SWC75
Bored Historian
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- Aug 26, 2011
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My primary source is The Sporting News , (TSN), which bought Street and Smiths, the traditional pre-season ‘bible’ of college sports and now publishes it under their name. The quotes are from that publication.
Friday, 11/13/15 at 7pm at Carrier Dome TV: ESPN3 (the internet) LEHIGH
The Mountain Hawks, (they were the Engineers until 1995 (and I like that nickname better), are a Patriot League team that went 16-14 last year and 10-8 in the conference. They won at Depaul (86-74) and at Arizona State (84-81 in 3OTs) last year Villanova only beat them by 11, (77-66). But they also lost to Rider, Quinnipiac and Colgate, among others. TSN projects them second in their conference this year. Their best player is 6-10 Tim Kempton, (the son of his namesake who played for Notre Dame in the mid 80’s. He was league player of the year with 15.3 points and 8.7 rebounds a game. He should provide a good test for our inexperienced big men, altho9ugh at 225 he might not be as strong as they are. 5-11 Kahron Ross led the league in assists with 5.8 per game and was rookie of the year. They have 84% of their scoring back and 78% of their rebounding. They have a couple of 6-8 forwards to support Kempton and a good recruit in 6-7 Matt Holba who was 1st team all-state in Indiana. JB says they could make the NCAA tournament. It’s a good early test but one we should pass.
UPDATE: I didn’t get this completed until after the Lehigh game. We won that one with a wonderful defensive first half, (32-12). Then the Mountain Hawks kind of figured out the zone and won the second half 25-35. We relied entirely too much on the three point shot, (34 of 52 shots, of which we made 11). We forced a dozen first half turnovers but only 4 in the second half. Tim Kempton had trouble hitting his shots (3 for 8) but got to the line, fouling out Chinoso Obokoh and getting 4 on DaJuan Coleman. He had 3 fouls on Kempton in the first half and never went at him to get him out of the game. He still had 3 at the end. When they realized Kempton didn’t have to guard Obokoh he went out to help on the three pointers and we stopped scoring. At one point Leigh scored 12 in a row. But we survived and can now work our revealed weaknesses. We need to improve quite a bit, and quickly.
Tuesday 11/17/15 at 7pm at Carrier Dome TV: RSN (a regional sports network) ST. BONAVENTURE
The Bonnies were 18-13 and 10-8 in the always under-rated Atlantic 10. Marcus Posey a quick 6-0 guard averaged 16.7ppgs and had a reputation for hitting buzzer-beaters. He’d love to hit one against us if we let them keep it close. Their big center, Youssou Ndoye who averaged a double-double with 11.8/10.1 and 2.6 blocks, has fortunately graduated. TSN says “The Bonnies will be perimeter- oriented”. So will we, but with bigger players. 6-7 Dion Wright, (13.5/7.0) is still around as is 6-1 Jaylen Adams (10.0p, 4.5a). JB also sees this as a potential NCAA team but they will be swimming upstream in the A10 without their big man.
Next comes a tournament called “The Battle for Atlantis” on Paradise Island in the Bahamas. There will be one game in the Carrier Dome and a guaranteed three in the Bahamas. (The team will have to pass through the Bermuda Triangle to get there. Maybe they’ll use the triangle offense.)
Saturday 11/21/15 at 7pm at Carrier Dome TV: ESPN3 ELON
The “Phoenix”, (before 2000, they were “The Fightin’ Christians”), was “the worse defensive team in the conference” last year, the conference being Colonial Athletic Association. They went 15-18 and 6-12 in the CAA. “The Phoenix may get worse this year after the loss of four starters”. Tanner Sampson, a 6-4 guard (12.5p, 43 steals) is the one returning starter. They are projected to finish last in the CAA and will finish second when they take on SU in the Carrier Dome.
Wednesday 11/25/15 at 2:30pm at Paradise Island TV: ESPN2 CHARLOTTE
The 49ers have a history of giving Syracuse fits. They shocked JB’s first team in the NCAAs, 59-81. They beat our defending national champions in their Dome opener in 2003, 92-96. Last year they were 14-16 and 7-11 in Conference USA. Mark Price is their new coach. They’ve had no less than four players transfer out of the program. Price inherited 5 scholarship players. Price has filled the roster with transfers. His best returning player is 6-1 guard Braxton Ogbueze who hit 40.5 from three point range and scored 9.6 per game. Benas Griciunas is a 7-0 230 Lithuanian who started his career at Auburn. He’s “mobile, with a good shooting touch”.
Thursday 11/26/15 at 3:30 or 9:30pm at Paradise Island TV: ESPN or AXS CONNECTICUT
If we beat Charlotte, one possibility for the next round is a game against our old Big East Rival Connecticut, who has added still another national championship since we last played them. They now have grrr…FOUR of them to our one. We beat their first three national champions and were ranked higher than their last one, so its s ore spot. (Full disclosure: they beat our national champion twice.) Last year the Huskies were a pedestrian 20-15 and 10-8 in the American Athletic Conference, which was culled together from the remnants of the late, great Big East. (We thought we’d left these guys behind only to watch on TV as they won that fourth title….grrrr). “The Huskies have the look of a Top 25 team with potential for another deep March run in the NCAA tournament.” Oh no, not AGAIN!
TSN doesn’t have the Huskies in their preseason Top 25 but the writers have them at #20 and the coaches at #24. They return four starters and eight players overall, 67% of their scoring, 78% of their rebounding and 68% percent of the assists. Amida Smith is a 7 foot center and the reigning AAC defensive player of the year with 3.5 blocks per gamer. He’s not a big scorer (9.1) and not much of a rebounder (4.4) but “the sky is the limit if he can improve his offensive skills”. Fortunately, we won’t have to go to the basket to score this year. Rodney Purvis, a 6-4 guard, is the leading returning scorer at 11.6ppg and 6-7 Daniel Hamilton was the conference’s rookie of the year with 10.9p, 7.6r and 3.7a. Shonn Miller, 6-7, transferred in form Cornell after averaging 16.8p/8.5r there. Sterling Gibbs, (6-2), transferred in from Seton Hall where he averaged 16.3p/3.8r. Incoming freshmen include five star combo guard Jalen Adams, (6-2), and 6-10 Steven Enoch, who was player of the year in Connecticut. This team is loaded and if they win another national title, I’m going to get loaded, myself.
Or MICHIGAN
If we don’t play UCONN, we’ll play Michigan who bounced us out of the Final Four in 2013. They fell off to a 16-16 record last year, 8-10 in the Big Ten. They got short-circuited by injuries to Carlis Levert and Derrick Walton. Levert is 6-7 but is listed as a guard and hit 40.5% from three point range last year. He can also drive to the basket to score. Walton is a 6-1 point guard. 6-6 forward Zak Irvin averaged 17.7p/6.9r in the final seven games of the year in the absence of his teammates. Also stepping up was 6-6 wingman Aubrey Dawkins who made 15 of his final 25 three pointers. When you get injured, you sometimes grow new muscles and come back stronger than ever. 6-8 Duncan Robinson averaged 17.1 points. But he did that at Williams- Williams – before transferring to Michigan. But he made 46% of his three pointers there and the arc is the same distance there as it is in the Big Ten.
TSN has Michigan ranked #18 pre-season. The writers have them at #25. The coaches don’t rank them. Coached by John Belein, whose teams always take advantage of the perimeter, the Wolverines bare some resemblance to the team we hope to be and how well they do against Connecticut could tell us how well we might do against them. And if we play them, it will be the gunfight at the OK corral.
Friday, 11/27/15 TBA at Paradise Island TV: TBA GONZAGA
The Zags are the favorite to win Atlantis. They are #10 TSN, #9 writers and #11 coaches. They dominate their conference and play a few top teams outside of it in tournaments like this. Their history is of going into the NCAAs with a high ranking and high seed but they’ve never made it out of the regionals. You always wonder if they are as good as their rankings.
They have perhaps the best front court in the country coming back but have lost both of their guards, meaning that they should be the opposite of the kind of “donut” team Syracuse will be. The redwoods up front are 7-1 288 Przemek Karnowski from Poland who averaged 10.9p/5.8r, 6-10 231 Domantas Sabonis from Lithuania, the son of former Soviet Olympic champion and NBA player Arvydas Sabonis, who actually came off the bench last year but led the team in rebounding with 7.1 per game and 6-10 240 Kyle Wiltjer, who led in scoring with 16.8ppg. Also coming off a redshirt year is 7-1 294 Ryan Edwards. It’s tough to see Coleman, Obokoh, Roberson and Lydon matching up with these guys. 6-3 Josh Perkins will be back at point guard after breaking his jaw in last year’s preseason NIT. He’d been a highly rated recruit and is still a freshman after a medical redshirt. The other guard will be either Silas Nelson, a 6-4 guy who loves to dunk, 6-3 Eric McClellan, “the fastest player on the team” or 6-5 Kyle Dranginis, a leading reserve.
If we play this team, we’ll have to dominate in the backcourt and be “on” from the arc. If we are off, as perimeter teams sometimes are, we’ll likely get blown out.
Or TEXAS
The Longhorns were 20-14 and 8-10 in the Big 12. Shaka Smart has replaced Rick Barnes. Smart became famous for his constant full-court pressing tactics at Virginia Commonwealth. If he can adopt that approach to what he inherited at Texas, his team might be the perfect one to knock off Gonzaga, with inexperienced guards facing pressure and seven footers huffing and puffing to keep up down the court. They would also be an interesting match-up with Syracuse, which will have experienced ball-handlers and is coached by Jim Boeheim, who played full-court defense under Fred Lewis as a player but has rejected that approach as a coach, feeling that modern teams handle the ball too well for constant pressing to work. He’d get a chance to prove that against a Shaka Smart team.
Smart and Mike Krzyzewski are the only coaches to have won at least 26 games for the last six weeks in a row. He made the Final Four in 2011, quite an accomplishment with Virginia Commonwealth. Ironically he inherits a good front line that led the Big 12 in rebounding, blocked shots and field goal percentage defense. They were last in steals. But their best player is 6-2 guard Isaiah Taylor, (13.1p/4.6a05-10 Javan Felix is a three year starter at point guard. 6-2 DeMarcus Holland is “the top backcourt defender” and “should fit nicely into the new scheme”. The top recruit is 6-6 Tevin Mack, the South Carolina player of the year, who had “the ability to drain jumpers”, which is good because this team didn’t shoot well last year. 6-3 Kerwin Roach “si a terrific athlete with quickness”. The “bigs” are 6-9 270 Cameron Ridley, 6-10 245 Prince Ibeh and 6-8 290 Shaquille Cleare.
Or TEXAS A&M
SU fans still remember losing to these guys in GMAC’s last game in 2006, with our injured hero watching morosely from the bench in the first round of the NCAAs. Last year the Aggies were 21-12 and 11-7 in the SEC. They have “a strong core of returning players and one of Texas A&M’s best ever recruiting classes”. Their “dynamic duo” is 6-7 Daniel House and 6-7 Jalen Jones, who between them averaged 28.5 points and 10.5 rebounds. Alex Caruso is a 6-5 guard who led the Sec in assists (5.5) and was second in steals (2.1). He scored 9.1ppg. 6-1 Alex Robinson was a “big time recruit” but had “an erratic freshman season”.
The recruits were all the stars of state championship teams. 6-8 D.J. Hogg was ranked the 29th best recruit in the country and 6-10 Tyler Davis was #31. The others were 6-9 Elijah Thomas and 6-3 Admon Gilder. Coach Billy Kennedy: “They bring a presence about them that we need in the program right away.”
Or WASHINGTON-
The Huskies were 16-15 last year but only 5-13 in the Pac 12. They lost 11 of their last 13 games. They lost four players from that team. Maybe it was addition by subtraction. But the cavalry is coming! They had a top ten recruiting class with five top 1200 players. The one returning starter is 6-2 Andrew Andrews, (couldn’t mommy and Daddy be a little more creative than that?), who averaged 15.op, 4.3r, 2.2a. The five recruits are 6-8 240 Devenir Duruisseau, 6-5 Matisse Thybulle6-6 185 Dominic Green, 6-4 170 Dejounte Murray and 6-0 185 David Crisp. Crisp is a point guard. Murray is “a slashing-type wing with the length and athleticism to become an elite defender”. Green “is along small forward who can shoot well and defend multiple positons. Thybulle is “another long freshman who can slide into either forward slot”. Duruisseau is “A promising 240 pounder who can play inside or out.”
They don’t have a single player on the roster who is listed as a center or even an “F-C”. They are also just too young to make a big splash, especially early in the season. These guys may be part of a good team someday but for now “Their best-case scenario is to be competitive in the league by midseason.”
I wonder if we win it- will the airline let Jim Boeheim take Atlantis back home on the plane with him?
Wednesday 12/2/15 at 7:15pm in the Carrier Dome TV: ESPN2 WISCONSIN
It doesn’t get any easier when we come home, (and the plane will have to negotiate the Bermuda Triangle). The Wisconsin Badgers, who played for the national championship last year, Will be waiting for us at the Carrier Dome. The good news is that they won’t be the same team they were last year. The bad news is that they will still be Wisconsin. The Badgers have finished in the Big Ten’s top 4 and made the NCAA tournament each one of Coach Bo Ryan’s 14 years, culminating in last season’s 36-4 team. And Ryan has announced that this will be his last year so his team will want to send him out on a high note.
He’ll have to do it without his two best players from last year, Frank Kaminsky and Sam Dekker and three other players. 6-9 230 Ethan Happ “has many of the same skills as Kaminsky, although his shooting touch isn’t so deep. He’s more physical than Frank and more powerful around the basket”. 6-8 235 Nigel Hayes “can shoot the three, score inside and attack the backboards”. 6-4 190 Bronson Koenig “is a fine shooter who is capable of setting up teammates well and who can take care of the ball”. They are a Bo Ryan team so you know they’ll be strong on defense. They are ranked #20 by TSN, and #17 in both polls.
Saturday 12/5/15 at 1pm in Washington DC TV: FOX GEORGETOWN
There’s some discontent in Hoyaland where they haven’t made it past the first weekend of the NCAA tournament since their 2007 Final Four trip and have five times lost to double-digit seeds. They think this year’s team could break through that glass ceiling. They were 22-11 last year and 12-6 in the new “Big East”, which is an accumulation of Catholic Schools, many of whom were in the old Big East.
Their hopes are based on the return of 6-3 215 D’Vauntes Simth-Rivera who flirted with the NBA but decided to return to school. He averaged 16.3p 4.2r and 3.2a last year. 6-9 220 Isaac Copeland only averaged 6.8p but he only played 20 minutes a game and “may be ready for a break-out season”. 6-10 270 freshman Jessie Govan “should be a load and is the back-to-the basket scorer that Georgetown always seems to covet” and that this year we would dread facing.
Tuesday 12/8/15 at 7pm in the Carrier Dome TV: ESPNU COLGATE
Finally, another one of those teams that gave us a reputation for years for having a weak pre-season schedule. But the Red Raiders aren’t as bad as they used to be. They were only 16-17 overall last year but 12-6 in the patriot League, (better than Lehigh). But he got wiped out by graduation. Only two returning players averaged more than 9 minutes a game last year. Austin Tillotson is a 6-0 guard who averaged 10.7p and 4.1a. 6-1 196 Alex Ramon hit 57.1 of his three pointers last year but that’s on 12 for 21 shooting. He only averaged 2.7p.
Sunday 12/13/15 at Noon in Madison Square Garden TV: FOX Sports 1 ST. JOHN’S
Everybody knows what happened to the Jonnies in their first exhibition game: a 58-90 loos to Division II St. Thomas Aquinas. They did win their second one against Sonoma State 64-46. Now the games count and we’ll see how good or bad they really are. (Aquinas lost their next game to Rhode Island 77-100. They had been 21-11 the previous year, losing to St. John’s 71-97.)
St. John’s was 21-12 and 10-8 in the new Big East last year. Their leading returning scorer is 6-9 230 Amar Alibegovic. He averaged 1.5 points per \game. That tells you how much work rookie coach Chris Mullin has to do. You wonder how a great player like Mullin will deal with a roster of guys who aren’t Chris Mullin. “We’re going to focus and prepare each and every day, not only to get better, but we’re going to prepare to win.” That’s what he did. Can he get this rag-tag group to do the same thing? If he does, who will play Chris in the movie?
He has a transfer from Pitt, Durand Johnson, 6-6, who averaged 8.8 two years ago before tearing his ACL.6-7 JUCO Darien Williams is coming off shoulder surgery. Ron Mvouilka, 6-6, scored 6.6 at Missouri State two years ago. Once mighty St. John’s is taking transfers from Missouri State. Point guard Federico Mussini comes from Italy. He got Pervis Ellison’s kid Malik, a 6-6 160 guard. Their top recruit is 6-0 165 Marcus Lovett from Chicago, a 4 star kid. It’s a start.
Saturday 12/13/15 at Noon in the Carrier Dome TV: RSN CORNELL
The Big Red was 13-17 last year, 5-9 in the Ivies. It may not seem like much but it was 11 more wins than they had the year before. They ranked 18th in the country in field goal percentage defense, (38.9%). Their best player, Shonn Miller, transferred to Connecticut. 6-2 180 Robert Hatter is their leading returning scorer at 11.3. Let’s hope he doesn’t go mad on us.
Tuesday, 12/22/15 at 7pm in the Carrier Dome TV: ESPN 3 MONTANA STATE
What will Seth Davis predict? Oh, that was Montana….Montana was 20-13 last year. Montana State was 7-23. We get State this year. The Bobcats were 4-14 in the Big Sky conference. They were at the bottom of the league in scoring and offensive shooting percentage. 5-11 180 Marcus Colbert is the leading returning scorer at 13.1p and 4.7a. 6-8 230 Danny Robison averaged 9.2 points and 4.6 rebounds.
Sunday 12/27/15 at 2pm in the Carrier Dome TV: ESPNU TEXAS SOUTHERN
One more “directional” opponent but a pretty good one. They are the two time defending Southwestern Athletic Conference Champions. This is the most famous conference of the “historically black” colleges with schools like Grambling, Jackson State, Southern University, etc. They “return a veteran line-up that pegs them as favorites for a three-peat”. 6-5 190 Chris Thomas averaged 12.9p/4.9r. 6-5 200 Malcom Riley averaged 10.2p/6.4r. 6-7 215 Jose Rodriguez was averaging 11.3p until he hurt his knee. Colorado’s POY, Brian Carey, (5-9 160) will be the new point guard. They don’t have much size. Rodriguez will be their biggest starter. But is this the type of Syracuse team that can take advantage of that?
Friday, 11/13/15 at 7pm at Carrier Dome TV: ESPN3 (the internet) LEHIGH
The Mountain Hawks, (they were the Engineers until 1995 (and I like that nickname better), are a Patriot League team that went 16-14 last year and 10-8 in the conference. They won at Depaul (86-74) and at Arizona State (84-81 in 3OTs) last year Villanova only beat them by 11, (77-66). But they also lost to Rider, Quinnipiac and Colgate, among others. TSN projects them second in their conference this year. Their best player is 6-10 Tim Kempton, (the son of his namesake who played for Notre Dame in the mid 80’s. He was league player of the year with 15.3 points and 8.7 rebounds a game. He should provide a good test for our inexperienced big men, altho9ugh at 225 he might not be as strong as they are. 5-11 Kahron Ross led the league in assists with 5.8 per game and was rookie of the year. They have 84% of their scoring back and 78% of their rebounding. They have a couple of 6-8 forwards to support Kempton and a good recruit in 6-7 Matt Holba who was 1st team all-state in Indiana. JB says they could make the NCAA tournament. It’s a good early test but one we should pass.
UPDATE: I didn’t get this completed until after the Lehigh game. We won that one with a wonderful defensive first half, (32-12). Then the Mountain Hawks kind of figured out the zone and won the second half 25-35. We relied entirely too much on the three point shot, (34 of 52 shots, of which we made 11). We forced a dozen first half turnovers but only 4 in the second half. Tim Kempton had trouble hitting his shots (3 for 8) but got to the line, fouling out Chinoso Obokoh and getting 4 on DaJuan Coleman. He had 3 fouls on Kempton in the first half and never went at him to get him out of the game. He still had 3 at the end. When they realized Kempton didn’t have to guard Obokoh he went out to help on the three pointers and we stopped scoring. At one point Leigh scored 12 in a row. But we survived and can now work our revealed weaknesses. We need to improve quite a bit, and quickly.
Tuesday 11/17/15 at 7pm at Carrier Dome TV: RSN (a regional sports network) ST. BONAVENTURE
The Bonnies were 18-13 and 10-8 in the always under-rated Atlantic 10. Marcus Posey a quick 6-0 guard averaged 16.7ppgs and had a reputation for hitting buzzer-beaters. He’d love to hit one against us if we let them keep it close. Their big center, Youssou Ndoye who averaged a double-double with 11.8/10.1 and 2.6 blocks, has fortunately graduated. TSN says “The Bonnies will be perimeter- oriented”. So will we, but with bigger players. 6-7 Dion Wright, (13.5/7.0) is still around as is 6-1 Jaylen Adams (10.0p, 4.5a). JB also sees this as a potential NCAA team but they will be swimming upstream in the A10 without their big man.
Next comes a tournament called “The Battle for Atlantis” on Paradise Island in the Bahamas. There will be one game in the Carrier Dome and a guaranteed three in the Bahamas. (The team will have to pass through the Bermuda Triangle to get there. Maybe they’ll use the triangle offense.)
Saturday 11/21/15 at 7pm at Carrier Dome TV: ESPN3 ELON
The “Phoenix”, (before 2000, they were “The Fightin’ Christians”), was “the worse defensive team in the conference” last year, the conference being Colonial Athletic Association. They went 15-18 and 6-12 in the CAA. “The Phoenix may get worse this year after the loss of four starters”. Tanner Sampson, a 6-4 guard (12.5p, 43 steals) is the one returning starter. They are projected to finish last in the CAA and will finish second when they take on SU in the Carrier Dome.
Wednesday 11/25/15 at 2:30pm at Paradise Island TV: ESPN2 CHARLOTTE
The 49ers have a history of giving Syracuse fits. They shocked JB’s first team in the NCAAs, 59-81. They beat our defending national champions in their Dome opener in 2003, 92-96. Last year they were 14-16 and 7-11 in Conference USA. Mark Price is their new coach. They’ve had no less than four players transfer out of the program. Price inherited 5 scholarship players. Price has filled the roster with transfers. His best returning player is 6-1 guard Braxton Ogbueze who hit 40.5 from three point range and scored 9.6 per game. Benas Griciunas is a 7-0 230 Lithuanian who started his career at Auburn. He’s “mobile, with a good shooting touch”.
Thursday 11/26/15 at 3:30 or 9:30pm at Paradise Island TV: ESPN or AXS CONNECTICUT
If we beat Charlotte, one possibility for the next round is a game against our old Big East Rival Connecticut, who has added still another national championship since we last played them. They now have grrr…FOUR of them to our one. We beat their first three national champions and were ranked higher than their last one, so its s ore spot. (Full disclosure: they beat our national champion twice.) Last year the Huskies were a pedestrian 20-15 and 10-8 in the American Athletic Conference, which was culled together from the remnants of the late, great Big East. (We thought we’d left these guys behind only to watch on TV as they won that fourth title….grrrr). “The Huskies have the look of a Top 25 team with potential for another deep March run in the NCAA tournament.” Oh no, not AGAIN!
TSN doesn’t have the Huskies in their preseason Top 25 but the writers have them at #20 and the coaches at #24. They return four starters and eight players overall, 67% of their scoring, 78% of their rebounding and 68% percent of the assists. Amida Smith is a 7 foot center and the reigning AAC defensive player of the year with 3.5 blocks per gamer. He’s not a big scorer (9.1) and not much of a rebounder (4.4) but “the sky is the limit if he can improve his offensive skills”. Fortunately, we won’t have to go to the basket to score this year. Rodney Purvis, a 6-4 guard, is the leading returning scorer at 11.6ppg and 6-7 Daniel Hamilton was the conference’s rookie of the year with 10.9p, 7.6r and 3.7a. Shonn Miller, 6-7, transferred in form Cornell after averaging 16.8p/8.5r there. Sterling Gibbs, (6-2), transferred in from Seton Hall where he averaged 16.3p/3.8r. Incoming freshmen include five star combo guard Jalen Adams, (6-2), and 6-10 Steven Enoch, who was player of the year in Connecticut. This team is loaded and if they win another national title, I’m going to get loaded, myself.
Or MICHIGAN
If we don’t play UCONN, we’ll play Michigan who bounced us out of the Final Four in 2013. They fell off to a 16-16 record last year, 8-10 in the Big Ten. They got short-circuited by injuries to Carlis Levert and Derrick Walton. Levert is 6-7 but is listed as a guard and hit 40.5% from three point range last year. He can also drive to the basket to score. Walton is a 6-1 point guard. 6-6 forward Zak Irvin averaged 17.7p/6.9r in the final seven games of the year in the absence of his teammates. Also stepping up was 6-6 wingman Aubrey Dawkins who made 15 of his final 25 three pointers. When you get injured, you sometimes grow new muscles and come back stronger than ever. 6-8 Duncan Robinson averaged 17.1 points. But he did that at Williams- Williams – before transferring to Michigan. But he made 46% of his three pointers there and the arc is the same distance there as it is in the Big Ten.
TSN has Michigan ranked #18 pre-season. The writers have them at #25. The coaches don’t rank them. Coached by John Belein, whose teams always take advantage of the perimeter, the Wolverines bare some resemblance to the team we hope to be and how well they do against Connecticut could tell us how well we might do against them. And if we play them, it will be the gunfight at the OK corral.
Friday, 11/27/15 TBA at Paradise Island TV: TBA GONZAGA
The Zags are the favorite to win Atlantis. They are #10 TSN, #9 writers and #11 coaches. They dominate their conference and play a few top teams outside of it in tournaments like this. Their history is of going into the NCAAs with a high ranking and high seed but they’ve never made it out of the regionals. You always wonder if they are as good as their rankings.
They have perhaps the best front court in the country coming back but have lost both of their guards, meaning that they should be the opposite of the kind of “donut” team Syracuse will be. The redwoods up front are 7-1 288 Przemek Karnowski from Poland who averaged 10.9p/5.8r, 6-10 231 Domantas Sabonis from Lithuania, the son of former Soviet Olympic champion and NBA player Arvydas Sabonis, who actually came off the bench last year but led the team in rebounding with 7.1 per game and 6-10 240 Kyle Wiltjer, who led in scoring with 16.8ppg. Also coming off a redshirt year is 7-1 294 Ryan Edwards. It’s tough to see Coleman, Obokoh, Roberson and Lydon matching up with these guys. 6-3 Josh Perkins will be back at point guard after breaking his jaw in last year’s preseason NIT. He’d been a highly rated recruit and is still a freshman after a medical redshirt. The other guard will be either Silas Nelson, a 6-4 guy who loves to dunk, 6-3 Eric McClellan, “the fastest player on the team” or 6-5 Kyle Dranginis, a leading reserve.
If we play this team, we’ll have to dominate in the backcourt and be “on” from the arc. If we are off, as perimeter teams sometimes are, we’ll likely get blown out.
Or TEXAS
The Longhorns were 20-14 and 8-10 in the Big 12. Shaka Smart has replaced Rick Barnes. Smart became famous for his constant full-court pressing tactics at Virginia Commonwealth. If he can adopt that approach to what he inherited at Texas, his team might be the perfect one to knock off Gonzaga, with inexperienced guards facing pressure and seven footers huffing and puffing to keep up down the court. They would also be an interesting match-up with Syracuse, which will have experienced ball-handlers and is coached by Jim Boeheim, who played full-court defense under Fred Lewis as a player but has rejected that approach as a coach, feeling that modern teams handle the ball too well for constant pressing to work. He’d get a chance to prove that against a Shaka Smart team.
Smart and Mike Krzyzewski are the only coaches to have won at least 26 games for the last six weeks in a row. He made the Final Four in 2011, quite an accomplishment with Virginia Commonwealth. Ironically he inherits a good front line that led the Big 12 in rebounding, blocked shots and field goal percentage defense. They were last in steals. But their best player is 6-2 guard Isaiah Taylor, (13.1p/4.6a05-10 Javan Felix is a three year starter at point guard. 6-2 DeMarcus Holland is “the top backcourt defender” and “should fit nicely into the new scheme”. The top recruit is 6-6 Tevin Mack, the South Carolina player of the year, who had “the ability to drain jumpers”, which is good because this team didn’t shoot well last year. 6-3 Kerwin Roach “si a terrific athlete with quickness”. The “bigs” are 6-9 270 Cameron Ridley, 6-10 245 Prince Ibeh and 6-8 290 Shaquille Cleare.
Or TEXAS A&M
SU fans still remember losing to these guys in GMAC’s last game in 2006, with our injured hero watching morosely from the bench in the first round of the NCAAs. Last year the Aggies were 21-12 and 11-7 in the SEC. They have “a strong core of returning players and one of Texas A&M’s best ever recruiting classes”. Their “dynamic duo” is 6-7 Daniel House and 6-7 Jalen Jones, who between them averaged 28.5 points and 10.5 rebounds. Alex Caruso is a 6-5 guard who led the Sec in assists (5.5) and was second in steals (2.1). He scored 9.1ppg. 6-1 Alex Robinson was a “big time recruit” but had “an erratic freshman season”.
The recruits were all the stars of state championship teams. 6-8 D.J. Hogg was ranked the 29th best recruit in the country and 6-10 Tyler Davis was #31. The others were 6-9 Elijah Thomas and 6-3 Admon Gilder. Coach Billy Kennedy: “They bring a presence about them that we need in the program right away.”
Or WASHINGTON-
The Huskies were 16-15 last year but only 5-13 in the Pac 12. They lost 11 of their last 13 games. They lost four players from that team. Maybe it was addition by subtraction. But the cavalry is coming! They had a top ten recruiting class with five top 1200 players. The one returning starter is 6-2 Andrew Andrews, (couldn’t mommy and Daddy be a little more creative than that?), who averaged 15.op, 4.3r, 2.2a. The five recruits are 6-8 240 Devenir Duruisseau, 6-5 Matisse Thybulle6-6 185 Dominic Green, 6-4 170 Dejounte Murray and 6-0 185 David Crisp. Crisp is a point guard. Murray is “a slashing-type wing with the length and athleticism to become an elite defender”. Green “is along small forward who can shoot well and defend multiple positons. Thybulle is “another long freshman who can slide into either forward slot”. Duruisseau is “A promising 240 pounder who can play inside or out.”
They don’t have a single player on the roster who is listed as a center or even an “F-C”. They are also just too young to make a big splash, especially early in the season. These guys may be part of a good team someday but for now “Their best-case scenario is to be competitive in the league by midseason.”
I wonder if we win it- will the airline let Jim Boeheim take Atlantis back home on the plane with him?
Wednesday 12/2/15 at 7:15pm in the Carrier Dome TV: ESPN2 WISCONSIN
It doesn’t get any easier when we come home, (and the plane will have to negotiate the Bermuda Triangle). The Wisconsin Badgers, who played for the national championship last year, Will be waiting for us at the Carrier Dome. The good news is that they won’t be the same team they were last year. The bad news is that they will still be Wisconsin. The Badgers have finished in the Big Ten’s top 4 and made the NCAA tournament each one of Coach Bo Ryan’s 14 years, culminating in last season’s 36-4 team. And Ryan has announced that this will be his last year so his team will want to send him out on a high note.
He’ll have to do it without his two best players from last year, Frank Kaminsky and Sam Dekker and three other players. 6-9 230 Ethan Happ “has many of the same skills as Kaminsky, although his shooting touch isn’t so deep. He’s more physical than Frank and more powerful around the basket”. 6-8 235 Nigel Hayes “can shoot the three, score inside and attack the backboards”. 6-4 190 Bronson Koenig “is a fine shooter who is capable of setting up teammates well and who can take care of the ball”. They are a Bo Ryan team so you know they’ll be strong on defense. They are ranked #20 by TSN, and #17 in both polls.
Saturday 12/5/15 at 1pm in Washington DC TV: FOX GEORGETOWN
There’s some discontent in Hoyaland where they haven’t made it past the first weekend of the NCAA tournament since their 2007 Final Four trip and have five times lost to double-digit seeds. They think this year’s team could break through that glass ceiling. They were 22-11 last year and 12-6 in the new “Big East”, which is an accumulation of Catholic Schools, many of whom were in the old Big East.
Their hopes are based on the return of 6-3 215 D’Vauntes Simth-Rivera who flirted with the NBA but decided to return to school. He averaged 16.3p 4.2r and 3.2a last year. 6-9 220 Isaac Copeland only averaged 6.8p but he only played 20 minutes a game and “may be ready for a break-out season”. 6-10 270 freshman Jessie Govan “should be a load and is the back-to-the basket scorer that Georgetown always seems to covet” and that this year we would dread facing.
Tuesday 12/8/15 at 7pm in the Carrier Dome TV: ESPNU COLGATE
Finally, another one of those teams that gave us a reputation for years for having a weak pre-season schedule. But the Red Raiders aren’t as bad as they used to be. They were only 16-17 overall last year but 12-6 in the patriot League, (better than Lehigh). But he got wiped out by graduation. Only two returning players averaged more than 9 minutes a game last year. Austin Tillotson is a 6-0 guard who averaged 10.7p and 4.1a. 6-1 196 Alex Ramon hit 57.1 of his three pointers last year but that’s on 12 for 21 shooting. He only averaged 2.7p.
Sunday 12/13/15 at Noon in Madison Square Garden TV: FOX Sports 1 ST. JOHN’S
Everybody knows what happened to the Jonnies in their first exhibition game: a 58-90 loos to Division II St. Thomas Aquinas. They did win their second one against Sonoma State 64-46. Now the games count and we’ll see how good or bad they really are. (Aquinas lost their next game to Rhode Island 77-100. They had been 21-11 the previous year, losing to St. John’s 71-97.)
St. John’s was 21-12 and 10-8 in the new Big East last year. Their leading returning scorer is 6-9 230 Amar Alibegovic. He averaged 1.5 points per \game. That tells you how much work rookie coach Chris Mullin has to do. You wonder how a great player like Mullin will deal with a roster of guys who aren’t Chris Mullin. “We’re going to focus and prepare each and every day, not only to get better, but we’re going to prepare to win.” That’s what he did. Can he get this rag-tag group to do the same thing? If he does, who will play Chris in the movie?
He has a transfer from Pitt, Durand Johnson, 6-6, who averaged 8.8 two years ago before tearing his ACL.6-7 JUCO Darien Williams is coming off shoulder surgery. Ron Mvouilka, 6-6, scored 6.6 at Missouri State two years ago. Once mighty St. John’s is taking transfers from Missouri State. Point guard Federico Mussini comes from Italy. He got Pervis Ellison’s kid Malik, a 6-6 160 guard. Their top recruit is 6-0 165 Marcus Lovett from Chicago, a 4 star kid. It’s a start.
Saturday 12/13/15 at Noon in the Carrier Dome TV: RSN CORNELL
The Big Red was 13-17 last year, 5-9 in the Ivies. It may not seem like much but it was 11 more wins than they had the year before. They ranked 18th in the country in field goal percentage defense, (38.9%). Their best player, Shonn Miller, transferred to Connecticut. 6-2 180 Robert Hatter is their leading returning scorer at 11.3. Let’s hope he doesn’t go mad on us.
Tuesday, 12/22/15 at 7pm in the Carrier Dome TV: ESPN 3 MONTANA STATE
What will Seth Davis predict? Oh, that was Montana….Montana was 20-13 last year. Montana State was 7-23. We get State this year. The Bobcats were 4-14 in the Big Sky conference. They were at the bottom of the league in scoring and offensive shooting percentage. 5-11 180 Marcus Colbert is the leading returning scorer at 13.1p and 4.7a. 6-8 230 Danny Robison averaged 9.2 points and 4.6 rebounds.
Sunday 12/27/15 at 2pm in the Carrier Dome TV: ESPNU TEXAS SOUTHERN
One more “directional” opponent but a pretty good one. They are the two time defending Southwestern Athletic Conference Champions. This is the most famous conference of the “historically black” colleges with schools like Grambling, Jackson State, Southern University, etc. They “return a veteran line-up that pegs them as favorites for a three-peat”. 6-5 190 Chris Thomas averaged 12.9p/4.9r. 6-5 200 Malcom Riley averaged 10.2p/6.4r. 6-7 215 Jose Rodriguez was averaging 11.3p until he hurt his knee. Colorado’s POY, Brian Carey, (5-9 160) will be the new point guard. They don’t have much size. Rodriguez will be their biggest starter. But is this the type of Syracuse team that can take advantage of that?
