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Friday, February 18, 2011

Blog # 48

My Beloved 95 Bloggees (Welcome Holt):
 
 
What a crazy game in Athens on Wednesday night when Vanderbilt defeated Georgia 64 -56 http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201102160230  I was not able to watch it but the box score and recap indicated many noteworthy happenings:
 
For Vanderbilt:
 
1. Blog favorite, John Jenkins, was shut out the first half missing all 5 field goal attempts before erupting with 21 in the second half.
2. Jeffrey Taylor was an anemic 2 for 18 from the field making him 3 for 25 or 12 % the last two games. Taylor did contribute positively with 13 rebounds.
3. Festus "Gunsmoke" Ezeli ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dwg8y3-XnIQ&feature=related ) had 7 blocked shots and 7 offensive rebounds out of his 12 total boards.
4. In fact, Vanderbilt had 22 offensive rebounds easing the pain of its 21 - 65 shooting or 32 %. Their 47 total rebounds surpassed the Dogs by 17.
5. Vanderbilt finished the last 9:49 of the game on a 24 - 3 run! And don't forget it was not at their crazy gym.
 
For Georgia
 
1. The Dogs defended well inside the arc, limiting Vandy to just 9 of 40 two-point attempts but as indicated above, were dominatied on the boards.
2. Stars Trey Thompkins and Travis Leslie  were ice cold on 2 for 10 and 2 for 9 shooting respectively.
3. The "Human Racquetball Court",  6' 8  270 lb Jeremy Price, was in foul trouble severely limiting his minutes and production...just one rebound and that was on the offensive end. 
 
This game was another memorable SEC East classic that has happened frequently this season. NEXT
 
 
 
 
 
Bloggee Chip # 2 is doing the cha-cha after his hometown Cincinnati Bearcats upset Louisville Wednesday night 63 - 54  http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/recap?gid=201102160116  in the Chili City. The apprentice defeated the mentor as Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin won the revenge game against his former boss, Rick Pitino. (Cronin was a 2-year assistant at Louisville.)
 
The Bearcats are 7 - 6 in the Big East with 5 remaining games: 2 against Georgetown, home against UConn, at Providence and at Marquette. Putting on my Joe Lunardi bracketologist hat on, I believe they will have to win at least 2 of the remaining 5 to go dancing.  That would give them a .500 conference record....below .500 and Cronin's Cronies will be going to the you-know-what.  NEXT
 
 
 
 
 
It is time to for our regular feature Who is that Assistant Coach? Thusday night I attended the Wofford - Samford game and noticed in the game program an assistant coach of Wofford was Mark Prosser. He looked familiar with a bunch of hair and yes, he is the son of the late Skip Prosser, the former coach of Xavier and Wake Forest, if you remember, also had an impressive mane http://woffordterriers.com/staff.aspx?staff=66 .
 
Speaking of the game, we all were "oohing and aahing" over All-BB (Barry's Blog) center, Noah Dahlman of Wofford. The undersized 6 ' 6  215 lb Dahlman did not take a shot beyond 2 feet but his quick release with either hand led to 21 points on 8 of 12 shooting in the paint. He maintained his national ranking of 5th in field goal percentage with 62.8 %. Dahlman is special. NEXT
 
 
 
 
 
 
UAB's attempt to make the NCAA field suffered a painful setback at Memphis Wednesday night 62 - 58 http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/recap?gid=201102160349 . Memphis coach Josh Pastner was once again successful in carrying on the tradition of his predecessor and former boss, John Calipari, by not losing to UAB's Mike Davis, who is 0 - 10 against the school formerly known as Memphis State.
 
Without its star, Cameron Moore because of a broken hand, UAB seemed to do everything needed to beat the Tigers....outrebounding them 34 - 27, Anthony Criswell and Ovie Soko stepping up to contribute double-digit scoring, 12 and 18 points respectively....less turnovers 15 - 13......and the nation's leader in  assists, Aaron Johnson, equaling Memphis's total by himself with 10.
 
What brought the Blazers down was the cold shooting of JaMarr Sanders and Dexter Fields who shot a combined 3 for 18 from the field bringing the team percentage for the game down to 36 %. Memphis shot 47 % which turned out to be the key statistic in its victory.  NEXT
 
 
 
 
 
 
South Carolina has been fading, losing 6 of their last 7. Freshman Bruce Ellington has run into the rookie wall seeing his field goal percentage drop to under 35 %. He has not shot over 50 % since January 15th when he was 8 for 15 in the 72 - 69 upset at Florida http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/players/97663 . Lately, his poor shooting has been like the measles and it has been caught by senior  Sam Muldrow who is shooting 7 for 28 or 25 % his last two games including 3 for 14 in Wednesday night's 73 - 67 loss to Tennessee http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201102160580 .
 
With respect to Tennessee, I admire Bruce Pearl's coaching ability and the talent of some of his players like Scotty Hopson, Tobias Harris and Brian Williams, but I feel there is too much tumult and uncertainty around the program for the team to make an impact in March. Focus is difficult for players and coaches in this situation. I hope I am wrong, as do bloggees Bebe, Karen, AJ, Paul, Eli and Pace. NEXT
 
 
 
 
 
 
Belmont is flexing its muscles as it prepares for the NCAA tournament. Thursday night the Atlantic Sun Conference leader overpowered second place East Tennessee State 68 - 58 http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201102170047 .  Belmont, a BB sleeper pick for the Sweet Sixteen, outrebounded Murry Bartow's club  42 - 23, which helped compensate for its poor 33 % shooting for the game.
 
By the way, Tide transfer,  6' 3 Justin Tubbs, scored 14 points in 31 minutes for ETSU, but strangely had zero rebounds and zero assists....quite unusual for a player his size. For the year, he is averaging 9.4 points, 4.2 rebounds and .3 assists per game  http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/players/60338 . NEXT   
 
 
 
 
 
 
if you want to see a glimpse of Samford's Emily London, the top free throw shooter in Division I basketball (men and women) and featured prominently in these blogs, record the Samford - Elon game on SportsSouth, not Fox Sports South, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SportSouth  at 1:00 CST on Saturday. NEXT
 
 
 
 
 
 
The legendary Joe Dean, Sr. is speaking to the Birmingham Tipoff Club, http://www.birminghamtipoffclub.com/ , on Monday at noon ("String Music" , "Reggie King, he is like a mule in there, John", "Nothing but the bottom of the sack" , "He can fill it full"  "Stufferino".....just some of the Joe Dean, Sr. "poetry" from  when he used to do SEC telecasts with the late John Ferguson and with Tom Hammond in the 70s and 80s). Here is a fantastic recent article on the SEC icon http://www.secdigitalnetwork.com/SECNation/SECTraditions/tabid/1073/Article/219392/sec-traditions-the-king-of-string-music.aspx  THAT'S IT
 
 
 
 
 
Enjoy......Florida plays on ESPN  st LSU at noon CST on Sunday, Alabama's tight win also at LSU on Thursday night should get the attention of the probable Chandler Parsons-less Gators.....I will be at the Samford - Furman game Saturday hoping to see a turnaround by the hometowners as the conference tourney is two weeks away.....will be taking the holiday weekend off from the blog and will catch up next week ......thanks for the many referrals....if this were a multi-marketing pyramid, many of you would be rich,
 
 
 
Barry

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Blog # 47 with some Football

My Beloved 94 Bloggees:
 
 
 
Florida got some good news when its "earlier in the season victim" Kansas State shocked the world Monday night in decisively defeating its state rival, # 1 Kansas 84 - 68 http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/players/73347 . Bloggee Charlie  resides in the "Little Apple", Manhattan, Kansas, home of the Wildcats but is also a fan (and alum, I believe) of the Kansas Jayhawks. Reminds me of the 1976 Mary MacGregor song, "Torn between Two Lovers"  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1F5BLLFAeM .
 
Back to the game, All-American Jacob Pullen put his Kansas State team on his back scoring 38 points including a radar-like  5 of 6 behind the arc. Against Florida at a neutral site in December, he scored just half of that and was only 1 of 7 from the perimeter http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/players/73347 . What a difference two months makes!  NEXT
 
 
 
 
 
A team that plays a lot of seniors has a big advantage during the March Madness pressure-cooker. Bloggee Bob hopes this is true with respect to his alma mater, Virginia Tech, featuring four seniors with its top dog being  6 ' 3 senior guard Malcolm  Delaney and his 19.1 scoring average http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/players/73217 .  On Sunday, Delaney led the Hokies to a revenge win over Georgia Tech 102 - 77 with 33 points on 9 for 14 shooting, 3 for 4 from three-land. Then on Tuesday night Delaney was only 3 for 14 from the field but a perfect 14 for 14 from the free throw line (gives me chills) resulting in a team-high 22 points in the 91 - 87 victory over Maryland.
 
The three other seniors who regularly receive a majority of Hokie minutes are  6' 7 Jeff Allen, 6' 5 Dorenzo Hudson and 6' 7 Terrell Bell who average 13.8, 10.4 and 7.2 points per game respectively. Virginia Tech's head man, Seth Greenberg, is counting on this quartet to capitalize on their experience to finally make a run in the NCAA tourney. NEXT
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
I figured I needed to go see the top Division I free throw shooter in the country (men and women), Samford's senior point guard Emily London, with her 97.4 % accuracy on 76 of 78 shooting. (She had no free throw attempts in her previous game on Saturday). So on Monday night I went to see her play her last home game (yes, it was Valentine's Day....my wife had a dance class that night...c'mon, do you really think......)
 
As I sat with bloggees Jeff and John, in her first five 5 throw attempts, she missed 3 of them.  All year she misses just 2 and then I show up and I see her miss 3 free throws. Was it the pressure from the blog? By the way, Emily did sink her last 5 free throws for a 7 for 10 effort on her way to 19 points in the 58 - 47 victory over Davidson http://samfordsports.cstv.com/sports/w-baskbl/stats/2010-2011/sam0214.html .  She still leads Division 1 at 94.3 % with Ole Miss's Chris Warren in second at 93.8 % on 122 of 130 free throws. And no, she doesn't wipe her hands on her socks before each free throw like her mentor, Kyle Macy .NEXT
 
 
 
 
 
 
Cliff Ellis's Coastal Carolina Chanticleers were on a 22-game winning streak that was the talk of the South, if not the basketball nation. It has been an amazing coaching comeback for the former South Alabama, Clemson and Auburn top man. However, on Tuesday night Coastal Carolina was upset at home by lowly Gardner Webb 59 - 57 http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/recap?gid=201102150122 . That may have destroyed  any hope of the 75th RPI ranked Chanticleers getting an at-large bid if they falter in the Big South Conference tournament.  NEXT
 
 
 
 
 
 
To football...this next link might be the most entertaining website for college football fans in the history of the internet. http://www.larrymunson.com/audio.asp  There is no doubt  former Georgia Bulldog announcer, Larry Munson, is one of the best college football radio broadcasting "homers" to ever grace the airwaves. When I lived in Atlanta from 1979 - 1995, one of the highights of each fall Saturday, was to turn to WSB 750 AM and listen to Larry do his thing.
 
If you haven't done so already, you need to click on the link above and scroll down to listen to the brief "Munson" excerpts of:
 
1.  2001 GA - TN,
 
2. 1992  GA - Aub
 
3. 1982  GA - Aub
 
4. 1980  GA - FLA (this is painful but an amazing call)
 
You can follow the narrative on the website after you Click to Listen Now.   He is something. THAT'S IT
 
 
 
 
Enjoy,......going to see all-BB Noah Dahlman and the Wofford Terriers tonight against struggling Samford.....UAB has to go on the road tonight without star Cameron Moore and play their "Daddy", Memphis, as they are clawing, reaching and scratching (sounds like Larry Munson) for that elusive at-large bid to the NCAAs.,
 
 
 
Barry

Monday, February 14, 2011

Blog # 46 (a tad longer than usual)

My Beloved 94 Bloggees (Welcome Jonah and Bob):
 
 
One of the funniest signs I have ever seen at a game was the one an Oklahoma fan in 1973 held up "Thank you Mr. and Mrs. Selmon" referring to the parents of three star defensive linemen, Lee Roy, Dewey and Lucious Selmon, playing together for the Sooners http://www.onyxmagazine.com/aspx/selmon.aspx . Well if I were in Gainesville on Saturday, I would have been toting a sign "Thank you Mr. and Mrs. Wilbekin" to the parents of  one Gator defensive stalwart, Scottie Wilbekin .
 
For much of the Gators' 61 - 60 squeaker over Tennessee  http://www.gatorzone.com/basketball/men/boxscore.php?gameid=9466, Kenny Boynton and Chandler Parsons were unsuccessful trying to stop the Vols' terrific shooting guard, Scotty Hopson, who had already scored 22 points. Then it was freshman Wilbekin's turn (according to ESPN's Jimmy Dykes, the Gators were finally "bringing two fists to the fight") and the 17-year old 2-star recruit who skipped his senior year in high school, shut out Hopson (who was a 5-star recruit) for the last 6 minutes on smothering defense. Add that to the gutty driving left-handed game-winning layup among the "trees" by 5 ' 8 Erving Walker with 14 seconds left and you get another "routine" Gator victory over an outstanding SEC East team.   NEXT
 
 
 
 
 
Alabama bounced back from Thursday's heartbreaking loss at Vandy Thursday night, with classy Coach Anthony Grant calling the controversial officiating as  "water under the bridge". The Tide's fan base was ecstatic with another sold-out win in Tuscaloosa, this time against a hot Ole Miss team 74 -64 http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201102120006 . Freshman point guard Trevor Releford outplayed his more-heralded counterpart, Mississippi's Chris Warren, and the phrase "star quality" is being directed toward Releford around Tide Nation. I can't blame them after Trevor had 7 assists, 3 steals and 14 points while serving as the team's adept quarterback. NEXT.
 
 
 
 
 
 
Arkansas's Rotnei Clarke scored 25 points on 7 of 10 shooting, including 5 of 6 beyond the arc in the Hogs 80 - 61 victory over LSU  http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201102120019 . It makes one appreciate more what a phenomenal job Kenny Boynton and Scottie Wilbekin did shadowing Clarke when the Gators shut him out three weeks ago. NEXT
 
 
 
 
 
 
Tony Barbee showed again why Auburn AD Jay Jacobs nailed this basketball hire, with a memorable 65 - 62 comeback victory over Mississippi State on Saturday http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/recap?gid=201102120028 . With less than 4 minutes left, Auburn was down by 13. Then Barbee's guys  went on a 17 - 0 run to seal the home victory. I predict next year at this time, Auburn fans will be feeling the same love for their basketball program as Alabama is enjoying now.  Rick Stansbury might have to polish his sales skills to convince his Mississippi State bosses to treat this year as a mulligan, especially after this devastating loss. NEXT
 
 
 
 
 
I saw the halftime score of the Georgia at South Carolina game on Saturday  with the visiting team leading 28 - 9. Yes, I was shocked when I saw it....nine points in 20 minutes!  The Gamecocks fought back in the second half and it took the Dogs stud Trey Thompkins's block of a potential-tying 3-pointer by freshman sensation Bruce Ellington to preserve the 60 - 56 victory for the Athens crew http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201102120525 . Ellington wasn't sensational that afternoon shooting 1 for 12,  0 for 6 from the perimeter. His game has gone on the skids lately.  NEXT
 
 
 
 
 
 
In an marquee matchup of heralded offensive star vs. defensive star, Vanderbilt and my guy, sharpshooting John Jenkins, hosted Kentucky and also my guy, lock-down defender DeAndre Liggins. It was similar to the Super Bowl matchup of Green Bay QB Aaron Rodgers  against safety Troy Polamalu...in both cases the offense won. Jenkins was ridiculous scoring 32 points  on 11 for 17 shooting, 6 for 10 from you know where. Liggins picked up his 4th foul with 10 minutes left and lost the battle as did Kentucky, 81 - 77 http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201102120615 .  
 
Vanderbilt is 2 1/2 games behind the Gators in the SEC East, but Florida still has to play at Vandy, at Kentucky and still needs to play Alabama and Georgia at home. It is not over...not even close.  NEXT
 
 
 
 
Somehow on Saturday North Carolina managed to hang on and defeat Clemson 64 - 62 http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201102120120 . Of the nine Tar Heels who participated, four starters scored 62 of its 64 points. The remaining five Carolina players were a combined 0 - 11. They are going to need more punch from the bench to make an impact in March. Freshman point guard Kendall Marshall and his stellar play such as his 18 points against Clemson is starting to make the departed Larry Drew II just a memory
 
Clemson's Jerai Grant did not make his Uncle Horace or his dad, Harvey, very proud with his zero points and one rebound in 16 minutes. NEXT
 
 
 
 
 
FSU had a costly 63 - 56 victory against Virginia on Saturday http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/recap?gid=201102120213 . After its top scorer and rebounder, 6 ' 9 Chris Singleton scored 11 points in the first 10 minutes, he fractured his foot and could miss the remainder of the season.  The Seminoles are hoping the wins over Baylor and Duke will convince the NCAA Committee to let them dance even if they falter the rest of their season without their fallen star. NEXT
 
 
 
 
 
 
In a previous blog, we featured  Michigan's Tim Hardaway Jr. in You Make Me Feel Old. On Saturday, he had a career-high 26 points on 9 for 11 shooting including 4 for 6 deep in the Wolverine's  73 - 69 win over Indiana http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201102120357 . I understand Hardaway Jr. does not do the "killer crossover dribble" like his old man http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0HRPIu02Xo .
 
By the way, Hardaway's teammate, Jon Horford, Al's brother, was scoreless in 5 minutes. NEXT
 
 
 
 
 
UAB's hopes for an NCAA bid were fractured a bit over the weekend when it was learned that 6 '10 Cameron Moore broke his hand during practice. It is not known how long he will be out, but it puts more pressure on Mike Davis and the Blazers who already had a depth problem. One solution is if 6' 4 senior Jamarr Sanders takes over like he did in Saturday night's 74 - 68 home victory over Rice http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201102120034 . Sanders lit up the Owls for 37 points on 11 for 22 shooting including 8 for 14 from the three-point line.
 
You know how I love greater than 90 % free throw shooting. Rice was perfect on all 15 of its free throw attempts. Connor Frizzell, whose free throw proficiency was highlighted in an earlier blog, made all 4 of his free throws boosting his percentage to 91.8 %, sixth in the country http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/statistics/player/_/stat/free-throws  NEXT.
 
 
 
 
 
 
UCF and former Gator assistant, Donnie Jones, finally broke its 8-game losing streak....barely.....defeating Tulsa at home 58 - 57 when the Golden Hurricane's Scottie Haralson missed a potential game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer (that seems to be happening a lot lately in Southern games). http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/recap?gid=201102120103 .  UCF brings Michael's son, Marcus and the Jordanaires to Birmingham on Saturday for a key 5:00 matchup for UAB.   NEXT
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Finally, I had the pleasure to see my Sweet Sixteen sleeper pick, Old Dominion, upset 1st place VCU on the road 70 - 59 http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201102120613 . If you enjoy relentless board work, then you need to watch Old Dirty (nickname for Old Dominion). They pound the boards constantly led by All-BB (Barry's Blog) Frank Hassell (rhymes with last name of Sam Cassell) who is an even  bigger beast than he looks in the box score.
 
Hassell had a double-double with 18 points on 8 for 14 all within the arc and gathered 11 rebounds. ODU nearly doubled VCU in the rebounding totals, 40 - 21, primarily due to the 18 - 5 discrepancy on the offensive boards. VCU's coach Shaka Smart, a former assistant for Billy Donovan, had to have been crushed by this beating. THAT'S IT.
 
 
 
 
 
Enjoy....to preserve marital bliss, athletic directors across the country should not schedule games on Valentine's Day....be sure to click on this recent ill dunk by the Clippers' Blake Griffin http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CJHue02GGk ,
 
 
 
Barry