Happy Tourney-versary!: HoopsHD interviews Earl Tatum about Hall of Famer Al McGuire

Posted on February 13, 2019 by Jon Teitel

With the 2019 NCAA tourney tipping off next month, we will spend this month taking a walk down memory lane with a choice collection of players/coaches who are celebrating an awesome anniversary this year. From a comeback win to clinch the 1954 tourney title (65th anniversary) through a last-second loss in the 2014 Final 4 (5th anniversary), these legends have all carved out a little piece of history in past Marches. We continue our series with Earl Tatum, who was an All-American under Coach Al McGuire at Marquette. McGuire is primarily known as a coach but was also a fine player who led St. John’s to a 3rd place finish at the 1951 NIT as team captain before spending several years in the NBA. John Wooden owned the 1st half of the 1970s at UCLA with 5 titles in a 6-year span from 1970-75, but McGuire was pretty successful at Marquette: 1970 NIT title, 1974 NCAA title game loss to NC State, and 1977 NCAA title game win over North Carolina. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Earl about the 45th anniversary of the 1974 NCAA tourney run all the way to the title game and his memories of McGuire’s post-coaching career as a broadcaster.

Take me through the 1967 NIT when McGuire was coach at Marquette:
Jimmy Walker scored 36 PTS but missed a jumper at the end of the game in a 1-PT OT loss by Providence: was everyone stunned that Walker (who led the nation in scoring that year) missed the shot? Jimmy was a big name on the East Coast back then, so we got to see him on TV a lot.

NIT MVP Walt Frazier had 21 PTS/11 REB to lead Southern Illinois to a win over Marquette in the title game: could everyone tell back then that Frazier was going to become a legend? I did not know much about Frazier back then, but Coach Raymonds told us that he was great. He was unknown before that game.

In the 1969 NCAA tourney Rick Mount scored 26 PTS including a deep shot from the baseline with 2 seconds left in the final seconds of a 2-PT OT win by eventual national runner-up Purdue: where does “the most famous shot in Boilermaker history” rank among the most clutch shots that you have ever seen? I was in high school at the time and promised myself to go home from the playground in time to watch that game. I actually stayed too late to watch the game but I saw it on video later on. It was a heck of a shot: Purdue had a great club that year.

What are your memories of the 1970 NIT (after McGuire turned down an NCAA tourney bid in Texas to stay in New York City and play in the NIT, tourney MVP Dean Meminger scored 16 PTS to help beat McGuire’s alma mater St. John’s and win the title)? Marquette had some wild uniforms back then and Dean was a New York guy. I was receiving a lot of recruiting mail from Indiana at the time but Al had a way of having his own guys convince players to come to Marquette. I knew that I was going there 1 day when Al started eating off of my dinner plate!

Take me through the 1974 NCAA tourney:
Bo Ellis had 15 PTS/10 REB in a 2-PT win over Michigan: did the team start to feel it had enough momentum to win it all? I was just having a conversation about this the other day. I remember seeing Michigan coach Johnny Orr visiting our campus the previous spring: when we played them I noticed that they ran a lot of the same plays we did!

Tourney MOP David Thompson scored 21 PTS in a win by NC State in Greensboro, NC: how did McGuire feel about being named national COY while also becoming the 1st coach to ever be ejected from a title game? I would never blame that on Coach. In my opinion the refs will sometimes throw a coach out because he has a power trip.

Take me through the magical 1977 NCAA tourney:
A few months earlier McGuire had announced that he would retire at the end of the season to become vice chairman of Medalist Industries: how did he reach this decision? I graduated in 1976 and at the time we knew that we had a championship club in the making. I followed the program while I was a rookie with the Lakers: they were really up and down before making the tourney.

Butch Lee scored 26 PTS in a 1-PT win over Kansas State: how angry did McGuire get during his 7-minute postgame tirade (he was called for a technical foul in the 2nd half after an official thought that a choking signal McGuire gave to his team was directed at the official)? The refs back then were so edgy: you cannot watch the game and the coach at the same time! Al knew the game very well.

Lee made a full-court inbounds pass toward Ellis with 3 seconds left, but after the ball deflected to Jerome Whitehead his partially-blocked dunk hit the backboard/bounced off the rim/fell through the net as time expired in 2-PT win over NC-Charlotte: where does that rank among the most exciting finishes in school history? I have seen some amazing finishes by guys like Christian Laettner but that was 1 of the finest college games I have ever seen. I do not think they could ever duplicate that shot.

Tourney MOP Lee scored 19 PTS in an 8-PT win over North Carolina in the title game: what did it mean to him to win an NCAA title? He did not do cartwheels on TV: he just let it sink in. He had spent so much time to get to that point and was just happy to finally wear the crown. When I would see him later on he would talk about life, not basketball.

After retiring from coaching he became a popular commentator for NBC/CBS, where his on-air arguments with Billy Packer helped increase the popularity of college basketball across the nation: why did he get into broadcasting, and what made him such a viewer favorite? He is the kind of guy who just wanted to see what TV was like.  People liked that he was just off-the-cuff with his old-time flavor of the game. If he could not remember someone’s name he would just give him a nickname!

McGuire and his brother Dick (who led the NBA in AST in 1949) are the only pair of brothers inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame: what was it like to grow up in such a successful family, and who is considered the best? Coach told me that he was a bruiser but that his brother was a player. I remember that from day 1 he said that we were a family and would take care of our own. I thought he was just saying that to get me to go there but he was a wonderful/caring human being. He liked hunting and collecting souvenirs: he was much more than just a coach.

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News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Wednesday, Feb 13th

Posted on February 13, 2019 by David Griggs

NEWS AND NOTES

The state of Kentucky had all kinds of crazy going on in it last night!

-LSU kept it close against Kentucky early, and even at times when it appeared Kentucky had them at arms length, they made big plays and stayed in the game.  Then in the second half, they were right there with them.  Then they got the lead, and held the lead for pretty much the last five or six minutes of the game.  It was an AMAZING performance!  I kept waiting for them to fold up, and had that happened I still would have said it was a great performance in a losing effort.  But, they won, and it was an amazing win.  But no one is talking about just how well they played because of what happened at the end of the game.  LSU drove the floor with 6 seconds left, got it up on the rim, and then tipped it in just as time was expiring.  The basket really should not have counted, but because goaltending is not reviewable, they were not able to waive it off.  Having said that (and this is the real shame of it), for the last ten minutes of the game I felt that LSU was outplaying Kentucky, and would have continued to outplay them had it gone into overtime (which it should have).  I do not put ANY sort of asterisk next to this game when it comes to how I evaluate LSU, and I really don’t think the real committee will either.  It was a FANTASTIC win.  But, the referees did get it wrong.  It should have gone into overtime, and as great as that game was, I really wish it would have because I wanted five more minutes.

-Anyway, after that, Louisville was blowing Duke off the court in a game that seemed surreal.  I had mentioned that morning (yesterday’s write up) that I thought Louisville’s resume was good, but that their team was even better given some of their close losses to really good teams, and was feeling very good about what a genius I was.  Then, the last ten minutes happened.  According to David Worlock, this was the first time in the history of college basketball that a team had overcome a 23 point deficit with less than ten minutes to go in the game. That doesn’t seem right.  It was an AMAZING comeback, but I almost can’t believe that it had never happened before.

Now, backing up from that, Louisville has now lost two straight games (one rather spectacularly) where they blew double digit leads late int he game against a ranked team.  I know that has got to sting, but when you look at the resume and how the committee will look at it, it really is just two losses that aren’t all that damaging.  They’re still in good shape, and can still end up as a protected seed.  They just need to work on how they finish out games, that’s all.

-Most of the time a top ten team losing to someone with an overall losing record would be the most noteworthy thing of the evening.  Michigan basically trailed Penn State from tip to buzzer.  The Wolverines were playing so poorly that John Beilein REALLY let the referees have it going into the half!  And, got tossed out.  I don’t think they can end up back on the #1 line after that short of winning out and winning the conference tournament.  My sources (Jon Teitel) inform me that was Beilein’s first technical foul since 1979.

-Michigan State has fixed whatever was wrong, and picked up another nice road win against a Wisconsin team that had been playing very well lately.

-K State continues to roll as they picked up another nice road win last night by knocking off Texas in a game that was close most of the way.

-Saint John’s needed overtime, but held on to beat Butler at home after blowing what appeared to be a rather safe lead in the second half.

-For the second time this season, I am done with Arkansas.  I tried being nice to them, but they have now lost two straight games to sub-tournament caliber teams.

 

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-SOUTH CAROLINA AT TENNESSEE (SEC).  South Carolina has been much better in conference play, but so far they still haven’t been good enough to make a strong case that they are an NCAA Tournament team.  Tennessee has a path to a #1 seed, and could end up as the overall #1 seed depending on how things play out.

-PROVIDENCE AT VILLANOVA (Big East).  Nova is coming off a 1pt loss at Marquette where they had a chance to win at the buzzer.  While frustrating, that’s hardly discouraging, and it is their only conference loss.  They still have a path to a first place finish and a protected seed, and are even good enough to win out.

-WAKE FOREST AT FLORIDA STATE (ACC).  Florida State has a ton of momentum going.  They’re playing better and better, their resume is getting better and better, and they have what may be one of their most winnable remaining games tonight.

-CLEMSON AT MIAMI FL (ACC).  Clemson has a bit of a fire going.  They’ve won four straight, are a respectable 5-5 in ACC play, and if they can pick up this road win tonight it’ll be another small step forward.  They have played their way onto our bubble, and have the chances they need the rest of the way to play their way into the field.

-RICHMOND AT VCU (Atlantic Ten).  If anyone from the A10 is going to be in position to get an at-large, its VCU.  They are clearly the better team, but we’ve seen strange things happen in this rivalry.  They need to take care of business at home.

-SOUTH FLORIDA AT UCF (American).  It’s a rivalry game, and it is suddenly a very bubblicous game.  We have UCF squarely on the bubble, and although we haven’t talked too much about South Florida, you have to consider that they’ve won five in a row, and while they had three straight losses prior to that they were in competitive games against Temple, Cincinnati, and Houston.  Their next four are @ UCF, Temple, @ Houston, and UCF again.  If they can get three of those, then you have to start thinking South Florida is right on the bubble.

-SMU AT TEMPLE (American).  Simply put, Temple is a bubble team with limited opportunities at statement wins, so it is hugely important that they do not blow games at home against sub-tournament caliber teams.

-GEORGIA TECH AT VIRGINIA TECH (ACC).  VA Tech probably won’t end up as a protected seed, but they will easily land in the top half of the bracket and shouldn’t have too much trouble tonight.

-SYRACUSE AT NC STATE (ACC).  Interesting game here.  NC State is right on the bubble and therefore every game seems to have a pivotal feel. Syracuse is probably inside the bubble, but they’re still extremely inconsistent and could use some stability on their resume.  A road win at NC State would certainly help.

-OLE MISS AT AUBURN (SEC).  These are two likely tournament teams, but both have a ton of room for improvement and I don’t think either one of them are safe to the point to where they can just put it on cruise control, so this is a big game for both teams.

-GEORGETOWN AT SETON HALL (Big East).  This is another bubblicious game.  Seton Hall is probably in slightly better shape, but I wouldn’t describe either one of them as being in great shape.  Both could really use this win tonight.

-CREIGHTON AT XAVIER (Big East).  Just a quick note on Xavier.  If they don’t win tonight, then they may not win for the rest of the year. I don’t know if a team has ever been a #1 seed one year, and then a last place finisher the next year.  I’m almost certain that no Big East team in any of its previous formats has ever finished in first place one year and last place the next year.  So, Xavier is making a little bit of history! (As our colleague John Stalica noted on Monday night’s podcast, the closest example we can recall is Duke, albeit not a #1 seed in 1994, going from an appearance in the national championship game to a last-place finish in the ACC in 1995.)

-TEXAS TECH AT OKLAHOMA STATE (Big 12).  I still think this Texas Tech team has not reached their ceiling.  This is a winnable road game that they need if they want to improve their resume between now and the end.

-WYOMING AT UTAH STATE (Mountain West).  We have Utah State on our bubble now, mainly because it is a very weak bubble, but regardless of the circumstances they do have a path to the NCAA Tournament if they are able to finish strong.

-MINNESOTA AT NEBRASKA (Big Ten).  Minnesota will probably end up on the right side of the cut line, but these are the kinds of games they need to take care of business in in order to make that happen.

-ARIZONA STATE AT COLORADO (Pac Twelve).  One never knows if Arizona State is going to beat Kansas or get blown out by Washington State.  They are in the hunt for an NCAA bid, but they need to win their games against non-tournament caliber teams.  Like, Colorado.

UNDER THE RADAR

-NEW HAMPSHIRE AT VERMONT (American).  Vermont is the current first place team and shouldn’t have too much trouble against one of the worst teams in the country tonight

-LIBERTY AT LIPSCOMB (Atlantic Sun).  These are the two best teams in the ASun, and they’re separated by just one game. Having said that, Lipscomb won the first meeting at Liberty in a blowout, and has blown out virtually everyone else in league play, so you have to think of them as the favorites

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Under The Radar Game of the Day: Drake at Southern Illinois

Posted on February 12, 2019 by John Stalica

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

For yesterday’s weekly Hoops HD Report – CLICK HERE

For Jon Teitel’s interview with McDonald’s All-American Wendell Moore (Duke commit) – CLICK HERE

Drake (18-7, 7-5 MVC) at Southern Illinois (13-12, 6-6 MVC) – 8:00 PM EST (ESPN+)

Tonight’s UTR Game of the Day takes us to Carbondale, Illinois – home of the Southern Illinois Salukis and the legendary Barry Hinson’s BBQ Sauce. They play host to the Drake Bulldogs in a matchup of teams in the top half of the Missouri Valley Conference. Drake won the first game between both teams back in January by 12 points. Drake has gone 6-3 in the stretch after that game and is currently 2 games behind conference leader Loyola-Chicago. Drake avenged one of those losses against Northern Iowa last Saturday; Nick McGlynn led the Bulldogs with 22 points in that game.

Southern Illinois had a four-game losing streak that began with the loss against Drake back in January, but they have managed to win four out of their last six games, however. Five Salukis scored in double figures in their last win against Evansville; Kavion Pippen led the way with 18 points in that game.

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Moore is More: HoopsHD interviews McDonald’s All-American Wendell Moore

Posted on February 12, 2019 by Jon Teitel

If you want to win an NCAA title you need a good coach, a great resume…and a McDonald’s All-American. Only 1 championship team since 1979 has not had such a player (Maryland in 2002). The 42nd annual McDonald’s All-American Game will take place on March 27th in Atlanta, GA, and the rosters were announced on January 24th after selecting the 24 best players in the nation from a whopping 2500 nominees. If you do not think these guys can make an immediate impact in the fall, just ask Coach K how he likes having 2018 honorees RJ Barrett/Zion Williamson at Duke! Durham will be getting a couple more in the fall when 2019 honorees Vernon Carey/Wendell Moore head to Cameron Indoor Stadium. Earlier today HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Wendell about being a McDonald’s All-American and how much company he will have.

You were born in Richmond before moving to Charlotte: what was your favorite college basketball team growing up? It has been Duke ever since I was young.

You played for team USA at the 2017 FIBA Americas U16 Championship/2018 FIBA U17 World Cup: what did it mean to you to represent your country/win a pair of gold medals? It meant a lot to me: it has always been 1 of my dreams to represent my country and winning a pair of gold medals was a great accomplishment.

You have won 2 straight 3A state titles at Cox Mill High School: what is the key to winning championships? Just having a team with really good players and then getting the job done.

Last October you signed with Duke (over NC State/North Carolina/South Carolina/Wake Forest): what made you choose the Blue Devils? I really liked their team and the school’s winning tradition: I enjoyed all of it.

They currently have several sensational freshmen including RJ Barrett/Tre Jones/Cam Reddish/Zion Williamson: are you expecting a crowded roster in the fall or do you think the current guys will all be 1-and-done? I think they will all have a great chance of being 1-and-done and making it to the NBA.

You are 6’6” but have a nearly 7’ wingspan: what position do you play in high school, and what position do you expect to play in college? I play mostly PG/SG for now.  I think that combo guard will also be what I play at Duke due to my size but I am happy to play wherever they tell me to.

In January you were named a McDonald’s All-American: what did it mean to you to receive such an outstanding honor? It meant a lot to me because it was another 1 of my dreams. Everyone wants to be a McDonald’s All-American when they are growing up.

Duke has another incoming McDonald’s All-American in Vernon Carey (who was your teammate at the FIBA U17 World Cup last summer): how close are you 2, and what makes him such a great player? We are really close and have played against each other since the 7th/8th grade. He can feed off of anybody and does whatever is needed to win, which is what makes him 1 of the best players in our class.

The Blue Devils also remain 1 of the finalists for fellow McDonald’s All-American Matthew Hurt: how are your recruiting efforts going so far? I am trying a little bit and talking to him here and there. I also talked to him during his official visit and just told him that Duke is a great school if he wants to play for the best.

Your father Wendell Sr. played basketball at Christopher Newport University and your cousin Derrick Reid played basketball at VCU: who is the best athlete in the family? I would say me!

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News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Tuesday, Feb 12th

Posted on February 12, 2019 by David Griggs

CLICK HERE for the latest Hoops HD Report

-Virginia rebounded from the home loss at Duke by winning on the road at North Carolina, and picking up yet another solid win for their resume.  It’s now looking like the ACC will put two teams on the top line.

-Kansas got a much needed road win against TCU, and needed overtime to do it.  Toward the end of regulation, Kansas appeared to be in control.  Then they melted down as TCU came back and got the lead and they appeared to be in control.  But, Kansas was able to force overtime, and the lead flipflopped in OT as well.  It was an exciting game, and it there was quite a bit on the line for both teams.  Kansas had just one true road win and desperately needed some more, and TCU was hovering around the bubble and needed some stability.

-Oklahoma is now six games below .500 in Big 12 play after losing to Baylor, which is not good at all.

-PURDUE AT MARYLAND (Big Ten).  Purdue was given a protected seed by the committee on Saturday, and a win on the road against a really strong Maryland team would help further cement that, as well as keep them within reach of finishing first in the Big Ten.

-LSU AT KENTUCKY (SEC).  Both are probable tournament teams, and both have been playing really well since conference play started.  LSU has just one loss in the league, but this is far and away the toughest game they’ve played all season.  Kentucky actually has a path to a #1 seed if they can keep winning and adding big wins to their resume.

-MICHIGAN STATE AT WISCONSIN (Big Ten).  Michigan State had one bad week, but appears to be back on track.  This is a very tough road game for the Spartans against a Wisky team that could still end up as a protected seed if everything falls right.  They’re looking to bounce back from a road loss at Michigan where they gave a fairly good account of themselves.

-BUFFALO AT AKRON (MAC).  This is another really tough conference road game for the Bulls.  Akron has had their issues, but they’ve won four of their last five and have just one loss at home this year.

-MARQUETTE AT DEPAUL (Big East).  Marquette is coming off a big emotional win against Villanova, and they need to come back down to Earth because winning at DePaul is no longer the cakewalk that it used to be.  They’ve won two straight and are just a game below .500 in Big East play.

-MICHIGAN AT PENN STATE (Big Ten).  This is a game that Michigan should clearly win despite being a road team.  They still have a path to a #1 seed if they can finish strong.

-BUTLER AT SAINT JOHN’S (Big East).  As weak as the bubble is, some still have Butler hovering around it.  I think they need to string together several wins just to get into the picture, but they do have a path to it, and a win tonight would be a fantastic start.  The Johnnies are a combination of impressive wins, good efforts, and head scratching losses.  They should win tonight, but one never knows with them.

-DUKE AT LOUISVILLE (ACC).  Two top 16 seeds and two likely protected seeds.  Louisville’s resume is good, but their team may be capable of being even better when you look at how close some of their losses were and to how good those opponents were.  They’re coming off an overtime loss against Florida State team that nearly beat Duke earlier in the season.  Duke has three wins against top five teams, and two were away from home.  That’s astoundingly good.  They’ve got a chance to pick up yet another road win against a ranked team.

-KANSAS STATE AT TEXAS (Big 12).  K State still has a two game lead over the rest of the conference, but even with that it’s hardly comfortable.  Texas has been a very schizophrenic team this year, and the more wins they can pick up like this one, the more stable they will be.

-ALABAMA AT MISSISSIPPI STATE (SEC).  We have Alabama hovering right around the bubble, and a road win against a likely tournament team would do wonders for their resume.

-ARKANSAS AT MISSOURI (SEC).  Arkansas is still on the outside looking in, but they can play their way into the mix if they’re able to string together some wins.

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The Hoops HD Report: February 11th

Posted on February 11, 2019 by David Griggs

We’ve got a full panel tonight, and we begin by looking at the top four lines that the selection committee released this past Saturday and discuss what we think the points of emphasis are based on the teams that they selected. and what teams need to do the rest of the way in order to end up as protected seeds.  From there we run through all of the major conferences and discuss Duke’s big win at Virginia and how impressive their resume is, how Virginia rebounded with a big win at North Carolina on Monday, Kentucky’s big win at Mississippi State and the big week they have coming up against LSU and Tennessee, how how Florida State is and how they have a stretch of winnable games remaining, Washington State’s surprising week where they swept the Arizona/Arizona State trip, Gonzaga and Nevada’s dominance in conference play, and much more.

 

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

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