January 14, 2010 –
by Brendon
On consecutive early-December nights, Pittsburgh and Connecticut left Madison Square Garden disappointed. On Tuesday, Dec. 8, Pittsburgh played its worst game of the season against a poor Indiana team. The Panthers shot just 37.1 percent eFG and fell by 10 in a game that was either unwatchable or barely so.
A night later in the Big East/SEC Invitational, Connecticut recovered from a terrible start to lead Kentucky through most of the second half. John Wall took over down the stretch, though, as the still-undefeated Wildcats knocked off the Huskies, 64-61.
Five weeks later, Pittsburgh and UConn got together at the XL Center in Hartford, and Pittsburgh remained undefeated in conference, topping the Huskies, 67-57, behind 19 each from Ashton Gibbs and Brad Wanamaker. It would have taken a lot of squinting and copious amounts of alcohol to see this coming five weeks ago.
|
Poss |
PPP |
eFG |
Turn |
Reb |
FTR |
| Pittsburgh |
62 |
1.07 |
0.424 |
0.209 |
0.487 |
0.288 |
| Connecticut |
62 |
0.91 |
0.472 |
0.209 |
0.344 |
0.111 |
It’s not that we didn’t already see cracks in Connecticut in December. The primary transformation has come from Pittsburgh, so that’s on whom I’ll mostly focus. We all know how this team looks different from last year’s team. Sam Young, DeJuan Blair, Levance Fields and Tyrell Biggs have all departed and with them the core of last season’s Elite Eight and No. 1-seeded team. Read More »
Posted in Big East, Game of the Night
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Tagged A.J. Price, Aaron Gray, Antonio Graves, Ashton Gibbs, Ater Majok, Big East, Brad Wanamaker, Carl Krauser, Chevron Troutman, Chris Taft, Connecticut, Donnell Beverly, Duquesne, Gavin Edwards, Gilbert Brown, Hasheem Thabeet, Indiana, Jamie Dixon, Jeff Adrien, Jermaine Dixon, Jerome Dyson, Jim Calhoun, Kentucky, Levance Fields, Levon Kendall, Michigan, Mike Cook, Pittsburgh, Ron Ramon, Sam Young, Stanley Robinson, Syracuse, Texas, Tyrell Biggs, Wofford
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October 20, 2009 –
by Brendon
College athletes are distinguished by their class, and each athlete has a finite amount of time — generally four years — to contribute to a team. Because of the rotating nature of classes, graduations and the addition of new recruits, a season becomes quite discrete.
In individual sports like pro tennis and pro golf, the short offseason makes the idea of a 2008 season or a 2009 season functionally meaningless for all but record-keepers. One could make a similar case — if not a strong one — for professional soccer where many leagues run from August into the following May and include various cup competitions and breaks during the single season.
I bring this up in anticipation of analyzing who’s back and who’s new on the college basketball landscape for the 2009-10 season. When college basketball writers are formulating their previews, they consider how good a team was last year, how much that team lost and what new additions — redshirts, transfers and recruits — might improve the team’s fortunes. I’m going to do the same thing here, only with an attempt to put a finer point on it. Read More »
Posted in National Perspective, Reviews/Previews
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Tagged 2009-10 season preview, A.J. Price, Arizona, Arizona State, Big East, Big Ten, Chase Budinger, Craig Austrie, Craig Robinson, Dar Tucker, Dean Oliver, DeJuan Blair, DeJuan Summers, DePaul, Dwight Burke, Earl Clark, Eric Devendorf, Georgetown, Hasheem Thabeet, Illinois, Jake Kelly, James Harden, Jeff Adrien, Jodie Meeks, Jon Brockman, Jonny Flynn, Kansas, Ken Pomeroy, Levance Fields, Marcus Thornton, Marquette, Nick Calathes, Oregon State, Pac-10, Paul Harris, Pittsburgh, Poss/100, Providence, SEC, Syracuse, Tennessee, Tyrell Biggs, Washington
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March 27, 2009 –
by Brendon
Not much time to wax today, but I did want to put electronic pen to paper before Friday’s games and the Elite Eight. I’ll breakdown all of Thursday’s games and give a glimpse at Friday and Saturday’s matchups herein.
West Region: In my West Region preview, I noted two keys to the Missouri-Memphis game — Memphis’ turnovers and Missouri’s 2-point shooting. Memphis had 14 turnovers, probably a couple more than John Calipari would have liked but nothing out of the norm — Antonio Anderson did duplicate his six-turnover performance from the win over Cal State-Northridge. The other key — Missouri’s 2-point shooting — was the difference. The Tigers hit 58.7 percent of their 2-point attempts, including far too many layups with several difficult 18-footers mixed in. Read More »
Posted in National Perspective, Reviews/Previews
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Tagged A.J. Price, Arizona, Blake Griffin, Chase Budinger, Connecticut, Dante Cunningham, DeJuan Blair, Duke, East Region, Gerald Henderson, Gonzaga, Hasheem Thabeet, J.T. Tiller, Jerry Smith, Jon Sheyer, Jordan Hill, Kansas, Levance Fields, Louisville, Memphis, Michigan State, Midwest Region, Missouri, Nic Wise, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pittsburgh, Purdue, Sam Young, South Region, Syracuse, Terrence Williams, Ty Lawson, Tyler Hansbrough, Tyreke Evans, Villanova, West Region, Willie Warren, Xavier
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March 25, 2009 –
by Brendon
In last week’s preview, I mused about the possibility of two Tigers, two Huskies and a Dick Enberg meeting up in Glendale this week. Enberg, two teams of Tigers and one team of Huskies will be there, but Purdue crashed the party with a two-point win over Washington on Saturday evening. Despite being one of just two teams seeded below the top four lines to make it to the second weekend of the Tournament, the Boilermakers fit right in a region where all four defenses are among the nation’s top 10.
Let’s take a look at these matchups, which will leave Enberg saying, “Oh, my!” and Jay Bilas being a self-righteous — though usually accurate — know-it-all. Some things never change.
No. 5 Purdue vs. No. 1 Connecticut (7:07 p.m. ET): Purdue is a team I’ve touted for a long time as a potential Final Four team, but I failed to stick to my guns when I picked Washington to defeat Purdue in the Second Round on Saturday. The Boilermakers weren’t able to keep Washington off the offensive glass, but they did keep the Huskies off the foul line thanks in large part to JuJuan Johnson’s presence inside. Connecticut presents similar problems for Purdue’s capable defense, but these Huskies are better at both shooting and taking care of the ball than Washington is. Read More »
Posted in National Perspective, Reviews/Previews
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Tagged A.J. Price, Cal State-Northridge, Connecticut, DeMarre Carroll, Dick Enberg, Doneal Mack, E'Twaun Moore, Gavin Edwards, Georgetown, Hasheem Thabeet, J.T. Tiller, JaJuan Johnson, Jay Bilas, Jeff Adrien, Jerel McNeal, Jim Calhoun, Keaton Grant, Leo Lyons, Marcus Denmon, Marquette, Matt Painter, Memphis, Mike Anderson, Missouri, Pierre Henderson-Niles, Purdue, Robbie Hummel, Robert Dozier, Roburt Sallie, Shawn Taggart, Stanley Robinson, Syracuse, Texas, Texas A&M, Tyreke Evans, Washington, Wesley Matthews, West Region
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March 18, 2009 –
by Brendon
Home to the most vulnerable No. 1 seed, the West Region should theoretically be the most wide-open. On the other hand, no team has been more dominant over the last two months than Memphis, but that was against a Conference USA schedule. Is Connecticut truly vulnerable? Are the Tigers truly dominant? Where does that leave Missouri, Purdue and Washington? We’ll try to approach answers to those questions and more in this West Region preview. (The Enberg reference in the headline is to the hopes that Dick Enberg will stay out West to announce the regional in Glendale, Ariz.)
Hurting puppies: The Connecticut Huskies are 4-3 in the seven full games they’ve played since Jerome Dyson went down with a right knee injury in UConn’s win over Syracuse on Feb. 11. With the exception of an 11-point win at Marquette in a game when the Golden Eagles lost Dominic James for the season, none of the Huskies’ results have been impressive. Read More »
Posted in National Perspective, Reviews/Previews
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Tagged A.J. Price, Brigham Young, Bryan Davis, California, Connecticut, DeMarre Carroll, Dick Enberg, Dominic James, Donald Sloan, Isaiah Thomas, JaJuan Johnson, Jarvis Varnado, Jerome Dyson, Jon Brockman, Lorenzo Romar, Mark Turgeon, Marquette, Maryland, Maurice Acker, Memphis, Mike Anderson, Mike Montgomery, Mississippi State, Missouri, Northern Iowa, Purdue, Robbie Hummel, Robert Dozier, Shawn Taggart, Texas A&M, Tyreke Evans, Utah State, WAC, Washington
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March 12, 2009 –
by Brendon
NEW YORK — In three of the last four Big East Tournaments, Syracuse has sent Connecticut home. In 2005, 2006 and 2007, the Huskies were left wanting in the face of one of their arch rivals. And, in what should be one of the hottest Big East quarterfinals tickets ever, Syracuse and Connecticut go at it again on Thursday night at 9:30 p.m. at Madison Square Garden.
UConn gets to the quarterfinals without having to play a game by virtue of that 15-3 Big East record, which secured the No. 3 seed and the coveted double-bye for Jim Calhoun’s team. Syracuse, on the other hand, had to literally fight its way to Thursday night, pulling away from a tough Seton Hall team after a couple of second-half fracases. Read More »
Posted in Big East, Reviews/Previews
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Tagged A.J. Price, Big East, Big East Tournament, Bobby Gonzalez, Brandon Walters, Connecticut, Jim Boeheim, John Garcia, Jonny Flynn, Kemba Walker, Kris Ongenaet, Paul Gause, Seton Hall, Syracuse
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February 17, 2009 –
by Brendon
There is so much juice to extract from Pittsburgh’s 76-68 win over Connecticut. From Blair vs. Thabeet to Fields vs. Walker, Young vs. Robinson; Hightower vs. off-Broadway actors — this game offered a lot.
Thabeet vs. Young: Hasheem Thabeet is a good basketball player and a defensive force, but his recent gaudy statistical games have glossed over his limited offensive game. Thabeet’s form entering Monday’s matchup made people think that he could — or should — play DeJuan Blair to a draw or perhaps better. Well, that didn’t happen.
Blair is one of the most active players in college basketball, and he made sure he stayed out of foul trouble so that his activity level could continue to impact the game. His six offensive rebounds — he had 23 rebounds in total — were just one fewer than the entire UConn team. For the game, Pitt rebounded 43 percent of its misses, and UConn got just 19. That gap of one rebound for every four misses was the difference in the game. It’s less surprising that Pitt did so well on the boards and more surprising that UConn was handled so completely on the Huskies’ offensive glass. Read More »
Posted in Big East, Game of the Night
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Tagged A.J. Price, Big East, Connecticut, DeJuan Blair, Ed Hightower, Hasheem Thabeet, Jermaine Dixon, Kemba Walker, Levance Fields, Louisville, Marquette, Mike Kitts, Pittsburgh, Sam Young, Tim Higgins
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February 2, 2009 –
by Brendon
A couple of weeks ago, I had the skeleton for a column that was to consider whether Connecticut was a true national-title contender. I wondered, did this Jim Calhoun team have what it takes did hoist a third championship banner at Gampel Pavilion? It’s about 10 days later now, and the point seems practically moot.
Since then, the Huskies ended the nation’s longest homecourt winning streak against Notre Dame in South Bend. Then, after dismantling DePaul in Chicago, the Huskies avenged four straight home defeats to regional rival Providence with a 94-61 win on Saturday. The 33-point margin of defeat was the Friars’ largest — if my research is correct — since former-head coach Tim Welsh’s first Friars club lost to Saint John’s by 34 on Feb. 15, 1999.
Then, for the piece de resistance, Connecticut took its fresh No. 1 ranking into Louisville and throttled a top-10 Cardinals team, 68-51. So, the question now isn’t so much whether Connecticut is good enough to win it all but rather whether the Huskies should be considered the favorites. Read More »
Posted in Big East
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Tagged A.J. Price, Albert Mouring, Arizona State, Ben Gordon, Charlie Villanueva, Craig Austrie, DeJuan Blair, Denham Brown, DePaul, Duke, Edmund Saunders, Emeka Okafor, Gavin Edwards, Georgtown, Gonzaga, Hasheem Thabeet, Hilton Armstrong, Jake Voskuhl, Jeff Adrien, Jerome Dyson, Jim Calhoun, Josh Boone, Kemba Walker, Kevin Freeman, Khalid El-Amin, Louisville, Luke Harangody, Marquette, Michigan State, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Pittsburgh, Providence, Rashad Anderson, Richard Hamilton, Ricky Moore, Roshamel Jones, Souleymane Wane, Stanley Robinson, Syracuse, Taliek Brown, Tim Welsh, Wake Forest, West Virginia, Xavier
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