Most Exciting Game

Slim pickings. Gonzaga v. Western Kentucky was dynamite though. Mendez-Valdez and Slaughter hit some tough shots but at the finish the defense was just scattered as all hell, allowing Demetri Goodson to essentially take a h-o-r-s-e shot for the win. Jeremy Pargo, the cat I thought was running the ball up the court there at the end, causing me to wrongly shout ‘freakin Pargo’, was feeling it a little in the second half. Pargo hasn’t played that good, well, all year.

Most Surprising Game

Purdue v. Washington. Purdue is about as interesting to watch play hoops as listening to Andy Rooney babble on about the history of erasable pens is. That saying about how offense wins games but defense wins championships could not better identify what Matt Painter is stressing with his Boilermakers.  They get after it. They have to, their offense is weak.  Although the second half defense they played against Washington was pitiful.  But for the most part I didn’t think JaJuan Johnson would be as Kevin Garnetty as he was. Johnson v. Thabeet will be something intriguing to watch for in the upcoming Sweet 16 matchup.

Best Individual Performance

I could argue that JaJuan’s 22 points, 6 boards, and 4 swats was the finest, or that Travis Walton’s (MSU) career high 18 points, 6′6 Terrence Williams’ 24 points and 15 boards, Sherron Collins’ 25 (11-19 fg), Nic Wise’s 21 (10-10 ft) and 8 feeds, Sam Young’s 32 points-8 boards and 3 rejections, Blake Griffin’s “quiet” 33 and 17, Ty Lawson’s 23 and 6 helpers, Matt Bouldin’s 20 points-8 boards and 6 feeds, Orlando Mendez-Valdez’s 25 and 7 assists, or Jon Scheyer’s heady save was the ultimate best.

But I won’t.

It’s Cole Aldrich.

The sophomore deserves the honor for his truly anti-Ostertag like TRIPLE-DOUBLE (13 points, 20 boards, and 10 blocks).

Would you like some Aldrich with that? (Image: Newscom)

Worst Moment

Buzz Williams acting like a mad man on drugs. Or more accurately, a mother ostrich.

You decide.

The runner-up Worst Moment would be the refs who repeatedly bent over to appease Blake Griffin on Saturday. I will leave it at that.

Game I Cared Most About

Well, besides the Michigan v. Oklahoma game, which was essentially taken over by the refs, I hoped Texas would punt Duke far far away. That didn’t happen, but Paulus only played two minutes and Singler made a really athletic play, so I guess that was refreshing enough to keep me from trolling on the Duke message boards for at least another night.

A Prediction For The Sweet 16

I will be glued to the T.V.

Post from: EveryJoe

Round 2 Wrap

– Boston College guard Tyrese Rice scored 24 on 7-9 shooting (5-5 from downtown) in a 6 point win over UAB.

– Wake Forest super sophomore James Johnson scored 18 on 8-13 shooting in a victory against UTEP. Star guard from UTEP, Stefon Jackson, scored 31 and pulled down 9 boards in the loss.

– Tennessee forward Tyler Smith shot 50% from the field and 90% from the line en route to a 21 point effort in a win over Georgetown.

– Syracuse shifty sophomore guard Jonny Flynn scored 15 to go along with 6 feeds in a 3 point in over Virginia.

– Pittsburgh big man DeJuan Blair notched his 4th double-double of the season with 15 and 11 in a 13 point beat down of Texas Tech. Forward Sam Young scored 24, but it he took 25 shots in doing so.

– Michigan State foward Raymar Morgan scored 29 points on 9-11 from the floor and 11-13 from the charity stripe in a 15 point victory over Oklahoma State.

– Oklahoma brute Blake Griffin did not have a compelling performance from the field (5-13) but he did have 21 rebounds and 3 blocks in an overtime win over Purdue. Although Blake’s brother Taylor was not a Wooden Preseason Top 50 player, he scored 19 on 8-11 shooting.

Mind-boggling STAT of the DAY

Oklahoma shot 46 free throws compared to only 5 for Purdue. Oklahoma connected on 4 three pointers compared to 12 three pointers for Purdue.

The difference…

Sooners had 7 more offensive rebounds and 7 more steals than the Boilermakers, plus 5 less turnovers.

Post from: EveryJoe

Friday’s solid performances

(Freshmen are not eligible for the preseason list)

My ingenious comments in italics.

A.J. Abrams, G, Sr., Texas- No more D.J
Wink Adams, G, Sr., UNLV- Anybody gonna cover Jo’Van?
DeJuan Blair, F, Soph., Pittsburgh- Skilled big
Jon Brockman, F, Sr., Washington- Rebounding machine
Derrick Brown, F, Jr., Xavier- Trenton Hassell 2.0
Chase Budinger, F, Jr., Arizona- Style over substance?
Nick Calathes, G/F. Soph., Florida- Multidimensional
Dionte Christmas, G, Sr., Temple- It won’t come early
Earl Clark, F, Jr., Louisville- Upside city
Sherron Collins, G, Jr., Kansas- Stocky playmaker
Darren Collison, Sr., UCLA- All around fundamental
Lee Cummard, G-F, Sr., BYU- Mormons think he’s crazy good
Stephen Curry, G, Jr., Davidson- Baby faced assassin
Devan Downey, G, Jr., South Carolina- 5′9 scorer
Robert Dozier, F, Sr., Memphis- 104 and counting
Wayne Ellington, G, Jr., North Carolina- Can he step it up?
Jonny Flynn, G, Soph., Syracuse- E.X.C.I.T.I.N.G.
Taj Gibson, F, Jr., USC- Leaper
Blake Griffin, F-C, Soph., Oklahoma- Scary
Tyler Hansbrough, F-C, Sr., North Carolina- Quit reading this and vote in the poll!
Luke Harangody, F-C, Jr., Notre Dame- Power Forward.
James Harden, G, Soph., Arizona State- Can he carry the team?
Gerald Henderson, G/F, Jr., Duke- Jerome McKinley thank you very much
Lester Hudson, G, Sr., UT Martin- Mid-major delight
Robbie Hummel, F, Soph., Purdue- Keith Van Horn, or Larry Bird?
Stefon Jackson, G, Sr., UTEP- Drains jumpers
Dominic James, G, Sr., Marquette- Free fallin
Damion James, F, Jr., Texas- Man among boys
Curtis Jerrells, G, Sr., Baylor- Streaky
James Johnson, F, Soph., Wake Forest- Under the radar
Marcus Landry, F, Sr., Wisconsin- Gritty
Ty Lawson, G, Jr., North Carolina- Little engine that could
Eric Maynor, G, Sr., VCU- The Show…

Jack McClinton, G, Sr., Miami- Sweet string music
Jerel McNeal, G, Sr., Marquette- Competitor
Patrick Mills, G, Soph., St. Mary’s- Boomer!
Raymar Morgan, F, Jr., Michigan State- Teaser
A.J. Ogilvy, F-C, Soph., Vanderbilt- Easy goin
Jeremy Pargo, G, Sr., Gonzaga- Explosive
Patrick Patterson, F, Soph., Kentucky- High goal setter, real high.
A.J. Price, G, Sr., UConn- The missing link?
Scottie Reynolds, G, Jr., Villanova- Allen Iverson fan
Tyrese Rice, G, Sr., Boston College- A team kinda guy
Kyle Singler, F, Soph., Duke- Smooth
Tyler Smith, F, Jr., Tennessee- Dude has 3 arms!
DaJuan Summers, F, Jr., Georgetown- It’s his now
Hasheem Thabeet, C, Jr., UConn- Imposing
Robert Vaden, G/F, Sr., UAB- Don’t throw it away
Terrence Williams, F, Sr., Louisville- Solid
Sam Young, F, Jr., Pittsburgh- Creative muscle

Post from: EveryJoe

Wooden Preseason Top 50…

Not only did Mike Cook get a no go for another year of eligibility, but quality guards Ronald Ramon and Keith Benjamin graduated.

Everyone knows what to expect from tough minded Levance Fields, but what if Levance cannot shake the concerning foot injury suffered last year? Unheralded freshman Travon Woodall can’t be expected to help the team right the ship, maybe in a pinch, but it’s not likely because of the lack of experience and firepower at the two guard position. Ramon played the point sufficiently enough to keep the team from imploding. But there’s no Ramon type guy yet here. He might be on the roster, but no concrete evidence suggests that whoever it will be is ready now.

Optimistically they will have to look for JUCO transfer Jermaine Dixon to endear himself to defensive guru Jamie Dixon, not an easy task for a newcomer. Jermaine, younger brother of NBA’er Juan Dixon, put up 20ppg last year in junior college. But will he be the type of defender that Pitt can rely on? He will be sharing time with returning big guard Gilbert Brown, a high flyer who desperately needs to incorporate some kind of reliable jump shot to his repertoire.

A possible dark horse player to quell this two guard spot quandary could be sharp shooting freshman Ashton Gibbs. If he can provide outside shooting, it would allow Sam Young to be able to focus his efforts on scoring in the paint instead of relying on the three. Gibbs also provides some ball handling skills that would be vitally needed if Levance was to be hobbled for any substantial length of time.

Out of the returning players, Young attempted the most three’s last season. To some degree Young will have to be a threat, which he already is (38.3% 3pt in 07/08), but it would behoove the Panthers if Young can couple his talents with inside enforcer DeJuan Blair and virtually dominate points in the paint. But I’m not sure if Pitt can get away with Sam Young being hesitant to take a lot of threes. After all, the team is apt to take less threes than it did last year mostly because of the graduation of Ramon and Benjamin. The production will have to come from somewhere though. Come tourney time, the more hot shooters you have, the better.

The emergence of a competent fourth and fifth scorer will be something to keep an eye on early in the year as Pitt battles four overmatched opponents right out of the gate.

But an even more of a crescendo of concern rests at the spot opposite of terror DeJuan Blair.

Senior Tyrell Biggs is dependable, his 74 consecutive games played streak is proof he can be a consistent contributor. But can he be the prototypical role player needed to play alongside Blair? Both Blair and Biggs are about 6’8, so if Jamie Dixon wants to try a starting frontcourt of Young, Biggs and Blair, seemingly they would be very sound on the glass and on defense. But could a more athletic lineup of Young, Blair and SF (insert name here) be more suitable for offensive production?

Based on the matchups of a particular game, Jamie could even institute a lineup where Young is the two guard.

November 22 versus Indiana University (PA) would be an infallible opportunity to try any last experiments still rattling around in Jamie Dixon’s head.

Or maybe it’s just my head.

Post from: EveryJoe

Pitt’s Big Three and then…

We are coming to you LIVE from Madison Square Garden as the Pittsburgh Panthers and the Duke Blue Devils get set for what should be a fantastic contest.

Today’s announcers are Dan Shulman and Jay Bilas. Rock solid announcing crew.

And here we go…

• Duke comes out in a straight man to man. It will be interesting to see if the Duke frontcourt is athletic enough to keep up with the Panthers.
• Both teams come out a little shaky – a couple of turnovers and offensive fouls early on.
• Duke has now switched to a zone defense and forces a quick turnover. Pitt’s DeJuan Blair steals the ball at the top of the key and is fouled on the breakaway dunk attempt. Score tied 3-3 at the 17:37 mark.
• Pitt has four early turnovers – their guards are not making good decision on the perimeter.
• Gerald Henderson of Duke called for a charge – he has two quick fouls, which isn’t good for the Blue Devils. Duke ahead 5-3 with 15:57 to go.
• Duke’s 6′8″ freshman Kyle Singler is showing a lot of game tonight – two quick buckets on a couple of nifty moves.
• Singler with another nifty cut to the hoop for another bucket. He’s very active on both ends of the floor.
• Pitt is doing a better job at spreading the floor and passing the ball around the perimeter. Score tied at 9 with 13:38 to go.
• DeMarcus Nelson buries a trey for the Dookies, and the pace is starting to pick up a bit.
• Pitt’s PG Ronald Ramon picked up his dribble way above the three point line and nearly turned the ball over. That is the third or fourth time he’s picked up the dribble way to early. Duke up 14-11 at the 11:20 mark.
• Duke is extending their defense high up top and is making it hard for Pitt to get into their offensive sets.
• Blair just sent Jon Scheyer layup attempt into the third row. With authority! Blair is well on his way to a double-double.
• Yet another Pitt turnover up top. Bilas said that Pitt usually doesn’t turn the ball over very much…I find that hard to believe. Duke up 19-13 with 7:44 to go.
• Duke’s Greg Paulus hits a deep three off a screen to put Duke up 22-13. Pitt head coach Jamie Dixon calls a timeout as the Blue Devils are on an 8-0 run.
• Blair picks up his second foul on the low block instead of passing out of a double team. Not a good decision. Pitt hasn’t scored in the last 4:15.
• Singler with a nifty turn-around jumper to push the Duke lead to 11.
• Pitt now has 13 turnovers after a very sloppy pass just over half court. The Panthers are completely out of synch. Duke up 31-15 with 3:52 to go and they are threatening to blow this game wide open.
• It looks like Duke has another 3-point madman with Taylor King – he just drained a shot from deep in the corner. Bilas says he’ll shoot from anywhere inside half court. Let’s hope so – I love watching a mad bomber hoist up threes from anywhere and everywhere.
• Blair gets loose inside for an easy hoop to trim the lead to 12, 34-22.
• Going into half time, Dixon cannot be pleased with his team’s effort on the offensive end of the floor. Way too many turnovers, way too many sloppy passes, way too many forced shots. If they don’t settle down in the second half and do a better job of getting into their offense, Duke could easily run away from them.

2nd half

• Duke is continuing to put a lot of pressure on the Pitt guards. Ramon is having a terrible time beating anybody off the dribble, and his teammates aren’t setting any screens for him.
• Pitt is just standing still on offense – nobody is cutting to the ball, nobody is screening away. Absolutely awful execution.
• After Singler makes a quick pass out of a double team, Bilas exclaimed “some guys look…other guys see – and Kyle Singler sees.” Duke up 38-26 at the 16:31 mark.
• Duke is doing a phenomenal job at switching on defense – Pitt is only 1 for 9 from behind the arc, and they aren’t getting many good looks.
• Sideline reporter Doris Burke is now interviewing Duke’s new football coach, David Cutcliffe. Yeah, that’s a job that I would want. Best wishes with that David.
• Pitt continues to settle for fall-away jumpers and low percentage shots. One thing going for them – they are already in the 1 and 1 at the 14:50 mark. If they can start making their free throws, Pitt might keep this game close.
• Pitt is trying to push the tempo after missed Duke shots, which is a good strategy. They can’t do anything against the Blue Devils’ half court defense, so why not push the pace. Duke up 43-33 with 12:47 left in the game.
• Pitt has narrowed the lead to 5 with some good defense and fast break buckets. If they want to win this game, they need to keep pushing the ball up the floor.
• Pitt is now in the double bonus with 10:42 to go. Blair is only 5 for 13 from the line tonight.
• Blair is whistled for an intentional foul after taking down Singler on a rebound attempt. The freshman isn’t afraid of anybody and is a strong as a horse.
• Blair grabs his 13th rebound and the putback to bring the Panthers within 6 at 48-42.
• Levance Fields hits a huge three to pull the Panthers within 3, and Duke calls a quick timeout. Pitt is playing with more energy, and it is about time they did.
• Blair with a quick steal that leads to an easy layup. Pitt is down only one.
• The senior Henderson just drew an offensive charge on the freshman Blair – great play by the Duke veteran. Henderson flopped and the refs bought it.
• Another turnover by Duke – they are looking very unorganized on the offensive end.
• Nelson pushes off with his elbow on a fastbreak and gets whistled for the foul. Bilas, being the Duke homer that he is, says it was a bad call. I disagree – he definitely raised up his elbow and pushed off.
• Bilas with a great quote – “having fun is doing hard things well”. Well said.
• Blair with another huge offensive rebound and draws the foul on Singler – his 4th. Singler has been very quiet in the second half. If only Blair was hitting his free throws, Pitt would have a 7-8 point lead.
• Pitt’s Sam Young grabs an offensive rebound off of a missed free throw and draws the foul. Pitt takes the lead on Young’s two free throws, 50-48.
• Duke can’t buy a basket right now. Pitt’s physicality is starting to pay dividends. Blair with another offensive board but misses the easy put-back.
• Duke hasn’t scored in the last 4:48. Talk about a game of scoring droughts…
• Singler is back in the game guarding Blair – if Pitt was smart, they’d feed the ball into Blair until he fouled Singler out.
• Singler makes a nifty move to the hoop but misses the easy lay-up. You’ve got to dunk that ball, son. Either go up strong or go home.
• Pitt up 52-51 at the 2:35 mark, as we take a TV timeout.
• Singler with a huge three from the top of the arc to tie the game at 56. 1:31 left in the game.
• Young with a big fadeaway jumper as the shot clock was running down. Henderson comes right back down and hits a great turnaround jumper to even the score.
• Pitt got the shot they were looking for, but Young’s baseline jumper went long. Duke with the ball, 16 seconds left, score tied at 58, and the shot clock is off.
• Henderson with a drive, Singler grabs the rebound but his tip-in won’t fall. And we go to OVERTIME…

OVERTIME

• Blair picks up his 4th foul – he must be careful on both ends of the floor from here on out.
• Pitt’s Mike Cook drives the lane, goes down in a crumpled heap and is screaming in pain. His left knee just buckled as he planted to jump. Not good at all…
• Blair with his 18th board of the night. Pitt needs to get him some more touches down on the low block.
• Young with a tough baseline runnier to push Pitt back in front 60-59. He was almost behind the backboard when he released the shot.
• Gerald Henderson takes a really tough shot from the foul line – Coack K can’t be happy with that shot selection.
• Nelson with a fantastic up and under baseline drive and draws the 5th foul on Blair. Blair finishes with 15 points, 20 rebounds and 3 blocks. Can Pitt survive without Blair in the game?
• Nelson completes the three point play to push Duke ahead by 1, 63-62 with 1:15 to go.
• Duke is now pulling the ball back and making Pitt come out and challenge them. They can’t take too much time to start their offensive set.
• Fields is called for an offensive foul – Pitt isn’t getting any calls right now. It looked like Singler leaned into him a bit.
• Pitt is forced to foul Singler with 23 seconds left. First foul shot is in and out. Some freshman nerves, perhaps? Second foul shot rattles around and goes in. Duke up 64-62 with 16 seconds left.
• Fields drains a step back trey from the top of the key with 5 seconds left!!! Duke has no timeouts, Scheyer forces up a long range 3 and it isn’t close. Pitt wins 65-64.

If there is such a thing as an ugly win, this was it. Duke definitely let this one get away. Give Pitt credit for keeping their composure and fighting back in the second half.

Post from: EveryJoe

12/20 Duke vs. Pittsburgh – as it happens

Thursday December 20th – #7 Duke at #9 Pittsburgh. The young Dookies will face a huge test as they travel to Madison Square Garden to face the Sam Young, DeJuan Blair and the Panthers. Both teams have played pretty easy schedules up to this point, so this game will be a great gauge of just how good they really are.

Saturday December 22nd – #4 Georgetown at #2 Memphis. A fantastic top-5 battle will take place at the FedEx Forum in Memphis when Roy Hibbert and the Hoyas come to town to face Chris Douglas-Roberts, Derrick Rose and the high-flying Tigers. If there is one game you watch this weekend, it is this one. Hibbert is the premier center in all of college basketball, and Rose is making a big splash in his freshman season.

If a battle of top-5 teams isn’t enough to satisfy you, may I also recommend watching #5 Texas at #10 Michigan State. The Longhorns have successfully survived the graduation of Kevin Durrant, thank you very much, with D.J. Augustin leading the charge. The Spartans are always tough to play at the Jack Breslin Arena, and the Longhorns know they will be in for a battle.

Post from: EveryJoe

Games to watch this week – 12/19