Tourney Talk: HoopsHD interviews Abilene Christian head coach Joe Golding

Posted on March 19, 2019 by Jon Teitel

Golding is certainly glittering this week! On Saturday Abilene Christian beat New Orleans 77-60 in the Southland tourney title game to earn an automatic bid to this week’s NCAA tournament. The Wildcats were only 16-16 last year but bounced back this year to win 27 games and claim the school’s 1st-ever NCAA tourney bid. Earlier this week HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to speak with Coach Golding about leading his alma mater to the NCAA tourney for the very 1st time.

You were a PG/assistant at Abilene Christian: how good a player were you back in the day, and how did you 1st get into coaching? I was not a very good player but I always joke with my AD because he averaged 20 PPG and I averaged about 3 PPG.  The moral of the story: do not pass the ball!

In the 2018 CBI you had a 7-PT OT loss at Drake: what did your team learn from that loss that will help them this year? It gave us some great experience. Last year was the 1st year that we were eligible for postseason play and we played a great Drake team on national TV. The atmosphere was comparable to an NCAA tourney game, which helped us in Katy last weekend at the conference tourney.

You never won more than 16 games during each of your 1st 7 years as head coach: how on earth were you able to win 27 this year? This transition is not for the weak of heart: it is a very challenging deal to move from D-2 to D-1. There was not a lot of support from the administration in the past but we raised about $500,000 in guarantee games during our 1st year of the transition. We recruited high school kids, developed them, and they stuck with us. Each year we continued to get better before breaking the door down this year.

The only fellow NCAA tourney team you played this year was Texas Tech (who beat you by 34 PTS): how good are the Red Raiders? They are really good: the best defensive team that I have ever coached against. Coach Chris Beard was actually my college coach here at ACU and he has been really good to us. Jarrett Culver scored 30 PTS against us and showed that he is a future NBA player. I think they have another chance to make a deep run.

Your team is top-20 in the nation with 38.3 3P%: what role does the 3-PT shot play in your offensive philosophy? It plays a large role, especially after losing our best big man last month. We try to shoot threes at a high percentage/rate, which is a big factor for us.

Last month you dismissed Jalone Friday/BJ Maxwell from the team for violating team policies: how difficult was the decision, and how were you able to overcome such an obstacle so late in the season to win each of your final 6 games? I cannot really talk about the dismissal but it was tough on our guys and the most emotional meeting that I have ever had to hold as a coach. We were able to rally the troops due to having so many juniors/seniors with great leadership. They have paid their dues and our saying was “finish the fight”. Every team has adversity during a 6-month season with injuries/suspensions/etc. but we handled it at a high level.

Earlier this month you were named Southland COY: what did it mean to you to receive such an outstanding honor? It meant a ton to me: I was surprised but very honored because I have a ton of respect for every coach in our league. This is not the easiest job but everyone knows how we built our program and that award is a credit to our entire staff.

In the Southland tourney title game last Saturday SR SG/SF Jaren Lewis scored a game-high 20 PTS in 23 minutes in a win over New Orleans en route to being named conference tourney MVP: how was he able to play his best when it mattered the most? He realized that he was 40 minutes away from his dream. He is from Orlando but we could just not find a place in Florida for him to have a homecoming game so to have the tourney in Jacksonville was just the perfect situation for him. You want seniors like him who know that their college careers are over if they lose.

What did it mean to you to win a title at your alma mater, and what has the reaction been like since returning to campus? It has been crazy! We go to chapel every day and they introduced the men’s and women’s teams the other day because we both won our respective conference tourneys. The whole town is rallying around us and everywhere you go people are talking about it. It is an honor to be the 1st coach to lead this institution into March Madness: this place basically raised me and has done a lot for me.

What do you think about getting a #15 seed, and what do you know about Kentucky? I turned them on this morning, watched about 10 minutes of the Wildcats…and then turned off my laptop and took a walk! Kentucky is 1 of the most historic programs in the country with a Hall of Fame coach and plenty of 5-star players. Everyone will be talking about Kentucky but they will also learn about Abilene Christian. I have never met Coach John Calipari but I have so much respect for what he has done: it will be so nice just to shake his hand before the game. We are fired up for the opportunity.

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The Hoops HD Report: March 18th, NCAA Tournament Edition

Posted on March 18, 2019 by David Griggs

Chad and the panel begin by looking at the NCAA Tournament and critiquing the selection committee by talking about who they thought the snubs were and what changes they would have made to the seedings.  From there, they collectively fill out a bracket by discussing all of the match-ups in the Round of 64, and the highest potential match-ups in the later rounds.  At the end of the show, they reveal what everyone has been waiting for all year long!!  The 2019 AC8 Field!!!

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

And below is the bracket that we filled out, but do not look at it until you’ve watched the show!!

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Bracket Tactics: HoopsHD provides some tips to surviving and advancing

Posted on March 18, 2019 by Jon Teitel

The best week of the year is finally here! This is the reason why we ponder the impact of high-school All-Americans, the importance of having a smart/veteran coach, and exactly how many different “Wildcats” can make the Final 4. For those of you who need some last-minute bracket advice grounded in historical facts/trends, please see below for our Sweetest 16 Suggestions. For the rest of you, enjoy the Madness!!

TIP #1: No team that lost its opening game in its conference tournament has ever gone on to win the NCAA title that same year.
STRATEGY: The extra few days of rest have not proven helpful in the past so take a long hard look at Texas Tech (5-PT loss West Virginia in Big 12 tourney quarterfinals) before penciling them in as your champ.

TIP #2: Since 1979 only 2 national champions did not have a McDonald’s All-American on their roster (2002 Maryland/2014 UConn).
STRATEGY: A coach who cannot recruit the best high school players usually fails to win it all so beware of picking Gonzaga/Purdue to go all the way.

TIP #3: The last coach to win a title in his very 1st year as coach at a school was Tubby Smith at Kentucky in 1998.
STRATEGY: History is not on the side of Louisville (Chris Mack)/Utah State (Craig Smith).

TIP #4: Since UNLV won it all in 1990, 27 of the past 28 champs have come from a power-conference (except for UConn in 2014): ACC (10), SEC (6), Big East (7), Pac-12 (2), Big 12 (1), Big 10 (1).
STRATEGY: You might want to think twice before picking anyone from the AAC/A-10 to win it all.

TIP #5: Only 3 coaches with 4 or fewer prior tournament appearances have won the title since 1985 (Steve Fisher/Tom Izzo/Kevin Ollie).
STRATEGY: Teams like Arizona State (Bobby Hurley has 2 prior tourney appearances)/Iowa State (Steve Prohm has 3 prior tourney appearances) might need a little more seasoning before they can win it all.

TIP #6: Each champ since 2002 had a strength of schedule that was among the top-75 in the nation.
STRATEGY: You have to play the best to learn how to beat the best you might want to stay away from Buffalo (#79)/Wofford (#105).

TIP #7: Murray State has played in the most NCAA tournaments (16) without ever making the Sweet 16.
STRATEGY: The Racers have also not been a #12 seed in a while so maybe this is the year they break the streak.

TIP #8: There are 5 active coaches who have won at least 70% of their NCAA tournament games (minimum 5 wins).
STRATEGY: Do not expect Mike Krzyzewski of Duke (76.4%)/John Calipari of Kentucky (74.6%) to be catching an early flight home.

TIP #9: There are 4 teams who have won at least 90% of their games in the round of 64 (minimum 5 games).
STRATEGY: Kansas (33-2)/North Carolina (30-1) are near-automatic in their opening games.

TIP #10: There are 10 teams who have won at least 70% of their games in the round of 32 (minimum 5 games).
STRATEGY: Louisville (23-8) is looking good vs. the Michigan State-Bradley winner if they can get by Minnesota, but the Wofford-Seton Hall winner better pray for a miracle if they have to face Kentucky (27-7).

TIP #11: There are 8 teams who have won at least 75% of their Sweet 16 games (minimum 5 games).
STRATEGY: Oregon (5-1)/Temple (7-0) have played great in their Sweet 16 games so Michigan State/Virginia should not rest on their higher-seeded laurels.

TIP #12: There are 9 teams who have won at least 70% of their Elite 8 games (minimum 5 games).
STRATEGY: Keep an eye on the Buckeye State in case either Cincinnati (6-2)/Ohio State (11-4) make it to the 2nd Sunday.

TIP #13: There are 6 teams who have won at least 70% of their Final 4 games (minimum 5 games).
STRATEGY: Michigan is 7-1 in the Final 4 so if you pick them to survive the West Region then you might want to pick them to get all the way to the title game.

TIP #14: There are 10 teams who are undefeated in their NCAA tournament games in a specific state (minimum 5 games).
STRATEGY: Duke could not be happier that the Final 4 is in Minneapolis (6-0 all-time in the state of Minnesota).

TIP #15: There are 7 teams who have won at least 70% of their NCAA tournament games as an at-large team (minimum 5 games).
STRATEGY: Do not sleep on North Carolina because even though they did not win the ACC tourney they still have a terrific track record when they do not get an automatic bid (65-26).

TIP #16: Only 3 teams have won an NCAA title after not being in the tournament the previous year (1986 Louisville/2003 Syracuse/2014 UConn).
STRATEGY: Iowa State (no postseason tourney in 2018)/LSU (2018 NIT) are finally ready for primetime but not quite ready to win a title.

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Tourney Talk: HoopsHD interviews Gardner-Webb head coach Tim Craft

Posted on March 18, 2019 by Jon Teitel

He’s Craft-y, he’s got no gripe, he’s Craft-y, and he’s just your type! 2 Sundays ago Gardner-Webb beat Radford 76-65 on the road in the Big South tourney title game to earn an automatic bid to this week’s NCAA tournament. The Runnin’ Bulldogs appeared to be runnin’ on empty after starting conference play with a 2-4 record but bounced back to win 11 of their final 13 games and claim the 1st NCAA tourney appearance in school history. Earlier today HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to speak with Coach Craft about DJ Laster’s heroic title game performance and what it feels like to make the NCAA tourney for the very 1st time.

You went to college at Florida: what is your favorite memory of those old Billy Donovan teams? I was actually a baseball manager but was certainly a basketball fan as well. I graduated in 2000, which was the year that they went to the title game with guys like Mike Miller/Udonis Haslem before losing to Michigan State.

In 2013 you were named head coach at Gardner-Webb: why did you take the job? I had been an assistant here from 2004-2007 and really thought that it was a special place. I felt a great care and family dynamic here on our campus. It is a Christian school and their values line up with the way I want to live my life. I also thought that we could be successful in basketball.

In the 2015 CBI you had a 9-PT loss at Colorado: what is the biggest difference between the regular season and the postseason? I do not have a lot of postseason experience but it is just survive and advance. If you want to keep playing you have to keep winning so the stakes are higher and there is more pressure on everything that you do.

Last year you lost 18 games: when did you 1st get the sense that you could turn things around this year? Last year was the worst year that we have had during our 5 years here but we were 9-9 in the league and felt that we had a decent team. We had 6 losses that were 1-possession games in the final 2 minutes so we put an emphasis in the off-season on having a small margin for error. We struggled a little bit early before winning 8 of our last 9.

You began this season with 2 straight games against fellow NCAA tourney teams in VCU/Virginia Tech: which of them impressed you the most, and why? Both of them were really good and put a lot of pressure on us defensively. We had a high rate of turnovers in both games but Virginia Tech just exploded in the 2nd half. Offensively the Hokies were pretty healthy and were also hard for us to score on.

You also had consecutive road wins in December at Georgia Tech/Wake Forest: do you think that you might have 1 more ACC win left in you this week?! We sure hope so! I think that Virginia is a different animal and are 1 of the best teams in the country. Their efficiency is off the charts and it will be a hard task but we will prepare to play our best.

You turned 42 last month: what did you do for the big day? I do not really remember.  At this point in the season every day feels the same: it is like Groundhog Day!

Last Sunday DJ Laster scored a career-high 32 PTS in 32 minutes in an 11-PT win at Radford en route to being named conference tourney MVP: how was he able to play the best when it mattered the most? He has really been playing with a lot of confidence and working on his game every day. He had a couple of really good weeks to finish the regular season and played well in all 3 of our conference tourney games. He was playing at another level in the title game and was able to take advantage of some mismatches from an athleticism standpoint. We sure needed every 1 of his buckets and I am glad that he came up big for us.

What did it mean to you to win a title, and what has the reaction been like since returning to campus? It means a lot for my players/staff because they have all worked so hard to accomplish this, but it means even more to our university/students/alumni. It will give us some national exposure and our former players have loved it. We had a packed student center last night and it has been fun for the whole community to watch us make the NCAA tourney for the 1st time in school history.

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Tourney Talk: HoopsHD interviews UCF SR G BJ Taylor

Posted on March 18, 2019 by Jon Teitel

You probably thought that UCF was a football school but the basketball team has something to say about that. Their .742 W/L% this year is #2 in school history and they will try to get their 1st-ever NCAA tourney win on Friday night when they travel to Columbia, SC to face VCU in the 1st round. The Knights did not win more than 13 games in a season from 2014-2016 but under Coach Johnny Dawkins they have now won 19+ games in each of the past 3 years. Earlier today HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to speak with SR G BJ Taylor about overcoming injuries and beating each of the other 3 AAC teams who made the NCAA tourney.

You grew up in Florida: what made you choose UCF? I am an Orlando hometown kid so I just wanted to represent Orlando.

In 2015 you started 26 games and were named to the AAC All-Rookie team: how were you able to come in and contribute right from the start? I was able to prepare really well while coming out of high school. Being able to play against college guys at UCF while I was still in high school really impacted my game.

In the 2017 NIT semifinals you scored 10 PTS in a loss to TCU: what is the biggest difference between the regular season and the postseason? The physicality: every possession means more and there is so much more on the line because everyone wants to win. You see desperation from both teams on the court.

You play for Coach Johnny Dawkins: what makes him such a good coach, and what is the most important thing that you have learned from him so far? He has firsthand experience as a player and accomplished so many things during his career that he can relate to our mindset. He is good at the psychological part of the game and can always motivate us. He just teaches us to play hard: if you are keeping score then you need to play to win.

You missed 1 year with a lower leg injury and the 1st ½ of last season due to a foot injury: how difficult was it to make it back onto the court, and how is your health at the moment? It was difficult to miss an entire season but in the long run it has made me mentally tougher. Dealing with that adversity has helped me mature a lot.

In December you scored a career-high 35 PTS/6-9 3PM in a 7-PT win over Georgia Southern: was it just 1 of those situations where every shot you put up seemed to go in because you were “in the zone”? I started off slow that night but since it was close down the stretch I was put in a position to make some threes. It was not like every shot was falling: I just remained aggressive and was able to get things going and did what I could to help the team win.

You beat each of the other 3 AAC teams who made the NCAA tourney this year (Cincy/Houston/Temple): which of them impressed you the most, and why? Houston had a 33-game home court winning streak at the time we beat them so it was big for our confidence to knock them off.

You are a good FT shooter (77.4% this year) but your team is among the worst in the nation (64.5%): are you worried that it might bite your team in the butt this week? The biggest thing for us is that we rely on getting fouled a lot because it puts us in the bonus and lets us take a bunch of FTs. The volume is important so if we can take 20 more FTs than our opponent then we should still be able to score a number of points.

You have a pair of twin towers in 6’11” Collin Smith and 7’6” Tacko Fall: how does their size help what you do on offense/defense? Most teams nowadays do not play with 2 centers: most of them play small ball with a bunch of guards. It makes us unique because we can punish teams down low and impose our physicality.

What do you think about getting a #9 seed, and what do you know about VCU? Getting into the NCAA tourney is exciting: our school had a 14-year drought so it was huge for our program to get the 1st at-large bid in school history. VCU plays fast/hard and had a really good season so we know that it will be a battle.

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UTR Postseason News, Notes and Highlighted Game – Monday, March 18th

Posted on March 18, 2019 by John Stalica

Shortly after the NCAA Tournament bracket was revealed, pairings for the NIT were revealed – the first four teams in this field were UNC-Greensboro, Alabama, Indiana and TCU. The CBI also included a few notable teams from the major conferences – West Virginia will appear in the tournament despite an overall losing record, and even perennial doormats like South Florida and DePaul will appear in the CBI this season. Finally, there were 26 teams that were announced for the CIT field – there will be thirteen non-bracketed matchups that will take place beginning tonight through Saturday for the first round.

QUINNIPIAC AT NJIT (CIT, 7:30 PM). Quinnipiac advanced to the semifinals before losing to Monmouth in the Metro Atlantic conference tournament over a week ago. They will travel to the original Team of the People tonight – the NJIT Highlanders. NJIT also won a game in the Atlantic Sun conference tournament for the first time with a road win at Florida Gulf Coast; they lost their semifinal game at top-seeded Lipscomb.

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