Category: NCAA Basketball

UW Basketball Loses At The Line

by A.J. Coltrane

The UW men’s basketball team lost to Oregon State earlier today, 86-84, damaging their chances to make the NCAA tournament.

During the game, the Huskies went 12-26 from the free throw line (42.6%). That’s bad.

By coincidence, tonight I started researching team stats in earnest, to prepare for the upcoming wagering. I figured I’d look to see what teams were terrible at free throws; maybe I’d find a hidden achilles heel.

As it turns out, the Huskies were at 61.2% on their free throws through Wednesday, ranking 329th out of 345 total teams. That’s bad bad bad.

It was only a matter of time until that bit them in the behind. Ouch!

The Boston College Eagles Men’s Basketball Team

By Blaidd Drwg

One of the drawbacks about being on the West Coast and having your alma mater on the East Coast is that you don’t get to see a ton of games unless they happen to be nationally televised. As a result, this season, most of my knowledge of Boston College basketball is coming from what I read, and generally it is not good. Heck, they are currently 304th in the nation in scoring, which is just terrible.

The Eagles are a very young team with most of the roster consisting of freshman. That is not a good recipe for success, especially when you play your conference games in the ACC. Most of the pre-season write-ups on the Eagles were unfavorable and predicting a disastrous season. Their non-conference schedule, not exactly studded with tough opponents, was a disaster, leaving the team with a 5-9 record entering into ACC play. How bad was it? Here you go:

  • They beat New Hampshire by 3 at home. A nice way to start off the season.
  • They lost to Holy Cross by 18. HC was 6-8 in non-conference play.
  • They lost to Massachusetts by 36 at home. UMASS is actually pretty good, sporting a 14-5 record, but really hasn’t beaten anyone of consequence.
  • They lost to St Louis by 11. This might have been the highpoint of the season thus far – they were actually competitive with a decent team.
  • The beat UC Riverside by 4, in double OT. You should never need to go to double OT to beat UC Riverside.
  • They lost to New Mexico by 18.
  • They lost to Penn St. by 8 at home. Penn St. is probably the worst team in the Big 10.
  • They lost to Boston University by 14 at home. Ugh, nothing worse than losing the Battle of Comm Ave.
  • They lost to Providence by 7 on the road. PC is one of the worst teams in the Big East.
  • They beat Stony Brook by 15 at home.
  • They beat Bryant by 20 at home. Don’t look now, we have a winning streak!
  • They beat Sacred Heart by 10 at home. Three in a row!!!
  • They lost to Harvard by 21 at home. Not a surprise, Harvard is actually good and was ranked #23 going into that game.
  • They lost to URI by 6 in double OT at home. URI was 2-12 going into this game. Definitely the low point of the season.

Then ACC play starts with a 23 point drubbing by #4 UNC. I had just about written off the season completely and then BC surprises me with back to back wins against Clemson and Virginia Tech. Yes, both of those wins were by 2 points, and both of those teams are currently at the bottom of the ACC standings, and both of those wins came at home, but you know what, I was expecting the Eagles to go 0 for the conference, so I will take back to back wins right now, even if the chances of the Eagles winning another ACC game are pretty low. I think I need to post the ACC standing just for posterity, considering I doubt that BC will be this high up on the list again this season:

2011 – 12 ACC STANDINGS
TEAM CONF GB OVR
#4 Duke 3-0 — 15-2
Florida State 3-1 .5 12-6
#8 North Carolina 2-1 1 15-3
North Carolina State 2-1 1 13-5
Boston College 2-1 1 7-10
Maryland 2-2 1.5 12-5
#17 Virginia 1-1 1.5 14-2
Miami (FL) 1-2 2 10-6
Wake Forest 1-2 2 10-7
Georgia Tech 1-2 2 8-9
Clemson 1-3 2.5 9-9
Virginia Tech 0-3 3 11-6

 

Tony Wroten

by A.J. Coltrane

“Tony Wroten” refers to Husky freshman guard Tony Wroten. He was a highly rated recruit, and some people are very high on him so far [ESPN Insider Link]:

A number of NBA scouts and GMs now feel like Washington’s Tony Wroten(Rank: 19) might be the best NBA point guard prospect in college basketball…

and

..But Wroten is the real deal. He’s tall, has eyes in the back of his head, can get to the basket at will and, when he’s focused, he can take over a game. His second-half performance against Duke on Saturday was, at times, special. He’s still wild and tries to do too much, but it’s rare to find a player with his size doing the things he does. Said one top NBA scout, “He’s the second coming of Gary Payton.”

Emphasis mine.

The last sentence is what really got my attention.. I watched the Duke and Missouri games, and I know Wroten came in highly regarded, but still, my eyes weren’t telling me THAT. He seems like a nice young guard who’s still figuring it out. I haven’t seen “future Hall of Famer”.

Think about what Payton was — a great defensive player with good size and court vision. He was also a marginal shooter coming out of college and his shot never really developed much beyond “solid”.

The Gary Payton comment prompted me to look around a little further, and here’s a second opinion by David Thorpe (also Insider), following the Missouri/UW game:

Wroten looked for the spectacular play almost every possession rather than the easy one…

He has a terrific feel for slithering to the rim for buckets. Wroten has no idea how to play basketball, but has a great idea how to score and see the floor. Once he learns to read and think the game, his talent can grow to enormous heights…

He was not inclined to do much on defense in this game and missed some opportunities to get back on defense. I would have liked to see him handle that better…

However, he is a poor free throw shooter thanks to rushing his way through the shot as if a defender is about to come guard him.

Does that sound like Gary Payton? I’d point the phrases “no idea how to play basketball” and “not inclined to do much on defense”… One thing about Gary is that he worked hard, all the time, especially on defense… He was also really savvy and had a high basketball IQ.

Here’s the ESPN draft report card:

Projection Late First Round Pick
Positives
  • Powerful combo guard
  • Excellent court vision
  • Can be a spectacular passer
  • Powerful finisher at the basket
Negatives
  • Needs to improve his jump shot
  • Can be reckless at times
  • Questionable shot selection
  • Lacks elite athleticism or explosiveness

Wroten is even bigger than Payton was — Wroten is listed at 6’5″, 205 lbs. If he can get rid of the “reckless” then maybe he’s a point guard at the NBA level, otherwise he’ll be a tweener combo guard.

Which is useful, but it’s not Gary Payton.

At the college level though.. he could be *very* effective.

The Big Dance – Sweet 16 Results Show

By Blaidd Drwg

I really need to congratulate myself. With Ohio St. losing, my bracket is officially done, before the Elite 8. I think this has to be a record for someone who was actually picking games with some degree of knowledge. There were some great games in the Sweet 16 – Bulter continues to surprise everyone, Uconn still refuses to lose, and VCU and Florida St. are in a barn burner. You have to love an Elite 8 with only one #1 seed left. Here are the gritty details :

Coltrane Annie S Blaidd Drwg Winner
Ohio St. Ohio St. Ohio St. Kentucky
Syracuse North Carolina Syracuse North Carolina
Uconn SDSU SDSU Uconn
Duke Duke Duke Arizona
Pittsburgh Pittsburgh Pittsburgh Butler
Florida Florida Michigan St. Florida
Notre Dame Purdue Notre Dame VCU
Kansas Kansas Kansas Kansas
W – 3 

L – 5

 W – 3 

L – 5

 W – 1 

L – 7

Here are the standings after the Not So Sweet 16:

Wins Points
Blaidd Drwg 31 400
Coltrane 34 520
Annie S. 31 470

Basically bragging rights are coming down to the Florida-Butler game. If Florida wins, Annie S. gets bragging rights and if Butler wins, Coltrane takes the crown. They both have Kansas winning the whole thing, so that is the only game where there is a chance for Annie to take the lead. Here is what we all have remaining:

  Elite 8 Final 4 Final 2 Champ
Blaidd Drwg 1 0 0 0
Coltrane 3 1 1 1
Annie S. 3 2 1 1
Brad Stevens - Seriously, is this guy even old enough to drive, let alone coach a college basketball team?

I am pulling for Butler for the rest of the Tournament. Not that I want to see Coltrane win, I just want to see Butler have another shot at a national title. Besides, how could you not cheer for a team where the head coach looks like he is fresh out of high school himself.

Las Vegas And The Ashtray Of Shame

by A.J. Coltrane

It was a good long first weekend in Vegas of March Madness gambling. I made over 50 (straight) bets on college basketball and won about 65% of them — I had money on all but about two games between Thursday and Sunday. (For the record, betting on every single game is *not* the recommended way to be successful in Vegas.)

The highlight of the weekend was the San Diego State – Temple double overtime game. The Aztecs were 6 point favorites, and the score was close as the game wound down. So close that everyone who had picked San Diego State — and that was everyone in the bar — were loudly rooting for overtime at the end of regulation. And at the end of the first overtime. San Diego State finally pulled away in the second overtime to win by a whopping 7 points! The bar erupted, and there were high-fives with complete strangers all around!

The lowlight was BYU failing to cover as 8.5 point favorites against the Wofford Terriers. Here are the last fifty seconds:

Time Wofford Score BYU
:50   63-73 Jimmer Fredette missed Free Throw.
:50   63-74 Jimmer Fredette made Free Throw.
:41 Cameron Rundles missed Jumper. 63-74  
:40   63-74 Noah Hartsock Defensive Rebound.
:14   63-74 Jimmer Fredette missed Three Point Jumper.
:08 Wofford Defensive Rebound. 63-74  
:02 Terry Martin made Three Point Jumper. Assisted by Cameron Rundles. 66-74  

That was a killer! Fredette missed a free throw with BYU up 10, then threw up a terrible brick of a 3-point attempt with 14 seconds to go. Wofford capitalized on this “opening” by making a meaningless 3-pointer with 2 seconds to go, reducing the deficit from 11 to 8, and bringing a collective groan from the crowd. (Nobody had picked Wofford, either.) It was kinda funny actually — most times there’s at least some grumbling and swearing when bets are lost. But to lose the bet like that — what are you going to do? Stupid Jimmer Fredette.

What happens to all of those losing tickets?

The Ashtray Of Shame! For proper effect, say it like a super hero would say it.

The Big Dance – Day 4 Results Show

By Blaidd Drwg

Not a good day for any of us. Losing ND further destroys my already miserable bracket.  The ugly truth:

Coltrane Annie S Blaidd Drwg Winner
Ohio St. Ohio St. Ohio St. Ohio St.
Syracuse Syracuse Syracuse Marquette
UNC UNC UNC UNC
Duke Duke Duke Duke
Texas Texas Texas Arizona
Kansas Kansas Kansas Kansas
Purdue Purdue Georgetown VCU
Notre Dame Notre Dame Notre Dame Florida St.
W – 4 

L – 4

 W – 4 

L – 4

 W – 4 

L – 4

Here are the standings after day 4:

Wins Points
Blaidd Drwg 30 360
Coltrane 31 400
Annie S. 28 350

Coltrane extends his lead, but Annie is in the best shape for the rest of the games. Here is what we all have remaining:

Sweet 16 Elite 8 Final 4 Final 2 Champ
Blaidd Drwg 6 4 2 1 0
Coltrane 9 5 3 2 1
Annie S. 7 6 4 2 1

The Big Dance – Day 3 Results Show

By Blaidd Drwg

Day 3 was an utter disaster for me. The ending of that Pitt game, well, lets just say I am never picking them again. It was a good day of hoops watching though – lots of exciting, close games to keep the viewing interest. I had a bunch to say about the games today, but I am so pissed off at Pittsburgh, that will be for another day. The bloody carnage:

Coltrane Annie S Blaidd Drwg Winner
Kentucky West Virginia Kentucky Kentucky
Uconn Missouri Missouri UConn
SDSU SDSU SDSU SDSU
Florida Florida Michigan St. Florida
Gonzaga St. John’s St. John’s BYU
Wisconsin Wisconsin Kansas St. Wisconsin
Pittsburgh Pittsburgh Pittsburgh Butler
Lousiville Lousiville Lousiville Richmond
W – 5

L – 3

 W – 3

L – 5

 W – 2

L – 6

  

Here are the standings after day 3:

  Wins Points
Blaidd Drwg 26 320
Coltrane 27 280
Annie S. 24 270

My bracket is essentially done – I have lost the entire Southeast Region. Here is what we all have remaining:

  Sweet 16 Elite 8 Final 4 Final 2 Champ
Blaidd Drwg 7 6 3 1 0
Coltrane 8 7 3 2 1
Annie S. 8 7 3 2 1

It is now between Annie and Coltrane for bragging rights.

The Big Dance – Day 2 Results Show

By Blaidd Drwg

Day 2 was a much better day for picking games than Day 1. There were some tight games and fantastic endings. Memphis came within a last second blocked shot of pushing my record to 15-1 for the day and George Mason made a furious comeback to down the once Tops 5 ranked Villanova Wildcats (what happened to them). The game that hurt me is Georgetown losing to VCU, meaning I lose another sweet 16 team in the process. How about Marquette? Has any team ever been the same double digit seed (#11) in their conference tournament and NCAA Tournament in the same year? They are tough and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if they end up pushing Syracuse in a tight game. The results from day 2’s games:

Coltrane Annie S Blaidd Drwg Winner
Ohio St. Ohio St. Ohio St. Ohio St.
Villanova Villanova George Mason George Mason
Xavier Marquette Marquette Marquette
Syracuse Syracuse Syracuse Syracuse
Washington Georgia Washington Washington
UNC UNC UNC UNC
Duke Duke Duke Duke
Michigan Michigan Michigan Michigan
Arizona Memphis Memphis Arizona
Texas Texas Texas Texas
Kansas Kansas Kansas Kansas
Illinois Illinois Illinois Illinois
Georgetown VCU Georgetown VCU
Purdue Purdue Purdue Purdue
Texas A&M Texas A&M Florida St. Florida St.
Notre Dame Notre Dame Notre Dame Notre Dame
W – 12

L – 4

 W – 12

L – 4

 W – 14

L – 2

  

Here are the standings after day 2:

  Wins Points
Blaidd Drwg 24 240
Coltrane 22 220
Annie S. 21 210

It is still anyone’s game especially since my bracket isn’t looking so hot in the later rounds – I managed to not pick the winner in only 8 games, but in 5 of those cases, I had the winner going to the Sweet 16, so that does hurt. Here is what we all have remaining:

  Sweet 16 Elite 8 Final 4 Final 2 Champ
Blaidd Drwg 11 7 4 2 1
Coltrane 15 8 4 2 1
Annie S. 13 8 4 2 1

There are a couple games today that should be interesting:

I really want to watch Richmond-Morehead St. It doesn’t matter who wins this one, there will be at least a #12 seed in the Sweet 16 this season, but you have 2 teams who are playing on a major high, which I think has the makings of a great game.

Gonzaga-BYU should be a win for the Zags. Gonzaga has become another Purdue for me – the years I don’t pick them to do anything, they end up winning a bunch of games and the years that I do pick them to advance, they get bounced in the first round. This year, I picked them to lose in the first round, so of course they beat St. John’s and should beat an undermanned BYU team.

Cincy-Uconn – nothing like having 2 conference rivals play each other in the NCAA tournament. I think this is the letdown game for Uconn – this will be their 7th game in the last 2 weeks and I think the air finally gets let out of the tires in this one.

The Big Dance – Day 1 Results Show

By Blaidd Drwg

For the Big Dance, Coltrane, Annie S. and I decided to pick brackets for bragging rights on the board. Here is how we did on Day #1:

Coltrane Annie S. Blaidd Drwg Winner
Vandy Richmond Vandy Richmond
Louisville Louisville Louisville Morehead State
West Virginia West Virginia West Virginia West Virginia
Kentucky Kentucky Kentucky Kentucky
Missouri Missouri Missouri Cincinnati
Uconn Uconn Uconn Uconn
Penn St Penn St Penn St Temple
SDSU SDSU SDSU SDSU
Pitt Pitt Pitt Pitt
Old Dominion Old Dominion Butler Butler
Kansas St Utah St Kansas St Kansas St
Wisconsin Wisconsin Wisconsin Wisconsin
Gonzaga St Johns St Johns Gonzaga
BYU Wofford BYU BYU
Michigan St UCLA Michigan St UCLA
Florida Florida Florida Florida
W-10 L-6 W – 9 L – 7 W – 10 L – 6  

The standings after round 1:
Coltrane – 10
Blaidd Drwg – 10
Annie S. – 9

Where it gets ugly is the later rounds – Coltrane only lost one of his Sweet 16 teams, Annie 3 and I lost 4, including one of my Elite 8 teams. That is not good for me.

I missed most of the games today as a result of being out of town. Tomorrow I will be working from the couch enjoying about 87 million hours of hoops. Hopefully day 2 will end up better than day 1 for me.