I love international basketball. I love it because it gives lots of standout college players a place to work hard and earn a spot in the NBA outside of the limelight of the American media-sports-industrial complex. More importantly, however, I love international basketball because it gives lots of collegiate standouts a place to be unabashedly goofy. ACC fans likely remember Sylven Landesberg, the 2008-09 conference Rookie of the Year who seemed poised to break out in a big way after a brilliant freshman season for Virginia. At the end of his sophomore year, Landesberg was suspended from the team for failing to meet academic obligations. He didn’t come back.

Cut to the present: Landesberg plays in the Israeli league for Maccabi Haifa, displaying his legitimate basketball talents as well as his incredibly goofy side. So, without further ado, The Best International Basketball Non-Basketball Video Clip of An ACC Standout (displacing the Italian GQ interview of former North Carolina player Danny Green talking about dancing): Landesberg singing a high-rent karaoke version of “Empire State of Mind” for television.

Without Milton Jennings, Clemson came remarkably close to a road upset of Virginia last night. Clemson’s more balanced attack looks like it will work out well for the Tigers while their disruptive defense was a nightmare for a Virginia team that struggled to hold on to the ball. Virginia, on the other hand, gutted out the tough win thanks to the super-efficient performances of Mike Scott and Joe Harris. Scott scored 23 points on 11 shots with ten rebounds and three blocks while Harris scored 19 points on nine shots, leading the team to 55.8% shooting from the field. Meanwhile, North Carolina managed a 15-point win on the road despite shooting 31.0% on the road in Winston-Salem. Such is the power of effective defense and managing 21 offensive rebounds.

Virginia Withstood Another Close Game To Get A Win (AP/J. Raoux)

Middle-Weight Brawl

• Maryland at Miami at 8:00 PM on ESPN3.com

Miami has a a Sunday date at Cameron Indoor and is riding a two-game winning streak where the Hurricanes have handled their business against the likes of Georgia Tech and Boston College that doesn’t yet qualify as momentum. Miami has been playing well, but a win against a Maryland team that has shown flashes of brilliance with Terrell Stoglin and a talented if underutilized frontcourt is a good start. It’s unclear if Miami has any answer for Stoglin, but it seems certain that Maryland doesn’t have any deffensive answers for the array of firepower at Jim Larranaga’s disposal.

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1. Huffington Post: Dave Ungrady found out that one of CJ Leslie‘s role models is Maryland’s tragic hero, Len Bias. While Leslie is definitely thinner than Bias, their games do have a little resemblance. Leslie has a long way to go before claiming a spot with the all-time ACC great, but his developing jumper and tremendous athleticism definitely evoke some memories of Bias’ play. Leslie’s parents also used Bias’ story to teach him a valuable lesson about the dangers of drugs — especially for star athletes.
2. Miami Herald: First year ACC coaches Jim Larranaga and Mark Turgeon have a history. Back when Turgeon was the coach of Wichita State and Larranaga was the coach of George Mason, they faced off three times in two seasons. George Mason took the first two meetings, a BracketBuster matchup and again in the Sweet Sixteen (en route to the school’s Final Four appearance). But Turgeon’s Shockers had the last laugh, beating the Patriots the night they hung the Final Four banner the next season. Hopefully, this history will raise the stakes on this week’s game at Miami.
3. Hampton Roads Daily Press: It’s becoming a bit of a broken record with this Virginia team. Every game is low-scoring, and every game is close. Critics point to Virginia Tech’s upset over the Cavaliers as proof that the team’s system creates “too close for comfort” games night in and night out. Yet again on Tuesday, Virginia eked out a win over a lesser ACC opponent, Clemson, on the back of a great shooting night. Mike Scott and Joe Harris won the Cavaliers the game, going 15-20 from the field for 39 points. The game was a perfect advertisement for Scott’s incredible season, as he finished with 10 rebounds in addition to the nearly 20 points. That said, despite the strong veteran performances, Clemson had a chance to tie the game with under a minute to play, down three with the ball. Even though Virginia survived, that’s the danger of low-possession basketball. Late-game runs can totally erase a very strong performance.
4. Sports Illustrated: Florida State was in trouble after a 20-point beat-down to Clemson. Even I jumped off its bandwagon. Between a lackluster conference opener and only managing 10 points in the first half against Princeton (who is currently 1-2 in the Ivy League), it looked like the Seminoles were totally out of it.  But the team finally came together. A major reason is that Bernard James stepped up and got everyone on the same page. Regardless of a change of attitude, the Seminoles’ resurgence has been incredible. They’ve stopped turning the ball over and are one of the top shooting teams in the ACC. It’s likely that those two stats may regress a little bit, but I still expect Leonard Hamilton’s team will be here to stay.
5. Lost Lettermen: Take a look at the top 10 uniforms (and worst) in college basketball. Maryland checks in as the worst uniforms in the conference (and second worst in the country), though I think there’s a little grief being piled on from the team’s atrocious football digs. Boston College also earns a spot in the bottom 10 thanks to too large of lettering and a clash in styles. Not surprisingly, Duke checks in to the ‘good’ top 10 (its home whites are classic) and North Carolina sits at the very top of the list.

1. Washington Post: Remember how Lefty Driesell complained about Maryland naming its court after Gary Williams? Well, he’s still talking. I’ll just pick out some choice quotes:
   

   “Everybody’s gonna think well Gary Williams’s players are the ones that put Maryland on the map. You know, Maryland was on the map before Gary got there.
   [On Georgia State’s court being named after him] Yeah, it sure is. Well, you know, they never had a successful program before I got there. Never.
   I think Mark Turgeon’s gonna win a couple of national championships.
   [On how Williams should have been honored] Well, I don’t know. You know, he got banners up there for winning the national championship. Maybe like the Orioles do, put a statue out back.”

   The moral of the story is Driesell isn’t happy and isn’t hiding his opinions.

2. Beyond the Arc: Mike Miller sat down with Adam Rowe of Duke Hoop Blog to talk about the Blue Devils. One thing I really wish Rowe had mentioned is the lack of a versatile wing on the perimeter defensively. Kyle Singler was a big part of Duke’s defense the last four years. Combine his versatility with Nolan Smith’s on-ball pressure and you got a top defensive team despite not having ludicrous athleticism (as Arizona exposed in the NCAA Tournament). This year’s team doesn’t have that versatility and only Tyler Thornton applies great on-ball pressure. One of the more interesting points Rowe made was that Thornton is often credited as a great defensive stopper when he really is just good at playing physical defense and getting into passing lanes (though I think stopping, outside of shot-blockers, is generally a team stat on defense).
3. ACC Sports Journal: Frank Haith had a reputation in the ACC “as a nice guy who recruited good players and did a middling job molding them into competitive teams.” Frankly, that’s probably generous. Haith was frequently panned, especially following last season when he brought back an experienced and talented squad but did little with it. But Haith’s success at Missouri stands in stark contrast with perceptions at Miami. Is it the perfect storm of the right players? I don’t know. What I do know is that Haith put on a miniature coaching clinic last night against Rick Barnes (another ACC coaching alum) when he went zone against Texas, shutting down J’Covan Brown entirely on the final possession of Missouri’s one-point win over the Longhorns in Austin.
4. The State: Bad news coming out of Clemson, as Milton Jennings will be suspended because of  “‘failure to comply’ with the team’s academic standards.” Failure to comply is an interesting word choice — maybe just a slip of the keys, but that doesn’t sound like a grade issue. It sounds like a cheating, class cutting or missed assignment issue. The last of those options seems the most likely as Jeff Borzello tweeted yesterday that Jennings “should be back soon.” It hasn’t been a great season for Jennings off the court between this and getting into it with Brad Brownell.
5. Washington Post: I always love it when coaches talk some trash. And Shaka Smart fired some shots across the Commonwealth of Virginia, saying “the reality is if you go by the numbers, if you go by postseason, if you go by even guys going to the NBA, the best programs in the state are in the CAA. It’s really not even close.” My guess is Tony Bennett has something to say about that. Most years Seth Greenberg would probably be a little more outspoken too.

Fun Fact: Richard Howell is on pace to break NC State’s foul record of 110 (set by Ilian Evtimov). He already has 73 in the books and doesn’t appear to be slowing down.

1. Seth Davis is back with his annual Jigsaw Man column. For those of you who are not familiar with the concept, Seth adopts the persona of “The Jigsaw Man” to pick out players who if they switched teams would fill significant voids and does so while speaking in the third person. He tries to avoid picking out obvious targets like Anthony Davis who would make any team better even if they didn’t have a deficiency at that position. We are not sure if we are just getting cranky in our old age, but it seems like Seth is cheating a bit with some of his picks. Stealing players like Terrell Stoglin (the leading scorer in the ACC), Scott Machado (maybe the best point guard in the country), and Mike Moser (a potential All-American and a long-time crush of Andy Glockner and Ryan Greene) seems to be too easy. Obviously, adding the best point guard in the nation would make Duke a better team. So if you are reading this Seth Jigsaw Man (and we know that you are), step it up a little bit next year. Pick someone like Alex Oriakhi who is wasting away on the bench, but could and should be a double-double guy in the right situation instead of picking a potential All-American who is the best player on a top 10 team like Moser.
2. Whenever we hear someone talk about how unsavory recruiting is for top football recruits we hear someone else talk about how it is worse in basketball. We now have found at least one example where it is not. According to some media reports, one five-star football recruit who chose to attend Alabama over LSU was influenced by a promise that the former would give the recruit’s girlfriend a job. Interestingly, according to the NCAA bylaws, this appears to only be an infraction if it was committed for a basketball recruit, but for a football recruit apparently is it ok. The NCAA never ceases to amaze us.
3. Last week, the National Coordinator of basketball officials in Division I, John Adams, posted a memo urging officials to pay a closer attention to sportsmanship and call technical fouls on coaches and players who violate this principle. After the officiating over the weekend, Adams decided that he needed to respond to the criticism of officials. While he did not discuss the atrocious officiating in Philadelphia or the missed goaltending call in upstate New York, Adams did discuss the role of officials in dealing with unsportsmanlike acts. Adams essentially believes that the controversial sportsmanship fouls were correct and hopes that these moves will help rebuild college basketball’s image after a rough past few months. While legislating the trash talking more effectively may reduce some of the unseemly incidents we have seen, we would also like to see Adams work on improving the officiating of all areas of the game.
4. With his team on its way to a second straight solid season and a potential NCAA Tournament bid that it did not get last year, Iona coach Tim Cluess was given a contract extension through the 2016-17 season. Cluess, who came to the school without any prior Division I head coaching experience, is actually in the last guaranteed year of his initial contract. Thanks to a 25-win season to start his coaching career and what appears to be an even better second season, Cluess has a well-deserved contract extension, which should only help him with recruiting although we cannot imagine that any recruit thought Cluess was in jeopardy of losing his job.
5. His team is currently on the wrong side of the bubble, but that did not stop VCU coach Shaka Smart from making a bold proclamation that the “the best programs in the state are in the CAA. It’s really not even close.” When you look at the numbers over the past ten years, the three programs he is referring to (VCU, George Mason, and Old Dominion) have put up much better numbers (detailed in the article) than the the ACC programs (Virginia and Virginia Tech). So technically Smart is correct even if he does come off as untactful, but it is more amusing to hear new George Mason coach Paul Hewitt talk about this when he guided another ACC program (Georgia Tech) right into the ground.

On an exciting Saturday of ACC play, everything pretty much went as expected. Virginia Tech’s surprising slide to the bottom of the conference continued at the merciless hands of Terrell Stoglin, while Clemson found a little more consistency in its defeat of Wake Forest. The North Carolina State – Virginia game was as close as expected, and included the expected Cavaliers win, while Duke came away with its win against St. John’s despite a surprisingly close game thanks to the Herculean efforts of Moe Harkless (30 points and 15 rebounds). Duke won the game with its increasingly refined and balanced offensive attack, but the fact that game remained close speaks to the Devils’ troubles on defense.

Rivers and Duke Survived St. John's Upset Bid in Cameron Saturday

Taking Care of Business

• Miami at Boston College at 1:00 PM on ESPN3.com
• Georgia Tech at North Carolina at 6:00 PM on ESPNU

Boston College and Georgia Tech are the two worst teams in the conference. Virginia Tech and Wake Forest have similarly bad records, but each team shows flashes of potential that makes each squad seem a little less damned than their bottom-of-the-standings compatriots. Though Miami hasn’t shown it yet, the emergence of Kenny Kadji and Shane Larkin means that the Hurricanes can put at least five very good players on the court. This team is still figuring things out, but it’s unclear if Boston College’s team even understands the concept of basketball. Meanwhile, Georgia Tech is going to have a hard time matching up with North Carolina. Defense appeared to be an early strength of Georgia Tech, but since the beginning of conference play, the Yellow Jackets have been the worst defensive team in the conference while still managing to remain thoroughly underwhelming offensively. The simplest recipe for beating the Tar Heels has been an effective perimeter attack paired with aggressive ball pressure, and unfortunately for Georgia Tech, these are two things that this team can’t actually do that well. Daniel Miller is a good enough defender in the post to effectively handle either Tyler Zeller or John Henson, but it’s unclear who takes whichever player Miller doesn’t guard. Worse, on the offensive end, Miller is limited, and against the North Carolina frontcourt, he might really struggle to score. Miami and North Carolina are clear favorites, but Boston College already has a pair of surprising conference wins, and somehow Georgia Tech has beaten North Carolina in the past four match-ups. Hard to hang your hat on either of these fun facts, but it’s at least something.

Thursday night was not a good night for people who like close games. Despite admirably hanging tough for a chunk of the game, there was no way Boston College was going to out-tough Virginia, with or without Assane Sene. Meanwhile, upset-minded North Carolina State received a stern reminder in Chapel Hill that their turn around isn’t complete just yet. Saturday, however, offers some intriguing story lines, capped up with an epilogue to Thursday night’s action.

Prime Time Showdown

NC State Not Quite Ready For Prime Time

• Virginia at North Carolina State at 8:00 PM on ESPN2

The Cavaliers bounced back from their surprising loss to Virginia Tech last weekend with a command performance against the thoroughly outgunned Boston College. Playing in Raleigh against a North Carolina State team that was embarrassed on Thursday, Virginia has a more challenging task ahead of them. Both of these teams are probably among the top five teams in the conference, but both have a lot to prove. If Virginia wants to have any hope of remaining in the polls, they need an overpowering road win against the Wolf Pack. North Carolina State, on the other hand, needs a win by any margin. The blessing and curse of the conference schedule for NC State is that it’s relatively soft. The team will finish the year with plenty of wins, but their chances for quality wins are few and far between. Taking care of a beatable Virginia team at home is a must if NC State wants to be playing basketball throughout March.

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Brian Otskey is the Big East correspondent for RTC and a regular contributor. You can find him @botskey on Twitter. See bottom of the post for the Official RTC Star System.

There aren’t too many big time matchups on the schedule this weekend but it’s still a decent slate of games to keep you occupied.

Mississippi State @ #12 Florida – 1:30 PM EST Saturday on ESPN FullCourt/ESPN3.com  (***)

Florida May Struggle to Contain the Mississippi State Big Men

• It has gone largely unnoticed but Florida has won six of its past seven games since losing at Rutgers in December. The Gators bring the top-rated offensive efficiency to the table and are a threat to win any game they play because of it. However, Billy Donovan’s team is thin up front and lacks the lockdown defense elite teams exhibit. Against Mississippi State, Florida could very have major problems dealing with the Bulldogs’ front line. Patric Young attempted double figure shots for only the fifth time this season against Mississippi on Thursday. Without a go-to guy in the post, Florida’s offense revolves around Erving Walker and Kenny Boynton with Brad Beal and forward Erik Murphy, a pick-and-pop specialist. Florida will attempt plenty of threes, connecting 40.7% of the time. Scoring from outside shouldn’t be a major problem against Mississippi State but stopping the Bulldogs inside will be.
• Rick Stansbury has a huge advantage in this game with Arnett Moultrie and Renardo Sidney in his frontcourt. Florida can’t match those two players and the Bulldogs should be pounding the ball inside all day long on Saturday. However, Dee Bost has to be able to create and get into the lane in order to get Moultrie and Sidney going early and often. If Bost isn’t able to penetrate Florida’s defense, the Gators can pack it in and dare Mississippi State to beat them from the outside. Of more concern to Stansbury has to be his defense. In SEC play, the Bulldogs are allowing opponents to shoot 43.4% from beyond the three point arc. If Florida shoots anywhere near that percentage, it’s likely going to be a long afternoon at the O-Dome for the visitors from Starkville.
• In order to steal an important road win, the Bulldogs have to rebound and score in the paint as well as in transition off long rebounds since neither team turns the ball over much. Fast break points will be at a premium in this game but whichever team wins that category will have an advantage. However, the most important part of Mississippi State’s game plan has to be defending the three point line. If the Bulldogs can’t, they won’t win in Gainesville. Even with all that said, this is a game Mississippi State can win with a strong effort. Florida needed a second half rally to defeat Ole Miss in its last game and it’s not out of the realm of possibility that Mississippi State could spring the upset.

Well, Maryland managed to defend the honor of newly-christened Gary Williams Court for about 30 minutes before succumbing to the temptations of lousy help defense. Beating the Terps doesn’t look like a great win on paper, but it’s a great win for a Duke team that still seems occasionally unsure of their own identity. Virginia Tech lost to Brigham Young thanks to poor offensive execution and despite a relatively strong game defensively. It was a game that came down to the last play, but the Hokies just couldn’t pull it out. Florida State put up a command performance in stomping Wake Forest with the wicked defense of the Seminoles holding star player Travis McKie to a pitiful 1-of-13 shooting night. Couple that with an over 50% shooting night from the field and the Florida State juggernaut looks as hot as ever.

A Cold War Goes Hot

An NC State vs. UNC Game That Means Something? It's Been a While...

• North Carolina State at North Carolina at 7:00 PM on ESPN

In Chapel Hill, this game hasn’t meant much in the Roy Williams‘ era. The heat from a once-vicious rivalry cooled as the Wolfpack drifted further and further into irrelevance. Now, NC State fans are always hot for this game, but the recent history of this match-up has left Chapel Hill fans indifferent. But for the first time in a long while, Tar Heel fans are nervous. Quietly, Mark Gottfried has developed a powerful and versatile balanced attack. Lorenzo Brown, Richard Howell, C.J. Williams, and Scott Wood all have a legitimate case for being the ACC break-out players of the year (ignoring Terrell Stoglin), each making massive strides in their respective games. Meanwhile C.J. Leslie still remains an immensely talented wild card, capable of taking over a game at both ends, though his inconsistency remains an issue. They match up well with the Tar Heels, having a combination of size and speed to counter North Carolina’s usual advantages in this area. Still, North Carolina is a great team and as well as the Wolfpack matches up on the perimeter, it’s unclear if their is a frontcourt answer to the Tyler Zeller and John Henson tandem. Also, a real concern: the Wolfpack’s three-point defense has been abysmal and with Reggie Bullock getting the start alongside Harrison Barnes, an early barrage of perimeter shots could break NC State’s back early. I think this game will be close, but the Tar Heels take this one. The real intrigue for this game is how it sets the stage for what’s almost certain to be the dramatic second meeting in Raleigh.

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1. Baltimore Sun: Apparently, there was a little more drama in Maryland’s court-naming than previously thought (there was a little hiccup this summer when the athletic department was trying to decide whether to name it after Gary Williams or Lefty Driesell). According to Jeff Barker, Driesell called out the athletic department: “It’s not fair to my players that they would put Gary Williams’ name on the court.” It was hard to tell whether Driesell was jealous the court wasn’t named after him, or annoyed that it was named at all. Ignoring hurt egos the ceremony went off without a hitch (minus the loss) as students and fans packed the Comcast Center for a final chance to see Williams on the floor.
2. Wilmington Star News: Speaking of rivalry games, Roy Williams took some time to explain his dislike of NC State (earlier this year he said he’d shoot BB guns at Wolfpack fans in the Dean Dome). Basically, it sounds like NC State fans were mean to him growing up and never relented when he got to North Carolina: “some other people put us down any way they could to me and I took offense to that. It’s a childish way to react but it’s stuck with me.” Regardless of why, tonight’s game should be very fun to watch and features a lot of juicy match-ups on both ends.
3. Deseret News: Stilman White‘s name has been in the press a lot lately, but many people don’t know much about him beyond his stat line. Trent Toone adds a little to White’s background, as well as paralleling his experience with former Duke player, Matt Christensen. Christensen was a Mormon who also wanted to go on a mission, which limited his recruitment. Because Mormon athletes in the ACC are so rare, I never really thought about the issues that arise from having to leave for an extended period of time in the middle of one’s career. It took Christensen seven years before he graduated from Duke — he was never a star, only averaging around eight minutes a game, but he participated on the 2001 national championship team.
4. Carolina March: This is a fascinating article worth thinking about. Basically, the two questions are: “Is there an ‘ACC style of play’?” and “Does that style still exist?” Because of the recent conference expansion and coaching turnover, the answers appear to be “yes” and “no,” respectively. But what is the ACC style? Is it connected to coaches, geography or officiating? To tell you the truth, I’m not sure. The midwestern style seems clear (“slow”). The northeastern is debatable but “physical” is the first word that comes to mind. It’s a very cool idea that is worth investigating in the offseason (thank you, ACC Vault).
5. Basketball Prospectus: The first edition of John Gasaway’s “Tuesday Truths” is out! It’s too early to get super reliable data, as some schools (here’s to looking at you, NC State) have played relatively unimpressive conference schedules while others (Florida State) have a lot under their belts. Interesting quick hits: the ACC is the fastest-playing BCS conference; Virginia‘s defense is gnarly; Duke‘s offense is outrageous; Florida State is making its money on the offensive end; and NC State is the second fastest team in the league. The league is also fairly up for grabs (no one is dominating the efficiency ratings so far, unlike the Big Ten, Big 12 or Big East).

EXTRA: Would Gary Williams coach the Washington Wizards? Well, this appears to still be rampant speculation, but Williams’ answer is certainly interesting:

“Well, I did have some opportunities to get into the league in the past, ” Williams said. “When I retired, you think, well, you’ve coached the last time. And I’d been a college coach a long time. The pro game’s always fascinated me because it’s pure basketball. You’re kind of on equal footing because of salary caps and things like that. I will always like that idea, because sometimes in college you get into situations where you just don’t have the ability to do what other teams you have to supposedly beat [can do]. You know, you never say never, is the way I’ve always looked at it.”

Like Dan Steinberg says, I’d totally be up for seeing Williams try his hand at coaching professionals for a variety of reasons.