Loyola’s Patsos in the News Again; UCLA Tumbles

Loyola of Maryland isn’t a very good college basketball team, and their coach isn’t exactly Roy Williams-caliber famous. But they seem to keep making the news. Today Loyola (MD) head coach Jimmy Patsos has made the national news for holding prolific scorer Stephen Curry to zero points in Davidson’s game versus Loyola. Coach Patsos decided to double team Curry the whole game, even when the three versus four defense stopped becoming effective and the Wildcats went up by over 20. Patsos kept to his guns and now he’s in the news again.

In other news, UCLA is scratching their heads at the Poll numbers. They dropped a full nine spots to No. 13 in the latest AP Poll, after losing to a mediocre Michigan team this past week. Is this a sign that the Bruins aren’t as good as previously thought? Are they having trouble making up for the loss of so many stars from last year’s team? Or is it just an early season fluke? Stay tuned.

To get NCAA basketball tickets, go to StubHub.com.

Permalink - Posted in General on November 26, 2008 - Post a comment

Indiana Hangs in the Balance

The Indiana Hoosiers men’s basketball team might get some very bad news soon. The NCAA is set to brig the hammer down on the university’s hoops team for several major infractions that former coach Kelvin Sampson committed while he was the head coach. Tom Crean, the current coach, has requested that college basketball’s governing body show leniency, and he has some good points. Most of the team’s players are gone- either transferred, kicked out or graduated. They have reduced the scholarships and the team is set to be among the worst in the Big Ten this season. They’d be punishing the wrong people.

Then again, there’s a reason there’s rules. Justice must be served, even if Sampson, the true bad guy in this situation, has gotten off Scott free. It’s a lesson for other programs as well. Hire character. What will the NCAA decide? We will find out shortly, and we’ll be sure to give you out there in the blogosphere the scoop when the decision is made. Let’s hope it’s just and fair, and doesn’t hurt the innocent

To get NCAA basketball tickets, go to StubHub.com.

Permalink - Posted in General on November 25, 2008 - Post a comment

UConn-Wisconsin Set for Paradise Jam Final

The Final Four Blog has been hyping the Paradise Jam for a while now, because it’s no secret that the bloggers here love the San Diego Toreros. But besides that, the event takes place in the Virgin Islands, and there are some really great college hoops teams playing there, and the games have not been bad either. Just yesterday San Diego lost to Wisconsin and Miami was defeated by UConn, setting up the final game of the tournament- UConn vs. Wisconsin.

Currently the Associated Press has UConn ranked as the No. 2 team in the nation, and the Wisconsin Badgers are ranked No. 25. Depending on how this championship game turns out, the Badgers might move up in the poll and the Huskies might move down. Of course, if the favored Huskies prevail, they will solidify their place in the elite, and add another tanked team to their list of vanquished foes, which already includes No. 17 Miami. Look out for a battle of big men tonight with 7-3 Hasheem Thabeet playing 6-10 Jon Leuer.

To get NCAA basketball tickets, go to StubHub.com.

Permalink - Posted in General on November 24, 2008 - Post a comment

Coaching Trees in the College Game; Hot Weekend Games

If you got to BasketballProspectus.com, you;ll find a very interesting article about coaching trees in the NBA, although, considering the number of coaches that have jumped back and forth between the NCAA and NBA, there are still a few coaching trees out there that have plenty to do with college hoops. There’s a Dean Smith tree and a Rick Pitino tree as well. Very enlightening.

Also- for fans hoping to get tickets, here are the top three games per weekend day from around the country. It’s this blog’s opinion, of course…. Who wouldn’t want to go to the U.S. Virgin Islands to watch San Diego play Valpo?

Friday:
Memphis-Seton Hall
Duke-Michigan
Akron-Pittsburgh

Saturday:
Marquette-Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Clemson-Charlotte
Oral Roberts-Creighton

Sunday:
Princeton-Army
Duke-Montana
Pepperdine-Arizona State

To get NCAA basketball tickets, go to StubHub.com.

Permalink - Posted in General on November 21, 2008 - Post a comment

Strange Stories of the Hardwood: Vitale, Loyola

Dick Vitale will attempt to tone the volume of his rants down a few notches this season, heeding a request from his doctors, who believe that if he does not make efforts at decreasing the strain n his vocal chords, he could lose his voice permanently. Vitale had surgery on his throat last year. He will no longer do double header games.  Vitale is also working with voice specialists and therapists to learn how to talk without hurting his already damaged vocal chords.

In other slightly weird news, the Loyola of Maryland basketball coach spent much of the second half in the stands, watching his team play out the rest of the game. While the article title makes the situation seem as though the coach was somehow being a poor sport or a drama queen, if you actually read the article, you’ll see that the ref seems to be mostly at fault. The coach, one Jimmy Patsos, was trying not to get ejected from the game as one of the refs seems to have had it out for him. Reminds us of that incident between the ref and Tim Duncan, where Duncan was ejected for laughing.

To get NCAA basketball tickets, go to StubHub.com.

Permalink - Posted in General on November 20, 2008 - Post a comment

Curry vs. Griffin: Davidson vs. Oklahoma

Davidson and Oklahoma played basketball last night. The matchup was one of the most anticipated games of the year, and it plays out before the first week of hoops was even over. The first few weeks of college basketball action are always filled with some good non-conference games, and this one was quite a crowd pleaser. Oklahoma (ranked No. 12 in the preseason AP Poll) ended up winning the game 82-78 versus Davidson (No. 21) but the real story of the game was Blake Griffin versus Stephen Curry.

Curry and Griffin are expected to be All-Americans this season, future NBA players who will be among the most hyped players all year long. Curry was his usual high-scoring self, notching 44 points, while Griffin had a wonderful all-around game with 25 points and 21 rebounds. Oklahoma gets the W but the fans (including some NBA players in attendance) were the real winners.

Also, if you’re interested in some random hoops hoopla, check out the Sports Illustrated writer’s picks for their All-Star teams. You’ll notice that Griffin and Curry feature prominently.

To get NCAA basketball tickets, go to StubHub.com.

Permalink - Posted in General on November 19, 2008 - Post a comment

Remembering Pete Newell

Pete Newell, one of the most famous men in basketball, passed away yesterday at the age of 93. Newell, who was legendary as a coach and a player in both college and the NBA, and sponsored a famous big man basketball camp in his later years, will be remembered by many who loved him for his warm character and the contributions he made to the game. In remembrance of Pete Newell, we’ll list just a few of his accomplishments.

  • All time coaching record of 234-123 (.655)
  • U.S. Navy WWII 1942 to 1946
  • University of San Francisco 1949 NIT Championship
  • Michigan State University head coach 1950-1954
  • Cal Berkeley head coach, NCAA Tourney championship 1959
  • 119-44 (.730) record as head coach at Cal
  • 1960 Summer Olympic Gold Medal
  • “Tripple Crown of College Hoops” NCAA, NIT, Olympic championships
  • Executive/consultant with L.A. Lakers, Houston Rockets, Golden State Warriors
  • “Pete Newell’s Big Man Camp” trained stars like Bill Walton, Hakeem Olajuwon, Shaquille O’Neal…

To get NCAA basketball tickets, go to StubHub.com.

Permalink - Posted in General on November 18, 2008 - Post a comment

College Team Mascots and More

Every once in a while you’re going to run across a team with a funny mascot. While some team names are a dime a dozen- like the Tigers, the Bears, the Broncos- there are always a few out there that leave you scratching your head. ESPN has a nice little article about the weirdest team names in college hoops. The weirdest team name? The Banana Slugs, the team mascot of UC Santa Cruz. There are other good ones, like the Cobbers, the Geoducks and the Ichabods. Make sure you check out the list, because your school might be on there. As a graduate of the University of San Diego, this blogger was glad that he didn’t find his own school mascot on the list: the Toreros.

Also, if you’re looking for something a little more academic than a list of funny school mascots, you can go straight to BasketballProspectus.com to see a nice little overview of North Carolina, the consensus No. 1 team in the nation, according to every major poll.

To get NCAA basketball tickets, go to StubHub.com.

Permalink - Posted in General on November 17, 2008 - Post a comment

Purdue: Gonna Be Good This Season

With a No. 11 ranking in the preseason AP Top 25 Poll, the Purdue Boilermakers won’t surprise many people if they win the Big Ten and get to the Sweet Sixteen this season. It’s well known that they went to the second round of the Tourney last year and won 25 games in the regular season, including two against Wisconsin, which were the only two conference losses the Badgers suffered.

In 2008 BasketballProspectus.com expects that the Boilermakers will be as good, if not better than they were last season, as they return their whole starting lineup, and should only get better at getting points in the paint. If you take a look at the Purdue preview at BP.com, you’ll see a nice little breakdown of just how scared you should be if you see Purdue on your hoops team’s schedule this season.
Boilermaker fans, prepare to get tickets to the Dance, and make sure you have some hoops tickets to last you throughout the regular season.

To get NCAA Basketball tickets, go to StubHub.com.

Permalink - Posted in General on November 14, 2008 - Post a comment

Sports Illustrated’s Top College Hoops Storylines

Sports Illustrated is good at illustrating things (who would have guessed), so they put together a little slideshow illustrating what they perceive to be the top 15 storylines of the college hoops season so far. While it’s just preseason right now and there are going to be many more storylines to come, there is still plenty to talk about as the season gets underway. These subjects are covered in the picture show, along with many others:

  • North Carolina’s psycho-stressed Tyler
  • Stephen Curry- can he live up to expectations?
  • Can the Big East send six (or perhaps seven?) teams to the Tourney?
  • How will Arizona move on post-Lute?
  • Will North Carolina win it all?
  • Will Florida make a comeback?
  • Can Crean save Indiana from disaster?

To get NCAA basketball tickets, go to StubHub.com.

Permalink - Posted in General on November 13, 2008 - Post a comment


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