College Basketball!

[Kodos]

I thought IU played Duke pretty well. Once the players get used to our new coach, I think the Hoosiers will be a force.

[Wolfpack]

It also points to Duke being over-ranked by reputation. They're clearly suffering offensively without Reddick and Sheldon Williams.

I also agree that the only impressive performance so far was Wisconsin's demolition of FSU, who had been considered something of a darkhorse contender this year in the ACC and considered to be an NCAA team at last. Second most impressive had to be State's ownage of the Wolverines for much of Monday's game (aside from the start and the finish). So far, no one has really presented themselves as an unbeatable foe, which seems to be a national trend as we've watched a lot of "top" teams get beat in the early going this year, much more than I can recall in prior years.

[spleen1015]

It is definitely a down year for Duke. They're young, so they have some time to grow. It is sad watching them without Redick and Williams.

I'm starting to think that McRoberts may not be as good as everything thinks he is/will be. It was definitely a smart decision on his part to stay in school. There's no way he'd be productive at the NBA level at this point.

[sooner333]

Originally Posted by Kodos

I thought IU played Duke pretty well. Once the players get used to our new coach, I think the Hoosiers will be a force.

Get used to minutes at a time without field goals...no lead is safe under Kelvin.

[Joker]

Originally Posted by Mr. Sparkle

I wholeheartedly agree with this statement.

On NOAH(Florida)
Every time he's called for a foul he stamps his feet and screams
like a 3 yr old at ToysRus.

Im going to the WSU - UKMC game tonight.
LUCKY me
I get to sit with the Assistant Athletic Director.
Do you think he'd mind if I wear my KU hat?

Ya ok...Im gonna dress all in BLACK!

GO SHOCKS!

[Kodos]

Originally Posted by sooner333

Get used to minutes at a time without field goals...no lead is safe under Kelvin.

Heh. We never led.

We're used to prolonged droughts with Mike Davis. So far, I think Sampson is an upgrade, although personally I would have preferred someone who has kept their nose clean over Sampson.

[sooner333]

Originally Posted by Kodos

Heh. We never led.

We're used to prolonged droughts with Mike Davis. So far, I think Sampson is an upgrade, although personally I would have preferred someone who has kept their nose clean over Sampson.

I know...but see Butler game. Anyway, he's probably an upgrade over Davis for sure. And yeah, the phone thing wasn't very good...I think it was somewhat blown out of proportion, but still not a good thing to do as a coach and he deserves the punishment he got (and got for OU too).

It was interesting on OU message boards...usually half of the board really liked Sampson and the other half wanted to have him skip town because they didn't like the style...whether it was pointless sets on offense or because they preferred the style of play under Billy Tubbs.

[digamma]

Originally Posted by INDalltheway

Penn State gave Georgia Tech a game.. That was a bigtime surprise along with Northwestern winning. I will be at the Purdue/Virginia game tonight. Should be a decent game.

It was without Thad Young for GT, but PSU definitely played well. I think GT also showed some tired legs from Maui, as there was little, if any, movement without the ball. I suppose that's how it goes with a young, but talented team. PSU was effective getting the ball inside and shot the ball very well. They'll beat some teams in the Big Ten.

[Recoil]

Originally Posted by digamma

It was without Thad Young for GT, but PSU definitely played well. I think GT also showed some tired legs from Maui, as there was little, if any, movement without the ball. I suppose that's how it goes with a young, but talented team. PSU was effective getting the ball inside and shot the ball very well. They'll beat some teams in the Big Ten.

PSU out played us (GT). They out rebounded us, shot better, better FT %, etc. We really didn't deserve to win, but I'm glad we did. I can't believe this is the same PSU team that lost to Stoney Brook. They'll definitely surprise some teams this year.

[miami_fan]

Can we get some of the other conferences involved in challenges? Pac 10 vs Big East? SEC vs Big East? MVC vs MWC?

[INDalltheway]

The Purdue/Virginia game was a sweet game. Great finish, pretty exciting second half.

[Radii]

HUUUUGE win for UNC over Ohio State!! OSU is damn good, with Oden... they're going to be awesome. I am really loving Carolina's freshmen, Ellington, Lawson, Wright all could be incredible players by the end of the year. These are definitely two final four caliber teams.


The ACC dominates the ACC/Big Ten challenge.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Alright, my turn to get involved in this thread. Big rivalry game in Columbia, Missouri tonight. Mizzou vs. Arkansas. Coach Anderson goes against the school where he won a National Championship with Nolan Richardson. Mizzou is 7-0 and Arkansas is 5-0. Should be a dandy, pressure defense battle. With these two teams, you better not turn your head or you'll miss 2-3 possessions.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by miami_fan

Can we get some of the other conferences involved in challenges? Pac 10 vs Big East? SEC vs Big East? MVC vs MWC?

Pac 10 vs. Big 12 is one that has been thrown around quite a bit by the conference execs of both conferences, but no final agreements have come together at this point.

[Butter]

Clemson dominated Minnesota last night in the wrap-up to the ACC/Big Ten challenge. Is Minnesota that bad, or is Clemson actually improving?

I knew it was curtains for Minnesota when they shot something like 75% in the first half and still trailed by 4 at halftime.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by Butter_of_69

Clemson dominated Minnesota last night in the wrap-up to the ACC/Big Ten challenge. Is Minnesota that bad, or is Clemson actually improving?

I knew it was curtains for Minnesota when they shot something like 75% in the first half and still trailed by 4 at halftime.

Minnesota is not very good. They're picked as being in the cellar in their conference. I've seen them play twice and they haven't looked good either time.

[Butter]

I guess Dan Monson needs to start prepping his resume, then... because Minnesota hasn't been good for a few years now.

[Joker]

SHOCKERS VS UMKC
FUN GAME
Shox 4pt lead at HALF.
It seemed like 3min went by and BOOM the Shox were up by 30.
Shox looked better than last years team...We shall SEE.

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by Butter_of_69

I guess Dan Monson needs to start prepping his resume, then... because Minnesota hasn't been good for a few years now.

Resume is prepared I guess

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=2681321

MINNEAPOLIS -- Dan Monson resigned as men's basketball coach at Minnesota on Thursday, one day after his team's fifth straight loss.

Monson and athletic director Joel Maturi said they agreed it was in the "best interests" of the program that he step aside.

"The program's not in the position we want it to be in," Maturi said.

Assistant coach Jim Molinari will act as interim head coach of the Gophers (2-5).


"Wow," Monson said to a roomful of reporters at a news conference to announce his resignation. "We need this interest at the games. I guess that's why I'm here."


ESPN.com's Andy Katz reported that Monson was told earlier this week he was likely going to be out, and either he could be fired or he could resign in an attempt to get a better financial settlement.


The Minneapolis Star-Tribune's Sid Hartman was the first to report Thursday that Monson was out as head coach after taking over the scandal-ridden program in 1999.


Wednesday night's 90-68 loss to Clemson in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge may have been inconsequential after sources said Thursday that Minnesota athletic director Joel Maturi told Monson that either he had to go or there would be pressure they both may be out.


As the hours ticked toward Thursday's news conference, Monson and his representation were negotiating a settlement. A source close to Monson said he was seeking $1.2 million. If he had been fired, then he reportedly would have received $1 million.


Molinari, a former Bradley head coach, is the successor. The naming of Molinari was a bit of a surprise considering that Bill Walker had been the assistant at Minnesota since 1999.


Minnesota was off to a 2-5 start, which included going winless at the Old Spice Classic in Orlando with losses to Marist and Montana. The Gophers are on a five-game losing streak and play Arizona State on Saturday.


Monson was the hot young head coach in 1999 when he led Gonzaga to the Elite Eight, which started the Zags' run to college basketball's elite. The Zags beat Minnesota in the NCAA Tournament that year in Seattle in what would be Clem Haskins' last run with the Gophers. An academic scandal hit the program and Monson was brought in to clean it up, which he did. But the Gophers struggled to keep elite players with Rick Rickert, Joel Pryzbilla and Kris Humphries all leaving early for the NBA draft. Monson took the Gophers to four NITs and one NCAA, that coming in 2005.


Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com. Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

[mckerney]

Originally Posted by Butter_of_69

Clemson dominated Minnesota last night in the wrap-up to the ACC/Big Ten challenge. Is Minnesota that bad, or is Clemson actually improving?

I knew it was curtains for Minnesota when they shot something like 75% in the first half and still trailed by 4 at halftime.

They're a terrible team. In addition to their losses to Montana and Marist, they lost to division 2 Winona State in an exhibition. They don't seem to be able to run a half court offense, and the guy starting at point transfered here because it was the only place that would let him run the point (and Kris Humphries showed that Monson would let players run the show). Monson often looked well over his head and didn't look capable of coaching major college basketball.



A coaching change definitely needed to be made, though should have been made last year. The decision was made to fire him but AD Joel Maturi couldn't go through with it. Maturi has no business as a major conference athletic director and him being the guy in charge of hiring a new coach is troublesome.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Big shout-out to my Missouri Tigers. They laid a 22 point beating on an undefeated Arkansas team that already beat West Virginia and Southern Illinois. 8-0 under Coach Anderson. Next test will be against Purdue on the road.

[cartman]

The Texas-Gonzaga game has been awesome so far.

Rick Barnes need to tell his guys that shooting from behind the NBA 3 point line doesn't get any extra points over shooting from the college 3 point line.

[mauchow]

kansas loses again....

[kingfc22]

Originally Posted by cartman

The Texas-Gonzaga game has been awesome so far.

Rick Barnes need to tell his guys that shooting from behind the NBA 3 point line doesn't get any extra points over shooting from the college 3 point line.

Zags are now wiping the floor with the Longhorns.

[cartman]

Originally Posted by kingfc22

Zags are now wiping the floor with the Longhorns.

Yep, that was an impressive run by Gonzaga. Just as Texas pulls back within 4, wham, they take a 20 point lead.

[terpkristin]

It's DIII, but still kinda crazy: http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/s...=ESPNHeadlines

Lincoln sets D-III record for points in game, half

ESPN.com news services

SALEM, W.Va. -- The Lincoln University men's basketball team had a record-breaking performance Saturday. The Lions beat Ohio State-Marion 201-78, setting several Division III scoring records in the process. Lincoln (5-1) set the D-III record for points in a game and points in a half with 104 in the second. Senior guard Sami Wylie set the school record with 69 points and the D-III record with 21 3-pointers. Six other Lions hit double figures in scoring. Lincoln, ranked No. 11 in D-III, shot 79-for-141 in the game. Troy Briggs netted 31 points and Mark Sisler added 24 for OSU-Marion, a non-NCAA school that competes in the Ohio Regional Campus Conference.

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by miami_fan

Wisconsin impressed me yesterday. It was the first time I saw them play this year and I have liked the way FSU has played so far this season. I like Tucker's game a lot. As far the Canes, once again they get absolutely nothing from anyone else on the team besides McClinton. They are a young team with only three seniors but I expected a bit more from Anthony Harris.

Well what do you know. Anthony Harris puts up 21 points to help out McClinton and the Canes beat the Yellow Jackets.

[MylesKnight]

Wichita!!! Seriously, can the Shox do what George Mason did a year ago..... and maybe even more??

[cartman]

Originally Posted by MylesKnight

Wichita!!! Seriously, can the Shox do what George Mason did a year ago..... and maybe even more??

Not if they are getting a lot of scrutiny at this point in the season. George Mason pretty much flew under the radar all season, and people didn't talk about them until tourney time, when people questioned why they got an at-large bid. If the Shockers already are getting a bullseye on them with 3 months to go, that can't be good for them.

[JonInMiddleGA]

FSU just knocked off Florida by 4.

[Karlifornia]

Prediction: Stanford will make a Final Four in the next 4 years. The Lopez twins are gonna be unstoppable. I finally got to see Brook in serious action tonight, scoring 18 points I believe while Robin rode the pine because of foul trouble. I'm loving what I'm seeing out of them, but then again, I'm an optimist

[dawgfan]

Washington has some impressive freshmen - Hawes, Pondexter and Oliver are looking particularly good, and Nelson has the potential to be a good zone-busting shooter - but they are currently over rated. I would not be at all surprised to see Gonzaga hand them their first loss, and with LSU, Pitt and the Pac-10 schedule left, they're likely to drop quite a bit in the polls.

That said, this could be a dangerous team come tourney time...

[Karlifornia]

Originally Posted by dawgfan

Washington has some impressive freshmen - Hawes, Pondexter and Oliver are looking particularly good, and Nelson has the potential to be a good zone-busting shooter - but they are currently over rated. I would not be at all surprised to see Gonzaga hand them their first loss, and with LSU, Pitt and the Pac-10 schedule left, they're likely to drop quite a bit in the polls.

That said, this could be a dangerous team come tourney time...

Yeah, U-Dub is in good shape. I was hoping Stanford could somehow manage to get Hawes, despite being lower on his list than UNC and you guys. Oh well...Coach Romar is building quite a program up in Seattle. I expect some awesome battles the next four years.

[miami_fan]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200...hts/index.html

Dick Vitale is easy to knock, but when he's right, he's right. During the second half of Tuesday night's Arizona-Louisville game, Vitale said that in his 28 years of broadcasting, he could never remember so many quality games taking place this early in the season. Even by Dickie V's hyperbolic standards, this was quite a statement.

I had been sensing the same thing, but I don't have quite as many years covering this sport under my belt as Vitale . So I called him on Wednesday to ask him to elaborate. "I remember years ago, coaches would load up on what I used to call bargain basement goodies," Vitale said. "I was just as guilty when I coached. I wanted those W's, baby. But now guys realize that you hurt your teams in the long run."

Vitale attributed the trend to the contractual security of high-powered coaches as well as the steady media pressure not to schedule so many "cupcakes." But we both agreed the main reason is the consistent emphasis the men's basketball committee has placed during the last decade on teams' non-conference schedules when deciding who should get at-large bids to the NCAA tournament.

Remember in 2001, when Georgia got a bid with a 16-14 overall record while 21-10 Alabama was left out? That's because Georgia's overall strength of schedule was ranked No. 1 in the country while the Tide was 81st. Alabama coach Mark Gottfried got the message and immediately upgraded his schedule. This year his team has already played Iowa and Xavier and still has non-conference games at Notre Dame and NC State and at home against Oklahoma -- all before the start of SEC play.

The current team with a similar change in its scheduling philosophy is Florida State, which last year went 9-7 in the ACC but was left out of the Dance with a non-conference schedule that ranked 316th out of 330 teams. After the snub, Seminoles coach Leonard Hamilton called NCAA tournament committee chairman Craig Littlepage and got the same message that former chairman Mike Tranghese once delivered to Gottfried: Go out and play good teams. That's why Florida State has already played at Pittsburgh and Wisconsin (though the latter was part of the Big Ten/ACC Challenge) and hosted Florida, which the Seminoles defeated Sunday night in Tallahassee. Florida State will play Providence at home on Dec. 29 before beginning ACC play against Clemson five days later.

"I still don't totally understand why we were left out last year, but you have to go to the beat of the drum," Hamilton told me. Hamilton also acknowledged the added benefit of the upgrade: "I have no question we were better prepared for Florida after playing two good teams on the road like we did."

You also have to give credit to the TV networks for putting together sexy inter-conference games to spice up what would otherwise be a dull part of the year. So with all the great games already played (Kansas-Florida, Ohio State-UNC, UCLA-Memphis), we still get to look forward to UCLA vs. Texas A&M on Saturday, Pittsburgh at Wisconsin Dec. 16, Duke vs. Gonzaga Dec. 21 and Ohio State-Florida on Dec. 23. Even Connecticut, which has played a conspicuously soft early slate, has three quality non-league games scheduled in January against LSU, Indiana and Georgia Tech.

"I think it's phenomenal for the game," Vitale said. "The kids want to play tough competition." And the fans love to watch. So enjoy the next few weeks, Hoopheads. 'Tis our season.

I am glad most of the coaches have gotten the message about scheduling strong out of conference opponents.

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by miami_fan

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200...hts/index.html



I am glad most of the coaches have gotten the message about scheduling strong out of conference opponents.

Yeah, but Seth needs to do his homework. UCLA hasn't played Memphis. They could have in the Maui Classic, but Memphis lost to Tech.

We have played Kentucky, Georgia Tech and now Texas A&M, though, so I am sure those all qualify as big games as Davis is talking about here.

Good game from the Aggies today, BTW. We got away with a win, but that's a very good team there.

[dawgfan]

Originally Posted by miami_fan

I am glad most of the coaches have gotten the message about scheduling strong out of conference opponents.

Not mentioned in that article are 3 good OOC matchups featuring #8 Washington - tonight at #18 Gonzaga, December 20th vs. #11 LSU and February 17th at #2 Pittsburgh

[k0ruptr]

Greg Oden's first start went awesome today.

8-8 for 16 points, 4 boards, 3 blocks, 2 assists,and a steal in 23 minutes.

[Chief Rum]

Four boards for a man child? What was he doing, releasing on the break when the shot goes up?

[k0ruptr]

I think foul trouble had somethin to do with it...

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by k0ruptr

I think foul trouble had somethin to do with it...

He did get 23 mins, though. This guy struck me as a double digit rebounder with ease in 30 mins or so of play, from everything I have read. Maybe foul trouble took him out of rhythm.

[INDalltheway]

He had 10 boards in 23 minutes in his first game.. 5 blocks too, I am pretty sure he is a man child.

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by INDalltheway

He had 10 boards in 23 minutes in his first game.. 5 blocks too, I am pretty sure he is a man child.

Yeah, I'm just nitpicking. He was probably off his game a little in this one (on the boards, at least).

[mckerney]

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

Yeah, I'm just nitpicking. He was probably off his game a little in this one (on the boards, at least).

Wait until he plays Minnesota. The Gophers were out rebounded by a margin of 43-16 against Arkansas Little Rock today. He should have a career day against Spencer Tollackson.

[HerRealName]

Teams have a tendency not to get many shots off close to the basket when Oden is in the game. Long shots = long rebounds. Oden is very, very good. He's already better than I hoped and he still isn't 100% yet.

[kingfc22]

Hey cartman, heck of a game tonight for Texas.

Still not sure what that LSU player was thinking jacking up a 3 with that much time left.

[cartman]

Originally Posted by kingfc22

Hey cartman, heck of a game tonight for Texas.

Still not sure what that LSU player was thinking jacking up a 3 with that much time left.

Too bad that wasn't the Elite 8 game last season...

With 4 Frosh in the starting lineup each night, UT is gonna be hella erratic. But I like their chances against any team in the country. Kevin Durant is going to challenge for Player of the Year, not just Frosh of the Year. He is simply awesome.

[miami_fan]

Nice day of hoops today. #2 Pitt at #7 Wisconsin is going on now.

[-Mojo Jojo-]

Bye bye Pitt, thanks for playing. Nobody messes with Bucky in Madison.

[Cork]

Originally Posted by -Mojo Jojo-

Bye bye Pitt, thanks for playing. Nobody messes with Bucky in Madison.

Awesome win for the Badgers!!! Tucker and Butch were magnificent. I will also say that Pitts center looks to be one heck of a player as well.

Go, Badgers!!!

-Cork

[cartman]

Great game between Arkansas and Texas. The 'Horns pulled out the win, 80-76. It's good to see these two teams agree to play a 4 game series. A great rivalry is reborn!