That’s what Rutgers shot from the field last night against Kansas State in a 55-41 loss.  Damn, that’s not very good.

Categories: Commentary, donald, Rutgers
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Watched the Notre Dame-Butler game last night. Butler had 2 very good guards and the Irish were unstoppable inside. The main man for ND was Freshman Luke Harangody who had 17 points and 10 rebounds in 20 minutes. Butler guards totally outplayed Colin Falls and Kyle McAlarney. So the game goes back and forth ….. Irish a 10 point run….. Butler 11 point run etc. And it comes down to Harangody powering up a hoop and makes it 3 when fouled with about 1:30 left to give ND a 1 point lead. Butler’s A.J. Graves (28 points) hits a 3 with about a minute left to put Butler up by two. TIME OUT, ND with 10 seconds left. Common sense says go in to Harangody for the tying hoop and maybe he will get fouled and win the game. NOOOOOOOOO!!!! Brey takes Harangody out of the game and puts in all 3 point shooters (None of whom have done squat all night). They inbound and can’t get a shot off until Russell Carter throws up an off balanced 3 with a man in his face with less than 1 second left. Game, set, match. Horrible coaching at the end of the game, which is unbelievably reminiscent of so many ND finishes last year (5 OT losses in 5 tries). Maybe it is that Brey doesn’t know how to set up a play to finish a game…… OR maybe it’s just like Bill Murray in Groundhog Day.

Categories: Big Willie Style, Commentary, Notre Dame
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The Marquette bloggers over at Cracked Sidewalks speak some wisdom about home court etiquette:

“What I do want to comment on is an aspect of crowd behavior tonight. Three occasions, after frustrating empty trips down the court, the Bradley Center faithful booed. It wasn’t Boooooarro, or Boooooourke to cheer on Ooze or Dwight. It was honest to goodness jeering — something I haven’t heard in years.

While you might be frustrated with these kids’ performance, there is NO PLACE for booing college athletes on their own home court.”

Amen. I’d add that home college crowd behavior has gotten incredibly stupid in recent years. Among my complaints:

1. Rushing the court/field: There are appropriate times for this. But when both teams are ranked, there’s no reason for it (I think the Rutgers/Louisville situation is an exception. But even there, the crowd could have cost Rutgers the ballgame.) In recent years, though, students have started rushing the court for absolutely no good reason. It’s dangerous to everybody involved and it just shows a lack of class. One of these days, some stupid college kid is going to get in somebody’s face, and we’ll have the Malice at the Palace scene all over again. Sportscenter ought to stop showing highlights of rushing the court — it just romanticizes the notion.
2. Throwing stuff at opposing teams (remember this?).
3. Ad-hominem attacks: Don’t get me wrong — I love the energy that home crowds bring to college courts. But I think it’s in poor taste when home crowds effectively stalk opposing players to get dirt on them (sometimes, it can even backfire.)

At the heart of this problem are fans who think they are more than just a spectator. Have you ever noticed how some fans address their team in the first person, i.e. “We played a good game” or “We’re gonna beat Syracuse!”? Actually, there’s nothing first person about it. It’s the team you’re rooting for that is going to play a good game and they are the ones who are going to beat Syracuse. You, dear fan, do absolutely nothing other than cheer. In recent years, fans have started to believe that they are part of the game in an unhealthy way, and I think that’s one of the root causes of the behavior above.

Categories: BlogWatch, donald
7 Comments »

Khalid El-Amin: Alive and Kicking | CHN College Basketball

His battle to make it back to the League has gone overseas, where El-Amin has continued his winning ways and has become one of the best players in Europe.  Check out this resume – back-to-back Turkish League Player of the Year (04 & 05) and last year in the Ukraine – 2006 Ukrainian Championship, 2006 Championship series MVP and 2006 regular season MVP.  This season Khalid’s Azovmash Mariupol squad is in third place in the Ukrainian Superleague with a 5-1 record.  El-Amin poured in 22 points in their last win.

Funny, this resume mimics his high school accolades before UConn.

Categories: Connecticut, Dan'l B, NewsWatch
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ESPN.com expert Final Four predictions

Little love for the Big East with only Pittsburgh among the Final Four predictions (twice) and Marquette’s Dominic James among the All-American first-teamers (four times). Kudos to Mark Schlabach for going out on a limb by picking Kansas to win the championship. They were only the fourth-most common Final Four pick. Every other ESpundit picked either Florida or UNC.

Categories: Dan'l B, Pittsburgh, PunditWatch
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