Official College Basketball Thread

[Heads22]

Texas getting Gansey'd.

 

West Virginia up by 5 nearing halftime.

[He_Gawn]

Indiana looks VERY VERY good. We are also playing without our best player, DJ White, our leading shooter, AJ Ratliff, and our 6th man of last year, James Hardy. Good lord we have some SERIOUS depth.

[gettysburg32]

HT - WVU 40, Texas 35 - This game looks really familiar to WV's post season run last year. Actually out hustling and out running Texas in addition to hitting their usual share of 3's.

 

Final - IU 100, Florida A&M 63 - Too many turnovers in some stretches of this one for IU but a lot of different scorers and 16-28 as a team from three range. Good stuff overall, but it doesn't mean much until they take on a big time team.

[Rex Hudler]

Indiana looks VERY VERY good. We are also playing without our best player, DJ White, our leading shooter, AJ Ratliff, and our 6th man of last year, James Hardy. Good lord we have some SERIOUS depth.

 

 

The depth is extremely impressive. Most I have seen from an IU team in as long as I can remember. Question is, will the primary players play well enough together when the good teams hit the schedule? I don't expect them to beat Duke, but I would love for them to be competitive. I'd love to see what happens with Kentucky. Having no more than 2 losses going into the Big Ten would be perfect. Still lots of work to do. Can't assume anything.

[greasywheels121]

The first 25 minutes of this game were pretty damn ugly. However, the last 15, they turned on the jets or something. Marco didn't play much in the first half, b/c of the early 2 fouls. White wasn't in, that had to be some mistake on that scoreboard. He won't be back until the end of December.

 

Strick is looking great at the 2 spot. It's unforunate that he couldn't play his position for his first 3 years here. Vaden started to look okay, when the team got going tonight; however, he's been really sloppy these last 2 games. He can't get any worse. Both of the big foreigners looked good in small time tonight. I'll gladly take it.

 

Last year, an ugly win equated to sneaking by Indiana State or Western Illinois. Now an ugly win equates to a 100-63 final. We're at Western Illinois on Saturday, and AJ is supposed to be ready for that.

[Heads22]

I'm pretty sure West Virginia just wants this one more than Texas.

[SnB]

I'm pretty sure West Virginia just wants this one more than Texas.

they don't like free things apparently

[3E8]

I'm pretty sure West Virginia just wants this one more than Texas.

Pittsnogle can't hit the free throws now..

[Heads22]

Well then.

[SnB]

wow, what an exciting game.

[greasywheels121]

Wow, great look on that. However, WVU should have sealed this one on their own before that.

[3E8]

Ow tough loss for WVU

[SnB]

Ow tough loss for WVU

they got pittsnogled

[gettysburg32]

Great game, Gansey was fouled, but WV still has themselves to blame for the missed FTs.

[3E8]

they got pittsnogled

Haha I have a feeling we will hear that term over and over this season.

[Rowand44]

Chaminade vs. #4 (at the moment) Michigan State - 2:30 (eastern) ESPN2, Ugly game, unless cramps play a factor again. But I don't expect this game to be within 30 points.

 

#9 Gonzaga vs. #24 Maryland - 4:30 ESPN2, Maryland will take this game. Without Turiaf, the Zags don't have much inside. MD has more depth and better talent overall. Unless the Zags go nuts from outside, MD should win by 10+.

 

#14 West Virginia vs. #2 Texas - 7:00 ESPN2, should be an ugly game. Pittsnogle can't handle Aldridge down low, nobody can stop Gibson on the WV roster. Pittsnogle will get his points from outside, but the game shouldn't be close.

 

#20 Iowa vs. #8 Kentucky - 9:00 ESPN2, I like UK here, even without Morris. Rondo and Alleyne will do a great job defensively on Horner and Brunner respectively. Joe Crawford will outgun Adam Haluska. I do think this will be the best game of the day, along with Kansas and Arizona.

 

#10 Arizona vs. Kansas - 9:00 ESPN, Arizona lost alot inside when Frye left, and lost alot outside when Stoudemire left. I see Kansas with the early upset here. You will see some real nice freshmen going at it, Marcus Williams at Arizona, though less heralded than the KU frosh, will be a very good one.

 

Arkansas vs. #3 Connecticut - 11:30 ESPN2, yuck, thats all you can say about this one, yuck. Arkansas might stay with them early, but UConn's talent will outclass them by the 2nd half.

 

I declare these predictions horrible.

[whitesoxfan99]

Anyone else watch that abortion of a basketball game between KU and Zona? Easily one of the worst basketball games I have ever seen. Might as well have been watching the And 1 tour without the tricks and dunks.

[Rowand44]

Anyone else watch that abortion of a basketball game between KU and Zona?  Easily one of the worst basketball games I have ever seen.  Might as well have been watching the And 1 tour without the tricks and dunks.

That game was disgusting. I don't think I can explain it any better then that.

[ZoomSlowik]

Guess I was wrong about Maryland over Gonzaga. I didn't get to see the whole game, but Maryland looked like they've never seen a zone defense before. They looked absolutely brutal for most of the first half. You can't beat good teams if you turn it over more than 20 times (unless you shoot the ball incredibily well).

 

Caner-Medley was brutal, he only had 3 points. He averaged 16 a game last year. While some of that could be attributed to a better all around team, that's still not acceptable. From the looks of it they need to get Jones more playing time, that guy can flat out score. They should probably start him at SF to give their lineup a little more speed and move Caner-Medley to the 4 spot with Gist coming off the bench. I can't imagine that Caner-Medley can stop a real SF.

 

I still like Maryland's team. They're very deep and have a lot of options. They just need to polish up their ball-handling and defense a bit. What's funny is that they might actually be too deep, at least on the wings. McCray, Jones, Gist, and Caner-Medley are all important players, but they can't all get the 30+ minutes a game that they deserve. One of them is going to have to come up the bench. I think Gist makes the most sense, but he is also probably the most likely Terp to create a mismatch. It's a tough job for Gary to maximize the talents of those guys.

 

At least I got Iowa winning right, despite some poor shooting from Horner and Haluska. Also, I just don't see Arkansas beating UConn. Even without a real PG right now, Gay, Boone, Brown, and Anderson are all solid players that form a solid nucleus. Arkansas matches up better against smaller teams, not big teams like UConn, whose bigs also happen to be more athletic. They're a decent but not stellar team, and their only player I'd call well above average is Brewer. Thomas and Modica are pretty good, but I wouldn't call them stellar. They're a borderline ranked team at best.

Edited November 22, 2005 by ZoomSlowik

[whitesoxfan101]

Alford's teams always seem to peak in November by beating teams better than they are, so they victory for them tonight should come as no surprise.

[Palehosefan]

I declare these predictions horrible.

 

lol they weren't great, but lets look at them.

 

Chaminade vs. #4 (at the moment) Michigan State - 2:30 (eastern) ESPN2, Ugly game, unless cramps play a factor again. But I don't expect this game to be within 30 points.

Went about as expected, won by 22 after sloppy early play.

 

#9 Gonzaga vs. #24 Maryland - 4:30 ESPN2, Maryland will take this game. Without Turiaf, the Zags don't have much inside. MD has more depth and better talent overall. Unless the Zags go nuts from outside, MD should win by 10+.

The Zags did go nuts from outside, and everywhere on the floor in general, including shooting 54% from outside, and 56% on the game and 82% from the line.

 

#14 West Virginia vs. #2 Texas - 7:00 ESPN2, should be an ugly game. Pittsnogle can't handle Aldridge down low, nobody can stop Gibson on the WV roster. Pittsnogle will get his points from outside, but the game shouldn't be close.

Only Texas' 24 turnovers including 9 from Gibson by himself kept this was close. But WV continued their play from last years tourney, I will give them that. They will be a very solid club.

 

#20 Iowa vs. #8 Kentucky - 9:00 ESPN2, I like UK here, even without Morris. Rondo and Alleyne will do a great job defensively on Horner and Brunner respectively. Joe Crawford will outgun Adam Haluska. I do think this will be the best game of the day, along with Kansas and Arizona.

It was indeed a very close game, an ugly one at that. Iowa shot 38% while UK brought home a 32.8%. There are going to be alot of unhappy UK fans this year with Tubby's slowdown style with the athletes they have. Was very impressed with Henderson's progression from last year for Iowa.

 

#10 Arizona vs. Kansas - 9:00 ESPN, Arizona lost alot inside when Frye left, and lost alot outside when Stoudemire left. I see Kansas with the early upset here. You will see some real nice freshmen going at it, Marcus Williams at Arizona, though less heralded than the KU frosh, will be a very good one.

Arizona shot 28.3% for the game and won, thats all that needs to be said here.

 

Arkansas vs. #3 Connecticut - 11:30 ESPN2, yuck, thats all you can say about this one, yuck. Arkansas might stay with them early, but UConn's talent will outclass them by the 2nd half.

Going about as expected, UConn let their lead slip a bit, but up 6 at half, and should add on in the 2nd half.

 

Not quite the night of hoops that I had hoped, but it is early and teams are going to struggle. I guess I'm expecting to much, to early.

[ZoomSlowik]

Rudy Gay is a pretty impressive player. So far I don't see the lack of agression that people often claim he has, which is especially impressive since Arkansas is pretty big. His ball-handling still needs some work though, he's already got 5 turnovers. Man, UConn is going to be scary once Williams is back. They have a lot of talented players. They're up 10 and Boone isn't doing much tonight.

Edited November 22, 2005 by ZoomSlowik

[Chisoxfn]

Alford's teams always seem to peak in November by beating teams better than they are, so they victory for them tonight should come as no surprise.

Alford usually gets off to hot starts before fading at the start of big 10 season (hopefully no Pierre Pierce incident will lead to good things this year). Plus this group really seemed to bond together last year down the stretch and while they didn't play great against Kentucky they played good enough to win.

 

Defensively Iowa looked as good as I've seen from an Iowa team. They forced quite a few turnovers, got a lot of blocked shots, crashed the boards, and really forced Kentucky to hit outside shots (although there were breakdowns caused by Brando or whatever his name is).

 

Offensively Iowa didn't look great. The thing that dissapointed me were some really sloppy turnovers by the veteran Horner. However, they survived despite a rare off night for both Haluska and Horner (two of the better shooters in the big 10) and Brunner played strong. They aren't incredibly deep but Henderson and Thomas looked good and the youngster Alex Thompson actually flashed some signs.

 

Plus they got this new freshman PG who impressed the hell out of me. He is super fast and made some nice passes (stripped KU on the final posession too). Hansen made stupid fouls early and got in foul trouble, which is rough. He is a very good defensive big man but always gets stupid fouls on the perimeter.

 

Still I enjoyed the game and it really was a good game to watch. Both teams played tough and wanted the game. They were diving and fighting for every lose ball. It was almost like a tourney game. Great fun and I'm glad the Hawks pulled it out. Can't wait to see the rematch against Texas (last year they beat Texas in the Hawaii one).

[thedoctor]

Anyone else watch that abortion of a basketball game between KU and Zona?  Easily one of the worst basketball games I have ever seen.  Might as well have been watching the And 1 tour without the tricks and dunks.

 

yeah, that was one fugly basketball game. those teams have a lot of work to do. sasha kaun is impressive, though.

[southsider2k5]

Alford usually gets off to hot starts before fading at the start of big 10 season (hopefully no Pierre Pierce incident will lead to good things this year).  Plus this group really seemed to bond together last year down the stretch and while they didn't play great against Kentucky they played good enough to win.

 

Defensively Iowa looked as good as I've seen from an Iowa team.  They forced quite a few turnovers, got a lot of blocked shots, crashed the boards, and really forced Kentucky to hit outside shots (although there were breakdowns caused by Brando or whatever his name is). 

 

Offensively Iowa didn't look great.  The thing that dissapointed me were some really sloppy turnovers by the veteran Horner.  However, they survived despite a rare off night for both Haluska and Horner (two of the better shooters in the big 10) and Brunner played strong.  They aren't incredibly deep but Henderson and Thomas looked good and the youngster Alex Thompson actually flashed some signs.

 

Plus they got this new freshman PG who impressed the hell out of me.  He is super fast and made some nice passes (stripped KU on the final posession too).  Hansen made stupid fouls early and got in foul trouble, which is rough.  He is a very good defensive big man but always gets stupid fouls on the perimeter. 

 

Still I enjoyed the game and it really was a good game to watch.  Both teams played tough and wanted the game.  They were diving and fighting for every lose ball.  It was almost like a tourney game.  Great fun and I'm glad the Hawks pulled it out.  Can't wait to see the rematch against Texas (last year they beat Texas in the Hawaii one).

 

I think you are thinking of their PG Rondo.