News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Monday, Dec 28th

Posted on December 28, 2020 by David Griggs

-It was a rather slow Sunday.  Drake and Southern Illinois remain unbeaten on the season, and Providence won an double overtime thriller against DePaul.

-We will be recording the Hoops HD Report tonight, so be on the lookout for that.

-NEW MEXICO STATE @ CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE.  New Mexico State, who we THINK is good, is finally playing against a D1 opponent today.  Their OOC schedule has been ransacked by cancellations due to COVID and we’re hoping they can string together some more games so they can begin to build their profile.

-DRAKE AT INDIANA STATE (Missouri Valley).  Drake looks to pick up another road win and remain unbeaten on the season.

-EVANSVILLE AT SOUTHERN ILLINOIS (Missouri Valley).  The Salukis are also unbeaten and are looking to finish off the season sweep against Evansville.

-MARYLAND AT WISCONSIN (Big Ten).  Wisconsin is a probable protected seed and a possible #1 seed.  Maryland is decent, but currently has nothing on their profile that really jumps out.  Of course that would change if they’re able to pull off the win tonight.

-MICHIGAN STATE AT MINNESOTA (Big ten).  Minney just pulled off a huge overtime win against Iowa, which catapults them onto the national scene.  They have a solid 8-1 record, and they now have an outstanding win to go along with it.  They can build on that tonight and take yet another big step forward if they’re able to pull this one off.  Michigan State, on the other hand, isn’t in any real danger, but they could use a bit of a pick-me-up if they want to hang on to that high ranking.

-FRESNO STATE AT COLORADO STATE (Mountain West).  These are two MWC teams that have some potential, but just haven’t had the opportunity to play that many games yet.

-NORTHERN ARIZONA AT GONZAGA.  Buy game

-COLORADO AT ARIZONA (Pac 12).  Both teams need to improve their resumes, so both could really use this win tonight.

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Under The Radar Game of the Day: Sunday, December 27th

Posted on December 27, 2020 by John Stalica

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

UC-Santa Barbara (4-1, 0-0) at UC-Irvine (3-4, 0-0) – 7:00 PM EST (ESPN3)

Tonight’s UTR Game of the Day heads to the OC in California where the hometown Anteaters of UC-Irvine host the UCSB Gauchos. Much is expected of the Gauchos this year – they are expected to contend for the Big West title this year. They opened the season with a pair of non-D1 wins at home before splitting a pair of games against Loyola Marymount. In their last outing, JaQuori McLaughlin led the Gauchos with 23 points in a 75-63 victory at Pepperdine.

UC-Irvine has been the most consistent team in the last decade in the Big West, but this year has been a tough slog so far with the Anteaters losing their first four games against D1 competition. They began with losses against Pepperdine and San Diego State in a multi-team event hosted by SDSU, but the Anteaters were much better in their last outing with an 85-53 victory at home against San Diego. Collin Welp averages 11.4 and 6.9 points a game for the Anteaters.

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News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Sunday, Dec 27th

Posted on December 27, 2020 by David Griggs

Not much to say today, so no sub-headlines!

-Minnesota turned a lot of heads on Christmas evening when they knocked off Iowa in overtime.  It was a high scoring game that seesawed back and forth, but that Iowa still seemed to have control of late in regulation, until they didn’t.  It’s a big season defining win for Minnesota.

-Wisconsin improved to 8-1 with a win at Michigan State.  Sparty, as good as people think they are, are now off to an 0-2 start in Big Ten play so that is a bit of a hole to dig out of.

-Gonzaga crushed another ranked team.  This time it was Virginia 98-75.  Virginia’s pack line defense makes it difficult for even teams with a lot of offensive weapons to score against, but Gonzaga just racked up the points.  I’m starting to wonder if Gonzaga is more than just a #1 team, but a historically special #1 team.  They are just trucking highly ranked teams and have been all season long.

-Houston needed to sweat more than expected, but remains unbeaten after winning at UCF.  A lot of credit to UCF here who, despite the loss, still looks like a really good team.  Let’s not forget their wins against Florida State and Cincinnati.

-Northwestern is now 3-0 in Big Ten play and 6-1 on the year with some really high quality wins on their resume.  They knocked off Ohio State in yet another thrilling win and this team that we all thought would be buried at the bottom of the Big Ten should get into the top 25 tomorrow.

-Louisville beat rival Kentucky in a close and perhaps exciting, but somewhat of an ugly game.  It wasn’t easy despite the fact that it appeared to be a mismatch, and Kentucky had a shot to tie the game at the end of regulation, but missed a 3pt shot.  Kentucky has fallen to 1-6 on the year, and John Calipari is blaming himself for the slow start because he made the schedule too hard.  The schedule certainly hasn’t been easy, but Kentucky’s OOC schedule is always really hard and it always includes Louisville, so…

-DRAKE AT INDIANA STATE (Missouri Valley).  Drake is looking to stay undefeated and pick up their first conference win of the year.

-EVANSVILLE AT SOUTHERN ILLINOIS (Missouri Valley).  Southern Illinois is also unbeaten and they shouldn’t have too much trouble staying that way as they have a really winnable game at home.

-ILLINOIS STATE AT LOYOLA CHICAGO (Missouri Valley).  Loyola Chicago has almost no margin for error to speak of moving forward, but they are another team that’s good enough to win this conference and go to the NCAA Tournament.

-DEPAUL AT PROVIDENCE (Big East).  DePaul’s season has been pretty much non-existant.  They played and won their first OOC game just a few days ago, and are really going to be tested today against a Providence team that’s been a little inconsistent this year, but still looks like an NCAA Tournament team.

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Under The Radar Game of the Day: Saturday, December 26th

Posted on December 26, 2020 by John Stalica

For Jon Teitel’s interview with former Stony Brook coach Joe Castiglie – CLICK HERE

Robert Morris (1-2, 0-0) at Purdue-Fort Wayne (1-2, 0-2) – 7:00 PM EST (ESPN+)

We at Hoops HD would like to welcome you back from our holiday break with today’s UTR Game of the Day – the Robert Morris Colonials hit the road to take on the Mastodons of Purdue-Fort Wayne. RMU got off to a fairly late start and thus have only played two games against D-1 competition; both were losses at home against Bowling Green and on the road at Marshall. This will also be the Horizon League debut for Robert Morris. Through three games, AJ Bramah leads the Colonials with 18.7 points a game and 7.0 rebounds a game.

Purdue-Fort Wayne is the other newcomer to the Horizon League and has already gotten a pair of games under their belts. Unfortunately for the Mastodons, they were rusty after a COVID-19 induced layoff and lost a pair of games at home against Cleveland State. PFW opened their season with a 67-63 overtime win against Southeastern Louisiana and subsequently were forced to go 24 days between games as mentioned earlier. Jarred Godfrey (14.7 PPG) is one of five Mastodons to average in double figures for points.

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Christmas Memories: HoopsHD interviews former Stony Brook coach Joe Castiglie

Posted on December 25, 2020 by Jon Teitel

Most holiday basketball stories involve sugar-coated tales of a player overcoming an injury or a team winning a game via a miraculous comeback: this is the story of a coach who tried to help 1 of his players and ended up paying a heavy price. Stony Brook has been playing basketball for 60 years but did not begin to first taste success until Coach Joe Castiglie showed up in 1984. He won an average of 20 games/year during his 7 seasons in New York, including an ECAC title in 1990. 1 year he had a player who could not afford to go home for Christmas break so Castiglie loaned his player $118 in the form of a plane ticket to visit his family. After the NCAA found out it suspended the coach…FOR 3 YEARS!!! HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to talk to Coach Castiglie about his success on the sideline and the state of the sport.

You played for Coach Gus Alfieri at St. Anthony’s High School: how intense was Alfieri, and what was the most important thing you ever learned from him? He was and is a positive basketball force. He was coached by Joe Lapchick/Lou Carnesecca at St. John’s, and I was lucky that he passed along a good deal of his pedigree to me. He totally influenced me with his love of defense as the most important part of basketball. He wanted to shorten the game because we were so ferocious on defense: I preferred to play a transition game.

As a 5’8” PG you helped lead St. Anthony’s to a New York state title in 1974: did you consider your size to be an advantage or a disadvantage, and what did it mean to you to win the title? It is by far a disadvantage on the court, but it caused me to work exceptionally hard so I generated a work ethic that served me well in life. It was exciting to win the title because we had to beat some good teams along the way. I certainly learned the value of hard work and was a spark for every team I played on. I was a good shooter but there was no 3-PT line at that time.

In 1984 you were named part-time head coach of Stony Brook at age 26: why was it just a part-time job, and did you feel ready to lead your alma mater at such a young age? That was the nature of the position. Oddly enough I felt ready because I was very ambitious and had learned all of the fundamentals from Coach Alfieri. I got to work at summer camps with legends like Dean Smith/Rollie Massimino, which also taught me a lot. I set myself up to be a college basketball coach predicated on defense/hard work.

In 1990 your team went 24-5 and won the ECAC title: where does that team rank among the best you ever had, and how big a deal was it to win the title? It was a marvelous experience. I had an interesting combination of young/old players and we came together during a long journey. We made key plays at key times to win the title in OT, and cutting down the nets was great.

In 1991 you resigned after receiving a 3-year suspension for loaning guard Stan Martin $118 in the form of a plane ticket to visit his family in Buffalo over Christmas break and then allegedly lying about it to an NCAA investigator: what is your biggest regret about the situation, and do you think the penalty was unfair? The bottom line is that I made a $100 mistake but I do not think it was the violation that got me in trouble. I hate saying that I lied but that is the unethical conduct that the NCAA accused me of. They effectively ended my coaching career over what I think deserved a smaller penalty. I did not hire a lawyer: I just went in there and tried to tell the truth, but it backfired on me because I ended up proving the NCAA’s case for them. It taught me a great lesson as it cost me my dream, but quite frankly I influenced a great number of people during my second career as a teacher.

After getting out of basketball you became a chemistry teacher: how did you like teaching, and will you ever return to the college sideline? I absolutely loved being in the classroom because I loved interacting with the students. I was an assistant coach at CW Post but was exhausted by the end of the year due to the long commute. I would love nothing better than to get back into college basketball. I love the game so I am not coaching for fame/fortune. Hopefully someone someday will give me another chance to return to the coaching profession and in some small way again contribute to the discussion.

What do you think about the current state of college athletics, and do you think it has gotten better or worse over the past 2 decades? You might be surprised but I am disillusioned with college athletics. I loved being in the collegiate environment but I prefer watching NBA basketball due to the purity in that. I think that college athletics have become completely and utterly dominated by money, which is getting away from the core of the past. It creates a motivation for coaches to do things they might not ordinarily do. Back in the day people wanted to become famous but not a lot became rich. John Wooden did not become a millionaire by coaching at UCLA: he was a teacher first. Today’s coaches are salesmen, which is why they get hired. Today’s college athletes make sacrifices above and beyond their classmates, and even with a scholarship your time is consumed. When I was coaching at Stony Brook I was invited to attend many kinds of social functions with my wife. If I was not especially in the mood to interact and people asked what I did for a living, I would simply reply that I taught chemistry…and the universal response was to regard me with some sort of disdain/pity. However, if I wanted to hold court I would say that I was a college basketball head coach: this would make me the most popular person in the room! I always thought this spoke volumes as to the problems within our educational system, since I knew that my job as a teacher was much more important than my job as a coach. Coaches used to be regarded as teachers but this is no longer the case: until our society recognizes this as a priority the problems will continue to persist.

You remain the 2nd-winningest coach in school history (trailing only Steve Pikiell): what made you such a great coach? I was blessed with having hard-working young men who listened/executed. I am very good at motivating players but I wanted them to serve a higher cause. I taught them that excuses were weak: “There are 2 kinds of people in the world: those who get things done and those who do not.”

Your daughter Ali played lacrosse at Binghamton, where she was 1 of the best scorers on the team: how proud are you of her success, and does she credit at least some of her success to genetics? She was a 3-sport athlete in high school and worked very hard so I think that she would say yes. My younger son grew into quite a good athlete himself. My kids were surrounded by sports all of their lives so they certainly have an understanding of what it takes to succeed.

When people look back on your career, how do you want to be remembered the most? I hope that my career is not over yet! I was always concerned for my players: I wanted them to graduate and become good family men. My greatest success is how their lives turned out, which I am very grateful for.

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News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Friday, Dec 25th and Saturday, Dec 26th

Posted on December 24, 2020 by David Griggs

HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!!  Here is your Holiday dose of hoops for tomorrow and the day after!!

NEWS AND NOTES

-Rutgers looked fantastic in the first half at Ohio State, but then totally fell apart in the second half.  It was their first win of the season, but they’re still in good shape.  It was also a nice win for Ohio State who picked up their first win against a ranked team this year.

-Xavier and Creighton gave us another Big East thriller between two ranked teams.  The lead seesawed back and forth and Xavier had a chance to tie the game on their final possession, but missed a 3pt shot and suffered their first loss of the season.  Creighton got another nice win for their resume as they picked up their first win against a currently ranked team.

-Providence had been looking good, and Butler had been struggling, but the Bulldogs flipped the script and picked up a bit of a surprising win against the Friars.

-Northwestern followed up their big win against Michigan State with another big win against Indiana.  The Wildcats, who weren’t expected to do anything this year, are suddenly looking like a top 25 team.

 

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES (Friday)

-WISCONSIN AT MICHIGAN STATE.  Both teams are high in the rankings, both are probable protected seeds, and both are in the hunt to win the Big Ten.  This game will impact all of that.  Michigan State is looking to bounce back from a somewhat surprising loss to Northwestern and avoid dropping to 0-2 in B1G play.

-MARYLAND AT PURDUE (Big Ten).  It is too early to definitively say this, but I get the sense that both of these teams are on the outside looking in and still have a lot of work to do.  A win today would be a nice start.

-MICHIGAN AT NEBRASKA (Big Ten).  Michigan is unbeaten and this is a winnable conference road game, so they should be able to stay that way.

-IOWA AT MINNESOTA (Big Ten).  I’m looking forward to this one.  Iowa is high in the rankings and Minnesota has an impressive 7-1 record and is coming off a nice win against Saint Louis.  It will be interesting to see what Minney can do against a top five team at home.

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES (Saturday)

-KENTUCKY AT LOUISVILLE.  It’s one of the most bitter rivalries in all of college basketball.  Kentucky has a tendency to start off the season a little slow, and it’s usually in their game against Louisville that they seem to snap out of it and begin playing like a solid top ten team.  This year they’ve started off a lot slower than normal, but a big win in a rivalry game could help give their season the jumpstart it needs.  Louisville hasn’t won this game very often lately and is looking to snap that losing streak.  They’re also trying to improve to 6-1 on the year and add another notable win to their resume (although right now it’s not looking all that notable).

-HOUSTON AT UCF (American).  Houston is unbeaten on the season and has basically been dominating their opponents.  Not much was expected out of UCF, but they’ve won their last two games against Cincinnati and Florida State, so they should be coming into this one with quite a bit of confidence.

-OHIO STATE AT NORTHWESTERN (Big Ten).  This game is much more intriguing than it looked like it was going to be a week ago.  Northwestern has beaten Michigan State and Indiana in their last two games and is suddenly looking like a top 25 team.  This team came out of nowhere!  They just walked right out of Lake Michigan!  Ohio State is coming off a nice win against Rutgers, is in the rankings, and his having a nice season of their own.

-GONZAGA VS VIRGINIA (Fort Worth, TX).  Another heavyweight match-up for top ranked Gonzaga.  On the court it should be fun to watch Gonzaga’s outstanding offense go up against Virginia’s pack-line defense.  Virginia’s only loss was to San Francisco, but this would by far be their biggest win of the season up to this point, and perhaps their biggest win all year, if they’re able to pull it off.

-INDIANA AT ILLINOIS (Big Ten).  Indiana comes in to this with a modest 5-3 record and some good wins, but they still have a lot of room to improve.  Illinois is still high in the rankings, but they’ve also suffered three losses and are looking to hold serve and sustain the strength of their early season resume.

BUY GAMES (or games that might as well be, all on Saturday)

-Nicholls @ LSU
-Norfolk State @ George Mason

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