Surprises & Disappointments

After a week off from the blog because of many things, I’m back with my surprises and disappointments in this early season.

Surprises:

Dayton(6-0) is back at it after their collapse last season. The Flyers own wins over Mercer, Auburn and Marquette.

Xavier(6-0) has picked up where Burrell and mighty mite Lavender left off with the trio off Derrick Brown, BJ Raymond and CJ Anderson leading the way to wins over Missouri, Virginia Tech and Memphis.

Nebraska(5-0) owns quality win over Creighton. The will face a stiff December test against Arizona State.

The Big East only has five teams left undefeated.

Seton Hall(5-1) has impressed early with wins over Virginia Tech and USC.

Syracuse(7-0) has established themselves as a top team early by knocking off Florida and Kansas. The Cuse should fatten their record to 10-0 before a trip to Memphis.

Winthrop (1-5) is not having a Winthrop like year.

Navy(5-1) actually received a vote in the AP poll.

Cal(5-1) may be on track earlier than expected under Mike Montgomery, they spanked UNLV by 18 who I had rated high in the preseason.

Southern Illinois(2-3) may not be quite ready to return to the big stage.

 

Disappointments:

Louisville(2-1) a Final Four favorite has already dropped the ball after falling to Western Kentucky. Combine that with two bad preseason performances against inferior opponents and there could be concern at the Ville.

Penn State(6-1) has six patsy wins and their only loss came to the only competitive team on their schedule.

VCU(3-3) a mid-major favorite of mine and the banner carrier for the CAA has lost three games early, albeit against three teams off to hot starts(@Rhode Island, @East Carolina and Vanderbilt). Those are the type of losses that keep a team out of the NCAA’s.

Siena(2-3) the most hyped mid-major this year has struggled, getting smoked by Tennessee and falling to Wichita State and Oklahoma State. The Saints went 0-3 at Disneyworld.

The MAC looks very ordinary early on.

New Mexico(3-4) really misses J.R. Giddens. Steve Alford cant afford to have New Mexico fall off the map this year.

Auburn(3-3) was thought to be a contender in the SEC West, they have limped out of the gate.

Jimmy Patsos defense of Steph Curry in their thrashing at the hands of Davidson.

Nevada(2-3) was thought to be back this year, well its a rough start with losses to San Diego, Pacific and Portland. Um, that’s very unimpressive.

 

In Division III action tonight, Susquehanna(4-1) will head to Misericordia(4-2) for a tough road game. Misericodia is coming off an impressive win over Scranton, while Susquehanna has its own big win on Saturday over Wilkes 65-53. A win tonight on the road is a resume builder for Susquehanna, as nothing is easy in the Anderson Center.

Friday Recap

Virginia Tech is becoming all too familiar with losing games on ridiculous buzzer beaters.

Xavier now stands at 4-0 and once again has put a very quality team on the floor.

All the Top 25 teams in action last night won, including North Carolina, Uconn, Duke.  (4) UCLA’s demolition of Southern Illinois is a huge surprise to me and combined with their beatdown at the hands of Duke, indicates that Southern Illinois may not be ready to return to the  national stage.

Memphis will play Xavier in the championship in Puerto Rico as they knocked off Seton Hall 84-70. The Pirates fells behind early like they did against USC, except they couldn’t rally out of this hole. Sophomore Jeremy Hazell poured in 32, he will make a run at First Team All Big East. The Pirates will return to action against Virginia Tech for the 3rd/4th place game.

Top 25 action today is sparse and the college basketball world is overshadowed by the drama that will take place on the plains of Oklahoma. Nevertheless, Bracketman has put Georgia Tech on UPSET ALERT against Mercer. The Bears are 3-0 and have knocked off TWO SEC teams in a row on their court. James Florence is now averaging 22.3 ppg and should draw the focus of the Yellow Jacket defense.

The Freshman has had games of 17 and 21 points to begin his collegiate career.

In Division 3 action, The Susquehanna Crusaders improved to 3-0 last night with a 70-61 win over Penn College in the semi-finals of the Peps/Weis Markets Tip-Off Tournament at Susquehanna. The Crusaders received a huge effort from the reliable Joel Patch dumping in a team-high 20 points and ripping down 13 rebounds. Freshman sensation Spenser Spencer scored 17 and Sophomore Frank Marcinek Jr. keyed a pivotal first half run off the bench with 8 points. Hunter McKain was also solid on the night with 8 points and 10 boards. Key guard play from Brian Majors and Matt McDevvit enabled the win as they each doled out 6 assists. Leroy Joiner of Penn College had a brilliant effort with 22 and 13 to pace Penn College, but it wasn’t enough and Susquehanna will face Kings College in the Championship at 3 pm.

Los Angelos blues

Seton Hall celebrates its 63-61 upset of #20 USC

What a night for Los Angelos in college basketball as both of their top 25 teams fall in stunning upsets. UCLA lost in the Garden 55-52 to Michigan, a team who lost 20 games last season. Could this be the beginning for the fighting Beileins? Is this the turning point for a program that has been very unsuccessful in this decade? The faithful of the Maize and Blue can sure hope so, as this win will give their team an enormous boost in confidence. On the other side, UCLA has some questions to answer. Is this just a fluke loss, where they didn’t bring it? I tend to think UCLA’s offensive troubles will once again plague them, except this stage wasn’t the Final 4. Ben Howlands teams can play great defense, but if you turn the ball over 17 times you are in trouble. Even more troubling is that 10 of those turnovers came from Darren Collison and Josh Shipp, the two leaders of the club.

The team across town the USC Trojans got taken down by an undermanned Seton Hall club. The Hall was playing with 7 scholarship players, yet brought a bulldog mentality to this street-fight. The Gonz had this quote “This was a monstrous win for our program,USC has great talent, an epic name, a top-20 ranking, and we turned it into a street fight.” Gonzalez, who i don’t often agree with, is dead on. The Trojans were supposed to steamroll the Pirates and set up an early season heavy-wight card between USC and Memphis. The Trojans did everything right in the first half and led by 15, clearly putting the game on ice. However, they forgot that Bobby Gonzalez teams reflect the man. Gonzalez might be in a corner, taking punches from every direction but he refuses to stop fighting and that’s what his team did last night. The defensive effort that the Pirates displayed in the second half was unbelievable, holding the Trojans to 18 points and 7 of 29 shooting. It was hands down the best defensive effort a Bobby Gonzalez Pirate club has given in his tenure here. Eugene Harvey brought his game because this was a public stage, where he shines and puts teams on his back. His partner in crime Jeremy Hazell provided 17 points and a stunning putback dunk to tie the game, but he decided he wasn’t finished and put SHU ahead for good with a 3 from the corner. Also, how can i forget the play of John Garcia who grabbed 18 boards and scored 11 points. All in all a great win and now the Pirates are rewarded with a date with Memphis tonight.

Mercer makes a name

The Bears are 3-0 with two early upsets.

The Mercer Bears opened some eyes with a win at Alabama the other night but followed that victory with another upset at Auburn. Both of these teams are expected to contend in the SEC West, so it wasnt two easy wins. The road doesnt get any easier for the Bears as they host Georgia Tech on saturday and then head to Dayton. They also play Oklahoma State, UCLA and Iowa State in the non-conference.

Some interesting basketball throughout the nation today and it kicks off with Xavier and Missouri in Puerto Rico. Xavier is obviously a favorite in the A-10 again, while Missouri feels like they could be playing basketball in March. Leo Lyons and DeMarre Carroll have both opened the season scorching averaging over 20 ppg.

Duke collides with Southern Illinois in New York in the 2K Sports Classic. Southern Illinois is  looking to return to the Dance and an early season win over Duke can get them on the right track. I personally am interested to see what type of Duke team shows up, the one who was pushed to the limit by URI or the one who smoked its first two opponents. I think this one is decided by 10 or less.

Duke 75 Southern Illinois 71

UCLA visits John Beileins Wolverines in hat could be a showcase win for Michigan. Michigan is led by Manny Harris who has poured in 28 ppg in their first two contests, while UCLA counters with Darren Collison at 17.5 ppg and Josh Shipp at 12.5 ppg. This game should be a great measuring stick for Beileins team who realistically wont contend for an NCAA bid this season.

UCLA 68 Michigan 54

Seton Hall squares off with the USC Trojans in Puerto Rico in a huge game for the program. A win tonight could take some heat off of Bobby Gonzalez and give them a vaunted match-up with Memphis. Nothing will be easy for the Pirates as they must slow down the four headed monster of Taj Gibson, Dwight Lewis, DeMar Derozan and Daniel Hackt, all of whom are averaging over 10 ppg. Derozan creates a huge matchup problem for the Hall who are without their stud Stix Mitchell. The key offensively for the Hall will be for Jeremy Hazell to continue his scorched earth policy as he has dominated the Pirates first two opponents. It is key for him to go for at least 20 tonight and then receive an unexpected outburst from someone else. Could this be the night that Eugene Harvey lights up the scoreboard or will a young wild-card like Jordan Theodore step up. I for-see a close game because USC should be tired from traveling and in early season tournaments anything can happen,

USC 73 Seton Hall 64

Thoughts

Can Steph Curry carry Davidson?

The saga at Seton Hall continues to test the patience of fans as Bobby Gonzalez once again shoots himself in the foot by engaging SNY writer Adam Zagoria. I obviously don’t know what really happened but Gonzalez need to learn that battling someone who can portray him in any manner he wants is a losing battle. Gonzalez should be focusing on getting some wins in Puerto Rico to take heat off of himself.

Eric Devendorf has been accused of punching a female student at Syracuse and Jim Boeheim has no comment. No shock here as Jimmy B has taken players of questionable character for some time now.

Stephen Curry is a one man show at Davidson this year. 44 in a losing effort at Oklahoma!! Davidson will be lucky to get two wins against marquee opponents in their non-conference schedule which means they will probably HAVE to win the SoCon.

Kentucky is in for a long season if their first two games are any indication. UNC romps on them without Tyler Hansbrough burying them by 19. Kansas is 2-0 after they destroyed Florida Gulf Coast as they raised their championship banner to the rafters.

There really are no games worth dissecting tonight as a couple Top 25 squads should roll, but I will put Wake on upset alert.

The stud freshman looks to guide Wake past UNC-Wilmington

UPSET ALERT: UNC-Wilmington (2-0) at (25)Wake Forest (1-0)

     The Seahawks are averaging over 100 points per game in their two wins over Appalachian State and Troy. Wake is young and better put away Wilmington early or they could be in for a fight.

Impressions and Thoughts

Rhode Island comes up just short against Duke

Duke is once again overrated, as they are ranked #5 in the nation. I know it was early in the year but a 3 point win over Rhode Island is very unimpressive. Rhode Island was a lock for the tournament last year before they became a train wreck and somehow stunk it up enough to miss the tournament. Duke once again proving that good outside shooting will be their downfall as Jimmy Baron had 8 threes.

My Pirates improved to 2-0 with a 71-50 victory over Colombia, really nothing to get excited about there. We will see the mettle of the Pirates on Thursday night when they take on USC in Puerto Rico (preview on Thursday). Jeremy Hazell continues to prove that he is a future NBA star by dumping in 21, two nights after he blitzed St. Francis for 23.

Nice win for Creighton in an intriguing early season match-up as they held off New Mexico for a 7 point win. The Blue Jays will be a big threat in the Missouri Valley, while the Lobos should challenge for third in the Mountain West.

Holy Cross knocked off St. Joseph which comes as a surprise to me, while another contender in the A-10 in Temple lost by 4 to Clemson. VMI who knocked off a Kentucky team who is quickly changing how Kentucky is though of, lost to Virginia in Charlottesville by 10.  Winthrop a mid-major favorite of past years got smoked in Colombia to South Carolina, which is a red flag for a team that could struggle to continue their dominance in the Big South.  Alabama did nothing to help their coach who is on the hot seat with a loss to Mercer at home by 3 and Kansas began their title defense with a 15 point win over UMKC.

The steady hand for Susquehanna

My team the Susquehanna Crusaders won the White Rose City Classic with a classic grind it out win over Neumann 59-57. Neumannled all the way until the final 12 seconds when Matt McDevitt stepped to the line and hit one of two to put SU ahead. A desperation 3 at the buzzer by Neumann fell short and we are off to a 2-0 start. Sophomore Rob Cosgrove was unstoppable when given the ball as he went 4-5 from the field for 8 points. Sophomore Hunter McKain turned in a double-double with 11 and 10 and a clutch free throw down the stretch. On a negative note he did miss three free throws in the game ending a personal guarantee of starting the year 94/94. Also Joel Patch was once again solid as he had 12 points and 8 rebounds to provide the steady hand. This was a game that last years team probably doesn’t win, not for lack of talent but for lack of the ability to overcome adversity. This years team has shown already in the first two games that tho down they will fight and fight and fight. Kudos to everyone on getting the ship’! Next game will be Friday in the opening round of the Pepsi/Weis Tip-off Classic against Penn College.

Tonight’s action will consist of an early season test for (6)Pitt against Miami (OH) who pushed UCLA to the brink. Also Siena gets a return trip from Boise State in a match-up of NCAA tournament participants, look for Siena to do very big things this year as they are absolutely loaded. Cornell takes on St. Johns in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts expect Cornell to win in that one.

Finally for the diehards of college basketball and for those who dont have to wake up early there are 3 games on ESPN tonight starting at 12 am.

12 am:Umass at (12)Memphis

2 am:Fresno State at St. Mary’s

4 am:Idaho State at Hawai’i

In my opinion the Umass-Memphis game is a must watch as we will get to see how Calipari’s team has reloaded. For those of you who want a special treat then watch Patty Mills of St. Mary’s because this kid can play and is getting some media attention as an all-american. I don’t have any reason why someone would torture themselves by watching Idaho State-Hawai’i at 4 am.

The Day in Review

Plays with a crazed passion

Saturday in college basketball can be summarized by a lack of marquee games. North Carolina without the services of Psycho T downed Penn in not so impressive fashion, while Butler won the rematch with Drake. A surprising result of the day was Northeasterns win at Providence, a blow to renewed optimism at Providence. How can Keno Davis not have his team prepared for a team that wont contend for the CAA? Its losses like these that have made Providence a laughing stock in the Big East and unless they win the games they are supposed to, they will continue to founder.

On a positive note my Seton Hall Pirates won by 27 on friday night over a hapless St. Francis (NY) team. Stix Mitchell contributed in a big way in his first game as a Pirate and Jeremy Hazell led the charge. Freshman Jordan Theodore earned rave reviews for his performance, in which he teamed up with Eugene Harvey to make a formidable team.

My posts are shorter this weekend because my team the Susquehanna Crusaders has kicked off their season. We won tonight 76-67 over a game Misericordia team and will play Neumann for the championship of the White Rose Classic at York College. Senior Joel Patch paced the team with 21 points and 11 rebounds, while freshman Spenser Spencer (yes his first name is the same as his last) had a stellar performance igniting the team with 21 points off the bench. Another great performance was turned in by sophmore Hunter McKain who went 6-7 from the field, 2-2 from three, 6 boards, 6 blocks and 14 total points! Quite a stat line! Senior Matt McDevitt contributed with six assists and some inspired defense on loose balls. All in all it was a good night, that started out tough but as the night rolled on the offense clicked very well.

Opening Night

The 2008-2009 season will officially open up tonight with the 2K Sports Classic with two games in Cameron Indoor. Houston and Georgia Southern will whet the appetite of the Crazies before their Blue Devils take on an overmatched Presbyterian squad.

Obviously the Duke-Presbyterian game will most likely never be in doubt, but maybe one of Presbyterians players can put on an epic JJ MIller type of performance. I met Miller over the summer while working a basketball ball camp at Siena and he was a class act. JJ (North Carolina A&T) held the record for most points scored by a visiting player in Cameron Indoor when he went off on Duke for 34 points.  So in honor of Miller and to maybe inspire Presbyterian to put on their own show:

The state of Seton Hall basketball

Will Gonzalez last past this season?

As a huge Seton Hall fan it is disturbing to witness the deterioration of the program. What was a program being guided by a steady hand under Louis Orr has become a three ring circus with Bobby Gonzalez running the ship. The three problems that plague this program under Gonzalez are 1.insufficient recruiting, 2.continuous conflict and 3.the inability of the staff to get players on the court.

1.  If Gonzalez could bring in three to four Jeremy Hazell/ Paul Gause type players every year, this program could compete for a Big East title. I’m talking about the guys who have great skills and are gamers. Even when Hazell had off nights you could see the desire that he brought to the court. On the other hand, Eugene “Nu Nu” Harvey showed very little desire to become a better player or make his team better in his sophomore year. I want the Hazell types because he can beat any team in the country when he is playing well (Louisville). I want the Paul Gause type of players to be role players who can come in and play 18 minutes on a night and spark a team defensively. If they could bring in those type of players every season, this program could contend every season. YOU DON’T NEED 5 STARS TO WIN!

2. Bobby Gonzalez has become a national embarrassment, shall we say the Ryan Leaf of college basketball? Just when you think he can’t say anything worse he surprises you. In his first year I was on Bobby’s court, especially when he got thrown out of the Louisville finale because he stood up for his over-matched team that got horrendous calls all game. Even the play by play announcers of Louisville gave Bobby props for letting his team know he was behind them. Then this past season things began to unravel for Gonzo as he made a scene against Rutgers and ripped into Brandon Walters by saying he wasn’t Big East caliber. I don’t know what type of work ethic Walters has but unless he is lazy and shows no effort to better himself as a basketball player, there is no reason to publicly question his skills. YOU brought him into your program, and yet it seems like YOU are now trying to run him out of your program.  

3. Mike Glover is the name that tops the list of potential players never seeing the court. This past season we have had Jamel Jackson struggle with grades and leave the program and now it appears that Melvyn Oliver will never suit up for Seton Hall. There is no reason why every season Seton Hall should struggle to put bodies on the bench. Why has Rutgers been able to bring in quality recruits AND have them qualify academically? It perplexes me.

Its time for Bobby Gonzalez to win or go home. The fans of Seton Hall don’t care that you beat Florida while at Manhattan because big time college basketball is a “what have you done for me lately ” business. Its safe to say that Bobby has not done anything of substance in his time at Seton Hall and it is imperative that positive improvements are shown this year. Seton Hall fans continue to talk about next year when we will be “loaded”, but with the track record we have had under Gonzalez it will be a wonder if this “loaded” team will be intact for next season.

My short list of candidates for the head coaching vacancy if Seton Hall struggles this season will be:

1. Chris Lowery- Southern Illinois

2. Anthony Grant- VCU

3. Lon Kruger- UNLV

4. Tommy Dempsey- Rider

5. Fran McCaffery- Siena

2008-2009 College Basketball Preview

I’d like to welcome back any people who read my blog last season and thank them for their support. I’d also like to encourage those people to let others know about my blog, which I will continue to run throughout the season.  My season preview will have my Top 20 and Major conference predictions:

Top 20

1. North Carolina Tar Heels   

            Roy Williams club led by Hansbrough finishes the deal.

2. Louisville Cardinals       

            Pitinos best squad yet? Could be with the big time addition of Samardo Samuels.

3. Connecticut Huskies        

            Tha  beet keeps on in Storrs.

4. UCLA Bruins

            Another solid defensive unit and the addition of Jrue Holliday makes the Bruins formidable again.

5. Notre Dame Fighting Irish

            Harangody and McAlarney could prpel the Irish to a Big East title.

6. Texas Longhorns

            The little man Abrams will lead the way for the Longhorns.           

7. Pittsburgh Panthers

            DaJuan Blair paces a Pitt team who has been known for underachieving in March.

8. Duke Blue Devils

            Duke may not even be this good, as they have come up short the last few years.

9. Michigan State Spantans

            As Raymar Morgan goes so go the Spartans.

10.  Memphis Tigers

            No Derrick Rose? No problem if Tyreke Evans can live up to expectations.

11. Tennessee Volunteers

12. Oklahoma Sooners

13. Purdue Boilermakers

14. Gonzaga Bulldogs

15. Marquette Golden Eagles

16. Georgetown Hoyas

17. USC Trojans

18. Wake Forest Demon Deacons

19. UNLV Runnin’ Rebels

20. Arizona State Sun Devils

 

Conference Predictions:

Atlantic 10: Temple

ACC: North Carolina

Big 12: Texas

Big East: Louisville

Big Ten: Purdue

Conf. USA: Memphis

Missouri Valley: Southern Illinois

Mountain West: UNLV

Pac-10: UCLA

SEC: Tennessee