Author: Coach Z (Page 27 of 38)

49-20!! That was the score of the St. Louis-George Washington game yesterday. No, not the halftime score! The Final Score!!The 20 points scored by St. Louis is the fewest points scored in the NCAA since the arrival of the shot clock. Here are the stats from last night:
7-49 from the floor
1-19 from the 3 pt. line
14 turnovers (not too bad)
Tommie Liddel–1-12
Kevin Lisch– 1-9

Those numbers are astounding. What is even more amazing is the fact that Rick Majerus has coached this team to 9 wins in 15 games. I had an opportunity to watch them practice early in the year and thought if they could win ten games that would be a heckuva coaching job. They have no inside threat to speak of and their point guard is average at best. Kevin Lisch is a good shooter, but streaky and Tommie Liddell for all his hype is just an athlete who is still learning to play the game.

Coach Majerus has tried to slow the game down and play possession basketball. This is a tough thing to do when you don’t have an insider threat and a good point guard. I am sure there are writers and critics out there who will say Majerus doesn’t know what he is doing. Those are the guys who have never laced them up or called a time out in their lives. Afterall, the Billikens have beaten S. Illinois and Summit League leader IUPUI this season.

On Saturday the Billikens will face nationally ranked Dayton. Look for a tight game and if Lisch and Liddell play up to their preseason hype then St. Louis will not only score more than 20 points, but pull off the upset as well.

The Big 12 is last conference to begin league play as the teams will kick off this weekend. The following is a snippet of each team and where they stand as well as where they are heading.

Kansas— Healthier and deeper than just about any team in the country. This is a national championship calibre team.
Texas A & M–Mark Turgeon inherited a roster full of talent. More importantly, he has kept the same type of style as former coach Billy Gillespie that has enabled his players to flourish.
Texas— I am not one to say they are better without Kevin Durrant, but the truth is they are a year older and more balanced than last year. If Augustin continues to have a great year, look out for the Longhorns.
Baylor— Scott Drew has the Bears out of the ashes and into the penthouse. Aaron Bruce is one of the best guards in the league. Baylor should be dancing come March.
Oklahoma— Blake Griffin has performed in the shadow of K State’s Michael Beasley, but been just as impressive. Youth could be served if they win a couple of games early.
Kansas State— Nine new players and a new coach. This is a recipe for disaster, but when you have a player as talented as Michael Beasley and a guy like Frank Martin at the helm you can set your worries aside. This team will hit some potholes throughout the year, however, look for the Wildcats to make the tournament for the first time in over a decade.
Missouri— 94′ of hell brought in by Mike Anderson has become just a slogan for right now. Demare Carroll is an all league addition who will excell in this system, but there is just not enough depth to do what Anderson wants to do.
Oklahoma State— Sean Sutton is on the hot seat and I don’t think they have enough talent or chemistry to save him.
Texas Tech— Bob Knight will continue to coach his tale off, but the dearth of talent will keep them relagated to the bottom of the pack.
Iowa State– Greg McDermott is one of the better coaches in the country, but as Al McGuire said “you can’t make chicken salad out of chicken shit.”
Colorado— Jeff Bzdelik took his third job in four years and still has not had to move his family. Walking into a tailor made situation at Air Force with experienced players who had won was a much different task than what he faces at Colorado. New players will have to learn a new system. His coaching expertise will be tested to say the least.
Nebraska— Doc Sadler has figured out a way to build the roster around Alec Marics. This fact and the fact that he is the best post man in the league will enable the Cornhuskers to make the tournament.
Recapping the league:

NCAA Participants–
Kansas/Texas/Texas A & M/Baylor/Kansas State/Nebraska

NIT
Oklahoma/Missouri

New Coaches at the end of the year—
Oklahoma State/Texas Tech/Oklahoma

Southern Mississippi head coach Larry Eustachy became the fourth Division I coach to take a leave of absence during the season. Never before can I recall anything like this happening. Albeit the four situations are different, but is does show just how much pressure coaches are putting on themselves. Not that I am saying other people don’t have pressure and that they are not compensated rather well. However, with the passing of Wake Forest coach Skip Prosser this summer there has been much more talk and reflection about how the job has changed.

Larry Eustachy— left due to his mother’s fight against cancer
Lute Olsen– personal problems stemming from his potential divorce
Perry Watson– health concerns
Jessie Evans– personal reasons (forced out by his athletic director)

I hate to be callous, but the reality was that all four teams had underperformed this year. Could be a lack of concentration by the head coach or just a coincidence. You decide.

Nationally ranked Dayton squared off with nationally ranked Rhode Island and came away with a 92-83. Rhode Island made a furious charge in the second half, but Brian Roberts and the Flyers were too much for the Rams. Roberts scored 23 points and made big plays down the stretch. He made a solid pitch for A-10 player of the year tonight…

Meanwhile Charlotte came up with a big win over Clemson. Their first win over a ranked team in three years. (Could this be the Clemson fade we are seeing?)

Down Interstate 75 Xavier continued to be the hottest team in the Atlantic -10. The Muskateers beat St. Bonaventure for their fifth straight win…

Coach Bob Huggins and his West Virginia Mountaineers made a loud statement with this weekend’s win over #11 Marquette. The Mountaineers dominated from start to finish in gaining their first Big East win. The win clearly shows that the Mountaineers have adopted to Huggins philosophy and are well on their way to becoing a force in the conference. (Former coach John Beilein certainly left the cupboard a little more stocked than what he found at Michigan.)

Many of the so called experts in the media questioned whether or not players recruited for the Beilein system would be able to adapt to the more in your face philosophy of Huggins. Or more importantly, would Huggins be able to adapt to the players on hand. Well it just shows you why sports writers write and coaches coach. Huggins has done a combination of both adjusting his style and selling his philosophy.

Offensively, the Mountaineers are a more wide open team than any of Huggins teams in the past. He has built on the teachings of Beilein’s open post offense to creat additional scoring opportunities. Defensively, he has changed them to a man to man team. However, against Marquette he coached rings around Tom Crean with a 1-3-1 zone defense.

Over in Philadelphia, Villanova excaped with a tough fought one point victory over Pittsburgh. Hats off to Jamie Dixon who rallied his troops and gave Villanova everything they wanted and more. It came down to the last possession and the Panthers turned it over. I have to believe that it would have been much different with a healthy Fields or Cook. However, it did show the grit of the Panthers and sent a warning that they are not going to roll over and feel sorry for themselves.

Mike Brey has Notre Dame off to a 2-0 start after beating UConn at home. The big surprise thus far has been Depaul. Jerry Wainwright’s team struggled through a poor non-conference portion of their schedule, but seems to have found a little confidence in getting off to a 2-0 start.

In a game that could determine who makes the conference tournament and who doesn’t. St. John’s beat Cincinatti at home. Norm Roberts team has struggled and he will need to at least make the conference tournament to keep his job. Norm is one of the nicest guys in the business, so here’s hoping he can pull it off.