Tag: 2009-10 college basketball season (Page 12 of 16)

      Kyle Singler’s problem is positional

      March 4, 2010 /

      Let’s not go off the deep end here. Duke junior Kyle Singler is still having a good year. He’s averaging 17-7-2 and is shooting 38% from long range. Those numbers are virtually identical to his sophomore season. The difference is in his overall FG%, which dropped from 44.1% last season to 40.7% this year.

      Having watched at least half of Duke’s games this season — including last night’s 79-72 loss to Maryland — I think Singler is struggling with his accuracy because he is now playing a ton of minutes at small forward. Over his first two seasons, he played mostly power forward and even some center, and while he was at a disadvantage on Duke’s defensive glass, he had a big advantage on the offensive end.

      Singler is a classic face-up forward. He has a very nice perimeter game in that he is accurate from long range and can take it to the basket when he gets his defender out of position. And over his first two seasons, he faced a lot of opposing 4s and 5s that weren’t comfortable covering someone on the perimeter. This season, in addition to Lance Thomas, Duke is giving big minutes to Brian Zoubek, Miles Plumlee and Mason Plumlee, which means that Singler is playing more small forward than ever. This allows the defense to cover him with their own small forward, who is generally quicker and far more comfortable defending on the perimeter.

      As a result, Singler is getting far fewer good looks on penetration than he has in years past. During his first two seasons, it was relatively easy to get a bigger defender out of position on the wing and drive past him for a layup or short jumper. Now, his defenders are sticking with him on those drives and forcing tougher shots. Hence, the reduction in field goal percentage.

      Duke certainly has more size this season, and that’s helping on the glass, but it’s hurting Singler’s efficiency on the other end of the court. It’s a trade-off that Coach K is apparently willing to live with, but I’m guessing that if Singler shoots 41% or less in the NCAA tournament, the Blue Devils won’t be making a Final Four appearance this season.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      College Basketball, Fantasy Basketball, March Madness, NBA Draft

      Expanding NCAA tourney to 96 teams is a bad idea

      March 4, 2010 /

      The NCAA is considering expanding its basketball tournament, and one option is to expand the field to 96 teams.

      The NCAA is exploring whether to opt out of its current 11-year, $6 billion TV deal with CBS and expand the men’s basketball tournament field from 65 teams to 68 or 96 teams, according to a report in Street & Smith’s Sports Business Journal.

      The publication obtained a copy of a request for proposal sent from the NCAA to potential broadcast bidders late last year. In the 12-page proposal, the NCAA outlined a 96-team split format where an over-the-air network pairs with a cable network to broadcast the tournament. CBS and Turner Sports are in discussion for a joint bid. ESPN and Fox are considering whether to do the same.

      In the proposal, a field of 68 would add three “play-in” games. In a 96-team field, 31 games would be added.

      Florida coach Billy Donovan says “there is nothing wrong with expanding,” while FSU coach Leonard Hamilton says that many of the teams in the NIT are better than the teams that get into the NCAA tournament.

      The idea has its opponents too, like Dick Vitale (who calls it “ludicrous”) and collegeRPI.com creator Jerry Palm (who says that expanding “would just add more unqualified teams to a tournament that is already full of them.”)

      I could see how an 80-team field could work and it wouldn’t do much damage to the current format. Say you have 32 teams (16 games) on Tuesday night. Those winners would go on to join the top 48 teams and play on Thursday. Most of the teams playing on Tuesday night would be small conference champs that got an automatic bid, or the very last mid-major or power conference teams that barely got in.

      The quick turnaround from the Sunday night selection would be tough. Those 32 teams would have to travel to a neutral site (or 16 visiting teams would have to play on the road) with only 24 hours notice.

      An 80-team field would add 15 at-large bids which would more than compensate for the few teams every year that are snubbed. But all it’s going to do is create a new list of teams that are snubbed. That’s how it works.

      The question is whether or not the current setup, which awards automatic bids to “inferior” schools from small conferences while passing over mediocre-to-good teams from bigger conferences is fair. Generally speaking, I think the current setup is fine. I can only remember one instance where a bubble team went on to the Final Four (George Mason, 2006), and teams that are passed over always have plenty of opportunity during the season to play themselves into an NCAA berth.

      Plus, I worry that expansion is only going to make the regular season less important, which is something that BCS apologists argue with regard to a college football playoff.

      You have a good thing going, NCAA. Just leave it alone.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      College Basketball, March Madness

      ESPN drops the ball with lack of KU/KSU coverage

      March 3, 2010 /

      The #2 Kansas/#5 Kansas State game wasn’t on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN News or ESPNU. It was on ESPN360, which allows certain internet subscribers to watch the game on their computers.

      I’m sorry — but it really bothers me anytime there’s a top 5 matchup that isn’t on national television. And it’s not like ESPN didn’t have the rights — they did. They just elected to broadcast the game on ESPN360 instead one of the four networks that I get in high defnition.

      Oh, by the way, Kansas won, 82-65, but I can’t tell you anything about the game because I didn’t get to watch it.

      College Basketball, Television

      Rick Reilly’s rules for rushing the court

      March 3, 2010 /

      Every so often, Rick Reilly comes up with something good. Here are his rules for rushing the court:

      This has got to stop. Therefore, here are the Ironclad and Unbreakable Rushing-the-Court Rules. From now on, you can NOT rush the court if …

      • You’ve won an NCAA title in the past 20 years.
      • You’ve been in the Final Four in the past five years.
      • The team you just beat is not in the top three.
      • Or is ranked within 15 rungs of you. (Somebody do the math for Wake.)
      • Or is really a football school. This includes Florida, Texas and Ohio State. Get over it.
      • You’ve beaten this same team in the past five years.
      • You won the stupid game by more than 10 points. There is no such thing as a PRTC (Premeditated Rush The Court.)
      • You’re a university and you just beat a college.
      • Coach K comes to your coach’s clinic.
      • You have a dead-mortal-lock lottery pick on your team.
      • Your team has appeared in a recent “One Shining Moment.”

      I think RTC has become something that fans want to do at least once in their college career, so they make up an excuse to do it. That’s understandable, I guess. And I’d rather fans be too exuberant at times (NCAA) than asleep in the stands (NBA).

      Here are a few random thoughts:

      – I don’t like the 20-Year Rule. Really — Arkansas (1994) and UNLV (1990) aren’t allowed to rush the court if they beat a #1 team on their home court? Let’s make it the 10-Year Rule.

      – I buy the Final Four, Top Three and 15 Rung rules, though I’d make it a 10 Rung Rule. If you’re ranked 12th in the country and just beat the #1 team at home, I get it.

      – I don’t like the “really a football school” rule. A top three team is a top three team. Period.

      – I buy the Repeat Rule, but not the 10-point rule, especially if the home team is a big underdog. PRTC is fine with me.

      – The last four? Meh. Lots of teams appear in “One Shining Moment” — it doesn’t mean that they didn’t just get a huge win at home.

      So what do you think of Reilly’s rules? (He does offer up a few exceptions.)


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      College Basketball

      #1 Kansas falls to Oklahoma State

      February 27, 2010 /

      It must be “Upset Saturday.” A few hours after #2 Kentucky fell to Tennessee, the top-ranked Jayhawks lost to Oklahoma State, 85-77, in Stillwater. The Cowboys led by 16 at halftime, and while Kansas fought back to cut the lead to six, the Jayhawks squandered several opportunities to get even closer. Back-to-back threes by Kelton Page with about eight minutes to play kept Kansas at bay.

      With the win, the Cowboys are ensured of an NCAA tournament bid.

      College Basketball

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