News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Friday, Dec 10

-The biggest surprises always come on the nights you’re not expecting anything.  Hence the term “Surprise.”  And…we had another one last night.  Rutgers led Purdue for most of the first half, and as you would expect the place was bonkers.  As you would also expect, Purdue battled back and got the lead, and while it was a battle, you started to feel like it was inevitable that they were going to win.  But, they never pulled away, and then with less than 15 seconds to go Rutgers hit a shot that put them ahead.  Purdue came down the floor on their possession and hit what appeared to be a game winning shot with 3 seconds to play, and then all Rutgers could do was throw up a desperation mid-court heave…which Ron Harper Jr. did…and it went in!!  A HUGE upset and feel-good win for Rutgers as they take down the #1 ranked team for the first time ever, and maybe a moment where things turn around for them.  It seems like they should have been better than what they’ve been up to this point.  Maybe this gets them kickstarted.

-Seton Hall held on to beat Texas in a game that went down to the wire.  It’s a nice win for Seton Hall that they should get some credit for despite the fact they were at home.  Texas is still looking for their first true road win, but to be fair the two road games they’ve played and lost were against top 25 teams.

-Iowa State absolutely clobbered Iowa 73-53 in the Cy-Hawk Series.  Iowa State is DAMN good!!

-Saint John’s held off Monmouth 88-83.  The Johnnies led most of the way, but Monmouth really made it close down the stretch and could have actually won the game had it not been for some big defensive plays by Saint John’s.

-APPALACHIAN STATE AT FURMAN.  I still think Furman is a really good under the radar team, but it will take a Herculean string of wins between now and the end of the season to get them inside the bubble.

-MURRAY STATE AT MEMPHIS.  Murray State is an very respectable 7-1 with a couple of decent wins away from home.  This would be ore than just a decent win for them if they can pull it off.  Memphis has struggled some despite being loaded with talent.  They could still pull it together and end up having a big year where they finish in the rankings, but they don’t appear to be there yet and they better be on upset alert tonight.

-LOYOLA CHICAGO AT VANDERBILT.  Loyola Chicago is looking for their second true road win of the season.  Vandy has been better than expected (at least better than I thought they’d be), and they are at home, so it wouldn’t be overly shocking if they won this, but I still think Loyola Chicago is clearly the better team.

-DEPAUL AT LOUISVILLE.  DePaul only has one loss on the season (home to Loyola Chicago), but this is their first road game of the year, and it’s also their biggest test so far.  Louisville has done modestly well and just needs to hold serve tonight.

-MILWAUKEE AT COLORADO – buy game.

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The JNG Nitty Gritty Bracket – Dec 9th

For today’s News, Notes, and Highlighted Games – CLICK HERE

For last night’s UNDER THE RADAR Video Podcast – CLICK HERE

For Jon Teitel’s interview with former Arkansas State Coach Nelson Catalina – CLICK HERE

The Seedlist for the Bracket Below was created entirely off of JOBY’S NITTY GRITTY RATINGS (JNG).  CLICK HERE to view the rankings for all 358 D1 schools 

 

COMMENTS FROM JOBY: (coming soon…)

COMMENTS FROM DAVID:

-Joby will be the first one to tell you this (if he hasn’t already).  What you’re seeing is nothing more than a checkpoint.  It’s not a prediction of where the teams will be in March.  It really isn’t even an assessment of how good the teams actually are.  It’s just a current snapshot of where things stand on December 9th.  If 90 seconds into a game Campbell leads Duke 4-2, that is a snapshot of where things stand.  It’s not necessarily an indicator of where they’ll end up.  The scoreboard is not “stupid” for thinking Campbell is better than Duke.  There is still 38:30 left to play in the game.  Same with the JNG right now.  this is what the score is at this point in time, but there is still A LOT of time left to play.

-Having just said it isn’t necessarily an indicator of the future…I will now point out a few things that have me scratching my head…

Belmont’s resume looks better than a #13 seed to me.  There isn’t anything to indicate that they deserve a protected seed, but they’re resume is hardly a pastry cart either.  I don’t think they’ll lose too many the rest of the way, so their numbers may be a lot better by the end of the year.

-The Bonnies on the #12 line is also a bit of a “Huh??”  But…whatever.  It’s early.

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Happy Birthday!: HoopsHD interviews former Arkansas State coach Nelson Catalina

CLICK HERE for today’s News, Notes, and Highlighted Games, and for our latest Under The Radar Video Podcast

You might think that basketball coaches are incapable of doing anything else but Nelson Catalina proved that is wrong. After spending more than a decade as head coach at Arkansas State with four 20-win seasons and four postseason appearances he left the business and became a financial professional at Merrill Lynch. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Coach Catalina about winning an NIT game with no time left on the clock and losing an NIT game at the buzzer. Today is Coach Catalina’s 71st birthday so let us be the 1st to wish him a happy 1!

 (photo credit: soundcloud.com)

You were hired as head coach at Arkansas State in 1984: why did you take the job? Most coaches have the goal/ambition to coach at a D-1 school. I had been the assistant for 5 years and understood the culture here and what we needed to do to make it better: it was a normal stepping stone for me.

1 of your most famous players was Arthur Agee from the documentary “Hoop Dreams”: how did you convince him to head south from Chicago, and how good a player was he? He was at a JC in Missouri just north of us. We went to go see him play and needed an experienced PG pretty bad. We looked around and decided to offer him a scholarship. He saw an opportunity to start, which is what most JC players want to do.

In the 1987 NIT you had a 3-PT OT loss at Arkansas on Friday the 13th: how close did you come to winning the game, and do you think that you would have won if you did not have so many injured players that day? I will not use the injuries as an excuse but it was a great game. It was probably 1 of the most physical games that I have ever been a part of and it got even worse during the final 10 minutes. I think the reason we lost was the physicality and the fact that we missed a couple of FTs. We have not played them since and I do not think it ever will be something I can forget.

In the 1988 NIT Rhon Johnson made a FT with no time remaining to clinch a 1-PT win at Stanford: how was the backup guard able to stay focused after the Cardinal called 2 timeouts before he stepped up to the line, and where does that rank among the most exciting wins of your career? I have been asked that question a lot: it has to be ranked in the top-3. Their floor designed by their engineering program allows you to bounce even higher: our guys were accustomed to more of a hard surface. Stanford had just beaten #1-ranked Arizona on that floor about 10 days before so we knew they had a good team. Rhon drove the baseline and I felt that he could either make the shot or get fouled…and to our amazement they actually called the foul! To beat a big/good team on the road is very tough.

In the 1989 NIT Chris Dillard had a chance to tie the game at the buzzer but missed the front end of a 1-and-1 before collapsing in tears in a 2-PT loss at Nebraska: what do you say to a player after such a devastating loss? Chris was a great shooter and the last thing anyone had on their mind was that he would miss a FT: he had unlimited range. All you can do is console the player and explain that something happened in the game that put us in that position: a FT at the end is never the only reason you win or lose.

In February of 1990, 13 of your players skipped practice and threatened to quit school unless you were fired: why did they do that, and how were you able to resolve such a difficult situation? It is not 1 of my favorite topics but I think they just got aggravated at me. There is always a head dog when it comes to leadership but after the season was over we sat down and talked it out. I thought the personnel we had brought in did not help us win, but the following year we had the winningest season in program history.

In 1991 you were the regular season champ of the American South Conference: how big a deal was it for the program and/or the school? Anytime you win a championship it is a big deal and it was a great accomplishment for our players. After going through so much the year before when we had a more talented team, to put the team ahead of everything else and win some really big ball games was great. We actually had a shot to win the conference tourney but just came up a couple of points short against Louisiana Tech: that game has stuck with me a long time. I really felt that if we could get by that game then we would end up making the NCAA tourney for the 1st time. That team was extremely quick and very athletic: we just did not have a 6’10” guy who could dominate inside. We could switch everything on defense, which made us really good.

After retiring you became a TV analyst for the Red Wolves: how did you like it, and what do you hope to do in the future? ESPN3 covers games across the country and I was fortunate to do several games for them last year. Basketball has been part of my life since the 3rd grade and I still go to the arena to watch games.

Your grandson Noah Gatlin played football at Arkansas: who is the best athlete in the family? He is the best athlete: he is 6’7” and 300 pounds and works out with a special trainer. There is no doubt that he has great footwork and is still so young but we think that he has a bright future.

When people look back on your career, how do you want to be remembered the most? Regardless of your profession you want to be remembered as someone who cared. I tried to develop our team and make us the best that we could be because that is all we can do. I hope that people look back and say that I gave it everything I had.

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News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Thursday, Dec 9

UNDER THE RADAR:

-For our latest UNDER THE RADAR Video Podcast – CLICK HERE

-We get into this in more detail on the show, but the Under the Radar teams that could make a run at the bubble are starting to emerge.  Everyone knows what Iona has done, and their win against Alabama is looking bigger and bigger.  Monmouth (who is in the same conference as Iona) also may be emerging.  They’ve got a big win tonight.  Belmont is another team that we really like who has put together some big wins and has some more coming up.  And Chattanooga has some tough road tests against other good UTR teams, so if they can pick up some wins in those games we have to start thinking they may make a run at an at-large.

 

NEWS AND NOTES:

-So a lot of the games I was looking forward to last night, particularly the measuring stick games for teams like Wyoming and Weber State, turned out to be duds.  Wyoming was down by 20 to Arizona seemingly when the game tipped off and just never got any closer, and Weber State was blasted into the sun by Washington State.

-UConn seemed to have every chance int he world to get a big road win at West Virginia, but just couldn’t get the ball in the basket on their last few possessions and fell 56-53.

-Michigan State handed Minnesota their first loss of the year and picked up what looks to be (at least for now) a nice road win.

-Indiana had perhaps the best first half that any team has had all season!!  They built a 20ish point lead on the road against a VERY good Wisconsin team and appeared to be making the statement of all statement.  Then, the second half started, and you do have to credit Wisconsin for playing their way back into it and outscoring the Hoosiers 39-17 in the second half and escaping with a 64-59 win.  I complimented IU on how well they played in the first half, and because I did that, IU Twitter now hates me.  I don’t blame them.

-BYU held serve against a very good Utah State team, which was a nice feel good win over a Beehive rival.  They’ve actually put together two nice wins since falling at Utah Valley, so the Cougars are still in great shape.

-Dayton had been on a roll after getting rolled over in their first couple of games, but didn’t quite have enough muscle to get the win at SMU last night.  It’s not easy to win at SMU, but like I always say it’s not easy to land inside the bubble either.  To do it you have to win games that are hard to win.

-Marquette got another really nice win as they knocked off Kansas State on the road 64-63.  It is the first road win of the season for Marquette, and it was a tough one, so this helps them out a lot.

-San Francisco is now 10-0, and while their hasn’t been a gauntlet, it hasn’t been a pastry cart either.  They beat a pretty good Fresno State team last night 71-63, and I think they’ve done enough to where some of the voters should at least be voting for them.  I’m sure the committee has noticed them.  They notice everything.

 

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:

-TEXAS AT SETON HALL.  Both teams are in the top 25, and both have played well with some pretty impressive wins already.  Texas is still looking for their first true road win (their only other attempt was at Gonzaga, so no shame there) and this would be a huge protected seed caliber win if they were to get it.  Seton Hall has a nice win against Michigan, but this would also be really big even though they are at home.

-PURDUE AT RUTGERS (Big Ten).  I don’t think Rutgers can even compete with Purdue despite the fact that they’re at home.

-MONMOUTH AT SAINT JOHN’S.  Iona is getting all the love out of the MAAC, but Monmouth has a pretty strong resume as well, and it will be a lot stronger if they can pick this one up on the road.  A win here means you have to start thinking of them as a potential NCAA Tournament team.  The Johnnies are 6-2 on the year with all six wins coming at home and they still don’t have a notable win yet.

-IOWA AT IOWA STATE.  This game is always crazy.  I think everyone knows it’s a rivalry, but I don’t think many outside the state of Iowa realize just how bonkers of a rivalry it is.  Iowa State is off to a shocking 8-0 start and has a well deserved ranking of #17.  Iowa comes in at a respectable 7-2, but this would easily be their biggest win of the season up to this point.  Both on and off paper.

-GRAND CANYON AT ARIZONA STATE.  Grand Canyon is on our radar, but barely.  They’re 8-1, but haven’t played a tough schedule and would pretty much need to come close to running the table to get inside the bubble.  This would be a nice road win for them, but Arizona State still doesn’t look like a team that you can hang your NCAAT Tournament resume on.

BUY GAMES (or games that might as well be):

-Bethune Cookman @ NC State
-Merrimack @ Gonzaga

Posted in Daily Rundown, News and Notes, Under the Radar | 2 Comments

Under the Radar: December 8th

Chad, Rocco, and David look at the 22 Under the Radar conferences and discuss how the other than Loyola Chicago the Missouri Valley has been kind of disappointing, James Madison’s big win against Virginia and what that means for their season since they’re not eligible for the Colonial Tournament, how well Iona and Monmouth have played out of the Metro Atlantic, how strong Belmont has looked this season, how a lot of the teams in the SoCon have played better than expected and what a big week it is for Chattanooga, and more!!  And, as we do every week, we close with this week’s UTR Top Ten.

And for all you radio lovers, below is an audio only version of the show…

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Happy Anniversary!: HoopsHD interviews Byron Larkin about David West

Some players peak early, some peak late, and some like David West never stop peaking. In 1999 as a senior at Hargrave Military Academy in Virginia he was named 1st-team all-state. In 2003 at Xavier he became the school’s 1st-ever national Player of the Year and consensus 1st-Team All-American while winning a conference-record 3 straight A-10 Player of the Year awards. He made 2 straight All-Star teams with the Hornets in 2008/2009 and won back-to-back NBA titles with the Warriors in 2017/2018. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with 1 Xavier legend (all-time leading scorer/current radio analyst Byron Larkin) about another Xavier legend who arrived on campus a little later. Today marks the 20th anniversary of West recording the 1st triple-double in school history on December 8, 2001 so let us be the 1st to wish him a happy 1!

 

West grew up in New Jersey: what made him choose Xavier? He went to prep school and originally wanted to sign with Marshall but his parents made him reopen his recruitment and he ended up coming here.

He led the A-10 in RPG 4 times, FG% 2 times, and BPG 2 times: was he just a prototypical dominant big man? Yes, but he kind of grew into that. Every year he added something new to his game. He was a dominant rebounder even as a freshman, then added low-post scoring, then some better shooting in the post, then a jumper. It was a fun thing to watch his development. Rebounding was the 1st thing that he did really well because his hands were so big: when he held a can of soda it looked like a Tic Tac!

In the 2001 NCAA tourney he had 19 PTS/8 REB/5 STL in a loss to Notre Dame: was it important to show him that he could play his best against big time big men like Troy Murphy as opposed to just beating up on the A-10 most of the time? I do not think that was a watershed moment for him: they played a great non-conference schedule that year so that 1 game did not prove anything. He was good against whoever they played, from the lowest team in the A-10 to the best teams in the nation.

On December 8, 2001, he recorded the 1st triple-double in school history with 15 PTS/10 REB/10 AST in a 51-PT win over Long Island: how was he able to balance all of the different aspects of his offensive game? It was just something that came organically for him. He was 1 of the fiercest competitors you would ever want to meet so whatever he did he tried to do at the highest level. He had some near triple-doubles with PTS/REB/BLK. He was so smart that he knew when to pass and when to shoot so double-teams did not faze him. It is as much of a testament to his court awareness than to anything else: he put in the work to know what to do during games. We always knew that he was a special player who was really good at all the facets of the game.

He was a 3-time A-10 POY/3-time All-American/2003 national POY: what did it mean to him to receive such outstanding honors? I do not know if it was the most important thing to him. Winning was at the top of the list: that is what drove all of his accomplishments both in college and the NBA. I think it meant more to everyone else because he just wanted to be remembered as a winner. He always got big numbers but it never felt like he was trying to do too much: he just did what the game dictated and he was able to execute. It brought a lot of attention to the school because he was 1 of the best players in the country even though he was not a McDonald’s All-American coming out of high school. He invested in himself, worked really hard, and showed everyone that the sky was the limit.

He was a 2-time NBA All-Star in 2008/2009: where does he rank among the greatest Xavier alums in NBA history? I think that he is the best to ever come out of Xavier on any level. He accomplished so much on the floor and has a great intellect. There was never any trouble because he came from a good family, was well-behaved off the court, and took his studies seriously. He is the standard by which everyone who wants to become a student-athlete should measure themselves. Every NBA team wanted him on their roster because he was such a great mentor and was about doing the right thing. He has done it all: All-Star, national POY, NBA title, etc. He was not told coming out of high school that he was the 2nd coming: he just worked hard to earn everything.

In the 2017 NBA playoffs he was part of the Warriors’ 16–1 playoff record (the best postseason winning percentage in NBA history): where does that rank among the best teams that you have ever seen? I do not remember a lot of that season and do not get to watch a lot of regular season games, but I am sure that David accepted his role and did whatever he could to help the team win. He is happy to play 2 minutes or 42 minutes: as long as his team wins he is good. During timeouts he was acting like a coach, which is why Golden State wanted him. He has an AAU program in North Carolina and likes teaching young folks the game of basketball.

He was a great FT shooter in the NBA (81.7%): how was he able to do that as a big man? He just tries to be the best at everything he does. He was always a good FT shooter in college and just kept getting better. Most of FT shooting is between your ears: he did not let anything distract him and just got it done. A lot of guys work out together in the offseason or play pickup games, but he liked to go back to North Carolina with his trainers and just work on different aspects of his game. He did not want to be 1 of those guys who played with LeBron in the summertime because a lot of those guys just watched LeBron.

He announced his retirement in 2018 after 15 seasons in the NBA: when people look back on his career, how do you think that he should be remembered the most? As a self-made success, a guy who was successful in almost anything he did. He was like a top-200 recruit coming out of high school and when he came to Xavier he was more of a SF who could rebound, but after he grew a bit and put in the work he became the best player in the country. Anyone who knows him understands that he is a different guy: he is well-read, a great mentor to all of his former teammates, and nobody has a bad word to say about him. He is just a winner and an old soul who takes his behavior seriously.

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