Seven Day Stretch

Seven Day Stretch: Mocs, Mocks, Wild Big Ten, and More Billy G

Rob Carpentier — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 08:45:04 -0700

Rob Carpentier's "Seven Day Stretch" is a whirlwind tour around every corner of college basketball nation:

Seven Day Savior (Team): North Carolina Tar Heels

I think we can safely put to bed the idea that UNC is one of the greatest college basketball teams of all time, but the Tar Heels finished the regular season exactly where they started, as the #1 team in the country. North Carolina has had to deal with season-ending injuries, raised expectations and the knowledge that they were going to typically get an opponents best shot. In terms of those adverse conditions, what the Tar Heels have been able to accomplish this year has been pretty impressive. The Heels closed out the regular season by beating Duke for the second time this year. They enter the ACC Tournament as the consensus favorite to win the national title. Carolina reminds me quite a bit of the Florida squad from a few years ago that ended up winning a second consecutive national championship. That Florida team sort of coasted through the regular season and noticeably kicked their play up a notch when the postseason began. Outside of senior Tyler Hansbrough, who plays every possession as if it’s his last, the Tar Heels show some of the same qualities as those Gators. The Heels lose focus at times, especially on defense, but it seems to be because they know that the time for serious focus is fast approaching.

Seven Day Savior (Player): Kenneth Faried, Morehead State Eagles

Faried had a very good season for the Eagles, averaging almost 14 PPG and 13 RPG. However, he didn’t begin to turn it on until towards the end of the year. Faried is a sophomore and played at the beginning of the season like a young man who didn’t know exactly what to do when he was on the floor. However, his transformation and growth has been almost exponential. He capped off a superior second half of his season by dominating the Ohio Valley Conference Tourney and leading the Eagles to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1984. He was simply a one-man wrecking crew in the OVC final against Austin Peay. His block of Peay’s attempted game-winning shot at the end of the first overtime was a thing of beauty. The Govs had designed a very nice play for an inbounds with 3 seconds to go in that first OT. The Peay players ran it to perfection but there was Faried to simply swat the shot away like it was nothing and send the game into a second OT where the Eagles won to go dancing.

Game of the Week (The One You Already Know About): Big Ten Conference Tournament

Because we’ve now entered Championship Week, there really isn’t one game to focus on, but rather an entire tournament. The Big Ten Tourney has serious ramifications because most “experts” in the NCAA selection process have stated or written that the Big Ten should get 8 teams into the NCAAs. However, some of those squads, specifically Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin, Penn State and even Northwestern, have a bit of work to do in order to feel comfortable about what’s going to happen to them on Selection Sunday. It really is a compelling tournament because of this one issue. The Gophers open with Northwestern while Wisconsin has to play Ohio State on Thursday. The Nittany Lions get Indiana first, which should be a win, but Michigan has a tricky game with Iowa to open their tournament. The long and short of it is that the Big ten really is the only conference that is beginning it’s conference tournament with so much postseason uncertainty surrounding so many of its teams.

Game of the Week (The One You Don’t Know About): The WAC Tournament

As much as the Big Ten has five teams with their postseason fate hanging on their tournament performances, the WAC really has only one storyline; Utah State. There has been so much talk over the past several weeks about how there aren’t that many mid-major teams that are going to “steal” spots in the NCAA Tournament from teams in the bigger conferences. That means that most mid-major conferences are going to be one-bid leagues. With the Horizon League having completed their tournament, the only mid-major left playing that might steal a bid from a BCS school is Utah State. If the Aggies make the WAC Tournament final and lose, there is a very good chance that they will get an at-large bid to the Big Dance. There are only a few schools that bubble teams are keeping an eye on this week and Utah State is one of them. Every team in the proverbial bubble is hoping that the Aggies win the WAC.

Seven Days Under the Radar: Chattanooga Moccasins

The Mocs started the season 0-6. They lost seven of their first eight. They were a mess in December. Now they are going to the NCAA Tournament. Even though they are 18-16, the Mocs have all the ingredients of a team that can pull off a first round upset. They have a big-time scorer in guard Stephen McDowell who averages almost 19 PPG, and two complimentary scorers in Nicchaeus Doaks and Kevin Goffney. They shoot well from the outside and for the past four weeks they’ve been defending and rebounding with a renewed passion. They have very good guard play and that, coupled with their other qualities, mean the Mocs are going to be a real threat in their first round game. They are probably looking at a 14 or 15 seed in the NCAAs, but even if they get that dreaded 16 seed…well, just remember where you read it first.

Seven Days on the Hot Seat: Billy Gillispie, Kentucky Wildcats

I put Gillispie in this spot earlier this season and was chastised by many readers for it. Heck, the leader of collegehoops.net, Shawn Seigel, even stated that I was essentially wrong to put Gillispie on the hot seat*. Well, the Wildcats are about to have their streak of NCAA Tourney appearances put on ice, and quite frankly, deservedly so. Gillispie has brought a certain style to Lexington but he hasn’t modified his system at all to fit the players he inherited when he arrived from Texas A&M two years ago. He has alienated several of his players, his game decisions have been questionable throughout the season and, most importantly, he hasn’t gotten his players to buy in to his philosophy. Now he’s losing the fans because this Kentucky team has been terribly underwhelming in a year when the SEC has been terribly down. Gillispie has no connection to Kentucky and seems like he is a coach who would be better off being slightly under the radar like he was at College Station. If the Wildcats lose early in the SEC Tournament and then go to the NIT, don’t be surprised if there’s a change in Lexington.

*Ed: My direct quote was, "UK will be fine.. more than fine actually down the road. I have a lot of faith in Gillispie's coaching ability."

Seven Days of Head Scratching: Scheduling and the Economy

One of the things I’ve been thinking about this year is how some of the smaller D-1 programs are going to cope with the shrinking economy. The first thing that came to mind was and is scheduling. Many of these low-major programs are cannon fodder for the big schools at the beginning of the season. However, this year there has also been more of an effort by many of these smaller programs to schedule NAIA and D-II schools. That simply can’t happen anymore, or at least no where near as much as this past season because of the cost involved in bringing those teams in to small school ‘X’s arena. These small schools, or at least many of them could possibly be in serious trouble as D-1 entities. The fact is that many of these schools moved into Division 1 when they shouldn’t have. They don’t have the facilities, the fan base or the tradition to survive what appears to be an economy that is reaching into all areas of society. Perhaps that’s a good thing; some of these schools will be forced to move back to a classification that better fits their enrollment, facilities, etc. The question, and it bears watching, is how this recession is going to hit these smaller D-1 programs.

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Seven Day Stretch: USC Troubles, Creighton Streaking, Duke/UNC, More..

Rob Carpentier — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 09:10:52 -0800

Rob Carpentier's "Seven Day Stretch" is a whirlwind tour around every corner of college basketball nation:

Seven Day Savior (Team): Michigan State Spartans

If there ever was a top team that is playing good basketball and lurking under he radar, it’s the Spartans. When national pundits have been discussing the possible top seeds in the NCAA Tournament, Michigan State is conspicuously absent. This year’s version of State may be Coach Tom Izzo’s best coaching job to date and that’s saying a lot. The Spartans are coming off a week when they solidified their lofty ranking, both in the polls and the RPI because of wins at home against Iowa and, more impressively, at second place Illinois. The win over the Illinois clinched at least a share of the Big 10 Conference regular season title for State. Not only are the Spartans winning, they are doing it with perhaps their best player, Raymar Morgan, having been either out or playing with the effects of pneumonia for a large chunk of the season. Now that Morgan is getting back to full strength, Izzo’s Spartans are a dark horse contender to win the national title. That’s a long way from the hammering they suffered at the hands of North Carolina in December.

Seven Day Savior (Player): Garrison Carr, American University

In the last three games for the Eagles Carr has scored 28, 20 and 23 points respectively. The 28 point effort was against Holy Cross, a game in which American essentially clinched the Patriot League regular season title. For good measure, in American’s next game Carr scored 20 as the Eagles did clinch the title with a win over third place Navy. For the season the 5’11” senior is averaging 17.5 PPG on a team that only scores a little more than 63 PPG. The key for Carr and American, though, is that he’s averaging over 20 points in “big” games. Carr had a stellar season last year as he led American to last year’s NCAA Tourney. This year he’s better, and so are Eagles, which makes them a very dangerous team come time for the Big Dance…assuming they make it.

Game of the Week (The One You Already Know About): Duke at North Carolina

I avoided making this the game of the week the first time these two giants met, but there’s no denying that this is the biggest game of this week. The ACC is arguably the best conference in the country and these are the two best teams. Quite frankly, UNC is the more talented team, but there’s no denying that Duke has the capability of getting hot from beyond the arc and beating the Tar Heels. It helps that these two schools are such rivals that the word “hate” is not too strong in this situation. Carolina has all but wrapped up a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, and in the ACC Tournament. But Duke has an outside shot at a #1 seed and beating the Heels will go a long way to earning that seed. More importantly a win will give Duke real confidence in the event that the Blue Devils face the Tar Heels in near future. A Carolina win may create such a mental barrier for the Blue Devils that they simply won’t or can’t believe that they can win any game this year against North Carolina.

Game of the Week (The One You Don’t Know About): The Finishing Weekend in the Mid American Conference

The East Division of the MAC, which is so much better than the West Division where the top team, Ball State, has a .500 record, has five teams that theoretically can win the division title. The five teams, Miami, Buffalo, Bowling Green, Akron and Kent State, go into the final week within two games of each other. The great part about it for fans of college basketball is that four of the teams, all but Akron, play each other this week. That means that trying to predict the outcome of the conference at this point is an exercise in futility. Miami has the best player in wing Michael Bramos, while Buffalo probably has the best team. But the Bison have to go on the road to Kent State before returning home to host Miami to close out the regular season. Akron has the easiest schedule of the five teams, having only to face Kent State after playing Ohio. It’s such a complicated possible outcome that to try and dissect it is just stupid. However, we can all sit back and enjoy the games this week and see what happens. The conference tournament should be just as much of a crapshoot as the finishing weekend is shaping up to be.

Seven Days Under the Radar: Creighton Bluejays

Just one month ago the Bluejays, along with the rest of their Missouri Valley Conference brethren, were all in a position of seemingly having to win the MVC Tournament in order to get into the NCAAs. Since then Creighton has gone on a ten game winning streak, including a convincing win over George Mason, to go from afterthought to being in the middle of the at-large conversation. I guess we as fans shouldn’t be surprised at this considering that Coach Dana Altman has made a habit of getting Creighton in at-large consideration for the better part of the last decade. This year’s version of the Bluejays has a strong backcourt leading the way. Senior Booker Woodfox and sophomore P’Allen Stinnett are both game changers at both ends of the floor. Having a strong backcourt is critical for success in March. As a team Creighton plays strong defense and shoots well from the floor. These are Altman trademarks. In a season when mid-major at-large candidates seem few and far between Creighton is making a compelling case to be chosen for the Big dance should they not win the MVC Tournament title.

Seven Days on the Hot Seat: Tim Floyd, USC Trojans

This is going to be a controversial choice, but follow me. Floyd has had to recruit against a resurgent UCLA program and because the Bruins have been getting the bulk of who they have recruited from the Los Angeles area, Floyd has had to resort to picking up UCLA’ s scraps and going after players of questionable academic and eligibility standing. This may finally be catching up to Floyd. Rumors are out now that USC is being investigated by the NCAA over the OJ Mayo recruitment of last year. On top of that, last week I wrote about the Renardo Sidney situation and his choosing of USC, and now rumors are floating out there that the NCAA has actually already opened a file on Sidney. Couple this with the fact that the USC football program is being quietly looked at by the NCAA over allegations of improper oversight in the Reggie Bush situation and the major men’s sports at USC are under the microscope. This may not only mean the end of Floyd’s tenure, but also of Athletic Director Mike Garrett who has been the man in charge of the athletic department while all of these alleged events have taken place. This is more than a wins/loses scenario but it is no less real.

Seven Days of Head Scratching: Jim Calhoun’s “Outburst”

This has been the obvious off-the-court story of the past week. Without getting into too much detail, the story essentially goes like this; at a press conference after a UConn game, a political activist asked Calhoun if he should be giving back part of his $1.6 million salary to the school in this period of economic troubles since UConn is a state school. Calhoun told the activist to “shut up” and then stated, and I am paraphrasing here, that the activist had no right to ask that question when he wasn’t willing to state that Calhoun’s program brings in much more than that to the university’s coffers. The reason I’m scratching my head over this is not because of the questions and the response, but rather by the way the media dictated how this story has unfolded. Politicians in the Connecticut state legislature have gone public in their displeasure of Calhoun in this situation. The reason for their doing this is plain to see; they know that their comments will be picked up by the media. If this type of confrontation happened 20 years ago I doubt we would have heard much about it. The difference is the impact the media has on driving stories. We see this in politics as well as sports. It’s unfortunate that individuals allow this to happen by in essence not thinking for themselves. Whether Calhoun was right or wrong in this situation is beside the point. The fact that people, whether university officials or state politicians feel the need to make a big issue out of this despite the fact that there truly are more important things for them to deal with is the real head scratcher.

Listen to me and my college hoops opinions, whether you agree with me or not, on the Papa Joe Chevalier show at 5:30 PM CST Tuesdays each week.

Week in Review: Kansas, Pat Knight, Sidney's Decision, More..

Rob Carpentier — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 16:46:11 -0800

Rob Carpentier's "Seven Day Stretch" is a whirlwind tour around every corner of college basketball nation:

Seven Day Savior (Team): Kansas Jayhawks

While those around them in the Top 10 were falling last week, the Jayhawks quietly went about their business winning two games and setting up the big showdown with a vulnerable Oklahoma team. The Jayhawks have gotten to this point because they have completely bought into Coach Bill Self’s style of defense and the idea that they win when they outrebound their opponents. It helps when Self can count on not one, but two game changers in center Cole Aldrich and guard Sherron Collins. If anyone has questioned Self’s ability as a coach, despite last year’s national title, they should know that he has probably done a better coaching job with this year’s Jayhawk squad, one that lost a lot of talent, then he did with last year’s title team. If the Jayhawks can run the table, which isn’t out of the question, leading up to the Big 12 Conference Tourney, then they will be and should be in the discussion for a #1 seed come NCAA Tournament time.

Seven Day Savior (Player): Damian Lillard, Weber State

The freshman guard had a big week leading the Wildcats to wins over the second and third place teams in the Big Sky Conference. The 6’2” “two” guard from Oakland is the second leading scorer for the Wildcats but scored 30 points in the victories over Montana and Portland State. As the season has gone on Lillard has become more of an offensive force as he has acclimated himself to the college game. He isn’t the greatest shooter, averaging less that 43% from the floor and less than 40 % from behind the arc. Still, Lillard finds ways to score and help his team win, and at this time of the year, that’s what counts. By the way, Weber State has swept Montana, the second place team in the Big Sky, virtually assuring the Wildcats of the #1 seed come Championship Week.

Game of the Week (The one you already heard about): Arizona St @ Washington

The Huskies and the Sun Devils are essentially tied atop the Pac-10 standings and both will be favored to win out…after this game in Seattle. Both teams have superlative players; UDub has senior Jon Brockman while ASU has possibly the best player in the country in swingman James Harden. They both have excellent complementary players in Washington’s Isaiah Thomas, (the favorite for Pac-10 Freshman of the Year), and Arizona State’s senior post Jeff Pendergraph. These two teams play vastly different styles with Washington looking to run at every opportunity and gambling on defense while the Sun Devils want to slow things down and play a match-up zone defense that seeks to deny good shots rather than get steals. When Washington won the first meeting between these two last month its because they were able to beat the Sun Devils on the boards and get out in transition. Washington tends to get a lot of 50/50 calls at home so look for the Huskies to drive to the glass constantly in search of free throw opportunities.

Game of the Week (The one you DON'T know about): North Dakota St at Oral Roberts

The Summit League, previously the Mid-Continent Conference has fallen on hard times lately in terms of exposure. Long gone are the days of Northern Illinois, Tony Bennett the player and Valparaiso’s miracle team. In fact, the Summit League has only one original member left from the old Mid-Con days, (and the AMCU before that); Western Illinois. But the changes over the years don’t mean that there isn’t still some excitement in the conference. The Bison have clearly been the best team in the Summit, even though they haven’t beaten anyone of note. However, perennial Summit/Mid-Con power ORU is only a game behind NDSU, thus setting up this showdown. What makes this a big game in this one-bid league is the fact that the remainder of the league is pretty weak…save for one team, the Oakland University Grizzlies. The team that finishes first in the Summit regular season will essentially have to play one tough game to get to the NCAA Tournament, while the second place team will have to play two. Neither wants to have to beat Oakland and then have to face the other the next night on the conference finals. NDSU defeated Oral Roberts in their first meeting this season way back in December.

Seven Days Under the Radar: Alabama State Hornets

The traditionally black conferences get very little love from sportswriters, so here is a deserved shout out to one of them. Like virtually every other team in the SWAC, and the MEAC for that matter, the Hornets played very few home games at the beginning of the season, preferring to gain several paychecks for visiting some bigger schools. While Alabama State didn’t beat any of those bigger schools, they did barely lose at Illinois State, Mississippi State and Mississippi. In those games the Hornets proved they can play with bigger, deeper teams, thus establishing themselves as a possible threat in the NCAA Tournament, provided they aren’t stuck in the play-in game. Alabama State is led by senior point guard Brandon Brooks, a 6’2” playmaker who could play for a lot of BCS schools. He averages 14 PPG, but his real skill is passing the ball. He averages over 7 APG, which is unheard of in the shot first, ask questions later SWAC. The Hornets have been so surprisingly good that they currently sit five games over .500 against Division 1 competition. That, too, is unusual for a SWAC team at this point in the season. Alabama State may not be the typical “Cinderella” come March, but it sure is fun to see a school with a very limited athletic budget have this kind of a successful year.

Seven Days on the Hot Seat: Pat Knight, Texas Tech

I don’t think that Pat’s daddy, Bob, envisioned this kind of collapse when he left the Red Raider job last season after essentially negotiating that Pat take his place. Granted, Pat was left in a tough situation, with Bob basically bailing out on the team in mid-season last year. The question was whether or not Pat knew what he was doing. After all, the son’s only coaching experience had come on the bench of his father. Pat has proved this year that he knows the ‘x’s and ‘o’s of the game, but he seems not to have the maturity on the bench to handle adversity. In short, he has made some bizarre in-game decisions and handled himself…poorly, when dealing with bad officiating or hostile crowds. The Texas Tech athletic department brought in Bob Knight as a quick fix to get the basketball program jump started with the idea that once the Red Raiders got on the map that having Pat coach the team, (which was, as I said before, something the elder Knight fought for when he first was thinking about the TT job), would lead to a smooth transition. Now, a couple of years after making that “deal with the devil”, the fans in Lubbock are clamoring for a move in a new direction. The athletic department, according to gossip, seems to be listening.

Seven Days of Head Scratching: Renardo Sidney and USC

Sidney is one of the most talented high school players in the country. He plays for Fairfax High School in Los Angeles. He is a 6’10”post that can play facing the basket or with his back to it. He passes like a guard, has great floor vision and has used his senior season to try and rehabilitate his image. You see, Sidney was considered a prodigy as early as his 8^th grade year, but he quickly gained a reputation for being selfish, lazy and hard to coach. More importantly, rumors have followed Sidney for the past four years about payoffs to his family, specifically his father, improper benefits to others in his inner circle and Sidney’s father trying to “sell” his son to the highest bidder, I mean college. It is interesting to note that here is one of the top three players in the country in the class of 2009 and the only schools continuing to recruit him actively were Virginia, Mississippi State, (Sidney is originally from Mississippi) and USC. Earlier this week, Sidney committed to play for Tim Floyd’s Trojans. Now this isn’t a commentary on Sidney; he’s still a kid apparently getting some questionable advice, but rather a commentary on USC. Here’s a team that is being looked at by the NCAA over the recruitment of OJ Mayo, and an athletic department that still has the Reggie Bush investigation hanging over its head. Yet they still chose to embrace Sidney, who is essentially Mayo, Part II, and his announcement. There is definitely a feeling building by insiders that USC is going to be hit and hit hard by the NCAA over what is being called “Bushgate”, and the recruitment of Mayo. Now they’ve added Sidney to the mix. Can you say, “lack of institutional control?” The NCAA sure can, and signs point to the NCAA imparting that lesson on USC’s doorstep relatively soon.

Listen to me and my college hoops opinions, whether you agree with me or not, on the Papa Joe Chevalier show at 5:30 PM CST Tuesdays each week.

College Basketball: Seven Day Stretch

Rob Carpentier — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 09:08:09 -0800

Rob Carpentier's "Seven Day Stretch" is a whirlwind tour around every corner of college basketball nation:

Seven Day Savior (Team): Arizona Wildcats

Four weeks ago this team and its record 24 straight years with an NCA invite were left for dead. Since then the Wildcats have rattled off seven straight victories, to not only put themselves back in the running for an NCAA Tourney bid, but for a run at the Pac-10 title. The Wildcats have played progressively better over the past month with the climactic event being this past weekend’s demolition of UCLA, a team that Arizona hasn’t defeated since 2005. Arizona is playing as well as any team in the country because interim Coach Russ Pennell has gotten the Wildcats to play defense like their playing lives depend on it. It is also because Chase Budinger, the perennially underachieving small forward has finally begun to play up to his reputation. The Cats have a potential lottery pick in the post in Jordan Hill and a young man playing way over his head in point guard Nic Wise. The other players know their roles and play them to a tee. The one drawback for the Cats is that they have no depth, but that didn’t seem to matter as they swept the L.A. schools at home for the first time in a while. The post-Lute Olson era in Tucson may eventually be a very rough one, probably starting next year, but for now, talk of the demise of the Arizona program is premature.

Seven Day Savior (Player): Mike Trimboli, Vermont Catamounts

Vermont continues to be the power in the America East Conference and should be many people’s choice to be a first round Cinderella if they make the NCAA Tournament. The Catamounts find a new “go-to” player every year and this year it’s Trimboli, a 6’1 senior. He leads Vermont in scoring at 16 PPG and has scored 17, 17 and 25 points in his last three games, all Vermont wins. He shoots a respectable 46% from the floor, good for a player who is primarily an outside shooter, hits 38% from beyond the arc and is over 80% from the charity stripe. He is also one of the conference leaders in assists. Vermont is tied for first in the A-East with Binghamton, (although Vermont has lost both games to Binghamton), and the Catamounts are poised to get the top seed in the conference tournament, which is important in a conference where the top seed hosts the title game. If Trimboli plays as he did in the three games last week, then the rest of the A-East are going to be watching as Vermont goes to the Big Dance yet again.

Game of the Week (The one you already heard about): Wake Forest at Duke

In the first match-up of these ACC heavyweights Wake won on a last second shot in Winston-Salem. Since that game, in which both teams were ranked in the top 5 in both polls, both the Deacons and the Blue Devils have fallen on hard times. Duke has suffered two blowout losses and teams are beginning to understand how to defend them while Wake has lost a couple of close contests that, quite frankly, they shouldn’t have lost. The key here is whether the young Deacons can handle the Cameron Crazies and Duke’s high pressure man-to-man defense and whether Duke can finally see off an athletic opponent with a better than average inside game. Duke would be a real favorite here if they ran some zone defense, but Coach K is loath to run anything but man. Wake is very young and Duke should be angry after having lost both games last week. This should be fun to watch as both teams are a real threat to North Carolina come ACC Tourney time. As it is, the game is a real toss-up.

Game of the Week (The one you DON'T know about): Butler at Davidson

Okay, so a lot of people probably know about this one because it is the marquee Bracket Buster game. When this first hit the schedule a couple of weeks ago this looked like a fun game between two NCAA-bound squads, but it has since turned into close to a must-win game for both teams. Isn’t that what the Bracket Busters are supposed to be about? Both Davidson and Butler have suffered a tough loss in the last two weeks, (Butler has two), and now aren’t looking quite the sure thing for March. In fact, Butler has taken a real hit in the last 10 days as they lost to a very good Wisconsin-Green Bay squad on the road, but then suffered an embarrassing home loss to Horizon league bottom feeder Loyola (Chicago). Butler has the benefit of playing in a much stronger conference and they have some nice non-conference wins on their resume, but that Loyola loss may prove to be their undoing if they don’t win this game or the Horizon Tournament. Davidson on the other hand has some close losses on their non-conference schedule, including to Oklahoma, but they have beaten no one of note. They could use this game as a buffer in case they don’t win the Southern Conference automatic bid. Davidson has been a bit suspect at home and Butler is very good on the road making this a delicious match-up.

Seven Days Under the Radar: Siena Saints

There are a couple of BCS schools that could be at the top of this list this week, like Missouri and LSU. Both of them are having tremendous seasons and yet few people are talking about them. However I like to reserve this spot for a mid-major squad and the Saints are the second team from the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference I have put in this spot this season, (the other being Niagara). The Saints were on national television at the beginning of the season against some big name competition and came up flat. However, Siena had some key injuries in November and December, but they have a complete squad now and they are playing like it. Once they got healthy after the Christmas holiday they started playing like a team on a mission. They’ve only lost twice since January 6; at Kansas, (no shame there), and by 2 at conference foe Rider, (and trust me, Rider is a very difficult place to play). The Kansas laws in doubt in the last minute. The thing about the Saints is that they are blowing opponents out, whether at home or on the road. The Saints are led by four players, each one who might be the best player on the team if not for the other three. Kenny Hasbrouck, Edwin Ubiles and Alex Franklin all average in double figures and Franklin averages 7.2 RPG. Ryan Rossiter averages just a shade under 10 PPG but pulls down almost 8 boards per game. If the Saints run the table, they may not need to win the MAAC Tournament in order to go dancing. The point is that if thy do make the Big Dance, they will be and should be a popular pick to pull a first round upset.

Seven Days on the Hot Seat: NONE…

I’ve seen two coaches who’ve been on this list already shown the door in Alabama’s Mike Gottfried and Georgia’s Dennis Felton. Two more are almost sure to go in Notre Dame’s Mike Brey and Oregon’s Ernie Kent, (in fact, if Kent is retained I’ll eat baby food for a week and sell my house). Even GW’s Karl Hobbs is probably a goner, (I wrote about him two weeks ago), so I thought that this week I’d point out a couple of coaches who are doing a very good job at their respective school. At the top of the list is Arizona’s Russ Pennell. I mentioned what the Cats are doing earlier and it may just be that the interim tag will in fact be removed from his title. How about Trent Johnson at LSU? Here was a team that was almost a unanimous pick to finish at the bottom of the SEC West and yet the Tigers are the only team in the SEC that have probably locked up an NCAA bid. Do you think that Kentucky fans are rethinking their negative stance on Tubby Smith? Minnesota is not a talented team and he has them set up for a berth in the NCAAs, (trust me, I live in Minnesota and when you look at the Gophers’ roster you’d agree with me that Minnesota has no business being in the same area code as an NCAA bid). Cal’s Mike Montgomery has again left a positive mark on the Bay Area with his turn around of a static Golden Bear program that lost its two best players. Finally I’d like to give a shout out to Valparaiso’s Homer Drew who just won his 600^th game. Sure the Crusaders are bad this year, but Drew has been a model of class and consistency over his 20 plus years in northwest Indiana.

Seven Days of Head Scratching: Pac-10 Officiating

I brought up Pac-10 officials last season, (remember how ASU was “jobbed” in the Pac-10 Tournament last season), but after this week I feel compelled to bring up the officiating in the West Coast’s biggest conference. Arizona State should feel pretty good about its sweep of the L.A. schools last week, but the only thing coming out of those two wins was the talk of two of the most horrendous calls I’ve seen in the last decade considering what the calls were and when in the respective games they took place. Both calls went ASU’s way and both, especially the phantom charge call on UCLA’s Darren Collison, had a great deal to do with the outcome of each game. I don’t want to get caught up in one or two calls because that happens all over the country. My problem is with the massive inconsistency that Pac-10 officiating crews show within the same crew. A well-officiated game isn’t one where all the correct calls are made, but rather where calls on one end of the floor will be called on the other end of the floor. All coaches want is some consistency. Pac-10 officials apparently haven’t heard of that…for a long time. Part of the problem is that the pac-10 doesn’t in any way critique its officials. The conference considers officials to be independent contractors and as such they don’t penalize officials when they are clearly below par. Don’t believe me? When is the last time you saw a Pac-10 official, let alone a Pac-10 crew anywhere near the Final Four? The NCAA knows how bad these officials are and hopefully its only a matter of time before the Pac-10 realizes it, too.

Listen to me and my college hoops opinions, whether you agree with me or not, on the Papa Joe Chevalier show at 5:30 PM CST Tuesdays each week.

Week in Review: UCONN, Patty, Flyers & Coaching Changes

Rob Carpentier — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 14:33:50 -0800

Rob Carpentier's "Seven Day Stretch" is a whirlwind tour around every corner of college basketball nation:

Seven Day Savior (Team): Connecticut Huskies

Jim Calhoun’s Huskies have been chomping at the bit to become the team that America is talking about. Well that time may finally have come. While it’s true that UConn isn’t even in first place in the Big East, they are only one half game behind league leaders Marquette and they still have to play the Golden Eagles. More importantly, the Huskies won two tough games this week; a thorough demolition of a pretty good Providence team and then an absolute battering of Louisville at Freedom Hall. The win against Louisville was the most impressive win of the past week because the Cards were arguably the hottest team in the country at the time. UConn may lose a game or two before March Madness, but this team is built for a national title run. They play great defense, anchored by 7’3” Hasheem Thabeet in the middle. They have two solid forwards in Stanley Robinson and especially Jeff Adrien, who does the little unsung things that lead a team to championships, and they have multiple threats in the backcourt, led by A.J. Price, Jerome Dyson and super frosh Kemba Walker. They’re deep and they are led by one of the best coaches in the game…and they are starting to play better as the season turns for the run-in to March.

Seven Day Savior (Player): Patty Mills, St. Mary’s Gaels

Mills is the first winner of this award to have done almost nothing on the court to deserve it. Mills, who is arguably the best mid-major player in the country, (apologies to Stephen Curry), was having a huge game against league rival Gonzaga last week when he went down with a broken hand. Not only did the Gaels lose the game, but they may have lost their season. Mills was averaging 18.7 PPG, and had 18 in the first half against the Zags when he went down. However, its Mills’ all-around game that makes him special and such a devastating loss for Coach Randy Bennett. Mills is so good that when he went down the post season hopes of St. Mary’s probably went with him. Outside of Davidson’s Curry, there isn’t another player in the country that means as much to his team’s chances of success as Mills. It says a lot that his injury was probably the biggest individual story to come out of last week, and thus his SDS selection.

Game of the Week (The one you already heard about): Purdue @ Illinois

The Boilermakers and the Illini are tied for second place in the Big Ten, one game behind Michigan State. The Spartans have their big game this week against another second place club, the Minnesota Golden Gophers, so either there will be a logjam in first in the conference or Purdue and Illinois will be involved in a real elimination game to see who can catch Michigan State, that is if anyone can. Illinois has been playing over their heads all season, which is a real testament to the coaching job that Bruce Weber has done. The Boilers, on the other hand, were supposed to be here, but their hold on second place may be tenuous as their best player, forward Robbie Hummel, has a stress fracture in his back and will not practice again for the remainder of the season. His game status will be day-to-day until Purdue’s season ends. How Matt Painter’s team plays with a hurt Hummel will determine their real chances in the postseason. Even without Hummel they are a very good team.

Game of the Week (The one you DON'T know about): Cornell @ Princeton

The Ivy League is the one conference in the country that still decides its champion the old fashioned way, through the regular season. It has been a few years since Princeton was talked about as an Ivy contender, (the same is true for Penn for that matter). Going into the game at Jadwin Gymnasium on Friday, the Big Red have a one game lead on Princeton, however that’s because Cornell is 4-0 in the league while the Tigers are 2-0. They are the only undefeated teams in the Ivy League. Cornell was the preseason pick to win the Ivy while Princeton was picked to finish near the bottom of the conference. The team that was supposed to challenge Cornell, Harvard, has already suffered a defeat at the hands of Princeton. In fact, the next closest team to the Tigers and the Big Red in the Ivy has two losses already, thus making this match-up a big one for conference supremacy and the Ivy’s automatic NCAA berth.

Seven Days Under the Radar: Dayton Flyers

I have surfed all week looking for articles on national sites about the Flyers, and I found exactly two. That’s about as under the radar as you can get for a team that is 20-2 overall and is one of only two teams in the nation to have beaten Marquette. It is a team built for success in the postseason as they have a suffocating defense. The Flyers allow their opponents to shoot only 37% from the floor. Offensively they may have some issues as they have only two players averaging in double figures and both of them are closer to 10 PPG than 15 PPG. They also outrebound their opponents by 6 RPG, which is huge at the D1 level. We’ll know more about the Flyers by this time next week as they host conference leader Xavier, but until then this may be the best team in college basketball that no one knows about…or at least is talking about.

Seven Days on the Hot Seat: Karl Hobbs, George Washington

Two coaches I have already placed in this spot have already been let go; Mike Gottfried of Alabama and Dennis Felton of Georgia. Not that I am trying to see anyone lose their job, but I have a feeling that at least two more of the coaches I’ve written about will be let go at the end of the season. Let’s add Hobbs to that list. A few seasons ago the Colonials were arguably the best team if not program, (sorry Xavier), in the Atlantic 10. Hobbs had them in the Big Dance three straight years from 2005-2007, including a second round near upset of then #1 Duke in 2006. However, GW was 9-17 last year and they currently sit a 6-12 this season including a winless mark in the A-10. Hobbs has, rightly or wrongly, earned a reputation for cutting corners with regard to NCAA rules, and two straight miserable seasons may be more than the administration at GW is willing to take. Hobbs isn’t known in the athletic department as someone who is easy to get along with and now that GW is clearly out of the week-in, week-out conversation in college hoops, the powers-that-be in the Nation’s capital may feel the time for a change is now…or at least in about six weeks.

Seven Days of Head Scratching: Mid-Season Coaching Changes

As I said earlier in the column, Alabama and Georgia both made coaching changes in the past nine days. Since both were let go in the middle of the season there has been a great deal written about whether or not it’s appropriate or fair to let a coach go in the middle of the year. Most every opinion I’ve read has said that it’s not. I disagree. In today’s age of instant communication, sports blogs and immediate updates athletic directors have to get a head start on things if they know that they are going to make a change anyway. Gottfried had some serious dissention in the Alabama locker room that almost begged for a change, while Felton’s fate was decided a while ago and the Georgia athletic department didn’t want to even give him the chance of a reprieve like Felton had last season when he led the Bulldogs to an improbable SEC Tournament title. Both athletic directors knew they wanted to make a change so they pulled the trigger knowing that it would allow them to start vetting coaching candidates before the majority of coaching changes happened in March. This is good business and whether we want to admit it or not, this is a business as much as it is a game. We can argue about whether or not Gottfried and Felton deserved their pink slips in the first place, but once the decision was made that they were going to be let go both schools did the right thing and allowed everyone to move on with their basketball lives.

College Basketball: Seven Day Stretch

Rob Carpentier — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 21:06:45 -0800

Rob Carpentier's "Seven Day Stretch" is a whirlwind tour around every corner of college basketball nation:

Seven Day Savior (Team): Washington Huskies

This has been a difficult week to choose an SDS Team. Duke (up until the editor finally post this) and Marquette have had huge weeks, but I decided to go with the Huskies for a couple of reasons. First, Washington wasn’t supposed to me more than a middling team in the Pac-10. Coach Lorenzo Romar had lost much of what made the Huskies a strong program only two seasons ago. However, Romar still has frontcourt beast Jon Brockman and has added freshman point guard Isaiah Thomas. Next, Washington is 6-1 in the Pac-10, good for first place all by their lonesome. The reason they got there is because the Huskies swept the Los Angeles schools in Seattle this past weekend. Beating the Trojans of USC was expected, especially with SC missing some key components, but the win against UCLA was particularly impressive. Thomas thoroughly outplayed senior preseason All-American Darren Collison, and the Huskies supplanted UCLA at the top of the conference, which is no small feat. The Bruins have been at the top of the Pac-10 for the past three plus seasons without exception…until now…now it’s Washington.

Seven Day Savior (Player): Alex Tyler, Cornell University

Cornell is clearly the class of the Ivy League, and rightfully so considering that the Big Red have Ryan Wittman who would be a star on almost any team in the country. However, this past week the Big Red started their Ivy schedule with two wins over Columbia, (the Ivy has a weird way of scheduling), not because of Wittman, but because of junior post Alex Tyler. Tyler scored 30 combined points against the Lions and had 14 rebounds, (seven in both games). If you know anything about the Ivies, you know that the way we as fans view statistics is typically skewed because of the unique structure that most of the schools bring to the offensive side of the floor. Having Tyler kick his game up a notch is huge for Cornell as they view to repeat as Ivy champs. They will be challenged by Harvard and Tyler’s emergence gives the Big Red a real third threat by which to win the conference crown yet again. Further, Tyler’s development gives them more of a chance in the first round of the Big Dance, (assuming they make it), as they will more than likely be no higher than a 13 seed.

Game of the Week (The one you’ve already heard about): Connecticut at Louisville

Once again this is a week that has several “big” games. Duke played Wake Forest; Illinois travels to Minnesota and the top 5 teams in the Pac-10 are essentially playing each other. The biggest game, however, will be out of the Big East, (yet again), when UConn travels to a newly rejuvenated Louisville. With the way that Louisville was playing earlier in the season, losing to Minnesota and Western Kentucky, it is a bit shocking to see the Cards in first place in the Big East…ahead of #2 UConn. Louisville has some real deficiencies, starting with their poor outside shooting, but if you watch them you can see a team that is starting to place the team’s goals above personal ones. The Huskies will be a huge test. A.J. Price is as good if not better than any guard that Rick Pitino has and Hasheem Thabeet will do much to neutralize the inside part of Louisville’s game. UConn has already proven that they can win in the Big East on the road. This Monday night game will be a special contest.

Game of the Week (The one you DON’T know about): Butler v. Wisconsin-Green Bay

I’ve written a lot in the past about Horizon League teams, but they continue to be among the best and most consistent mid-major teams in the nation. Butler is a well-known commodity and they sit in first place in the Horizon with an undefeated record. The closest team to them is the Phoenix of UWGB. Green Bay sits at 7-2 in the Horizon and this game, also on Monday night, probably offers the most likely spot that Butler will slip up in the conference in the regular season. Butler was supposed to reload this year but may be better than last season’s squad with the emergence of sophomore post Matt Howard and super freshmen Shelvin Mack and Gordon Hayward. Green Bay is led by sharpshooter Ryan Tillema and three other players who average ion double figures. Butler won the first meeting between these two teams last week with a nine point win in Indianapolis. It was a close game throughout, (Green Bay was up by 3 at the half), and now the Phoenix get the Bulldogs at home. Again, this should be a great contest.

Seven Days Under the Radar: The Top of the CAA

Last week’s Game of the Week, (the one you DON’T know about), was between George Mason and Northeastern. Mason was undefeated in the CAA at the time and the Huskies entered the game with one conference loss. Northeastern held serve at home and created a three-way tie atop the league. Then George Mason lost on the road at VCU, the third team at the top of the Colonial. That has left us with Northeastern and VCU tied atop the league with George Mason one game back…but then VCU lost to Northeastern Tuesday night, vaulting the Huskies back into first. The CAA is PROBABLY going to be a one-bid league come NCAA Tourney time, but at least two may be deserving. All three will probably get high profile games during the Bracket Buster weekend, thus enhancing their resumes. If these three teams can avoid stumbling against any other of their CAA brethren, then maybe, just maybe, the CAA may get a second team into the Big Dance. But for now, we certainly can watch as the most exciting conference race this side of the ACC plays out.

Seven Days on the Hot Seat: Andy Kennedy, Mississippi

I don’t think this is what Ole Miss had in mind when they took a chance and hired Kennedy after he was let go by Cincinnati. Although Kennedy has led the rebels to two straight NIT appearances, Kennedy was hired to get the Rebels to the NCAA’s, not to the smaller tournament in New York. The 2009 version of the Rebels were supposed to be better, but they sit at 11-9 overall and at 2-4 in the very weak SEC West (even after the nice win over UK). On top of this, Kennedy was arrested for allegedly mistreating a cabbie towards the beginning of the season. While it remains to be seen if the allegations are in any way true, the Ole Miss athletic administration knew they were taking a runner on Kennedy after his service with Bob Huggins on Cincy’s staff and the rumors of impropriety that swirled around Huggy Bear and his last two seasons with the Bearcats. For Kennedy to survive, the allegations need to be completely unfounded. Kennedy hasn’t yet won himself enough brownie points to get away from this situation if it proves to be in any way true. Besides, the athletic department at Ole Miss may be looking for a new start considering that Kennedy has yet to recruit at the level that would get Mississippi anywhere near the top of the SEC.

Seven Days of Head Scratching: Unbalanced Conference Scheduling

As I was writing about the three teams from the CAA, it dawned on me that VCU, Northeastern and George Mason will NOT play home and away games against each other this season. In fact, VCU only plays the other two twice and they get them both in Virginia. This screams unfairness to the average fan, but it also screams stupidity to me. Many conferences have gone to this unbalanced schedule because of the growing size of conferences. The BCS schools aren’t immune to this. Both the Big East and the Big Ten play similar schedules because of the sizes of the leagues. In the Big East’s case, it may have a huge outcome on the regular season champ and thus the conference tournament. Give me the Pac-10, where they generally play Thursday/Saturday games with all 10 teams playing each other twice; home and home. That determines a true champion…but then that raises the question of conference tournaments in general. That’s a topic for another day. By the way, hear me rant on about this and other college hoops topics on Tuesday nights. I will be on the Papa Joe Chevalier show, based and syndicated out of Las Vegas, every Tuesday around 5:30 CST. It would be great to get some listener support, whether you agree with me or not.

College Basketball: Seven Day Stretch

Rob Carpentier — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 08:51:54 -0800

Rob Carpentier's "Seven Day Stretch" is a whirlwind tour around every corner of college basketball nation:

Seven Day Savior (Team): Louisville Cardinals

This was a team that, while they weren't exactly left for dead, were certainly playing much worse no more than 10 days ago. Since then the Cardinals of Coach Rick Pitino have beaten both Notre Dame and then #1 Pitt. The Cardinals are starting to commit themselves to defense and are offensively finally taking what the defense gives them. Up until the Notre Dame Game, the Cardinals shot from behind the three point line as if they believed that they were all the second coming of Larry Bird. That wasn't particularly bright for a team that does not have any superlative outside shooters. In many ways that accounted for the losses to Western Kentucky and Minnesota. However, in their past two games, the Cards have focused on defense, rebounding and slashing to the hoop on offense. This is still a team with too many holes to seriously consider them as a Big east title contender, let alone a threat to make the Final Four. But for a week, anyway, Louisville proved they can still, (consistently), run with the big dogs.

Seven Day Savior (Player): Drake Reed; Wes Channels, Austin Peay Governors

This dynamic duo is dominating the Ohio Valley Conference. Reed, 6'5 senior swingman and Channels, a 6'3" guard, are averaging a little over 19 and 17 points respectively. Reed is the power player, shooting over 50% from the floor and leading the team in rebounding with over 7 boards per game. Channels is the finesse player, hitting over 44% from behind the arc. He is also averaging 3 assists per game. Against Tennessee State last week, Channels scored 24 points and Reed chipped in with 19. The Govs haven't beaten anyone of note yet this year, but they played Louisville tough for a while and played Arkansas very tough for the entire game, both on the road. This is the kind of team that can cause some real trouble in the first round or two of the NCAA Tournament. They play in a solid system and they play defense, but the key to the Govs' success has clearly been the play of their inside/outdie combo of Reed and Channels.

Game of the Week (The one you already heard about): Baylor Bears at Oklahoma Sooners

Oklahoma looks to be the runaway winner of the Big 12 and really have only two more hurdles to clear; Kansas and Baylor. The Sooners have already defeated Texas A&M, Texas and Kansas State and look like a real threat on the national level. Baylor has quietly been running just under the surface of "name" teams this season, even though the Bears are 13-3 and have defeated Providence, Oklahoma State, Arizona State and Washington State, (on the road, mind you, no easy task). Baylor plays the kind of frenetic game that could either lead to a blowout win for Oklahoma or an upset victory for Baylor. The key to this game is which Baylor team shows up on both the defensive end and behind the three point line. Baylor has the ability to shoot themselves in or out of games. That shooting has the added effect of motivating or deflating Baylor's defense; the better they shoot, the better they play on 'D'. This isn't exactly the mark of a championship squad, but it is the mark of a team that can pull off this kind of upset.

Game of the Week (The one you DON'T know about): George Mason Patriots at Northeastern Huskies

Most people remember George Mason from their surprising Final Four run in 2006. Well, the Patriots are back. They are undefeated in the Colonial Athletic Association and have an RPI in the 40's. Northeastern is a bit of a surprise. Other than a close road lose to Hofstra last week, this would be a game of Colonial unbeatens. George Mason comes into the contest at 14-3 while Northeastern is 11-6. The Patriots haven't beaten anyone of not, (their best non-conference win coming against Ohio), and they've only played one game against a team in the RPI top 50, Dayton. That was a close four point loss for GMU. The Huskies, who are in the 70's in the latest RPI, actually have played more teams of note; Michigan, Rhode Island and Memphis were all blowout losses, but NU did beat Providence and Indiana on the road. Northeastern is the home team and they've played much tougher schedule. Frankly, adding to the level of interest in this game, the Huskies have to win this one or they and the rest of the CAA are going to watch George Mason pull away from the rest of the conference and win the CAA title. That is looking like a bigger deal now that other traditional mid-major power conferences, (the Horizon League and the MAC to name two), appear to be one bid conferences come March when dance cards are handed out. Although both teams still have to face VCU, the third member at the top of the CAA, this game will go a long way in determining if the CAA is a one, two or three horse race.

Seven Days Under the Radar: Northern Iowa Panthers

The best mid major conference in the country over the past 10 years has probably been the Missouri Valley Conference. Traditionally the Valley has been a two or three bid league when it comes to the NCAA Tournament. However, this season, the Valley may be a one bid league. The MVC is only the 8th ranked conference in the RPI; the Valley has five teams in the RPI top 100, but the best, Illinois State, is only # 50, and those numbers are going to get worse as the teams in the MVC knock each other off. Enter the surprising Panthers. They have the worst RPI rating of any of the aforementioned Valley squads, yet they sit in first place in the conference at 6-1. Included in those wins were victories at Southern Illinois, (the first time that's happened in more than a decade), at Creighton, (even longer), and at Evansville. When you look at those wins you're shocked to see that UNI's onc conference blemish was at home against lowly Indiana State. The thing that makes the Panthers so formidable is the fact that they have five players that average in double figures in scoring. They are led by sophomore guard Kwadzo Ahelegbe, who is exceedingly quick and has the ability to go off for 28 points in a game, which he's already done this season. More importantly, however, is the Panthers' ability to defend. Most coaches will tell you that the most important statistic defensively is field goal percentage defense. UNI is holding opponents to 42% from the field, which isn't great, but its really good. Last week the Panthers held Evansville and Drake to a combined 37% from the field...on the road!!! As the season progresses, UNI's defense is getting better. That bodes well for a team that has already won four games on the road against some of the best competition the Valley has to offer.

Seven Days on the Hot Seat: Paul Hewitt, Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

Its hard to believe that Hewiit had the Ramblin' Wreck in the national title game less that five years ago. Its seems like ancient history in light of Tech's recent woes. Since that remarkable run to the finals, the Jackets have been to the NCAAs only twice. That's not going to cut it in the ACC. They are the only winless team in the league and after they host Boston College this weekend, they don't appear to have any realistically winnable games on their schedule until mid-February. There are definitely more than just a few rumblings coming out of Atlanta that Hewitt may be on the chopping block after this season. He has, perhaps been the victim of his own recruiting success. He definitely has raised expectations because of his ability to bring in talent. He has consistently put together some huge recruiting classes but then has seemingly not done anything with them. Then, as these kids are starting to learn his system and grow, they jump to the NBA, ala Javaris Crittenden and Thaddeus Young. Once again Hewitt's team is being led by two underclassmen, forward Gani Lawal and frosh guard Iman Shumpert and Lawal is a good bet to jump ship after this, his sophomore season. What may save Hewitt past this season is that he has landed the consensus #1 recruit in the country, post player Derrick Favors...again, Hewitt can recruit. For his sake, however, he had better learn to keep these kids around for more than a year or he's going to be out of work.

Seven Days of Head Scratching: Officiating Differences

I am a basketball purist and as such I believe that the best officiated games are the ones where you don't even remember who the refs were or the calls tat were made. Granted, too often in today's game I se officials demonstratively making calls as if they were going to be up for some acting award at the end of the season. However, (except for the Pac-10), the major conferences have officials who make the right calls and control a game in a way that allows the players to determine who wins. In the past week I have watched some women's hoops and was singularly impressed bout how fundamentally sound the play of the women was. Granted, women's ball isn't as athletic, (lack of dunks, etc.), as the men's game, but they set better screens and rebound with position compared to their male counterparts. in short, I think the women are more fundamentally sound than the men. That's why its a shame to see games, even at the highest level, be so poorly officiated. It seems that I see more blown calls, (traveling, carrying and over the back to name a few), and phantom calls in the women's games than in the men's. I know that there isn't enough time in the day for the best men's officials to do the best women's games, too, even if they wanted to, but there has to be something better than what I've seen. Let's put it this way; it occurred to me this week that the reason i don't wacth women's ball much is because the officiating is so bad. If I'm thinking that then there re probably more than a few others out there thinking the same thing.

Seven Day Stretch: OU, Bobby Gonzalez, WAC, Fox & More..

Rob Carpentier — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 04:59:37 -0800

Rob Carpentier's "Seven Day Stretch" is a whirlwind tour around every corner of college basketball nation:

Seven Day Savior (Team): Oklahoma

Well, it sure ain’t North Carolina…how about the Oklahoma Sooners? Boomer Sooner won two big games this past week against two contenders for the Big 12 Conference crown; at Kansas State, (more of a pretender and a product of their creampuff non-conference slate), and home against Texas. Everyone and their mother knows about Oklahoma’s tight end of a forward, Blake Griffin, but very few people know about their point guard, Austin Johnson, but he really is the engine that will determine how far this team goes. Johnson is a prototypical point guard in that he looks to set the offense rather than be the offense. In the win over Texas, Johnson scored 15 points, (only the fourth time this year he’s been in double figures), but more importantly he forced Longhorn star A.J. Abrams to shoot 8-27 from the floor. As good as the Griffin brothers are and as solid a coach as Jeff Capel is, this team will be driven by Johnson. For the past week his driving was quite good.

Seven Day Savior (Player): Donovan Morris (LBSU)

Senior guard Donovan Morris is leading Don Monsen’s Long Beach State squad back to respectability. Morris is the leading scorer for the 49ers at 16.7 points per game, but he is more than that. In two crucial Big West Conference games last week Morris scored a combined 41 points. That included a 27 point performance against UC Davis. He has led the Beach in scoring in 10 out 16 games this season. But he means more than that to the Niners; he is almost automatic from the free throw line; he almost always grabs the big rebound; he by far leads the team in minutes played. His size, (he’s 6’3”), allows him to play at the level of some of the Pac-10’s finest. After dispatching Pacific on the road, one of LBSU’s chief competitors for the Big West title, the 49ers will this week take on Cal- State Northridge, another contender. Win that and Morris will be talked about much more often as he leads a team that won 6 games all of last season closer to an NCAA berth.

Game of the Week (The one you’ve already heard about): Wake Forest at Clemson

There are quite a few juicy games this coming week, especially in the Big East; Pitt/Louisville and Notre Dame/Syracuse just to name two. Then there’s Georgetown against Duke on Saturday. How about Arizona State traveling to UCLA, also on Saturday? They are all intriguing games, but the one that stands above them all is Wake Forest, the recent conquerors of North Carolina, playing at Clemson. Two top 10 teams from arguably the best basketball conference in the country going at it. They’re both undefeated. With the two game losing streak in the ACC suffered by UNC, and with Duke seemingly still having a bit of a hole in the middle, this game has taken on huge importance. The winner of this game, especially if it’s Wake, assumes the pole position in the ACC by virtue of having defeated one of their chief competitors. In Wake’s case, it will have been two, with one of them coming on the road. The game is being shown nationally on ABC and has the makings of a memorable contest. Wake Forest has the two best players on the floor in Jeff Teague and Al-Farouq Aminu, but Clemson is the deeper team. Wake can score in bunches but Clemson has a tougher defense. Wake Forest has Dino Gaudio on the bench while the Tigers have Oliver Purnell, both of whom are looking for a signature season. The match-ups appear awesome for a hoops junkie. Oh, and by the way, these two close out the regular season against each other in March.

Game of the Week (The one you DON’T know about): Boise State at Utah State

Last week the GOTW that you didn’t know about was in the MAC, (Miami beat Akron). This week we look to the WAC. Utah State, (traditional WAC power), hosts Boise State, (not so much), on the 17^th. Now there’s one caveat; they both have a game to play before that. The Aggies host Fresno State, which shouldn’t be so tough, while Boise St. travel to Nevada, which will be a tougher game than the one Utah State will face. For now, both teams are undefeated in the conference and have some nice wins. The Aggies have already beaten MWC foes Utah and Wyoming while barely losing to BYU. The Broncos have also taken out two MWC teams; Colorado State and Wyoming. Utah State beat Wyoming by two while Boise beat them by one. Boise State was hammered by BYU, though. On paper this should be a relatively easy win for the Aggies. They are playing at home and they have more talent. But nobody expected Boise State would be without a WAC blemish up to this point, and if they can indeed beat Nevada on the road this week, then their pedigree to achieve the upset over Utah State appears much, much better.

Seven Days Under the Radar: Tulsa

In the early 1990’s, the Golden Hurricane of Tulsa were a high mid-major power. In fact they made it to the Sweet 16 twice in a row and made the Elite 8 in 2000. Since then the Hurricane have fallen on harder times, which now seem to be ending. Tulsa sits at 1-1 in Conference USA and 11-6 overall. They have an RPI rating of 76, but that should rise with wins in CUSA. They have defeated Texas A&M and barely lost at Illinois. Plus, they get another shot at Memphis, having only lost by a point their first meeting with the CUSA leader. The Hurricane are led by junior guard Ben Uzoh, a 6’3” slasher who leads the team in scoring, and 7-footer Jerome Jordan who is a hammer to opponents on the boards. Jordan has been named CUSA Player of the Week three time already this season. While the Tulsa squads of the last decade could score with anyone, this version of the Hurricane are defensive tempests, holding opponents to 39% shooting for the year and only a stingy 26% from behind the arc. If offense wins games but defense wins championships, Tulsa should be able to compete for the conference crown throughout the season. They’ll be a dangerous team come March.

Seven Days on the Hot Seat: Bobby Gonzalez (Seton Hall)

While the Big East is having a banner year, yet again, certain teams are not. Specifically, the New Jersey schools are having a rough go of it. I have already written about Fred Hill and Rutgers in this space earlier this season; now I add Bobby Gonzalez of Seton Hall. The Hall started the year very, very well, beating USC and Virginia Tech, (although neither of those wins seems as impressive now as when they took place), and gave Memphis a real game. The Pirates started the year 8-1. Since then they’ve gone 1-6, including losses to IUPUI and James Madison. They are 0-4 in the Big East, (although they have faced four powerhouses and stayed with two of them), and they get UConn and Georgetown in two of their next three games. Granted, Gonzalez’s team only goes 7 deep because of defections and players who have yet to gain eligibility, but if they collapse in the second half of the season, he may not get to see those kids when they are eligible next year. Seton Hall lives on men’s hoops and the program has a rich tradition that started with P.J. Carlesimo and the Hall tends to be less patient with coaches.

Seven Days of Head Scratching: Pac-10 on Fox

I am admittedly a Pac-10 wonk, so this won’t come as a real surprise, but I have often wondered why the Pac-10 has a contract with Fox Sports and not ESPN. There have been many “excuses” as to why this is, but most tend to revolve around the fact that the Pac-10 has traditionally played Thursday/Saturday games, while ESPN wants the Pac-10 to move to Monday nights. The Pac-10 doesn’t want to switch and ESPN with their virtual monopoly on weekday evening contests doesn’t want to accommodate Thursday night games for the conference. I don’t understand why ESPN wouldn’t want to control the nation’s second largest media market, (Los Angeles), on a consistent basis, especially with the recent success of both UCLA and USC. Conversely, I don’t see why the Pac-10, who suffers from East Coast bias, wouldn’t want to have the largest viewing audience possible for its games. That would end the constant complaints from Pac-10 fans that ESPN’s on-air talent has a love fest with teams from the ACC, (read: Duke), and the Big East. It would force those talking heads to talk about the Pac-10 far more than they already do. It would seem to be a win-win situation for both parties. But, hey, that would assume that both sides use common sense.

College Basketball: Week in Review

Rob Carpentier — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 19:42:32 -0800

Rob Carpentier's "Seven Day Stretch" is a whirlwind tour around every corner of college basketball nation:

Seven Day Savior (Team): Clemson

The Clemson Tigers have a habit of stating fast and then fading once ACC play begins. That may finally be changing this season. With Sunday's impressive more-than-you-know victory AT Miami (Fla.), the Tigers won a game that they simply couldn't last season; namely on the road. Even though Clemson made the NCAA Tournament last season, they definitely struggled again during the meat of their schedule. This win, a convincing one at that, on the road against a good, (read: NCAA), type team is an encouraging sign that the Tigers won't be fighting just to make the Big Dance at the end of the season. With double digit scoring from K.C. Rivers, Trevor Booker and Terrence Oglesby, and solid point guard play from Demontez Stitt, Coach Oliver Purnell has perhaps his best outfit yet. I'm not suggesting that the Tigers can challenge Duke, let alone North Carolina for ACC supremacy...yet, but I am saying that as of now, Clemson should have the inside track on the third spot in the ACC.

Seven Day Savior (Player): Champ Oguchi

I was going to write about Illinois State last week, but computer issues prevented that. In lieu of talking about the team, though, I can talk about the Redbirds' best player, Champ Oguchi, an Oregon transfer who has Illinois State on the road to their first NCAA bid since 1998. Oguchi scored 18 points in a win over Illinois-Chicago in what has been the Redbirds' biggest game yet. This is the same UIC squad that has already defeated Vanderbilt and Georgia Tech on the road. Oguchi leads the team in scoring and his athleticism is a step above what the Missouri Valley Conference is used to...and that's saying something. As well as his scoring, Oguchi is essentially tied for the team lead in rebounding and has fast become a leader on a squad that was decimated by injuries before the year and lost three starters to graduation. Oh, and the Redbirds are undefeated.

Game of the Week (The one you already heard about): Georgetown @ Connecticut

Georgetown travels to Connecticut on Monday night to open the Big East campaign for both squads. Georgetown has already defeated Maryland and Memphis and their only loss has come on a neutral court against Tennessee. The Huskies are undefeated and have beaten Miami (Fla.), Wisconsin and Gonzaga along the way. This will be a test of coaching acumen between two of the best gam coaches in the country; UConn's Jim Calhoun and G-Town's John Thompson III. On the floor, Hoya super frosh Greg Monroe will be tested by Husky big man Hasheem Thabeet. However, the game should come down to guard play and that's where the Huskies have an advantage in talent as well as depth. A.J. Price and Jerome Dyson should have the better of the match-up against Hoya guards Austin Freeman and Chris Wright. Calhoun brings Craig Austrie and Kemba Walker off the bench while Thompson counters with Jesse Sapp and Jason Clark. Here's where UConn really gets the better of the match-up; Austrie and Walker could start for most teams around the country, while Sapp and Clark can't. Guard play and UConn getting this one at home should mean a big early conference victory for the Huskies.

Game of the Week (The one you DON'T know about): Davidson @ Charleston

Davidson may have the name, but they are still a mid-major team in a mid-major, (Southern), conference, so winning the conference may be a must for Davidson to get into the Big Dance come March. While Davidson has gotten the headlines, the best team in the Southern Conference may the College of Charleston Cougars, coached by former Georgia Tech head man Bobby Cremins. With Cremins on the sidelines the Cougars may have an answer for Bob McKillop, Davidson's high level head coach. Many teams in the Southern Conference have played Davidson at a disadvantage from before the opening tip because of McKillop's presence. Cremins at least neutralizes that if not even giving Charleston a slight advantage. Unlike Davidson, who has the superlative Stephen Curry, Andrew Lovedale and little else in the way of scoring, the Cougars have four players averaging in double figures led by sophomore guard Andrew Goudelock. Charleston has more balance; Charleston has a heck of a coach; Charleston is at home; Charleston should win the game.

Seven Days Under the Radar: St. Mary's Gaels

They shouldn't be under the radar after last season, but very few people are talking about the Gaels of St. Mary's...yet. Coming off a 24-6 2007-2008 regular season and an NCAA berth as well as returning the best player in the West that you've never heard of, (sophomore guard Patrick Mills), you'd think more "basketball people" would be mentioning the Gaels in the same breath with Gonzaga and Davidson, but they aren't. Her is what the Gaels have done to date. They are 9-1 with an RPI in the Top 25. They've already defeated Oregon, Providence, San Diego State and they crushed Southern Illinois this past weekend. As well as the Aussie Mills, who averages just under 20 PPG, the Gaels have two players who average a double double in Omar Samhan and Diamon Simpson. Coach Randy Bennett is as good as they come in the West Coast Conference, and yes, that includes Gonzaga's Mark Few, and the Gaels have a real homecourt advantage. The Gaels' schedule is fairly light, with only the road tilt at San Diego to really worry about before the first match-up with the Zags. Don't be surprised if St. Mary's is 17-1 going into that contest.

Seven Days on the Hot Seat: Steve Alford, New Mexico

Last year I wrote about Iowa forcing out Steve Alford and how shabby that looked. Well, the folks in Iowa City may have been right. Alford is off to a pretty poor start this season at New Mexico, where the Lobos sit at 7-5. That may not seem so bad until you look closer at the losses and see that four of the five have come against mid-major competition. And its not as if the Lobos are losing to Davidson and Gonzaga. No, New Mexico has been defeated by Virginia Commonwealth, Drake, Creighton and (gulp), Central Florida. Alford's charges had better sweep the annual home-and-home games with New Mexico State or the Lobos are staring at an 8-6 record entering conference play in the Mountain West with possible sweeps coming at the hands of UNLV and BYU, as well as another daunting non-conference game against a good UTEP squad. People in Albuquerque aren't known for having a lot of patience with what is the state's premier sports program, so even though Alford won 24 games last season and he brought in a stellar recruiting class, including top 100 recruit Phillip McDonald, he may hear a lot of grumbling if his Lobos, who had four returning starters, finish around .500 for the season. It doesn't mean he'll be canned this year, but two in a row may very well give him his walking papers.

Seven Days of Head Scratching: Coaching Etiquette

Drexel coach James "Bruiser" Flint was barred from coaching in a game against Memphis this past Monday night because he had violated the Colonial Athletic Association's sportsmanship rule by getting himself ejected in an earlier game against Bucknell. I don't care that Flint and Drexel appealed the ruling to the CAA office so hat Flint cold coach against his former boss, John Calipari, and that the CAA didn't bend, (that's a great decision), no, my concern is why many other conferences DON'T have a sportsmanship rule. Fans complain about game officials, and on occasion rightly so, but there's a line between criticism and outright harassment, and many coaches, especially at the BCS level, (read: Coach K, Jim Calhoun, etc.), abuse officials in order to impose their will on a game. I'm not saying that every conference should have a tried and true, set in stone rule, but there should be some sort of sportsmanship clause in each conference so that abuse of officials doesn't take place. I understand that to impose a hard and fast rule gives officials, who in many cases have egos as large as the coaches of the games they're working, an ace in the hole to show up a coach, but let's face it; the CAA did the right thing. Common sense can and should prevail. It would be nice to see other conferences, regardless of the level of play, follow suit.

College Basketball: Week in Review

Rob Carpentier — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 20:42:06 -0800

Rob Carpentier's "Seven Day Stretch" is a whirlwind tour around every corner of college basketball nation:

Seven Day Savior (Team): Gonzaga

The Bulldogs of Gonzaga have started the season 6-0. One of those wins has come against a non-D-1 team. However, four of those wins have come against Indiana, (decent), Maryland, Oklahoma State, (good), and most recently Tennessee, (really good). The Zags have shown good balance, led by point guard Jeremy Pargo. Pargo has made sure that the multitude of weapons at Coach Mark Few's disposal all see the ball on offense. The Zags have good big men in Josh Heytvelt, Austin Daye and Micah Downs, (although Downs is more of a perimeter player), and good perimeter players, led by Pargo, but also including Matt Bouldin and Steven Gray. The Zags play good defense, rebound well and get good contributions from their bench. Few can count on his team being a legitimate 10 deep. This is the best team on the West Coast right now and an argument can be made, because of their depth and style of play, that Gonzaga would provide North Carolina with their stiffest test if they played in the near future.

Seven Day Savior (Player): Zach Hahn

Sophomore Zach Hahn, guard, Butler University. Like Gonzaga, Butler has become accustomed to being a mid-major darling in the college basketball universe. This was supposed to be a down year for the Bulldogs, (is there a theme here?), but they stand at 7-0 after the first week of Horizon League play. That record includes a huge road win at Horizon favorite, Cleveland State. That win was made possible by very good defense, timely rebounding and a huge last second shot by Hahn. Like most Butler players, Hahn thrives in the system that the Bulldogs run that is predicated by many players being able to hit three-point shots. Hahn is one of the most prolific shooters on the team. He doesn't get the publicity of the team's star, Matt Howard, but Hahn is clearly the hero right now after his slightly off balance game-winner that was taken well behind the new three point line. Hahn, a lefty, is definitely the toast of the Butler campus this week.

Game of the Week (The one you've already heard about): Memphis vs Georgetown

Many teams are trying to find their identity early in the season, but several teams are truly feeling in the dark in terms of establishing themselves. This is because those teams lost huge leaders and/or numbers with graduation and early defections. Two teams that suffered from this greatly have been Memphis and Georgetown, and these two powers face off on Saturday in the Nation's capital. Both teams have started strong, with the Tigers at 6-1, (losing a close one to Xavier), and the Hoyas at 5-1, (losing to Tennessee). The Tigers lost their point guard and team leader with the defections of Derrick Rose and Chris Douglas-Roberts. The Hoyas lost big man Roy Hibbert. Both teams, however, have reloaded well, with Memphis bringing in Tyreke Evans and Georgetown welcoming big man Greg Monroe. Both teams figure to make some noise in March after they go through a few growing pains. Watching them and Memphis Coach John Calipari match wits with G-Town Coach John Thompson III should be fun.

Game of the Week (The one you DON'T know about): VCU vs Richmond

On Saturday, Virginia Commonwealth of the Colonial Athletic Association visits former CAA member, Richmond, now of the Atlantic 10. Both teams have played relatively tough schedules up to this point, with VCU having faced New Mexico, Vanderbilt and Rhode Island, while the Spiders have faced Syracuse and a good Bradley team. Both squads sit at 5-3 overall and should be among the better teams in their respective leagues. VCU needs to finish in the top 2 in the CAA in order to be given real at-large consideration in March while Richmond simply needs to have a good year in the A-10. This is the kind of game that sets up like a "Bracket Buster", as both teams can point to a win in this game as a check mark in their column for an at-large bid to the Big Dance. While head-to-head meetings aren't usually critical in determining at-large selections in March, it sure doesn't hurt to win these kinds of contests.

Seven Days Under the Radar: Western Kentucky

Western Kentucky has had a very good past 9 days, (okay so I'm going back a little further than the past week). In their past three games, the Hilltoppers have defeated Tulane, Georgia and Louisville, in reverse order. The win against Louisville is the biggie, but a win against an SEC team and against a Conference USA team, conferences who both will have inflated RPI ratings at the end of the season compared to WKU's Sun Belt Conference, are huge, too. Granted, Western Kentucky has two inexplicable losses, especially a beat down at the hands of Murray State, but they still have Florida State on their schedule, (at home), and a win there could really put a stamp on the Hilltoppers' at-large hopes, if they need them, come March. Western Kentucky is led by another solid one-two punch, (much like last year's Sweet 16 team), junior guard A.J. Slaughter and sophomore forward Steffphon Pettigrew. Between the two they average almost 29 points per game and 11 rebounds per game. This solid play allows the rest of the Hilltoppers to go about their roles without worrying about who is going to score for them. Pettigrew will be especially important for WKU as the season goes on. He has become more dominant as the first few weeks of the season have passed. His coming out party was against Louisville where he went off for 17 points and 12 boards against the more heralded Cardinal front line. Oh, and Western Kentucky has two other players averaging in double figures. This is going to be a very good team come 2009 and one to watch when the calendar turns to March.

Seven Days on the Hot Seat: Fred Hill

Fred Hill's days at Rutgers may be numbered. The Scarlet Knights lost at home to St. Bonaventure and have since lost to Lehigh and Binghamton; the latter two also at home. Hill was brought in to make the State University of New Jersey more competitive and to build a wall around the state's top recruits. So far Hill has failed at both. New Jersey has some of the best high school talent in the country but Hill keeps missing out to bigger programs. His ability to recruit was considered his biggest strength. He seems overmatched in game situations when the ability to change at a moment's notice is a precious commodity. Hill is also in a situation where the university has been tinged by scandal with regard to oversight of the football team. However, reading between the lines, it seems that the Rutgers administration has committed itself to winning in big time athletics and two of the big three, (football and women's basketball), are already doing that. Hill seems to be the odd man out.

Seven Days of Head Scratching: Coaching Attire

Coaching attire has become a subject of conversation over the past few weeks, especially with the many preseason tournaments that are in exotic locales. The thought is that coaches will be safer, presumably from passing out or lightheadedness, if they were allowed to wear less constrictive clothing than the typical suit and tie. So as fans, we are talking about what coaches wear now? From a safety standpoint? Let me get this straight; we have kids that are the target of predatory agents and the like, kids who collapse during practices or games because of undiscovered health issues and kids who simply leave college "less" educated than when they arrived, but we are talking about coaches and their suits. Yeah, that makes sense. It does fit perfectly, though with NCAA rules that allow a coach to up and leave his job at any time for another coaching gig, but doesn't allow the student-athlete to transfer out from his school without a penalty. Worry about the coaches first and the kids second...wonderful priorities.