A Day of Hoops Diary (A SUPER-BLOG)

Today is Saturday February 6, now that football is over college basketball gets to take center stage in the sports world as we get ready for March Madness. So I have decided to sacrifice my entire Saturday and watch as much college basketball as I possibly can. My eyes may fall out of their socket by about 9 tonight, but I am willing to do that for the reader. We will evaluate teams and players, make some witty observations, but mainly just show you what a day in my pathetic life is like.

The slate of games:
12pm
Syracuse vs. Villanova
Cincinnati vs. Georgetown
Towson vs. Hofstra
1 pm
Tennessee vs. Auburn
Ole Miss vs. Vanderbilt
Miami vs. Duke
2pm
Colorado vs. Oklahoma
Texas vs. Nebraska
South Alabama vs. Western Kentucky
Pittsburgh vs. DePaul
George Mason vs. James Madison
3pm
Arkansas vs. Mississippi State
4pm
Indiana vs. Michigan State
Southern Illinois vs. Missouri State
Virginia vs. North Carolina
Utah vs. Wyoming
Providence vs. West Virginia
Kansas State vs. Texas A&M
App State vs. Elon
5pm
Georgia vs. South Carolina
6pm
Michigan vs. Connecticut
College of Charleston vs. Davidson
7pm
Florida State vs. Clemson
Xavier vs. Duquesne
8pm
New Mexico State vs. Nevada
Minnesota vs. Ohio State
UNLV vs. New Mexico
Baylor vs. Texas Tech
9pm
Memphis vs. Gonzaga

12:03- I hate the Villanova plays in the Sixers big antiseptic no atmosphere arena, takes away from a great matchup today.

12:08- This is my first time watching Nova, they are off to a quick start, as usual under Jay Wright they have great guard play and aren’t a big team.

12:13- Georgetown looks lethargic. Their recent lack of success may hurt this young team, JTIII has to get them to believe they still can be a big part of this Big East race.

12:18- Jim Boheim is one of the all time great whiners, now he has even more ammo as one official has hurt his Achilles and will be out for the game, so now there are only 2 refs left to do the balance of the game. Boheim is going to wear these two guys out

12:22- The big joke now in college basketball is how many suites are on each bench. Teams obviously have their coaching staff up front (some staffs vary from 3-6 people) and then on the end of the bench will be managers, graduate assistants, trainers, strength coach’s, team chaplains, fathers of the head coach (Bill Donovan Sr.), team doctor etc. Some teams have one or two people, some teams have 6 or 7. The rule is usually the bigger the school the more extemporaneous personnel they have. However, Hofstra has a total of 12 suites on the bench (4 up front & 8 on the end), simply miraculous.

12:31- Nova is up 28-11 with over 10 minutes left in the first half, the Cuse is on the verge of getting blown out

12:37- Georgetown has turned up the “D”, the Bearcats haven’t scored in almost 5 minutes.

12:41- Towson has a white kid that looks like he couldn’t make the team at Teaneck.

12:50- Georgetown closed the half nicely and takes a 7 point lead into the locker room

1:00- The Cuse finishes the half with only 3 players having made a field goal, what a bad first half.

1:05- The second slate of games gets ready to start, I will be paying close attention to Ole Miss/Vandy, mainly because Raff is on the call

1:11- The SEC has become a home team league. Auburn doesn’t have half the talent that Tennessee has yet they are out to a 15-6 lead, in Knoxville they would be down 17-0. Vanderbilt wins over 80% of their games in Memorial Gym.

1:43- All tied up in the nations capital between the Hoyas and Bearcats with 5 minutes to go.

1:47- The Dukies look to rebound from an embarrassing loss the other night to Clemson. You know they will play hard today. They are 140-4 since 1997 against unranked teams at home, so that doesn’t bode well for Miami

1:49- Auburn leads by two, 43-41, at the half and Vandy takes a 11 point lead, 31-19, into the locker room.

1:56- Hofstra an Towson tied with 3:45 to go, and Georgetown leads by 5 with 2:03 to go, a critical possession for the Bearcats.

1:57- See this is why I don’t like Georgetown. Cincinnati got a two and then Town had a huge possession to seal the game, but where do they go? They run around confused and then turn the ball over. The Bearcats come down and hot a 3 to tie the game going under a minute to go. Again, where do they go? Ballscreen and roll in the corner and Freshman Greg Monroe travels. Where does Town go in a big spot? OT in the nations capital

2:06- The Cuse again has the lead down to 11 with 4 to go. My favorite player in the country (sans Dominique Archie, my Gamecock guy) is Johnny Flynn from Syracuse. He hasn’t done much today for me to brag about, but maybe he will take over down the stretch.

2:11- Well maybe not, Nova keeps scoring at will, with 102 points and still 90 seconds to play.

2:12- This is the suckiest overtime ever. Nobody has a field goal in 3 minutes worth of play, just a bunch of FT’s.

2:19- Again Hoyas down 2, 13 seconds to go, who gets the ball? I don’t know, I guess it starts in Wrights hands and you look for Summers? Help me Martin.

2:22- The Hoyas take a wild looking three and get the loss at home. At the same time the Dukies struggle in the first half to stop Miami and go into the half down 13 and having given up 32 points at home, not good.

2:28- Tennessee and Auburn are in a battle. Ole Miss is trying to hang in there against Vandy, but It looks like Vandy is ready to pull away as they are up 12 with about 10 minutes to go.

2:30- The Sooners take a 5 point lead into the half, but Coach Jeff Capel looks frazzled; jacket off, sleeves slightly rolled up, and tie undone John Chaney-esque.

2:33- First time we check in on Pitt/DePaul and the Blue Demons lead by 3 with 7 minutes to go in the first half. Pitt will soon get the lead and pull away in this one, they have too much talent.

2:37- The road proves to be difficult early, Nebraksa leads Texas by 3 with about 5 to go in the first half. Also JMU leads George Mason late in the first half.

2:39- One of the best rivalries the past few years in college basketball has been South Alabama vs. Western Kentucky for Sun Belt supremacy. They are in a 1 point game late in the first half, meanwhile the Volunteers have a 4 point lead with 5 to go against Auburn and Vandy is pulling away as I suspected, up 18.

2:44- Stat of the Day. DeJaun Blair has his 5th offensive rebound of the day, it is still the first half and he averages 6 per game, that is gross, 6 O-boards per game? Oh yeah, Pitt leads by nine at the half. This one is over.

2:50- Auburn leading by one with a minute to go over the Vols. This is where it is Tyler Smith time. He is the most valuable all around player in the SEC, I have a feeling he will prove it down the stretch here.

2:52- Tyler Smith reverse layup to take a one point lead with 36 seconds to go. Tyler Smith will get a steal or defensive rebound here

2:55- Kyle Singler and Gerald Henderson are leading a run at Duke, they now have the game tied with 12 minutes to go. I have a huge man crush on Singler

2:59- Off of a scramble play Korvotney Barber laid the ball in to beat Tennessee. Even though it was on the road, that is a crushing loss for the Vols. They are squarely on the bubble now.

WHAT WE HAVE LEARNED THROUGH 3 HOURS

-Syracuse is still extremely inconsistent. I do like them when they are going well

- Villanova may be a team to be reckoned with, they have kept up a progression of steady improvement throughout the season

- I still don’t believe in Georgetown. I know Martin will be upset with this analysis but I just don’t like their makeup. As I stated, and proved correct today, who is their go to guy?

- The SEC is a home team league, as I suspected early on today. Vandy took care of business versus Ole Miss and Auburn upset Tennessee.

- Duke has responded well to their loss at Clemson. I am sure it wasn’t a pleasant few days of practice for the Blue Devils and they are finally playing like it.


3:14- Oklahoma and Pittsburgh continue to widen their leads in the second half. Both are final four contenders who always take care of business against inferior opponents

3:20- My mother is calling me, I have to answer

3:34- Oh crap, mom!! I have missed and awesome last 6 minutes of the Duke Miami game. Miami tied it on a miracle three and now we head to overtime, I see Duke winning this by 4.

3:44- What a surprise, Blake Griffin got his 20th double double of the year. He is a fucking machine, and undoubtedly the player of the year in my opinion and little will be done to change that.

3:46- Arkansas is the most enigmatic team in the history of basketball. They have wins over Texas and Oklahoma, then lost their first 5 SEC games and now on the road against a good Mississippi State team they have scored 51 points in the first half and lead on the road by 14.

3:52- Wow, Nebraska never went away and are actually up 2 with under 5 to go.

3:56- The Dukies win uneventfully, by 3, damn them for making me wrong!!!

3:57- The 4 o’clock hour has a full slate of games, so before this starts I need to take a bathroom break.

4:09- The ecstasy of college hoops is the best, in the last minute Nebraska upset Texas and JMU upset George Mason, both courts stormed by the student body, there is nothing like storming the court.

4:14- Even in the same game you don’t know what Arkansas team is going to show up. Mississippi State has opened the half on a 10-2 run and Arkansas has 3 turnovers.

4:15- I love teams that have a certain M.O. That is why certain coach’s and their programs are consistent. Uconn has lead the country in blocked shots the last 7 seasons, Duke is always among the national leaders in 3 pointers, and Michigan State again leads the country in rebounding, something they are always in the running for. It just shows the toughness the exude under Tom Izzo.

4:25- Yikes, just turned on the Utah vs. Wyoming game and had some bad flashbacks. We played out in Wyoming in 2002 and it was as awful as one would imagine Laramie to be. Honestly, it was the coldest place I have ever been (and I was in Minnesota in early January & Alaska in late November).

4:34- In 11 minutes of play Arkansas has given it all back. They have only 15 points in the second half and it is all tied up. John Pelphrey may kill himself.

4:41- Holy shit, Mississippi State is now leading by 7, they have made fifteen three pointers and there is 7 minutes to go.

PLAYERS YOU NEED TO SEE AND HAVEN’T

Jack McClinton, Miami
Jarvis Varnado, Mississippi State
Alex Ruoff, West Virginia
AJ Ogilvy, Vanderbilt
David Huertas, Ole Miss
Luke Neville, Utah

4:46- North Carolina is struggling with Virginia at home. I am officially off the UNC bandwagon. They have struggled too mightily for me this year, with too many inferior teams. They are an upset special for me in the tourney.

4:58- Arkansas blew it, they freaking blew it. They are about to lose to Mississippi State. Absolutely unreal, to score 51 in the first half and be up 15 and blow it is a monumental collapse, the Razorbacks are now 1-6.

5:06- During the App State vs. Elon game the announcers discuss if Davidson can get an at larger bid if they don’t win their conference tournament. I say without a doubt they will get an at large, they have the most charismatic and dynamic player in the country in Stephen Curry, CBS and the NCAA will make sure this kid is on center stage again this March

5:14- The Providence Friars want to be taken seriously and believe they are a tournament caliber team, but trailing by fifteen on the road to West Virginia will not help their cause.

5:25- Just as I open my mouth the Tar Heels sprint out to an 18 point lead. I am still officially off the band wagon.

5:32- Georgia is the worst BCS conference team I have ever seen, ever, ever. The Gamecocks could win this game by 150 points if they really want too. This is dreadful.

5:36- Utah is the queerest team ever. Instead of having their names on the back of their jersey they have Utah written their, that deserves them a swift punch in the balls.

5:52- Just as things are getting boring, and my afternoon nap begins to set in, I check the end of the 4 o’clock games and whaddayaknow Texas A&M and K-State are in a nail biter. I just watched the most amazing possession ever, some big African for A&M blocked 4 shots in a single defensive stand.

5:55- Okay, so I was wrong, back to back 3’s for K-State and this nail biter is a 7 point game with 30 seconds to go, so congrats to the Wildcats on a nice road win.

5:57- UCLA blew the doors off of Notre Dame, basically knocking the Irish out of tournament contention, as predicted by yours truly as a pretender at the beginning of the year.

WHAT WE HAVE LEARNED THROUGH 6 HOURS

- Blake Griffin is great, he will be the POTY and the #1 pick.

- Providence and Notre Dame are pretenders from the Big East

- North Carolina still has work to do on the defensive end

- Duke may need to think about moving Greg Paulus back into the starting lineup, he was a huge key for them down the stretch.

- Kansas State and Mississippi State are two teams who are coming on strong in conference play and could make some noise in their respective conference tournaments and in the NCAA’s.

- Arkansas sucks, and will always suck, god, they are the suckiest bunch of suckers who ever sucked, to quote Homer J. Simpson

6:14- Nothing like watching Steph Curry play, I am telling you, he is as good a passer as he is scorer.

6:20- This is a big game for Michigan. They are trying to put together a tournament resume and Uconn is by no means unbeatable, but even a good close loss wouldn’t be bad for John Beleins squad. Oh, FYI, Hasheem Thabeet has 3 block already, 7 minutes into the game.

6:31- Michigan is exploiting Uconns biggest weakness, outside shooting. Uconn stinks from the preimeter and the Wolverines are throwing a variety of zones at them, good coaching by Belein

6:37- Remember what I was saying about Blake Griffin being the POTY, umm Steph Curry makes me fall in love with him more everyday. He plays the game with such pace, ease, smoothness. He lets the game come to him which is so refreshing in this era of “ME.”

7:00- Curry has 19 at halftime, and brought his team back from down 9 to lead by 2 at the half

7:09- Florida State has their chance to prove they are for real tonight in Littlejohn Coliseum. I personally think Clemson is gonna blow their doors off.

7:15- Two Final Four potential teams are playing right now that nobody is talking about, Clemson and Xavier, yes Final Four potential.
7:41- 10 minutes to go Davidson up 10, does C of C have anything left to make a run? Michigan trails by 3 with ten to go.

PLAYERS YOU NEED TO SEE AND HAVEN’T

Devan Downey, South Carolina
Andrew Goudelock, College of Charleston
Terrence Oglesby, Clemson
Trevor Booker, Clemson
Manny Harris, Michigan
BJ Raymond, Xavier

7:49- Xavier is down big, 14 in the first half. They had it down to 4 and then Duquesne ripped off a 10-0 run in about 35 seconds

7:51- It is Steph Curry time baby, Davidson only up 3 with 7 minutes to go. It may be tough for Curry, he is being guarded by one of the best Frohawks in all of college hoops on Charleston’s Antwaine Wiggins.

8:03- Hasheem Thabeet is becoming a true game changer. Defensively he just swats everything. He goes after rebounds even at his size and scores effectively inside the paint. He was the difference in this game versus Michigan. The Wolverines would not go inside the last 5 minutes of the game and were one and done on the offensive end.

The 8pm slate of games is the resume hour. Nevada, Minnesota, Baylor and UNLV all trying to add good wins to their resume, the last three teams all looking for road wins

8:10- This just in, Steph Currry is in fact human. He has missed his last 9 shots in the game and his team trails by 2 with 22 seconds to go.

8:25- Clemson cruising against Florida State, what a shocker, Leonard Hamilton and FSU are a joke. Xavier has closed the gap to 6 against Duquesne.

8:29- A typical Tubby Smith team, recovering from a bad loss the other night, playing tough defense on the road only allowing 12 points through 10 minutes.

8:38- You know who can really coach, Lon Kruger. He is out at UNLV doing an outstanding job. I hope that he gets one more chance in a power conference, he was a guy who made the NBA mistake, he should still be at Illinois kicking butt.

8:45- All these 8 o’clock games are superb, tied or close going into the half. Like I stated earlier teams needs these games as resume builders.

8:51- I am the kiss of death, after I brag about Xavier they have been down, and down big all game. However, they have it down to 5 at the under 4 timeout, trying to make me look like a genius.

8:54- Speaking of kisses of death, Clemson is trying to blow this game. FSU has dwindled the lead down to 4 with under 3 minutes to go.

WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED AFTER 9 HOURS

- I am the kiss of death. After bragging on Xavier and Clemson they go out and lay eggs

- Florida State got a huge resume builder winning at Clemson

- Hasheem Thabeet has put himself among the nations elite, he is a first team All-American

- Clemson’s biggest weakness is a bonafide PG to help lead them to wins in close games like tonight’s.


9:07- I think Gonzaga has the best starting 5 in the country. Their backcourt with Jeremy Pargo and Matt Bouldin is so savvy.

9:20- Ummm….Texas Tech is awful. Time for the Pat Knight experiment to come to an abrupt end. Some people just don’t have it, and you have to cut the rope.

9:33- Minnesota has a white guy named Iverson, I love that. Oh yeah, they are down 10 too which isn’t good. A loss here would drop them out of the top 25 and put them on bubble watch

9:43- Some whitey from Minnesota has just ripped off 4 three’s in a row and has the lead down to 4

9:48- Told you the 8 pm games would be great. Minnesota/Ohio State and UNLV/New Mexico are tied at the under 4 timeout. New Mexico State leads Nevada by one at the under 4 and Baylor is up one on Texas Tech with 4:37 to go…..WOW

PLAYERS YOU NEED TO SEE AND HAVEN’T

Luke Babbitt, Nevada
Lawrence Westbrook, Minnesota
Tony Danridge, New Mexico
Curtis Jerrells, Baylor
Matt Bouldin, Gonzaga



10:03- Luke Babbitt missed a two at the buzzer to tie as Nevada went down to New Mexico State, as that happens Minnesota falls at Ohio State and seconds later Rutledge misses a two to win for UNLV as they and New Mexico go to overtime. And with 39 seconds to go Texas Tech somehow leads Baylor by 5.

10:11- Baylor losses by 7 to Texas Tech. Devastating loss to the tournament hopes. Still tied down in The Pit with a 1:53 to go in overtime.

10:15- Tony Danridge hit’s a runner with 5.6 seconds left to give New Mexico the game winning bucket.

10:22- I know it is hard to question Mark Few’s coaching, however the same thing plagues his teams over and over. Their inability to play man to man defense and get stops. In the past they may have lacked the same level of athlete as teams like Memphis but not anymore, and they have yielded 50 points and there are still 14 minutes left.

10:37- Well the Zags are giving no account of themselves, trailing by 24. So on that note we shall retire the super blog, but not before a few parting thoughts.


Teams whose resumes look good; New Mexico, Florida State, Kansas State, Mississippi State and Nebraska.

Work left to do; Nevada, Minnesota, UNLV, Michigan, South Carolina and Georgetown.

May be on the outside looking in; Notre Dame, Baylor, George Mason, Providence, and Tennessee.

29 games, 11 hours, 4lbs of cheese and 1 phone call, from my mother.