Rush The Court

We’ve been anxiously awaiting the next thirty days for the last eleven months.  You have too.  In fact, if this isn’t your favorite time of year by a healthy margin then you should probably click away from this site for a while.   Because we plan on waterboarding you with March Madness coverage.  Seriously, you’re going to feel like Dick Cheney himself is holding a Spalding-logoed towel over your face.  Your intake will be so voluminous that you’ll be drooling Gus Johnson and bracket residue in your sleep.  Or Seth Davis, if that’s more your style.  The point is that we’re all locked in and ready to go.  Are you?  To help us all get into the mood, we like to click around a fancy little website called YouTube for a daily dose of notable events, happenings, finishes, ups and downs relating to the next month.  We’re going to try to make this video compilation a little smarter, a little edgier, a little historical-er.  Or whatever.  Sure, you’ll see some old favorites that never lose their luster, but you’ll also see some that maybe you’ve forgotten or never knew to begin with.  That’s the hope, at least.  We’ll be matching the videos by the appropriate week, so for the next seven days, we’ll be re-visiting some of the timeless moments from Championship Week.  Enjoy.

Championship Week

Dateline: 1997 WAC Tournament - Utah vs. SMU & Utah vs. New Mexico

Context: Thirteen years ago, Keith Van Horn wasn’t yet a punchline as an NBA player, he was instead an all-america forward at Utah.  At that time, the WAC had not yet separated into the current Mountain West/WAC split, and the league was a sixteen-team mess that included the Utes.  Led by KVH and point guard Andre Miller, Rick Majerus’ team came into the WAC Tourney at 23-3 (15-1) and the top seed in the conference.  Yet in the opening quarterfinal game against SMU, Utah found itself down 58-57 with 0.3 remaining on the clock.  Miller lobbed a pass into Van Horn, who tipped the game-winner into the basket as time expired.  The next night in the semis against New Mexico, the game was tied when a furious tipping drill in the lane led to Van Horn rebounding the ball and putting a ten-footer back in at the buzzer for the second consecutive evening.  In the finals one night later, he dropped 37/15 in a blowout win over TCU to earn his team a #2 seed in the NCAA Tournament.  It was one of the greatest single performances the WAC Tournament has ever seen, and one of our favorites as well.

1. Washington State lost its dispute with Oregon over a controversial technical foul call at the end of the first overtime in a New Year’s Eve conference game in Pullman.  The issue arose after Wazzu seemingly won the game with 0.3 seconds remaining when several bench players and at least one fan stepped onto the court.  A technical foul was called, and Oregon was awarded two FTs to tie the game, sending it into double-OT where they won 91-89.  From our viewing of it here, it looked like a hundred other exciting endings that happen during the normal course of a season, but the Pac-10 chose to hide behind the technicality.
2. St. Louis coach Rick Majerus, in the midst of a somewhat promising season at 12-6 and 3-1 in the A10, took an opportunity to throw his conference (the Atlantic 10) under the bus yesterday, sparing no complaint about the expensive East Coast cities, the travel, the airports and even the old standby, academics.  He said he’d prefer to play in the MVC, which makes geographic sense, but what’s left unsaid is that he’d prefer the built-in advantage of playing in Arch Madness for a trip to the NCAA Tournament just minutes from the SLU campus.  He didn’t mention whether a lack of high thread count towels in their budget hotels factored into his decision.
3. Another interesting insight from Mike DeCourcy — Duke’s much-lauded point guard Jon Scheyer isn’t getting it done down the stretch of close games.  Someone out there surely has the time and energy to track his numbers in those games, right?  Let us know in the comments if you do.
4. Gary Parrish: not a fan of the Christian Drejer/Lucca Staiger method of doing business.  We think the lesson here is that coaches will have to carefully vet European players they’re recruiting to try to ensure they’ll have a modicum of loyalty to the school should an offer appear on the table back home midway through the season.
5. Luke Winn moves Kentucky up to #1 in his Power Rankings.  He refers to it in the Tennessee section (#7), but it’s worth noting that KenPom rates the Cats #13 in his latest rankings, in large part because the defensive efficiency is a pedestrian #36 in the nation (offensive efficiency is #11).  The biggest two drivers of that stat are the fact that UK doesn’t defend the three well (36%, #254) and doesn’t force a lot of turnovers (20.9%, #167).  This should be somewhat concerning for John Calipari, as his best Memphis teams (2006-09) all had superb defenses that consistently shut down the three-ball.  If/when Kentucky loses, expect it to be because of a hot shooting night from deep.

Backdoor Cuts is a college basketball discussion between RTC correspondents Dave Zeitlin, Steve Moore and Mike Walsh. This week they each pick their favorite moment of the decade — and their answers may surprise you.

DAVE ZEITLIN: Guys, in life I only have two rules: 1) Don’t commit murder; and 2) When a decade is coming to an end, I need to categorize everything in “best of” formats. Seriously, I eat that stuff up like I’m Rick Majerus at a buffet table. I’ve already listed the top 10 Penn basketball moments of the decade for my new Penn sports blog (yes, that’s a plug — now click on the link before I consider breaking rule No. 1) and I’ve read countless more of these types of lists. Who knows why? I guess I’m just a sucker for moments — glorious, spine-tingling, remember-where-you-were-when-you-see-them moments that shed a little light on why I devote way too much of my pathetic life to sports.

College basketball, to be sure, had plenty of great moments this decade. For a good walk down memory lane, be sure to check out a nice recap from Seth Davis. From Syracuse’s national championship in 2003 (Hakim Warrick’s block!) to George Mason’s truly amazing run to Adam Morrison crying on the floor, there are so many moments I remember vividly.

But this is a column where we get stuff done. So our goal is to pick out the truly best moment of the decade. Of course, this can mean a lot of things. For me,it’s hard to pick just one from the NCAA tournament, which features a handful of memorable games and plays every year. So after further consideration, I’ve decided my favorite moment of the 2000s happened this year. It wasn’t a do-or-die game for either team and many people didn’t even watch the end. But Syracuse’s six-overtime win over UConn in last season’s Big East tournament was truly epic — and my No. 1 choice.

I won’t recap the game for you. That would take up too much space, and I don’t even think I remember much of it. Here’s what I do remember: placing a friendly wager with my sports editor about the game (I picked ‘Cuse!), leaving work after the first overtime, listening to one or two  overtimes in my car ride home, coming home and chatting with anyone who was online (was that you, Steve?) through the next couple of overtimes, and then pacing around my apartment and muttering like a crazy person during the final two overtimes. How many overtimes is that? I don’t even know. That game made me forget how to count.

Seriously, I didn’t know what to do during the last hour of that game. I wanted to scream. I wanted to run around the city and find people to talk to about the 2-3 zone. I wanted to drive to Syracuse, find the walk-on that played the final overtime because everyone else fouled out and hug him. I wanted to write the words “March Madness” on a piece of paper and then make out with it. It was that good.

Was it the most important moment of the decade? Definitely not. But it was my favorite. And now I’m eager to know — what are yours? There are no rules, no restrictions. Mike, this is your chance to pen a poem on why St. Joe’s was the best sports story in Philadelphia in 2004 other than a horse. And Steve, you can, um, write about how BU’s only trip to the tourney was spoiled by Bob Huggins being mean. I’ll be anxiously waiting — it’s just too bad there won’t be any six-overtime games to keep me entertained in the meantime.

A polarizing figure for our columnists

STEVE MOORE: First of all, that 2002 tournament game still gives me nightmares. Did Steve Logan really need to go back in the game when Cincinnati had a bazillion-point lead? Bob Huggins thought so. Bob Huggins also hates puppies. So there’s that. Also, what does a list of Top 10 Penn Basketball moments of the decade look like, exactly?

Read the rest of this entry »

Two years ago former Utah coach Rick Majerus came out of retirement to take over the reins at St. Louis University.  We wrote at the time of his hiring that one of the key attributes of his teams throughout his career was that they tend to overachieve.  His teams at Utah were locks to win 20+ games and make the NCAA Tournament despite a relative paucity of elite talent (Keith Van Horn excepted).  We expected a quick turnaround at SLU, but it’s been a little slower going than expected – the Billikens have posted back-to-back mediocre seasons (16-15 and 18-14) and the only newsworthy event in Majerus’ two years there was from this particular 20-point abomination.  So he needs some recruits, right?  His first class was strong with several three-star players (including top 150 player Brett Thompson), but his second class fell off considerably (only one three-star), so Majerus might be feeling more pressure to sign players by any means necessary.

DiLoreto and Accomplice in Disguise

Gary Parrish today reported that 6′11 prep center Anthony DiLoreto has been offered a scholarship by Majerus and SLU, which wouldn’t otherwise register a blip on the national radar except for the fact that DiLoreto is facing two felonies for taking part in a bank robbery last year in Wisconsin.  Yeah, a bank robbery – as in, he drove the getaway car and provided the sawed-off shotgun that his 16-year old associate used to enter the Bremer Bank and steal the money.  Not only that, but DiLoreto broke longstanding ‘villain code’ by leaving his companion behind when the po-po rolled up for a nearby unrelated accident.  Showing Darwin-Award brilliance, DiLoreto then drove home and waited there until he was arrested several hours later.  He had originally committed to Cal Poly, but the school dropped his recruitment in light of these allegations.  (ed. note: this story would be much better if DiLoreto was from New Jersey)

Not Majerus and St. Louis, though.  And according to Parrish, not several other coaches either (from the Big 10, Big 12, Pac-10, A10, WAC, MWC and WCC), all of whom now consider DiLoreto a mid- to high-major prospect.  DiLoreto hasn’t yet overcome his legal problems, but he’s been working toward a plea bargain settlement that would presumably allow him to play ball again soon.  With an opportunity to grab an improving seven-footer, coaches are lining up to take a chance on him, proving once again that unless a player is actually in prison, someone will give him a schollie if he can occasionally throw a ball through a hoop.

In typical Dan Patrick fashion, he spent part of his show yesterday talking to SI swimsuit model Brooklyn Decker. I guess he has a good thing going. Why talk about sports to people who actually follow them for their career when you can talk to gorgeous women and occasionally get your picture taken with them (see below) even if you end up having to go home to your wife and children?

During his interview yesterday, which I’m sure that SI wanted to promote the Swimsuit Issue even though it came out over a month ago, Patrick did the usual stuff about trying to get Decker to compare supermodels to the top 4 seeds. Her list:

• Gisele Bundchen = UNC
• Adriana Lima = Pittsburgh
• Marisa Miller = UConn (without all the text messages)
• Natalia Vodianova = Louisville (lack of respect for #1 overall–I don’t even know who she is)

Being modest, Decker compared herself to Gonzaga, a school that is up there but has a way to go to catch the #1 seeds. The most interesting thing for us (other than the fact that she has a “crush” on Gisele–Tom Brady and Andy Roddick need to make this happen) is that she would like to become the Ashley Judd of UNC (albeit without actually going to school there).

With Kentucky rapidly descending into mediocrity (at least until they make another big-name hire) and Ashley Judd getting a little older does this mean college basketball could have a new #1 fan and Rick Majerus could find someone new to save him a little money on the hotel bill? All we have to say is that the ball is in Dick Baddour’s court and this might give SI a new idea for next year’s bodypainting issue even if sales in Durham, NC would plummet.

Ray Floriani of College Chalktalk is the RTC correspondent for the MAAC and NEC Conferences. He is bouncing around the Northeast this week visiting several championship week venues.

ATLANTIC CITY, NJ – Rick Majerus can coach. There was never a doubt over that. The St.Louis mentor also has opinions and doesn’t mind voicing them. At the Atlantic Ten Tournament opening round in Atlantic City on Wednesday Majerus took the opportunity to once again be heard. His Billikens just won a thrilling 62-60 overtime game against LaSalle. He spoke generically about being ‘fortunte to win’ and so forth. Then it came.

“It would be a shame to beat Xavier tomorrow and not to have them go to the (NCAA) tournament,” he said. ”But we aren’t going to win. I just do not like post season conference tournaments.” He continued as records captured and pens scribbled. “I really think academics is the most important issue. We are keeping these kids out of class for roughly four days, they are missing too much academic work. The regular season champion is the champion. In these tournaments you win a four day event, wear a championship t-shirt and walk around like you won something. That’s phony.” Majerus went on to note he has been successful in these events at Marquette, Ball State and Utah. In his two A-10 tournaments he’s done a credible job. He took a more talented Dayton team into overtime before losing a heartbreaker last season.  The LaSalle win was a nice one affording an opportunity to face Xavier.

Majerus has pontificated about conference tournaments before. The Xavier comments were surprising. For one, XU is in whether they run the A-10 table or were upset. Secondly, saying your team won’t win doesn’t instill confidence in your players. Majerus did say later, “we will play our asses off tomorrow.” An outstanding coach, outspoken and thought provoking. Rick Majerus is never boring.

Before the Majerus interview I met with the Billiken cheer/dance squad. Two years ago I interviewed Allie McLaughlin one of their members as a note in  another column. She’s now the coach. Personable but not the controversial notebook filler like Majerus. The Atlantic City venue has some schools claiming the casinos off limits to their spirit squads. Not St. Louis. “If they are twenty one they can go to the casinos,” she said. The narrow Billiken win gave them that opportunity.

News & Notes. One piece of news worth reporting tonight.  The NCAA denied USC transfer Alex Stepheson’s (from UNC) request to waive the requirement that he sit out this season.  He petitioned to the NCAA based on the poor health of his father (similar to Tyler Smith at Tennessee last year), but the powers-that-be decided against him.  This is a fairly big loss to Tim Floyd’s Trojans, but could we get some clarity and transparency from the NCAA on how these decisions are made?

Game of the Night. Kent St. 76, St. Louis 74 (OT). Tonight we check in on our good friend and epicurean Rick Majerus at St. Louis.  Last we saw Majerus he was busily putting together some of the ugliest games in college basketball history.  We hoped better for one of the seemingly nicest guys in the game this season.  So far, we’re not sure things are working out much better.  The Billikens scored 48 pts in a win against Missouri-St. Louis in their opener, but KSU’s Al Fisher ensured that Majerus’ team wouldn’t reach 2-0.  Fisher scored 16 of his team’s 17 pts in the overtime period, including the game winner with 2.1 seconds remaining.  He finished with 35/5 stls.

Upset of the Night. Mercer 78, Auburn 74. Are there any good teams in the SEC other than Tennessee?  Granted, we didn’t expect much from Auburn this year, but for the second time in four days, Mercer has gone into an SEC gym in Alabama and pulled off a win (Mercer 72, Alabama 69).  At this point, Mercer could lay a reasonable claim to being the best team in the SEC West.  The difference in this game?  Mercer outrebounded Auburn 36 to 18.  Yep, you read that right.  An A-Sun team with a front line that goes 6′6, 6′6, and 6′8 absolutely WHIPPED an SEC team on the boards.  Heart, much?

Near-Upset of the Night.  Michigan St. 70, IPFW 59. With 10:47 left in the second half, the score was IPFW 45-44 (what is it with Indiana and these infernal acronym schools???).  A 13-0 MSU run over the next five minutes salted away the game for the Spartans.  Somehow IPFW convinced Izzo to come to their place, and he almost seriously regretted it tonight. Raymar Morgan (22/6) led the way for MSU, who did not shoot the ball well (43% FG; 27% 3FG), and didn’t really defend all that well either (IPFW shot 46%).  Props to  former Hoosier Dane Fife’s team for throwing a mild scare into a top ten team.

Other Games of Mild Interest.

• Wake Forest 120, UNC-Wilmington 88. Well, we know Wake can score (214 pts in two games).  But can they defend (allowed 48% tonight)?  Jeff Teague had 31, James Johnson 25, and AFA 11/12/5 assts in a blowout win.
• Villanova 77, Niagara 62. Scottie Reynolds shook off a poor shooting night (4-14) by making almost all of his FTs (9-10) to help Villanova hold off a team that just wouldn’t go away.  Corey Fisher added 15/6.
• Butler 64, Ball St. 55. Butler’s Matt Howard contributed 15/6 in a typical home win for the Bulldogs, who are holding opponents to 35% shooting so far this season.

On Tap Thursday (all times EST). Sigh… another bunch of games we can’t wach b/c they’re on the U.

• Virginia Tech (-10.5) v. Fairfield (ESPNU) – 11am (PR Tipoff)
• Xavier (-4) v. Missouri (ESPNU) – 1pm (PR Tipoff)
• Memphis (-21.5) v. UT-Chattanooga – 4:30pm (PR Tipoff)
• Duke (-12.5) v. S. Illinois (ESPN2 & 360) – 7pm (CvC)
• USC (-8) v.  Seton Hall (ESPNU) – 7pm (PR Tipoff)
• Florida v. S. Utah (ESPN FC & 360) – 8pm
• Oklahoma St. (-7.5) v. Tulsa (ESPN FC & 360) – 8pm
• Vanderbilt (-5) v. Illinois (ESPN FC & 360) – 8pm
• UCLA (-11) v. Michigan (ESPN2 & 360) – 9pm (CvC)

What the hell is going on out there in the nation’s midsection? Just three short days after Savannah St. laid a second-half egg against Kansas St. to the tune of four pts in the second half (25 total for the game), Rick Majerus’ St. Louis squad put up a blistering twenty points last night in its game against George Washington. This total of sixty-nine points (49-20) set a new record for offensive futility in the shot-clock era of D1 basketball. Let’s take a quick look at the Billikens’ stats:

• 14.6% shooting (7-48 from the field)
• 5.3% 3FG shooting (1-19)
• 50% FT shooting (5-10)
• 0.35 pts per possession
• leading scorer (Bryce Husak) came off the bench for 5 pts
• SLU missed 23 straight shots at one point in the game

Hey, Coach, do you think you have some offensive issues?

“I thought GW played tough on defense. We had some issues. You have to credit GW for playing very well. We have some issues in terms of our offensive proficiency,” Majerus said. “I tried to keep coaching the game. Sometimes you miss. We are a team that has some issues. That is why we are practicing [Friday]. We did miss some good shots, yes. Anyone can look at us and see we don’t have height, we don’t have depth.”

What gets us is that St. Louis really isn’t that bad of a team. Their record is 9-6 with a win over Southern Illinois to their credit, and their RPI ranking is #144, which puts the Billikens in the range of Maryland and Oklahoma St. Still, their offensive output is troubling in their six losses – 58, 56, 40, 39, 53, 20. We realize their tempo this year is among the slowest in the nation (#336), but clearly something isn’t being communicated well between Majerus and his players. SLU was 20-13 last season and returned four starters, so what’s up? [insert joke here about Majerus spending more time eating than coaching]

Update: our blogpolling colleagues Vegas Watch and Super, Scintilliating & Sarcastic beat us to the punch on this last night, and have better takes than us. Enjoy.

11.11.07

Story of the Night. Our preseason F4 picks are UNC, UCLA, Indiana and Gonzaga, so it’s no surprise that we really like the Zags this season. Imagine our own surprise, however, when we learned just before tipoff of today’s #16 Gonzaga-Montana game that Josh Heytvelt will miss the next 4-6 weeks with a stress fracture in his foot. Given what we know about these sorts of things, we wonder just how effective he’ll be when he gets back. Obviously, without Heytvelt, the Zags have no chance to reach their first F4. Or do they? Heytvelt’s replacement, 6′10 freshman forward Austin Daye, put on a show in his first game, going for 20/10/2 blks on 8-13 shooting and 2-2 from long range. Daye’s performance along with Jeremy Pargo’s high-wire act (he totally went B-Diddy on one of his dunks) and 17/5/5 asts were more than enough as Gonzaga put down Montana without much of a problem. If Heytvelt can come back healthy in January, this team is going to be a major player next March. (Gonzaga 77, Montana 54). One other comment from this game’s coverage on FCS Pacific – commentator Craig Ehlo needs to go back to guarding MJ or something; dude is terrrrible.

Things We Saw. We got to see pieces of five other games today, and here were our impressions. #4 Kansas once again showed just how good they can be, while never actually showing us how good they are. We never had a moment where we thought they were playing all that well, and yet they still won by 23. There were four missed dunks by the Jayhawks during the game, tons of missed foul shots (16-31), and still… UMKC was never really a threat to win in Allen Fieldhouse. Mario Chalmers was the lone bright spot, going 8-13 (6-9 from three) for 23 pts, but Bill Self said they have to get better at many phases of the game if they expect to do anything significant this year (Kansas 85, UMKC 62). Another game we watched was #11 Oregon v. Pacific. Judging by tonight, if there was any doubt as to whether Tajuan Porter can take over for Aaron Brooks, let that notion be put to rest. Porter was scintillating with 28 pts on 10-15 shooting (5-8 from three) and acted as much a leader as we had previously seen from him. Malik Hairston added 20/6 and Maarty Leunen contributed 17/10 in a well-balanced attack against a Pacific team that hung in there. We’re expecting big things from the Ducks this year (Oregon 80, Pacific 64). The Pittsburgh-St. Louis game was a little boring, but it showed us (once again) just how good of a coach Rick Majerus is, as the Panthers didn’t put the game away until a minute to go. If SLU can play like this all season, they’ll be a factor in the A10 race (Pittsburgh 69, St. Louis 58). We didn’t catch as much of the #17 Stanford-UCSB game as we would have liked, but we noted that Stanford once again handled business without much sweat, as Anthony Goods (23/6) outplayed Gaucho star Alex Harris (18/2) in the battle of the guards (Stanford 67, UCSB 48).

Upset Alert. Two minor ones. Nevada will need to win these games if it expects to make it back to the NCAA Tournament for the fifth straight time (UCF 63, Nevada 60). And Cincinnati dropped its second home game in a week tonight – the Bearcats are a long way from “Big East competitive” at this point (Bowling Green 69, Cincinnati 67).

Line of the Night. Michael Beasley (Kansas St.). Again. Only 30/14 tonight in a 29-minute, 5-foul performance against Pittsburg St., a D2 team. It should be noted that K-State was down 40-38 at halftime to this team, though.

On Tap Today (all times EST). 43 games, including Indiana’s debut and a solid test for Duke at home (i.e., not NC Central).

• Indiana (-24) v. Chattanooga 7pm – Eric Gordon makes his long-awaited debut.
  
• Duke (-17) v. New Mexico St. (ESPN2) 7pm - if Duke is playing with a chip this year, they’ll win this by 30.
• Syracuse (-15.5) v. Siena (ESPNU) 7pm – looking forward to seeing freshmen Flynn and Greene(oh wait, we don’t get ESPNU).
• LSU (NL) v. SE Louisiana (ESPN FC) 8pm – Anthony Randolph, anyone?
• Missouri (-14.5) v. Central Michigan (ESPN FC) 3pm – year 2 of 40MoH begins.
• Oklahoma (NL) v. Alcorn St. (ESPN FC) 8pm – more Blake Griffin.
• Texas (NL) v. Texas-San Antonio (ESPN FC) 8pm – DJ Augustin is our favorite PG.
• Ohio St. (-15.5) v. Wisconsin-Green Bay (ESPN2) 9pm – first game since the Findlay debacle.
• Oregon (NL) v. W. Michigan (ESPN FC) 10:30pm – third game in three nights – any tired legs?
  
• UCLA (-28.5) v. Youngstown St. (ESPN2) 11pm – first chance to watch K-Love’s superb outlet passing – haven’t you heard?

So Wednesday we established that the Athlon Sports preseason magazine is one that you probably shouldn’t take home with you. Unless you’re the type of person who goes gaga over seeing your favorite team/player on the cover and must own them all in a Sisyphian quest to document every newsworthy event involving it throughout history. Consider this excitable Carolina fan’s tale we stumbled across today (re: the Athlon issue)…

Yep, arrived in Atlanta area stores last week, and every darn store I checked had the Georgia edition (one UGA player and one Ga Tech player on the cover). Same as last year. And the year before. Ad nauseum.

So I will do what I do every year – wait until all the mags are out, then drive up to visit my brother in NC and buy every mag with a Heel on the cover. That is always one of my most happy trips of the year.

Hey, we don’t judge. So here’s the second installment of our continuing series of reviews of the preseason magazines.

Next Up: Lindy’s.

I. Covers (5 pts) - are they cool? inclusive?

• 21 regional covers is a nice number, but the Rocky Mtn states aren’t represented in the least – Does Lindy’s realize that the Mountain West and WAC have fans too?
• Coolest Cover – none – they’re pretty much all the same format, with multiple players photographically stacked on top of each other.
• Say What? The Tennessee issue highlights UT, Memphis, Vandy and the Lady Vols?? The NE issue features UConn, BC and something called the “Lady Huskers,” which we assume is supposed to be “Huskies.” Either way, we have no tolerance for this.
• Total Points = 2

II. Ease of Use (5 pts) – how hard is it to find confs/teams?

• Somewhat difficult upon first glance. Eleven major conferences are arranged alphabetically, then by predicted order of finish of its teams. The rest of the conferences are shoved into the back of the mag with the teams arranged alphabetically within. Confusing.
• Standard format otherwise – roundup, features & predictions; analysis of teams; recruiting, in that order.
• Total Points = 2.5

III. Roundup (10 pts) – every mag has one – tell us something new!

• Scoping the Nation dives into the one-and-done phenomenon, and pretty much makes the same assessment we made here back in May – that coaches at the elite programs recognize the necessity in assuming the risk of taking potential one-and-dones. The potential reward, as in the cases of Greg Oden and Mike Conley for Thad Matta at Ohio St., is simply too much to pass up. They also take a look at the ten most likely one-and-dones for this season and next.
• The Nov/Dec Action to Check Out section is a bit of a copout by Lindy’s in the sense that its early publication resulted in not being able to review full schedules. Still, they make an attempt by reviewing the big pre-conference game possibilities in the holiday tournaments.
• Lots of Lists – that’s ok, we like lists.
  • Top 10 “under the radar” players
  • Top 10 transfer players
  • Top 10 juco transfers
  • Top 10 jump shooters
  • Top 5 defenders
• Lindy’s also provides a complete Top 25 (+15 fringe teams), a listing of the NCAA field of 65 by conference, as well as predictions of the Sweet 16 and Final Four.
• There is also a complete list of coaching changes and the conferences are rated first (Pac-10) to worst (SWAC).
• We also appreciated seeing deserving blurbs on Rick Majerus’s return to college coaching at St. Louis, and Skip Prosser’s passing at Wake.
• They also rate the Top 25 players at each position…
  • PG – Drew Neitzel (Michigan St.)
  • SG – Chris Lofton (Tennessee)
  • SF – Brandon Rush (Kansas)
  • PF – Tyler Hansbrough (UNC)
  • C – Roy Hibbert (Georgetown)
• …and the top frontcourt (UCLA) and backcourt (UNC).
• Cool Stat Award. Utah St. guard Jaycee Carroll’s shooting numbers – .527 from the field, .432 on threes, and .888 from the foul line!
• Total Points = 9

IV. Features (15 pts) – give us some insightful and unique storylines.

• Kentucky-centric. Three of their feature articles relate to the UK head coaching position – Tubby’s leaving of the job (He’s Gone), Billy D’s courting of the job along with his about-face with Orlando (He Couldn’t Leave), and Gillispie’s acceptance of the job (Billy & the Believers).
• What’s Good for the Zags… is a good article about the pressures that other mid-major programs (even the successful ones) now face in light of the Gonzaga Effect.
  
• Embracing Kelvin is an insightful piece about the “my way or the highway” coaching style of Kelvin Sampson, and validates why we expect big things from IU this season.
• Early and Often is a somewhat weaker article describing how coaches are faced with recruiting players earlier and earlier in high school (and sometimes back into junior high).
• Total Points = 11
  

V. Predictions (20 pts) – how safe are their picks? do they take any chances? are they biased toward the big boys?

• Lindy’s uses both the 65-team prediction model and the Top 25, as discussed above. Like Athlon, they too have UCLA defeating UNC in the final game, but we give them a little bit of credit for projecting first-timer Tennessee into the F4. They don’t predict an Elite Eight, but only half of their Sweet 16 made it there in 2007, which is realistic.
• Big Conference Bias. Still, 14 of that Sweet 16 are from BCS conferences – Gonzaga and Memphis are the only exceptions. NCAA Bids – ACC (5), Big Ten (4), Big 12 (5), Big East (8), Pac-10 (7), SEC (7).
• Mid-Major Watch. Mid-Major bids – 3 A10 (Xavier, St. Joe’s, St. Louis), 2 CAA (George Mason, VCU), 2 CUSA (Memphis, UAB), 1 Mountain West (BYU), 1 WAC (New Mexico St.), 1 MVC (S. Illinois).
• Surprising Omissions. Florida loses everyone, but are there really seven better teams in the SEC this year? Billy D. has the #1 recruiting class coming into Gainesville. We also think Lorenzo Romar’s Washington squad is primed for a return to the NCAAs this year. Also, we gotta believe that the always-underrated MVC will manage to get another team in there, while seven (Georgia and Vandy??) from the SEC is a little ridiculous this year.
• Boldest Prediction. Again, Lindy’s doesn’t go too far out on a limb with any of their picks, but Alabama winning the SEC West completely depends on Ronald Steele’s knees, and Cornell winning the Ivy League is also dubious.
• Total Points = 14

VI. Conference Pages (5 pts) – as a primer for the conference, how much can we learn here?

• The major and mid-major conferences get a predicted order of finish with brief analysis, a substantial recruiting roundup, three teams of all-conference selections, returning leaders in key categories, team stats and a fair superlatives section. While we appreciate a focus on acquainting readers with the newcomers, we would have liked to have seen less space used on this in favor of the returners.
• The small conferences get a predicted order of finish, two teams of all-conference selections and a superlatives section.
• Total Points = 3.5

VII. Team Pages (20 pts) – how in-depth is the analysis? where does it come from? is it timely and insightful given this year’s squad or is it just a rundown of last year’s achievements?

• Lindy’s Top 40 teams get a full page of analysis, including player evaluations and team statistical rankings.
• All other BCS and mid-major teams get a brief half-page of analysis with the same evaluations/rankings. Low major teams (even if predicted to make the NCAA Tourney) get a paragraph and a few key stats. Minimal info.
• Again, similar to Athlon, analysis is lacking. Much of it is based on recapping last season’s accomplishments plus the obligatory coach’s quotes. For teams outside the Top 40, they barely get a mention.
• Total Points = 12

VIII. Recruiting (5 pts) – we want to know who the top players are coming into college bball, where they’re going and who to watch for next year.

• As mentioned above, each major conference page has a substantial section on newcomers and what their strengths and weaknesses are.
• Six pages of recruiting information, featuring the top 25 recruiting classes with a brief description of each.
• The top 50 of 2007 is provided by Rivals.com, but Lindy’s focuses on the future classes more than present, listing the top 100 for both 2008 and 2009, plus the top 10 for 2010.
• They also provide some much-needed context and analysis from Justin Young at Rivals.
• Total Points = 5

IX. Title IX Guilt (aka Chick Ball) (5 pts) – the less the better…

• We already established that they’re putting some women’s players on the cover.
• They also give it four pages in the front features section, with a detailed top 25 and fifteen All-Americans. Unacceptable.
• Total Points = 1

X. Intangibles (15 pts) – what’s good and bad about the magazine as a whole?

• Errors. We’re not sure if the cause is shoddy editing or what, but who and what are Reyshawn Green Terry (formerly of UNC) (p.9), David Lightly Lighty (Ohio St.) (p.18) and Gongzaga Gonzaga (p.28)? – these errors were found in the first few pages and seemed pervasive throughout, mitigating the mag’s credibility from the start.
• Whereas Lindy’s provides far more interesting detail in almost every other area over Athlon, its writing (and clearly its editing) is weaker on the whole.
• Again, no schedules due to the early publication date.
• It takes some risks with its predictions (which we like), but its analysis really doesn’t explain why, e.g., Georgia is an NCAA Tournament team and Florida isn’t.
• Total Points = 9

RTC Grade for Lindy’s = 69 pts

Basis: Lindy’s is a better magazine on the whole than Athlon, but it has serious weaknesses with respect to its team analyses. Where it excels is in the areas of roundup and recruiting information, but it needs better writing, editing and much more consideration of the smaller conferences. A little more attention to detail would make this magazine a legit value in future iterations.

Grading Scale:

• 90-100 pts - exceptional quality in all areas – must buy and keep on-hand all season!
• 80-89 pts - very good quality mag – worthy of purchasing and reading cover-to-cover
• 70-79 pts - average, run of the mill magazine – some value in certain areas but weak in others – tough call as to whether to purchase it
• 60-69 pts - magazine on the weaker side, but may still have some positive attributes – probably not worth the money, though
• 0-59 pts - such a low quality magazine that it’s not worth any more than the five minutes you thumbed through it at the store

Mrs. Donovan appears thrilled at the press conference naming her husband the new coach of the Orlando Magic.

Memo to Billy Donovan:

Listen to your wife before you sign the contract next time. As a married man of over a decade, you should have known better. Sure, her lips may have been mouthing “do whatever you want, honey” but the eyes… look at those eyes!!! were saying something completely different.

Because of this egregious infraction in marital comprehension, you now look like a circus clown (isn’t Barnum & Bailey’s college around there too?) and more than a little flakey in front of the basketball universe. Sure, others have been down this road – most recently, Dana Altman (Creighton to Arkansas and back) and Gregg Marshall (Winthrop to College of Charleston and back) – but neither of them were foolish enough to sign a contract prior to backing away. The last person we can remember who actually signed the contract while still employed was Bobby Cremins (Georgia Tech to South Carolina and back), and has he been heard from since? Not really. (Note: Majerus was unemployed/retired/at the trough when he backed out on USC in 2004; and Cremins is now the head coach at College of Charleston in an ironic twist.)

So let’s be honest, Billy. Despite complete radio silence coming out of Gainesville, and Orlando officials stating publicly that you are still in a “dialogue” with the Magic, we all know that this is simply legal saber-rattling for the sake of saving face. The buyout/settlement that you will pay Orlando will surely be substantial. Wouldn’t that money have been better spent on a new convertible Benz for your wife – which, incidentally, you’re going to have to buy her anyway (look at the eyes). A Benz might actually be getting off easy – imagine all the painstaking interrogations and whispering that is already going on behind her back at the PTA meetings and at the pool’s social committee. Her ears are burning and her eyes are furious.

Actually, Billy, here’s another thought. After you get off the phone with Orlando management, maybe you should call Tiffany’s as well. We heard that diamond earrings look just divine while driving an SL 55 Roadster.

Update: Andy Katz wrote that Donovan started having second thoughts on Friday afternoon at the Florida farewell press conference, and upon waking Saturday morning, he was sure he had made the wrong decision. This dovetails very nicely with the Christine Donovan effect. Who hasn’t gone home thinking a decision is final only to learn that your opinion is far less valuable than you believed when it results on you sleeping on the couch that night?

• Jai Lucas signs with Florida; Patrick Patterson to follow tomorrow? 
• We knew it!  Majerus will be living in a hotel this year at SLU. 
• The Cuse’s next curmudgeonly coach will be…  Mike Hopkins. 
• Fear not Cat fans: Tevye Anatevka is on the way.

• Missouri Restaurant Association rejoices: Majerus to become top Billiken. 
• RIP Mt. Zion Academy and other charlatan schools: NCAA 86es diploma mills. 
• Florida and Kentucky fans are all atwitter…  the Patterson and Lucas watch continues. 
• Andy Katz’s and Luke Winn’s too-early top 25 – we’ll wait until after we see who is coming back for 07-08 first. 

Word out of Missouri is that Rick Majerus met with St. Louis University officials on Saturday night about the possibility of his taking the head coaching job there next season. SLU abruptly fired its coach Brad Soderberg several weeks ago, despite leading the Billikens to their first twenty-win season since 1998.

A simple Google search reveals that there are eleven Mobil three-star hotels in the St. Louis area, and over 13,000 restaurants within easy driving distance of St. Louis University, including dozens of steakhouses. Mmmm… midwestern beef. Majerus should feel right at home there, so long as the room service keeps the brats hot. An overlooked St. Louis perk is that one of the nation’s best hospitals, Washington University, also makes its home there. This is important for when Majerus inevitably decides to have his next coronary.

Having Majerus back amongst the coaching ranks is good for the game and the city of St. Louis. He’s a very likeable guy who consistently gets his teams to overachieve. Plus, we’re tired of hearing him say the word “offense” as “oaf-fense” from November to March. But mostly we’re just pleased as punch because Majerus and the Billiken have a strong likeness that we can enjoy for the duration of his contract.