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.

Categories: Commentary, Georgetown, donald, Louisville
2 Comments »

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: Commentary, Georgetown, Connecticut, Notre Dame, Marquette, Louisville, Coach O, Postseason
4 Comments »

From this article:

Louisville harried Georgetown with its press, forcing the normally deliberate Hoyas into 15 turnovers. When the Hoyas managed to get into their offensive set, they rushed shots and hardly played with the efficiency that has carried them all season.

I’ve been saying this for a while. The way to beat Georgetown is to reduce the amount of time they spend in their half court set. Villanova did it last year quite effectively. Looks like Rick Pitino has been reading bigeasthoops.com.

Categories: Commentary, Georgetown, donald, Louisville
1 Comment »

It’s hard for me to feel sorry for Rick Pitino and the Louisville Cardinals. They had it all this year. I even picked them to win the Big East. Then their whole front line goes down and by the end of the 2nd game of the season both Palacios and Padgett are gone. Palacios for most if not all of December and Padgett probably for his season and career. It got me to thinking…… Maybe this team is snake-bitten. But no, they still have Derrick Caracter up front. Caracter came in last year as probably the most highly regared recruit in the league. They should be okay until Palacios comes back.

Caracter is an enigma. Here is a player who would have gone right to the NBA if not for the new rule last year that he would have to at least spend a year in college before becoming a ‘can’t miss’ pro. Then I read that Pitino had him sign a contract stating that he would keep his weight down (under 300 pounds or something like that) and go to class. GO TO CLASS!!!!! Wait a minute…… A college player has to sign a contract that he would actually attend classes in his spare time. Okay, there’s something I never thought I would see. Oh, well. Louisville has had a checkered academic past. But lo and behold, Caracter gets suspended last year for not living up to the contract he signed. Maybe he ate everything in the cafeteria……maybe he couldn’t find time for classes. Whatever, the Cards had enough to get along quite nicely without the big guy for a stretch last year and make a very respectable showing in conference and NCAA tournaments.

Move ahead to this year. Palacios and Padgett go down with serious injuries but the Cards will be ok because Caracter has slimmed down and is becoming a force down low. What??? He is indefintely suspended by coach Pitino for breaking curfew. Now Louisville is but a shadow of its former self. The team struggles to put 47 points on the board in one game and loses to weak early season foes. The Cards fans are in disbelief. Now the Cards have seven scholarship players on the roster and are recruiting football players to fill the seats on the bench. And Caracter continues to show little regard for his teammates, coach, and the Louisville fans with his selfish behavior. His pro prospects probably a thing of the past, he has probably helped to put a final dagger into a team that was struggling to stay afloat. Yes, Louisville fans, Coach Pitino is partly to blame for recruiting this kid. He had to have a lot of baggage from his high school days. And probably Pitino thought he could turn the kid around. But the pressure on coaches to win at all costs results in recruits like this one. His upside……. tremendous potential. His downside…… everything else. Now Pitino has no one to handle the job in the low post. And yes, I do feel sorry for the Cards’ fans. They didn’t deserve this with season expectations so high. Maybe when Palacios comes back in late December the Cardinals will have a bit of success.

But what Pitino should do now is cut ties with his problem child. Because who knows how long he will stay on the team if Pitino lets him come back. And the yo-yo status will continue. No Padgett…… No Palacios….. No Caracter! In this case a team without Caracter would be a team with a lot more character.

Categories: Commentary, Louisville, Coach O
33 Comments »

The way Louisville began the season last year everyone thought that there would be a collapse here. But as the year moved along the Cards got stronger.They solidified themselves at every position and didn’t show many weaknesses. Well all five starters return and the bench is by far the strongest in the Big East.

Frontcourt - David Padgett (9.5ppg, 5.6rpg) is an outstanding man in the post. He is a notch below Hibbert, but who isn’t. Padgett will combine with Juan Palacios (8.9ppg, 5.5rpg) for the starting front line. Palacios can go to the hoop or shoot from long range. These two fine players are backed up by Derrick Caracter (8.1ppg, 3.9rpg). If Caracter can keep his weight down below 300 pounds and stay out of Coach Pitino’s doghouse there isn’t a frontline with the talent and depth that the Cards have. Freshmen Clarence Holloway and George Goode will lend minutes off the bench. Goode may challenge for serious playing time. GRADE - A

Backcourt - Terrence Williams (12.4ppg, 7.0rpg) had an outstanding year at SF. His backup, Jerry Smith (8.0ppg, 3.6rpg) posted starter’s numbers. And throw Earl Clark (5.9ppg, 3.8rpg) into the mix and there is incredible talent and depth here. Reginald Delk (9.5ppg, 2.0rpg) comes back to the SG position. Delk will be backed up by Andre McGee (2.6ppg, 1.1rpg). Edgar Sosa (11.4ppg, 2.6apg) became a strong presence at the point. He has to watch his passes and sometimes should dump off instead of forcing a shot. But most BE teams would gladly take Sosa to run their offenses. Will Scott (3.5ppg, 0.9rpg) can play at any of the backcourt positions. The backcourt doesn’t have the talent of the starters for Marquette, but they possess much more depth. GRADE - A+

Depth - No team has the depth that the Cards possess. Caracter down low with 8ppg, and the combination of Smith, Clark, McGee, and Scott outside give Louisville the opportunity of not losing a step in case of foul trouble or injury. The freshmen will have the luxury of playing for a few minutes a game and practicing against a team of this quality. GRADE - A+

Outlook - On paper, Louisville looks like an easy choice to win the Big East this year. They have a strong front line, a great backcourt, a plethora of depth at every position, experience in the NCAA’s and Rick Pitino. I was always a tough marker as a teacher and coach but this looks like one of those no brainer grades. GRADE - A+

Categories: Commentary, Louisville, Coach O
1 Comment »