Thanks,
MGMT

Horner Wardled Bulls
Can’t Make it Past the First Round
Onto Spring Football

It’s ironic that I spent half of Saturday trying to warn St. John’s and/or Rutgers fans about the stupidity of Seth’s old teams, because the last 15 seconds of tonight’s 58-57 loss to N.C. State will go right into the hall of shame along with some of the dumbest things they ever did. And they did some extremely dumb things… I think the worst was the time Seth tried to pull his Harry High School “let’s run off to the locker room to pretend like we have momentum when we make a basket right at halftime” routine when there were still 45 seconds left in the half. It was the shot clock buzzer, not the regular buzzer. He obviously was hit with a T. But I digress.

First of all, the ball is allowed to go into the backcourt on an inbounds pass, even from the baseline. When the shot clock is low, you do not all have to go chasing after the ball and leave your man underneath the basket. As long as you don’t do that they will probably end up with a bad shot. Instead, everyone runs out of the paint, so when Horner(?) tracked down the ball, he had his choice of three wide-open players under the basket to throw to. THAT WAS DUMB. (In the spirit of epic fail, the Sun Dome clock operator forgot to start the clock until the ball was pretty much in the basket and the officials had to go figure out how much time was left.)

So after all that,  DoJo is coming up the floor with five seconds left. He has gone coast to coast and scored on numerous occasions. He just did it three weeks ago against Providence to win that game. So now, we’re going to have him give up the ball when no one else on the team has proven they can score consistently in this game. And not only that, but he’s going to give the ball up by passing it just across halfcourt, without even getting close to the rim, before the defense collapses on him. THAT WAS DUMB. Howard had nowhere to go, he barely got it to Gus, who had his shot blocked at the buzzer. Game over, thanks for playing.

Sure, USF had a good season overall, but that ending is going to leave a really sour taste in my mouth.

I will say that the thought of Jon Lejiste cracking the starting lineup gets me incredibly excited. I probably watched him blow up Tavares Pressley in that FSU game about 50 times in a row on my DVR. If you put it on an endless loop I think I could have watched it for an hour straight. Yeah, those were good times.

Oh, right, spring practice, sorry. Our motto going into spring practice is basically this Skip Holtz quote:

“Ever since I got here people have been asking me, ‘How are you guys going to be?,’” Holtz said. “I always tell them, ‘I’ll let you know after Tuesday. I haven’t seen B.J. Daniels throw a pass or anybody catch one.’ So we’ll see.”

In the spirit of not knowing anything about the 2010 Bulls, here are some links that might help you out as much as us:

• Tampa Tribune – Scott Carter hits all the main talking points and adds an important new one – the need for Holtz to keep USF’s off-the-field problems from becoming on-the-field problems. Martin Fennelly also spent some time with Holtz on the golf course and turned in a column surprisingly free of one-sentence paragraphs and pithy insight.
• St. Petersburg Times – I’m a little disappointed that Greg Auman didn’t crank out his usual 25,000 words on a given topic, but he did put together a nice story about Todd Fitch’s game-planning abilities, plus a preview capsule that includes some bits about Mark Snyder’s 4-3 under defense.
• Rivals – As part of his preview, David Fox points out two defensive linemen to watch – Claude Davis, who has a chance to impress, and David Bedford, who may need to fight for his spot in the rotation.
• ESPN.com – Brian Bennett’s spring superlatives feature on USF highlights the strength of the offensive line and the perilous lack of quarterback depth. Then again, we all thought we were screwed when Matt Grothe went down last year and things turned out OK. He also found some things to watch around the Big East, if you want to keep up with the rest of the conference.

1. One of the fun things about postseason games is that you sometimes play teams you would never see otherwise. The Bulls and Wolfpack have only met in basketball once – you beat us 125-88 way back in 1972. It’s the most points anyone has ever scored against USF, although we did hold David Thompson to 30 that night, so… yeah! Take that!

I’m guessing there aren’t many lessons to be learned from that game, so what style of play can we expect to see out of N.C. State this time around? Who should we keep our eyes on individually?

His offense is of the standard flex/motion variety.  He likes to talk during the preseason about pushing tempo, but that style has yet to materialize.  We’re a slow, purely halfcourt team, and we prefer to work the ball inside-out and give Tracy Smith touches as often as possible.

Smith, an undersized but effective low-post scorer, is by far our best player.  We’ll run the offense through him.

Defensively, Lowe prefers man-to-man, but he’ll throw some wrinkles in there from time to time.  You might even see some full-court press.

On a sixth-seeded NIT team? Heavens no.

Actually, we’ve got some issues similar to South Florida’s.  We don’t force many turnovers, while our interior defense and defensive rebounding are mediocre at best.

Offensively, the main problem has been finding consistent production outside of Tracy Smith.  We know what we’re going to get from him every night; the supporting cast, however, is a crap shoot.  PG Javier Gonzalez is a good outside shooter and can have a huge positive impact on games, but he is wildly inconsistent.  Dennis Horner and Scott Wood are fine players, they just can’t create their own shots and as a result tend to disappear from the score sheet for long periods.

The immediate future looks pretty bright.  We’re bringing in a couple of highly-touted guards, the sorts of players who should contribute right off the bat.  Guard play has been the program’s biggest problem since Lowe got here.  If the freshman are the real deal, we should at least be in the NCAA tournament discussion come late February, and that would be refreshing to say the least.

That class basically guaranteed that Lowe will return next season, though he’s certainly feeling some heat.  I think a lot of people doubt his chances at sustained success here, and I’m definitely among them.  I’d be all for parting ways after the season were it not for that recruiting class.

6. Looking through your season, I see five losses by three points or less, four against NCAA tournament teams. Were those just bad luck (like against Florida, which was flat-out cruel), or was there a pattern of some sort? Is there a “what might have been” feeling about this season for N.C. State fans?

There have been cruelties; Arizona beat us with a last-second shot as well, and we had to play that game without Tracy Smith.  But for the most part, the results are indicative of a team that rarely put 40 good minutes together, that couldn’t take full advantage of opponents’ mistakes.  We had significant second-half leads on several teams and could not close them out (see: UVA, Maryland).  Or we’d play awful in the first half, get way behind, and rally furiously in the second half only to fall short (see: Clemson, Georgia Tech).

This is not a good outside shooting team.  When they forget about Tracy inside, struggle to move the ball, and start hoisting bad jumpers, droughts happen.  Extended droughts.  There was a point in February where I assumed there’d be one eight-minute drought every night.

7. Lately it seems like the light bulb might have come on – the Wolfpack won three out of their last four in the ACC, including a pretty convincing win over Wake Forest, and you were a tough out in Greensboro. What has changed since your losing streak in early February?

For one thing, we’ve been shooting the ball better.  During our five-game losing streak in February, we could not buy a basket.  We’ve gotten better defensive efforts as well.  We scored less than a point per possession in all three ACC tournament games, so it certainly wasn’t the offense carrying the day.

8. What do you think happens Tuesday night? Will you ruin our first basketball postseason in awhile the same way you ruined our first bowl game?

I’m not optimistic, though I do expect a close game.  We last played on Saturday, while you guys have been off since last Wednesday.  I worry that fatigue will be an issue.  Gonzalez sprained his ankle on Thursday and isn’t 100%, which doesn’t help either.  I’ll take USF by six

BONUS QUESTION: Any chance Sidney wears the red blazer tomorrow?

I don’t expect to see the red blazer, but Sid may want to keep the ACC tournament mojo going.

Thanks again to Steven for getting together so quickly after the brackets were released. Check him out if you haven’t already.

You knew that this was only a matter of time after mediation attempts failed last month and learning last week that accuser Joel Miller was not going to sue Leavitt.

I’m sure that this will end well.

Stan Heath had an interesting quote in an entry on Scott Carter’s blog that warranted a change in the meter.

Heath clarified his stance on Jones’ future on Thursday via text message, saying:

“I don’t have any expectations on Jones returning to school,’’ Heath said. “Until all the information about the draft and his most accurate status within the draft is available – I will not have an expectation nor will I advise him on what I feel is best.’’

That made me wonder if Heath had had any players leave early for the NBA at Arkansas. (He wasn’t at Kent State long enough for that to happen.) The only one that did so was Ronnie Brewer, who gave up his senior year to enter the NBA Draft. Jones and Brewer had similar production in their junior year, although Brewer’s measurables were a little better. The Jazz took Brewer 14th overall in 2006, making him the last lottery pick. Brewer declared for the NBA Draft in late April that year, but didn’t hire an agent right away. Heath’s quote at the time was interesting.

“It probably is a very smart thing for him to do. He definitely wants to play in the NBA, he knows that’s a big part of his future,” Heath said. “The rule was specifically made for guys like him — guys who really are considered in that realm of first-round draft pick, somewhere … who knows? With that, Ronnie is going to make sure that he doesn’t do anything to jeopardize his eligibility.”

So it stands to reason that if Dominique Jones were to make a move up draft boards – say, if he goes off in the NIT and the Bulls end up winning the thing – Heath would recognize DoJo’s opportunity and not stand in his way. Based on this, the DoJo-Go-Pro-O-Meter is being adjusted up to 40%.

Haynes has totally transformed himself as a basketball player; He always had the hops and athleticism, but now he has added some deadly long-range shooting to his arsenal. …

The six-foot combo guard known for his extraordinary leaping ability, averaged 18.5 points a game and filled up the stat sheet for the Falcons, who finished the season 20-10. Haynes knocked down 87 treys while shooting 42 percent from beyond the arc.

He’s either 6’0″ or 5’11″, depending on who you ask, and he might be another badly-needed outside shooting option for the Bulls. It probably depends on whether or not he can hang defensively at that size. That’s the only thing keeping Shaun Noriega off the court, and Haynes might join him on the bench if he has the same problem.

———

For the rest of this week, look for another Other Sports Roundup, heavily dominated by a round of What the Hell Is Wrong With Our Baseball Team. Assuming USF plays teams in the NIT that have blog representatives, we’ll keep up the Q&A’s. And as long as one of us can watch the games somewhere, we’ll keep doing postgame haikus and recaps.

Orange 44 (Syracuse)
Pitt Script (Pitt)
UC Huskies (UConn)
Rakes of Mallow (Notre Dame)
The UC Bearcats Blog (Cincinnati)
Cracked Sidewalks (Marquette)
Eye of a Panther (Pitt)
Casual Hoya (Georgetown)
Troy Nunes is an Absolute Magician (Syracuse)
On the Banks of the Raritan (Rutgers)
Voodoo 5 (USF)
The East Coast Bias (St. Johns)

I really appreciate everyone coming together so quickly in getting their ballots over to me. Now without further ado, your 2009-2010 Big East Blogger All-Conference Team.

2009-2010 Big East Player of the Year:

Scottie Reynolds, Villanova

There were some other votes for guys like Luke Harandogy, Andy Rautins, and Dominique Jones, but Scottie Reynolds ran away with this thing. There really isn’t much that Scottie Reynolds hasn’t done during his storied career at Villanova. The 6’2 Senior led the 24-6 Wildcats this year in scoring, averaging 18.8 points a game. Reynolds also chipped in 2.7 rebounds and 3.4 assists a contest. Scottie is downright scary when he gets by his defender, and is efficient from deep, hitting 40% of his shots from range. A leader in every aspect of the word, and the quickest guard we’ve seen in the Big East that we have seen in quite a while. I know Chris at The Nova Blog will be crying after Reynolds plays in his last game for the Wildcats.

1st Team All-Big East

Dominique Jones, USF

Dominique Jones has done more for USF in his three years than I think anyone has in the past decade. The 6’4 Guard from Lake Wales led the Big East in scoring this year, netting 23.2 a game in the Big East, and averaging 21.3 ppg overall. Jones also averaged 6.1 rebounds and 3.6 assists a game as well.  Jones scored a USF record 46 points in an overtime comeback win over Providence. Jones can beat most defenders one on one, and he can finish well inside. He rebounds surprisingly well for his size, and has great court vision. Routinely takes on opposing team’s best scorer.

Wesley Johnson, Syracuse

The transfer from Iowa State has been a big reason for Syracuse’s success this season. The 6’7 forward is one of the hardest matchups in the Big East due to his size and ability to score from anywhere on the court. Johnson led the Big East Regular Season Champions in scoring and rebounding, averaging 15.7 and 8.6 respectivally. Length and quickness perfect person to run Coach Jim Boeheim’s 2-3 zone. Most likely heading to the NBA after one season with the Orange.

Greg Monroe, Georgetown

The 6’11 Sophomore has been described as having the skill set of a small forward while having the size of a center, and he is the perfect center to run the Hoya’s Princeton Offense. His court vision is off the charts for a post player, and he averages an impressive 3.6 assists a game from finding the open man when being double teamed. Monroe also averages a near double-double, going for 16 points and 9.5 rebounds a contest. Controls the post on defense, routinely altering shots along with averaging 1.5 blocks a game.

Luke Harangody, Notre Dame

Last season’s BIG EAST POY, Harangody had another stellar season for the Fighting Irish. The 6’8 Senior averaged an impressive 22.8 points and 9.4 rebounds a game. Has a Kevin McHale-like arsenal of post moves that he will use at any time. Harangody was in line for a possible second BIG EAST POY award, but a knee injury kept Harangody sidelined for the last couple of weeks in the season. Has come back the past few game to help the Notre Dame continue their impressive winning streak into the BIG EAST Tournament.

Lazar Hayward, Marquette

The 6’6 Senior Forward stepped up in a big way for the Golden Eagles after Dominic James, Wesley Matthews, and Jerel McNeal left the team due to graduation. Going up against players three or four inches taller than him, Hayward used his quickness and agility off the dribble to neutralize his defender’s height advantage. Hayward averaged 18.2 points and 7.8 rebounds a game for Buzz Williams’ squad.

Second Team All-Big East

DeSean Butler, West Virginia
Andy Rautins, Syracuse
Jamine Peterson, Providence
Austin Freeman, Georgetown
Jeremy Hazell, Seton Hall

Big East Coach of the Year

Jim Boeheim, Syracuse

Coach Boehim has done a remarkable job with the Orange this season. After losing starts Johnny Flynn, Paul Harris, and Eric Devendorf, Boeheim led the Orange to the BIG EAST regular season championship their first #1 ranking in 20 years. Syracuse looks they will be a number one seed in this year’s NCAA Tournament, and look poised to make another deep run in the tournament. Other candidates for this award included Buzz Williams of Marquette, Stan Heath of USF, and Jamie Dixon of Pitt.

Big East Freshman of the Year

Lance Stephenson, Cincinnati

There were some votes for Dane Miller of Rutgers, but Born Ready won this battle by a landslide. The Brooklyn, NY native led the Bearcats in scoring this season, finishing up with 12.3 points a contest to go along with 5.4 rebounds a game. Lance is great at beating his man off the dribble. For a freshman, Stephenson did a great job on the defensive end, and even averaged a steal a game. Stephenson does need to work on his three-point shooting before moving on to the NBA, but with a summer of offseason workouts and conditioning, we should expect big things from Lance next year.

Thanks again for everyone who participated. I hope we can do this again next season..

The DoJo-Go-Pro-O-Meter represents our best guess at the odds of DoJo going pro, based on news reports and other hard evidence. No gossip, no hearsay, no friend of a friend. The meter goes from 0% to 100%, and will only reach one of those two points when a final decision is made.

Greg Auman had the first article about DoJo’s decision:

“I think about it all the time. That’s your dream when you’re a little kid,” Jones said. “I’m taking everything day-by-day. The NBA is not going anywhere. I feel like I’ll just take my time and make my decision on what I’m going to do, finish the year out here and just weigh my options.”

Based on this story, and the collection of NBA mock drafts that mostly have Jones taken in the second round (where contracts are not guaranteed) or not at all, we are setting the DoJo-Go-Pro-O-Meter at 30% to start. As more news comes out, we will make adjustments as necessary.