Glad I'm not the only one that thought so...I figured maybe it was just my biased eye. The refs let that game get out of reach for A&Mearly...
[h3]Other Hoop Thoughts[/h3] [table][tr][td]
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• I was not ready to put Ohio State back onto my AP ballot this week (see below), but I have to say, that was a pretty impressive win at Michigan. The Buckeyes are so, so young, but their main problem is not youth but lack of solid point guard play. Make no mistake, though, their two stud freshmen, William Buford and B.J. Mullens, are growing up fast, and that could make the Buckeyes dangerous come late February.
• I was truly bummed to hear that Alabama senior point guard Ronald Steele has been sidelined with yet another injury, this time in his foot. Steele was one of the top point guards in the country his first two seasons before being inhibited by a knee injury for two long years. Hopefully he won't be out long, because the Tide, which is already going to have to scratch and claw to get into the NCAA tournament, lost two games last week without him.
• Derrick Favors committing to Georgia Tech means two things. One, Paul Hewitt will not be fired. Two, Paul Hewitt will not leave to coach St. John's should the opportunity present itself. Favors is that good.
• One of the most amazing streaks in sports is on the line Wednesday night when Clemson plays North Carolina in Chapel Hill, where the Tigers have lost -- count 'em -- 53 consecutive times.
• Minnesota's a good example of a team that might be young but doesn't suffer because it's young in the right places. The Gophers play two freshmen up front in Colt Iverson and Ralph Sampson III, but they have a bevy of older guys they can rotate through the backcourt. If you're going to be young, be young inside. Tennessee, on the other hand, has the opposite problem; the Volunteers' experience lies inside with Wayne Chism and Tyler Smith. They are ultra green on the perimeter, and you can tell.
• I just have a gut feeling that Mark Few will be the next coach at Arizona.
• If you're looking for Notre Dame's red flag, here it is: In the team's six Big East games, its three-man nucleus of Luke Harangody, Kyle McAlarney and Tory Jackson have spent a combined 40 minutes on the bench.
• In case you haven't noticed, freshman Kemba Walker is UConn's best guard.
• Xavier is good, but it is also very vulnerable against perimeter pressure. I can see them getting a high seed in the tournament but losing early to one of those mid-major teams that is smaller but quicker and presses them end to end.
• Speaking of which, you think Texas still needs to work out its point guard problems? The Longhorns committed 11 turnovers in the first half alone during their loss at Oklahoma.
• If you've been watching the Big Ten Network, no doubt you've been enjoying the word of veteran play-by-play man Tom Hamilton. He calls a game with great excitement that somehow doesn't seem over the top.
• With Pittsburgh's depth and physical style of play, it's going to take an awfully good team to hang with them in the last 10 minutes of a game. Their sloppy late collapse against Louisville aside, Pitt was in close games against Georgetown and Syracuse, and in both cases they pulled away late.
• Let me tell you, I love watching Louisville senior swingman Terrence Williams play. Not only is he a great and versatile talent (he leads the Cards in both assists and rebounds), but he also plays with great joy on the court. After Louisville beat Notre Dame in overtime, ESPN's Jay Bilas asked T-Will why he smiles so much. He replied "Not everybody gets to do this." How refreshing!
• When the coaching carousel gets going in a couple of months, you can expect the hottest name out there to be Jeff Capel.
• Just wanted to remind you again to check out my new favorite player, James Eayrs, aka "Big Lumber," a 6-7, 340-pound junior forward for Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He had a season-high 23 points (3 for 5 from three!) in the Panthers' four-point win over Cleveland State on Saturday. Coach Rob Jeter even used Eayrs to bring up the ball against the Vikings' furious fullcourt press. If UWM makes noise in the NCAA tournament, Big Lumber is going to be the biggest cult hit since Kevin Pittsnogle.
• Cal is a perfect example of a team that lives and dies by the three. The Bears lead the nation in three-point percentage, but their starting center, 7-foot junior Jordan Wilkes, weighs 225 pounds and grabs just 3.7 rebounds a game. In their loss at Stanford, the Bears shot 51.7 percent and out-rebounded the Cardinal by five, yet they shot 5 for 15 from three and lost by six points.
• That clicking sound you heard about two weeks ago was the light going on in Gerald Henderson's head.
• All hail Jodie Meeks for his 54-point explosion at Tennessee, but my goodness, how about a little defense, fellas? Meeks is the sixth player this year to get his career high in scoring against Tennessee. Anybody else noticing a pattern?
• Regarding the NCAA's decision to eliminate the April evaluating period, I know coaches say it will not have an effect on the tournaments scheduled during that time, but I say let's wait and see. If a player wants to travel the country to play in a tournament when no college coaches will be there, I suppose that's his problem. But at the very least we've eliminated the ability for an AAU coach to argue that the player has to be there if he wants to get a scholarship.
• Somebody much smarter than me is going to have to explain why a drop of one percent in three-point shooting means the new line is having a significant effect. The way I see it, if you take a team that shoots 20 threes a game -- which is a lot -- that would mean that out of every five games, one shot is now staying out that would have gone in last year. I'd be surprised if there was one coach in the country who would say he is doing things any differently than he did last season because the three-point line is one foot longer.
• So much for the point of emphasis to keep the coaches in the coaching box. If the coaches are going to ignore the rule and the refs aren't going to enforce it, why bother even having it?
• Everybody knows James Harden is going left. The players know it, the broadcasters, the fans know it, the janitors know it, and you can bet opposing coaches know it. I'm pretty sure it's in every scouting report: "Harden likes to go left." And yet, whenever he wants to go to the rim, what does Harden do? He goes left. He's just that good.
• Let's just all agree not to panic next November when Kentucky loses to a really bad team at home. The Cats are the best team in the SEC, period.
• I hate to say it, but we could have the fewest at-large bids given to mid-major teams than we've had in a long, long time. I'm sure there will be a few, but aside from the West Coast Conference, where Gonzaga and St. Mary's are virtual shoo-ins, it's hard to predict with certainty that any mid-major conference will get multiple bids. We knew the Missouri Valley was going to be down this year, but the Mountain West has been a disappointment as well.
• I felt awful for Arizona forward Jamelle Horne, but he made yet another bonehead play on Saturday when he fouled USC's Daniel Hackett near halfcourt with the game tied in the closing seconds of the Wildcats' loss at USC. Hackett made one of two free throws (missing the second on purpose) to enable the Trojans to win by one. Horne, you'll recall, is the guy who intentionally fouled UAB guard Paul Delaney at the buzzer because he thought Arizona was behind when the game was actually tied.
[h3]This Week's AP Ballot (Official rankings in parentheses)[/h3]
1. Wake Forest (1)
2. Duke (2)
3. Pittsburgh (4)
4. North Carolina (5)
5. Connecticut (3)
6. Michigan State (7)
7. Oklahoma (6)
8. Georgetown (12)
9. Clemson (10)
10. Louisville (9)
11. Syracuse (
12. Notre Dame (19)
13. Texas (14)
14. Marquette (11)
15. UCLA (13)
16. Purdue (1
17. Xavier (15)
18. Miami (NR)
19. Butler (16)
20. St. Mary's (NR)
21. Arizona State (17)
22. Gonzaga (23)
23. Illinois (25)
24. Kentucky (NR)
25. Minnesota (21)
Teams in the poll not on my ballot: No. 22 Memphis, No. 24 Florida
Skinny: The main switch I made this week was putting Wake Forest ahead of Duke. Last week I had Duke No. 2 and Wake Forest No. 3, but I was frankly pretty cavalier about it because there is not much difference between 2 and 3. There is, however, a huge difference between 2 and 1, and since Wake Forest is undefeated and Duke has one loss (at Michigan), I went with the Deacs. You'll notice that last week the coaches also had Duke second and Wake third, yet this week they too voted Wake number one.
It appears I hold both Georgetown and Notre Dame in higher esteem than my fellow voters. I don't think the Hoyas should be punished for losing to Pittsburgh at home and then at Notre Dame. I'm more inclined to reward them for their impressive win at Connecticut.
I'm a little surprised that Miami is not ranked. The Hurricanes have four losses this season, but all of them are of high quality: to Connecticut on a neutral court, at home to Ohio State when Jack McClinton got tossed, at home to Clemson and then on Saturday night at North Carolina. Meanwhile, their win over Kentucky looks pretty good these days, and even that road win at St. John's was no gimme. (Ask Notre Dame.) I'm not in high dudgeon or anything, but it will be interesting to see over the next few weeks whether my faith in this team is validated.
Elsewhere, I finally gave in and stuck Butler on my ballot, partly because I think the Horizon League is better than people realize. I continue to feel like a one-man band tooting for St. Mary's, but y'all will catch up eventually. And I held my nose as I plugged in Minnesota at No. 25. Their win at Wisconsin was more impressive than their loss at Northwestern was disappointing (if that makes any sense). I was tempted to go with 17-1 Utah State at No. 25 until I looked closer and discovered that they have only one win over a team ranked in the top 50 of the RPI, and that was a two-point squeaker at home over Utah.
T-Will just might be my favorite player in college basketball after that quote.
T-Will just might be my favorite player in college basketball after that quote.
Yeah, he definitely does. With that said, I think he's gone. Wouldn't be surprised to lose Turner or Buford either with the way Ohio Stateloses underclassmen to the draft.Originally Posted by DoubleJs07
BJ Mullens needs another year in school....
dude just hushed the Illinois crowd tho
remains winless and has now lost 51 times in a row. The Highlanders last won on Feb. 19, 2007 at Longwood.Since joining Division I, NJIT is now 5-71 over two and a half seasons..
9. Quick: Who has the best record in the Big East? Bonus points if you knew without looking that it's Marquette.
Gotta Continue it this upcoming week, after depaul, ND and Hoyas
