Blog # 52 with some Football

My Beloved 95 Bloggees:

 

 

There have been some classic Florida-Georgia basketball games in Gainesville. Two come to mind. On January 11. 2003, Anthony Roberson hit a three-pointer from the top of the key at the buzzer in a 66 - 63 Gator victory http://statsheet.com/mcb/games/2003/01/11/georgia-63-florida-66 . Then on the other side of the ledger there was two-sport Fred Gibson, a Bulldog wide receiver, who scored 13 points and hit all four of his free throws down the stretch to upset # 2 ranked Florida 74 - 69 on  January 19, 2002 http://staugustine.com/stories/012002/spo_443270.shtml.

 

On Thursday night the two matched up again in Gainesville. Georgia dominated the first half pounding it inside, shooting 60 % for a 33 -26 lead at the break. Then the Gators turned it up a notch in the second stanza with Chandler Parsons overcoming his deep thigh bruise getting back into the flow with 16 points.  Kenny Boynton nailed 3 consecutive threes to separate the two teams with under 6 minutes left resulting in a 71 - 62 win for the 13th ranked Orange and Blue, clinching a first place tie in the SEC East   http://www.gatorzone.com/basketball/men/boxscore.php?gameid=9468 . 

 

When Boynton is effective offensively, which has not been frequent, the Gators are extra tough to beat.  In this game, when he was on the court the Gators outscored Georgia by 18. While he was on the bench, Georgia outscored Florida by 9. So, the Gators were 27 points better having him in the game than sitting him down http://statsheet.com/mcb/players/player/florida/kenny-boynton/plus_minus . (I love that website - check out how your favorite team performs when certain players are on the court versus on the bench).

 

A final observation is from new bloggee Holt, emphasizing Parsons' value. When teams play zone against Florida because of their constant shooting struggles, Parsons has a knack of getting  behind the zone on the baseline leading to easy shots by him. When he sat out the LSU game last Sunday, that weapon was missed, especially in the second half.  NEXT

 

 

 

 

 

Old Dominion continued its hot play Thursday night with a convincing 75 - 59 road victory over James Madison http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201102240282 . All-BB Frank Hassell was outstanding again with a double-double, 21 points on  9 for 12 shooting and 10 rebounds. The game was televised on ESPNU so I was able to watch him in action and his 6 ' 8  245 lb wide body dominated the boards with his teammates. In fact, James Madison only had 3 offensive rebounds in this rout. This toughness by the Monarchs should serve them well in March.  NEXT

 

 

 

 

 

Another All-BB player, the nation's leading rebounder, Morehead State's Kenneth Faried, had a double-double Thursday night with 15 points and 13 rebounds in a 70 - 62 road loss to Murray State http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201102240381 . Faried and his buddies did outrebound the Racers 40 - 26 but Murray State shot 9 for 17 from the perimeter while frequently playing with four guards. As long as they are hot, that may work for Murray State, as it did as a 13th seed in the first round upset of 4th seed Vanderbilt in the NCAA's last year 66 - 65 on a buzzer-beater. But, I prefer beef and Faried's Eagles in the Ohio Valley Conference tournament next week which will determine its likely one-bid.  NEXT

 

 

 

 

 

It is time for You Make Me Feel Old . Look who comes off the bench for Gonzaga....redshirt freshman walk-on point guard David Stockton son of another guy who used to play that position for the Zags....John  http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/players/89766  .  David, at 5' 10  150 lbs plays about 15 minutes a game, averaging 4 points and about 2 assists per game. Why does his size not surprise me? 

 

On Thursday night he played 28 minutes scoring 5 points with 5 assists as Gonzaga won in overtime at St. Mary's 89 - 85 to tie for first in the West Coast Conference with those same Gaels http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201102240538 . Yes, David Stockton, You Make Me Feel Old .

 

By the way, in third place in the West Coast Conference just a game back at 9 - 4 are the Dons from San Francisco. Who is their head coach? Former Kansas  guard in the early 90's  Rex Walters  http://www.usfdons.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/walters_rex00.html   NEXT

 

 

 

 

 

In Blog # 42, a trivia question dealt with John Hadl an NFL quarterback who wore a number greater than 19. I asked to reply with some college players who also wore an unusual number in the 1960's and later.  Bloggee Tom brought up Heisman winner Boston College's  Doug Flutie and his number 22 throwing the desperation touchdown pass to Gerard Phelan to defeat the U   47 - 45 in 1984  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3ykWbu2Gl0 .

 

Blogee Joe, a former Colgate running back, submitted another name, the former quarterback at Penn State during the late 60's, Chuck Burkhart who wore # 22 . "QBed the undefeated Nittany Lions against Kansas, led by Pepper Rodgers and Bobby Douglass, in the famous 1969 Orange Bowl.  They won the game on a 2-point conversion after the first attempt was unsuccessful against a Kansas defense consisting of 12 players.  What most people don't remember is that Kansas had 12 men on the field for most of Penn State's touchdown drive but the refs only managed to discover it during the first conversion attempt.

He was also my QB mentor at the 1970 Penn State QB-Receivers Camp for PA high school players.  A great guy". Thanks, Joe.

 

Two other college QBs with unusual numbers were NC Congressman Heath Shuler http://shuler.house.gov/ , who wore # 21 while at Tennessee in the 1990's and Bernie Kosar whose laundry displayed # 20 in the mid-80s for the U.  THAT'S IT.

 

 

 

 

 

Enjoy......going to Samford's last home game today versus 1st place Chattanooga.....will be taping the Florida-Kentucky CBS game beginning at 3:00 CST...check out the preview of the game by bloggee Kevin http://www.gatorsports.com/article/20110226/ARTICLES/110229578/1136?Title=Florida-aims-to-spoil-Kentucky-s-32-game-home-streak- ........next week starts tournament week, wow did this season fly,

 

 

Barry

 

Blog # 51

My Beloved 95 Bloggees:

 

 

Just like the Gators' trip to the Plains last month, Alabama struggled mightily in its 51 - 49 victory over Auburn http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/scoreboard?d=2011-02-23&refresh=60 . I will take a break and provide you with the recap furnished by bloggee Steve who viewed the entire game:

 

 

Ugly game from the start.  Bama had 1 point in the first 6 minutes and trailed by 10 or more for most of the game.  Bama could do nothing against the Auburn Zone defense.  They were 11 of 42 for the game.  That's right, a whopping 26% shooting from the field.  I could probably throw the ball backwards over my head 42 times and make at least 11 of them.  There was a turnover on virtually every possession.  Bama had 19 and Auburn had 23!  You would have thought the ball was a ticking time bomb.  Nobody wanted anything to do with it.   

I have never seen a more timid team trying to bring the ball up the court than Auburn.  Their point guards were constantly backing up under Bama's full and half court pressure.  It seemed like everytime they took a step forward it was followed by two or three steps back.  What happened to attacking the press?     

At the end of the day, Bama won the game by being able to get to the free throw line 40 times.  They didn't shoot the ball well from the stripe (67%), but they got there enough to put them over the hump.

 

 

Fine recap, bloggee Steve. In fact, too good. I am worried you may start your own blog!  NEXT

 

 

 

 

 

 

When it comes to the SEC, Kentucky is no Roger Miller http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmOe27SJ3Yc  they are not "King of the Road".  Their road record in the conference dropped to 1 - 6 after its 77 - 76  Wednesday overtime loss to Arkansas. http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201102230019 .

 

Rotnei Clarke led the Hogs with 26 points, converting 11 out of 12 free throws, a stat you all know I cherish. It is not a good sign when a team plays seven players in an overtime game and the seventh player is Gator transfer, Eloy Vargas, who played just two minutes for the Wildcats. Stacey Poole Jr., whose Pop was a Gator basketball standout from 1989 -1993 and 4th all-time career points leader (behind  4-year players Ronnie Williams, Andrew Moten and Udonis Haslem,) did the same thing as John Calipari during the game.....he watched it from the Kentucky bench. NEXT

 

 

 

 

 

 

Although grateful for the road SEC win on Sunday I was a tad disappointed that lowly LSU gave the Gators so much trouble, making a game out of it near the end before Florida went on to victory. Imagine how supporters of Mississippi State felt after Wednesday night's loss at home to that same rebuilding LSU team 84 - 82 http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201102230366 .

 

Other than the home victory over the Gators last month 71 - 64 when Florida was 9 for 19 from the free throw line, http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201101290366  Mississippi State's 14 - 13 record does not include any other significant wins leading to an astronomical 145 RPI rating for the SEC school. Rick Stansbury should be glad that spring football is soon upon us to deflect the attention away from his disappointing season. NEXT

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ex- Auburn coach Jeff Lebo helped out a former in-state competitor, UAB, with his East Carolina Pirates'  83 - 76  Conference USA upset victory over the sliding UTEP Miners http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201102230178 . UTEP's loss was its third out of its last four games dropping them into a three-way tie for 4th a game out of 1st where there is also a three-way tie:  UAB, Southern Miss and Memphis  http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/standings . Ladies and gentlemen, we have a horse race in Conference USA. NEXT

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chip # 2 is doing cartwheels as his hometown Cincinnati Bearcats virtually clinched an NCAA bid with its  58 - 46 upset victory over the 11th ranked Georgetown Hoyas http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/recap?gid=201102230229 on Wednesday.  With its 9 - 6 conference record along with an unbeaten 13 - 0 nonconference record, this will be the first time that Mick Cronin dances as the head man during his five years in Pete Rose City.

 

Be sure to note, you bracket fillers, that Georgetown lost its senior starting point guard, Chris Wright, to a broken hand. He was averaging 13.1 points and 5.4 assists per game including 26 points last Saturday at South Florida in the 61 - 55 victory http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/players/73264 .  A story has already come out that he should be back by the beginning of the tournament, but if he is back, how effective will he be?  I will have the Hoyas watching the Sweet Sixteen. NEXT

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All-BB  Noah Dahlman was back to his high-percentage ways on 9 for 11 shooting for 23 points as Wofford demolished Chattanooga  97 - 58 on the road  http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201102230581 . He is currently 6th in the country with a shooting percentage of 62.7 %. Wofford seems to be peaking at the right time with the Southern Conference tournament next week which happens to also be at Chattannoga, the site of Wednesday night's stellar performance.   THAT'S IT

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Enjoy.....big TV hoops night.....Florida vs. Georgia at 6:00 CST on ESPN 2....there is an All-BB player double header on ESPNU, at 6:00 CST Frank Hassell and Old Dominion clashes with James Madison while Kenneth Faried of Morehead State and his nation-leading 14.2 rebounding average, clashes with Murray State at 8:00 CST.....Joakim Noah and the Chicago Bulls match up with the Miami Heat at 7:00 CST on TNT....I am already exhausted,

 

 

 

Barry

Blog # 50

My Beloved 95 Bloggees:

 

As we start the 50th blog of the season, I checked that 12 of you have endured all 50. I am not sure who is in more need of therapy, you 12 or me....probably all of us. Our passion for college basketball does make us do some crazy things....like writing and reading blogs about the game we love. NEXT

 

 

 

 

If you continue to play games at an antiquated facility, you better win there. Well, after Tuesday night's  60 - 51 home loss to Tennessee http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201102220615 , Vanderbilt might be having some architects visit today. The 'Dores collapsed in the last 13 minutes, outscored 29 - 9 by the Vols who had 15 steals during the game. It reminds me of ESPN Jimmy Dykes who would say "Vanderbilt's players need to protect the ball like it was their kid sister at a fraternity party."

 

Gator fans loved the upset stretching its SEC lead to 3 games in the loss column over three teams, with 4 games remaining. Florida plays two of those teams on the road, Kentucky and Vanderbilt and the other team, Georgia, at home. In between, the Gators host SEC West Champ, Alabama, next Tuesday. These next two weeks will be interesting, no doubt. NEXT

 

 

 

 

 

A few blogs ago I mentioned the recent shooting woes of South Carolina's freshman point guard Bruce Ellington. His massive slump has continued as he shot 1 for 11 (1 for 9 from the arc)  at Kentucky on Saturday and 3 for 11 (0 for 5 from the arc) Tuesday night against Ole Miss. So, in his last 10 games he has shot 37 for 141 or 26.2 % and 14 for 76 or 18.4 % from deep  http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/players/97663 . It is no wonder the Gamecocks have dropped to the SEC East cellar when a player has such a low percentage while still taking a bunch of shots. Devan Downey, they miss you in Columbia. NEXT

 

 

 

 

 

Free Throw Sensations   The Gamecocks and Sam Muldrow's double-double (23 points and 10 rebounds) defeated Ole Miss on Tuesday in spite of Ellington's shooting and  33 points from the Rebels' Chris Warren. The Ole Miss point guard was 7 for 7 from the line giving him a season total of 139 for 147 or 94.6% !  He now leads Division I (men and women) finally surpassing Samford's Emily London. 

 

Since we last reported, Emily went a mortal 7 for 9 from the stripe during Saturday's regionally televised 83 - 80 win at Elon (she scored 33 points)  http://samfordsports.cstv.com/sports/w-baskbl/stats/2010-2011/sam0219.html  and a more London-like 6 for 6 on Monday in the 59 - 52 win at UNC Greensboro http://samfordsports.cstv.com/sports/w-baskbl/stats/2010-2011/sam0221.html . She still leads all Division I women with 93.2 % on 96 for 103 !  Kyle Macy, her free throw mentor, should be proud!   NEXT

 

 

 

 

 

Tuesday night was not a good night for Gator transfers. Jai Lucas, who now attends my grad school alma mater, University of Texas, found himself with more playing time in the Longhorns 76 - 53 rout of Iowa State (coached by the "Mayor", and former Cyclone star Fred Hoiberg) http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201102220585 . In his 12 minutes, he took 7 shots and sank just 1 of them.  Jai, I encourage you to study hard at 40 Acres http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/40_acres_university_of_texas_at_austin/ and get your degree.

 

Jonathan Mitchell and his Rutgers Scarlet Knights did a BB (Barry's Blog) no-no on Tuesday night by scoring less than a point a minute in its home 55 - 37 loss to Louisville http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201102220492 . Mitchell contributed to the low offensive output with 4 points on 2 for 8 shooting in 28 minutes.

 

A few years back, I met the brother of a friend from Atlanta and he had just broken up with Miss Universe. Can you imagine that? Well that is what I think when I hear of someone transferring from the University of Florida....the Miss Universe of colleges. I can see alumni bloggees nodding their heads, especially thinking about springtime in that paradise (almost sounds like a Jimmy Buffet song http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBsPZV14I-k ) . NEXT

 

 

 

 

I have decided to change the All-BB team to only include mid-major players to give them the recognition they so richly deserve and to help bloggees when considering upsets in their brackets:

 

 

 

Enjoy....Joakim Noah is finally returning to the Chicago Bulls this evening...basketball Iron Bowl tonight in Tuscaloosa....tomorrow night is the basketball Cocktail Party in Gainesville at 6:00 pm CST on ESPN2,

 

 

 

Barry

 

Kenneth Faried - Morehead State http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/players/73970

 

Tu Holloway - Xavier  http://www.blogger.com/ - On Tuesday night, although he shot 2 for 6 from the field, he was 2 for 4 from three-land, 6 for 6 from the charity stripe for 12 points, dished out 15 assists and just missed a triple-double with 9 rebounds in the 100 - 62 walloping of LaSalle.

 

Frank Hassell - Old Dominion  http://www.blogger.com/

 

Noah Dahlman - Wofford  http://www.blogger.com/

 

Andrew Goudelock - College of Charleston http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/players/73564  THAT'S IT

 

Blog # 49

My Beloved 95 Bloggees:

 

 

Florida does not have a history of playing well against SEC West teams, especially on the road. That is why Sunday's game at struggling LSU without injured red-hot Chandler Parsons was a concern for Gator Nation.

 

In the first half against LSU's man defense, UF pounded it inside and was successful giving the Gators a 40 - 25 point halftime lead. Then LSU head man, Trent Johnson, switched to zone. Without consistent perimeter shooting, especially from 2-guard Kenny Boynton, it posed problems for the Orange and Blue who still hung onto a 68 - 61 victory http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201102200319 . Between you and me, I hope other teams don't see the game film and duplicate LSU's zone strategy. I don't even want to think about a Syracuse matchup-zone . NEXT

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Saturday, Alabama kept its unbeaten home record intact for the year at 14 - 0  by defeating Arkansas 69 - 56  http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201102190006 .  Tony Mitchell has taken his game to a different level as evidenced by his career-high 27 points on 11 for 15 shooting along with 9 rebounds. It is the 6th time out of his last 7 games that he has scored 20 points or more.  Coach Anthony Grant's pressing defense resulted in 11 steals by the Crimson and White as the team is reflecting the no-nonsense, business-like personality of its outstanding coach.

 

Next Tuesday's showdown in Gainesville against the Gators is certainly anticipated -- a battle between the two SEC Division leaders and mentor (Billy Donovan) versus his former assistant coach, Grant. NEXT

 

 

 

 

 

The SEC East is showing its muscle with 5 teams in the top 37 with respect to RPI. Georgia is at the 37th position with an 18 - 8 record and all 8 losses have been to Top 50 teams http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/polls?poll=5 . Saturday's 69 - 63 win at Knoxville helped in its attempt to impress the NCAA Committee. Thursday's game at Florida and the season-ender at Tuscaloosa against the Tide could be pivotal.

 

With respect to Tennessee (32), the Volunteers must avoid falling below .500 in the Conference. They are currently 6 - 6 with a road game at Vandy tonight and a home matchup against Kentucky, sandwiched around a home date against Mississippi State and a road trip to South Carolina. If they continue to receive production from just Scotty Hopson and Tobias Harris, they might be in trouble. NEXT

 

 

 

 

 

Conference USA is starting to arouse some interest in terms of multiple NCAA bids, a sentiment echoed by bloggee Arnold in his recently published letter to the Birmingham News (http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2011/02/sound_off_birmingham_news_read.html  scroll down to the last letter to the editor).

 

After UAB's 63 - 58 home win over UCF Saturday night followed by UCF's 74 - 68  win at UTEP on Monday, there is a virtual 5-way tie for first with 4 losses. Based on the RPIs (shown in parentheses) of those five teams, Southern Miss (44), UAB (30), UTEP (60), Memphis (34) and Tulsa (92), it looks like UAB, Memphis and Southern Miss might all go dancing if they finish the season strong. The only remaining regular season game among those three against each other will be on Wednesday March 2nd when UAB travels to Southern Miss.  Then of course there is the conference tournament.....what a great time of the year!  NEXT

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Virginia Tech is trying to hang in there for an at-large bid with its 4th place position in the ACC. However, losing at Virginia 61 - 54 on Saturday did not help its chances. Coach Seth Greenberg showed everyone his faith in his reserves. Only one player came off the bench and he only played five minutes. Check out this unusual-looking box score  http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201102190618  .

 

With Duke coming to town next Saturday and a season-ending road game at Clemson, the former Gobblers might need to win one of those two games along with home victories against Wake Forest and Boston College to make it to the Dance.   NEXT

 

 

 

 

 

 

Clemson will have a tough time making the NCAA field even with its 63 - 59 victory at the U on Sunday http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201102200355 . Thursday night's loss at North Carolina State hurt as does its RPI of 66. I feel they have two chances and neither of them are likely....win at Duke a week from Wednesday or win the ACC tourney. Sorry bloggee Bebe. NEXT

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Horizon League is now well-respected thanks to the success league-members Butler, Valpariso and Wisconsin-Milwaukee have had in March this past decade. However, current 1st place team, Cleveland State, was man-handled by BB-Sweet Sixteen pick Old Dominion (27) on Sunday 74 - 63 http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201102200447 . ODU showed why it has been out-rebounded in just one game this year by dominating the boards 51 - 22, with 21 on the offensive end. All-BB Frank Hassell gathered 15 caroms and also had 3 steals, 3 blocks and 12 points on 4 for 12 shooting for the Monarchs. With Old Dominion, shooting percentage is not as critical because of their propensity to retrieve its own missed shots.

 

 

Here is a short trivia question. Which three schools have the highest RPI among the universities in Virginia? How about three members of the tough Colonial Athletic Association: George Mason (20), Old Dominion (27) and VCU (56). The two members of the ACC, Virginia Tech (66) and Virginia (145) are looking up to their in-state counterparts. NEXT

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

Jacksonville University played their ideal disruptive defensive game (Florida's players can remember it from their December loss to JU) in its Friday night  75 - 60 home victory over Kennesaw State  http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201102180281 (and its head coach, March 14th Birmingham Tipoff Club speaker, Tony Ingle). The Dolphins had 12 steals during the game which if duplicated in the Atlantic Sun tournament, could spell trouble for top teams Belmont and East Tennessee State. Birmingham's Ayron Hardy led the way for JU with 15 points on 7 for 12 shooting.

 

Jacksonville held serve again at home on Sunday with a 74 - 68 victory http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201102200281 generating another 11 steals. Of course, to Gator fans, the more JU wins, the merrier. THAT'S IT

 

 

 

Enjoy.....congrats to bloggee Dick who picked 16 out of 16 games correctly in the Birmingham Tipoff Club Contest  last week which included big upsets, Kansas State over Kansas and St. John's over Pitt ...guess who is getting a call before I fill out my bracket.....Joe Dean, Sr. spoke to the Club on Monday and it was a thrill to hear a live "String Music" from the podium,

 

 

 

Barry