November 19, 2009 –
by Brendon
The Big East is still undefeated — now 35-0 — but the team picked to win the league nearly became the first to lose on Thursday afternoon. Nearly everything went wrong in the first 38 minutes for Villanova, but the final two were all right in the Wildcats’ 69-68 victory over George Mason in the Puerto Rico Tip-off.
Two freshmen, Maalik Wayns and Isaiah Armwood, hit 3-pointers in the last two possessions to bring Villanova back from a late five-point deficit with 1:42 to play. The basket was Armwood’s first of his career, and it came after he was forced into action thanks to severe foul trouble for Villanova’s frontcourt.
The fouls were the main thing that made this game a strange one.
|
Poss |
PPP |
eFG |
Turn |
Reb |
FTR |
| George Mason |
70 |
0.97 |
0.436 |
0.200 |
0.242 |
0.574 |
| Villanova |
70 |
0.99 |
0.434 |
0.243 |
0.452 |
0.434 |
Those free-throw rates are borderline absurd. The two teams combined for 54 fouls committed. Nine players accumulated at least four fouls, including the four Villanova Wildcats who fouled out. Among those four were Antonio Pena, Taylor King and Maurice Sutton or, in other words, all the height in Villanova’s rotation since freshman Mouphtaou Yarou was sent back to Philly with a viral infection. Read More »
Posted in Big East, Game of the Night, Mid-Majors
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Tagged Antonio Pena, Big East, Chris Wright, Colonial, Corey Fisher, Dante Cunningham, Dayton, Duke, Dwayne Anderson, George Mason, Isaiah Armwood, Jay Wright, Maalik Wayns, Maurice Sutton, Mid-Majors, Mike Morrison, Mouphtaou Yarou, Reggie Redding, Ryan Pearson, Shane Clark, Taylor King, Villanova
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November 9, 2009 –
by Brendon
Feel free to jump to the conference of your choice by clicking on one of the links below:
• ACC
• Big 12
• Big East
• Big Ten
• Pac-10
• SEC
• Mid-Majors
With the first games that count coming up on Monday night, I figured I’d get my predictions in for all the major conferences and a few select mid-majors. Here are the conference-by-conference predictions with projected league record and postseason fate. It’ll be another four-plus months before I find out how wrong I am — sooner than that with some teams. Though I don’t officially make Final Four and Sweet 16 picks, you can infer them from the seedings.
ACC
Duke (predicted conference record 11-5; possessions returned — 63.8 percent*): There are concerns at point guard, but they were there last year as well, and while Jon Scheyer isn’t a natural at the position, he’s good enough to get by considering his talent and that of those surrounding him. The loss of Elliott Williams does hurt, but the combination of Scheyer and Kyle Singler plus emerging youngsters should keep Duke at or near the top of the ACC. NCAA No. 2 seed. Read More »
Posted in National Perspective
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Tagged 2009-10 season preview, A.J. Ogilvy, ACC, Al Skinner, Al-Farouq Aminu, Alabama, Alonzo Gee, Andy Kennedy, Anthony Crater, Anthony Grant, Arinze Onuaku, Arizona, Arizona State, Arkansas, Atlantic-10, Auburn, Augustus Gilchrist, Austin Freeman, Avery Bradley, Baylor, Ben Braun, Ben Howland, Big East, Big Ten, Bill Carmody, Bill Self, Bo Ryan, Bobby Gonzalez, Boston College, Brad Tinsley, Brandon Triche, Brigham Young, Bruce Pearl, Bruce Weber, Butler, California, Carleton Scott, Cashmere Wright, Chandler Parsons, Chase Budinger, Chinemelu Elonu, Chris Johnson, Chris Warren, Chris Wright, Cincinnati, Clemson, Colorado, Conference USA, Connecticut, Cory Higgins, Courtney Fortson, Craig Brackins, Craig Moore, Craig Robinson, Creighton, Damion James, Dante Cunningham, Dar Tucker, Darryl Bryant, David Huertas, Dayton, DeJuan Blair, DeMarre Carroll, Demetri McCamey, Demontez Stitt, Denis Clemente, Deon Thompson, Deonta Vaughn, DePaul, Derek Glasser, Derrick Favors, DeShawn Sims, Devan Downey, Dexter Pittman, Doc Sadler, Dominique Jones, Duke, Dwayne Anderson, Dwight Lewis, Ed Davis, Elliott Williams, Ernie Kent, Evan Turner, Florida, Florida State, Frank Haith, Frank Lickliter, Frank Martin, Fred Hill, Gani Lawal, Gary Williams, Georgetown, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Gonzaga, Greg Echenique, Greg McDermott, Greg Monroe, Greivis Vasquex, Herb Pope, Herb Sendek, Horizon, Howard Thompkins, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Iowa State, Isaiah Thomas, J.T. Tiller, JaJuan Johnson, Jake Kelly, Jamelle Cornley, James Anderson, James Harden, JaMychal Green, Jarvis Varnado, Jeff Bzdelik, Jeff Capel, Jeff Leo, Jeff Pendergraph, Jeff Peterson, Jeffrey Taylor, Jeremiah Rivers, Jermaine Beal, Jerome Dyson, Jerome Randle, Jerry Wainwright, Joe Mazulla, John Beilein, John Henson, John Jackson, John Pelphrey, John Riek, John Thompson III, John Wall, Johnny Dawkins, Jon Brockman, Jon Scheter, Jonny Flynn, Jordan Hill, Josh Owens, Jrue Holiday, Junior Cadougan, Justin Dentmon, Kalin Lucas, Kansas, Kansas State, Keaton Nankivil, Kemba Walker, Ken Bone, Kenny Boynton, Keno Davis, Kentucky, Keon Lawrence, Kevin Coble, Kevin O'Neill, Kevin Stallings, Klay Thompson, Kyle Singler, LaceDarius Dunn, Lance Stephenson, Landry Fields, Lazar Hayward, Leo Lyons, Leonard Hamilton, Lorenzo Brown, Lorenzo Romar, Louisville, LSU, Luke Harangody, MAAC, Manny Harris, Marcus Thornton, Mark Fox, Mark Turgeon, Marquette, Marshon Brooks, Maryland, Memphis, Miami (Fla.), Michael Dunigan, Michael Snaer, Michigan, Michigan State, Mid-Majors, Mike Davis, Mike Montgomery, Mike Rosario, Mike Singletary, Mikhail Torrance, Minnesota, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Missouri, Missouri Valley, Mountain West, Mouphtaou Yarou, Murphy Holloway, Nebraska, Niagara, Nic Wise, Nick Calathes, Norm Roberts, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Northern Iowa, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Oliver Purnell, Oregon, Oregon State, Pac-10, Pat Knight, Patrick Christopher, Patrick Patterson, Paul Gause, Paul Hewitt, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Providence, Purdue, Quincy Pondexter, Raymar Morgan, Renardo Sidney, Rick Barnes, Rick Jackson, Rick Stansbury, Rihards Kuksiks, Robbie Hummel, Roy Williams, Rutgers, Samardo Samuels, Scoop Jardine, Scott Drew, Scott Martin, Sean Miller, SEC, Senario Hillman, Seth Greenberg, Seton Hall, Sharaud Curry, Sidney Lowe, Siena, South Carolina, South Florida, Southern Cal, St. John's, Stan Heath, Stanford, Stanley Pringle, Stanley Robinson, Sylvan Landesburg, Syracuse, Talor Battle, Tennessee, Terrico White, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Theo Robertson, Tim Abromaitis, Tim Floyd, Tom Crean, Toney Douglas, Tony Bennett, Travis Ford, Trevor Booker, Tubby Smith, Tulsa, Ty Abbott, Tyler Smith, Tyler Zeller, Tyrese Rice, Tyrone Nash, UCLA, Utah State, Vanderbilt, Vernon Macklin, Villanova, Virginia, Virginia Tech, WAC, Wake Forest, Washington, Washington State, Wayne Chism, Wesley Johnson, West Coast, West Virginia, Willie Warren, Wisconsin, Xavier, Zaire Taylor
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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 26, 2009 –
by Lukas
This year, the Big East received the largest number of high seeds in tournament history, along with accompanying expected win totals and pressure. As Brendon pointed out in his recent column, the Big East could send two teams to the Final Four and three others to the Sweet 16 and still fall more than two shy of its 16.38 expected win total. As the only remaining region with two Big East teams still alive, the East regional will go a long way in deciding whether or not the Big East is able to meet or even exceed these expectations.
How the conferences stack up so far
| Conference |
Wins |
Exp Wins |
Seeds Left |
| ACC |
5 |
10.88 |
1, 2 |
| Big East |
11 |
16.38 |
1, 1, 1, 3, 3 |
| Big Ten |
6 |
7.18 |
2, 5 |
| Big 12 |
9 |
8.18 |
2, 3, 3 |
| Pac-10 |
6 |
5.99 |
12 |
| SEC |
1 |
1.5 |
None |
Read More »
March 14, 2009 –
by Brendon
NEW YORK — Fans and members of the media like to construct a basketball team’s character around its ability to play defense. Good defensive teams “try harder,” have “more heart” and “want it more” than their opponents. That may be true in hackneyed leads and on messageboard threads, but, on a basketball floor, defense is built on talent and coaching just as much if not more than offense is.
There isn’t a team more talented or coached better defensively than Louisville, and the Cards proved it again in a 69-55 win over Villanova in Friday’s first Big East Tournament semifinal at Madison Square Garden. Read More »
Posted in Big East, Game of the Night
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Tagged Andre McGee, Big East, Big East Tournament, Corey Fisher, Dante Cunningham, Earl Clark, Jay Wright, Jerry Smith, Louisville, Preston Knowles, Rick Pitino, Scottie Reynolds, Terrence Jennings, Terrence Williams, Villanova
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March 3, 2009 –
by Brendon
While fawning over how well Notre Dame had been playing entering Monday’s game with Villanova and making excuses for the Irish’s poor record, national college basketball pundits have been avoiding one salient fact — they’re not very good. That under-developed point should have been driven home once again as Villanova dominated the second half and knocked ND out of any realistic at-large hopes in a 77-60 victory.
It may not be in good form to toot my own horn, but I’ve been writing this all year — there are too many types of teams that give the Irish trouble for them to ever have been considered elite. Teams with tall frontlines can neutralize the shorter Luke Harangody. Teams with explosive, penetrating guards give the slower Notre Dame defenders fits, and teams with strong defensive guards help to stymie a player like Kyle McAlarney. Even if a team has just one of these elements, it can hang with the Irish. If it has more than one — see Washington State, Villanova, Marquette, Connecticut — then Notre Dame is in big trouble. Read More »
Posted in Big East, Game of the Night
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Tagged Big East, Connecticut, Dante Cunningham, General Custer, Jonathan Peoples, Kyle McAlarney, Luke Harangody, Marquette, Notre Dame, Rob Kurz, Ryan Ayers, Scottie Reynolds, Tory Jackson, Tyrone Nash, Villanova, Washington State, Zach Hillesland
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