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By Fred Katz, on March 30th, 2012  “When Louisville fans get nutty, it’s about Kentucky. Whereas Kentucky fans, I think, are just nutty about everything.” - Matt Jones, Kentucky Sports Radio (picture courtesy of @darrenrovell) CARS
19-year-old Kevin Bohne jumped into his car and started to make his way back to school. A resident of Louisville, Kevin was in the hotbed of the Bluegrass Battle, but there was one problem: Kevin was a student at the University of Kentucky.
Sporting his school spirit and modeling a UK shirt, Kevin gassed up and began that 81-mile drive back to Lexington. But luck wasn’t really on Kevin’s side that day. About 10 minutes into his drive, a tire popped on his usually reliable, silver Maxima and he had to pull over to the side of Route 64 in Jefferson County, a suburb just outside of Louisville.
Kevin had no idea how to change a car tire. He had never done it before. Naturally, he called his parents. No help. Instead of lingering on the side of the road, waiting for the ever-timely AAA, he figured it would be easier to track down a car on the highway. After about 15 minutes, someone finally pulled over and stopped to help him.
The bearded, middle-aged man who was dressed in full-fledged camouflage stepped out of his red, Ford pickup truck.
“What seems to be the problem here, kid?”
“Well, my back right tire is flat and I really have no idea how to fix it.”
Kevin turned around and faced the seemingly Good Samaritan who had delayed whatever his plans were to help a stranger. The bearded man immediately glanced at Kevin’s Wildcat shirt, then back at his face. Without saying anything, he chortled and started to return to his car.
“Where are you going?” posed Kevin.
“Unfortunately for you,” he said in a thick southern accent. “You’re wearing a UK shirt and I hate the ‘Cats. So have fun trying to change a tire by yourself.”
And he was gone.
HISTORY
Rivals.com didn’t exist in 1965. ESPNU wasn’t ranking its recruits and updating that player hierarchy seemingly everyday. Winning Mr. Basketball in your state was just about all a high schooler could do to prove his worth. In 1965 Kentucky, that title belonged to an 18-year-old from Hardinsburg by the name of Butch Beard.
Beard, who was a high school All-American, went on to become the 10th overall pick in the 1969 draft, but first, the 6-foot-3, African-American high school senior needed to make a decision: stay close to home and play ball at Louisville or make the trip east to Lexington.
Louisville and Kentucky had hardly established a rivalry by 1965. In fact, at that time, the Wildcats’ biggest on-court foe was probably Western Kentucky. The Bluegrass Battle didn’t truly blow up until 1983 when the two schools met at the Stokely Athletic Center in Knoxville in the Elite Eight, breaking a 24-year span in which they never played. Until that point, competition between U-of-L and UK pretty much came down to recruiting. And in 1965, Beard was as good as you were going to get. But the mid-1960s promoted a different environment in the state of Kentucky than what we are used to today.
 Kentucky fan Ed Wilson (left) and Louisville fan Charles Taylor (right) got into a fist fight in the middle of dialysis this week. If you have a funny bone, watch this video: http://kentuckysportsradio.com/?p=109297 Tom Payne was still four years away from becoming the first black player at UK. Wade Houston, however, had already broken that barrier at Louisville, which at the time had the reputation of simply being more progressive than the school in Lexington.
“In the 50s and 60s, there were probably racial issues [at Kentucky],” explains Matt Jones of Kentucky Sports Radio. “But I don’t really think that’s there anymore.”
Tony Hinton was two years younger than Beard on the Breckinridge County High School basketball team and in 1968 went on to become a member of the Wildcat freshman squad.
“Back then, honestly, where I grew up, it was Kentucky and Western Kentucky,” Hinton remembered. “Then Louisville was just a school. I never realized about the discrimination part of it. I can remember how close Butch Beard came to going to Kentucky before the racial thing obviously hit him.”
Beard was just an 18-year-old kid. He was quick, strong, powerful, and smart. There wasn’t much more that any college could ask for in a recruit. But like most any other high school kids, he might not have wanted to become the center of an issue that was bigger than his game on the court.
“I thought, ‘Well, that was dumb. Why would he do that?’” Hinton invoked. “But I didn’t realize at that time what was going on in the South.”
Breckinridge County High was an integrated school. Beard was used to equality, or at least what equality was defined as in 1965.
“I think he was interested in Kentucky, but I think it was the fact that he didn’t want to be the first African-American at Kentucky,” Hinton said.
In the mid-1960s, there was no Kentucky-Louisville rivalry. A 1965 Wildcat fan felt no animosity toward a 1965 Cardinal fan. The same could be said for the reverse, but the foundation was there. Instate competition was there. And Butch Beard helped start it.
CUPS
Mike Olmstead witnessed the enmity between Louisville and Kentucky evolve. Growing up in Louisville in the 1980s, Mike was a ferocious Cardinal fan, and got to see the detestation between Louisville and Kentucky fans blossom.
Part of what makes up this dissimilarity between the Cardinal and the Wildcat devotee is almost a feeling of rural vs. city, with the rural areas flaunting blue and the city of Louisville boasting red. But plenty of Wildcats infiltrate Louisville’s home turf. In fact, if you talk to most people, they will tell you that the city is relatively split down the middle, about half Louisville fans and about half Kentucky fans, which makes sense considering more UK alums actually reside in Louisville than in any other city in the state.
So while Wildcat fans in Lexington get to prance around their college town without looking over their shoulders, Cardinal fans in Louisville have to leave their homes both verbally armed and mentally tough enough to deal with the swarms of blue that everyday life brings them. It didn’t take long for Mike to realize this.
Thornton’s, a chain of convenient stores based in Kentucky and other surrounding states, was having a special. For its plastic and paper cup selection, the store would usually sell white cups, but since Louisville and Kentucky were playing in this particular week, Thornton’s was selling only blue and red ones.
After going through his shopping list, Mike, who was a young teen at the time, got into the line with his father to pay. Unfortunately for him, though, he and his dad picked the wrong man to stand behind on a day when Thornton’s was sold out of blue cups.
“I remember it vividly. He was going to be damned if he was going to drink from a Louisville-colored cup,” Mike described the fixated Kentucky fanatic that was egregiously screaming in front of him.
The clerks laughed. Mike’s dad laughed. But the man was ballistic; he was animated. Basically, he was a Kentucky fan stuck in the middle of Louisville.
It was an enlightening moment for Mike as a Louisville-native.
“I knew it was a rivalry. I knew they didn’t like each other, but I didn’t know it went that deep.”
Eventually, that gentleman actually got his blue cups after a store employee went to the backroom to fetch some for him. Thank goodness he did. We know he would never defect enough to get a red one.
FAMILY
Out of conference games against teams outside of the Power Six hardly mean anything in November. But that was different on November 7, 2007 when Gardner-Webb came to Rupp Arena.
Kentucky should have dominated the Runnin’ Bulldogs, but after falling behind by 11 at the end of the first half, Gardner-Webb didn’t look back and upset the No. 22 Wildcats 84-68. Kentucky fans felt trounced. As low as those Wildcat fans were, Louisville fans were evening it out with their high.
One Cardinal fan and high school student, Ryan, was particularly excited. In fact, Ryan immediately contacted the Gardner-Webb student bookstore and ordered 10 Runnin’ Bulldog shirts for him and his friends. But there was one small problem: he didn’t get the O.K. from his father first.
Usually, there’s nothing inappropriate about that. Why should his father care? What’s the issue? A Wildcat fan would do the same if their roles were reversed. It’s a Louisville fan having fun with a Kentucky loss. No harm. That is, unless you have Ryan’s last name: Pitino.
Later that day Ryan Pitino sat down with his father, Rick, to watch ESPN, only to hear Dick Vitale pronounce to the world something along the lines of:
“RICK PITINO JUST BOUGHT A BUNCH OF SHIRTS FROM THE GARDNER-WEBB CAMPUS STORE, BABY!”
(I don’t have the actual quote, but I have to imagine Vitale said “baby” at the end of that sentence. And he definitely said it in all caps.) Needless to say, father Rick was not all too happy with his son.
While Coach Pitino has remained as respectful as he could possibly be toward his Final Four competitor, his son does not exactly follow in his footsteps in that regard.
“I absolutely can’t stand them. I want to beat them every time,” says Ryan, who is currently a senior at Georgetown. “I guarantee you I’ll lose a lot of friends, fake friends, if we beat them on Saturday.”
But that’s what this means in Kentucky. The state has fallen in love with basketball and the Louisville and Kentucky fan bases have fallen in love with this mutual disdain.
Two basketball lifetimes ago, when Pitino was coaching the Wildcats, a local McDonald’s in Lexington actually hung up a Pitino family portrait on its wall. Not a signed photo of Pitino. Not a Kentucky team picture. A family portrait.
Those days are long gone. Pitino isn’t part of the Lexington family any longer. Ryan hasn’t been back to that McDonald’s since he converted from blue to red, but says he probably has an idea of what they’ve done with it.
“They’ve probably burned it down by now.”
Fred Katz is a writer for HoopSpeakU. You can contact him at FKatz26@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter @FredKatz.
HoopSpeak Network
By Fred Katz, on March 16th, 2012 If you look at a team in any recreational basketball league, you’ll probably discover an eclectic group of players. You’ll surely find some peculiarity, but you’re even more likely to find that each of those teammates probably fits into some sort of umbrella group predetermined by the rec basketball gods. Saying that each player is unique might be a proper way to describe the greats, but it definitely doesn’t depict a group of unskilled men aimlessly flopping around a court. When you go to those games, you’ll probably see some selection of these guys:
- The Useless and Out-of-Shape Guy
- The Useful for the First Half But Still Out of Shape Guy
- The Just There To Have Fun Guy
- The I Played JV For Two Years In College And Never Got My Real Shot Guy
- The Guy Who Knows He Is There Bring the Orange Slices and Sit on the Bench
- The Crazy Hothead That Argues Every Call
- The Guy Who Thinks He’s in an And1 Mixtape
- The Shooter
- The Glue Guy
- The Poise Guy
College hoops and the NBA tend to have their own versions of these caricatures. Joshua Smith fits nicely into the Useless and Out-of-Shape Guy mold. Mark Lyons can be your Crazy Hothead That Argues Every Call. Phil Pressey is certainly the Guy Who Thinks He’s in an And1 Mixtape. And clearly Brian Scalabrine is bringing the orange slices.
Roster makeup in the college game is actually depressingly similar to that of those rec leagues for 45-year-old men that you see around the corner. We’re down to 64 teams, 64 rosters, and 64 coaches fighting for a national championship. You can look through most of those rosters and find a Just There To Have Fun Guy. You can find a Crazy Hothead That Argues Every Call or a Useful for the First Half But Out of Shape Guy. It’s sad that the lineups that are made up of some of the most talented 18-23 year olds in the country share those traits with the gloominess and hopelessness of playing intramural ball. But it’s reality.
Now let’s move onto the actual bracket. The First Four/First Round is done. If we assume that each of these teams has a similar general makeup, then aside from talent and coaching, what is the biggest characteristic to set them apart? What is the one part of the game that can set one squad ahead of another seemingly, evenly matched one? The answer is the Poise Guy.
The Poise Guy is your leader. He is not only the one you want taking the last shot, but he is also the one that wants to take the last shot most. He is the one that does all the work to get the credit, but never actually takes it. He takes charges on defense. He defends picks and rolls. When his teammates describe him on the defensive end of the floor, the first thing they say is that he is always talking, always communicating.
The Poise Guy carries his team on his back. He has loads of experience, but hasn’t always been in the peachiest of situations. At some point in either his life or his playing career, he has faced adversity and he hasn’t backed away. His teammates respect him as much as any other player. They may not always love him as a person, but they love that he is on their side.
Look at the NCAA Tournament and it is relatively clear that the postseason is loaded with Poise Guys. But some are just on the next level. Those types of players deserve an acknowledgement (even though their character says they don’t care about it). So here it: the players you don’t want to pick against in this year’s NCAA Tournament, the 2012 All-Poise Guy Team.
Let’s set some rules first:
- Using no scientific research at all, let’s estimate that a usual NCAA champ plays with at least a 7-man rotation. So we’ll do the same with this roster: seven players who mesh well together.
- The player’s team must currently be in the NCAA Tournament. (Yes, I am now completely despondent that Scott Machado was just eliminated.)
- He must have at least two years of playing experience at the collegiate level. A guy like Anthony Davis just doesn’t have the experience under his belt to be referred to as a Poise Guy.
- He has to have shown the ability to take over games on either side of the court.
G Isaiah Canaan (Jr.), 6-feet, 171 pounds, Murray State
The junior from Biloxi, Mississippi just comes up big when his team needs him the most. It’s no coincidence that Canaan’s best games have come against Murray State’s best competition. Against Southern Miss, Canaan had 36 points on 22 shots in a double-overtime victory. He had 21 points on 13 shots against Dayton, 23 points on 13 shots against St. Mary’s and helped the Racers dominate in a revenge game against Tennessee State, the team that handed Murray State its only loss of the season, with a 24-point, 12-shot performance.
Canaan has come out of the gate shooting at times when he feels like he needs to. He scored the first 16 points of a midseason contest against Austin Peay, a performance in which he hit 7 threes in the first half. He has come up in seemingly every big game this season. Why should the NCAA Tournament lead to anything different? Besides, who better to lead your team to the promise land than a guy named Canaan?
G Scoop Jardine (Sr.), 6-foot-2, 190 pounds, Syracuse
Jardine’s numbers have come down this season, which is part of the reason why he absolutely deserves to be in this list. Scoop has taken a reduced role in his senior year and hasn’t peeped about it once to teammates or the media. There aren’t many 22-year-olds in existence that can claim that type of maturity. He has helped take a team that probably won’t have a first round pick in this season’s NBA Draft to a No. 1 seed. And if you’re still not sold, Scoop is now reportedly dating Michael Jordan’s daughter. That means he is so fearless at this point that he might actually consider walking into Michael Jeffery Jordan’s home as his daughter’s boyfriend.
G Casper Ware (Sr.), 5-foot-10, 170 pounds, Long Beach State
Did you watch the Big West Tournament? If you didn’t go find highlights of the championship game and be witness Ware putting on 40 minutes of the most primitive basketball you will see all year. There was simply no chance he was letting his team lose, and he didn’t. Ware took 16 threes in that game. Yes, a 5-foot-10 point guard took 16 (16!!!) threes in a championship game. Except, he was dominant. He hit eight of those long-range shots and had 33 points in only 31 minutes. He was Nick Cage-pumped every time his team scored or got a stop. He openly wouldn’t lose to a UCSB team that was the league’s defending champion.
Ware’s attitude isn’t going to change in the first round of the tourney. If he chucks up less than 20 shots in Long Beach State’s second round game against New Mexico, the world should be shocked. There is no chance he isn’t hurling up a double-digit number of threes. But don’t bet against him. The thing about Ware lately is that those shots are going in and he’s carrying his team with him.
G Kim English (Sr.), 6-foot-6, 200 pounds, Missouri
English is another guy that has thrown his team on his back. Fresh off a Big 12 Tournament MOP, he should be feeling right heading into the Tournament. English is a unique personality. He genuinely only cares about winning and it seems like he will do anything to make sure his team doesn’t come out on the wrong end.
Kim changed positions at the beginning of the year. A natural shooting guard, he switched over to the power forward spot after Laurence Bowers had a season-ending ACL injury. Essentially learning on the job, he leads Missouri in defensive charges and only takes good, smart shots on the offensive end. He hit 26 of his 33 field goal attempts and 10 of his 15 three point attempts over a three-day span in the Big 12 Tournament last weekend. He’s on fire and he doesn’t want to lose. That’s not a good combination for the other 15 teams in the West Region of the bracket.
F Robbie Hummel (Sr.), 6-foot-8, 228 pounds, Purdue
Most people need good knees just to excel in everyday life. Hummel doesn’t seem like he needs them simply to dominate a basketball game. The Purdue senior is a tough man’s definition of tough.
Hummel’s junior season ended when he tore his ACL. He was expected back for the start of his senior year, except he tore that same ligament once again in an October 16th practice and was forced to miss the entire year. After returning as a fifth-year senior, Hummel has turned the energy back up. He is averaging 16.3 points per game and is shooting 37.1% from beyond the arc. Most importantly, it always seems like Hummel is there to make the big shot.
Purdue team is a weak free throw shooting squad, so watch for the ball to be in the hands of Hummel, who shoots 83.1% from the line, late in close games. He’s been in West Lafayette long enough. You can tell he wants to win after missing out on a big chance last year with E’Twaun Moore and JaJuan Johnson still on the roster. It’s hard to imagine a scenario in which the heart of Purdue basketball doesn’t come up strong.
F Andrew Nicholson (Sr.), 6-foot-9, 250 pounds, St. Bonaventure
Nicholson has been an incredible talent rotting away as part of a historically subpar basketball program. But he started to help change his school’s reputation in his senior season. He worked on his shooting to the point that he actually hit 39.6% of his threes this year. In the Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament, he carried a team that wasn’t even on the bubble to a conference championship while averaging 23.3 points per game, 10 rebounds per game and shooting 55.3% along the way. Beware when picking Florida State in that second round game. Nicholson will give the Seminoles all they can handle.
F Draymond Green (Sr.), 6-foot-7, 230 pounds, Michigan State
Along with Ware, there isn’t a player in the country that is more man crush-friendly. I just can’t imagine any circumstance in which someone could ever watch Green play a game of basketball and not walk away loving absolutely everything he does on and off the court. Day-Day is the clear physical and emotional leader of a No. 1 seed that has as good a chance as anyone else of winning a national championship. He will always take the big shot and somehow, he will always be involved in the biggest defensive stop of the game.
He knows how to expose opponents’ weaknesses. It’s a cliché, but he is one of the purest players at the collegiate level, a guy who just has a sixth sense of where to be at all times. He is a player that can sense before anyone else how a play is developing on both sides of the court. He is as wholesome a leader as there is in the sport. Whatever you do, just don’t let him touch the ball on a Spartan final possession.
By Ian Levy, on March 12th, 2012 
The most glorious time of the year is rapidly approaching. Brackets, buzzer-beaters and Bryce Drew montages are all heading your way. Trying to corral some of the fun, HoopSpeakU is hosting a public ESPN Tournament Challenge group. This is a chance to test your luck against some of the most middling minds the world of college basketball has ever known. Follow the link above. Create your entry. Crush the staff of HoopSpeakU. Gloat endlessly.
By Fred Katz, on March 6th, 2012  This is what Syracuse's brain looks like on drugs. By now, we’ve all seen the Yahoo! Sports report, alleging that Syracuse has been knowingly violating its own drug policy and playing ineligible players. Some people have called for suspensions of Orange officials. Some people have called for at the very least an apology from Jim Boeheim. Some people are actually crazy enough to demand a Boeheim suspension. Over the past 24 hours, I have heard criticism thrown at the Syracuse University basketball program in every way possible. But what people fail to realize is that Syracuse actually didn’t do that much wrong here. In fact, there might be more to blame with the NCAA.
According to NCAA rules, drug testing only goes on in college basketball during tournaments. Throughout the regular season, there is no NCAA drug testing policy. No NCAA official asks a player to take a drug test in the middle of January. It doesn’t happen and there are no rules saying it should.
The NCAA will test during conference tournaments and, of course, during postseason tournaments. During January, players can essentially smoke whatever they like most and the higher officials won’t have any idea.
The individual conferences have the same issue. The Big East has no drug testing policy throughout the regular season. A player who has never tested positive before, has a good reputation, and is an upstanding citizen doesn’t have to worry about a nurse poking a needle into his arm to check for marijuana or testosterone levels. He doesn’t have to worry about urinating as a heavy-breathing, 254-pound man peers over his shoulder to make sure he is properly potty trained.
Neither the NCAA nor the Big East demands that universities even have their own drug policies. In fact, plenty of schools out there actually have no drug policy. Student athletes don’t get tested at a larger-than-you’d-think number of colleges around the country.
Most schools that don’t have a drug policy avoid the legislation for financial reasons. It is expensive to hire a company to take urine samples and run them through labs. Because of that, schools inside the NCAA actually aren’t pressured to test their student athletes. It simply doesn’t make much financial sense.
Some schools, however, implement their own drug testing policy. Syracuse is one of them. The university will test their own athletes and run their own drug tests. Schools that do have their own testing policy are supposed to report positive tests to the NCAA, but there is no pressure from the top to do so.
According to the Yahoo! Sports report, Syracuse has had 10 positive tests in the past decade. The school hasn’t reported them, but is that Syracuse’s fault or is it the fault of the NCAA’s notably loose drug policy?
If two 11-year old brothers get into a scuffle at home, their parents might come in and break it up. A mom or dad would probably pull one off the other. Those brothers might get in trouble. They might get grounded. They might even have to deal with no dessert for an entire week – which we all know is the worst form of punishment in existence. But those brothers won’t get in trouble with the law because there is no state or federal rules saying brothers can’t fight. The government leaves it up to the parents to discipline. Punishment stays internal.
Syracuse didn’t witness an assault. It didn’t witness those two brothers murder each other. It has simply failed to punish the brothers when they got into a fight. It saw them on top of each other and didn’t take away their dessert. There is a fine line between lack of self-regulation and criminal cover-up. The latter should be punishable by losing scholarships, NCAA Tournament eligibility, or whatever the NCAA sees fit. The former, however, is simply a mistake. It’s a bad mistake, maybe an unethical mistake, but still just a mistake.
What motivation is there for a school to have its own drug testing program? It can only lead to trouble, suspensions, and scandal. Just ask the Orange. This should be a wakeup call for the NCAA to implement its own drug regulation program. If it wants to crack down on student athletes, that’s fine, but it can’t punish the schools that actually go out of their way to drug test. It simply puts them at a disadvantage for taking the more noble action.
I by no means am advocating for Syracuse’s ignorance from within. The school messed up. There is no denying that. But the NCAA made it so easy for that messup to happen that it’s hard to be uber-critical after knowing all the facts. If the NCAA wants to start its own regular season drug testing program, then it should. If it wants to require schools to have their own testing program – which it might have to – then it also should. But until then, it can’t penalize schools for two brothers getting into that fight. It doesn’t fall within NCAA regulations and is simply unfair to the universities.
By Fred Katz, on March 5th, 2012
 Boeheim has led the Orange to a 30-1 (17-1) regular season record.  Calipari is dominating for the third straight season in Lexington. I’m going to coach a game against you. Neither of us gets to play. We are only coaching.
We can call plays, motivate our players in the locker room, run practices, put together scouting reports, watch tape, and even help our players in their everyday lives (if one of us chooses to be the father figure-type of coach). Then, let’s send our players on the court: my players against your players, two 20-minute halves.
I’ll take the guy who is 18th in my conference in scoring as my go-to scorer. I’ll fill out the rest of my roster with a defensively dominant, but offensively raw center, a freshman power forward who has nothing figured out, a point guard that is a loose canon and a shooting guard that is sometimes afraid to shoot. I’ll take two great bench guys to fill out my roster.
You can have the National Player of the Year who is also the best collegiate defender since Tim Duncan, two more lottery picks, a point guard that could be a first round pick, and a shooting guard that hits almost 50% of his threes. I’ll also give you two quality bench guys, who aren’t quite as polished as mine.
Your roster is significantly better than mine. I don’t think there’s much debating that. Now, throw us into a 30-plus game season. The year is almost done and we both have one loss. Who is doing the better coaching job? Probably me.
I just blind résumé-ed Jim Boeheim and John Calipari. (I also just turned “blind résumé into a verb, but I guess that’s what March brings out in people.) Calipari is a great coach and has done a wondrous job with a group of extraordinarily talented, yet, inexperienced players. But my question is, “How in Anthony’s Davis’ green Earth is Cal more deserving than Boeheim?”
Ignore the rosters for a second. Ignore the talent level. Forget the 300 words I just wrote. Now, think about what was going on in Syracuse in November. Bernie Fine had been suspended and was later fired after being accused of child molestation. Every analyst, writer, and media mind was wondering what kind of effect such a scandal could have on the Orange basketball team. Boeheim said it would have no effect on results. He was right.
He spoke to his team about Fine only once in a team setting. The meeting was a couple days after the story had broken. Then, that was it. There was no more Fine talk. There was no more scandal talk. The Boehim strategy is all about coaching basketball, not necessarily coaching people. For a situation like this, his personality was perfect. He completely controlled it. He allowed his players to remain as comfortable as they possibly could.
You can look at the rosters and it’s clear: If Kentucky and Syracuse were to scrimmage with no practice, and no coach, Kentucky would win that game. The Wildcats are simply more talented than any other team in the country. Cal has been the best in the SEC, but Boeheim has been the best in the country.
Kentucky and Syracuse remain at Nos. 1 and 2 in this week’s HoopSpeakU Top 25. Here is the rest of the best…
1. Kentucky, 30-1 (16-0), Last Week: 1 – The scariest part of this team is that Anthony Davis is actually getting better. How many 7-footers can get the ball on the perimeter and take it to the hoop with one dribble and then only a few possessions later, sink a shot from the same spot?
2. Syracuse, 30-1 (17-1), Last Week: 2 – The Orange won’t lose before the Final Four unless they have an inexplicably terrible shooting night. That defense is just too good.
3. Kansas, 26-5 (16-2), Last Week: 3 – No surprise: Thomas Robinson took home AP Big 12 Player of the Year after averaging 18 points per game and 11.9 rebounds per game in the regular season.
4. North Carolina, 27-4 (14-2), Last Week: 6 – The Tar Heels’ biggest weakness is that they don’t force turnovers. North Carolina is only turning opponents over on 18.3% of defensive possessions, 276th in the country.
5. Missouri, 27-4 (14-4), Last Week: 8 – The Tigers have had the most efficient offense in the country all season. Missouri is first in the nation in adjusted efficiency, first in two-point field goal percentage, third in effective field goal percentage, and third in turnover percentage.
6. Duke, 26-5 (13-3), Last Week: 4 – North Carolina and Duke seem to have the same biggest weakness on defense. The Blue Devils’ turnover percentage sits at 18.9%, 247th in the country.
7. Ohio State, 25-6 (13-5), Last Week: 10 – Even after their recent struggles, the Buckeyes still lead the nation in defensive adjusted efficiency.
8. Michigan State, 24-7 (13-5), Last Week: 5 – Draymond Green has to be an All-American. He is averaging a double-double and is the clear on and off the court leader of a team that tied for first place in the best conference in the country.
9. Marquette, 25-6 (14-4), Last Week: 7 – Is Darius Johnson-Odom Big East Player of the Year? The senior is averaging 18.3 points per game and is shooting 40.1% from long range on 172 attempts.
10. Michigan, 23-8 (13-5), Last Week: 12 – As great as Aaron Craft is – especially defensively – Trey Burke might be the best point guard in the Big Ten.
11. Wisconsin, 23-8 (12-6), Last Week: 13 – Jordan Taylor is starting to turn it on. The senior is averaging 19 points per game over his last three contests.
12. Baylor, 25-6 (12-6), Last Week: 9 – Pierre Jackson was a Second Team All Big 12 selection, but the point guard is leading a team that simply turns the ball over too much as the Bears are giving the ball back on 21% of their possessions.
13. Georgetown, 22-7 (12-6), Last Week: 14 – Running this offense through Jason Clark is an interesting change by JT3. With his length, Clark can cause some serious matchup issues for smaller guards.
14. Murray State, 30-1 (15-1), Last Week: 15 – Everyone is so worried about Syracuse’s defensive rebounding, but the Racers aren’t excelling much more in that category. Murray State is only coming up with the ball on 64.9% of defensive rebounding opportunities, 288th in the nation.
15. Florida State, 21-9 (12-4), Last Week: 17 – The Seminoles have been inconsistent this season, but their experience and height will help them come tourney time. FSU is the fourth tallest and 17th most experienced team in the country.
16. Indiana, 24-7 (11-7), Last Week: 20 – The Hoosiers are a scary team when they are playing in Bloomington. The problem is that they won’t be playing anymore games at home this season.
17. Wichita State, 27-5 (16-2), Last Week: 11 – Is that one-point loss to Illinois State a sign of weakness or an aberration? The Shockers will now have plenty of rest heading into the NCAA Tournament.
18. Notre Dame, 21-10 (13-5), Last Week: 18 – Jack Cooley has turned into a lower-middle class man’s Luke Harangody. Cooley is dominating around the basket, shooting 62.1% from the field.
19. Iowa State, 22-9 (12-6), Last Week: 24 – Everyone knows Fred Hoiberg could shoot the three. Now his team is centered around shooting threes and defending them. The Cyclones are hitting 38.2% of their long-range shots and are holding their opponents to 30% shooting from beyond the arc.
20. San Diego State, 24-6 (10-4), Last Week: 23 – The Aztecs have bounced back nicely from their mid-February three-game losing streak. San Diego State has now won four straight and finished the regular season tied for first in the Mountain West.
21. Florida, 22-9 (10-6), Last Week: 16 – What is going on in Gainesville? The Gators dropped their final three games of the conference season – all of them by double digits.
22. UNLV, 25-7 (9-5), Last Week: 22 – Wyoming has given UNLV fits all season. The Cowboys and Rebs split their season series so naturally, Las Vegas has to play the Cowboys one more time in its first game of the Mountain West Conference Tournament.
23. Louisville, 22-9 (10-8), Last Week: 21 – Peyton Siva is quickly becoming part of the Anti-Wine All-Stars – captained by Larry Drew III. The junior has gotten worse with age and is a big reason for why the Cardinals have turned underperforming into a habit.
24. Virginia, 22-8 (9-7), Last Week: 19 – Mike Scott is still dominating ACC games. The Cavalier forward had 28 points on only 15 shots in Virginia’s three-point loss to Florida State.
25. Drexel, 27-5 (16-2), Last Week: 25 – Regardless of who wins the CAA – Drexel or VCU – both teams that reached the finals deserve to make the NCAA Tournament.
Added – None
Dropped – None
Big East – 5
Big Ten – 5
ACC – 4
Big 12 – 4
MWC – 2
SEC – 2
CAA – 1
MVC – 1
OVC – 1
By Fred Katz, on February 20th, 2012  Bruce Weber's nine-year run with Illinois seems like it will come at an end once the season is over. There will be no champagne in Champaign.
There was a point earlier this year when Illinois was 15-3 (4-1) and was coming off a win over Ohio State. Its only three losses were to UNLV, Missouri, and Purdue and all were away from home. The Illini had wins against Gonzaga, St. Bonaventure, Minnesota, and Northwestern. They were rolling. They were gearing up to be a high NCAA Tournament seed. But then, as Illini teams usually do, they faltered.
Illinois has lost eight of its past nine games and of late, they haven’t been close (See: Nebraska, 23-point loss). Check out Bruce Weber’s résumé and Illinois has actually lost steam as the season has continued in each season since its 2005 championship run. The Illini finished 6-8 in their final 15 regular season games last year, 1-5 to finish 2010, and it doesn’t get much better as you keep going back. And that’s why it’s time for Weber to go.
This year, it is pretty blatant that coaching has something to do with the way this team is playing. It’s impossible to tell how much, but something is horribly wrong. The Illini seem to have completely lost fire, passion, and any sort of will to win. Opponents are hitting the deck faster than them, closing out on defenders faster than them, and hustling back on defense faster than them.
Against a completely uncompetitive Nebraska team that was 3-10 in conference and had lost four straight games, the Illini looked like they just didn’t want to be there. They took a 24-16 lead with 7:35 left in the first half, but then the uncompetitive Cornhuskers became competitive. They closed the game on a 64-33 run that should’ve humiliated the Illini. That’s a 93-49 pace over 40 minutes.
Weber looked depressed in his postgame presser. He was clearly resigned to the fact that he will have to, well, resign at the end of the season. He knows he’ll be forced out and he seems to be coming to terms with that. Let the job hunt begin.
Of course, Illinois doesn’t make it into this week’s HoopSpeakU Top 25. Here is the rest of the best…
1. Kentucky, 26-1 (12-0), Last Week: 1 – The Wildcats lead the nation in defensive two point percentage (38.1%) and are 27th in the nation in offensive two point percentage (52.6%). You’re not going to lose many games with those numbers.
2. Syracuse, 27-1 (14-1), Last Week: 2 – It’s amazing how well the Orange have been taking care of the ball of late. Syracuse is averaging a mere 8.6 turnovers per game in its seven wins since losing at Notre Dame and is only turning it over on 15.7% of its possessions for the season.
3. Missouri, 25-2 (12-2), Last Week: 3 – This is a big week for the Tigers. First, Missouri gets to seek revenge for its loss at Kansas State earlier this year. Then, it’s time for Border War: Round Two.
4. Kansas, 22-5 (12-2), Last Week: 5 – Saturday’s game against Missouri might be the last time the Tigers and Jayhawks meet for a while, but Kansas has to give in eventually, right?
5. Duke, 23-4 (10-2), Last Week: 6 – The Blue Devils were down 20 to NC State in the second half, but once they took the lead, there was really no doubt they were losing that one.
6. Michigan State, 22-5 (11-3), Last Week: 7 – Keith Appling has to start to refine his shot selection. The sophomore is incredibly efficient inside the arc (51.3% on two pointers) and is strong at getting to the line. He is only shooting 25.7% from three, but he just keeps throwing them up (74 three point attempts).
7. North Carolina, 23-4 (10-2), Last Week: 8 – There are two potential upset alerts this week when the Tar Heels travel to NC State and Virginia. At no point this year has North Carolina dominated a team on the road and those are two tough places to play.
8. Ohio State, 22-5 (10-4), Last Week: 4 – Luckily for the Buckeyes, they get Bruce Weber’s struggling Illini next. That’s the slump buster you want.
9. Georgetown, 20-5 (10-4), Last Week: 10 – Otto Porter is starting to figure it out. The freshman is averaging 9.8 points per game on 64.5% shooting over his past six games.
10. Marquette, 22-5 (11-3), Last Week: 12 – Everyone seems to have already anointed Kevin Jones as Big East player of the year, but Darius Johnson-Odom is giving him a run for his money. He has been dominant all season and is leading a team that no one in the country plays harder than.
11. Florida, 21-6 (9-3), Last Week: 13 – This Gator team is a confusing one. Florida has been inconsistent all season, but last week was one of their good ones and it included a 30-point win over an Arkansas team that was previously undefeated at home.
12. Baylor, 22-5 (9-5), Last Week: 9 – Perry Jones III is one of the biggest disappointments in the college game. So much talent, but he just seems to vanish when his team needs him most.
13. Michigan, 20-7 (10-4), Last Week: 17 – Trey Burke is just a freshman, but there aren’t many better point guards in the country. He played 37 minutes and had 17 points in Michigan’s five point win against Ohio State over the weekend.
14. Wisconsin, 20-7 (9-5), Last Week: 18 – The Badgers are starting to turn it on at the right time. Wisconsin has won eight of its past 10 games with the only two losses coming to Ohio State and Michigan State over that stretch.
15. Wichita State, 24-4 (14-2), Last Week: 20 – Since its loss to Drake, the Shockers have been rolling over opponents. Wichita State has now won its past four games by an average of 17 points.
16. Florida State, 19-7 (10-2), Last Week: 21 – The Seminoles go to Duke on Thursday, when they will have a chance to take sole possession of first place in the ACC.
17. Virginia, 20-6 (7-5), Last Week: 15 – The Cavaliers have a couple more chances to bolster their résumé before the ACC Tournament begins. First up is North Carolina on Saturday.
18. Murray State, 26-1 (13-1), Last Week: 24 – If the Racers win out, that one loss to Tennessee State won’t mean much, especially after a 14-point win over St. Mary’s.
19. Notre Dame, 19-8 (11-3), Last Week: 22 – Call it the luck of the Irish, but fortune really seems to be on Notre Dame’s side this season. That team didn’t really have any business winning at Villanova with the way they played over the weekend, but Mike Brey just keeps working his magic.
20. New Mexico, 22-4 (8-2), Last Week: NR – The Lobos are now sitting pretty in the driver’s seat of the Mountain West. New Mexico is up two games on San Diego State and UNLV, both of whom they beat last week.
21. Louisville, 21-6 (9-5), Last Week: 23 – Rick Pitino’s teams always seem to play better in February straight into March. This year is no exception as the Cardinals have won seven of their past eight.
22. Indiana, 20-7 (8-7), Last Week: 19 – The Hoosiers could easily be that five or six seed that looses to the 12 or 11. Indiana has consistently struggled away from home all year.
23. UNLV, 22-6 (6-4), Last Week: 11 – Las Vegas was a Final Four sleeper a week and a half ago. Now, after losing three of their last four, the Rebels are going in the wrong direction.
24. San Diego State, 20-6 (6-4), Last Week: 16 – San Diego State and UNLV have essentially mirrored each other all season, all the way down to trading two-point home victories. So of course, the Aztecs are spiraling downward also, having lost three straight.
25. St. Mary’s, 23-5 (12-2), Last Week: 14 – The Gaels’ biggest weakness is defending the three. Murray State shot 9-17 in its Bracket Buster win over St. Mary’s and Gaels’ opponents are shooting 38.2% from long-range on the season.
Added – New Mexico (20)
Dropped – Gonzaga (25)
Big East – 5
Big Ten – 5
ACC – 4
Big 12 – 3
MWC – 3
SEC – 2
MVC – 1
OVC – 1
WCC – 1
By Ian Levy, on February 17th, 2012 
Winning a basketball game is not about excellence at one simple thing. Multiple individuals must accomplish multiple micro-tasks in concert. The combinations of screens, bounce passes, jump shots and defensive rotations take infinite forms, some radically different in aesthetics. An ideal win for North Carolina looks very different from the ideal pursued in Madison, Wisconsin. Each team places unique emphasis on those micro-tasks, picking and choosing which they will focus on to outdo their opponent.
In his book, Basketball on Paper, Dean Oliver used the unifying theory of possessions to identify specific arenas in which those micro-tasks can be placed. His Four Factors; Effective Field Goal Percentage, Rebound Percentage, Free Throw Rate, and Turnover Percentage, represent different slices of focus on the ultimate goal – outscoring the opponent. You won’t find a single team in college basketball this season who is ranked in the top ten in all Four Factors, on either side of the ball. The same is true for the last nine seasons. By virtue of constraints in personnel and system, teams must decide where their advantage lies and focus their attention on exploiting it. Even the elite teams are not elite in everything.
When I look at the Four Factors I see a clear demarcation, splitting them in half by intent. Rebound and Turnover Percentage are about maximizing the number of scoring opportunities your team gets. Effective Field Goal Percentage and Free Throw Rate are about the quality and results of your scoring opportunities. Attempting to explore this division a bit more, I came up with a different way of representing one half of the equation.
Continue reading “Seton Hall: Sometimes, it’s that simple” »
By Josh Riddell, on February 14th, 2012 I love focusing on the X’s and O’s of each game and seeing how each team gameplans to help them get a win. Much of this strategizing comes before the game, in the film room. I recently had a chance to ask a few questions of Georgia State’s coach, Ron Hunter, on how he uses video and advanced stats to game plan for the strong competition his team sees on a nightly basis in the CAA.
Describe to me the scouting process for the staff this year. Do you utilize Synergy video? If so, do you rely solely on Synergy or do you send scouts to watch the games and use Synergy to supplement the live notes created by the scout?
With an entirely new staff this season, each of our coaches have brought some knowledge from
previous schools and we have combined that to be successful this season. We scout using extensive video
breakdowns that includes Synergy along with other full game films. We do not send scouts to watch other
games except for in tournament situations, but do utilize different forms of video and extensive scouring of
statistics to prepare for games.
How do you tailor the scouting reports? Do you go over the scouting report in a team or individual
setting (or both)? How much time is spent going over the opponent before the game?
We use scouting reports in preparing for each team and we go over the scouting report with the team both
in practice and in film sessions. We feel as though using our scouting reports in both film sessions and then
on the court allows our players to get a real feel as to what they are going to see from our opponent. We do
not spend too much time with our players going over each opponent, but rather work more on our system
and make sure we are doing everything correctly on our end.
Do you have a staff member who cuts videos of the opposition for each individual Georgia State player,
based on what they need to know? Do you find this helps each player focus on what they need to know,
instead of giving them information that may not affect them?
In our defensive schemes, everything about the opponent applies to everyone on our team therefore we
do film sessions with the entire team. We make sure there aren’t wasted clips, but the players know the
opponent well before each game. They are familiar with conference opponents after playing them through
the years.
Synergy has a plethora of information, with many different statistics on the individual and team level.
How segmented and specific do you get in your reports? (For example, do you discuss simply how you
are going to defend the pick and roll or do you describe it such as ‘they run the pick and roll X% of the
time and Y% of the time the ball handler finishes and Z% of the time the roll man finishes)?
We discuss specifics if we feel that we can take advantage with our defensive schemes. Some stats don’t
have any relevance within our game plan and would be wasted time to discuss and prepare for. We have our
style of play and thus if we believe a certain type of offense will hurt us we will make adjustments.
Do you have a system set up where players can use Synergy themselves to watch their own game
tape? Is this part of your practice time or do players find the initiative to get this work done on their
own time? How do you have them find a balance with not watching too much tape and succumbing to
information overload?
With so many games and school to balance, most information is brought to the players through the assistant
coaches during practice, film sessions, and the scouting report. We are careful not to overload the players
with too much information and keep our film sessions relatively short. Our film sessions when showing the opponent follow the same outline and we make sure to show the same points that we feel are important. Example: the opposing players tendencies, the offensive sets, the out-of-bounds plays, etc. We feel as though this has allowed us to be successful and our players seem to get the most out of it this way.
What team is the hardest to prepare for on the offensive or defensive end in the conference this year?
What are they doing that makes it so difficult?
We prepare equally for all of our opponents because we feel once we hit conference play, every game has
a playoff type feel. They are all so different but all well coached which makes preparation for them very
similar. If we did not spend an equal amount of time on both sides of the ball, I do not feel as though we
would be properly prepared for any match-up.
How much, if any, do you find the staff using tempo-free statistics like you can find on kenpom.com?
Any and all stats we can use as research are helpful as it is yet another resource we can use for our
advantage. Kenpom is good because it gives us a different look and studying it we may be able to find
something that will help us during the game.
I would like to thank Coach Ron Hunter for taking the time to answer these questions and Mike Holmes, Assistant Director of Sports Communications, for facilitating and transcribing the interview. Make sure you keep an eye on the Georgia State Panthers as they head down the stretch in a tight CAA race and fight for their first NCAA tournament bid since 2001.
By Fred Katz, on February 13th, 2012
 The Racers had their first loss of the season Saturday, falling to Tennessee State 72-68. Tennessee State 72, Murray State 68.
The Racers looked terrible in their four point loss, their first and only loss of the season. They turned the ball over three times in the final 15 seconds. They were given a gift of two missed free throws and still couldn’t capitalize. They lost their composure and tried to throw a baseball pass down the court with plenty of time left when they actually needed a three. But none of this means that Murray State is any worse than it was before the loss.
I’ve already written one of my HoopSpeakU Top 25 preludes on Murray State, so at the risk of sounding redundant, I’m not going to say this is about the Racers. I’ll say this is a commentary on today’s sports media.
When Murray State was 23-0, every cliché question was thrown out there. Can the Racers go undefeated? Are they overrated? Are they underrated? What seed should they get if they win out? Both the Coaches Poll and the AP Top 25 had Murray State as a top 10 team before its loss. But now that the mighty have fallen, those same people in the mainstream media, who were lauding the Racers as a potential No. 4 seed, are now asking if Murray State should be in play for an at-large bid.
In the days of Twitter, Facebook, smart phones, dumb-phones-that-are-still-smarter-than-they-were-10-years-ago, and 24-hour SportsCenter, fans and media alike are calling for Murray State’s head. Tony Kornheiser has genuinely asked on PTI if the Racers would deserve to get an at-large bid (pending a loss in their conference tournament). Others in the media have done the same. But this team not deserving an at-large bid is an absurd postulation.
The Racers have three legitimate wins (Memphis, Southern Mississippi, and Dayton) and only have that one loss to Tennessee State. What team on the bubble should get in before them?
Should Minnesota get in with three home losses and two losses to Iowa? Should Illinois get in, having lost six of its past seven? How about Memphis – who Murray State actually beat – or UConn? Both of those teams have underperformed and each have a bad loss to UCF. The fact is no one currently on the bubble is as deserving of an NCAA Tournament bid as Murray State.
Let’s not overreact to one loss. It’s short-sighted. Murray State should drop in the rankings – as should any team that loses to an unranked team at home – but no more than anyone else should. It’s one loss. Treat it that way.
The Racers drop five spots to No. 24 in this week’s HoopSpeakU Top 25. Here is the rest of the best…
1. Kentucky, 25-1 (11-0), Last Week: 1 – If you at all doubt the impact that Anthony Davis has on defense, check Kentucky opponents’ two point percentage. 37.1% is easily the best in the country.
2. Syracuse, 25-1 (12-1), Last Week: 2 – The Orange’s biggest struggle continues to be defensive rebounding. Even with Fab Melo back, Syracuse opponents are pulling down offensive rebounds on 38.2% of their opportunities, 337th in the nation.
3. Missouri, 23-2 (10-2), Last Week: 4 – Baylor coach Scott Drew said Missouri has the best offense in the country and he might be right. The Tigers leads the nation in offensive adjusted efficiency and two-point percentage. Meanwhile, they are coming off a game in which they hit 14 threes against Baylor.
4. Ohio State, 21-4 (9-3), Last Week: 3 – The Buckeyes get to try to exact their revenge on the state of Michigan on Sunday, but this time it’ll be the team from Ann Arbor with whom Ohio State could be fighting for first place in the Big Ten.
5. Kansas, 20-5 (10-2), Last Week: 7 – Aside from the Border War rematch with Missouri on Feb. 25, the Jayhawks don’t face a team currently over .500 in conference play the rest of the way.
6. Duke, 21-4 (8-2), Last Week: 10 – The Austin Rivers critics say he’s not ready for the pace of the NBA, but he is leading an offense that ranks 10th in the country in effective field goal percentage (54.9%).
7. Michigan State, 20-5 (9-3), Last Week: 9 – The Spartans are in the midst of a tough stretch. After traveling to Ohio State this past weekend, Michigan State welcomes in Wisconsin and then travels to face Purdue and Minnesota on the road.
8. North Carolina, 21-4 (8-2), Last Week: 6 – The Tar Heels still lead the nation in points per game and rebounds per game; a lot of possessions in those North Carolina games.
9. Baylor, 21-4 (8-4), Last Week: 5 – People are so down on Baylor right now, but sorry to break the news: the Bears aren’t at all bad. In fact, they’re still really good. They’re just not as good as Kansas or Missouri.
10. Georgetown, 19-5 (9-4), Last Week: 12 – The Hoyas have three guys who can stroke it from long range, but also defend the three as well as any other team in the country. Hoya opponents are shooting a mere 27.7% from three.
11. UNLV, 22-4 (6-2), Last Week: 13 – Don’t sleep on New Mexico. The Rebels have to travel there on Saturday potentially to battle the Lobos for first place in the Mountain West.
12. Marquette, 21-5 (10-3), Last Week: 14 – Aside from having one of the cooler names in the Big East, Junior Cadougan has also become one of the best ball-distributors in the league. Junior, the junior, is currently fourth in the conference in assists per game.
13. Florida, 19-6 (7-3), Last Week: 8 – Losing to Tennessee for the second time this season isn’t a good sign for the Gators, who next have to go to Alabama and then Arkansas, who is yet to lose at home.
14. St. Mary’s, 22-3 (12-1), Last Week: 11 – The Bracket Buster game we’ve all been awaiting will be here Thursday night, when the Gaels travel to Murray State.
15. Virginia, 19-5 (6-4), Last Week: 15 – KenPom.com currently has Mike Scott, who should be the leading candidate for ACC Player of the Year, ranked fifth in its National Player of the Year rankings.
16. San Diego State, 20-4 (6-2), Last Week: 18 – San Diego State is still struggling from beyond the three point line. Aside from Chase Tapley and James Rahon, no Aztec is shooting better than 32% from three.
17. Michigan, 19-7 (9-4), Last Week: 21 – Is Trey Burke the best point guard in the Big Ten? The freshman is averaging 14 points per game, 4.8 assists per game and has been the straw that has stirred the Wolverines’ drink all season long.
18. Wisconsin, 19-6 (8-4), Last Week: 22 – KenPom.com has Jordan Taylor ranked sixth in its National Player of the Year rankings and has the team ranked fifth overall. Pomeroy continues to irrationally love the Badgers.
19. Indiana, 19-6 (7-6), Last Week: 23 – The Hoosiers are still draining threes. Indiana is second in the nation to Northern Colorado in long-range shooting, burying 43.6% of its threes.
20. Wichita State, 22-4 (13-2), Last Week: NR – The Shockers have Davidson in their Bracket Buster game on Saturday after throttling Creighton at their place this past weekend.
21. Florida State, 21-4 (8-2), Last Week: 17 – A loss at Boston College shouldn’t happen, but it did. The Seminoles shot only 5-20 from three and turned the ball over four more times than the Eagles in the loss.
22. Notre Dame, 17-8 (9-3), Last Week: NR – Mike Brey has done as great of a job as any other coach in the country with this team. The Fighting Irish have now won six in a row (including wins over Syracuse, UConn, Marquette, and West Virginia) and have climbed to third place in the Big East.
23. Louisville, 20-5 (8-4), Last Week: NR – The Cardinals got off to a slow start, but just like Notre Dame, have gotten hot of late. Louisville has won six in a row and welcomes in Syracuse tonight.
24. Murray State, 24-1 (12-1), Last Week: 19 – The Racers probably have to beat St. Mary’s on Saturday in order to get that six or seven seed they want so badly.
25. Gonzaga, 20-4 (10-2), Last Week: NR – The ‘Zags make a living on their size down low and their shooting. Kevin Pangos, Elias Harris, and Robert Sacre have led this team back into the Top 25.
Added – Wichita State (20), Notre Dame (22), Louisville (23), Gonzaga (25)
Dropped – Creighton (16), Mississippi State (20), Harvard (24), Southern Mississippi (25)
By Fred Katz, on February 10th, 2012  Bill Self and the Jayhawks lost at Missouri on Saturday in the final matchup between Kansas and the Tigers in Columbia. Every time I walk into an arena or a stadium, I have a routine. I go find my seats, then I get food. I’ll usually be on the prowl for chicken fingers or something else with the same tastiness-to-filling ratio. With it, I get my water or beer or if I’m feeling really crazy, a ginger ale. It really doesn’t matter if I’m hungry or not. It’s just what I do. It’s my routine. I find my seats and then I get food.
As I walk back to my seat, I probably eat an unwarranted amount of grub in that impractically-sized cardboard tray they give you when you have too much to hold. If I’m at the game with a larger group, I probably look like a starved man trying to garner one last bite before collapsing, fumbling with four drinks, three hot dogs, and still trying to jam a chicken finger and a French fry into my mouth (usually at the same time).
Then, there’s the tip off or the first pitch or the opening kickoff. It really doesn’t matter which one. Either way, I watch, analyze, yell, cheer, jeer, sneer, scream, and criticize. Whether I go home depressed, ecstatic or anywhere in between, I’m satisfied with the experience. But should a fan go home satisfied after being insulted?
That’s what I was asking myself last weekend when I was at Bill Self’s press conference after Kansas’ heartbreaking loss to Missouri. I wasn’t at the game as a fan, but I was there as media and I witnessed one of the weirder press conference answers I’ve heard in a long time when a reporter asked Self if he felt bad that Missouri and Kansas fans might not get to experience the Border War rivalry anymore after this season.
“I don’t feel bad. Missouri wanted this. So why should I feel bad? I don’t feel bad for anybody. If anybody should feel bad for anybody, it’s the players that don’t get a chance to play in it. But not the fans. The fans, to me, don’t drive the bus at all.”
Missouri of course is leaving for the SEC and Self is always candid – with his thoughts on conference realignment being no exception. He’s right up there with the Boeheim and Calipari elite of brutally honest coaches. So I’m not surprised that he answered that question honestly. And I don’t blame him for doing so. What I find odd is that he actually believes what he said. He genuinely believes that the fans don’t matter, even after commenting positively on the environment of the game that night (which was one of the loudest, most intense atmospheres you’ll see in a regular season college game). But Self doesn’t care.
He doesn’t care about the 17,000 people that show up at Allen Phog Fieldhouse for every game. He doesn’t care about the fanatics going out of their way to tune into Kansas games on television or radio. He doesn’t care about the memorabilia shops or everything and everyone else that make his $3 million annual salary possible. He just doesn’t care and he’s made it abundantly clear.
Maybe Self is still bitter about Missouri leaving nine Big 12 schools out to dry (and who could blame him for that?), but every fan in Columbia and every fan in Lawrence wants Missouri-Kansas to continue out of conference. And even though a home-and-home between the two bitter rivals would bring in loads more revenue for both universities than a matchup with any other school, Kansas won’t do it.
So maybe it is actually true that Bill Self doesn’t care about the fans. He doesn’t care about my routine or my chicken fingers or my out-on-the-limb go-to choice of ginger ale. Isn’t this the greater issue in collegiate sports right now? Conferences are changing and no one seems to care about the effect on the fans. Soon, we’re going to have no more Syracuse-Georgetown, Pittsburgh-West Virginia, and Texas-Texas A&M as we know them. One thing you rarely hear, though: rivalries can survive, flourish, and even intensify out of conference. Just look at Louisville-Kentucky or Xavier-Cincinnati. Those annual games are national events and as Tu Holloway and Yancy Gates might attest, those players and fans genuinely dislike each other. Keeping the Kansas-Missouri rivalry at the same level out-of-conference is more possible than people make it out to be. The issue is just that universities simply don’t care about the fans.
The hypocrisy is apparent. Self is saying the people that provide the money to make him millions of dollars are worthless to him. The problem is that the Kansas coach’s name really does describe him well: Self. And until Bill Self and Kansas realize that they are alienating one of the most loyal fan bases in sports, Missouri’s and Kansas’ rivalry will be gone and I’ll have to find another place to get my chicken fingers.
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