The Hoops HD Report: February 4th

Posted on February 4, 2019 by David Griggs

Chad is back with a full panel as we look back on a very busy weekend of college basketball.  Washington continues to dominate the Pac Twelve, and we assess how dangerous they might be once the NCAA Tournament rolls around.  In the ACC we look at North Carolina’s big win at Louisville, as well as Louisville’s big win tonight.  In the SEC we look at how good Tennessee and Kentucky are, as well as Mississippi State’s big win at Ole Miss.  The Big 12 is logjammed with Kansas State and Baylor both ahead of Kansas.  All that, and much more.

 

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

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Bracket Projection – Hoops HD Staff Bracket

Posted on February 4, 2019 by John Stalica

This week, it falls upon John Stalica to complete the Hoops HD Staff Bracket – this is his personal guess as to what the bracket should be. This is not the same as Jon Teitel forecasting the selection committee; click here to compare his predictions. Without further ado, here is the bracket:

First Four Out: UNC-Greensboro, Nebraska, Indiana, East Tennessee State

Others Considered: Utah State, Florida, Furman, Davidson, Fresno State, San Francisco, Pittsburgh, Creighton

COMMENTS FROM JOHN

– It goes without saying that the Big Ten has cannibalized itself out of a #1 seed during the past week. Michigan fell down to the 2-line after stumbling at Iowa, and Michigan State fell out after a surprising loss at home to Indiana. Duke and Virginia edge out Tennessee for the top two spots overall, and Gonzaga is back on the 1-line this week.

– We are now in the part of the Kansas season cycle where we start to wonder how we get suckered into thinking this is the year they will finally lose the Big 12. It goes without saying that either a team like Kansas State, Baylor or Texas Tech has to be the one to finish above them. Texas Tech failed miserably in their attempt to win at the Phog in back-to-back seasons. Baylor is a great story in how they’ve improved, but I’m not sold that they finish above the Jayhawks, however. Kansas State hosts Kansas in the Octagon tomorrow night, so we should start to see more clarity.

– LSU missed an opportunity to move up to a protected seed with a surprising home loss to an Arkansas team that is not a road warrior, but they are still playing well above their initial expectations this season. Their next three games: at Mississippi State, Auburn and at Kentucky. Time to see if the carriage turns into a pumpkin going into the heart of SEC play.

– I know it’s fun to razz on the Pac-12 this season, but not only is Washington actually looking like a noisemaker in the conference, they can shut the door on the conference race if they’re able to sweep the Arizona trip this week. Arizona State got a much-needed win against in-state rival Arizona, and quite frankly I like their profile more than the bubble muck that hasn’t really had much in the way of signature wins (or ANY wins) yet.

– For UTR conferences, note that the MAC and the Ohio Valley both have two bids this week. Bowling Green gets the MAC auto-bid by virtue of their win against Buffalo and Belmont edged out teams in the First Four out for the final bid. I still think there’s at least a 50/50 chance that the SoCon gets multiple bids to the NCAA Tournament this year.

COMMENTS FROM THE HOOPS HD STAFF

FROM DAVID

-I really hate agreeing with Stalica, but for the most part I think he did a pretty good job.  I do like Lipscomb a lot more than the #12 line.  When you put them next to Auburn (who I know finally picked up a nice win, but even with that win I think Lipscomb is better, and VCU, and Saint John’s, and Temple, and certainly NC State and TCU, I just think they’re better on paper.  But, it goes beyond that.  I think Lipscomb is better on the court.  If anything, I think their resume understates how good they are, not overstates it.  Same with Belmont and Wofford.  Those are three really good teams.  Buffalo has gotten quite a bit of love, and they remain in the rankings and in the top half of this particular bracket.  I’ve got no problem with that.  But, if Buffalo is a top 25 team, then Lipscomb, Belmont, and Wofford have to at least be top 40 teams when you look at their paper and look at them on the court.  I think the wins at Liberty and at TCU for Lipscomb, and at UNCG for Wofford, come close to matching (and perhaps even surpassing) what Buffalo has done.  Wofford is at East Tennessee State tomorrow night.  ETSU is 8-1 at home.  If they win that one, then they will have beaten ETSU and UNCG in true road games, who would be a combined 17-3 at home.  Two of the three losses would have been to Wofford.  That’s pretty damn good!  I realize that hasn’t happened yet, but just saying…

-Stalica has seen the light!!  Gonzaga is on the top line!!  Well done!!

-Another UTR comment, I don’t like Murray State nearly as much as I did a week ago.  They are just 2-4 against teams with winning div1 records, and those wins came against Southern Illinois and Eastern Illinois.  Just this past week they were blown off the floor by Jax State, and barely beat an absolutely pitiful Tennessee Tech team.  Someone else said it, but in the OVC Murray State and Belmont are getting all the pub.  It’s quite possible that neither gets the auto bid.

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Under The Radar Game of the Day: North Carolina Central at Florida A&M

Posted on February 4, 2019 by John Stalica

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

For Jon Teitel’s interview with McDonald’s All-American Samuell Williamson (Louisville commit) – CLICK HERE

North Carolina Central (10-12, 5-3 MEAC) at Florida A&M (9-14, 6-2 MEAC) – 7:00 PM EST (ESPNU)

Tonight’s UTR Game of the Day takes us to Tallahassee, Florida where the Rattlers of Florida A&M will play host to the Eagles of North Carolina Central. FAMU has won four straight games, including a 63-39 victory that came with surprising ease against a North Carolina A&T team that was previously unbeaten in the MEAC. The only disappointment for the Rattlers was a loss at Maryland-Eastern Shore, but they are currently in sole possession of 3rd place in the league and a full game ahead of NC Central. Justin Ravenel is the only Rattler to average double figures in points (15.4 PPG).

North Carolina Central won their first three games in conference play, but have lost three out of their last five games. Two of those three games were losses against Coppin State and North Carolina A&T at home; their most recent win was on the road at Savannah State a week ago. Raasean Davis leads the Eagles with 15.3 PPG and 9.3 RPG.

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Williamson 2.0: HoopsHD interviews McDonald’s All-American Samuell Williamson

Posted on February 4, 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! 1 of the other ACC schools who has already signed an All-American is Louisville, as they will be bringing in Samuell Williamson next season. Yesterday HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Samuell about being a McDonald’s All-American and his growth during the past few years.

How did you 1st get into basketball? My dad just put the ball in my hands at an early age and my siblings played as well so I wanted to be like them.

Last September you signed with Louisville (over Alabama/Baylor/Florida/Georgia/Kansas/Oklahoma/Texas/Texas A&M/UConn): what made you choose the Cardinals? I felt that Coach Chris Mack believed in me more than any other coach did. Louisville is a basketball school with a rich tradition and I want to help them compete for a championship.

Louisville has had 3 different coaches during the past 3 years (Mack/David Padgett/Rick Pitino): was it hard to go through the recruitment process while the school’s coaching staff kept changing every single spring? Not at all: some other schools had coaches with questions about their own job security but I have no doubt about Coach Mack.

What do you think about the current Louisville roster? I know that Jordan Nwora/Dwayne Sutton are having good years and the whole team is playing good basketball.

You are 6’7”: what position do you play in high school, and what position do you expect to play in college? I play the 3 in high school and will play mostly the 3 in college but perhaps a little SG as well.

In January you were named a McDonald’s All-American: what did it mean to you to receive such an outstanding honor? It meant the world to me. It is something I have been dreaming about since I was a kid: I could not believe it when I heard the news.

You are 1 of 2 honorees from the state of Texas (Tyrese Maxey attends South Garland High School): have you ever played with/against him, and are you looking forward to seeing him again when you face his Kentucky team next fall? We have played mostly against each other for the last 5-6 years but played together a little bit last summer and have also been on the same team at some camps. I am very excited to play against him and his Kentucky team next year.

Many of the other All-Americans have been 5-star prospects for a while but you only recently made the leap from 4-star to 5-star: how has your game improved during your high school career? I consider myself a late-bloomer. I was a 0-star just 2 years ago but have improved my athleticism/explosiveness as well as my ball-handling skills.

You are currently averaging 25+ PPG at Rockwall High School: what is your secret for being a great scorer? Just to stay aggressive: you have to mix it up and score from all 3 levels including getting to the FT line. I also like to get my teammates involved on offense.

Will you get a nice summer vacation or is it going to be a quick transition from high school to college? It will be a pretty quick transition: I will head up there as soon as I graduate this spring.

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Hoops HD Season Reset (and Highlighted Games): Monday, Feb 4th

Posted on February 4, 2019 by David Griggs

SEASON RESET

The Super Bowl is now over, which means college basketball steps into the spotlight for eight straight weeks!!  If you’re just now joining us, here’s what you’ve missed…

-For starters, November was amazing!  And if you are just now joining us, I’m sorry you missed it.  Top ten match-ups included Kansas v Michigan State, Kentucky v Duke, Gonzaga v Duke, Gonzaga v Tennessee, Tennessee v Kansas, Kansas v Marquette, and there may even be one that I’m missing.  Kansas now ranked #11th, but they were clearly top 10 prior to the injuries they suffered, and the vast majority of these games were great!

-The preseason top 5 was Kansas, Kentucky, Duke, Gonzaga, and Virginia.  Three of those five are still ranked in the top five, and Kentucky is still ranked in the top 7.  Kansas has fallen off a bit after being hit by the injury bug, and while they’re still good, they don’t appear to be #1 seed good.

Tennessee is the #1 team and while they may not be ranked that high at the end, they should hold onto it for the next two weeks.

Michigan, who started off ranked around 20, has also exceeded their preseason expectations and has been ranked as high as #1.

-The Biggest busts of the season are probably Auburn, West Virginia, and Oregon who all started off ranked in the top 15.  All three are out of the rankings entirely, and West Virginia and Oregon aren’t even on pace to make the NCAA Tournament.  UCLA, as well as the entire Pac 12 minus Washington, is another team that has just fallen flat.

-The most schizophrenic teams are Syracuse and Texas.  Syracuse has the single greatest win of the season, which was a road win at Duke.  They also have home losses to Old Dominion and Georgia Tech.

-Buffalo is the Under the Radar media darling and has been in the rankings for the entire season since week 2 (even though they have lost two out of their last four games in the MAC).  Furman was right there with them for a while, but fell out once conference play began.  Wofford and Lipscomb are two teams that should be getting credit, but aren’t.

-Kansas State began the season ranked #2 in the Big 12, then fell out of the rankings after playing horribly, and then climbed their way back into the rankings again, so they’ve had a seesaw type of year.

-We have not had any quadruple overtime games this season.

-Penn is one of the more interesting teams.  They went undefeated in Big Five play, which meant beating Villanova and Temple!!  The problem is that Penn also lost their first three games in Ivy League play and barely beat Columbia in their last game.

-Indiana began with low expectations, then they strung together some big wins early in the season against the likes of Louisville, Marquette, and Butler and climbed into the rankings!!  They then crashed into a mountain with seven straight losses, most of which weren’t even close.  They followed up that seven game losing streak with a win at Michigan State, which is perhaps the most stupefying moment in college basketball in years.  UMBC beating Virginia was a huge surprise, but it could at least be explained after the fact.  This cannot.  It was utterly ridiculous.  It was also a much needed win for the Hoosiers, who could now become the first team (at least that we know of) to lose seven straight games and still earn an at-large bid.

-Baylor has been the ‘They-Suck-to-They’re-Good’ story of the year.  They started things off with a loss to Texas Southern, and also fell to teams like Wichita State and SFA, none of which have a winning div1 record.  They’ve now won six in a row, and are in a first place tie in the Big 12.  We know that some day Kansas will not finish first in the Big Twelve.  What none of us foresaw was that the team who knocks them off had two home buy game losses prior to the start of conference play.

-Ole Miss has been another great story.  They started off picked to finish last in the SEC, but have played their way into the rankings and are a probable tournament team.

 

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-LOUISVILLE AT VIRGINIA TECH (ACC).  Louisville is in the midst of a very tough stretch of games and is coming off a home loss to North Carolina.  Virginia Tech is trying to strengthen their resume and a win over a solid team like Louisville will help them out.

-WEST VIRGINIA AT TEXAS TECH (Big 12).  Texas Tech was blown off the court by Kansas over the weekend.  They have a winnable home game tonight to help them rebound.

-IOWA STATE AT OKLAHOMA (Big 12).  Oklahoma is in a tailspin which got even worse on Saturday when they lost at West Virginia.  They will fall to just 3-7 in conference play if they don’t knock off Iowa State tonight, which won’t be easy despite the fact that they are at home.  The Cyclones are looking more and more like a protected seed and they can add another road win to their resume tonight.

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Under The Radar Game of the Day: Wright State at IUPUI

Posted on February 3, 2019 by John Stalica

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

For Jon Teitel’s weekly bracket where he tries to guess the Selection Committee – CLICK HERE

Wright State (12-11, 6-4 Horizon) at IUPUI (14-9, 6-4 Horizon) – 1:00 PM EST (ESPN+)

Today’s UTR Game of the Day takes us to Circle City where the IUPUI Jaguars will play host to the Wright State Raiders. The Jaguars are 3-0 in their current 5-game homestand; this includes a win against league leader Northern Kentucky in their last outing. Camron Justice had 26 points (including 5-for-7 shooting from behind the arc) in the Jaguars’ win against NKU. IUPUI will be done with Wright State and NKU after today’s game; their toughest roadie remaining after today will be their trip to Michigan when they close out the regular season at Oakland and at Detroit.

Wright State missed their opportunity to take advantage of NKU’s stumble; they lost by 14 points at Illinois-Chicago on Friday night. Nonetheless, the Raiders have won six out of their last nine games in conference play (although being swept by UIC will hurt in any potential tiebreakers). Their best win in that stretch was a win at the Blacktop at Oakland. Loudon Love leads the Raiders with 14.9 PPG and 8.6 RPG; Billy Wampler also averages 14.6 points a game for Wright State.

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