Jerome Dyson of the Tulsa 66ers was named NBA Development League Performer of the Week for games played during the week of Jan. 24.
Dyson, who spent the 2010 NBA Summer League with the Cleveland Cavaliers, led the 66ers to a 2-1 record on the week, averaging 28.3 points, 2.7 rebounds and three assists.
After scoring 21 points in Tulsa’s 107-101 win at Springfield on Jan. 27, Dyson shot 6-of-9 from three-point range, scoring a game-high 37 points to go along with four rebounds, two assists and two steals in the 66ers’ 118-98 victory over the Armor the next day. Dyson also scored a team-high 27 points in Tulsa’s 109-106 loss to Maine on Sunday.
Among the league's honorable mention roll: Rio Grande Valley’s Jeff Adrien, who averaged 24 points, 14.5 rebounds and three assists.
After averaging 22.5 points in UConn's two games, Jeremy Lamb is the Big East's rookie of the week.
Peyton Siva is player of the week, but UConn fans might want to just sort of forget about that.
Some other interesting Big East notes to chew on:
Big East teams are 6-1 against top-10 opponents from other conferences after Sunday’s win by St. John’s over Duke. The Big East is 12-9 against top-25 teams this season.
The Big East is just about at the midpoint of the 2010-11 conference season, with 70 of the 144 league games played. The home team has won 44 of the first 70 games (.629). Ten of the 70 games have been ‘one-possession games,’ decided by three points or fewer.
Peyton Siva is player of the week, but UConn fans might want to just sort of forget about that.
Some other interesting Big East notes to chew on:
Big East teams are 6-1 against top-10 opponents from other conferences after Sunday’s win by St. John’s over Duke. The Big East is 12-9 against top-25 teams this season.
The Big East is just about at the midpoint of the 2010-11 conference season, with 70 of the 144 league games played. The home team has won 44 of the first 70 games (.629). Ten of the 70 games have been ‘one-possession games,’ decided by three points or fewer.
In the two years I've represented Connecticut as an AP Top 25 voter, this week's may have been the toughest I've had to do. Toughest poll this side of Lech Walesa. (Oops, that's Pole. Tough week for Mike Krzyzewski, too).
Of the 25 teams I ranked last week, 15 lost at least once. Two teams (Villanova and Syracuse) lost twice, while Missouri, Texas A&M and Wisconsin lost the only game they each played. (I'm submitting this poll contingent on Washington beating Washington State tonight. If Washington loses, they'll drop to No. 13, Georgetown will move up to No. 9, etc. Gotta love those late West Coast games).
It's tough for me to move 'Nova and Syracuse down so far, because it's pretty obvious that the Big East remains the best, most competitive conference in the nation. Look no further than St. John's domination of Duke on Sunday.
Big East teams are simply beating each other up, sending Syracuse to a whopping four straight losses (a fifth coming Wednesday night in Hartford?). And it's not so much that the league's best teams are so great (there are NO great teams in the country this season). It's that the lower tier is better than expected. With the exception of DePaul, there is not a single gimmie victory in the league, at least on the road.
South Florida, you ask? You mean the same Bulls who took UConn to overtime in Hartford on New Year’s Eve? Providence, which knocked off No. 23 Louisville and No. 8 Villanova in the span of four days last week? Rutgers, which gave No. 2 Pittsburgh all it could handle in a 65-62 loss Saturday night at the RAC? Seton Hall, which crushed Syracuse in the Carrier Dome and seems rejuvenated by the return of Jeremy Hazell?
St. John's? Ask Coach K.
As for the Huskies, I'm leaving them where I had them last week: No. 6. A nice road win at Marquette and a double-OT home loss to a Top 25 Louisville squad is no reason to move them down, especially given what most of the teams around them did or didn't do this week.
And why, you ask, do I have Texas ahead of UConn, despite the Huskies having beaten them in Austin a couple of weeks ago? The Longhorns are simply playing better right now. Can't always go with that type of reasoning, anyway. After all, I still have UConn ranked well ahead of Louisville.
1. Ohio State
2. Kansas
3. Pittsburgh
4. Texas
5. San Diego State
6. Connecticut
7. Duke
8. Brigham Young
9. Washington
10. Georgetown
11. Missouri
12. Kentucky
13. Minnesota
14. Villanova
15. Louisville
16. Notre Dame
17. Purdue
18. Texas A&M
19. Syracuse
20. Wisconsin
21. Utah State
22. Arizona
23. Xavier
24. North Carolina
25. Duquesne
In an Effort to Conserve Time -- since we needed to stop off to do our grocery shopping after today's game -- we decided to write this blog post early . . . before the game, to be honest.
So forgive us if it isn't entirely accurate. (Accuracy is definitely much easier to achieve if you wait until after the game is played.) In any event, this is what we think will happen:
So forgive us if it isn't entirely accurate. (Accuracy is definitely much easier to achieve if you wait until after the game is played.) In any event, this is what we think will happen:
This afternoon at Comcast, Maryland interrupted its regularly scheduled ACC broadcast season to host the Lancers of Longwood University. This was the second half of a home-and-home begun last season (also in the midst of conference play).
Longwood is located in Farmville, Virginia, an actual place that (we think) inspired the popular Facebook game. (Anybody need a cow?) Why the Terps took a break from their ACC schedule to play another cupcake overmatched opponent, we don't know. We thought that part of the schedule wrapped up in November and December. Not so. But even though this game didn't promise to be overly-competitive, Maryland games are always fun, so off we headed to College Park this afternoon.
Last year, in Farmville (the real town, not FarmVille, the virtual one), the Terps crushed the Lancers, 85-40. Today, with the Terps playing at home, we expected no less of a rout. And we were not disappointed, as the Lancers, once again, were no match for the B.A.D. (Big, Athletic & Deep) Maryland Terps. Final score, [enter score here].
Last year, in Farmville (the real town, not FarmVille, the virtual one), the Terps crushed the Lancers, 85-40. Today, with the Terps playing at home, we expected no less of a rout. And we were not disappointed, as the Lancers, once again, were no match for the B.A.D. (Big, Athletic & Deep) Maryland Terps. Final score, [enter score here].
Super frosh Alyssa Thomas continued her string of double-digit games, finishing with [enter number] points, and Lynetta Kizer rebounded (literally and figuratively) from her single-point outing on Friday against Wake Forest, adding [enter number] points and grabbing [enter number] boards this afternoon. As in their last game, Maryland got contributions from many players today. [Enter names and details]
And once more, the entire Terps' bench saw significant minutes, including Sequoia. But unlike her last outing, this afternoon, Sequoia actually drained a 3-point shot (We hope.) [revise this if necessary].
Next (returning to their regularly scheduled conference games), Maryland travels to Atlanta on Thursday to face the Yellow Jackets of Georgia Tech at 7 PM. GT is currently in [enter number] place in the ACC with a record of [enter numbers] (their only loss coming at the hands of Duke). So the Terps' next opponent will be no cupcake. The Jackets are a fast, athletic team that loves to press. It should be a challenging game for the Terps, who will be looking to keep their ACC win-streak alive and continue their climb up the conference standings. Unfortunately, this game will not be not televised, so the BCs will be relegated to watching those little triangular virtual players bounce and shoot on Gametracker. What fun!
Go Terps . . . Beat the Yellow Jackets!
* * * * * * * * * *
(5:41 PM) Back from the grocery shopping . . . the food's put away. So how'd we do?
Well, as we expected, Longwood was no match for Maryland. As predicted, the Terps routed the Lancers, winning by a final score of 84-38. The margin of victory would have been far greater had the Terps' starters played starter-minutes.
Also as we expected, super frosh Alyssa Thomas again reached double figures in scoring, putting up 14 points --in only 17 minutes on the court. Playing just one minute longer (18), Lynetta Kizer did indeed bounce back from her 1-point game on Friday night, scoring 15 points and grabbing 5 rebounds.
And, as they did on Friday night (and as we expected), numerous Terps made contributions to today's win. In particular, Alicia DeVaughn, off the bench, made good use of her extra playing time (23 minutes), leading all scorers with 16 points (tying her career high), and falling just shy of double-double with 9 rebounds.
We did blow it in our hopeful prediction of a basket from beyond the arc for Sequoia. While that didn't happen, Sequoia did have one very nice play where she got out on transition and finished the layup. 2 points! She was also perfect from the charity stripe, hitting both of her free throw attempts. So she had a good game even if she didn't drain a long ball.
All in all, we think we did pretty well considering that we wrote today's game report before the game even started. However, with the Terps now returning to ACC play, the games from here on out become far more unpredictable. Guess we'll just have to wait until the final buzzer to write our posts for the rest of the season!
BTW, the Terps' next opponent, Georgia Tech, now has a second loss, as they were beaten in OT this afternoon by Miami, dropping the Yellow Jackets to 6-2 in the ACC, but still ahead of the 4-2 Terps.
Late in the game in in overtime, Alex Oriakhi and Roscoe Smith must have felt a little like Colts WR Reggie Wayne ("I shouldn't have even suited up") felt after losing to the Jets a few weeks ago. Both players hardly sniffed the ball as UConn's three-guard attack of Kemba Walker, Shabazz Napier and Jeremy Lamb weaved the ball around the perimeter seemingly every possession, failed to penetrate and wound up settling for long jumpers and 3's -- a few of which went in, but not enough.
The Huskies fired up 30 3-pointers today, hitting just eight of them. The unimaginative offense late in the game wasn't the only reason they lost -- certainly the inability to stop 5-11 Peyton Siva from driving the lane played a major part. Still, the failure of Walker and Napier, in particular, to drive the lane effectively seemed to stick in the craw of Calhoun afterwards.
When the J-I's Phil Chardis started asking Calhoun about Louisville's swarming defense on Walker, Calhoun snapped: "I don't want to talk about Kemba right now. Next question."
That, my friends, was as close to Calhoun has come to publicly criticizing Walker since probably his freshman year.
When asked if there was any friction between he and the coach, Walker simply shook his head "No." And I don't believe there is any. But if Calhoun was looking to pick his spot in perhaps motivating Walker a bit, there was no better time than the present.
After today's 7-for-23 (2-for-10 on treys) performance, Walker is now shooting 32 percent (24-for-74) in his last four games. Worse, he seemed to force some bad shots this afternoon -- and admitted as much afterwards.
"They're throwing a lot of guys at me," Walker said. "I'm not taking good shots. I've got to do a better job getting good shots."
*** Siva scored the game-tying shots at the end of both regulation and first overtime – the latter a dunk with 7.8 seconds remaining that really was inexcusable, from a UConn perspective.
"I have no explanation for it. None," Calhoun said. "I tried to use different centers, but they both got out of the way to make sure he had a clearer view of the rim. And, obviously, we shouldn't be getting beat that easy at the top, either."
Siva (team-high 19 points) added two more driving layups in the second overtime.
"We told our guys: do not let the clock run out, go three overtimes, be offensively aggressive," Louisville coach Rick Pitino said. "Come out and just make sure you attack the rim. You can't win on the road unless you attack the rim, and we came out in both overtimes really looking to attack it."
***Lamb's father, Rolando, was up from Georgia to take in his first UConn game. He saw his son play well (9-for-17 shooting) in the loss, which gave Jeremy some consolation.
"It is (a good feeling)," Jeremy said, "and then again, we didn't get the 'W', so it's not really satisfying, you know?"
***UConn outrebounded Louisville by a resounding 51-36 margin -- a result, in part, of the Cardinals overplaying UConn's guards.
***Two members of last year's UConn team, Jerome Dyson and Gavin Edwards, sat next to each other behind the Huskies' bench. The two played an NBDL game against each other Friday night, with Dyson scoring 37 points in Tulsa's win over Springfield.
***Both teams' coaching staffs wore sneakers in support of the American Cancer Society.
***Calhoun is now 7-14 all-time against Pitino-coached teams and 4-5 since Pitino came to Louisville.
The Huskies fired up 30 3-pointers today, hitting just eight of them. The unimaginative offense late in the game wasn't the only reason they lost -- certainly the inability to stop 5-11 Peyton Siva from driving the lane played a major part. Still, the failure of Walker and Napier, in particular, to drive the lane effectively seemed to stick in the craw of Calhoun afterwards.
When the J-I's Phil Chardis started asking Calhoun about Louisville's swarming defense on Walker, Calhoun snapped: "I don't want to talk about Kemba right now. Next question."
That, my friends, was as close to Calhoun has come to publicly criticizing Walker since probably his freshman year.
When asked if there was any friction between he and the coach, Walker simply shook his head "No." And I don't believe there is any. But if Calhoun was looking to pick his spot in perhaps motivating Walker a bit, there was no better time than the present.
After today's 7-for-23 (2-for-10 on treys) performance, Walker is now shooting 32 percent (24-for-74) in his last four games. Worse, he seemed to force some bad shots this afternoon -- and admitted as much afterwards.
"They're throwing a lot of guys at me," Walker said. "I'm not taking good shots. I've got to do a better job getting good shots."
*** Siva scored the game-tying shots at the end of both regulation and first overtime – the latter a dunk with 7.8 seconds remaining that really was inexcusable, from a UConn perspective.
"I have no explanation for it. None," Calhoun said. "I tried to use different centers, but they both got out of the way to make sure he had a clearer view of the rim. And, obviously, we shouldn't be getting beat that easy at the top, either."
Siva (team-high 19 points) added two more driving layups in the second overtime.
"We told our guys: do not let the clock run out, go three overtimes, be offensively aggressive," Louisville coach Rick Pitino said. "Come out and just make sure you attack the rim. You can't win on the road unless you attack the rim, and we came out in both overtimes really looking to attack it."
***Lamb's father, Rolando, was up from Georgia to take in his first UConn game. He saw his son play well (9-for-17 shooting) in the loss, which gave Jeremy some consolation.
"It is (a good feeling)," Jeremy said, "and then again, we didn't get the 'W', so it's not really satisfying, you know?"
***UConn outrebounded Louisville by a resounding 51-36 margin -- a result, in part, of the Cardinals overplaying UConn's guards.
***Two members of last year's UConn team, Jerome Dyson and Gavin Edwards, sat next to each other behind the Huskies' bench. The two played an NBDL game against each other Friday night, with Dyson scoring 37 points in Tulsa's win over Springfield.
***Both teams' coaching staffs wore sneakers in support of the American Cancer Society.
***Calhoun is now 7-14 all-time against Pitino-coached teams and 4-5 since Pitino came to Louisville.
Here's a quick tale of the tape between today's two coaches, Jim Calhoun and Rick Pitino:
Head-to-head: Pitino, 13-7. Pitino was 6-3 against Calhoun while Pitino was at BU and Calhoun at Northeastern; 1-0 while Pitino was at PC and Calhoun at Northeastern; 2-0 when Pitino was at PC and Calhoun at UConn; and 4-4 while at Louisville.
National titles: Calhoun, 2-1.
Final Fours appearances: Pitino, 5-3.
Number of teams brought to Final Four: Pitino, 3-1.
Scandals: Nate Miles' recruitment vs. Scenes from an Italian Restaurant. Advantage: Pitino.
Best coaching performance: 1990 Impossible Dream team vs. 1987 PC Final Four squad. (Or could this year be Calhoun's greatest?). Advantage: Pitino.
Sideline attire: Standard suit and tie vs. wildly expensive white suits. Advantage: Pitino.
Celtics ties: Supposedly the final cut in training camp one year vs. extremely disappointing head coach. Advantage: Calhoun.
Background: Boston Irish vs. New York Italian. I'm not touching this one.
Hall of Fame status: 2005 inductee vs. 2011 nominee. Advantage: Calhoun.
Head-to-head: Pitino, 13-7. Pitino was 6-3 against Calhoun while Pitino was at BU and Calhoun at Northeastern; 1-0 while Pitino was at PC and Calhoun at Northeastern; 2-0 when Pitino was at PC and Calhoun at UConn; and 4-4 while at Louisville.
National titles: Calhoun, 2-1.
Final Fours appearances: Pitino, 5-3.
Number of teams brought to Final Four: Pitino, 3-1.
Scandals: Nate Miles' recruitment vs. Scenes from an Italian Restaurant. Advantage: Pitino.
Best coaching performance: 1990 Impossible Dream team vs. 1987 PC Final Four squad. (Or could this year be Calhoun's greatest?). Advantage: Pitino.
Sideline attire: Standard suit and tie vs. wildly expensive white suits. Advantage: Pitino.
Celtics ties: Supposedly the final cut in training camp one year vs. extremely disappointing head coach. Advantage: Calhoun.
Background: Boston Irish vs. New York Italian. I'm not touching this one.
Hall of Fame status: 2005 inductee vs. 2011 nominee. Advantage: Calhoun.
Romp!
After a full week of work, not to mention the major hassle of getting around during and after Wednesday's storm, we weren't exactly looking forward to a trip up to College Park for a game that didn't even start until the later-than-usual hour of 8:30 PM on a Friday night. Fortunately, however, the Terps made the trip well worth our while, as they demolished the overmatched Demon Deacons of Wake Forest, 75-44, in a non-competitive, but very fun-for-the-fans game. (Unless, of course, you were among the small group of loyal -- and enthusiastic -- Deacon fans in Comcast.)
There were standout performances all across the Maryland team. Super frosh Alyssa Thomas led all scorers with 19, and notched another double-double (11 boards). Kim Rodgers, in only 16 minutes off the bench, put up 17 points, including three consecutive three-pointers during the first half that had the fans out of their seats . . . not once, not twice, but three times! Ti-Hawk also booked another double-double, or perhaps we should say another double-dozen (12 points and 12 boards). Meanwhile, Diandra rounded out the Terps' double-digit scoring with 10.
Coach B (who is never one to run up the score on an overmatched opponent) substituted liberally during the second half, going as deep into her bench as she had players. Essence entered the game with about 10 minutes left to play, and fan favorite (walk-on) Sequoia made her appearance with about four minutes to go. At that point, nearly everyone on the Maryland team had scored, and Sequoia's teammates, to the delight of the crowd, on a single possession fed her the ball five times as she tried mightily to nail a three. Alas, she was not successful, and the fans "aahed" with each miss. But she did hit a 2-point jumper soon after, drawing a standing ovation from the crowd of nearly 5,000.
Tonight was the Team Tyler Leukemia Awareness game. Many fans stopped by the Team Tyler table on the concourse to purchase T-shirts and orange and green wristbands . . . the proceeds of which will be used to support leukemia programs at Johns Hopkins. The local chapter of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society was also represented. They shared information about the disease and about their programs with all of us who visited their table. Later, Laura Harper announced that the Team Tyler Foundation was making its first donation to Johns Hopkins . . . a check in the amount of $5,000! Really wonderful.
After dropping their first two games of the ACC season to Duke and Boston College, the Terps have now won four in a row. They take a little break from Conference play on Sunday, when Longwood comes to Comcast at 2 PM (completing the second half of a home and home started last year). If Sunday's game is half as much fun as tonight's, then everybody will be in for a good time.
Go Terps . . . Beat the Lancers!
A few notes & quotes in advance of Saturday's Louisville-UConn game at Gampel.
*** The game is sold-out, UConn's second straight home sellout. There'll be a third, as well, on Wednesday night against Syracuse at the XL Center.
"Our fans really like this team, as well as me," said Jim Calhoun.
*** Kemba Walker is in the midst of a mini-slump -- at least by the standards he's set this season. Walker has shot just 33 percent from the floor in the Huskies’ last three games as teams constantly double and triple-team him.
“It’s frustrating, I can’t lie,” he said. “But for the most part I’ve been doing pretty well with it. I’ve been racking up a lot of assists. I’ve been doing a good job at countering stuff. I can’t complain. We’re winning, and that’s all I can ask for."
Walker doled out nine assists against Marquette.
“All he does is win games, and that’s a good thing,” said Calhoun. “I don’t worry about Kemba.”
*** Jeremy Lamb has averaged 16.8 points in UConn’s last four games. Against Marquette, he became the first Husky freshman to score 20 in a game since Kemba Walker in the NCAA tournament in 2009.
Lamb's father is expected to be at today's game, the first time he'll see Jeremy play live in a college game.
*** Why haven't Niels Giffey or Tyler Olander seen much playing time lately?
"We've won six in a row, we're 17-2. Why jump in and make drastic changes?"
Calhoun believes both players will still help the Huskies down the line.
*** The game is sold-out, UConn's second straight home sellout. There'll be a third, as well, on Wednesday night against Syracuse at the XL Center.
"Our fans really like this team, as well as me," said Jim Calhoun.
*** Kemba Walker is in the midst of a mini-slump -- at least by the standards he's set this season. Walker has shot just 33 percent from the floor in the Huskies’ last three games as teams constantly double and triple-team him.
“It’s frustrating, I can’t lie,” he said. “But for the most part I’ve been doing pretty well with it. I’ve been racking up a lot of assists. I’ve been doing a good job at countering stuff. I can’t complain. We’re winning, and that’s all I can ask for."
Walker doled out nine assists against Marquette.
“All he does is win games, and that’s a good thing,” said Calhoun. “I don’t worry about Kemba.”
*** Jeremy Lamb has averaged 16.8 points in UConn’s last four games. Against Marquette, he became the first Husky freshman to score 20 in a game since Kemba Walker in the NCAA tournament in 2009.
Lamb's father is expected to be at today's game, the first time he'll see Jeremy play live in a college game.
*** Why haven't Niels Giffey or Tyler Olander seen much playing time lately?
"We've won six in a row, we're 17-2. Why jump in and make drastic changes?"
Calhoun believes both players will still help the Huskies down the line.
Wear Your Green!Tomorrow (Friday) night at 8:30 PM, the Terps will host the Demon Deacons of Wake Forest at Comcast. Maryland will be hoping to maintain the momentum from their big win over the Tarheels and stretch their current 3-game ACC win streak to 4. Of course, the opportunity to rise in the standings makes this game very important.
But perhaps even more important, tomorrow is Team Tyler Leukemia Awareness Night. All Leukemia survivors are invited to attend the game for free (email isurvived@umd.edu). Representatives from the National Capital Area Chapter of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society will be at Comcast to share information and promote awareness about leukemia. The Chapter aids more than 2,500 patients and families every year. This is a great opportunity for all of us to learn more about this life-threatening disease, which, as our readers know, has struck very close to home . . . Mark and Brenda's son Tyler.
The Team Tyler Foundation will also be represented; T-shirts and awareness wristbands will be available for sale and donations will be accepted.
Even though St. Patrick's Day is still more than a month away, fans (of both teams) are encouraged to wear GREEN (in honor of Leukemia Awareness) to the game. (You may already have noticed that the players are now wearing green ribbons for Tyler on their jerseys.) Tomorrow, the Maryland coaches will be wearing green . . . and so will the BCs. Hope you'll join us in this symbolic gesture.
And even though the game will be shown on Comcast SportsNet (RSN), we hope that your streets are clear (and your car is dug out and gassed up), so that you'll be able to join us in making the trip to College Park as well. Cheering on your team live is lots more fun than watching from home.
See you tomorrow (in your green).
Go Terps . . . Beat the Deacons!
Check out the status on my Cantilevered roller coaster concept model. I completed some of the fine details for the main course like the cross-ties, support columns, and cement footers. I also attempted to make a banked track section, which turned out OK minus the rails which look bumpy, twisted, and are generally terrible. Refinement coming your way!
At One Point Late in the Second Half, ESPN Announcer Rebecca Lobo commented about Maryland's 27 turnovers, saying "that's pretty horrible." But she immediately followed up her remark by observing that the Terps "made up [for the TOs] with effort."Did they ever! What a great effort. And what a great show Maryland put on today for the national TV audience, and a great crowd at Comcast, in beating the #10/11 ranked Tarheels, 88-65.
We assume that, like the BCs, you either saw the game in person (as one of us did) or on TV (as the other did), so you know how it progressed: Maryland raced out to an early lead. UNC closed the gap somewhat, only to see the Terps respond and take a 12-point lead into the locker room at halftime. The second half was pretty much all Maryland, as that 12-point margin grew to 23 points before time expired. Maryland wins. The Terps move to 3-2 in ACC play.
Except for those horrible pesky turnovers, there wasn't much not to like about today's game. When it comes to writing about Maryland's great effort, we hardly know where to begin.
As a team, the Terps shot 47% from the field (wow), 45% from outside the arc (amazing), and an almost unbelievable 92% from the free throw line! Before the game, Coach B challenged her team to "own the glass" in their home arena, and Maryland did exactly that . . . outrebounding UNC 49-26, and 17 of those were offensive boards. Today's 88 points were a season high for the team. And, of the Terps' 30 baskets, 21 were assisted. What a total team effort!
As for individual contributions, there were so many! Super-frosh (and the BCs' overwhelming choice for ACC Rookie of the Year) Alyssa Thomas** led the Terps in scoring (16) and rebounding (13) . . . obviously another double-double. Three other Maryland starters had double-figure nights: Diandra, whose parents made the trip from Paris for the game (the first time they've seen her play on this side of the pond), had a fabulous performance that included 13 points, 6 rebounds, and probably most impressive of all, 4 highlight-reel blocks. Team leader Lynetta chipped in 12 points and 9 boards. And Anjale did a terrific job of finding her open teammates. "Bronx" finished with 11assists (a career high) and 8 points, falling just shy of a double-double.
Diandra and Her ParentsQuite a few of Anjale's passes ended up in the hands of freshmen reserves Alicia DeVaughn (12 points) and Laurin Mincy (10 points). They both had break-out nights . . . on national TV!
The ESPN team was certainly impressed with Maryland's young line up, as were we. They loved the enthusiasm, they loved the talent, they loved the effort they saw from the Terps today. We feel the same way. What's not to love about a big win, at home, over a (higher) nationally ranked ACC opponent . . . on ESPN! (Maybe those turnovers. But hey, nobody's perfect.)
Next up, the Terps play host to Wake Forest, at Comcast on Friday night at 8:30 PM. It will be hard to match the fun and excitement of today's game, but every ACC game counts the same in the standings, so it will be every bit as important. We hope to see you Friday night!
Go Terps . . . Beat the Demon Deacons!
Photo Credit: DC BasketCases
It's official: Nothing this team does surprises me anymore. Zero.
While I thought there was a chance UConn could be significantly better than the preseason prognosticators had prognoaticated, there's no way I (or anyone) could have figured the Huskies would be 16-2 at this point of the season. Truly remarkable.
If Jim Calhoun isn't the runaway favorite for (forget just Big East), national coach of the year right now, I don't know who is. It's really not even close right now.
Calhoun has mixed and matched this group marvelously, discerning his players'strengths and weaknesses and melding it into a winning product.
"Jim does a great job of putting guys in a position to be successful," Bruce Pearl said. "They do what they can do, and don't do what they can't do."
Kemba Walker is a virtual certainty each night, and there he was once again in the UConn men's basketball's 72-61 win over Tennessee at a sold-out XL Center Saturday afternoon. Despite his lowest scoring output of the season (16 points), Walker doled out seven assists and hit his usual array of big shots, including a long 3-pointer at the first-half buzzer that gave the eighth-ranked Huskies a halftime lead.
Alex Oriakhi was at it again, too, with a double-double (12 points, 10 rebounds) and three steals, including a nifty pokeaway that led to his own dunk with 4 ½ minutes to play.
But it was the performances of a pair of freshmen, Jeremy Lamb and Roscoe Smith, that made the difference in this one. Lamb matched a career best with 16 points, including a couple of big buckets over the final five minutes, and added five rebounds and a pair of steals.
Smith buried four 3-pointers to add 12 points, blocked three shots and helped hold Volunteer leading scorer Scotty Hopson to a subpar (5-for-13 shooting, five turnovers) game.
"Of the 18 games we've played, that's far and away the best team effort against a quality opponent," UConn coach Jim Calhoun proclaimed afterwards. "I don't think there's any question about it."
Throw in an effective (six points, five boards) game off the bench for Charles Okwandu, a couple of 3-pointers from Jamal Coombs-McDaniel and enough clutch passing (four assists) in an otherwise poor game from Shabazz Napier and it's hard to argue Calhoun's point.
"(Walker) can get 30 any night he wants," said Lamb. "Tonight, he got us involved. Roscoe was hot, I hit a couple of shots and Shabazz was in there handling it for him. We all contributed."
Added Oriakhi: "We feed off each others' energy, so when one guy's playing well, we all feed off it and it helps the team as a whole … Roscoe was hitting 3's, Jeremy stepped up and Chuck stepped up. And that's what we need, because Kemba can't do it alone."
*** It's always fun listening to Pearl talk, so here's a little of what he had to say afterwards:
"You have to play really well to beat UConn at UConn. We did some good things, but turning the ball over – some of that was UConn, some of that was us. Second-chance points were huge. A lot of that was UConn, some of that was us."
"If you told me we could hold (Oriakhi) and Walker down, that we could win the ballgame. But those other guys, Lamb and Smith, stepped it up ... UConn's playing better when those other guys are involved like this. It makes them a harder cover. It'll open up the lane a little bit more inside."
"It's hard for Tennessee to beat UConn at UConn when Scotty Hopson doesn't play well."
(on returing to the sidelines in the middle of an eight-game suspension from SEC play)
"It's a very serious penalty. Eight league games … one league game could be the difference between seedings and making the tournament. It's significant ... Believe it or not, it didn't feel that different … It's good to get back. It was fun to be in the game for a while."
*** Ex-UConn great Clifford Robinson watched the game from behind the bench.
***Tyler Olander started for UConn but went scoreless in six minutes. Niels Giffey played just three minutes and registered nary a point nor a rebound.
***The sellout was UConn's second of the season and first at the XL Center.
***Melvin Goins led the Vols with 15 points, Hopson had 13 and Tobias Harris (a former UConn recruiting target) had 10.
***That's it. I'm off to Disney World with the family. Should be particularly exciting for my 4 1/2-year-old daughter. She's pretty excited, and so am I.
While I thought there was a chance UConn could be significantly better than the preseason prognosticators had prognoaticated, there's no way I (or anyone) could have figured the Huskies would be 16-2 at this point of the season. Truly remarkable.
If Jim Calhoun isn't the runaway favorite for (forget just Big East), national coach of the year right now, I don't know who is. It's really not even close right now.
Calhoun has mixed and matched this group marvelously, discerning his players'strengths and weaknesses and melding it into a winning product.
"Jim does a great job of putting guys in a position to be successful," Bruce Pearl said. "They do what they can do, and don't do what they can't do."
Kemba Walker is a virtual certainty each night, and there he was once again in the UConn men's basketball's 72-61 win over Tennessee at a sold-out XL Center Saturday afternoon. Despite his lowest scoring output of the season (16 points), Walker doled out seven assists and hit his usual array of big shots, including a long 3-pointer at the first-half buzzer that gave the eighth-ranked Huskies a halftime lead.
Alex Oriakhi was at it again, too, with a double-double (12 points, 10 rebounds) and three steals, including a nifty pokeaway that led to his own dunk with 4 ½ minutes to play.
But it was the performances of a pair of freshmen, Jeremy Lamb and Roscoe Smith, that made the difference in this one. Lamb matched a career best with 16 points, including a couple of big buckets over the final five minutes, and added five rebounds and a pair of steals.
Smith buried four 3-pointers to add 12 points, blocked three shots and helped hold Volunteer leading scorer Scotty Hopson to a subpar (5-for-13 shooting, five turnovers) game.
"Of the 18 games we've played, that's far and away the best team effort against a quality opponent," UConn coach Jim Calhoun proclaimed afterwards. "I don't think there's any question about it."
Throw in an effective (six points, five boards) game off the bench for Charles Okwandu, a couple of 3-pointers from Jamal Coombs-McDaniel and enough clutch passing (four assists) in an otherwise poor game from Shabazz Napier and it's hard to argue Calhoun's point.
"(Walker) can get 30 any night he wants," said Lamb. "Tonight, he got us involved. Roscoe was hot, I hit a couple of shots and Shabazz was in there handling it for him. We all contributed."
Added Oriakhi: "We feed off each others' energy, so when one guy's playing well, we all feed off it and it helps the team as a whole … Roscoe was hitting 3's, Jeremy stepped up and Chuck stepped up. And that's what we need, because Kemba can't do it alone."
*** It's always fun listening to Pearl talk, so here's a little of what he had to say afterwards:
"You have to play really well to beat UConn at UConn. We did some good things, but turning the ball over – some of that was UConn, some of that was us. Second-chance points were huge. A lot of that was UConn, some of that was us."
"If you told me we could hold (Oriakhi) and Walker down, that we could win the ballgame. But those other guys, Lamb and Smith, stepped it up ... UConn's playing better when those other guys are involved like this. It makes them a harder cover. It'll open up the lane a little bit more inside."
"It's hard for Tennessee to beat UConn at UConn when Scotty Hopson doesn't play well."
(on returing to the sidelines in the middle of an eight-game suspension from SEC play)
"It's a very serious penalty. Eight league games … one league game could be the difference between seedings and making the tournament. It's significant ... Believe it or not, it didn't feel that different … It's good to get back. It was fun to be in the game for a while."
*** Ex-UConn great Clifford Robinson watched the game from behind the bench.
***Tyler Olander started for UConn but went scoreless in six minutes. Niels Giffey played just three minutes and registered nary a point nor a rebound.
***The sellout was UConn's second of the season and first at the XL Center.
***Melvin Goins led the Vols with 15 points, Hopson had 13 and Tobias Harris (a former UConn recruiting target) had 10.
***That's it. I'm off to Disney World with the family. Should be particularly exciting for my 4 1/2-year-old daughter. She's pretty excited, and so am I.
Groundhog Day doesn’t officially come for another 10 days, but college basketball’s version will transpire this afternoon at the XL Center in Hartford.
After sitting out the last four games, Tennessee men’s coach Bruce Pearl will emerge, cast his rather large shadow on the sideline in the Volunteers’ 2 p.m. (CBS) showdown with UConn, then crawl back into his hole for four more games once today’s matchup is over.
Back in November, Pearl was suspended for the Vols’ first eight Southeastern Conference games by league commissioner Mike Slive for violating NCAA rules and misleading investigators. That came on top of the university’s self-imposed sanctions, which dock Pearl $1.5 million in salary over the next five years and banned him from participating in off-campus recruiting for a year.
However, smack dab in the middle of those first eight SEC games is the non-conference test with the eighth-ranked Huskies (15-2). Pearl admitted it’s a bit of an awkward situation and said he considered sitting out the UConn game, as well, but quickly figured doing so would serve no purpose.
(By the way: didn't Patrick Sellers and Beau Archibald get fired for lying to NCAA investigators? Count me as one who thinks Pearl got off fairly lightly).
Waiting to ExhaleFrom the moment Diandra T launched Maryland's only successful 3-pointer of the game (with 17 seconds left in regulation) to tie the score at 69, until the moment that Virginia's Ariana Moorer launched her 3-point attempt (with 2 seconds left in overtime and Maryland leading by 2), the BCs may have taken maybe a half-dozen breaths. When Moorer's shot bounced in and then spun out, we were finally able to breathe normally again (after screaming, hugs, and high-fives of course). Maryland beats Virginia . . . in overtime, 77-75!!!
Wow, what a crazy roller-coaster of a game! Terps ahead at halftime, 34-27. Terps up by 10 in the second half (twice); Terps down by 6 with just minutes remaining. Diandra cuts the Cavs' lead to 3 with 1:36 left in regulation. And then, more heroics from Diandra. With the shot clock winding down, Frenchie lets fly with a bomb from beyond the arc . . . swish . . . Overtime!
Throughout the game, the Terps' attempts to take control were seriously hampered by foul trouble. Tianna fouled out in regulation around the 2-minute mark. And Maryland's go-to players, Alyssa and 'Netta, played most of the second half, and all of the OT, with 4 fouls. During the OT, Coach B moved players in and out on offensive and defensive possessions, trying to keep her two stars in the game. Thank goodness for Maryland's deep bench!
And then (following a couple of big early baskets by Alyssa in OT), with the game tied at 75 and 6 seconds left in the extra period, still more heroics from Diandra, who sliced to the basket for a layup, putting the Terps ahead . . . for good. Just another one of your average, hold-your-breath, edge-of-your-seat kind of games . . . that's Maryland basketball. LOL.
Out of a total of 45 minutes, Alyssa and 'Netta were only on the floor for 30 minutes and 26 minutes, respectively. The foul calls against them came early and often. But did they ever make the most of their limited minutes! Alyssa led all scorers with 18 points, and notched yet another double-double, pulling down 12 rebounds, while 'Netta added 16 points. Off the bench, Kim Rodgers put up 11 points, and was a huge spark for Maryland during the first half. Diandra finished with 9 points, and 6 blocks.
With tonight's nailbiter of a win, the Terps improve to 2-2 in the ACC standings. And they'll have the chance on Sunday to turn that into a winning record when they take on #10/11 ranked UNC at Comcast at 5:00 PM. If these early games are any indication of how exciting this ACC season is going to be, you'd have to be crazy to miss this next one against the Tarheels!
Inhale . . . exhale. Whew, what a night!
Go Terps . . . Beat the 'Heels!
Reminder: Game Night!
The Terps will be playing on the road this evening, as they take on the Virginia Cavaliers in Charlottesville, at the slightly-later-than-usual hour of 8:30 PM.
The Terps will be playing on the road this evening, as they take on the Virginia Cavaliers in Charlottesville, at the slightly-later-than-usual hour of 8:30 PM.
We're happy to report that a bus full of Rebounders will be on hand to cheer on the Maryland team. And fortunately for those of us who won't be there in person, the game will be broadcast on RSN (Comcast Sports in the D.C. area). So we can still see all the action.
Every ACC game is important, this one particularly so for Maryland, as a win would improve their conference record to .500.
And with the late evening tipoff, you'll have plenty of time to read Gene Wang's terrific article about Maryland's freshman star Alyssa Thomas in today's Washington Post, here.
And with the late evening tipoff, you'll have plenty of time to read Gene Wang's terrific article about Maryland's freshman star Alyssa Thomas in today's Washington Post, here.
Go Terps . . . Beat the Cavs!
Photo Credit: DC BasketCases
Imagine having the two national collegiate player of the year frontrunners playing in the same backcourt?
Well, it wasn't imaginary this summer, when Kemba Walker and Jimmer Fredette trained together on a USA Select Team that played for a week against the national team that went on to win the FIBA world championship.
Walker and Fredette got to know each other a little bit while out in Las Vegas, but it's not like they struck up a fast friendship. I asked Walker after Monday's Villanova game if he stays in contact with Fredette during the season as the two are in a race not only for POY honors but for the nation's scoring lead (Fredette recently pulled ahead of Walker), and he said that he doesn't even have Fredette's number.
He's keeping tabs on him, though.
“Of course. He’s on ESPN all the time," Walker said, with a smile. "I get a chance to see him. I’ll think he’ll be the one that keeps it up with the scoring title.”
Fredette recently told ESPN college basketball blogger Diamond Leung that he is paying attention to what Walker is doing, as well. He said he's thinking too much about the national POY chase, but ...
"You know it's out there," Fredette said. "It's something you can't really worry about. We're in conference play, and I'm sure he's worried about trying to get victories and win games."
Here's what Bruce Pearl had to say about Saturday's bout with UConn. He admits he "thought about" not coaching the game -- in the midst of his eight-game suspension from SEC games -- but didn't know what purpose that would serve Pearl believes his school's self-imposed penalties are enough:
http://utsports.tv/mens-sports/bruce-pearl-comments-jan-19/
http://utsports.tv/mens-sports/bruce-pearl-comments-jan-19/
Oh No . . . Now Mo! Or perhaps we should say, Oh No . . . No Mo!
We wish it weren't true, but apparently it is. Confirming a rumor that's been bouncing around the message boards for the last month or so, the Mystics announced today that Monique Currie did indeed suffer a torn ACL while playing in Turkey this WNBA off-season.
Today, Mo underwent surgery at Sibley Hospital to repair the torn ligament.
As our readers know, an ACL tear is usually a season-ending injury, and the Mystics said today that it's unlikely Mo will be able to play this summer. So for the second time in two years, the Mystics have lost a starter even before the season opener. First Alana, now Mo. Aargh.
We hope the Mystics are as successful in coping with this latest set-back as they were in dealing with Alana's absence from the line-up last season.
But most of all, we hope that Mo makes a full and speedy recovery! Get well soon, Mo!
Photo Credit: DC BasketCases
UConn's 2 p.m. bout with Tennessee on Saturday at the XL Center is sold out.
There are a limited number of seats remain for selected home games and can be purchased by visiting UConnHuskies.com:
http://www.uconnhuskies.com/tickets/ticket-center.html
There are a limited number of seats remain for selected home games and can be purchased by visiting UConnHuskies.com:
http://www.uconnhuskies.com/tickets/ticket-center.html
Here's a little of what Kemba Walker said after hitting the game-winning shot with 2.5 seconds left in UConn's 61-59 win over Villanova on Monday:
Here's how Jay Wright summed up Monday's exciting game, a 61-59 UConn victory.
"Great game to be a part of. Great atmosphere. It was a great Big East basketball game. We just came up on the short side of it."
Juuuuust the way Jim Calhoun would have described it if it had been Corey Fisher, not Kemba Walker, hitting the game-winning shot with 2.5 seconds left, right?
Ummmmm ... no.
But Calhoun -- who to this day hasn't publicly acknowledged the classic nature of UCoonn's six-overtime loss to Syracuse two seasons ago -- was gracious in victory. Wright said Calhoun (or it might have been George Blaney) said to him after the game: "We both suck."
"We were very fortunate to win the basketball game," Calhoun said. "We also had Kemba Walker to win the game for us."
Ah yes, Kemba Walker.
With all due respect to Jimmer Fredette and Jared Sullinger, Walker is starting to pull away as the national player of the year frontrunner. Forget all the 30-point games, etc., it was his ability to overcome a somewhat subpar (by his standards) game to still net the game-winner.
Walker shot just 6-for-18 and stunningly missed two key free throws with 31.3 seconds left that allowed Fisher to come down and hit a pair of freebies with 22 ticks left to tie the game. He also was whistled for a key traveling call with 2:08 remaining, and -- you guessed it -- Fisher responded with a reverse layup to tie the game.
(Walker scored UConn's final seven points of the game; Fisher scored Villanova's final 11).
But was there any doubt a.) who would get the ball with the clock ticking down for the game-winning shot and b.) whether Walker would make the shot?
Not in most observers' minds.
"When I saw it go up, I had a feeling it was going to go in," freshman guard Shabazz Napier said, "because he's Kemba Walker."
"We wanted to run some time down so we get the last shot," Walker said. "I got it, and I knew another guy was going to come. I just tried to go before he came and I was able to get my arm in and get a shot up."
Added Napier: "He's a veteran. He's been through these battles before … he did it against Texas. You've got to give him the ball. Everyone has a bad shooting night, but when the game's on the line, we all know who to give it to."
***While Walker was again the hero, Jeremy Lamb was a key understudy. The freshman had by far his biggest game in a UConn uniform with 14 points, eight rebounds and a host of big plays. Lamb had a steal and layup off a give-and-go with Walker with 6:35 left to get UConn to within a point.
"I knew he was coming up to screen, and he tried to fade it so I was able to get in the passing lane. I gave it to Kemba so he could make a play, and he realized he could get it back to me, so I just wanted to finish it. That was a key play of the game."
Lamb's dribble-drive scoop shot with 3:57 left gave the Huskies a 52-48 lead.
"That was a big-time play," Wright said. "(Maurice) Sutton was right there, and he shot it right over him."
"I noticed there was a mismatch. They were overplaying Kemba, and Shabazz was able to get the ball to me, and I was able to score."
Lamb also made a nifty alley-oop pass to Alex Oriakhi for a layup with 3:12 left.
"The crowd was great today," Lamb said. "I had energy, and I just took what they gave me and was able to knock down some shots."
Walker was asked if this was somewhat of a coming-out party for Lamb.
"You could say that. I always knew what he was capable of doing it for us. It's about time he did it, and he did it at the right time. We needed a boost from somebody, and he gave it to us."
And, as usual, so did Kemba Walker.
***Oriakhi finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds and Charles Okwandu grabbed seven boards. Walker nabbed six rebounds and doled out five assists.
"Kemba's great, they use him great," said Wright. "He doesn't just score, he makes people around him better, he draws fouls. He's just so difficult to guard."
Napier didn't do much (two points and one assist -- though that assist was a spectacular one, a no-look beauty to Jamal Coombs-McDaniel for a reverse layup that got UConn to within a point (36-35) with 13:52 left.
Fisher (10-for-22 shooting) was the only Wildcat in double figures. Corey Stokes, Villanova's leading scorer at 16.5 per game, was held without a field goal and to just three points with Roscoe Smith guarding him most of the contest.
"Great game to be a part of. Great atmosphere. It was a great Big East basketball game. We just came up on the short side of it."
Juuuuust the way Jim Calhoun would have described it if it had been Corey Fisher, not Kemba Walker, hitting the game-winning shot with 2.5 seconds left, right?
Ummmmm ... no.
But Calhoun -- who to this day hasn't publicly acknowledged the classic nature of UCoonn's six-overtime loss to Syracuse two seasons ago -- was gracious in victory. Wright said Calhoun (or it might have been George Blaney) said to him after the game: "We both suck."
"We were very fortunate to win the basketball game," Calhoun said. "We also had Kemba Walker to win the game for us."
Ah yes, Kemba Walker.
With all due respect to Jimmer Fredette and Jared Sullinger, Walker is starting to pull away as the national player of the year frontrunner. Forget all the 30-point games, etc., it was his ability to overcome a somewhat subpar (by his standards) game to still net the game-winner.Walker shot just 6-for-18 and stunningly missed two key free throws with 31.3 seconds left that allowed Fisher to come down and hit a pair of freebies with 22 ticks left to tie the game. He also was whistled for a key traveling call with 2:08 remaining, and -- you guessed it -- Fisher responded with a reverse layup to tie the game.
(Walker scored UConn's final seven points of the game; Fisher scored Villanova's final 11).
But was there any doubt a.) who would get the ball with the clock ticking down for the game-winning shot and b.) whether Walker would make the shot?
Not in most observers' minds.
"When I saw it go up, I had a feeling it was going to go in," freshman guard Shabazz Napier said, "because he's Kemba Walker."
"We wanted to run some time down so we get the last shot," Walker said. "I got it, and I knew another guy was going to come. I just tried to go before he came and I was able to get my arm in and get a shot up."
Added Napier: "He's a veteran. He's been through these battles before … he did it against Texas. You've got to give him the ball. Everyone has a bad shooting night, but when the game's on the line, we all know who to give it to."
***While Walker was again the hero, Jeremy Lamb was a key understudy. The freshman had by far his biggest game in a UConn uniform with 14 points, eight rebounds and a host of big plays. Lamb had a steal and layup off a give-and-go with Walker with 6:35 left to get UConn to within a point.
"I knew he was coming up to screen, and he tried to fade it so I was able to get in the passing lane. I gave it to Kemba so he could make a play, and he realized he could get it back to me, so I just wanted to finish it. That was a key play of the game."
Lamb's dribble-drive scoop shot with 3:57 left gave the Huskies a 52-48 lead.
"That was a big-time play," Wright said. "(Maurice) Sutton was right there, and he shot it right over him."
"I noticed there was a mismatch. They were overplaying Kemba, and Shabazz was able to get the ball to me, and I was able to score."
Lamb also made a nifty alley-oop pass to Alex Oriakhi for a layup with 3:12 left.
"The crowd was great today," Lamb said. "I had energy, and I just took what they gave me and was able to knock down some shots."
Walker was asked if this was somewhat of a coming-out party for Lamb.
"You could say that. I always knew what he was capable of doing it for us. It's about time he did it, and he did it at the right time. We needed a boost from somebody, and he gave it to us."
And, as usual, so did Kemba Walker.
***Oriakhi finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds and Charles Okwandu grabbed seven boards. Walker nabbed six rebounds and doled out five assists.
"Kemba's great, they use him great," said Wright. "He doesn't just score, he makes people around him better, he draws fouls. He's just so difficult to guard."
Napier didn't do much (two points and one assist -- though that assist was a spectacular one, a no-look beauty to Jamal Coombs-McDaniel for a reverse layup that got UConn to within a point (36-35) with 13:52 left.
Fisher (10-for-22 shooting) was the only Wildcat in double figures. Corey Stokes, Villanova's leading scorer at 16.5 per game, was held without a field goal and to just three points with Roscoe Smith guarding him most of the contest.
UConn came out hot, Villanova not (0-for-10), as the Huskies had an early 10-0 lead paced by a pair of Kemba Walker 3-pointers sandwiched by two Alex Oriakhi hoops.
But the Huskies went ice-cold after that, scoring just three field goals the rest of the half and one over the final 8:01.
'Nova wasn't much better, but took a 19-17 lead with 3:03 left on Corey Fisher's short lane jumper. Both teams are shooting 24-percent from the floor.
Fisher leads 'Cats with 11 points; Walker's 10 leads UConn.
But the Huskies went ice-cold after that, scoring just three field goals the rest of the half and one over the final 8:01.
'Nova wasn't much better, but took a 19-17 lead with 3:03 left on Corey Fisher's short lane jumper. Both teams are shooting 24-percent from the floor.
Fisher leads 'Cats with 11 points; Walker's 10 leads UConn.
Here at Gampel for a special MLK Day matinee between No. 7 Villanova and No. 8 UConn. I've got them reversed in the top 25 I submitted late last night, but that's not really important. Should find out a lot about both teams today.
(Quiz question: Who's "Pride (In the Name of Love)" is a tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr.?)
Students were camped outside of Gampel last night for tickets, and there's a definite buzz in the air. I count 11 NBA scouts/GM's, etc. slated to be here, including Danny Ainge. They should see some good guard play this afternoon.
Voting for a top 25 was tough this week. Not only did No. 1 Duke lose, but so did just about every team I had ranked No. 10-25: Missouri, Purdue (twice), Notre Dame (twice), Illinois, Louisville, Kansas State, Washington, Georgetown, Wisconsin, Baylor, UCF and Temple.
With that in mind, I very much had an "out with the old, in with the new" attitude this week. Out: Illinois, Kansas State, Baylor, UCF and Temple. In: St. Mary's, Arizonoa, Utah State, Michigan State, Colorado.
I also debated who should be No. 1. I've had Ohio State right behind Duke the past several weeks, but the Buckeyes haven't been overly impressive lately. Still, they haven't lost. Neither has Syracuse, who I think may be the better team. But I went with OSU as No. 1, leapfrogged Syracuse from No. 4 to No. 2, kept shaky Kansas at No. 3 and dropped the Dukies to No. 4.
Here's what I had:
1. Ohio State
2. Syracuse
3. Kansas
4. Duke
5. Pittsburgh
6. San Diego State
7. UConn
8. Villanova
9. Brigham Young
10. Texas A&M
11. Kentucky
12. Missouri
13. Texas
14. Louisville
15. Minnesota
16. Washington
17. Georgetown
18. Wisconsin
19. St. Mary's
20. Arizona
21. Purdue
22. Notre Dame
23. Utah State
24. Michigan State
25. Colorado
(Quiz question: Who's "Pride (In the Name of Love)" is a tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr.?)
Students were camped outside of Gampel last night for tickets, and there's a definite buzz in the air. I count 11 NBA scouts/GM's, etc. slated to be here, including Danny Ainge. They should see some good guard play this afternoon.
Voting for a top 25 was tough this week. Not only did No. 1 Duke lose, but so did just about every team I had ranked No. 10-25: Missouri, Purdue (twice), Notre Dame (twice), Illinois, Louisville, Kansas State, Washington, Georgetown, Wisconsin, Baylor, UCF and Temple.
With that in mind, I very much had an "out with the old, in with the new" attitude this week. Out: Illinois, Kansas State, Baylor, UCF and Temple. In: St. Mary's, Arizonoa, Utah State, Michigan State, Colorado.
I also debated who should be No. 1. I've had Ohio State right behind Duke the past several weeks, but the Buckeyes haven't been overly impressive lately. Still, they haven't lost. Neither has Syracuse, who I think may be the better team. But I went with OSU as No. 1, leapfrogged Syracuse from No. 4 to No. 2, kept shaky Kansas at No. 3 and dropped the Dukies to No. 4.
Here's what I had:
1. Ohio State
2. Syracuse
3. Kansas
4. Duke
5. Pittsburgh
6. San Diego State
7. UConn
8. Villanova
9. Brigham Young
10. Texas A&M
11. Kentucky
12. Missouri
13. Texas
14. Louisville
15. Minnesota
16. Washington
17. Georgetown
18. Wisconsin
19. St. Mary's
20. Arizona
21. Purdue
22. Notre Dame
23. Utah State
24. Michigan State
25. Colorado
Taming the TigersWe had our first bit of good news this afternoon when we clicked on the link to the live webcast of the Terps' 3 PM game at Clemson and discovered (to our pleasant surprise) that the game was being shown for free! (Thank you TigerCast; the BCs always love freebies!) Even better news, however, is that the Terps bounced back from their loss to Boston College on Thursday by notching their first ACC win of the season (yay!), defeating the Tigers, 80-59.
It wasn't exactly the game we were expecting. The BCs confess we were expecting (or at least hoping) that the Terps would tame the Tigers quickly and decisively. (We did watch enough of Miami's rout of Clemson Friday night, in which the 'Canes outscored the Tigers 43-14 in the first half, to expect that Maryland, like Miami, would win easily.) However, as often happens, somebody forgot to send the opponent the memo, and so the first 20 minutes of today's game were not what we expected. As a matter of fact, the Tigers led for about eight minutes and only trailed the Terps by 4 at the break, 34-38. Hmmm.
Something tells us that Coach B had a few choice words for her troops in the locker room at halftime, because the second half turned into much more of what we were expecting. Maryland quickly built on that 4-point lead, outscoring Clemson 42-25 in the second 20 minutes, to win decisively by 21.
Rookie star Alyssa Thomas** led all scorers with 21 points (and fell just short of a double-double with 9 rebounds), while Ti-Hawk, off the bench, actually had a double-double (19 points and 10 boards). 'Netta rounded out the Terps' double-digit scoring with 14. And as a team, the Terps elevated their free throw shooting back to (a much improved) mediocre this afternoon (60.5%), following Thursday's embarrassing performance from the line.
After their disappointing 0-2 start in conference play, with today's win the Terps have a chance to improve to .500 on Friday, when they take on the Cavaliers at 8:30 PM in Charlottesville.
Speaking of the ACC standings, while it's not terribly surprising that Duke has started 3-0, it may be somewhat of a surprise to some observers that Miami is actually ahead in the ranks of the undefeated, at 4-0. The 'Canes followed up their thrashing of Clemson on Friday night by defeating Boston College this afternoon in a come-from-behind win, 65-53. There are no easy games in the ACC . . .
And that goes for the Terps' next game as well. So let's hope that today's second-half Terps show up in the first (and the second) half at Virginia on Friday.
Go Terps . . . Beat the Cavs!
* * * * * *
**Monday Update: For the 3rd time this season, Maryland freshman Alyssa Thomas has been selected as the ACC's Rookie of the Week. What a week she had! Congratulations, Alyssa!
My 3D Model in PRISM Magazine
I received a copy of the November issue of PRISM Magazine the other day. Flip to page three and what do I see? My model of the cantilevered roller coaster sponsored by Dassault Systems! PRISM magazine is ASEE's monthly publication (the American Society for Engineering Educators).
Pick Three
Sometimes, if you haven't actually seen a game, the box score doesn't give you an accurate picture of what really happened over the course of 40 minutes and why one team won and the other team lost. Often, box scores are just a bunch of numbers from which you have to piece things together. But the BCs saw all of Maryland's ACC home opener against Boston College (in person) at Comcast tonight, and we have no problem saying that this game's box score makes it unmistakably clear why the Terps lost a game they couldn't afford to lose, 69-78.
These three stats from the Maryland half of the box score tell it all:
1. The Terps hit only 32.9% of their shots -- 28 of 85. (85 field goal attempts? When's the last time you saw a team take 85 shots? Looking at it another way, the Terps missed 57 shots tonight -- as many shots as the Eagles took in the entire game.) We guess you could say it wasn't one of Maryland's better shooting nights.
2. The Terps hit only 5% of their 3-point shots -- 1 0f 20. OMG . . . and we don't mean the good kind of OMG. We guess you could say they were a little cold from beyond the arc. (That's probably the biggest understatement since Noah stood on the deck of his ark and said "looks like we're in for a little rain.")
3. And, finally, while the Terps entered the game as a a fairly mediocre free throw shooting team, tonight "mediocre" would've been great! If the Terps had simply been "mediocre," they probably would've won. The words we overheard from (usually positive, supportive, upbeat) Maryland fans as we exited the arena about the team's free throw shooting included "horrible," "awful" and even "pathetic." At the line tonight, the Terps hit only 12 of 28. Significantly, only 5 of those points came in the 2nd half; the same half in which the Eagles scored 17 points from the line. That's a 12-point edge for BC right there. We guess you could say if any stat sealed the Terps' fate tonight, and explains how the Terps turned an 8-point half-time lead into a 9-point loss, this may be the one.
In contrast -- and to the Eagles' credit -- they made their free throws(18-22), they nailed 8 from beyond the arc, and they shot an overall 45.6% from the floor.
Both BC and Maryland entered tonight's game with identical 0-1 ACC conference records. One team was going to even their record and one team was going to fall further behind. Unfortunately, it's the Terps who ended the night still sitting at the bottom of the ACC standings. This was one they needed to win . . . and could have won. But to put it bluntly, BC executed . . . the Terps did not.
This one wasn't fun. Not for the team; not for the coaches; and not for the fans.
We know (we've seen it) that the Terps can do better. And maybe it's good that they're now hitting the road: first Clemson (3 PM on Sunday), and then Virginia (the following Friday). The road gives the team a chance to re-group, re-focus, and hopefully get back on track before facing the Tarheels next at Comcast.
Opening 0-2 is disappointing. But the season's still young. We expect to see a lot of good basketball from the Terps . . . not like what we saw tonight.
Go Terps . . . Beat the Tigers! Pleeeze . . . Beat Clemson!!!
The Huskies will see a (somewhat) familiar face on Saturday when they play at DePaul. Freshman Cleveland Melvin leads the Blue Demons in scoring at 13.5 ppg, including a 21-point effort in Wednesday night's loss to Seton Hall.
In what was called a "totallly amicable" situation by Ryan Hurd, Melvin's coach at Notre Dame Prep, Melvin de-committed from UConn last March after having verballed to them the prior November. First-year DePaul coach Oliver Purnell quickly swooped in to land the 6-foot-8 jumping jack.
“He was the first guy I went up to see at Notre Dame Prep,” said Purnell, whose previous stops have included Clemson and Dayton. “I saw for myself in an open gym, I knew he would fit us, athletically. He had a couple of other visits lined up, but fortunately for me, he had already seen DePaul and liked it I knew he would be a great fit in our style.”
For those of you (and I'm not sure if there are many) who are hand-wringing over Melvin as "one that got away," be careful. Certainly, the kid's been good for DePaul. Melvin averages 4.3 rebounds per game, and the Huskies could certainly use his size and athleticism up front.
“He’s a talented young man, he’s athletic, and he’s now starting to understand and gotten comfortable with what we’re doing, offensively,” said Purnell. “He’s doing a much better job at the point of our press. He’s just gaining some experience, and he’s been able to get an awful lot early, make adjustments to our style and system that has allowed a very fine athlete to play well.”
But averaging double figures on a terrible team, where he's a focal point of the Demons' offense, is different than doing so on a top-10 team led by perhaps the best player in the country.
Consider: Melvin leads the Blue Demons in field goal attempts (166), nearly twice as many as Roscoe Smith (91) or Jeremy Lamb (99) have hoisted up for UConn. Would he be tossing up that many shots and scoring 13.5 per game with Kemba Walker at the helm? In a word: No.
UConn's freshmen wing men (Smith, Lamb, Niels Giffey) have been asked to more or less fill roles, to compliment Walker. For the most part, they've done a pretty good job of that. Melvin may have done a good job of that, too, but there's almost no way to believe he'd be outscoring Alex Oriakhi and even Shabazz Napier on the Huskies' roster.
So don't necessarily look at Melvin as a star that got away. If Smith or Lamb were at DePaul right now, they might be putting up big numbers, too. But it would be for a team that's 6-10 overall and 0-4 in the Big East, not the 10th-ranked team in the nation.
***Oh, and did you notice that Jeremy Hazell was back for Seton Hall and scoring a game-high 23 points in the win over DePaul on Wednesday, just a few weeks after suffering a gunshot wound around Christmas? That was quick, and it's good to see him back (though Rick Pitino might have wanted to choose his words more carefully after referring to Hazell as a "lethal weapon" on Thursday's Big East coaches conference call).
Here are the 20 finalists for the 2011 Bob Cousy Award, presented annually to the nation's top point guard. Kemba's gotta be the favorite still, but Jimmer is closing the gap pretty fast.
Kevin Anderson Richmond
Norris Cole Cleveland State
Malcolm Delaney Virginia Tech
Corey Fisher Villanova
Jimmer Fredette Brigham Young
DJ Gay San Diego State
Tu Holloway Xavier
Scoop Jardine Syracuse
Brandon Knight Kentucky
Kalin Lucas Michigan State
Demetri McCamey Illinois
Mickey McConnell St. Mary’s College
Jacob Pullen Kansas State
Nolan Smith Duke
Isaiah Thomas Washington
Jordan Taylor Wisconsin
Tyshawn Taylor Kansas
Kemba Walker Connecticut
Casper Ware Long Beach State
Chris Wright Georgetown
Kevin Anderson Richmond
Norris Cole Cleveland State
Malcolm Delaney Virginia Tech
Corey Fisher Villanova
Jimmer Fredette Brigham Young
DJ Gay San Diego State
Tu Holloway Xavier
Scoop Jardine Syracuse
Brandon Knight Kentucky
Kalin Lucas Michigan State
Demetri McCamey Illinois
Mickey McConnell St. Mary’s College
Jacob Pullen Kansas State
Nolan Smith Duke
Isaiah Thomas Washington
Jordan Taylor Wisconsin
Tyshawn Taylor Kansas
Kemba Walker Connecticut
Casper Ware Long Beach State
Chris Wright Georgetown
Here's a little story from today's Register on Shabazz Napier: http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2011/01/12/sports/doc4d2e77e052020425938481.txt
And here's Shabazz talking to the media after Tuesday night's win over Rutgers:
And here's Shabazz talking to the media after Tuesday night's win over Rutgers:
Michael Rothstein of AnnArbor.com conducts a straw poll of fellow college basketball writers each season on who they think is the national player of the year. In his first poll of this year, with 55 writers responding, Rothstein finds that Kemba Walker is the runaway winner, followed by Ohio State freshman Jared Sullinger and BYU senior Jimmer Fredette. He'll be doing another poll in a few weeks.
Here are the results:
http://annarbor.com/sports/um-basketball/connecticuts-kemba-walker-ohio-states-jared-sullinger-lead-first-annarborcom-national-player-of-the/
Here are the results:
http://annarbor.com/sports/um-basketball/connecticuts-kemba-walker-ohio-states-jared-sullinger-lead-first-annarborcom-national-player-of-the/
After Tuesday night's misleading 67-53 win over Rutgers (it wasn't anywhere near even that close), Jim Calhoun planned to go to his Pomfret home, get the fireplace going and enjoy his first day off in over a week.
The Huskies won't practice Wednesday, enjoying a well-earned day off after a whirlwind prior couple of weeks that saw lots of travel, a marquee road win and Tuesday night's rather blase victory over the woeful Scarlet Knights.
Here's some notes and quotes coming off the Rutgers game:
***UConn (13-2, 2-2 Big East) blitzed out of halftime on a 12-0 run as Rutgers misfired on its first nine shots. Mike Poole ended the Scarlet Knights' drought with a driving layup with 14:45 left, but UConn countered with an 8-0 run and the rout was on.
"Coach really got on us," sophomore forward Alex Oriakhi said. "He said they're showing more energy than we are, they're playing full-speed and we're not. We told each other we've definitely got to pick it up in the second half, at least defensively. The offense is going to come."
Added Kemba Walker: "I thought we came out with a lot of intensity and we just played hard. We played with a lot of effort. That's all it was."
Rutgers (10-6, 1-3) missed 12 of its first 13 to start the latter half, wound up shooting just 35 percent from the floor (including just 3-for-17 on 3-pointers) and earned a verbal lashing from its first-year coach, Mike Rice.
"The mental softness of this team is unbelievable," Rice said, "so you can't expect it to be successful on the road. To do what they did in that six-minute stretch … we'll have to figure it out, that's for sure."
"You've got to fight back," Rice continued, "and, boy, we took a standing eight-count."
***Calhoun sported a Band-Aid on his left cheek during the game, but shrugged it off as a cut while shaving.
"If I could handle that Gillette, I'd be an awful lot better," he said.
*** Roscoe Smith turned his ankle while going in for a layup with 13:17 left in the first half. He made the shot and was fouled, but left the game favoring his ankle and Oriakhi took the free throw (and missed). Smith returned a little less than two minutes later.
***The crowd of 12,527 was fairly impressive, considering that Rutgers is hardly a big draw, and that blizzard-like conditions were in the forecast later in the night.
***Napier is such a sparkplug for this team, whether he's scoring (33 points in two games last week) or distributing (seven assists on Tuesday).
He's also the closest thing I've seen to John Linehan since the little guard was setting Big East steals records at Providence a decade ago. Now, Napier is no John Linehan -- not yet. But his pesky ability to poke away steals, without getting called for reach-ins, is quite Linehanesque.
(For the record, Napier said he's never heard of Linehan but promises to look him up on the Internet to see what I'm talking about).
***Mike Rice on Kemba Walker: "I thought he had it on cruise control all night. Once Oriakhi got it going, he just fed the big fella a little bit."
***Calhoun on:
Oriakhi: "Him touching the ball gives him a boost."
Charles Okwandu, Jamal Coombs-McDaniel, Napier and Donnell Beverly: "It doesn't show in the stats, but (Charles) is a factor in the middle. Jamal gave us a very good lift. Shabazz was very good again, Donnell Beverly was very good off the bench."
And, on the flip side, on Jeremy Lamb: "I still think Jeremy Lamb has a lot more to show us. He's a terrific offensive player, an incredible kid, he works so hard. He's going to have to work to overcome that he's probably the weakest kid on our team, and he can't keep getting banged on screens."
The Huskies won't practice Wednesday, enjoying a well-earned day off after a whirlwind prior couple of weeks that saw lots of travel, a marquee road win and Tuesday night's rather blase victory over the woeful Scarlet Knights.
Here's some notes and quotes coming off the Rutgers game:
***UConn (13-2, 2-2 Big East) blitzed out of halftime on a 12-0 run as Rutgers misfired on its first nine shots. Mike Poole ended the Scarlet Knights' drought with a driving layup with 14:45 left, but UConn countered with an 8-0 run and the rout was on.
"Coach really got on us," sophomore forward Alex Oriakhi said. "He said they're showing more energy than we are, they're playing full-speed and we're not. We told each other we've definitely got to pick it up in the second half, at least defensively. The offense is going to come."
Added Kemba Walker: "I thought we came out with a lot of intensity and we just played hard. We played with a lot of effort. That's all it was."
Rutgers (10-6, 1-3) missed 12 of its first 13 to start the latter half, wound up shooting just 35 percent from the floor (including just 3-for-17 on 3-pointers) and earned a verbal lashing from its first-year coach, Mike Rice.
"The mental softness of this team is unbelievable," Rice said, "so you can't expect it to be successful on the road. To do what they did in that six-minute stretch … we'll have to figure it out, that's for sure."
"You've got to fight back," Rice continued, "and, boy, we took a standing eight-count."
***Calhoun sported a Band-Aid on his left cheek during the game, but shrugged it off as a cut while shaving.
"If I could handle that Gillette, I'd be an awful lot better," he said.
*** Roscoe Smith turned his ankle while going in for a layup with 13:17 left in the first half. He made the shot and was fouled, but left the game favoring his ankle and Oriakhi took the free throw (and missed). Smith returned a little less than two minutes later.
***The crowd of 12,527 was fairly impressive, considering that Rutgers is hardly a big draw, and that blizzard-like conditions were in the forecast later in the night.
***Napier is such a sparkplug for this team, whether he's scoring (33 points in two games last week) or distributing (seven assists on Tuesday).
He's also the closest thing I've seen to John Linehan since the little guard was setting Big East steals records at Providence a decade ago. Now, Napier is no John Linehan -- not yet. But his pesky ability to poke away steals, without getting called for reach-ins, is quite Linehanesque.
(For the record, Napier said he's never heard of Linehan but promises to look him up on the Internet to see what I'm talking about).
***Mike Rice on Kemba Walker: "I thought he had it on cruise control all night. Once Oriakhi got it going, he just fed the big fella a little bit."
***Calhoun on:
Oriakhi: "Him touching the ball gives him a boost."
Charles Okwandu, Jamal Coombs-McDaniel, Napier and Donnell Beverly: "It doesn't show in the stats, but (Charles) is a factor in the middle. Jamal gave us a very good lift. Shabazz was very good again, Donnell Beverly was very good off the bench."
And, on the flip side, on Jeremy Lamb: "I still think Jeremy Lamb has a lot more to show us. He's a terrific offensive player, an incredible kid, he works so hard. He's going to have to work to overcome that he's probably the weakest kid on our team, and he can't keep getting banged on screens."
Kemba Walker made the highlights (along with, for different reasons, Roscoe Smith), but it was the play of Walker's supporting cast that was the most significant development of UConn's thrilling OT win over Texas on Saturday.
Alex Oriakhi emerged from a slump with 21 rebounds, Shabazz Napier (the Big East rookie of the week) stayed hot, Smith played well (save for his fullcourt heave with 10 seconds left), and even Donnell Beverly gave UConn some big minutes.
“Everybody kept saying (good) things about me, but I don’t think I should get any credit for that game,” Walker insisted. “Those guys just showed their heart.”
The junior guard added that he developed a lot more trust in his teammates after the Texas game.
“That’s something that I haven’t been doing in the last couple of games, up until Texas,” Walker admitted. “I had kind of been forcing the issue a little bit. The way Texas played me, I had to trust those guys, and they stepped up big-time. I think for the rest of the season, it’s going to be a different ballgame.”
Jim Calhoun certainly hopes so.
“The more other people show up, the better off we are,” Calhoun said. “Shabazz is showing up pretty consistently, offensively. We’d like to get Jeremy (Lamb) and Niels (Giffey) to show up a little more, then get the ball to our big guys.”
***On that note, Giffey will replace Lamb in the starting lineup tonight. Lamb, who had started all 14 games to this point, has hit a bit of a rough patch, going scoreless against Texas. Calhoun is hoping Giffey, who’s defense has been strong, can help UConn get off to a strong start defensively, and that Lamb can provide a spark off the bench.
“He’s going to be fine,” Calhoun said of Lamb. “He’s going to be a terrific scorer here.”
***Calhoun also hopes that, despite dire reports of blizzard-like conditions, the home fans show up for tonight’s game. UConn hasn’t sold out a home game yet this season, but has seen the energy a sold-out home crowd can give a team at Pittsburgh and Texas.
“They are a very likeable team,” Calhoun said of his players. “I like coaching them, I like doing things with them. It really is fun. Winning and losing is still winning and losing, but there’s something very embraceable about them. That’s the first thing Mike Brey said to me.
“Young teams need as much support as they can get.”
***Rutgers has been playing better under first-year coach Mike Rice. It's 10-5 overall (1-2 Big East) with wins over Miami (Fla.) and Providence.
“They play almost like Pittsburgh does, in many respects," Calhoun said. "They’re very well-disciplined, they get through their stuff, they play very good defense."
OK, that maybe so ... but comparing Rutgers to Pitt? That's a bit of a stretch.
***Always a bit mesmerized by this stat: UConn has won nine straight against Rutgers and 26 in a row in the regular season against Big East teams from the tri-state area (Rutgers, St. John’s, Seton Hall). The Huskies, of course, did lose to St. John's in last year's Big East tourney.
Kept the Huskies right where I had them last week: at No. 7. Figured a 3-point loss and an overtime win over a pair of Top 15 teams, both on the road, sorta cancel each other out. No need to move the Huskies up or down -- especially since many of the teams I had around them (Missouri, Kentucky, Georgetown, Kansas State) all lost.
My thoughts on UConn haven't changed much since their tremendous run to the Maui title. The team will hit some snags, some bumps in the road over the next couple of months. Freshman mistakes will hurt them, as well as the inevitable games when Kemba Walker is asked to do too much but can't quite do it all. But the win at Texas furthers my belief that the Huskies will be right in the mix all season long, a tough out for anyone. And, more importantly, I see this as a very good tournament team.
With Walker leading the way and Jim Calhoun on the sidelines, no one will out-will UConn. Oh, they'll out-talent them (although the talent pool isn't particularly deep anywhere this side of Durham, N.C., this season -- and the Dukies are lessened by the absence of Kyrie Irving). But no team will out-will UConn. What more could you want from a team in the NCAA (and Big East) tournament?
Elsewhere, while I've noticed several Internet columns urging people to "jump on the BYU bandwagon now," I'm proud to say I've been there all season. Had the Cougars ranked No. 11 to start the season, much higher than most, and have kept them no lower than about 15 most of the way, even while others started voting them out. You may have missed it since it was a 10 p.m. EST start, but that win over UNLV last week was pretty impressive. (And no, I'm not Mormon -- even though my brother helped Mitt Romney on his presidential campaign a few years ago).
Michigan State, UNLV and Memphis get jettisoned this week. Sorry, Spartans, but 10-5 at this point isn't top 25-worthy. I've added Wisconsin, Baylor and Temple.
1. Duke
2. Ohio State
3. Kansas
4. Syracuse
5. Pittsburgh
6. San Diego State
7. Connecticut
8. Villanova
9. Brigham Young
10. Missouri
11. Kentucky
12. Purdue
13. Texas A&M
14. Notre Dame
15. Illinois
16. Louisville
17. Kansas State
18. Washington
19. Texas
20. Georgetown
21. Wisconsin
22. Baylor
23. Minnesota
24. Central Florida
25. Temple
My thoughts on UConn haven't changed much since their tremendous run to the Maui title. The team will hit some snags, some bumps in the road over the next couple of months. Freshman mistakes will hurt them, as well as the inevitable games when Kemba Walker is asked to do too much but can't quite do it all. But the win at Texas furthers my belief that the Huskies will be right in the mix all season long, a tough out for anyone. And, more importantly, I see this as a very good tournament team.
With Walker leading the way and Jim Calhoun on the sidelines, no one will out-will UConn. Oh, they'll out-talent them (although the talent pool isn't particularly deep anywhere this side of Durham, N.C., this season -- and the Dukies are lessened by the absence of Kyrie Irving). But no team will out-will UConn. What more could you want from a team in the NCAA (and Big East) tournament?
Elsewhere, while I've noticed several Internet columns urging people to "jump on the BYU bandwagon now," I'm proud to say I've been there all season. Had the Cougars ranked No. 11 to start the season, much higher than most, and have kept them no lower than about 15 most of the way, even while others started voting them out. You may have missed it since it was a 10 p.m. EST start, but that win over UNLV last week was pretty impressive. (And no, I'm not Mormon -- even though my brother helped Mitt Romney on his presidential campaign a few years ago).
Michigan State, UNLV and Memphis get jettisoned this week. Sorry, Spartans, but 10-5 at this point isn't top 25-worthy. I've added Wisconsin, Baylor and Temple.
1. Duke
2. Ohio State
3. Kansas
4. Syracuse
5. Pittsburgh
6. San Diego State
7. Connecticut
8. Villanova
9. Brigham Young
10. Missouri
11. Kentucky
12. Purdue
13. Texas A&M
14. Notre Dame
15. Illinois
16. Louisville
17. Kansas State
18. Washington
19. Texas
20. Georgetown
21. Wisconsin
22. Baylor
23. Minnesota
24. Central Florida
25. Temple
I've always wondered what the rail center to rail center distance was on a B&M floorless coaster. Today, I stumbled across one of their maintenance manuals and inside it has a nice drawing of a profile view of the track. The rail to rail dimension is 1200mm.
Felt Like March . . . Watching tonight's game between #14 Maryland and #3 Duke, you'd never have known it was January; or, that it was opening night of the ACC season. No, this game felt more like March . . . like an ACC final. That's when we expect intense, hard-fought nailbiters, full of punches and counterpunches by two really good teams. Not so much in early January.
But intense, hard-fought, nail-biter definitely describes today's ACC opener between the Terps and the Blue Devils at Cameron. Indeed, with a minute to go, it was still anybody's game. Unfortunately, it was Duke (led by senior Jasmine Thomas, who scored 7 of her team's last 11 points, including the go-ahead 3-pointer) who made plays down the stretch to secure the win, 71-64.
We have no doubt the Terps are disappointed, and we're disappointed too. We so much wanted them to pull this one out. But despite the loss, we're certainly proud to be Maryland fans.
The lower-ranked Terps went into Cameron, one of the most hostile venues in basketball. They faced an undefeated, veteran-led team; a team ranked #3 in the country . . . and gave the Blue Devils a real run for their money. The Terps' loss tonight, kicking off conference play against the #1 team in the ACC, was disappointing, for sure. But we hope the Terps, as one of the youngest teams in the NCAA's D-I, will take away some confidence, despite the final score. In any event, we're pretty sure they'll leave Durham with the desire to never let a close game like tonight's slip away again.
Tonight's (not-quite-winning) performance was a team effort by Maryland. But we'd like to give a shout out to a few players. We were absolutely thrilled to see Kim Rodgers (coming off the bench) find her stroke again . . . as she led the Terps with a career-high 18 points. Kimmie hit back-to-back threes in the first half that sparked a Maryland run, sending a message to the Devils that the Terps had come to play. Freshman starter -- and standout -- Alyssa Thomas notched a double-double (11 points and 12 rebounds), while Diandra T finished in double figures with 14 points, and Anjale Barrett (from the BronX) dished out a career-high 10 assists.
The Terps now have a week to regroup after tonight's loss and get ready for their ACC season home opener. Next Thursday they face Boston College at 7 PM at Comcast. We'll be there!
For now, congratulations to Duke. We're already looking forward to the re-match on February 17th (at Comcast) . . . which, coincidentally, just happens to be Markus and Tyler's real (calendar) birthday. Not to mention we're already hoping to witness a 3rd meeting (with everything on the line), in March, at the ACC Tournament.
Go Terps . . . Beat the Eagles!
* * * * * *
Friday Morning Oversight: In the shout-out department, the BCs were remiss in not sending one out earlier to DWHOOPS.com (the online unofficial website for Duke women's basketball). The folks at DWHOOPS made and distributed hundreds of TeamTyler wristbands at Cameron last night. Coach B and Coach P both wore their wristbands during the game. The Duke and Maryland teams and their fans may be adversaries on the court, but are of one mind when it comes to fighting Leukemia. Thank you, DWHOOPS.com for your thoughtfulness!
Kemba Walker is among the players on the 2010-11 John R. Wooden Award midseason top 30 list. Torrington's Jordan Williams, a sophomore at Maryland, also makes the cut.
Here they are, alphabetically:
Marshon Brooks, PC
Alec Burks, Colorado
Alec Burks
Malcolm Delaney, Va. Tech
Marcus Denmon, Missouri
LaceDarius Dunn, Baylor
Kenneth Faried, Morehead State
Jimmer Fredette, BYU
Austin Freeman, Georgetown
Jordan Hamilton, Texas
Matt Howard, Butler
Reggie Jackson, Boston College
Rick Jackson, Syracuse
JaJuan Johnson, Purdue
Terrence Jones, Kentucky
Kawhi Leonard, San Diego State
Jon Leuer, Wisconsin
Demetri McCamey, Illinois
E’Twaun Moore, Purdue
Marcus Morris, Kansas
Jacob Pullen, Kansas State
John Shurna, Northwestern
Kyle Singler, Duke
Nolan Smith, Duke
Jared Sullinger, Ohio State
Isaiah Thomas, Washington
Klay Thompson, Washington State
Kemba Walker, UConnBrad Wanamaker, Pitt
Derrick Williams, Arizona
Jordan Williams, Maryland
Here they are, alphabetically:
Marshon Brooks, PC
Alec Burks, Colorado
Alec Burks
Malcolm Delaney, Va. Tech
Marcus Denmon, Missouri
LaceDarius Dunn, Baylor
Kenneth Faried, Morehead State
Jimmer Fredette, BYU
Austin Freeman, Georgetown
Jordan Hamilton, Texas
Matt Howard, Butler
Reggie Jackson, Boston College
Rick Jackson, Syracuse
JaJuan Johnson, Purdue
Terrence Jones, Kentucky
Kawhi Leonard, San Diego State
Jon Leuer, Wisconsin
Demetri McCamey, Illinois
E’Twaun Moore, Purdue
Marcus Morris, Kansas
Jacob Pullen, Kansas State
John Shurna, Northwestern
Kyle Singler, Duke
Nolan Smith, Duke
Jared Sullinger, Ohio State
Isaiah Thomas, Washington
Klay Thompson, Washington State
Kemba Walker, UConnBrad Wanamaker, Pitt
Derrick Williams, Arizona
Jordan Williams, Maryland
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