Continue reading »]]> I am sure most of you have enjoyed some extra time off from your day jobs the past few days, perhaps a couple fine meals with family and friends, more than one piece of pumpkin pie, and some downtime to relax. At least I hope this is the case. I had a great meal with the family here in Vegas prepared by my special lady and her mom who flew in from Michigan. Thanksgiving in Las Vegas takes on another meaning for me though, as a banquet of college basketball was on hand over the past couple of days.

UNLV took on Louisville yesterday in an early tip off at the Thomas and Mack. We arrived early and watched the T&M fill up to near capacity. UNLV had looked pretty good the first hand full of games we’ve seen this season, but  I wasn’t sure how they would perform in a much hyped around town game. I felt UNLV was better than Louisville overall, but didn’t know if it was prime-time yet. Lots of these questions were answered yesterday.

UNLV came out early and took it right to Louisville, letting them know there would be no pushing around. Shaw, Massamba, and Santee went to work on Samuels denying him the ball, Bellfield did a job staying in front of Sosa, and overall, the Rebels played very solid man to man defense.

Jasper, Willis, and Bellfield all had several nice moves in the 1st half. Super Freshman combo of Hawkins and Marshall did their part, and UNLV was up 10 at halftime.

The second half started with more of the same. The Rebels held Louisville scoreless for over 4 minutesto start, with UNLV extending the lead from 10 to 16 or so. It was 48-32 with 5 minutes gone in the second half, and I was thinking blow out. I should have known better.

Louisville tied it up with a 30-11 run over the larger portion of the second half, making the last 4 minutes of this game pretty intense. Edgar Sosa started hitting 3′s, Some guy I’ve never heard of (Rakeem Buckles) had two nice hoops and got to the line a hand full of times, it seemed like they were coming from everywhere, and were possibly playing with a 6th guy on the floor. UNLV was forcing things a bit when it got closer. Once it was within 2, things calmed down a bit and UNLV was forced to bring it to the zone. Louisville used the zone almost 100% of the time in the second half, which gave them the turnovers and missed shots they needed for the comeback. However, when it came to crunch time, Bellfield scored on 3 straight trips against the zone, gaining the lane with the shot clock under 5 seconds and putting runners in the hoop. It was amazing.

With under a minute left, UNLV stepped it up on defense too, with a big block by Santee (and two made FT’s after the intentional foul from Samuels), and a steal by Jasper as Sosa gained the lane the next trip down. UNLV was up 6 at this point, and iced the match. Final Score: UNLV 76, Louisville 71.

And what a crowd. The T&M was absolutely rocking, silencing the hand full of ‘ville fans. How can you stand up for your team when your coach hooks up with women in storage closets of your favorite eatery and then forces one of his assistants to marry her? I heard a few classic one liners from the upper deck on Saturday that I will save for personal conversations. Overall, it was a great time.

After this game, I headed back to the Orleans Arena to catch the last two games of the Las Vegas Invitational. Yesterday I was on hand for four total games, including a great comeback by Utah for the night cap. I was hoping for another upset special early as Bradley took on Illinois for the 3rd place game.

The crowd once again was made up by a large conglomerate of Illinois fans. Bradley had its fan block back as well, but was drown out by “ILL-INI” chants for most of the afternoon. The game started close with both teams trading baskets, resulting in Bradley gaining a small lead for most of the 1st half. Illinois put on a rush at the end after they settled down and started running some real offense. Tisdale was in early foul trouble, much to the dismay of the Illinois fans in the stands. Mike Davis was effective down low working FT line extended and in, using the glass, etc. For Bradley, it was pretty balanced for the most part. Things stayed close in the second half as well. Big 3 pointers back to back from Roberts and Warren helped Bradley to a small cushion and that was enough to knock off Illinois and send their jerk fans walking. Final Score: Bradley 72, Illinois 68.

Bet the top 25 ranked Illini did not figure on losing both games in the desert. This is a testament to top 25 rankings before a season even starts being completely useless.

Second game of the night was a yawner. Utah came off its upset over Illinois, Oklahoma State handled Bradley pretty well. Utah hit a few shots to start the game, but it was over by the time the buzzer sounded for halftime. OSU guards are small, but damn fast, and the combination of Luca Drca and Carlon Brown could not keep them in front of the defense. Jim Boylen was fired up as usual, drew a technical early in the 1st half (looking to fire up the troops), but just couldn’t get it going. Down almost 20 at the half, the second half was more of the same. Couple spurts in either direction, but nothing of great note. Utah is pretty young. Had their squad from last year been matched up against the speed and strength of OSU, I think it would have been a different story. Boylen has a good thing going in Utah though, and the Utes should be in the top half of the MWC again this year. Final Score: Oklahoma State 77, Utah 55.

In addition I watched two brutal games before the “prime-time” games yesterday. Wofford vs Southern and Seattle vs Presbyterian. Seattle has some Juco transfer who is an absolute beast. He’s like 6’10″ and still handles the ball up the floor, backs his guy down and shoots the ball. It’d be like putting Kevin Garnett on the floor. Just odd to watch, but interesting nonetheless. Seattle beat Presbyterian 67-63, and Wofford beat Southern 81-66. Incidentally, I did catch the last 4 minutes of the “title” game between Wofford and Seattle. Wofford won with a great defensive stand on the last play of the game, denying Seattle’s KG a shot after he had previously missed two FT’s and got the rebound, slammed it home to take a 1 point game. Wofford nailed a shot, giving Seattle’s monster man a shot, but it was not to be. Wofford 84, Seattle 83 (Look at the box score. Charles Garcia has 41 points on 24 shots, and also shot 18 FT’s. 1 assist).

That is it for my basketball weekend. Four more games on Friday, Three and a half (lol) on Saturday, and one last Wednesday puts my total at 11. It was a long weekend of basketball watching. Today I am settling back into my normal routine for the work week ahead. UNLV is on an extended road trip because of the rodeo coming to town. Dar. My next game will be when Sam is in town, and we head back to the Orleans Arena to watch UNLV take on Kansas State.

I’ll chime in again sometime this week with a few observances around the world of college basketball instead of whats going on in my little sports bubble. In closing, shame on you Illinois fans, and shout out to UNLV. Let the buzz begin.

Continue reading »]]> If this were any other game, I’d have been all in for Holy Cross. They have been a classic small timey team as of late, hail from the Patriot League, and shoot a ton of 3′s. In reality though, this was just a warm-up game for UNLV. They had balanced scoring across the board from Willis (14), Bellfield (13) and super frosh’s Anthony Marshall (14) and Justin Hawkins (12). UNLV was outrebounded for the1st time all year, but I attribute this to the abundance of long rebounds going out to the 3 point line after brutal 3 point shot after brutal 3 point shot on the Crusader’s account. UNLV was in control for the whole game, avoided the trademarked slow start, and put things away for good halfway through the 2nd half. UNLV 80, Holy Cross 59.

Still looking for Derek Jasper to take over a game though. He’s shown flashes of his talent, definitely runs the offense well enough, and has shown no ill affects of his previous knee issues (highlighted by a alley-oop slam in the second half where he jumped high enough to have his arms and head above the rim it seemed). Here’s to hoping he shows up big next time out, vs this guy ->

The look ahead is to Louisville on Saturday. There may be a little bad blood between the two schools. Ricky Pitino was rumored to be a lock for the UNLV job before Kruger got it, before Pitino’s lady friend nixed the deal due to her not wanting to live in Las Vegas. UNLV also won a close game in Louisville last year without their best player, Wink Adams, on the floor due to an injury the previous game. These two items, coupled with the fact that UNLV needs to gain some national respect with a big win after their nice start (#1 in RPI rankings to start the season), and it’s going to be a hard fought game once again. I’m sure the student section will have a few choice chants for Pitino and his gangster style shotgun marriage of his extra special lady friend and some dude who guards the door while he’s picking out the carrots for a stew or something at his local watering hole. Should be interesting to say the least.

Due to the Louisville game, I will be missing the 1st two games of the 2nd day of the Las Vegas Invitational. I’m headed to the first two games after this post is done, and will be looking for Bradley and Utah to knock off Illinois and Oklahoma St. this evening.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving with friends, family, and giant plates of food.

Continue reading »]]> Ohio State (5) v. Michigan State (1):

OSU seems to have saved it’s Big Dance dreams with the win over Wisconsin yesterday (developments in the A-10, Big 12 & MWC Tourneys have made the bubble teams start to sweat – In the Big Ten PSU, Minny, um & Wisconsin will have a nervous Sunday) – MSU just outlasted Minny, as I posted yesterday it wasn’t pretty but in March you win and don’t worry about style points – despite what the yutzs in the ESPN studio may say about seeding – but I’ll talk more about seeding in tomorrow’s preview when we have most of the conference tournaments final results in hand – for now let’s all agree that Jimmy’s hero Digger Phelps is just a giant homer douche and move on.

Today’s game should be another slugfest, it won’t be pretty both teams like to bang and scrap but if you like Big Ten hoops it will be a great game. Evan Turner meet Travis Walton – on the defensive side that’s the key match-up for MSU. For MSU to win Suton and Raymar need to have better games – G had his way with the young Mullens in MSU’s prior to victories and that will need to continue. Raymar usually plays well against his home state’s team so I expect his performance will improve. Roe and Lauderdale should be a good match-up (and Day-Day Green and Quise and the Dunk Police when they’re subbed in). If Mullens is playing well against G don’t be surprised to see ID – Idunk Iblock – get some minutes. Diebler will challenge MSU’s tough perimeter defense and I have no doubt he’ll get some good looks today. The last time these teams played Durrell Summers went off – here’s to hoping he can do it again.

It will be a battle but I think MSU is set for a March roll and they will outlast the Buckeyes and move onto Sunday (then we can let the seeding talk commence).

Pick: MICHIGAN STATE

Purdue (3) v. Illinois (2):

Both of these teams played well last night – but both will face tougher competition in each other today. Purdue had a bit of an offensive re-awakening last night and Illinois ground Michigan into the floor. Illinois is historically the toughest out in the BTT and they seem to be upholding that tradition without Chester Frazier’s services – it will be interesting to see how his absence plays out today. For Illinois Mike Davis is again the key and Hummel is the spark plug for Purdue. The match-up to watch will be Johnson versus Tisdale in the low post, two very skilled young big men playing against each with a trip to BTT Finals on the line – who could ask for anything more? In the end I give the edge to Purdue due to Frazier’s absence but the Illini swept the season series so it’s hard to get really excited about that pick. Should be a good defensive Big Ten battle – if ESPN doesn’t like that they can eat my shorts.

Pick: PURDUE

Continue reading »]]> Noon Quarter Game:

MSU defeated Minny by 8 – Chet and I enjoyed the game with a Hot and Ready in the basement on the plasma. It was an ugly game – lots of missed throws, on both sides – MSU outlasted Minny with solid D and some nice sets exploiting an opening in Minny’s D on the baseline.

Marquise and the Dunk Police were in full force today – some real quality minutes from Quise in the first half (oh, and Chris Allen too). G and Ray seemed to play with their heads in the clouds today and Kalin was not fully himself – so to get a win in those circumstances is nothing I’ll complain too much about.

Odds and Ends from the game:

The old dudes sitting behind Lavin and Mushburger were top notch. The one old timer loved to ham it up for the cameras.

By my count at least 100 dolphins were killed during this contest – nice work Eddie

Other BTT items:

Word is that Chester Frazier is out for the weekend and possibly next week for the 1st weekend of the NCAAs with a practice related hand injury – this gives UM and edge tonight, I’d now call this game a push – the Illini need someone to step up on D to clamp down on Harris.

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Item!  We all know of the “Dharma Initiative” and are learning more about it each week – but what I want to know about is the “Greg Initiative” – I wonder what that island is like?

Item!  After broadcasting two games last night with Jay Bilas and Sean McDonough I wonder how many gin and tonics The Raft had to drink just to get the sounds of their insipid chatter out of his head.  At one point Bilas advocated taking the Big East Tournament down to 8 teams, of course in Jay’s mind the NCAA Tourney should be one team – Duke, just Duke playing Duke, that we can dispense with the nonsense of these lesser teams that think they’re as good or better than Duke.

Item!  I don’t know if corndogs were the first food on a stick but for my money they’re the best food on a stick.

Item!  One more from the Big East last night, man am I’m glad that Devendorf never showed up in East Lansing and I still think Boeheim is the kind of guy that yells at a waiter for cold soup.

Item!  Hey gang, if you’re going to see one movie this year make it The Pink Panther 2.

Item!  Dick Vitale will be doing ACC Tournament games this week, at least when Vitale works the ACC all the other things he talks about besides the actual game occurring in front of him might have a chance of being in the same building at some point during the day.

Item!  I think America began to slide down hill when we all got electronic pencil sharpeners – we lost touch with the feel of the blades on the pencil and let the machines take over, it was the first step…

Item!  The bubble has burst for Notre Dame, Georgetown, Cincinnati – I like one of these teams so my heart isn’t too broken but the joy of not having to be subjected to more Notre Dame b.s. is pretty overwhelming right now – I’m as happy as Digger Phelps is sad.

Item!  Louie Anderson’s Las Vegas Comedy Show is top shelf entertainment – the FAT COMEDIAN is back – I repeat the FAT COMEDIAN is back

And now on to the BTT:

Indiana (11): plays Penn State late this afternoon – I expect the Hoosiers will play hard and give Penn State a tough game but PSU knows the Big Dance is on the line and will outlast IU.  You can count me among the many that think IU will be back sooner rather than later under Tom Crean but even he didn’t think this year would be as bad as it was so that will likely delay the process by at least a year.  

Iowa (10): plays Michigan this afternoon.  Man I sure hope the Hawkeye Nation travels well to Indy and supports their Hawks as they battle the rodents that piss on themselves.  I’m not sure that Lickliter is a BT caliber coach or that his style of play will work over the course of a major conference season (especially when you can’t recruit – gee if it weren’t for Beeline he’d be my John L. Smith of BT hoops nominee) – anyway I’ll be rooting for the Hawks to pull one out today and put Beeline and his boys were they naturally belong, the NIT.  Side note, does the Iowa Dance Team travel to the BTT – now that is a team with talent and one superstar.

Northwestern (9): plays Minnesota at noon.  This is the first BTT play-in game (at least for Minny) – the Cats have been so close this year – so damn close.  A win here helps them but I don’t think MSU will be in a mood to give them a second win.  In reality NU’s season rests on two games – home loses to Purdue and Illinois – win those and they’d be dancing no matter what happens versus Minny – but as they say if my aunt had….she’d be my uncle.  Hopefully, the Cats can build on a strong showing in the NIT and make a tourney run next year.

Minnesota (8): plays NU at noon.  It’s simple for my favorite non-MSU associated coach in the Big Ten and his team – beat NU and you’re dance card is punched.  A good season for Minny but to erase that um home loss from the Committee’s mind they need this one against NU – they don’t match-up well against MSU in the quarters but Digger Phelps keeps saying it hard to beat a team three times – well here’s hoping Minny is to MSU this year what Wisconsin was to MSU in 2000.

Michigan (7): plays Iowa this afternoon.  GO HAWKS! The skunkbears and their program are the biggest cheats in the history of college hoops and the whole program belongs in jail but the NIT will do for now. 

Penn State (6): plays IU late this afternoon.  Every dolt on the BTN (that means you Timmy Doyle) picked the Lions as their sleeper BTT team – well here’s a newsflash if you stop Battle or either Cornley or Pringle (how’s the library Stanley?) the Nitany Lions are pretty average – painfully average.  That said I think they beat IU and punch their ticket for sure – I’d be real surprised if they hang with Purdue, the Boilers seem to have their number this year.

Ohio State (5): plays Wisconsin tomorrow.  I think they’re in – so beating Bucky Badger is icing on the cake – c’mon Thad do it for all the little hot dog things out there.

Wisconsin (4) plays Ohio State tomorrow.  In the best of all worlds the team bus never makes it to Conseco, the players all end up on the Lost island and Bo Ryan is sent directly to the 5^th Circle of Hell – that rat faced jerk belongs with the wrathful in the River Styx…okay, I guess that’s even a little harsh for Bo – here’s to them losing and possibly being bounced to the NIT but Bo’s pal and deal partner Mephistopheles probably has already arranged for them to be in the Big Dance.

Pudue (3): plays PSU/IU winner tomorrow.  I think Purdue is the second best team in the league and makes it to the BTT Final – moving up in seeding along the way.  Brokeback Hummel (eat it Rosenberg) seems healthy and ready to go.

Illinois (2): plays Iowa/um winner tomorrow.  Illinois doesn’t score much but neither do the teams they play – I think, despite or maybe inspite of their inferior LIR program, the Fightin’s will make it to the semi’s but I give the Boilers the edge playing in their home state.

Michigan State (1): plays Minny/NU winner tomorrow.  MSU is clearly the best team in the conference – but no one seems to think they’ll win the BTT.  The Spartans have been hit and miss in BTTs of the past but this team is focused and healthy – and that’s bad news for the rest of the Big Ten and NCAA field.  I’m sure Uncle Eddie and has traveling band of whistle blowers won’t make it easy but the Spartans are my pick (big surprise) for the BTT crown – it should be a fun tournament, enjoy it and see you on Selection Sunday.

Continue reading »]]> Today is March 1st. The calendar officially recognizes what is laid out before us, and the basketball gods produced a buffet of basketball for all to enjoy this weekend.

Michigan State @ Illinois -  MSU locked up a piece of the Big Ten season title with a gritty tense win vs a game Illinois team full of freaks with long arms and fast guards. Shout out to Lucas showing up, Morgan getting his mind right, and young Ibok’s playing a hand-full of meaningful minutes vs Wayman Tisdale’s illegitimate 7 foot + son. Great game to watch, and I did not have to break anything against my wall and / or TV. Really want them to finish strong with games @ Indiana and home vs the train makers and they’re host of scrubs with bad backs. Gotta beat these clowns down.

Marquette @ Louisville – Johnny Whitesuits out in full force for the early game. I have enjoyed watching this Marquette team all season long. It’s sad to see them continue on with James on the bench. Some of their swagger is gone. They still hung in the game and had several chances to win it. Louisville is a good basketball team, and they have a nice home crowd. Prolly the team to take a #1 seed should any of the anointed 4 drop a late season game they shouldn’t.

Missouri @ Kansas – Joke of a game. It took all Missouri had to eeek out a win in Columbia a few weeks back. Sharron Collins is insane. No way they were going to drop this game.

Georgetown @ Villanova (Saturday) – Since when has it come down to this? Villanova is good, sure, but why is Georgetown on the outside looking in? They have superior athletes, superior size and supposedly a great coach. The Princeton offense is nice, and its a cute novelty, but it has to go. You run that crap when your team is full of 6’3″ white guys, not 7 foot big men who should be beasting in the pant dunking and drawing fouls. Scrap this crap and go to the basket. It’s just too late for this year, as they’re probably not going to get to the tourney.

Mountain West race has gotten a ton tighter. My last game was BYU @ UNLV, with the Rebels pulling off another impressive win 75-74 (game # 21). They have since lost to Utah and have no shot to win the conference regular season title. It will probably come down to New Mexico and Utah. New Mexico has the easiest schedule left, but Utah is currently 1st. Look for three NCAA bids max from the MWC with Utah and BYU locks. San Diego St. hasn’t played anybody, New Mexico hasn’t either, which should give UNLV the nod based on their non conference victories at Louisville and home vs Arizona. Of course, they will have to win their last two games (at home vs Air Force and at SDSU). UNLV always has the conference tourney in their own back yard, which helps.

Looking forward to the next couple of weeks, you should find me at the WCC tournament, which is held here in Las Vegas at the Orleans Arena. My thanks to the organizers for hooking up the evening start times, which will allow me to get out of work and get there in time. I hope Patrick Mills can get back in time to get some run, as I’d like to see him live.

I should be able to find my way to a few sessions of the MWC tourney held at the Thomas and Mack as well, pending financial situations and whether my wife will wonder where I’ve been. This is Las Vegas you know, no reason to make the ladyfriend suspect.

From there, its off to Philly on Wednesday, March 19th to enjoy the 1st and 2nd rounds of the NCAA tournament. Selection committee, take notice – if BYU is sent to Philadelphia, I will make it my personal goal to make each and every BYU fan enjoy a weekend of living hell. Do not send this curse on them, or myself.