News, Notes and Highlighted Games – Tuesday, December 15

Posted on December 15, 2015 by John Stalica

Click here for last night’s HoopsHD Report from panelists Chad Sherwood, David Griggs, Joby Fortson, Jon Teitel and John Stalica.

Click here for David Griggs’ weekly checkpoint (not forecasted) bracket.

With exams/final term papers underway at most college campuses this week, we have a light slate of basketball games scheduled for this upcoming week.

Both Duke and North Carolina have injury situations to monitor at the moment – Duke’s Amile Jefferson is out indefinitely with a foot injury; Carolina’s Kennedy Meeks is expected to miss at least 2 weeks of action, if not longer.

The Bizarro Team of the People kept their unique home-court advantage with a win over Dartmouth last night to move to 4-3 on the season against Division I foes. That team, you ask? Cal-State Bakersfield, home of one of the premier court designs in the nation (click here for a picture of their court).

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

LOUISIANA TECH at OLE MISS (Early Spotlight Game) – 7:00 ET, SEC Network – While Old Dominion and UAB have been somewhat disappointing in Conference USA so far, Louisiana Tech has been a pleasant surprise. They’ve already won at Ohio State and have a win over Texas-Arlington that is looking better and better by the day. Ole Miss would be another opportunity for the Bulldogs to get a “name” victory that may or may not be a signature victory in the eyes of the Selection Committee.

TENNESSEE TECH at CHATTANOOGA (UTR Game of the Day) – 7:00 ET – Click here for Chad Sherwood’s preview between the Mocs and the Golden Eagles.

UC IRVINE at OREGON (Late Spotlight Game) – 11:00 ET, Pac-12 Network – This is an equally important game for both teams – Oregon has an opportunity to continue their mastery at home with a chance to get a win against a team that will be favored to win the Big West. The Anteaters’ best win so far this year was a win at Utah State; Oregon would be a much bigger win for UC-Irvine should they be able to pull this one off.

MONMOUTH at GEORGETOWN – 7:30 ET, FS1 – While Georgetown came out of the chute slowly with losses to Radford, at Maryland and against Duke in NYC, they have passed all of their other tests with flying colors. The Hawks’ Nest will take their show on the road to DC right after a big win over their Tri-State rival Wagner.

SOUTHERN at MEMPHIS – 8:00 ET, ESPN3 – The SWAC already has 9 true road wins against Division I opponents this season; Southern can get victory #10 with a win at Memphis tonight. This is not your run-of-the-mill buy game when you consider that the Jaguars have already won at Mississippi State and at Wyoming this season.

VCU at GEORGIA TECH – 9:00 ET, ESPN2 – While Georgia Tech sat out this year’s ACC-Big Ten Challenge, their only noteworthy test out of conference this season was against Villanova in Brooklyn on Thanksgiving weekend. VCU has yet to get a win against a major program (and their loss to Wisconsin is looking worse by the day).

DEPAUL at STANFORD – 10:00 ET, FS1 – It will look like a pillow fight on paper between two teams expected to finish at or near the bottom of their respective conferences, but Stanford will get a shot at revenge for a game they lost in Chicago last season.

NOTABLE BUY GAMES

Georgia Southern at Duke, 7 PM (ESPN2)
UNC-Greensboro at Wake Forest, 7 PM (ESPN3)
Norfolk State at Cincinnati, 7 PM (ESPNU)
UL-Lafayette at UCLA, 9 PM (Pac-12 Network)
Mercer at Auburn, 9 PM (SEC Network)
Delaware State at Grand Canyon, 9 PM (Cox7.com in Phoenix)

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Under the Radar Game of the Day – Tuesday, December 15: Tennessee Tech at Chattanooga

Posted on December 15, 2015 by Chad

Under the Radar Game of the Day: Tennessee Tech at Chattanooga, 7:00 PM Eastern, socondigitalnetwork.com

For our latest HOOPSHD Report Video Podcast, CLICK HERE.

92-90 overtime win at Georgia.  81-77 win at Illinois.  61-59 win at Dayton despite star Casey Jones being out for the game.  And we are only a month into the season!  This is what the Southern Conference’s Chattanooga Mocs have done already, and they have squarely placed their program on our radar as a potential at-large candidate come March if they can avoid stubbing their toes the rest of the way.  The good news for the Mocs is that they do not have a single team ranked in the KenPom top 100 left on their schedule this season, meaning they should be favored to win almost every single game the rest of the way.  This is also the bad news, as any loss from here on out will likely be a black mark on their record, and they cannot afford too many of those if they wind up needing an at-large bid.  Tonight, the Mocs (who are still without Casey Jones), host the Ohio Valley Conference’s Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles.  Chattanooga will look for another big effort from Greg Pryor, who led the team with 15 points in the Dayton win, but could see almost anyone step up.  Seven players other than Jones and Pryor have already scored in double digits at least once this season, so the scoring could come form almost anywhere — making the Mocs a difficult and dangerous team to game plan and defend against.

Tennessee Tech enters play tonight with a record of 7-3, though none of those wins have come against anyone in the top 200 of the KenPom ratings, and only a victory over Lipscomb came away from Cookeville.  The Golden Eagles are led by Torrance Rowe, who had 26 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals against Lipscomb, and Ryan Martin who added 18 points and 11 rebounds in the same game.  They will need both players to be just as effective if they want to pull off the road upset tonight.  If the Mocs shut Rowe and Martin down, and noone else steps up, it could be a very long night for the Golden Eagles.

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HOOPS HD Report – December 14

Posted on December 14, 2015 by Chad

Chad, David, John, Jon and Joby discuss the past week in college basketball, focusing for the first half of the show on the Big East and Pac Twelve conferences, then touching on all the major conferences, Top 25 teams, and a look ahead at an exciting upcoming weekend of games.  They debate which teams with good records are legitimate so far, and which ones are frauds.  All that a whole lot more:

And for those of you preferring audio only, check it out here:

 

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Bracket Projections: December 14th

Posted on December 14, 2015 by David Griggs

Below is the latest Bracket Projections from Hoops HD.  David Griggs built the bracket, and then Chad Sherwood chimes in with all the things that he thinks is wrong with it.

-For Chad Sherwood’s Under the Radar Game of the Day, which features the horrendous floor decorating skills of Cal State Bakersfield – CLICK HERE

-For Jon Teitel’s Hoops In the House: UNC Wilmington vs Georgetown article – CLICK HERE

 

NOTES ON THE BRACKET

-First and foremost, it is important to understand that these brackets are CHECKPOINTS on CURRENT MERIT.  They are not a forecast of what I think things will look like in March, or for that matter how good I actually think teams currently are.  Because of that there are things in this bracket that will undoubtedly appear to be a little strange.

-Louisville is the team that I feel whose current profile undersells how good they actually are.  They are currently on my #11 line, but that’s because they have beaten no one that’s likely to even make the NIT, much less the NCAAs.  They did lose to Michigan State on the road in a very close game, so I know they’re a good team.  In fact I wouldn’t be surprised to see them end up as a #2 or #3 seed come March.  But, when doing a merit based bracket, they won’t start to move up our projections until they get into conference play and start beating good teams.

-Little Rock is unbeaten and has five wins away from home, including at Tulsa and at San Diego State.  I have them on the #6 line, and if you’re just looking at their paper, a case could be made that they belong even better than that.  This team is legitimately good.  I don’t know if I see them finishing on the #6 line, but I do think they’re good enough to finish inside the bubble.

-Syracuse is hard to figure out.  They’ve played their best basketball abroad by winning the Battle 4 Atlantis, but doing little else on top of that.

-Wichita State does have some key losses, but they also weren’t at full strength .  Since Val Vleet has returned, they’ve looked a lot better and the committee will take into consideration that he didn’t play for them in their losses.  They’re on the #12 line now, and I see them moving up and being safely inside the bubble before the end of March.

Finally, you will see some comments from Chad Sherwood below.  He will agree with some things, and disagree with others.  The things he disagrees with, he is wrong about.  Anyone who disagrees with me is wrong!!

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OTHERS CONSIDERED: Florida State, Florida, Michigan, Marquette, Saint Joseph’s, Northern Iowa, Seton Hall, Oral Roberts, Pittsburgh, Northwestern, USC, Texas Tech, New Mexico, Oregon State, Middle Tennessee, UTEP, Evansville, Georgia Tech, Boise State, Saint Mary’s, Davidson, UNC Wilmington, Georgia

 

CHAD SHERWOOD’S COMMENTS ON THE BRACKET

– Once again, making a bracket before mid-January is lunacy.  But David did make one so I must comment.

– I understand Colorado being in the bracket, but at the 7 line?  This team has sown me nothing so far except a bloated record.

– I know that Syracuse won the Battle 4 Atlantis, but any team that loses to St. John’s should be automatically ineligible.  Or at least get sent to the First Four.

– Baylor is being undervalued as a 10 seed in my opinion.  I cannot call them just as good as Tulsa.  Of course, Tulsa does not even belong in the field.  I think David is smoking something on that pick and better start sharing.

– I will excuse the Richmond pick.  They don’t belong in the field or even close to it, but we have known for years that David overvalues this team every season, so it does not shock me at all.

– How Kansas State can be ahead of Oregon on anybody’s seed list ever is beyond me.

– If this is based on merit, where is USC????

 

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Under the Radar Game of the Day – Monday, December 14: Dartmouth at Cal State Bakersfield

Posted on December 14, 2015 by Chad

Under the Radar Game of the Day: Dartmouth at Cal State Bakersfield, 10:00 PM Eastern, wacsports.com

For Jon Teitel’s HoopsHD in the House, featuring UNC-Wilmington at Georgetown, CLICK HERE.

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If you plan on watching tonight’s UTR Game of the Day, I would recommend a pair of blue-tinted sunglasses.  That way, the court on Bakersfield may actually be something that can be looked at for a couple of hours (see the picture to the left from last year’s Grand Canyon game if you don’t believe me!).  Despite what one may or may not think of the Roadrunners’ court, their home game tonight against the Ivy League’s Dartmouth Big Green is our choice for the Game of the Day.

Bakersfield enters tonight’s game with a record of 5-3, including wins over Idaho, Northern Arizona and South Dakota.  Their losses were at Idaho (whom they have played twice), at St. Mary’s (a tough place to win) and at Wyoming by only 4 points (an even tougher place to win!).  In other words, despite being only a couple of games over .500, this Bakersfield team has been solidly competitive so far this season.  With the best team in the WAC ineligible for its automatic bid (unless the #LopesWaiver campaign is successful), and with New Mexico State not looking quite as strong as they have looked the last few years, the conference is certainly open for a team like the Roadrunners to sneak in and steal the bid this year.

Tonight, Bakersfield hosts the Dartmouth Big Green.  Dartmouth had not been to the NCAA Tournament since 1959 (the longest drought in the nation of any team that has made at least one appearance), and unfortunately does not appear to be headed there this year either.  Perhaps if the Ivy League adds a postseason tournament next year, the Big Green will have a shot at winning a few games and stealing a bid.  But for this season, Dartmouth sits at 3-4 with a loss already to Marist and their best win having come at Maine.  The Big Green are led by Evan Boudreaux, who posted an impressive 18 points and 13 rebounds in the Maine victory.  He will need to have just as big of a game tonight in order for Dartmouth to pull off the road upset.

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HoopsHD in the House: UNCW at Georgetown

Posted on December 13, 2015 by Jon Teitel

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After striking out at GW and MSG in November, my 1st press pass of the year got me into the Verizon Center on Saturday to see the undefeated Seahawks face the Hoyas. In the past their catered lunch has often featured some food that was perfectly average, but this season they went the extra mile to provide the media with Hill Country BBQ: Hoya Succulenta! They usually stick me up in a corner on the lower level, but due to some poor attendance on the part of the mainstream media I got to sit on the baseline right behind the basket about 20 feet away from the legendary John Thompson. The only downside was that between the cameraman right in front of me and the basket support itself, I was only able to see about 75% of the court…but no complaints.

The crowd was pretty sparse to start the game due to a lethal combination of final exams (so students were studying) and beautiful weather (so locals were outside…in shorts…in December). Usually the celebrities in attendance who are shown on the Jumbotron are former Georgetown players like Patrick Ewing or local rappers like Wale. However, wrestling fans received an early holiday gift as WWF legend Bret “The Hitman” Hart was sitting about 7 rows behind the Georgetown bench with a huge cast on his right wrist.

Both teams employed a little full-court press early on but the dominant story of the 1st half was the refs, who whistled a combined 14 fouls in the 1st 7 minutes, which made for a very slow start with neither team able to get into a good rhythm. When you sit that close to the court you are right in front of the cheerleaders. I suppose that I knew what I was getting into when they yelled directly into my ear every 30 seconds, but I was surprised during breaks in the action to hear them talk about which classes they were taking or who their friends were dating. The members of the Georgetown student section who actually showed up were in the holiday spirit: they successfully tried to distract UNCW’s shooters by singing Christmas carols during their FT attempts, resulting in 6 misses in the 1st half and another 6 in the 2nd half. The Seahawks were not much better when shooting FGs, as they made only 7-29 (24.1%) before halftime, with the last of the 7 coming on a 3-PT shot by Marcus Bryan in the final second. For the Hoyas, freshman Marcus Derrickson looked great on both ends of the floor: he knocked down a pair of threes on offense and had a STL/BLK on the defensive end. The star of the 1st half was Georgetown SR PG D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera, whose 13 PTS at the under-8 timeout was as many as the entire UNCW team had scored up to that point.

After saying hi to my old CHD partner Scott Zolotorow during halftime, the 2nd half started similar to the 1st with 9 combined fouls in the 1st 4 minutes. The most amusing moment of the night was when 1 of the refs let a little girl in the front row hold the ball while 1 of his fellow refs kept blowing his whistle over and over to get his attention that the game was ready to re-start. The fouls continued to add up: Craig Ponder entered the game as the Seahawks leading scorer with 15.2 PPG but ended the game by fouling out with 3 PTS on 0-6 FG in only 20 minutes of action. Derrickson knocked down a trio of threes in the 2nd half to finish with 15 PTS on 5-7 3-PT shooting and helped extend the Hoyas’ lead to 73-48 with 8:14 left to go. However, Bryan went to work inside and made open layup after open layup to ignite an insane 30-8 run and cut the deficit to only 3 PTS in the final minute before LJ Peak made a drive/huge dunk to clinch the game with 20 seconds left to go.

In the postgame press conference I got to ask UNCW coach Kevin Keatts if the 10-day exam break since their previous game affected his team more from a mental or physical standpoint, and he said that it was a combination of both factors. I also tried to ask Georgetown coach JT3 about the 1-year anniversary of his team breaking out “I Can’t Breathe” t-shirts last December, but he was only fielding questions about that afternoon’s game. I learned that you should never count out the Seahawks due to their fantastic full-court press and that you should never count out the Hoyas due to their terrific 3-PT shooting. I do not know if we will see either of these teams in the NCAA tourney, but I expect to see both of them in some postseason tourney this March.

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