Posted December 30th, 2009 by admin
I had the Kansas- Belmont game last night and it is hard to believe that there could be a deeper team in college basketball than the Jayhawks. Here are some numbers to back it up. They have played at least 9 players in the first half of every game this year. They are ranked second in the country in scoring, but their highest rated (scoring) individual is 80th.
Watching them last night got me thinking that their second team could win probably over 20 confrences out there. Secondly, watching them prepare this game I was able to witness the genius of Coach Bill Self. He is one of the best managers of players I have ever seen. To get all these high school all americans to buy in and keep them happy is truly amazing.
Next up for the Jayhawks is a hard nosed Temple team in Philadelphia. With the #1 bulls-eye on their back they will look to extend their rcord to 13-0.
Posted December 30th, 2009 by admin
WILDCATS FINALLY GET SOME LOVE
The early season talk in the Big 12 has been dominated by Kansas and Texas. Not that the top two teams in the conference and, more importantly, the country don’t deserve it. Kansas is as deep as any team in the history of college basketball and Texas has a couple of potential lottery picks in their line-up, but watch out for Kansas State if Jacob Pullen and Denis Clemente have any say in the matter.
The preseason rankings have seen Oklahoma and Oklahoma State gain national respect. Willie Warren is one of the best guards in the country, but he is surrounded by freshmen who still have to learn the game at this level. After dropping a game at VCU (Caple’s old school. A clause in his contract said that he had to play a game in Richmond regardless of the school he moved on to. This was a smart move by that AD as he was and is a rising star in the coaching profession.) and two more at the Great Alaska Shootout the Sooners have finally come back to earth. Perhaps, their preseason ranking was a little over inflated. Oklahoma State has James Anderson and that gave them early season pub.
Lately, the media darling has been Texas Tech. Pat Knight is quickly escaping from the shadow of his father (Bob). He has the Red Raiders off to their best start since the Roaring 20’s. Currently, they are 9-0 with wins over Washington and at TCU. However, this pales in comparison to what Kansas State has accomplished already this season.
Coach Frank Martin was criticized a year ago for not having a tough enough non league schedule. The truth of the matter the Wildcats didn’t take advantage of the opportunities that were presented to them. This year they have taken care of business behind the stellar play of Clemente and Pullen.
The Wildcats have won nine in row that includes a win over Xavier (who just beat a ranked Cincinnati team), UNLV and Washington State. Also, they have a win over a ranked Dayton team on a neutral court. For running their record to 12-1 they have finally cracked the top 20 for the first time this season. They are off to their best start since 1958-59.
The 17th ranked Wildcats will take a week off for finals and then travel to Mobile to take on Alabama. Another chance to build their post season resume. A closer look at the upcoming schedule shows that if they can win over Alabama that they have a clear chance to run the table in the non-con. The only tough contest will be at home versus Cleveland State.
The Wildcats resurgence into the top 20 is a product of great upperclassmen leadership and Coach Frank Martin’s ability to get his young guys to buy into the defensive and rebounding philosophy. The performance they turned in against Washington State in stifling the nations second leading scorer (Klay Thompson) was outstanding.
Curtis Kelly and Wally Judge have given them talent and depth inside they didn’t have a year ago, but this team will go as their guards play. Against a ranked UNLV team Pullen and Clemente showed why they maybe one of the best guard tandems in the country. They combined for 50 points on 16-28 shooting that included 10-18 from beyond the arc. Pullen was 7-10 from behind the line while Clemente was 7-8 from the free throw line. Another key was Kelly going 7-7 from the line. An Achilles heel for the Wildcats has been free throw shooting. However, if their inside players can improve they can make a run at the top of the league.
Clemente gives them the quickness to battle any team in the league and Pullen has become one of six players in Kansas State history to have over 100 assists in back to back seasons. They are the right combination of explosion and consistency.
With Kansas State developing into a challenger this is shaping up to be one tremendously exciting Big 12 season.
Posted December 8th, 2009 by admin
The third year is the charm for the Big 12 in the Big 12/Pac 10 Hardwood Challenge. After splitting (6-6) one year and losing 7-5 in another the Big 12 showed why they may be the best conference in the country in college basketball from top to bottom.
With only two games left (Oklahoma State at Stanford and Texas A&M at Washington) the Big 12 holds a commanding 8-2 record. Not only did the preseason upper echelon teams win, but a couple of teams picked in the second division pulled off upset.
The Challenge got started off on a good note for the Big 12 as Nebraska travelled to Southern Cal and beat the Trojans 51-48 in a tight defensive struggle. The next day two more upsets were pulled as Baylor beat Arizona State in Tempe by 3. Tweety Carter had a monster performance in leading the Bears back from a double digit deficit for the win. Then down in Lubbock the Red Raiders of Texas Tech remained undefeated with an overtime win over PAC-10 preseason favorite, Washington. In a game that saw Mike Singletary’s miracle shot at the end of regulation waved off, nevertheless, the Red Raiders persevered and finished off the Huskies in OT. With Texas Tech leading by two in overtime John Roberson stole the ball and was fouled to finish off the game. Roberson scored a season high, 25 in the win. Meanwhile a little to the east Texas took out Southern Cal. (Southern Cal and Washington are designated as the two teams from the PAC-10 that will play two games each.)
On Friday night the Beavers of Oregon State came back to beat Colorado at home. In a game that could have went either way the Beavers managed to make plays at the end to hold on for the win.
Then on Saturday and Sunday the Big 12 solidified their first win in the series as Missouri , Kansas State, Oklahoma and Kansas all came away with wins. Hard to say which team was more impressive in their win, but let’s start off with Missouri as they were the first ones to get the ball rolling on Saturday.
The Tigers jumped on Oregon early in Mizzou Arena and never let up. Their performance was very similar to how they treated team visiting Columbia a year ago. In the 106-69 win they shared the ball as well as they have all season long. The Tigers have now won 23 straight and 41 (non conference) home games.
They recorded a remarkable 28 assists on 37 baskets. Six Tigers finished with double digit scoring. Marcus Denmon and Zaire Taylor led the way with 17 and 16 respectively. However, it was the defensive pressure that kept the Ducks off balance all day long.
Across the border to the west, Kansas State used defensive pressure to shut down the country’s second leading scorer, Klay Thompson, and raced out to a twenty point lead in the first half. Dominic Sutton scored eight in the first half to lead the way. Then in the second half Denis Clemente broke out of a shooting slump to hit 5 of 7 from behind the arc to score 17 second half points.
The defensive intensity is something that Coach Frank Martin has been preaching all year long and against Washington State they played it for forty minutes. They forced the Cougars into 25 turnovers and never let them get into any sort of offensive flow.
On Sunday the Big 12 finished it out with victories by Kansas and Oklahoma. The Sooner, who had lost a couple of games up in Alaska came back with a vengeance and took over the game from the opening tip. The Sooners used 3 point shooting and a rugged defense that forced 17 turnovers in which the Sooners scored 21 points. Willie Warren exploded for 25 points while Tiny Gallon and Tony Crocker also contributed 14 and 13 respectively.
In Pauley Pavilion the Jayhawks showed why they are the top team in the country. Balance! Markief Morris came off the bench to lead the way with 19 points. The 6’9 forward could start for most Big 12 teams, but a Kansas team loaded with future NBA players, gives him an opportunity to be a big spark off the bench. UCLA battled and made a run late, but the Jayhawks seal the deal with outstanding free throw shooting. They made 12 of 17 for the game.
The overall theme for the wins by the Big 12 teams was superior defense. Just as their bretheran over in Manhattan forced Washington State into 25 turnovers the Jayhawks forced the Bruins into 11 first half turnovers. Physical, rugged defense is what I saw from all of the Big 12 teams. Look out the rest of the country because Big 12 basketball is the best this year.
Posted December 2nd, 2009 by admin
Mizzou fans you will be happy to know that “For Tiger Fans Only” is out in the bookstores in time for the holidays. A collection of stories from rabid Mizzou fans, former players and coaches, it is a must read if I do say myself.
Posted December 2nd, 2009 by admin
Catch my weekly radio show on Mondays from 2-3cst on www.sportsradiokc.com. We will talk college basketball, state of the union, movies, books and what else pops into my head. Come join us for the fastest hour on radio.
Posted December 2nd, 2009 by admin
My basketball blog is back. Also, I will be writing a weekly column at www.sportsradiokc.com.
Posted June 30th, 2009 by admin
I have moved my blog to www.examiner.com. Check that sight for new information. Thanks for following.
Posted February 16th, 2009 by admin
Six weeks ago conference play began and all 12 teams were playing for a regular season championship, now however, as we head into the homestretch of the conference season many of the teams are playing with different goals in mind.
Only three teams control their own destiny. Oklahoma (11-0), Kansas (9-1) and Missouri (9-2) can win a championship with little or no help from another team. Outside of winning a championship, there is seeding for the Big 12 tourney and down the road the NCAA tourney. Also, some teams are trying to play their way into the NCAA tourney or the NIT. And, finally for some of the younger teams, they are playing for momentum as they look ahead to next year.
As mentioned above the top three teams are still battling it out with either 5 or 6 games left on their schedule. And for Big 12 fans the good news is that they still have to play each other one more time.
Kansas @ Oklahoma
Missouri @ Kansas
Oklahoma @ Missouri
It would appear that none of the three have an edge being provided by its home court as the games are split evenly amongst them. However, Oklahoma must go to Texas (currently the fourth place team) and Kansas will play host to Texas. Meanwhile, Missouri has already secured a road win at Texas and therefore, owns that tiebreaker.
Fighting for that precious fourth seed and first round bye is Texas (6-4), Kansas State (6-5) and Nebraska (5-5). Nipping at their heals is Oklahoma State (4-6).
Kansas State has the tiebreak with Texas as does Nebraska by virtue of their road wins over the Longhorns. Also, Texas has the toughest remaining schedule with 2 games against the top three while the Wildcats and Cornhuskers only have one game apiece against Kansas. One other schedule factor that works against Texas is that they have only one game left against the current bottom three. Oklahoma State is the wildcard as their style of play lends them the opportunity to big wins, but also cold nights.
Baylor and Texas A & M have been the enigmas in the conference. Both teams had quality non-conference wins and were projected to finish high in the preseason polls. However, inconsistent play has dogged them in conference games. That being said they both have enough talent to go on a run and finish in the upper half and even make a run at the conference tourney title.
The current bottom three record wise are Texas Tech, Iowa State and Colorado. All three teams are led by sophomores (Robberson—Tech/Brackins-Iowa State/Higgins-Colorado) who will be all-conference players before they are through with their respective careers. Also, all three have pulled near upsets of the top three teams showing the balance of this league.
Looking at the national picture; Oklahoma, Kansas, and Missouri are locks for the NCAA tournament. With a strong finish Oklahoma will be a one seed with the other two having great shots at being top 3 seeds.
Historically, the magic number in the conference is 10 wins. Win 10 games and you are in. Nine wins could get a team like Texas a bid due to a couple of quality non-conference wins. The RPI rankings have 6 teams from the Big 12 in the top 40. This is important because 90% of the teams with RPI rankings of 40 or better have made the NCAA tournament. Another team with the right wins that could make it with only 9 wins is Oklahoma State. With games against Oklahoma and Texas they could pick up enough points to qualify. Seven or eight teams still have an opportunity to play themselves into the NCAA’s with a strong finish.
Looking at the league from top to bottom it is still possible to have 11 teams in post season play with a team like Texas Tech and Iowa State being attractive teams to the NIT.
Finally, the tournament in Oklahoma City will provide all 12 teams a chance to qualify for the NCAA tournament. Yes, it will be extremely hard for a team that has to play 4 games, but it can be done. If you don’t believe me ask Georgia or St. Louis who have both pulled off this feat as recent as last year. I will give you one final example of it being capable by looking at games in the regular season. Iowa State takes Oklahoma down to the last possession and has a player who can control a game in Craig Brackins (just ask Kansas coach Bill Self).
Posted February 10th, 2009 by admin
On Wednesday the Texas Tech Red Raiders will travel to Manhattan Kansas still looking for their first road win of the year. On the other hand the Wildcats of Kansas State maybe the hottest team in the league. After starting out 0-4 they have run off 5 straight wins with wins on the road (at Texas and Texas A & M) and home wins against Missouri and Iowa State.
It will be the battle of two young point guards. Jacob Pullian leads K. State while John Robberson handles the reigns for the Red Raiders. Look for the Wildcats pressure defense to wear down the Red Raiders and the rotation of post players to pound them on the glass.
If the Red Radiers can continue to get scoring from freshman Rovert Lewandowski and a big shooting night from shapr shooter Alan Voskuil then they could pull the upset.
Posted January 29th, 2009 by admin
On Saturday the Oklahoma Sooners will travel to Ames Iowa in what many think will be another league win. However, Hilton Magic as helped the Cyclones knock off a number of ranked teams over the years. It is one of the toughest places to play and coach. I know from experience. I took and undefeated North Flordia team there when Tim Floyd was the Coach and Fred Hoiberg was running the show. During the game I made a comment to an official about how Fred “The Mayor: Hoiberg was getting every call. He was too good he didn’t need any help. The fans behind mean went berserk. I was glad that I had a police escort that night.
Blake Griffin will battle Craig (I just dropped 42 on Kansas) Brackins in a contest of two of the most versatile big men in the country. Both players can score in the post and face you up. It should prove to be a great match up. However, it is just as likely that the guard play will be the difference. The edge goes to the Sooners as Austin Johnson has played at his highest level since the league action began.
