Duke goes Down!!

Sorry for the delay ladies and gentlemen I had a very busy holiday season, but with the National Championship for football out of the way it is now time for college basketball, the greatest sport in all the land. 

And right away with college basketball in the forefront the #1 team in the country, the Duke University Blue Devils goes down to Florida State, just further proof that it is gettin increasingly harder to go undefeated in college basketball. 

So why did Duke lose you may ask, well here is a few reasons.

1.  Duke shot 35 3's!!
Ok any team that shoots 35 threes in a game and only score 61 points is probably not going to win.  Duke was settling way too much for the outside shot and not doing what got them to where they were, which is starting inside and then playing off the bigs to get three's that way.  Duke is much better when they are playing inside out, and today they were playing just outside.  This is not Duke basketball.

2. They didn't win the turnover battle.
They didn't techincally lose it either with each team turning it over 15 times, but Duke thrives on getting teams to rush their pace and commit silly turnovers.  I thought Florida St. was very poised tonight and they fought throught the singature Blue Devil pressure.  If their is a blueprint on how to beat Duke you have to have good guards, and Florida St proved that they do. 

3. Derwin Kitchen played out of his mind!!
Speaking of Florida St guards, Mr. Kitchen, who averages 9.5 points/game had 22 points and 10 rebounds.  That is a season high in points and tied for 2nd in rebounds for him and he was very efficient.  Going 9-13 from the floor and only committing one turnover in 36 minutes of play.  That is the type of performance you need if you are going to beat Duke, and he looked awfully good doing that.  This kid is for real. 

4.  Duke bench did not perform.
With teh injury to Kyrie Irving the Blue Devils are thinner now, but only 11 points from your bench on 3-12 shooting.  You have got to get more production from your bench.  Duke had five playes play 30 minutes tonight, and this might be a problem come March if Singler or Nolan gets in foul trouble. 

5.  Florida St. hit their free throws at the end.
This can't be stated enough.  Florida St. only went 12-18 from the free throw line but they made them when it mattered.  5-6 in the final minute helped them keep the lead and made Duke settle for outside shots. 

All in all good work to Florida St.  They played like a team should play the Blue Devils, slow, methodical and under control.  Duke still is one of the top teams in the country but on this night FSU the heart of the lion and sent the Dukies to their first loss of the season!

Congrats FSU

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Where have all the big men gone?

Recently a friend of mine was arguing with me about why Duke is not going to go undefeated this year, or even win the National Championship. 

His reasoning. "They have no dominant big man!!"
My rebuttle:  "They didnt have one last year and look how they did"

That got me thinking.  Years ago you needed a dominant low-post threat to win.  Last year Duke's three best players were all either guards or point-forwards (Nolan Smith, Kyle Singler, and John Scheyer)  So what changed? 

I think the way players play the game has changed.  Players that were normally not allowed to leave the low-post can now shoot 3's and shoot them well.  The past few years players like Kevin Love, Kevin Pittsnogle, and Austin Daye have proved that now no matter how tall you are, you can still have a sily stroke that is good from downtown.  Tall kids now a days are spindly thin and instead of getting in the weight room  to bulk up so they can bang down low, they work on their outside shot so they can be more "versatile".  They are taking the way out of trying to improve their stroke instead of getting big and becoming a bigger force in the paint.  I think the NBA with players over 6'10 like Dirk Nowitzki and Channing Frye being able to fire bomb from all over the court has had an influence on the tall players of America.  They would rather shoot like Kevin Durant and play outside then bang inside like Dwight Howard. 

I also think that the speed of the game has changed.  Players like John Wall and Kyrie Irving, and Darren Collison get up the court so fast that the big men either have to be in great shape to run with them, straddle behind and not get their touches, or stay out on the wing.  Scoring has gone up from what it was just 10 years ago, and it is because the game has sped up.  Shooting percentages are similar to what they were 10 years ago but the amount of shots taken has gone up because teams are now flying up the court and getting to the hoop quicker.  This has turned the attention from getting the ball down in the low post to the big man to having the guards get in the lane to either shoot kick out to a shooter on the wing, and give the ball to the big man down on the post.  That has greatly decreased the amount of touches a big man gets during the game. 

So between improved conditioning and the player not hitting the weight room is often so they can perfect their shooting touch, those are the two main reasons why the game of basketball has evolved into what it is today.  Still a beautiful thing, just a different type of beautiful. 

Recap from Gonzaga Washington St.

Wow.

Klay Thompson and the Washington St. Cougars made Gonzaga look like... well like a team from a bottom tier conference.  I have not seen the Cougs play that well since the 2nd round win against Notre Dame in 2007.  They were hitting open shots, playing team defense, and looked like a team that will make some noise in the pac-10 this year.  They led from start to finish and the game was never in doubt the last 12 minutes.

The Cougs starting the game in the 2-3 zone took me by surprise but with the length that Gonzaga has in the front court I can see why.  You could tell right away that the Cougs were going to play hard, and you didnt get that sense from Gonzaga.  When the first tv timeout came and Gonzaga hadn't scored a bucket I thought they were going to be in trouble.  What I did not think was that they would have more turnovers than field goals made.  This is a recipe for disaster. 

The Cougs led 25-6 after some clutch shooting by Patrick Simon and then Gonzaga started to creep back.  I think most Cougar fans were feeling like this was a repeat of last years game, especially when Gonzaga came all the way back and only trailed by six at halftime.

Now I do not know what Ken Bone said in the locker room at halftime but he could not have been pleased with the last five minutes of basketball his team played.  The Cougs came out in the 2nd half and started attacking the rim.  Led by Klay Thompson, who hit only one bucket in the first half, he drove to the rim and scored on his first three shots in the 2nd.  Then he got hot.  The driving to the bucket got him some room on the 3 point line and he took advantage.  Klay drilled 3 three-pointers and the game was out of reach.

MVP: Well it has to be Klay Thompson right. 24 pts 7 stls 6 rebounds 6 assists and not one shoulder drop.  That is one of the best college stat lines you will see this year my friends, and I think it was the best game of Klay's career.  Hopefully he can build off of this and continue to mature like he said, because if this team plays like that all year they will be a force.

How did I do on my 5 keys?

Rebounding: Advantage Gonzaga and a pretty big one too at 36-25 (0-1)
Free throws: Again Advantage Gonzaga hitting 81% and the Cougs only hitting 58% (0-2)
#2 scorer for Gonzaga: Well the only one in double figures was Sam Dower, so they didn't have a number 2 scorer so I'm counting it. (1-3)
Reggie Moore's first start:  8 pt 3 assists 2 rebounds a couple of wicked crossovers on David Stockton.  I consider it a success.  (2-4)
How will Klay respond:  I think he responded pretty well (3-5)

So what was the biggest difference in the game. 
Turnovers.
Gonzaga had a whopping 24 turnovers, which isn't going to win against pretty much anyone, especially when your opponent only has nine.  Gonzaga was very sloppy with the basketball and everytime one of their bigs brought the ball down, which seemed like every play by the way, there was a Coug to slap it out of his hands.  If I'm Mark Few I'm telling Sacre and Olynik to not drop the ball below their head if they have it in the paint!!

While I am very impressed with the Cougs, I can't help but be worried about the Bulldogs.  I know Mark Few likes tough schedules, but this is borderline ridiculous as they still have Baylor, Wake Forest, Xavier, and Notre Dame.  Right now they are 4-4 and it wouldn't surprise me at all to see them with a losing record going into conference play.  While this team has a lot of length they are not tough at all, and it worries me to see that.  Mark Few teams have more success when they have less talent, and this is a very talented team that doesn't have a lot of work ethic.  They kind of remind me of the Huskies, but with a lot less talent.  That isn't a good combination.

As for my prediction I was only two points off on the Cougs score and I correctly picked the winner, so for that I am saying it was a success and I am 1-0. 

Game for 12-9:  The game I am going to blog about tomorrow is probably going to be Butler-Xavier, a rematch of a thrilling game last year that I don't think anyone quite knows still how the game ended.

Washington State Vs. Gonzaga 12-8-10

I figured that since I went to Wazzu and I have been rooting for Gonzaga since Bakari Henrix and Dan Fitzgerald were there, that my first college basketball blog should be about these two Eastern Washington programs.

I am going to put an extensive recap of what I say for both teams, but here is a quick preview.

Here are five keys to this game:

1. Rebounding
Both of these teams struggle to rebound.  A collegue of mine has told me that Rebounding isnt as much about athleticism as it is about heart.  So far WSU has shown more heart than Gonzaga.  While Gonzaga has a distinct height advantage, they don't always use it.  I think that whoever wins the rebounding battle will win this game. 

2. Free Throws
Another thing that both teams struggle with.  I think that both of the percentages will be in the 60's.  Gonzaga gets to the line more than WSU tonight because of the height advantage stated above.  If either team can be in the 70's or (gasp!) 80's for free throw percentage will win this game because both of these teams LOVE  to leave free points on the table.

3.  Who is going to be #2 scorer for Gonzaga?
We all know that Steven Gray will get ahis 20 points. But who is going to step up and be the #2 option for the Zags.  Elias Harris is still battling an achilles injury, and don't underestimate this injury because he get's his points by jumping, and a jumper with an injured achilles does not have the same burst.  Robert Sacre should be the #2 because he will have a good three inches on Casto, but I don't trust his offensive game after watching his baby hook over his right shoulder for the past four years.  Demitri Goodsen is going to get open look after open look, but he should not take these as he shoots 3-pointers about as well as Adam Morrison grows a mustache.  I don't know who will step up, but they need someone else to drop at least 15 points or the Cougs win.

4.  How will Reggie Moore play in his first start of the season?
With all due respect to Klay Thompson, anyone who watched Reggie play against Kansas St. last Friday knows that with his playmaking skills in getting to the rim, he was the best player when he was on the floor for the Cougs.  Now that he will be in the floor for 26-32 minutes will he still have the same adrenaline pumping as he did in his first minutes of the season.  Reggie Moore needs to play under control, as he can get to the rim whenever he wants.  He can not settle for jump shots, get to the hoop, get fouled, or drive and kick to Klay or Faisal on the wings.

5.  How will Klay Thompson respond?
Klay struggled against Kansas St. Yet another prime-time game where he couldn't hit open shots and he had unforced turnovers.  Last year once he had this first type of game he was not the same player for the rest of the season.  It will be very interesting to see how Klay responds.  He says he has matured as a basketball player and if that is true he will have a bounce back game today.  If his shoulders are slumping early than it could get ugly.

X-factors: Reggie Moore and Kelly Olynik

Score Prediction: Gonzaga 74  Washington St. 79

Drink of choice during game time:  Papst Blue Ribbon!!

Enjoy the game Ladies and Gentlemen I will be back after the game to see how much I really know about basketball.