Blog # 42 with a Football Trivia Question

My Beloved 91 Bloggees (Welcome Steve):

 

 

 

While many SEC hoops fans will be focusing on Tuesday night's 8:00 CST Tennessee - Kentucky game on ESPN, I am interested in the intersectional battle of Gator victims, Xavier at Georgia, 6:00 pm on ESPNU. How will all-BB (Barry's Blog) all-star Tu Holloway fare against the tough SEC East team? Will Georgia's big and athletic front line of Jeremy Price, Trey Thompkins and  Travis Leslie prove to be too much for the Atlantic 10's Muskateers?  I like these nonconference matchups during this time of the year. NEXT

 

 

 

 

 

Remember when UF slayer, former Gator assistant Donnie Jones and his UCF Knights were 14 - 0 and ranked after their opening conference win against Marshall in early January. They have since lost 7 in a row in Conference USA, buried in last place, which will sour the NCAA Committee when evaluating the Gators. Their only good news last week was the postponement of  Wednesday night's game at league-leading UTEP due to a winter storm.  However, it turned out to be a pain because after some flight delays out of Orlando, the team did make the schlep out to West Texas for naught and then were stuck there. http://www.clickorlando.com/sports/26723624/detail.html  NEXT

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have to give some love to bloggees Irby and Eli (and others I may have forgotten) and their Penn Quakers. Penn is 9 - 9 overall but their pre-conference schedule was difficult losing to Villanova, Pitt, Temple and Kentucky http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/teams/pag/schedule . They did defeat well-coached Davidson, who impressed me Thursday night at Samford, in their opening game 69 - 64. The Quakers are 3 - 1 in the conference, one game behind Princeton Without a conference tournament in the Ivy League, each regular season game is almost like a tournament game.

 

Penn is coached by one of its former stars from the 90s, Jerome Allen. Gator fans remember him on the Penn squad that was defeated by Florida to reach the Sweet Sixteen in 1994 before eventually going to the Final Four for the first time in UF history. Bama fans remember him in the following year when Penn lost in overtime to the Crimson Tide in the first round of the Dance. During Allen's last three years as a player at Penn, they went undefeated in the Ivy League, 14 - 0 each year.

 

I love when alumni, coach their alma maters except it makes it more difficult to fire them, if that needs to be done.  Did I hear someone say Mark Gottfried? NEXT

 

 

 

 

 

Jimmer Fredette and his 29 points were a handful for former Gator coach Lon Kruger and his Runnin' Rebels of UNLV in BYU's 78 - 64 victory on Saturday  http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201102050068 . Although he had 5 turnovers and shot less than 50 % from the field , 6 for 14, in his 39 minutes, Fredette's eye-opening 16 for 16 from the gift lane warrants mention. NEXT

 

 

 

 

 

 

You Make Me Feel Old   When I was an Atlanta Hawks season ticket holder in 1984 the Milwaukee Bucks had a classic playoff battle against the Hawks. The Bucks featured guys like Sidney Moncrief, Junior Bridgeman, Alton Lister, Marques Johnson and Paul Pressey. 

 

When I watched the Missouri - Kansas game on ESPN Monday night, I heard two different Presseys being mentioned during the telecast. It is an uncommon name plus they showed an old  team picture of Nolan Richardson's University of Tulsa with the faces of both Mike Anderson and Paul Pressey circled. Of course, I knew then that it was Paul Pressey's two sons, Matt and Phil, who were playing for Anderson's Missouri Tigers.  http://www.boston.com/sports/colleges/mens_basketball/articles/2010/10/13/family_more_than_just_coachspeak_at_missouri/

 

Matt, is a 6' 2 junior guard who is a JUCO transfer averaging 7.3 points a game. Phil is a 5' 10 freshman guard with a 6.9 points per game average.  Matt Pressey and Phil Pressey, You Make Me Feel Old   

 

By the way, in its 103 - 86 home victory, Kansas shot from the field an amazing 37 for 61 or 60.7 %. and that included Tyshawn Taylor's paltry 4 for 14 http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201102070287 . Without him, Kansas would have been 33 for 47 or 70 % for the game. Kansas should end up in the Final Four getting the taste of last year's Northern Iowa upset loss out of their mouths.  NEXT

 

 

 

 

 

 

Emily London Update.....the senior point guard and all-time Samford women's scorer converted both free throw attempts on Monday night on her way to a team-leading 13 points in just 18 minutes, and a 68 - 48 victory at Wofford http://samfordsports.cstv.com/sports/w-baskbl/stats/2010-2011/sam0207.html . So for the year, she is 76 out of  78 for an incredible 97.4 free throw shooting percentage! Her next game is Saturday at home against Appalachian State. I might have to go see her in action again. I may never see a free throw shooter like her....ever. NEXT

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To football....I was having a discussion with a buddy at a Super Bowl party. The topic of jersey numbers of quarterbacks came up, especially those greater than 19.  It resulted in this trivia question.....what San Diego Charger legendary QB wore the number 21?  Scroll down to the bottom for the answer. Also, feel free to reply with other QBs, college or pro, who wore a number greater than 19. (Now an NFL quarterback must wear a jersey number between 1 and 19 http://www.jt-sw.com/football/pro/index.nsf/Documents/0-jers-nums .)  THAT'S IT

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Enjoy, Gators play a revenge game at South Carolina on Wednesday at 7:00 CST  broadcast regionally on the SEC Network....if you are in the wrong region, like we are in Birmingham, you can watch it at http://www.espn3.com/ ,

 

 

 

Barry

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

John Hadl  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Hadl

Blog # 41

My Beloved 90 Bloggees (Welcome AJ, Andy, Steve and Paul):

 

The Gators held serve on ESPN's GameDay Saturday  prime time game 70 - 68 http://www.gatorzone.com/basketball/men/boxscore.php?gameid=9464 . It was just by a matter of inches as former Gator recruit, Brandon Knight, bounced a three-point shot off the front of the rim as time expired. Alex Tyus, helped the cause by putting a hand in Knight's face and a minute earlier played excellent defense on Terrence Jones causing him to miss badly on a short jumper when Florida was up by one. Tyus followed up with a soft jump hook over Jones that snuck in the basket thanks to a friendly rim giving the Gators some late-needed cushion.

 

The Gators starting guards, Erving Walker and Kenny Boynton were a joint 2 for 12 from beyond the arc but fortunately, Scottie Wilbekin and Chandler Parsons helped offset that with a combined 4 for 6 long-range shooting. Parsons' double-double of 17 points and 12 rebounds was crucial in his 37 minutes including no break in the second half. Another important home win for the Orange and Blue. NEXT

 

 

 

 

 

 

Even if you are not a women's hoops fan, you will find something interesting about this Emily London update.....on Saturday she was 3 for 3 from the foul line in the Samford 63 - 54 victory at Furman http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/womens-basketball/boxscore?gid=201102050220  (Emily scored 23, including 4 for 9 from the perimeter). London is now 74 for 76 for the year for a whopping 97.4 % leading all Div I men and women. Last year Emily converted 101 out of 112 free throw attempts for  90.2 %.

 

How has this Lexington, KY native mastered the craft of free throw shooting? Do you remember in the late 70's, a University of Kentucky point guard who was just under 90 % from the free throw line for his career and used to rub his socks before each attempt? http://www.aseaofblue.com/2009/10/27/1102509/q-a-with-kentucky-basketball That was Kyle Macy and Birmingham bloggee John gave me the scoop that Macy is a family friend of the Londons and has helped her into becoming a better free throw shooter than he was. 

 

Emily's next game is Monday night in Spartanburg, SC against Wofford. Let's see if her hot hand continues. I wonder if our Spartanburg bloggee will sneak over to get a peak. NEXT

 

 

 

 

 

 

Arkansas's rabid hoops fans are not doing somersaults over the team's two consecutive home losses, especially the last one against Mississippi on Saturday night 69 - 60 http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/recap?gid=201102050019 . Ole Miss's Chris Warren was 10 for 10  from the free throw line and had 15 of his 19 points in the second half...reminiscent of what he did in Gainesville earlier this season. Marshawn Powell led the Razorbacks with 19 points despite sitting out more than five minutes to start the game after tweaking an ankle during the pre-game shootaround. Take it easy, Marshawn.

 

Coach John Pelphrey needs to continue to remind the fans of his highly-ranked recruiting class coming to Fayetteville, otherwise more losses down the stretch, including a few more at Bud Walton Arena, could eventually be "hazardous to his wealth." NEXT

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Georgia almost destroyed its NCAA hopes having to go into overtime at home against short-handed Auburn on Saturday before coming out ahead, 81 - 72 http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201102050230 . Auburn's 6 ' 10 starting center, Rob Chubb, continued to serve his indefinite suspension, but Earnest Ross put on a clinic.....12 for 18, including  5 for 7 from the perimeter for 30 points, including a team-leading 7 rebounds and also had 3 steals. The Bulldogs' Jeremy Price's double-double of  22 points and 14 rebounds saved the day for the home team still dealing with the death of UGA VIII http://www.redandblack.com/2011/02/06/uga’s-death-shocks-univ/ .  NEXT

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anthony Grant is showing why he was such a sought-after major college coach a couple of years back while serving his apprenticeship at VCU. After just a year and a half in Tuscaloosa, the no-nonsense Grant has shown the Tiders how to win, as evidenced by another road win Saturday, a 65 - 60 overtime win against Tennessee http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201102050580 . Talking to Tide fans who regularly attend their games, the attitude adjustment among the players is evident in contrast to the late stages of the previous regime.

 

Give credit to he talented Volunteers. They battled the SEC-leading Crimson Tide, outrebounding them 42 - 32, but just came up short, even without ankle-injured Scotty Hopson and coach Bruce Pearl who was serving the final game of his 8-SEC game suspension. ESPN's Jimmy Dykes likes Tennessee to do some damage once again this year at the Big Dance. NEXT

 

 

 

 

 

 

A few weeks ago I went to a theater to see a comedy toupe perform. After fifteen minutes of disappointment (I was probably too old to appreciate the humor), I went to the ticket office and asked for a refund.  If I were in New Orleans on Saturday at Fogelman Arena, I might have done the same thing at halftime of the UAB - Tulane game. The score then was 19 -12. Many of you know by now how I feel about games when there is less than a point scored per minute by a team....here it was both teams! Eventually UAB came out on top   47 - 39 in a game that fortunately was not televised  http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201102050598 .

 

Neither team shot over 28 % and from what I read about the game, the low numbers were not attributable to great defense. Unless UAB wins the conference tournament, the NIT might have to be renamed the Mike Davis Invitational. NEXT

 

 

 

 

 

 

What a crazy week for North Carolina starting with backup point guard junior Larry Drew II, son of the Atlanta Hawks head coach with the same name, quitting the team on Friday unexpectedly . Coach Roy Williams received the news from a phone call from Drew's dad which is a bit odd. http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/news?slug=rivals-1185382 

 

Drew II had lost his starting job to freshman Kendall Marshall in the middle of January, but had played well in the reserve role. Why he didn't wait until the end of the year is perplexing. If he transfers to a Division I school he won't be eligible until Novermber 2012 with a possible exception if he graduates before then. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/ted_keith/02/04/drew.transfer/  Even though he indicated he would transfer, my guess is that he is going to pull a Christian Drejer, and immediately start playing in Europe, the way the former Danish Gator deserted the Orange and Blue midseason in February 2004.

 

On Sunday, Marshall made North Carolina forget about Drew with 16 assists in 36 minutes in its 89 - 69 thrashing of previous Gator-victim FSU   http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201102060413 . He also had 9 points on 3 for 4 shooting including perfect from three-point range on his two attempts. (By the way, Bama transfer Justin Knox scored 8 points in 16 minutes for the Tar Heels nailing 3 of his 4 field goal attempts.)

 

Next up is Duke on Thursday night in Durham. Two questions:

 

1. Can Marshall duplicate his performancet?

 

2. Will Dick Vitale be able to sleep before his dream matchup? THAT'S IT

 

 

 

Enjoy.....will be seeing former Duke star and current ESPN Jay Williams speak at the Birmingham Tipoff Club meeting today,

 

 

Barry

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blog # 40 with an Addicting Website

My Beloved 86 Bloggees (Welcome Jeff):

On Wednesday night, Georgia handed Arkansas its first loss at home in a 60 - 59 victory http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201102020019  . The key was limiting the Hogs' Rotnei Clarke to just 8 shots, only making 3 of them, including 2 of 4 from long range. Do you see a trend on how to beat Arkansas...defending Clarke has to be your primary focus. I bet Vandy and coach Kevin Stallings would like another shot at Clarke after he burned the ' Dores with 36 last week.

 

Arkansas 6 ' 9 senior forward, Delvon Johnson, impersonated both an SEC star who graduated last year and a current SEC freshman . His 7 blocked shots reminded us of former Mississippi State center, Jarvis Varnado, the all-time career NCAA leader in blocked shots http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNoAwyoRMNE . On the other hand, Johnson's paltry 1 for 6 at the free throw line were the exact numbers of Florida freshman, Will Yeguete, in his last game against Vanderbilt. NEXT

 

 

 

 

 

 

I attended the strangest college basketball game Thursday night, when Davidson defeated Samford 62 - 49 http://samfordsports.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/stats/2010-2011/sam0203.html . First of all, because of icy and sleet conditions, the Samford website discouraged fans from attending, indicating it was a a "closed-door event". I had driven a few hours earlier and slightly spun a bit so I could understand making safety a priority. But, near game time, the conditions improved so I went ahead and it was not dangerous at all. There must have been 100 or so in the stands.

 

Here is the stat that blew me away. I have never seen it before, especially by a team like Samford that runs the "Princeton Offense" emphasizing backdoor layups. Samford had 2 assists during the game. That's right 2 and none by a starter.

 

I decided to look at the NCAA definition of "assist" http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/Stats_Manuals/Basketball/2010EZ.pdf  thinking maybe I don't know exactly what it is. On page 9 it indicates that an assist is "when the player makes, in the judgment of the statistician, the principal pass contributing directly to a field goal.....An assist should be more than a routine pass that just happens to be followed by a field goal. It should be a conscious effort to find the open player or to help a player work free."  Nothing new there.

 

How can that happen just two times in 40 minutes by a team, especially one known for passing? I guess a lot of the credit goes to Davidson's coach Bob McKillop who had his team playing tough defense on the perimeter and in the paint.

 

I now have another stat to examine when I look at box scores...in previous blogs, I noted the rare stat of a three-pointer shooter missing all of his double-digit attempts which I check for regularly.... from now on I will also look for a miniscule team assists number!  Yes, I need therapy, but all college basketball junkies like us, generally do. NEXT

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Thursday night, Tennessee got a break at Auburn. With star Scotty Hopson out with a sprained ankle, the Volunteers were a bit vulnerable. However, War Eagle starting center 6 ' 10 Rob Chubb also missed the game because of an indefinite suspension for violation of team rules and they were no match for the Vols 69 - 56  http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/recap?gid=201102030028 . Chubb had just scored a career high 18 points in his previous game when Auburn upset South Carolina at Columbia. 

 

Rob, as Jay Leno asked Hugh Grant after he was caught paying for companionship, "What the heck were you thinking?" http://www.nbc.com/the-tonight-show/video/hugh-grant/1204887/  NEXT

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Butler blew a 10-point lead in the last 6 minutes and lost at lowly Youngstown State Thursday night, 62 - 60 http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201102030685 . The Bulldogs are in 5th place in the Horizon League and have a 14 - 9 record overall, including losing 4 of their last 5. What a difference a year makes! Losing Gordon Hayward to the NBA draft and the Utah Jazz has been devastating. In case you were wondering, Hayward has had a pedestrian NBA rookie season averaging 3.4 points a game in 11.7 minutes  http://www.nba.com/playerfile/gordon_hayward/index.html  NEXT

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I found another free amazing website for basketball junkies http://statsheet.com/mcb . I do want to warn you that you could spend a crazy amount of time looking at the stats it offers.

 

For example, I love the +/- stat which indicates the difference between points scored and points given up by a team while a certain player is on the court during a game. This website also lets you see the +/- stat for when a player is not in the game. Then it subtracts the two, calling it RR (Roland Rating) which quantifies how much better or worse a team played during the game when a player was on the court compared to when he was on the bench.

 

Go to http://statsheet.com/mcb/players/player/florida/kenny-boynton/plus_minus .  Many Gator fans were disappointed in Kenny Boynton's play in last Saturday's loss at Mississippi State and this shows why. During the 30 minutes Boynton was on the court the Gators scored 43 points but gave up 64 for a +/- of -21. When he was on the bench, the Gators scored 21 points and only gave up 7 for a +/- of 14. Therefore, during the game the Gators were 35 points (RR) worse off when Boynton played than when he didn't play. To Boynton's defense, he has had only 4 other negative RR ratings and 3 of them were in Gator wins. 

 

Also, the website shows a similar set of +/- figures for players during Clutch time, the last 5 minutes of regulation and OT when the deficit is 5 points or less. Boynton has 5 games with a negative RR numbers compared to 2 games with a positive RR in Clutch situations.

 

Of course this is not an exact measurement of a player's performance because of the other 4 teammates on the court and which players of the opposing team are playing, but it surely can show a trend. 

 

It is endless with regard to what you can find on this website. Now go check out your favorite team and you can really find out how its players have performed this year or in recent years. THAT'S IT

 

 

 

 

 

Enjoy.....ESPN GameDay is in Gainesville this Saturday....on ESPNU at 9:00 am CST, ESPN at 10:00 am and 7:00 pm  before the Gators and Kentucky battle on ESPN at 8:00....Alabama at Tennessee at 4:00 pm on Fox Sports Net should be a battle,

 

 

 

Barry

Blog # 39

My Beloved 85 Bloggees (Welcome Jason and Jake):

Anthony Grant and his surging Crimson Tide remain undefeated at home after its 75 - 61 win over Mississippi State http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201102020006 . They are playing with such confidence. Tony Mitchell has become the star we expected him to be, coming from the famous Birmingham basketball school, Central Park Christian (Rod Grizzard, James Lang,  Marco Killingsworth and bloggee Rye Zinder are some of the alumni who went on to have fine careers in the college ranks . http://blog.al.com/sentell/2009/04/central_park_christian_is_prep.html )

I am already looking forward to March 1st when the Tide and the Gators match up on ESPN in front of the Rowdy Reptiles. I would not mind it if they played one or even two more times this season. NEXT

 

On Wednesday night I attended Southern Miss's 75 - 71 upset win and came away impressed with the star of the game, 6' 8 forward Gary Flowers.  Although he was only 7 for 18 from the field, he nailed 3 of 5 threes and ended up with a game-hight 22 points.  What was most memorable was the blanket job he put on UAB 6' 10 star Cameron Moore, limiting him to 0 for 5 in field goal attempts. The last time I saw Moore play, he scored 28 against Kent State.

 

Would you believe 64 of UAB's 71 points were scored by just 3 players and it was an even higher percentage before Moore canned three free throws in the last minute, his only points of the game. Orlando's Dexter Fields did sink 8 out of 11 long balls for the Blazers. But a tip of the hat to Southern Miss veteran coach Larry Eustachy (remember him from his Iowa State days with Marcus Fizer) for leading the troops to a tough road win, especially when Southern Miss was down by 12 in the first few minutes of the game, thanks to Fields' radar shooting.

 

I always enjoy a college basketball game when frequent Final Four official, Ted Valentine, is working, like he did at Bartow Arena. http://www.gatorcountry.com/basketball/article/consistency_is_ted_valentines_1_goal/1783  He controls the game, is never intimidated and you can tell he loves his job.  NEXT

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Most basketball junkies enjoy following exceptional individual performances by a player. In a previous blog, I noted that the country's top Division I free throw shooter (men's and women's) is Samford's Emily London. On Wednesday night at Chattanooga http://samfordsports.cstv.com/sports/w-baskbl/stats/2010-2011/sam0202.html , Emily converted all four of her free throws in a 60 - 53 win, increasing her percentage to 97.3 on 71 of 73 attempts for the season ! 

 

A few weeks ago I sat with Emily at a men's basketball postgame event and the personable senior guard seemed to be an even better person than a free throw shooter  http://samfordsports.cstv.com/sports/w-baskbl/mtt/london_emily00.html . Her outstanding coach, Mike Morris, made a similar unsolicited comment to me in a recent email.  We will continue to track Emily's hot hand. NEXT

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An All-BB (Barry's Blog) player, Xavier's Tu Holloway had a nightmare night in Wednesday's 66 -62 loss at struggling Charlotte http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201102020395 . He shot 3 for 17 including 0 for 8 from beyond the arc and 6 turnovers. Holloway did shoot an Emily London-like 6 for 6 on his free throws (he was 17 for 17 last game....86.7 % for the year). Of course, Gator fans don't like to see one of their top non-conference victims suffer a bad defeat like this. NEXT

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When I think of Tom Izzo's Michigan State Spartans (5 - 5 in the Big Ten and 13 - 9  overall) after last night's ugly 72 - 52 loss at Big Ten cellar dweller Iowa, I can hear Vince Lombardi's classic line captured on NFL Films, "What the hell is going on out here?" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocV5bGHdYag . Their brutal nonconference schedule may be catching up to them http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/teams/may/schedule . 

 

The Spartans have lost 4 out of 5 and I saw portions of the one win last Sunday when they squeaked by Indiana in overtime and were fortunate to do so. The regular Final Four participant needs to turn it around quickly or they will be featured on the dreaded NIT Selection Show. Three of their next five games are at ranked conference opponents, Wisconsin, Ohio State and Minnesota.

 

Talk is the Izzo defense has been atrocious  http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/news?slug=teamreports-2011-ncaab-may . Also the recent dismissal of PG  Korie Lucious (whose buzzer-beater against Maryland hurt my bracket last year)  has not helped. It will be interesting to see if  this unexpected descent by my mom's alma mater will continue. THAT'S IT

 

 

 

 

 

 

Enjoy......on my way to watch Davidson play Samford....because of the freezing rain it is supposed to be a closed-door event discouraging spectators, but I will be there....2009 was the.last time these two teams played here and they sold out the Hanna Center with everyone wanting to see Stephen Curry play,

 

 

 

Barry

 

 

P.S  I will wait until the weekend to send you the amazing website I have discovered. I wouldn't want you to spend a great deal of work time checking it out. 

Blog # 38

My Beloved 83 Bloggees (Welcome Eric):

 

The Gators offered "free basketball" to its fans and TV viewers again, playing overtime to beat the talented Vanderbilt Commodores 65 - 61 on Tuesday night http://www.gatorzone.com/story.php?id=19709 . Kenny Boynton showed why he can be one of the best defensive players in the conference. After shutting out Arkansas's Rotnei Clarke 10 days ago, he did a remarkable job on the SEC's number one scorer, my favorite, John Jenkins.  

 

If you look at the box score you would see that Jenkins scored 22 points on 8 for 14 shooting and say to yourself that he had a solid game against his defender. But if you watched the game, you would conclude differently. Jenkins only was able to get off 6 three-point shots. He made just two of them and they were both ridiculous with Boynton in his face. Most of his 6 two-point baskets were on a fast break or when Boynton was not guarding him, either on a switch because of a tough screen or Boynton was not in the game. Freshman Scottie Wilbekin, two months from his 18th birthday, also played some smothering defense on Jenkins.

 

Some final thoughts on the game:

 

1. Assistant Coach Larry Shyatt should be commended for a wonderful defensive plan that also led to outrebounding the 'Dores by 25 on Florida's defensive boards.

 

2. If Boynton can be more consistent with his outside shooting, this Gator team can be scary. He did have the clutch game-winning three in overtime. No doubt, the energy expended with his shadowing defense does take away from his offense and the Orange and Blue needs to have others step up offensively like Chandler Parsons did last night with 18 points, including a much improved 5 for 6 from the free throw line..

 

3. On a sour note, the Gators centers (Vernon Macklin, Will Yeguete and Patric Young) shot a combined 2 for 10 from the free throw line and many of them weren't even close. I am running out of suggestions. Do any of you former coaches have Billy D on your speed dial and can offer him ideas?

 

4. I still love Vandy as a Sweet Sixteen team with my guy Jenkins leading the way. Orlando bloggee Richie was at the game and he indicated that Vandy 6' 11 275 lb center, Festus Ezeli,  was constantly disruptive in the middle before fouling out in 20 minutes. The Commodores will need him to stay on the floor to make some March inroads for the team (and for my expected bracket). NEXT

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Tuesday night I turned to ESPN at 7:55 Central to see if the early game was going beyond two hours, interfering with the start of the Vandy - Florida game. (Sometimes when that happens, on ESPN non-HD, the network will start its second game as scheduled).  I saw a crawl that indicated Kentucky was ahead of Mississippi on ESPNU by 1 point with less than 20 seconds. I quickly switched over and saw Chris Warren hit the game-winning three for the Rebels with a few seconds left in Mississippi's 71 - 69 thrilling victory at the Tad http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/recap?gid=201102010365 . 

 

Warren is a player in the John Jenkins category of "hate to face him" and I will certainly be glad when he graduates this year. Can you imagine if he went to the University of Florida, just 110 miles north, joining Boynton and Erving Walker in the backcourt?  Why didn't that happen? NEXT

 

 

 

 

 

 

Uh-Oh. North Carolina freshman Harrison Barnes is starting to live up to his pre-season first team All-American potential. He scored 25 points on Saturday against NC State. On Tuesday night in Chestnut Hill, the Tar Heels smashed Boston College 106 -74 http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201102010058 led by Barnes and his 26 points on 9 for 15 shooting, 4 for 7 from deep. The Heels' starters were 13 for 14 from the gift lane (including Barnes 4 for 4) and you know how I admire that stat, especially on the road.

 

Carolina Blue has now won 9 of 10 and the smell of Durham and the Blue Devils is just 8 days away. In between, the Tar Heels host FSU on Sunday which could be a "trap game", but it is being held in Chapel Hill which will help. After an NIT trip last year and a 4 - 3 November, Roy Williams is ready to make his traditional NCAA run. NEXT

 

 

 

 

 

In prior blogs, it was mentioned how rare it is to see a player shoot 10 or more times beyond tha arc in a game and convert on none of them. Well, Birmingham bloggee Terry reminded me of a famous game in Birmingham two years ago when nemesis Memphis defeated UAB 71 - 60. The Blazers' Robert Vaden was 0 for 17, 12 of those attempts were deep ones  http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?page=instant0226 . Vaden is currently playing for the Tulsa 66ers in the NBDL trying to climb up to the "show" . You can get up close and personal for a minute with Vaden by clicking here  http://www.nba.com/dleague/video/2011/01/31/RobertVadenmov-1539711/index.html . THAT'S IT

 

 

 

 

 

Enjoy.....next blog will include a dynamic website full of stats to evaluate every college player....you will want to budget some time this weekend to spend time on it,

 

 

 

Barry

 

Blog # 37 with some Football

My Beloved 82 Bloggees:

 

 

Look who is a freshman for the Michigan Wolverines? Jon Horford, brother of Al, is a 6' 9  220 lb forward averaging less than 3 bounds and 3 points a game http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/players/97333 . We need to watch him to see if he ramps up his game quickly like his sibling did at UF. NEXT

 

 

 

 

 

 

Who is the top Division 1 free throw shooter in the country? Emily London of Samford University. She has now shot 69 free throws and made 67 of them. Holy Toledo!  That is 97.1 %. http://samfordsports.cstv.com/sports/w-baskbl/stats/2010-2011/teamcume.html  If I were Billy Donovan, I would lock Gator seniors Vernon Macklin and Chandler Parsons inside a gym with Emily so she can help them add at least 25 percentage points to their free throw percentages. Shaq, are you also listening? NEXT

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is the ever-changing BB (Barry's Blog) list of mid-major sleepers for the NCAA tourney, if they qualify (some might be from a one-bid league and they could get upset in the conference tourney):

 

 

1. Belmont - experienced tournament coach in Rick Byrd with solid overall team. Of their top 6 scoring players, only 2 start.

 

2. Old Dominion - infatuated with their consistent dominating rebounding. Frank Hassell at 6' 8 245 lb is the Monarch's enforcer.

 

3. Drexel - same conference as ODU so may be tough, but love their toughness under Bruiser Flynt.

 

4. Xavier - I might be developing a hoops man-crush on Tru Holloway who can score.

 

5. Wofford - will get a better feel after seeing them in Birmingham against Samford on February 16th but Noel Dahlman is already The Man. In his last five games, including Saturday when he went 15 of 17, the 6' 6 senior forward is shooting 74.7 percent from the field (56 of 75).

 

 

With regard to Belmont, the Jacksonville bloggees can see them free this Thursday night at 7:15 at the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena, courtesy of a local seafood company. Nashville's music university will be challenged by my favorite scrappy squad, Jacksonville University, led by former Birmingham Huffman High star,  6' 5 senior forward Ayron Hardy a pesky ball thief in NCAA's top 40 with over 2 steals a game. I am hoping that game will be on http://www.channelsurfing.net/.  NEXT

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You Make Me Feel Old  While I was watching the San Diego State - BYU game last Wednesday night, something got my attention and it wasn't the nation's leading scorer, the Cougars' Jimmer Fredette. I heard that the son of Lonnie Shelton, 6' 7 junior forward Tim Shelton, was playing for the Aztecs. No way...wasn't it just a few years ago when Lonnie helped the Seattle Supersonics and Downtown Freddie Brown win the NBA Championship. Sorry, Barry, it was over 31 years ago in 1979. Tim Shelton, You Make Me Feel Old.

 

Tim has had an injury-marred collegiate career http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/player/profile?playerId=36425 including a medical redshirt year. It does not look like he will follow his father's path to the NBA.    NEXT

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you love basketball sportcaster Bill Raftery like I do, then be sure to read this recent feature on him in the Wall Street Journal. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703555804576102461442595674.html?mod=googlenews_wsj 

 

As I mentioned in a previous blog, I saw Raftery coach Seton Hall in a holiday basketball tournament at Rollins College in Winter Park, FL a little less than 40 years ago. He stole the show with his numerous technical fouls and antics and reminded me of a Bobby Knight on the sidelines rather than his cool, folksy on the air persona. One of our bloggees, Dr. Glenn Wilkes, coached Stetson University in that tournament and surely remembers the "wild man".

 

If you can't get enough of Raftery, here is a great article from the New York Times written about him a couple of years ago but it still applies. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/26/sports/ncaabasketball/26sandomir.html  NEXT

 

 

 

 

 

To football, The South rises again, specifically in Saturday's Senior Bowl, 24 -10. The only Gator who ended up playing was Chas Henry.  The Ray Guy Award Winner punted 6 times for a 44.8 yard average, with two inside the 20. Both CB Ahmad Black and OT Marcus Gilbert were expected to play but sickness and injury prevented them from participating.     . http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20110129/BREAKINGNEWS/110129016/1006/NEWS01/UF+s+Black++Pouncey+miss+Senior+Bowl

 

To see how your school's players fared, click on  http://www.seniorbowl.com/files/SENIOR11.HTM .  THAT'S IT

 

 

 

 

Enjoy....Tony Barbee was impressive speaking to the Birmingham Tipoff Club today...Auburn will be special on the hardcourt very soon,

 

 

 

Barry

 

 

 

 

 

Blog # 36

My Beloved 82 Bloggees (Welcome Jared):

 

 

 

If someone asked me why Florida lost at Mississippi State 71 - 64 on Saturday  http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201101290366, I would give them two answers:  free throw shooting and Kenny Boynton's subpar performance. Mississippi State should be commended for knocking down 19 of 23 free throws while Florida only converted 9 of 19. Boynton never had a free throw attempt after going 12 for 12 against Georgia last Tuesday. Plus his 2 for 11 shooting including 0 for 4 from beyond the arc helped doom the Gators. Boynton, a McDonalds High School All-American has shown flashes of brilliance in his two years at Gainesville, but his lack of consistency hurts Florida on his off days like this one. How frustrating it must be for Billy D (and me). NEXT

 

 

 

 

 

There is a bunch of excitement about college basketball this past weekend in the Birmingham, Alabama area after Saturday's results:

 

 

1. Alabama smeared (remember that playground term) LSU 70 - 47 in sold-out Coleman Coliseum http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/recap?gid=201101290006 . Looking ahead at its final 10 games http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/teams/aaf/schedule, road tilts against TN (next Saturday), Vandy (Feb 10th) and Florida (March 1st) and the home finale against Georgia (March 5th) look to be the most difficult (not coincidentally, all against the SEC East). The other six games should go into the victory column.

 

However, you never know after seeing the shocking Arkansas 89 - 78 upset at Vandy http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201101290615 , when Rotnei Clarke exploded with 36 points on    75 % accuracy both within and outside the arc.  I watched portions of that game and noticed the defender assigned to Rotnei would sometimes help double-team the ball leaving Clarke wide open. Last Saturday, it looked like the Gators shadowed him with a defender wherever he went no matter where the ball was and they limited him to 0 for 3 shooting. Vandy Coach Kevin Stallings, "you have some 'splaining to do. " 

 

2. Auburn "shocked the world" with its 79 - 64 road victory against South Carolina http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201101290525 . It was a "blue collar" victory for Tony Barbee and his War Eagles, making only 1 three-pointer and outrebounding the Gamecocks 45 - 32. Like their football counterparts, Auburn appears to be "all in" http://auburntigers.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/012211aab.html with respect to Barbee's tough-minded philosophy. This first SEC win for Coach Barbee might cause him to skip from Auburn to Birmingham on Monday to speak to the Birmingham Tipoff Club at noon http://www.birminghamtipoffclub.com/ .

 

3. UAB took the nonstop Southwest Airlines flight to Orlando which I have probably done 100 times. The Blazers ended up loving the flight, especially the one back home celebrating its 74 - 69  win over another of this season's "Gator Killers", UCF and Marcus "son of you-know-who" Jordan http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201101290103 . UAB is tied for first in Conference USA and as long as sophomore Dexter Fields (from Orlando), shoots threes like he did in this personal homecoming going 5 for 7, look out! NEXT

 

 

 

 

 

 

When glancing at a box score, it looks odd to see a team not have anyone in double figures. That is what happened to the Duke-conquering Florida State Seminoles in its 62 - 44 road loss at Clemson http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201101290120 . Part of the problem is stud 6' 9 junior forward, Chris Singleton, is in a funk, averaging less than 8 points over his last 4 games http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/players/81076 . Other than a win at the U in Coral Gables, the Seminoles have come away empty on the road in January, including the ugly loss at Auburn http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/teams/fan/schedule  . NEXT

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of my March Madness sleepers, Old Dominion, had an interesting 80 - 57 home victory Saturday over Towson and former FSU coach Pat Kennedy http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201101290447  . Once again the Monarchs of ODU outrebounded their opponent, but this time is was by a 32 - 10 margin. Ten rebounds? Pat, you have got to do something about your Charmin Tigers.  NEXT

 

 

 

 

 

 

Xavier remains undefeated in the Atlantic 10 with its 85 - 62 road victory against the Richmond Spiders http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201101290487 . BB (Barry's Blog) all-star Tru Holloway went 17 - 17 shooting free throws to contribute to the Muskateers'  29 - 30 team stat. Who is their free throw shooting coach and is there a way I can sneak him down to Gainesville to give a few lessons? Xavier's continued success is making the Gators win in Cincinnati look better and better. NEXT

 

 

 

 

 

I have another gig for the Xavier free throw shooting coach. The Texas Longhorns continued their winning ways on Saturday night defeating Mike Anderson's 11th ranked Missouri Tigers 71 - 58 http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201101290585 . The deficit would have been more if the Longhorns had not missed 18 of its 34 free throws. Hello, Mr. Xavier.

 

Rick Barnes might finally pull a Mack Brown and win a national championship in Austin. His "Vince Young" could be 6 ' 7 Jordan Hamilton  http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201101290585 who on Saturday night had a double-double with 16 points and 13 rebounds. In case you were wondering, Gator transfer Jai Lucas played two minutes for UT and only had a personal foul to show for it. THAT'S IT

 

 

 

 

 

Enjoy......Florida hosts Vandy and BB all-star John Jenkins Tuesday at 8:00 CST on ESPN....Anthony Grant's Crimson Tide are at home against Mississippi State on Birmingham Channel 21 and http://www.espn3.com/ for those outside of this great city,

 

 

 

Barry

Skype name - barrygatorstocksbham....feel free to Skype anytime....it only rings in my basement office

 

 

P. S. Correction.....in the last blog I wrote Kevin Scarbinsky, the Gator basketball grad and sports columnist for the Birmingham News, it should have read Kevin Scarbinsky, the UF graduate school grad and sports columnist for the Birmingham News. Poor proofing on my part...I knew Kevin never laced up the sneakers for the Orange and Blue.