Gotta lead with Jimmy Watson's game report of the Bulldog blowout of the Aggies. We never expected to see the headline attached to his article.
Shawn Harrison (tip o' the hat to the Herald Journal management) has the Bulldogs blasting the Aggies here.
Tony Jones has a pair of blog entries on the contest here and here.
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Jason Groves doesn't have a lot of good to report here after watching the visiting Wolf Pack win in a game apparently not as close as the final score indicates. He has a blog entry on the game here.
Sam Wasson has his Nevada - New Mexico State game report here. Plus, here are photos from the game.
Chris Murray made the trip to Las Cruces (kudos to the RGJ management for making this happen) and here is what he witnessed. Here is his blog entry of game tidbits.
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This is interesting. San Jose State opens WAC play (winning against a tough Idaho squad) and the Mercury News (no longer calling itself the San Jose Mercury News) has an Associated Press report of the game. No, we will not link to it.
Santa Clara hosts Harvard -- a non conference matchup -- featuring the return to the Bay Area of Palo Alto High's Jeremy Lin who has been 'discovered' by the national media and a Mercury News reporter is assigned to cover that game. SC lost and is now 8-9. Go figure that editorial judgment.
Luckily, road warrior Travis Mason-Bushman is continuing to pile up the miles via planes, trains and automobiles (actually, we're not sure about the middle one) and offer this press row perspective on the game. It contains post-game video interviews with Coach Don Verlin and guard Steffan Johnson so do read and watch it. Let's sure hope that some smart sports editor latches on to T M-B once he graduates.
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Hawaii took down Boise State behind the sterling play of Roderick Flemings, Hiram Thompson and Paul Campbell. Dayton Morinaga has his game report here and Brian McInnis his here. The victory was accomplished minus the injured Dwain Williams.
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that contains some strong opinions and is certainly worth a read.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
What a night of hoops!
Monday, January 4, 2010
LT big over Utah State/SJSU wins/Nevada triumphs
Count PTW as impressed and a believer.
Louisiana Tech invited Utah State down to Ruston and put an 82-60 whupping on the Aggies. Magnum Rolle's 21/14 double-double led five Aggies in double figures as LT led by 14 at the half. Kerry Rupp's squad went 7-14 from long distance versus 3-13 for Stew Morrill's guys. In 24 minutes, Tai Wesley totaled four points, four rebounds and four fouls. Nate Bendall scored 14 for USU.
Staples has it's Easy Button -- is there a Panic Button is Logan? Just kidding, but there has to be concern with how USU is playing at the moment.
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San Jose State made it a bit closer than necessary and held on to win 78-75 over visiting Idaho. An Adrian Oliver missed one-and-one and a foul on a three-point attempt by Kashif Watson near the end almost did the job for the Vandals who can still head home 1-1 in the WAC.
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With just over two minutes remaining, Nevada is leading New Mexico State 73-58 so count that as a W for Coach David Carter.
Chris Murray and his WAC rankings, plus a bit more
Chris Murray has his Monday rankings out and also a focus on the top reserve(s) for each WAC team:
Despite loss, Wolf Pack stays steady in rankingsGo here for the remainder.
Chris Murray
Reno Gazette-Journal
1/4/2010
Ranking the teams in the Western Athletic Conference. Included are team record and previous rank in parenthesis. Rankings based on accomplishments so far this season, rather than “future potential.” I write these rankings Monday morning for Tuesday's paper and with a bunch of games tonight, I used a little different formula for the comments. Instead of writing about the week that was, I wrote about each team's top reserve since it would be hard to forecast how tonight's WAC games will break down. Although if I had to guess, I would go Nevada over NMSU; Louisiana Tech over Utah State; Idaho over San Jose State; and Hawaii over Boise State. Here are the rankings...
Olu Ashaolu is the WAC POW
From Jason Erickson, the WAC Media Relations Director:
Louisiana Tech’s Olu Ashaolu has been named the Verizon Wireless Western Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Player of the Week for the week of Dec. 28-Jan. 3. The honor marks the first career WAC Player of the Week award for Ashaolu.
Ashaolu, a sophomore forward from Toronto, Ontario, Canada (Humble Christian Academy), helped the Bulldogs to a pair of wins over Houston (99-94) and Nevada (77-71) with a pair of double-doubles last week.
Ashaolu recorded 17 points with a career-high 21 rebounds against Houston. The 21 rebounds marks the first time that a Louisiana Tech player has recorded at least 20 rebounds since Paul Millsap notched 23 at Hawai‘i in 2006. Nine of Ashaolu’s 21 rebounds were offensive.
Ashaolu also had 14 points and 12 rebounds in Louisiana Tech’s conference-opening win over Nevada. He now has seven double-doubles on the season.
On the week, Ashaolu averaged 15.5 points, 16.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 0.5 steals per game, while shooting 52.4 percent (11-of-21) from the field.
Other nominees:
* Boise State junior forward Daequon Montreal
* Fresno State sophomore guard Mychal Ladd
* Hawai‘i senior center Paul Campbell
* Idaho senior guard Mac Hopson
* Nevada sophomore forward Luke Babbitt
* New Mexico State senior guard Jonathan Gibson
Watch for Mike James
Here's a guy who should be on the radar of EVERY WAC coach -- not just Louisana Tech's Kerry Rupp and Nevada's David Carter:
Anthony RayGo here for the remainder (a Rivals sub is required).
ArizonaPreps.com Recruiting Analyst
January 3, 2010
The Arizona Community College Athletic Conference (ACCAC) hasn't been the same since the emergence of Eastern Arizona's 6-foot-1, 185-pound sophomore guard Mike James just a year ago.
Eastern Arizona's 6-foot-1 sophomore guard Mike James ranks among the nation's top scorers with an amazing 28.3 ppg scoring average.
A native of Portland, Oregon, where he attended Grant High School, James is tearing up the conference this season with a league-leading 28.3 points per/game scoring average...
Notes and questions on tonight's games
There are a lot of WAC game previews today on the 'net but we're trying to avoid those unless a nugget or two is unearthed within them.
However, we are curious: if Utah State loses tonight -- a big IF -- can anyone confirm if the Aggies have ever started league play 0-2? How about even in the Big West Conference?
If there any doubt that New Mexico State, in either winning or losing, scores more than 55 points in the matchup with Nevada? The Aggies are averaging 76.
Is it Brandon Fields versus Jonathan Gibson and Joey Shaw against Jahmar Young tonight? Both battles will be worthwhile to see.
Will Nevada's (lack of a) bench be a negative factor or not?
THE factor in a game can never be predicted ahead of time (well, it can but is inaccurate more often than not) but will the Wolf Pack - Aggie contest be decided on who forces who into the lower shooting percentage?
Shawn Harrison includes this in his game preview today and we wonder if such is an ace in the hole for Louisiana Tech:
"...In getting to Ruston, the Aggies bused to El Paso, Texas, where they boarded a flight to Dallas/Forth Worth. After a change of planes, the team then flew to Shreveport, La., then was on a bus for an hour to complete the trip, which took most of the day. The team did practice Sunday evening..."At least the game didn't require a long flight as the first mode of transportation and there were no apparent delays due to weather.
The Tai Wesley - Olu Ashaolu battle should be fun to witness. Will Dana White be on hand licking his lips?
Tony Jones/Aggieville has his keys to the game here.
We say it's more important for Hawaii to come out on top of Boise State due to the matchup being a home game for the 'Bows. If Dwain Williams is hurt or subpar then it won't happen for UH. Roderick Flemings also has to positively influence the outcome in some manner.
Will Idaho be jetlagged or still thinking of the warm, inviting Pacific Ocean when taking on San Jose State tonight? Coach Don Verlin's squad has a load of seniors who know how to prepare so it seems unlikely.
Shouldn't the Vandal uniforms -- at least one of them -- be red? After all, they reside in...Moscow.
Yeah, we're rapidly losing steam here as evidenced by our last entry so we're checking out before we sink even lower.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
PTW becomes TMZ
Well, not exactly. While it's true that people run anytime we have a camera in our hands, it's because we're soon to slam it to the ground in frustration and subsequently see a thousand parts and pieces scatter. The cause for our high blood pressure: nothing but operator error in getting it to work as designed. We thought we had some degree of knowledge of the English language but...
Anyway,
He was not searching for this -- we repeat -- he was not searching for this but Sam Wasson at BleedCrimson.net had the following item pop up in one of his Google Alerts and we figured the #1 member of the Tyler Newbold Marching and Chowder Society deserves greater attention for her devotion.
JenniferAnn had us at "Tyler's gone for the next few days...it's pretty stinky when he's gone. BUT the team has their first WAC game TONIGHT! And I get to watch on ESPNU, so that's going to be way fun. But, I still get bummed out every time that cute boy leaves for these trips..."
Plus, she makes a mean enchilada dish.
Follow JA here.
Okay Refraction-ers, we're waiting for an interview. Consider that an official request.
Kyle Whelliston on stat crew-ing
Did you ever wonder what the stat crew does at a basketball game? And how important this task actually is? Kyle Whelliston (naturally) fills us in:
Stat Crew Spotter for a Night
Kyle Whelliston
The Mid Majority
December 31, 2009
NEW BRITAIN, Conn. -- The date was December 21, 2007. The place: Manhattan College's Draddy Gymnasium. A small crowd, its numbers diminished by school break and holiday shopping, watched the homestanding Jaspers take on the Pepperdine Waves in just another pre-conference tuneup. Those who did show up took in a good old-fashioned back-and-forth free-for-all, as Manhattan won 80-79.
But when the boxscore rolled out of the printer, it made no sense. The total minutes didn't add up to 200 for either team. According to the record, the participants hadn't amassed 159 total points, the cumulative number shown in lights up on the scoreboard. Basketball, like the universe, requires balance and order: just as the earth takes 365.242199 days to orbit the sun, so must missed shots must equal the number of rebounds. But this sheet was pure chaos theory...
Go here for the remainder.
USC spanks itself, lightly
Did you feel that seismic jolt emanating out of southern California?
Funny, neither did we.
Is Mike Garrett's announcement because of worry about impending (we call it "Waiting For Godot") sanctions from the NCAA?
Or a hey-move-on-nothing-to-see-we'll-handle-it-here-ourselves-because-we-are-in-control message?
It's hard not be cynical as USC has self-imposed the following on its basketball program:
• A reduction of one scholarship for the 2009-10 and 2010-11 academic years.
• Reducing the number of coaches permitted to recruit off-campus by one during the summer of 2010.
• Reducing the number of recruiting days for the 2010-11 academic year, to 110.
One schollie, for two years including the present one? Oh that really hurts. Is the thinking that because O.J. Mayo took up just one...? If the NCAA isn't insulted by that...
The number of coaches and recruiting days reductions are a joke considering SoCal's geographical location in the basketball fertile southern California area. If you can't get it done with a bit less than a third of the calendar year available to recruit, with one less coach and with PAC-10 membership, well, an incompetency hearing should be scheduled.
Okay, back to our regularly scheduled WAC programming.
We're back
USU fan and blogger Scott Ficklin is not a happy camper. But what we found most interesting in his post was about exhibiting the will to compete (or not) which also involves undertaking the short and long term preparation necessary to succeed both individually and as a team.
We see two different items here:
1) being a leader, vocally or by a display of actions
2) personal improvement
For most players, it's not as aspect of their personalities or within their comfort level to vocalize to teammates with fiery exhortations, "at-a-boys," or getting on someone's case, so to speak. We aren't familiar enough with the Aggie roster to know who falls into what category.
But someone can also 'lead' through his actions if he is perceived as having earned the role of the 'chief'' on the court -- but it can't be by way of default or simply seniority. It's helpful but not necessary if the point plays this role since he handles the ball most of the time and sets a tone.
But there is nothing preventing a forward and/or center from doing this.
Maybe this aspect is indeed missing on the 2009-2010 Aggies. We didn't perceive Jared Quayle as a USU major domo last season even though he enjoyed quite the successful transition from junior college. The question is begged: can someone be a one-year leader? We don't know.
But there is also this difference from last year. Gary Wilkinson is 6-foot-10 and provided a substantial and fairly easy target to get the ball to. He was comfortable in this role and, at 27, far more mature than most teammates or opponents. Nate Bendall is 6-foot-9 and in his initial year -- it would be too much to expect him to step into the position as a team leader.
Plus, Tai Wesley is probably 6-foot-6 on his longest days, meaning he is not nearly as large or easy a target as Wilkinson, thus making it harder for him to 'lead' by example during and at the end of games.
Wesley has also struggled at times with playing 'smart' ball and not letting his emotions run his actions. Someone in the midst of that transition is not a likely candidate for a leadership role.
Then there is personal improvement, a player bugaboo that we witness far too often. There are very few players who will put in the time and effort -- doing what needs to be done -- in order to his upgrade mental and physical basketball talents. A lot of kids spend time in gyms but have no master plan on what needs to be accomplished and how to do it. Scrimmaging is okay if someone is employing some new techniques and such -- otherwise, it's simply wasted time. A lot can be done even without a basketball in sight but how many kids get this and are willing to undertake such work?
Anyway, we have rambled long enough.
Here's Ficklin's article:
The Dream TeamGo here for the remainder.
Scott Ficklin
TrueBlueA
Sunday, 03 January
Last year was a "fairytale season" for the Aggies. 30 wins and only 5 losses.
That fairytale has turned into a slow, unathletic version of "The Wizard of Oz" where the Aggies become the Tin Man, limping through the schedule in search of some heart at the end of some LSD induced metaphor for the gold standard. Meanwhile, they throw enough bricks up at the basket to build a road from here to wherever they think they're going (and if that isn't the NIT, they're dreaming). Playing with heart was sooooo last year.
Stats tell the story of games. I don't care. I'm not going to go into the statistics from tonight's loss to the other Aggies. They don't tell the story about this team. Where is the effort? There are flashes of grit. Wesley wills the Aggies along at points. Newbold goes through slumps that even Shaq's free throws have never seen, but he always tries his hardest anyway. The rest of the team? I've got nothing. No, they've got nothing...
Your Sunday game reports of Saturday night's contests
Ethan Conley of The News Star has the report of LAT's victory over visiting Nevada:
Nevada Wolf Pack defeated by Louisiana TechGo here for the remainder.
Ethan Conley
The News Star
January 2, 2010
There’s a long list of ways that Kyle Gibson can win games for Louisiana Tech. There’s clutch scoring, playmaking, defense and leadership. He added offensive rebounding to the list in Saturday’s 77-71 win over Nevada in front of 2,088 fans at the Thomas Assembly Center.
Tech was clinging to a narrow lead in the game’s final minutes, and a propensity for missed free throws was making the task much harder than it should have been. But Gibson cleaned up the mess...
Chris Murray has some analysis:
Five quick observations from Pack's loss to TechGo here for the remainder.
Chris Murray
Reno Gazette-Journal
1/2/2010
Here are five quick observations from Nevada's 77-71 loss to Louisiana Tech in the WAC opener for both teams. Like most of you, I watched the game from the friendly confines of my home on television. We had a freelance writer from Louisiana at the game and his coverage will be in tomorrow's paper...
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Sam Wasson provides the details of New Mexico State's grinder of a win over the northern Aggies. Who expected both teams to be in the 5os at games end?
Aggies Open WAC Play By Beating Utah State 55-52Go here for the remainder.
Sam Wasson
BleedCrimson.net
1/02/2010
New Mexico State opened up league play with a 55-52 victory over visiting Utah State on Saturday night to improve to 8-6 overall but more importantly 1-0 in league play. The Aggies have won five straight games and snapped Utah State's four game win streak. Utah State held a 9-3 lead with 14:53 left to play but New Mexico State responded with a 17-4 run over the next six minutes to take a 20-13 lead. Utah State went on a 9-2 run over the next four minutes. New Mexico State outscored Utah State 5-2 over the final 3:50 of the half and took a 27-24 lead into halftime...
He also has game photos here.
Jason Groves offers his take:
New Mexico State men edge Utah State in WAC openerGo here for the remainder.
Jason Groves
Las Cruces Sun-News
1/03/2010
With his team desperate for a bucket, Jonathan Gibson scored when needed most to help New Mexico State hold off Utah State 55-52 on Saturday at the Pan American Center.
The Aggies senior guard ended a scoring drought that lasted over six minutes with a jumper from the elbow with 16.2 seconds left to provide the winning margin and give the Aggies a win in their Western Athletic Conference opener.
"I think that the guys showed a lot of heart down the stretch," said Aggies coach Marvin Menzies, whose club moved to 8-6 and 1-0 in league play. "For us to be able to go into those last few minutes with a lead was a big plus and then maintaining it and getting great defensive possessions was even a bigger plus."
Shawn Harrison was on the road for the game -- big hat tip to HJ management -- and has this:
Utah St. can’t quite deliverGo here for the remainder.
Shawn Harrison
Herald Journal
January 3, 2010
Possessions became extremely valuable as the final minutes ticked off the clock late Saturday night at the Pan American Center.
Neither Utah State nor New Mexico State could get into an offensive rhythm as Western Athletic Conference play began with a tight, down-to-the-wire contest between the leagues’ Aggies. The hosts held off a late rally by USU to escape with a 55-52 win in front of 5,070 fans...
Tony Jones blogs his post game thoughts here.
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Steve Cleveland's squad kept the trend going as the 'Dogs topped BSU at home:
'Dogs buck BroncosGo here for the remainder.
George leads Fresno State rally to beat Boise State in WAC opener.
Bryant-Jon Anteola
The Fresno Bee
January 2, 2010
The signs were all there and Fresno State coach Steve Cleveland couldn't help but smile.
These are things Cleveland has long searched for out of his men's basketball team -- a budding star who appears to be maturing to another level and a young team that's doing the same.
Sophomore Paul George shook off a slow start by responding with a pair of three-point plays in the final minute -- including the winning points with 15 seconds remaining -- and Fresno State picked up its first close-game victory of the season in beating Boise State 71-68 on Saturday night in a Western Athletic Conference opener.
George failed to make a field goal for nearly the first 35 minutes, but he scored 10 of Fresno State's final 14 points. He finished with a team-high 21 points...
Nick Jezierny was on the road -- a big tip o' the hat to IS management for this -- and offers this game report:
Boise State men's basketball squanders chance to steal road win+++++
The Broncos lead most of the way, but Bulldogs rally late to win the WAC opener for both teams.
Nick Jezierny
Idaho Statesman
1/03/10
It took one minute to spoil one of the Boise State men's basketball team's best games of the season.
The Broncos led host Fresno State for 31 consecutive minutes Saturday night at The Save Mart Center, but couldn't seal the deal and dropped a 71-68 decision in front of 7,983 fans.
"Statistically, we did fine," said coach Greg Graham, whose team had twice as many assists (18) as turnovers (nine), shot 45.5 percent and went 7-of-20 from 3-point range. "But we didn't make enough plays at crunch time..."
Go here for the remainder.
Idaho broke the string by grabbing a win in Hawaii.
Vandals strike HawaiiGo here for the remainder.
Cold front moves in over Mānoa as 'Bows lose WAC opener, 59-52
Dayton Morinaga
Honolulu Advertiser
January 3, 2009
The University of Hawai'i men's basketball team was as cold as ... Moscow, Idaho, last night.
As a result, the Rainbow Warriors lost their Western Athletic Conference season opener, 59-52, at the Stan Sheriff Center.
"Offensively, we just couldn't really knock down shots, that's really what it came down to," Hawai'i center Paul Campbell said. "Fifty-nine points on defense is a great job, 52 points on offense isn't..."
Brian McInnis was also present.
Hopson, Idaho halt HawaiiGo here for the remainder.
Brian McInnis
Honolulu Star-Bulletin
January 3, 2009
Little Mac had all the right punches this time.
Idaho's lithe point guard Mac Hopson knocked out Hawaii with a season-high 24 points on 8-for-11 shooting as the Vandals dispatched the Rainbow Warriors 59-52 last night at the Stan Sheriff Center.
In the Western Athletic Conference opener for both teams, a crowd of 3,609 saw the Rainbows (7-7, 0-1 WAC) rally to get back off the mat after looking down for the count at the 28-minute mark...
Travis Mason-Bushman checks in from Vandal Nation territory.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
LA Tech wins, the other games are still in progress
Louisiana Tech got past visiting Nevada 77-71 in a match that could have gone either way..
The Bulldogs led 34-31 at the half. At that point, the Wolf Pack had 10 turnovers and Magnum Rolle played just six minutes due to early foul trouble.
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New Mexico State was down early but is leading visiting Utah State at halftime 27-24 -- that's not a lot of points for these two teams. Is it poor offensive efficiency, bad shooting or a combination?
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Boise State is ahead 61-55 with five minutes remaining in Fresno.
Much more tomorrow.
The race begins tonight
Okay, get set for the WAC regular season or the 'who-knows-which-team-is-going-to-win-this-thing' Lollapalooza Tour. Cases can be made for just about every team in the conference but there is no fan with 'smoking gun' evidence that his or her school will be on top come March -- which is great.
Jason Groves leads us off with capsules on each team here. He has another article with this clever headline here (one brief initial thought we had after seeing it was that Marvin Menzies had somehow resurrected the late Pete Maravich and added him to the Aggies). JG hits the trifecta here with this preview piece on the game tonight versus Utah State.
The Aggies aren't satisfied with their current record per this Jared Eborn article here. USU is 'roading it' early on and Tony Jones' features that here.
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Per Dayton Morinaga here, Hawaii is healthy as all the players who can suit up will be available to Coach Bob Nash versus Idaho. Brian McInnis also look at Hawaii now and in the pre-season plus adds capsules on each WAC team here.
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Boise State is accustomed to traveling this season so opening up in the road against Fresno State shouldn't be a new experience -- read Nick Jezierny's article on the subject here. On the other end of the spectrum, Fresno State is focusing on protecting its home turf, according to Bryant Jon-Anteola's article here.
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Chris Murray looks at the Wolf Pack's season so far and how the transition to Coach Davis Carter has gone here. Jimmy Watson tells us about Coach Kerry Rupp's master plan for Louisiana Tech basketball here.
Friday, January 1, 2010
Sylvester Seay featured on the Draft Express site
The folks at the Draft Express site just posted an evaluation of Fresno's Sylvester Seay:
Kyle Nelson, Assistant Director of ScoutingGo here for the remainder (requires some scrolling down).
Draft Express
December 31, 2009
Despite a 12-20 finish last season and an underwhelming 7-7 start, the Fresno State Bulldogs still boast one of the more interesting frontcourts in the West from an NBA perspective. Everybody knows the name Paul George, but his frontcourt-mate, power forward Sylvester Seay, is certainly worth a look as well.
Though he started his career as a rotation player at Arizona State, Seay has found his rhythm after transferring to Fresno State, and has developed into a productive and versatile big man at the collegiate level.
Seay has decent size for the post, standing 6’9 with a long and wiry 220-pound frame, but would likely have to get stronger in order to compete and produce in the NBA. Though he is a good athlete, Seay rarely shows his explosiveness due to his style of play and fixation with hoisting contested jumpshots, as opposed to playing closer to the basket. He has very good mobility and quickness in the post, both of which could help him significantly at the next level...
Friday's WAC links
Is Hawaii's Paul Campbell a jackal, a wolf or a hybrid? Read Brian McInnis' latest and decide.
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Dayton Morinaga takes a look at Hawaii and its chances in the WAC plus a peek at the top players in the conference.
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Jason Groves has returned and looks at the league on televison.
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Sam Wasson and Travis Mason-Bushman look back, at the present and towards the future with their this week in the WAC at Rush The Court.
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Who is the better prospect? Chris Murray takes an early look at a Wolf Pack roster member and one that got away.
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Craig Hislop provides an ode to Stew Morrill. Shawn Harrison offers some Aggie numbers as well as a look at the league so far.
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