raymar morgan – Rush The Court

2010-11 RTC Class Schedule: Kentucky Wildcats

zhayes9 — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 19:45:31 +0000

Zach Hayes is a editor, contributor and bracketologist at Rush the Court. To see the entire group of 2010-11 Class Schedules, click here.

After dissecting a trio of Big 12 teams in prior weeks, more and more elite programs are releasing their 2010-11 schedules to the masses. Let’s continue with Kentucky, a squad that reloaded following the departure of an astounding five first round draft picks.

With so much turnover, Calipari has another tough coaching job on his hands

Team Outlook: A fan base as rabid and fanatical as Kentucky’s surely awaited this [...]

Selected Thoughts From Final Four Weekend

rtmsf — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 20:21:13 +0000

You know how this works… here are some random thoughts bouncing around our head as we come out of a pretty damn good Final Four in Indianapolis.

Welcome to Indy!

Coach K is the Current Dean of Coaches. But let’s get one thing put to rest right away. He’s not John Wooden. For all you presentists out there convinced that the era we’re currently in is tougher than any other previous one, get your head out of your sphincter. Make all the excuses you want, but Wooden beat all comers west AND east, year after year [...]

Five Factors That Will Lose You the Title

rtmsf — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 00:58:24 +0000

We’ve spent most of the week reading and writing about the various ways that one of Michigan State, Butler, Duke or West Virginia will end up winning the national title and cutting the nets down on Monday night. Duke is the favorite, but bookmakers give all four teams a reasonable shot to win it. But often it doesn’t come down to the elevation of greatness in these situations, but instead the avoidance of weakness. Simply playing your average game is sometimes enough to advance if you avoid a bugaboo that has plagued your team in its losses this year. For example, if you [...]

Final Four Game Analysis

rtmsf — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 00:31:36 +0000

RTC will break down the Final Four games using our best analytical efforts to understand these teams, the matchups and their individual strengths and weaknesses. Our hope is that you’ll let us know in the comments where you agree, disagree or otherwise think we’ve lost our collective minds. Here are Saturday evening’s national semifinals…aka…THE FINAL FOUR!

6:07 pm – #5 Michigan State vs. #5 Butler The winner of this game will have a built-in motivational mechanism, since this game is popularly considered the “Who will lose to West Virginia or Duke on Monday?” game. Best be careful, [...]

Final Four Team-By-Team Previews: Michigan State

zhayes9 — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 16:53:26 +0000

Rush the Court’s Zach Hayes will deliver a breakdown of each Final Four team every day this week. Here are the Butler and West Virginia previews. Today we delve into Michigan State’s chances during their sixth Final Four under Tom Izzo.

It's Mr. Izzo's time of year

Crucial Tourney Moment(s): Michigan State and Maryland played a two-minute stint of basketball during their second round clash unrivaled in this NCAA Tournament. Timeouts, fouls and other stoppages were few and far between. Instead, up-and-down basketball, star players making season-deciding buckets and one backup point guards’ clinching shot at [...]

RTC Final Four Tidbits: 03.30.10

rtmsf — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 08:43:48 +0000

Each day this week during the regional rounds of the NCAA Tournament we’re asking some of our top correspondents to put together a collection of notes and interesting tidbits about each region. If you know of something that we should include in tomorrow’s submission, hit us up at rushthecourt@yahoo.com.

Butler (Andrew Murawa)

While Butler playing in the Final Four is undoubtedly good for Bulldog fans, there is some question of whether it is good financially for Indianapolis. John Gasaway at Basketball Prospectus says that Matt Howard staying out of foul trouble is not nearly as important as you would [...]

ATB: Selected Thoughts on the Final Four Teams

rtmsf — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 20:27:39 +0000

We’re down to the Four. Here are some of the thoughts we had about the last couple of days of games while looking ahead to next weekend in Indy…

Forget the Seedings, These Teams Are Good. With a #1, #2 and two #5 seeds making the Final Four this year, the immediate reaction is that we’ve got a wide-open bracket with the potential for a true Cinderella to cut down the nets this year. Closer examination, however, reveals that all of the four teams left standing were thought pretty highly of in the preseason. In both the AP and [...]

Elite Eight Game Analysis: Sunday Afternoon

rtmsf — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 10:26:15 +0000

Over the next two days, RTC will break down the regional final games using our best analytical efforts to understand these teams, the matchups and their individual strengths and weaknesses. Our hope is that you’ll let us know in the comments where you agree, disagree or otherwise think we’ve lost our collective minds. Here are Sunday afternoon’s games from the Midwest and South Regionals.

2:20 pm – #5 Michigan State vs. #6 Tennessee (Midwest Region)

Last we heard, no Spartans were injured in the last 24 hours. Tom Izzo probably can’t believe it. It’s [...]

Sweet Sixteen Game Analysis: Friday Night

rtmsf — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 10:55:54 +0000

Over the next two days, RTC will break down the regional semifinal games using our best analytical efforts to understand these teams, the matchups and their individual strengths and weaknesses. Our hope is that you’ll let us know in the comments where you agree, disagree or otherwise think we’ve lost our collective minds. Here are Thursday night’s games from the East and West Regionals.

7:07 pm – #2 Ohio State vs. #6 Tennessee (Midwest Region)

We know the Buckeyes have had three full days of rest since their second round game against Georgia Tech. But Thad [...]

It’s Official – Kalin Lucas Ruptures Achilles Tendon

jstevrtc — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 02:35:50 +0000

You knew it from the way he went down on Sunday afternoon, but an MRI confirmed today that star Michigan State guard Kalin Lucas tore his left Achilles tendon in that amazing second round game against Maryland.

The Spartans and their fans have to be wondering what else can happen to this team. Michigan State’s players have already achieved more than what could have been expected of them, considering the injuries they’ve sustained: Lucas is the team’s leading scorer and dime-dropper and is known as one of the mentally toughest players in the game. Delvon Roe was [...]

Boom Goes The Dynamite: Second Round 03.21.10 Edition

jstevrtc — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 07:00:18 +0000

How’s your bracket? Probably looking pretty sweet if you went to undergrad at St. Mary’s and then took a master’s at Northern Iowa. Have they stopped partying at UNI yet? Or campaniling? Or whatever they do there? And if not, who could blame them?

That was yesterday, though. The Panthers and Gaels will be receiving their Official Cinderella starter handbooks in the mail in a couple of days, so the matter now turns to the Sunday games, and any possible candidates that could join them. Your lineup:

#1 Syracuse vs #8 Gonzaga #2 Ohio State vs #10 Georgia Tech #4 [...]

Big Ten Tournament Preview

rtmsf — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 19:17:45 +0000

The big thing from the past week. Big Ten season ends in three way tie. Exciting as the seesaw race was all year, it ended in melodramatic fashion as both Purdue and Michigan State hung on after Ohio State had already won out several days prior. The Boilers and Spartans took care of business, beating teams they were supposed to beat. Michigan State racked up back to back banners, but the big story is that this was the first title for Purdue since 1996. Now to see how many teams can go to the dance based [...]

Checking in on… the Big Ten

rtmsf — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 18:23:50 +0000

Jason Prziborowski is the RTC correspondent for the Big Ten Conference.

The big thing from the past week:

Hummel-less Purdue headed for free fall? Robbie Hummel tore his ACL against Minnesota last week, and now he is out for the season. Purdue hasn’t been the same since. Hummel was the second leading scorer and the leader of the Boilermakers, a void that has yet to be filled. Purdue survived against Minnesota, but couldn’t repeat the same result against Michigan State. How will Purdue respond in the postseason to his injury?

Now four Big Ten teams are in the top [...]

Set Your Tivo 02.21.10

THager — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 09:14:34 +0000

***** – 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 2012 * – don’t waste bandwidth (yours or the tivo’s) of any kind on this game

#12 Ohio State @ #11 Michigan State – 12 pm on CBS (****)

Kalin Lucas Leads the [...]

Ten Tuesday Scribbles… (With a Wednesday Twist)

zhayes9 — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 09:02:44 +0000

RTC contributor and bracketologist Zach Hayes will deliver ten permeating thoughts every week as the season progresses.

This week’s Scribbles column will look ahead to a couple months down the road in Indianapolis, where 65 deserving teams will be whittled down to just four, and to that blissful Monday night in April when one lucky group will be dancing at mid-court to the tune of One Shining Moment. In my estimation, there are ten squads with a promising-to-slight chance of hoisting a 2010 National Champions banner during their home opener next season. I’m here to tell you those ten [...]