Michael Carter-Williams – Rush The Court

2013-14 RTC Class Schedule: Syracuse Orange

BHayes — Wed, 28 Aug 2013 19:45:35 +0000

Bennet Hayes is an RTC columnist. He can be reached @HoopsTraveler. Periodically throughout the preseason, RTC will take an in-depth look at the schedules of some of the more prominent teams in college basketball.

In many ways, the 2013-14 season looks to be business as usual at Syracuse. The roster is deep and talented, expectations are sky-high, and Jim Boeheim is manning the sidelines for the Orange. But you can rest assured that there will have never been a Syracuse basketball season like this one. The day is finally here – the Orange, charter members of the Big East conference, are now [...]

RTC NBA Draft Profiles: Michael Carter-Williams

BHayes — Thu, 20 Jun 2013 21:35:23 +0000

The NBA Draft is scheduled for Thursday, June 27, in Brooklyn. As we have done for the last several years, RTC will provide comprehensive breakdowns of a number of the top collegians most likely to hear his name called by David Stern in the first round on draft night. We’ll generally work backwards and work our way up into the lottery as June progresses. As an added bonus, we’ll also bring you a scouting take from NBADraft.net’s Aran Smith at the bottom of each player evaluation. This post was contributed by RTC’s Bennet Hayes. He can be found on Twitter @HoopsTraveler.

Player Name: Michael [...]

Season In Review: Syracuse Orange

mlemaire — Thu, 16 May 2013 18:15:24 +0000

The 2012-13 college basketball season for the Syracuse Orange was nothing if not entertaining to watch and follow. Hopes were high after the team rattled off 18 wins in its first 19 games including a gutty road win over then-No.1 Louisville. The optimism faded quickly as off-the-court issues sprung up again, the team lost seven of its final 12 regular season games, and some began to wonder whether the Orange had quit. Of course the Orange made those people look foolish in the Big East Tournament by reaching the title game and then made the doubters really eat crow by [...]

NCAA Tournament Tidbits: 04.05.13 Edition

WCarey — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 19:41:05 +0000

The NCAA Tournament is here and there’s more news, commentary and analysis than any of us can possibly keep up with. To make things a little easier, we’ll bring you a list of daily links gathered about teams in each of the four regions all the way through the Final Four.

Michigan

Michigan point guard Trey Burke‘s postseason award tour continued Friday when he was named as the winner of the Wooden Award. Michigan guard Tim Hardaway Jr. writes on his shoes before every game to honor friends and family who have passed away. Michigan sharpshooter Nik Stauskas entered Sunday’s Elite Eight game against Florida in a tough shooting slump – [...]

NCAA Tournament Game Analysis: Final Four

Brian Otskey — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 19:11:18 +0000

Two games to get to Monday night… here are our breakdowns.

#1 Louisville vs. #9 Wichita State – National Semifinal (at Atlanta, GA) – 6:09 PM ET on CBS

Pitino is Inching Closer to His Second Title (AP)

Let’s get this out of the way right off the top – Louisville is the heavy favorite. Vegas calls them a 10-point favorite and KenPom.com agrees. They’re on a 14-game winning streak and have won those games by an average of 18 points. In a season where for the most part there has been no clear-cut favorite all year long, we [...]

Final Four Previews In-Depth: Syracuse Orange

Chris Johnson — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 16:01:11 +0000

It would have been easy to lose faith in Syracuse near the end of the regular season. The Orange sputtered to a 5-7 finish over their last 12 games, which in itself was enough point-blank evidence to jump off the bandwagon. The swirling rumors of NCAA impropriety and looming specter of coach Jim Boeheim’s retirement added to the general malaise that fell over this program as it hobbled into the final Big East Tournament at Madison Square Garden. What’s happened since? This In-Depth Final Four preview, the last installment of our four-part series, should give you a pretty good idea. [...]

Big East M5: 04.05.13 Edition

Will Tucker — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 12:01:09 +0000

Pitt coach Jamie Dixon and point guard Tray Woodall made some sympathetic comments about the Panthers’ former assistant, Mike Rice. Dixon was careful not to defend Rice’s actions but became visibly emotional as he called the disgraced coach “a good friend” and “a good person.” Woodall, who said Rice was the reason he came to Pitt in the first place, defended his former coach unequivocally. “They are going at my man Mike Rice too hard,” Woodall tweeted, contending he was “not the only coach to put his hands on a player, or talk the way he did.” If Woodall’s comment [...]

NCAA Tournament Tidbits: 04.04.13 Edition

WCarey — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 19:55:15 +0000

Michigan

A report broke Thursday morning that Wolverines guards Trey Burke and Tim Hardaway Jr. will declare for the NBA Draft when their season comes to an end. A great profile by Rod Beard of the Detroit News on the decisive leadership of Trey Burke. Burke’s leadership on and off the court has helped lead Michigan to its first Final Four in [...]

NCAA Tournament Tidbits: 04.03.13 Edition

WCarey — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 18:22:03 +0000

Michigan

Michigan freshman forward Mitch McGary, who has exploded onto the scene in the NCAA Tournament, said Tuesday that he will return to the Wolverines for his sophomore season. The Wolverines are basking in their “rock star status” around Ann Arbor as they prepare for this weekend’s Final Four. To replicate the challenges of the length of Syracuse’s 2-3 [...]

NCAA Tournament Tidbits: 04.02.13 Edition

WCarey — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 21:15:23 +0000

Louisville

Many people around the country are very surprised that Wichita State has advanced to the Final Four, but Louisville coach Rick Pitino is not one of them. “I picked Wichita State to go to the Final Four,” Pitino said Monday during a conference call. Louisville junior guard Russ Smith was named a [...]

Big East M5: 04.02.13 Edition

Will Tucker — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 12:01:34 +0000

Georgetown fans received some measure of consolation after a disappointing Second Round upset when the AP named Otto Porter a first-team All-American yesterday. Tying Trey Burke for the most first-team votes received, Porter became the first Hoya to claim the honor since Allen Iverson did so in 1996, and was the sixth first-team All-American in program history. (Patrick Ewing earned the distinction in three difference seasons, so Porter’s appearance is actually the eighthin Georgetown history.) Joining the Big East’s Player of the Year with AP team honors was Louisville’s Russ Smith (third team), while teammates Gorgui Dieng, Peyton Siva, Syracuse’s [...]

NCAA Tournament Tidbits: 04.01.13 Edition

WCarey — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 20:01:25 +0000

Midwest Region

Louisville senior associate athletic director for media relations Kenny Klein tweeted a photo of Cardinals guard Kevin Ware moving around on crutches Monday morning, less than 24 hours after suffering a gruesome broken leg in the first half of Sunday’s victory over Duke. An outstanding column from Pat Forde of [...]

Initial Questions About Michigan vs. Syracuse

Deepak Jayanti — Sun, 31 Mar 2013 22:13:19 +0000

Deepak is a writer for the Big Ten microsite of RTC. Follow him on Twitter for more about B1G hoops at @dee_b1g.

Take a deep breath Big Ten basketball fans; Michigan‘s win over Florida might have avoided a full week of coverage from the hoops media about the conference being “overrated.” The Gators were surprisingly a great match-up for the Wolverines because they were run out of the building (79-59), but the Final Four match-up against Syracuse will undoubtedly pose a tough challenge for John Beilein. Jim Boeheim already dismantled Tom Crean with his defensive game plan and Beilein may [...]

Rushed Reactions: #4 Michigan 79, #3 Florida 59

nvr1983 — Sun, 31 Mar 2013 21:56:24 +0000

RTC is reporting from the South Regional in Dallas, TX this weekend.

Three Takeaways.

Michigan played phenomenally well today. They came out of the gate on fire and never really let up. Sure there were a few moments where Florida looked like they might get back in it as they cut the lead to 11 with 17:35 left on a pair fo free throws by Scottie Wilbekin, but Michigan never let them back in it. It was perhaps the most impressive performance that the Wolverines have put together this season (only their 25-point win over a good, but still inferior VCU team [...]

NCAA Tournament Tidbits: 03.30.13 Edition

WCarey — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 19:53:24 +0000

Midwest Region

Louisville coach Rick Pitino was very complimentary of Cardinals guard Russ Smith after Friday night’s victory over Oregon. Louisville starting point guard Peyton Siva was plagued by foul trouble for much of Friday’s victory over Oregon, but it was next man in for the Cardinals, as reserve guard Kevin Ware [...]