college

No debate about new rules, interview with Mike Brey

November 20, 2013 By admin

By Seth Davis

If you’ve followed the first two weeks of the college basketball season, you’ve no doubt heard the debate about the huge impact of the new rules on physical defense. It is understandable, then, why you might not be aware of the following:

There are no new rules against physical play.
There is no huge impact.
There is no debate.

Confused? Allow me to clarify.

First, the “new rules” against physical play (hand checking, arm bars, bumping cutters, etc.) have long been a part of the NCAA’s rulebook. It’s just that they were stuck in the back of the book under Appendix III: Officiating Guidelines. However, since those were going unenforced, leading to an unsightly decline in scoring and shooting percentages, the men’s basketball rules committee voted in May to make that an official part of Rule 10, which addresses “Fouls and Penalties.”

So nobody wrote any new rules on this front. They just decided to give a new emphasis to what was already there.

(To be sure, there were some new rules written in other areas, most significantly the block-charge call, but most of the dialogue has been focused on the so-called increase in touch fouls on the dribbler.)

Second, while there has been a change in the data when compared to last season, that change is not nearly as dramatic as most people think. According to #KPI Analytics, there are only 2.71 more fouls being called per game this season than at the same time last year. That’s right — fewer than three extra whistles per game! That has resulted in 4.1 more free throws per game. Overall, scoring is up 5.86 points per game — a welcome increase — and slightly more than half of those points have come from field goals as opposed to free throws.

Tempo-free maven Kem Pomeroy has also crunched the numbers. While he discovered there was an 18.3 percent increase in free throw rate (FTA/FGA), he only found a 1.8 percent increase in the number of possessions per game. That’s disappointing. The most positive effect Pomeroy found was a reduction in turnover and steal percentages, which makes sense. If you can’t push the dribbler, it’s harder to steal the ball.

Yes, there have been some outliers. Niagara and Seton Hall combined for 73 fouls and 102 free throws, but that is not the new normal. And to the extent that we see some ugly games, we also saw lots of ugly games last season, and the season before that, and the season before that. It takes time to go from a duckling to a swan.

For more….

Star freshmen take the spotlight, but the elder Michigan State shines

November 13, 2013 By admin

By Luke Winn

CHICAGO — It was a night about freshmen if you wanted it to be. A good hour before tipoff of the Kentucky-Michigan State opener of the Champions Classic, I came upon an NBA general manager — one whose team is built, more or less, to contend for the 2014 Draft Lottery — occupying a prime courtside seat at the United Center. He was watching the Wildcats’ mundane warmup drills with what really seemed like a twinkle in his eye, no doubt imagining what Julius Randle might look like in his lineup, and comparing that to what Duke’s Jabari Parker might look like, or Kansas’ Andrew Wiggins. I openly wondered if Wiggins, who had played casually in preseason workouts and in his first real college game, would live up to his AAU-ball rep as a big-stage performer when the Jayhawks met the Blue Devils in the nightcap. “Not many bigger stages than this one,” the GM said.

Sixty-seven other NBA evaluators had joined him for what was essentially a pre-Predraft Camp on a Tuesday night in November. Whether any of them left closer to a final opinion on who should be the No. 1 pick is unlikely. Randle went for 27 and 13 in a loss and looked like a beast. Parker went for 27 and 9 in a loss and looked breathtakingly skilled. Wiggins went for 22 and 8 in a win while looking like far from a finished product. The NBA crowd will be debating over those three kids until late June, and can you blame them? It’s a good debate.

Still, for those of us who cover college hoops not as a Predraft Camp but as an actual sport, freshmen turned out not to be the most important part of the Champions Classic. This event was like a four-months-early Final Four, and the most impressive team was full of players who’ve evolved in two, three or four seasons. By knocking off top-ranked Kentucky, 78-74, No. 2 Michigan State established itself as the early national title favorite — and it did so by giving just seven minutes of playing time to a freshman.

The last time we saw the Spartans’ Gary Harris on a big stage, it was March, in the Sweet 16 in Indianapolis. He had been assigned to guard Duke senior Seth Curry, who came off a maze of screens and went off for six threes in a Blue Devils’ win. “He kind of took me to school today,” Harris said then of Curry, who now plays for the Warriors — the Santa Cruz Warriors of the NBDL. Last season, Harris was a 6-foot-4 freshman getting lit up by a diminutive future D-Leaguer. He was the No. 25 player in the Class of 2012 and a five-star prospect, but his role in Michigan State’s rotation was as a kid who mostly just took threes, and did not drive the ball or get mixed up in scrums for rebounds or scrap like mad on defense. The reason: A nagging shoulder injury had turned him into the shell of the attacking star he was in high school and AAU. “You have not seen the Gary Harris I recruited yet,” Spartans coach Tom Izzo warned after that loss to Duke.

For more….

NCAA Won’t Budge On Paying College Athletes As Organizational Changes Loom

September 23, 2013 By R.George

By NANCY ARMOUR

MILWAUKEE (AP) — The structure of the NCAA could look very different by this time next year as members try to resolve the growing disparity between big-money schools and smaller institutions.

What won’t change, however, is the amateur status of the players who make college athletics a billion-dollar business.

“One thing that sets the fundamental tone is there’s very few members and, virtually no university president, that thinks it’s a good idea to convert student-athletes into paid employees. Literally into professionals,” NCAA President Mark Emmert said Monday at Marquette University. “Then you have something very different from collegiate athletics. One of the guiding principles (of the NCAA) has been that this is about students who play sports.”

Emmert and the NCAA have had a turbulent year, with money the source for most of the discontent. After Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel was investigated for allegedly receiving money for autographs — he was cleared — Time magazine put him on the cover along with the headline “It’s Time to Pay College Athletes.” Oklahoma State is investigating whether rules were broken after a series of Sports Illustrated stories that alleged cash payments to players and academic misconduct.

For more….

4-Point RoundUp & AP Top 25 – “Jordan Adjusted”

March 12, 2013 By R.George

4-Point RoundUp:

1. Indiana has lost the number one ranked spot 4 times this season which means they can win or lose on any given night against any given team at any given time.

2. Georgetown impresses with tough defense and disciplined offensive attack.

3. Michigan State climbs back into the Top 10 at no 8., definitely one to watch.

4. Sign the Petition and “Make MARCHVEGAS a 4-day™ Holiday” – March 21-24. Then book a trip to Vegas for March Madness at MARCHVEGAS.com.

The Associated Press Top 25 Poll: “Jordan Adjusted”

1. Duke 27-4
2. Georgetown 24-5
3. Indiana 26-5
4. Gonzaga 31-2
5. Louisville 26-5
6. Michigan 25-6
7. Kansas 26-5
8. Michigan St. 24-7
9. Miami 24-6
10. Ohio St. 23-7
11. Kansas St. 25-6
12. Marquette 23-7
13. Florida 24-6
14. Oklahoma St. 23-7
15. New Mexico 26-5
16. Saint Louis 24-6
17. Pittsburgh 24-7
18. Arizona 24-6
19. Syracuse 23-8
20. Memphis 27-4
21. UCLA 23-8
22. Wisconsin 21-10
23. Creighton 27-7
24. Notre Dame 23-8
25. VCU 24-7

By Roy George

[MARCHVEGAS] – noun 1. “March to Vegas” which symbolizes the humanistic tendency to march, migrate, or advance as a deliberate or organized body in a habitual manner back to Las Vegas. 2. Marriage of March Madness and Las Vegas, especially during tournament time. 3. The “MARCHVEGAS 4-day™ Holiday” (March 21 – 24, 2013) – Sign the Petition.

Alabama Crimson Tide – Takes care of the Kentucky Wildcats

January 23, 2013 By R.George

The tide rolled as BAMA plowed over the Kentucky Wildcats on Wednesday nite in Tuscaloosa. In the first half, the Wildcats had lead by as many as nine points but couldn’t quite pull away and finish the job. With 15:39 left in the second half Alabama was on a 13-3 run to get it to 34-33 and only trailed by one. Eventually the Tide regained their composure which capped off a 59 to 55 victory over the Wildcats.

Nick Jacobs came off the bench and lead all scorers with 14, followed by Trevor Releford with 13 and Levi Randolph added 11. For the Wildcats, Kyle Wiltjer had 14 and Julius Mays with 12. At the 4:26 mark, it was Kentucky 44 and Alabama 47 when Lacey went down hard while going to the hoop falling on his right side. His absence didn’t affect the outcome as the Tide still closed out the win and should make for a good SEC conference W.

However to get better, what Alabama should really be concerned about is their suspect defensive play. They don’t get out and challenge the ball when defending, they don’t put a hand out to deny the pass, and they don’t keep their hands up long enough to create any havoc in the middle of the key or in an offensive players face. They are more or less just totally reactive to what the offense player wants to do which may be why with two seven footers they still get out rebounded 31 to 40.

I’m sure Coach Grant has pounded this into their heads on the defensive end but they’ll learn to advance later on and to beat better teams, they’ll have to improve. Otherwise, they’re probably only good for one tournament win come March. It doesn’t have to be that way, they have guys who can create shots and can feed the two seven footers down low for high percentage shots but unless they can get more aggressive on defense I see them having an early exit when March Madness begins. For Kentucky fans, you ought to be a bit worried as well.

p.s. I know the word “nite” is misspelled incorrectly above and really should be “night”, I just prefer it my way. All other errors in grammar are just part of the territory.

PLAYER ROSTER/STATS AREA

#	Player	Pos	Ht	Wt	Class	PPG	RPG	APG	TO	BLK
21	Rodney Cooper	G	6’6′	215	So.	6	6	1	0	0
14	Moussa Gueye	C	7’0′	255	Jr.	4	5	0	0	5
15	Nick Jacobs	F	6’8′	265	So.	14	5	0	0	1
5	Trevor Lacey	G	6’3′	215	So.	7	4	4	2	0
20	Levi Randolph	G	6’5′	205	So.	11	4	2	1	2
12	Trevor Releford	G	6’0′	195	Jr.	13	3	2	3	0
22	Andrew Steele	G	6’4′	225	Sr.	4	2	0	0	0
24	Devonta Pollard	F	6’8′	200	Fr.	0	2	0	0	1
32	Retin Obasohan	G	6’1′	210	Fr.	0	0	0	0	0
4	Carl Engstrom	C	7’1′	285	Jr.	0	0	0	0	0

TEAM SCHEDULE AREA

Date	Opponent
Jan. 26	at Tennessee
Jan. 31	Arkansas
Feb. 2	at Vanderbilt
Feb. 6	at Auburn
Feb. 9	LSU
Feb. 12	at Georgia
Feb. 16	South Carolina
Feb. 20	Mississippi State
Feb. 23	at LSU
Feb. 26	Auburn
Mar. 2	at Florida
Mar. 5	at Ole Miss
Mar. 9	Georgia

MARCHVEGAS 2013
To catch the Alabama Crimson Tide for March Madness, why not take a break, “March to Vegas” and see all the excitement at once for the first round of the tournament? Watch hoops and gamble by day, play and party by night for 4 blissful days; it’ll feel just like a 4-day™ holiday.

MARCHVEGAS 2013 is from Thursday March 21st till Sunday March 24th. Though visiting Las Vegas is the greatest during the tournament, it is only an option. We just want to be sure you celebrate the MARCHVEGAS 4-day Holiday™ wherever you are or whatever you do. If you choose the later, then Sign the Petition and “Make MARCHVEGAS a 4-day Holiday™”.

Find out about deals to Vegas such as the Bellagio with MARCHVEGAS.com your March Madness & Las Vegas travel partner.

By Roy George

[MARCHVEGAS] – noun 1. “March to Vegas” symbolizes the humanistic tendency to march, migrate, or advance as a deliberate or organized body in a habitual manner back to Las Vegas. 2. Marriage of March Madness and Las Vegas, especially during tournament time. 3. The “MARCHVEGAS 4-day™ Holiday” (March 21 – 24, 2013) – Sign the Petition.