Hawkeye Hoops

Saturday, November 19, 2005

News and Notes
It's finally starting to feel like basketball season, what with the temperature plunging, the plethora of games just a remote click away, and the expert predictions already falling apart. It's also the time of year when remarks like "Hey buddy, let's go see that new movie," and "Here's my phone number, we should go out some time," start to get answered with "Yeah, I'll get back to you.....[in April]." I'm sure you can relate.

I didn't have anything specific lined up to write about today, so I'll just throw together a list of thoughts and observations from the games I watched over the past few nights. You're thrilled, I'm sure.

It's been kind of cool to see the newer basketball stats slowly get their foot in the door. One of the ESPN announcers used "efficient" and "inefficient" to describe some players (probably Taurean Green and Justin Gray, heh). One graphic showed how many points and possessions each team had up to that point (though the teams were about four possessions apart, not sure how they calculated their numbers). Fran Fraschilla even threw out a "Joey Dorsey averaged 16 rebounds per game per 40 minutes last year." We knew what you meant, big guy. Keep reading your Ken Pomeroy; you'll get the hang of it.
Did anybody see Steve Lavin's All-America team on Tuesday night? Dee Brown, Gerry Mac, Adam Morrison, Nick Fazekas, and Eric Williams. All good players, to be sure, but is there any logical way one can leave off both Redick and Shelden Williams? Good luck landing that next coaching job, Steve.
Well, I've seen enough. Gonzaga struggled with Idaho Friday and is offically O-VER-RA-TED! You heard it here first. I gotta admit, though, that I'm excited to see Morrison try to bring back the moustache.
Did the Michigan coaching staff stumble across the mgblog or Hawkeye Hoops preview of the Wolverines? Both suggested that Daniel Horton needed to tone it down and emphasize involving his teammates, and that plan worked perfectly in Michigan's opener. Daniel Horton took only four shots in 27 minutes, while teammates Courtney Sims, Lester Abram, and Dion Harris combined for 52 points on 20-28 shooting, leading to the team's 69 eFG%. They won't have the same degree of success against tougher opponents, but I'd still follow the same strategy.
With Curtis Sumpter out after tearing an ACL, Villanova went with an interesting lineup. They started four guards, each at 6-3 or shorter, and teamed them with Will Sheridan, a 6-8 forward. The Wildcats used a similar lineup against North Carolina in last year's NCAA tournament. 'Nova was one of the country's best defensive teams last year, and should be again, especially if Jason Fraser can handle a few more minutes. Sumpter's absence will be more apparent at the offensive end - even in the 43-point opening night win, Villanova had only three players attempt more than three shots.
Is Justin Gray the new Pierre Pierce? Watching the Wake Forest guard redeem himself with the clutch threes against Texas Tech while shooting 5-18 with 10 turnovers took me right back to Pierce hitting the game winner against Texas in last year's Maui tournament. As for the other similarities, Gray is 21-58 (36 fg%, 43 eFG%) and has 29 turnovers in four games.
I know I'm firmly in the minority on this one, but it's time to come out of the closet - I'm actually a Dickie V fan. Sure, his phrases get a little tiresome, and he's pretty blind when he strays too far from the ACC, and he brings up Duke during every game he broadcasts, but he embodies the qualities that people love about college basketball - passion, enthusiasm, excitement. [Speaking of Vitale, this parody of ESPN personalities by Cracked is hilarious. Props to Bonny for pointing that one out.]
Florida might be a fun team to watch, huh? They're 4-0 after knocking off Wake Forest and Syracuse in the Coaches vs Cancer Classic. Taurean Green had 23 points and 5 assists in both of those games. The Gators been getting it done on defense, holding their opponents to 93 PPP and forcing a 26% TO rate. They'll no doubt get a few more votes in the next poll.
With so many new faces in this year's lineup, it was hard to project Illinois's season, but their offense will be a lot better than I expected if Rich McBride and freshman Jamar Smith keep up the hot shooting. When counting the two exhibition games and Friday's opener, the two are 7-14 and 7-15 from downtown. Since the defense is already expected to be quite good, Illinois could be a force in the Big Ten once again.

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Comments:

Thanks for the info, Swany.

BTW, that Inspector Owl CD is awesome. Tell them to come back to Iowa City. And not to play at Gabe's.

# posted by

Ryan : 4:07 PM

Good to still see you around! (Yes I guess I am a seasonal reader) But you were always my first source for reading Hawkeye basketball last year, I'm glad that you are still at it.

Beat the Wildcats!

# posted by

Unknown : 12:28 PM

Gooseneck is back! Looking forward to the comments.

# posted by

Ryan : 12:30 PM

That's what's so frustrating about Vitale and, in many ways, ESPN in general. If you read some of the things he writes you can tell he knows basketball but he's way too busy using his catch phrases to show any of it. The man loves college basketball but when he's on the air he loves playing the caricature of himself more.

ESPN would rather have guys like Steven A. Smith screaming at you and saying something controversial to get a reaction then someone that will give intelligent analysis of what's happening.

I guess that's why we have guys like you blogging, right?

I liked it when Sundvold was doing games for ESPN. he wasn't flashy but he actually told you things that you might not see otherwise. Of course he's not at ESPN anymore partly because he wasn't the personality of some of the other announcers.

# posted by

Ben : 10:47 PM

Hey, also, your "Mr. Overrated" was stroking it today. Career high 35 points, 15-24, 3-6 3pt, 7 assists, 0 TOs.

It was only one game but it was nice to see the Clones put together a good game, especially with Taggart in the lineup for the first time. I'm feeling a little better about the in-state battle again although still a long way for this team to go.

# posted by

Ben : 10:52 PM

Big Ten		Big XII
SEC		ACC
C-USA		Pac-10
Big East