Don’t sleep on James’ dominance amid other great performances

When is 18 greater than 39? When you’re a stat stuffer like Florida State’s Bernard James.

Two Monday night games demonstrated the importance of evaluating a player’s total contribution to his team, especially for defensive-minded squads like coach Leonard Hamilton’s Seminoles. Florida State has emerged as one of the toughest teams to score against these days, and James is the centerpiece of that defense.

In Florida State’s 73-50 win against Central Florida, James finished with 18 points, 11 rebounds — five at the offensive end — and three blocks. Those numbers are solid, but they don’t pop out as much as those of Central Connecticut State’s Kyle Vinales. The freshman guard put up 39 points in the Blue Demons’ high-scoring 102-93 overtime loss to Niagara. … Continue Reading

The Value of Tempo Free

The games, thankfully, have begun in earnest. The time is appropriate to go over a few ideas regarding the study of tempo-free analysis. The tempo-free movement, if you will, is growing. Thanks to the work of Ken Pomeroy and the group at basketballprospectus.com, there is a much greater emphasis or at least exposure to the idea of using tempo free analysis to study trends. Baseball was enlightened by the work of Bill James. Many of his disciples have worked at applying his analysis to the basketball court. Basketball analysis is still relatively in its infancy but in the last five years alone significant strides have been made.

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Northeastern’s frontcourt looks much better already

BOSTON – One reason Northeastern is a hard team to project this season is the frontcourt. The Huskies were beaten badly on the backboards last season, and the group got something of an overhaul with the freshmen they have. The backcourt was fine, but the frontcourt was sure to have a different look and, since it’s a young group, some growing pains. If first impressions are worth anything, though, the Huskies may be a team we can project more favorably, because they more than held their own in Northeastern’s 82-74 win at Boston University on Friday.

The one statistic that will leap out at you is rebounding. Northeastern out-rebounded Boston University 52-32, and it wasn’t just the raw numbers that tell the story. The Huskies rebounded 19 of 39 available misses of their shots, and 33 of 45 available Terrier misses. They had a 22-11 edge in second-chance points. Two players, include one of the freshmen, had double-doubles with points and rebounds.

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Northeastern-BU reminds us what we miss and will miss more

BOSTON – The gym was packed. Not only that, but it was a lively crowd, rocking from start to finish and on seemingly every play. It helped that the game went to overtime, although that didn’t always look like it would be the case as the visitors led by double digits for a stretch in the second half. It wasn’t just the home team whose fans made the atmosphere what it was, because the visiting team had its share of fans as well. In short, it was a great setting.

And sadly, it’s relevant to things to come in the larger picture of college basketball.

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Michigan State and Big Ten look for port during storm

As college basketball officially starts its 2011-12 season, teams from the Big Ten place themselves right in the middle of the action.

As I am writing this, I am anxiously awaiting tip-off of the North Carolina vs. Michigan State game being played on the bow of the USS Carl Vinson in homage of Veterans Day. Regardless of the outcome, this is a very important game for college basketball and its relativity to America. … Continue Reading

Quick Hitters – November 11, 2011

Some quick hitters as we reach the night college basketball opens for all teams:

• St. John’s showed that they are a scrappy bunch and will try to win games by speeding teams up and winning the hustle battle.  In each of their first two games, they turned the game around by speeding up the opponent and turning loose balls and second chances into baskets.  They are a very young group, but they’re athletic and acquitted themselves very well in starting out 2-0 this week.

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2011-12 Big East Conference Preview

The Big East Conference as a whole is in flux as we start the 2011-12 college basketball season, but all that realignment is still a year or more in the future. The strongest basketball conference in the country last year sent a record-setting 11 teams to the NCAA Tournament.

The Darlings of the Dance were the Kemba Walker-led Connecticut Huskies who went on a tear winning five straight games to capture the Big East’s automatic bid by winning the conference tournament. The Huskies went on to win six more games and win the national title, defeating the Butler Bulldogs, 53-41. … Continue Reading

2011-12 Missouri Valley Conference Preview

Although the Missouri Valley Conference fielded just one team in the NCAA Tournament last season, there are plenty of reasons to look forward to the 2011-12 campaign.

Missouri State became the first regular-season MVC champion in more than a decade to miss the NCAA Tourney after its unexpected loss to Indiana State in the conference tournament. As has been the case several times during the past 10 seasons, the Bears found themselves on the wrong side of the bubble, even with a 15-3 conference mark. Preseason favorite and regular-season runner-up Wichita State also found itself settling for an NIT bid after Selection Sunday, as the Valley received no at-large bids in what was considered a down year for the league. … Continue Reading

2011-12 CAA Preview

Simply put, 2010-11 was the greatest season in CAA history to date. For the first time, the conference had three teams reach the NCAA Tournament, then saw George Mason win a game, Old Dominion nearly knock off national runner-up Butler, and of course VCU knock off a string of good teams en route to the Final Four. Two more teams reached postseason play in the College Basketball Invitational. That’s not all: six teams recorded at least 21 wins for the first time ever and the conference had its best nonconference record ever at 90-63.

How do they follow that up? With a lot of question marks at first glance, though the feeling around the conference is, naturally, an optimistic one. … Continue Reading

Red Storm Prey on Freshman Mistakes

With seven freshmen and nine newcomers on the roster, St. John’s will probably suffer through a fair share of mistakes made by inexperienced players this season. But on opening night, the Red Storm thrived off the miscues of an opponent’s young point guard.

St. John’s overcame a rough first half in which the Red Storm fell behind William & Mary by seven points. After the break, St. John’s amped up the pressure, and the Tribe’s freshman point guard, Marcus Thornton, couldn’t handle it. Thornton finished with seven of William & Mary’s 21 turnovers.

Sophomore Juco transfer Nurideen Lindsey was a frequent tormentor of Thornton. One of the Red Storm’s much-heralded newcomers, Lindsey did a little bit of everything, … Continue Reading

2011-12 Big Ten Conference Preview

Ah yes, Big Ten basketball – the red-headed stepchild of Division 1. The conference consists of some of the top powerhouses in the sport’s past (Indiana, Purdue, Illinois), present (Michigan State, Ohio State) and possibly future (Wisconsin, Penn State). And yet, the Big Ten lacks the same respect given to the Big East, ACC or Big 12.

Ohio State has had the Big Ten on lock the last half decade, and I don’t believe this season will be any different. … Continue Reading

Providence Has New Coach But Same Old Players

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – As Providence College enters the 2011-12 season, there’s a tale of the new and the old. The new is reason for optimism, the old is reason for patience if you’re a Friar fan, and there was a little more of the old on Saturday as the Friars narrowly escaped their second exhibition game with a 76-75 win over a UMass-Lowell team that projects to be one of the best in Division II.

Last season was a forgettable one in Friartown, at least once Big East play began. The Friars looked improved in non-conference play, especially defensively, but they did that against a weak schedule. That became apparent once they started losing games in Big East play en route to a 4-14 mark, which led to the end of the Keno Davis era and the hiring of Providence native Ed Cooley to take his place. Cooley’s hire brings excitement because of his track record and being a hometown hero, but the story doesn’t end there.

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2011-12 Big Sky Conference Preview

It was a great year for the Big Sky Conference in 2010-2011. A record four teams participated in the postseason, with Northern Colorado (21-11), Montana (21-11), Weber State (18-14) and Northern Arizona (19-13) all playing into the third weekend of March.

Northern Colorado earned its first-ever Big Sky championship and NCAA Tournament berth on the back of conference MVP Devon Beitzel, who led the league in points (21.5), free throw percentage (90.4) and made 3-pointers (74). Beitzel was also selected to the United States Basketball Writers District VIII team, the Lou Henson All-America team and an AP All-American honorable mention after averaging 1.8 assists, 1.4 steals and 2.7 3-pointers made per game. … Continue Reading

New-Look Eagles Have a Long Way to Grow

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – Get a program, Eagle fans. You’re going to need it. While you’re at it, you might also want to get some patience, if that’s possible.

The most salient thing about this year’s Boston College team is what’s new about it. 11 players are new, including seven scholarship freshmen on what might be the youngest college basketball team in some time. Among the holdovers, only three have even appreciable experience playing games in the program (senior John Cahill and sophomores Gabe Moton and Danny Rubin), and only one other has significant Division I experience (junior Matt Humphrey, a transfer from Oregon). Also noteworthy is that there is no one who played during the Al Skinner era save for senior walk-on Peter Rehnquist.

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Reaching the Postseason Again Will be a Tall Order for URI

SOUTH KINGSTON, R.I. – Rhode Island has been a consistent postseason team in recent years and a fairly solid upper-half team in the Atlantic 10 during that stretch. If they are to continue that this season, a lot of unknowns need to become known, and in a positive manner.

You could tell listening to head coach Jim Baron that this team enters the season a little different from the last few. Whereas each of those teams had some significant contributors returning, and thus had some known quantities, this one really lacks that. Gradually, this team has lost some very good players little by little, and it’s debatable whether they’ve replaced them with comparable combinations of talent and experience. That leaves him with his current team, which he described after their first exhibition game on Friday night.

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2011-12 Conference USA Preview

Conference USA returns all of its coaches from last season, but it’s losing a lot of very talented players. Memphis is lucky to retain everyone from last year except Will Coleman. If they play like the Tigers did in the conference tournament, they will have no problem dominating the conference.

If there is one team that can give Memphis a run for its money, it’s Marshall. Marshall guards Damien Pitts, Shaquille Johnson and DeAndre Kane will be a scary match up for any C-USA foe.

UCF has the talent and UAB has the coaching to make some noise, but after that, the talent drop-off is remarkable. Don’t expect to see the same in-conference parity that we saw last year. … Continue Reading

2011-12 ACC Preview

Entering last season, Duke was the clear favorite to win the national title. The Blue Devils’ Tobacco Road rivals figured to be No. 2 in the conference as North Carolina had some proven talent. But the Tar Heels would need to rely on a bunch of freshmen to reach their potential and they didn’t seem to be a serious threat to the Blue Devils’ veteran lineup that added a couple of great freshmen. … Continue Reading

2011-12 Horizon League Preview

The saying, “It’s not how you start, but how you finish,” sums up the Horizon League last season.

Led by the transcendent play of NBA first-round draft pick Norris Cole, the Cleveland State Vikings jumped out to a 12-0 start to the season. Unfortunately for the Vikings, the lack of consistent play from their bench eventually caught up to them, and the Vikings lost five Horizon League conference games on their way to a three-way tie for first place.

After losing Gordon Hayward to the NBA draft, Butler was not expected to repeat its remarkable run to the NCAA championship game. Butler started the season slowly, losing multiple games in nonconference play. Following a loss to Youngstown State, many observers most likely thought that it would be an accomplishment for Butler to make the NCAA Tournament, let alone make another appearance in the NCAA championship game. However, Butler proceeded to once again shock the college basketball world … Continue Reading

Doing the Conference Shuffle

Every day there are rumors and supposition regarding conference realignment and expansion.  “Super” conferences. The end of the Big East. The end of the Big XII. The expansion of same. Overtures made. Invitations sought. Repeat.

While the primary focus of these machinations is football (and the money that sport’s automatic bids and bowl structure bring), men’s basketball is seemingly overlooked, save for those awkward (and more common) “member-for-football-only” followed by “all-other-sports-will-be-in-Conference-B” announcements.

That being said, it is helpful to sort through the speculation and determine what changes are already in place.  Below are the conference membership changes for this 2011-2012 season: … Continue Reading

Lots of Learning Ahead in the CAA

We’re going to learn a lot about the Colonial Athletic Association this season. That might seem obvious considering many will be interested to see how the teams in the conference respond after the great success of last season, but there’s a different angle in mind with that: it’s a conference in some transition from a personnel standpoint. It’s not exactly the “get a program” type of transition, but suffice it to say that as we enter the season, a lot of teams have more questions than answers in that area.

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