The Big Beast

Future of the sports section

2009-04-30T17:53:00.000-04:00

My story on what to expect from your sports section in the future

Chandler to stay at Rutgers

2009-03-28T23:44:00.001-04:00

ZAGSBLOG is reporting Corey Chandler will remain a Scarlet Knight... that's huge news for RU.

http://www.zagsblog.com/2009/03/28/chandler-staying-at-rutgers/

NCAA Violation in Storrs?

2009-03-25T13:40:00.001-04:00

The Connecticut Huskies men's basketball program may be in some trouble after a Yahoo! Sports report claimed recruiting violations were committed by the school in its signing of former guard Nate Miles.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=4014188

Miles was expelled from the school last year.

The Morning Run

2009-03-23T11:11:00.002-04:00

It's the Monday after the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament, you know what that means: anguish, tears and looking at 2010 tournament favorites. Hope your bracket is still okay, mine is hanging on by a thread. An extremely thin, short thread.

Now to the links

The NCAA Tournament proves that the Big East is pretty good apparently
Eric Devendorf doesn't mind if you think he's an asshole
A look back at the weekend, in picture form
Tennessee is now 42-1
Drug Testing may be a little too meddlesome
A line graph to explain the tournament's evolution
Luke Winn tell s you thing five things you've learned

To build on Winn's observation of all the scares that summed up this weekend: I love it. Some have proclaimed this tournament to be boring so far because of the lack of upsets. Poppycock! This is how the tournament should be. Usually only top three seeds have a chance of actually winning the title and so I want to see them advance. I want to see the top teams make it as far as possible so that it is the best against the best to decide it all. But I do want it hard for them. It's great when Louisville is taken to the limit by No. 9 Siena. It was riveting. But it would have been disappointing to see the Cardinals lose. It takes away the luster of the tournament from here on if they weren't involved because it's one less team that could be the champion. All the teams that could possibly win the championship are still alive. Picking a champ now is just as perplexing as it was Wednesday.
And from seeds four, on down, let the upsets begin. Cleveland State beating Wake Forest: great. Arizona upsetting Utah: awesome. So let the upsets come, and in droves. Just make sure that the best teams aren't a part of them.

Bracket Blowouts

2009-03-21T17:24:00.003-04:00

How does the NCAA tournament follow up last night's late-night overtime thrillers -- with blowouts of course.

Top seeds that were slow out of the gate (Memphis and Villanova) proved why they were high seeds and UConn just kept rolling. The Wildcats jumped all over UCLA, physically dominating while routing the Bruins 89-69 (and playing in Philly didn't hurt).

So much for looking vulnerable for Memphis. The Tigers blew out Maryland 89-70 and again look Final Four worthy.

UConn topped its 40+ point beat-down of Chattanooga by steamrolling Texas A&M. The Aggies looked great against BYU, but they fell behind the Huskies early and with 11:21 remaining it's UConn up 72-50.

Congrats to Gary Waters

2009-03-21T10:28:00.002-04:00

I'm on my way to the RAC for the NCAA women's basketball tournament, but felt the need to post a congratulations to Gary Waters and Cleveland St. for their 15-point win over Wake Forest last night... cover-to-cover domination.

Asked this morning on ESPN about whether taking his team to a bull-fight in Spain this offseason helped their mindset, Waters responded by saying it taught them "to kill the opponent."

GW is clearly fired up.

Bracket Busters

2009-03-21T09:39:00.002-04:00

In case you may have fell asleep and missed the late night madness that took over the NCAA tournament let's take a look.

No.12 Arizona went wire-to-wire knocking off No.5 Utah 84-71.
No.13 Cleveland St. hammered an overrated No.4 Wake Forest 84-69.

And then there were overtime thrillers.

No.12 Wisconsin defeated No.5 Florida State 61-59 on a layup by Trevon Hughes with two seconds left.

In the game of the night No.9 Siena worked two overtimes to eliminate No.8 Ohio St. Siena led only once during regulation and that was at 3-2 after point guard Ronald Moore (#25 above/courtesy of AP) stuck a three with seven seconds left to tie the game.
And it wouldn't be the last thing Moore had to say. The junior delivered again in the second overtime period with another three, this time with 3.9 seconds left to give the Saints a 74-72 victory. Evan Turner had a chance to send it to a third overtime, but his runner rimmed out as the buzzer sounded.
This sets up an intriguing matchup between Siena and top-seed Louisville. The Cardinals had a tough time with Morehead St. in the first half before pulling away. The Saint showed that they can bang beating Ohio St. in a Big Ten style game (poor shooting and physical play), but you have to wonder if they have any legs left after playing two overtimes.
Siena will be game against the Cards, but Terrence Williams and Samardo Samuels are too lethal of an inside-out combo and bury the Saints late. The Pick: Louisville 75 Siena 64

Thoughts From Last Night in Philly

2009-03-20T11:05:00.005-04:00

As Mike pointed out earlier I spent last night taking in the night session in Philly so I thought that I would give you a quick run down of two very exciting games.

No.6 UCLA vs. No.11 VCU
VCU stormed back from 11 down with four and change to play giving themselves the opportunity to win the game at the buzzer. Unfortunately, for the Rams' Eric Maynor's last second shot came up short, but here is the problem with that last play.
1. VCU was inbounding the ball under its basket with 11.6 seconds left the play has to be to get the ball in Maynor's hands. They did, but it took to long. The ball came in to Joey Rodriguez who then needed two and a half seconds to get the ball to Maynor. At this point the play was doomed.
2. That could not have been the shot Anthony Grant had in mind for Maynor. Give Darren Collison credit, he did a tremendous job defensively, but the Rams had another timeout so when Maynor is forced up the right hand side of the court, tight to the sideline, why not call a timeout with six seconds left when he crosses half court. You would get the ball back in the postion where NBA teams get the ball after getting to advance after a timeout. They could have got the ball back to Maynor and he could have faced Collison up.
3. With all that being said, credit VCU for not going away. There were several moments in the second half when the Rams had opportunities to cut the lead, but missed a wide open shot or free throw so for them to have a shot at the end says a lot about their character.
4. VCU shot 18-of-25 from the free throw line while UCLA went 17-of-19. There is the difference in the game.
5. Larry Sanders can play. The somphomore center for the Rams was exceptional down the stretch, particularly on the defensive end blocking shots and rebounding. He did an excellent job of not fouling in the final ten minutes of the game as UCLA continuily came down the middle of the lane.
6. Why was UCLA getting into the lane so easily? The Rams chose to press the Bruins after every made basket. I understand that this is their style, but the Bruin guards were more athletic and broke the press with ease and on many occassions going coast-to-coast.

No.3 Villanova vs. No.14 American
American played very well early in the first half becasue it was able to execute its offense. The Eagles run a similar motion offense that Davidson used for Stephan Curry in last year's tournament.
They run the offense very efficiently and they were able to get their sharp-shooting senior Garrison Carr several open looks in the first half as they built that 10 point lead.
In the second half, Jay Wright made an adjustment to go to the 1-2-1-1 pseudo-press that the Wildcats are known for. The pressure didn't necessarily result in turnovers, but what it did was take American out of its rythm because the Eagles were unable to get into their offensive set as quickly.
Once 'Nova began to make its run it was clear that American was rattled. And combine that with tired legs and bad things are bound to happen. Everything that could have gone wrong in the second half did for a game American team, but as Wright said after his guys were simply superior athletes and that took over. Villanova outscored American 49-26 in the period.

This sets up an appetizing Villanova/UCLA matchup Saturday night. I like 'Nova in this game because the Bruins struggle to score especially without Collison, who did have some foul issues against VCU.
The scare that Villanova got from American is a good thing because in the NCAA tournament that first game against a mid-major that has won 14 of its last 15 and is on national T.V. for the first time trying to prove something can be difficult. The Wildcats took American's punch right in the mouth and responded like a good team should. The Cats guards will be just too much for UCLA -- remember it is a home game for 'Nova. The Pick: Villanova 75 UCLA 69

2009-03-19T21:34:00.000-04:00

Nova woke up and played like a Big East team, beating American 80-67.

Binghamton-Duke in 12 minutes...

2009-03-19T20:59:00.002-04:00

American has looked very good... Derrick Mercer is a guard that I've seen develop since his time in the first year of the Star-Ledger College Player Summer League at Rutgers. He's quick and makes things happen, so having a shooter like Garrison Carr on his team is dangerous.

Dwayne Anderson has been hot for 'Nova and needs to stay that way late... 55-52 American with 8:05 left.

Upset Alert

2009-03-19T20:08:00.003-04:00

At the half in Philadelphia it's Villanova with 31 and American with ...41! Where did that come from. The Wildcats were supposed to be a safer pick with them playing the first two rounds in a virtual home game at the Wachovia Center. Woops. American is doing on VU's turf on Nova's terms. They are 8/15 from beyond the arc, while Villanova is only 5/14.
It's not that Villanova is shooting poorly, they are 12/23, but American is just playing better. They are shooting 50% from the field and have taken 7 more field goals. On top of that Scottie Reynolds has been held scoreless. Villanova will need to wake up or it's going to be going home. And ironically, it will be a short ride home.
According to Kyle Franko, who is at the game, American has been very efficient in its motion offense and that is causing breakdowns for Villanova.

Gonzaga holds a slim 24-23 lead with 7:17 remaining the first half. This is unexpected as Zaga is a chique pick to make it to the Final Four and the Zips only have one win all season over a team in the top 75 in rpi (Niagra). Nate Linehart has a game high 8 points.

A look back, and a look ahead

2009-03-19T18:43:00.002-04:00

It was a great early stream of games, with 2Memphis taken to the wire by 15Cal-State Northridge and Kyle actually willing to completely disregard the health of his bracket to cheer for the Matadors. But that was all for naught and Memphis pulled it out, 81-70, thanks to 35 points and 10 three-pointers from a guy whose previous season high was 13. There's Robert Sallie's one shining moment.
9Butler and 8LSU was close throughout, with several lead changes. LSU should have taken control of this game much earlier as Marcus Thorton's playmaking and the Tigers' athleticism was difficult for Butler to handle. Still, Butler was spunky and wouldn't go away. But LSU rode Thorton's 30 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals to a 75-71 win.
5Purdue looked like it was going to have a cakewalk of a first round game, leading by as much as 14 in the second half. 12Northern Iowa clawed their way back but had horrible late-minute management to ruin their hopes of an upset. Purdue 61-56.
10Maryland and 7California were close for a while but the Terrapins pulled away midway through the second half and put it on cruise-control to finish out a 84-71 victory.
The rest of the games were blowout city. 1 UConn played without coach Jim Calhoun, who went to the hospital, and used a 46-5 run to get away from 16 Chattanooga for a 103-47 win.
No Ty Lawson for 1North Carolina, no problem. Wayne Ellington scored 25 points and Tyler Hansbrough added 22 to drive a 101-58 win over 16Radford.
9Texas A&M jumped out to an 18 point lead early in the game and didn't give it up as 8BYU never really made it a game. Bryan Davis had a game high 21 points in a 79-66 Aggies win.
4Washington was a trendy upset pick, facing SEC tournament champs 13Mississippi State. Those dreams were put to bed early. The game started out closely but the Huskies took a 40-27 lead into halftime and maintained it. Quincy Pondexter scored 23 points, double his season average, to key the 71-58 UW win.

Truthfully only about half of today's eight games were entertaining. The fraction might not change for the night slate but there will be a few doozies.
6UCLA takes on 11VCU in the awaited game of the day. VCU is a hot pick to beat the higher seeded Bruins but a large portion of this UCLA has made three straight Final Four runs and Darren Collison vs. Eric Maynor is the top 1-on-1 matchup of the first round. That game is at 9:50 ET.
7CLemson and 10Michigan should be a better 7-10 game than MD-Cal. These two are evenly matched and it will be a battle of wills. Michigan is driven by its 1-3-1 zone, which could create room underneath for Tigers star power forward Trevor Booker. Game starts at 7:10 ET.
7Texas-10Minnesota should be another good, if not spectacular game. UT needs AJ Abrams to have a big game to go far. Game starts at 7:10 ET.
The other big upset selection is 12Western Kentucky over 5Illinois. WKU is a hot pick because of its Sweet Sixteen run from last year, but Courtney Lee graduated to the NBA. AJ Slaughter took over his scoring load, and after upsetting Louisville earlier this year, is primed for another run. Illinois will be hurt by the loss of its facilitator point guard Chester Frazier, who won't play. That should hurt a lot. Game starts at 9:55 ET.

2009-03-19T14:33:00.001-04:00

A & M wins by 13... giving me a 3-for-3 morning. Break time... Northern Iowa and Purdue underway, 6-4 UNI. Next round of tip-offs at 3pm.

2009-03-19T14:32:00.001-04:00

LSU hangs on to beat Butler 75-71 in Greensboro thanks to a 30 point effort from Marcus Thornton. Matt Howard had 22 for the Bulldogs.

LSU just made the big shots down the stretch and were able to outlast a very scrappy Butler team. Tasmin Mitchell had 14 as well for the Tigers. LSU will meet the winner of North Carolina/Radford

The Tar Heels will not have the services of ACC Player of the Year Ty Lawson.

2009-03-19T14:31:00.001-04:00

Memphis wins 81-70 thanks to Roburt Sallie, LSU wins 75-71 thanks to Marcus Thornton and Texas A &M is using a balanced attack to hold a 13 point lead with 30 seconds left.

2009-03-19T14:27:00.002-04:00

Roburt Sallie is going to single-handedly win this game for Memphis... 35 points on 12-for-17 shooting and 10-for-15 from deep. Memphis leads the overachieving CSNR Matadors 78-68 with a minute left.

Over

2009-03-19T14:24:00.001-04:00

Put a fork in Cal-State Northridge, it's done. An 8-2 run by Memphis, including back to back threes has pretty much ended this game. It was good while it lasted for the Matadors, but the deeper, better Tigers will win out. The Tournament is still looking for its Cinderella.

2009-03-19T14:20:00.003-04:00

A&M in complete control against BYU in Philly. The Aggies started 10-of-10 from the field and jumped all over the Cougars and have gone wire-to-wire thus far. 3:50 to play, 74-59 Aggies.

2009-03-19T14:16:00.001-04:00

Memphis has regained the lead and stretched it to three, 67-64, after Robert Dozier tipped a missed shot in over 3 CSN players. CSN takes a timeout. Memphis is using its depth and athleticism edges to pull it out. Mark Hill, the CSN star, had a close up where he looked spent. Describes his team to a T. 5:21 remaining in this one

2009-03-19T14:10:00.001-04:00

Matt Howard's knee is bleeding... he's pulling the lower extremity version of Eric Montross.

LSU leads Butler 60-58, approaching four minutes left. The Bulldogs are scrappy.

2009-03-19T14:07:00.001-04:00

CSN is up 6 on Memphis, 62-56, with 10 minutes to go and their cheerleaders are pumped. Going into commercial break the CBS cameras went close up on them and that is the most excited and riled up I've ever seen any cheerleaders. I would be scared of them in a dark alley

Uh-Oh

2009-03-19T13:54:00.002-04:00

Cal-State Northridge just took the lead on a transition three by Mark Hill with 13:54 remaining and John Calipari needs a time-out. Willie Gallick adds a layup, CSN up 46-43 with 13:20 left. Butler and LSU are close as well with LSU leading 53-49 with 11 minutes to go. Looks like two great endings in the morning session, because in the third game Texas A&M up big on BYU.

Funny NCAA video

2009-03-19T13:51:00.001-04:00

One of the most famous shots of past NCAA Tournaments was Christian Laettner's fadeaway to beat Kentucky and Rick Pitino... here's a funny commercial featuring the shot and the two aforementioned basketball names.

http://ballhype.com/video/laettner_and_pitino_recreate_the_shot_vitaminwater_ad/

2009-03-19T13:42:00.003-04:00

Butler and LSU locked in a tight game as Bulldogs have erased a 13 point deficit and trail by just two, 46-44 with 13:30 to play in the game.

Matt Howard has been dominant inside since reentering the game with four minutes left in the first half after he picked up two quick fouls.

In Philly: A&M still front-running against BYU -- 54-40, 13 minutes to play.

Connecticut to play without Calhoun

2009-03-19T13:25:00.002-04:00

The Huskies will play tonight without coach Jim Calhoun. He was taken to the hospital and assistant George Blaney will coach the game against Chattanooga. This is the second time UConn has played without the Hall of Famer. He missed the second half in the team's victory over Rutgers on January 3. In that half, UConn turned a 11 point halftime lead into a 31 point win.

2009-03-19T13:22:00.001-04:00

Roburt Sallie has 17 points for Memphis on 6-for-8 shooting, but the Tigers have yet to establish Shawn Taggert. He started 3-for-3 in the first four minutes, but hasn't attempted a shot since. I don't get it.

Foul trouble is killing Memphis too as Evans has barely played.

Kenny Daniels and Tremaine Townsend have nine a piece for Cal St.-Northridge.

34-31 Memphis at the half... can the Matadors channel Hampton-Iowa St?

Get to know Cal-State Northridge

2009-03-19T13:18:00.002-04:00

Since they're making it a close game with Memphis, why not take this time to learn a little something about the school.

Ken Pomroy has them as his 105th best team. Tightly squeezed between Miami (OH) and Portland. That's 10 spots higher than St. John's and 12 higher than 13 seed Portland State. Pomroy has Memphis as number one.
They have a student population of 20,955. Memphis has 15,813.
57.1% of the students are female.

2009-03-19T13:11:00.005-04:00

Halftime in Greensboro: LSU 35 Butler 29 -- Butler rattles in a three at the buzzer to cut the lead to six. LSU has dominated the half, but Bulter is within striking distance and should make for a good second half.

Butler had four freshmen and one sophomore on the floor for the last five minutes. Talk about young and as Jim Nantz pointed out the Bulldogs also have a 32-year-old coach.

In Philly: Texas A&M keeping BYU at arms length at the half leading 42-30.

2009-03-19T12:48:00.003-04:00

Butler hasn't shot the ball well, but they have clamped down defensively and pulled back within four at 15-13 with 7:30 to play. The Bulldogs have done all of this with Matt Howard on the bench in foul trouble.

CBS also hoping this game stays close so that they can put their new A-team of Jim Nantz and Clark Kellogg on display. Kellogg took over as the lead color commentator after the network parted ways with Billy Packer.

2009-03-19T12:43:00.002-04:00

Texas A & M has hit its first seven shots and 25 percent three-point gunner Derrick Roland has hit two from deep in the first four minutes to give the Aggies a 18-7 lead over BYU in Philadelphia.

2009-03-19T12:40:00.001-04:00

Memphis’ staple all season has been defense and up-tempo play. They’ve wanted to play low-scoring games and make teams watch Tyreke Evans carve up man-to-man sets.

So far, it looks as if Memphis will have to rely on the post play of Shawn Taggart. He has experience in the Dance and is the only one in rhythm in the early going of the 2-seed’s opener against 15-seed Cal St.-Northridge.

CS-NR came out hot, hitting three of its first four shots and four attempts from the stripe. It was as if the Matadors were pushing the tempo and dictating the game, something you don’t often see against a John Calipari squad.

The score is 11-11 at the first official timeout… and Memphis really doesn’t want the score in the 70s. Get the ball inside to Taggart and work the half-court game.

2009-03-19T12:34:00.002-04:00

13:34 left in Greensboro and LSU has got off to a fast start against Butler leading 13-6. Horizon League Player of the Year Matt Howard just picked up his second foul and is on the bench.
LSU has been one of the most surprising teams this year increasing its win total by 13. The Tigers have forced the Bulldogs into turnovers and have taken advantage in transition.

Let the Madness Begin

2009-03-19T12:27:00.003-04:00

So the tournament has finally got started after three days of waiting and mind changing and we are here to keep you updated throughout the day on what's going on around the country.

The Madness begins within the hour...

2009-03-19T11:32:00.002-04:00

Stay tuned for content... the NCAA Tournament is minutes from tip-off.

A Different Way to Fill Out the Bracket

2009-03-18T20:12:00.002-04:00

For the most part people are filling out their brackets qualitatively. Just an intuitive process where your brain strains out all the basketball you've watched and picks games. It's not a bad way to go. Remember, your 4th grade teacher always said to go with your first answer.
But if that isn't enough, there is a site out there that can add some quantitative substance to your decisions. I referenced a bunch of rankings and stats in the prior days and they all came from this site.
Pomroy brings Billy Beane's moneyball to the college basketball court. He has great stats that adjust offensive efficiency and defensive efficiency past just the superficial points allowed and scored. And by way of statistical alchemy creates his own formula for ranking all 344 teams, from Memphis to NJIT.
(Sidebar: my personal favorite stat is effective length which measures how each team's height is functional)
And for all those that are curious about what the stats have to say but don't wanna go to the site, Pomroy's best two teams are Memphis and North Carolina. In that order

A couple games that could be close...

2009-03-18T16:14:00.002-04:00

We'll be providing updates on games and thoughts as the Madness starts tomorrow at noon, but before you submit your bracket, remember to be careful with a couple first-round games.

I'm not saying these two teams will win (I actually think both will go down), but I have a strong feeling that this pair of teams will not be out of their respective games at halftime.

No. 14 North Dakota St.-- All the pundits are raving over this team and I guarantee you maybe three of them have seen the Bison play in person. Last year, I had the pleasure of watching Ben Woodside, Brett Winkleman and company at the RAC and they are a special team. With four 5th-year seniors and Woodside's 60-point game cemented in North Dakota basketball history, they will give Kansas all the defending champion wants to handle. There will be no Bucknell repeat though... damn you, Wayne Simien.

No. 15 Binghamton-- Don't sleep on the Bearcats. Don't worry about what you read in The New York Times or saw on Outside the Lines. D.J. Rivera and Tiki Mayben could both play in the Big East. When Malik Alvin thinks before he drives, he can be dynamic. If Reggie Fuller gives Lance Thomas fits underneath and the long Binghamton guards play smart perimeter defense, Duke will have to play a tentative second half. They don't want D.J. Rivera becoming the next Eric Maynor... oh, ouch, I went there.

It all begins TOMORROW!

More Madness

2009-03-18T15:29:00.003-04:00

The NCAA is offering free live streaming coverage of all games beginning Thursday with March Madness On Demand. The link is here so if the game you want to see is not on your local CBS affiliate check out the Web site and stay up-to-date with scores around the tournament.

More Bracket Fun

2009-03-17T12:22:00.002-04:00

The greatest part about the American democracy is its inherent plurality. The idea of majority and minority. Two dissenting views. Of course there is no greater time for that than when everybody fills out their brackets. Kyle and Danny have already given some of their keys for wining your pool, I'm here with more. And warning: disagreements will occur.

Sleepers to forget:
Cleveland St: Sorry Danny. While the Vikings play tremendous defense, their offense is atrocious. They have the 121st most efficient offense in the country and are not a good offensive rebounding team. That makes for a lot of misses and not enough second chance points. Combined with WFU's large athletic and height advantage, well that equals one and done for Gary Waters. On the bright side, that's still better than what his successor at Rutgers did in the CBI.
Arizona: Arizona does have a great bunch of scorers in Chase Budinger, Jordan Hill and Nick Wise. The problems is that their defense is equally bad. They have the 132nd best D in the country. That just might explain how such a talented team is so mediocre. And while Jordan Hill is a good rebounder, Utah does not give up offensive rebounds taking away second chance points. And one more piece of information. The same argument people are using this year to predict a UA upset was being used last year when they were a 10 seed and had Jerryd Bayless. That ended with a 10 point loss in the first round.

Upsets to ponder later on:
West Virginia over Kansas in Round 2. Both teams should advance out of the first round although the Jayhawks being upset by North Dakota State isn't completely out of the question. But should these two match up, go with the Mountaineers. For intangible reasons just look at the job Bob Huggins did last year in getting his lower seeded team to the Sweet Sixteen. Tangibly, look at how WVU shut down Pitt's inside-out combo of DaJuan Blair and Sam Young. Now think of how they'll matchup with Sherron Collins and Cole Aldrich. Also, KU has come in losing 2 of their last 3, not exactly peaking for tourney time.
Connecticut over Memphis in Round 4: I know, I know. UConn is a 1, Memphis is a 2. But everywhere I look has Memphis going to the Final Four and UConn lost in the fray. My piece of advice: don't be fooled by Memphis. Some of their appeal is that they did so well last year. But Derrick Rose is gone and Tyreke Evans cannot dominate a game as well. They also hav e great length and can use it to dominate. But UConn can match them in that department with Stanley Robinson, Hasheem Thabeet and Jeff Adrien. The biggest difference will be the ability to score. The Tigers struggle to do so, While Connecticut is just a bit better. In a matchup like this, it can make all the difference

March Madness Locks and Traps

2009-03-17T00:12:00.003-04:00

Since I know Kyle and Mike are giving you in-depth looks at each game, I’m going to take a slightly different approach. I’ll give you my top five trap picks and my top five best upset picks for the Round of 64.

Top Five Trap Picks (Don’t make ‘em)

VCU over UCLA— I love Eric Maynor’s point-guard skills as much as anyone, but let’s be serious. Darren Collison has been to three Final 4s. He just wins games and Ben Howland’s crew wins this one by 10+.

BC over USC—I always thought Al Skinner was slightly overrated, even during the years he roamed the Big East sidelines. Tyrese Rice is extremely talented, but I’m not sure that the Eagles’ wings and posts can hang with Demar Derozan and Taj Gibson. Tim Floyd’s team is just too athletic.

Temple over Arizona St.—For those of you making this pick, why? Seriously, really, why? Dionte Christmas is good, I get that. But A-10 vs. Pac-10 and Christmas versus one of my favorite players in the nation in James Harden—those both swing the momentum in the favor of the Sun Devils. The Owls will get blown out here.

Butler over LSU—Marcus Thornton may be the best scorer in the country that nobody knows about down in the Bayou. I know they ran things in a very weak SEC, but I’ve had enough of the obsession with Butler. Coach Brad Stevens has done an awesome job there and he looks like he’s 20 years old in the process. The Bulldogs took a hit with the loss to Gary Waters and his Cleveland St. crew and will keep this game close. Too much Thornton though…

Wisconsin over Florida St.—The Badgers are probably one of the top three least-deserving teams of a bid in this field and now they’re a trendy upset pick? I don’t get the rationale other than the fact that Bo Ryan finds a way to get it done. Toney Douglas at FSU is a prolific offensive threat and he will single-handedly beat Wisconsin.

Top 5 Upset Picks (Roll with ‘em)

Western Kentucky over Illinois—This WKU team knows how to pull upsets… they bounced Drake from last year’s Big Dance. Illinois will most likely be without superstar point guard Chester Frazier… hurting the chances of an already mediocre team that scored 33 against Penn St. in a game this year.

Maryland over Cal—Greivis Vasquez (pictured) can score in so many different ways and I’m not 100 percent convinced that Gary Williams has let the game pass him by yet. It pains me to bet against Mike Montgomery and his offensive brilliance, but I think that the Terps have what it takes.

Arizona over Utah—Don’t worry about what the pundits are saying—about how Utah was strong in a tough Mountain West, about how they beat LSU by 30, etc… Arizona can score in bunches. I like Chase Budinger and Jordan “Double-Double Machine” Hill to bring the Wildcats through to the Round of 32.

Tennessee over Oklahoma St.—This is purely a by-seed upset. Bruce Pearl’s team has so much talent with Wayne Chism, Tyler Smith and Scotty Hopson. They can light it up from deep, but must limit the stupid mistakes that cost them in the SEC title game against Mississippi St. Pearl’s late-game management was atrocious. A hobbled Byron Eaton tries to keep the Cowboys in it but can’t find a way…

Cleveland St. over Wake Forest—I’m not taking it in my bracket because I’m a wimp, but this is certainly possible for Mr. Waters. St. John’s transfer Cedric Jackson is coupled with hard-nosed post J’Nathan Bullock. Don’t sleep on the Vikings, but I’m worried about the Demon Deacons ability to score, hence why this is my least confident pick.

Enjoy the start of the Madness. I know I will.

Breaking Down the Bracket (cont.)

2009-03-16T21:35:00.007-04:00

Here is the other half of the bracket with thoughts on the first round games (I'm also sure that Mike will disagree with me wholeheartedly so check back for his picks later -- it will make for good talk around the water cooler):

EAST

No.1 Pittsburgh vs. No.16 East Tennessee St. -- The Panthers are simply to physical for the Bucs and DeJuan Blair will have a big game inside. The Pick: Pittsburgh 75 East Tennessee St. 51

No.8 Oklahoma St. vs. No.9 Tennessee -- Tennessee is a very dangerous nine seed. If they shoot the ball well from the outside they have a chance to spring a few upsets in this tourney. The Pokes' will provide a tough test, but just too much Wayne Chism and Tyler Smith for OSU to handle. The Pick: Tennessee 78 Oklahoma St. 70

No.5 Florida St. vs. No.12 Wisconsin -- This is all about Tony Douglas. The explosive FSU point guard will be a handful for the Badgers. You can never count out a Bo Ryan coached team, but they just won't have an answer for Douglas. The Pick: Florida St. 75 Wisconsin 67

No.4 Xavier vs. No.13 Portland St. -- Portland actually gets to play this game at home and although the Musketeers sleep walked through the back-end of the A-10 schedule Sean Miller can coach em' up in March and the X-Men are battled tested and will be ready to make another deep tourney run. The Pick: Xavier 67 Portland St. 53

No.6 UCLA vs. No.11 Virginia Commonwealth -- Ben Howland's Bruins have been to three straight final four's, but they will be tested right out of the gate. Eric Maynor is one of the top five point guards in college basketball and Anthony Grant is a rising star in the coaching ranks. The Rams knocked out Duke in a 6-11 game two years ago and Maynor and co. will do it again pulling a major upset in Philly. The Pick: Virginia Commonwealth 74 UCLA 72

No.3 Villanova vs. No.14 American -- Combine Nova' in Philly and Scottie Reynolds (right) and Villanova will be just too much for the Eagles. The Pick: Villanova 83 American 65

No.7 Texas vs. No.10 Minnesota -- The Longhorns have been incredibly inconsistent, but if J.J. Abrams can be effective from three than the Horns' will beat Tubby Smith's Gophers. By the way how great is it to see Smith back in the tourney after being run out of town by Kentucky. And where are the Wildcats? N.I.T. The Pick: Texas 76 Minnesota 69

No.2 Duke vs. No.15 Binghamton -- Binghamton probably deserved better than a 15 seed, but Duke is just two talented for a Bearcats squad that won the America East regular season and tourney titles. The Pick: Duke 72 Binghamton 59

SOUTH

No. 1 North Carolina vs. No.16 Radford -- A 16 has never beaten a one, but Radford...just kidding! The Pick: North Carolina 95 Radford 57

No.8 LSU vs. No.9 Butler -- The Tigers were one of the nation's surprise team's, but Butler has been here before and the LSU players have not. The Bulldogs gut out a close win. The Pick: Butler 71 LSU 67

No.5 Illinois vs. No.12 Western Kentucky -- Illinois point guard Chester Frazier has a band hand and the Illini struggle to score without him. Upset alert here -- the Hilltoppers get it done for the second straight year. The Pick: Western Kentucky 68 Illinois 59

No.4 Gonzaga vs. No.13 Akron -- Another potential upset here as the MAC champs enter having won six of eight, but Josh Heytvelt and Jeremy Pargo will be too much down the stretch as the Zags' avoid another disappointing early exit. The Pick: Gonzaga 72 Akron 66

No.6 Arizona St. vs. No.11 Temple -- Christmas in March. Dionte (left) leaves the Sun Devils with a lump of coal after his three point barrage lifts Fran Dunphey's club into the second round. The Pick: Temple 64 Arizona St. 60

No.3 Syracuse vs. No.13 Stephen F. Austin -- Do the Orange have anything left in the tank? They are bound to throw in a clunker and hopefully it comes against the Lumberjacks because they are still good enough to win this game. The Pick: Syracuse 69 Stephen F. Austin 60

No.7 Clemson vs. No.10 Michigan -- Two clubs that are inconsistent, but could be dangerous if they start firing on all cylinders. It has been a while for the Wolverines and they will use that as motivation to get at least a win here. The Pick: Michigan 69 Clemson 65

No.2 Oklahoma vs. No.15 Morgan St. -- Morgan St. beat Maryland this season, but the Terps didn't have anybody like Blake Griffin. It will be close for a half before the Sooners pull away. The Pick: Oklahoma 81 Morgan St. 64

Bracket Breakdown

2009-03-16T21:18:00.003-04:00

Now that everybody has had about 24 hours to digest the brackets and listen to the talking heads at ESPN and every other network, it's time for me to take my shot at swaying you to alter your bracket and utterly destroying any hope you had at winning any sort of prize (note: we do not condone gambling here at thebigbeastnj). But here comes a region-by-region breakdown of the first round anyway:

MIDWEST

No.1 Louisville vs. No.16 Alabama St./Morehead St. – The rout will be on early as the Cardinals are too athletic for either of these minnows. The Pick: Louisville 94 Alabama St. 58

No.8 Ohio St. vs. No.9 Siena – The Buckeyes got to the Big Ten finals so they come in with a little bit of momentum, but nothing they have done this season has been overly spectacular. Siena blindsided Vanderbilt last year and played a tough non-conference schedule although they didn’t win any of those games. Kenny Hasbrouck averages 14.8 points per game and three other Saints average in double figures. Hasbrouck will be the difference as Siena advances. The Pick: Siena 68 Ohio State 62

No.4 Wake Forest vs. No.13 Cleveland St. – Gary Waters makes his first tourney appearance with the Vikings and they will keep it close against an athletic Wake squad, but Geoff Teague will be too much down the stretch. The Pick: Wake Forest 73 Cleveland St. 62

No.5 Utah vs. No.12 Arizona – So Arizona gets in as one of the final teams included and they are a dangerous twelve seed. But the Utes won a very tough Mountain West and have showed up in big games. They beat Gonzaga and LSU (by 30). Picking Arizona looks appetizing, but Utah is going to win this game. The Pick: Utah 75 Arizona 63

No.6 West Virginia vs. No.11 Dayton – This is an extremely intriguing game because the Flyers have shown brilliance this year, beating a full-strength Marquette, but they backed into the tourney losing four of their last seven. WVU looked good at the BET and Devin Ebanks is star in the making. The Mountaineers will get it done in a close grind-it-out game. The Pick: West Virginia 64 Dayton 58

No.3 Kansas vs. No.14 North Dakota St. – NDSU is led by guard Ben Woodside who scored 60 points in a triple overtime game earlier this year. Mr. 60, as he’s known in Bison territory will keep it close in the first half, but the Jayhawks just have too much talent and will overwhelm the Bison in the second half. The Pick: Kansas 77 North Dakota St. 60

No.7 Boston College vs. No.10 USC – This game is a toss-up. The Eagles have shown they can beat good teams and the Trojans have momentum after playing their way in by winning the Pac 10 tourney. Go with the higher seed. The Pick: Boston College 76 USC 73

No.2 Michigan St. vs. No.15 Robert Morris – Remember how ole’ Sparty lobbied for a number one seed then got clobbered by Ohio St. in the Big Ten semis. MSU is where they belong on the two line and Tom Izzo’s club will beat-up on the Northeast Conference champions. The Pick: Michigan St. 79 Robert Morris 59

WEST

No.1 Connecticut vs. No.16 Chattanooga – The last time UConn was a one seed in the west region they won a national title. The last time UConn was a one seed and opened play in Philly they almost lost to No.16 Albany. Jim Calhoun won’t let that happen again. The Pick: Connecticut 81 Chattanooga 63

No.8 BYU vs. No.9 Texas A&M – I can’t seem to place why this sounds so familiar – oh, wait they met in this same exact matchup last year with the Aggies winning. The Cougars want revenge and will get it thanks to Lee Cummard, one of the best players you’ve never heard of. The Pick: BYU 63 Texas A&M 61

No.5 Purdue vs. No.12 Northern Iowa – The Big Ten champs have a lot of momentum and they will need Robbie Hummel to shoot the ball well if they want to get far. The Missouri Valley champs will be a tough first round game, but the Boilers should have enough to avoid the upset.
The Pick: Purdue 61 Northern Iowa 56

No.4 Washington vs. No.13 Mississippi St. – Talk about on a roll and just look at the Bulldogs who played their way in by winning the SEC tourney. Jarvis Vernardo is a beast inside, but so in the Huskies’ Jon Brockman who averages 14.9 points per game. People haven’t got to see a lot of Washington because they play on the west coast, but U-Dub is really good. The Pick: Washington 74 Mississippi St. 65

No.6 Marquette vs. No.11 Utah St. – The Golden Eagles have a clipped wing without superstar Dominick James, but they showed a lot of heart coming back against Villanova in the BET, and Buzz Williams crew will be good for a win here against an Aggies team that has a very inflated 30 wins. The Pick: Marquette 72 Utah St. 61

No.3 Missouri vs. No.14 Cornell – It took Mike Anderson and his ’40 minutes of Hell’ just three seasons to bring the Tigers back from the dead and with all their athleticism they are primed for a deep tourney run. The Pick: Missouri 87 Cornell 62

No.7 California vs. No.10 Maryland – Cal is another team we don’t know a lot about because they are on the west coast, but they do have very good guard play with Jerome Randle who averages 18.4 points per game. The Terps will counter with Greivis Vasquez, a guy who loves to make big shots. He will make one in this game to lift Maryland into round two. The Pick: Maryland 73 California 72

No.2 Memphis vs. No.15 Cal-State Northridge – Too big, too long, too athletic. Tigers roll. The Pick: Memphis 80 CS Northridge 55

An intriguing possibility out of the Midwest bracket

2009-03-16T18:15:00.002-04:00

Louisville is by far the favorite as the easiest team to pencil into the Final Four. And considering the way they've played lately, especially the defensive tour de-force they put on in the Big East Tournament. But don't be surprised if they run into a problem in the Sweet Sixteen.
That problem, if it arises, will be Wake Forest. The reason why Wake is so problematic is because the Demon Deacons are almost a mirror image of the Cardinals.
A large part of Louisville's success is its unmatched length and athleticism in the frontcourt. Terrence Williams is a 6'6" point guard of sorts, a slasher and gasher who plays a vital role in running the offense from the wing. Samardo Samuels is the burly 6'9" center who provides the yin to Samuels yang, muscling to get buckets while Williams uses his superior athleticism. And Earl Clark provides a little bit of both. At 6'9" he can score from the perimeter with ease, as he did against Villanova in the BET semis, or finish inside using his length. And having the 6'10 Terrence Jennings coming off the bench to provide rebounding and shot-blockings is certainly not a hinderance to success.
That frontcourt makes the Cards lethal in man-to-man defense or in the 2-3 zone. And the full court press is the biggest nuisance in all of college basketball. Their size gives them an advantage that most teams in the country can't match. Except Wake Forest.
James Johnson is 6'9" and while not as athletic as Williams, will present many problems for him when the two match-up. Johnson sometimes gets happy with the three-pointer but when he puts it on the floor can create trouble for a defense.
Al-Farouq Aminu is lesser developed version of Clark. The 6'9" forward with the wide wingspan can run the floor, finish inside and sporadically hit from the outside. Aminu is a better rebounder though. Seeing these two match up will be tantalizing. One reporter at the BET called Clark Louisville's "plastic man." Aminu is almost his equal.
The big x-factor is Chas McFarland. And by big I mean seven feet tall big. McFarland will most likely match up with Samuels on defense and Samuels has shown troubles scoring against bigger guys. It will be just as hard rebounding defensively for the freshman and trying to keep McFarland from giving WF second chances. Even if the Cards go to the zone, that means finding bodies in order to box out a bigger and just as athletic team.
The reason why this match-up gets extremely troublesome for UL, if it happens, is because of their disadvantage in the backcourt. Jeff Teague is a transcendent player and can take over a game. He averaged 19 ppg and 1.9 spg while shooting 48% and 44% from beyond the arc. That will be tough to guard for any of the Cards' guards.
But while Louisville's zone may be troubled by the WF frontcourt, it can also be the great equalizer. Wake Forest is an atrocious outside shooting team. They're horrible. As a team they are shooting 31% from three-pt land. But that is misleading. Teague is the only one shooting over 33 percent and he has taken more than a quarter of their threes.
If it happens, this should be an epic match-up and one of the best possible ones in the entire tournament.

Hypothetically Speaking

2009-03-15T20:52:00.000-04:00

Hypothetical question: What would the college basketball world be like right now if Louisville had stayed in Conference USA?
Now that the two have locked up 1 and 2 seeds, it's as good a time as ever to wonder what if?
Usually when throwing around the "What if?" in this part of the college sports country, it's about what if the Big East never lost Miami, Virginia Tech and Boston College? How would the football conference look? Would the basketball side be as dominant?
But what if the Cards stayed where they were? At that time Louisville was on their way to national prominence. In 2005, the last season UL was in C-USA, they reached the Final Four. Not too shabby for a mid-major.
At the same time Memphis was also on the rise. John Calipari had turned things around at Penny Hardaway's alma mater. But as off 2005 they were still on the cusp. Who can forget them missing the tournament because Darius Washington missed two free throws in the conference tournament championship game with no time remaining and his team down one? And then collapsing at the free throw line in tears.
Since then Calipari has led Memphis to a championship game and gotten the best player in his class twice, with Xavier Henry and DeMarcus Cousins.
Still, would either program be the same if Louisville had stayed?
For Louisville, I believe it would have. Rick Pitino is a proven winner and he had no problem doing it in the C-USA. He got the program to the final weekend in the conference and seemed prime to make it a constant. It also helped him that Kentucky was on the way down, making UL the power of the region.
But Memphis, maybe not. The player that changed their program, Derrick Rose, came only after Memphis had established themselves as kings of the mid-major. At the same time their success up to that point had been enough to show Rose that he could go to C-USA and not become irrelevant.
Not to say Memphis would have become irrelevant with Louisville there. Just not as important. Unburdened by battling for recruits in the region, knowing full well that if anyone substantial came along Calipari could snatch them up, Memphis moved their recruiting to a nation scope. A program can't be big-time these days without recruiting nationwide.
It seems unlikely that so many major recruits as Memphis and Louisville have been able to grab the last 3 years would have agreed to go to C-USA without a guarantee of dominance and prominence. Look at Gonzaga. They have been able to recruit in the WCC and get some big recruits like Austin Daye but no other team has been as successful.
So what would have become of Memphis and Louisville if the Cards never left? Louisville would be largely unchanged. And Memphis would have been right on their tail, but probably not at the level they are now.

Selection Sunday Morning Run

2009-03-15T11:49:00.000-04:00

After a crazy week at MSG and the Louisville Cardinals proving that they’re the best team in the nation (by winning the regular season and tournament in the toughest conference in the nation), it’s Selection Sunday! So, here you go folks, a morning run of bracketology links.

Mark Schlabach’s biggest questions on this Selection Sunday morning.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?entryID=3981625&name=marchmadness

Dan Wetzel’s coverage of the Big East Tournament couldn't rival Mike Vorkunov and Kyle Franko's, but at least he tried…

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/news?slug=dw-louisville031409&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

Andy Glockner of Sports Illustrated pulls his best Joe Lunardi just 12 hours before the field is announced…

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/andy_glockner/bracket/index.html?bcnn=yes

The Chicago Tribune chimes in on who deserves No. 1 seeds and who helped their cause to make the field of 65.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/college/chi-15-ryan-ncaa-tournament-bubbmar15,0,3396758.story

The Orlando Sentinel takes a look at the Florida-Florida St. NIT-NCAA role reversal.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/orl-sportsbkcncaa15031509mar15,0,1264821.story

Enjoy your Sunday of title games and the release of the bracket… we’ll provide our upset picks later!

Cards take first Big East Tournament Crown

2009-03-15T00:09:00.003-04:00

NEW YORK – It was going to happen sooner or later. And for Syracuse the fatigue set in just in time for Louisville to pull away in the second half and double their delight in the Big East.
But it wasn’t easy for the Cardinals. Much like the semi-final against Villanova they fell behind early and needed a spark after the break to capture their first Big East tournament title 76-66 Saturday night at Madison Square Garden.
“We entered the Big East the wrong year coming off a final four where we lost our leadership and talent,” Louisville head coach Rick Pitino said. “We had to rebuild in the Big East. People ask me ‘how does it feel to win one’ and they don’t realize we’ve only been in the league four years and these guys came in the NIT year, and are going out Big East regular season and conference champions.”
Trailing by eight at the half, Louisville opened the second half on a tear outscoring Syracuse 21-5 over the first 6:15 of the period. Earl Clark capped the run with a three pointer that put the Cardinals up 51-43 – it was a lead they would never relinquish. Clark finished with 13 points, nine in the second half to go with 10 boards.
Samardo Samuels led the team with 15 points, but it was the balanced effort for the Cards that Pitino was most satisfied with. Preston Knowles, Andre McGee, Jerry Smith and Terrence Williams also scored in double figures for the Cardinals.
“You’re legs are going to give out sooner or later,” said Pitino whose team sizzled in the second half to the tune of 60.9 percent shooting including six three pointers in the period. “They were brilliant down the stretch and I want to congratulate our guys. These two seniors are taking us on a great run – T-will was his brilliant self tonight and Andre [McGee] puts more pressure on anybody than any mother-in-law in the country.
“The guys did a great job in the second half of finding the open man and our key is, stop the three and hit the three. When you look at us you see a lopsided point total from making the three, but the three is of no value if you can’t stop the three.”
But it was the senior Williams who announced his presence on the national stage in front of the Garden crowd.
“We’ve been here three years in a row and haven’t won”, said Williams who finished with 11 points, seven rebounds and seven steals. “To come here [in the Garden] and finally be able to hold that trophy is truly amazing.”
Louisville will now turn its attention to the NCAA tournament, where the Cards are now all but assured a number one seed.
“I think it’s a distinct possibility that we will get three Big East teams at No.1 [in the NCAA tournament], but there is so much banter and talk about seeding,” Pitino said. “I’m amazed that people are getting so into it, but I can tell you from experience that it doesn’t matter where you are seeded – you have to play good basketball.”
For Syracuse, the tired legs finally caught up with them. The Orange struggled to find the basket in the second half after building a 38-30 halftime lead. They shot 36.7 percent from the field and turned the ball over 10 times in the period.
“I thought the first half we played very well on both ends,” Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim said. “In the second half we made a couple bad turnovers and they converted them. We got open looks, but you have to make shots against them because when you don’t they are going to score on the other end."
But the Orange won’t leave New York without providing the tournament with some of its most memorable moments.
“I’m really proud of what my guys did here this week and Jonny [Flynn] was unbelievable,” Boeheim said. “There are two things people are going to remember about this year – the Syracuse-UConn game and what we do in the [NCAA] Tournament."
Flynn played 34 minutes against the Cardinals, one night after playing 45 against West Virginia and 67 in the six overtime marathon against UConn.
“I was very disappointed,” said Flynn who finished with 11 points and was named the tournament’s most outstanding player. “I was so proud of my team for battling this whole week and we put in a lot of work and made it a lot further than people thought. I wasn’t really feeling fatigued, but we just made too many mistakes.”
Eric Devendorf led the Orange with 20 points, giving him 84 for the tournament – a number that broke Ben Gordon’s 81 set in 2004.
Both teams will now prepare for the NCAA tournament and the experience and pressure that comes with playing in the Big East is something Boeheim hopes will translate to wins in the coming weeks.
“We will look back on this as being a great thing for us,” said Boeheim who coached in his 14th Big East championship. “Not just this tourney but the last two weeks.”

Orange Slice Mountaineers

2009-03-13T23:00:00.006-04:00

NEW YORK - At the very least, the fans in the Garden should expect to get their money's worth when Syracuse is playing. For the second straight night, the Orange needed overtime to get the job done. And for the second straight night, they succeeded.
Syracuse didn't need six overtimes on this occasion but an extra period provided the separation between the Orange and West Virginia.
It did look like there was a chance of another overtime with West Virginia bringing the ball up down three with 19 seconds remaining, but Darryl Bryant's three-pointer was blocked. That led to an easy breakout layup for Eric Devendorf to seal the win.
WVU coach Bob Huggins put the failed game-tying possession on his shoulders. Huggins called a timeout a moment prior but did not outline everything his team was supposed to do.
"It was my fault. 20 seconds to go, I wanna make sure we’re organized defensively," said Huggins. "I should have in hindsight said what we needed to do if we needed a three and I didn’t do that. [Bryant] just wanted to make a play."
The game went to overtime because Devin Ebanks drove into the lane and was fouled with 4.8 seconds to go. He nailed both.
Syracuse jumped out to a 69-63 lead before WVU whittled away at the deficit, starting with a De'Sean Butler elbow jumper.
The Orange helped them out by missed crucial three throws. Paul Harris missed a free throw with 19 seconds remaining, that would have put the game away.
But West Virginia couldn't make it go to a second overtime.
That had to be a relief for Jonny Flynn. The frenetic guard played 67 minutes against Connecticut and followed it up with the full 45 against WVU. He showed signs of exhaust, shooting just 4-13. But he still finished with 15 points, 9 assists and 2 assists.
Flynn got a lot of help from his backcourt mates. Eric Devendorf had a game high 23 points and Andy Rautins contributed 12 off the bench.
The victory showed that talks of tiredness were overblown. Rautins said that his team was feeling pretty good after Thursday night and Kristof Ongenaet believed going to another overtime was somewhat of a blessing.
"Def after last night we’re pretty good in overtime," said the forward after grabbing a game-high ten rebounds, scoring six points, and four thieves. "We’re stronger than yesterday. Yesterday we had 6, today we only had one."
Syracuse went into the half up 36-29, thanks to a half-court miracle. Devendorf unleashed a shot from beyond half-court that went in right at the buzzer to extend SU's lead.
The shot and the halftime deficit wasn't enough to drown the Mountaineers. Led by Butler and Ebanks, who scored 21 and 22 points respectively, they battled back.
It culminated with the freshman at the line, under the bright lights of Madison Square Garden and a sold out crowd.
"All I tried to do was basically clear my mind, not let the crowd effect me," said Ebanks of his thoughts at the time.
The victory sends Syracuse to the Big East Tournament final for the 14th time, looking for their sixth title. In their way will be Louisville, who decimated Villanova earlier in the evening.

No. 1 Louisville vs. No. 4 Villanova -- Big East Semis

2009-03-13T21:02:00.007-04:00

NEW YORK -- Whatever Rick Pitino said at halftime worked.
Louisville erased a seven point deficit at the break thanks in large part to a 17-2 run right out of the locker room as the Cardinals went on to beat Villanova 69-55 in its semi-final matchup Friday night at Madison Square Garden.
"At halftime I told the guys I was speechless for the first time this year," Pitino told his team during the intermission. "I said, 'I don't recognize any of you, I don't know who you are.'"
But the Cards found their identity in the second half -- they came out on fire draining consecutive three's -- one by Earl Clark and another from Andre McGee, who finished with nine points -- all from behind the arc.
Villanova head coach Jay Wright immediately called timeout, but the Wildcats were unable to handle the Louisville pressure early in the half. And after a Preston Knowles three pointer with 15:16 to play the Cardinal's had turned a seven point deficit into a seven point lead.
"I think we pressured and dug in," Clark said about the difference between the first and second half. "We got back to what we do -- forcing turnovers and our guards did a great job putting the heat [on Villanova's] guards and we hit open threes."
Clark led Louisville with 17 points including a late tip-in and three pointer that put the dagger in the Wildcats. Jerry Smith added 16 points for the Cardinals.
Louisville forced Villanova into 12 second half turnovers -- 23 for the game, as they held the Wildcats to just 28 percent from the field in the period.
"When we play man or zone we really put great emphasis on pressuring the basketball," Pitino said.
Dwayne Anderson, Dante Cunningham and Corey Fisher each had 14 points for the Wildcats (26-7), but Louisville turned up the defense on Scottie Reynolds limiting the guard to just two points on 1-of-6 shooting while forcing him into six turnovers.
Even without Reynolds, Villanova countered Louisville's punch, steadying the ship and an Anderson tip-in with 8:15 to play tied the score at 50. But the Cardinals proved to be too much down the stretch rattling off 10 straight points creating a deficit that was insurmountable for the Wildcats.
"They really did a great job on him. They doubled him every time he had the ball in the backcourt." Wright said of the Louisville defense against Reynolds who came into the game averaging 15.9 points per game. "They're the best defensive team in the country. On a night like that when they're going to so much pressure on Scottie, our other guys have to step up because there were opportunities for the other guys and tonight we just didn't do it."
Louisville (27-5) was limited to just 30.8 percent from the field in the first half as Villanova built its 34-26 advantage. But the Cardinals heated up after the break -- particularly from behind the arc, connecting on 8-of-15 in the second half.
For the Wildcats, they have a veteran group and Wright does not think this loss will have any effect on his team as the NCAA Tournament approaches.
"We've been good at that this year," Wright said about his team's ability to bounce back from tough losses. "I think we'll be good at it, but honestly this one -- I thought we had a chance to win this.
"We got to get over this one, there's no question. This one is tough, really tough because now you're running out of chances."
That next chance will come when the Wildcats return to Philadelphia and hope that when the brackets are released they remain at home with the Wachovia Center hosting the first two rounds.
The Cards will have one more hurdle before the NCAA Tournament when they meet the winner of No.6 Syracuse and No.7 West Virginia Saturday night. It will be their first chance in the championship game since becoming a member of the conference in 2006.
"In the past couple years together with this group we haven't had a lot of success in the Garden," Smith said. "For us to get to the championship of the Big East Tournament, that's saying a lot for us and what we've overcome."

With win Syracuse sinks to a new low

2009-03-13T19:07:00.004-04:00

Great, great, great, epic victory for Syracuse last night over Connecticut. To try to describe it would be almost blasphemy so we won't. That and by now everyone has seen the highlights ad nauseam. But as good as the game was last night, the Syracuse athletic department is just as bad.
On sale not even 24 hours after it ended, SU is selling the box scores in a plaque for $69. And for an extra $30, it will be signed by Jim Boeheim.

Big East Locks Up Third Number One Seed

2009-03-12T21:41:00.003-04:00

Louisville took care of Providence in the quarterfinals of the Big East Tournament today but the good news didn't come til later for the Huskies. As sure-to-be number one seed Pittsburgh was on their way to losing to West Virginia, possible number one seed Oklahoma was having a similar tough time with in-state rival Oklahoma State. And just like Pitt, it was not to be for the Sooners. They lost 71-70 and pretty much secured themselves a number two seed.
If the Sooners could have run the table in the Big 12 tourney, it would have compensated for their late season swoon, despite some of it coming without All-Galaxy power forward Blake Griffin. But that didn't happen. Now neither will their top seed.
Coming into tournament time UConn, Pittsburgh, North Carolina and Oklahoma were the prohibitive favorites for the four top spots. North Carolina and Pitt are definite locks and Connecticut will most likely get in because their resume is superb as their only two losses since the start of 2009 are to Pittsburgh.
That left the fourth one open. Oklahoma was the front runner because the committee was most likely going to forgive their two losses without Griffin. Unless they couldn't overcome the late season troubles even with Griffin. Now it looks like they can't.
That leaves Louisville, Michigan State and Memphis vying for that final top seed. Memphis gets penalized for playing in a putrid Conference USA, so they're undefeated record in it is irrelevant. On top of that, their best out-of-conference win is at Gonzaga. Not that impressive.
Michigan State has been very good since December. But they play in a down Big Ten. That hurts.
That leaves Louisville. They overcame a horrible first two months to win the Big East regular season championship. And getting to the semi-finals of the BET should be enough to catapult them to a No. 1.

Big East Quarterfinal Night Session

2009-03-12T21:10:00.005-04:00

NEW YORK -- Both Pittsburgh and West Virginia are securely in the NCAA Tournament field at this point, so their quarterfinal Big East matchup was purely about playing for a better seed come selection Sunday.
But it was seventh seeded West Virginia that played like the team that could be the potential number one seed tonight as the Mountaineers took control in the second half beating up their northern rivals 74-60 at Madison Square Garden.
Da'Sean Butler, Devin Ebanks and Alex Ruoff all scored in double-figures for West Virginia (23-10) with the freshman Ebanks leading the way with a game-high 20. Ruoff added 18 and Butler chipped in 16.
Ebanks was a force all night using his athletic build to trouble Pittsburgh defenders throughout the game. Ebanks got his 20 points on 5-of-9 shooting, but was able to get to the free throw line 11 times, making 10.
Second seeded Pittsburgh(28-4) was led by Sam Young's 15 points. Co-Big East Player of the Year DeJuan Blair was held in check thanks in large part to foul trouble. Blair scored six of the Panthers first nine points as Pitt jumped out to a 9-4 lead, but the sophomore picked up his second foul with just over 15 minutes remaining and was relegated to the bench for the remainder of the half. He finished with 14.
Midway through the second half Blair's frustration boiled over when he was hit with a technical foul at the 11:06 mark that sparked an 8-0 West Virginia run extending what was a seven point lead at 53-47 to 61-47.
The Mountaineers delivered the dagger minutes later when John Flowers drilled a three that gave WVU its largest lead at 68-53 with 5:18 remaining.
West Virgina shot 48 percent in the second half as they outscored Pitt 38-26 in the period. The Panthers struggled in the second half connecting on only 34.8 percent of their shots after hitting at a 53.6 percent clip in the first half.
WVU led at the half 36-34.
The Mountanieers will meet either sixth seeded Syracuse or third seeded Connecticut Saturday night.

Big East Tournament notes

2009-03-12T19:09:00.003-04:00

Some interesting notes from the Big East Tournament so far.

The game tying shot by Georgetown to tie St. John's is one of the worst last second possessions ever. Chris Wright dribbled into the corner, isolating himself away from DeJaun Summers and Jesse Sapp. Then with a timeout remaining he decides to give it to Nikita Mescheriakov. Who by the way is shooting 29% from beyond the arc this year on 42 attemts. Needless to say he looked confused in the corner, with no where to go. He then put a shot that hit the top of the backboard and put an embarassing end to the Hoyas tourney run and maybe season.
Georgetown note to think about. They've gone from Final Four two years ago to second round upset last year to one and done on the first day of the extended BET this year. Was it Jeff Green or JTIII?
There is a hand written note taped to the stats table in the media room asking to start up a donation for Mike Tranghese, presumably in appreciation of his 19 years as commissioner.
Still a lot of empty seats here at the beginning of the Pitt- WVU game. Especially in the lower bowl. Maybe its because people are still getting out of work or because its still relatively early. Or maybe its the economy.
All the coaches are wearing credentials while on the bench. Like somebody wouldnt recognize Bob Huggins if he went anywhere in the building.
NBA GMs seen so far checking out the action this week: Joe Dumars, Steve Kerr and Danny Ferry.
About ten writers huddled around a television to see the great ending to the Marquette-Villanova game on Sportscenter. Then spent the next five minutes breaking it down.

Take it Easy

2009-03-09T18:04:00.001-04:00

There’s a dirty, little secret about the Big East Tournament: to the winner go the spoiled national championship hopes. Because holding up the golden ore this Saturday night all but assures that you won’t be cutting down the nets the first Monday of April.
Which is completely antithetical to the common perception. The tournament, hosted annually at Madison Square Garden, is arguably the most prestigious and consistently memorable in college basketball history. Every March, for a week, it brings back salience to college basketball in New York. 12 teams - and for the first time ever this year: 16 teams - vie to hold up the trophy in front of a sold-out MSG crowd.
But should they? Because for all its glitz and glamour, winning the tournament may just kill all hopes of winning the Tournament that really counts a few weeks later.
In fact the trophy probably should come with the words “caveat emptor” tattooed on it somewhere.
Of 29 prior champions since the tournament’s inception in 1980, only three winners have gone on to win it all. And the ratio has gotten smaller the last five years. Of the last ten teams to play in the championship game, only two have made it as far as the Final Four and just Connecticut won the whole thing in 2004. Not a pretty tale for a conference consistently thought of as the best in the country.
The lucky 2008 winner Pittsburgh didn’t even make it to the second weekend, getting bounced in the second round by Michigan State. Runner-up Georgetown was the first Goliath that the eponymous Davidson slayed that year, losing in the second round as a two-seed. 2007 champion Georgetown lost in the Final Four to Ohio State. Pitt made it to the sweet 16.
Three years ago was particularly ugly. In 2006, champion Syracuse needed buzzer beaters from Gerry McNamara in its first three games to even get to Saturday night, before beating Pittsburgh. Then once it got to the Big Dance, it was first round upset victim, and a lot of people’s bracket buster. Pitt was only a smidge better, losing to 13 seed Bradley in the second round. But in fairness, this may be as much an indictment of Pitt’s inability to come up large in March.
In 2005, champ Syracuse got dumped as a four-seed in the first round. And while UConn won it all in 2004, second-place Pitt only made it to the Sweet 16.
So why the long history of short NCAA Tournament runs? Some say it’s because the grueling toll of playing three straight days, or in some cases four day, or potentially five days this year, is too much to take. Teams run out of gas and it shows the next weekend. And there may be some rationality to that.
Take Louisville for example. In 2007 the Cards got to the semi-finals at the Garden. Then promptly got bounced in the second round the next weekend. Last year Rick Pitino’s squad couldn’t make it past their first game and proceeded to make it to the Elite Eight.
So a word from the wise to the teams about to hit the floor at MSG: take it easy. Rest up. Conserve your energy. Reserve some time to see the sights. But whatever you do, don’t win too many games; it’s probably to your benefit.

Quick Hit-- Kentucky to the NIT?

2009-03-09T17:05:00.003-04:00

Mike and I will be scrambling around MSG tomorrow at the Big East Tournament for all four games... it should be a great day at the World's Most Famous Arena.

As for a little side-story on conference tournament week, the almighty powers-that-be at Kentucky uttered three unspeakable letters this week... N-I-T.

Take a look at this elitism...

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=3960803

Filling Out Your Bracket

2009-03-09T11:42:00.005-04:00

Tomorrow is the beginning of the Big East Tournament, and for the first time with all 16 teams participating. Or as the media wants it to be called The New Big East Tournament: Bigger, Longer, and Completely Unnecessary.
But with 16 teams comes the ability to see a Cinderella that would almost be at the level of the NCAA Tournament quality. Not saying it will happen, but what happens if a Seton Hall or St. John's makes a run to the semi-finals? That would be unbelievable, literally. If I told you today that would happen, you would not believe it.
Whatever happens, it will be a fun week at the Garden. We'll be putting up direct updates from MSG this week, but today is our version of the bracket and how it we think it's going to fill out.

16 DePaul vs. Cincinnati- The Bearcats have to be angry after the loss to SHU and DePaul is just plain horrible. Sounds like a bad combination for the Blue Demons. At least they will have plenty of time to go sightseeing; I hear the Empire State Building is nice. Final score: Cinci 79, DePaul 53.
15 Rutgers vs. 10 Notre Dame- Upset Alert! Rutgers for some reason seems to matchup well with ND, with their last two games going to the wire. Luke Harangody is basically afraid of Hamady. But with that in mind and RU's recent hot streak (one win in a row!), here is a provision somebody has to consider; can RU win without Mike Rosario? The freshman has been downright brutal the last three games. He's a combined 10-43 in that time and scored six points. RU was spunky in their win over South Florida but was horrible. ND needs this win and probably still has hopes of the tourney in their mind. Final score: ND 73, RU 63.
14 South Florida vs. 11 Seton Hall- SHU is peaking right now and USF is floundering. Interesting note is that USF is staying in the area until the their game tomorrow, after playing RU Saturday. But not much to talk about here, the Pirates should breeze through. Final Score: SHU 77, USF 61
13 St. John's vs. 12 Georgetown- Wait didn't this just happen? The Red Storm beat the Hoyas at the Garden last week but that should be a one-time deal. Georgetown still has faint mid-March hopes as well so they will be juiced tomorrow. Final score: Georgetown 65, SJU 61

WEDNESDAY
9 Cincinnati vs. 8 Providence - Providence is still on the bubble and will need this win to get in. They have swept UC this season and won't have the burden of flying in from the mid-west and playing for the second straight day. Expect this to be close but Keno Davis succeeds in his BET debut. Final Score: Providence 81, Cincinnati 71
12 Georgetown vs. 5 Marquette- Marquette's No. 5 seed is misleading. They started out 10-0 in the conference but has lost their last four after losing Dominic James. But they can still score points, something the Hoyas struggle with. It will be a gritty game and a close one that will come down to the last minute but Jerel Mcneal and Lazar Haywood will be clutch. Final Score: Marquette 74, Georgetown 68
10 Notre Dame vs. 7 West Virginia- This is a 7pm game. Perfect time to go get some dinner. Maybe the nice Italian place downtown, or something lighter if you are trying to get in shape for the summertime. I'd go with a nice dessert as well, some cheesecake sounds good. Why the talk about food? Because this is the game of the day that you can miss. Final Score: WVU 83, ND 67.
11 Seton Hall vs. 6 Syracuse- This is my game of the day. Seton Hall should get a good crowd and Syracuse always does so both teams will be amped. These two teams matchup well because Syracuse likes to go small with Paul Harris at power forward, hiding his size in their zone, and SHU has to go small with Robert Mitchell at PF. Bobby Gonzalez has done an amazing job this year by winning as many Big East games as he has rotation players, and he'll find a way to keep this one close. Cuse blew out the Hall earlier in the season but these are two different teams. Final Score: SHU 84, Syracuse 82.

THURSDAY
5 Marquette vs. 4 Villanova- This was a blowout in Marquette's favor a month ago. It could go a full 180 degrees this time. Marquette is plummetting, Villanova is hitting their stride. And not having James to guard Nova's littany of guards will be a problem. Final Score: Villanova 91, Marquette 83
7 West Virginia vs. 2 Pittsburgh- Another rendition of the Backyard Brawl on the parque, and it should be a good one. Pitt won the tourney last year but I think will not have their foot on the pedal this time around because they want to be fresh for March. This game matters for seeding for Bob Huggins. Expect to see that in the score. Final Score: WVU 73, Pitt 68.
11 Seton Hall vs. 3 Connecticut- Connecticut is definitely not the same team since losing its best backcourt player in Jerome Dyson. They've able to come out of it largely unscathed though - save two losses to Pittsburgh - because of the rapid improvement of Hasheem Thabeet. They will struggle with the better teams in March, but luckily for them Seton Hall is not on that level. And they definitely do not matchup well with the Huskies. Final Score: Connecticut 75, SHU 64
8 Providence vs. 1 Louisville- Remember when everyone thought Louisville was going to have a down year. Rick Pitino has done his annual trick of turning a putrid first half team into a Final Four contender. The Cards have flipped their "On" switch and that means the defense is suffocating. This year is no defense. Providence is going to struggle against UL because they struggle for points outside of Weyinmi Efejuku. Final Score: Louisville 69, Providence 59.

FRIDAY
7 West Virginia vs. 3 Connecticut- This could be troublesome for Connecticut. De'Sean Butler is the type of big wing player that causes problems for UConn (think Sam Young) because they don't have anybody to guard them. Stanley Robinson isn't a good enough perimeter defender and none of the guards are big enough. But Connecticut is still too good and too talented to lose to the Mountaineers because Jeff Adrien and Thabeet are uncomparable compared to what WVU has inside. But WVU can pull off the upset if Devin Ebanks comes up with a huge game. Final Score: Connecticut 68, WVU 63
4 Villanova vs. 1 Louisville- As good as Pitino's teams have been since joining the Big East, the farthest they have gotten in the BET is the semi-finals. And that was only once in 2007. It's not a coincidence either because Pitino knows that saving that energy for the tournament that really matters is more important. Villanova has the huge advantage in the backcourt and will need a huge perimeter shooting day because its outsized inside and should respond. Final Score: Villanova 72, Louisville 68.

SATURDAY NIGHT
4 Villanova vs. 3 Connecticut- UConn needs this game more than the Wildcats. If they win the BET, it should wrap up a number one seed in NCAA Tournament. If Villanova wins, they still stay in that 3-4 range, probably a 3. That's not much of a difference. So expect Jim Calhoun to get his team hyped up. The Huskies have a huge advantage in the post, offensively and defensively. Look for them to exploit that, especially defensively where they will try to force Villanova into becoming a solely perimeter team and make Dante Cunningham useless. Final Score: Connecticut 76, Villanova 68.

Player of the Tournamet: Hasheem Thabeet
Team of the Tournament:
Thabeet, Scottie Reynolds, De'Sean Butler, Efejuku, Terrence Williams

The Morning Run

2009-03-09T11:02:00.002-04:00

Hey! It's been a while since last edition of the links, but Danny and I have been - for a lack of a better word - busybeyondbelief. But we are going to try to cut down on our school work for the sake of our readers. Hopefully our loyalty to all those that visit this site over our futures will be appreciated. (And hopefully rewarded, you can decide how).

A story of supposed outrage dealing with Danny' favorite team

By far one of the coolest things I have ever heard of. Ever

Former NBA coach Eric Musselman compiles a prolific list of coach's sayings

Louisville are now Big East champs (not a game story)

Nothing to do with sports but this is interesting
A touching story

The Wall Street Journal recently started its own sports section (it's ok). This is the hard-hitting story they are covering

Weekend Forecast

2009-03-05T13:20:00.002-05:00

In my opinion there are three candidates for the most exciting time in college basketball.
Option 1: The first weekend of the Tournament. This one is the one cited as the winner by far. It's when people are sitting on the edge of their couch hoping their brackets don't get ruined or lose half their savings and hoping they won't have to leverage the money with their legs. I can gladly agree to this but doesn't it seem like a cop out to go this route?
Option 2: Conference tournament week. This one has its drama as well. Teams get off the bubble or solidify their cases. Some random SWAC team wins their conference tourney with a losing record and costs a BCS-conference team a spot in the final 65. Loud, egregious yelling ensues. Also, too easy to choose.
Option 3: This weekend. The last regular season weekend has its own excitement. Teams like Georgetown have no shot of even thinking mid-March without a win this weekend. It's also the last time to position yourself for the conference tournament where bubbles are burst and bids are won. As you can tell, the drama is deep beneath the surface but it's there. So with that in mind, here is a look at the teams who won't be sleeping easy tonight and tomorrow night.

Georgetown: They need a win Saturday just to become a bubble team. The win over Villanova seemed to assure them a spot contingent on defeating St. John's, DePaul and a first round game in the Big East Tournament probably against Rutgers. That gets them 8 regular season conference wins and 18 total, along with wins over Memphis, Maryland and at Connecticut. Easy right? Oops. Now they'll need to crush the Blue Demons Saturday and then win a second round game as well - which looks like it's going to be Syracuse.
Outlook: Hazy

Cincinnati: Their position is just about the same as the Hoyas'. They have 8 BE wins and finish out with a winnable game against Seton Hall. But their best out-of-conference victory is at UNLV. They'll probably get to 20 wins with a tourney win against DePaul but it may not be enough because of the poor OOC and the 61 RPI.
Outlook: Cloudy

Providence: This is probably the team that is going to keep Cincinnati out of the NCAA Tournament. It looks like only 8 Big East teams will get in and Providence has the better resume. Their best OOC win is Rhode Island. Not too impressive. But wins over Pittsburgh (No. 1 RPI) and Syracuse (26) help a lot, while Cinci's best are West Virginia (22) and Georgetown (44) twice. They are at Villanova this weekend, and if they win that then they lock up the tourney spot. If they lose then a date with the Bearcats will be the determining factor.
Outlook: Sunny with chances of thunderstorms

Seton Hall: They don't have NCAA Tournament hopes but Bobby Gonzalez needs to get the Pirates to the NIT. Bad. He missed last year. This year SHU is 15-14 and is going to need to win at Cinci Saturday and win the first round game against St. John's. That could be tricky because both are good home teams. Still it will be an uphill climb. Wins against USC, Virginia Tech and Georgetown help. A 105 RPI doesn't.
Outlook: Gonzo

Rutgers: They don't even have NIT hopes. No the Knights need a win against South Florida Saturday to help secure coach Fred Hill's job security. Going 1-17 in the Big East would be brutal. And the seeming transfer of Corey Chandler doesn't help. Add in a new AD and that looks like a recipe for disaster.
Outlook: Flood warning

(All RPI taken from realtimerpi.com)

Chandler to transfer?

2009-03-05T01:59:00.002-05:00

Zagsblog and Jerry Carino are both reporting that Corey Chandler will be leaving Rutgers. I tried to get down to the bottom of it and the Daily Targum's story is here

NCAA Selection Committee

2009-02-23T09:14:00.001-05:00

Rutgers fans heard yesterday about a final three for their athletic director (Tim Pernetti of CBS CSN and Rutgers Radio) and the ADs from UNC-Wilmington and Akron.

But, one of the early candidates (Chris Hill of Utah) has left the NCAA Selection Committee...

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=3922810

Pettis is multi-talented

2009-02-19T11:43:00.001-05:00

There are many ways to describe what Earl Pettis provides to the Rutgers men’s basketball team. He is a jack of all trades, a stat-line stuffer, a renaissance man on the basketball court.
With a reputation like that it’s difficult to figure out what Pettis does best, even by his own account. Even Pettis says his strength is his versatility.
“A little bit of everything,” Pettis replies when asked about the backbone of his game.
Just as many ways as there are to classify Pettis, that’s how many ways he finds to contribute on the court.
His season averages of 4.8 points per game and 2.5 rebounds are deceiving because Pettis’ playing time has vacillated as the Scarlet Knights have struggled to find a defined rotation. But when Pettis gets the chance, he produces.
In his last four games – all but one he started – Pettis is putting up 11 ppg, 5.2 rpg and an impressive 2.25 steals.
Pettis has two goals when he gets in the game.
“I try to do what the team needs me to do to win,” says Pettis. “And whatever coach [Fred] Hill needs me to do to win that day.
That’s sometimes easier said then done. It’s not always about following directions, Pettis has to do some cognitive work of his own in figuring out what the team needs.
“I just go out there with my instincts and when I see the team struggling in an area I try to go out there and help the team in that area,” said Pettis of his mindset upon hitting the floor.
Along with the tangibles he provides defense and often wins hustle points. Because of his all-around game and altruism, Pettis has emerged as a glue guy for Rutgers. Not coincidentally, the team has played better of late even though the wins haven’t been there to back it up.
“He’s out there and last two games he’s been stepping up big for us,” said Mike Coburn of his teammate. “I know his confidence is up and he’s playing well and it’s helping us as a team and we’re looking for more of that.”
Pettis has taken over that role this year from Coburn. Last year’s Coburn’s was the key to the Knights’ mid-season rejuvenation. He keyed wins over ranked Villanova and Pittsburgh and was awarded the Big East Rookie of the Week.
This year has been a different story for the sophomore. Coburn came in with elevated expectations but saw them deflated as he struggled to gain playing time and his play suffered accordingly.
“Yeah I believe so,” said Coburn, blaming his poor play on not seeing the floor consistently. “Not knowing when you’re going to be out there sometimes. How long you’re going to be out there. It definitely messes with your confidence and you’re game overall. It played a toll on me.”
Then given the chance to start Saturday night against Providence due to Mike Rosario’s injury troubles, Coburn delivered with a season-best 14 points.
Coincidentally it came right in time for RU’s lone meeting with Villanova. Driven by his desire to prove that last year was no fluke and coming off his best game of the year, Coburn has something to prove tonight.
” Yea go out there and I just want to build on this,” said Coburn. “I’m just going out there to hopefully get a win and help my team.”

RU freshmen not hitting the wall (written prior to the Providence game)

2009-02-17T13:24:00.001-05:00

By Mike Vorkunov
Senior Writer
He won't get any commemorative china or even any kudos, but Gregory Echenique will reach a milestone of sorts Saturday night against Providence. It will be Rutgers' and his 25th game of the season, tying the most he's ever played in a year.
Congratulations, and hope it doesn't hurt because this is right about the time freshmen hit that infamous rookie wall.
There's just one caveat, Echenique says that he is just fine. Sure there is the normal wear and tear, the dings and nagging injuries that come with a long college basketball season that started back in October. Going to class can be cumbersome at times. The daily guessing game of what will hurt that day – back one day, legs the next – probably gets tiring.
But hitting that wall? That’s not an issue.
“I wouldn’t say I’m hitting the wall like that,” says Echenique. “I’m not going to lie, I feel tired because its been a long season, and we still have seven games left. Even though I played 25 games in high school, here its much more physical because it’s the Big East every night and they are stronger guys. I wouldn’t say I’m hitting the wall, I’m just a little tired.”
In fact the biggest hurdle to overcome at this point in the season hasn’t been the physical aches and pains, but the mental strain. Fellow freshman Patrick Jackson says the transition from one level of basketball to another causing growing pains.
“Its way different than high school because in high school you’re always the man,” says Jackson. “You do what ever you have to do. In college everything is based around the team, play your position and play your role.”
Perhaps even more oxymoronic is that Rutgers’ freshmen have used the long season to their benefit, instead of being weighed down by it. But it’s not something that has surprised Corey Chandler.
“Mike [Rosario], he’s different from freshmen because instead of him hitting the wall, he’s matured his game,” says Chandler of how his teammate has improved. “If you look back at it from the beginning of the season, he’s a chicken running loose, just shooting the ball and being a freshman. Now you can see he understands the game a little bit, becoming better, slowing down and he’s making better shot selection.”
Chandler’s point is backed up by statistics. Despite playing much tougher competition, and a constant stream of ranked teams, Rosario has not seen his numbers take a dip since Big East play started.
Some of the credit for the freshman’s avoidance of an annual freshman trap can be given to Phil Dyer, the strength and conditioning coach. Echenique and Jackson both gave mentioned their conditioning and workouts as a key reason they’ve been able to avoid the wall.
Dyer’s system starts almost from the moment they step foot on campus. Lifting sessions and runs occupy player’s time from their high school graduation till the summer league. Then after a break in August comes the hard part, workouts five times a week from September till practice starts in mid-October.
But at this point of the season, Dyer has a different goal: just keeping his players healthy.
“This time of the year it’s really an in-season maintenance program from my end of it,” says Dyer. “Weight training is only two days a week, usually the day after a game never the day before it. A lot of it is just therapy stuff to make sure we don’t get hurt, maintain our strength. So usually we try to take them from a very high level and ease them to peaking around mid-February to March.”
Although Jackson, Echenique and Rosario haven’t hit the wall physically, the struggles of dealing with the season have been mitigated by the Scarlet Knights’ losing ways. Their 10-14 record this season means Echenique and Rosario have lost more games this year than in their junior and senior seasons combined, where they lost only three.
To counteract the newfound distractions, Chandler says it is going to come down to how strong they are mentally.
“It’s a mental thing,” says Chandler. “If you could control the mind everything will be easy. Greg, if he can control everything up top, the game will come smooth for him. And same thing with Mike. And Patrick Jackson if he gets an opportunity to play.”

Could UNC get better in the coming weeks?

2009-02-17T11:46:00.002-05:00

This would be huge for UNC if Tyler Zeller can give it a go...

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=3911681

The Morning Run

2009-02-16T00:00:00.002-05:00

The tale of Danny Granger
An unsavory trend in college basketball
Reunited and it feels so good
A-Rod hopes this can all go away
An ode to the Palestra
Could Brett Favre be back?

Welcome Back Irish

2009-02-13T14:44:00.002-05:00

So raise your hand if you saw that coming. Rick Pitino said he did. But other than Pitino, it's doubtful anyone else did. Yes, Louisville was coming off a bad loss against Connecticut and close call against St. John's but that was excusable after a great run and because it was No. 1 UConn so it was not seen as a sign of things to come. But wow.
Luke Harangody came back from a five point game against UCLA to drop 32 and 17 and made sure we didn't need to run a player of the night today because it would have been pointless. But a look inside the numbers tells a truer story of what happened.
Louisville was forced into 18 threes, something that is not a strength, and hit just five. Overall they shot shot only 39%. More importantly their big three of Samardo Samuels, Terrance Williams, and Earl Clark combined for 26 points, about 15 less than usual.
And that tough Cardinals D, it didn't show up last night.
ND torched UL for 54% shooting. 10 threes on 18 tries. Only 10 turnovers. And most outrageous of all, outrebounded the Cards 46-25. Ouch.
And almost as important as all those numbers is that Kyle McAlarney found his groove back like Stella taking a trip to the Carribbean.
Still as good as a win as that was, more important for ND will be to hold that level of play. They will need to reel of at least three straight wins to get themselves into good position for NCAA Tourny position

Morning Run

2009-02-13T07:22:00.001-05:00

I’m a sick, deranged college student for being up at 7:00am on a Friday, but here goes your Morning Run for the start of President’s Day Weekend.

While Mike is enjoying Valentine’s Day with his special someone tomorrow, I’ll be preparing for a Sunday in College Park, Md. with the Rutgers women’s basketball team. Not that I'm bitter... enough of my rant, on to the important stuff.

Drew Rosenhaus is up to it again. Which NFL superstars are you shopping now? Next question…

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=ap-giants-burress&prov=ap&type=lgns

This is for the “Baby Boomers”… are you still livid that your mom threw out your Mickey Mantle rookie card because she thought it was a faded coaster? This elderly woman had some baseball card sense… 1869!

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/big_league_stew/post/Baseball-granny-cashes-in-big-with-sale-of-rare-?urn=mlb,140821

Notre Dame 90. Louisville 57. Luke Harangody with 32 points and 17 rebounds. I don’t understand this conference. More from Mike on this game later…

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=290430087

Could Ken Griffey Jr. end up back in Seattle? Please, please, please say you and Jeter are clean.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3901872

The NBA Anti-All-Star Team!

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/paul_forrester/02/11/anti.stars/index.html?bcnn=yes

Interesting piece from Reuters on the decline of spending for U.S. sports sponsorships…

http://uk.reuters.com/article/motoringAutoNews/idUKTRE51B4QV20090212

Big weekend in college basketball… stay tuned.

Connecticut Guard Could Be Out For Year

2009-02-12T21:14:00.001-05:00

Andy Katz of ESPN is reporting that UConn guard Jerome Dyson may miss the rest of the season following knee surgery.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=3903478

Taking a look ahead

2009-02-12T11:01:00.003-05:00

It's a slow Thursday. Sure there are two things we could be writing about: the UNC-Duke game and UConn's new dominance. Well the Battle of Tobacco Road will be covered, dissected, analyzed and broken down a billion times on ESPN today. And UConn's dominance is really boiled down to two things: Hasheem Thabeet and the players reaching their collective potential.
So instead of that, why not a March Preview. I'm not talking about all 65 teams, but I am talking about the Sweet Sixteen and beyond. What follows will be an early prediction of the Sweet 16 teams and then breaking down how far each advances.

The Sweet 16
UConn, UNC, Duke, Wake Forest, Oklahoma, UCLA, Louisville, Pittsburgh, Memphis, Michigan State, Clemson, Villanova, Tennessee, Marquette, Dayton, Kansas

A few surprises here, namely Dayton and Tennessee.
First Dayton. There are a two good reasons why the Flyers are a sweet 16 team.
1. Defense. Dayton gives up just 59 ppg and has allowed 50 points or less eight times this season.
2. Out of conference wins. The Flyers only have two of them over BCS conference teams but a 14 point victory over Marquette on a neutral court is one of the most impressive wins of the year and shows that the Flyers are more than capable of beating top-flight opponents.
Now to Tennessee. The Vols are struggling right now but have a good enough resume to get in the tourney. Once they get in, expect some trouble from them. They have a good coach in Bruce Pearl who knows how to win in March, and in college basketball having the coaching advantage is equal to a five point gain. The Vols also have a boatload of athletes. This gives them the ability to press and play 110% for 40 minutes, unlike other teams that might have to save something for the next round. Finally, there is the experience factor. Pearl knows what he's doing, so does Tyler Smith. That alone should carry them to the second weekend.

The Elite 8
UConn, UNC, UCLA, Oklahoma, Michigan St, Louisville, Pitt, Clemson.
So why Clemson over Duke and Wake Forest. The latter two are two of the top 8 teams in the country but Duke has this silly problem scoring. Unless Kyle Singler and Gerald Henderson, they struggle to put points on the board. Wake Forest has no outside shooting and that has been exposed. A 2-3 zone or an emphasis on crowding the paint could create an infallible gameplan. Clemson, on the other hand, is solid all around and the 27 point win over Duke was extremely impressive and gives them momentum the rest of the year.

Final Four
UConn, UNC, Oklahoma, Michigan St.
Oklahoma may not be one of the best four teams in the country but they will have the easiest road. The Sooners will get the second best No. 1 seed most likely because of its regular season resume and should have an easy road to Detroit.
Michigan State is a bit of Cindarella. They were creamed by UNC by 35 in December but since then have undergone a complete makeover. Kalin Lucas, Raymar Morgan and Goran Suton have the Spartans rolling. The x-factor is Tom Izzo. Izzo knows how to get a team to the final weekend. Getting this team there wouldn't be his biggest accomplishment and he has taken worse squads this far.

Championship Game
UConn vs. UNC
You're going to have to wait a little longer for this pick

Player of the Night

2009-02-12T09:16:00.003-05:00

Last night's biggest game on the docket obviously will get the player of the night:

Ty Lawson finally broke out of his slump. No, he wasn't struggling lately. But he had been in the games that mattered. Not anymore. Against Duke he 25 pts, 5 assists, 4 reb, 2 steals. Just as important as any of those numbers Lawson got to the line 9 times and hit all of them. He played superb defense on Duke's guards at times and did a great job on switches. If Lawson plays like this all the time (minus the 5 turnovers), who can beat UNC?

The Morning Run

2009-02-12T09:03:00.002-05:00

Not a bad slate of games last night for a Wednesday. Here are the fallouts:

Tyler Hansbrough pulled off something historic yesterday
Just when you thought you had enough of Steph Curry, there is another from the Curry pipeline
The US and Mexico met last night in futbol, did anyone know?
Hasheem Thabeet claimed another victim last night
A little late on this one but an interest note about Stanley Robinson
The 2010 Olympics will try to combine economic efficiency and its usual extravagance
What has happened to Maryland basketball?

LINK OF THE DAY: Bob Knight lets the world know they are all drug cheats

Morning Run

2009-02-11T10:16:00.000-05:00

It’s February 11th… that means almost halfway through this shortened month. It also means March Madness is coming up soon and that pitchers and catchers report this weekend. Exciting times, so naturally the attention hog has to steal the show to start the morning run.

Bye, Bye Brett Favre… finally.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3898942

Interesting tidbit on how the NCAA men’s basketball tournament will not take the economy into account as a primary factor for first-round pairings.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=3897386

Huuuuuge news in the world of soccer… Guus Hiddink is the new coach of Chelsea. This is the guy that seemingly takes a different country deep in the World Cup or Euro every decade. Currently, he coaches the Russian national team.

http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/news;_ylt=AhpF4m9.4nlV8PCWPUTDGwg5nYcB?slug=ap-chelsea-hiddink&prov=ap&type=lgns

Whenever SI releases its swimsuit edition, guys are on high alert. This year, it got even more interesting… only wearing paint?

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009_swimsuit/painting/?bcnn=yes

Things are starting to come apart for the boys from MSG…

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/11/sports/basketball/11game-web.html?_r=1

A-Rod will not have to face Congress following his confession.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/sports_blog/2009/02/sports-illustra.html

The Boston Herald takes a look at the sad fact that there are very few role models in the world of sports right now.

http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/columnists/view.bg?articleid=1151453&srvc=sports&position=recent

How good is Villanova?—Performance of the Night

2009-02-10T22:01:00.002-05:00

Will the darkhorse candidate for the Big East champ please stand up? Yeah, I’m talking about the boys down in suburban Philadelphia… the ones that play at a Ski Lodge-like arena on Route 30.

No. 13 Villanova improved to 20-4 overall and 8-3 in the Big East, after defeating No. 12 Marquette (20-4, 9-2) 102-84 at the Pavilion. It’s the second game in a row that the Wildcats put up 102 points.

Scottie Reynolds led five Villanova players in double figures with 27 points, as the Wildcats shot 59 percent from the floor and 54 percent from deep on 13 treys.

102 points in consecutive games… wow... Jay Wright is doing something right.

Another Fireworks Display

2009-02-10T10:27:00.005-05:00

Another Rutgers - Seton Hall game and another fireworks display. And for the second straight year it came after the buzzer ended. It wasn't on the court in the form of a haphazard handshake or verbal assault on referees. It came in the post game press conference.
First came Fred Hill. After going for two points while down three, he was asked right off the bat and repeatedly in the press conference about the decision. Glibly he tap danced around the question and referred to different plays in his answer. When a reporter asked what play he wanted to run, Hill replied that he couldn't divulge the play because he had more games to play and would send along a diagram later.

Not to be topped, Bobby Gonzalez had some interesting things to say as well. He called himself a "lightning rod or lightning bolt." He then referenced John Thompson II and said he had "competitive hate," which led to the quote of the night:

John Thompson said a term years ago and he called it competitive hate. It doesn’t mean you hate someone or you are not rooting for someone to get cancer or have something bad in their life. It just means you want to win very badly. I am extremely completive and I want to win when we play St. John’s, I want to win when we play Rutgers. Some people don’t want to talk about it and they say it’s the same as any other game, I’m not that type. I am straight up and I say what I feel. In my heart, I am an East Coast guy, I’m a New York guy, I’m in New Jersey, I want to beat St. John’s, I want to beat Rutgers I want to get players from the East Coast so these games are very important to me and to our team. We have kids from Brooklyn, New York, New Jersey and I am sure the coaches feel the same way and they want to beat me bad.

Gonzo and Hill, only in NJ.

Player of the Night

2009-02-10T10:06:00.002-05:00

With only two games featuring ranked teams and six games total, picking last night's outstanding player was a little easier than usual

DeMarre Carroll led all scorers in Missouri's 62-60 victory over Kansas, giving the Jayhawks its first Big 12 loss of the season and ruining a potential battle of the conference unbeatens against Oklahoma. Caroll dropped an efficient 22 on KU, hitting 8 of his 13 and getting to the line 6 times, making five. He also grabbed 7 boards. And the victory means a probable top 15 ranking for the Tigers and leaves them only a game and a half back of first place in the conference.

The Morning Run

2009-02-10T09:58:00.002-05:00

And a way we go....

Not time yet to fill out your brackets, but it is time to start thinking about them
Joe Lunardi also takes a look at the schools underachieving and two Big East schools top the list
A look at the steroid that got A-Roid in trouble
Luke Winn explains it all
So you think building a new sports arena is a good idea?
The US Track and Field program got a stinging rebuke
You think it's hard playing in the Big East? Trying playing for VMI
Jerry Wainwright towers over Chicago (funny)
Foul trouble ruined Monday night for WVU

Quick Hit

2009-02-09T13:26:00.001-05:00

Dick "Hoops" Weiss of the New York Daily News with a morning-after take on Rutgers vs. SHU.

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/columnists/weiss/index.html

Anybody Looking for an AD Job?

2009-02-09T11:36:00.002-05:00

I don't know if you've heard but Rutgers is looking for an Athletic Director. Who knows who will get chosen, but why not you. It seems that the University isn't keeping the search private. In fact even you could apply.
Rutgers has gone public with their search. Go to this link and you can you send in your resume and make a case to be the new AD. Although caveat emptor. Just in case you think you're going to take over a Big East program, think again. Unbeknown to all, looks like the Mid-America Conference is in the program's future. (Scroll down to Employer Information).
Although why not put the ad on craigslist?

Player of the Weekend

2009-02-09T11:08:00.003-05:00

The title says player but, come on, a whole weekend of games and we're supposed to pick just one outstanding player? Not happening. So here is a handful, coincidentally all but one is from Saturday.

Hasheem Thabeet-After a rout of Louisville, UConn was home to take on a struggling Michigan team. And it was close. Nobody expected it but the Huskies themselves had to struggle to pull out the 69-61 win, not locking it up until the final moments. Thabeet was a big key. He had another impressive line: 17 points, 12 rebounds, 6 blocks, 7-8 FT and 5-6 FG. He also changed several shots and his mere presence forced Michigan to settle for 29 three-pointers.
Mike Davis- Don't call it an upset but Illinois got a big and unexpected win over Purdue Saturday. Davis led the way. He scored a team-high 14 points in the Illini's 66-48 victory. Oh and he grabbed 16 boards for good measure. Not bad for a guy who averaged only 1.8 rpg last season.
The two Coreys- No not Haim and Feldman. Stokes and Fisher of Villanova. Dante Cunningham got the limelight for his 31 points and 9 rebounds. Deservedly so. But he also turned it over 7 times. Fisher and Stokes combined for 3. The two sophomores came off the bench to spark the 102-87 win over Syracuse. Fisher had 14 pts, 6 assists, 4 reb, and 3 steals. Stokes topped him with 16 points and three hits from long range. He also hit the boards, grabbing 8 and 3 dimes.
Toney Douglas- Florida State pulled a shocker over Clemson Saturday. Not because they won 65-61, but because they were down 19 in the second half. Douglas was a large factor. He scored 17 of his 23 points during the comeback. He also grabbed 7 rebounds and had 4 assists.
Antwaine Wiggins- Wiggins isn't on here for his stats. Sure he had 5 points and 9 rebounds but that's not why he's here. Wiggins on this list because of what he did in the last second of the game. He ran up court on the final play of the game and cleanly blocked Stephon Curry's potential game-winning three. It gave Davidson their first conference loss of the year and snapped its 43 game conference winning streak

The Morning Run, Pt 2

2009-02-09T10:52:00.003-05:00

Danny put up a bunch of great links, I just wanted to add a few more

Hasheem Thabeet had a good week
St. John's players got Norm Roberts' back
Blake Griffin can dunk
Marquette has fashion skills. (With pictures)
Baseball is not the only sport with some steroid issues
Bobby Gonzalez has it going in South Orange
The story of one NBA official

Morning Run

2009-02-09T09:06:00.003-05:00

You've got your coffee. You're at your desk. It's those Monday morning blues sinking in. Work is about 7 hours and 50 minutes away from being over. But, have no fear, the Morning Run is here.

It looks like “throwin’ ‘bows” will no longer be tolerated in college basketball. Indiana coach Tom Crean just suspended his star player for getting a little too physical in a game on Saturday. Personally, I think that an elbow here and there is a part of the game, but repeated offenses are the bigger issue.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=3893461

Do the New York Yankees always have a new apology each February? They’re sorry they’ll still have the best lineup in baseball this year…

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/09/sports/baseball/09yankees.html?_r=1

An out-of-the-box link…. DOG SHOW.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/09/sports/othersports/09dogs.html

Maybe the Falcons’ “dirty bird” dance was conjured up in a different state of mind…

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news;_ylt=AnwmtytyeMnpMQAwvT5mvDg5nYcB?slug=ap-jamalandersonarrested&prov=ap&type=lgns

And, in the world of sub-mediocrity, the Knicks can’t catch a break this week.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/recap;_ylt=AqKpwtkNAG4QHEfmQDz.tAs5nYcB?gid=2009020822&prov=ap

Is baseball still a sport after this whole steroid scandal? To the below writer, yes it is. They still have the best hand-eye coordination in the world.

http://www.freep.com/article/20090209/COL08/902090326/Can+t+call+baseball+a+sport+anymore

Rutgers-Seton Hall in a Few Stats

2009-02-08T20:48:00.000-05:00

I guess I’ve taken the role of the statistician here… I’ve always liked to break down basketball using the math and simple Xs and Os principles. Mike is your guy if you’re looking for well-written diatribes on the trials and tribulations of the sport.

Today produced one of the all-time high frustration levels for Rutgers basketball fans… it’s as bad as it has been since the Craig Littlepage days.

Seton Hall 65 Rutgers 60. Let’s get at it.

Stat #1: 9-of-17 from the free-throw line for Rutgers… leaving eight points at the line in any Big East game, especially when half of those are in the second half, will lead to a losing equation every time.

Stat #2: Rutgers won the battle of the glass 42-29… really? It didn’t look like that in the last five minutes, as John Garcia went to work underneath.

Stat #3: RU goes 3-of-10 from deep… on the surface, it doesn’t look too bad, but Mike Rosario went 1-of-6. Therefore, the rest of the team hit 2-of-4 chances… the Scarlet Knights needed to spread around the deep chances.

Stat #4: 34 personal fouls… yep, it had a Jim Burr-Curtis Shaw feel to it. Wait, they were both there? Wow… you would think Gonzo had to take some sedatives pre-game to keep those two from doling out a technical.

Stat #5: JR Inman puts up 11 rebounds… has to learn how to finish. Unfortunately, he’s a senior, so the learning curve has flat-lined.

Stat #6: Robert “Stix” Mitchell plays with an illness, shoots 2-of-11 and still finds a way to put up 10 points and 10 rebounds. That’s resilience.

Stat #7: Seton Hall sweeps Rutgers for the first time in five years. Neither side has swept the series since ’03-’04 when SHU beat Rutgers twice in a year that RU went to the NIT Final.

Panic time for Rutgers and Fred Hill, who is now 6-39 in Big East play since taking the head coaching position in Piscataway.

Georgetown - Cincinnati Sets Basketball Back

2009-02-08T00:32:00.002-05:00

Not a pretty overtime period at all from these two teams. The five minute period had only eight points scored between the two squads with Cinci winning 5-3 and ultimately taking the game 64-62.
And those five minutes? Well let's just say I've seen better offensive basketball at much lower levels. In fact in watching St. Benedicts - Mater Dei, I'm wondering why Mick Cronin and JTIII aren't doing the same and taking notes.
The Bearcats missed all three of their shots, with Greg Monroe blocking the last one as they tried to ice the game. Throw in 3 turnovers and no attempt to get Deonta Vaughn going and it was anemic.
Luckily for them, the Hoyas were worse. Much worse. 0-8 from the field. They made things worse by going only 3-6 from the free throw line. That was the difference.
That's 6 losses in the last 7 for Georgetown, and they're ruining a great freshman campaign from Monroe, who had another great line last night: 13 points, 6 rebounds, 5 steals, 2 assists and a block. But only 4-12 from the field and all three of his misses from the charity stripe in OT.
But on the bright side, the Georgetown campus is very nice.

Weekend Watch

2009-02-07T12:18:00.003-05:00

Lots of great games on the schedule today and tomorrow. Here are 8 things to watch out for:

Can Notre Dame regain its mojo? I was going to go with luck but Mike Brey losing his four-leaf clover has nothing to do with how bad his team has been. Now they visit UCLA. The Bruins haven't been a great team this year as expected, not living up to expectations. But they play very good Ben Howland defense and have enough weapons in Collison, Holliday, and Shipp that they are the prohibitive favorites. I don't expect ND to win but making it a close game would go far for its reputation. And so would not allowing UCLA to go off for more than 75 points, considering its offense is just above average. UCLA should win, 73-69.
Can Ohio State pull off a second straight win over a ranked team? I've seen Minnesota several times this year and of any top 25 team i trust them the least. Tubby Smith is coaching them up well but the talent is not there. The Buckeyes are coming off a win at home over Purdue and Evan Turner is a top-3 player in the Big Ten. I'm liking a 67-59 win for OSU.
Which is the best mid-major? Memphis and Gonzaga face off in Spokane, Wash. and this is a big game for both teams. Memphis has been playing well lately but are still without a point guard and without a marquee win that can get them a top 5 seed. Gonzaga is in a similar position. They got off to a hot start but then suffered several ugly losses. Both team's best wins have come against Tennessee (twice for the Zags) and a win here will go a long way towards sewing up a NCAA berth even if they don't get an automatic bid. Gonzaga 76-71
Can Clemson avoid a letdown loss? Coming off a big win over Duke, the Tigers take on Florida St. The Seminoles aren't a great team but they can play, having kept it close against UNC and Pitt. Clemson is also approaching the part of the season where they have broken down the last couple of years. They need this win to keep their momentum. Clemson, 75-67.
Can Arizona St. right itself? The Pac-10 isn't that good this year. There's a chance they only get four teams in the tourney. ASU is right on that bubble, one of three teams tied for third in the conference with a 6-4 record. James Harden needs to have a big game today because while Oregon State is only 10-11 it has wins over USC and Cal, the two other teams at 6-4 in the Pac-10. ASU, 67-61.
Which will be the 8th Big East team? With ND struggling, the race for that 8th spot and a first round bye in the tournament is wide open. Providence and West Virginia are the two teams vying for a top-8 spot. The Friars have been a surprise at 6-4 in the conference and need a few marquee victories to maintain their spot, let alone earn an NCAA berth. WVU currently sits ninth after dropping two straight to Louisville and Syracuse. Expect a hard-fought game with a dichotomy on how each team will want to play. Providence likes to put up points, WVU is all about strong defense. WVU, 78-70.
Can Tyler Hansbrough make the race for POY a close one? If Psycho T has any aspirations at repeating from last year, he's going to have to pick up his production and soon. Today is a good place to start as any. Virginia gives up 74 a night and UNC should put up big numbers. But the lead may become too big and Tyler could be sitting early. UNC 94, Va 75.
Can a No. 1 team finally go a week without losing? Ask Connecticut. They passed their biggest test, beating Louisville earlier this week. Today comes a test against Michigan. The Wolverines have some impressive wins this year over Duke, UCLA and Illinois but they've struggled lately. That's bad timing with UConn playing like the best team in the country. Expect for them to repeat as No. 1 on Monday. UConn 81, Michigan 60.

Weekend Run

2009-02-07T11:47:00.003-05:00

A slew of links to keep you bunkered in your home for 2 days straight

Is it ever too early for talk of who is on the bubble?
Trying to engineer a pro career
10 things to keep an eye from here on out
Sports' new drug scandal
Uh Oh, A-Rod has some questions to answer
An inside look at Citi Field
Taking a look at the 2009 NBA Draft
Who is your favorite local voice? ( more on this to come)
For Syracuse, Saturday is about redemption
Welcome back Jesse Sapp

Big East Upset of the Year

2009-02-06T21:21:00.002-05:00

South Florida just defeated No. 8 Marquette, previously the top team in the Big East at 9-0 in conference, 57-56 at the Sun Dome in Tampa.

More details later as we go full speed into a big weekend in college hoops.

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=200902060526

Battle of New Jersey Part Deux on Sunday...

An Interview With David Stern

2009-02-05T23:40:00.004-05:00

Last month I had the chance to sit down with NBA Commissioner and Rutgers grad David Stern. With Sunday being the 25th anniversary of him becoming the NBA commish, I felt I should put up the interview. He talks Rutgers, the NBA and if he misses being a fan.

Mike Vorkunov: Why did you choose Rutgers over other schools?
David Stern: Well I really at the time, and I’m not sure that students today could relate to it, I wanted to go to a campus school. And the other ones I had looked at were in cities
MV: What were the other ones you considered?
DS: I was actually between Rutgers and the University of Pennsylvania. Those were the two. And I actually loved the Heights, and loved the river and loved the Quads and Winants Hall and the beautiful old places. And having grown up in New York City, I really wanted to do something that was a campus. Now so much of it has been filled in and constructed that it bears no resemble to September of 1959. Oh my God, which is getting to be 40 years ago.
MV: Do you remember your first days on campus?
DS: I remember my first day on campus, I do. Because I remember my dad actually took a day off from the delicatessen to drive me there. Wessels 211.
MV: That was your freshman dorm?
DS: Yeah. Is it still there?
MV: Yeah it’s part of the quads.
DS: Yup. There were rooms that were supposed to fit two people but they had three in there. And we met my freshman roommate from Hammonton, New Jersey. Who I don’t think had been much further north than Newark. I can’t say that I had been much further south than Newark. Along with my other roommate who was from Teaneck, same as I was, and we were off and running.
MV: I bet the room was a far cry from your office now.
DS: Well it was a little smaller. By those standards I’d say we could put six people in here. But it was fun and I enjoyed it very much.
MV: So how did you spend your time as an undergrad? Were you studying a lot? Go out on the town?
DS: A lot of poker. A lot of gin rummy. A lot of crazy eights. It was a fair amount of sports. We ate a lot. We goofed around a lot and we did a little studying.
MV: What are your fondest memories as an undergrad at the University?
DS: It’s hard for me to, all I can say is that I remember I was still 16 when I started.
MV: Why so young?
DS: I just had skipped a year in New York. And I’ve always been grateful to Rutgers because my fondest memories are some combination of growing up, both personally and academically. We had Henry Winkler lecturing on the rise and fall of Nazism. We had Peter Corrones lecturing on Greek and Roman civilization. I had a professor over at Douglass, Smith Palmer Bolvie, who talked about the Greek classics and the issue of whether or not we had souls. And it was just an opportunity to sample the academic world at a time when I don’t think I was mature enough to appreciate what the opportunity was. But it wasn’t greatly pressured and we had a good time. And we learned.
MV: Is there anything that you learned, whether it was from a professor or general knowledge, that you still use today?
DS: You know it’s interesting, to me, it’s hard to segment one thing because it’s a continuum but I’ve always considered myself to be who I am because of my Rutgers sort of travels. Some would say education but I would say travels and my Columbia Law School travels. I was in a fraternity. Learned some things about management. I unsuccessfully ran for something, I forget what it was, trying to capitalize on someone else’s name who was Stern who was the Vice President. I got to know professors, became a Henry Rutgers scholar. All of that, how to apply oneself. Even when I got through with the cards and everything else, in order to make it in Rutgers you’ve got to settle down and do some work. And that to me is the beginning of training of how to get the job done and focusing on the details. And Rutgers taught me that.
MV: What fraternity were you in?
DS: Sigma Alpha Mu
MV: You were on the Board of Overseers, are you still involved with the University in any way?
DS: Well I’m now emeritus on the Foundation board and I’m in regular contact with the President on issues where I might be helpful. I’m a distance removed from New Brunswick but because of my travels I’ve met with and the NBA’s international aspirations and Rutgers international aspirations, I’ve met with various deans and development departments and the President. And I guess it was last year I did an event for Rutgers here, for alums, in New York City. So I try to be helpful and connected as much as I can.
MV: Is it still the same Rutgers you went to as an undergrad or has it changed?
DS: Well I actually gave a speech there, I think two or three years ago. It’s a great, big, quite successful university with I think appropriate aspirations to be one of the top state universities in the country and I applaud those aspirations. And it’s just so big and so much larger than anything I can remember that I recognize that that’s the way of the world but it’s hard for me to adjust to, in a funny way.
MV: Do you still follow any of the athletic programs, just keep an eye on them?
DS: I do.
MV: Do you follow the basketball and the football programs?
DS: I follow the basketball and the football programs. I did a video, maybe it was a brochure, to help recruiting that said “ I went to Rutgers and it got me into the NBA.” I was trying to help the basketball department but I’m not sure I did.
MV: So what do you think of the success that the women’s basketball program, the football program have had the last few years?
DS: I’m in touch with Vivian Stringer, who I think represents Rutgers wonderfully. And I obviously follow the men’s team. And I follow the football team’s dismal start and wonderful turnaround and bowl victory. So that’s kind of neat. I’m proud of the programs.
MV: Do you go to any of the games?
DS: I don’t.
MV: Just don’t have the time?
DS: I don’t. Talk about a busman’s holiday. [ Laughs]
MV: Recently the athletic director Bob Mulcahy was dismissed from his job. Do you have any opinions on that?
DS: Not that I would care to render because the President is a friend and Bob Mulcahy is an even older friend. I’ve known him for a number of years and I think they’re both good men.
MV: Would it mean anything for the NBA to have a successful and thriving college program in the tri-state area and the New York City area with Seton Hall and Rutgers and St. John’s?
DS: Yeah. I think that all sports are good for other sports. And I think that it would be nice for NYC. You know we have players in the league from Rider…
MV: Jason Thompson
DS: Right. I grew up in New York following Seton Hall with players whose names you wouldn’t remember. St. John’s, the same way. Rutgers. NYU, back in the day. And even Columbia used to have a pretty significant program, pre-NBA players. So I think it’s great if there’s good basketball in New York City. And it used to be spectacular at the high school level, and it still is. So to see good high school level, college level and pro teams, I think they feed off one another.
MV: When you graduated Rutgers, or even Columbia or when you started working for the NBA as a general counsel, did you ever think you would be in this position?
DS: No, no. I graduated Rutgers and I went to law school. The joke then was if you didn’t like the sight of blood, you couldn’t be a doctor. And if your numbers were bad, you couldn’t be an engineer. I barely got through freshman calculus. Somebody kept me up all night to get me through it. And so if you didn’t want to go out and get a real job, you went to law school. Law school was another journey that allowed me to grow up. When I left law school I went to work for a law firm which I was happy to get the job at and didn’t really know they represented the NBA. So my travels in basketball have been serendipitous. I withdrew from the firm after 12 years to become a general counsel. And fully expected to go back to the firm after two or three years and didn’t.
MV: What was it that made you stick with the NBA and what you were doing and not go back?
DS: It was just an enormously pleasing puzzle to try to put together. I worked for Larry O’Brien when I was at the firm. And he became commissioner in 1975. He asked me to join him in 1978 and he was commissioner until 1984. And we were 23 people. We were a small business. And gradually under Larry’s leadership we branched out, we began to get bigger, we solved problems. And here was this living breathing, I thought, potentially dynamic organization that had a lot of growth and opportunity. So I stayed.
MV: In 1978 when he asked you to help him and when you first took over as commissioner, with all the problems that were plaguing the NBA at the time, you had some thoughts about the players having drug issues and the games being tape delayed. Did you ever think the NBA could become what it is now, a multi-national corporation?
DS: No, I didn’t. I wish I could say I had a plan, but I didn’t. The plan was to get through the day and take advantage of each opportunity. And protect the league and the players as best we could.
MV: So there was no outline?
DS: There was no outline, nope.
MV: Was it just kind of ad-hoc, see what comes up everyday?
DS: Well, no. I think you set a path: you want to increase attendance, you want to increase television, you want to see if there are opportunities in licensing and sponsorship, you want to make sure that your public relations - which is now called communications - was handled in an appropriate fashion. And then you watch other business developments and you see what international - it used to be called international, now it’s globalization - offers. And you surround yourself with people who are maybe even smarter and work harder than you do and then you just sort of bang off of each other. You keep on this generalized path of developing each of your strengths and then you have an opportunity to do something, you do it. Then all of a sudden you had a plan.
MV: Over these years how would you describe yourself as a commissioner? An overseer? Hand-on? CEO? Combination of all?
DS: I would say I am a hands-on CEO. Some would say I’m a micro-managing pain in the neck. And some place in the middle. If I ever wrote a book, which I won’t, I would call it “Intermittent Micro-management is Underrated.” But there is so much going on, the beauty of this place is that micro-management is impossible because we’ve got 1000 people that are doing so many different things in all of the areas I mentioned and more that what I’ve learned over the years is you’ve got to hire people and let them do their jobs. And you occasionally check in, you generally oversee, you periodically do review when they are necessary. But it’s all about the people of the NBA.
MV: What do you think has caused the NBA to grow from where it was 25 years ago to where it is now?
DS: The game. I mean that down to my socks. It’s a great game. It has global appeal. It has been an Olympic sport since 1936. In which Olympics the Chinese entered a team, thereby giving rise to the notion I think in China that they invented the game. And it’s a game that has attracted some of the most gifted athletes in the history of the United States and actually the history of the world. And it’s relatively simple to understand. It’s easily played, whether you’re bouncing the ball yourself, two-on-two, or five on five. And over the years it’s come, almost on its own momentum, to represent a kind of diverse welcoming sport that is open to all, easily attained by all, and probably as best symbolized by the 1971 Knicks. Whether you came from Princeton and Missouri like Bradley or you came from Louisiana and Grambling as in Willis Reed, “Hey you got game? Come on out.” And the fans loved it, so I think it’s a very egalitarian place for fans and players alike. The difference for the fans is some sit nosebleed and some sit courtside but their opinions are equally valid and they express them with the same ferocity.
MV: Were you always a basketball fan or has it grown on you?
DS: I’ve always been a basketball fan. I grew up in the New York area.
MV: So a Knicks fan?
DS: Knick fan. From Sweetwater Clifton to Harry Gallatin to Ray Felix to guys you never heard of. Carl Braun, Jimmy Baechtold, Kenny Sears, Ron Sobieszczyk, Richie Guerin. I lived and died with the Knicks. Mostly died.
MV: I feel the same way.
DS: But it was the same thing, St. John’s was ruling the roost with Coach Carneseca or Joe Lapchick, but was doing great. Seton Hall I think had a player by the name of Walter Dukes. NYU had the great teams with Barry Kramer. So I was a basketball fan. I think I went to one football game once, at the Polo Grounds I don’t even know why I remember, with the Giants playing. Hockey, never. Baseball, yes, I was a New York Giants fan. So I was Knicks and Giants.
MV: So when the Giants left town…
DS: They broke my heart. No, I became a Mets fan then. But I gave up on the Mets then when they got rid of Seaver, but that was many years later.
MV: So was it awe-inspiring when you started working here and here are the guys you’re rooting for and you’re a fan of and you get to meet them or you’re working with them somehow?
DS: It’s funny, it was for a while but given the press of litigation, it got to be the point when you get involved in the game itself, you get to a game and you begin to root that there won’t be an injury, that the referees won’t blow a call, that there won’t be a fight, that the signs work or won’t fall down. So basically there was so much litigation involving the union and the league that I look at some of them as depositions I took. I took five days deposing Bill Bradley, my Princeton hero. So it’s just an interesting phenomenon. I still love the game, but I recognize that it has more beauty and value on a global scale then we even contemplated but you do get distracted by counting the game and checking attendance and a variety of other business related things that make it less fun. And of course you can’t yell as a commissioner. So you have to do that in the study at home, screaming at your flat-screen adobe-surround sound, which can’t yell back so it’s terrific.
MV: Do you ever wish you had a chance to just watch a game as a fan and not care as you do as a commissioner?
DS: Well I had a chance to do that, like at the Olympics. It was great. I was rooting as an American. Even that came with some risk as of the 36 players who went the medal stand, 26 of them including players from Argentina and Spain had NBA experience. I allowed myself the luxury of being an American so as a result I rooted unabashedly for the American team. So I get those occasional opportunities in the World Championships and the Olympics.
MV: No wishes that you could just go to the Garden as a fan, get a seat and just root for the Knicks?
DS: Yeah, well over the years I’m not the Knick fan that I was. Over the years I’m totally, to the extend I root privately, it’s more for underdogs, more for teams that are doing badly, that have suffered injuries, that are getting bad breaks. I sort of view all 30 teams as my teams. Also, I do marvel at the beauty of it. When Magic and Larry were roaming the court as only they could. When Michael was doing it. When the youngsters today, the class of 2004: LeBron, Carmelo, D-Wade - I kid Chris Paul “What are you chopped liver? Why aren‘t you on the cover of Sports Illustrated?” I happen to think he’s as good as any of them and he’s a nice young man, they all are. So I get my kicks differently. I root for our players to demonstrate their expertise. I root for the growth of the game and its effectiveness and things like NBA Cares. Or focusing on diet, exercise, healthy living and the harmony that comes from the teamwork of the game. I’m sort of a displaced fan and I’m a fan of the game in a much broader way than I was.
MV: With the way you root for the game, what would be an ideal NBA season for you?
DS: An ideal NBA season is every game sold out. OK. Referees have 100 percent accuracy. No debilitating injuries, no fights. Excellent TV ratings. But most importantly, people getting an appreciation for the world’s greatest athletes playing at the highest level in an intense fashion that I don’t think is duplicated any place in the world.
MV: Over the last 25 years with the way the NBA has grown, what events do you think are the most unnoticed but the most responsible for the way that you’ve grown?
DS: Well I really do believe that the players’ connections to the fans through their charitable work, through their community involvement, through their taking the time to visit with fans, stop, sign, do whatever they do, is the most important. Because how people feel about you is as important as what they think about you. And I think our players do well. That said, there’s always going to be an incident of some kind. A player gets stopped, he doesn’t have his license. A youngster or not-so-youngster gets stopped for driving under the influence and that makes headlines. But overall I think who our players are, where they come from, and what they do for their teams and their communities is little noticed but is fundamentally responsible for many of the positive attitudes. And the other things are just a confluence of events. Our TV has grown dramatically, not the NBA alone but every sport, every outlet. And sports is so important there. Arenas have been refashioned, remodeled, rebuilt in an incredible way and I think that’s important. And globalization and sports, again, being at the intersection of the breakdown of barriers. It’s a lot of different things that have contributed to this tremendous growth.
MV: Have there been any setback or crises where when they happened you just thought “Uh, I don’t know how we’re going to deal with this or how are we going to get over this?”
DS: Sure. We were shut down for half a year in a work stoppage. We had a major referee scandal with respect to jail time for referees. We’ve had opportunities for the media to characterize our players unfairly. All of them, when we had an incident like Ron Artest and the Pacers and the Pistons in the Palace. No shortage of opportunities for us to pull up the gang plank and say “Circle the wagons” or whatever other metaphor I wanna use. But again, it’s the game. It’s been here before us and it’s going to be here after us and so we will be harshly judged if we don’t do what we have to do to take care of it.
MV: Is there a formula you use to take care of it or is just what the situation dictates?
DS: I would say it is scramble time. There are some more colorful expressions one might use but I don’t think that would be well-advised to be printed in the Daily Targum. It’s sort of when you’re skiing and you’re completely out of control and everyone is [ laughing] “OK, the rules of the jungle apply. Just do whatever you have to do to stop.” When you go into DEFCON 2 you do what you have to do. But obviously you have certain principles that you’re protecting so you’re never quite as scrambled as you might appear to be. The problem is, in fact, we appear to be well organized and we’re more scrambled than we are well organized, but there’s some combination of the two that’s the right approach.
MV: Is there any moment that stands out to you in your time with the NBA?
DS: There is a collection and I really mean it. One of the things that stands out to me is when Magic Johnson announced that he was HIV positive. That was different for us because we didn’t know what we didn’t know. And we thought that sports infrastructure and the whole league might be at risk completely. When there’s a brawl, you begin to deal with the aftermath. When you announce new rules, you do punishment, etc. When there is a scandal with respect to refereeing, you do what you think you have to do to become more transparent, change procedures, open yourself up. When you have a lockout, you fear but you know what the risks are and you negotiate but you prepare for the worst, etc. Back in 1991 when Magic was announced as HIV positive, we didn’t have a game plan. Nothing else to go by. We were very concerned. We educated ourselves, we learned. We actually think that Magic Johnson had more to do with the change in attitude on AIDS in this country than any other person. And the fact that he was a basketball player was an important part of that and we learned and we came through it. But I think that was one that we were hugely concerned about because if our players refused to play with Magic, which they grumbled about but openly didn’t refuse, we didn’t know whether that obligated us to test all of our players. Which of course was not a legal option. And we just didn’t know what the impact was of how one could transmit the AIDS virus. It was so far beyond our pay grades that we just gathered in ourselves and hired as many experts as we could to advise us and direct us and push us and push back at us. And on a human scale, Magic is alive and doing well. In 1991, we were virtually certain that wouldn’t be the case. So we are so delighted with the outcome.
MV: Was that especially troubling because there was such a negative social stigma to it that when you have a fight or you have a lockout it can be seen in a lockout but this is so much more than that.
DS: It wasn’t because of the social stigma actually, it was because of the science and the medicine that we didn’t understand. And so as a result we felt enormously threatened by our ignorance. It was social in this following sense, the last public that I recall was a youngster in Indiana by the name of Ryan White, who was not allowed to go to school because he was HIV positive because of a transfusion because he was a hemophiliac and America really didn’t know how to respond. Magic changed the debate. A beloved face with a great smile. A world renowned professional athlete became an AIDS educator. So, yes. It could have gone the other way but it didn’t.
MV: So when he came back five years later after that, was that something you could trumpet as a victory for the league?
DS: Nah, we didn’t trumpet. We tend to breathe sighs of relief rather than toot the trumpets.
MV: What’s your typical day? Does it change daily, is it consistent?
DS: There is no such thing as a typical day. Maybe it’s that right now, when I throw you out, I’m gonna go to my direct reports meeting in the next room. Some days it’s our senior staff meeting. It’s lots of phone calls. Loads of emails. Preparing for sponsorship presentations. Worrying about licensee negotiations. Dealing with international. Getting briefed by some of my colleagues heading off to the Middle East. Getting reports about European leagues and some of the difficulties they’re having. It is talking to owners, I had three phone calls with owners today. A phone call with an owner of a European team. A phone call with our NCAA collaboration to deal with youth basketball. An internal meeting over affiliation agreements for our NBATV and our NBA Digital, in which we’re partnered with Turner down in Atlanta. I mean it’s a huge discussion with counsel about drug testing and lobbying. It’s varied as it could be. Occasionally I get to talk about the game and officiating. Met with General Johnson, our new head of officials, just to see how he’s doing because he’s relatively new.
MV: You’ve said you don’t want to break the record for longest time as a commissioner, so have you started thinking about your legacy and what you want to do in your final few years? Does it even matter to you?
DS: Nope, it doesn’t. Because my entire time here has been dealing with the issues and the opportunities and protecting the game. That’s it and we don’t worry about legacies here.
MV: By giving yourself somewhat of a deadline, does it make you want to accomplish some goals?
DS: No. Because the beauty of this sport is… Larry O’Brien wrote a book, “No Final Victories.” That’s the beauty of this sport, it will just continue to evolve. There’ll be opportunities, there will be failures. And someone else will be responsible for doing it and taking care of it and protecting it.

All Wins and No Losses Make Buzz Williams Go...

2009-02-05T11:43:00.003-05:00

Buzz William's Marquette team is riding high right now. Number 8 in the polls. Halfway through the Big East season and they are the only unbeaten team. And Buzz is bringing back bald look, like he's Stone Cold Steve Austin. And he's a colorful character, we love him for that.
But after Marquette's win over Georgetown Saturday, William's took some umbrage with a question asked in the post game press conference. Seemingly it's for no good reason. Here is what happened, courtesy of jsonline.com:

McIlvaine: "Coach, you're on an 11-game winning streak, 8-0 in the Big East, obviously the number, the ranking, is going down. How do you keep the kids focused and not buying into the hype and all the ancillary stuff? How do you get them focused for the next game?"

Williams: "Well, I appreciate what you said, Mac, and I know that you played here and had a lot of success here. We pay absolutely no attention to anything said by the media, said within the media, and I'm not trying to be condescending, but I don't think you win 11 straight games, eight straight games in the Big East, if you're focusing on the wrong things. And so I'm somewhat offended that you would even ask that, because what you should talk about is the character and the heart of our players. That's what should be talked about. Talking about how we focus for the next game? Why don't you talk about, Mac, how we focused on this game? Why don't you talk about how we focused on every single Big East game? And for you as the home-team radio announcer to be asking some sort of question like that, it sounds like you're employed by someone other than Marquette. That's disappointing that you would ask that, being that you're a former player. You should be as proud of the collection of 12 guys that put on the uniform and that absolutely play their heart out at 6-6 and under against great teams on a nightly basis."

McIlvaine: "Oh, I am extremely proud of the guys, Coach. I'm just asking if there's anything you do as a coach to just keep these guys focused. I mean, obviously you're doing a great job of it. I was just wondering if there was anything to it."

Williams: "We'll do the same thing, Mac, that we've done every single day in the 296 days that I've been employed. That's wake up early, that's go to work and work as long as we can until our eyes fall asleep. That's what we do. That's what we do every day, whether that's in the season or out of the season, non-conference or conference."

Williams apologized earlier this week but still the outburst still exists in public record

Here is video of the press conference

Can anyone guess what the title is an allusion to? Post a comment if you think you've figured it out

Player of the Night

2009-02-05T11:21:00.003-05:00

A lot of good games last night. Danny mentioned one a little off the radar. And truthfully, can you get more off the radar than the America East? Maybe the Summit League? But I've had North Dakota State as my big sleeper since Day One.
Tonight's player(s) of the night come from two important Big East games and an ACC game that has national implications

Scottie Reynolds. This is the Scottie Reynolds everybody expected. Running and gunning this Wildcat team to victory. Last night he had 31 points on an ugly shooting line but Nova needed every point. Of his 13 made free throws, the last two iced the game with seconds remaining. Exciting game with Providence outscoring Nova in the second half 57-45. Can people stop bashing the Friars now?

Deonta Vaughn. Oh what do we say here? Vaughn had 34 points on 5-13 shooting. Bad night from the field, that's ok. Just get to the line 22 times instead like Vaughn did. He made 19 and Cinci "upset" Notre Dame although they have the better conference record. Luke Harangody gets a shout out for dropping 28 and 14 but thats right around his season average of 25 and 13.

Miami's 2-3 zone. The Hurricans routed Wake Forest last night and Jack McClinton had 32 points but the star of the game was their zone defense. WFU is a top 4 team but they have a big weakness in their outside shooting. I'm sorry, their lack of it. So Miami threw out their ole 2-3 and forced Wake into shooting 3-20 from beyond the arc. It also took away something Wake does well: getting to the free throw line. Their 18 freebies last night was the third lowest total of the season. Not at all ironically, those three times have ended in losses.

By the way, I'm kidding. I love the America East. Give me Tom Brennan and Taylor Coppenrath any day of the week.

Morning Run

2009-02-05T09:03:00.002-05:00

Here’s a bit of a Morning Run to get the blood flowing for anyone just turning on their computer at a 9 to 5. I’m sure Mike will get you a few quick hitters as well…
Edit: Mike just added some more links

Stewart Mandel with a football signing day wrap

Kobe dropped 61 at MSG earlier in the week… but was it even in his TOP FIVE all-time best performances?

David Beckham is pulling the move that everyone should have seen coming from a mile away… poor Galaxy

More info on the video of former Cincinnati and current Ole Miss coach Andy Kennedy pleading with police on Dec. 18

Memphis wins its 50th in a row in Conference USA… why are they in that league again?

Pat Forde on behavior on the hardwood and role modeling…

Dickie V discusses the No. 1 jinx and why Connecticut was immune to it…

SI's Seth Davis says there is a bad trend going on in college basketball although I think some fan bases in the Big East wouldn't mind if it continued

I think everybody knows that old axion: the longer you coach together, the more you look alike

Tom Savage "loves Coach Schiano"

How do you know there is a recession? Ask Vegas

Game of the Night: America East Stunner

2009-02-04T22:17:00.002-05:00

The game of the night in NCAA hoops comes from a conference you won’t hear much about around tourney time—the America East.

Rutgers fans remember the Binghamton Bearcats, a squad that marched into the Louis Brown Athletic Center on Dec. 6 and went back home on a happy 3-hour ride on I-81 North after a 10-point win.

Tonight, Binghamton took a trip further north to Patrick Gym in Burlington, Vermont, a building that was made famous by ESPN’s Tom Brennan and his “Cinderella” Vermont Catamounts teams of a few years back.

Saint Joseph’s transfer D.J. Rivera hit a lay-up with six seconds left to give Binghamton an 85-83 win and cap off a 23-point comeback for the Bearcats (14-8, 7-3). BU trailed 53-30 at the half but Rivera’s 21 points and 9 rebounds were coupled with Emmanuel “Tiki” Mayben’s 31 points on 11-of-17 shooting to lead a 55-point second half for their squad.

Metuchen, N.J. native Marqus Blakely filled the stat sheet for Vermont (16-7, 7-3) with 18 points, 5 rebounds, 5 steals and 6 blocks. (Fun Fact: He once recorded a quintuple-double against Highland Park High School as a senior in 2005-2006).

Second-year Binghamton head coach Kevin Broadus was an assistant under John Thompson III at Georgetown and certainly learned a few lessons about Xs and Os from one of the masters of the backdoor offense.

Binghamton went 10-of-21 from deep in the game.

Congrats to the Bearcats who took a big step toward winning the America East—a necessity to make the Dance in this one-bid league.

Ranking Time

2009-02-04T12:22:00.003-05:00

Look we know everyone is entitled to an opinion, it just doesn't mean they can all be right. So if we happen to disagree with 72 college basketball writers or 31 coaches, it's because they had it coming. On those terms, we present the first weekly Big Beast Poll. The first will be the Big East teams ranked in order of how we view them. The second is a national top 24. Why 24? That's the first six seeds in each regional and where the likely national champion will come out of.
(If you want the "real" rankings, go here)

BIG EAST

Connecticut
Marquette
Pittsburgh
Louisville
Villanova
Syracuse
West Virginia
Providence
Georgetown
Notre Dame
Cincinnati
Seton Hall
St. John's
South Florida
Rutgers
DePaul

TOP 24 NATIONALLY

Connecticut
North Carolina
Oklahoma
Duke
Wake Forest
Marquette
Pittsburgh
Louisville
Clemson
Xavier
Purdue
UCLA
Texas
Butler
Memphis
Villanova
Gonzaga
Syracuse
Washington
Minnesota
Kansas
Illinois
Arizona State
Utah State

Player of the Night

2009-02-04T12:12:00.002-05:00

Two players really stood out on a quiet Tuesday night.

Wayne Ellington had a monster night for North Carolina. He is a vital cog for UNC and integral to their success. When he is feeling from outside, along with Tyler Hansbrough inside and Ty Lawson and Danny Green, there may not be a better team in the country. However if his shot isn't falling, UNC is losing (2-7 from 3pt land in each of their losses.) So last night when he hit 7-9 threes, Maryland could get forget about winning. His second game with 7 three-pointers resulted in 34 points on unbelievably efficient 12-15 shooting, along with 9 boards.

The other player to make noise last night was Ohio State's Evan Turner. In a not-so upset over No. 13 Purdue (it's not an upset if I can call it) Turner had a ridiculous night: 26 points, 12 rebounds, 7 assists, a block, a steal, 60% shooting and got to the line 12 times. Wow. The sophomore has really stepped up this year, with his ppg doubling from 8.5 to 17, so don't be surprised if he's a first round pick in June.

Quick Hit-- Stat Style

2009-02-04T10:48:00.002-05:00

Big East players are all over the Top 5s in the NCAA's individual statistics categories.

Notre Dame's Luke Harangody is the nation's 4th-leading scorer at 25.1ppg.

Harangody also is the NCAA's 3rd-best rebounder at 13.2rpg. Pittsburgh's DeJuan Blair comes in at No. 4 with 12.7rpg.

Connecticut's Hasheem Thabeet is second in the country in blocked shots at 4.0bpg... surprise, surprise.

Pittsburgh's Levance Fields is third in the nation in assists at 7.0apg.

Two Big East players that you wouldn't necessarily name right away hold the top two field goal percentages in the NCAA. Providence's Randall Hanke is No. 1 at 70.9 percent with Syracuse's Arinze Onuaku right behind at 70.6 percent.

Rounding it out, Marquette's Wesley Matthews is 5th in the country in free-throws made at 144 through 22 games.

Just a few stats to dissect on your Wednesday morning...

35 Second Shot Clock

2009-02-03T21:52:00.003-05:00

Eww. That's the best way to sup Rutgers 57-47 loss at Georgetown. Instead of painting a narrative, some statistics will do.

The 47 points were a season-low
Rutgers turned the ball over 21 times, a season high
They shot 38.6% from the field and just 6-19 in the first half
They had just 10 assists to counter the 21 turnovers
Georgetown had 11 steals
Mike Rosario was the only Knight in double figures

Rosario explained his team's trouble offensively:
"It was just us. It was us being impatient and us trying to make a play as soon as possible. And that’s what killed us."

Greg Monroe had a monster line. He scored 10 points, grabbed 7 boards, had 6 assists and came up with four steals:
“I’m just trying to win. That’s all I’m trying to do. I’m just trying to get a win for my team.”

Fred Hill said there was a lot to find wrong with:
It was everything. Certainly Georgetown’s defense, our decision-making, ball handling, 16 turnovers from our guards. You’re not going to win a game that way. It’s almost shocking to me that you can claw back and be in a game down by ten after they had a 20-point lead. Like usual we dug ourselves a big hole and we’re great at climbing back out of it, but you can’t turn the ball over 21 times against a good ball club and expect to be in a game and win a game.”

Jesse Sapp was just happy to win:
"With this win, we feel like we're back on track and we just want to continue to do the things that we did in this game and improve on them so we can win the next game."

It's Going for Wrong for Wainwright

2009-02-03T13:04:00.002-05:00

It's been a tough week for DePaul coach Jerry Wainwright. His team lost at home to Connecticut by 22 then went on the road to Rutgers and lost by 19. Ouch. On top of that ESPN's Pat Forde named him as one of four Big East coaches on the hot seat (along with Norm Roberts, Fred Hill and Bobby Gonzalez)
But you know what, it's been a tough year. DePaul has lost twice to annual Big East bottom feeder South Florida, including by 22 at home. They even lost at home to Morgan State. And 0-18 in the conference sounds about right.
Hell, it's been a tough 3.5 years for Wainwright. He's going to finish his fourth year with only one winning record overall. That one time came in 2006-07 when Wilson Chandler roamed the court in Chicago. Then he promptly bolted for the NBA.
Even sadder, after his team's loss to DePaul he used the post game press conference as an opportunity for all intents and purposes to petition for his job. Wainwright talked about how he was not making excuses and going with the deadly combo of this coach showing empathy, referencing how Jim Calhoun saw simmilarities in this DePaul team and his UConn team of two years ago, and talking about what ifs. Here is a quote to wet your whistle:

Everything is about retention; And please this is not an indication of what anyone said. Wilson Chandler would be a senior this year and our program would be remarkably different if he was like Sam Young. You are going to have to compete with early out guy or two, you have to be competitive. But the really good teams have guys in the wings... We have a lot of young players that every team in our league would like but the problem is that they are playing. I don't mean as disrespect to them but they play too much and too much is on them. They don't follow a normal development so you need to retain them and keep them working.

Quick Hit

2009-02-03T11:34:00.002-05:00

Just like Mike's outstanding job with the Morning Run, I will update you throughout the day with interesting breaking news tidbits and links to stories about a select game for the night to come.

As I said earlier, Georgetown has a huge game tonight with Rutgers, if that's possible for any game against the Scarlet Knights at this point. The Hoyas are in full tailspin mode and RU comes to town with a little renewed confidence.

The Washington Post takes a look at the Hoyas through nine Big East contests-- halfway to tourney time.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/02/AR2009020202901.html?sid=ST2009020202990&s_pos=

A Trendy Pick

2009-02-03T09:21:00.003-05:00

Coming into the 2008-2009 season, it was truly obvious that the Big East conference was the cream of the crop in the men’s college basketball ranks.

At this point, all of the teams in the conference have played somewhere between 20 and 22 games.

13 of the Big East’s 16 teams have over .500 records. 9 of those squads have 14 wins or more at this point, putting them squarely on the NCAA bubble or making them locks to dance.

The conference has shuffled between having eight and nine teams in the weekly Top 25 polls, despite the fact that preseason beasts Georgetown and Notre Dame (both are 12-8; 3-6) have faltered mightily and are on the outside looking in.

Marquette (19-2) is the only team undefeated in conference play at 8-0, but the Big East is so good that Connecticut (21-1, 10-1), the mega-group's second place team, is No. 1 in the nation.

The surprise of the year so far has to be Keno Davis and his guys in Providence. At 14-7, 6-3, the Friars have yet to be tested by the top teams in the Big East, but will certainly have a case to make as Selection Sunday approaches.

Weekly Awards: Marquette’s Jerel McNeal wins Big East Player of the Week and Rutgers’ Mike Rosario wins his second Big East Rookie of the Week as RU beats up on lowly DePaul for its first conference win.

RU @ Georgetown tonight at 7:00pm... Will the Hoyas' 5-game losing streak continue or is the Verizon Center (MCI, whatever you want to call it) still Rutgers' House of Horrors?

Player of the Night

2009-02-03T06:53:00.003-05:00

This is a new running segment where a player is highlighted for his play from the previous night. Simple concept. For the first time, here are two guys who were key on a slow Monday night:

- UConn's Hasheem Thabeet had a good night last night. He finished with 14 points (5-7 FG), 11 rebounds, 4 blocks and 2 steals. But even more important than the numbers were two other things. One he was crucial in stopping Louisville Samardo Samuels and Earl Clark. Both like to operate around the basket and his length and shot blocking skills put kibosh on that.
Secondly, he finally showed up in a game that mattered. Thabeet has had a history of shrinking in big games. Against Gonzaga he fouled out in 19 minutes. Against Villanova he only played 17. But he has been playing much better lately when it counted, including a combined 12 blocks against Georgetown and ND. So it was important for UConn last night that he played all but one minute and was a force.

- This one is a little more low key. Green Bay's Ryan Tillema led his Pheonix to an upset over No. 11 Butler. He finished with 21 points off the bench in only 29 minutes including 10-12 from the FT line. Throw in 6 boards and 2 blocks and Tillema probably had a good night out on the town last night in Cheesehead country.

- Kobe Bryant, Special NBA edition. I had to throw this one in. I was at MSG last night to see him score 61 points and break two very important records. He topped Jordan's record for most points by a visitor, which was the famous "Double Nickel" game in 1995. He also broke Bernard King's MSG record of 60 points, which he set on Christmas Day in 1984. Bryant was unstoppable last night, granted the Knicks are to defense what kids are to vegetables. But I don't think it would have mattered who he faced last night, he had the look in his eyes. Now to see if LeBron can top it Wednesday.

The Morning Run

2009-02-03T06:31:00.003-05:00

Good set of links today and not a bad Monday's worth of action.

- Connecticut is the new No. 1 and they have already bucked tradition by not losing a game a day into their reign. Pat Forde takes a look at what UConn can bring to the top spot
- It's never too early to think of March. And as always the over/under for Big East teams is 8
- My own story of how Rutgers is mentally preparing to go down to Georgetown
- Horrible story out of North Carolina saying that a mural of Kay Yow has been defaced
- Remember the story of former Cincinnati coach Andy Kennedy getting arrested for assaulting a cab driver. Here's the video
- Kobe Bryant had a good night last night in the Garden
- Looks like there might be a trend. Somebody threw a shoe at the Chinese Prime Minister
- Missed any of the Super Bowl ads? Well here they are

The Morning Run- Welcome Back/ Super Bowl Edition

2009-02-02T11:31:00.004-05:00

Nothing better than an extended Morning Run to get this week going. Today we'll try to fit in more links than allowable by fire safety laws. And of course, since yesterday was one of the best Big Games of all time, a few stories to get perspective on that.

First a few opinions at what to look forward to this week:
Marquette is flying high while some other Big East teams are floundering
SI's Luke Winn says that Louisville is the best team in the conference
ND's Zach Hillesland has a blog for the NY Times and in this entry reveals that he's not fond of everything his teammates do
Norm Roberts has a fan in the right place but it doesn't mean his job is guaranteed
Selfishness may have been the reason why Louisville struggled early
Villanova finally taking off because one of its players is
Meet some players who you've never heard of but you should
Connecticut will be the new No. 1 in the country but how long will it last?
Notre Dame's home court may be cursed
An interesting look at the Big East
The Knicks have quite a week coming up

The Super Bowl revisited:
The Pittsburgh side
The Arizona side
How about those ads
Sorry Giants fans, some say this was the great SB of them all
For journalistic integrity: some criticism

We're Back!

2009-02-02T11:29:00.002-05:00

The Big Beast is back and it's going to be better than ever. We will have new features, functions and stories; special interviews exclusive to the site; and creative posts seen only here. So thank you for waiting with us.

Please Stay With Us

2009-01-29T16:02:00.000-05:00

Please stay with us during this temporary break in the action. The site is currently under reconstruction. We will back shortly, better than ever. Thank you