The College Basketball Post

[craftsy21]

Here's Kyle's systems ranking of the top mid-majors in the country thus far... these are based wholly on a number system, so it's early to makingsuch projections, but it gives a good look at who's done well so far anyways...

1. Drake 123.96, 3-1 (0-0)

Yeah, like I said. The Bulldogs are the number one team in the mid-major subsection of the index, and the second overall, because they lead by a bunch in theefficiency column. They hung tough with Saint Mary's on Nov. 10, before Saint Mary's did that Oregon thing, then completely demolishedWisconsin-Milwaukee 80-59 on 1.248 points per possession. The next time they don't beat somebody by a million points, even if that happens on Saturdayagainst North Carolina Central, they will, in the words of this morning's Wall Street Journal, "sink into correction."

2. Xavier 113.98, 4-1 (0-0)

The Muskies were 51st overall in this index a week ago, but TSoCB loved its performance against Indiana over the weekend, vaulting the X into the top rungs ofmid-majordom (and yes, the A-14 is in the club this year). And who wouldn't love it? An 80-65 win in Chicago, giving Xavier a per-game efficiency rating of113.943 (which is good). They also have the 25th best efficiency mark of the year so far, a 137.7701 against Southeast Missouri on Nov. 10, as per the RealMeat Report.

3. Butler 112.47, 6-0 (0-0)

Last year's mid-major darlings, this year's mid-major darlings. The Bulldogs are likely to top this list next week, mostly on the strength of theirAlaska sweep. Even a respectable showing against Ohio State at home this weekend will help here.

4. South Alabama 112.37, 4-2 (0-0)

Another team helped out here by efficient performances. The Jaguars destroyed San Diego and Chattanooga at the Anaheim Classic, and have lost their pair ofgames by a combined eight points and a combined efficiency margin of 8.5. This index likes that kind of stuff, but not enough to keep this team around thishigh. They are at the Vanderbilt Fightin' Trocchis on Thursday.

5. Niagara 112.07, 2-1 (0-0)

Niagara is here because it killed Central Michigan, and NU's loss to Duquesne was the dent that sent it from an unpublished No. 1 last week to nickelposition. Central Michigan is sort of the oddball in this whole index so far -- they're 0-4, but their strength of schedule is so high that it'shoisting up anything that's come into contact with them. As the Chips continue to get pounded, teams like Niagara will suffer along with them. With twoteams coming up (Bonaventure and Liberty) in the low 200's, that'll drag the Purple Eagles down too.

6. South Dakota State 111.85, 2-2 (0-0)

Summmmit Leeeeague! We have a bonus/penalty system that knocks you for home losses, and losing to Montana on Nov. 17 dented the Jacks' number. But theindex loves its 61-55 win over Northern Iowa, a very efficient performance that included a -6 turnover differential and -10 on fouls. Also here for playing No.8 UWM. We'll get to them in a bit.

7. Texas-Arlington 111.15, 5-0 (0-0)

This is a very good and undervalued team right now, but this is a little too high, obviously. Four straight wins over Cal Riverside, Texas Southern, UALR andNorth Texas, all with sizeable efficiency margins, propel the Mavericks into the top 10. Last night's 99-66 win over infamous Schreiner isn't included.No games against non-D1 opponents are.

8. Wisconsin-Milwaukee 109.20, 3-2 (0-0)

The second column in TSoCB is for "location-based performance," which rewards teams for playing well on the road. The Panthers are 12th overall inthat column, only because they pantsed Ball State early this year. UWM is staying afloat because of strength of schedule, and since the RPI is involved, havingSam Houston State on tap for tonight is why they're here. Without dismissed leading scorer Avery Smith, this will likely be the last time you see this teamin this weekly post.

9. Illinois State 109.06, 3-2 (0-0)

This is a team that will be much better than people think, and Osiris Eldridge is a big reason why. Will they hang in the State's top 10 all year? Probablynot, but for now they're riding big wins against UNCW and SEMO, and non-embarrassments in the Chicago Challenge against Kent State and Indiana. Anotherteam with some low-State opponents coming up, and only gigantic performances against bottom-feeders don't bring you down.

10. Montana 108.65, 5-2 (0-0)

Here's a team you haven't heard too much about this season. And why not? They've beaten Air Force at the Washington State tournament, destroyedColorado State to open the season by a 75-39 score, and topped TSoMM No. 6 South Dakota State. But big losses to Gonzaga and WSU have put them in their place.Like I said, this is only beginning to be sorted out.

The next 15:

11 - Miami (Oh.) 108.35, 12 - North Texas 107.07, 13 - Saint Joseph's 105.76, 14 - Siena 104.69, 15 - Central Michigan 104.63, 16 - Nevada 103.66, 17 -Saint Mary's 103.50, 18 - Northern Iowa 103.07, 19 - Sam Houston State 101.94, 20 - Northeastern 100.44, 21 - Virginia Commonwealth 99.871, 22 - Holy Cross99.709, 23 - Chattanooga 98.541, 24 - College of Charleston 98.372, 25 - North Dakota State 96.606

 

[ouchrislitt]

^There's nothing more worthless than mathematical formulas in the first few months of college basketball season.

 

[scuse7]

^ Agreed, those might as well be worthless.

 

[23brunswick dragons23]

has anyone heard how Ralph Mims of FLorida state is doing? he's from my hometown so i'm just wondering

 

[ouchrislitt]

Originally Posted by SCuse7

^ Agreed, those might as well be worthless.

What's worse is he essentially acknowledges as much in his commentary about the teams. Don't you think after he wrote "it's just early andthis team won't be here later" for the fifth time, he would've stepped back and thought "Maybe I should wait a month or two?"

 

[allen3xis]

From Last night

Duke is Duke...they beat the teams they're supposed to, win at home..play D, well coached. We'll see how good they are when they face a good frontline

Purdue lost a lot from last year

Why does Leonard Hamilton still have a job..even better, earned an extension? He recruits but is stuck in mediocrity.

I can't see Gordon at his size being a star in the NBA...Rose, Jordan and Beasley seem to the best prospects so far

Lawal is decent

Matt Causy

DeAndre Thomas

I hate the way Clemson plays...they outman teams they have better talent than..but will get beat all the time by better teams. That trapping zone press is ajoke against top teams.


Tonight...

I'd like to finally see UNC play up to their ability

Georgetown is in for a fight

Still waitin on Cuse to slip up in one of these games..people rightfully talk about stayin at home and playin mid majors or less...but, Siena, Fordham, St Joesand now Umass are all decent. Can't see Umass having enough fire power to win tho

 

[craftsy21]

Originally Posted by OUChrisLitt

Originally Posted by SCuse7

^ Agreed, those might as well be worthless.

What's worse is he essentially acknowledges as much in his commentary about the teams. Don't you think after he wrote "it's just early and this team won't be here later" for the fifth time, he would've stepped back and thought "Maybe I should wait a month or two?"

No - because he wanted to show everybody how the numbers work for the system, so it's good to put it out early to show what it's all based on. Hejust expects readers to take it with a grain of salt, but that doesn't mean it's not worth looking at or sharing. There's a couple names of teamson there that I didn't know much about, and after seeing them on there i did a little research and now i'm in the know.. even if they stink it up downthe road, it's still nice to know who's doing well early in the season, even if the numbers aren't balanced yet. He, like me, is a number junky...we can't help but peak at them already.

I can't see Gordon at his size being a star in the NBA...Rose, Jordan and Beasley seem to the best prospects so far

6'3" is plenty big when you have his skill set.. he could easily move to the point, imo, if he had to. And I've got to say, he's been atleast as impressive as anybody else in the country thus far, I don't think anybody can stay in front of him, and his J is just wet as hell. Rose is doingwell, but with more around him... Beasley is a beast, but we've yet to see him really challenged yet inside... Jordan is raw, but you can't deny thepotential.

Just my takes so far.

 

[i wear sneakers]

Yeah, Gordon is A LOT smoother going to the rim then I thought he was gonna be.

 

[scuse7]

Ya i think Gordon will be fine. He is real good.

 

[craftsy21]

Good article on the Sconsin-Duke game last night...

Anatomy of a Blowout
Duke 82, Wisconsin 58

by John Gasaway


Wisconsin came to Cameron Indoor Stadium last night with a well-earned reputation for playing outstanding defense and low-turnover offense. Both sides of thatreputation took a severe hit around 9:30 Eastern time. Duke won the game 82-58, and the catalyst for the beat-down came with a little less than 12 minutesremaining in the first half.

With Duke leading 19-14, the 6'4" Gerald Henderson recorded a spectacular block at the rim at the expense of promising yet callow 6'10"freshman Jon Leuer. That led directly to a three in transition by Greg Paulus and a full-court press on the inbounds pass. Whereupon Wisconsin threw the balldirectly to the Blue Devils, leading to still another Paulus three. In a matter of less than 25 seconds the game had swung from a manageable 19-16--if Leuerdunks, as he should have--to a red-alert 25-14.

Indeed, given that the halftime score here was 48-25, the contest was clearly won in the frenzied 39-possession first half. In those decisive first 20 minutes,the Blue Devils made nine threes and the Badgers committed nine turnovers to go along with 10 fouls. (Michael Flowers will not be friending these officials onMySpace anytime soon. He was whistled for his second foul when Brian Zoubek tripped him. He was whistled for his third when Henderson climbed onto his back ona would-be alley-oop.) Wisconsin lost the game in the first half; their continued turnovers then prevented them from making any kind of a comeback bid in thesecond half. Most impressively from a Duke point of view, the Wisconsin turnovers were systemic: no Badger committed more than three turnovers, but a lot ofBadgers contributed to that total. Anyone wearing red was a target last night.

That being said, even when Wisconsin held on to the ball they still couldn't score. When a team with such an extreme size advantage comes away from theevening having made just 41 percent of their twos, you know they've been defeated rather soundly. For all the Badgers' size, Bo Ryan had (has?) no onewho could turn post touches into points or free throws.

Mike Krzyzewski can coach. The game plan for last night's contest was simple but there can be beauty in simplicity. The Blue Devils pressed on defense andspread the floor on offense. Add "pack the lane in your half-court D" to that and you have pretty much the book on how to play Wisconsin.

On offense last night, Duke looked a little like Memphis, or at least they did until a shot went up. The Devils spread the floor and took the larger (i.e.,slower) Badgers off the dribble. Where the similarly-spaced Tigers under John Calipari would have then shot the ball from the lane, however, Coach K's menusually preferred to dish the ball to an open teammate on the arc. It worked because Wisconsin had to defend multiple three-point threats; Taylor King madefive threes in 20 minutes of playing time. The Badgers had to come out and guard these guys. Also note that DeMarcus Nelson, who alone among the Devilsstruggled to make shots, was nevertheless able to help the cause by dishing five assists in 17 first-half minutes.

Nelson's teammate Paulus had no such struggles, hitting four of seven threes and leading all scorers with 18 points. Paulus is building his college careerthe way you put memory upgrades into a computer: year by year he's adding new skills that are complete and intact. Last year it was perimeter shooting, ashe went from being horrible (he hit 31 percent of his threes as a freshman) to outstanding (making 45 percent of his threes as a sophomore). Now Paulus is ajunior and it's time to plug in taking care of the ball. If he can hold on to the ball for the first time in his career, get ready to, uh, hear as much asyou've always heard about him. Only now it'll be justified.

For Wisconsin, there's solace in defeat. Trevon Hughes couldn't get on the floor last year but somehow he looks like he's burst forth fully-formedand ready, along with Brian Butch, to take on one of the two main roles in the Badger offense. He couldn't hit his shots last night and he turns the ballover a little too often, yet he's quick, aggressive and assured on both sides of the ball. That's good news in Madison.

Now, an assertion that's become so commonplace it's a cliché. I can't help that. It needs to be said again. And again, and again, and again.

The announcing team working the game last night posed a constant and intractable obstacle between viewers and the game. Which, not to put too fine a point onit, is pretty much the precise opposite of what an announcing team is supposed to do.

I literally found myself leaning in toward the TV and squinting at the screen, as if that would help me follow what Gerald Henderson was doing while theannouncers went happily and blissfully AWOL, addressing such pressing matters as Ronde Barber, the new College Basketball Experience in Kansas City and,inevitably, Jimmy V.

This announcing team has been tarred on occasion with the easy catch-all pejorative "ESPN," but let us be clear. It's not ESPN. Jay Bilas, BillRaftery and Sean McDonough share a water cooler with these guys, yet they're consistently outstanding. No, it's simply that last night's announcingteam has apparently been given free reign by someone in the organizational chart to ignore the game whenever they want. Which, as it happens, is very often.

That's worse than annoying. It's unprofessional in the most literal sense of the term. Anyone else in the world is free to talk about whatever theywant to talk about. Last night's announcing team, on the other hand, was paid specifically to talk about Wisconsin vs. Duke. They should have tried it fromtime to time.

One last thing. Not once but twice during last night's telecast it was said that Duke had the lowest-rated "offense" in the ACC last year, aclaim made based on that dubious and crude farrago known as points per game.

The truth:

ACC Offense, 2007, Conference games only

Points
per Possession
North Carolina 1.13
Florida State 1.10
Boston College 1.10
Virginia Tech 1.08
Georgia Tech 1.07
Maryland 1.06
Miami 1.06
Duke 1.04
Virginia 1.04
Clemson 1.02
NC State 1.01
Wake Forest 0.95

The Duke offense last year was no thing of beauty, goodness knows. Still, it wasn't the worst in the conference by a long shot. More importantly, it lookslike it'll be even better this year.

John Gasaway is an author of Basketball Prospectus. You can contact John by clicking here or click here to see John's other articles.

 

[henz0]

But like allen said.. Im kinda nervous about them facing a team with good big men

 

[ThaxbyChamblis]

Our game against Davidson is gonna be a good one....

Yeah, I mean Im weary of the big man disadvantage as well.....But, one of their big men is going to have to try and guard Singler on the perimiter.....

Zoubek is the key....Since he is really the only TRUE big-man that we have..,.

 

[scuse7]

I think you guys will win. Just stop Curry and there big men won't be able to contain Singler.

Duke by 12

 

[rocketzballa23]

Originally Posted by 23Brunswick Dragons23

has anyone heard how Ralph Mims of FLorida state is doing? he's from my hometown so i'm just wondering

He had a good game last night against Minnesota, had 13 points I think and 8 boards. He even sang the national anthem

 

[allen3xis]

Craftsy..thats why I think that...

I don't see becoming a PG as smooth a transition

Capable, yes...but if I had the pick of the two..I'd take Rose

I think Mayo and Gordon fall into the Ben Gordon mold...very good players. I think it was thought he could be a PG at the next level, but to me...once theydevelop that scorers mentality and have been playing off the ball, it's tough

 

[seymore cake]

^ you can't really say that about Juice tho Allen, because he has the size and skill set to play the 2 at the next level if that transition need be.

 

[allen3xis]

yeah...definitely

but I just don't see a franchise player

An All Star, very good career type...

but if I had to start a team..give me Rose to build around

 

[vincec15]

well guys, looks like Frank Haith has gotten the canes baketball team back together and they are on a 5-0 start!! Jack McClinton is a stud!

 

[allen3xis]

My ESPN Classic aint workin but it looks like Cuse is in for one tonight...that D

Devendorf puttin in work tho

Before I thought Indiana would be the Best in the Big 10...but after last night and now tonight and the UCLA game...MSU is the better team so far. Indiana hastwo players and nothin else

 

[jrellcuse10]

Allen it's on ESPN360. I didn't want to go to the game tonight.

 

[allen3xis]

oh thought it was classic

i can't get that either

I can't remember a 6'9 freshman shooting as many threes as Greene

 

[jrellcuse10]

I meant you can watch on ESPN360.com.

 

[pacman301]

. NOW do people still think OJ Mayo > Gordon?

 

[dfresh244]

Bayless beasting tonight so far...

 

[ThaxbyChamblis]

Donte Greene = J.R. Giddens....

Neither of them want to go to the rack...