2014-2015 College Basketball Thread

[dawgfan]

Originally Posted by MrBug708

I'm stunned at UW's fortunes this year. Probably going to be Romar's finest year of actual coaching and will likely save his bacon as he was sure to be on the hot seat with a bad year. Such a shame that it came one year too late for UCLA's sake

Robert Upshaw is making a huge difference. Having Shawn Kemp and Jernard Jarreau healthy is also helping a lot. The team has also fully bought in to playing team defense, though having an eraser like Upshaw in the middle allows them to gamble more.

[Matthean]

Unless something changes, UK won't face a ranked team until tourney time.

[OldGiants]

Originally Posted by MrBug708

Sounds like a jackass...lol

No, that would be the coach of the United Cocksuckers of Los Angeles when he didn't even shake the hand of the Virigina coach after UVA won its seventh Men's Soccer National Championship. All he could do was whine about Virginia not letting his team play their game.

What a tool, the epitome of United Cocksuckers sports.

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by OldGiants

No, that would be the coach of the United Cocksuckers of Los Angeles when he didn't even shake the hand of the Virigina coach after UVA won its seventh Men's Soccer National Championship. All he could do was whine about Virginia not letting his team play their game.

What a tool, the epitome of United Cocksuckers sports.

Umm. Ok. Makes sense.

[MrBug708]

Originally Posted by OldGiants

No, that would be the coach of the United Cocksuckers of Los Angeles when he didn't even shake the hand of the Virigina coach after UVA won its seventh Men's Soccer National Championship. All he could do was whine about Virginia not letting his team play their game.

What a tool, the epitome of United Cocksuckers sports.

Someone escaped from the mental hospital...lol

[Lathum]

Dola

He also called the PAC 12 the PAC twat in another thread so he obviously has an irrational hatred of anything involving our beloved conference.

[digamma]

Stomach flu knocked us out of going to the Harvard-Arizona State game in Phoenix today. We were in the line at the airport yesterday and had to head back home. I was sick first, then my older son, then my younger son. Luckily it appears to just be a 12 hour thing so we're in shape to watch from home today.

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by digamma

Stomach flu knocked us out of going to the Harvard-Arizona State game in Phoenix today. We were in the line at the airport yesterday and had to head back home. I was sick first, then my older son, then my younger son. Luckily it appears to just be a 12 hour thing so we're in shape to watch from home today.

Oh man. That sucks. Hope you all feel better.

[Suicane75]

Must have been the Pac-12 Hour Flu.

[Izulde]

Originally Posted by Suicane75

Must have been the Pac-12 Hour Flu.

This post deserves rep.

[Atocep]

With Juwan Staten out with the flu WVU goes on the road and hands TCU their first loss of the season 78-67. Ugly game. 61 fouls called.

[Lathum]

Rutgers is going to have a rough go, but it is nice to see them get their first Big 10 win.

[Butter]

Dayton just lost their backup point guard for the season with concussion issues. Their transfer in of a power forward from a JUCO in Idaho also still hasn't hit the floor due to knee issues.

Combine those with the dismissals of their two centers and the failure of the third center to academically qualify out of high school, and Dayton is currently operating with six scholarship players and one walk-on as a backup center logging major minutes.

Despite this UD easily beat Duquesne yesterday 81-55. Not sure how the rest of this season is going to go, but if there was ever a year that the A10 being down helped UD, it is this one.

[cartman]

I'm at the Texas-OU game and I can't remember the last time Texas has played this bad on offense. They are 4 for 26 so far in the game.

[MrBug708]

The Steve Alford experiment needs to be severed

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Really big win for Mizzou last night. Beat an LSU team that had won eight straight. Getting excited about how far this team has come. You can see all the freshman really starting to gain a lot of confidence.

[Izulde]

There's no excuse for losing to UNR in basketball. Ever. So damn disgusted right now. Rice can recruit,but he damn sure can't seem to coach.

[Kodos]

Originally Posted by MrBug708

The Steve Alford experiment needs to be severed

Glad it's UCLA and not IU. He seems to be a real jerk too.

[Arles]

Nice 18-point road win for Arizona at Oregon. The Ducks have been a little frisky this year and Arizona blew them out in the 2nd half.

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by Kodos

Glad it's UCLA and not IU. He seems to be a real jerk too.

I don't know if he's a jerk as much as so arrogant and convinced of his own correctness that he literally can't admit to himself that he could be wrong about anything. I am sure he has convinced himself that someone else is the reason UCLA is only 9-7 and just had a five game losing streak with two nearly record-setting losses.

He's more or less turned the UCLA job into an attempt to prop up his son (who happens to be a terrible, terrible player).

Real blame to a shitstorm of an AD, though, who gave Alford a massive 10-year buyout.

[Lathum]

6 seconds left and thats the best shot A & M can get?

[terpkristin]

Terps are surprising me this season, but in a good way (so far). For family reasons in addition to school love, it was nice to see the Terps beat the Boilermakers.

/tk

[Lathum]

Rutgers knocks off Wisconsin and Oregon State takes out Arizona in the same day. Craziness.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Will be interesting to see how Mizzou fares tonight against UK. Not expecting a win obviously, but would like to keep it close.

Saw that Calipari is bringing in Thomas Bryant for tonight's game. He's a 4 star in next year's class. He's already taken an official visit to Mizzou. I'm sure Calipari is hoping to lay a thumping on Mizzou to help Bryant make his decision.

[Marmel]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

Will be interesting to see how Mizzou fares tonight against UK. Not expecting a win obviously, but would like to keep it close.

Saw that Calipari is bringing in Thomas Bryant for tonight's game. He's a 4 star in next year's class. He's already taken an official visit to Mizzou. I'm sure Calipari is hoping to lay a thumping on Mizzou to help Bryant make his decision.

Bryant is not going to Mizzou. It is basically 33% Cuse, 33% Kentucky, 33% IU and 1% Missouri.


Which means he is going to Kentucky.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by Marmel

Bryant is not going to Mizzou. It is basically 33% Cuse, 33% Kentucky, 33% IU and 1% Missouri.


Which means he is going to Kentucky.

I agree that he likely won't, but a good beating should remove that small percentage.

There's a good chance his teammate is headed to Mizzou (Ted Kapita), so it's not too difficult to continue recruiting both in the same location.

[britrock88]

Just FYI, the PASR recruiting model on KenPom gives these odds:

#36 Thomas Bryant: Syracuse (35%), Indiana (24%), Missouri (21%), Kentucky (20%)

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

So yeah, the keeping it close part is probably out the window.

[MrBug708]

Least it was closer than UCLA was able to keep it

[larrymcg421]

Great win for the Hurricanes over Duke, snapping their 41 game home winning streak.

Last year, I was confident Larranaga could rebuild and it looks like has done so very well.

[panerd]

Originally Posted by MrBug708

Least it was closer than UCLA was able to keep it

Actually they hung 49 on Mizzou. I think UCLA and KU were only beat by like 30 or 40.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Comedy of the blowout aside, I really think that Kentucky has become the clear example that the NCAA really needs to move to the baseball rule regarding going pro. Let them go right out of HS or have to stay in school for three years. The current system isn't working at all and honestly does not make any sense.

[digamma]

What isn't working?

It seems like the current system allows two paths to success. The Kentucky/Louisville way or the Virginia/Wisconsin/Wichita way. Star system vs team building.

There are obviously issues with the transfer rules and shoe agents but I'm not sure Kentucky's success this season shows much of anything.

[BishopMVP]

Originally Posted by digamma

What isn't working?

It seems like the current system allows two paths to success. The Kentucky/Louisville way or the Virginia/Wisconsin/Wichita way. Star system vs team building.

There are obviously issues with the transfer rules and shoe agents but I'm not sure Kentucky's success this season shows much of anything.

Curious why you choose Louisville as your 2nd 1 and done example? Duke's probably the 2nd best example, but for some reason people rarely complain about them.

[digamma]

That's fair. It was more just typing on an iphone and hurrying than trying to be definitive. Kentucky/Duke et. al. it is.

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by BishopMVP

Curious why you choose Louisville as your 2nd 1 and done example? Duke's probably the 2nd best example, but for some reason people rarely complain about them.

Actually, while they certainly occasionally get their one and dones, like Parker last year and presumeably Okafor this year, Duke generally keeps most of their guys three or even four seasons.

I don't know that there is truly a comparable to Kentucky, with all the one and dones they get (and even they often keep those a second year at least).

It seems to me that some teams that get the top end players, like Duke, Louisville, Syracuse, UNC, Arizona, UCLA, Kansas, etc. do lose players early, but usually they stay 2-3 years, with only an occasional one and done every other year or three.

Actually, as a UCLA fan, I can say that they might be the closest to Kentucky the past couple years, since the Bruins have lost Shabazz and Lavine as one and dones, and Anderson and Adams as 2 years. And they're probably losing Looney after one year, too. The difference being that I think the kids at UCLA can't wait to leave, whereas at Kentucky, they're leaving because they're ready lol.

[BishopMVP]

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

Actually, while they certainly occasionally get their one and dones, like Parker last year and presumeably Okafor this year, Duke generally keeps most of their guys three or even four seasons.

I don't know that there is truly a comparable to Kentucky, with all the one and dones they get (and even they often keep those a second year at least).

It seems to me that some teams that get the top end players, like Duke, Louisville, Syracuse, UNC, Arizona, UCLA, Kansas, etc. do lose players early, but usually they stay 2-3 years, with only an occasional one and done every other year or three.

Actually, as a UCLA fan, I can say that they might be the closest to Kentucky the past couple years, since the Bruins have lost Shabazz and Lavine as one and dones, and Anderson and Adams as 2 years. And they're probably losing Looney after one year, too. The difference being that I think the kids at UCLA can't wait to leave, whereas at Kentucky, they're leaving because they're ready lol.

Add Winslow and Rivers. Plus I was thinking Rodney Hood, but he wasn't really a 1 and done. You are right it's about 8-10 schools that grab most of them (add Ohio State, Texas, Florida), and UCLA has easily led the pack in How the heck is that guy projected to go in the lottery? players recently.

[britrock88]

K seems to be leading Duke further in the direction of 1-and-dones with time. They've got 2 or 3 this year, and will presumably replace those with a couple next year (to shore up what's only a 7- or 8-man rotation now.)

[Izulde]

Unbelievable UNLV is doing this poorly in conference play so far. So frustrating.

[britrock88]

Originally Posted by Izulde

Unbelievable UNLV is doing this poorly in conference play so far. So frustrating.

Figured I'd look at KenPom to see how thing are...

- that Arizona win is a happy outlier, as UNLV's other shots at Pac-12 teams were not only losses, but poor results (20-plus point losses).
- the UNR loss at home is disappointing, understandably. But other than that, you're losing close games to good teams on the road and took care of SJSU at home like you're supposed to.
- in conference, your FG defense is good... just need to give the ball away less often (21+% is last in the conference) and do a little better on the defensive glass (only 64% DRb rate thus far).

After the trip to San Diego this weekend, you're favored in 7 out of 8. So there's definitely an opportunity for the season to turn around.

[cartman]

Nice bounce-back win for Texas. They played like crap the last two games against OU and Okie State, and had a dangerous West Virginia team come into town. The Longhorns handled the WVU press, and held the Mountaineers to only 24% from the field in a 77-50 win.

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by cartman

Nice bounce-back win for Texas. They played like crap the last two games against OU and Okie State, and had a dangerous West Virginia team come into town. The Longhorns handled the WVU press, and held the Mountaineers to only 24% from the field in a 77-50 win.

Every year it seems Texas is just an awful matchup for WVU. This year is no different and combine that with terrible play on the road and you get this result.

Texas looked really good today. The most talented team in the league IMO. Hopefully we can get revenge in Morgantown next month.

[Lathum]

UW picks up a really nice win over Oregon after trailing by 10 at the half. Amazing what a difference Upshaw makes. Oregon hit 6 threes in a row at one point, you knew they wouldn't keep that up, but our guys didn't panic and used great defense in the second half to get a lot of transition buckets.

Brings us to 13-4. 2-3 with Colorado next, a game we chould win. I think if we get to 20 wins we likely get a bid, especially with some decent OOC wins. After Colorado we go to Utah then back to back home games with a chance at payback to Stanford and Cal. We get a break only playing Arizona once, at home, if we can with that one it will be a nice boost. RPI is 47, would like it to be higher, that loss to Stony Brook is a killer.

[Marmel]

So the early defections to the NBA along with season ending injuries to 2 of the players have Syracuse looking at their worst season in a decade, at least, maybe since Jim Boeheim took over. Which in some ways is good, since the NCAA violation rumor mill say that we are getting a one year suspension from the tournament which I hear we successfully negotiated to have it be this year.

[Butter]

Good: Dayton reappears in the Top 25, ranked at #22 in both AP and Coaches' polls. Yay!

However, Dayton probably should have won all of the last 8 games they've played, even with only the 7 scholarship players... so 15-2 and 5-0 in the conference was expected... Ole Miss being the only real challenge.

Bad: Dayton plays @ Davidson tomorrow night, a team that plays a similar style to the Flyers, only with much worse defense so far. However, it being at Davidson and Dayton now being ranked, I fully expect our third L of the season.

If Dayton pulls it out, they may well end up giving VCU a run for the top of the league this year. Both stand at 5-0 in the A10 right now.

[britrock88]

Originally Posted by Butter_of_69

Good: Dayton reappears in the Top 25, ranked at #22 in both AP and Coaches' polls. Yay!

However, Dayton probably should have won all of the last 8 games they've played, even with only the 7 scholarship players... so 15-2 and 5-0 in the conference was expected... Ole Miss being the only real challenge.

Bad: Dayton plays @ Davidson tomorrow night, a team that plays a similar style to the Flyers, only with much worse defense so far. However, it being at Davidson and Dayton now being ranked, I fully expect our third L of the season.

If Dayton pulls it out, they may well end up giving VCU a run for the top of the league this year. Both stand at 5-0 in the A10 right now.

KenPom gives you a 40% chance to win @ Davidson. Considering UD's done what they have with 7 scholarship guys, it's all the more impressive. I'll be rooting for 3 A-10 teams in the tourney, for sure.

[cartman]

Just turned on the Texas-TCU game, and I forgot that TCU was playing at a high school arena while their normal home court is being refurbished.

[tarcone]

Iowa-Wiscy tonight at 8 cst.
Iowa needs to get Bucky in foul trouble. Buckys bench isnt great. If we can do that and avoid a long streak of crap play, there is a chance to win.

Battle for 1st place in the B1G. Cant wait.

[tarcone]

And there are 3 Iowa teams ranked in the top 25. ISU #9, UNI #20 and Iowa #25.
Quality basketball in the state of Iowa.

Fun fact: New York, Florida, Illinois and California have a combined zero Top 25 teams. Population of those 4 states = 90 million. Iowa's population = 3 million.

[lungs]

Originally Posted by tarcone

Iowa-Wiscy tonight at 8 cst.
Iowa needs to get Bucky in foul trouble. Buckys bench isnt great. If we can do that and avoid a long streak of crap play, there is a chance to win.

Battle for 1st place in the B1G. Cant wait.

Pretty good game!