Changing My Tune

I was banging on Marquette at the beginning of the year, fully expecting them to display the same high end mediocrity that I'd witnessed over the last few seasons. However, after watching them win in South Bend on Monday, you can call me a believer. After splitting Thursday's games, I turn to the Golden Eagles -6.5 vs. Georgetown today. The Hoyas have been rather inept over the last few weeks, showing immaturity in the backcourt. Add in Dajuan Summers balky foot and I like Marquette to run away in this one.

The rest of Saturday's games pose an interesting challenge. None stands out as much as the Marquette endeavor, but we're not in the business of putting a different amount of units on each game. I like Stanford +10.5 @ UCLA and I'm definitely leaning towards this game because of California's missed opportunity on Thursday night. I'm also going to take Miami +0 @ Maryland. The Terrapins are a team in turmoil right now and I'm still a believer in the Hurricanes.

Record: 12-13
Bank: $189.20

Mr. T's basketball fund started with an imaginary $200 and puts $5 of action on every game he picks.

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Six Hours of Paradise

Finally having time to relax and check out some college hoops, Thursday provided a myriad of enjoyable contests. With six hours of contests on the schedule, there were many observations to be made:

• Kalin Lucas is quick as hell and has the ability to make an outside shot. As long as he’s around to lead Michigan State, I like their potential.
• Durrell Summers provides scoring ability for the Spartans with his all around game. He’s just been inserted in the starting lineup and should provide Michigan State with a nice weapon moving forward.
• Not sold on the MS big men. Raymar Morgan needs to be a dynamic force when he returns to health. One thing you can count on is that they will always rebound.
• Clemson’s Lorenzo Booker makes too many turnovers for a big man. His handle isn’t great and he gets a little careless in the lane. He should also work on not traveling so often.
• KC Rivers is a quality outside shooter and he’s not the only weapon Clemson has from the outside. Potter and Ogglesby, even though he didn’t play well against Virginia Tech, should allow Clemson to never be shut out from downtown.
• A.D. Vasallo isn’t a good decision maker. Virginia Tech’s senior leader had already shown poor judgment in the final minutes when he got fussy with coach Seth Greenberg after being substituted. After grabbing an offensive rebound with plenty of time left on the clock, Vasallo rushed a poor three-point attempt.
• Malcolm Delaney can make as many foul shots as he wants, but an 85% shooter can’t miss the front end of a one and one in the final minutes.
• Illinois seemed to have an incredibly inept offense. Minnesota plays tight man-to-man, but the offensive display was laughable. Dominique Keller and Demetri McCamey seemed like the only ones looking for shots. Alex Legion needs to be more aggressive when he’s on the floor and it always huts when your point guard doesn’t attack when there are opportunities. Chester Frazier is a tad too passive.
• Illinois made the game ugly, but Minnesota has effective offensive players. I really like the combination of Westbrook and Nolan on the outside. The forwards aren’t half bad with Sampson and Iverson supported by the bench.
• Diamon Simpson is a solid compliment to Patty Mills, but he pressed too much when Mills went out. Without Mills in the second half due to injury, St. Mary’s was a shell of themselves
• Austin Daye needs to hit the weights. Gonzaga’s young PF gets eaten up by stronger players.
• I almost forgot why I didn’t like Cal much last year. Jerome Randle isn’t an effective point guard and nothing’s changed.

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Throwdown Thursday

So much for a little momentum. Just when I thought the fund was heading in the right direction, we hit a road block. We take three steps forward and then we take two steps back. In the land of vig, that's not an acceptable proposition. Pittsburgh was unable to cover thanks to DeJuan Blair's foul trouble (something we've touched on previously). Missouri started slowly and was never able to recover against Kansas St.

That's why God created Throwdown Thursday...or at least ESPN. Tonight we're taking Minnesota +1 vs. Illinois. Minnesota has played well at home and their all around guard play is superior to Illinois'. I also like California +10 @ UCLA. UCLA hasn't been as good defensively this year without Russell Westbrook. I expect Cal's three-point shooting to keep them in this affair.

Record: 11-12
Bank: $189.65

Mr. T's basketball fund started with an imaginary $200 and puts $5 of action on every game he picks.

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One is the Loneliest Number

At the beginning of the year, Mike Krzyzewski installed Nolan Smith as Duke's starting point guard because he felt the change was necessary with the relatively new offensive system and classic defense he wanted to run. Greg Paulus was shifted to the bench and accepted the role because he's a senior with no professional basketball future looking for a National Championship. Wednesday night's showdown with Wake Forest was Smith's greatest challenge to date and he failed miserably. In 21 minutes, Smith recorded zero assists, a statistic unacceptable for a starting point guard. He also went 1-5 from the field, looked completely lost on both ends of the court, and failed to switch on a screen that led to Wake's game winning basket. Nice job Nolan. You failed the test with flying colors!

Wake Forest exposed Duke's main weakness, frontcourt size and athleticism. Aminu, Johnson, McFarland, and even Weaver dominated the paint on offense as Duke hasn't had a landlord since Sheldon Williams left town. Defensively, the length caused Duke to take more difficult shots. A bunch of Duke's shots were blocked by the Wake forwards, leading to numerous fast break opportunities. Singler shot poorly, but was still able to accumulate points. Henderson took over at the beginning of the second half, but turned the ball over a ton down the stretch. While Scheyer chipped in some, no one else was a factor. Someone else needed to step up, but that wasn't the case. Rebounds aren't an issue for the Blue Devils anymore with Singler's emergence as a dynamic rebounder, but Wake's size still ate them up. Beware of opponent's length come March.

Duke's definitely better than last year, but I still don't understand Coach K's rotation at times. And I hate when David McClure is on the floor because despite his defensive work, it's like playing four on five in the offensive half of the floor. Here's something worth noting, however. Duke shot 33% from the field, 4 of 22 from three-point range and only lost by TWO points at Wake. That kind of makes you wonder, doesn't it?

Before we get ahead of ourselves though, let's acknowledge that Wake Forest could've won going away if they didn't stumble down the stretch. This wasn't Wake's best game either. Jeff Teague had one of his worst games in a while because of the Duke defensive system. The Demon Deacons missed foul shots down the stretch to give Duke a glimmer of hope. James Johnson should be more aggressive offensively. He's got the tools to be a more impactful player. Wake's weakness lies in their three-point shooting. I'd like to see them against a zone defensive, although they might be able to attack it through the middle. I still can't pick them to win because I need the three-point explosivity in my predicted winner. Kansas, Florida, North Carolina, and UConn all had it as recent winners. It's not exactly something you can find midseason...
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Three's Company

The fund is rolling with three victories in a row. This is what the people are for, right? After winning in a Purdue game that was closer than it should've been, there are two games on the agenda for tonight. Pittsburgh -3 @ Villanova will test whether the Panthers are legit for a #1 seed. I'm thinking they have too much brute strength for Nova. I also like Missouri -3 @ Kansas State because Missou has handled the team it's better than. Missou is on the rise and so is Mr. T. It's time to get on board.

Record: 11-10
Bank: $199.65

Mr. T's basketball fund started with an imaginary $200 and puts $5 of action on every game he picks.

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Boiler Up!

Things are starting to come together for Mr. T's fund. The last two teams I've seen spreads that made me say to myself, "Really? That's the spread?" I see that as a good thing. Thoughts like that are the reason I created the fund in the first place.

Purdue (Even) @ Wisconsin brings the same kind of feeling to my system tonight. Wisconsin has lost their home intimidation factor. The team just doesn't have enough talent to scare anyone. Purdue is rounding into form and I doubt they'll take this game lightly. I'd like to sniff some positive territory, so I'm banking that the Boilermakers will take care of business.

Record: 10-10
Bank: $195.10

Mr. T's basketball fund started with an imaginary $200 and puts $5 of action on every game he picks.

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What to Watch for: 1/26 – 2/1

Things start tonight with Texas heading to Baylor for some Super Tuesday action. Baylor needs to bounce back after losing badly to Oklahoma over the weekend and Texas is definitely a vulnerable opponent.

I've been looking forward to this Duke @ Wake Forest game for weeks and it finally hits the calendar on Wednesday. How will Duke handle Wake Forest's height in the frontcourt? Duke needs a win in a scenario like this to legitimize their current #1 ranking.

Syracuse better be careful when they head to the state of Rhode Island on Wednesday night. Providence is a tough road team and we all know Cuse never plays as well on the road.

Thursday night provides a taste of mid-major conference action with St. Mary's taking on Gonzaga. The Zags still have great efficiency ratings, but they can't take this game lightly as St. Mary's and Patty Mills aren't intimidated.

California could use a quality road win, while UCLA comes off a disappointing loss to Washington. UCLA will try to control the tempo and extend the defense to limit California's long range bombers on Thursday.

People are ready to give up on Georgetown. Marquette is starting to gain legitimate buzz as a well seasoned March contender. Can the Hoyas catch them napping on Saturday?

Washington's freshman point guard Isiah Thomas has the Huskies moving in the right direction. Coming Saturday, Arizona St. will have to handle the power of Jonathan Brockman on the interior, which may result in trouble.
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One and Done

In the last post before we get back to being what we really want to be as a website, we'll provide a pick for Big Monday. After capitalizing on Michigan State yesterday, we look to the Big 12 today. Oklahoma -2.5 @ Ok. State is an interesting spread because Oklahoma is coming off a very dominant week. Ok. State should've been blown out by Missouri, but an inexperienced backcourt let the Cowboys back in the game. I don't expect Oklahoma to be as kind and the rivalry factor doesn't scare me because this is a game the Sooners will win.

Record: 9-10
Bank: $190.55

Mr. T's basketball fund started with an imaginary $200 and puts $5 of action on every game he picks.
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Sparty Needs to Save Me

We're a couple days away from getting back to normal on the site, but in the meantime we're picking only one game today. Yesterday's results did not do us well, with the Duke/Maryland result being the most surprising. Today we lean on the Spartans from Michigan State -3 @ Ohio State. The loss midweek should shake MSU up to the point where they won't stumble this weekend. Ohio State is a young, inexperienced team that should get nervous in a situation like this.

Record: 8-10
Bank: $186.40

Mr. T's basketball fund started with an imaginary $200 and puts $5 of action on every game he picks.
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Looking for Something New

Thursday night was a hit to the fund, something that seems to be dominating the pages of the blog, but that'll happen at times. The Doctor's MIA and I'm in a foreign country. The fund, however, needs to continue, which is why we're trying to find a spark in Saturday's selections.

Those that know me know that I'm a fan of Seth Davis. It has nothing to do with his Duke undergraduate degree. The guy flat out knows his stuff. Sometimes he takes his ideas too far, but the baselines are always there. I've felt something's fishy with Notre Dame all year and I'm willing to take a chance with Connecticut -1.5 @ ND to break their home winning streak. I also like Maryland +16 @ Duke because of the rivalry's intensity and Duke's ability to make games closer than they appear. I also like LSU -3 vs. Xavier because I think LSU is on the verge of getting some national recognition. Let's hoop it up...

Record: 7-8
Bank: $191.85

Mr. T's basketball fund started with an imaginary $200 and puts $5 of action on every game he picks.


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Get Me Two

I'm on my way to the airport, but I gotta get the picks in. The picks are in for tonight, however, with Georgetown -5.5 vs. West Virgnia and UCLA -5 @ Washington St.

Record: 7-6
Bank: $201.85

Mr. T's basketball fund started with an imaginary $200 and puts $5 of action on every game he picks.
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Go (Mid)West Young Man

I'd like to think we're back in business. Saturday's fund picks went a respectable 2-1, although they could've been undefeated had we had some better luck with the Miami/UNC game (missed the spread by half a point).

Tonight we're shifting our attention to the Midwest as we pick Missouri +1.5 @ Oklahoma St. Missouri is quietly dominating Big Ten opponents, both at home and on the road. They're not sneaking up on me with their experienced front court. Ok. St. is a situation in flux, so I see no reason to not lean on the Tigers tonight.

I've also noticed a trend with home teams favored by 7 points or so beating their opponents by double figures. With that in mind, I like BYU -7 vs. UNLV tonight. Bombs away fellas!

Record: 6-5
Bank: $202.30

Mr. T's basketball fund started with an imaginary $200 and puts $5 of action on every game he picks.
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Beware of the Panthers

Home and road splits are usually an indicator of whether or not a team is legit. The Big East has been argued as the toughest conference in the country, so road wins are at more of a premium with many of those games coming against ranked opponents. Syracuse showed how the home crowd pushed them to victory against Notre Dame on Saturday, but they responded with somewhat of a dud on Big Monday. Pittsburgh, although the home team, showed many signs as to why they could be considered an elite team in the country this year. Syracuse isn't exactly there yet.

Syracuse was running more man defense than usual because they were worried about allowing offensive rebounds while in the zone. Boeheim's reservations were true because whenever they went to the zone, DeJuan Blair and Pittsburgh ate up the glass. Blair is a vacuum. He exhibits great body control around the basket offensively, and always seems to have a nose for the ball when it comes off the rim. The Panthers will go farther than ever before as long as Blair is on the floor.

But what else do they have? Besides some questionable foul shooting (C'mon Levance Fields - Let's make one of those technical foul shots!), they shot the three pointer better than you'd think. It could be a home gym advantage, but it was nice to see. Jermaine Dixon also does some nice on the ball defending of the point guard. Pittsburgh has to hope Fields can drift to guarding the shooting guard, but it might be an issue if the shooting guard is the primary attacker. The idea fit well against Syracuse's offense.

There are many things to comment on with Syracuse, but we've discussed the team plenty in recent days. Being brief...Andy Rautins has really improved his all around game, especially defensively. He jumps the passing lanes well for breakaway layups. Syracuse needs to push the ball and play up tempo. They can't get into a drag it out match. That responsibility lies on Jonny Flynn, who played terribly. I expect better ball-handling and he's the one who needs to get the team moving. I didn't realize his jumper was this questionable. Cuse needs to be much better away from home and they might wanna work on that foul shooting...
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What to Watch for: 1/19 – 1/25

Big Monday is usually a good time when it involves Big East heavyweights. I’m intrigued to see if Syracuse can continue their offensive execution away from home in the Oakland Zoo. Pittsburgh needs to rebound from their meltdown in Louisville.

Is Clemson about to do their typical conference swoon after a weak non-conference schedule? After losing to Wake, there’s no rest for the weary with a trip to UNC on Wednesday.

Purdue needs to start amassing Big Ten road wins for their tournament resume. Minnesota needs some more credibility. Thursday’s matchup will help someone.

Memphis is ranked, but they haven’t beaten anyone this year. Tennessee isn’t ranked, but they won’t be a home pushover on Saturday.

Connecticut hasn’t lost on the road this year, but Notre Dame hasn’t lost at home either. Something has to give Saturday night.

I’m intrigued with Saturday’s LSU vs. Xavier contest because both teams are a little further off the radar. A win for LSU could give them the confidence to make a nice SEC run.
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Two Months Til Madness and Counting...

Without much pomp and circumstance, here (as always seems to be the case) are my quick-hit reactions to this weekend’s games:

• Greg Monroe got in foul trouble for Georgetown on Saturday @ Duke and the Hoyas offense went down the toilet. Where’s the movement we’ve come to know from their Princeton offense?
• One week later and we still see leadership issues for Georgetown. Duke put on a big run at the end of the first half and Georgetown completely unraveled.
• Gerald Henderson is really raising his game. His scoring has increased mightily over the last five games. If he’s making outside jump shots, he gives Duke an almost unstoppable dimension on offense.
• I still want to see Duke vs. the ACC’s best teams (Wake, UNC, and Clemson), all of which have better guards and athletes than Georgetown. But they did look better Saturday than they have most of the year.
• Wake Forest is in its own world right now. They’re playing with such maturity, but one wonders if they’ll let up against a weaker opponent when they’re not mentally ready.
• UCLA has to do a better job of closing out games. They led Arizona St. hang around, didn’t execute offensively at the end of regulation or in overtime, and it cost them a victory. Maybe this is when Jrue Holiday should get more assertive, despite his age.
• How can one take West Virginia seriously if they only beat South Florida by three at home? And no, I don’t want to hear how the Big East is unpredictable.
• Stanford showed why I have some faith in them, taking down a California team holding a couple solid road wins.

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Return to an Orange Crush?

Saturday’s early action presented a matchup between highly rated opponents. Syracuse tried to defend their usual home court dominance against Notre Dame. Understandably two Syracuse articles in one week doesn’t show a well rounded effort on our part, but we’re calling em like we see em. Syracuse showed signs of a well rounded team, making you wonder if they can finally make some noise in March. They corrected all their issues from the Georgetown game midweek and came out firing against a Notre Dame team that continually looks vulnerable. With about a minute to go in the game, ESPN showed that Cuse was ahead 41 to 11 on fast break points. Rallying off the home crowd, Syracuse continually attacked off missed shots and they should continue to do so for easy points in the future. When in half court sets, they dropped things down to Onuaku and the results were noticeable.

Eric Devendorf will be the thing holding Syracuse back. Relegated to a bench role since returning from suspension, Devendorf needs to realize his role in the offense. As Notre Dame made a run in the second half, Devendorf shot the ball on four straight possessions without it being within the flow of the offense. He only made one out of the four shots and allowed ND to get within 5 points. Order was restored when Flynn became the primary ball-handler again and the offense seemed more in sync. Syracuse needs the offensive game Devendorf provides because they don’t have any similar player, but he needs to do it within the offense. As a senior, this should’ve clicked by now. Besides that, foul shooting could be an Achilles heel as well.

Spare me if you’re upset I ignored Notre Dame’s performance. They have no depth. How far can two guys carry a team?
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Step Up Saturday

After Thursday's proclamation to bet more on what I'm actually seeing on the court, the picks went 1-1. Some see that as mediocrity, I see it as progress given how things started this season. Xavier made things closer than they should've been, but they pulled it out. Purdue didn't show up til the 2nd half, unfortunately, leading to a losing proposition.

Once again we have a full Saturday schedule, but The Doctor isn't around to challenge me with picks. I like Syracuse -3.5 vs. Notre Dame because the Irish just aren't as good on the road. I like Oklahoma -3.5 @ Texas A&M because A&M hasn't really played anyone other than Baylor and they might be riding too high off that win. Blake Griffin should run over the Aggies. Finally I like Miami +16.5 @ UNC because the spread seems a tad off to me. Miami's rounding into form and they deserve a little more respect.

Record: 4-4
Bank: $198.20

Mr. T's basketball fund started with an imaginary $200 and puts $5 of action on every game he picks.


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Back to Basics

Thanks to OT, the fund notched up a victory with Monday night’s Louisville cover over Notre Dame. Yes it was lucky, but it left me something to think about. I talk enough about how I watch more basketball than anyone else. This early season is where I seem to find a betting advantage because of it; yet I’ve found myself analyzing efficiency ratings instead of tapping into my general knowledge of the sport.

Tonight things change with two spreads that don’t seem right. I like Purdue -4 @ Northwestern. Purdue is fully healthy with Hummel and Kramer back and they know how to defend. Northwestern’s offense shouldn’t give them as much trouble as lazier teams. I also like Xavier -1.5 @ Rhode Island. My money is on the more athletic Xavier guards being able to shut down Jimmy Baron, the coach’s son. I just can’t get fired up about URI’s best win being @ Penn State. Xavier had the small lapse with Duke and Butler, but they’ve beaten Memphis and a useful Virginia Tech team.

Record: 3-3
Bank: $198.65

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Cuse Got Zoned Out

Georgetown shot the ball like crazy last night. Facing Syracuse at home, they couldn’t seem to miss. Jimmy Boeheim never fucking got outta the zone and it just got eaten up. Syracuse started the second half in man defense and cut the lead to ten points. Then they went back to the zone and Georgetown just kept hitting.

Austin Freeman had a nice game for the Hoyas, possibly his best of the year. Greg Monroe didn’t have to do much of anything. I don’t think Georgetown will ever shoot that well again. They were shooting three feet behind the line and sinking it. If might give them some confidence against the Dukies this weekend, but their guards will be pressured into abnormal decisions.

Syracuse outrebounded Georgetown 32-25, but they couldn’t put in the second shots. They missed a bunch of open chippies. They need to run the offense through Onuaku more. He only had 6 shot attempts – completely unacceptable! Jackson had some great offensive rebounds, but he couldn’t hit the FTs (1-8 from the stripe). As a team they only shot 43% from the line, which is just flat out ugly. I’m glad they got killed though because they haven’t played anyone yet.

Andy Rautins got hurt for Syracuse and didn’t play at all in the second half. Thankfully it’s only a bruised knee, so he won’t be out for too long. Cuse has a tough schedule coming up with Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, and then Louisville on the schedule. Now is not the time for them to crumble. Carmelo Anthony might’ve been the only thing that can save Cuse from continually flaming out early in March.
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Red Alert in Louisville

Everyone’s talking up the Big East as the biggest, baddest conference in all the land. Two second tier teams faced off on Big Monday, trying to show America the depth of the conference. I’m still not convinced the Big East is the meanest thing around, but I took in the sights and sounds of what Louisville and Notre Dame had to offer.

I don’t like Louisville’s guard play. Edgar Sosa makes too many careless turnovers for a junior PG. One could say he’s a non factor, but the turnovers actually make him a factor…for the other team. Their outside shooting seems streaky the past few games and Rick Pitino’s offense is predicated on his teams being able to shoot the three. Jerry Smith needs to shoot more because he was 3-4 (all 3s) in this affair. Their frontcourt has talent. I like Samuels and the way he went right at the Notre Dame defense. Terrence Williams is obviously a nice player. He showed his usual well rounded game. Earl Clark bothers me though. He makes some really poor decisions with the ball. He shoots too many 3s for a player shooting about 25% from beyond the arc.

If you look at Louisville’s front court, they had all the points against ND. The biggest issue is that even though Williams had a monster game, it still went to OT. Louisville has a long way to go despite escaping Notre Dame here and Villanova last week. Those squads are both second tier Big East opponents. Let’s see what happens when they step into the ring with Connecticut, Georgetown, and Pittsburgh.

Harangody showed up as usual for the Fighting Irish. Without McAlarney’s 3s, however, Notre Dame couldn’t hit a bucket from the outside. Like we’ve discussed before, ND is a different team on the road. The heart of Notre Dame’s defense was being attacked and they didn’t make adjustments. The Louisville press forced the tempo to quicken, leading to a bunch of Notre Dame turnovers. Tory Jackson had seven on his own. ND struggles to get offense outside of their Big 2. Jackson isn’t bad, but he doesn’t shoot that well. Ayers and Hillesland just stand around most of the time.

Notre Dame just isn’t deep, so they can’t bring any instant offense off the bench. If you pressed them hard, you could definitely wear them down. Louisville’s press isn’t that kind; it’s more to speed up the game. A team like Clemson, who brings strong full court intensity, could cause ND major problems.
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Let's Get Going Mountaineers

This weekend was filled with plenty of action on the court, which should remain the status quo from now until April. After taking everything in and sifting through my thoughts for a day or two, here’s what stood out:

• The Marquette/WVU game didn’t get out of hand until Desean Butler fouled out (I see a theme there). WVU held Wesley Matthews to zero points in the first half and still needed a buzzer three-pointer to be up by two at the half. WVU couldn’t guard the Big 3 of Matthews, McNeal, and James, which led to Marquette eventually pulling away.
• Wake looks pretty legit right now. Jeff Teague is a force. The Doctor covered that all yesterday.
• I’m not surprised the young Kansas squad got strafed on the road by Michigan State despite my wager last week. They will have to show more maturity as we move ahead.
• Duke still looks like junk. I can’t wait until they face a real team (and yes I’m speaking as a Duke fan). Despite being the #2/#3 team in the country, I can’t take them seriously.
• Georgetown isn’t getting anything from their guards. Duke’s going to up the pressure on them and we’ll see if they react better. You need guard-play in March.
• I still like Stanford despite losing two heart-wrenching games in the state of Washington. I just wish they had a better PG than Mitch Johnson.
• Pitt decided to show up for the 2nd half against St. Johns and just bullied them. We’ll know how tough they are once they get into the meat of their Big East schedule.
• Jrue Holiday is getting better. He’s becoming more assertive, which is exactly what UCLA needs.
  
  

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Pitino and the Boys Get Back on the Bus

It wasn't the best week for Mr. T's basketball fund last week. After a 1-3 performance, The Doctor wants to take me on in a contest every Saturday to see who knows more. While I'm up to the challenge, the show must goes on for the fund. Tonight I like Louisville -6.5 vs. Notre Dame. Yes I got my salad tossed by Notre Dame last week, but tonight's a road game. Their defensive efficiency was put under question by Luke Winn last week, so I've been waiting for a road game to test out his premimse. Louisville showed some nice mental toughness against Villanova and I think they can build on that. Here's hoping I don't get Harangodied...

Record: 2-3
Bank: $194.10



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What to Watch for: 1/12 – 1/18

Monday night matches up the two beasts of the Big 12. Texas will head to Oklahoma looking to upset the Sooners hopes of establishing themselves as the regular season conference championship favorites.

Syracuse is ranked higher than Georgetown, but are they the better team? Wednesday will allow the Hoyas a chance to regain some of their swagger in a home game.

Baylor is quietly putting together a nice season and while Texas A&M isn’t the program they once were, they’re undefeated home record presents a challenge to a Baylor team looking for a respect on Wednesday.

This week marks a stern road test for Arizona St. with a trip to Los Angeles. It starts with USC on Thursday night and UCLA on Sunday. We’ll find out if ASU is for real.

Minnesota faces Wisconsin on Thursday, who may no longer be the dominant home force of years past.

Saturday marks one hell of a day for college hoops fans. Notre Dame needs to start accruing road wins and Syracuse is a tough place to start. Georgetown heads to Cameron Indoor to give Duke their first challenge in a while. Wake Forest will look to cut down Clemson’s undefeated record. Finally, Pittsburgh takes on Louisville in its hardest game to date.
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A New ACC King

We all knew Jeff Teague was a beast, but the kid took it to another level on Sunday night against North Carolina. The kid is fearless and he’s a great finisher. He really impressed me by consistently taking it to the tin and getting to the line. He went at it with Ty Lawson and got the best of him. He also made a couple of great passes. Chas McFarland is a beast too. I love that kid. He’s a slower version of Luke Harangody. He’s a big body in the post, has great post moves, rebounds, and played great defense against Pyscho T. He gave him problems all night long. Wake was running the break with UNC the whole game. Carolina’s form was messed up because they got too fast and turned the ball over too much. I didn’t think I’d see Carolina get outrun but it happened.

Wake ran a few nice high/low plays as well. Tony Woods came off the bench and made some nice plays for a young dude. The great thing about Wake is that they have so many big guys. They’ve got plenty of extra fouls to burn. Harvey Hale came off the bench for guard support, but didn’t show me anything. He’s kinda weak and he’s not good defensively.

Teams might want to start zoning Wake Forest. They didn’t really show me shooting range. Teague was the only one who was worthy from beyond the arc. After seeing them finally tonight, I can say Wake’s absolutely a Final Four threat and a possible title contender.

Danny Green was the only one who had a good game for Carolina. Wayne Ellington might as well sit on the bench. He’s never taken his game to that next level. Lawson’s lack of a jump shot costs UNC at times. They aren’t playing well right now, but they can easily get past a team who doesn’t put up numbers though.
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Saturday Three Pack

It's another busy Saturday of college basketball and I've decided to throw three picks out there for Mr. T's fund. Georgetown was disappointing on Monday night, but we'll look to bounce back.

#1 - West Virginia +2 @ Marquette - West Virginia won't shoot as poorly as they did on Monday and they should have the rebounding edge.

#2 - Kansas +6 @ Michigan State - I've never been a fan of this Michigan State nucleus and Sharon Collins should provide enough leadership to keep this a close game.

#3 - Stanford +2 @ Washington State - Stanford has the experienced players to handle the high school gym like atmosphere in Pullman.

Record: 1-1
Bank: $199.55
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Looking for One of Four

I made a comment to The Doctor last night that I feel I've seen too much of the same teams during first few weeks of the season. Besides the obvious with Duke, I've seen plenty of Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Connecticut, Georgetown, North Carolina, Gonzaga, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Michigan, Davidson, and Purdue. I feel like I need more Big 12 in my life. I know soon enough I'll be the only one in the Tri-State area, other than The Doctor and apparently my dad, who watches those Thursday night Pac-10 games. I could use a little more SEC viewing, but the conference is practically too putrid to watch. It will take time to find the teams I like for the Final Four. Last year the season played out as if March would be a random experiment and then all the #1 seeds made the Final Four. I didn't have the feeling for Kansas winning it all until watching them in the conference tournament, a time still two months away from where we are now. It is early, but there's still too much I dislike about the best teams in the country than the other way around.

I only caught the first half of the Connecticut road trip to Morgantown on Tuesday night, but the same issues with the Huskies seem to ring true. They don't have any outside shooters!! I can't buy into UConn long term because they can't shoot the 3. They lack that Rip Hamilton or Rashad Anderson type who can put down 6-7 3s in a game. And before you say Hamilton isn't that kind of player, look how he averaged 2.3 3s a game in his college career. Kemba Walker is probably their best shooter, but he's not that type of player. Forget that Thabeet inexplicably can't finish a put-back dunk without first bringing the ball off the rim or that A.J. Price's skills disappeared with his original ACL. Usually you need an array of scoring styles and Connecticut doesn't have that. If the favored Mountaineers shot a better percentage or got a better game from Alex Ruoff, West Virginia wins that game. Despite the fact that Ken Pomeroy had West Virginia ranked as the most efficient NCAA team before the game, I feel the win didn't prove enough for the Huskies.

Duke hosted Stehpon Curry's Davidson squad on Wednesday in what I expected to be an easy win for Duke. Davidson doesn't have the athleticism to bother Duke on the boards or with dribble penetration. Stehpon Curry was 0-1 from the field ten minutes into the game and Duke wasn't running away with the game. Isn't that an issue? It was a home game against what's basically a one man team and they were up 16-12? Duke looked extremely sloppy with the ball in the first half. For a team that's not prone to turnovers, that shouldn't happen against a team the country isn't confusing for the Pittsburgh Panthers. The turnovers were only down in the second half because they stopped being aggressive with ten minutes to go in the game. They led by over 20 points for a good portion of the second half, but that lead got cut to eight points in the closing minutes. It wasn't as convincing as it should've been. I'm extremely critical of this bunch, but deep down I know Coach K is as well...
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Luke is the Big Man on Campus

Luke Harangody led the Fighting Irish to a win over Georgetown on Monday night and no one was going to stop him. It was all Harangody in the first half. Greg Monroe guarded him most of the time and the dude was just eating Georgetown up. What’s crazier is that Harangody played most of the second half with four fouls. He picked up the 4th foul with about 15 minutes left and Notre Dame took him out for a short while. When he came back, they mixed up the defenses to keep him out of trouble. He’s just a really smart kid, a very mature individual. It was even until late in the first half until Notre Dame pushed ahead and Georgetown never came back. Kyle McAlarney lit things up in the second half. Notre Dame has a crazy home winning streak. They’re just a different team at home.

This performance probably says more about Georgetown than it does Notre Dame. Monroe did have a good game. Notre Dame mixed things up with zone and man defense, but it didn’t faze him. He is really improving with his interior passing. Chris Wright really hasn’t been showing up in the games recently. He only had four assists in this one. They didn’t really get much from the guards as a whole, which is a bad sign for the tournament. The team shot about 42% from the floor and the main guard trio was responsible for that number being rather low. DaJuan Summers had a good first half, but then got lost in the second. I really thought Georgetown was going to bounce back from the loss against Pittsburgh, but it didn’t happen.
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What to Watch for: 1/5 – 1/11

We already discussed Notre Dame vs. Georgetown on Monday night. Both teams really need to bounce back.

Tuesday night offers West Virginia hosting Connecticut. Ken Pomeroy has WVU listed as his #1 team going into this week. We’ll see if that’s legit as they host the Huskies. I need to be convinced.

Stephon Curry heads to Duke on Wednesday night in ESPN’s announcer switch. Davidson has not shown anything against their two biggest road opponents so far this year.

Louisville lost some credibility with Sunday’s display vs. Kentucky. They can earn back some respect with a road win at Villanova this coming Saturday.

Kansas and Michigan St. has also been mentioned already. They tip off at 1pm in East Lansing on Saturday.

None of those games are as important as Wake Forest facing North Carolina on Sunday. If Wake is to be considered a legitimate Final Four possibility, they’ll need to take down a hungry UNC team. Will the youth of the Demon Deacons wilt under the pressure?
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A Good Start

On Saturday, Maryland was given to the public for the first lock of Mr. T's college basketball fund. They started slow and couldn’t defend the three-pointer to finish the game, but it was good enough to sneak out a cover by half a point. We won’t argue with a win.

Tonight I like Georgetown +2.5 @ Notre Dame. Both teams have something to prove after bad losses over the weekend. I went back to last year's schedule and noticed ND beat a lot of good teams at home. I still can't take them seriously after the St. Johns game despite the effort the Red Storm played with. I'm leaning towards the better team in this one. After facing Pitt's defense, Notre Dame shouldn’t give Gtown much trouble. The Hoyas can handle Harangody and the Georgetown guards are much quicker than what Notre Dame has to offer. I also think JTIII will have his boys motivated. $5 on the team from DC please.

Record: 1-0
Bank: $204.55


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A Nice Little Saturday

With some time to kill during NFL Playoff breaks, I caught some of today’s busy college basketball schedule. As has been done before, here are my thoughts:

• Pittsburgh absolutely bitched Georgetown on the glass. It was embarrassing to watch.
• Georgetown also showed a lack of leadership on the floor. Chris Wright needs more games because he didn’t play much last year due to injury.
• Georgetown has way too many scoring options to look as bad offensively as they did. Someone had to step up besides Summers. I know the bench is weak, but that was really disappointing given the victory at UConn earlier in the week.
• Kansas didn’t execute well offensively against the Tennessee zone. They, however, killed the man to man defense. Tennessee couldn’t handle Kansas’ screen heavy offense. I’m not sure why they didn’t play more zone defense in the second half. God forbid they ever play against Georgetown
• Kansas will definitely get a better as the season goes along. Other than Collins, they don’t have any players who have played serious minutes before.
• Brady Morningstar is a nice intangibles player for Kansas. They’ll need his outside shot at some point
• Cole Aldrich does a pretty good job of defending the rim. I think he had 6 blocks on Saturday.
• Kansas’ trip to East Lansing for next week’s game against Michigan should be a good one. Michigan State is play a lot better and a young Kansas team will be tested in a tough road environment.
• BYU takes way too many 3s offensively. I know it’s a big part of their game, but watching them chuck away against Wake Forest was alarming. If they’re not going in, you need to find some other options.
• Jeff Teague is a man. He’s got a full package of offensive moves and I really like his game off the dribble.

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Money for the People

Betting was promised as part of this website and it's finally going to be delivered. Starting today we'll be tracking Mr. T's college basketball fund. We'll start with 200 imaginary benjamins and every time I see a game I like, I'll post it on the blog. We'll work with $5 for each game and see where we end up at season's end.

Today I like Maryland -9.5 vs. Charlotte. Maryland has been a pretty effective home team this year and Greivis Vasquez is a great team leader that won't let his team overlook a weaker opponent. Charlotte is under .500 this year and are terrible rated in Ken Pomeroy's efficiency rankings. We'll take Maryland and see how things end up.

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