General College Basketball Thread 2020-2021

[Johnny B]

Bad day for MU. Lots of bubble teams grabbing good wins. Syracuse, Maryland and Oklahoma all get wins over ranked teams.

for now we can control our own destiny. just keep grinding for wins. no need to worry about whats happening with other teams yet.

[BM1090]

for now we can control our own destiny. just keep grinding for wins. no need to worry about whats happening with other teams yet.

For sure. Not worried, just pointing out a lot of bubble teams got good wins. MU could obviously play themselves off the bubble in either direction.

[BM1090]

Bad day for MU. Lots of bubble teams grabbing good wins. Syracuse, Maryland and Oklahoma all get wins over ranked teams.

Update. Richmond lost to La Salle at home which is good for bubble teams everywhere. I may have overreacted. Carry on.

[Billy Hoyle]

All U of Michigan shut down for two weeks by the state. Outbreak of the UK strain within other teams.

[GooooMarquette]

Shaka Smart tests positive for Covid.

[MuggsyB]

McClung is having a great game tonight.  Wow.

[Nukem2]

McClung is having a great game tonight.  Wow.

Wonder what jaybee would have to say about that.  He is mercurial, but sometimes he just goes off. 

[MuggsyB]

This is a heck of a ball game Nuke.  Two excellent coaches.

[MU82]

Seth Davis' latest college hoops notebook in The Athletic filled with stuff that might interest Marquette fans. Here's a sampling ...


Coach of the year
1. Juwan Howard, Michigan. Wolverines were picked to finish sixth in the Big Ten. Today they're a No. 1 seed. They also have the nation's No. 1 recruiting class coming in next year.

2. Nate Oats, Alabama. In just his second season in Tuscaloosa, Oats has the Tide running, gunning and guarding. They're 8-0 in the SEC with an average margin of victory of 16.8 points.

3. Kelvin Sampson, Houston. Just one lousy point has kept the Cougars from being undefeated, but they are ranked in the top 10 even after 6-3 sophomore guard Caleb Mills, the AAC's preseason player of the year, transferred out in December.

4. Shaka Smart, Texas. A year ago he was on the proverbial hot seat. Now he's coaching one of the hottest teams in America. The Longhorns' two losses came by a total of six points, and they are No. 5 in this week's AP poll.

Oats ... Sampson ... Shaka ... names that were mentioned prominently in a couple of our threads.


Most improved
1. Quentin Grimes, 6-5 junior guard, Houston. The former McDonald's All-American transferred from Kansas following his freshman year and is averaging 17.6 points, 6.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists for a top-10 team.

Spurned Wojo, sucked for Self, playing well in the AAC.

Underachieving
1. Arizona State (4-7, 1-4 Pac-12). The Sun Devils entered the season with their highest preseason ranking (18) in 12 years, but they've lost five games in a row and are in next-to-last place in the Pac-12.

2. LSU (10-4, 5-3 SEC). The Tigers can really score, but they are really, really bad on defense, which is why they have beaten just one top-50 KenPom team and got dominated by a struggling Kentucky team on Saturday.

3. Duke (5-5, 3-3 ACC). The lack of a normal summer and preseason has hurt young teams such as Duke, and the three-game injury to 6-9 freshman forward Jalen Johnson didn't help. But it's the end of January and this team full of McDonald's All-Americans still doesn't have a quality win.

4. Michigan State (8-4, 2-4 Big Ten). We knew the Spartans would have a tough time replacing Cassius Winston. We just didn't know it would be this tough.

Big mentions for The Great Bobby Hurley and The Great Joey Hauser.


He's still in college?
1. Brad Davison, 6-4 senior guard, Wisconsin. Admit it, Big Ten fans: You're gonna miss him when he's gone.

I'll miss Floppy McDickpuncher in the games in Milwaukee. He was the worst player on the court both times, and we might not have won either game without his ineptitude.

Worst losses

5. DePaul 68, Marquette 61, Jan. 23. When you're a bubble team trying to make your case, a home loss to a winless team in your league is suboptimal.

Ugh. Shoot me now.

Bubble watch
1. Michigan State (8-4, 2-4 Big Ten). The Spartans' best wins have come at Duke and home against Rutgers. But they are 0-4 in Quad 1 games and have much work to do.

Only a matter of time before Mommy H. edits Joey's next mutiny letter.


Second-half storylines

5. Will there be much of a coaching carousel? Between hard-hit athletic department budgets and the consensus that it's hard to blame coaches for losing games amid all the disruptions, a lot of guys who would otherwise be shown the door will probably get a reprieve.

Sad, but probably true.

Quick thoughts

• There are a bunch of reasons why Rutgers is struggling but here's a big one: The Scarlet Knights are the ninth-worst free-throw shooting team in the country (57.0). That's not how you get Capone.

Stupid thought, Seth. ftsnomatta!

• The next two weeks should bring more clarity about the fate of conference tournaments. Between the grind of a disrupted season and the risk of someone on an NCAA Tournament team contracting the virus, I anticipate we will see many tournaments either being moved earlier (to make it easier to comply with the NCAA Tournament's seven-day testing protocol) or canceled. The financial upside of these tournaments is not as big as you'd think, especially if fans are attending in reduced numbers or not at all.

Wonder what the BET contingency plan is.

[Galway Eagle]

Seth Davis' latest college hoops notebook in The Athletic filled with stuff that might interest Marquette fans. Here's a sampling ...


Coach of the year
1. Juwan Howard, Michigan. Wolverines were picked to finish sixth in the Big Ten. Today they're a No. 1 seed. They also have the nation's No. 1 recruiting class coming in next year.

2. Nate Oats, Alabama. In just his second season in Tuscaloosa, Oats has the Tide running, gunning and guarding. They're 8-0 in the SEC with an average margin of victory of 16.8 points.

3. Kelvin Sampson, Houston. Just one lousy point has kept the Cougars from being undefeated, but they are ranked in the top 10 even after 6-3 sophomore guard Caleb Mills, the AAC's preseason player of the year, transferred out in December.

4. Shaka Smart, Texas. A year ago he was on the proverbial hot seat. Now he's coaching one of the hottest teams in America. The Longhorns' two losses came by a total of six points, and they are No. 5 in this week's AP poll.

Oats ... Sampson ... Shaka ... names that were mentioned prominently in a couple of our threads.


Most improved
1. Quentin Grimes, 6-5 junior guard, Houston. The former McDonald's All-American transferred from Kansas following his freshman year and is averaging 17.6 points, 6.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists for a top-10 team.

Spurned Wojo, sucked for Self, playing well in the AAC.

Underachieving
1. Arizona State (4-7, 1-4 Pac-12). The Sun Devils entered the season with their highest preseason ranking (18) in 12 years, but they've lost five games in a row and are in next-to-last place in the Pac-12.

2. LSU (10-4, 5-3 SEC). The Tigers can really score, but they are really, really bad on defense, which is why they have beaten just one top-50 KenPom team and got dominated by a struggling Kentucky team on Saturday.

3. Duke (5-5, 3-3 ACC). The lack of a normal summer and preseason has hurt young teams such as Duke, and the three-game injury to 6-9 freshman forward Jalen Johnson didn't help. But it's the end of January and this team full of McDonald's All-Americans still doesn't have a quality win.

4. Michigan State (8-4, 2-4 Big Ten). We knew the Spartans would have a tough time replacing Cassius Winston. We just didn't know it would be this tough.

Big mentions for The Great Bobby Hurley and The Great Joey Hauser.


He's still in college?
1. Brad Davison, 6-4 senior guard, Wisconsin. Admit it, Big Ten fans: You're gonna miss him when he's gone.

I'll miss Floppy McDickpuncher in the games in Milwaukee. He was the worst player on the court both times, and we might not have won either game without his ineptitude.

Worst losses

5. DePaul 68, Marquette 61, Jan. 23. When you're a bubble team trying to make your case, a home loss to a winless team in your league is suboptimal.

Ugh. Shoot me now.

Bubble watch
1. Michigan State (8-4, 2-4 Big Ten). The Spartans' best wins have come at Duke and home against Rutgers. But they are 0-4 in Quad 1 games and have much work to do.

Only a matter of time before Mommy H. edits Joey's next mutiny letter.


Second-half storylines

5. Will there be much of a coaching carousel? Between hard-hit athletic department budgets and the consensus that it's hard to blame coaches for losing games amid all the disruptions, a lot of guys who would otherwise be shown the door will probably get a reprieve.

Sad, but probably true.

Quick thoughts

• There are a bunch of reasons why Rutgers is struggling but here's a big one: The Scarlet Knights are the ninth-worst free-throw shooting team in the country (57.0). That's not how you get Capone.

Stupid thought, Seth. ftsnomatta!

• The next two weeks should bring more clarity about the fate of conference tournaments. Between the grind of a disrupted season and the risk of someone on an NCAA Tournament team contracting the virus, I anticipate we will see many tournaments either being moved earlier (to make it easier to comply with the NCAA Tournament's seven-day testing protocol) or canceled. The financial upside of these tournaments is not as big as you'd think, especially if fans are attending in reduced numbers or not at all.

Wonder what the BET contingency plan is.

Regarding the Big East Tournament contingency. I'd just play it in Indianapolis. Then whoever qualifies for the dance stays there giving enough quarantine time beforehand.

[Billy Hoyle]

Seth Davis' latest college hoops notebook in The Athletic filled with stuff that might interest Marquette fans. Here's a sampling ...



• The next two weeks should bring more clarity about the fate of conference tournaments. Between the grind of a disrupted season and the risk of someone on an NCAA Tournament team contracting the virus, I anticipate we will see many tournaments either being moved earlier (to make it easier to comply with the NCAA Tournament's seven-day testing protocol) or canceled. The financial upside of these tournaments is not as big as you'd think, especially if fans are attending in reduced numbers or not at all.

Wonder what the BET contingency plan is.

cancel them  Teams who are locks for the tourney are already saying they won't play in them.

[shoothoops]

Bradley falls to 9-7 (3-4) after getting swept at home by Loyola Chicago (13-3, 8-1) in back to back games.

[JWags85]

Made the mistake of watching some of the Duke game tonight.  Not only are they not that good, Hurts shooting motion is painful to watch and the offense is slow and plodding.

[MuggsyB]

Made the mistake of watching some of the Duke game tonight.  Not only are they not that good, Hurts shooting motion is painful to watch and the offense is slow and plodding.

Yes, but did Coach K ask another student reporter what their major was?  And if they felt empathetic to others after taking an Econ Final?  Props to that kid who paused, was like WTF, and then uttered his major.. 

[MU82]

Yes, but did Coach K ask another student reporter what their major was?  And if they felt empathetic to others after taking an Econ Final?  Props to that kid who paused, was like WTF, and then uttered his major..

K is typical of those who have been adored dictators. The kid asked a perfectly fine, even innocuous, question. At least K did apologize, which is more than most dictators ever do, but he still looked like a turd.

[MuggsyB]

K is typical of those who have been adored dictators. The kid asked a perfectly fine, even innocuous, question. At least K did apologize, which is more than most dictators ever do, but he still looked like a turd.

Agreed.  And again, props to that young reporter.  Because I probably would have responded with some rather colorful language to that absurd retort by Coach Mao.  In my movie version Coach Mao would be that dude eating the Kahuna Burger in Pulp Fiction after his buddy gets whacked on the couch by Samuel L. Jackson.  You know the classic;  "Oh. you were finished?  Well allow me to retort."  I have very little patience for those that engage in douchebaggery.  Just sayin...

[MU82]

Agreed.  And again, props to that young reporter.  Because I probably would have responded with some rather colorful language to that absurd retort by Coach Mao.  In my movie version Coach Mao would be that dude eating the Kahuna Burger in Pulp Fiction after his buddy gets whacked on the coach by Samuel L. Jackson.  You know the classic;  "Oh. you were finished?  Well allow me to retort."  I have very little patience for those that engage in douchebaggery.  Just sayin...

Well said!

[MuggsyB]

Rutgers is blowing out Mich St. 

MU could play Duke or Mich Stm in the NIT?

[Mr. Nielsen]

Rutgers bombs Michigan State, 67-37.

[tower912]

Sparty first game back after an extended COVID break.    Plus, this is the Sparty team most lacking in leadership that I can remember under Izzo. 

[shoothoops]

Will Belmont's 20 game league winning streak end tonight? ESPNU. Casey Alexander in his 2nd year as Head Coach there. (won the league last year) He helped Rick Byrd achieve 6 of Belmont's first 8 NCAA's an as assistant. Won 30 games as a player there 3 times. And coached Lipscomb to their only NCAA appearance and NIT Finals a few years ago.

[Billy Hoyle]

Sparty first game back after an extended COVID break.    Plus, this is the Sparty team most lacking in leadership that I can remember under Izzo.

13 of the 15 players on the team have tested positive for COVID, in addition to Izzo. That's ridiculous. Shut it down, Sparty.

[MU82]

Sparty first game back after an extended COVID break.    Plus, this is the Sparty team most lacking in leadership that I can remember under Izzo.

Well, we know they have a leader if the "game" is letter-writing!

[GooooMarquette]

Rutgers is blowing out Mich St. 

MU could play Duke or Mich Stm in the NIT?

Rutgers' move down from the Big East to the Big Ten so they could be more competitive is finally paying off.

[MuggsyB]

Well, we know they have a leader if the "game" is letter-writing!

Yes. 

That was a Samuel Richardson masterpiece by H and H.