Big East Hoops

Questions

donald — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 03:56:11 +0000

First off, congratulations to Pittsburgh. You’ve been in seven of the last eight Big East Championships, and now you have two wins. You’re a lot better than most people think you are. A healthy Levance Fields changes everything, and DeJuan Blair is a monster.

Here are my main questions after tonight:

Now that Pittsburgh overachieved in the Big East Tourney, can they get over the hump in NCAA tournament play? Can they get past the Sweet Sixteen for the first time since 1974, and into the Final Four for the first time since 1941? They’ve been a mainstay in the Big East and national picture for the last 10 years or so. Is this their year to get over the hump?
If DeJuan Blair was white, would he get the same love that Kevin Love gets? Honestly, the media adores Kevin Love just as much as they do good ole boys like Peyton Manning and Brett Favre. But I think DeJuan Blair is just as good.
Will Patrick Ewing, Jr. be a second round draft pick? I think yes. He has a lot of potential.
Why does Patrick Ewing Jr. have a “Ewing, Jr.” on the back of his jersey (this was what I was getting at last year). His last name is Ewing, not “Ewing, Jr.”, and there are no other Ewings on the team. Bizarre.

Nostradonaldmus speaks

donald — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 07:25:59 +0000

Louisville will beat Georgetown and claim the Big East season title.

Georgetown will win the Big East Championship in Madsion Square Garden.

The Big East will get 7 teams into the NCAA tournament.

Weekend bullets

donald — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 08:49:46 +0000

The Marquette-Georgetown game this weekend was one of the best Big East games all season long (we’ve had a ton this year). Much sympathy to Big Willie who was forced over to the Florida game. Big play after big play from both teams. If you have a few minutes in your day, watch the clips below — it’s a condensed version of the end of regulation.
Georgetown down 57-59 with 1:27 left. This happens:

On the next play…

Burke misses the free-throw, so its Marquette 61, Georgetown 59, when Hibbert makes a great pass to a cutting Ewing…

Ewing makes 1 of 2 free throws, and Georgetown fouls Wes Matthews of Marquette, who makes both free throws. At this point, the score is Marquette 63, Georgetown 60. Then this:

My take: he did get fouled, Jonathan Wallace sold the foul really well…but that was like the fourth straight call that Georgetown got in a row.

More links from the blogosphere: Cracked Sidewalks, Hoya Saxa, and AOL FanHouse, where Charles Rich breaks out the truth:

You know, some people will say that Georgetown has something magical happening very quietly. Others will say that they are just getting some incredible luck/breaks/calls by the refs that have to go the other way at some point.

I can understand both views, but I’m leaning towards luck issue. Not that it can’t carry them pretty far. Not that they the Hoyas didn’t put themselves in the position to win those games. Not that Georgetown is a bad team or isn’t capable of winning a lot of games in March without getting things to fall their way. It’s just that the Big East play has been exceptional in the bounces going Georgetown’s way.

Whether it was the block/goaltend call at West Virginia; a last second “foul” that 9 times out of 10 would be a no-call; and now getting a 3-point foul called in the final seconds Georgetown has had the late calls go in their favor.

Not to give myself credit here, but my Duke-Georgetown theory is really holding up.
This weekend, Syracuse was the anti-Georgetown, and Georgetown the anti-Syracuse. Georgetown somehow won a game they totally didn’t deserve to win (see Jonathan Wallace getting “fouled” at the end of regulation above, as well as . Syracuse, on the other hand, found a way to lose a game to Pittsburgh in which they were up by 11 with less than 4 minutes to go.
One thing that has always amazed me about Georgetown is their ability to use the last 10 seconds of the shot clock as effectively as the first 10 seconds (or any other 10 seconds, on the other hand). Coach Thompson must run some sort of drill to ensure that they don’t freak out with the shot clock expiring. More often than not, they get a backdoor pass or an open three in the last few seconds, something that is utterly devastating to the defense.
West Virginia still has no quality win. They could have gotten one this weekend against UConn, but fell behind early. Monday’s WVU-Pitt game will be an absolute must for both teams. The winner of that game makes the NCAAs. The Big East may be the biggest, baddest conference out there, but they aren’t sending 7 teams to the big dance. Monday’s matchup will be something to watch. Mark my words: Joe Alexander will disappear. Why? I’ll be watching the game. He is one of those players that suck so hard when I’m watching, but put up big games when I’m not (such as his 32 point outburst against UConn this weekend).

Marquette Win Puts Pressure On Leaders

Coach O — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 16:32:26 +0000

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!

Worst call of the year

donald — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 17:11:39 +0000

There’s nothing I can say that would add to what Jay Bilas said (as usual).

Great use of the press by Jay Wright, though. Villanova almost always seems to play Georgetown tight because of this.

(Editor’s note: I retract my original love for ESPN. You’ll notice that if you go to this page, there is no embed text, so it seems like you can’t put it in your blog. If you look at other game highlights, you’ll notice the same thing. But, if you go to one of their videos with some fucktards (excluding Jay Bilas, of course) wanking it around a table discussing “bracketology” — well, of course then you can embed the video. Dumb.)