo is off to a relatively slow start for North Carolina this season, and Roy Williams thinks it’s his lack of aggression to blame. Against UNCG, “Williams turned to the bench and said that if the 6’9″ freshman didn’t dunk the ball next time, everyone on the team would run sprints while he sat McAdoo on a lawn chair and served him lemonade.” McAdoo’s talent is undeniable, but his transition to the college level has been far from smooth.
3. Washington Post: Coaching legend Larry Brown made another short stop (zing) to visit his former player, Mark Turgeon, at Maryland’s basketball practice recently. Despite playing for North Carolina, Brown called Maryland a “special place” with a “special coach.” The only coach in history to win an NCAA championship (1988) and an NBA championship (2004) also gave some advice to Turgeon.
   


4. Basketball Prospectus: Drew Cannon evaluated Kendall Marshall as the 70th best basketball player in the country during the offseason, which was substantially below where pretty much everyone else places the unique North Carolina point guard. But Cannon realized that “[he] was evaluating players in terms of ‘how many wins would this player add to a randomly assembled team of college players?’ while everyone else was evaluating players in terms of ‘how many wins will this player add to his team?'” It’s an important distinction to make, and a valuable one. I still think he had Marshall a little undervalued (and most have him overvalued), but it certainly provides some food for thought (also, don’t be surprised to see some more content this week in a similar vein).
5. CollegeHoops.net: It’s probably not surprising that three ACC teams are in the Top 25 this week. What may be surprising is which three teams made the cut. Instead of Florida State, Virginia‘s hot start earned the Cavaliers the conference’s third spot in the AP and Coaches polls. This raises the question of which team is actually better. Florida State has played a tougher schedule, and definitely has the athletic advantage on defense. But Virginia’s offensive and defensive numbers are a little better at the moment. This debate will definitely be something to keep an eye on moving forward. The second half of today’s links is after the jump.
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Mark Turgeon doesn’t love Twitter. It’s clear he’s skeptical of the social media giant. It’s something he “lets” players have, but like any privilege, tweeting can be taken away. Just last week, Roy Williams forced PJ Hairston to run sprints after Hairston tweeted that he wouldn’t play in the Kentucky game because of a twisted ankle [sprained wrist] (he played). In the world of college athletics, coaches strive for complete control. That desire for total control is part of the reason some great college coaches don’t make it at the next level. Twitter has no filter. Only the tired excuse “my account was hacked” can make tweets go away. While you or I might be able to delete a tweet, athletes get retweeted dozens of times for fairly bland comments, much less something actually controversial.

That said, barring a huge gaffe, coaches should let players use Twitter for a variety of reasons.

Kendall Marshall is an Example of Why Coaches Should Let Their Players Use Twitter

First off, Twitter is one of the few places athletes can be themselves with fans. Sure, indirectly, they’re still representing North Carolina or Maryland, but those tweets come from the players and the players alone. They can interact directly with fans in ways message boards have never allowed. Athletes can also provide interesting commentary on issues outside of the horrifically monotonous questions posed by sportswriters fishing for quotes after a game.

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1. C-Ville: Storming The Floor‘s Eric Angevine hits a home run with his profile of Virginia center Assane Sene. Sene is from Senegal and has a very unique story. I don’t want to steal the story’s thunder, but let’s just say burritos, Taylor Swift and football all are discussed.
2. Wilmington Star News: Ty Walker is ready to “walk the walk” after serving a ten-game suspension resulting from an offcourt incident earlier in the year. He’s certainly saying everything right. And I think Jeff Bzdelik achieved his goal, which was “to help the New Hanover (NC) High product, who is on pace for a degree in communications in May, become a better man.” I don’t think that Walker is destined to have a Zoubek-esque turnaround this season, but I think he’ll be very important for Wake Forest’s relative success this season. Even if he doesn’t score a lot of points, if Walker can crash the glass and play solid defense in the middle, he’ll be a hugely important asset for the Demon Deacons.
3. Raleigh News & Observer: John Maddrey is a lawyer but — more importantly — he’s one of the statisticians behind the television broadcasts at ACC games. He’s had his position since 1982, meaning he’s covered 29 straight ACC Tournaments and 56 total Duke-North Carolina games. In a slower stretch of basketball, it’s always interesting to get a peek behind the curtain at how broadcasts work (I just wish Luke DeCock had asked him how the internet has changed doing game stats).
4. Washington Times: Patrick Stevens posts a collage of little nuggets from Maryland head coach Mark Turgeon. In a quick summary, Terrell Stoglin missed practice Thursday and Friday after tweaking his ankle; Pe’Shon Howard is out of his boot and doing some drills; he also praised Berend Weijs. But the most interesting part of the presser, to me at least, was Turgeon’s frustration with his non-stop schedule. It’s easy to forget just how much work goes into being a top-tier coach. In addition to the events and fundraisers he has to attend, Turgeon made it clear he didn’t like the team’s schedule during his last chance to retool before going into ACC play. It won’t lengthen his Christmas break, but I think Turgeon can spend plenty of time working on his own team (based on the quality of opponents the Terrapins face between now and then).
5. Miami Herald: Former Georgia Tech star Kenny Anderson was arrested Sunday for leaving the scene of an accident. But if you read a little closer, it sounds like he might have been charged with a more serious offense (I mean, he admitted to drinking, slurred his speech and crashed his Escalade into a tree… seriously, if you’re slurring your speech, you’re over the limit). Anderson is currently coaching at a private Jewish day school. He played for nine NBA teams during his 15-year career and made the All-Star game in 1994.

1. Triangle Business Journal: The numbers are somewhat questionable, but the ACC has the highest differential between the percentage of basketball players that graduate and the percentage of normal students that graduate, with a whopping difference of 41%. I say the numbers are questionable because they don’t account for athletes transferring, athletes entering the NBA Draft, or member schools having extremely high graduation rates to start. Basically, you don’t want to rip the conference too much, but the discrepancy is too large to ignore. If athletes are being “compensated” with a scholarship, shouldn’t more of them be graduating? I’d like to see the numbers after adjusting for players who transfer in good standing and those who leave for the pros.
2. Baltimore Sun: At times this season, Mark Turgeon has looked pretty bad on the sideline. He’s tried to keep his cool, but sometimes it’s not worth it. Turgeon told Jeff Barker that it’s not his win-loss record that gets under his skin; it’s whether his team plays the game the right way by “doing the little things.” I didn’t get a chance to watch the end of the game versus Mt. St. Mary’s last night, but my guess is Turgeon looked pretty anguished as he watched a double digit lead nearly evaporate.
3. Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Hold your horses! I may have buried Brian Gregory and the Yellow Jackets too soon. After a commanding win at Georgia, I’m ready to give them a second chance. Led by Glen Rice, Jr., Georgia Tech had its offense firing on all cylinders and some solid defense to boot. This win was big for Gregory, as it’s the type of early win that buys some confidence and support from fans.
4. Hampton Roads Daily Press: Tony Bennett wasn’t thrilled with his team’s defense against George Mason. I’m not thrilled with this writer’s choice of good dribble penetrators (actually I don’t mind, but Kendall Marshall should not be worried about because of his dribble penetration). Luckily, the Cavaliers’ offense came ready to play, knocking down over 60% of their shots. The other good news is that Sammy Zeglinski seems to be getting back into the thick of things, scoring a game-high 18 points. Virginia needs his shooting if it wants to get past the first round of the Big Dance.
5. Fayetteville Star News: Tyler Zeller is on the brink of becoming the 64th player in North Carolina history to score 1,000 points in his career. Right now, Zeller stands at 999 points. A thousand points in a collegiate career is a great accomplishment. Roy Williams tried to help Zeller get to four digits before pulling the starters against Evansville but, “we kept him in there, called his play, and Kendall turns the stupid ball over.” He’ll get another shot against Long Beach State this weekend.

I. Renko is an RTC correspondent.

Coming into the season, Terrell Stoglin wasn’t exactly flying high on the college hoops radar.  He didn’t make the ACC preseason first team.  He didn’t make the 50-person Wooden Award watch list.  Heck, he didn’t even make Andy Katz’s 55-person list of Wooden Award watch list snubs. Even after averaging more than 20 points through the first six games of the season — more than any other ACC player — Stoglin has received little national attention.  On Sunday evening at the BB&T Classic, the diminutive sophomore guard served notice that he is without question one of the best, most exciting players in the ACC and the nation.

Stoglin Was the Difference Maker Against Notre Dame Sunday

Stoglin lit up the Irish for 31 points (one shy of a career high) on 11-20 shooting, including 3-4 from three-point range.  He was “like World B. Free, man,” declared Notre Dame coach Mike Brey, comparing Stoglin to the former NBA player known for his highlight-reel shotmaking abilities.  Brey didn’t stop there with his praise-by-flattering-comparison, adding that Stoglin is “like the microwave of College Park,” an apparent reference to former NBA player and offensive sparkplug Vinnie Johnson. Those in the arena on Sunday knew exactly what Brey was talking about.  While the box score showed just how many points Stoglin racked up, it didn’t show how and when he did it.

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1. SI, ESPN, CBSSports.com and TSN: In case you were looking for some of the major weekend recaps of college basketball’s version of the “Game of the Century” between North Carolina and Kentucky, here you go. Kentucky may have more talent, but I think North Carolina is better (by a hair) right now. Yes, they lost, but the Tar Heels were a last-second freeze and heroic shot away from beating Kentucky in one of the most hostile environments in the country. Expect to see a more detailed reaction from us later today, but it’s hard to argue that those two teams aren’t evenly matched after that game. However, I do offer these words of wisdom in passing: Don’t let this weekend’s win obscure Ohio State’s dismantling of Duke a few days earlier. The Buckeyes look every bit as good as North Carolina and Kentucky right now. But, like all college basketball fans, I was thrilled that the game at Rupp Arena lived up to all of the hype.
2. Boston Globe: Boston College has reached a place it hasn’t been in 37 years: one that’s lower than local “rival” Boston University. The Terriers beat the Eagles for the first time in nearly four decades by 14 on Saturday. The win was also BU’s first against a major conference opponent since it beat Michigan in 2004. Steve Donahue sounds frustrated, but is sticking with his team: “I just can’t evaluate my team based on the scoreboard at this point. It’s just not fair to those kids.” For anyone keeping score at home, Boston College is now ranked #271 by Ken Pomeroy and #306 by Jeff Sagarin (in a closely contested battle with Utah for the worst power conference team).
3. Washington Post (and the follow-up): Mark Turgeon wanted more scoring balance from his team looking forward to its weekend game against Notre Dame. What’d he get? Terrell Stoglin dropping 31 points in the team’s best win of the season. What Turgeon really wanted was for Stoglin not to force things, but it’s abundantly clear that the Terrapins don’t have any other consistent scoring threats (for instance, Notre Dame started the game on an 8-1 run before Stoglin put up 11 straight for Maryland). The good news for Turgeon is Stoglin’s shot selection improved dramatically: Instead of relying solely on jump shots, he took the ball to the rack. The bad news is there probably won’t be a lot of offensive balance until Pe’Shon Howard gets back from his injury.
4. Burlington Times-News: In another prophetic (this time more accurately) preview, Mark Gottfried tempered fans’ expectations, summing up NC State perfectly: “I wouldn’t get real excited just yet, but I think we’ve shown at times we can be very competitive with just about anybody.” Yet again at Stanford, the Wolfpack were very competitive most of the game but couldn’t sustain the momentum during the second half. Both of the team’s other games against likely NCAA Tournament competition (Indiana and Vanderbilt) played out in similar fashion. It’s hard to tell if the team will be able to develop winning ways this season, or if it’s still a year away.
5. The Mikan Drill: Virginia has a very mediocre offense. Luckily the Cavaliers back it up with an elite (top ten according to Ken Pomeroy) defense. Just how are they so effective? The Mikan Drill looks at Bennett’s “packline” defense that helps hide what the team lacks in athleticism by controlling dribble-penetration as a group effort (in a way, think of a very help-oriented man-to-man). As always, informative screenshots and video clips here help explain Bennett’s unique system.

1. Grantland: Shane Ryan’s post about Duke‘s developing guard play is very interesting to read knowing the result of the Maui championship game against Kansas. Ryan breaks down Duke’s evisceration of Michigan’s zone with screenshots (a trend that I am really starting to enjoy). Ryan looks at the blend of talent and Duke’s system, though he ignores the possibility of Tyler Thornton coming off the bench and hitting the biggest threes of his life… But in all seriousness, it’s amazing how much Mason Plumlee’s play in that game got written off by a prayer (and the Seth Curry travel before it). The story went from Mason Plumlee locking down Thomas Robinson the last eight minutes while sinking clutch free throws for Duke to a desperation heave, but that’s a different post for a different time.
2. BC Interruption: The Eagles’ SBNation blog takes a look at the best player on a  young, bad Boston College team. His name is Patrick Heckmann. Possibly because he played at high-level competition in Germany, Heckmann seems like the most consistently aggressive player on the Eagles. Heckmann also has the advantage of size and solid athleticism. Heckmann is far from a finished product, but he’s definitely a little light in what could be a very long season on the hardwood in Chestnut Hill.
3. Washington Times: Maryland‘s beatdown at the hands of the Iona Gaels pointed out a lot of flaws. Mark Turgeon is blaming himself for the inconsistency from his players. The bottom line is the Terrapins have a long way to go. Sean Mosley has picked up where he left off two years ago, but the rest of the team is struggling. But Turgeon clearly isn’t used to losing:
   

   It’s hard to be good. Right now, we’re taking the easy way out. We don’t run the defense because that’s hard. We don’t box out because that’s hard. We don’t execute our plays against pressure because that’s hard.

4. Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Doug Roberson checks in with coaches from around the state of Georgia, including Georgia Tech‘s Brian Gregory, to talk about who inspired them as children. Gregory’s inspiration came from an old high school counselor, who told Gregory, “If you work hard and are a good person then usually things work out pretty well.” It’s definitely interesting to see where coaches, whose job requires inspiring student athletes every day, derived their inspirations.
5. Raleigh News & Observer: Michael McAdoo‘s lawsuit against North Carolina and the NCAA was dropped this week, but the process is far from over. McAdoo’s lawyer is planning on filing an appeal next week. McAdoo was ruled permanently ineligible after the NCAA’s investigation of North Carolina’s infractions under Butch Davis because of academic fraud. McAdoo was signed by the Baltimore Ravens after being drafted in the NFL’s supplemental draft. The lawsuit is one of many against the NCAA currently that could mean major changes for the organization in the near future.

Matt Patton is an ACC microsite writer for RTC.

Reader’s Take I

Top Storylines

• Coach K Gets 903: Mike Krzyzewski made basketball history by passing his mentor Bob Knight on the all-time wins list. The record is a testament to Krzyzewski’s consistent excellence over the last three decades. It was an incredible accomplishment and dictated the better part of a week’s coverage.
• Eligibility and Injuries Plague ACC: The ACC has five players out with eligibility issues, seven are out with significant injuries, and one is out after violating team rules. Alex Len (Maryland) may have his eligibility after he sits out ten games (he’ll be back in late December), but DeQuan Jones (Miami) is out indefinitely because of the NCAA’s ongoing investigation into allegations of the Nevin Shapiro scandal; Shane Larkin (Miami) is awaiting word on his eligibility after transferring from DePaul; Thomas de Thaey (NC State) is waiting for his amateur status to be reviewed; and Ian Miller (Florida State) will miss at least first semester due to eligibility issues. On the injury front, JT Thompson and Marquis Rankin (Virginia Tech) are out for the season while Pe’Shon Howard (Maryland), Antwan Space (Florida State), Julian Gamble and Reggie Johnson (Miami), and Leslie McDonald (North Carolina) are out indefinitely with various injuries. Wake Forest’s Ty Walker is suspended for violating the team’s honor code but is expected back against Seton Hall. Yikes.
• Virginia Hype Came Too Soon?: Kellen Carpenter hit the nail on the head in his preview of the Cavaliers. He pointed out lack of offensive balance and inability to make twos as the two biggest questions facing Tony Bennett’s squad. The team has had success from inside the arc in its wins, bu looking at the boxscore from their loss to TCU reveals the Cavaliers shot less than 40% on two-point attempts. Mike Scott was still solid, but the rest of the team struggled a lot. The other problem is Virginia’s crawling tempo makes it very difficult to come back from deficits.
• Mark Gottfied Can Recruit (and possibly coach, too): Mark Gottfried came into Raleigh with high expectations from the Wolfpack fanbase. So far, he has lived up to all of them. Gottfried has a top-five recruiting class sealed up thanks to signing TJ Warren, Rodney Purvis, and Tyler Lewis in the early period; he has another potential star possibly joining the ranks in Amile Jefferson. He also managed to get NC State its best non-conference win in quite a while with a huge comeback against Texas. One of the biggest problems with last year’s team was it could not come from behind. I generally chalked it up to effort or general pessimism that comes with frequent losses. Gottfried seems to have turned things around at least a little. Read the rest of this entry »