http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/luke_winn/01/15/power.rankings/index.html?eref=T1
Marquette Golden Eagles (15-2)
The transformation of Dominic James has been one of the season's more overlooked stories. Three years ago he was the Eagles' star and leading scorer at 14.9 points per game. James' assist-to-turnover ratio then was 1.9-to-1, and he was thought of as more of a shoot-first point guard. This season he's Marquette's fourth-leading scorer, at 11.8 points per game, his assist-to-turnover ratio has jumped to 2.7-to-1, and he's making a case for Big East Defensive Player of the Year, an award that teammate Jerel McNeal won in '06-07. The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel's Marquette blog notes that James' lockdown resume already includes Villanova's Scottie Reynolds, Cincinnati's Deonta Vaughn, Rutgers' Mike Rosario and West Virginia's Truck Bryant.
Next three: 1/17 at Providence, 1/24 vs. DePaul, 1/26 at Notre Dame
Good to see James finally get some national recognition for his defense. He has been in McNeal's shadow for far too long defense-wise. He's the best defender on the team this year, something I would have thought to be heresy two years ago.
I sat with a 1950s player at the WVU game who told me James was playing the best defense he had ever seen a guard play at MU, and that was BEFORE he shut out another pointguard.