Conference Preview: SEC

Posted on November 11, 2015 by Chad

For the rest of our Preseason coverage, CLICK HERE.

SEC

40-0.  The Kentucky Wildcats came ever so close last year to having the elusive “perfect season”.  However, this is college basketball, where March Madness reigns supreme, and one game can send the best team home.  For Kentucky, it came in the national semifinal when Bo Ryan’s Wisconsin Badgers pulled out a 71-64 victory, though the signs that UK would not just cruise to the title had been there in the Midwest Regional Final when they barely got by Notre Dame, 68-66.  Of course, the offseason has now come and gone in Lexington the way it seems to every year.  Seven players from last year’s Final Four team left for the NBA Draft and Coach Calipari just went out and replaced them with another stellar crop of recruits, landing the Wildcats right back in both the SEC and national championship discussions.

In addition to top-seeded Kentucky, the SEC placed four other teams in the NCAA tournament last year.  Arkansas, a 5 seed, advanced to the Round of 32 while 9-seed LSU, 10-seed Georgia and 11-seed Ole Miss fell in the Round of 64 (though Ole Miss did pick up a victory in the First Four before being eliminated).  Vanderbilt, Texas A&M and Alabama also made postseason appearances, playing in the NIT.  Five tournament bids last season shows that the rest of the SEC (beyond perennial contenders Kentucky and Florida) is starting to catch up, and even bigger things could be in store this year.  LSU, Vanderbilt, Texas A&M, Georgia, Mississippi State and Auburn are all teams that could be seriously in the hunt for tournament bids, though Ole Miss and Arkansas look like they may take a step back this year.  Florida, which advanced to at least the Elite Eight in 2012, 2013 and 2014, might make it two straight years without a bid as the Gators begin the post-Billy Donovan era.

Predicted Order of Finish

1.  Kentucky – Who else?  Losing seven players to the NBA Draft is business as usual, and the ‘cats should be among the national championship contenders with Tyler Ullis and Alex Poythress back plus super-freshmen such as Jamal Murray, Isaiah Briscoe and Skal Labissiere — just to name a few.

2.  LSU – Head coach Johnny Jones’ team has a chance to be among the nation’s elite with the addition of Ben Simmons, ranked by many as the top prospect in the entire country.  Simmons is not the only stellar newcomer here, as Jones also added freshmen Brandon Sampson and Antonio Blakeney, plus Arizona transfer Craig Victor.  And by the way, there is a solid corps of returning players, including the veteran backcourt duo of Tim Quarterman and Keith Hornsby.

3.  Vanderbilt – The Commodores are a deep team that now has experience as well with most of the key pieces from last season’s 21-win squad back.  Damian Jones is the key for the team down low, but watch out for Luke Kornet — over 7 feet tall and shoots 40% from beyond the arc!

4.  Texas A&M – The Aggies have three veteran standouts in Danuel House, Alex Caruso and Jalen Jones.  On top of that, head coach Billy Kennedy has added a top recruiting class highlighted by big men Tyler Davis and Elijah Thomas, plus wing D.J. Hogg.

5.  Auburn – Picking the Tigers this high in the standings may be a surprise, especially with the majority of the team gone from last season, other than Cinmeon Bowers.  However, Burce Pearl has brought in another talented group of newcomers including junior college Player of the Year T.J. Dunans and Marshall transfer Kareem Canty.  Pearl also adds in a strong freshman recruiting class.  The Tigers may struggle early in the season as they gel and try to overcome some preseason injury setbacks, but will be a dangerous foe come February and March.

6.  Mississippi State – Another sign of how the SEC is trying to establish itself as more than a football league, the Bulldogs brought in one of the top available coaches in the country by signing Ben Howland.  There is no reason why this team will not see significant improvement in Howland’s first season as senior Craig Sword and top recruit Malik Newman will lead a strong group of guards while Gavin Ware has a chance to be dominant down low.

7.  Georgia – Mark Fox’s team should be solid in the backcourt with Charles Mann, Kenny Gaines, J.J. Frazier and freshman William “Turtle” Jackson II.  However, there are some question marks down low with Marcus Thornton gone.  Freshman Derek Ogbeide may need to mature quickly for the Bulldogs to earn a return trip to the NCAAs.

8.  Florida – Michael White takes over for Billy Donovan, and it may take him some time to install his style of play.  However, Dorian Finney-Smith does return for his senior season and White was able to convince top recruit KeVaughn Allen to remain with the program, so a postseason bid is not out of the picture by any means.

9.  South Carolina – The Gamecocks did land a top recruit in PJ Dozier, who will be joined in the backcourt by Sindarious Thornwell and Duane Notice.  However, there are question marks with the team’s depth and in its frontcourt, and an NIT bid may be the team’s limit.

10.  Ole Miss – The Rebels were one of the last four at-large teams to earn a bid to the Big Dance last season.  This year, with six players gone from that squad, another dance invitation seems unlikely.  Ole Miss does have Stefan Moody back at least, and he should score even more than his 16.6 points per game average from last year.

11.  Tennessee – Three head coaches in three years is not the way to build a consistently strong program.  The good news is that the Vols have (hopefully) finally gotten the right man for the job in Rick Barnes.  Tennessee will need Kevin Punter and Robert Hubbs III to shine in the backcourt and Armani Moore to get help from newcomers down low if they want to succeed this year.  However, the loss of Josh Richardson may prove to be too much.

12.  Alabama – The Crimson Tide have some potential under new head coach Avery Johnson.  Retin Obasohan will be solid at the point while three veterans down low (Michael Kessens, Jimmie Taylor and Shannon Hale) will all contribute.  If the newcomers can add some help, the Tide may surprise this season despite having lost three double-digit scorers off of last year’s squad.

13.  Missouri – This looks like another long season for the Tigers as they continue to attempt to rebuild.  With only two juniors and one senior on the roster, there should hopefully be brighter days ahead.

14.  Arkansas – The Razorbacks won 27 games last year.  Their losses could easily be over 20 this season as almost everyone from that team is gone.  Head Coach Mike Anderson needs to rebuild this team and needs to start right now.

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Season preview: Austin Peay coach Dave Loos

Posted on November 10, 2015 by Jon Teitel

For the rest of our extensive Preseason Coverage – CLICK HERE

There are not a lot of coaches who have been at their current school for the past 25 years, but Dave Loos is still going strong at Austin Peay after taking over in 1990.  He is a 5-time OVC COY, and if all goes well this year he will record his 400th win as coach of the Governors.  Even if he runs into a couple of obstacles along the way, all he has to do to maintain his confidence is look down at the name of the floor on which he is standing: Dave Loos Court.  HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Coach Loos about playing basketball at Memphis State and having his kids go into the family business.

loos

At Memphis State you played PG for the basketball team and SS for the baseball team, and were inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame in 2002: which sport were you better at, and which 1 did you enjoy the most? I was better at baseball. I enjoy coaching basketball more…and my wife also enjoys the fact that I coach basketball!

In the 1995 OVC tourney final you had an 8-PT loss to Murray State after star forward Bubba Wells suffered a right leg stress fracture: do you think that you would have won with a healthy Wells? Anything that might have happened after Bubba got hurt is speculation: I do not know if we would have won or not. I tip my hat to him because he came back out and tried to play.

What are your memories of the 1996 NCAA tourney (Drew Barry had 11 AST in a win by Georgia Tech)? They had a great PG who we could just not deal with. We kept it to single digits in the 1st half and played very well against a good team.

What are your memories of the 2003 NCAA tourney (Luke Whitehead scored 20 PTS in a win by Louisville)? We played them in Birmingham and got off to a great start against a very good Louisville team, but their press ended up hurting us down the stretch.

You used to work as the athletics director in addition to being head coach: was it hard to do both jobs simultaneously, and which gig did you enjoy the most? It is difficult because both jobs were time-consuming, but I am a coach 1st and foremost. Being a coach serves me well as an AD because I knew what the other coaches were going through.

In 2007 the school named the basketball court after you: what was your reaction after finding out about it, and where does that rank among your career highlights? I certainly was appreciative and flattered by it but I do not take a lot of time to think about that while I am still active. Right now we are just about the next game/practice/recruit. I kidded people that I just did it myself 1 night with a script pen!

What are your memories of the 2008 NCAA tourney (AJ Abrams had 26 PTS in a win by Texas)? We got off to a terrible start, which allowed the Longhorns to jump out to an early lead.

Your son David is a color commentator for Austin Peay sporting events, and your son Brad is an assistant basketball coach at Missouri: were you an influence on their decisions to go into sports-related fields, and how proud are you of all their success? I am very proud of all my children and what they have done. They grew up in the gym so I am not surprised that they got involved in sports. My daughter Nicole used to coach our dance team and is now the director of alumni relations, so she is involved as well. David considered coaching but decided to go into broadcasting instead, while I cannot see Brad doing anything else because he just has coaching in his blood.

When people look back on your career, how do you want to be remembered the most? I hope that people say we followed our objective, which is to have people leave here with a diploma in 1 hand and a championship ring in the other. We tried our best to be very consistent with what we did and we did it the right way.

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Under (and On) the Radar: Season Preview, Nov 10th

Posted on November 10, 2015 by David Griggs

For the rest of our extensive Preseason Coverage, including interviews with players and coaches, conference previews, and video podcasts – CLICK HERE

 

UNDER (AND ON) THE RADAR: Season Preview, Nov 10th

Chad is joined by David, Jon, and Joby as they run through all of the non-major conferences.  They begin by talking about Gonzaga and Wichita State, who they feel are legitimate top ten caliber teams.  They also look at BYU, Loyola Chicago, and Evansville as teams from the WCC and MVC that have a good chance of landing inside the bubble and making the NCAA Tournament.  Old Dominion is another team that they really like out of Conference USA.  They run through all the rest of the Under the Radar leagues, pick who they think will win the leagues, and reveal the first UTR Top Ten of the season.

 

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Conference Preview: Pac Twelve

Posted on November 10, 2015 by Chad

For the rest of our Preseason coverage, CLICK HERE.

PAC TWELVE

The days when the Pac-12 was struggling just to put its regular season champion into the NCAA Tournament feel like ancient history.  The conference has righted itself and is clearly still on the upswing.  Last season, four schools represented the conference in the Big Dance and all four of them won at least one game.  Arizona led the way as a 2 seed advancing to the Elite Eight, while 5th-seeded Utah and 11th-seeded UCLA both made appearances in the Sweet 16.  Oregon got in as an 8 seed and won a game before falling to top seed Wisconsin.  And to add to the conference’s postseason resume, Stanford cut down the nets as champions of the NIT.  Arizona State (NIT) and Colorado (CBI) rounded out the league’s postseason roster.

This year, the Pac-12 looks even stronger as all four of last year’s Tournament teams appear poised to make return trips, though none of them are the current pick to win the conference.  That honor goes to California.  The Golden Bears, in Cuonzo Martin’s second season at the helm, have added a stellar group of newcomers to a stacked returning lineup and may prove to not only be the team to beat in the Pac-12, but could be playing games at least into the second weekend of the Tournament.  Another coach in his second year at the helm, Oregon State’s Wayne Tinkle, also has his team looking like they have a chance to dance (for the first time in 25 years!), as does first year head coach Bobby Hurley at Arizona State.  Although seven bids may be a stretch, an increase from last year’s four seems to be almost a given.

Predicted Order of Finish

1.  California – The Golden Bears are loaded.  Tyrone Wallace, Jabari Bird and Jordan Mathews form the nucleus of a deadly backcourt, while freshmen standouts Jaylen Brown and Ivan Rabb will have a chance to dominate down low.  Once the veterans and newcomers gel, the conference and maybe the entire nation better watch out.

2.  Arizona – Losing four double-digit scorers would have most teams in rebuild mode, but not here.  The Wildcats have simply reloaded with another strong group of freshmen recruits, plus Boston College transfer Ryan Anderson and JC transfer Kadeem Allen.  If Cal is not the best in the conference, Arizona will be.

3.  Utah – The Utes have one of the nation’s strongest frontcourts led by Jakob Poeltl, who himself is among the best bigs in the country.  If the team can find a way to make up for the loss of guard Delon Wright, they will be in contention for the league crown again.

4.  Oregon – The Ducks should be dancing again with top prospect Tyler Dorsey and Villanova transfer Dylan Ennis in place to make up for the loss of Joseph Young (or at least ease the pain of losing a guy that scored over 20 points per game).  Down low, Elgin Cook and Dillon Brooks are both returning double-digit scorers who should improve off of last year’s numbers.

5.  UCLA – Bryce Alford is joined in the backcourt by a pair of notable recruits, Aaron Holiday and Prince Ali.  If Tony Parker can finally put things together in his senior season, the Bruins will not need to sweat things out on Selection Sunday again.

6.  Arizona State – Bobby Hurley takes over in Tempe and has some solid pieces to work with including guards Gerry Blakes and Kodi Justice plus forwards Savon Goodman and Eric Jacobsen.  Of course, the most important thing the Sun Devils have going for them is the best X-Factor in all of college basketball — the Curtain of Distraction (google it if you don’ know what it is — it will be worth the effort).

7.  Oregon State – Other than Northwestern (a team that has never been to the NCAA Tournament), the Oregon State Beavers have the longest current Tournament drought among all Power Five conference teams, last having made the field in 1990, well before any of their current players were even born.  Although they are a longshot to make the field this year, the mere fact that we are discussing them as a team with a shot at all shows how far the program has come in just its second year under Wayne Tinkle.  Gary Payton II and Malcolm Duvivier lead a solid backcourt and are joined by a strong recruiting class that includes Stephen Thompson, Jr., Tres Tinkle (Wayne’s son), and Drew Eubanks.

8.  USC – The good news for the Trojans is that everyone returns from last season.  The bad news is that this same group of players lost 20 games last year.  Head coach Andy Enfield has still not proven that he can coach at this level, and if he does not turn things around this year, he may need to start sending out his resume.

9.  Colorado – Askia Booker is gone and Xavier Johnson is out with an offseason Achilles’ tendon tear (though he could return later in the year).  The Buffaloes were a sub-.500 team last season that only played in the postseason by buying an entry into the CBI.  That opportunity probably will not even be available this year.  The only good signs are that Josh Scott appears to be healthy heading into the season and that the addition of Providence transfer Josh Fortune should help in the backcourt.

10.  Washington – Everyone of note other than Andrew Andrews is gone from last year’s squad.  However, head coach Lorenzo Romar brought in one of the nation’s top recruiting classes led by guard Dejounte Murray.  This team should get better as the newcomers gain experience.

11.  Stanford – The Cardinal won the NIT last season, led by the trio of Chasson Randle, Anthony Brown and Stefan Nastic.  All three players are gone now and this season will be a rebuilding year for head coach Johnny Dawkins

12.  Washington State – Josh Hawkinson averaged a double-double last season and will be worth watching.  However, with top scorer DaVonte Lacy gone from a team that had a losing record, not much is expected here.

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Season preview: Temple coach Fran Dunphy

Posted on November 9, 2015 by Jon Teitel

Most of the season preview interviews that I do are with players/coaches who I only know from watching them on TV, but Coach Fran Dunphy holds a special place in my heart.  When I showed up to Penn as a freshman in the fall of 1992, I did not have high hopes for a basketball team that had gone 37-41 during the 3 previous seasons.  However, the Quakers proceeded to go 48-0 in conference play over the next 3 years, made it to 3 straight NCAA tourneys, and even beat Nebraska in the 1994 NCAA tourney, which remains their only tourney win in the past 35 years.  As much as I like to think that I was the lucky charm, I know that it was simply a matter of being in the right place when a coach and his players happened to click at the right time.  After recording the 2nd-most victories in Ivy League basketball history and winning 10 Ivy titles in a 14-year span, he replaced Coach John Chaney at Temple and made 6 straight NCAA tourneys from 2008-2013.  With 7 more wins this year, he will join an elite list of coaches with 200+ wins at multiple schools, including legends such as Jim Calhoun, Eddie Sutton, and Roy Williams.  HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Coach Dunphy about playing for 1 Hall of Famer and replacing another.

dunphy

You played for Hall of Famer Tom Gola at La Salle: what made him such a good coach, and what was the most important thing that you ever learned from? He saw the abilities of the players in front of him and their experience level and just trusted us to play the game. The guys ahead of me had even more trust, but he was good at reading the situation and putting a team together. He asked us to give our best on defense and the freedom on offense was nice.

As a junior you went 23-1 (with only a 3-PT loss to South Carolina), but your team was barred from the NCAA tourney due to some violations committed by an alum: how close did you come to an undefeated season, and how frustrating was it to miss out on the tourney? We were on probation due to some infractions the year before so it was frustrating knowing that we would be missing out on the tourney. We just did not get it done against South Carolina but it was still a magical season.

As a senior you were co-captain, averaged 18.6 PPG, and led the team in AST: how did you balance your scoring with your passing? 1 of my teammates was All-American Kenny Durrett, who was 1 of the best players in the history of Philly. I had good players who gave me the opportunity to get some assists.

Beginning in 1992 you won 48 straight conference games as coach at Penn: did it reach a point where the fans just expected you to win every time you stepped onto the court? Probably: those are healthy expectations. We had 3 guys who eventually made it to the NBA, which is pretty impressive for an Ivy League team.

In the 1994 NCAA tourney future Penn coach Jerome Allen had 18 PTS/10 AST in a 10-PT upset of Nebraska: how big a deal was it to get the Quakers’ only NCAA tourney win since 1980? It was very important after coming close against UMass the year before (a 4-PT loss). We could have played with a lot of good teams in the country.

In the 1995 NCAA tourney you had a 6-PT OT loss to Alabama: what made Antonio McDyess so unstoppable (39 PTS/19 REB)? His athleticism and wonderful play: he was just an extraordinary talent so it was a bit of mismatch.

You won 10 Ivy titles in 17 years at Penn, and your 310 wins are 2nd-most in Ivy history (Princeton’s Pete Carril has 514): how were you able to be so successful for such a long stretch of time? The history/tradition of the Penn program gave us a step up on many other teams in the league so we were able to recruit well.

In 2006 you became head coach at Temple: why did you take the job, and how much pressure did you feel in replacing legendary coach John Chaney? They tell us to not succeed a legend but I guess I did not get the memo! John is a terrific guy and made it very easy for me. I got to meet with him and receive his blessing and made me feel good about what I was doing. I just wanted the challenge of running another program after being lucky enough to run the program at Penn.

Take me through the 2011 NCAA tourney:
Juan Fernandez scored 23 PTS including an off-balance 18-footer in the final second of a 2-PT win over Penn State: where does that rank among the most clutch shots you have ever seen, and how important was it for you personally to get a win after 11 straight tourney losses? It was important to me, but more so for the kids. Juan made a great shot, which many of our students were appreciative of.

Billy White had 16 PTS/13 REB in a 7-PT 2-OT win by San Diego State: where does that rank among the most devastating losses of your career? If we could have gotten that win it would have been even more fantastic. I do not consider it devastating but rather “disappointing” because we played so well: we just ended up playing a great team.

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Conference Preview: Mountain West

Posted on November 9, 2015 by Chad

For the rest of our Preseason Coverage, CLICK HERE.

MOUNTAIN WEST

Putting three teams into the NCAA tournament would be a stellar year from some conferences, though maybe not the Mountain West.  Putting three teams in when one of them only gets in via the automatic bid and another gets sent to Dayton in the First Four is definitely not the type of season the MWC was looking for in 2014-15, but that is exactly what they got.  Wyoming won the conference tournament and was given a 12 seed, Boise State got an 11 seed, but was sent to play Dayton in Dayton in the First Four, and San Diego State got in with an 8 seed, winning their first game before falling to Duke by 19 points in the Round of 32.  To make matters worse, only one other team, Colorado State, played in the postseason, as the Rams received a bid to the NIT.

The Mountain West will look for more success, especially in the postseason, this year as up to five different teams appear to be in the race for the league title and NCAA tournament bids.  While Wyoming and Colorado State look like they will fall in the standings, Boise State and San Diego State should be right back up among the league leaders, joined by UNLV and Fresno State.  However, the team being picked to win the conference is the Utah State Aggies under new head coach Tim Duryea.  The Aggies were a solid 18-13 last season and have the talent to move up the ladder.  With almost every other team in the league having question marks, this could be the year they win their first Mountain West championship (albeit this is only their third year in the league).

Predicted Order of Finish

1.  Utah State – Picking the Aggies to win the league may be a bit of a surprise, but they should be able to light up the scoreboard with solid 3-point shooters and the always dangerous Jalen Moore.  The key to their season will be just how good David Collette is down low and whether they have enough another pieces down there to complement him.  UPDATE (11/12/2015): Collette has announced he will transfer and not play for the Aggies this season.  They may not be able to make up for his loss and I would probably drop them to 5th on this list, behind Fresno State, without him.

2.  San Diego State – There is no doubt the Aztecs will play great defense, but they need to find a way to average more than 61.8 points per game, which ranked 299th in the country last year.  Malik Pope, Winston Sheppard and top recruit Jeremy Hemsley will be looked on to turn around the offensive woes.  Hopefully, recent rumors of potential NCAA violations will not translate into any on-court issues.

3.  Boise State – The Broncos have some solid pieces in place to complement Anthony Drmic and James Webb III.  If Nick Duncan, Chandler Hutchison and freshman Paris Austin can all pan out into solid players, there is no reason why they will not be dancing.

4.  UNLV – Head coach Dave Rice has, once again, brought in a stellar group of newcomers.  Once again, the question is whether he can actually coach these potential stars into a Tournament team.  Freshmen Stephen Zimmerman and Derrick Jones, Oregon transfer Ben Carter, and Mercer transfer Ike Nwamu are among the players that have the ability to put up great numbers every night.  If they can actually gel into a team instead of a bunch of individual players, they Rebels will be the best group in the conference, perhaps by a lot.

5.  Fresno State – The Bulldogs have the potential to have a very good season with all of their key players from last year returning.  Marvele Harris may arguably be the best guard in the conference.

6.  New Mexico – Although the Lobos will gladly welcome Cullen Neal back from his injury, there are too many questions marks and holes for them to be a contender.

7.  Wyoming – Josh Adams proved, especially in the Mountain West tournament, that he has the ability to star for the Cowboys.  There are just not enough another pieces here to make up for their offseason losses.

8.  Colorado State – The Rams lost their top three payers from last year’s NIT team and a return to that tournament would probably be an overachievement this year.  They simply have too many question marks down low, even though their backcourt should be solid.

9.  Nevada – The good news for Nevada is that the majority of last year’s team is back.  The bad news is that it was a team that went 9-22 and probably does not have the talent level to improve much on that.

10.  Air Force – The Falcons simply do not have enough pieces to compete for much more than avoiding the conference basement.

11. San Jose State – A couple of solid newcomers, including top recruit Cody Schwartz, will help to begin the long, slow rebuild.  But it will be long and slow for one of the worst teams in Division I last season.

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