DWG College Basketball Preview: Teams #46-39

Man weather is such a dick.  The Cards/Giants are still sitting there, like 3 hours after their delay started, waiting to resume play in the 8th and the Yanks/Tigers has been postponed now until tomorrow.  Sucks.  So here's something else that's a thing you could do:

46.  Detroit Titans.  Ray McCallum is still there.  Three years ago two big-time recruits signed with smaller schools to play for their dads.  One (Trey Ziegler at CMU) saw his father fired after two dismal seasons and bolted to Pitt, the other is McCallum and after advancing to the NCAA Tournament by winning the Horizon tournament last year the Titans are looking to do even more.  There are some notable losses, particularly size-wise in Eli Holman, but there are a couple of senior forwards capable of putting up good numbers who should help balance things with McCallum.  Plus they got Juwon Howard, Jr. this year.  Juwon Howard Junior!  Hell yeah!

45.  Tennessee Volunteers.  Bruce Pearl left Tennessee looking like a mess, but behind some solid leadership from Cuonzo Martin (CUONZO!) they actually had a pretty solid year last season (NIT berth) and now return almost the entire team for another go at it.  And guys, their PF Jeronne Maymon is just a monster, and out of nowhere, too.  He was nothing, and then he just exploded into a guy who had double figure points or rebounds (or both) in the Vols last 15 games last year and put up double doubles against three of the teams toughest opponents last season (Kentucky, Memphis, and Duke) including a 32 point, 20 rebound performance against Memphis.  He's very Mbakwellian on the glass, just attacking every rebound as if his very life, nay, the fate of the planet, rested on him getting that ball.  Tennessee was always able to recruit under Pearl but he was such as shitty coach they were chronically underachieved.  Martin is a far better coach, and if he continues to get the same caliber of players to come to Tennessee this team is going to be a major player going forward. 

44.  UCONN Huskies.  UCONN can't play in the postseason this year because of I don't know grades or some dumb arbitrary NCAA rule that punishes players who had nothing to do with the infraction, and as a result of that had to watch Alex Oriakhi and Roscoe Smith bolt to Missouri and UNLV respectively (along with Andre Drummond and Jeremy Lamb to the NBA) and will be going with a new coach in Kevin Ollie, but there's still plenty of talent here to screw over at least a Big East team or two's at-large hopes with some big wins.  That is, of course, if DeAndre Daniels can become what he was supposed to become.  Daniels was a top-10 recruit last season who chose UCONN over Kentucky, Florida, Duke, and Kansas but ended up buried on the bench much of last season.  If he can blossom with a bigger role and mesh with outstanding guard tandem Ryan Boatright and Shabazz Napier the Huskies could be awfully good.  Of course without cheater Calhoun who knows how this all shakes out.  They could win four games and I wouldn't be surprised.

43.  Davidson Wildcats.  Davidson is a little bit annoying to me in their consistency, but here they are, back again, heavy favorites to win the SoCon and just good enough to scare or beat a team or two once they inevitably get to the NCAA Tournament as an 11 seed.  Pretty much the entire team returns from last season when they put a scare in Louisville in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, but what's interesting about this iteration of the Wildcats is rather than being overly dependent on guards and 3-pointers, their two best players are a pair of forwards (including the SoCon Player of the Year and the other guy might actually be better) who can hit it, but don't need to.  They leave that to the 200 guards Davidson has running around.  Again.

42.  Harvard Crimson.  Well Tommy Amaker's got a nice little thing going here.  In 2010 they made the CIT.  In 2011, the NIT after tying for the Ivy League crown and losing in a one game playoff.  Then last year they won the Ivy to make the NCAA Tournament, losing to fifth-seeded Vanderbilt by nine (yes, I picked Harvard).  They do lose last year's Ivy League Player of the Year, but have everybody else back and Nevermind somehow I missed that Harvard has a bunch of guys embroiled in an academic scandal including their best player and both co-captains who are no longer on the team so drop these guys off the list, bump everyone up one, and throw Northwestern at the end or something.  Gotta have some nerds, somehow.

41.  Florida State Seminoles.  Maybe I'm way off on FSU because they are 24th in the first Coaches' Poll that just came out, but I'm not seeing it.  Losing four starters including your entire inside presence in Bernard James and Xavier Gibson is, like sticking a paperclip into a power outlet, no picnic.  Yeah, they still have Michael Snaer and you know they'll be tenacious on defense and won't back down, but you know who else is tenacious and never backs down?  My two-year old, and by the end of most days he's either run into a wall face first or fallen off some random piece of furniture and landed on his head.  Every once in a while, however, he'll get a big win by throwing a matchbox car and hitting Mrs. W right in the face. 

40.  Murray State Racers.  Things could be a bit tougher for the Racers this year, what with losing three starters and having to deal with Belmont's move to the OVC, but Murray State has developed a "Gonzaga-lite" reputation for a reason.  They have a whole bunch of experienced seniors and generally play a deep bench so even if these guys don't have impressive stats you can bet they can play, and Murray State keeps bringing in solid recruiting classes to keep that pipeline going as well.  Not to mention they still have Isaiah Canaan who led them to the tournament last year, winning the OVC Player of the Year Award, and then promptly sucked (8-30 in two NCAA Tourney games).  Now a senior, Canaan should be able to do more assuming they get to that point again, because everyone knows that noted chokers always get better over time, right A-Rod?

39.  St. Joe's Hawks.  I actually feel like I might be underrating these guys a bit, because this team kind of has that feeling of building something that might be cresting this season.  Last season the Hawks won 20 games (9 in A-10 play) and snagged an NIT berth, not bad considering the two previous years they won 22 games combined.  Carl Jones, C.J. Aiken, and Langston Galloway (who you remember from such games as against the Gophers two straight years) are now in their third year playing together with Aiken growing into a force in the paint, Galloway developing into a dead-eye shooter from the wing, and Jones, well, he's pretty much the same chucker he's always been since he arrived in Philly and maybe these guys will be even better when he's gone next season (the other two are juniors) but whatever.  St. Joe's' has been crappy since Jameer Nelson and Delonte West left and now they have hope.  Can't you just let them have hope with their cheesesteaks?


Previous:
Teams #68-60
Teams #59-53
Teams #52-47

NCAA Basketball Preview - The Atlantic 10

Here's what you're going to want to do - watch "New Girl" from Fox.  It debuted on Tuesday night and I think me and the missus laughed more than we've ever laughed at the first episode of anything, and that includes Parks and Rec.  It stars one of my big crushes, Zooey Deschanel, and although she's always been quirky funny she really, truly can carry a show as the funny lead and she knocks it out of the park here.  Then there's three dumb guys who she moves in with who I've never heard of but actually do an adequate job.

So watch it.  It's on every Tuesday at 8pm, and they're replaying the pilot on Saturday October 1st so do it.  If you've ever trusted my judgement about anything, watch this show.  But also know that I have dibs on Zooey.  I've been into her since her Almost Famous and The Good Girl, so back off.  I have dibs on her sister too.

I have a lot of dibs.  Anyways, here comes the A-10!!!!!

1.  XAVIER MUSKETEERS.  Tu Holloway (who sounded cooler when he was going by Terrell) is back after nearly jumping to the NBA so that pretty much automatically makes Xavier the favorite because he's so retardedly good, but he's got plenty of help.  Mark Lyons joins him in the backcourt and nearly doubled his scoring average last year all the way up to 13.6, and Kenny Frease is back to man the middle.  All of which means X has their top three scorers back.   They're also adding three top 140 recruits including Dezmine Wells, a SF who ranked #76 on Rivals list and is all but guaranteed to be the next Musketeer superstar.  They also imported Travis Taylor who is not a crappy receiver from Florida but is in fact a power forward who transferred from Monmouth where he lit it up for nearly 18 points per game.  I'm comfortable at this point saying Xavier doesn't rebuild, they just reload.

2.  TEMPLE OWLS.  If the back court is what really makes good teams good then Temple is off to a good start despite losing power forward Lavoy Allen who averaged 12 and 9 last year.  Back is SG Ramone Moore, last year's leading scorer at over 15 per game, as well as Juan Fernandez.  You remember Fernandez as the hipster pot head looking guy who killed Talor Battle with his off-balance miracle shot in the NCAA Tournament.  He's super annoying to look at, really irritating to watch, and really his numbers aren't even that great and he can't really shoot, but somehow he has that annoying knack for making the plays when they're needed. 

3.  ST LOUIS BILLIKENS.  I suppose it didn't make sense to think Rick Majerus would turn St. Louis around super fastly but I did because I love that fat-ass.  But after a good year two seasons ago (11-5 A-10) they regressed hard last year, finishing at 6-10 last year, not in small part because their two best players - Willie Reed and Kwamain Mitchell - missed all of last season because of sexual assault charges.  Both were cleared - Reed bolted for the NBA (undrafted, nice job genius), but getting Mitchell back is huge for a Billiken team that returns all five starters and their 8 top scorers from last season.  If this isn't the year St. Louis makes the NCAA Tournament it's probably time to just end the program all together.  Maybe all the other A-10 coaches could have fun little luau where they roast Majerus for food and invite A.C. Slater and it would be fun for all.  Except Majerus.

4.  GEORGE WASHINGTON COLONIALS.  GW went an impressive 10-6 in the A-10 last season.  Unfortunately that didn't remotely get them in the conversation for an NCAA bid because they didn't even come close to playing anybody in the non-conference slate and didn't beat any of the league's good teams during conference play.  Still it's a good jumping off point for this season, and with only one starter gone from last year's team and getting back Lasan Kromah, who was second on the team in scoring two years ago as a freshman before missing last year with a foot injury, GW might be in contention to reach the NCAA Tournament.  Tony Taylor is a player of the year candidate, and with a tougher schedule that includes games against Cal, Syracuse, and VCU, they have a shot.

5.  CHARLOTTE 49ERS.  The 49ers return four starters from last year's squad, but I'm not sure that's a good thing.  Last year they couldn't shoot, turned the ball over like crazy, never registered assists, and couldn't play defense.  All that led to a 10-20 record with just 2 conference wins.  There is, however, reason to have some hope because three of those 10 wins came over Xavier, Tennessee, and Georgia Tech, so when things do come together for Charlotte they can play well, it just didn't happen with any regularity last year.  Of those returners, three scored in double figures last year, including their top two assist and steal guys.  If they can shoot a little better, take care of the ball a little better, and play better defense they could be dangerous.  Yes, that's a lot of ifs and I don't know why I believe they'll be better.  Maybe I just like green uniforms.

6.  ST JOE'S HAWKS.   I've seen St. Joe's referenced as a potential A-10 sleeper, but I'm not sure I really see it.  Yes, they only lost one starter and not a very good one at that, but this is also a team that was beaten by the Gophers at home last year so how good can they be?  Still, they have a couple of good guards including Carl Jones who is the third leading returning scorer in the conference with 17 per game, along with sophomore center C.J. Aiken who was ranked the #8 incoming freshman center in the country last season.  Although Aiken is a bit of a project on offense he's already a killer on defense and averaged 3.5 blocks per game last season which led the conference and was second nationally.  So I guess they do have some talent.  But still, the Gophers.

7.  DAYTON FLYERS.  I've spent plenty of time in other A-10 previews talking about how Dayton has terrible fans so I won't rehash that here, especially since this year is going to be a toughie for the Flyers.  Not only did they lose their coach, but they also lost leading scorer Chris Wright to graduation and freshman point guard Juwan Staten, who led the A-10 in assists, decided to transfer after realizing how much Dayton sucked.  They still have Chris Johnson, a guy I really like who is an all-around kind of guy and superior athlete, and PG Kevin Dillard, a transfer from So Ill, led the MVC in assists his sophomore year so he's not a monster step down from Staten, but the talent level has definitely waned in Dayton.  Gregory got out at the right time.

8.  ST BONAVENTURE BONNIES.  What St. Bonnie's has going for them is maybe the best player in the conference in Andrew Nicholson.  What they don't have going for them is everything else.  Nicholson is now a senior, and has gone from a 2-star center from Canada whose only D-I Scholarship offer came from St. Bonnie's to a guy who led the conference in scoring at 22 per game last year.  All he needs is a little help and there's a couple of other returners who averaged in double-figures, but let's be honest St. Bonnie's has never been on tv so who am I kidding trying to write about them?

9.  UMASS MINUTEMEN.  They lose their best player and top scorer in Anthony Gurley, but return everybody else.  The problem is that nobody besides Gurley averaged more than 8.5 points per game, so what you're left with is nine different players who averaged between 4.3 and 8.5 points per game last year, and I have no idea how that's going to shake itself out.  If multiple players step up their game and become double digit scorers and all-conference types they could finish significantly higher than this.  On the other hand, if nobody takes a leap and improves from last season they could be bottom dwellers.  Obviously, I think neither of those things will happen and they'll just float here at #9.  Go me!

10.  DUQUESNE DUKES.  The Dukes chance to shine was last year, but they came up a bit short.  After starting the conference season 8-0, Duquesne limped to the finish at 2-6 and then were dropped in the first round of the A-10 tourney by crappy St. Joe's and ended up in the CBI since their non-conference resume was basically non-existent.  Now both Damian Saunders and Bill Clark, two of the best players in Duquesne history, are gone and although there's still some talent here they certainly aren't in the same class they were in (or could have been in) last year.  They return three pretty good guards, including A-10 rookie of the year T.J. McConnell, and since they play an extreme uptempo style that's a good start and they should end up ok, but they definitely whiffed on a big opportunity last season. 

11.  RICHMOND SPIDERS.  After reaching the sweet 16 last year and setting a school record for victories, the Spiders have been massacred by graduations, losing four starters who accounted for nearly 70% of the team's scoring last year and over half of their rebounds and assists, including Kevin Anderson and Justin Harper who were both All A-10 first team selections last year.  So yeah, they have a lot of uncertainty going on.  Richmond has begun to establish itself as one of the elite basketball schools in the conference, but it's going to take some big years from unexpected places to keep them there.

12.  FORDHAM RAMS.  The sad thing about Fordham, other than the fact that their win totals have been three, two, and seven the past three years (and those are total wins, not conference wins), is that they actually have one of the best players in the conference in power forward Chris Gaston, who was the only A-10 player to average a double-double at 15.9 points and 11.3 rebounds (4th in the nation).  The problem is he has zero help, so defenses really do nothing other than throw double and triple teams at him and it works because they are terrible at everything, and there's really no reason to think they're going to be much better.  They lose their second leading scorer, but return two other double digit scorers in Branden Frazier (from Dudley Do-Right) and Alberto Estwick.  If either of those guys can take some pressure of Gaston, maybe they could get to a CIT bid.  Aim high.

13.  RHODE ISLAND RAMS.  Remember Jimmy Baron?  The coaches son who played for the Rams a couple of years ago and rained down 8 three-pointers in Cameron and almost single-handedly beat Duke?  He's been gone now for a couple of years, but little brother Billy just transferred in from Virginia and he profiles as a similar player.  Which is good, because most of the excitement left Rhodey after last year with three of their top four scorers, including second team A-10 selection Delroy James.  Joining Baron will be a couple returnees who are also excellent outside shooters and any time a team has a couple of outside threats they can also manage an upset or two, but that's about all the Rams will be good for this year.  

14.  LASALLE EXPLORERS.  When Aaric Murray,  who was ranked as the #35 overall recruit and #5 center in the country coming into school in 2009, it was a huge, huge deal.  Here was a hometown kid from just outside Philly who was going to return the Explorers to the glory days of Lionel Simmons.  Well.  Insert fart sound.  LaSalle went 4-12 and 6-10 in A-10 games the last two years, and although Murray put up good numbers he was also benched for poor effort last season and has now transferred to West Virgina with nary a post-season berth on the record.  With two other double-digit scorers lost to graduation LaSalle finds itself in a position similar to the Minnesota Twins - no hope and no prospects, and one of the worst teams in the country.

Other Previews:
Big 12
ACC

Minnesota Gophers 83, St. Joseph's Hawks 73

Well it wasn't exactly pretty and didn't really cement the Gophers as a top 25 team, but a win is a win, a road win is always good, and not losing to a terrible terrible terrible team is even better.  St. Joe's hit 9 threes to stay in the game, which is too high, but shot just 31% because they had to hoist 29 attempts just to make those 9 trey-balls.  A cynic would say that St. Joe's really should have made more because they kept getting open look after open look, but are just a poor shooting team.  And that's exactly what I say.  The perimeter defense is still terrible, but at least they got a win.  I'm going to just jump ahead to the player-by-player comments here before I get way too negative after a win.  And yes, I was the kind of sucker who paid cash money so I could watch this game.

Devoe Joseph (19 pts, 3 assists, 4-6 on threes):   Those of you out there who complain about him not moving the ball enough or trying to do too much on his own, I'm very sorry to tell you this, but you are idiots.  He's not a point guard, he's a shooting guard being forced to play point, so naturally he's not going to be a elite distributor.  He's a pure scorer, and he hit a couple of huge threes down the stretch to make sure the Gophers didn't lose this game.  Once again, stop complaining about him.  If you don't I will come to your house hit you in the balls with a tiny hammer.

Ralph Sampson (10 pts, 5 rebs):  Pretty ugly overall for Ralph, whether because CJ Aiken is a good defender or because his dad was in attendance and sending weird satan vibes his way I couldn't tell you, but he did seem to perk up in the second half of the second half, and just in time.  He hit a couple of very nice buckets late right as St. Joe's was attempting to make a run, and he still looks so insanely smooth (think Rob Thomas featuring Santana) out there, but this tendency to shrink when he finds resistance is troubling.  As a freshman it's almost expected, but as a junior I'm a little bit irritated. 

Rodney Williams (2 pts, 1 reb):  Maybe the worst game he's played.  Got in foul trouble early and ended up playing just 8 minutes.  Let's move on.

Blake Hoffarber (14 pts, 3 assists, 4-6 on threes):  He still leaves a lot to be desired on the defensive end - both on and off the ball - but when he came up limping after hitting a three-pointer in the first half you can bet I was holding my breath in horror (just like at the end of the Blair Witch Project, which I don't care who you are if you didn't think that was scary in the theater you're either a liar or a moron).  He's just such a steadying influence on this team, not to mention he's shooting out of his head this year, and for him that's saying something.  I can't get over how much he means to this team.  I never, ever imagined myself saying that.     

Trevor Mbakwe (12 points, 16 rebounds):  Player of the game, which is something I have a feeling we're going to be saying a lot.  He nearly had a double-double at half time and kind of faded a bit, and he shot a brutal 16-footer early in the game that reminded everyone why he shouldn't be wandering outside of the paint very often, but he's just such a POWER FORWARD.  I love it.  It's like a regular player ate one of those magic mushrooms from Mario Brothers, he's just a beast.  Here's an awesome summary from the game play-by-play:

Awesome.  It would have been better if he scored instead of turned the ball over, of course, but still awesome.

Maurice Walker (10 points, 5 rebs, 4 assists):  The night belonged to Mo, who not only put up some excellent numbers but displayed enthusiasm and emotion (and effort) he hadn't really shown yet this year.  He was demanding the ball in the post, scoring when it was there and finding open teammates when it wasn't, and then yelling, chest-pounding, and generally whooping it up out there.  It was unreal from somebody who seemed disinterested a large chunk of the year thus far.  Seriously it was like Taco Bell announced they were going to an all-you-can-eat business model.

Chip Armelin (4 points, 4 rebs):  Not to overstate things, but this guy is amazing to watch.  He never, ever stops moving, and when the Gopher offense does that stupid crap when it stagnates and everybody looks lost having a guy who likes to run from baseline-to-baseline for fun can be a major asset, and that's what he did when St. Joe's went zone.  His numbers don't look all that great, but he is a major component of this team and a huge part of how well the offense plays on any given night.

Austin Hollins (6 pts, 4 assists, 4 steals):  Steady.  Guy is just steady, which is a major compliment for a freshman.  Other than a semi-flashy steal late and perhaps one of the worst air-balled wide open three-pointers in the history of basketball he pretty much went unnoticed.  Maybe it's his play, or maybe it's because I was watching a crappy internet feed while holding a screaming baby and trying to get Wonderbaby^TM to stop throwing Teddy Grahams at the dragons on the TV, but I just don't take much notice of him.  Much like that baby I just mentioned.  Dude is just steady.  Like Eddie.

Colton Iverson (0 pts, 3 rebs):  Outside of those statues on Easter Island that were obviously put there by aliens or time travelers, I've never seen anybody or anything so effective at just taking up space.  There will be teams he just can't play against due to his physical limitations (which would be moving at relatively the same speed as those same statues), but St. Joe's ain't one of 'em.

Maverick Ahanmisi (6 pts):  This is way up on the list of things I wasn't expecting to say at any point in the next four years, but Mav looked quite good out there today.  Not that this is a huge bar here, but I think he already looks like a better player than Justin Cobbs.  Now, we haven't gotten into conference play yet so things can change, but swapping Cobbsy for Maverick looks pretty good to me right now.


Lastly, here is the link to this week's Star Tribune Big 10 Power Poll as presented by Myron P. Medcalf.  Check it out for the overall rankings.

Here is the ballot I submitted (remember this is through Tuesday's games):


1.  Ohio State Buckeyes - They haven't played since the last poll, but nobody can convince me there's a better Big Ten team.

2.  Michigan State Spartans -  Definitely in the upper tier with Ohio State, but if this was anybody other than the Spartans with their reputation for slow starts and runs in March, I'd be very concerned with their inability to beat any top-flight teams.

3.  Illiinois Fighting Illini - A very nice win over Gonzaga shows the Illini's early season struggles are behind them, they are deep and are seemingly getting better every time out - a scary proposition.

4.  Purdue Boilermakers - It feels like they're struggling, but really the loss to Richmond is the only blip on their schedule.  Wins last week at Virginia Tech and vs. Alabama might not be exactly marquee, but they are quality.

5.  Wisconsin Badgers - It might have been a fluke, but NC State should be a bubble team at worst this year and Wisconsin throttled them by 40.  Jon Leuer might very well be the best player in the conference.

6.  Northwestern Wildcats - The only undefeated team in the conference other than Ohio State, Northwestern has handled their business against inferior opponents.  Unfortunately the schedule is empty as can be until Big Ten play starts, so we won't really be able to get a handle on how good Northwestern is until then.

7.  Minnesota Gophers - The loss to Virginia and narrow win over Cornell exposed some pretty big weaknesses in the Gophers.  It's tough to say how things would look if Al Nolen wasn't hurt,

8.  Michigan Wolverines - I still think people are sleeping on the Wolverines a bit.  That win over Clemson is a good one, and .  Darius Morris is the real deal, if they get anything out of their front court (and Jordan Morgan suddenly looks interesting) they could shock a team or two.

9.  Indiana Hoosiers -The record looks nice at 7-1, but those seven wins were against teams with a combined 12 wins against Division I teams combined - not exactly murderer's row.  Let's see how they fare against Kentucky on Saturday, that will let us know if we need to pay attention or not.

10.  Penn State Nittany Lions -  Saturday's win over Duquesne is decent, but the Nittany Lions still need to get a big win - they've whiffed against Ole Miss and Maryland so far.  Sunday's game against Virginia Tech is their last chance before conference play, but getting taken to the wire by Mount St. Mary's doesn't bode well for their chances..


11.  Iowa Hawkeyes -  The win over Northern Iowa pulls them closer to leaving the cellar.  Too bad UNI is way down this year.


Actually I'm kind of thinking this is separating itself into tiers pretty clearly.  You have the Spartans and Buckeyes in a class by themselves at the top, with Illinois a half-step below.  Then Purdue, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Northwestern in another tier.  Below them is Michigan and Indiana, and then in a final, sad tier is Penn State and Iowa.  Obviously there could be some shifting here and there, but it's pretty clear to me where the teams separate themselves from each other.

Did you know mannequins don't have a weiner?

Game Preview: Minnesota Golden Gophers vs. St. Joseph's Hawks

I am not going to mess around here.  The Saint Joe's team your Minnesota Gophers are playing tonight is not a good team.  Not remotely.

They sit at 3-5 with double-digit or nearly double-digit losses to some bad teams:  Western Kentucky (by 28), Drexel (by 12), Penn State (by 9), and Princeton (by 9).  Their three wins are against a horrible group of teams - Norfolk State, Fairfield, and Rutgers.  Really, other than a 9-point loss to Villanova, which I should point out is a heated rivalry game, they've shown almost no signs of life.

They don't really do anything well, either.  The can't shoot (244th in effective field goal percentage), they don't get offensive rebounds when they miss (293rd), although they allow their opponents to do so with some frequency (216th).  They never turn their opponents over (256th) and allow them to score at will (51% 2-pointers against, 264th).  Even the Gopher kryptonite, perimeter shooting, shouldn't be too much of a concern since St. Joe's doesn't shoot them often (32% of attempts are threes, 187th) or well (27.8%, 308th).

THAT BEING SAID, keep in mind this:

 

What you might notice is that every team other than Wofford, UNC, and NDSU (two of which were cold as ice) shot the 3-better against the Gophers than they have as a whole this season.  What this tells me is you can't count out anybody against them because they can give up open looks in bunches and if one player (Siena) or multiple players (Virginia) are knocking them down, they're going to be able to stay in the game (Cornell) and maybe even snag the win, as long as they have somebody who can hit.  Natually, since the Hawks are still technically a division-I team, they do.

They have their chuckers of course, every bad team does.  "Shooting" guard Justin Crosgile is 4-21 this year after shooting just 31% last year, while freshman Patrick Swilling (I think related to the LB) is an admirable 0-12 and CJ Aiken (more on him in a bit) is 3-13.  But then there's Carl Jones and Langston Galloway.

Neither shoot a great percentage (35% and 32%, respectively), and neither shoot ridiculously often (tied for the team lead at 34 attempts, which is half as many as Hoff has shot), but they are the two leading scorers and two leading shot attempters on the team, and against a defense that has zero idea how to defend the three-point line this worries me.  It's not like these guys can't get hot:  Jones averages 17 points a game and hit 4 of 5 three-point attempts the last time out against Princeton and Galloway is the hot-shot freshman who averages 10 a game and hit 4-of-5 from three against Rutgers.  What if they're both hot?  You know they're going to get open looks, and you know we've mediocre three-point shooters light it up when they're open already this year against the Gophers (Ferry, Wroblewski, Farrakhan, Joe Harris, Clarence Jackson, etc.).  Scary.  And I didn't even mention Daryus Quarles, a freshman who doesn't shoot a ton but went 4-for-5 against Norfolk State from behind the line and is shooting 50% on the year.

Inside, the Gophers should have the advantage as they will against most teams.  Idris Hilliard is St. Joe's leading post scorer (9.9 per game) and the team's leading rebounder (5.1 per).  He's not going to overwhelm you with his size or strength (6-7, 220), but he's a smart senior player who knows where his strengths lie and isn't going to start wandering about the perimeter.

Of more interest is freshman center C.J. Aiken, considered one of the top freshmen centers in the country coming into the year.  He's played fine for a frosh (7 pts, 5 rebs per game), but has mostly made his mark defensively with 3.5 blocks per game.  Ralphie boy better bring his A-game, because if he gets a couple shots swatted I can see him shutting down for the night.  Not that Trevor Mbakwe and the rest of the offense shouldn't have their way with St. Joe's, but if that's so obviously the case then why am I so nervous?

Really, there's very little reason to worry about this game.  St. Joe's is a bad, bad, bad, bad team.  However the Gopher shortcomings on the perimeter open the door a crack for any team to step through, as we saw against both Virginia and Cornell, and being on the road for the first time all season is always an interesting adventure, and this team doesn't strike me as particularly mentally tough.  And what happens if Aiken gets the best of Sampson early?  So many things can go wrong.  I wish this game wasn't on the schedule.

Minnesota 69, St. Joe's 65

Atlantic 10 College Basketball 2010 Preview

1.  Xavier Musketeers.  Take note, Dayton dorks, because this is what you call a dynasty.  I remember last year, I think I picked the Musketeers fourth in the A-10 because of who was graduating, and they went ahead and won the conference, again, and made a nice run in the tournament, again.  This year, they once again look like they might be down with Jordan Crawford off to the NBA, but Terrell Holloway is back and I love that little guy.  His development from out of control spaz as a freshman (think Kevin Clark, any year) to stone cold killer has been fun to see, and now in his junior year this is clearly his team and I can't wait to see if he'll be better than Jake Pullen, or merely as good.  With two other starters back, Mark Lyons and a slimmed down Kenny Frease ready to step in and start, and top25-type recruiting class coming in it wouldn't be a shock at all to see them in the sweet 16 for the fourth straight year.

2.  Temple Owls.  On paper this team is probably better than Xavier, but I learned my lesson last year about doubting the Musketeers.  That said, Temple should easily hit their fourth straight NCAA Tournament, and they are certainly back to a perenially good program now under Fran Dunphy.   The Owls lose leading scorer Ryan Brooks, but have enough pieces in place that it shouldn't hurt them.  Juan Fernandez is an oustanding point guard who I really want to compare to Pepe Sanchez, but that's lazy since they're both hispanic so instead I'll say he reminds me a lot of Greivis Vasquez.  With Lavoy Allen also back to dominate the inside, and last year's A-10 sixth man of the year Ramone Moore ready to slide in for Brooks, they're in great shape.

3.  Richmond Spiders.  Of all the graduating players in the conference, nobody is going to miss their guy more than the Spiders will miss David Gonzalvez.  They still have point guard and A-10 player of the year Kevin Anderson back, but he and Gonzalvez formed a nearly unstoppable backcourt duo, averaging 32.4 points between the two of them - 46% of the team's scoring - and were the top two assist and steal guys to boot.  Beyond finding someone to fill in for Gonzalvez, the big key for the season is the continued improvement of PF Justin Harper, who is suddenly getting "potential NBA pick" buzz, as well as if Dan Geriot can get back to close to what he was before he hurt his knee.  He was a double-digit scorer and a beast inside before the injury, but averaged less the 7 points per game last year.  If he is recoverd in year 2 post-surgery, this team goes from a good team to a great team.

4.  St. Louis Billikens.  Majerus's team was one of the youngest in the country last year, but came together and closed strong, finishing 11-5 in the A-10 and denied an NCAA berth due to a very weak non-conference schedule.   This year the schedule has been upgraded along with the expectations, because with their top six scorers back - all of whom were unerclassmen last year - they are in position to get to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2000.  Kwamain Mitchell (16 points, 3 rebs, 3 assists per game), Willie Reed (12 pts, 8 rebs, 2 blks), and Cody Ellis (11 pts, 5 rebs) are a dynamic trio, and the Billikens were one of the toughest defensive teams in the country last year.  Pay attention to their game November 20th vs. Georgia - the result of that one will help give a gauge on how "for real" this team is.  [NOTE:  I have since been informed that Mitchell and Reed have been suspended due to some chick framing them for some kind of sex allegation.  This obviously means that they're screwed.]   

5.  Dayton Flyers.  I've talked about this on here before, but is there a more overrated program than the Flyers?  They continually get praised as if they've accomplished something, but they've only made one NCAA Tournament in the last six years, and they continually underachieve.  Once again this year they'll be built around an overrated power forward who can't stay healthy and a bunch of guards with gigantic question marks surrounded them .  Either way I still have a special place in my heart for Dayton fans, who are almost identical to Packer fans.  They have the same mix of delusion, overconfidence, and entitlement, mixed with a dash of overconfidence and a sprinkle of questionable personal hygiene and mental problems.

6.  Charlotte 49ers.  Interesting team here.  They were cruising towards an NCAA berth last year at 18-5 and 8-1 in conference play before a 1-7 close to the season,  including losses to G. Washington and UMass, left them out of postseason play altogether.  Last year's point guard (Dijuan Harris) is gone and there's some concern about if anybody on the roster can replac ehim, but they return most of last year's team, including the dynamic inside duo of Shamari Spears (16 ppg/6 rpg last year) and Chris Braswell (10 and 9).  New coach Alan Major has a reputation for getting the most out of post players, so this sounds like a good combo to me.  Not like those pizzeria pretzel combos.  Seriously, who thought that one up?  Gross.

7.  Rhode Island Rams.  The Rams might not make the NCAA  Tournament all that often, but they are always a tough, tough, tough matchup, and there's no reason for that not to be the case again this year.  They lose two double-digit scorers from last year's team, but that doesn't mean they aren't still in good shape.  The three returning starters are all good players and give you an excellent balance of a ball-handler (Marquis Jones - 4.1 assists per game, third in A-10), an athletic wing (Delroy James - 13.2ppg, and second on team in 3-pointers despite being 6-8), and a big man in seven-footer Will Martell (8pts, 5 rebs).  Martell needs to improve because his rebounds and blocks are low for a seven-footer and he's the man down low this year.     

 
8.  Duquesne Dukes.  The Dukes return one of the best players you've never heard of in Damian Saunders, a double-double machine who doesn't mind blocking your shot right back in your stupid face if you were dumb enough to bring it to his house.  With four other big-time contributors back, including #2 leading scorer in guard Bill Clark and point guard Eric Evans, this will probably be the best Duquesne team in 30 years, not that it's exactly a huge feat, but you gotta start somewhere.  The Dukes made the NIT two years ago but dropped back into the CBI last season - their first back-to-back postseasons since 1980-1981.  Time to take that next step, boy-os.  Do it for Mike James.

10.  UMass Minutemen.  Leading scorer Ricky Harris is gone and UMass won just twelve games last year, but there is some reason to be optimistic based on what's coming back.   Anthony Gurley, Terrell Vinson, and Freddie Riley are all good all-around wing types who averaged over or close to double-digits in scoring last year and all showed at different times that they are capable of taking over a game against a quality opponent - they just all have to bring that A game at the same time.  If they can find some consistent point guard play (overall UMass had more turnovers than assists) they could finish higher than this.  You could almost call them a sleeper, except they aren't quite good enough.

10.  George Washington Colonials.  GW has ten of last year's twelve contributors back, but one of the guys who is missing is last seasons leading scorer, Damian Hollis, and they weren't exactly world beaters last year, going just 16-13 (6-10 in A10), and it was an empty 16 wins without a single good victory in there anywhere that I could find.  So how do you rate experience coming back, but save a couple of guys, subpar talent?  10th, apparently.

11.  LaSalle Explorers.  If you ever want proof that I'm an idiot, you can look at my picking this team to be one of the top teams in the A-10 last year - probably my biggest whiff ever.  Rodney Green was a superstar and Aaric Murray was a top recruit and I thought they'd surprise.  Well, they did.  They surprised the hell out of me by being a bunch of worthless sucks who sucked.  Now Green is gone, Murray is overrated, and I'll never trust these guys again.  At least until Lionel Simmons II comes to town.

12.  St. Joseph's Hawks.  I don't believe it would be possible to pick a worse time to have a home-and-home with the Hawks, because they were brutal last year and this year ain't fixin' to get much better.  Remember these guys last year?  The team the Gophers beat 97-74 and won just five conference games?  Well, it's basically the same team as last year, except their two best players graduated.  Actually, there is reason for optimism and a good reason to look forward to watching them play, and that's freshman center C.J. Aiken, who was ranked by Rivals as the #8 center who should play immediately.  They also added a couple other solidly ranked, athletic freshman to give them one of the better classes in the conference, that just won't make much of a difference this year.

13.  St. Bonaventure Bonnies.  The good news is that stud big man Andrew Nicholson is back, and last year as a sophomore he was good enough to average 16 points and 7 rebounds per game while shooting 56% from the field.  Pretty awesome.  The bad news is that Jonathan Hall and Chris Matthews (no relation to Eric and Cory) graduated and took over 25% of the team's scoring with them (nearly 50% of the non-Nicholson points) and starting point guard Malcolm Eleby is gone after getting into a fight on-campus.  Why that couldn't have happened to Lawrence Westbrook I'll never know.

14.  Fordham Rams.  This is familiar.  Two years ago Fordham was terrible, but Jio Fontan had a huge year and was the only bright spot.  Then he transferred.  Last year, the Rams were again terrible, but Chris Gaston was a monster, notching 19 double-doubles, and going 30 & 10 three times.  No, he hasn't transferred, but Fordham promises to be awful once again, so he'd have every right to in my book.  Loyalty is admirable, but who wants to play for at team that's won five games the last two season combined.  Yes, combined.  And I mean five total wins, not five conference wins.  It ain't easy being one of the worst offensive and worst defensive teams in the country, Fordham just makes it look easy.


Other Previews:

Other Previews:
Pac-10 College Basketball 2010 Preview
ACC College Basketball 2010 Preview
Big 12 College Basketball 2010 Preview
Big East College Basketball 2010 Preview

A Quick and Early look at the Gopher Basketball Non-Conference Schedule

Alright, so before when I said I wasn't going to do a post about the Gophers non-conference schedule I was obviously lying, because here is a post about the Gophers non-conference basketball schedule.  I have tried to keep this information as accurate as possible, but there are always things that slip through and not even a genius such as myself can keep up with which players may or may not have been kicked off/left the team for every school in the country.  At least I can guarantee their records are accurate.  Probably.

Nov 2 vs. Northeastern State, Nov 8 vs. Winona State - Whatever.  Pass.

Nov 12 vs. Wofford College
Record:  26-9 (15-3 SoCon), lost in first round of NCAAs to Wisconsin
Good Wins:  @ Georgia, South Carolina
Last Year RPI:  70
Starters Lost:  1 (
NOTES:  A nice homecoming game for seniors Noah "The more successful" Dahlman and Cameron Rundles, the Terriers should be favorites to repeat in the SoCon and will probably be the Gophers biggest test outside of Puerto Rico.  Even so, this is a slow team without the athletes needed to keep up, and should be the first in a long line of easy wins to open the season.

Nov 15 vs. Siena
Record:  27-7 (17-1 MAAC), lost in first round of NCAAs to Purdue
Good Wins:  None
Last Year RPI:  33
Starters Lost:  3
NOTES:   One of the hottest mid-major type teams the last few years, the Saints should take a step back this year with a lot to replace including Ronald Moore, the national assist leader, and Edwin Ubiles and Alex Franklin, their two leading scorers and all-around threats from the wing.  Still, they do have some firepower back (Clarence Jackson is going to explode this year) and will probably be the second best team the Gophers will face - which still means they should be an easy win.

Nov 18 vs. Western Kentucky (in Puerto Rico)
Record:  21-13 (10-6 Sun Belt)
Good Wins:  Vanderbilt, Murray State
Last Year RPI:  138
Starters Lost:  2
NOTES:  Top player A.J. Slaughter is gone, but the Hilltoppers have a bit of a mini-mid-major dynasty going and reload their roster with a very good recruiting class this season.  They are bringing in five new players, including SG Brandon Peters who ranks as Rivals #129 freshman and a couple other three star recruits, along with a couple of transfers from Big 12 schools (Oklahoma and OSU).  It's probably good the Gophers get them early, because I have a feeling they are going to be a lot tougher by the end of the year.

Nov 19 vs. North Carolina (in Puerto Rico, assuming they beat WKU)
Record:  20-17 (5-11 ACC), lost in NIT Championship game to Dayton
Good Wins:  Ohio State, Michigan State, Wake, Miss State
Last Year RPI: 64
Starters Lost:  2 (I think)
NOTES:  It's hard to say how many starters the Tar Heels lost because they used so many lineups last season and never really were able to figure the team out until the NIT, but don't let the record fool you they have a ton of talent.  Harrison Barnes is amazing, John Henson started to look like he figured it out late in the season, Reggie Bulluck should be awesome, and really it just goes on and on.  Of course, I would have said basically the same thing last year, but I find it hard to believe UNC is going to be at that level back-to-back seasons.

Nov 21 vs.  Vanderbilt or West Virginai (or Nebraska or Davidson)
NOTES:  Most likely this will be either WVU or Vandy, and a win over either would be a challenge and a nice resume builder.  I think if they manage to beat UNC I'd hope for a championship matchup with he Mountaineers in order to get the biggest scalp possible, but if they lose to the Heels I'd hope they go up against Vandy, which would still be a nice win but an easier win as well.


Nov 24 vs. North Dakota State
Record:  11-18 (8-10 Summit)
Good Wins:  None
Last Year RPI:  267
Starters Lost:  3
NOTES:  This is not the same scrappy, rough-and-tumble, senior white boy led squad from a couple of years ago.  This is just a bad team.  Look at that RPI.  Now realize it's going to be about the same this year.  Worthless game here, rather than giving a few third and fourth tier former Minnesota high school players a chance to play in the Barn.  I guess I can see some value in that, and if this was the only game against an opponent like this, I wouldn't complain.


Nov 29 vs. Virginia (Big 10/ACC Challenge)
Record: 15-15 (5-11 ACC)
Good Wins:  UAB, Georgia Tech
Last Year RPI:  123
Starters Lost:  2
NOTES:  We get Virginia again the Challenge, which is a yawner, especially since their best and most exciting player, Sylvan Landesberg, got essentially booted off the team last year and is currently trying to hook on with an NBA squad.  Still, Tony Bennett is already starting to pay dividends on the recruiting trail, bringing in a very good class including #30 in the country K.T. Harrell, #108 James Johnson, #119 Joe Harris, and #148 Will Regan.  Wait.  Holy crap that's a really good class.  Virginia is on their way back to relevance (like, Harold Deane/Curtis Staples territory), and I'm now amending my previous statement and saying that THIS will be the toughest non-Puerto Rico game.

Dec 4 vs. Cornell
Record:  27-4 (13-1 Ivy), lost in the Sweet 16 of the NCAAs to Kentucky
Good Wins:  Temple, Wisconsin, Alabama, Harvard x 2
Last Year RPI:  37
Starters Lost:  4
NOTES:  Stop.  Just stop.  This is not a good opponent.  Last year was lightning in a bottle because they had 1.  A high quality coach, 2.  A legitimate scoring threat who could take over the game, 3.  A skilled 7-footer who was a weapon on offense and defense, and 4.  A point guard who could control the game.  All those things are gone.  The Gophers will win by 40, and at the end of the season their RPI will be north of 200.

Dec 8 @ St. Joseph's
Record:  11-20 (5-11 A-10)
Good Wins:  Dayton, Boston College
Last Year RPI:  180
Starters Lost:  2
NOTES:  The only true road game on the non-conference slate, always a good sign of a challenging schedule, and it's against a team with an RPI of 180 last year who will probably be even worse.  This is a truly horrible game, because nobody gives a crap if you win on the road against a team like this, but they are just good enough (and the Gophers are historically shaky enough on the road) to pull of an upset, which really hurts NCAA bid chances.  I am interested in seeing C.J. Aiken, a freshman who Rivals ranks as the #8 incoming center in the country who is playing for the Hawks for some reason that I assume involves a lost bet or alcohol.   


Dec 11 vs. Eastern Kentucky
Record:  20-13 (11-7 OVC)
Good Wins:  Morgan State
Last Year RPI:  164
Starters Lost:  2
NOTES:  They play Western, so might as well play Eastern, right?  I don't know.  A middling Ohio Valley team?  They're more likely to be a 200+ in RPI than a sub-100, so I don't really like this.  Should be an easy win though, so I guess they got that going for them.  Since there aren't enough of those already.

Dec 15 vs. Akron
Record:  24-11 (12-4 MAC), lost in first round of CBI to Green Bay
Good Wins:  Niagara
Last Year RPI:  95
Starters Lost:  3
NOTES:  My first reaction was "Akron?  Cool.  They've been a bubble team recently."  And then I realized that the days of Dru Joyce and Romeo Travis were actually five years or so ago, so they really aren't a dangerous team anymore (especially with losing their two best players to graduation).  I mean, Akron always seems to be a nice team, and I don't hate them being on the schedule at all since they'll probably just be a low 100 RPI, but meh.  Although maybe Lebron will show up.  Did I tell you I'm a huge Miami Heat fan now?


So really, there's no reason the Gophers shouldn't be, at a minimum, 9-2 heading into Big Ten play.  8-3 would be bad but not a disaster, but if they go in any worse than that the season is basically already done.  I don't think anybody realistically thinks they'll be more than a couple few games over .500 in Big Ten play, so a 7-4 non-conf record with that many cupcakes would make an NCAA bid a very tough road.

And it's really not that there are a ton of low-end games.  At most they'll probably end up with two teams with sub-200 RPIs, but it's the lack of high-end games that is so disappointing.  If everything breaks perfectly in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off they will end up having all of two marquee non-conference games - neither at home.  Didn't you think we'd be seeing better in Tubby:  Year IV?  I did.  Yeah, he's better than Monson (and thank god they didn't hire Molinari) and yes, we're seeing a better product and yes, they have indeed made the NCAA tournament two years in a row, so maybe it's my fault for wanting more.

Is it my fault?  Am I alone here?

I thought Hawks ate Gophers (or something)

Wow.  That was a brutal team.  I don't recall seeing such awful defense ever, not counting if you played Snacks in Coach K College Basketball on Sega Genesis and he was Michigan State with Jamie Feick anchoring the middle.  The Gophers shot 53% from the field and 45% from three and should almost be embarassed of those numbers.

I've seriously never seen so many open shots and easy dunks.  I have no idea how St. Joe's hung tough with Villanova.  Maybe that was "their Super Bowl" kind of game since they are heated rivals, but that team I saw out there tonight was embarrassing.  They weren't much better on offense either, particularly in the second half when it kind of turned into an "Imitate Reggie Holmes" contest and passing became little more than a rumor.  Even worse, this was Wonderbaby's^TM first ever Gopher game. I hope it didn't turn her off of basketball forever.

Rather than focus on the evil in this world (such as St. Joe's defense), let's just highlight some Gophers who performed well, keeping in mind they were essentially going up against a bunch of cardboard cutouts or those awesomely tight Fatheads. Seriously, I own like 20 fatheads. They're awesome and totally something a grown man should own. You definitely don't need to re-evaluate your life if you own any of them or anything.

- Ralph, who I just dropped in my fantasy league, put up some huge numbers - finishing with 16 points, 10 rebounds, 3 blocks and 3 assists.  He had like, seven dunks or something late in the game when St. Joe's went into their ole defense, but prior to that he played a pretty solid game with some nice moves, including an alley-oop that he effed up and accidentally made the layup instead.  Now I have to think about picking him back up.  F me.

-  Colt Iverson is starting to look, dare I say, kind of polished in the post and finished with 11 and 7.  I'm terrified he's becoming what I wanted Ralph to be.  Although Ralph still has a pretty touch from the perimeter and Iverson looks like he's throwing a hatchet and a hostile injun when he's outside of six feet, so maybe I don't have to worry just yet.

- Blake Hoffbauer definitely deserves mention after putting up a nearly-career high 20 after hitting five of his nine three-point attempts.  His shot being back after a rough year last season is overshadowing perhaps the most interesting part of his game; this guy can ball.  His other stats aren't that great today (3 rebs, 1 assist, 1 steal, and 1 turnover that was actually Ralph's fault please don't hurt me Ralph I still love you), but the guy is just a heady player.  Always around the ball, capable of a ten rebound game, and an excellent assist-to-turnover ratio; I'm just falling for the Hoff in such a big way.  Somebody invite me to a kegger at the U so I can get drunk and follow him around and compliment him so much he gets really uncomfortable but he's so polite he won't tell me to F off.

-  Devoe can shoot that rock like nobody's business.  I think the famous "guy who sits next to us who yells a lot and is a total homer and has almost zero understanding of how basketball actually works" had his crowning achievement today when he yelled at Devoe for shooting a wide open (and I mean wide open, even on a day when everybody was wide open this was wide open) three pointer (which he made) by saying, "No!  Get it inside, No!".  Oof.  This guy would be a psychiatrist's dream.  

-  Finally, this isn't Gopher related, but I promised I'd follow Morgan State's Reggie Holmes and report on him here and so I must.  Also I decided any post that contains a Holmes update will have his picture way up top, so you know the excellence will be broughten - sort of like the Bat Signal.The Bears beat my formerly beloved Manhattan Jaspers today behind 31 from Mr. Holmes on some most excellent shooting (10-17) with four turnovers.  Assists = 0, bringing his season totals to 4 assists and 19 turnovers.  He's still 15 assists shy of his career high.  Stay tuned.

Also here is a picture of Wonderbaby at the game because I know you want to see it.

Gophers vs. Jameer Nelson U Preview

I really wish I had watched that St. Joe's vs. Villanova game, because St. Joe's put up a hell of a fight against the #3 team in the country before falling 97-89.  If not for that, I would be calling this a Gopher rout.  The Hawks have now lost five in a row, and the four previous losses were to Purdue by 25, DePaul, Rider, and Cornell.  Not very intimidating.  Their three wins were over Drexel (in overtime), Holy Cross, and a crappy Boston College team.

I'm looking at this boxscore against Villanova and I can't figure out what exactly they did well.  They didn't shoot particularly well (43%) nor hold Nova's shooting in check (47%), they turned it over (16 times to 16 assists), and got killed on the boards (23-39).  About the only real positives I can identify are they bombarded Villanova with threes (10-26), got to the line a bunch (29-38), and had five players in double figures scoring (5).  Based on all of the above information, I'm going to assume that hanging with Nova was more a function of it being a home game against a hated rival, and not so much that St. Joe's is anywhere near that class of team.  I'm also going to assume that they are likely a tough team and won't be a pushover.

So what do they do well?  Not much, really.  They are decidely average in almost every category.  The only stats that really stand out are that they get to the line quite often (33rd) and don't send their opponent to the line much (76th), and they shoot free throws well (73.8%).  On the flip side, they are terrible at both getting and preventing offensive rebounds (333rd and 307th), are a poor 2-point shooting team (45% - 224th), and don't turn their opponents over (270th) and don't register many steals (235th).  And although they are an average 3-point shooting team (34%) they do like to chuck them up (36% of field goal attempts are threes - 72nd), which has to be a concern.

As far as individual players go they are very balanced with five guys averaging between 9 and 13 points per game.  Four of those are guards and their sixth leading scorer is also a guard - this is a small team.

Their main scoring threat is 6-1 combo guard Darrin Govens, who averages 13 points, 4 boards, and 3 assists per game while shooting 36% from three.  He is definitely the team's main three point threat, hitting 2 or more in five of their 8 games, and has hit double figures in every game but two, topping out at 23 against Drexel and 19 against Villanova.  Purdue was able to completely shut him down however, allowing him just three points and four shot attempts.  I'm guessing this was do to Chris Kramer, and since Al Nolen is a better defender than Kramer he should be able to handle him.

As far as ball-handling, three guys split the role with the best being the 6-5 Garrett Williamson, who leads the team with 3.3 assists per game and chips in with an average of 12 points.  He's not much of a shooter (just 3 threes made this year, career high in four years of 5), but has doubled his scoring this year compared to his career average.  Unfortunately for him, he's also increased his turnovers ever year and is at a robust 3.6 per game this season, although that number is inflated by two games with 8 turnovers in his first three, and his last four games he's averaged less than 2 TOs per.

The other two point guards are both freshmen, both are six feet tall, both score in the 9-10 points per game range, and both have more turnovers than assists so far this year.  Carl Jones is more of a chucker, who has hit double-digits four times this year (and had a 45-point game in high school last year), but also has put up games where he shot 1-7 and 1-9.  Justin Crosgile is more of a traditional point guard and is more under control.  He missed the first five games of the season with an injury, but has scored 12, 4, and 12 in the three games he's been back for.

The only inside scoring threat is 6-7 Idris Hilliard who averages 12 points and 6 rebounds per game and put up 22-7 on 5-5 shooting against Villanova.  He's undersized, but uses his quickness to get to the line (two games with over 10 free-throw attempts) and can score.  He pretty much has to if they're going to get anything inside.  The only other big worth noting is Todd O'Brien, who is more notable since he starts and for his size (6-11, 232 lbs.) than for his play (5 points, 6 rebounds per game).

The last guy I am going to mention is Chris Prescott, who starts over the two freshmen guards I mentioned before.  Although he's not a huge offensive threat and averages just 5.6 points per game, he is also a big-time three point shooter and has hit at least 2 in four of the team's 8 games.  He will only be an issue if the Gophers can't contain penetration by the other guards.  I don't think that will be an issue, but I wanted to point it out here because at the same time I'm deathly terrified this guy is going to hit five threes tomorrow.

But that is pretty much all I'm deathly terrified of, but don't take the Hawks lightly.  They may be 3-5, but they have played a very tough schedule.  Even so, they are basically the very definition of an average team and the Gophers have a decided edge in both ability and in size, and that last one might be the biggest difference in the game.  I expect Minnesota to blow them off the boards, and use their size advantage both to not only get easy shots inside but to set up open shots on the perimeter as well, and the Gophers defense should be able to handle a team of mediocre ball-handlers.

Minnesota 85, St. Joe's 66.

I don't have my book here at work, but I'll be back later with your FUN FACT for St. Joe's, don't you worry your pretty little head.

And I can't find a picture of any St. Joe's girls, so please instead accept this picture of a catholic school girl which is what I picture the student's at St. Joe's look like:

NCAA Basketball Preview: Atlantic 10

Just a fascinating conference, which always seems to have one elite team (Xavier for while, St. Joe's before them, GW before them), a handful of decent teams, and some serious dead weight at the bottom.  The problem is that the good teams always beat up on each other while the bottom dwellers drag the overall conference profile down, and the A-10 never gets as many bids as it probably should.


1.  DAYTON.  It looks like it's time for a change at the top, with Xavier taking a step back and the Flyers moving on up.  They have everybody back from the team that beat West Virginia in the first round of the NCAAs last year, which I remember vividly because I had to sit and watch that game in a Dayton bar in Chicago that was packed to the rafters with hippy Dayton fans who were worse than Gopher fans when it comes to the constant ref cheating conspiracy theories and are basically complete hipster doofus morons.  Anyway, they're fortunate because Chris Wright is back and is probably the best player in the A-10 as well as being an absolute beast inside, along with something like 95% of the team's scoring from last year.  If they improve their outside shooting (11th in 3 pt. FG % in the A-10, which has 14 teams) they could make some national noise.

2.  LASALLE.  If Chris Wright isn't the best player in the A-10, it might be LaSalle slasher Rodney Green, who is the second highest returning scorer in the conference at 17.8 ppg last season.  Green isn't a great outside shooter, but he's been remarkably consistent, improving both his three-point shooting as well as his scoring average all three seasons in his career.  He's also not one to disapper in games, as he scored in double-digits in the Explorer's last 26 games in 2008-2009.  He'll be helped by not only three other returning starters, but also by the top ranked incoming recruit in the conference in 6-10 center Aaric Murray, who is #35 on the Rivals Top 150 and the top ranked recruit to play for a non-BCS school this season.  That signing, and a good chance at an NCAA bid this year, mean LaSalle might be relevant for the first time since Lionel Simmons.

3.  RICHMOND.  It seems like Richmond has been the pesky A-10 team for the last couple of years, but not the good kind of pesky because they have nothing but two invitations to the CBI to show for it.  This year things are set up for a run at an NCAA bid.  Their top three scorers are back, including the entire starting backcourt, but more importantly center Dan Geriot returns from a knee injury that caused him to miss all last season.  Geriot led the spiders in both scoring and rebounding two years ago when he was all Atlantic 10.  If he's fully recovered, and with a very tough non-conference schedule, Richmond is set up well for a postseason berth. 

4.  XAVIER.   A new coach and losing boatloads of talent - including over 50% of last year's scoring - means that this will be the toughest year for the Musketeers in a while.  They still have talent coming back.  Guards Terrell Holloway and Mark Lyons and center Kenny Frease were all top 150 recruits when they came out last year, and they add Indiana transfer Jordan Crawford (and if you aren't already sick of the "Crawford dunked on Lebron" story, expect it to get much worse during college basketball season.  They're still talented, but their step back combined with other teams improving means they'll have work to do to win another A-10 crown.

5.  UMASS.  The Minutemen are hurt by departing talent, including A-10 defensive player of the year Tony Gaffney and starting point guard and last year's A-10 second leading assist man Chris Lowe, but the combination of talent returning and new talent should keep them competitive.  The returning talent includes bring back shooting guard Ricky Harris, the leading returning scorer in the conference at 18.2 ppg, as well as fellow double-digit scorer Anthony Gurley, who was originally the #79 recruit on Rivals 150 for 2006 when he comitted to Wake Forest before transferring back.  Joining them is a class universally praised as the best of the Atlantic 10 this season, highlighted by combo forward Terrell Vinson, the #90 prospect this year, as well as four other three-star players.

6.  DUQUENSE.   It's tough to know what to make of the Dukes this season.  On the one hand, they made a run to the A-10 title game last year, finished with a winning conference record for the first time since 1991, made the postseason (NIT) for the first time since 1993, and have everyone coming back with the exception of one guy.  On the other hand, that one guy was guard Aaron Jackson, who led the team in scoring and assists and was second in rebounding and steals.  They were a very efficient offensive team last year (tops in the A-10), and have four guys returning who averaged 9.8 points per game or better, but must get better on defense (13th in the A-10) if they want to gain their first NCAA bid in 33 years.

7. CHARLOTTE.  The 49ers are another team hit hard by graduation, losing top player Lamont Mack among others, but have a very nice influx of talent joining up this year.  Start with dead-eye shooter Shamarr Bowden, an original commit of Virgina Tech who led Charlotte in scoring last offseason during through Canada before getting injured and being forced to redshirt last season.  He'll be back and looking to play off little 5-9 point guard DiJuan Harris who led the conference in assists last season.  Also incoming are #83 prospect PF Chris Braswell and transfer from B.C. Shamari Spears.  Adding these guys to a solid group of returnees means the 49ers could make a little noise this season.

8.  RHODE ISLAND.  Yet another team hit by graduation, the Rams lose their top two scorers from last season, and while they don't have the incoming talent of Charlotte, they do have a good group coming back.  Keith Cothran can't shoot like the departing Jimmy Baron, but he can score in bunches, and Delroy James has similar size, similar numbers, and a similar game to Kahiem Seawright.  Point guard should be fine in the hands of either returning starter Marquis Jones or incoming frosh Akeem Richmond, and if somebody can step up and become the third scorer the Rams will be in good shape.

9.  TEMPLE.  I've seen some previews that have Temple as a league champion contender, but I'm just not seeing it.  They are losing three players, including superstar Dionte Christmas, who led the A-10 in scoring three consecutive seasons and was probably the A-10 player of the year but for the love of god I can't find this information anywhere to confirm or deny.  With no major freshmen influx of talent, they will need somebody to become the go to guy with Christmas gone.  Forward Lavoy Allen seems most likely.  He's their leading returning scorer and was a top 150 talent when he comitted to the Owls. 

10.  ST BONNIE'S.  The Bonnies were in a complete shambles not all that long ago but are starting to get near respectability, going 15-15 last season, their first time with double-digit victories since 2002-2003.  This year could be even more of an improvement, with three double-figure scorers back including last year's A-10 Rookie of the Year in 6-9 Andrew Nicholson.  The Bonnies were one of the fastest teams last season (#22 Tempo), but played scattershot, ending up as one of the least efficient offensive teams (#238) due to poor shooting (#285 in 3pt pct) and horrendous ball control (#305 in turnovers).  If they are going to keep improving, that needs to be addressed.

11.  ST LOUIS.  This Rick Majerus turn-around is taking longer than expected, and might not get started quite yet again this year with the Billikens losing their starting backcourt, Tommie Liddell and Kevin Lisch, who both averaged double-figures in scoring for four straight years and have been the top-2 Billiken scorers for the last three.  Majerus has been stockpiling some talent, at least, including two players from Australia this season which I think is a good sign - foreign players were a hallmark of his excellent teams at Utah, who will join last year's class of four 4-star players.  Notable from that class are PG Kwamain Mitchell, the team's only returning double-figure scorer and leading assist man, and center Brett Thompson, who was ranked #107 by Rivals two years ago but must step up [ED. NOTE:  Fine, I get it.  I'm an idiot.  He's not on SLU any more]. 

12.  SAINT JOE'S.  Free fall.  The Hawks lose their top two players, Ahmad Nivens and Tasheed Carr, who accounted for nearly half of the teams points and rebounds a third of their assists, and there ain't much in the hopper.  Shooting guard Darrin Govens is the leading returning scorer and he's a chucker extraordinaire, flinging up 208 three-point attempts (6th in the A-10, first on the team by nearly 100) despite hitting under 35%.  With no other scorers on the team, we could reach Robert Vaden levels of chuckitude.  Help is on the way, however, with the Hawks having already gained comittments from two top 120 recruits for 2010.

13.  GEORGE WASHINGTON.  It was just four seasons ago the Colonials were loaded and finished the season 27-3, but they have fallen hard and it might be tough to duplicate even last season's 4-12 conference record.  GW loses three of it's top four scorers, and is going to be leaning heavily on it's six newcomers, none of whom are real standouts.  Senior forward Damian Hollis will be the main man and did score 20-plus in two of the team's last four games, but he's no Pops Mensah-Bonsu, that's for sure. 

14.  FORDHAM.  There isn't an OOF big enough to describe what is going on at Fordham.  For starters, they were just 3-25 last year (NOTE:  not a typo), and last in the conference in essentially every statistical category.  Secondly, three of their top four players either transferred or graduated.  Finally, and most bizarre, their best player and former Rivals 150 guy Jio Fontan attempted to transfer, but in something that I can't recall every hearing happen, the school refused to give him his release so now he's stuck.  I have no idea how that is even possible or legal, but apparently it is, so Jio is stuck with an even worse team than last year.  I'm sure he will give his top effort all season long and not become a locker room problem at all. 


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Conference USA