American

Unheralded: Five Breakout Tourney Stars

Jeff Fox — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 09:16:18 -0700

The terms “star player” and “mid-major” aren’t always a compatible pair in the college basketball world. For the most part, the top high school talent goes to BCS or high mid-major conferences, leaving the lower level schools to try to find diamonds in the rough. The common perception is that big time schools win due to their high level of talented, yet young, players, while smaller schools win due to experienced rosters heavily weighed towards upperclassman.

However, several top talents ever year do escape the grasps of the big schools and find their way to the lower tiers. A lot of times these are smaller guards who can really stroke it from long-range, which is something that comes in quite handy in the NCAA tournament. Here are five big-time players playing under the radar in less than big-time conferences that could make some noise in this year’s tournament.

Stephen Curry – Davidson - #10 Midwest Region

First Round Opponent - Gonzaga

Perhaps it’s a bit of a stretch to call Davidson’s Stephen Curry unheralded, but any list of stars from lower-rated conferences has to have Curry on it. Actually, Curry and his Wildcats’ teammates are underrated compared to where they were at the starting of the year.

Big things were expected of Davidson at the starting of the year before they limped through an audacious out of conference schedule (including losses to North Carolina, Duke and UCLA). Now, after reeling off 22-straight Southern Conference wins, the Wildcats seem poised to make some tournament noise.

As expected, Del’s son, Stephen leads the way for the Wildcats and has topped the 20-point mark in 23 games this year. Proving that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, his 139 three-pointers made is tied for best in the nation.

Courtney Lee – Western Kentucky - #12 West Region

First Round Opponent - Drake

Fans of the Sun Belt Conference and/or NBA draft prospects are quite familiar with the Hilltoppers’ Courtney Lee. The conference’s Player of the Year, the 6’5” senior is also expected to be a late first round or early second round pick in this June’s NBA draft.

With 2176 career points, Lee knows how to find the bottom of the bucket. Not afraid of the big boys – this season he had 21-points versus Gonzaga, 22 versus Michigan and 23 versus Tennessee – Lee is poised to put a hurting on “The Drake” in the first round of the tournament.

Demetric Bennett – South Alabama- #10 East Region

First Round Opponent – Butler

Another Sun Belt team and player looking to make some noise are South Alabama and star Demetric Bennett. The explosive scoring Bennett (20.1ppg) is another long-range bomber, connecting on almost three three-pointers per game.

First round opponent Butler better keep their eye on Bennett, because he can really fill it up. This season he had 18 games with at least 20 points and four games with at least 30, including the Jaguars’ last game where he went off for 32. And when the competition gets tougher, so does Bennett. Check out the numbers he put up against some of the other NCAA tournament teams South Alabama faced this year - 28 points vs. San Diego, 25 vs. Vanderbilt and 39 vs. Mississippi State.

Garrison Carr – American - #15 East Region

First Round Opponent – Tennessee

Garrison Carr’s MVP performance during the Patriot League tournament helped propel the Eagles to their first league championship and first berth in the Big Dance. This is quite a revelation from a player who averaged less than 11 minutes and four points per game last season (this season’s totals are 35 minutes and 18 points per contest).

While American’s backcourt duo of Carr (5’11” 165lbs) and Derrick Mercer (5’9” 175lb) aren’t going to intimidate any opponents physically, they are the team’s best two players. Carr’s 129 long-bombs made is tied for fifth best in the country, and he has shown a couple of big name opponents (26 points and seven threes vs. Dayton, 16 and five threes vs. Georgetown) what he was made of.

Josh Akognon – Cal State Fullerton - #14 Midwest Region

First Round Opponent – Wisconsin

Josh Akognon played with a chip on his shoulder during the Big West tournament, due to the fact that he only made Second Team All-Conference. After being named the MVP of the conference’s tournament, he told the AP that being spurned from the all-conference team was “motivation”. NCAA tournament foes better beware if the Fullerton star takes that fire into the tourney with him.

Averaging a shade less than 20 points per game (19.9ppg to be exact) and knocking down 111 three-pointers, Akognon is another dangerous long-range threat. Earlier this year he hit Arizona up for 19 points and St. Mary’s for 16, and had multiple games where he hit seven three-pointers.

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Bracket Tactics: Sunday's Tip of the Day

Jon Teitel — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 20:23:39 -0700

Leading up to the 2008 NCAA Tournament, we'll be presenting daily tips to help you fill in your bracket.

Today's Bracket Tactic

FACT: While #15 seeds are 4-88 in the 1^st round of the NCAA Tournament since 1985, and 0-4 in the 2^nd round, the 4 Cinderellas who did win a game each entered the tourney having gone 9-1 in their last 10 games, and had an overall winning percentage of 80% or less.

BRACKET TIP: American, Austin Peay, and UMBC each fit these criteria, while Belmont exceeds it by virtue of winning each of their last 13 games.

So, if you are feeling lucky, feel free to pick 1 of these 4 teams to wear the glass slipper in round 1, but under no circumstances should you pick any of them to advance to the Sweet 16.

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Friday Night Championship Week & Bracketology Update

Shawn Siegel — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 21:24:10 -0700

A Friday night update on all things Championship Week with an eye on the bracket.. - Miami, the Ohio version, almost caused havoc by knocking Kent State out of the MAC tournament. But the Golden Flashes managed to pull of a 49-47 win, ensuring that at least for another day the MAC is a one bid league. - I've said this many times.. but its too bad Dominic James has never learned how to hit a jump shot. The Golden Eagles made a nice comeback to make a game of it against Pitt, but ultimately Marquette couldn't hit shots. Outside of Jerel McNeal, the rest of the team shot a dismal 25% (12 of 48) - SFA was supposed to be the class of the Southland, but their solid season came to a close tonight. The Demons of Northwestern State came back from a big halftime deficit to advance to the conference finals. SFA came into today with an RPI of 57 and will hope to do some damage in the NIT. - Speaking of damage (never a good segue..), the SEC semifinal matchup between Georgia & Kentucky has been postponed. Unless a team plays twice tomorrow, I'm not sure what's going to happen there. - One guy who wouldn't mind doing some damage to Kentucky is Tubby Smith. His Gophers upset Indiana in the Big Ten quarters and now face fellow surprise Illinois tomorrow afternoon. You have to figure Minnesota is the favorite to advance to the finals.. and there's no reason not to think they'd give Wisconsin or MSU a game. Taking Minnesota to the Big Dance would be an amazing accomplishment for the first-year coach. (It would also be an embarrassment to a league that most likely wont get a team past the Sweet Sixteen). - I'm usually a big ACC proponent, but man has that league's tournament been boring. - Tulsa's good run continued, beating UTEP in OT a day after knocking off UAB in OT as well. In their last 12 games, Tulsa is 10-2, only losing to Memphis and UAB. The Golden Hurricane (seems like a lot of Golden nicknames in action today) face Memphis tomorrow.. and though they won't win, it might be closer than you'd expect. - A day after scoring 0 points, Roy Hibbert came through with his best statistical game of the season.. 25 points and 13 boards against West Virginia. On the flip side, Joe Alexander's tear came to an abrupt end with just 12 points on 5-16 shooting. - Congrats to Saint Joseph's for being a rare bubble team that actually won some games down the stretch. Beating Xavier (rather easily too) should probably lock up a Tournament bid. But then again, if Temple won the title tomorrow.. the committee might shy away from giving the A10 3 bids. - American worked their way into the tournament, beating Colgate in a hard fought game. I thought the Raiders played every bit as well, but home court was the deciding factor here. - If anybody suggests to me that Va Tech should be in the NCAA Tournament, I'll slap them in the face. If they beat UNC tomorrow.. then that's a different story. But as of now, this is still the same team to me that struggled to put away Liberty at home..

2008 NCAA Tournament Capsule: American

Joel Welser — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 15:00:34 -0700

American Eagles

Patriot League (21-11, 10-4)

Big Wins: 12/22 at Maryland (67-59), 2/6 at Holy Cross (62-46), 3/5 vs Holy Cross (62-60)

Bad Losses: 11/15 Fairfield (52-60), 1/16 at Bucknell (62-66), 1/30 Navy (66-77)

Last NCAA Appearance: none

Coach: Jeff Jones (6-5 in 5 NCAA appearances)

Probable Starters:

Derrick Mercer, Junior, Guard, 12.5 ppg, 4.1 apg, 3.2 rpg

Garrison Carr, Junior, Guard, 18.1 ppg, 3.4 rpg

Bryce Simon, Junior, Forward, 7.2 ppg, 2.2 apg, 4.1 rpg

Travis Lay, Senior, Forward, 6.0 ppg, 4.1 rpg

Cornelio Guibunda, Junior, Center, 2.6 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 1.0 bpg

Key Roleplayers:

Frank Borden, Junior, Guard, 2.7 ppg, 1.7 rpg

Brian Gilmore, Junior, Forward, 8.7 ppg, 3.8 rpg

Jordan Nichols, Junior, Forward, 4.2 ppg, 3.4 rpg

Why They Can Surprise:

Next season might be a bigger year for American University, but this is still a very experienced team full of upperclassmen. And it all starts with Derrick Mercer. The junior point guard will use his speed to get to the basket and finish or find his teammates. He dishes out about four assists per game and, while the turnover numbers are high, he does a good job knocking down the jumpers and running the team.

A majority of Mercer’s assists will go to Garrison Carr. Carr knocks down four three balls per game and hits nearly 45 percent of his attempts. That ranks in the top ten in the nation in both categories. When the Eagles need a big shot, you can be certain it will be Carr taking it. Carr, like most of the team, shoots very well from the charity stripe and if American finds themselves in a close game down the stretch, the free-throw shooting will almost definitely be in their favor.

Why They Can Disappoint:

Generally speaking a team in the Patriot League will be outmatched in March. The Eagles just do not have the athletes to compete with most teams in larger conferences. The three-point shot will give them a chance to stay in the game, but if AU gets behind, their style of play does not lend itself to mustering up a comeback. This is not a team that gets easy buckets off turnovers or feels comfortable pushing up the tempo and running the floor. Thus, if Carr is not hitting the long balls, there is not much else the Eagles can do to quickly put points on the board.

Who To Watch:

American will get points from Carr and Mercer, but the team will need the forwards to step up and score some buckets. Brian Gilmore, Bryce Simon, Travis Lay and Cornelio Guibunda help American put up decent numbers in the rebounding department, but if they are not scoring, Carr and Mercer will not have many open looks. Gilmore and Simon are decent scorers, but most of their points come from the perimeter. Guibunda is not on the floor to score and most of his limited offense will come from offensive rebounds. Unless somebody starts doing a little scoring in the paint, Carr will have a tough time shaking off the better athletes American will face in March.

By the Numbers:

Scoring Offense: 65.5 (236^th in nation, 4^th in conference)

Scoring Defense: 62.3 (41, 3)

Field-Goal Percentage: 44.7 (139, 1)

Field-Goal Defense: 41.3 (62, 4)

Three-Point Field Goals Per Game: 8.0 (56, 3)

Three-Point Field-Goal Percentage: 41.4 (4, 1)

Free-Throw Percentage: 74.4 (27, 2)

Rebound Margin: 2.6 (92, 2)

Assists Per Game: 12.0 (255, 7)

Turnovers Per Game: 13.9 (131, 2)

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Seven Day Stretch: The Week in College Hoops

Rob Carpentier — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 07:06:41 -0800

Maybe, just maybe this whole “Seven Day Stretch” curse thing works in reverse, too. It seems that for the past several weeks, anything positive I have written about a team has proven to be the “kiss of death”. So it goes that anything negative I’ve written just might kick start a team. Last week I positioned Oklahoma State coach Sean Sutton on the hot seat, specifically for not winning a Big 12 Conference road game in more than a year. The Cowboys then proceeded to go out and beat Texas A&M in College Station. Let’s see if we can send some “mojo” someone else’s way this week.

Seven Day Savior (Team): American University

American isn’t going to get a lot of press playing in the Patriot League, but Washington D.C.’s “forgotten” team seems ready to make a run at their first-ever NCAA Tournament bid. The Eagles defeated both Colgate and Bucknell last week. Colgate sits last in the conference, but Bucknell has been a thorn in the side of the Eagles since they joined the Patriot League from the Colonial Athletic Association several years ago. Led by diminutive junior guards Garrison Carr, (5’11”), and Derrick Mercer, (5’9”), American has suddenly found themselves atop the conference with only three games remaining in the regular season. Because the Patriot League plays its conference tournament at the sites of the higher seeds, if the Eagles can navigate these last 10 days without a blemish then their chances for punching their first ticket to the Big Dance will increase dramatically.

Seven Day Savior (Player): Trevor Mbakwe, Marquette

This isn’t the typical selection in that the Marquette freshman hasn’t led his team to a big victory or scored a lot of points. Mbakwe suffered a serious knee injury in October and the plan was to redshirt him this season. But through his hard work at coming back from the injury, Mbakwe convinced Coach Tom Crean that he should play this season. It helps that Mbakwe addresses the Golden Eagles’ number one glaring weakness; that of an inside presence. Mbakwe is 6’8”, 230 lbs. and as athletic and strong a big man as Marquette has had in Crean’s tenure. Mbakwe is good enough to make a significant difference in Marquette’s post-season fortunes. He played his first minutes of the season over the weekend and pulled down a rebound. On Wednesday night, however, against St. John’s, Mbakwe played extended minutes in the second half and scored 5 points and pulled down 6 boards. That may not seem like much, but with his ability to hit the glass, especially on the offensive end, Mbakwe’s return from injury just may allow the Golden Eagles to play deep into March.

Game of the Week (The one you DON’T know about): California at Stanford

Speaking of rivalries, the one between these two Bay Area, Pac-10 schools is pretty fierce. While there hasn’t been the “trash talking” in the press that seems to be leaking out of Tobacco Road, make no mistake, this is a very important game. Stanford is trying to keep pace with UCLA atop the Pac-10 and it’s a pretty sure bet that the Bruins will win both of their games at home this week. With Stanford already a game behind the Bruins they can’t afford a slip-up. Cal, on the other hand, has been a victim of the strength and parity of the Pac-10. The Bears are sitting in 7th place in the Pac-10, but a victory on Saturday in Palo Alto could see them waking up Sunday morning only a game out of third place. Because the conference’s parity has the 3rd through 8th place teams beating up on one and other, it may cost one or two talented and worthy teams a spot in the NCAAs. Cal doesn’t want to be on the wrong side of the proverbial “bubble” come Selection Sunday. Stanford won at Cal 82-77 earlier this season.

Seven Days Under the Radar: Davidson Wildcats

Remember back in November when Davidson was one of the two or three darlings of the mid-major world? The Wildcats then proceeded to lose to all of the big name teams they played, including UCLA, North Carolina and Duke. They also lost to some teams that they weren’t supposed to lose to, namely North Carolina State and Western Michigan. Because of all those losses, people stopped talking about Davidson. Since then, however, Coach Bob McKillop has the Wildcats at 18-0 in the Southern Conference and poised to make another run at an NCAA bid. Because of the weakness of the conference and the losses they suffered earlier, Davidson probably has to win the Southern Conference Tournament to get into the Big Dance, but if they get there, don’t be surprised to see them make a run to the Sweet 16. They are well-coached, well-led and they have a special player in sophomore Stephen Curry who would still be scoring if he was playing at a much bigger school.

Seven Days on the Hot Seat: Kelvin Sampson, Indiana

I couldn’t ignore this one any longer. Is there a hotter seat in the country than the one that Kelvin Sampson has apparently put himself on at Indiana? This isn’t about ‘x’s and ‘o’s, but rather about honesty and integrity. Listen, the kids that play for Sampson swear by him and they certainly can stay focused, just ask Michigan State and Purdue. But there have also been some ominous quotes by some of the Hoosier’s team leaders, specifically senior post DJ White. White basically said that he’s been through this before, with former coach Mike Davis, and that he dealt with it then and will deal with whatever happens now. Not exactly a ringing endorsement from the player that is the face of your team. On top of all of that, Sampson is being accused of being dishonest at an institution that values honesty above all else in its athletic department. Indiana dealt with some crazy antics by Bob Knight but he never put them in a position to have to defend against being called cheaters. Unfortunately Sampson has done just that.

Seven Days of Head Scratching: Indiana’s Reaction to Sampson

Staying with the Indiana/Sampson story, one has to ask themselves, what is Indiana doing? Athletic Director Rick Greenspan conducted an investigation into Sampson’s alleged improper contact with recruits in the fall and found that Sampson only deserved a slap on the wrist. Now the NCAA comes calling and says that Sampson lied about the improper contact and that they are charging Sampson, (and thus Indiana), with 5 major violations. Reading between the lines, the NCAA is telling Indiana that if Sampson lied to you and you were too dumb to know it, then we feel sorry for you. But, if there is any sense of a cover-up at any level, then certain things are out of control. Indiana has got to know that if the NCAA thinks, “certain things are out of control”, then the Hoosiers are going to get hit with some heavy sanctions, unless they do something about this first, and quickly. That’s why the Indiana president ordered, that’s right, ordered Greenspan to conduct an investigation into Sampson’s alleged wrong-doing and that investigation was only to last seven days. Indiana is going to get hit here, and so are some individuals. Sampson is going to get fired, that much is a given. But Greenspan is much more likely than not on his way out, too. He’s the one who green-lighted the Sampson hire in the first place and was the overseer to the fall investigation into Sampson. If Sampson goes, how can Indiana keep Greenspan? The head scratcher here is why Indiana didn’t deal with this in the fall. This is going to come back and bite them very hard and very deep. This is the kind of thing that can hurt a program for a decade, regardless of how much the team is loves in the Hoosier State.

News of the Week: Coach ‘K’ versus Roy Williams

The Duke/North Carolina rivalry is one of the biggest in sports, and this week it took on a little more intensity, (as if that was needed). Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski was quoted in an interview several days ago as not talking about his team’s injuries. It may not have seemed like much, but Roy Williams, the North Carolina head man, took exception to the implication that Carolina talked about its injuries and, taking it one step further, that the Tar Heels used injuries as an excuse when they don’t play well or lose. Williams talked specifically about Coach ‘K’s comments in an interview Williams granted later in the week. To say he wasn’t happy would be an understatement. Even as his interview seemed about to end, Williams revisited the topic, clearly irritated by what he felt was more than a subtle jab. With the rematch of Duke/Carolina in two weeks already shaping up to be a clash for top seed in the East Region of the NCAA Tourney, the rivalry has now reached the boiling point. Remember, this is the rivalry that gave us Tyler Hansbrough’s broken nose last season. Stay tuned; I don’t think we’ve heard the last of this one.

Games of the Night: American at Brown

Shawn Siegel — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 09:23:39 -0800

Games of the Night

A companion to our daily Three Stars of the Day, we present the top three Games of the Night.

Slim pickings as usual on Friday nights, so don't be disappointed by the lack of quality.

American (7-6) at Brown (7-5)

7:00 PM

Not the sexiest of games, but there's little to choose from. American has the big win at Maryland, and some joker gave them a Top 25 vote or two at some point. This game should come down to the wire.

Prediction: American

Marist (7-6) at Rider (8-5)

7:00 PM

Rider has gotten a little bit of national attention due to the play of Jason Thompson (20 ppg), but Marist isn't too bad either. Still, Rider gets the edge for being at home.

Prediction: Rider

Fairfield (3-9) at Loyola (MD) (5-7)

7:00 PM ESPNU

Okay, this isn't a good game and neither of these team are good. But since this is the TV game of the night, I figured its as worthy as any other. Loyola's Gerald Brown (20 ppg) is coming off two subpar games but could be due for a 30 point outburst.

Prediction: Loyola

Previous Game of the Night (Predictions)

January 3rd - UCLA at Stanford (3-0)

January 2nd - Houston at UMASS (2-1)