Okay, it's BracketBuster Saturday ...
* New Mexico State hosts Drake.
Jason Groves informs readers all about what else but The Drake.
* Nevada is on the East Coast facing Iona.
Chris Murray has the four weddings and a funeral ... er ... four keys and game prediction. Chris also supplies another pre-game look.
* Hawaii is picking up the frequent flyer mileage with a pairing against Montana.
Dayton Morinaga looks at the Grizzlies.
* Utah State is preparing to Spectrum-ize UC Santa Barbara.
Kraig Williams, Tony Jones and Shawn Harrison all pre-game report.
* Idaho welcomes Portland State in a matchup that makes geographical sense.
Josh Wright checks in.
* The Welcome Wagon is out in Ruston as Louisiana Tech has Central Arkansas on its agenda, another geographical no-brainer.
* Ditto San Jose State University's pairing with Sacramento State.
* As well as Fresno State being at Cal State Northridge, a campus where some scenes in "Superbad" were shot, a film featuring one of our cinematic heroes, the character known simply as "McLovin."
Robert Kuwada writes about 'finishing' -- a concept the Bulldogs want to embrace.
+++++
Chris Murray has written a compelling read all about The Brothers Burton.
Joe Santoro goes long in a Dario Hunt feature.
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Saturday's WAC roundball digest
Friday, February 17, 2012
Talking with Boyd Grant
Boyd Grant. Fresno State's last ultra-successful coach and someone who did it with 'smalls' playing inside. No matter what opponents did or tried, Fresno State played its game, it's style, it's pace, and won as the Bulldogs imposed their will. Robert Kuwada interviews the Fresno State basketball icon.
Friday's WAC-a-doodle
North Dakota led 25-20 at the end of the first 20 minutes, point totals hard to imagine in Coach Mike White's frenetic style. But Louisiana Tech came back in the second half to pull it out 58-53 as Raheem Appleby led the Bulldogs with 19 points.
The athletic departments of LT and ND offer game reports.
+++++
Chris Murray checks in with the accomplishments of Nevada's November recruiting class. Joe Santoro goes long in documenting how Nevada is feeding off southern California.
+++++
Theo Lawson and Pat Hauge check in on Saturday's Idaho - Portland State matchup. Vandal Nation offers video of Don Verlin's trio of departing seniors -- Deremy Geiger, Djim Bandoumel and Landon Tatum -- looking at their final home game.
+++++
Robert Kuwada explores Cal St. Northridge, the BB Bulldog opponent and host.
+++++
Hawaii is in an unenvious position travel-wise as Jeff Portnoy details. Dayton Morinaga multi-medias the same subject -- wins will answer all the questions about the cross country sojourn.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
A couple of Utah State recruiting notes
Blue Zertuche @ Texas Hoops posted an article yesterday (a Rivals sub is required) in which a pair of Lone Star State backcourters were listed as receiving attention from Utah State (as well as many others).
6-foot point John Azzinaro, out of San Antonio is in the 2013 class.
His description: is a speedy point guard that can stop on a dime and be in total control on his pull up jumper. He can score all over the court and needs very little space. He has a quick trigger and can hit the long ball. He has good court vision and ball handling skills.
Here's a report from October 2011.
Here's another post.
and
6-foot-3 Jacoby Green, an all-around backcourter, is out of the Houston area and in the 2012 class.
His description: is a deceptive player in that he doesn't do everything smooth and easy but he is a very effective player who can do a lot of things to help a team. He handles the ball well, can create with a quick and strong first step, gets into the lane and finishes well in traffic and can dish to the open man. He has a nice midrange jumper off the dribble, can create space to get his shot off and will hit open 3's. He is a nice rebounding guard and has a nose for the ball.
Here's something on Green.
Here's a load of video.
A recruiting mention
Blue Zertuche/Texas Hoops has an article up (a Rivals sub is required) on Texas frontcourt prepster T.J. Cline in which San Jose State is listed as paying interest in the young man. He's 6-foot-7 with genes as his mother is Nancy Lieberman.
Thursday's WAC hoops digest
The next game is scheduled for tonight and it's a unique matchup especially for this time of the season as North Dakota is coming to Ruston to play LA Tech.
+++++
Matt Sonnenberg brings up a name from Utah State's recent past, illustrating what a crap shoot personnel decisions in college basketball can be.
Chris Murray talked with Mr. Bracketologist who sez that no WAC teams are at-large Big Dance candidates.
Robert Kuwada takes another look at Kevin Foster who has found himself at many stations of the basketball cross this season.
Mark Rauh serves up a bevy of photos from the Nevada win over Cal State Bakersfield.
Dayton Morinaga serves up a 'Gib is glib" feature as the UH coach entertained fans at a luncheon.
expandingman has posted at the Save Mart Center MB that Greg Smith is now a Houston Rocket.
A tip o' the hat to CrimsonPhantom for posting this at the Sports Trough MB. It's interesting that Christian Kabongo is paying his own way -- at least for now -- at Southern Mississippi.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
UH offers a prep point
Josh Gershon tweeted this: "Hawaii offered 2012 Alemany PG Max Guercy, per coach Trey Meeks"
Here's a fairly recent video.
Here's an ESPN evaluation on the 5-foot-8 point.
Guercy also has a scholarship offer from Hartford.
On the UH roster, Miah Ostrowski is departing, Bobby Miles will be a junior next season, Jace tavita a senior and Shaq Stokes a sophomore.
Some national pub for Hernst Laroche
Credit CrimsonPhantom for finding and posting this at the Aggie Alert Sports Trough MB.
Making the case
It was a given in the pre-season that the WAC MVP race was between Nevada's Deonte Burton and Wendell McKines of New Mexico State but Hawaii center Vander Joaquim is upending the conventional wisdom and offering himself as a candidate.
Joaquim leads the conference in scoring (18.2), rebounding (10.9). shooting (71%) and blocked shots (2.9).
Burton sits at 17.6 points, 4.0 assists and 1.3 steals a game and McKines is currently positioned at 18.1 points and 9.8 rebounds a contest.
If these numbers are maintained, further conventional wisdom may be shattered. That being the league most valuable player honor having to go to someone from the top team.
Wednesday's WAC roundup
"... we were not ready to play ..."
Has such a sentence e-v-e-r been associated with Utah State basketball? Stew Morrill said it about his squad after last night's success over Montana Tech.
Shawn Harrison and Tony Jones game report. Craig J. Peterson offers 39 photos. Matt Sonnenberg puts his unique stamp on the effort. Matt also offer some advice.
+++++
Jason Groves writes that New Mexico State has no trouble with Northern New Mexico, this despite Wendell McKines resting out the game. Jason also provides a 'notes' column on the contest.
+++++
Chris Murray was on press row for Nevada's win over Cal State Bakersfield. Joe Santoro serves up his take on the matchup.
Chris also offers his weekly WAC team rankings plus a 'notes' column.
+++++
Wes Nakama was present and goes multi-media in his recap of the UH victory over New Orleans.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Seeking new captain of the Titanic
Sorry but the headline says what it says.
When the Commish say 'Hello, I must be going' then it's time to cash in your ships, settle accounts, share one last round and re-invent.
Good-by Western Athletic Conference. Thank you for much, especially the 2008 triple overtime 107-102 tournament championship game won by Boise State over New Mexico State, the most enjoyable game these eyes have ever witnessed.
Dennis Dodd reports.
Tuesday's WAC hoops report
Again, tonight's game are:
* Utah State hosting Montana Tech
Shawn Harrison checks in.
* Hawaii welcoming New Orleans
Dayton Morinaga provides some background.
* Nevada having Cal State Bakersfield in town
Chris Murray serves up his keys to the pairing and his prediction plus a more general feature.
* New Mexico State bringing in Northern New Mexico.
Jason Groves tells readers why.
+++++
Jeff Portnoy checks in with some interesting thoughts and takes.
Jason Groves throws out the name of a shooter, a word which should perk up the ears of any New Mexico State fan.
Tony Jones features Ben Clifford and then offers a look at shrinking Danny Berger.
Robert Kuwada offers his always interesting and eclectic take on the week and much, much more. PTW appreciates Robert's efforts at digging below the surface facts and numbers.
Monday, February 13, 2012
Spencer Farrin to the rescue
Last season, Idaho outscored its opponents 912-862 overall and 28.5 - 26.9 per game in the paint. So far this season, Idaho has a 781-695 margin (30.0 - 26.7 per game).So call the Idaho season to date a 'doing it better' one.
Last year, Idaho scored 30+ paint points 16 times. Through 26 games this year, Idaho already has 16 total games of 30+ paint points.
This season, Idaho has scored 43.2 percent of its points in the paint (781/1807). Last season, that figure was 42.0 percent (912/2172).
Also interesting (I would have thought this to be the other way around), is that Idaho had 6.31 made 3-pointers per game last year and they’re averaging 6.54 per game this year.
No Hernest Laroche sighting -- Kyle Barone named WAC POW
Idaho's Kyle Barone has been named the Verizon Western Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Week for the week of Feb. 6-12. The honor marks the first career WAC Player of the Week for Barone.
Barone, a junior center from Garden Grove, Calif. (Pacifica HS), led Idaho to a 3-0 record last week, helping extend the Vandal's win streak to a season-high four games with wins over Seattle U (70-69), New Mexico State (59-58) and Louisiana Tech (73-64). Barone led Idaho with 17 points and 12 rebounds in the win over SU on Tuesday night, while adding two blocked shots and hitting seven of his eight free throw attempts. He then added a 16-point, eight rebound, four-assist, two-block outing in the victory over NM State on Thursday. With Idaho trailing 58-51 with less than five minutes remaining to play, Barone scored six straight points for the Vandals and then assisted on the game-winning layup with 5.4 seconds remaining to secure the win over NMSU. In Saturday's win over LA Tech, Barone had 14 points and tied his career high with 15 rebounds to earn his 10th career double-double.
Over the three games, Barone averaged 15.3 points, 11.7 rebounds, 2.3 blocks and 2.0 assists per game. He shot 51.4 percent (18-of-35) from the floor and 73.3 percent (11-of-15) from the free throw line.
Other nominees:
* Fresno State sophomore forward Jery Brown
* Hawai'i junior center Vander Joaquim
* Nevada senior forward Olek Czyz
* New Mexico State senior forward Wendell McKines
* Utah State sophomore guard Preston Medlin
Various thoughts on Idaho basketball
Here's a piece we've been scribbling for about a week. It still seems a bit too meandering but we're going with it.
======
He wasn't the most athletic, nor was he all that creative with the ball but, damn, Idaho's Jeff Ledbetter could consistently shoot from distance -- 45% on 218 trey attempts as a senior last season -- and really knew how to cleverly employ screens to his advantage. He was also a go-to guy in the clutch.
Now in comparison which is usually inherently invalid due to differences in the equations such as teammates, foes (individuals) and opponents (teams), Idaho's Deremy Geiger is nailing a very impressive 44% of 165 three-point shots so far this season, a much, much better than his 31% of a year ago. But it FEELS like Geiger hasn't enjoyed the same overall effect as Ledbetter because the former has a tendency to blow hot-and-cold. However, as Seinfeld-ians profess, there is nothing wrong with that.
But before this becomes mistaken for a pile-on-Geiger fest (which certainly is not the intent and would be rather silly), the premise of the senior not measuring up to Ledbetter's effect could also be flat out wrong.
Additionally, there are so many factors which invalidate such contrasts.
Such as:
The additions of frontcourters Wendell Faines and the now departed Dazmond Starke had many, including moi, predicting an even better inside game for Coach Don Verlin's squad in 2011-12 and that has not come to the fore.
*** Paint production is a chicken and egg situation as inside scoring threats produce better looks from outside and also vice versa (although in fairness neither Faines nor Starke were expected to be double figure scorers).
A positive in the paint however this season is 6-foot-8 Djim Bandoumel, now averaging 9.5 points per game overall but 13.0 in WAC action. For comparison sake, he scored 3.1 points a contest early last season before being sidelined by academics.
Maybe the absence of Luiz Toledo is felt but then would Bandjoumel be achieving at his current propensity if splitting time with Toledo?
Then there is the whole Kyle Barone situation, of which it's worth noting that he is averaging two more shots a contest this season.
But then there's the emergence of Stephen Madison as a double-figure scorer (12.0) versus last season's 3.7 points per game.
All of these miscellaneous items makes this entire post a veritable to-may-to/to-mah-to analysis conundrum with just too many uncontrollable factors, thus eliminating any "I can tell with certainty that ..."
But before closing, if anyone has the total for Idaho's points-in-the-paint last season and the figure to date, please pass them on for comparison's sake. It currently 'feels' -- there's that word again -- like a lesser percentage but, of course, that actually means nothing. What is is what's important.
======
Speaking of numbers, Idaho Assistant Media Relations Director Spencer Farrin recently posted some interesting Vandals statistics:
* Idaho is shooting 46.4 percent overall and 38.3 percent from 3-point range in the final five minutes of regulation this season. Vandal opponents are shooting 39.7 percent overall and 27.0 percent from 3-point range during that same span. Idaho has also hit 70.1 percent of its free throws in the final five minutes. In the team’s 13 wins this season, the Vandals shot 47.2 percent from the field, 40.9 percent from 3-point range and 70.4 percent from the free throw line, while limiting opponents to 36.6 percent shooting overall and 25.5 percent 3-point shooting. Idaho’s top crunch-time shooter is Landon Tatum, who has a 61.5 percent overall clip and a 71.4 percent 3-point percentage in the last five minutes of regulation this season. Deremy Geiger has made 89.7 percent (26-29) of his free throws in the last five minutes of games.
* Last season, the Vandals earned 48 three-point plays and converted 33. With six regular-season games and at least one WAC Tournament contest remaining, Idaho has already earned 50 three-point plays and converted 34 of them. Junior center Kyle Barone led the team last season with an 8-of-9 success rate in those situations, and he leads the team again this year with 11 conversions on 17 chances. Seven different Idaho players have converted an and-one opportunity this season.
* Idaho started the season 1-5 in its first six games decided by five points or fewer, but the Vandals have won their last six such games since the 63-59 home win over Fresno State. The last time Idaho had a similar streak in close games was Don Verlin’s first season, 2008-09, when the team also tallied fivr straight wins in close games
visitors
Posts
