Offseasons are way too long. The season starts this Friday night and we are ready for it. UConn #2…. Louisville #3…. Pitt #5….. ND #9…. Marquette #16…. Hoyas #22…. Nova #23. Seven in the top 25 ! What a league. Jay Bilas calls it by far the best league in the country. Welcome to the Big East 2008-9.

It’s hard to see a Big East team finishing in the top 5 at seasons end. These teams will beat the stuffings out of each other in January and February and then meet in NYC for a final rumble before meeting the best from other leagues in the NCAA’s. Will any of our teams have anything left come March? It’s hard to tell, but the league season might just be the best ever. And the tourney at the Garden will be a whole week (almost) of the best hoops in the USA. With the talent level in the league this year it is hard to imagine anywhere else in the country where you could see better basketball being played. Sorry ACC…. you can’t compete this time. You may have UNC and Duke. We have 7.

Let’s take a look at the team capsules for 2008-9.

UConn-

Frontcourt – Thabeet and Adrien. A formidable frontline. Defensively probably the best in the country. Not offensively, but that doesn’t mattter here and the word is that Thabeet has improved offensively. Gavin Edwards can spell either. Ater Majok (6-10) should join the club in January. Jonathan Mandeldove should also supply some minutes down low. Grade – A

Backcourt – Start with A. J. Price and Jerome Dyson, throw in some Craig Austrie, and add a touch of Freshman Kemba Walker and you have a winning combination. Stanley Robinson is said to be rejoining the team in January too. Donnell Beverly can give some relief also. The question is Price’s knee. Will it hold up? So far so good in early practice. The only negative is long range shooting. Scottie Harralson is said to be the sharpshooter the Huskies need. Until proven, the long range weakness denies UConn an A here. Grade – B+

Coaching – Calhoun is in the Hall of Fame. Nothing more needs to be said. How the team reacts to his rants is the only question. Sometimes last year players faces showed they didn’t like being embarrassed on national TV. Grade – A-

OVERALL GRADE – A- – The Huskies have it all. This is a team that can make a go at the Big East title and go deep into the NCAA’s. Thabeet is the key.  Outside shooting will tell if UConn will finish ahead of Louisville.

Louisville

Frontcourt – Padgett and Palacios are gone. That’s a big gap to fill. But the Cards played a lot last season without either or one of them and still looked formidable. Earl Clark will be back. He averaged 8.1 R/G and will probably be joined by 6-8 Freshman Samardo Samuels. Terrence Jennings, a 6-10 Fr. will push Samuels for playing time. George Goode is another Frosh who will see minutes. UofL always plays tough defense. In this league, however, Freshmen need time to become dominant. Grade – B

Backcourt – Terrence Williams, Jerry Smith and Edgar Sosa is a formidable backcourt. It’s hard to think that anyone can match that group. Sosa must become more consistent. If he falters, Andre McGee will step in as he did so successfully last year. And add Reginald Delk, a transfer from Miss St. for good measure. Grade – A

Coaching – Rick Pitino A

OVERALL GRADE - A- The Cards have the depth and talent to survive this league and become champions. Will Padgett’s loss be too much to overcome? My choice for regular season champs.

Pitt

Frontcourt – DeJuan Blair was a sensation last year. he was co-rookie of the year and a lot of fun to watch. He will team with Tyrell Biggs in the frontcourt this year. Pitt will at times move Sam Young down low to make up for Biggs lack of scoring. If Pitt has a weakness this year it will be depth down low. Grade – B

Backcourt – Levance Fields missed considerable time last year with a foot injury and returned strong. There was, however a problem again this year. That puts a big question mark on this club. The uncertain status of Fields and loss of Ronald Ramon leaves Young as the only strong point in the backcourt. But Young is very strong. He took over the BET last year ala Gerry McNamara. Gilbert Brown has experience to join the backcourt mix. Keep an eye an Fr. Ashton Gibbs who can really shoot it. Grade B+

Coaching – Jamie Dixon has proved he is one of the nation’s elite coaches. He bring Pitt to the Big East Championship game every year. That’s no small task. The NCAA’s have not been so kind to Dixon. Maybe the Panthers use it all up at MSG. Grade A-

OVERALL GRADE – B+ Dixon gets the most out of his players. But will Fields be ready for full time action once January comes around? 3rd place is probable. Not strong enough to take UConn or Louisville.

Notre Dame

Froncourt – Luke Harangody won the league MVP last year. Nothing more needs to be said. Harangody is not the most talented player in the Big East. But is without a doubt the hardest worker. He will have a harder time this year with Rob Kurz gone. Luke Zeller just won’t draw the attention from opponents that Kurz did. Zach Hillesland probably will take Zeller’s position as the season progresses. Hillesland is a hard nosed 6-9 Sr. Shooting is not his forte though. This is an area of concern without much depth. Grade – B+

Backcourt – Kyle McAlarney is the best pure shooter in the Big East. Moving the 3 point line won’t have any effect on him. Tory Jackson is an explosive point guard who sometimes plays out of control. His outside shooting is also suspect. And he must improve his free throw shooting if he is to have the ball in crunch time. Ryan Ayers had a good Jr season. Another outstanding shooter, Ayers also plays top notch defense. He is not consistent though and that may pose a problem for the long-range shooting Irish. Again, depth is a problem in the backcourt. Grade B+

Coaching – Mike Brey has won Coach of the Year two years in a row. He is that good. But a magician he is not. Grade – A-

OVERALL GRADE – B+ Irish will fight with Pitt, Marquette, Syracuse and Villanova for 4th place. If they can find an answer at power forward they will be 4th.

Marquette

Frontcourt – Lazar Hayward had a good season last year. But that is all the Golden Eagles have down there. Dwight Burke is not going to strike fear in opponents. And the problem is that Hayward is a 6-6 power forward. This is an area that Marquette has been weak for a few years and it doesn’t seem better this year. Grade C

Backcourt – McNeal, Matthews, James. Seems like we have been saying that for decades. They are seniors now and as good a backcourt as there is in the Big East. Backed up by David Cubillian and Maurice Acker this is a talented, deep backcourt. But unless they are hitting from long range they won’t carry MU to the top. Grade – A

Coaching – Buzz Williams takes over for Tom Crean this year. Williams has been around and even was Head coach at New Orleans in 2006-7 (14-17 record). He will learn quickly that the Big East is a tough league to cut your teeth on. He was Crean’s assistant last year so he is familiar with the program a bit. Grade C

OVERALL GRADE – B- Too weak down low to finish in the top 3 but will challenge ND for 4th place. If Crean were still here I would be more confident but I’ll say either Nova or Cuse will finish ahead of the Eagles. 6th place.

NEXT……. Syracuse, Villanova, Georgetown and West Virginia.

Categories: Coach O, Commentary, Connecticut, Louisville, Marquette, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh
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For what it’s worth…. here are my awards for the season.

Player of the Year – Luke Harangody  No one could have picked this preseason but he is POY hands down. He took the Irish from a 9th place prediction to a tie for 2nd.

Defensive Player of the Year – Hasheem Thabeet  Not so much for what he did on the floor, but for what he made opposing coaches do to their game plan. Blocked shots are great…but only if it causes a change in possession. Not many of Thabeet’s blocks did that. However, teams had to completely change game plans when facing the Huskies.

Rookie of the Year – Donte Green  I can’t believe most newspapers reporters are picking Jonny Flynn. No way! Flynn is good but Green is the one who SU needs to play well to win.

Coach of the Year – Mike Brey Again. Lost his two top scorers, picked 9th, finished tied for 2nd. Enough said.

All Big East – Luke Harangody, David Padgett, Sam Young, A.J. Price, Joe Alexander, Kyle McAlarney

All Rookie – Donte Green, Jonny Flynn, Dominique Jones, DeJuan Blair, Dar Tucker, Jeremy Hazell

Sportsmanship Award – Jim Calhoun  Leading 90-38 with 4 minutes left over a Cincinnati team stranded in a snowstorm for a day, Calhoun had his five starters on the floor. TV commentators continued to remark about reasons for this but couldn’t find a good one. Calhoun finally put his No Names (walk-ons at UConn don’t rate to have their names on jerseys as do scholarship players) into the game with 1 minute left and told them not to shoot. I’m sure Mick Cronin would second my pick here!

Categories: Coach O, Commentary
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Marquette’s victory over Nova last night put pressure on the four teams ahead of them working for a bye in New York in two weeks. The Eagles can now finish 13-5 with wins in their last two games against Georgetown and at Syracuse. With the Hoyas looking more and more vulnerable, this is entirely possible with Marquette on a 5 game roll, winning handily in each. Let’s take a look at the leaders and their prospects for a bye.

Georgetown – The Hoyas are 12-3 and finish with St. John’s, at Marquette and Louisville. If the Hoyas were to lose to Marquette and Louisville they would end up 13-5 and lose a tiebreaker to both teams. Two wins would assure the Hoyas of a bye. Even though GTown is in a good position, they have to be careful of a letdown and must defeat either Marquette or Louisville to enter the BET with some momentum.

Louisville – The Cards are 12-3 and finish with home games against Notre Dame and Villanova along with a final game at Georgetown. Although the Cards should win both home games, ND is capable of an upset. If the Cards lose to ND and GTown they will end up with a record of 13-5 and lose tiebreakers to the Irish and UConn. Louisville has two wins over Marquette and a win over Georgetown. If the Cardinals win two of the last three they will secure a bye.

Notre Dame – The Irish are 11-3 and have three of the final four games on the road. Although they have been unbeatable at home, they have shown some vulnerability away. With splits against UConn and Marquette, the Irish lose tiebreaker vs. Georgetown and still have to travel to Louisville this Thursday. The game at DePaul is not a gimme, seeing that it is a rivalry game. ND should beat St. John’s at home and USF away. If the Irish split their remaining four games they will end up 13-5. A Marquette victory over Georgetown might force the Irish to play a Wednesday game.

UConn – The Huskies are 10-4 and suffered a crucial loss at Nova on Saturday. Remaining games are at Rutgers tonight, West Virginia Saturday and at Providence and home to Cincinnati next week. The Huskies must win 3 of the last 4 to put themselves in a good position at 13-5. UConn has trouble with Providence and West Virginia is still a mystery team. Two losses will probably push UConn to a Wednesday game. The Huskies lose a tiebreaker to Georgetown and win tiebreakers vs. Louisville and Marquette. The UConn-ND tiebreaker will be determined by the Irish game vs. Louisville this Thursday.

****UPDATE***** In checking all possibilities, if Marquette were to lose one of their final two league games, UConn and ND would have to win 2 of their remaining four games to receive a bye.

Complicated???? Not really…… Typical???? You bet….. WELCOME TO THE BIG EAST!

Categories: Coach O, Commentary, Connecticut, Georgetown, Louisville, Marquette, Notre Dame, Postseason
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I was settling in on Saturday afternoon to watch the UConn-Pitt game. And a fine game it was. A real tussle. As physical as a Big East game can get. And although neither team was shooting well in the first half, it was still a battle of two very good teams. Banging, blocking, great screens, hard drives to the hoop. The kind of game one can thoroughly enjoy with a beer on a January Saturday afternoon. Then it happened……… AGAIN!

Billy Packer, self-procliamed know it all on basketball saw Doug Wiggins ready to report into the game. Of course he and Vern Lundquist had to mention the fact of the Wiggins suspension…… that was ok. And the Dyson suspension…… that was ok too. But WHY the Price laptop incident? Let it go!!!!!! How about the McAlarney suspension from Notre Dame? LET IT GO!!!!! All of the idiot tv announcers who MUST mention these incidents that happened a year ago, or two years ago in the case of Price, LET IT GO! Every basketball fan in America (and by now probably in Indonesia too) knows and hears the story in EVERY basketball game that UConn or ND plays. Now I don’t condone players using drugs, or theft, but I do know one thing. I want to hear about how the players are doing in the game I’m watching. Price has paid the penalty for what he did. He lost a year. McAlarney has paid his penalty too. He got kicked out of school, and lost a year. But you know what, Packer & Lundquist? They have done very well thank you since their reinstatements. They have not been in trouble again. They have done their best to be models of what a young man can do to make up for a mistake. I’m sure Mr. Packer, Mr. Lundquist and all the announcers on Big East regional and national games have never done anything wrong. I’m sure they were all model citizens from day one to the present. I’m sure that if they did ever make a mistake they would want it to be mentioned every time someone saw them on screen so that no one would forget just how bad they really were. So to Packer, Lundquist and the others— Just talk about the games when you have the floor. That’s what we want to listen to. Yes, we all know that they are bad boys and should have been punished for their misdeeds. BUT THEY WERE!!!!! And they didn’t quit even though I’m sure they thought that maybe someone would be cruel enough to mention it every chance they got. 

Categories: Coach O, Commentary
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Taking a leaf from Big Willie Style’s post last week….. here goes:

Luke Harangody right now is the Big East Player of the Year. Hands down! Just watched him score 32 on PC and make the 2 free throws that tied the game in regulation and sent it to OT where ND finally got their scoring touch back. PC can shoot the 3′s from halfcourt or maybe farther and started to late in the game but Coach Brey’s boys used dribble penetration and Haragody’s strength to take charge and win the game extending their home win streak to 32.

UConn can win without the Dyson. Both Wiggins and Dyson are tied now with 2 failed drug tests each. They will definitely set a Big East record for failed tests by the time they are seniors if either make it that far. Both being Sophs, it may be best for the Huskies to sit them on the pines and let Stanley Robinson and A.J. Price shine. The team is much better chemistry wise with Dyson in his dorm room.

Georgetown can destroy an opponent. After so many close wins the Hoyas made St. John’s look like a HS JVteam last night.

WVU cannot win when going 1-22 from 3-point land. I was watching the UC-WVU game and couldn’t believe the shooting futility of the ‘Neers. 1-22 from three and not much better from close range. A team can’t shoot 20% in a Big East game and break the 40 point mark.

THIS IS A CRAZY – TYPICAL BIG EAST SEASON. Never seen anything like this. EVER!. Not since last year….. and we won’t see another crazy, topsy-turvy season in the BE for a long time— probably not till next year! What a league!!!! By far, the best, most entertaining and unpredictable league in the USA!

BIG EAST HOOPS ARE THE GREATEST – DUDE!

Categories: Coach O, Commentary
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