Miscellaneous Thoughts
by Quinn1979 on Jan 25, 2009 10:06 PM EST
28 comments
-- I've already heard about this about 10x, but it's only going to get worse over the next several weeks. I'm talking about announcers referring to the fact that the Top 4 seeds in this year's Big East tournament get a huge advantage with a "Double Bye." In fact, there has been no change with the Top 4 seeds as they have historically gotten a bye into the quarterfinals. Further, the new bracket setup actually benefits 3 of the 4 seed groups, but is hugely negative for 1 of the 4 groups.
1. Seeds 1-4: Slight benefit with new bracket setup as they potentially could be playing a more tired team that has played two consecutive games.
2. Seeds 5-8: Big benefit with new bracket setup as their opponent will have just played a game the previous day.
3. Seeds 9-12: HUGELY negatively affected by new bracket setup as they are the ones that have to play an extra game.
4. Seeds 13-16: HUGE benefit with new bracket setup as they now have a chance to win.
-- Among all of his other skills, I think T-Will's most underrated one is also his best: strong hands. I mean, honestly, is there any doubt that if there is a ball near T-Will that he will be the one ending up with it? I bet that skill alone gets him two extra rebounds and an extra steal per game just collecting loose balls. Besides T-Will, UofL's other hands-guys are (in order) Preston, Jerry and Earl.
-- Interesting that the ex-CUSA teams are bookending the standings with Marquette and UofL at the top and Depaul at the bottom (yes, Depaul is worse than Rutgers but more on that later).
-- While I recognize that Marquette's conference schedule is back loaded, I don't want to hear about how Marquette's opponents are like 13-18 in conference play. Hello -- one of the reasons for that is because they are 0-6 vs. Marquette. This reminds me of the argument which happens every year in fantasy football when one guy observes that the #1 team has the weakest schedule and the least points scored against. Hello (again) -- that's because the #1 team hasn't had to face itself and had a bunch of points scored against it.
-- The Big East should really try to figure out a way to swap out Depaul for Miami. I'd be curious to see if, upon reflection, Miami thinks their move to the ACC was a good one. I mean, their football team has basically atrophied into one that plays the Nevada Wolfpack in Boise and their hoops team is simply destined to a middle-to-bottom-half-of-the-pack existence in the ACC. By switching to the Big East, Miami could (i) have a real shot at winning the conference year-in and year-out, (ii) gain access to the major TV markets that the Big East offers and (iii) allow the conference to have nine football schools and a clean eight conference games. I mean, seriously, is Miami / NC State or Miami / Maryland more compelling than great previous rivalries like Miami / Syracuse or Miami / WVU?
Depaul does not belong in the Big East. The school was granted admission because people looked at the Chicago market like it was "infinity." I attended the Depaul / UC game last week and it was embarrassing. Not only is the team bad, but the ENTIRE upper level was completely empty as were the endzones (save the tiny student section). I would honestly bet that the in-person attendance was 1,200 or so, although the announced attendance was in the 4,000s. Depaul needs to be in the A-10. Period. Full stop.
-- Can someone please tell me how Memphis lands top recruits? I saw them play vs. Tennessee on CBS, but now that’s it. Now they fade into oblivion for the rest of the year as their schedule consists of bus trips to Hattiesburg and Tulsa. If you’re Tyreke Evans, why would you go there instead of Big East or ACC? I’m confused.
-- If anybody has any extra @ND or @UC tickets, please let me know.
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Memphis
gets top recruits because Calipari teaches a style that is very conducive to NBA success. Lots of freewheeling, hotdogging, and individual ballhogging. Yep, that’s the NBA alright.
by CardsFanTX on Jan 25, 2009 10:18 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
Good thoughts
1. Yeah, the top 4 seeds are the same distance from the finals as they always were. Not much difference from last year.
2. Earl is on your list of hands guys? He is easier to strip than a University of Dayton freshman. You have to multiply his rebounds by 80% because he gets so many stolen after he pulls them down.
3. Yes, I am surprised that there hasn’t been more of an us vs. them develop between the historic Big East teams and the ex-CUSA teams. Or at least for the rivalries to stay along those lines. But actually I feel like WVU is a bigger bball+fball rivalry than anyone and I felt zero ex-CUSA pride when the Bearcats won the conference in football. Sorry for talking about football.
4. Marquette’s schedule has been weak. UofLs opponents have a winning record and they all had to play UofL. By the way, I am in full agreement that the Big East conference is the best in the land, but can we all stop using the phrase “there are no nights off in the Big East”. Ladies and Gentlemen…Depaul, South Florida, St. Johns, Rutgers are all pretty close to a night off.
5. You want Depaul out? Fine. Miami ain’t coming back though. Memphis is the hottest girl left without a dance partner. Their football team is worse than ours and they have a solid bball program. They belong in the Big East.
by Phauz on Jan 25, 2009 10:26 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
Yikes.
“He is easier to strip than a University of Dayton freshman.” Brutal.
by Getslow on Jan 26, 2009 12:59 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Maybe the analogy wasn't so good
The point was…Earl, 7 turnovers. Hang on to the ball!!!
by Phauz on Jan 26, 2009 9:47 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Here is the quote on T-Will's good hands...
“When we changed T-Will to the inside and Earl to the outside it gave us a big lift,” Pitino said. “Earl was turning it over when he caught the ball. He thought he was getting fouled, but regardless T-Will wasn’t going to cough up the ball.”
by Phauz on Jan 26, 2009 9:49 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Memphis joining the BEAST is a lose-lose, imo
Calipari would take a lot more losses, which I’m not sure his ego can handle, his “revolutionary” dribble, drive, replace offense would get exposed against disciplined teams like Gtown, Pitt, U of L, etc. Also, losing to Memphis is like losing to Seton Hall on steroids. Losing to Memphis is not a teachable loss. If you lose to them, it’s because they have more talent and/or one of their guys got crazy hot and scored 40 points while running one on ones. They don’t run an offense, they don’t play defense, they use backchannel recruiting to get future NBA’ers (William Wesley, look him up on TrueHoop), and then let them live a semi-pro lifestyle off the major college radar for 4 years. That’s not a team I want junking up my league.
by bartenpa on Jan 26, 2009 9:02 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
There are no nights off in the Big East
But yes, those teams you mentioned are easier nights than those night we play Pitt, G’Town, ND, Syracuse, Marquette etc. Compared to those night, yeah, those are easy. But any of those teams are capable of beating anyone else in the Big East on any given night, especially if they are at home.
by Ben Go CARDS on Jan 26, 2009 9:58 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Interesting thoughts..
Winning 3 games in 3 days is pretty tough, especially in the Big East (overtime games, big men getting mauled underneath, the pressure of MSG, etc). I would say that I wouldn’t mind losing in the semis (as long as it is not to Pitt!) but I think the winner of the Big East (if it is Pitt, UConn or UL) will get a #1 seed, and the other two are probably in line for 2 seeds if things play out as they should.
Memphis is a perfect fit for the big east – it sucks Depaul can’t get it together.
As to Marquette: Jerb posted an interesting thread on ITV about teams’ records and projected pre-season order of finish: http://mbd.scout.com/mb.aspx?s=17&f=2755&t=3833199
Basically 5 of their 6 wins have come against teams projected in the 9-16 (4 in the 9-12) while we are 2-0 against the projected 1-4 and 2-0 against the projected 5-8.
Also note: UConn is 5-0 against the bottom half.
Now, that doesn’t mean that Marquette is NOT going to beat teams in the 1-8 when they play (they are 1-0 v. preseason 5-8), but as long as we don’t blow it against Phauz’s “nights off” the last month should really help us. I’m not really worried about Marquette. UConn is the biggest obstacle left, unless we manage to go 0-2 v. West Virginia.
by CardsFan922 on Jan 25, 2009 11:10 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
well said
-I think the BE football situation is in such disrepair that adding memphis wouldn’t really wreck the curve. But getting Calipari’s chain gang into the hoops mix would absolutely seal the deal on the big east’s dominance. And maybe that’s me being selfish but I miss the old metro UofL/Memphis rivalry. We really used to hate them an awful lot.
- A buddy of mine is a big UNC/ACC booster/apologist. He honestly contends that the ACC is stronger b/c their out of conf record is better than the BE’s. I say poppycock (I say it all the time actually), there are always going to be nights “off” but they are fewer an farther between in the BE. Take UNC for instance, yeah, they’ve beaten ND and Clemson, and eventually they’ll run into Duke a couple of times, but in the meantime they get to dance through the murderer’s row of FSU, NCstate (twice), Maryland (twice), UVA, Ga Tech, Miami and Va Tech. Not a ranked team in the bunch. Paltry. In the same time period UL will suit up for soon to be ranked WVU (twice), no. 3 UConn, @ND, @Gtown, and Marquette. And one could say we are entering the “easier” part of our sked.
Coach K needs to choke on balls and stop putting ridiculous ideas in the heads of ACC fans, it’s unbecoming.
One more point on this if I may – GTown goes to Cameron Indoor and loses to Duke (arguable the best team in basketball) by a respectable 9 in a close-ish game, days later they get waxed by nearly 20 on their home court by middle of the BE pack WVU, followed up by a loss to BE cellar dweller Seton Hall. So by my math, Duke must be a little better than Seton Hall but not quite as good as WVU. Now I know that’s a load of crap, but still, once you get past Clemson in the ACC the falloff is dizzying.
-question: My 8-month old’s little UofL tshirt is 7-0, but it has applesauce on it, should I wash it? I think I probably shouldn’t.
-question 2: it is unlikely that we are going to win out in the BE, which team should we lose to? Which team will we lose to? Is there a loss that won’t really piss me off?
e
by ericdedwar on Jan 25, 2009 11:43 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
Applesauce Is Not A Bad Thing
Good line.
…We will never “win out” in the Big East. We probably will be better off if the baloon is not stretched that taut anyway.
If an unbiased otherworld being were to look at the conference from a couple of hundred miles out from the third rock they might say:
Interesting mix…too many teams…is there a tatoo cap in this league?…who’s that strange looking guy at Seton Hall?…too many teams…good defense…how come natural rivalries like Cincy-Ville might only play once per year?…I wonder why everybody in the league keeps shouting how good the league is?…too many teams.
Isn’t calling it the “Big” East a little redundant. Like calling a thirty eight foot monster a “Big Monster.”
Let’s just call it “The East.”
by Roz on Jan 26, 2009 7:47 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Just "The Beast"
Would be alright with me, Peter.
by Roz on Jan 26, 2009 4:09 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
I'll keep it short.
1. Memphis should be in the Big East, but I can’t say I want it. Calipari is a douchebag and the less I have to see of him the better.
2. Seton Hall beat Georgetown today. I’m not saying they’re good or that any team in the Big East can’t beat them, all I’m saying is that you can lose any game in this conference if you “take the night off.” Either that, or Georgetown has been hiding the fact that they really suck badly.
by CARD_G6 on Jan 26, 2009 1:33 AM EST reply actions 0 recs
Its Memphis St. boys...
always has been…and should be.
good post and thoughts guys.
by twistedwedge on Jan 26, 2009 6:37 AM EST reply actions 0 recs
Memphis St. should be in BE--I miss that rivalry
Calipari is no worse than Bobby G. or a few of the other coaches in the D-bag caregory.
As Jerb, and other pundits have pointed out, Marquette will have to eventually run the gauntlet—I like our position (and our upside)
The ACC—c’mon, from top to bottom, no way its better than BE. But we’ll see come tourney time for sure…
Stripping Dayton freshmen? …I’ll defer to Phaunz to his prowess
by frankpos on Jan 26, 2009 7:04 AM EST reply actions 0 recs
Let's Just Have EVERYBODY Come To The Big East
….I’m gonna kick your ass….where is he?….I’m gonna kick his ass!
by Roz on Jan 26, 2009 7:50 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Calipari is no worse than Gonzalez
But salary cap is higher, if you know what I mean.
by bartenpa on Jan 26, 2009 9:07 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Memphis should NOT be in the Big East.
Go read what I replied up there to Phauz.
by bartenpa on Jan 26, 2009 9:06 AM EST reply actions 0 recs
Memphis State is a bad addition to the BE
They would bring absolutely zero to football in the BE (although perhaps they might help us get in with the Liberty Bowl), but we would then have to split our BCS and television money up one more way. Also, they would increase our conference game total to 8 which would mean that we would have 1 less OOC game to schedule each year (and that typically means either a lost home game or a decent home-and-away series). Even though we played Memphis State on the road this year in football, I suspect we were able to keep most of the TV money for that, while if that were a BE game, it would have been just lumped in with the television package. So if you add them in football, you are throwing money out of the window.
They can obviously bring some interest to basketball, but it’s not like we have a shortage or need in that area at all. I mean, we had #12 UofL at #8 Syracuse on the Big East network instead of CBS or ESPN because there is already an abundance of great conference games available for television. Adding MSU won’t add an 8th day to the week to put those games on television, so don’t expect anything but a marginal increase in television money. And because the NCAA selection committee looks at conference records a lot in determining who gets in and I always believe that they have some quotas in mind (although they deny it), I think adding Memphis State risks losing another BE team from the NCAA tournament every year. Thus, we don’t gain anything financially.
If we like the rivalry, add them as a OOC game every year and keep the television revenue. Personally, I am enjoying the developing rivalries with Marquette, UConn, WVU and Georgetown, and I could do without helping Calipari.
by 83fan on Jan 26, 2009 9:30 AM EST reply actions 0 recs
Memphis
1. Adding Memphis may reduce the OOC games, but doesn’t impair the home games tally that much. After all, in the current Big East configuration, every other year, UofL plays only 3 conference home games which, IMO, isn’t a sustainable model. That’s why this year was so horrible in football because UofL got the gift of 4 conference home games and 3 conference away games.
2. I get the whole rivalry thing yada yada yada, but IMO adding Miami to the Big East is a waaaaaay better move than adding Memphis.
by Quinn1979 on Jan 26, 2009 9:46 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
No vote on Memphis...
No vote on Memphis…
1 – Bad football program making a bad situation worse.
2 – Calipari is a prick
3 – Memphis is proving that their pushover C-USA schedule is leading to astronomical results that can’t stand up against a real contender.
4 -… did I mention Calipari is a prick?
Grog
"There is no OFF position to the genius switch" - D. Letterman
by GrogInOhio on Jan 26, 2009 1:43 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
Who will we lose to?
I’m guessing West Virginia, simply because it seems so unlikely and yet they’ve played some pretty good teams to a standstill. Don’t understand what’s happening at Georgetown, but I’m betting that Mr. Thompson gets them straightened out by tournament time. They have some real talent, but problems at guard. And guard problems doom college teams.
theoldman
by theoldman on Jan 26, 2009 3:15 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
The Kid's Into The Vinyl Collection Again
….can’t beat the 33 1/3s. How did they put it? The crackles and pops are mere imperfections like scars and veins on a piece of fine leather.
We’ll lose one we’re “supposed to” and one we’re not “supposed to.” We’ll lose that many at least.
Oldman, remember in the Metro Conference days how right in the middle of the season, like right NOW, Crum would schedule some interconference powerhouse (UCLA of course) like Duke, or UMASS, or Temple? For a long time, for years, we were the last non ACC team to beat Duke at Cameron.
Can’t do it now with all the teams in the Big East, though.
Roz
by Roz on Jan 26, 2009 4:04 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
At Notre Dame?
That’s my guess.
"I AM ARABIC FOR SUGAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!" -- by sukr on Jan 12, 2009 4:55 PM EST
by jch24 on Jan 26, 2009 4:25 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
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