2012-2013 College Basketball

[YimYodd]

will UM bounce back?

Williams v. the talented but inexperienced Robinson
Mbwake v. Morgan/inexperienced McGary
Burke v. Hollins - Both should 'get theirs' but will 1 be dominant
Will Coleman or the Canuck step up
Coach B v. Tubby?
Will Hardaway 'show up'?

[iLikeBeer]

will UM bounce back?

Williams v. the talented but inexperienced Robinson
Mbwake v. Morgan/inexperienced McGary
Burke v. Hollins - Both should 'get theirs' but will 1 be dominant
Will Coleman or the Canuck step up
Coach B v. Tubby?
Will Hardaway 'show up'?

Yes, I'm very happy about that result last night for Michigan! 

Nice bounce back game and I think it's safe to say that the freshmen did indeed use that OSU game as a learning experience as I was hoping they would! 

Hey Ruckus, can your Illini be harder to figure out?  It's starting to look a lot like deja vu in Champaign as Illinois drops to 1-4 in conference play!   

[Ruckus]

yeah Beer, very deja vu.  Bruce Weber is grinning at Kstate right now.  Few teams can boast of double digit victories against three ranked teams ( Butler, Gonzaga, and OSU) then just shit the bed just as often.  At this point we are already fighting for our tourney lives. 

[wonderfulman]

yeah Beer, very deja vu.  Bruce Weber is grinning at Kstate right now.  Few teams can boast of double digit victories against three ranked teams ( Butler, Gonzaga, and OSU) then just shit the bed just as often.  At this point we are already fighting for our tourney lives.

As most analysts have been saying, and I can definitely agree with them, whoever wins the BIG regular season title will most likely have 4 losses. Don't fret Ruckus, I think Illinois will be alright.

[iLikeBeer]

yeah Beer, very deja vu.  Bruce Weber is grinning at Kstate right now. Few teams can boast of double digit victories against three ranked teams ( Butler, Gonzaga, and OSU) then just shit the bed just as often.  At this point we are already fighting for our tourney lives.

It is for this very reason that I won't be sleeping on Illinois when Michigan makes the trip to Champaign on the 27th...

[Tracy 2112]

Headed to Oxford tomorrow to watch the Rebels play the pigs. After a win and being 15-2, hopefully we'll crack the top 25.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaab-the-dagger/perennial-nit-team-ole-miss-aims-crash-march-152335366--ncaab.html

Perennial NIT team Ole Miss aims to crash March's main stage this year

Ole Miss coach Andy Kennedy admits it's bittersweet being known as college basketball's king of the NIT.
Five times in Kennedy's six full seasons at Ole Miss, the Rebels have won at least 20 games but at the end of each of those seasons they've settled for an NIT bid.
On the one hand, that's a remarkable accomplishment at a school whose basketball program existed for almost a century prior to Kennedy's arrival yet only had six 20-win seasons and three NCAA tournament victories to show for it. On the other hand, Kennedy would dearly love to help Ole Miss take the next step forward this March and reach his first NCAA tournament.
"We've done some things here that I'm very proud of and we've got this program moving in the right direction, but I know at the end of the day in college basketball, the emphasis is on March Madness," Kennedy said. "That's certainly the goal every year. Now my hope is for these guys, especially these seniors, that this year we can take that next step."
Ole Miss has ascended into position to achieve that goal thanks to a 14-2 start validated by a top 50 RPI and three straight wins to open SEC play.
Last Saturday, in front of a national TV audience and a rare sellout home crowd, Ole Miss secured the signature win it needed, leading then-No. 10 Missouri from the opening tipoff until the final buzzer en route to a 64-49 rout. Sandwiched around that game were victories at Tennessee and Vanderbilt, ensuring this season will be the first in 43 years in which the Rebels have won on the road against both the Commodores and Vols.
Even though Ole Miss is a home win against Arkansas this Saturday away from its first 4-0 start to SEC play since 1937, Kennedy is taking nothing for granted. The Rebels have piled up gaudy mid-January records before during his tenure, even starting 13-0 in his second season, but they've always wound up on the fringes of the NCAA tournament picture.
"We've certainly put ourselves in position to [contend for an NCAA bid], but we're three games into an 18-game league schedule, there's a lot of basketball left to be played and we have to make sure we take care of our business," Kennedy said.

"Of the six years I've been here prior, maybe four of those we've had opportunities deep into February that would have allowed us to take the next step and we didn't take advantage of them. For us, it's about taking advantage of those opportunities this year, and we've done a good job to this point."
The biggest key to Ole Miss' success this season has been Kennedy's decision to gamble on Marshall Henderson, a high-scoring but well-traveled guard who had bounced from Utah to Texas Tech to a junior college the previous three years.
At this time last year, Kennedy dismissed leading scorer Dundrecous Nelson as a result of multiple failed drug tests, leaving the Rebels in desperate need of a perimeter scorer capable of easing the scoring burden on the rest of the team. That convinced Kennedy to make a push to land Henderson, who had experienced a few off-court issues yet also started almost every game as a freshman at Utah and earned national junior college player of the year honors last year after leading South Plains College to a 36-0 record.
"The Thursday before the start of SEC play last year, I had to dismiss my leading scorer, a guard who was a volume scorer and pretty productive putting the ball in the basket," Kennedy said. "We go to LSU. We get pounded. And I remember meeting with the staff as we were leaving and saying, 'Hey listen, we've got an issue here. There's nothing we can do about it now, but we've got to address it moving forward. We scoured the country to find the right guy, and Marshall obviously fit that."
It's not easy persuading elite prospects to play for an Ole Miss program with little history of success, so Kennedy has had to take some guys other coaches have shied away from in order to raise the talent level.
In the case of Jelan Kendrick, an ex-McDonald's All-American who transferred to Ole Miss after being dismissed as a freshman at Memphis, the gamble didn't pay off as he played sparingly for one season before bolting for UNLV. In the case of Henderson, it has worked out far better.
Not only does Kennedy insist Henderson has been "zero maintenance" off the floor, the 6-foot-2 junior has also been exactly the catalyst Mississippi needed on it. He is averaging an SEC-best 19.1 points per game and has ramped up his scoring in SEC play, erupting for a career-high 32 at Tennessee and sinking a game-tying 35 footer at the buzzer to force overtime at Vanderbilt.
Though Henderson is a classic volume scorer who shoots just below 40 percent from the field and averages more than 10 3-point attempts per game, his lack of conscience and trademark bravado has been effective so far. Opposing defenses have had to pay so much attention to him that it has freed interior players like forwards Murphy Holloway and Reginald Buckner for easier shots around the rim.
"I want him to be super aggressive but within the confines of what we're trying to accomplish and he has done a much better job of that of late," Kennedy said. "He has unlimited range, he's getting to the free throw line consistently and he extends your defense, which allows for better spacing. Also one of the strengths of our team has been our ability to offensive rebound. Teams get so strung out trying to chase him a lot of times if you use him in ball screen action, that the big setting the screen will be able to get to the offensive glass."
In a weaker-than-usual SEC featuring a half dozen teams enduring rebuilding seasons, Ole Miss can't afford to finish in the middle of the pack and hope that's good enough for an NCAA bid this year. A top four finish and maybe another win over one of the league's elite teams would go a long way toward getting the Rebels into the field of 68 and enabling their coach to get to experience March's main stage for the first time instead of the auxiliary one.
"Through 16 games, I hope that we realize the approach we have to take to be successful," Kennedy said. "You've got to prepare every day and go perform. It's staying in the proper mindset so that our approach is good day in and day out."

[YimYodd]

Fantastic action over the weekend.
#1 goes down....lots of back and forth action between 2 very talanted BigEast teams.
Another tight back and forth game as Wichita St. cracks T25 by holding off #12 Creighton.
Mississippis' bigs look impressive v. Hogs, just make T25.
Florida blasts Mizzu.
PURDOUCHE steps out of conference and wins by 30???
Iowa smokes WISC early (30-10) and hangs 1st L on Badgers in conference.
Sparty rolls on -  lots of weapons.... squeaks 1 out v. OSU.

ESPN Gameday from old Hinkle Fieldhouse for the battle of the Bulldogs.
Before the game, the kid pulled out of the crowd hits shot from half-court for big $$.
Butler just plays tough , all the time. Their leading scorer Rotnie Clarke is out injured -  Jones injured during game but plays through the pain and makes the winning basket w/ less than 1/10th of a second left after picking of ill-advised pass from Gonzaga.
Great day of action - and those were just the games I watched.

[Tracy 2112]

Final score
Duke 63 - Miami 90
The 3rd largest margin of victory over an AP No. 1 team (Kentucky has the record on the winning side against St. John's who was No. 1 back on Dec. 17, 1951, and UCLA is second with a 32 point win over Houston on Mar. 22, 1968).
Yes!
Yes!
Yes!

Great to see that, too.  However, Coach K and the assistants were checking out the celebrating going on down at the Miami bench; the rematch on March 2nd at Cameron Indoor will be must see TV!

[Mahgeetah34]

Why is it that every year Duke always loses to a lesser known team? Although Miami seems to be pretty good this year, didn't Duke also lose to FSU and someone else lesser known in the ACC over the past several years? They're almost like the USC of college basketball.

[iLikeBeer]

Why is it that every year Duke always loses to a lesser known team? Although Miami seems to be pretty good this year, didn't Duke also lose to FSU and someone else lesser known in the ACC over the past several years? They're almost like the USC of college basketball.

The reason it seems that way is because Duke is notoriously over-rated year in and year out.  It's usually not a case of Duke losing to a lesser known team and more a case of an over-rated Duke being exposed for the fraud they are...

And sorry Mr. White, but I'm not shedding any tears over UK losing either.  The ESPN hype machine was just starting to rev up talking about how UK's youngsters were starting to play up to their potential.  I would laugh my ass off if UK missed the tournament altogether.  If the season were to end today, I don't think they're worthy of an at large bid.  They have no signature wins on their resume to speak of and they don't have many opportunities left to get one. 

[Mahgeetah34]

Why is it that every year Duke always loses to a lesser known team? Although Miami seems to be pretty good this year, didn't Duke also lose to FSU and someone else lesser known in the ACC over the past several years? They're almost like the USC of college basketball.

The reason it seems that way is because Duke is notoriously over-rated year in and year out.  It's usually not a case of Duke losing to a lesser known team and more a case of an over-rated Duke being exposed for the fraud they are...

And sorry Mr. White, but I'm not shedding any tears over UK losing either.  The ESPN hype machine was just starting to rev up talking about how UK's youngsters were starting to play up to their potential.  I would laugh my ass off if UK missed the tournament altogether.  If the season were to end today, I don't think they're worthy of an at large bid.  They have no signature wins on their resume to speak of and they don't have many opportunities left to get one.

Your analysis on Duke makes complete sense. I don't keep up with college basketball nearly as much as I do for football until its almost tournament time. I guess my comparison to Duke being the USC of basketball isnt too far off 

[Tracy 2112]

Rebels keep rolling, now 16-2



Pretty cool in-game coverage of Marshall Henderson telling ESPN he was offended that people were calling his 35 footer against Vanderbilt a "desperation 3" so he showed them at practice the day before by nailing 3 in a row from the same spot.

[BH]

dammit i HAVE to get rid of the hotty toddy

[iLikeBeer]

BH, do you have to keep hotty toddy avatar until the Rebs lose?

[BH]

BH, do you have to keep hotty toddy avatar until the Rebs lose?

Yes.   I imposed that on myself but I'm a man of my word if nothing else.     

[YimYodd]

  75 years of March Madness
http://www.ncaa.com/75th-march-madness/timeline   
 
 

[YimYodd]

Huge week coming for IU.
Starts w MSU coming to town today &  ends w UM here- sandwiched in between is a roadtrip to PURDOUCHE.
Hoosiers lack of physical strength may show against Sparty.....can they make up for it w more heart and hustle??
Watford and Zeller will need to use their quickness and shooting skills to take Spartys' bigs away from the basket, Hulls needs to break out of recent shooting slump.
Bench scoring and points off turnovers should be the key stats in determining who gets the W.

[Tracy 2112]

Jeff Borzello/CBS Sports

OK, Saturday was certainly a crazy day of basketball. Two top-five teams fell, NC State sent a message, La Salle made moves, Wisconsin won on a last-second shot. What was everyone talking about at the end of the day? The GIF above, of course.

It's of Ole Miss guard Marshall Henderson taunting the Auburn student section, shortly after hitting two game-winning free throws in the final seconds. Watch it about 30 times, then you can truly dive into the analysis. Here are several observations, cycling through all the MVPs of the GIF:

-Obviously, we kick things off with the older gentleman standing up in defiance right in front of Henderson. Not sure what he said to Henderson, but that guy wasn't having anymore of the tomfoolery.
-The guy in the white polo is big-time, just smiling the entire time. He loves it.
-Jerry Garcia-looking guy on press row. He's clapping, smiling, really enjoying the scene.
-The crew of double-middle finger guys. They're forever best friends.
-The guy who rips his hat off. He was so heated he just couldn't take it anymore.
-Now we get to the sleepers: To kick things off, check out my man next to Auburn pajamas girl. He's got the creepy sideways grin, like he digs Marshall Henderson's attitude, but can't have his friends find out.
-Speaking of Auburn pajamas girl, she looks out of place. And is also terrified by the flying object to her left.
-What is that flying object? No one really knows. Could be a Fathead, could be a cardboard cutout, could be an umbrella. But the blonde girl reacts like it's a head. A real one.
-White hat fellow. Waving his hands, yelling "Come on, come on, come on!" to Henderson. His flailing hands and sideways shuffle steals the show for a bit.
-The guy right in the middle who emphatically sticks a middle finger at Henderson -- and then tears it right back down. Everything he did was 100 percent.
-The curly-haired kid in the orange shirt. He gives the fingers, claps two times (as if to get loose) -- and then goes back with the fingers.
-Kid in the gray hoodie to the left. It kind of looks like he sneezes as the GIF starts -- but bounces back extraordinarily quickly to join in the ballyhoo.
-What about the girl in the upper right corner? She yells some profanity, and then goes tumbling forward, either getting pushed or falling from the momentum of her yelling.
-And yes, the older, older gentleman in the front row just seems dismayed by the entire scene. And probably this analysis of it.

[iLikeBeer]

Thanks for strengthening my opnion on what a complete douche Henderson is Tracy?! 

It took his two ft's to beat a team that is 8-11 and he acts like they just beat some powerhouse or something???  Grow up Henderson!  Maybe Florida can knock his cocky ass down a peg or two this week!

In other news, Michigan should be #1 in the AP Poll for the first time since 1992!     Big road win yesterday in Champaign.  Michigan now has road wins @ Minny and @ Illinois which is huge.  Next up is a homer with Northwestern before a big showdown in Bloomington next weekend!  If Michigan can somehow steal a win @ IU, they will be tough to catch in the conference race.

[BH]

That is tremendous.   Hilarious.   What a prick.