By Paul Casey Gotham
Faried gets an Oscar
Morehead State’s Kenneth Faried is the Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week. Faried averaged 17.7 points and 18 rebounds as the Eagles took three games last week. Morehead State knocked off Ohio Valley Conference-leading Austin Peay and Mid-American West-leading, Ball State. The senior also had a 23-point, 23-rebound performance as Morehead State defeated Tennessee State, 72-65. It was Faried’s second 20-20 game of the season and fourth of his career.
The weekly Oscar Robertson award is selected by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association and given by the Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook. For the complete release and background on the award and this year’s previous winners click here.
Dukes on the radar
It’s been 34 years since the Duquesne Dukes last punched a ticket to the NCAA tournament. Ron Everhart’s gang is doing everything it can to bring that streak to an end. The 15-5 / 7-0 Dukes rank in the top 20 of eight different statistical categories (assists, turnover margin, steals, scoring, scoring margin, assist/turnover ratio, blocks and 3-pointers per game). The Dukes lead the nation with assists (19.1) and turnover margin (6.9). All of Duquesne’s 15 triumphs have been by double-digits. Seniors Bill Clark and Damian Saunders lead the way combining for 30 points and nearly 14 rebounds. Duquesne hosts George Washington on Wednesday before coming to Olean, New York for a meeting with St. Bonaventure. Pickin’ Splinters will be court side for this A10 matchup. Check back for the exclusive article.
Fall of the house of Martin
Last March, Frank Martin and the Kansas State Wildcats looked ready to leap into the upper echelon of college basketball. The only thing that stood between the Wildcats and the Final Four was an epic double overtime victory over Xavier. The ‘Cats looked fatigued two days later and fell to Butler. But Jacob Pullen would return. As would Curtis Kelly, Rodney McGruder and Jamar Samuels. Kansas State found themselves ranked in the top ten of every major pre-season poll.
Then came an ugly loss to Florida followed by a loss to UNLV three days later.
Pullen and Kelly were suspended.
Fred Asprilla left the team to tend to his sick mother.
Pullen and Kelly returned, but the Wildcats have now lost five of seven.
Asprilla? His mother must have moved from their homeland in South America to Western New York. Asprilla showed up on campus at Canisius College last week. He sat behind the bench as the Griffs beat Niagara. Reportedly, the 6’10” enrolled at Canisius.
This week, sophomore, Wally Judge quit the team.
Suddenly, a season that started with Final Four hopes hangs in the balance with K-State possibly on the outside looking in on Selection Sunday.
Mark the calendar
114 teams. 57 games. 14 conferences. Bracketbuster selections are in. Click here for the schedule. Kevin Doyle previews the Bracketbusters with his 10 Games You Don’t Want to Miss.
Seth Davis and Chicken Little
You’ll want to read Davis’s Season of mediocrity… He needs to create interest somehow.
The Week That Was
RTC’s David Ely makes some sense out of last week’s happenings.
They said it
Niagara coach Joe Mihalich on having to put his leading scorer, Anthony Nelson, on the bench with four fouls in a tie game: “We are in a sword fight with a butter knife.”
1st Team All-Casey
G Kemba Walker – UConn
G Jimmer Fredette – BYU
SF Jordan Hamilton – Texas
PF Marcus Morris – Kansas
C Jared Sullinger – Ohio State
2nd Team All Casey
PG Tu Holloway – Xavier
G Talor Battle – Penn State
SF Kahwi Leonard – San Diego State
PF Chris Wright – Dayton
C Jordan Williams – Maryland
Got any college basketball splinters? Share them here.
Who’s Jimmer Fredette?
Casey —
Is ND’s Ben Hansbrough on your radar screen for potential ALL CASEY designation? Hope so. He’s certainly on track for ALL BIG EAST honors.
Wally – yes, B Hansbrough is on my radar. I have seen him play four times this season. He can be really good like in the UConn game and he can really hurt his team like the second half of the Kentucky game or be really average like New Year’s day at Syracuse.
Let’s put it this way – he is not even close to Jimmer Fredette. He did a good job head-to-head with Kemba Walker. Okay, again that was one game. In all objectivity, he is not the player that Tu Holloway is. YOu can argue against Battle. Go ahead.
Right now, I see a few other guards ahead of him: Nolan Smith, Austin Freeman, Mickey McConnell, E’Twaun Moore and Isaiah Thomas to name a few.
I’m probably not swayed by the prospect of potential all big-east honors.
After reading this comment, I assumed Isaiah Thomas must be Zeke’s son, but then I read this in the Wikipedia article about him:
“Isaiah Thomas was named after former Detroit Pistons All-Star point guard Isiah Thomas when his father, James, lost a friendly wager on a Lakers-Pistons NBA Finals game, and the name was approved by his mother since she desired a biblical name.”
Pretty funny stuff. That’s a better idea for a bet than the mayors of Green Bay and Pittsburgh betting a bunch of cheese vs….a few tons of iron?
Casey —
I’m not saying Hansbrough should supplant Walker, but ya gotta give him consideration for 2nd team. Did you see him vs Marquette and then at Pitt last week. He was THE DIFFERENCE. Gotta evaluate him as a PG.
So why is Holloway all that? And who’s he playing against night in and night out?
Great article on Kenneth Faried: https://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/columns/story?columnist=oneil_dana&id=6101092