Catchin’ Up on College Hoops

Posted on March 18, 2008 by bry

I know that the conferences have all released their Players of the Year and Coaches of the Year, but I made a list a couple of weeks back as to who I thought deserved these honors in each conference.  Honestly, I am not sure how they match up to the actual award winners.

ATLANTIC 10 PLAYER OF THE YEAR:  Stanley Burrell (Xavier)
This could have gone to Josh Duncan or Drew Lavender, but I think that Burrell is the glue that keeps this team together.  He is one of the best defensive players in the country and scores in double-figures for the Musketeers.  When I heard that not only did a Xavier player not win the actual A-10 POY, but no Xavier player was named to the all-conference first team, I was appalled.  This is the best team the A-10 has had in several years.  Apparently, Mr. Burrell agrees with me.

ATLANTIC 10 COACH OF THE YEAR:  Fran Dunphy (Temple)
As great as Sean Miller has been, there is a lot of veteran talent on that team that is probably leading the team as much as Miller is.  Dunphy has won me over (I was a critic) and brought this Temple team back from obscurity in just two years.  And, he has done it with only one starting senior, very leftover pieces from the great John Chaney and all while adapting a brand-new style to the Owls.

ACC PLAYER OF THE YEAR:  Tyler Hansborough (UNC)
An obvious selection, as he is the best player on the best team.  Personally, though, I think he falls just a little short for national player of the year–more on this in a minute.

ACC COACH OF THE YEAR:  Oliver Purnell (Clemson)
This guy can flat out coach, there are no two ways about it.  As an A-10 fan, I watched as his Dayton teams used to win a ton of games with less talent than most teams they played.  He is finally getting some attention on the national stage.

BIG EAST PLAYER OF THE YEAR:  Luke Harangody (Notre Dame)
Actually, I made this list the night that Notre Dame played Louisville and I was watching as Harangody just refused to let his team lose.  He made the only 3 three-pointers of his career in the waning seconds of that game, en route to 40.  Though the Irish lost that game, it was enough for me to think of ‘Gody as the Big East player of the year.

BIG EAST COACH OF THE YEAR:  Bobby Huggins (West Virginia)
No matter what you think of Coach Huggins, the guy just wins.  He finished in 5th place in the Big East with 10th place talent. 

BIG XII PLAYER OF THE YEAR:  Michael Beasley
(Kansas St.)
This is a no-brainer.  I am sure everyone has heard all the accolades, but have you really looked at the numbers, they are astonishing!  26.5 points, 12.4 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 1.7 blocks, 1.3 steals, almost 40% from 3-point range.  The guy is simply incredible, and there is no doubt in my mind that he should be the national player of the year.  This is interesting because back at the beginning of the year, I said that Hansborough would win the player of the year honors easily, but Doogan thought that there would be a surprise player of the year from the freshman class.  Now, I am going with the freshman Beasley and, last time we discussed this, I believe that Doogan would vote for Hansborough, if given the opportunity.

BIG XII COACH OF THE YEAR:  Rick Barnes (Texas)
This is one coach who I believe does not get nearly enough credit for what he does with the talent he has.  I have heard time and time again, “Rick Barnes is a heck of a recruiter, but I just don’t trust him as a basketball coach.”  Well, I completely disagree.  Yes, he can recruit the likes of Kevin Durant and D.J. Augustin, but he has also shown a great ability to get the most out of his teams.  This year is a perfect example.  Other than Augustin, who is a true star on that Texas team?  Damion James is a nice player.  A.J. Abrams is a great shooter, but not much else.  Justin Mason is a phenomenal athlete, but his basketball skills are somewhat lacking.  And, I think we can all agree that Connor Atchley has maxed out his talent.  And, only Abrams and Atchley are older than sophomores, yet this team was in the discussion for a #1 seed and is a legit Final Four, if not national title, contender.  As to why I always feel like I have to defend Rick Barnes…I have no idea.

SEC PLAYER OF THE YEAR:  Shan Foster (Vanderbilt)
I actually do not know if Foster did end up winning this award, but he certainly deserves it.  He has been everything for the Commodores, in a surprisingly strong season.

SEC COACH OF THE YEAR:  Kevin Stallings (Vanderbilt)
If this was just an SEC regular season award, Billy Gillespie at Kentucky would have to be in consideration, but how can you overlook the atrocious non-conference schedule?  And, I do not think Gillespie (or Kentucky) should be overly rewarded for “recovering” from an awful start.  Yes, it is impressive, but home losses to San Diego and Gardner-Webb should never happen in the first place.  That being said, Gillespie did a fantastic job, yet in my opinion, not as fantastic as Stallings did at Vandy.  Taking a team that was picked near the bottom of the SEC and keeping them in contention for the SEC title all year and nationally-ranked?  That is a great coaching job.

PAC 10 PLAYER OF THE YEAR:  Brook & Robin Lopez (Stanford)
Where does Stanford get these 7-foot twins?  This year’s version is a do-it-all big man and a ferocious defender.  The pair was simply unstoppable this year for the Cardinal, leading them to a clear second-place finish in the best conference in the country.  Brook, the better of the two, should actually win this award, but Robin is extremely underrated.

PAC 10 COACH OF THE YEAR:  Herb Sendek (Arizona St.)
I seriously considered changing my vote to Howlin or Johnson with ASU’s failings down the stretch, but I am going to stick with my pick.  I always thought Sendek was a terrific coach at N.C. State (I have no idea why they let him go) and he did an equally terrific job in Tempe this year.  It is a shame that they did not get into the NCAA tournament (I agree with the Committee that they did not deserve to) because they would have been a tough out.

BIG TEN PLAYER OF THE YEAR:  D.J. White (Indiana)
White finally started playing like the player everyone thought he could be.  Maybe he needed an Eric Gordon to take the pressure off, but whatever it was, White was sensational this year. 

BIG TEN COACH OF THE YEAR:  Matt Painter (Purdue)
If he just listened to Doogan, Kelvin Sampson would have probably been my choice, but instead it goes to an equally qualified Matt Painter.  Talk about doing more with less.  Painter has some nice, young players, but they were second in the Big Ten and nationally-ranked for most of the second half of the season.  That is a great coaching job by a guy who is going to be there for a long time.

Posted in College Hoops | 5 Comments

Yet Another Pet Peeve–Who is Looking Out for the Little Guy?

Posted on March 17, 2008 by bry

I have never claimed to be the protector of all things “mid-major.”  And, I am very much opposed to crazy conspiracy theories, so I am going to tread lightly on how I phrase today’s Pet Peeve.

I think the NCAA Committee, for the upteenth year in a row, screwed the “Little Guy.”  I am not claiming that this is a conscious intentional occurrence (though, there is a TON of money involved in the television deals that would undoubtably prefer the least possible small schools beyond the first round), but I believe it is happening, and it is having a major effect on the brackets that we love so much.

Take the following aspects of this year’s bracket:

  • Illinois St. and VCU were certainly in the “bubble” discussion.  I see the flaws in their resumes and also cannot really make a good case that either of them should be replacing someone who was chosen (though, personally, I would probably have taken Illinois St. over Villanova or Baylor, but I do not feel that strong either way). 
  • In my opinion, there are eight or nine quality “mid-major” teams in the field.  Just looking at it objectively, there are 9 mid-major teams that received a 12-seed or better.  Six of these teams are playing against another one of these eight.  In fact, of the four at-large bids given to mid-major schools, two of them are playing against OTHER MID-MAJOR SCHOOLS.  S. Alabama got a 10-seed, but drew Butler.  Gonzaga got a 7-seed, but drew Davidson (in Raleigh).  The other two mid-major at-larges were St. Mary’s, who is playing Miami, and BYU (not really a mid-major program, just in a mid-major conference), who drew Texas A&M.  Also, you have auto-bid Drake getting a 5-seed, but drawing mid-major auto-bid sleeper W. Kentucky.  I know the Committee has said repeatedly that they do not “set up matchups,” they just pick the seeds and the regions and plug them in, so I guess this is just a coincidence.
  • Only one of the “protected seeds” (1 through 4 seeds in each region are considered “protected”) went to a non-Big 6 Conference team–Xavier–and who do they draw as their 14th-seeded opponent?  An SEC team?  Granted a pretty bad SEC team, but still, Georgia just won the SEC tournament.  So, the only non-Big 6 protected seed draws the only Big 6 team in the below a 12-seed?  Again, probably another explainable coincidence.

I know, I know that each of these, by itself, is completely explainable and appears to be merely coincidental, but if taken as a whole, might there be reason to believe that the Committee just continues to protect the Big Guys even though the Little Guys have proven time and time again in recent years that they are just as good?  I am not saying that this is a conscious, vindictive, or even economically-driven “conspiracy” to get as few Little Guys in the later rounds as possible–and, honestly, I do not know if it doesn’t make for a better tournament sometimes–but is it not possible that this is just another indication of a subconcious bias against smaller programs?

Thanks for listening, friends…

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Initial Bracket Reaction

Posted on March 16, 2008 by bry

There will be more on all of this as the week goes on, but I wanted to get my initial bracket reactions on the record.

  • They hate the little guy.  Both VCU and Illinois St. are left out.  The ones that they “had” to include, they put up against each other.  Davidson vs. Gonzaga.  S. Alabama vs. Butler.  Just awful.  God, there will be more of this…
  • I like Temple’s draw, as a 12-seed.  Michigan St. is very inconsistent and that is winnable.  I am scared of Pitt, but let us just get there first.
  • I hate UMBC’s draw.  I know, I know, they are a 15-seed, so how good can the draw be?  But, UMBC’s big problem is that their center is 6’5″.  And, they draw Georgetown.  I think this is the worst matchup of all the 2-seeds for the Retrievers.  Even Tennessee or Duke, I think would be a better matchup for UMBC.  Then again, Georgetown relies on defense and struggles to score at times, which is good to a long run, but vulnerable for first-round upsets.  I am a Retriever Believer, and I am picking them.
  • Is Stanford vs. Cornell the smartest matchup in the history of the tournament?
  • Why is Memphis going to have to play Texas in Houston?  A lot more on this later, too…
  • How does St. Joe’s get a higher seed than Temple?  I don’t mind because I kind of like the Michigan St. draw and I LOVE being a #12 seed, but didn’t Temple just beat the Hawks?
  • How is TX-Arlington (the 7th place team in the Southland Conference) not in the play-in game?  I know that they try and protect the traditionally black colleges from this game, but I don’t think that TX-Arlington is a traditionally black college, right?
  • I know that it is human nature, but are these guys using prior tournament results in picking the bottom seeds?  Winthrop did not even win the Big South and they are a 13-seed?  Oral Roberts seemed to get a high seed because they have been there 3 straight years.  Now, I am no low-major expert, but I think Austin Peay (a 15-seed) is a better team than either of those two. 
  • How crazy is it to see an SEC team get a 14-seed?  Pretty remarkable.  More on this later in the week…
  • The brackets made it even easier for me to stick with my very first national champion pick, UCLA.  I think they have the easiest road to San Antonio and they have a semifinal matchup projected against Memphis from the South, which has the potential to be a crazy, upset-filled region, so who knows who UCLA will get on Final Four Saturday?  That is a long way off, though.  I am sure there will be more on that…

Just initial reactions.  Anyone else?

Posted in College Hoops | Tagged | 3 Comments

Bry’s “Bracketology”

Posted on March 16, 2008 by bry

First of all, I want to apologize for not posting anything in several days.  I have a TON of stuff I want to write about concerning college hoops (expect plenty of bracket “analysis” after they come out), but I first I wanted to publish my own “bracketology” before the brackets come out to see how close I come.  The following seedings are what I would vote for, if I had a vote (not what I think they will be, though I hope that they are close).  Also, they are all assuming the following results today:

  • N.Carolina beats Clemson
  • Kansas beats Texas
  • Arkansas beats Georgia
  • Wisconsin beats Illinois
  • Northwestern St. beats TX-Arlington (though this doesn’t matter because the winner is going to end up in Dayton on Tuesday night against Coppin St.)

Okay, here is what I would like the bracket to look like (ps…I don’t know how close this is to Joe Lunardi’s bracket on ESPN because I haven’t checked that in a while.  If it is very similar, I apologize, but feel pretty good about myself.  I’m guessing it is not):

#1 SEEDS:
North Carolina
Memphis
UCLA
Kansas

#2 SEEDS:
Tennessee
Texas
Wisconsin
Stanford

#3 SEEDS:
Duke
Xavier
Pittsburgh
Georgetown

#4 SEEDS:
Clemson
Drake
Louisville
Butler

#5 SEEDS:
Purdue
Washington St.
USC
Notre Dame

#6 SEEDS:
Vanderbilt
Mississippi St.
Connecticut
W.Virginia

#7 SEEDS:
BYU
Indiana
Marquette
Arkansas

#8 SEEDS:
Michigan St.
Oklahoma
Kent St.
UNLV

#9 SEEDS:
Miami (FL)
Texas A&M
Gonzaga
Kansas St.

#10 SEEDS:
Arizona
St. Mary’s
Temple
Davidson

#11 SEEDS:
S.Alabama
Oregon
St. Joe’s
Baylor

#12 SEEDS:
George Mason
San Diego
Illinois St.
W.Kentucky

#13 SEEDS:
Kentucky
VCU
Austin Peay
Boise St.

#14 SEEDS:
Winthrop
Oral Roberts
CS-Fullerton
Cornell

#15 SEEDS:
UMBC
Belmont
Siena
Portland St.

#16 SEEDS:
Mississippi Valley St.
Mount St. Mary’s
American

PLAY-IN GAME
Northwestern St.
Coppin St.

Posted in College Hoops | Tagged | 3 Comments

Cimorelli’s Question of the Day

Posted on March 6, 2008 by bry

Who is the NBA Most Valuable Player?

Tagged | 4 Comments

Eagles Staying Aggressive; Took a Shot at Moss

Posted on March 4, 2008 by Doogan

mossIn a scenario that is reminiscent of what happened with the Phillies and Mike Lowell a few months ago, the Eagles quietly made a run at Randy Moss over the last couple of days, only to watch him eventually re-sign with his Boston-based powerhouse of a team, despite reportedly receiving a higher offer from the Eagles.  In the wake of the big Asante Samuel signing a few days ago, the Eagles are showing that they are very much committed to building a championship team.

Apparently Andy Reid was not too concerned with the character issues surrounding Moss, or a repeat of the Terrell Owens debacle.  It’s safe to say that Moss would’ve qualified as a “weapon” that Donovan McNabb, Brian Dawkins, and other Eagles called for after the season. 

With Javon Walker signing with Oakland today, there really aren’t any good receivers left on the market, so the Eagles probably won’t be bringing in a real impact player at the position unless it’s through a Lito Sheppard trade or if they see one in the first-round of the draft that they like.

Still, you have to be impressed by the effort put forth by Eagles management over the past week.  Moss would have been nice though, huh? 

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‘Asante’ Eagles: Birds sign Samuel

Posted on February 29, 2008 by Doogan

The Eagles moved aggresively today, getting former Patriot cornerback Asante Samuel to come to Philadelphia on the first samuel2day of the free agency period and not letting him get out of town without signing a contract.  All the details of the deal aren’t out yet, but it is a 6-year deal.  My guess (and this is really just a guess) is that the deal is for over $60 million, with at most half of it guarunteed.

You can say what you want about the Eagles having other more pressing needs on the roster than cornerback (wide receiver, defensive end, linebacker), but the bottom line is the Eagles just signed the best available free agent on the market (if you assume Randy Moss will re-sign with New England).  Samuel is a legit Pro Bowler and probably one of the top 5 cornerbacks in the league, a position that is always at a premium.

There may also be reasons for bringing in Samuel that aren’t immediately obvious.  There are rumblings that Lito Sheppard isn’t happy with his contract, and when you combine that with the injuries he’s had over the last couple of seasons, the Eagles may not have been as set at corner as they appeared.  The popular rumor is that the Eagles will now look to trade Sheppard, maybe for a wide out.  It seems logical.  You have to imagine that if Sheppard was already unhappy, the Samuel signing didn’t exactly thrill him. There’s no point in having that sort of locker room issue hanging over your team, especially for a player that you’ve made expendable.

You have to be happy any time your team shows that they’re doing whatever they can to get better.  As I learned from some new kind of Girl Scout cookies the other day, “Asante” means “Thank you” in some other language.  I don’t know what language, but it doesn’t matter: Asantes go out to Joe Banner and Andy Reid for this one.

The Eagles also look like the front-runners to sign former Raiders defensive end Chris Clemons.  I don’t know anything about him, but he did have 8 sacks last year, so that sounds good to me.

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Random Stuff

Posted on February 28, 2008 by Doogan

samuelFREE AGENCY LOOMS FOR BIRDS 

The NFL free agent period gets under way in a matter of minutes and there’s been a lot of speculation over what the Eagles will do.  The biggest name being mentioned is Patriots’ Pro Bowl cornerback Asante Samuel, who will most likely command the biggest salary for a defensive back in league history.  Will the Eagles shell out that kind of cash?  Probably not, but there’s been too many rumors circulating to think that they’re not at least thinking about it.

In any event, the team will probably show their hand, for the most part, in the next couple of days.  Odds are they won’t be pulling in any Pro Bowlers, but that wouldn’t mean they failed.  There are hardly any Pro Bowlers out there to be had.  They’ll be looking at defensive ends (Bengal Justin Smith?), wide receivers (Texan Andre Davis?), and maybe Giant safety Gibril Wilson.

THE OTHER FOOTBALL GIVING PHILLY A SHOT

To be honest, I’ve never watched one second of an MLS game.  Every four years I put in a solid effort to watch the World Cup (like a good Liberal American should), but I wouldn’t call myself a soccer fan.  However, I’m mlspretty happy about the MLS coming to Philly.  The best part is, the team will actually play its games in Delaware County, the native county of the Broad Street Believers.  Granted, our hometown doesn’t much resemble Chester, but it’s still cool.  Now I just hope they come up with a name that isn’t totally lame.  Here’s hoping it has nothing to do with the Liberty Bell, the Revolutionary War, or “Freedom”.  Us liberals hate that stuff.

MYERS GETS OPENING DAY START

The Phillies surprised everyone this week by announcing that Brett Myers, not Cole Hamels, will start on Opening Day.  myersThey gave a couple of legitimate, honest reasons for the decision: (1) They want Myers to know that he is a starter again and won’t be going back to the bullpen and (2) they want to reward him for unselfishly moving to the ‘pen last year. 

I believe those reasons were factors in the decision, but I’d also say there were reasons they didn’t mention.  To me, with this move, the Phillies basically said, “Cole Hamels is more mature and professional than Brett Myers”.  On the one hand, that’s great.  It’s awesome that Hamels, at such a young age, is completely fine with not getting the Opening Day start, even though he definitely deserves it.  On the other hand, it’s disappointing (if not surprising) that Myers still needs to be coddled like this.  There’s no doubt that the team ultimately decided to make him their Opening Day starter because they’re concerned about his mind-set and figured his ego needed some stroking.  But that’s who Myers is.  In the end, I’m impressed with Charlie Manuel and Rich Dubee for having the foresight to make this decision.  When you have 25 players on your roster, a few are inevitably going to need some “special attention” to keep them happy and productive.  If this is the sort of attention Myers needs, I say give it to him.  The coaches kept saying Hamels and Myers were starters #1 and 1A.  That’s obviously nonsense.  Hamels is the ace of this staff, and hopefully will be for at least the next decade, but we’d all love to see Myers be a solid #2.

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Cimorelli’s Question of the Day

Posted on February 27, 2008 by bry

If a team comprised of this year’s best freshmen played a series of games against a team comprised of the best non-freshmen, what percentage would the team of freshmen win?

Posted in College Hoops, Questions of the Day | 6 Comments

Cimorelli’s Question of the Day

Posted on February 26, 2008 by bry

Should Kelvin Sampson ever get another D-I head coaching position?

Posted in College Hoops, Questions of the Day | Tagged , | 3 Comments