# College Basketball December Game thread



## kansasalumn

Some more good games out there for non-con in December


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## Geaux Tigers

One game thread a month! This place is ROCKING!


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## 29380




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## 29380

Still not used to Syracuse being in the ACC.


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## bball2223

Napier is National POY as of today for me. 

Boeheim running circles around Crean again as Syracuse leads by 20 with just a couple of minutes left. 

Excited for Duke/Michigan.


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## Mrs. Thang

Looking forward to Duke/Michigan being the exact opposite if that Syracuse/Indiana game. Neither team can guard anybody, both might get 100.


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## Mrs. Thang

So much for that. I said Michigan sucks in the other thread, but they REALLY suck. I dare some team to take Robinson or McGary in the first round.


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## bball2223

McGary can board, but he has a very limited offensive game. Robinson III is just an athlete. Shows just how good Burke/Hardaway were. They are going to have a hard time winning against good teams when Stauskas plays like he has so far tonight. 

Parker is doing his thing. I do not understand Coach K's loyalty to Thornton though. I need TM here to make sense of all this.


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## bball2223

Good to see Dawkins playing well.


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## BlueBaron

Maybe he'll get an email notification from this @TM


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## Diable

UNC is going to be #1 in the Schizophrenia rankings.


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## BlueBaron

Just when you think UNC is going to tank they pull one out of their baby blue arse. Very hard to gauge them right now.


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## ZachS89

bball2223 said:


> McGary can board, but he has a very limited offensive game. Robinson III is just an athlete. Shows just how good Burke/Hardaway were. They are going to have a hard time winning against good teams when Stauskas plays like he has so far tonight.
> 
> Parker is doing his thing. I do not understand Coach K's loyalty to Thornton though. I need TM here to make sense of all this.


As a huge Duke fan Coach K and his loyalty for Thorton comes from his defensinve toughness he is a bit of a bonehead at times in terms of his wrecklessness but he gives us good minutes


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## bball2223

Not putting much stock in our win over Michigan State, Roy has always ran circles around Izzo. I see a team with the talent to compete with anyone, but will have some bonehead losses too.


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## ZachS89

bball2223 said:


> Not putting much stock in our win over Michigan State, Roy has always ran circles around Izzo. I see a team with the talent to compete with anyone, but will have some bonehead losses too.


Lol well i'm supposed to hate yall but Unc is gonna have a great season you guys have depth in the frontcourt(something that the ACC is missing) and if Hairston and Mcdonald get back in time to get into game shape Unc could be a dangerous team but with Duke our starting center is Amile Jefferson 6'9 215 and he has yet to produce really aside from the first two games and Josh Hairston being a primarily defensive guy at 6'8 240 we need Marshall Plumlee to give us something off the bench or we could go 30-5 again or whatever we went last year and the mess around and get knocked off by a team that has a 7 footer that can rebound


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## Gronehestu

Baylor is a good team, but not a great team. I don't think. Nice win for them tonight, though. Way to storm back. Good on them, and maybe they're better than I think.

Kentucky _should_ be an astoundingly great team, but they are not. They're pretty pedestrian. Right now. I'm sure that they'll get it together to some degree - possibly an astoundingly good degree. But right now, they're pretty much average. Randle is a beast, and nobody else on that team worries anybody. Poythress was the guy who said that 40-0 stuff right? He has 17 points his last 6 games. I wonder if he can do the math on that...hint, it's less than 3 per game. 

As a person who thinks John Calipari is one of the shining beacons of what has gone wrong with college sports, I think it's just super. But he's got all the coaching ability in the world, I'm sure he can game-plan this team to success. LOL. Hate hate hate, hate hate hate hate. Good evenin', bitches.


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## 29380

Kentucky fans hate the Harrison twins so much right now.


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## kansasalumn

KU can not fu(king play against the zone


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## Nimreitz

Wiggins is garbino. Kansas needs to give Embiid more PT stat. Is foul trouble limiting him, or is it just his youth?


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## kansasalumn

Nimreitz said:


> Wiggins is garbino. Kansas needs to give Embiid more PT stat. Is foul trouble limiting him, or is it just his youth?


both. he is so raw


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## 29380

Kansas' PGs are ****ing awful.


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## bball2223

Nimreitz said:


> Wiggins is garbino. Kansas needs to give Embiid more PT stat. Is foul trouble limiting him, or is it just his youth?


Wiggins has looked pretty good these last few games.


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## 29380

When do we start asking if Aaron is the good twin?


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## Gronehestu

Kentucky with an impressive win at last. Boise St has a bunch of scorers, and they only shot 32% on the night. The Broncos are a strong 3pt shooting team, they only made 5. Kentucky had 15 more boards, and Boise has been good on the boards the last couple years despite their guard-heavy lineup. Poythress has all but disappeared though, Kentucky needs to make its freebies and get something from the bench. They play some D, gotta say I'm kind of surprised. 

When Florida has their whole team, they're really good. Frazier II can shoot it, Wilbekin gets after it and can be a high-level distributor, they have athleticism and toughness up front with Finney-Smith and Yeguette...if Patric Young decides to be aggressive they pretty much have it all. Kansas is like Kentucky, they get stuck in neutral because the efficiency and productivity isn't matching the talent. Tarik Black is like Poythress. Embiid might be a freaking superstar someday. That dude has a ton of things going for him. Wiggins with 26 points on 15 shots is pretty slick. 

Bruce Weber's seat is going to get warm this year. K St isn't very good. 

Green Bay is annoying. They're good enough to play with really good teams...but they're losing games they definitely could win. Both they and Eastern Michigan block a ton of shots. 

Minnesota can suck Bucky's ass. With their every win, the clock is already starting to tick on lil' Pitino leaving them high and dry.

Gonzaga's fortunes depend on Karnowski. If he can be that dominant in the paint, they can beat a lot of teams. West Virginia competes with everyone, but they lose to all the decent teams they've played. 

I'm not sold on Indiana as a top 25 team. They've obliterated a few teams, they've only lost close ones to good opponents...but they are who we know them to be until they prove different.


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## kansasalumn

Ender said:


> Kansas' PGs are ****ing awful.


they are good, one of them is a frosh and the other was mostly a 2 guard the past two seasons


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## EpicFailGuy

Gronehestu said:


> Kentucky with an impressive win at last. Boise St has a bunch of scorers, and they only shot 32% on the night. The Broncos are a strong 3pt shooting team, they only made 5. Kentucky had 15 more boards, and Boise has been good on the boards the last couple years despite their guard-heavy lineup. Poythress has all but disappeared though, Kentucky needs to make its freebies and get something from the bench. They play some D, gotta say I'm kind of surprised.
> 
> When Florida has their whole team, they're really good. Frazier II can shoot it, Wilbekin gets after it and can be a high-level distributor, they have athleticism and toughness up front with Finney-Smith and Yeguette...if Patric Young decides to be aggressive they pretty much have it all. Kansas is like Kentucky, they get stuck in neutral because the efficiency and productivity isn't matching the talent. Tarik Black is like Poythress. Embiid might be a freaking superstar someday. That dude has a ton of things going for him. Wiggins with 26 points on 15 shots is pretty slick.
> 
> Bruce Weber's seat is going to get warm this year. K St isn't very good.
> 
> Green Bay is annoying. They're good enough to play with really good teams...but they're losing games they definitely could win. Both they and Eastern Michigan block a ton of shots.
> 
> Minnesota can suck Bucky's ass. With their every win, the clock is already starting to tick on lil' Pitino leaving them high and dry.
> 
> Gonzaga's fortunes depend on Karnowski. If he can be that dominant in the paint, they can beat a lot of teams. West Virginia competes with everyone, but they lose to all the decent teams they've played.
> 
> I'm not sold on Indiana as a top 25 team. They've obliterated a few teams, they've only lost close ones to good opponents...but they are who we know them to be until they prove different.


You were high on Saint Louis preseason...are Billikens fans worried about nothing right now?


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## Gronehestu

EpicFailGuy said:


> You were high on Saint Louis preseason...are Billikens fans worried about nothing right now?


I mean to be real honest I've only seen them 3 times so far, and I don't see any real 'worry' points, but there are concerns. They're so like my Badgers in a lot of ways. The defense is always there, and the toughness...but will they score enough? Will they keep people honest from the perimeter?

The main concerns as I see it are 3pt shooting and overall offensive efficiency. Like Bucky, their calling card is defense, rebounding margin, tough physical halfcourt play and valuing each possession, and if they're shooting under 30% from 3 that makes it so much easier to defend them. And they need more balance - they need McCall, Jett, Loe and McBroom to be combining for 40, 45 points per game, as opposed to the 35 they're putting up now. Evans can't do it all himself - he needs those guys to space the floor. 

Yet just like Bucky, they'll be in every game cause they're tough. They hustle. They make you earn your points. Look at their two losses - both are to top 10 teams. I've still got SLU as one of my top 30 teams - I thought they'd be good this year and they've only lost when they face elite opposition, that's no reason to panic or to downgrade them. Just gotta make shots. How often have I said that about our guys? lol

I guess what I'm saying it I usually worry about a lot of the same things you probably worry about, but our teams usually find a way because they're well-coached and solid and they fight hard every night. Those games with Indiana St and @ Vandy will help get a better read on the Bills too - you can't hold top 10 losses against a team, but if they lose to those type of teams it's time to get concerned. I'll be rooting for 'em as much as I can for anyone who isn't Sconnie


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## Nimreitz

Gronehestu said:


> Like Bucky, their calling card is defense, rebounding margin, tough physical halfcourt play


Are you watching games from a time machine?


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## Gronehestu

Nimreitz said:


> Are you watching games from a time machine?


Nah just every year but this one  

We strive for those things under Bo...it just doesn't always happen right?


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## Nimreitz

Actually it's funny, but Bo is incredibly adaptable. As far as I'm concerned 07/08 was his best team, and indeed it was the #3 defense and only the #28 offense in the country (tempo free, kenpom adjusted). 3 years later the Taylor, Leuer, Nankivil team that nearly upset Syracuse in the Sweet 16 was only the #53 defense in the country, but the #3 offense (again, tempo free, kenpom adjusted).

The team giving shitty ass Ryan Evans lots of minutes was the #1 defense in college basketball, but 10 games into this season it seems like the offense is going to be much better than the D (kenpom isn't reliable at this point because it is still heavily influenced by last year's stats).

Bo's calling card used to always be shooting more FTs than the opponent attempted, but since getting away from his swing offense in recent years that stat no longer pops up. However, this season sees Wisconsin shooting a ton more FTs than the past several seasons. Why? Well, every two bit "waaa they aren't running up and down the court like headless chickens" douchebag predicted that Wisconsin would heavily suffer from the new hand check rules because OMG we play so slow and boring it must be because we play unfair defense(!), but in fact we are greatly benefiting from them. Bo saw the change and adapted and now his team are taking advantage.


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## Gronehestu

I for one am freaking loving the increase in FT attempts, we've had some real issues there lately. Couple years ago we shot an outstanding percentage but only got to the line a few times each game. Last year our percentage just turned to shit (Evans). We're still missing too many this year (Dekker), but the increase in percentage back up over 70 is still an improvement. No matter how good our offenses have been under Bo, the shooting droughts always do happen. Sometimes we're able to minimize it to 3 minutes instead of 7 or 8, but when we get to the line and make 'em, it really helps safeguard against that. 

I love how the rule changes have benefited us for running our offense, where other teams haven't seen the jump predicted in attempts because they really aren't efficient and well-managed offensive teams from an execution perspective.


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## Geaux Tigers

I just love the way Wisconsin plays basketball. Im a debonair Southern Badger...I guess I'm a nutria.

EDIT: My spellchecker highlighted bonafide and asked me if I wanted to change it to debonair...I agreed.


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## EpicFailGuy

Gronehestu said:


> I for one am freaking loving the increase in FT attempts, we've had some real issues there lately. Couple years ago we shot an outstanding percentage but only got to the line a few times each game. Last year our percentage just turned to shit (Evans). We're still missing too many this year (Dekker), but the increase in percentage back up over 70 is still an improvement. No matter how good our offenses have been under Bo, the shooting droughts always do happen. Sometimes we're able to minimize it to 3 minutes instead of 7 or 8, but when we get to the line and make 'em, it really helps safeguard against that.
> 
> I love how the rule changes have benefited us for running our offense, where other teams haven't seen the jump predicted in attempts because they really aren't efficient and well-managed offensive teams from an execution perspective.


I wonder how they're going to handle the whistles later in the year. They have a way of migrating into the refs' pockets in March.


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## Nimreitz

I think this Wisconsin team should be fine. If refs want to swallow whistles and allow the handchecks again, we can handcheck with the best of them.


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## EpicFailGuy

Nimreitz said:


> I think this Wisconsin team should be fine. If refs want to swallow whistles and allow the handchecks again, we can handcheck with the best of them.


I hope they do swallow them. SLU is a pretty good defense when they can play physical. This year, the defense is good but not great.


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## Gronehestu

There is _so much_ wat going on tonight in college basketball

Baylor is struggling in OT to defeat Northwestern State at home










Sir Halil Kanecevic of the 8 points (seriously - career averages of 8.6, 8.3, 8.5, 8.8 ppg) went for 27 and St Joe's went nuts in the 2nd half to get a much-needed win.










Temple hasn't played any defense at all this year, so this isn't super-extra-watworthy, but they gave up FORTY EIGHT freaking points to Aaric Murray, who's played for about 15 teams in his college career. He shot 20 of 28 for Texas Southern as they beat the Owls 90-89










Tennessee loses at home to a talented but not terribly impressive NC State squad. And in doing so they prove yet again that for all their talent, they're just not very good. The Vols are a tremendous representation of the SEC as a conference. 










North Carolina shit the bed once again from the free throw line. They missed 23 out of 47 attempts to drop a home game to unranked (but better than we all thought they'd be) Texas. If you took away Paige and his 90% from the charity stripe, UNC is shooting 52.7% *AS A TEAM* (137 of 260 on free throws). North Carolina is at the point that they almost shouldn't even get credit for the big wins they have gotten so far. Honestly, a team with that much talent that is so bad at doing the little things is just horrid. This is what happens when you've got a trashy hound dog like Roy in charge. When his talent is overwhelmingly better than everyone else's, Roy wins. He's certainly done well in the past. But it's nothing to do with him as a coach, and everything to do with sheer talent. God he sucks and I do enjoy seeing him as angry as he was after this loss. He's like a bad parent who's never punished nor taught their child right from wrong or common sense, who then wonders why the kid acts like a brat.










And finally, Stanford beat UConn...in Connecticut. The Huskies - a team with all the scoring guards you could possibly ask for, shot 31.7%, including 6 for 22 from 3, and only made 10 trips to the FT stripe. Only on a night like this can forever-stuck-in-neutral Stanford finally break through and get a top-10 road victory.










After all that wat though, I've one very positive thing to point at tonight. Saint Louis got a very impressive win, dominating an Indiana State team that I think is really solid. They shot 40% from 3, spanked the Sycamores on the glass, had 18 assists on their 23 made baskets, hit 27 of 34 foul shots and won by 17 points. Epic fail guy - there's the type of performance that makes me like the Bills a bunch. If they can keep it up against good teams, they're going to make noise in March.

And speaking of the A-10, UMass didn't screw around at Ohio and got another legit resume win. They and SLU are looking like the class of their conference and I love the contrast between those two teams. Gonna be fun to watch them come the conference season


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## EpicFailGuy

That was the Billikens' best effort of the season. 

It may go unnoticed because it wasn't a huge statline, but Jordair Jett was money tonight. Jake Odum had 9 points, 6 assists, and 7 turnovers against Jett.


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## Gronehestu

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebas...not-be-scheduling-games-against-wichita-state

Interesting. 

Kansas does play serious schedules every year, so it's not like they're ducking out on challenges. But it is strange that the two teams don't play one another every year. It feels like the norm, right? At least for states with major conference powerhouses - those teams generally play against their obvious geographical rivals even if the smaller schools don't pose much of a treat. Wisconsin plays Milwaukee and Green Bay every year. Iowa plays Iowa State, and both of them play Drake and NIU as well. The Philly teams all play one another; Xavier/Cincy, Ohio St/Ohio...or is this less of a 'thing' than I thought it to be?

What say you Kansasalumn, is Wichita St just instigating here? Or Self/KU being elitist jerks? Is this something you've felt needs to happen?


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## EpicFailGuy

Bill Self is doing exactly what Mike Alden has done for years at Mizzou with SLU.


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## bball2223

Gotta start talking about Adreian Payne for NPOY.


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## Diable

UNC and Davidson in OT...really bad call against Davidson and they're down 5


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## EpicFailGuy

Huge 3 at the end of the shot clock for Notre Dame vs. the Buckeyes.


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## EpicFailGuy

tOSU takes a 1 point lead late, and Aaron Craft makes the defensive play of the night.


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## Gronehestu

I can't stand Ohio St, but they do play hard, and Craft is just awesome. ND really shot their own foot off in that game, but credit to a winning team that just finds a way to win. They did it with 3's against Iowa St last year in the tourney, they can do it with defense, by smacking you on the boards, by using their athleticism to get to the stripe. They're solid. 

New Mexico stormed back against Marquette too, nice 2nd half to get their ship back on course. They can still be an excellent team, because they have some excellent players. Marquette is screwed lol

Illinois with a nice win at Mizzou. I'm not 100% sure what to make of them, but the potential is there for Illinois to be really good. 

LSU drilling UAB is a nice win for them. Bama losing at home to Xavier proves that Xavier is solid, even if they've struggled against the better teams they've played. And it proves that Bama is really stuck in neutral. Grant is a good coach but with the talent they've lost lately things are hitting a serious snag. Speaking of, Virginia should be so much better than they've been so far. Get it together, Cavs. Got the win today but this team has tremendous potential that it's just not delivering on right now. See also, Maryland.

Markel Brown playing great for the Pokes @ Colorado. Brown and Smart could win that team a national title. 

Florida St is as up-and-down as anybody at times, but they got a nice win too. Wish I'd seen it, because it seems to support the theory that if you make UMass play more of a grinding, halfcourt game, you can still beat them. This is why I kinda like St Louis to take the A-10.


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## 29380

*McGary Out With Back Surgery*


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## Gronehestu

The crickets in this college hoops section are deafening

Virginia with a profoundly disappointing loss to Tennessee tonight. In a matchup of two of the biggest underachievers in college hoops, the Cavs got absolutely demolished. I don't understand it because I haven't seen enough of them to say what the main reason is, but they're obviously not scoring enough. All that talent...they'd better make something happen in ACC play

Credit to Texas and South Carolina - couple teams that looked like they might be laughingstocks this season, but are both competing hard. Maybe not tourney teams, but they're acquitting themselves better than than everyone thought so here's a little pat on the back. 

Kansas looked good in spanking Toledo. That's a solid win on a couple fronts: first, because Toledo is a solid, deep team that will probably knock some people off before this year is over; and second, because Kansas knew they needed to bring their A game, and did. Their potential is otherworldly, every bit as much as Kentucky...but they have only shown flashes so far. If this team shows up more often, look out. Embiid is charging hard to take the mantle as my favorite big guy in all of America. He has a little bit of everything in his game.

Louisiana Tech with a nice win @ Oklahoma

St Louis handled its business @ Vandy. They're set up really nicely. Those two losses were to excellent teams, and @ Dayton is the only game I can really see them losing until say, mid-February. They do have a rough finish to the regular season, playing VCU twice, UMass and G.W among their final 7 games, but by then they should have 20+ wins and an iron-clad NCAA resume.


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## 29380

*Oklahoma State's Michael Cobbins injured, possibly done for season
*


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## Gronehestu

Justin Jackson is officially my favorite player in college basketball. I don't even care that he doesn't make his FT's - he's tough and aggressive and fills every category on the stat sheet and I'd pick him for my team any day. Nice win for Cincy at Memphis. If they can make enough outside shots to keep people honest (Kilpatrick), they'll win. The defense is outstanding and in Jackson, Shaq Thomas the Stickman, Sanders and Rubles they've got a diverse frontline that can get points near the basket. They're not pretty, but they can be very effective. If Jermaine Lawrence gets it going, they might be dangerous.


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## Diable

Jabari had a bad game today, 2-10 and missed all his three pointers. Coach K sat him down at the end of the game too. Hood had a great game, but Duke is going to lose if either of them plays really poorly. They got killed on the inside as well, they lost way too much inside and that team can not guard big men right now.


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## Gronehestu

Today was a pretty big day

San Diego State with a MASSIVE win at Kansas. The whole Mountain West must be giddy about that one, cause the Big 12 is looking strong and that win will benefit everyone's RPI. Aztecs have a helluva versatile frontline, and Kansas has one with a ton of ability that doesn't always show up. I don't know who's more disappointing - Alex Poythress or Tarik Black. 

Wake Forest beat UNC. LOL

Colorado taking out Oregon, and hanging 100 on them, no less. That's a statement. The Buffs have two outstanding players in Dinwiddie and Scott...Booker is mercurial but when he's on, he can give them elite production like that and make them so hard to defend. As we saw, they have size and athleticism on the wing sufficient to stymie Oregon, and Oregon has the deepest backcourt in the nation. So when you're looking at matchups come tourney time, you do not want to see Colorado. 

Villanova poundinig on the Friars is impressive. Providence isn't on Nova's level but there's been no hangover from that tough one against Syracuse. Nova can really play. If only they'd clean up the turnovers. 

Wichita State made it look pretty effortless against Northern Iowa. They are really good. Van Vleet has taken a monster step from last year. 

Think Steve Alford's kids were making a statement for him against Andy Enfield? Enfield had better hurry up and get that rebuilding process completed because the way he runs his mouth he's going to have people gunning for him left and right. 

Minnesota getting by Purdue at home isn't all that surprising, but I'd rather they would have lost. I think those two teams are going to duke it out to be the B1G's 7th or 8th tourney team, probably both will be on the bubble to the very end. 

And finally, Bucky taking out the hated Hawkeyes. We definitely benefited from all the foul shots, but Iowa screwed themselves over in that regard. WTF @ McCaffery's tantrum and the 6 shots we got out of that one lmao. He's got some Jim Schwartz in him - he's as much a detriment to his own team as the opponent sometimes. What a huge tool, I really can't stand him. Sam Dekker's inability to make his freaking foul shots is becoming a serious problem. With his skillset and ability he should be getting 5 points from the line every single game. Get it together, man. Likewise Trae Jackson had a Trae Jackson game...7 turnovers grrr. He had been really good the past few games. Hopefully it was just a hiccup, but at home that shouldn't happen. Really impressed with our ability to fight back in this one. We didn't have our best stuff today by any means, but it was still enough to beat an in-conference rival who just so happens to be a very good team in its own right. Roy Devyn Marble has become a tremendous player, as has Aaron White. Hawks still struggle against their elite competition though - this is a team that has been just a half-step behind for a couple years now. Will they break through? 

How about Josh Gasser? He always finds a way to do exactly what the team needs from him on a given night. Duje Dukan was big for us tonight. So was Nigel Hayes. Our bench is made up of 3 guys who basically haven't played prior to this year in Hayes, Dukan and Koenig, and yet we're getting enough out of them to supplement the great starting 5 and that depth is going to be very good for us as B1G play heats up. I'm loving this team! 

Starting to see a bit of separation in the top 25, and lower in the rankings as well.


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## TM

BlueBaron said:


> Maybe he'll get an email notification from this @TM


I'm a little late, aren't I @BlueBaron?

K almost always gives seniors the nod....until mid-January. Then all bets are off. Best guy plays.

Fortunately, it sounds like "best guy plays" philosophy is in full effect from day one next year. #Jahil4POY (I can't think of a hashtag for Tyus > Quinn)


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