By Paul Casey Gotham
You’ll shoot your eye out
No Red Ryder BB gun needed.
From Alshwan Hymes to Jimmer Fredette to Andrew Goudelock (please hold the references to the children’s story – we get it) to Nolan Smith, it was a week of shooters shooting eyes out.
Hymes established a new high-water mark at Canisius College. The sophomore connected nine times from behind the arc. In a little more than three minutes, Hymes connected on four treys as the Golden Griffins went from being down 21-12 to a 41-31 lead at half. After his seventh trifecta there was a noticeable buzz of anticipation in the Koessler Athletic Center that preceded Hymes catching the ball and worked to a crescendo as his eighth and ninth trey found the twine.
One night later and a few stop lights away, BYU’s Jimmer Fredette created a buzz before tipoff. UB’s defense made the noise in the first half holding the All-American to one-of-nine shooting. Then, Fredette hit 10 of 15, including four from behind the arc, as BYU outscored UB 51-45 after the break. “You have to have short term memory loss,” Fredette commented about putting his first-half woes behind him.
Tennessee’s Vols must have had visions of Christmas past on New Year’s Eve. College of Charleston turned ol’ Rocky Top into cinders as Andrew Goudelock connected on 10-of-15 shots including 6-of-7 from behind the arc to lead the Cougars over the Vols 91-78. The Vols were victimized quite frequently a couple of years ago including a POTW by Temple’s Dionte Christmas who scored 35 on 7-of-14 shooting from long range.
Duke’s Nolan Smith ended the week with a 28-point surge as the Blue Devils stymied the Miami Hurricanes 74-63. Smith took out his aggressions on the U. After being called for an offensive foul, Smith went on to score 13 consecutive in 3:14.
Red Storm Rising
Holy Louie Carnesecca! Doth my eyes deceive me? St. John’s is 3-and-0 in Big East play? Okay, so it’s only three games. So one of those victories was Providence. It was on the road. The Johnnies also weren’t so “huggy”in Morgantown. And they knocked off Georgetown at MSG. The Big East just got a little more interesting. Dwight Hardy is a gutsy point guard, and Justin Brownlee does a little of everything (15 pts., 7 rebounds and 6 assists against GU).
Steve Lavin’s gang will get a better idea of where they stand by the end of the month. A scheduling quirk sees the Red Storm play Notre Dame twice in eight days – 1/8 @ ND and 1/16 @ MSG. In between, Syracuse makes its way to the Garden on 12th. Add in trips to Lou-vul on the 19th and Georgetown, 1/26, and the Johnnies host Cincy, 1/22 and Duke, 1/30. That should give Lavin a good idea of where they are.
Looking over his shoulder
You’ll have to forgive Xavier’s Chris Mack if he is wondering what is next. The Musketeers lost the A10’s top three-point shooter, Brad Redford, to season-ending knee injury during the first week of practice. Then the NCAA ruled Justin Martin was a partial-qualifier thus requiring the freshman to take more classes before being eligible to play. When the dust settled from those setbacks, senior, Jamel McLean broke the bone around his eye socket in a pre-season exhibition against Northern Kentucky. Then came the challenges presented by the winter storm that racked the east coast during the holidays. Mark Lyons found the opposition to be not so opposing, but Tu Holloway ran his own odyssey in order to get on the floor as Xavier hosted Albany. The Muskies won. Then came the news that freshman, jay Canty was lost for 4-6 weeks. That leaves the X-Men with nine scholarship players. Opponents should take advantage while they can.
Worth a second noting
In case you did not click on the link above, click here to read about the impressive show of sportsmanship by Albany’s coach, Will Brown.
The cautionary tale of Renardo Sidney
Last night, ESPN’s Len Elmore shared his insights about Mississippi State’s Renardo Sidney. The highly-touted forward has walked a checkered path. In high school he was projected as a future first pick in the NBA draft. There were some stories about the family moving to California to get closer to USC and UCLA. The Trojans and Bruins both offered scholarships. Then the two schools recanted. It should have been a yellow flag. The Bulldogs ignored the warnings. As the veteran Elmore narrated last night, it comes as no surprise that Sidney got into something like a fist fight with his teammate. The kid HAS to be feeling immense amounts of pressure. It probably takes very little to set him off. And that is what happened. Now, Miss. St. is stuck with a “can’t-miss” prospect that will probably miss.
What have you done lately?
UConn’s Lady Huskies set a record with 90 consecutive wins. One loss later, and UConn is now looking up at the new #1: Baylor.
Rebounds & Putbacks
Seth Davis’s “Stock Report” is worth the read even if he contradicts himself from time to time. Take time to read Gary Parrish’s comings and goings. The Other 26? What is that? Click here to find out.
1st Team All-Casey
PG Kemba Walker – UConn
SG Jimmer Fredette* – BYU
SF Kyle Singler – Duke
PF Marcus Morris – Kansas
C Jared Sullinger – Ohio State
2nd Team All Casey
PG Tu Holloway – Xavier
SG E’Twaun Moore – Purdue
SF Kahwi Leonard – San Diego State
PF Chris Wright – Dayton
C Robert Sacre – Gonzaga
Got any college basketball splinters? Share them here.
I am humbled by Luke Winn’s statistical analysis: https://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/luke_winn/01/05/ohio.state.no.fouls/index.html?eref=sihp
Holy crap, you’re right. That’s some analysis!
As a former HS hoopster, fan and now youth coach, I’ve become a firm believer that a) getting to the foul line combined with b) not letting opponents get there is certainly conducive to winning games. Of course, with b, the challenge is playing aggressive, tenacious D without fouling … easier said than done. Ohio State is obviously gettin’ it done. I’m appalled when I watch games and kids are committing stupid fouls far from the basket early in games or 2nd half. It all adds up to your opponent getting into the bonus early and shooting FTs.
With regard to getting to the line, it means you’re attacking the basket and not settling for jumpers all the time … means you’re attacking the boards, etc. At the end of every season, we see impressive stats on the nation’s best teams (like Duke) who make more free throws than their opponents even attempt. One of the keys to winning chan’ships!
Casey – As a Duke fan, you have to be pleased with Nolan Smith’s play last night against UAB. I’ve gotten so sick of everyone saying that Duke’s title hopes have been dashed with Kyrie Irving out. The announcers last night said that Smith was playing too unselfish and that the coaching staff talked to him about playing his game. I didn’t see him take a bad shot last night and he was so in tune with when it was a good time to attack the middle offensively. The result: 33 points and 50% from the field.
The panic surrounding Irving’s loss has been created by a media needing to generate interest for their publications. Hey, even Chicken Little got people’s attention. Yeah, not having Irving certainly makes things interesting, but it’s not like the Blue Devils were going undefeated, or teams like the Buckeyes were going lay down for them. On the other hand, I am viewing Smith’s play with caution. His only turn at point outside of Cameron was against UNC-Greensboro. Last night, Mike Davis must have been yelling ole from the bench ’cause his kids looked like a bunch of matadors at times. Speaking of UAB, did you read this yet: https://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/columns/story?columnist=oneil_dana&id=5988379
Casey – Check out what Luke Winn says about Nolan Smith in his recent power rankings. Pretty good stuff:
https://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/luke_winn/01/06/power.rankings/index.html?eref=sihp
That is good stuff. I must be a geek. I didn’t find those frames boring at all.
Finally had a chance to see Cincy play last night against Xavier. Is it wrong that I was more impressed with Jamel McLean than Cincy’s big time scorer Yancy Gates? Gates was putting up some rally long fade away jumpers after dribbling and being pushed out from block. They just seemed really lucky to me, but maybe that is part of his game. He did, however, hit the glass hard and always seemed to be in the right spot as a back-side offensive rebounder on offense.
McLean on the other hand was a thing of beauty when he touched the ball. He just seemed to be able to create space with head fakes and timely pivots down low. He got to the line 9 times and shot 6-7 from the field and I believe few of those shots were a result of offensive flow, which Xavier seemed to lack with its PG out of sync.
And can McLean and Holloway please trade numbers? A guard in #52 and a big in #22???
Casey or Abbey —
Looking like a rebuilding year for the Xavier Musketeers, huh?
Rey – I have enjoyed watching McLean for the last couple of years. Because of his size I don’t seeing him playing much beyond this year. At least not in the U.S.. Wait, maybe he will sign with the Razorsharks. That would be sweet. You are right on in his assessment. McLean does a lot of textbook things very well.
Gates had his best night of the season and maybe career. The Cincy seniors have never known victory when it comes to Xavier. They had a lot of emotion going in the right direction. Chris Mack’s reaction to that one fade away was perfect. There was nothing else Frease could have done on THAT PLAY. Of course, Frease’s six turnovers had a huge impact on the outcome of that game. That is the worst I have seen XU play since their loss at Duquesne two years ago. Tu Holloway’s performance was disappointing on a variety of levels.
As for rebuilding – if that ‘s what you want to call it. Fair enough. Xavier had the exact same record a year ago after 13 games. Sure, it can be interpreted differently, but that comes with the territory. People are starting to expect more from the Muskies. I guess that’s a good thing. The Musketeers have experienced their fair share of challenges. Their biggest shortcoming is a lack of success from behind the arc. There is no coincidence that the A10’s top 3-point shooter a year ago, Brad Redford, is on the shelf with a torn ACL. No one has stepped in to fill that void…yet. They also lost another guard Jay Canty for 4-6 weeks. I’m sure this can be interpreted as making excuses, but it is the reality of the situation. They have nine scholarship players. They caught a team in Cincy riding a wave of emotion. The Bearcats had a lot to prove last night. And they proved themselves.
Back to McLean – that was the best I have seen him play all year which is a good sign. Looks like he has recovered from the broken bone in his eye socket. Xavier is struggling with an identity on offense. If they can start to depend on McLean, things will begin falling in place.