Mid Major Hoops

An Update on the Site, Hofstra upsets Northeastern and the Bakers Dozen is Back!

Starting tomorrow,my MidMajorHoops.Net site will be temporarily moving from Typepad to Blogger.com.  This is temporary until probably the end of the month.  I am not going to talk about my reasons why, but the move should only be temporary.  I have nothing but high praise for the guys at Typepad but I need to make this move for reasons that will go unexplained.

I was at Hofstra on Saturday where arguably the Pride played their best game of the season as they beat previously unbeaten in conference Northeastern 57-52.  The Pride made a statement early by, I know this is stunning so hold your heart...actually working the ball inside!  Hofstra on the strength of this strategy  led 11-6 early.  But slowly Northeastern crept back into the game, mostly on the strength of Matt Janning's three pointers.  Janning's third three pointer of the half put the Huskies up one, 19-18.  Again the Pride's inside play would be instrumental in a 8-2 run to put the Pride up 26-21.  However Northeastern would end the half with an 8-0 run, finished off by an alley oop play to Manny
Adako off an inbounds pass with 1.1 seconds left.  It was a combination of a nice play run by Northeastern and shoddy defense by Hofstra.

Down by three at halftime, 29-26, Hofstra went on a 14-4 run in the second half to open up a 40-33 lead. During this run, Charles Jenkins finally found his groove, scoring 9 of the 14 points. The game was not over however as Northeastern went on an 11-4 run to tie the game at 44.  The Huskies then actually went up 51-50 with 1:47 left on a Manny Adako layup.  However, the Pride would outscore the Huskies 7-1 down the stretch as the Huskies only answer for the Pride's dribble penetrations to the basket was to foul the player with the ball.  Hofstra's last eleven points in the game were actually scored on free throws as the Pride shot 18 of 25 from the line.  

The keys to the game were first the re-emergence of Charles Jenkins.  As noted here, Jenkins had struggled mightily over his last nine games before Saturday's contest, with his FG percentage going from 47.5 percent to 37 percent.  In fact in his last four games prior to Saturday Jenkins shot 13 of 59 from the field (22 percent).  Saturday, Jenkins was 8 of 16 from the field and 5 of 6 from the line.  Arminas Urbutis (8 points and 9 rebounds) and Tony Dennison (9 points in 20 minutes) provided much needed help from the bench.  The Pride shot over 40 percent (42 percent) for the first time since a 90-79 win at Towson on December 6th, a span of eleven games. 

More importantly, the Pride did an excellent job defensively on Northeastern, holding the Huskies to 38 percent (which is what Hofstra holds teams to on a season average).  Even more impressive, after Janning's the third three pointer of the game with 4:40 left in the first half, Janning did not have a field goal the rest of the game.  Janning in fact only had six field goal attempts over the last 24:40 due in large part to the defense of Charles Jenkins.  

Ok, it's time, finally, for the new Baker's Dozen.

1) Butler (16-1) - As if their impressive first half against Loyola Chicago wasn't enough, I got home on Saturday in time to watch the second half of their game vs. Illinois Chicago.  Down eleven at the half to the Flames at 28-17, the Bulldogs spotted the Flames a three pointer, then roared back and won 59-52.  What was really impressive was that the Bulldogs best player, Matt Howard had only six points on six field goal attempts.  That left it up to freshmen Gordon Hayward and Shelvin Mack to combine for 43 points.  Hayward, who had 25 points, shot 7 of 13 from beyond the arc.  Hayward entered the game leading the Horizon in three point shooting at 46.4 percent.  Reminder, the Bulldogs start three freshman, a sophomore, and a junior. Amazing.

2) Saint Mary's (17-1) - The Gaels only won by fifty, 96-46.  I say "only won by fifty" because one of the Gaels' best players, Omar Samhan, only had 2 points.  The Gaels shot 15 of 31 from three.  Diamon Simpson, who didn't attempt a three, had 24 points on 7 of 9 shooting and 10 of 11 from the free throw line.  If the Gaels can get Simpson, who has struggled from the field this season, on track, the Gaels will even be more dangerous.  So, would everyone like to see Butler vs Saint Mary's on Bracketbuster Saturday?  I would.

3) Davidson (14-3) - Andrew Lovedale had a monster day with 16 points and 15 rebounds as the Wildcats won easily 89-68 over Georgia Southern.  Stephen Curry had 29 points on 11 of 30 shooting.  The Wildcats are home for their next two games before possibly their toughest game left in the regular season in the SoCon, a road game at UTC.   The Wildcats should have a very good game on BracketBuster Saturday, most likely vs. a CAA team, either George Mason or VCU.

4) Gonzaga (12-4) - The Zags seem to be back in form after a thirty point pasting of San Francisco.  The key - the emergence of Gonzaga sophomore Austin Daye. Daye had twenty five points vs. the Dons on 10 of 14 shooting.  Daye over his last four games, all Bulldogs wins, is shooting 59.5 percent (25 of 42) and is shooting 48 percent on the season.  Daye's other numbers are down, specifically his free throw shooting (from 88 percent as a freshman to 69.8 percent).  As Daye goes, so goes the Zags. 

5) Utah State (17-1) - The Aggies kept sole possession of first place with a solid 79-65 win over Boise State on Saturday.  The Aggies shot 50 percent from the field as Tai Wesley had a season high 26 points.  The Aggies had a 2-1 assist to turnover ratio for the game (18-9).  This is not surprising as the Aggies lead the WAC in this category at 1.46. Also not surprising is that the Aggies lead the WAC in FG percentage at 51.6 percent and free throw shooting at 74.1 percent.  But here are the surprising categories - the Aggies lead the WAC in rebounding margin (+8.6) and scoring defense in 59.9 points per game.  The Aggies are a very balanced team that holds onto the ball well, defends well and scores well - a triple threat if I ever saw one.

6) George Mason (14-3) - The Patriots have sole possession of first place in the CAA after their win over James Madison and Northeastern's loss at Hofstra. GMU, unbeaten in CAA play at 7-0, shot 46 percent from the field in their 71-57 win over the Dukes on Saturday.  The Dukes were held to 31.6 percent from the field including  6 of 26 from beyond the arc.  Typical day at the office for the Patriots as Mason is second to Hofstra in FG percentage defense and first in three point FG percentage defense.Louis Birdsong had 15 points while Cam Long and super frosh Ryan Pearson each had 13 points.  The next two games for the Patriots are big as they play at Northeastern, then at VCU, the two teams tied for second place in the CAA. 

7) Northern Iowa (12-6) -  At the beginning of the season, all the Missouri Valley talk centered on Illinois State and Creighton.  Yet after seven games, the Panthers are leading the Valley with a 7-1 record. This is due in large part to being first in the Valley in field goal percentage at 47 percent and first in assist to turnover ratio.  In their 81-59 drubbing of Drake AT DRAKE, the Panthers shot nearly 52 percent including 11 of 26 from three.  Northern Iowa was up as much as 37, 65-28 in the second half.  The Panthers had 17 assists to only four turnovers.  Johnny Moran had 20 to lead Northern Iowa. The Panthers have won six in a row in the Valley and four of those came on the road, a pretty mean feat in the Valley. 

8) Illinois State (16-2) - The Redbirds seemed to have righted themselves after knocking off Missouri State 68-56.  Emmanuel Holloway and Champ Oguchi each had 15 points for the Redbirds.  Illinois State leads the Valley in scoring offense and in field goal percentage defense (they also lead in three point FG percentage defense), a very important balance.  Makes perfect sense that the Redbirds lead the Valley in scoring margin.  Illinois State will play at Northern Iowa on January 28.  Maybe the game will be on TV.  Can only hope.

9) Siena (14-5) - The Saints improved to 8-0 in the MAAC with an impressive 16 point win, 78-62 at Fairfield.  I know that Kyle Whelliston had the Saints as his most disappointing team of the first part of the season in his Christmas day article.  But if you think about the Saints' losses, only one, vs Wichita State at the Old Spice Classic could be considered a bad loss.  The Saints other losses were to former #1 Pitt, formerly ranked Tennessee in the Old Spice Classic, by seven at formerly ranked Kansas and to 12-4 Oklahoma State at the Old Spice Classic.  The combined record of those four teams - 53-14.  Just think Davidson from last year. Now mind you the Saints aren't as good as Davidson was last year. But remember, the Saints knocked off Vandy in the first round of the NCAA tourney last season with the same cast.  Don't think they can't knock off someone again.

10) Western Kentucky (12-6) - The Hilltoppers lead the East division of the Sun Belt with a 6-1 conference record.  UALR leads the Sun Belt West with the same conference record and a better overall record (13-5).  Why do the Hilltoppers make the list and the Trojans don't?  Two reasons.  One, Western Kentucky has a signature win over Louisville while UALR's best win was a home win over now slumping Creighton.  Second, the Hilltoppers crushed the Trojans 79-47 in their first meeting.

11) VCU (13-5) - The Rams are now tied for second place in the CAA at 6-1 after a very solid 61-44 win at home over ODU.  After the Monarchs lit up Georgia State shooting 62 percent from the field including 10 of 16 from beyond the three point arc, VCU held them to 30 percent from the field including 2 of 11 from beyond the arc.  The maturation of Larry Sanders continues as Sanders led the Rams with 16 points.  Sanders has scored in double figures in seven of the last eight games.  The only game that Sanders did not, the Rams lost that one 81-79 to Delaware, their only conference loss.

12) Portland State (12-5) - The Vikings lead the Big Sky with a 5-1 conference record.  The team that knocked off Gonzaga in Spokane is not just star guard Jeremiah Dominguez.  Dominguez, who is not even the team's leading scorer, is joined by three other players in double figures, led by Dominic Waters' 12.5 points per game.  Their only real blemish is a conference loss at home to second place Weber State.  The rematch at Weber State is still a month away on February 19th.

13) Tie - Wisconsin Green Bay (13-5) and Charleston (14-3) - Wisconsin Green Bay snags the final spot along with the College of Charleston based on their 6-1 record.  Though they are in third in the Horizon a half game behind Wisconsin Milwaukee for second (Wisc Milwaukee is 7-1), they beat the Panthers on their home court.  They also have wins over Cleveland State and Wright State.  The Phoenix have four players that average double digit scoring led by guard Ryan Tilemma.  They have a big game at Butler on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Charleston continues to roll in the SoCon after winning at Furman 78-71. The Cougars are one of the rare teams in the country in which all five starters average double figures in scoring led by Andrew Goudelock's nearly 17 points per game average. The Cougars lead the SoCon in field goal percentage at 48.6 percent, three point FG percentage at 38 percent and assist to turnover ratio at 1.2.  The Cougars who are second in the South Division next to Davidson, have five games in between their rematch at Davidson. 

Miscellaneous News and Notes

First an update on Tony Bozzella's Lady Gaels.  Iona is now 4-1 after defeating Saint Francis on the road 67-49.  Anna Ikvovic had 16 points, Kristina Ford added a double double with 12 points and 10 rebounds and Thazina Cook added 13 points for the Lady Gaels. Ford had missed the previous two games due to illness, which included the Lady Gaels first loss, a 66-64 heartbreaker at Wichita State. Ikvovic had 20 points and 9 rebounds in the loss, while Cook and Milica Paligoric each had 11 points.  Paligoric a top recruit from Serbia, also had 5 rebounds and 3 steals in her debut.  Paligoric had to sit out the first three games due to NCAA rules.

Though it was not mid major college basketball, I was at MSG Wednesday night for the semifinals of the NIT Tipoff Classic.  The first game featured Boston College vs Purdue, which was won by the Boilermakers 71-64.  Purdue has its entire starting team back from last season's NCAA tournament team.  Very solid team which features Robbie Hummel and E'twaun Moore.  They were more consistent than BC, who is led by the dynamic Tyrese Rice.  Rice seems to like playing in second halves.  Against Purdue, Rice scored most of his points late in the second half to make the game close. In a consolation win over UAB yesterday, Rice scored ALL of his 24 points in the second half as the Eagles overcame a ten point deficit.   Purdue had four double digit scorers led by Moore's 19.

In the second half of the Wednesday doubleheader, we got treated to a simply awesome performance by perhaps the best collegiate player in the game, Blake Griffin.  Griffin scored 32 points and had 15 rebounds as Oklahoma came back from an eleven point deficit to beat UAB 77-67.  The game was much closer than the final score indicates.  Oklahoma was only up two points with 4 minutes left before making a late run.  And had UAB been able to finish several drives to the basket in the first half, they might have won the game.  UAB was too quick for Oklahoma in the first half, running out to one time was an eleven point lead before going up five into halftime.  UAB forced several Oklahoma turnovers (in fact 17 in the game as opposed to 10 fro the Blazers). As my friends Tieff, Mal and I predicted, shortly into the second half, Sooners coach Jeff Capel went into a zone, which frustrated UAB into some poor shots from the three point arc.   UAB shot 8 of 24 from three and 40 percent from the field overall, as opposed to Oklahoma who shot 50 percent from the field.

Oklahoma would eventually win the NIT Tipoff Classic Championship game in an entertaining 87-82 overtime win over Purdue.  Griffin had another double double with 18 points and 21 rebounds. But in this game he got a lot more help from his teammates.  Willie Warren, a talented freshman guard had 22 points, and Blake's brother Taylor had 19 points.  In all five Sooners scored in double figures. Moore led Purdue with 22 points, while Nemanja Calasan added 20.

As for mid major teams, several did well the last few days and several did not.  Gonzaga (4-0) looks like a top ten team after getting by Oklahoma State then crushing Maryland in the first two rounds of the Old Spice Classic in Orlando. In the 81-59 beatdown of the Terrapins, Josh Heytvelt was dominant, shooting 9 of 10 from the field with 22 points and 9 rebounds.  Austin Daye shot 7 of 11 from the field for 17 points and added 10 rebounds for the Zags.   In their 83-71 win over the Cowboys, Micah Downs had 17 points and Jeremy Pargo had 15 points and 7 assists to lead five scorers in double figures for Gonzaga.  The Zags will play Tennessee in the championship game tomorrow.

Fellow WCC member St Mary's (4-1) did not do as well in their first game of the 76 Classic in Anaheim.  A quicker UTEP team combined with very poor nightsfor both Patti Mills and Diamon Sampson did in the Gaels as they lost 75-62 to the Miners.  St Mary's shot 3 of 24 from the three point arc and 36 percent overall in the loss.  Simpson was in foul trouble the entire game and only had four field goal attempts and ended up with 9 points.  Despite scoring 16 points, Mills shot 5 of 20 from the field, including 0 of 9 from three.  Only Omar Samhan had a good game with 20 points and 14 rebounds.  The Gaels rebounded the next day with an impressive 79-54 drubbing of Cal State Fullerton, who nearly beat Wake Forest the night before.  Mills led four Gaels in double digits with 21 points, while Sampson had 14 points and 17 rebounds.  Samhan again had a double double with 14 points and 14 rebounds.

Siena (2-2) has had a very rough go in the Old Spice Classic.  First, the Saints were only down 17-15 in the first half vs. Tennessee before the Vols went on a 16-0 run to turn the game into a rout.  Siena would score the first 11 points in the second half against Tennessee to cut the lead to nine.  But the Saints expended so much energy as a result that there was nothing left on their way to a 78-64 loss.  Then in their next game, Siena was up 12 in the second half vs. Wichita State before they lost their poise and ended up losing at the end 74-72 to the Shockers. Kenny Hasbrouck missed a shot in the lane at the end that would have tied up the game. Hasbrouck and Edwin Ubiles each had 20 points in the loss to the Shockers.  Siena was outrebounded by the Shockers 34-22 which made up for the Saints shooting 52 percent from the field. In the game against the Vols, Siena shot 1 of 15 from three.  Alex Franklin led the Saints with 17 points.

The Shockers (3-2), coached by former Winthrop coach Greg Marshall, gave Georgetown all they could in the first game of the Old Spice Classic losing 58-50. David Kyles came off the bench to lead Wichita State with 11 points as the Shockers were held to 27 percent shooting by the Hoyas. Clevin Hannah and Toure' Murry combined for 38 points in the win over the Saints as the Shockers shot 50 percent from the field, including 8 of 17 from three. 

Last night, the College of Charleston (5-1) outlasted South Carolina 82-80 in overtime at the First Carolina Arena in Charleston.  It was the Cougars first win over South Carolina since 1930 and only their second in twenty nine tries vs the Gamecocks.  Tony White Jr hit two free throws with three and a half seconds left in the overtime period to win the game.  White, who was badmouthed by several Cougars' fans while I was there for the Charleston Classic two weeks ago, led the way with 22 points.  The Cougars again showed balance with all five starters scoring in double figures.

Kent State (3-1) lost in overtime at Illinois (5-0) 69-63 last night.  The Golden Flashes were up by five late in the game but the Illini came back with an 11-6 run capped by two free throws by Mike Tisdale to force overtime where Tisdale and the Illini took over.  Al Fisher led the Golden Flashes with 18 points and Chris Singletary added 15.

VCU lost in overtime at ECU on Tuesday 93-90.  Eric Maynor channeled his inner Antoine Agudio and led the Rams with 35 points on 11 of 20 shooting, including 6 of 12 from three.  Larry Sanders added a double double for the Rams with 18 points and 16 rebounds. Maynor and Sanders combined to shoot 18 of 31 but the rest of the Rams shot 14 of 44 from the field.  The Pirates shot 50 percent from the field to beat the Rams.

Butler moved to 4-0 after a 57-53 win over Northwestern Wednesday night.  Matt Howard led the Bulldogs back from a 12 point deficit (9 at halftime) with 17 points.  The Bulldogs shot 17 of 24 from the line as opposed to 3 of 6 for the Wildcats.

Finally, I end my article with my two watches.  On Tuesday night, the Chris Gadley Resurrection Watch continues as Gadley led Canisius with 13 points but had NO rebounds in a 67-41 drubbing by Washington State.  As for the Tim Crossin Burial Watch, Crossin played ONE minute and hit a three pointer as Towson got drubbed by Villanova 64-47.  Towson shot 5 of 27 from the three  point arc (so without Crossin it was 4 of 26).

Packer and CBS Part Ways - Thank God!

After 27 seasons, CBS announced that they and  Billy Packer had ended their working relationship.  Clark Kellogg will now replace Packer as the lead color analyst for college basketball games on the CBS, including the Final Four.  Packer apparently had been working a series of one year contracts and that both he and CBS decided a year ago to end their relationship.   Packer is also leaving Raycom, a regional network where he did a lot of ACC games.

If you an avid reader of this column (OK that comment pertained to five of you), you know that I am not a big fan of Billy Packer, so no tears are shed for CBS letting him go.   I have often taken Packer to task for his basketball analysis.  There are several reason for this.

First, he is an ACC homer.   He went to Wake Forest, and as mentioned, when not working for CBS, did color analysis on ACC games for Raycom.  Often in nationally televised games that didn't even involve ACC teams, Packer would mention the ACC or teams in the ACC many times.    This was not just my thought, this was also the thought of many people, including friends of mine such as Grant Hayden and Mal Galletta.

Second, he was biased for major college teams.  During the 2006 Final Four selection show, when most sane college basketball analysts were realizing the biggest snub of the tournament was Hofstra, Packer railed against the tournament committee for not taking teams such as Michigan or Maryland - two bubble teams that lost in their conference tournament quarterfinal games. 

Third, I didn't think his analysis was all that great.  This past Final Four was very indicative of it, especially the championship game.   Take a look at my post of Tuesday morning, April 8, the day after the championship game. Instead of discussing the non foul decision by Calipari, Packer is talking about Rose's foot on the circus shot he hit earlier in the second half.   What???

Here's another example from April 1, 2006.  I was listening to Mike and the Mad Dog on my way home and Packer was a guest of the show as he often has been through the years.  Packer basically dissed the George Mason team right before their Final Four game against Florida, and made the comment that the stats don't show why Mason is winning all those games in the tournament.  My post from that day gives you the stats, Billy.

All in all, its really not a big loss for college basketball fans. Kellogg is a very good analyst and it will be nice to hear for once not so many references to the ACC in a non ACC televised game. :-)

Quick NBA Draft Review, Including a Couple of Mid Major Guys I Missed

So, for the first time in a while, I watched a lot of the NBA draft last night.   First, I forgot about a couple of mid major guys, one you certainly heard of, one you and I certainly did not hear of (he was a sleeper on a few draft lists). 

First, Jason Thompson of Rider went 12th overall to the Sacramento Kings.  It was somewhat of a shocker that he went that high, but Thompson was dominant in his senior year with the Broncs.  He was part of "The Great MAAC Attack" (that's what I call it now) of this past February's Bracket Buster Saturday where the MAAC won five of the six games they played that day (and that's when I knew Siena could knock off  a team like Vandy after they went on the road and SMOKED eventual WAC champion Boise State).  I think he is very NBA ready at 6-11 240 and averaged a double double the past two years (how Thompson ended up at Rider is a coup for the Broncs).   And in Thompson last 12 games in college, 11 of them were double doubles..talk about clutch down the stretch.  I think he will be a solid NBA pro.

Now for the guy you and I really never heard of.  I had talked about IUPUI during the season, which included a big win over UMass, but little did I know that shooting guard George Hill would be drafted BEFORE my boy Chris Douglas Roberts.   In fact, it wasn't even close.  Hill, who was only selected 2nd team all mid major by College Hoops, went 26th overall to the Spurs (talk about landing with a really good team). Hill averaged 21.6 points, nearly 7 rebounds a game and 4 assists a game, can apparently play the 1 or 2.  In that aforementioned UMass game, Hill had 30 points and 10 rebounds, including 8 of 16 from the field (4 of 5 from three) and 10 of 11 from the line.  The kid can do it all and I am embarrassed that I don't know much about him.

As for the other two mid major guys I talked about, JaVale McGee and Courtney Lee, well they went as expected.  McGee, who really needs to get a lot stronger, went to the Wizards at 18.  Lee went to the Magic at 22.

As for shockers well, its three players that didn't get picked as high as they should have.  Darrell Arthur, who many including Jay Bilas and Chad Ford thought was a top ten pick dropped all the way down to 27 by the Hornets.  I thought it was a great pick for the Hornets.  Well not so fast.  The Hornets traded Arthur then to the Blazers, another good team.  Then the Blazers traded him to the Rockets, another good team.  Then the Rockets traded Arthur to the Grizzlies, well, not a good team.  The kid was drafted low due to a supposed kidney issue (did anyone watch the two final four games, Arthur looked pretty good to me) and then he is passed around like a hot potato. 

Then, speaking of Jayhawks who get drafted too low and then get traded, Mario Chalmers was drafted by Minnesota at #34 overall and then gets traded to Miami.  The Heat get their point guard and Michael Beasley.  Nice night for them.

Finally the steal of the night.  Chris Douglas Roberts ended up at 40 (40?!!) to the Nets, in an absolute thievery, big time thievery.  Chad Ford of ESPN said it best "The Nets make what could be their best pick of the night. I don't love Chris Douglas-Roberts, but he can score and is one of the best slashers in the draft. For a team that could use more juice in the backcourt, this is a fantastic value."   Well, Chad, I love CDR.  The Nets may have done the best of any team of the night.  Brook Lopez falls, I mean falls into their lap at 10, then they draft Ryan Anderson at 21.  Anderson's pretty good, a 6-10 forward with long range shooting and can drive to the hole.  Then CDR at 40.  SWEET.  I think I just became a New Jersey Nets fan and as my friend Anthony Terentieff would say, "The Nets are jammin!"

By the way, do you think Kevin Love's father is doing cartwheels right now. During the draft on ESPN, they interviewed Stan Love, and he talked about showing Kevin old school forwards such as Kevin McHale (apparently Stan loves Kevin McHale) and then Love gets traded to McHale's team the Timberwolves.  Perfect fit.

Other teams I thought did well;  The Blazers had another interesting draft as Kevin Pritchard is every fantasy basketball GM's idol.  They made oodles of trades and ended up with Jarryd Bayliss, which might be a steal, Nicholas Batum, who is a toolsy player and was the French league MVP, and tons of picks in next year's draft.  Well they didn't need much this year and Greg Oden you could say is an addition since he missed all last year.  I liked the Sonics pick of Westbrook (some say it was too high, but the Knicks were seriously looking at him at 6) and their trade for DJ White, an Indiana Hoosier player who actually comes to play - see below.   Ibaka was a stretch but if he matures over in Europe, it could be huge for them.  Also Detroit did well trading down and getting two solid second round picks that will fit their system in big men Trent Plaisted and Walter Sharpe. 

And finally, the Clippers never learn.  How ironic is it that the team with the most lottery picks in the history of the NBA draft, would use their 20th lottery pick on, yes, Eric Gordon.  How priceless is that.  Well, and to top it off, the Clips took D'Andre Jordan at 35th.  He could be great, he could be a huge bust (but at 35, talent value wise its pretty good. Originally he was supposedly a lottery pick but teams were so scared about his work ethic he fell to 35).  So, Clipper fans, get ready for the 21st lottery pick next year, because Eric Gordon is going to be a SPECTACULAR BUST.  And we will have the Eric Gordon watch on this season.  Every game he plays will be listed on this site.  If I end up being wrong on Gordon, i will gladly admit it.  But I don't think so. :-)

Update on NBA Draft

Chad Ford on ESPN's Draft Watch page has Chris Douglas Roberts going in the late first round, possibly as low as 30th to the Celtics or 32nd to the Sonics (could be as high as 22 to the Magic), while he has Eric Gordon going no lower than 10th.  Seriously???!!!  Hasn't anyone watched either of them play their last few games of the season.  Holy cow!  If the Celtics land CDR at 30, it will be a felony on the parquet; Grand Theft CDR.   He is soooo much a better clutch player than Gordon, its not even close.  Did anyone watch Gordon against Arkansas like I did?  I mean really.  Wow.

As for mid major hoops players, Western Kentucky's Courtney Lee looks to be in the same draft range as CDR, anywhere from 20th to 35th.  Nevada's JaVale McGee, who I am afraid has bust written all over him (kid, you should have stayed in school), could go anywhere from ninth to 26th.

Should be interesting...just don't want to hear David Stern say the following.."With the 6th pick in the NBA draft, the New York Knicks select....Eric Gordon, guard from Indiana".  Ugh.

A Couple of Quick NBA Draft Thoughts and Other Miscellaneous Stuff

Greetings!  I know, I still owe you the CAA 2007-08/2005-06 comparison post.  I know I know. Very soon.  Anyway, here are some miscellaneous thoughts, mostly about the NBA draft tomorrow but other things too.

First Tim Russert, now George Carlin.  Who's next?   Carlin was simply brilliant and hilarious.  Groundbreaking.  His comparison of baseball to football is an all time classic (you can see Carlin loved baseball.  His first heart attack was at a Dodgers' game years ago).  Of course, even better is his rant about airline safety. Finally his rants on religion, including his version of the Ten Commandments, which is my all time favorite.  You can find all on YouTube.  What I loved most about Carlin is that he had a kid-at-heart side.  He was the narrator for many Thomas the Tank Engine episodes.  He was Fillmore, the spacey  60's VW van in the Cars movie, and was Mr. Conductor for the PBS kids show "Shining Time Station". 

Next, if you are a Mets fan, have you already starting either looking forward to football season, or in my case, glad your fantasy baseball teams are doing really well (first in my Yahoo league, second in my All Star Stats league). The Mets have lost their first two games at home to the worst team in baseball, the Seattle Mariners.  Even worse, they were shut out by possibly the worst starting pitcher in baseball, R.A. Dickey.  In his three previous starts this season, Dickey had gone 0-3 with a 14.11 ERA. Yet he shuts out the Mets for seven innings, in an 11-0 whitewashing of the Mets.  The Mets are sooooo bad, it's just not even funny, unless you are a Phillies fan.

Ok, some NBA draft thoughts.   ESPN the magazine came out with their NBA draft prediction and it has the Knicks taking Eric Gordon with the sixth pick.  NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!  Ok, I am not a big Knicks fan anymore like I used to be and really don't watch the NBA much anymore. But I am begging Donnie Walsh that he will use good judgment and won't make sure to bury any  hope they have of me returning to be a NBA/Knicks fan.   All you need to know about Eric Gordon is here.  Most overrated player in the NBA draft by far.  Not even close.

Now, if you want my most underrated player in the NBA draft, its kind of funny in a way, but its Chris Douglas Roberts.  Now, yup, CDR in college was anything but underrated.  He was big in the NCAA tournament averaging over 23 points per game in those six games, including 28 against UCLA in the semifinal game.  Unfortunately, he will be remembered for those two missed free throws at the end of the championship game against Kansas that allowed for Mario Chalmers' heroics. But he is a six foot seven guard/small forward who can shoot the three (41 percent from three) and can take it to the hole (see the below reference to his free throws in four NCAA games). And unlike Gordon, he came up big against very good teams.  In his last four games of the NCAA tournament, against four very good teams, he had 25 points vs. Mich State, 25 vs. Texas,  28 vs UCLA and 22 vs. Kansas with a combined 28 of 57 from the field and 40 of 49 from the line..compare that vs. Gordon's stats in his last three games of the season (see link above).  Right now, he is looking like a mid first round pick in the 12-15 range.  I'd take him over Gordon ANY day of the week, month, year, next year, decade, century, millennium...get the picture.  I think he will be very good in the NBA.  If I were the Knicks, I'd trade down try to get at least two picks in the first round and make CDR one of them.  I'd think he'd fit into the D'Antoni Suns style of play real well.

 

Shawn James Enters NBA Draft, Hires Agent

It’s a busy time of year for me.  As an academic administrator at Hofstra Law School, I oversee over 1000 students taking their exams on computer (using secure exam software for both Apple and PCs), so checking the news wire for college basketball info gets delayed until the weekends often during this time of year.  So, much to my surprise, I caught this news story blurb on ESPN's College BB site.

Duquesne's James hires agent, will enter draft

Couldn't believe it.  Shawn James?  Going into the NBA draft and hiring an agent? (which means his college career is done).  Now, don't get me wrong, Shawn James is a talented player.  I got to see a lot of James in his sophomore season at Northeastern in 2005-06 before he transferred to Duquesne.  James was named CAA Defensive Player of the Year that season, and deserved so as he averaged 6.5 blocks per game (along with averaging 12.4 points and 7.9 rebounds a game) and probably altered a lot more shots.  He was truly a dominating presence from a shot blocking standpoint.

James then transferred to Duquesne when Ron Everhart moved from Northeastern to Duquesne, and is well known as being one of the five Dukes players shot on campus during a party in 2006.   He came back this season and his scoring numbers basically stayed the same as he averaged 12.6 points.  But as a whole his numbers dropped.  He only averaged 6.9 rebounds a game and 4 blocks a game, down from his sophomore season.  Even his shooting from the three point field dropped.  I remember watching several Northeastern games and was impressed with his ability to shoot the three.  In 2005-06, he shot 24 for 53 from beyond the three point arc for a 45 percent clip.  This past season, James only shot 15 of 45 from three, a 33 percent clip.

Was this all due to his recovering from the foot injury from the shooting?  Possibly a good part, but also some would say it is due to increased competition in the Atlantic 10.   I don't know how much credence I would necessarily give that.  In James' CAA sophomore season, he played against the likes of Old Dominion's Alex Loughton and Valdus Vasilyius, Hofstra's Adrian Uter,  UNCW's Todd Hendley, and of course George Mason's Final Four big man tandem of Jai Lewis and Will Thomas.  These players fare comparably to the players James faced in the A10 this season such as UMass’ Dante Milligan and Gary Forbes, Xavier’s Derrick Brown and Fordham’s Bryant Dunston.   So James faced very good competition and seemingly had better stats his sophomore season.

A closer look at the stats shows a couple of other things.  James had actually four 20 plus point games in his first 16 games, including his best game on December 5, a 20 point, 9 rebound  5 block performance against Pitt, the eventual Big East Tournament champion - certainly very good competition.  His last 20 point game was a 21 point effort against GW on January 26 (he also had 5 blocks in that game).  In his first 17 games, he had 12 games where he had 10 or more field goal attempts.  In his last 11 games, he only had 3 games where he only had 10 or more field goal attempts.  It wasn’t due to being fouled often.  In his last 11 games, he only had one game with more than 6 free throw attempts, 8 vs. Richmond.  As for it possibly being foul trouble, well James did not foul out of any of his last 11 games and only reached four fouls twice.  Could it have been possibly due to teams double teaming him?  Quite possibly, but there is another reason why.

James averaged four less minutes this season than his sophomore year.  In fact, in his first 16 games, James played more than 30 minutes in four games.  In his last 11 games, James did not even reach 30 minutes, playing 27 minutes twice, one of which was his highest scoring effort in those last 11 games, a 17 point effort vs. St Joe’s.  This is due in large part to the Dukes having another big man, 6-10 240 pound Kieron Achara who averaged 19 minutes and 11 points per game.  James was supposedly unhappy with his lack of minutes and understandably so.  But possibly Everhart was trying to cut down on the wear and tear of James’ recovery from the foot injury. 

So had James played more minutes, he quite possibly would have had better offensive stats.  As is, James field goal percentage, 54.8 percent was better than his sophomore season.  Chances are he might have had the same rebounding average.  The blocks were definitely down, very likely due to his foot injury.  In fact, he had 85 less blocks this season than his sophomore season, though he did have two double digit block games, 10 in the aforementioned St Joe’s game and 12 against Oakland.

As for James’ draft chances, well he is a very athletic 6-9, 6-10.  He can shoot the three and is quite the shot blocker.  But he has some weaknesses.  My friend Tony Terentieff and I watched many of his games while he was at Northeastern, and we were in agreement that he doesn’t position himself well on rebounding.  He also could use a little more bulk in his frame which results in him being pushed around by bigger centers.  His post moves also could use some work.

Though he makes a very intriguing late second round draft pick, it was a mistake for James to first declare for the draft, then hire an agent.   Though the A10 was vastly improved this year, it is still not an upper echelon conference.  Combine that with the fact that based on his numbers, he didn’t even dominate the conference, the result is that teams will be very wary to draft him.  James really needed to average close to a double double with his block total to be seriously considered draft material.  He will have to do very well at workouts and at tournaments such as the Portsmouth Invitational to have any chance to be drafted.  But he will definitely be a free agent in some NBA team’s camp.  Still, he could have came back for his senior season and with dominant numbers, could have put himself in a better situation.  But we will never know.

So There's a Third Tournament

Perhaps it is because of the lack of sleep lately between my sons getting up early at night, writing all these NCAA bubble posts, watching all these games, or whatever, but did you know there was a third men's Division I College Basketball Tournament besides the NCAA Tournament and the NIT.  Well, there is.  Its called the College Basketball Invitational, or the CBI.  This is its inaugural start and there are 16 teams in the tournament.  These are teams that were obviously left out of the NCAA and the NIT.  So if you are wondering where Houston is.  HOUSTON HELLO..to the CBI that is.  Here are the games below

Tuesday, March 18
                          Richmond at Virginia - 7 p.m.
                          Rider at Old Dominion - 7 p.m.
                        Brown at Ohio - 7 p.m.
                        Houston at Nevada - 9 p.m.

                        

Wednesday, March 19
                          Cincinnati at Bradley - 7 p.m.
                          Miami (Ohio) at Tulsa - 8 p.m.
                          Valparaiso at Washington - 9 p.m.
                          Utah at UTEP - 9 p.m.

                        

Monday, March 24
                          Quarterfinals - 7 p.m.
                          Quarterfinals - 9 p.m.
                          Quarterfinals - TBA
                          Quarterfinals - TBA

                        

Wednesday, March 26
                          Semifinals - 7 p.m.
                          Semifinals - 9 p.m.

                        

Monday, March 31
                          Championship Series Game 1 - 8 p.m.

                        

Wednesday, April 2
                          Championship Series Game 2 - 8 p.m.

                     

Friday, April 4
                            Championship Series Game 3
                            (if necessary) - 8 p.m.

Now what's interesting is that they have a best of three championship with the higher seed getting championship games 1 and 3 (if necessary), and the lower seed game 2.  So Tom Kemp, Miami is going dancing after all.  Mind you its kind of like a polka, compared to the NCAA ballroom dance, but hey, its something.  If you want a prediction, well, I'll take Nevada to win it all.

NCAA Predictions hopefully coming soon... 

Webcast of Brandeis Basketball Game

My friend, Marty Gross' son, Steven, is doing a webcast play by play from Brandeis this  Friday, March 7 at 8:00 PM, EST.  The men's basketball team is in the NCAA D III tournament, and is hosting their first post-season home game in 30 years. They are ranked 6th in the country in Division III.

The link to the website is http://www.wbrs.org/

Once there, click on Real Player, and you should be able to listen.

Division III Skyline Conference Tournament Goes to Farmingdale State

Last night, St Joseph’s faced Farmingdale State for the championship of the Division III Skyline Conference at Farmingdale.   At stake was an automatic berth into the Division III tournament. The home team Rams got the job done in front of a crowd of 400, winning convincingly 91-71.

The top two teams in the conference had split the first two contests, contests that came down to the wire, each winning a game on their home court.  Both teams finished at 16-2 in conference and Farmingdale was awarded the tie breaker, thus the championship game was played on their home court.
                                           
The game started very similar to the last game, won by St Joe’s 91-81.   Farmingdale dominated early on the inside as the Golden Eagles had no answer for Brian Robinson or Damien Santana.  The Rams started out to an early 17-6 lead with 14:48 left.  The Golden Eagles led by their season leading scorers, Phil Lipari and David Acree came back with an 8-0 run to cut the deficit to 17-14.  Then Farmindgale went on a 6-0 mini run and made the lead nine, 23-14 with 10:50 left.   The Golden Eagles again on the strength of four free throws by Lipari and Acree cut the lead to 27-24 with 6:11 left in the first half.  Then after a couple of Ram free throws, David Acree picked up his second foul with 5:17 left.  With his other star guard Phil Lipari already having two fouls, St Joseph’s coach John Mateyko had no choice but to have one of his two star guards sit, and thus Acree went to the bench.   After a Brandon Freeman dunk cut the Rams lead to 29-26, Farmingdale took advantage of Acree being on the bench and went on a critical 14-6 run to end the half up eleven, 43-32, as the Rams’ Peter Lipka and Davon Jackson scored 9 of the Rams 14 points.

The start of the second half again saw the Rams use their frontcourt advantage as Robinson would score the Rams first four points, two of which started the second half putting the Rams up 45-32.   The Golden Eagles though would chip away and cut the lead to 51-44 on a Sean Hyde layup with 16:30 left.  But St Joseph’s would never get any closer the rest of the game as the Rams delivered the knockout blow, a 14-3 run led by Lipka, Robinson, and Santana to make it 65-47 with 11:03 left.

The Rams did an excellent job shutting Acree down the second half.  Acree would not score his first points of the second half until 4:52 left in the second half.  The Rams held Acree to 12 points, 8 under his season average and held the Eagles as a whole to 38 percent shooting from the field.  The Rams were led by Santana with 26, Lipka had 19 on 5 of 9 shooting from three, and Robinson with 18 on 9 of 10 from the field.  The Rams as a whole shot 51 percent from the field, including 60 percent in the second half.

With the win, Farmingdale wins the automatic berth into the Division III tournament and is now 22-5 overall.   St Joseph’s is now 21-6 overall.  While the Rams await to see where they are playing in the Division III brackets, the Golden Eagles must watch the live stream at noon tomorrow,  and await their fate to see if they are among the other  58 teams besides the Rams in the tournament.   If their body of work is correctly analyzed by the committee (which includes the #5 ranking in the Atlantic region), the Skyline regular season co-conference champions, should be in as well.