November 23, 2009 –
by Brendon
After perusing all of the scores from this weekend, I count 36 that were particularly meaningful, and I’m probably underselling others. While the opening weekend of the college basketball was exciting because it was new, we definitely learned a lot more over the last three days simply because there were games that could go either way. We saw the Big East get its first loss — four of them, in fact. We saw Big Ten teams place seventh and eighth in eight-team tournaments. And at Madison Square Garden on Friday, we saw Syracuse complete the most impressive two-game stretch of the season.
Most of the interesting games were on Friday, so, it’s Friday’s games that account for most of my words on this Monday. I’ll be looking at Saturday and Sunday in subsequent posts.
Friday
Syracuse’s 87-71 win over North Carolina headlined the night’s action and rightfully so. Syracuse is a team that lost Jonny Flynn and two other key players from last year’s Sweet 16 team, and prior to last season, Syracuse had narrowly missed the NCAA Tournament twice in a row, so the Orange no longer give off the scent of a program that can simply reload.
Enter Wesley Johnson. Well acknowledging that his length and diverse skillset would be a huge asset for a team lacking both, I was very cautious about those who saw Johnson as an immediate star and potential Big East Player of the Year in his first season at Syracuse after transferring from Iowa State. Johnson had 25 points and eight rebounds on Friday, and that doesn’t convey the length he adds to Jim Boeheim’s 2-3 zone.
|
Poss |
PPP |
eFG |
Turn |
Reb |
FTR |
| North Carolina |
76 |
0.93 |
0.413 |
0.250 |
0.432 |
0.302 |
| Syracuse |
76 |
1.14 |
0.610 |
0.210 |
0.343 |
0.059 |
When you look at Syracuse’s figures above, notice that this one game is a replica of the Orange’s season thus far. Syracuse’s offense has been exceptional at hitting shots, especially 2-pointers — the Orange hit an incredible 59.6 against that imposing UNC frontcourt. The rest of the offensive for Syracuse, however, has been nothing special. Syracuse continues to turn the ball over too much, has not been great on the offensive glass and has not gotten to the line. It’s important to remember, though, that shooting is the overriding factor in an offense’s success and that the type of 2-pointers Syracuse has been making are not as beholden to fate as the 3-point shot. Read More »
Posted in Reviews/Previews
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Tagged Alabama, Andy Kennedy, Appalachian State, Arkansas, Atlantic-10, Auburn, Big East, Big Ten, Boston College, Boston University, Brown, California, Central Florida, Chris Warren, Chris Wright, Cornell, Davidson, Dayton, DePaul, Drexel, George Mason, Indiana, Iowa State, JaMychal Green, Jeff Lebo, Jim Boeheim, Joe Trapani, Jonny Flynn, Kansas State, La Salle, Mac Koshwal, Mikhail Torrance, Mississippi, Missouri Valley, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Northern Iowa, Ohio State, Penn State, Providence, Rakim Sanders, Reggie Jackson, Rutgers, SEC, Seton Hall, South Carolina, St. John's, St. Joseph's, St. Mary's, Syracuse, Talor Battle, Tennessee, Terrico White, Tulane, USF, Vanderbilt, Villanova, Wesley Johnson
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November 4, 2009 –
by Brendon
2008-09 in review: It’s not a stretch to write that the SEC experienced the worst season of any major conference this decade with its showing last winter. The league played such a weak non-conference schedule and played so poorly out of conference that four 20-win teams didn’t get a bid to the NCAA Tournament — Florida, South Carolina, Kentucky, Auburn — and no one really complained. In mid-February, the first three of those teams looked like they had a pretty good shot at dancing, but Florida finished 2-4, Kentucky finished 1-5, and South Carolina finished 3-4. Those four teams combined for just six wins in 23 games against top-50 teams.
If it wasn’t for Mississippi State’s — umm, not sure “stirring” is the right word — successful run to the SEC title, the SEC would have gotten just two teams into the NCAAs. Even with the third bid, not a single SEC team got a seed better than No. 8, and none were left standing once North Carolina pulled away from LSU on the first Saturday of the tournament. The SEC’s NCAA Tournament Conference Score of 0.33 was the worst of any major conference this decade.
What shouldn’t be lost in all of the negativity is the bounceback from LSU. In his first season as head coach, Trent Johnson leveraged Tasmin Mitchell and Marcus Thornton into the Tigers’ second SEC West title in four seasons. The Tigers have won 14, 5, 6 and 13 conference games in the last four seasons — you gotta love consistency. Read More »
Posted in SEC
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Tagged 2009-10 season preview, Alabama, Alex Tyus, Alonzo Gee, Anthony Grant, Arkansas, Auburn, Billy Gillispie, Brendan Knox, Brian Williams, Bruce Pearl, Chris Johnson, Daniel Orton, Darnell Dodson, David Huertas, DeMarcus Cousins, Dennis Felton, DeWayne Reed, Dominique Archie, Eric Bledsoe, Florida, Frankie Sullivan, Garrett Temple, Georgia, J.P. Prince, Jeff Lebo, Jodie Meeks, John Calipari, John Jenkins, John Wall, Jon Hood, Kenny Boynton, Kentucky, Kevin Stallings, Korvotney Barber, LSU, Lucas Hargrove, Mark Fox, Mark Gottfried, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Murphy Holloway, NCAA Tournament Conference Score, Nick Calathes, Patrick Patterson, Quantez Robertson, Rasheem Barrett, Renardo Sidney, Rick Stansbury, SEC, South Carolina, Tasmin Mitchell, Tay Waller, Tennessee, Trent Johnson, Tyler Smith, Tyreke Evans, Vanderbilt, Wayne Chism, Zam Frederick
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