After watching quite a few early season games I have some thoughts on Big East teams this season.

Cincinnati – The Bearcats have looked to be much improved this season. Yancy Gates is becoming a polished down low player. Lance Stephenson is probably the best Freshman in the league. Cincy will be a much tougher opponent for the top teams this year. They sit at 5-1 and have a rebound margin of +11 a game.

UConn - The guards are fine but the Huskies have some glaring deficiencies down low. This is a rarity for UConn. They have even been outrebounded by Hofstra at home. Jerome Dyson is playing very well as is Gavin Edwards. In order for the Huskies to be successful they have to rebound and run to make up for having no half court offense.

Georgetown - An impressive win over Butler last night shows that the Hoyas may be one of the top teams in the league. Greg Monroe is dominating down low. Chris Wright is a steadying influence on the outside. A 7-0 start is a good sign for GTown fans.

Marquette - Too much is being thrown on Lazar Hayward. The loss of the three amigos is probably too much to make up for. MU needs something from Acker on the outside to compliment Butler and Hayward inside.

Notre Dame - Luke Harangody is expected to carry this team. He tries to do that but is constantly double teamed and ends up throwing up off balanced forced shots. Tim Abromaitis has been outstanding and Tory Jackson is still driving and creating opportunities. ND still relies way too much on 3 point shooting. This may be a tough year in South Bend.

Pittsburgh - Pitt looks very shaky at this point. They are having trouble scoring points and were outplayed by a young and weak Indiana team last night. The Panthers could only garner 15 points in the first half against New Hampshire! Ashton Gibbs has been steady as has Wanamaker. No big run in the BET this year for Pitt.

Syracuse - The Orange have been really on top of their game so far. A big win against North Carolina at MSG was a major lift for SU. Even though we are used to early season success for the Orange, this year may be different in that they have faced quality foes early.I have been impressed with Wes Johnson, a transfer into the program. Opponents may have to start fouling Onuaku to stay with them in games. Another Triche? The young guys have blended well with veterans and without the Devendorf distractions this may be the year for Syracuse to make a run at the league title.

Villanova - STRONG! The Cats are strong at every position. Of course Scottie Reynolds may lose a few winnable games with trying to do too much, he will also be the reason they win most of their games. Any team that falls behind VU is in real trouble. Only when Nova gets behind does Reynolds throw up some crazy shots. The class of the league.

West Virginia - As long as DaSean Butler and Devin Ebanks stay healthy and on the court the Neers look to be one of the best. WVU is 5-0 and I expect them to roll along and be one of the top teams in the league.

These are the teams I have seen so far. I like Nova, Cuse and WVU to be the top teams in the Big East this year and Pitt and the Irish will struggle.

Categories: Coach O, Commentary
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Just watched Lemoyne beat Syracuse 82-79. I know it’s only an exhibition but it was fun anyway.

Tomorrow night Ill be at the UConn – American International game in Hartford. Didn’t someone tell these guys there’s a World Series going on?

Categories: Coach O, Commentary, Syracuse
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With recent revelations about Rick Pitino coming out, he joins John Calipari as both coaches are under fire for their actions. Although Pitino’s situation has nothing to do with UL basketball, he is being scrutinized for his clause on moral behavior in his contract with the Cards.

Calipari, on the other hand has had his 2nd final four appearance invalidated by the NCAA. he is the only coach in the NCAA to have two different programs penalized, losing Final Four seasons for breaking the rules. While it’s obvious that he may be a wonderful coach, he does it in any way possible, within and without the boundaries of NCAA procedures. UK fans have to hope that if Calipari makes it to the Final Four with the Cats he won’t have it erased as he has with both UMass and Memphis.

Categories: Commentary
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In news I’m sure all of you are aware of now, John Calipari, formerly coach of the Memphis Tigers, has left to take an 8-year, $35 million coaching gig at the University of Kentucky. Kentucky is among the premier programs in college basketball historically, up there with Duke, Kansas, UCLA, and North Carolina.

The decision he made — leaving Memphis — could not have been more wrong.

Coaches get famous not for moving between programs, but making programs. Wooden made UCLA, Dean Smith made UNC, Bob Knight made Indiana, and Krzyzewski made Duke. In the Big East, Calhoun made UConn, Boeheim made Syracuse, and Thompson made Georgetown. Those names are synonymous with their programs, and furthermore, their universities will continue to be powerhouses in college basketball even after they’ve left. Coaches establish these programs as a brand and ensure control of the program stays “within the family” by passing the throne to some longtime assistant.

Calipari had the shot at making a program twice in his lifetime and gave up both. He first left UMass, having brought that program from insignificance to national prominence under stars like Lou Roe and Marcus Camby. UMass was a perfect place to make a program — a large state school in a wealthy, recognizable state with history (Dr. J played there), and with a natural rival — UConn. Yet he left for the NBA and the New Jersey Nets at the peak of the program –having just reached a Final Four. Fast forward a dozen years or so and Calipari has done the same thing — left a program he could have left his mark on. Memphis is already a brand — it stands for amazing athletes, great recruiting, and a coach/program that doesn’t at all mind players coming in a year and leaving for the NBA. Memphis stood for demolishing the competition yet always being able to play the “respect card” because of Conference USA. Personally, I was excited to see him take Memphis further along — perhaps do such crazy things as recruit five stellar freshman every year to try to win a national championship each year and then happily move them along to the NBA, and essentially make Memphis a program designed for the one-and-done NCAA/NBA rule.

And yet now he’s moving to “greener pastures”. Truth is, the grass was already perfect in Memphis.

Categories: donald
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Close to the quote from Meatloaf in his Bat Out of Hell cd, but not quite. Hopes of getting three Big East teams into the Final Four ala 1985 disappeared as Louisville hit the skids against Michigan State on Sunday. Louisville had been riding along in the weakest bracket after also finding themselves  on the fast track to a BET victory. Michigan State was the first real tough team the Cards met in the NCAA’s and proved to be more than the Ville could handle.

And how about Nova? What a stunning win against Pitt in the Elite Eight game  Saturday. Here is a team that many picked to struggle in the league this year. But even though they may have been in a struggle, they never gave up. Not once! We have been accused of ‘hating’ Villanova by a commenter on this site. I will say that I don’t think a hated of the Cats has ever been shown here. Not by this writer for sure. Just to let    know….. my daughter is a grad student at Villanova right now, and her fiance is graduating from Villanova Law School in May. I will say emphatically that I am not a Nova hater, but I am pleasantly surprised with their progression. As I’ve said before, no coach has the success of getting his troops to play their best ball every year in the NCAA’s like Jay Wright. I will say that as much as I’d like to see the Wildcats in the final game next Monday night, I do feel they won’t get past UNC on Saturday.

UConn has weathered all sorts of problems this year to get to the Final Four. Major injuries, coaching tirades at press conferences, recruiting violation questions all led to victories. The Huskies deserve all the credit for their great play in the NCAA’s this year. A.J. Price has turned into a major player in the Huskies run. Kemba Walker almost singlehandedly willed UConn over Mizzou. And on and on…… So they now play a road game at Michigan State on Saturday and I feel they can handle that. UConn’s road performance this year has only one blemish on it. They should have enough left to whip MSU in a tight game and then will have to play their best game by far this year to beat UNC in the final. UNC looks a little too strong for the Huskies but, lets see…….

How about a Nova-UConn championship game???????? That would be the best….!!!!!!

Categories: Coach O
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