Official 2010-11 College Basketball Thread

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by Radii

UNC had a nice lead that disappeared quickly after a half in Durham, hopefully things will be different at home. That was a very enjoyable, high energy half though for sure. Hate seeing Henson have foul trouble, but Marshall has been awesome.

UNC is my second favorite team.. so it's been a pleasure watching them tonight thus far!

Would have been nice to see Mizzou beat KU today

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by Pumpy Tudors

oh now i find out this isn't the mike anderson thread??

Can you create one for us?

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by panerd

I also am a regular poster on a few different Tiger message boards and it seems like the one thing KU and Mizzou fans come together on is their hatred of K-State. (which includes Frank Martin)

I actually don't mind KST, go figure.

[Radii]

What a win! I'm pretty much speechless, this team got off to such a rocky start and even into ACC play even making the NCAA Tournament was not a guarantee. A 20 point loss at Georgia Tech made me terrified of every road game no matter who it was against. Going into the ACC Tournament as the 1 seed is just unbelievable.

[Wolfpack]

Originally Posted by Radii

What a win! I'm pretty much speechless, this team got off to such a rocky start and even into ACC play even making the NCAA Tournament was not a guarantee. A 20 point loss at Georgia Tech made me terrified of every road game no matter who it was against. Going into the ACC Tournament as the 1 seed is just unbelievable.

Only shows how pathetic the ACC has become in recent years (I can speak from personal experience ). This is the third time in three years that UNC seemed down and out at the start of the conference season, but for the second time no one was able to capitalize on it. Last time UNC rallied from a bad start (2008-09), they went on to some pretty big things. I don't think it'll get that bad (well, good, if you're a UNC fan) this year, though. (I hope)

[Young Drachma]

Originally Posted by Wolfpack

Only shows how pathetic the ACC has become in recent years (I can speak from personal experience ). This is the third time in three years that UNC seemed down and out at the start of the conference season, but for the second time no one was able to capitalize on it. Last time UNC rallied from a bad start (2008-09), they went on to some pretty big things. I don't think it'll get that bad (well, good, if you're a UNC fan) this year, though. (I hope)

Is Sidney Lowe going to last another season?

[Radii]

Originally Posted by Dark Cloud

Is Sidney Lowe going to last another season?

Wolfpack will obviously have a much better perspective on things than me, but throughout the course of the basketball season this has been the topic of conversation when I turn on local sports talk radio more frequently than Duke and UNC combined. There seems to be a very small contingent of sportswriters/analysts who will argue that now is a horrible time to fire Lowe because it will set the program back even further due to the likelyhood of many of his recruits transferring away. The overwhelming majority though seem to agree that this is it and Lowe is done.

[Pumpy Tudors]

UNO lost only 6 games all season! What a great year! I'm pretending not to know that those losses were to Tulane, Louisiana College, Birmingham Southern, Southeastern University of Florida, St. Thomas University of Texas, and Victory University. After all, we beat Pensacola Christian College TWICE this year!

Please shoot me.

[Young Drachma]

It's sort of hilarious that fan message boards of schools that end up in the CIT or CBI will openly debate whether even to hang a banner for winning either tournament if their school does. I mean, I could see debating it at a school with lots of NCAA appearances and such, but at schools that don't win much, why the heck not? I mean, they pay to play anyway. But it's still pretty funny.

[digamma]

Originally Posted by Dark Cloud

69-62 Harvard with about 4 minutes to go in the 2nd half. Mondo impressed with what Tommy Amaker has done with that team in the years he's been there. From Jeremy Lin NBA player to knocking on the doorstep of the tournament, I hope they pull it off.

I just read it. Apparently if Princeton beats Penn, the one game playoff is at a neutral site, but the teams will be considered co-conference champions. It's Harvard first-ever Ivy League title in men's basketball.

A great night for Harvard basketball. I got caught up with kid stuff and had to watch the game on archive after our little one went to bed. (and then there was a delay because of ESPN3, but I digress)

More than anything, it was great to see how into the game the student body was. Wasn't close to happening in my day.

We'll see what happens Tuesday. I think Penn has at least a puncher's chance to end this thing in regulation. But having watched both Harvard-Princeton games, I'm confident Harvard has a more complete team. You just never know in one game situations, though.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by MizzouRah

Would have been nice to see Mizzou beat KU today

So frustrating to watch that MU/KU game. KU was there for the taking. All they had to do was hit a three pointer or two. Just couldn't hit anything.

Ah well. Back in the saddle and heading to KC. Looking forward to having the boys back in town.

Apologies if this Mizzou post wasn't supposed to be in this thread. FWIW......I appreciate my fellow UNC, GT, Rutgers, Texas, OU, William and Mary, and other fans posting about their teams more than other teams. I actually pay attention to those teams more than others just because I get to hear how their fan base is feeling in this thread each year. It's a lot of fun that way.

[Lathum]

And the Huskies go all Jeckyl and Hyde again, not showing up in the first half on senior night of all nights. I am really nervous right now if we go out in the first round of not getting a bid. I know Dawgfan disagrees, but I am at the point where I am holding Romar accountable, he just hasn't gotten his guys ready to play in important games.

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

So frustrating to watch that MU/KU game. KU was there for the taking. All they had to do was hit a three pointer or two. Just couldn't hit anything.

Ah well. Back in the saddle and heading to KC. Looking forward to having the boys back in town.

Apologies if this Mizzou post wasn't supposed to be in this thread. FWIW......I appreciate my fellow UNC, GT, Rutgers, Texas, OU, William and Mary, and other fans posting about their teams more than other teams. I actually pay attention to those teams more than others just because I get to hear how their fan base is feeling in this thread each year. It's a lot of fun that way.

Head over to the new forum!

[jbergey22]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

I appreciate my fellow UNC, GT, Rutgers, Texas, OU, William and Mary, and other fans posting about their teams more than other teams. I actually pay attention to those teams more than others just because I get to hear how their fan base is feeling in this thread each year. It's a lot of fun that way.

As do I. They seem to have things in perspective.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

FWIW......I appreciate my fellow UNC, GT, Rutgers, Texas, OU, William and Mary, and other fans posting about their teams more than other teams. I actually pay attention to those teams more than others just because I get to hear how their fan base is feeling in this thread each year. It's a lot of fun that way.

You raise a pretty good point here I think.

With over 300 teams in D1 alone, beyond your own team, it's rivals, and maybe the top 25, the majority of college basketball teams blend into a sea of anonymity. There's quite a few teams in this thread that I pay more attention to because they get some love here. The difference may be marginal, no more than a "huh, interesting" when I see something on the espn scoreboard but that's still more than game X would have gotten from me otherwise.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Halftime in Knoxville, 29-22 Vols over #23 Kentucky. I fully expect them to get blown out in the 2nd half since I don't expect UK to shoot so poorly for 40 minutes but given UT's season, things to cheer about have been pretty sparse.

How bad is it as Bruce Pearl likely coaches his last game at Thompson-Boling Arena? There were some concerns about attendance in Knoxville today since the Lady Vols are going for another SEC tournament title in Nashville.

[Poli]

You really think it's Pearl's last game? I don't. I suspect he'll weather this storm somehow.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Poli

You really think it's Pearl's last game? I don't. I suspect he'll weather this storm somehow.

I don't see any way for him to survive it. I fully expect the NCAA to issue a show cause order (or whatever the heck it's called) & effectively end his career. The final straw is going to be the bump-into contact violation that occurred two weeks after his tearful apology press conference.

At this point I don't believe he's learned anything other than "try harder not to get caught" and if he goes, he goes. I think his ego & the pressure of rising expectations finally got to him.

[Poli]

If I'm not mistaken the bump contact violation afterward is the biggest accusation that Tennessee is fighting tooth and nail over. I think I'd read that somewhere.

[digamma]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

I don't see any way for him to survive it. I fully expect the NCAA to issue a show cause order (or whatever the heck it's called) & effectively end his career. The final straw is going to be the bump-into contact violation that occurred two weeks after his tearful apology press conference.

At this point I don't believe he's learned anything other than "try harder not to get caught" and if he goes, he goes. I think his ego & the pressure of rising expectations finally got to him.

Could be two last regular season games for your coaches today.

[Scoobz0202]

Watching this Tennessee - Kentucky game is brutal. Calipari or Pearl, can't root for either one.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by digamma

Could be two last regular season games for your coaches today.

From your mouth to God's ear on part two of that possibility.

[Poli]

Thank you, CBS.

[dawgfan]

Originally Posted by Lathum

I know Dawgfan disagrees, but I am at the point where I am holding Romar accountable, he just hasn't gotten his guys ready to play in important games.

I do disagree, because when people start saying things like this about the most successful Husky basketball coach of the modern era, I find it ridiculous. The chances of the UW finding a coach for their basketball team that would be more successful and remotely as loyal are somewhere between "slim" and "none", closer to the "none".

This year's team has been frustrating, yes. And Romar certainly needs to take a careful look at the makeup of his staff (the program hasn't been as good since losing Ken Bone and Cameron Dollar from the coaching staff). But any hint that Romar should be in trouble is crazy.

[Warhammer]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

I don't see any way for him to survive it. I fully expect the NCAA to issue a show cause order (or whatever the heck it's called) & effectively end his career. The final straw is going to be the bump-into contact violation that occurred two weeks after his tearful apology press conference.

At this point I don't believe he's learned anything other than "try harder not to get caught" and if he goes, he goes. I think his ego & the pressure of rising expectations finally got to him.

Part of the reason why Pearl was in NCAA purgatory for so long was his dealings with Deon Thomas while at Iowa. This would be the nail in the coffin so to speak.

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by dawgfan

I do disagree, because when people start saying things like this about the most successful Husky basketball coach of the modern era, I find it ridiculous. The chances of the UW finding a coach for their basketball team that would be more successful and remotely as loyal are somewhere between "slim" and "none", closer to the "none".

This year's team has been frustrating, yes. And Romar certainly needs to take a careful look at the makeup of his staff (the program hasn't been as good since losing Ken Bone and Cameron Dollar from the coaching staff). But any hint that Romar should be in trouble is crazy.

I'm not saying he should be in trouble, but at some point the talent on paper has to translate to wins on the court, especially against inferior opponents.

Losses to OSU, OU, twice to Wazzou, stanford, and USC at home, on senior night, are just not acceptable.

[dawgfan]

Originally Posted by Lathum

I'm not saying he should be in trouble, but at some point the talent on paper has to translate to wins on the court, especially against inferior opponents.

Who brought that talent to Washington?

Romar is stronger as a recruiter than strategist - I think we all know that. Living with Romar means that from time to time, the talent on the floor may underachieve. Sucks, but the level of talent he's brought here exceeds by quite a bit any coach I've seen prior to him (and that includes Harshman).

Losses to OSU, OU, twice to Wazzou, stanford, and USC at home, on senior night, are just not acceptable.

Yeah, it's been a disappointing year. And I've said many times that Romar needs to take a hard look at his coaching staff, figure out if he's got the right group.

I'd also caution that losing Gaddy hurt - he was a calming influence on the court and was really coming on as an offensive weapon. As well, the sexual misconduct investigation undoubtedly was a distraction for this team. And having both Wilcox and Suggs slowed at different points in the season strained the depth and robbed the team of their best outside shooters.

Romar has this program going so much better than his predecessors that I give him a ton of slack. It's hard to imagine that he hasn't positioned the program to be a legit competitor year-in, year-out for the league title and an NCAA bid. Yeah, we'd all like to see that next step - getting past the Sweet 16 - but I'll take the frustrations that come with an underachieving year like this that will still likely result in an NCAA bid over what we had before Romar.

[mauchow]

Lets hope tosu doesn't shoot 68% in the second half.

[Scoobz0202]

When Diebler is on, he's fucking on.

[whomario]

Originally Posted by Scoobz0202

When Diebler is on, he's fucking on.

no kidding, going 10-12 and now 7-8 from deep (as of now) in consecutive games , wow

[mauchow]

Man... when things were going well..badgers get a d rebound and drop it and let it roll oob. Then diebler drains a three to put them up 14 instead of WI having a chance at cutting to single digits. Ah well. Didn't expect to win but not lose this badly. Time for the btt.

[Scoobz0202]

What's the record for team 3P% in a game? OSU has to be close. Shot 93.3%

[mauchow]

Originally Posted by Scoobz0202

What's the record for team 3P% in a game? OSU has to be close. Shot 93.3%

Well now the Badgers can just hope to solidify the three seed and maybe sneak into a 2 seed. If they can beat their first opponent and have a good game against PU and lose they will probably land the 3 but if they beat PU they may slip into the 2 if other things happen for them. But 3 at this point SHOULD be solid, but I've seen weirder things, especially as a Badger fan.

[Young Drachma]

Cutting the nets for a regular season conference title? Has anyone ever seen that before?

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by wade moore

Headed to the CAA Tourney later today. W&M is the 11 seed (ugh, rebuilding year) facing the #6 seed JMU.

Win or lose i'll go to at least the 4 games Friday and 4 games Saturday, we'll see about Sunday or Monday.

I badly wanted to go last year but didn't have a chance

Maybe I'll try to go to the Big 10's tourney in town this year. I could just park at where I work and walk there

SI

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by Swaggs

I wonder if Dick Vitale is home, sitting in his underwear, pretending to call the Duke-UNC game. It has to be killing him to not be fellat...er, calling UNC and Duke.

SI

[Balldog]

Originally Posted by Scoobz0202

What's the record for team 3P% in a game? OSU has to be close. Shot 93.3%

Its a record, as is making 14 in a row as a team. Crazy that Diebler has made 17 of 20 threes in the last 2 games. Buford is getting over shadowed but he's been on fire too.

[Radii]

Fab Five documentary brutally honest, stunningly thorough | Detroit Free Press | freep.com

ESPN documentary on the fab 5 airing next Sunday, not technically part of the 30 for 30 series but I think its pretty much the same thing. Webber didn't participate but apparently everyone else involved was extremely candid.

[Balldog]

Crazy I was just at FREEP reading that article, really looking forward to the documentary.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by Dark Cloud

Cutting the nets for a regular season conference title? Has anyone ever seen that before?

Mizzou did it in 1994 when they finished the conference season undefeated. BYU certainly wasn't undefeated. Heck, they were co-champions with SDSU this year.

[MJ4H]

Arkansas did it the last game in Barnhill Arena in 1992.

[Big Fo]

College of Charleston has made it to the SoCon Championship Game for the third time in five years after coming from behind to defeat Furman. Hopefully they can beat Wofford tomorrow and make the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1999.

[Wolfpack]

Originally Posted by Radii

Wolfpack will obviously have a much better perspective on things than me, but throughout the course of the basketball season this has been the topic of conversation when I turn on local sports talk radio more frequently than Duke and UNC combined. There seems to be a very small contingent of sportswriters/analysts who will argue that now is a horrible time to fire Lowe because it will set the program back even further due to the likelyhood of many of his recruits transferring away. The overwhelming majority though seem to agree that this is it and Lowe is done.

I guess I don't listen at the same time as you because most of what I've ever heard that's ACC-related (that is, once David Glenn takes a breath and stops self-promoting or falling down one of his wells of digression) has usually concentrated on nothing but Duke and Carolina. Yes, I've heard some talk about State and most are saying that Lowe is in trouble, but the concentration to me has been on Duke and UNC, particularly in the last week leading up to Saturday's game.

All that aside, one only has to be at the RBC Center and see the sea of empty red seats the last two games (I was there for both on freebie tickets) to get a feel for the level of apathy that's set in. Hell, the student sections around the court were pretty sparse both games, especially the end zones. There just isn't any interest or energy in the games these days aside from brief moments where the team mysteriously plays well. This, of course, means that the team has been killing itself with so many mistakes that they kill the crowd almost as soon as they get them into the game at times.

One only has to look at a game like today against FSU to see why he's not going to make it. He brought in a stud recruiting class and pretty much taught them nothing (either that or they're ten-cent-heads on million-dollar-bodies and don't have a clue about fundamentals). They're just about surviving on athleticism and instinct, and it's not good enough to win at this level. FSU is a strong defensive team, but State's ball-handling and passing was beyond poor. Even though FSU kind of floundered and let State back into it in the second half, State continued to be mistake-prone down to the end and they couldn't overcome it.

Players seem to move to the same spot and get in each other's way. The chemistry is totally absent and so no one seems to be expecting a pass or if they are the pass is inaccurate. There's no capable outside shot besides Wood (and he's a one-trick pony--get a defender on him and you can lock out State's three-point shooting the whole game because he's not a drive-to-the-basket type when he can't get open). Smith (probably feeling too much of the burden) takes on way too many double- and triple-teams and usually ends up wasting possessions with bad shots or turnovers. There's no sense for rebounding (FSU was killing State on second chance points today) at either end of the floor. Defense is spotty and allows a large number of easy chances either due to blown assignments or bad rotations off screens or anything else that leads to a wide open shot. Needless to say, it's a long list of problems.

It's hard to pinpoint this or that and say Lowe is responsible for it and that's why it's failing. However, it's the total picture that brings it all down on him. The program was expected to finally move forward this year and instead it's gone backwards. While the record isn't inconsistent with past years, the fact that this was supposed to be his most talented team yet combined with what has readily become apparent as a very down ACC this year should have resulted in something much better than a 5-11 season.

So, on to the tournament and probably one, maybe two more games (it's Maryland in round one, so I think it's one) with Lowe as coach. Maybe an NIT berth after that, but that's going to be a rather depressing little coda to all of this if it happens. (Well, there is a chance that new AD Debbie Yow retains Lowe, but that may quickly end her honeymoon as AD if she does.)

[jbergey22]

Cant wait for the Big East tournament later this week. Always some exciting matchups. The Big East tourny never seems to disappoint.

The Mountain West tourny should be interesting as well.

[jbergey22]

Originally Posted by Lathum

And the Huskies go all Jeckyl and Hyde again, not showing up in the first half on senior night of all nights. I am really nervous right now if we go out in the first round of not getting a bid. I know Dawgfan disagrees, but I am at the point where I am holding Romar accountable, he just hasn't gotten his guys ready to play in important games.

Originally Posted by dawgfan

I do disagree, because when people start saying things like this about the most successful Husky basketball coach of the modern era, I find it ridiculous. The chances of the UW finding a coach for their basketball team that would be more successful and remotely as loyal are somewhere between "slim" and "none", closer to the "none".

This year's team has been frustrating, yes. And Romar certainly needs to take a careful look at the makeup of his staff (the program hasn't been as good since losing Ken Bone and Cameron Dollar from the coaching staff). But any hint that Romar should be in trouble is crazy.

Ken Pomeroy still has some hope for Washington.

the kenpom.com blog

He compares them to 09 Mizzou, 10 VCU, and 10 Duke(who won the Nat'l championship)

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by jbergey22

Ken Pomeroy still has some hope for Washington.

the kenpom.com blog

He compares them to 09 Mizzou, 10 VCU, and 10 Duke(who won the Nat'l championship)

Sagarin likes them as well. Their ratings indicate they're a strong sleeper pick for this tourney.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

While obviously being disappointed with the finish for Mizzou, I absolutely LOVE the draw they got in the B12 tourney, especially given the location (Kansas City). We face TT in the first round which should be a win. Second round gives us A&M. I would argue that A&M is the weakest of the top four teams (we nearly beat them in College Station) and they're on Mizzou's turf. Third round would be Texas. Mizzou played well at Austin too and they're playing on Mizzou's turf. Love that we don't have to face KU or KSU until the final.

[Young Drachma]

Pat Knight done at Texas Tech after three years.

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by jbergey22

Ken Pomeroy still has some hope for Washington.

the kenpom.com blog

He compares them to 09 Mizzou, 10 VCU, and 10 Duke(who won the Nat'l championship)

This article was written before we lost at home to Wazzou and at home to USC on senior night. I'm not putting much stock into it.

It doesn't take a genius to see we have about as much talent as anyone and on any given day can beat anyone. The problem is it seems we are never prepared in big games. You could tell me right now we would make the sweet 16 and it wouldn't surprise me at all, we can be that good, we just haven't shown it this year.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Doesn't take long to go from the penthouse to the outhouse I guess.

A program-boosting win over Georgia Tech wasn't enough to save Kennesaw State's Tony Ingle.

The Owls men's basketball coach was fired on Monday by interim athletic director Scott Whitlock, who cited the team's academic problems and not its 8-23 record as the reason.

Reached at his home, Ingle said a combination of factors, including poor recruiting, a lack of academic support personnel and problems in understanding the NCAA's academic demands, combined to end his KSU career after 11 seasons.

"It's time to move forward," said Ingle, who posted a 248-215 record at the school.. "It hurts. I'm not going to sit here and act like it doesn't hurt. The harder you work, the harder it is to give up."

The Owls recorded the second-biggest win in school history on Nov. 15 with an 80-63 demolition of the Yellow Jackets in the second game of the season. However, KSU didn't win its next game until Jan. 3.

Earlier in 2010, the program was penalized by the NCAA with the loss of a scholarship for failing to meet the minimum score in the Academic Progress Rate (APR). It was the second consecutive year the program had been penalized, following the loss of two scholarships the previous year.

... Whitlock, who said he analyzed the program's academic progress over the last 12-18 months, anticipates more penalties when the next APR scores are released later this year. Under NCAA guidelines for repeated APR shortcomings, KSU stands to have two more scholarships reduced as well as a possible reduction to practice time.

... Ingle said he didn't at first fully understand the APR requirements, nor did the compliance director at the time. He said that in his effort to compete at the Division I level -- the Owls rose to D-I only two seasons ago -- he took chances on some recruits that he shouldn't have.

"We didn't have a good grip on it," he said. "So, we just made some bad decisions early. I'm the one left holding the bag, but I've been known for riding a horse until it dies and then dragging it across the line. It wasn't all my fault, but I take full responsibility."

Ingle led the Owls to the 2004 Division II national championship before the university announced it was becoming a transitional Division I team in 2005-06. They became a full-fledged member of the Atlantic Sun Conference in 2009. Ingle called the 2004 championship, and not the win over the Jackets, the biggest win in his career.

"I don't want to take anything away from beating Georgia Tech, but you don't get banners or rings for that," he said. "That one night, we were better than Georgia Tech, thank goodness.

"But I did live to see one of my dreams and that was to see the Convocation Center packed." ...



KSU fires men's basketball coach Tony Ingle *| ajc.com