First Team All American Selections

As posted on the blog 2 days ago, the First Team All American Selections included Wesley Johnson (Syracuse), Evan Turner (Ohio State), Scottie Reynolds (Villanova), John Wall (Kentucky), and DeMarcus Cousins (Kentucky).

Second Team All Americans were James Anderson (Oklahoma State), Sherron Collins (Kansas), Jon Scheyer (Duke), Greivis Vasquez (Maryland), and Da’Sean Butler (West Virginia).

My thoughts on the selections?  On the whole I thought the AP did a good job in the selections.  Scottie Reynolds and Wes Johnson were arguably the 2 most productive players in the Big East, although Greg Monroe also had a great year.  Evan Turner was the National Player of the Year.  John Wall was a freshman sensation that brought energy back to Lexington and was, at times, the most explosive player in college basketball.  DeMarcus Cousins was an inside force that helped Kentucky to advance to the top spot in the country.

However, if the AP made a mistake, it was the selection of DeMarcus Cousins.  Cousins averaged 15.1 points per game and 9.8 rebounds per game, which are very impressive statistics.  However, he only played 23.5 minutes per game, or just over half a game per night.  While the production is there, I find it difficult to name someone an All American who wasn’t consistently on the floor.  Every other first team All American selection averaged over 30 minutes per game.  Cousins’ consistent foul trouble and his unsportsmanlike antics at times limited his play and effectiveness.  Therefore, Cousins was a very talented, productive player, but he was not on the floor long enough to be deserving of an All American honor.

So who should have replaced Cousins?  There are several good candidates on the second team.  James Anderson averaged 22.3 points per game with 5.8 rebounds per game.  He would be the primary suitor to replace Cousins, because of both his stats and what he meant to the Cowboys.  He was by far the best scorer on the team and almost singlehandedly led the team to the NCAA tournament.  He was double covered every night and still put up impressive, consistent statistics in the biggest moments, including 27 points and 30 points in the season defining wins over Kansas and Kansas State, respectively. 

Another candidate for that spot is Maryland’s Greivis Vasquez.  He averaged 19.6 points per game and 6.3 assists per game, and most notably led the Terps with 20 points in an emotional win over Duke on Senior Night.  Greivis’ statistics and importance to the team should have been impressive enough to jump Cousins in the voting. 

When comparing these two very deserving second teamers, James Anderson’s season was more impressive than Greivis’ season.  His numbers and his leadership were unbelievably impressive, and he led the Cowboys to the NCAA tournament  because of his ability and poise.  Although both DeMarcus Cousins and Greivis Vasquez had very impressive seasons, Anderson was more deserving of the First Team All American honor than either Cousins or Second Team All American teammate Vasquez.

NCAA Coaching Update

It has been a busy day and past week in the college basketball coaching realm.

First, Al Skinner was fired from Boston College today, after interviewing for the St. John’s coaching vacancy.  However, Athletic Director Gene DeFilippo asserted that the interview with St. John’s was not the reason for the firing, as it was for former Boston College head football coach Jeff Jagodzinski prior to last year’s season.

Regarding the St. John’s head coaching vacancy, ESPN analyst and former UCLA head coach Steve Lavin will become the next Red Storm head coach.

Oregon has gone after 2 Big 10 coaches in Tom Izzo of Michigan State and Tubby Smith of Minnesota.  Neither coach has commented on the possibility of coaching at Oregon, but Izzo has denied communication with Oregon.

UTEP hired former USC head coach Tim Floyd to fill the program’s coaching vacancy.  Tim Floyd incurred several NCAA regulations violations for USC before his resignation, which was likely due to the punishments facing him as well as the USC program.

Last week, Iowa has hired former Siena head coach Fran McCaffrey (graduate of La Salle College High School) to be the next Hawkeye head coach, and he will replace former Iowa head coach Todd Lickliter, who was the Butler head coach before leaving for Iowa.

College Basketball All-America Team

First Team All American:

Wesley Johnson (Syracuse)

John Wall (Kentucky)

DeMarcus Cousins (Kentucky)

Scottie Reynolds (Villanova)

Evan Turner (Ohio State)

Second Team All American:

James Anderson (Oklahoma State)

Sherron Collins (Kansas)

Greivis Vasquez (Maryland)

Jon Scheyer (Duke)

Da’Sean Butler (West Virginia)

Stay tuned tomorrow for my analysis of the picks for the All America Team.

NCAA Tournament Rounds 3-4: What we Learned?

We learned that Butler is for real.  The Bulldogs beat the much more talented and athletic Big East and Big XII powerhouses Syracuse and Kansas State in succession to advance to the Final Four.

We learned the Gordon Hayward can really play with the big teams and players.  Hayward had a great year, but some (including myself) still questioned his ability to score consistently outside of the Horizon League.  He proved us all wrong by being the major factor that allowed Butler to advance to Indianapolis to play a virtual home game in the Final Four.

We learned that Tom Izzo is the new Mr. March.  If Reggie Jackson is Mr. October, then Tom Izzo can claim the title of Mr. March.  He has helped Michigan State advance to 6 Final Fours in the past 12 years, including the past 2 seasons.  This year’s journey was especially difficult, as the team was a 5 seed and advanced to the Final Four without the services of point guard and team leader Kalin Lucas for the Sweet 16 and Elite 8 games.  No one in recent memory has prepared his team better for the NCAA tournament than Tom Izzo.

We learned that freshmen, though talented, are still freshmen and can still be affected negatively by lack of experience in the NCAA tournament.  John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, and Eric Bledsoe were the leaders for the Kentucky Wildcats.  However, after a convincing win over Wake Forest in the 2nd round, the team went cold and could not make up for its inaccuracy and sloppiness.  The Wildcats almost gave Cornell the game in the Sweet 16, but Cornell could not hit jumpers with any effectiveness.  Kentucky did lose to West Virginia, who did make shots.  Kentucky committed too many turnovers (16), missed too many foul shots (55.2% from the line), and was too inconsistent from 3 point range (4-32).  Freshmen mistakes were far to commonplace for Kentucky in the regional semis and final.

We learned that initial predictions mean almost nothing.  Most analysts picked Duke as the first #1 seed to be eliminated, and expected Kansas to win the National Championship.  However, it was Kansas who was the first #1 seed eliminated, and Duke is now the only #1 seed remaining in the NCAA tournament.  Jon Scheyer, Kyle Singler, Nolan Smith, and Brian Zoubek have all played very well in the tournament, and look to lead the Blue Devils to a National Championship.

In the next few days, we will again learn, as we do every year, how long the week wait between the Elite 8 and Final Four is.  What to watch during the long week?  The NIT semifinals will be played tomorrow night on ESPN2, and the final will be played Thursday.

Donovan McNabb Update

Several sources have confirmed interest by the Oakland Raiders in acquiring the services of Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb.  The most likely scenario if a deal is made would be for the Eagles to receive Oakland’s 2nd round, 39th overall pick.  Stay tuned to the blog for any further breaking news on the subject.

The Frozen Four

With a thrilling double overtime win over Michigan, Miami (OH) has advanced to the Frozen Four, which is the semifinals of college hockey.  The Frozen Four will be played in Detroit at Ford Field, home of the Detroit Lions

The matchups (Thursday Night in succession on ESPN2):

Miami (OH) vs. Boston College 

RIT vs. Wisconsin

Miami (OH), Boston College, and Wisconsin were all favorites to make the Frozen Four.  RIT stunned 2nd seeded Denver in the first round and then beat New Hampshire to advance to the Frozen Four and to become the Cinderella story of the tournament.

The Final Four is Set

The final 2 spots in the Final Four were decided today, as Michigan State beat Tennessee in a thriller, and Duke pulled away late to beat Baylor and advance.  This coming Saturday, Butler will face Michigan State at 6:07 ET, and West Virginia will face Duke at 8:37 ET.  The Final Four will be played in Indianapolis’ Lucas Oil Stadium, home of the Indianapolis Colts.

My predictions:

In the early game, Butler and Michigan State will square off in what will be a battle of defensive minded teams.  Both teams have shown the ability to control the ball and the game itself in the most important moments of games.  In this game, I believe Butler will be able to feed off the home Indianapolis crowd.  The Bulldogs will be able to control the tempo, and will be able to score with more efficiency than Michigan State.  Gordon Hayward and Matt Howard lead a dynamic inside out offense, with 3 point shooters Shelvin Mack and Willie Veasley providing the fireworks from beyond the arc.

Butler will have to deal with Michigan State big men Delvon Roe, Raymar Morgan, and Draymond Green off the bench.  However, the slightly undersized Butler team has handled much bigger teams during the tournament and has still managed to advance.  The Spartans’ tallest consistent player is 6’8″ (Roe and Morgan), while Kansas State and Syracuse both have starters taller than those of Michigan State.  Therefore, I do not believe that Michigan State’s slight size advantage will dramatically affect the course of the game.  I think Butler will play strong defensively, and Michigan State will not be able to shoot well enough to keep up with the hot shooting of Butler.

Butler 57–Michigan State 55

In the late game, West Virginia will play Duke in a battle between traditional conference powers in the Big East and ACC.  Duke will look to control the perimeter, and West Virginia, albeit having success from the perimeter against Kentucky, will look to control the inside with its size and athleticism across its roster.  The premier matchups will be Jon Scheyer against Da’Sean Butler and Brian Zoubek against most likely Kevin Jones inside.  Will these Duke players be able to stay will Jones and Butler? And will Butler be able to quell the scoring power of Jon Scheyer?  The answers to these questions may ultimately determine the winner.

In addition, the game will hinge on West Virginia’s ability to shoot the ball.  West Virginia is one of the most inconsistent shooting teams in the country, but when the team is shooting well, almost no team in the country can control their mix of inside and outside effectiveness.  I think West Virginia will struggle initially to shoot in Lucas Oil Stadium because of the difference in depth perception in a football arena and a basketball arena.  Yes, I realize the team played in the Carrier Dome in regional semifinal and final, but the Carrier Dome situates the court entirely differently than Lucas Oil Stadium will.  In Syracuse the court stretches sideline to sideline in the endzone relative to the football field, whereas it will stretch from 35 yard line to 35 yard line in Indy, providing for a very different depth perception for players on an already inconsistent shooting team.  I do not think Duke will be affected as badly by this distraction because of its consistent shooting ability. 

 However, I do think that West Virginia’s inside presence will be the difference in the game.  Duke had trouble with Baylor’s big men today, and West Virginia’s big men are as big and arguably more talented than those of Baylor.  West Virginia will hit just enough outside shots to keep themselves in the game, and the Mountaineers’ solid defense will thwart Duke’s offensive attack.  West Virginia will control the inside and rebounding as it has done all  year.

West Virginia 68–Duke 62

The NCAA National Championship Game will be played on Monday night between the winners of these two games.

Final Four Update

Butler has just defeated Kansas State to advance to the Final Four in Indianapolis.  Between this region, the West, and the Midwest region (Mich St. vs. Tenn), there will be 2 teams seeded 5th or higher that will advance to the Final Four. 

In the late game tonight, the Kentucky Wildcats will play the West Virginia Mountaineers in the East regional final.  Tomorrow, the Duke Blue Devils will play the Baylor Bears in the South regional final, and the Michigan State Spartans will play the Tennessee Volunteers in the Midwest regional final.

Another interesting statistic: With the Kansas State loss today, only 1 conference has more than 1 team remaining in the NCAA tournament.  That conference is the SEC, which certainly isn’t the conference most were expecting to have the most success in this year’s tournament.

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UPDATE:  After West Virginia’s win over Kentucky, the SEC was reduced to 1 teams remaining in the NCAA tournament.  Now 6 conferences have 1 team remaining in the tournament: Big East (West Virginia), Big XII (Baylor), ACC (Duke), SEC (Tennessee), Big 10 (Michigan State), and the Horizon League (Butler).

New Overtime Rules in the NFL

Yesterday, the NFL owners voted 28-4 to pass a new overtime system that will be implemented for the playoffs next year.  The issue will be revisited next year to decide if the rule should be implemented in the regular season as well.

The new rule states that, if the first team to score in overtime scores a field goal, the game is not over, but instead the opposition will have the opportunity to have the ball.  If the opposing team scores a touchdown, the game is over, but if the team scores a field goal, the game would be tied and the game will then proceed as sudden death.

However, if the first team to score produces a touchdown, the game is over, and the opposing team will not have an opportunity to score.

One final condition states that if any team scores on defense or special teams, that team wins and the game is over at that point.

Confusing, right?  Donovan McNabb will have trouble with this one.  Seriously, though, this new system is unnecessarily complex.  It complicates overtime and introduces many new scenarios and strategies.  This may not seem like a bad thing to some, but in my opinion, this deviates from true football.  Mike Golic said it best on NFL Live yesterday, when he said, “Just play football!”  He advocated a 10 minute extra period, much like one that fans would see in basketball or hockey.  He felt like this was the simplest, most effective, and truest way to resolve the overtime debate.  I tend to agree.  Why not just add 10-15 minutes to the clock and let the teams score as much as they can and then see who is the winner?  If the teams are still tied, then there can be a tie (if it is implemented in the regular season).  If it were a playoff game, then a 2nd overtime period would follow if the teams were tied after the first overtime.  That is one good solution for the NFL overtime problem.

Another solution that would have been an improvement would be a system similar to the college system.  In the college system, each team has an opportunity to score from the 25 yard line, and if after each team’s possession the score is still tied, then a 2nd overtime period starts, and the cycle repeats until a winner is determined.  This would prevent ties.  In the NFL, if each team started at the 50 yard line, and the system operated under college rules, that would be an exciting, fair, and viable solution for overtime in the NFL, and would eliminate ties if it were implemented in the regular season as well.

Both these systems would be simpler and more exciting than this new system will be.  The new system is too ”out there,” in terms of strategy and execution.  It seems to be too different than an actual football game, and the NFL could have done much better in its design of a new overtime system.

What Happened to the Kansas Jayhawks?

Kansas was the #1 overall seed in the NCAA tournament, but lost in the 2nd round to #9 seeded Northern Iowa.  How could this have happened to the top overall seed that was the favorite to win the National Championship?

First, and most importantly, Northern Iowa was just that good.  The Panthers hit an impressive 9 three-pointers, including 4 from Ali Farokhmanesh and 2 from 7 foot center Jordan Eglseder.  These 2 players led the Panthers with 16 and 14 points, respectively.  Farokhmanesh consistently hit outside shots and kept the Jayhawk defense on its heels, while Eglseder was an inside-outside threat that Cole Aldrich could not seem to handle defensively.  The Panthers did not just slip by a team that was struggling; this Northern Iowa team outplayed the Jayhawks for 40 minutes and showed that it can play with anyone in the country.

However, as well as Northern Iowa played, Kansas still had its problems.  Lets start with the play of Cole Aldrich.  Against small conference team like Northern Iowa, it is important to utilize big men.  Because most small conference teams have only 1 big man, as Northern Iowa did, if that player gets in foul trouble early, it is almost impossible for the team to respond.  That big man came in the form of 7 foot Jordan Eglseder, who scored 14 points and held Cole Aldrich to 13.  13 points isn’t poor production on Aldrich’s part, but Kansas did not seem to take the initiative to throw the ball inside to Aldrich consistently.  His points were spread over the course of the game, and he only took 8 field goal attempts, of which he hit 6.  With a 75% efficiency from the field, why didn’t Kansas try to get him the ball more?  Cole Adrich needed to be a bigger part of the Jayhawk offense, and an increased presence by Aldrich would have helped Kansas offensively, and would have limited the effectiveness of UNI’s Eglseder.

In addition, Kansas was horrid from 3 point range.  The Jayhawks shot 6-23 (26.1%) from beyond the arc, as Sherron Collins and Tyshawn Taylor went a combined 0-11 from 3.  Sharpshooter Brady Morningstar played only 8 minutes and went 0-1 from 3 point range.  Kansas gave up a lot of points both by shooting poorly from 3 point range and focusing too much on the 3 point shot itself.

The 2 main problems with the Kansas Jayhawks in the loss to Northern Iowa were the amount of three point shots taken, and the poor percentage from distance.  23 shots from 3 point range is too much when the team has Cole Aldrich inside shooting 75% from the field on the day.  In addition, the poor shooting of senior leader Sherron Collins and Tyshawn Taylor adversely affected the Jayhawks chances at a trip to the Sweet 16.  Finally, Northern Iowa just played well.  The team outplayed Kansas both inside and outside, and Ali Farokhmanesh and Jordan Eglseder were players that Kansas could not stop.  Therefore, Kansas did have several problems in this game, but Northern Iowa deserves the majority of the credit for the victory over top seeded Kansas.