tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27609598296372973792023-11-16T06:25:02.345-05:00Xavier ExaminerMajor team. Major blog.Joelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06965297735277115060noreply@blogger.comBlogger187125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2760959829637297379.post-6254579069356273252011-07-29T14:44:00.000-04:002011-07-29T14:44:40.088-04:00The Big Move<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.esquire.com/cm/esquire/images/chris-mack-2-lg-99919714.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.esquire.com/cm/esquire/images/chris-mack-2-lg-99919714.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We know this is how you reacted at first, but we're still here</td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">For the last six months you've been able to come here to the Examiner for your daily(ish) Xavier news, presented with a slant we hope you can't find just anywhere in the mainstream. Well, today, that ends. Unlike this March for our Musketeers though, this story has a happy ending. <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/">SBNation</a>, the premier name in online sports coverage, has asked us to come on board to cover Xavier for them. We gratefully accepted, and can now be found at <a href="http://www.bannersontheparkway.com/">Banners on the Parkway</a>. The new platform is excellent for commenting and provides a top of the line experience for all. Please, come join us!</span>Bradhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04687770821327995823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2760959829637297379.post-31469701648193194262011-07-26T00:26:00.000-04:002011-07-26T00:26:20.399-04:00Semaj Christon Commits<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5140/5490736934_d6f509c894.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="146" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5140/5490736934_d6f509c894.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Christon will fit right in with Xavier's backcourt</td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">When the first sentence ESPN can come up with on a high school recruit includes the gem "</span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">not only a good athlete but is very athletic," you have to wonder if there is anything else worth mentioning. With Semaj Christon, you don't have to wonder long. The 6-2 Winton Woods point committed to Xavier for 2012 late today, and he brings with him something akin to the entire package. <a name='more'></a>Christon will join Jalen Reynolds at Brewster Prep this year to spend a year polishing his game. Even without that year of seasoning, Semaj has the makings of a player. His athleticism, so apparent to ESPN, is definitely the first thing that jumps out about him. Christon is explosive off the bounce, with a low, sweeping crossover that seems to be a mimic of old Allen Iverson. Christon parlays the speed, quickness, and devastating dribble into a good deal of uncontested layups.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">To garner a 94 from ESPN's recruiting staff, though, you have to do more than just be quick. While there isn't a wealth of tape on Christon, what is out there shows a point guard willing and eager to get his teammates in on the action. The only knock against the young guard may be that he tries to make the sensational out of the ordinary a bit too often. That, however, can be coached out of him. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Christon's shot is a quick rise followed by a hesitation to square the shoulders. With space, which he can create, he won't have a problem getting it off. Christon's extension isn't great, probably a bad habit formed from his ability to get so much lift out of his legs when he jumps. On the whole, Christon is more than just a scorer thanks to his ability to shoot. Defense that sags to deny him the lane will end up paying the price more than it cares to.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">With five commitments for 2012 (Bhullar, Farr, Reynolds, and Davis are the others), Coach Mack has already assembled a good deal of talent. The jewel of that group, though, is Semaj Christon. Whether the fabled DSR joins the ranks of the Musketeers next year just became a lot less of a concern.</span>Bradhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04687770821327995823noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2760959829637297379.post-45540633735132246802011-07-25T22:44:00.001-04:002011-07-25T22:44:30.543-04:00I Love Basketball<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://imgs.sfgate.com/c/pictures/2011/02/19/sp-stmarysmen20__0503011049.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://imgs.sfgate.com/c/pictures/2011/02/19/sp-stmarysmen20__0503011049.jpg" width="190" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nasty.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr>
</tbody></table>On February 19, 2011, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEZrsjAITuQ">this</a> happened. Utah State and St. Mary's were playing a Bracket Buster game on ESPN in the middle of the worst month of the year. It was a relatively ordinary game of basketball, with St. Mary's up at the half before Utah State came back with a 25-7 run to take control of the game. ESPN3.com was gracious enough to carry the game, so I was watching it muted as I got ready to call it a night.<br />
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Then St. Mary's started to make it a game. They buried back-to-back threes with 2:45 left to cut the game from twelve to six and get the gym bouncing. With the press on and Utah State threatening to decompensate, Jardine trailed the broken press, caught a pass coming through the middle, and flushed it on St. Mary's entire roster and effectively end the possibility of a come back.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>That, of course, has nothing to do with X. In the grander scheme, though, March to November is too long to go without basketball. It's moments like that one that make following college basketball so great. The only reason I was watching the game was that I was up past my bed time and willing to sacrifice a little productivity at work to watch a meaningless west coast game. I can't wait to have that opportunity again.Joelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06965297735277115060noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2760959829637297379.post-75149489571298966512011-07-21T19:49:00.002-04:002011-07-22T12:30:44.869-04:00Jalen Reynolds moves back<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://cmsimg.detnews.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=C3&Date=20110221&Category=OPINION03&ArtNo=102210322&Ref=AR" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://cmsimg.detnews.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=C3&Date=20110221&Category=OPINION03&ArtNo=102210322&Ref=AR" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Reynolds in HS last year</td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">2011 commit Jalen Reynolds has apparently pushed his arrival at Xavier back a year, according to Brian Snow of Scout.com. Reynolds, who had bounced around all through high school, appears intent on attending Brewster Academy this year. The 6-9, 210 pound power forward had figured to battle Travis Taylor and Andre Walker for minutes at the four.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">While the move to Brewster will undoubtedly further sharpen Reynolds' already impressive game (he was rated a 91 by ESPN) and allow him to bulk up his lanky frame, it will also re-open his recruitment. <a href="http://www.ncaa.org/wps/portal/ncaahome?WCM_GLOBAL_CONTEXT=/ncaa/NCAA/Legislation+and+Governance/Eligibility+and+Recruiting/Faqs/nli_financial_aid.html">According to NCAA rules</a> the letter of intent that Reynolds signed for Xavier became moot when he failed to enroll and receive financial aid this year. Reynolds <a href="http://content.usatoday.com/communities/campusrivalry/post/2010/08/recruit-jalen-reynolds-im-going-to-get-xavier-to-the-final-four-/1">rather famously promised</a> "I'm going to get Xavier to the Final Four." Whether that is still the plan now remains to be seen.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">UPDATE: </span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Reynolds can now be contacted by any competing school. For him to sign with a different school he would take a one year loss of eligibility penalty </span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-style: italic;">or</span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> have Xavier release from his current letter of intent. If he does choose to go elsewhere and XU does not release him, he won't suit up until 2013.</span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span>Bradhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04687770821327995823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2760959829637297379.post-71347254452635193962011-07-21T02:52:00.001-04:002011-07-21T02:53:09.749-04:00Tu Holloway in a bubble and other news<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.premierlife.ca/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/tumblr_l3q5hkEOg81qaw2yoo1_400.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.premierlife.ca/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/tumblr_l3q5hkEOg81qaw2yoo1_400.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This would've killed Tu's street cred</td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Back in June Tu Holloway was invited to tryout for the USA Men's Junior National Team (or World University Games team, depending on which you prefer). At the time I was of two minds about it: one one side, exposure for Xavier is never a bad thing, on the other, Tu Holloway getting hurt is always a bad thing. While a bubble for him seemed unlikely, risking him in pointless games didn't sit well.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Fear no longer though, because Tu has decided to remain in Cincinnati rather than tryout for the chance to go to China. According to Coach Chris Mack, Tu is focused on spending time with his teammates and finishing summer classes. The fact that Tu has already been away for Deron Williams' camp in Chicago and LeBron James' camp in Akron probably factored into the point guard's decision to spend the next month and a half here at home.<a name='more'></a> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Not all news is Tu news. Big Kenny Frease, and Examiner favorite, <a href="http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20110720/SPT0102/107210328/XU-s-Frease-best-shape-ever?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews%7Ctext%7C">is down in Houston</a> working with John Lucas in an effort to get in even better shape than he was last year. Evidently the 100 plus degree heat is helping Kenny remove even more extra Frease than he did last summer. The work with a noted fitness guru figures to impact the 28.5 minutes per game Frease played last year. Xavier is a different team when the big man is around the rim on offense and clearing the glass on defense.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Chris Paul <a href="http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20110716/SPT0102/107170351/Chris-Paul-big-fan-Mack-XU?odyssey=mod_sectionstories">paid a visit to his friend Coach Mack last week</a>. I did some research and it seems that the NBA lockout will not allow CP3 to resume his college career. This disappointment aside, the story of Paul and Mack remaining friends as they went their separate ways after Wake Forest is a good one. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> When AD Mike Bobinski got the job as <a href="http://xavierexaminer.blogspot.com/2011/07/bobinski-named-chair-of-tournament.html">chair of the selection committee</a> it was another coup for a program on its way to the very top. Now comes more news from Bobinski that will make any fan of the college game smile. According to an <a href="http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/news?slug=jn-king_q_and_a_xavier_mike_bobinski_072011">interview with Yahoo! sports</a>, Bobinski sees no need to expand the tournament field. Xavier's AD went so far as to say that, unless something drastic changes, he can't even see entertaining discussion on the matter.</span>Bradhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04687770821327995823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2760959829637297379.post-5539336417555692932011-07-20T21:59:00.001-04:002011-07-20T22:03:56.497-04:00I'm Glad I'm Not Sim Bhullar<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://l.yimg.com/lk/api/res/1.2/2FJlLXTShruqzGwafT570Q--/YXBwaWQ9eW1lZGlhO2g9NDU3O3c9NjEw/http://mit.zenfs.com/190/2011/07/Sim-Bhullar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://l.yimg.com/lk/api/res/1.2/2FJlLXTShruqzGwafT570Q--/YXBwaWQ9eW1lZGlhO2g9NDU3O3c9NjEw/http://mit.zenfs.com/190/2011/07/Sim-Bhullar.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>I fly coach (when I fly at all), and I sometimes feel cramped at 6'3". Sim Bhullar has more than a foot and at least 100 pounds, on me, so I can't imagine how he must feel getting on a plane. Anthony Bennett, a teammate of Sim's, on CIA Bounce, <a href="http://twitter.com/#%21/ABennett24/status/92280984376049664">tweeted this photo </a>of Sim on a plane (I think). I envy the fact that he's going to play for X, that he's going to get to go to college for free because he's a good ballplayer, and that he'll probably get paid to play some day. I don't envy the fact that he's going to have to squeeze into everything made for normal-sized people for the rest of his life. If his tenure at X was going to overlap with Big Kenny's, they may have to charter two planes.Joelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06965297735277115060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2760959829637297379.post-34432550188885813762011-07-20T15:28:00.000-04:002011-07-20T15:28:18.896-04:00NCAA Adds Charge Circle, Slides Toward Death of Good BasketballYou've probably heard by now if you follow college basketball at all during the summer, but the NCAA has voted to follow the NBA's lead and put the little charge half-circle underneath the basket. Most of us who love the college game have a knee-jerk rejection of anything to make it more like the NBA, but that's not the only reason to take a closer look at this. In fact, the NCAA didn't really cite "becoming more like the NBA" as a motivating factor in this rule change.<br />
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Instead, at least <a href="http://eye-on-college-basketball.blogs.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/26283066/29611045">according to CBS</a>, the NCAA cited player safety - particularly that of the offensive player - as the primary reason for the rule change. Quickly think back to last year, or any year you've seen more than about two games of college basketball; how many offensive players did you see suffer grevious bodily harm because a defender attempted to take a charge within three feet of the rim? I'm sure someone will probably come up with an incident and post it below, but it hasn't been a widespread epidemic.<br />
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For years, the NCAA rules have put a premium on working to attain an uncontested lay-up. When George Mikan was making it look too easy back in the 40s and 50s, both college and the pros widened the lane to make post position a little more difficult to come by. When Lew Alcindor started taking defense out of the game with the dunk shot, the NCAA outlawed that, too. (SPOILER ALERT: They changed the rules to let it back into the game in 1974.)<br />
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What I fear with this rule change is that the focus of the game is going to swing even further from strategy and collective effort and closer to a greater emphasis on athleticism and individual play. We're already seeing this in the fading from prominence of team offenses like Bobby Knight's Five-man Motion and the Princeton offense and the rise of the Dribble-drive Motion favored by John Calipari or even the high ball screens that make up much of Coach Mack's system. With the charge circle painted underneath the bucket, a driving player doesn't have to worry about a big man coming across to take up position for the charge. The risk is all still there for the defender, but any potential reward he had from setting up in front of the attacking player is gone. He's better served to leave his feet and slap at the ball.<br />
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While not as big a contributor to the individual style of play in the NBA as, say, the shorter shot clock, the charge circle still represents a step in the wrong direction. I love Bo Ryan (and not just because of his Solja Boy skills) for his ability to take five guys who are not the most talented or athletic players and mold them into a unit that hides their weaknesses, leverages their strengths, and can take down a more skilled but less disciplined team. Ideally, the NCAA is the perfect blend of the team play of the lower levels with the ridiculous talent of professional players. It's not hard to see the drift from that ideal to amateurism in name only in recent years, and the charge circle probably indicates that we're going to keep moving that way. I don't like it.Joelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06965297735277115060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2760959829637297379.post-6001135351736547342011-07-19T12:22:00.000-04:002011-07-19T12:22:26.334-04:00Xavier Adds Commitment From Myles Davis<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz492PAfuYx7j_WHpo2AcPd2N7LM0PxLxgIH_VvKhRvo-p3NiWqVf2XLiC6RFNFYqazryLlUYjAoEe3FGLuPB5E6NX4l9V7Aat2_O2ZHPGAX3Ip4qRzoiIdkwk_3pqr4o5rV26vo9fevdT/s320/myles+davis.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213px" m$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz492PAfuYx7j_WHpo2AcPd2N7LM0PxLxgIH_VvKhRvo-p3NiWqVf2XLiC6RFNFYqazryLlUYjAoEe3FGLuPB5E6NX4l9V7Aat2_O2ZHPGAX3Ip4qRzoiIdkwk_3pqr4o5rV26vo9fevdT/s320/myles+davis.jpg" width="320px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Davis has been dropping bombs since he was a little fella.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Word came out late last night that Xavier has added a verbal commitment from 2012 guard Myles Davis. In addition to bringing a tidal wave of jazz references into play for the next three or four years, Davis brings plenty to the table as a player. Davis is well-known among those who care about such things as an incredible shooter. He has the ability to knockdown jump shots from well beyond the three-point arc, and - along with Justin Martin and Brad Redford - will give Xavier at least three sensational shooters as soon as he sets foot on campus.<br />
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Davis was originally a 2011 recruit, but he spent a year at Notre Dame Prep to round out his game and allow his body to fill out. Reports say that Davis has really improved his ball management and midrange game in the prep year, which should serve him well during his time at X. <a href="http://www.therecruitscoop.com/myles-davis-commits-to-xavier">The Recruit Scoop reports</a> that Davis felt like X was "a home away from home for me because of the coaching staff and environment." It also probably doesn't hurt that Coach Mack personally followed him throughout the Hoop Group Elite Camp and the Nike Peach Jam.<br />
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Davis' commitment fills up the Xavier roster for 2012, which means that - unless the Muskies choose to oversign - X is out of the running for D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera. DSR had initially commited to X in October 2010, but backed out of the commitment in December of the same year. Though DSR and Davis are both 6'3", Smith-Rivera carries an extra 25 or so pounds on his frame. He probably would have given Xavier a better defensive presence and a more completel guard, but he isn't renowned for the kind of shooting touch that Davis brings to the table. DSR had said all the right things about being willing to recommit to X, so one is left to wonder if the staff got the feeling he was headed elsewhere, thought Davis was a better player or a better fit, or simply got tired of waiting.<br />
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With Davis coming to campus next season, Xavier continues to assert its position as a premier destination for top-level recruits. Davis was also coveted by Georgetown, Pitt, and Villanova and had a confirmed offer on the table from at least G'town. The fact that he chose X over those schools shows that Xavier's mid-major label may still apply in the eyes of the media, but it certainly doesn't in the minds of the recruits. While he still has some things to work on - defense and transitioning to being a more complete guard being the major areas he'll be improving - he's another big coup for Coach Mack and the staff.Joelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06965297735277115060noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2760959829637297379.post-83152342930915412632011-07-15T13:35:00.003-04:002011-07-15T16:39:32.939-04:00Happy Dante Jackson Day!<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.greenfieldrotary.org/06wop_danteDSC03652.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239px" m$="true" src="http://www.greenfieldrotary.org/06wop_danteDSC03652.jpg" width="320px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Part of the Dante Jackson Day parade.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>In America, you have to rise above the baseline level of accepted social behavior to have your accomplishments immortalized with your own day. Martin Luther King, Jr, for instance led the civil rights movement and ultimately gave his life for it; he is rewarded with his own holiday. George Washington and Abraham Lincoln were both US Presidents during war time and were born pretty close to each other; Congress split the difference (roughly) between their birthdays and called it Presidents' Day. Christ rose from the dead of his own volition; he gets Easter. And today, in Greenfield, OH, Dante Jackson Day was celebrated. <br />
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Here at XE, we've been pretty unabashed about our love for Dante. Whether it was <a href="http://xavierexaminer.blogspot.com/2011/01/dante-jackson-and-three-point-arc.html">breaking down his stats when he was struggling</a>, <a href="http://xavierexaminer.blogspot.com/2011/03/farewell-dante-jackson.html">sending him out with a tearful farewell post</a>, or simply <a href="http://twitter.com/mantayjackson/status/48835974758793216">never tiring of the process</a>, the influence of and affection for Dante Jackson has never been far from our hearts. Apparently his hometown of Greenfield also feels the same way about him. While attending Greenfield-McClain High School, Jackson labored to earn that affections and adulation of his peers, and did so to great affect.<br />
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As a basketball player, Dante was overtly outstanding. He was Second Team All-Ohio as a freshman, but atoned for that by making the first team his next three years. He was First Team All-Conference for four years, First Team All-District for four years, won the AP and coaches pick as District Player of the Year three times, and led his team to a 44-3 record over his final two seasons. He also won the State Championship in 110-meter hurdles as a junior, which made him the first state champ in school history. The next year, he became the second state champ in school history by winning the same event. It is presumably only out of the goodness of his heart that Dante left awards in other sports out there for other people to win.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://media.nj.com/college_basketball_blog/photo/dante-jackson-of-xavier-in-ncaa-tournament-wire-66d4501f9032bf6f_large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="243px" m$="true" src="http://media.nj.com/college_basketball_blog/photo/dante-jackson-of-xavier-in-ncaa-tournament-wire-66d4501f9032bf6f_large.jpg" width="320px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You know what picture was on the cards.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>His high school basketball coach, Rick VanMatre, said that Dante is "a winner who is at his best when the game is on the line" and "a tremendous athlete who works very hard." Those of us who watched Dante play at Xavier can certainly co-sign on Coach VanMatre's sentiments. So today, take some time out of your busy schedule to observe a few moments of respect for a great American. Fireworks and toasts to Dante at dusk are the traditional elements of the celebration, though abusive phone calls to UD fans are also acceptable. I personally went low-key this year and sent out 50 "Dante is the Reason for the Season" cards to my friends and family. However you choose to celebrate, make it worthwhile; Dante Jackson Day comes but once a year.Joelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06965297735277115060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2760959829637297379.post-59857778225535360182011-07-14T07:25:00.000-04:002011-07-14T07:25:12.019-04:00Jordan Crawford, OSU, and Breaking the Rules<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://ph.cdn.photos.upi.com/view/1ea08bef9507e6f794b9ad63d47f428f/Ohio-State-head-coach-Jim-Tressel-holds-up-the-Leishman-Trophy-after-the-Rose-Bowl-in-Pasadena-California.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://ph.cdn.photos.upi.com/view/1ea08bef9507e6f794b9ad63d47f428f/Ohio-State-head-coach-Jim-Tressel-holds-up-the-Leishman-Trophy-after-the-Rose-Bowl-in-Pasadena-California.jpg" width="256" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">That's gotta be worth, like, thirty tattoos.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div dir="ltr"><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Living in Columbus, I'm inundated on a daily basis with news regarding the massive violations committed by Jim Tressel, Terrelle Pryor, and the Ohio State</span></span><span lang="en-us"> <span style="font-family: Calibri;">football</span></span><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> program. If you've been under a rock for the past six months, just know that pretty much everyone in charge of the whole program was culpable at some level for a lot of violations of the rules, and Tressel, Pryor, and a few others took a beating. The NCAA hasn't handed down their sentence yet, but it's probably not going to be pretty.</span></span></div><div dir="ltr"><br />
</div><div dir="ltr"><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Callers to the radio shows continue to debate if it was worth it or not. The argument goes that, despite the upcoming sanctions lingering over the program, that no amount of future punishment removes those moments from the fans' collective memories. Players play to win, fans watch to see the team win, and a retroactive forfeit of a game does not change the fact that you got enjoy, say, a Rose Bowl win while it was happening.</span></span></div><div dir="ltr"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://bluexu.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Jordan-Crawford-minnesota.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://bluexu.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Jordan-Crawford-minnesota.jpg" width="175" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Crazy scoops.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div dir="ltr"><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Closer to home (in Xavier terms; it's actually farther from my real home), Xavier has been the beneficiary of some strange recruiting practice as well. Both Tu Holloway and Jordan Crawford ended up at Xavier thanks to the departure of Kelvin Sampson from Indiana University. It should be noted that Sampson must be one of the most monumentally stupid human beings on earth; after being slapped with sanctions for minor violations at Oklahoma, he turned around and violated the terms of his probation by performing major violations at Indiana. That's a simplified version of the story, but it's hard to feel bad for the guy, especially after IU paid him $750,000 to go away.</span></span></div><div dir="ltr"><br />
</div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://d.yimg.com/i/ng/sp/ap_photo/20110116/all/l4956590.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://d.yimg.com/i/ng/sp/ap_photo/20110116/all/l4956590.jpg" width="178" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Also, UD sucks.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div dir="ltr"><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Crawford and Holloway, meanwhile have provided some of the best moments in the past couple of years for X. Crawford's lone season was marked by huge threes and acrobatic finishes in the lane, capped by a magical run in the NCAA tournament that introduced the nation to what Xavier fans already knew via the vocal stylings of Gus Johnson. Tu, to his credit, has never shied from the big moment - even when Crawford was the primary perimeter scoring option. He carried the team through two extra periods against UC as a sophomore, and rattled off five points to set up Crawford's bomb against K-State. Last year, the team rode him for every big moment from November to March.</span></span></div><div dir="ltr"><br />
</div><div dir="ltr"><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Some of those moments have become part of the fabric of the Xavier experience. If you found out tomorrow that Tu and/or Crawford had been illegally recruited, would that taint the feeling you get from reliving those games? What if the punishment was just a slap on the wrist? If Coach Mack were to have his conference calls limited for six months, would that make you feel any worse about being a Xavier fan? Everyone wants to believe he cheers for a clean program, right?</span></span></div><div dir="ltr"><br />
</div><div dir="ltr"><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I guess it comes down to this: how dirty does a program have to be before the moment just isn't worth it anymore?</span></span><span lang="en-us"></span></div>Joelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06965297735277115060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2760959829637297379.post-26314931240516464072011-07-13T16:06:00.001-04:002011-07-13T17:07:06.084-04:00Bobinski Named Chair of Tournament Committee<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/xavi/sports/genrel/auto_action/1754916.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/xavi/sports/genrel/auto_action/1754916.jpeg" /></a></div>Xavier AD Mike Bobinski has been named chair of the Division I Men's Basketball Committee for the 2012-13 season. Assuming he is approved by the NCAA Division I Championships/Sports Management Cabinet, Bobinski's term as chair will begin in September 2012. Bobinski has been on the Committee since 2008. During that time, X has enjoyed the best run of tournament success in the program's history. That's probably just coincidence though, especially considering the draw Bobinski's peers (Bobinski himself can't be part of any X-related discussion) gave the Muskies last year.<br />
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The man Bobinski replaces is UConn AD Jeff Hathaway. UConn, of course, is (1) the reigning national champ and (2) kind of in trouble for <a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=5228593">hundreds of improper calls and texts from UConn staff to recruits</a>. The Committee is the primary contact with the broadcast companies for the NCAA tournament as well as operating as overseer for the selection, seeding, and bracketing of teams for the tournament. If someone could get <a href="http://xavierexaminer.blogspot.com/2011/06/mega-march-madness-tournament.html">our proposal for expansion</a> to Mr. Bobinski, that would be great.<br />
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Speaking of expansion, Bobinski cited the tournament's 68-team status and the advent of the First Four as "exciting" <a href="http://www.goxavier.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/071311aaa.html">in a recent interview</a>, proving he has a finger on the pulse of basketball fans everywhere. He also was integral in the hiring of Thad Matta, Sean Miller, and Chris Mack. If there's one thing Bobinski knows how to do, it's find and groom good young coaches. XU fans have long known how good an AD Bobinski is; this move won't put him on the cover of Sports Illustrated, but it's nice to see him getting some recognition from his peers.Joelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06965297735277115060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2760959829637297379.post-36582293238106934882011-07-13T01:13:00.000-04:002011-07-13T01:13:51.257-04:00The All Star Game and the waiting game<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://ph.cdn.photos.upi.com/collection/upi/80a400d9dcbd07a84e3daddac8a1eade/MLB-2011-All-Star-Game-to-be-in-Phoenix-Arizona_6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="189" src="http://ph.cdn.photos.upi.com/collection/upi/80a400d9dcbd07a84e3daddac8a1eade/MLB-2011-All-Star-Game-to-be-in-Phoenix-Arizona_6.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The face of a man who knows excitement</td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Tonight baseball played its annual midseason exhibition game. Called the All-Star Game by some, this game was neither All (several players dropped out) nor Star (everyone look, it's Joel Hanrahan!). While I'm sure you are now wondering what the baseball Midseason Not Classic has to do with Xavier, bear with me. You see, this exercise in futility made me wonder how long it will be until Xavier takes the court again. </span><br />
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Unfortunately, I don't have the answer for that, neither does the internet. While we know exactly who (Gonzaga, Purdue, Georgia, UC, <a href="http://xavierexaminer.blogspot.com/2011/07/know-your-non-conference-opponent-miami.html">Miami (OH)</a>, <a href="http://xavierexaminer.blogspot.com/2011/06/know-your-non-conference-opponent-oral.html">Oral Roberts</a>, <a href="http://xavierexaminer.blogspot.com/2011/05/know-your-non-conference-opponent.html">Morgan State</a>, <a href="http://xavierexaminer.blogspot.com/2011/05/know-your-non-conference-opponent-ipfw.html">IPFW</a>, Butler, Memphis, <a href="http://xavierexaminer.blogspot.com/2011/06/know-your-non-conference-opponent.html">Vandy</a>, three games in the Diamond Head Classic, and the A10) Xavier is playing this year, we don't yet know when. That leaves us with things like the All-Star Game, golf, and endless updates on the NFL Lockout to worry about until then. To help stave off the boredom, I came up with a few suggestions:</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://media-1.web.britannica.com/eb-media/07/97007-004-428CC566.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="217" src="http://media-1.web.britannica.com/eb-media/07/97007-004-428CC566.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Diamond Head, the Cleveland of the Pacific</td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">1. Get Twitter. Registration is simple, just visit twitter.com, and, after us (@<a href="http://twitter.com/#%21/XavierExaminer"><b>XavierExaminer</b>)</a>, you can follow Mark Lyons (@</span><span class="user-name"><a class="user-profile-link" data-user-id="33436963" href="http://twitter.com/#%21/Mooga_Mark" title="Mark mooga Lyons"><strong>Mooga_Mark</strong></a>)<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">, Tu Holloway (@</span></span><span class="user-name"><a class="user-profile-link" data-user-id="127053420" href="http://twitter.com/#%21/ESPNTU" title="Terrell Holloway"><strong>ESPNTU)</strong></a></span><span class="user-name"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">, Kenny Frease (@</span></span><span class="user-name"><a class="user-profile-link" data-user-id="87563563" href="http://twitter.com/#%21/tallfreak1018" title="Kenny Frease"><strong>tallfreak1018</strong></a>)</span><span class="user-name"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">, Dez Wells (@</span></span><span class="user-name"><a class="user-profile-link" data-user-id="162498390" href="http://twitter.com/#%21/dwells_21" title="Dez Wells"><strong>dwells_21</strong></a>)</span><span class="user-name"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">, Justin Martin (@</span></span><span class="user-name"><a class="user-profile-link" data-user-id="53132282" href="http://twitter.com/#%21/jmart202" title="Justin Martin"><strong>jmart202</strong></a>)</span><span class="user-name"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">, Brad Redford (@</span></span><span class="user-name"><a class="user-profile-link" data-user-id="194389891" href="http://twitter.com/#%21/B_RadXU12" title="Brad Redford"><strong>B_RadXU12</strong></a>)</span><span class="user-name"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">, Dee Davis (@</span></span><span class="user-name"><a class="user-profile-link" data-user-id="219030802" href="http://twitter.com/#%21/DeeDavisX" title="Darwin Davis Jr."><strong>DeeDavisX</strong></a>)</span><span class="user-name"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">, Travis Taylor (@</span></span><span class="user-name"></span><strong><a class="user-profile-link" data-user-id="149697087" href="http://twitter.com/#%21/TakeoffTrav" title="Trav Taylor"><strong>TakeoffTrav</strong></a>)</strong><span class="user-name"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">, Jeff Robinson (@</span></span><span class="user-name"><a class="user-profile-link" data-user-id="124189386" href="http://twitter.com/#%21/Big_Rob21" title="Jeff Robinson"><strong>Big_Rob21</strong></a><span class="full-name">)</span></span><span class="user-name"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">, Mario Mercurio (@</span></span><span class="user-name"><a class="user-profile-link" data-user-id="38085737" href="http://twitter.com/#%21/MarioMercurio" title="Mario Mercurio"><strong>MarioMercurio</strong></a>)<span class="full-name"></span></span><span class="user-name"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">, Coach Chris Mack (@</span></span><span class="user-name"><a class="user-profile-link" data-user-id="41647896" href="http://twitter.com/#%21/CoachChrisMack" title="Chris Mack"><strong>CoachChrisMack</strong></a>)</span><span class="user-name"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">, and, of course, Griffin McKenzie (@</span></span><span class="user-name"><a class="user-profile-link" data-user-id="28914924" href="http://twitter.com/#%21/biggriff44" title="Griffin McKenzie"><strong>biggriff44</strong></a><span class="full-name">)</span></span><span class="user-name"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">. Prefer to keep your heroes at arm's length? We'll compile the best tweets weekly once the season starts.</span></span><br />
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<span class="user-name"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">2. Watch some baseball. Other than the All-Star Game, it's actually pretty compelling. It's also currently the only sport where our native Cleveland is clearly superior to Cincinnati.</span> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">3. Pay attention to the little things. Did you know that Kareem Richardson is a<a href="http://xavierexaminer.blogspot.com/2011/06/xavier-fills-coaching-vacancy.html"> top-notch recruiter and dresser</a>, as well as an assistant coach? That Mario Mercurio consulted Joe Lunardi to begin Xavier's quest to schedule like a high-major? That Dante Jackson is now a graduate assistant at Ohio University? That the kid who jumped good Samaritan Griffin McKenzie <a href="http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20110705/NEWS010702/107060319/">got two years</a>? News like this goes by the wayside during the year, but the details behind your favorite program can make it more fun to follow.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">4. Catch a summer league game. If you live in Cincy, you can see many Xavier players in the <a href="http://greatercincinnatisportsworld.com/Deveroes-_Teams_Players.html">Deveroes Summer League</a>. There are a host of other recognizable names there as well, including Tyrone Hill, Adrion Graves, and a personal favorite of mine, Mike Bardo. </span><br />
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</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">5. Wait patiently. It's less than 130 days until our boys in blue hit the court again. It seems like a long time now, but it will be worth it come November.</span>Bradhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04687770821327995823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2760959829637297379.post-19586852177001444882011-07-11T17:18:00.000-04:002011-07-11T17:18:13.231-04:00Mega March Madness: Final Thoughts<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://washingtonexaminer.com/files/blog_images/NCAA-logo_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://washingtonexaminer.com/files/blog_images/NCAA-logo_2.jpg" /></a></div><u>Mega March Madness Series:</u><br />
<a href="http://xavierexaminer.blogspot.com/2011/06/mega-march-madness-introduction.html">Introduction</a><br />
<a href="http://xavierexaminer.blogspot.com/2011/06/mega-march-madness-approach.html">Approach</a><br />
<a href="http://xavierexaminer.blogspot.com/2011/06/mega-march-madness-tournament.html">The Tournament</a><br />
<br />
As promised, that's about it for Mega March Madness. The tournament was originally constructed as an exercise in looking ahead to where the continued expansion of the NCAA tournament is taking us. While I believe there is validity is the ideas put forth, I also recognize that the NCAA itself is probably heading in a different direction than the one we examined. I've banged up some final thoughts on MMM and have placed the below. They alternate between strengths and weaknesses inherent in the format, beginning with a strength. I'm sure you've thought of other pros and cons; feel free to point them out.<br />
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<div dir="ltr"><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b>Conference tournaments become more competitive:</b> Right now, a team that has locked down a good seed in the NCAA tournament does the cost/benefit analysis of weighing a few extra days of rest and</span></span><span lang="en-us"> <span style="font-family: Calibri;">recuperation</span></span><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> for its players against the possible seeding bump that comes with winning its conference tournaments. I'm not saying that teams ever mail in a conference tourney, just that some teams go in a little hungrier than others. If you don't think that's the case, compare Xavier's performance in the 2004 A-10 Tournament to its more recent efforts. When they came in with nothing guaranteed, they performed a whole lot better.</span></span></div><div dir="ltr"><br />
</div><div dir="ltr"><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Under the plan we put forth, teams would benefit from staying in their conference tournaments by playing familiar teams in a single venue. As soon as you drop out, you're facing to possibility of travelling anywhere in the country to face a team that has its back to the wall, same as you do. Remaining in the conference tournament keeps a team one more loss away from going home for the year; with no more guaranteed passage to the round of 64 for a team that has had a good regular season, teams aren't going to take any postseason games lightly.</span></span></div><div dir="ltr"><br />
</div><div dir="ltr"><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b>Bracketology functionally dies:</b> One of the great things about college basketball is trying to guess who is going to make the tournament just by how they've played early in the year. Everyone knows that a lot can change between Christmas and Selection Sunday, but nobody likes to cruise through SBN's or ESPN's Bracketology page and see his team in that "next four out" section. Every game - especially for a mid-major program - is played with an eye on creeping up towards the comfortable portions of the S-curve; with no at-large bids, there's really not a whole lot of profit in putting together an S-curve or a bracket projection.</span></span></div><div dir="ltr"><br />
</div><div dir="ltr"><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b>The conference season is a bigger deal:</b> If you paid attention to our last installment of this series, you noticed that almost every conference put its teams into the Mega March Madness in measured doses. As the round progressed, so did the teams falling to the national tournament. Factor in the fact that many conferences use single- or double-bye systems to make their tournaments work, and you're looking at a big difference between, say finishing eighth and ninth in the Big Ten table. Teams that used to be battling for the right to get crushed in the semi-finals and head on to the CBI would suddenly find themselves scrapping for every game in hopes of earning a first-round bye and having a little extra security when it comes to the national tournament.</span></span></div><div dir="ltr"><br />
</div><div dir="ltr"><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b>The non-conference season isn't much of a deal at all:</b> With no RPI boost to be playing for, the non-conference season would certainly be changing shape. Teams that once had little motivation for playing the big boys would now have no motivation at all (beyond the obvious financial benefit). While the non-conference schedule would still be good for honing a team against the best competition available in hopes of being ready for conference play, the larger, March-related benefits would go right out the window.</span></span></div><div dir="ltr"><br />
</div><div dir="ltr"><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b>There would be a ton of basketball in March:</b> Using last year's calendar and counting only postseason games, there would be a mind-boggling 453 games in the first twelve days of March. Better still, each one would have direct bearing on the national tournament. That's a stunning amount of high-leverage basketball played before Selection Sunday. This brings at least two obvious benefits right from the start: it's an enormously entertaining proposition, and it's a potentially self-sustaining cash cow for the powers that be.</span></span></div><div dir="ltr"><br />
</div><div dir="ltr"><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">At the end of the day, that's the dichotomy tournament expansion fights to resolve. We the fans want our games to mean something, not to have the experience diluted into a meaningless morass of show-up-then-go-home games like the college football bowl season. The people in positions of power have to balance that with the desire to make money. That desire isn't all bad - bills have to be paid - but it almost always creates tension with the people who want to see the competition in its purest form. If there's a better proposal out there to keep both sides reasonably happy, I certainly hope the NCAA finds and implements it. The sooner they get that done, the better.</span></span><span lang="en-us"></span></div>Joelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06965297735277115060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2760959829637297379.post-73664072913891345422011-07-08T16:39:00.000-04:002011-07-08T16:39:36.129-04:00Know Your Non-conference Opponent: Miami (OH)<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://womenofblue.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/MiamiOfOhioRedHawks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://womenofblue.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/MiamiOfOhioRedHawks.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">More racially sensitive than their last mascot.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div dir="LTR"><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">One of Xavier's traditions during Chris Mack's young tenure as head coach has been to begin the season 8-5 with at least a couple of completely inexplicable losses thrown in. Last year, X fit the bill by heading to Miami of Ohio to face a mediocre team whose best win to that point was at home against IUPUI. The Muskies somehow contrived to lose that game by eleven. This year, the Red Hawks come to Cintas, and X should be geared up for a measure of revenge.</span></span></div><div dir="LTR"><br />
</div><div dir="LTR"><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Charlie Coles seems like he has been at Miami forever, but he's actually "only" been there for fifteen years. He has had some good years - including a Sweet 16 run with Wally Szczerbiak - but times have gotten a little lean for him of late. One thing Cole's teams never are is in a hurry. Last year they averaged around 64 possessions per game, good for 281st in the nation. This stultifying pace is far and away the fastest they've been since Ken Pomeroy started tracking such things back in 2003. Beyond that, Miami has struggled to find a consistent identity as a team. Their offense has lingered between 100th and 150th, and their defense has been anywhere from 48th to 246th in the country. Shooting, assisting, rebounding, and ball security numbers have all experienced similar fluctuations in recent years.</span></span></div><div dir="LTR"><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></span></div><a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span><br />
<div dir="LTR"><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Unlike some of the other upcoming opponents we've profiled, Miami lost a couple of key players from last season. Swingman Antonio Ballard and forward Nick Winbush both graduated (or at least ran out of eligibility), taking a combined 25/13.5/2.3 with them. From a team that scored 34.5% of its points from behind the arc last year (33rd in the nation), losing leading three-point shooter Winbush (68 3PM) will be an especially damaging blow. While Ballard missed almost the entire second half of the season with a wrist injury, he still managed to finish third on the team in rebounds. Winbush, for what it's worth, was second.</span></span></div><div dir="LTR"><br />
</div><div dir="LTR"><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The team those two (and Sean Mock, who played 13 more minutes than I did last year) leave behind was not in great shape to begin with. The offense was plagued by turnovers on 21.8% of its possessions, 265th in the nation. They shot the ball okay (50.1% EFG, 118th), but they pulled in their own misses at a clip good for 288th nationally. The team was a shambles on the defensive end, ranking 240th in EFG, 270th in block percentage, 318th in steal percentage, and 332 in TO%. Despite the fact that they finished 16-17 last season, it's fair to say that the Red Hawks - with a barely mediocre offense and a miserable defense - rode their luck a little bit.</span></span></div><div dir="LTR"><br />
</div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/mioh/sports/m-baskbl/auto_action/3381670.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/mioh/sports/m-baskbl/auto_action/3381670.jpeg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Miami's team picture.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div dir="LTR"><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">It's not all bad news for Miami though; they do bring back their leading scorer, their leading rebounder, and their leading assist man. A cynic might point out that those distinctions all belong to the same player, 6'8" rising senior Julian Mavunga. Mavunga has - obviously - been the man for the Red Hawks, and he also led them in rebounding and was second in scoring as a sophomore. He brings back a shooting line of .451/.333/.705 to go with his 14.8/8.2/3.0. Guard Orlando Williams is the team's top returning three-point threat and their next-best offensive player, sporting a line of 9.8/2.8/1.9 on .419/.396/.610. He's also the team's second-best returning rebounder, which doesn't augur well for their chances of improving on the glass.</span></span></div><div dir="LTR"><br />
</div><div dir="LTR"><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Forward Bill Edwards will join the team after sitting out last year as a transfer from Penn State, where his numbers were less than inspiring. At 6'6", 235, he won't do much towards shoring up Miami inside. Incoming freshman Jared Tadlock has the height (6'9") but not the breadth (200lbs) to help out on the glass. He's an agile big man with a decent jumper out to 17' or so, but he needs to add strength. Combo guard Brian Sullivan rounds out the Red Hawks new scholarship players for the upcoming season; the freshman is a good shooter but needs to improve his handle and ability to score in situations that aren't catch-and-shoot. He was Ohio Capital Conference Central Player of the Year as a junior.</span></span></div><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></span><br />
<span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">On paper, the Red Hawks are not a good enough team to pose a threat to Xavier, but the same could have been said about them last year. With two key players missing from that team and no clear replacements stepping up to fill the gap, Miami could be looking at a step back from what was already a down year</span></span><span lang="en-us"> <span style="font-family: Calibri;">last</span></span><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> season. With them coming into Cintas and last year's</span></span><span lang="en-us"> <span style="font-family: Calibri;">embarrassing</span></span><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> defeat in the rear view, the Muskies should be able to make short work of Miami this time around.</span></span>Joelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06965297735277115060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2760959829637297379.post-84086261165907815902011-07-06T17:09:00.002-04:002011-07-06T17:35:28.179-04:00What a Difference a Year Makes<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9UIbjrWHBs1rR905-eKz4wxSwmTKY_vR5UGbBiXcpH0YHVMTH9tyHRc7NQ5qWRT0P7ip8yrjuseFcv7703NoZbmYroqMnJPxEBvXmVSIk2FJ35m468DcHbpAEBF3Mk7Avxpg87jksWOA/s1600/depth.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9UIbjrWHBs1rR905-eKz4wxSwmTKY_vR5UGbBiXcpH0YHVMTH9tyHRc7NQ5qWRT0P7ip8yrjuseFcv7703NoZbmYroqMnJPxEBvXmVSIk2FJ35m468DcHbpAEBF3Mk7Avxpg87jksWOA/s1600/depth.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At least they were tall.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div dir="ltr"><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Remember last season? What about what your were thinking about the team last year at this time? It's hard to go back that far and not have your view tainted by what you know now, but I recall having lowered expectations. Our best post player and our best perimeter scorer had departed, and it wasn't entirely clear who would be replacing their production. Then Redford and Martin were lost for the year and the question became more about who would play at all rather than who would star. Of course, Tu, Cheek, McLean, and Big Kenny all stepped into larger roles, and Dante and A-Tay spackled in the cracks with a little help from Jeff Robinson.</span></span></div><div dir="ltr"><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></span></div><a name='more'></a><br />
<div dir="ltr"><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">All that to say this: last season's team was hampered by a complete lack of depth. No team in D-1 basketball got fewer than Xavier's 14% of its minutes off the bench; in fact, nobody was even that close. The team's success last year was testament to Chris Mack's ability to get a lot out of a few guys; the roster this year will offer him an entirely different challenge. To the returning four rotation players, Xavier has added three players with at least a year's experience in the system (Redford, Martin, and Travis Taylor), a guy who was with the team but didn't get a fair shake from luck last year (Griffin McKenzie), a very highly-touted freshman (Dez Wells), and two other freshman who garnered national respect (Dee Davis and Jalen Reynolds). To top it off, the staff <a href="http://xavierexaminer.blogspot.com/2011/07/xavier-adds-walker.html">just brought in immediately eligible senior Andre Walker</a> from Vanderbilt for the 2011-2012 season.</span></span></div><div dir="ltr"><br />
</div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://bluexu.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Chris-Mack-300x225.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://bluexu.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Chris-Mack-300x225.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Coach Mack has some tough decisions to make this year.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div dir="ltr"><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">This is probably done by equal parts luck and judgment, but Coach Mack is now faced with depth of talent available to few - if any - Xavier coaches of the past. Tu, Cheek, and Big Kenny are all fairly solidly entrenched in their positions, but even those come with some caveats relative to last season. Both of the guards were in the top 100 players in the nation in terms of percentage of the team's minutes played last year, thanks in large part to a bench consisting of Kevin Feeney and one of Brad Redford's legs. While there are now numerous options available to Mack to spell the New York natives, neither of them strike the objective observer as the type of player to willingly rel</span></span><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">i</span></span><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">nquish playing time. Frease reshaped his body over last summer and was a viable force during the 70% of each game that he played; look for him to play slightly more this season, but only just.</span></span></div><div dir="ltr"><br />
</div><div dir="ltr"><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">At the SF/PF positions, there is a morass of talented players looking to fight into starting lineup. Even putting Jalen Reynolds on the back burner for now on account of Mack's habit of bringing freshmen along slowly, five players will be looking to fill at least one of those slots, and at least three of them could reasonably fill either.</span></span><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> If Reynolds comes along as quickly as recent reports would indicate he is capable of, his presence further complicates the situation. With Xavier</span></span><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">’</span></span><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">s practice of teaching</span></span><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> freshmen only one position, it will be interesting to see where the staff sees fit to train Reynolds.</span></span><span lang="en-us"></span></div><div dir="ltr"><br />
</div><div dir="ltr"><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Beyond that, there's also a consideration of roles to fill. Neither Tu nor Cheek shies away from using his fair share of possessions on the offensive end, and Tu and Kenny also have their respective draft statii to consider. While Walker comes with the reputation of being a player willing to do the little things to keep the team moving forward, he is also a senior on his last year of eligibility. Redford is most useful when he's getting his shots, and Taylor and Martin have both established themselves as viable scorers during their redshirt years. Dee Davis comes in as more of a distributor than a scorer, but he also needs to have the ball in his hands to suit his style of play. Dez Wells is accustomed to being his team's first option on offense, which will throw a further spanner in the works.</span></span></div><div dir="ltr"><br />
</div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://media.columbiatribune.com/img/photos/2011/04/30/su_B01_philmoremug_0501_tx620.jpg?5986744d0a375d1f79d3e6e9a73b2d24eab24f61" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://media.columbiatribune.com/img/photos/2011/04/30/su_B01_philmoremug_0501_tx620.jpg?5986744d0a375d1f79d3e6e9a73b2d24eab24f61" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Philmore will spend the year looking for a better barber.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div dir="ltr"><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The bottom line is that Mack has 13 players on his roster this year, 12 of whom are eligible to play (Isaiah Philmore is taking the year off on account of having transferred from Towson). While this gives him a measure of depth that was sorely lacking in last year's squad, it also muddies what was an extremely clear set of roster decisions. It is widely assumed in the Xavier community that the Muskies have the talent to make a historically deep run this year. What is sometimes overlooked is the amount of effort that is going to have to go in to evaluating who needs to play in what roles and for how long, and what it's going to take to keep each player happy, involved, and ready to play his best come March. Coach Mack showed his chops with a depleted roster last season; it's going to take an equally impressive performance from him and his staff to get this year's team to play to its immense potential.</span></span><span lang="en-us"></span></div>Joelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06965297735277115060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2760959829637297379.post-65620326693466950492011-07-05T15:17:00.000-04:002011-07-05T15:17:16.291-04:00Xavier adds Walker<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.collegebasketballfansite.com/images/photos/12/123894.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.collegebasketballfansite.com/images/photos/12/123894.jpg" width="203" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I hope this isn't his normal shot</td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Vanderbilt forward <a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/player/profile?playerId=36249">Andre Walker</a> joined this year's Xavier roster via transfer last week. Walker isn't exactly a world-beater at the power forward position, but he adds a great deal of depth. Walker is athletic, a good defender, and can pass very well out of the post. Seen by most of the Vanderbilt press and message boards as a "glue guy," Walker will get a chance to play minutes alongside Frease in the same role Jamel McLean filled. With Justin Martin and Brad Redford spotting up outside, Walker's 2.6 assists per game figure to go up significantly. The 3/3/2.6 line the Andre put up last year seems underwhelming, but his recovery from ACL surgery is progressing and his size and athleticism will slot well into the unsettled four position at Xavier.</span>Bradhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04687770821327995823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2760959829637297379.post-56029319250793682462011-06-28T21:47:00.001-04:002011-06-28T21:50:14.912-04:00National Xavier Love<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw4CfRVWdzeO2PeHcHxWoIdTmDWsnnkoKLeqJ-d9AuCMzY5gvw_Tq-h8s-jeCrgoJWep_AiGAU_HCDapJB7ro6aL-jBjxerrSg7H3JfkUWIVNIexONSUVNyN9gh5xW6Jv0QktTGI4N_3U/s400/Atlantic10Logo.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="187" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw4CfRVWdzeO2PeHcHxWoIdTmDWsnnkoKLeqJ-d9AuCMzY5gvw_Tq-h8s-jeCrgoJWep_AiGAU_HCDapJB7ro6aL-jBjxerrSg7H3JfkUWIVNIexONSUVNyN9gh5xW6Jv0QktTGI4N_3U/s200/Atlantic10Logo.bmp" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">These teams need not apply</td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Xavier is an emerging national power, I think most of us know that. What we have all been waiting for is the national media to take notice. Yes, the Musketeers are always ranked at the end of the year and yes, they always manage a game or two on an ESPN affiliate. What doesn't seem to happen though, is the constant media hype-stream that follows programs like UK, Duke, UNC, Kansas, and so on. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">That's all beginning to change now though. The first sign of the weather change in coverage is <a href="http://college-basketball-blog.blogs.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/26283066/30295826/3">this "must see" non-conference schedule</a> from Jeff Goodman at CBS. (Follow Jeff on Twitter @GoodmanCBS to see his constant back and forth with Coach Mack). Listed amongst games such as Duke at. OSU are no less than four Xavier tilts. This really seems like a step in the right direction. So why am I filled with trepidation?<br />
<a name='more'></a> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Anyone who reads the Goodman article carefully will notice one thing right away; only three teams from west of the Mississippi make any appearance at all. Gonzaga, Kansas, and Texas A&M are all good teams, but it seems like the Pac-10 and teams like Arizona and Kansas State may have one or two good games on tap. (Arizona v. Florida or KSU v. OSU come to mind). East Coast bias aside, there are a few more problems that come with increased media scrutiny.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: right;"></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://sportsfixchicago.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/morrison-crying.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://sportsfixchicago.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/morrison-crying.jpg" width="148" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">HA!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Do you remember <a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/boxscore?gameId=234000003">this game</a>? Do you remember cheering for Blake Stepp and an underdog squad playing a national power right to the brink? Now think of the last time you wanted Gonzaga to win (I'll give you a hint: it was that game). Think of this as the Gonzaga Corollary: a lovable underdog that suffers from over-saturation becomes despised and reviled. When Adam Morrison cried at mid-court after losing to UCLA I laughed, and America laughed with me. Do you really want that to be X? As a Chelsea fan I can attest that being hated is fun for awhile, but at some point in time, not being despised is a much better feeling. If Xavier gets four games in the top 20, you can bet some people are going to start hating. And not the fun kind.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Finally, the entire premise of a top 20 list of non-conference games at this point is a bit premature. I like Jeff Goodman, I really do, but a list of to non-conference games right now makes no allowance for things like teams playing horribly, like Georgetown last year, or better than expected, UC last year. Look at <a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/preview2010/columns/story?columnist=katz_andy&id=5787247">ESPN's story about this</a> last year, do you think that Butler at Detroit matchup drew much of a national crowd? Georgetown also features in the article, and they disintegrated to the point they were nearly unwatchable at one point. Pre-season lists are dangerous, regardless of their intent.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">So that's me raining on your parade. Be excited that your team is getting some publicity, but take it with a grain of salt. The road ahead is lined with potholes. I don't want to be writing for the next Gonzaga in two years, and you don't want to be watching Butler v. Indiana on the 27th of November wondering where Matt Howard went.</span>Bradhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04687770821327995823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2760959829637297379.post-8074675756979505942011-06-27T07:30:00.000-04:002011-06-27T07:30:24.512-04:00Mega March Madness: The Tournament<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.princetonbasketball.com/images/cbilogo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="256" src="http://www.princetonbasketball.com/images/cbilogo.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Extremely Little Dance.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div dir="ltr"><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Quick, how many of last year's Final Four can you name? I can name them all, because I have spent way too much time looking at postseason basketball for the last month or so. Now, how many of the last four teams in the NIT can you name? Can you name four teams that played in the <a href="http://www.gazellegroup.com/events/cbi/index_main.htm">CBI</a>? Do you know what the <a href="http://www.collegeinsider.com/tournament/">CIT</a> is, or when it was held? The point is that there's a lot of postseason college basketball out there, but not all of it is relevant. Heck, the only think I know about the NIT is that Dayton gets to go every year. The point is, college basketball is in danger of slipping into an endless morass of Insight.com Bowl-type Duquesne-v.-Montana matchups that nobody cares about because they have no bearing on the eventual national champion. Until now.</span></span></div><div dir="ltr"><br />
</div><div dir="ltr"><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">First off, it's everybody in the pool. There are 346 D-1 NCAA teams, and they're all participating. There are several successful tournaments around the world that take this approach, from the Kentucky and Delaware high school basketball tournaments to the FA Cup in English soccer. I see no reason that, properly executed, this couldn't work for the NCAA as well. Obviously, the NIT, CIT, and CBI will all be eliminated. The conference tournaments remain intact, with some scheduling adjustments. I've had to make the start dates on most of the conference tournaments a little earlier, but I took pains to keep the formats intact.</span></span></div><div dir="ltr"><br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
</div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://fargoprint.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/ncaa_finalfour_bracket_blank.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="301" src="http://fargoprint.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/ncaa_finalfour_bracket_blank.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The symmetry of a 64-team tourney is perfect.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div dir="ltr"><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Why all the emphasis on conference tournaments if everyone gets in anyway? Well, as I mentioned before, I'm a purist, and I don't think I'm alone in that. Even though we're going to preface the thing with a month-long frenzy of basketball, there's still something magical about being in that field of 64. The NCAA currently honors 31 conferences with automatic bids into the Big Dance, and that remains intact under Mega March Madness. You win your conference tournament, you get a free pass to the Thu/Sat or Fri/Sun pods that are comprised of the final 64 teams in contention for the title.</span></span></div><div dir="ltr"><br />
</div><div dir="ltr"><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">This is as good a time as any to dig into how the tourney field will really be built. As teams are eliminated from their conference tournaments, they are added to the national tournament field. The traditionally weaker conferences will start their tournaments first, while the big boys will be added to the pot as the tournament develops. With 31 slots in the field of 64 already taken by the automatic bids, every team in the country will be battling to either make the field of 64 via their conference tourney or dropping into the national tournament to claw for one of the remaining 33 bids. I know this sounds a little more confusing than it actually is, so I'll explain.</span></span></div><div dir="ltr"><br />
</div><div dir="ltr"><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The national tournament will take place in four stages leading up to the field of 64. In each of these, the pool will consist of the survivors from the previous round and new teams added by virtue of their elimination in the conference tournament. The teams will be seeded (I personally prefer KenPom's formula for both accuracy and ease of use, but the NCAA isn't shy about putting together secret ranking systems) for each round, and away they'll go. Listing out everybody who enters at every round would be really laborious, so I've broken it down for you <a href="http://xavierexaminer.blogspot.com/p/mega-march-madness-pools.html">here</a>. The first stage of games, involving 130 teams eliminated from their respective conference tournaments no later than 12 days before Selection Sunday, takes place at neutral sites that Thursday, 10 days before the blessed event.</span></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPPUkE8R0KUNKcWmZzAKjpP_KPJOu93AunNchuGoU2mOBwtmXrckqullvkoqBjhO_ncz7UaOQyZf5Wq7FIuZ7X0vGkzYYlkqkvwt_uPn9o1toA6CNdid5zxdJ_LkwvoFpqUU4Ugwp3884/s1600/MMMfirstweek.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="72" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPPUkE8R0KUNKcWmZzAKjpP_KPJOu93AunNchuGoU2mOBwtmXrckqullvkoqBjhO_ncz7UaOQyZf5Wq7FIuZ7X0vGkzYYlkqkvwt_uPn9o1toA6CNdid5zxdJ_LkwvoFpqUU4Ugwp3884/s400/MMMfirstweek.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The first week of Mega March Madness. For simplicity's sake, I used the dates of March 2011.</td></tr>
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</div><div dir="ltr"><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Three things come up here. The first is the fact that that is a lot of games. It is, but you're not going to get through 346 teams without having some intense weekends. Also, who's going to complain about a ton of college basketball in March? The second is location. I was initially concerned about travel and hosting costs until I saw that Duquesne and Montana were squaring off in the first round of the CIT. If they can summon the pathos and funding to handle that, I don't think making it to the NCAA tournament is a problem. The third is selection. The teams in Pool 1 are there by virtue of their conferences' performances over the last five years. Ken Pomeroy, ESPN's RPI, and the Massey ratings were all consulted to pull this rating together. The minnows are in the pool at this point.</span></span></div><div dir="ltr"><br />
</div><div dir="ltr"><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The second stage will take place the weekend before Selection Sunday. By this time, the bigger conferences' tournaments are getting underway and most of the smaller conferences' tournament will be wrapping up. The 65 winners from the first stage will be joined by the 27 teams in Pool 2, who were eliminated from conference contention over the same time period that the first stage was taking place. Seeding will reshuffle the deck, and another stage of games will go off.</span></span></div><div dir="ltr"><br />
</div><div dir="ltr"><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The third stage will be the played the Wednesday before Selection Sunday. It will involve 46 teams that have made it out of the second stage, plus 98 newly-eliminated teams looking for redemption and a way back in. This will likely be the first stage at which teams that had a legitimate hope for at-large inclusion under the current system will enter the fray. Rather than licking their wounds from an early exit from the conference tourneys, they'll be suiting up and looking to beat the brakes off of whoever they draw.</span></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGVOdWTPczQXP9pjKJ5ZHjGQ8ShHl1cUCgBMtEiDQfhFLz-1eAcF6T89QerzM9hhC7OS0-HXv0tHbiOlCkp4yK-CTVqmob18eEWecr1YBsR5al0XGitzmAoSYzSHllNnr97XZzExonSag/s1600/MMMsecondweek.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="73" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGVOdWTPczQXP9pjKJ5ZHjGQ8ShHl1cUCgBMtEiDQfhFLz-1eAcF6T89QerzM9hhC7OS0-HXv0tHbiOlCkp4yK-CTVqmob18eEWecr1YBsR5al0XGitzmAoSYzSHllNnr97XZzExonSag/s400/MMMsecondweek.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The second week of Mega March Madness. That's a lot of basketball.</td></tr>
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</div><div dir="ltr"><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The fourth stage will be conducted the Friday and Saturday before Selection Sunday. At this point, every team not earning an at-large bid will either have been eliminated or be involved in play - all conference tournaments will be done. This will give us 72 survivors from the third stage, plus 60 new teams. Teams that lost conference semi-finals or championships will be regrouping for another go at postseason glory while potential Cinderellas fight to win the one more game that will keep them alive until Selection Sunday. It's college basketball at its finest in a grand and extended fashion.</span></span></div><div dir="ltr"><br />
</div><div dir="ltr"><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The more astute of you will have probably noticed that 66 winners will emerge from the fourth stage. Coupled with the 31 automatic bids handed out through the course of March, that leaves us with 97 teams alive on Selection Sunday, which is superficially impossible to break down into any sort of meaningful bracket. This is easily solved though. The 31 auto bid teams are slotted into the 64-team bracket we all know and love; the 66 other teams play to fill the 33 remaining slots. That means, rather than running Thur/Sat or Fri/Sun, each pod will have games going Tue/Thur/Sat or Wed/Fri/Sun. The most magical weekend of the year has now been extended by two more days.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtor1tCiLt5TlX0_0pwq5SHhS930LF9pKrxhpuASU6wlaYWDxB3vOGe8m5pfXh0b5aSdMZNNE6Zs9DoGCk_uFYrse5BjxySBoSXmirD7zyCMGE9xss9YxELnEazrNBLZ236KcxwqkLpcg/s1600/MMMthirdweek.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="73" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtor1tCiLt5TlX0_0pwq5SHhS930LF9pKrxhpuASU6wlaYWDxB3vOGe8m5pfXh0b5aSdMZNNE6Zs9DoGCk_uFYrse5BjxySBoSXmirD7zyCMGE9xss9YxELnEazrNBLZ236KcxwqkLpcg/s400/MMMthirdweek.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mega March Madness rolls into the tournament. You can't tell me this wouldn't be a ton of fun and very lucrative.</td></tr>
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</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div dir="ltr"><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">So there you have it, sports fans. The meaningless secondary tournaments are eliminated, every team has a chance to play in the national tournament, and March is inundated with meaningful basketball. There are a lot of moving parts here, so I tried to clarify it as much as possible with the graphics and by using last year's conference tournament formats and dates. This has been a ton of fun to put together, and I hope you enjoy looking over it as much as I enjoyed working on it. Feel free to hit me with any questions you have in the comments section. We'll be back next Monday with some concluding thoughts.</span></span></div>Joelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06965297735277115060noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2760959829637297379.post-34881444915949937772011-06-24T20:55:00.000-04:002011-06-24T20:55:04.069-04:00Around the A-10<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://dimemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Justin-Harper.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://dimemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Justin-Harper.png" width="178" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Harper in his natural habitat.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div dir="ltr"><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The NBA Draft - not usually a huge occasion for the conference - has come and gone another year. The most highly rated A-10 player to head for the lockout this year was Justin Harper, Richmond's silky smooth 6'10" forward, who went 32nd to the Cavs before being traded to Orlando. Despite his size and potential as a match-up nightmare, he only ever had one good game in a win against Xavier (20/8 on 6-8/6-6/2-2 as a sophomore), which is probably why I don't remember him with any animosity. That and he was playing next to the loathsome Dan Geriot, the Matt Howard of the A-10.</span></span></div><div dir="ltr"><br />
</div><div dir="ltr"><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Harper developed from averaging just over 3 points and 1 rebound per game as a freshman to going for 18/7 in 31.8 MPG as a senior. His shooting touch was on display, with a line of .534/.448/.797. He probably bolstered his draft stock with not only a great senior season but also a Sweet 16 run with Richmond in which he averaged 18 and 6 and went 6 of 6 from behind the arc. Unlike Kevin Anderson - who still hasn't returned Jordan Crawford's A-10 Player of the Year trophy - it's not too difficult to wish Harper all the best in his career as a professional.</span></span></div><div dir="ltr"><br />
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<div dir="ltr"><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">A little further down, Temple's LaVoy Allen was selected 50th by the Sixers. At that range, you're really getting an invite to camp and a chance to prove you can stick at that level. Allen is <a href="http://www.owlified.net/2011/06/whats-hoot-lavoy-allen-drafted-by.html">understandably excited to stay in Philly</a>, but it's not clear what the future holds for him. At 6'9", 225 lbs with 19 made three-pointers in 135 collegiate games, Allen's work is cut out for him. Odds are that he ends up playing somewhere overseas, but - as Brad has gone out of his way to illustrate - that's not always a bad thing.</span></span></div><div dir="ltr"><br />
</div><div dir="ltr"><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Loose balls: </span></span></div><div dir="ltr"><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">-The Draft also provided the Blackburn Review a chance to take another look at Chris Wright's career. They took the high road, <a href="http://www.blackburnreview.com/main/2011/6/23/the-dream-she-is-over.html">kind of</a>.</span></span></div><div dir="ltr"><br />
</div><div dir="ltr"><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">-Over the past month or so, Ron Everhart's future at Duquesne has been a question. He recently announced <a href="http://yukudukes.blogspot.com/2011/06/everharts-heart-at-duquesne.html">he's sticking around</a>, and the gang over at <a href="http://yukudukes.blogspot.com/2011/06/yahoo-article-on-everharts-decision.html">Yuku Dukes is thrilled.</a></span></span></div><div dir="ltr"><br />
</div><div dir="ltr"><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">-The Blackburn Review has <a href="http://www.blackburnreview.com/main/2011/6/20/five-questions.html">a good article</a> looking ahead to next year's Flyers. If you have some time (and want to keep tabs on UD), I'd recommend taking a peek.</span></span></div><div dir="ltr"><br />
</div><div dir="ltr"><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">-Finally, Charlotte is looking to put together a 4-6 team event just before Christmas. While this doesn't affect X at all, it's good to see other A-10 teams getting out there and doing work in the non-conference scheduling.</span></span><span lang="en-us"></span></div>Joelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06965297735277115060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2760959829637297379.post-82691608580728442712011-06-22T14:33:00.001-04:002011-06-22T14:35:26.092-04:00Living the Dream Pt. 4<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://media.masslive.com/minuteblog/photo/jordan-crawford-xavier-373e9e107a8b93e0_large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="262" src="http://media.masslive.com/minuteblog/photo/jordan-crawford-xavier-373e9e107a8b93e0_large.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">That's still money</td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The last installment of Living the Dream will be a bit different than the others in that it will focus on the select Xavier players currently playing their trade at the very highest level. No matter what you think of the NBA, and I can't stand it, there is no question that it is the most prestigious and developed basketball league in the world. Even the very best European talent leaves home to come play here, in the United States. Xavier players are scattered the world around, but four remain right here, at the top level.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">James Posey -<i> Indiana Pacers 8.6/4.7/1.6* Two NBA Championships </i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Posey went from being the point man on the X-Press to being the point man for Xavier players currently in the NBA. In his 11 year career he has won two championships, averaged over ten points per game on three occasions, and still played the lockdown defense he was known for in school. Posey has played in 65 NBA playoff games in his career and averaged over 25 minutes in those games. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">David West - <i>New Orleans Hornets 16.4/7.3/2.0 Two time All-Star</i> </span><br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ljtgld8Luh1qarx7ho1_400.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ljtgld8Luh1qarx7ho1_400.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">West explaining life to CP3</td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">West was selected by the New Orleans Hornets in 2003 and promptly spent the first two years struggling to log minutes and battling injury. In his third season, David reverted to his XU form, scoring 17.1 points per game. West has been very consistent since then and has been rewarded with two all-star selections and 24 playoff appearances. Chris Paul said there is no power forward in the league he'd rather play with at this time. Unfortunately, West tore his ACL on March 25th of this year.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Derrick Brown - <i>New York Knicks 3.5/1.7/.5</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">When Brown left early there was a good deal of speculation that his jumpshot was not yet league ready. While Brown has managed 51% from the floor, he has done most of that in the same above the rim manner as he did at Xavier. Brown has attempted only 17 threes in his time in the NBA, evidence that the shot is still a work in progress. Derrick was released by the Charlotte Bobcats this year, but was immediately picked up by New York, where his productivity showed a slight uptick.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Jordan Crawford - <i>Washington Wizards 11.7/2.5/2.8 .9 steals per game</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Jordan Crawford does one thing in life, get buckets. Buried in the rotation in Atlanta, Crawford was given the chance to shine when paired with John Wall in Washington. Running (and gunning) with that chance, Jordan averaged 16.3 points per contest in the capital and significantly increased his output in other facets of the game as well. Crawford was Xavier's first one and done guy, and it is becoming obvious why.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">So that's that. Xavier has grown in the last decade into a national power and the plethora of alumni playing both in the </span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">NBA and</span> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">abroad is evidence of that. I hope you've enjoyed reading this little series as much as I have researching and writing it.</span><br />
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<b><a href="http://xavierexaminer.blogspot.com/2011/06/living-dream-pt-1.html"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Part one</span></a></b><br />
<a href="http://xavierexaminer.blogspot.com/2011/06/living-dream-pt-2.html"><b><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Part two</span></b></a><br />
<a href="http://xavierexaminer.blogspot.com/2011/06/living-dream-pt-3.html"><b><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Part three </span></b></a>Bradhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04687770821327995823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2760959829637297379.post-52336529839284018002011-06-21T12:46:00.000-04:002011-06-21T12:46:57.951-04:00Tu Holloway Tweets his work<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Joel's look at the possible <a href="http://xavierexaminer.blogspot.com/2011/06/whats-in-point-guard.html">upcoming point guard dilemma</a> this morning got me to wondering what Xavier's current point was doing with his summer. Joel mentioned in the Summer Camp series that what Tu needed to work on this summer, if anything, was his jumpshooting. Probably not spurred by our suggestion, Tu has been doing just that. What follows is the summer in workout related Tweets from Tu.<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">13 May: </span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">"Even on my vacations I get lifts in and work on my game.. That's how you gain an edge.. Hustle + muscle equals success.. I did the math.."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">29 May: (Tu was playing summer league in the intervening time) "Monday is day 1 of 27.. I keep it hood no half way shi.. I'm doing this so one day I can wear a suit with a fitted on some draft day shi.."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">31 May: </span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">"Hope the sun go down so I can run in the sand soon and then try to be like Kobe when he had 81.. Getting them shots up.."</span><br />
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</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">10 June: "Whatever dude that just does yoga on his own is wild.. I only do it because they make me.."</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">11 June: "The high after a win last for an hour or so.. A loss stay on my mind for months.." "Get this workout in.. I can't take days off.. My family like nice things also.." "560 shots up real quick.. I can go enjoy myself now.."</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">13 June: "Hit this court for an hour.. Floyd Mayweather is the best and his work ethic is 2nd to none.."</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">15 June: "Started my bank shot progression today.. My glass game is going to be crazy.."</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">18 June: "2 am workout all I need 2 do is watch Money Mayweather, think about what I don't have and the love of the game and I'm motivated.." "631 for 831 since the last time I spoke to you.. Back at it at 9am.. Let me know if you want in.. Aux gym.." "Get 1 n b4 I go out tonight.. Need a rebounder so I can do my bank shot progression.. My cool white rebounder has been drunk a lot lately.." "421 for 515.. He showed up to rebound for me.. Thanks.. Now I can enjoy myself.."</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">19 June: "The 8:15 workout is over.. Now I can get some sleep.."</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">20 June: "Lifted at 9 and had 1 and a half workouts.. Pay my political debts in a minute.. Shoot at 7.."</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">12:30am today: "Got a few hundred up.. Now watching the draft special on espnu.."</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">So what is the point of reading the tweets of a college senior? Just one thing. While you ponder Dee Davis and Kareem Canty, remember that neither of them will get better without a great deal of hard work. Tu Holloway averaged 5.5 points with an assist to turnover ratio of 1.13 his freshman year, it's only summers spent in the gym that get you past that.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </div><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span>Bradhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04687770821327995823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2760959829637297379.post-70970774941616772262011-06-21T08:54:00.002-04:002011-06-21T21:29:50.092-04:00What's in a Point Guard?<div style="text-align: right;"></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://heardthisblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Canty.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://heardthisblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Canty.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dude looks either bored or angry in every pic I could find.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Word around the scouting world has Xavier <a href="http://heardthisblog.com/?p=218">in and possibly leading</a> on Brooklyn point guard Kareem Canty. Canty is a former class of 2011 player who reclassified to 2012 so as to accommodate a year at prep school. <a href="http://insider.espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/recruiting/player/_/id/67067/kareem-canty">ESPN.com</a> is impressed with him, rating him a 92 overall, four-star player who is in the top 100 of his class. <a href="http://hsalabama.scout.com/a.z?s=383&p=8&c=1&nid=4990172">Scout.com</a> is similarly flattering to the young man, calling him the 7th best PG in his class. Despite that, I'm not so excited about the idea of Xavier landing him.<br />
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Canty has the potential to be a good player; I'm not doubting that. Game reports can be glittering, like <a href="http://www.nbebasketball.com/w3/2011-0611/rumble-in-the-bronx-report-part-i/">this one</a> from the Rumble in the Bronx in June, or <a href="http://www.nbebasketball.com/w3/2009-big-east-recruit-database/class-of-2012/kareem-canty/">this one</a> from the same tournament last year. When things are going well, he is a big-time point who apparently can get the ball to his teammates or score it himself. Kareem also has a body strong enough that it helps him out on the glass and as a defender. He's also reputed not to be afraid of contact in the lane.<br />
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There are a couple of red flags in the scouting report for Kareem. ESPN.com says: <br />
<blockquote>His shot selection can be flighty at times while he can also be careless with the basketball. He is terribly un-vocal for a point guard and can turn off teammates when his on-court temperament leads to poor decisions.</blockquote>That's obviously not good. Scout.com lists "decision making" as one of his weaknesses. Other reports note that he tends to play well as the game is going well but struggle if things go sideways and he gets frustrated.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6EF0fTWd6LsXAwrADqR23ylGw9vcmsf3vQYQbrcU6tzQqaxpLMCDnf4G59QegRnt9pmnyfgUgOEqYDipcyj_6eQQl-nFvr58FM3AQ5W7DirdDyLjKAsESZNGcnT8zVkCs_rG2zImibXu0/s1600/012_12.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6EF0fTWd6LsXAwrADqR23ylGw9vcmsf3vQYQbrcU6tzQqaxpLMCDnf4G59QegRnt9pmnyfgUgOEqYDipcyj_6eQQl-nFvr58FM3AQ5W7DirdDyLjKAsESZNGcnT8zVkCs_rG2zImibXu0/s320/012_12.JPG" width="198" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">If your college is paid for by basketball, you should be smiling.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>When Canty begins his college career - whether it's at X or somewhere else - Mark Lyons will be a senior, and Dee Davis will be a sophomore. It is the contrast between the reports on Davis and those on Canty that is eye-catching. Word is that Davis is a great teammate and a wonderful floor leader who keeps the ball moving and runs the offense. Dee lacks the edge that Canty possesses, but that may not necessarily be a bad thing.<br />
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I'm frankly not sure where this leaves us. What's better to have at the point: the aggressive go-getter who toes the line between competitive and petulant, or the floor leader who makes sure everyone gets involved while not forcing himself into the game? The same reports that question Canty's decision making laud his toughness and his ability to finish games; the same drive to win can be positive or negative depending on how he controls it. If things break well, Canty could develop into a Tu Holloway type of player. It's what might happen if things go poorly that concerns me.Joelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06965297735277115060noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2760959829637297379.post-66494311468243610542011-06-20T08:05:00.002-04:002011-06-20T17:03:18.684-04:00Mega March Madness: The Approach<div dir="ltr"><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">There are several hurdles that any tournament expansion plan has to clear before it can be put in place. (It should here be noted that, though I think my plan is amazing, I also recognize that it doesn't stand the slightest hope of being incorporated. Just thought you should know that this was a mental exercise for me, not a proposal that I'm hoping the NCAA will stumble across.) One is of simple logistics. Two teams can't play each other if they are in different gyms. A single team can't play two games at the same time. Playing on consecutive days is eventually going to take a toll on a team and the quality of basketball that they're going to play, and thus should be avoided.</span></span></div><div dir="ltr"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/28/Bcs_logo_2010.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="171" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/28/Bcs_logo_2010.png" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This isn't the answer to anything.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: right;"></div><div dir="ltr"><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Another is that of the valuation of the regular season. If you've ever talked to someone who is a fan of college football but not of college basketball, you've heard someone go on about how great it is when losing even one game at the very beginning of the year could torpedo the whole thing. While I don't buy into that mindset (get a tournament already, college football), it does bear keeping in mind that a team's accomplishments in the regular slate of games shouldn't just be thrown out once tournament time rolls around.</span></span></div><div dir="ltr"><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></span></div><a name='more'></a><br />
<div dir="ltr"><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">A tournament must also be organized in such a manner than it results in crowning the best team - or at least a reasonable simile thereof - as the champion. It should be noted that, though this is "fair," it is not the same as "equal." Not every team deserves to have the same path to the title; some have earned the assumption that they are better than some of the other competitors and thus should be given a pass to the latter stages. For example, it's not ridiculous (or is it?) to assume that you may have a tournament in which 60 of the 68 participants have distinguished themselves to the point at which they should be given a bye directly into the second round. The other eight should have to duke it out through all seven rounds if they want to win the thing.</span></span></div><div dir="ltr"><br />
</div><div dir="ltr"><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">There are also some real-world concerns to be taken into account. For the tournament to be a success, it needs to be capable of keeping fan interest high throughout. Good pacing is part of this. You don't want the thing to drag on like the NBA playoffs, which just wrapped up last week despite starting in mid-February. The staccato rhythm of the current NCAA tournament (Thurs-Sun, catch your breath, repeat) captures this well. Additionally, each game needs to be meaningful, or people won't care until the high-leverage games begin. </span></span></div><div dir="ltr"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_libl8oGqp11qzp3dco1_500.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_libl8oGqp11qzp3dco1_500.jpg" width="216" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">More of this is always good.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div dir="ltr"><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">It's also pretty obvious that the competition should become more compelling as it wears on. This is ideally done by a mixture of better ball being played as the worse teams head home, and Cinderella storylines developing as a couple of lower-tier teams get hot at the right time. This is not accomplished by having the final in an unfamiliar court with an awful shooting background that will turn the game into a cynical and defensive affair, just in case anyone thought it was.</span></span></div><div dir="ltr"><br />
</div><div dir="ltr"><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Also, money. That's where the real world rubber meets the road. Someone needs to get the teams where they need to be, pay the officials, hire enough security to keep Billy Packer and Bill Raftery well away, et c., and the NCAA isn't a charity. The most direct and effective route to money is through the television (not literally). Every major sporting event in the ESPN era has been in some way scheduled to make the TV people happy, and an effective NCAA tournament plan is no exception.</span></span></div><div dir="ltr"><br />
<span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">So where does that leave us? A tournament must be logistically feasible, provide good quality of play, take the regular season into account, and get better as it goes on. And it also needs to have compelling storylines to keep the casual fan interested all the while making mountains of cash to pay for everything and line the NCAA's coffers. Well, I've got a solution that addresses all of those concerns to an at least adequate level. And everyone gets to play. Wait, what? I'll lay it out for you next Monday.</span></span><span lang="en-us"></span></div>Joelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06965297735277115060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2760959829637297379.post-1850415326504741212011-06-17T14:14:00.001-04:002011-06-17T17:01:08.883-04:00Know Your Non-conference Opponent: Vanderbilt<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPA5_XGyPq4NTT56Au2pl1GjH34Har-VKrPgk7igrLJGlYFYEIJtiWi_2FNLEw4skA28JRhyRwSy17SkXFbBBw86dtD3-PBivlkZsK755Mcx3IlccKb4E7P_pLvbgIZyPP7yrmtTIgHvor/s1600/Vanderbilt+pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="284" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPA5_XGyPq4NTT56Au2pl1GjH34Har-VKrPgk7igrLJGlYFYEIJtiWi_2FNLEw4skA28JRhyRwSy17SkXFbBBw86dtD3-PBivlkZsK755Mcx3IlccKb4E7P_pLvbgIZyPP7yrmtTIgHvor/s320/Vanderbilt+pic.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Why is this guy not on their logo?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>The ties between Xavier and Wake Forest run deep, thanks in large part to the Skip Prosser coaching tree from which Chris Mack and the dear, departed Pat Kelsey sprung. When Coach Prosser passed away, XU and Wake agreed on a 10-year slate of games to honor his memory. This all makes the fact that <a href="http://xavierexaminer.blogspot.com/2011/04/wake-forest-suspends-prosser-classic.html">Wake couldn't find room in its schedule</a> to honor the commitment this season feel a little more like a shiv to the collective kidneys, especially considering that Xavier has been the more successful of the two programs of late. Despite all that, Mario Mercurio and his staff shrugged off the setback and <a href="http://xavierexaminer.blogspot.com/2011/05/xavier-adds-vandy.html">added a road test against Vanderbilt</a> to the non-conference schedule.<br />
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From a basketball perspective, this is a serious upgrade. While Wake was dreadful last year, Vandy was rock solid and made the tourny as a five seed. The Commodores have been working under Coach Kevin Stallings since 1999, he has had them in the tourny as a six seed or better in four of the last five years. Stallings does an admirable job changing his style to fit the personnel rather than trying to fit players into his preconceived plan: in the last five years alone his offense has been anywhere from 66th to 163rd in tempo, 26th to 244th in percentage of shots attempted from three, an 11th to 265th in free throw rate. His changes have been effective though; his team hasn't fallen below 88th in adjusted offense or defense in that time period, and his offense is usually in the top 25.<br />
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Vandy knocked off UNC, Belmont, Marquette (who was really good), Georgia (twice), Alabama, and UK in 2010-2011. Last year's Commodores were an offensive force, posting the 13th best adjusted efficiency in the nation while shooting .458/.371/.743 as a team. They were also 27th best in the nation in getting to the free throw line. Their turnover (19% of their possessions, 105th) and offensive rebounding (33.1% of missed shots, 144th) numbers were slightly more pedestrian but still above average. On the other end, they were great at keeping other teams from connecting, ranking 39th in nation in effective FG% defense. Their overall defensive effiency was hurt by the fact that they forced a turnover on only 17.5% of opponents' possessions, which put them at a dreadful 308th in the nation. Also, they were tall (14th in effective height) and shallow (27.5% of their minutes came off the bench), but young, losing only 5.4 minutes per game to graduation.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/08QXepz7b2b5R/x350.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/08QXepz7b2b5R/x350.jpg" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Scouting reports indicate Jenkins can dunk.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Coming back is rising junior John Jenkins, a dynamic scoring guard who led the team with 19.5 PPG on .462/.408/.894 shooting last season. He also connected on 100 threes, more than twice the output of his next closest teammate. Jenkins has also been afforded the honor of being <a href="http://vucommodores.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/060811aaa.html">invited to the camp for the USA's World University games team</a>. Six-foot-seven Swede Jeffery Taylor also comes back, bringing his 14.7/5.5/2.4 on .449/.345/.719 with him. Despite being a forward, the rising senior was second on the team in assists and third in three-point field goals. Fellow rising senior Brad Tinsley was the player directly ahead of Taylor in both categories, and the PG averaged 10.6/3.7/4.6 on .436/.369/.824 shooting. Tinsley has been a starter for all three years at Vandy and runs the team pretty efficiently. Festus Ezeli is a 6'11", 255 lb Nigerian who averaged 13/6.3 last year with 2.6 blocks. Also, his name is Festus.<br />
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Coach Stallings and his staff have added two ESPN 100 guards to the mix for the upcoming season. Dai-Jon Parker is a 6'2", 185 lb shooting guard who has the capability to catch fire from deep. While his shooting can be inconsistent, he keeps himself in the game as a physical, athletic defender who can D up both guard spots. Kendren Johnson is a 6'3", 200 lb point guard with excellent court vision and a high basketball IQ. Scouting reports are generally in agreement that Johnson is a weak shooter, and questions about his ability to run a team have been posed. Six-foot-eight, 225 lb PF Shelby Moats rounds out the recruiting class. Moats is a physical player with a deft shooting touch, but he has been described as "not explosive," which is rarely flattering.<br />
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Vandy is the first team that we've looked at who is really on level pegging with Xavier. Jenkins is probably as good a perimeter scorer as X is likely to meet this year, and his size (6'4", 215 lbs) could cause matchup problems if nobody has stepped up to fill the gap between the guards and the bigs. The aforementioned Taylor and 6'9" Steve Tchiengang (.415 3P%) also have the potential to force defenders into uncomfortable matchups. Frease versus Ezeli figures to be a pretty good battle inside, though the Muskies may use the high ball screen to move the big man away from the basket. If Xavier can go into Memorial Gymnasium and take a game from a team that's showing up in a lot of preseason top 10s, it will be an impressive feather in the Muskies' cap. As with any big win, though, it's going to take a good performance from X to make it happen.Joelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06965297735277115060noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2760959829637297379.post-51713820304278172162011-06-15T18:00:00.001-04:002011-06-15T18:01:35.312-04:00Living the Dream Pt. 3<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In the Living the Dream series so far we've had a look at how some <a href="http://xavierexaminer.blogspot.com/2011/06/living-dream-pt-1.html">Xavier players overseas </a>have adapted and thrived. Last week we caught up with the members of the 2004 Elite Eight run that are <a href="http://xavierexaminer.blogspot.com/2011/06/living-dream-pt-2.html">still playing ball professionally</a>. That foray left us with only three guys out there playing somewhere. One of them you'll remember quite well, one is a blast from the past, and the other is a testament to never giving up.<a name='more'></a> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Kevin Frey- </span><i><span class="style100" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Ciclista Juninense (Argentina) 13.4/6.5/2 60% FG</span></i><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.eurobasket.com/AcPhotos_Players/Frey_Kevin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://www.eurobasket.com/AcPhotos_Players/Frey_Kevin.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Still above the rim</td></tr>
</tbody></table><span class="style100" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I'll admit to absolutely loving Kevin Frey in his time at XU. I'm not sure whether I've ever seen a player with his talent level be so willing to mix it up and hit the floor. Kevin is currently a free agent in the Argentinian league, but he has played in Finland, Sweden, Germany, France, Chile, Italy, and several failed American leagues. He's well known by the Xavier Nation for one dunk against UC, he seems to be trying to be known in many other nations as well.</span><i><span class="style100" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span></i><br />
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<span class="style100" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Torraye Braggs- <i>Argentino/Gimnasia (Argentina) 12/4.3/1</i></span><br />
<span class="style100" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Torraye was not someone I expected to run across out in the basketballing wilds, but he's still out there. Two stints in the NBA didn't pan out for Braggs, but play <a href="http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&u=http://www.laverdadonline.com/detallenoti.php%3FrecordID%3D13556&ei=BSr5Tc2RCcfu0gGZ8_W-AQ&sa=X&oi=translate&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CCQQ7gEwAQ&prev=/search%3Fq%3DTorraye%2BBraggs%2BArgentina%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26hs%3D9He%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26biw%3D1600%26bih%3D700%26prmd%3Divnso">abroad has</a>. Braggs is 34 now, but still prized for his abilities in the paint.</span><br />
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<span class="style100" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Reggie Butler- <i>Angeles de Puebla (Mexico) 8.9/7.2/1.7 </i></span><br />
<span class="style100" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">If Torraye Braggs was a surprise, Reggie Butler was a complete shock. Butler averaged 2/2/.3 in his time at Xavier and never seemed to much other than be huge and take up a scholarship. Butler didn't let his comparative lack of college success slow him though. Reggie has played professionally in Portugal, China, the US, Turkey, Spain, Dubai, and the Philippines. The fact that he translated two points a game at Xavier into a career of basketball speaks volumes for his work ethic.</span><br />
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<span class="style100" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The final installment in the series will come next Wednesday and highlight Musketeers currently playing in the NBA. <i> </i></span>Bradhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04687770821327995823noreply@blogger.com1