Vanderbilt

Shan Foster: NBA Draft Profile

Jeff Fox — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 08:52:06 -0700

Shan Foster

Class: Senior

Position: SG/SF

Height: 6’6”

Weight: 205lbs

Accolades: Second Team All-American – AP (08), Second Team All-American – CHN (08), Second Team All-American – USBWA (08), SEC Player of the Year (08), Second Team All-SEC (07), First Team All-SEC (06), All-SEC Freshman Team (05).

Scouting Report: A deadly long-range bomber.

Strengths: Three-point shooting – hit 367 in his collegiate career. Also hits his three-point shots at an incredibly high percentage – 46.9% his senior year. Can knock down shots over defenders. Shot over 52% from the field his senior year – an incredible number for a wing player who takes a lot of shots. Very long arms. Quick and athletic with good hops. Able to beat defenders off the dribble and hit the pull-up J or take it to the rack. Good attitude, work ethic and leadership skills. Tough defender. Solid rebounder for a swingman. Very experienced – played four years of big minutes in the SEC.

Weaknesses: Thinly built – will need to get stronger for the NBA. Not an off-the-charts athlete so probably has limited upside. Not much of a playmaker for a guard – tends to turn the ball over as often as he gets an assist. Doesn’t get to the free-throw line very often – averaged less than three attempts per game this year.

Projected 2008 Draft Range: Early to mid second round pick.

Consensus: Foster’s standout senior season has earned him lots of national praise and accolades. However, he still isn’t considered a first round draft prospect, but his shooting touch will get him drafted in the second round and probably allow him to hang around the League for a while.

Stats: Shan Foster Stats

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0 stars = Life in the Minor Leagues

Straight-Forward Tourney Commentary: Overrated Teams

Shawn Siegel — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 13:24:32 -0700

This column is not the place for in-depth team information (which you can find here), or in-depth game previews (which you can find here).. this here is all about straight-forward, honest, to-the-point, useful NCAA Tournament commentary:

Overrated Teams

Vanderbilt (4)

Why? 7-7 away from home is rather pathetic for a 4 seed, especially considering their best non-home win was on a neutral floor against 71st ranked Utah State. Luckily for the Commodores, Siena shouldn't be an issue in the first round.. but they might not make it past the Round of 32.

Davidson (10)

Why? Everybody loves to love Davidson and Stephen Curry. But they didn't even win a single Top 100 game all year. The only other tournament team with a similar mark of futility is 15th seeded Belmont. If Davidson was also a 15 seed, I'd say they were dangerous and capable of surprising someone, but they're overseeded as a 10. No doubt they'll give Gonzaga a serious run in Round One, but too many people will fall in love with the Wildcats.

Kansas (1)

Why? The Jayhawks only decent non-conference win was against USC early in the year. In fact, you could argue that their only other decent win all year was in the Big 12 Title game against Texas. The Jayhawks looked good on Sunday, but I don't think they're built to make a deep tourney run. Mainly for two reasons: A) I don't trust Bill Self's coaching ability compared to the other big-timers like Howland, Coach K, and Calipari. B) They lack a true go-to star, which will hurt them down the stretch.

Arizona (10)

Why? This bothers me because I've always tended to like the Wildcats.. but really this team is a fraud. In the last month, they have one win over a top 250 ranked team. Considering Oregon State is basically a D2 team, you could say Zona finished 2-8 against D1 teams. Jerryd Bayless is no doubt a stud talent, but Chase Budinger seems unwilling to become a big-time player, and its not fair for Bayless to have to do everything for them to win. If you think Beasley plays a big role for Kansas State, then Bayless take it to another level. He's often a one-man team.

Oregon (9)

Why? I'm not suggesting Oregon doesn't deserve to be a tourney team, but a 9 seed was oddly high. None of the numbers suggest the Ducks will do damage beyond the opening round. 6-10 away from home is weak.. 5-5 to finish the season is weak.. and just 4 wins in 13 tries against Top 50 teams is weaker. There's no doubt Oregon can beat Mississippi St in the opening round, but the #9 seed wasn't fair to begin with.

Kentucky (11)

Why? Is the March version of Kentucky really that much better than the December version that lost to Garder Webb, Houston, UAB, and San Diego? Sure the Wildcats have improved somewhat in recent months, but the gaudy 12-4 SEC record is mostly due to the overrated nature of the entire conference. There was no greater proof of the league's mediocrity than Georgia's run through the SEC tournament. The Wildcats 4-8 record away from home is one of the worst amongst Top 100 RPI teams. In fact the only one's with a worse record are Oklahoma St, Nebraska, and Wake Forest.. ie, NIT teams. Kentucky is basically a glorified NIT team.

- My Underrated Teams will be up soon.

Bracket Tactics: Tuesday's Tip of the Day

Jon Teitel — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 10:59:23 -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: #14 seeds who score less than 76.5 PPG are 2-54 in the 1^st round since 1985, and only two #14 seeds have made the Sweet 16 since 1985 (Cleveland State in 1986 and Chattanooga in 1997).

BRACKET TIP: Do not pick Georgia because they score less than 76.5 PPG, but if you are feeling lucky, you can pick one of Boise State/CSU Fullerton/Cornell to win 1 game because they each score over 76.5 PPG.

Editor's Tip: Don't be fooled by overall records. Some teams are great at home, but struggle to win true road games. Similarly, its not enough to look just at road games.. but you need to check out neutral records as well. If a team's combined road & neutral record is substantially worse then their home record.. look out. One prime example is Vanderbiilt. The Commodores are 19-0 at home, but just 7-7 on the road.

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Writers Picks: Top Upsets & Surprise Teams

CHN — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 20:53:57 -0700

Need help filling in your bracket? CHN writers give their predictions below about who will be the big winners and losers of this year's bracket. See how these picks compare to CHN's Official Prediction.

Surprise = Team that will exceed expectations/seed

Failure = Team that will underperform seed

Upset = Projected 1st round upset special

Writer	Brubaker	Carpentier	Fox	Johnson
Surprise	USC	USC	Davidson	WKU
Failure	Wisconsin	Duke	Drake	Tennessee
Upset	Siena	Siena	WKU	Siena
	over Vandy	over Vandy	over Drake	over Vandy

Writer	Teitel	Tomassini	Wesler	White
Surprise	Pitt	Temple	Stanford	Kansas St
Failure	Xavier	Georgetown	Duke	Memphis
Upset	Kansas St	Oral Roberts	Villanova	WKU
	over USC	over Pittsburgh	over Clemson	over Drake

What can we make of these picks? USC is a favorite to advance to the Sweet Sixteen at the expense of Wisconsin (a belief shared by CHN's Official Prediction.) Western Kentucky and Siena are trendy upset picks.. while thoughts on Pitt are mixed.

See what these writers had to say about the Final Four.

Bracket Tactics: Saturday's Tip of the Day

Shawn Siegel — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 14:22:55 -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: The last time that both teams in a title game were making their first-ever appearances in a Final 4 was 1945 (when Oklahoma A&M played NYU).
BRACKET TIP: If you pick Butler, Clemson, Gonzaga, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, or Xavier to play in the title game, then make sure you have them facing off against a team that has previously been to a Final 4.

Today's tip from the editor: One seeds tend to be the real deal.. substantially bigger locks than any other seed. No matter how overrated you think Memphis is, there's historically been an 86% chance that they at least make the 3rd round.

- Archived Bracket Tactics

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Bracket Tactics: Today's Tip of the Day

Jon Teitel — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 06:59:43 -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: Since 1979, the only national champion without a McDonald's All-American on the roster was Maryland in 2002.

BRACKET TIP: Do not pick Michigan State, Pitt, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, or Washington State to win it all this year.

Today's tip from the editor: Even though 9 seeds have historically done better than 8 seeds (winning 55% to 45%), this split is statistically insignificant so simply focus on the better team. However, be sure to know whether there's a bonus point for picking a 9 over 8 upset. If this is the case, it might be smart simply to pick all 9 seeds!

- Archived Bracket Tactics

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2008 NCAA Tournament Capsule: Vanderbilt

Joel Welser — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 13:50:32 -0700

Vanderbilt

SEC

by Joel Welser

Last NCAA Appearance: 2007, Sweet Sixteen loss to Georgetown

Coach: Kevin Stallings (5-4 in 4 NCAA appearances)

Probable Starters:

Jermaine Beal, Sophomore, Guard

Alex Gordon, Senior, Guard

Shan Foster, Senior, Guard

Ross Neltner, Senior, Forward

A.J. Ogilvy, Freshman, Center

Key Roleplayers:

Keegan Bell, Freshman, Guard

George Drake, Sophomore, Guard

Andre Walker, Freshman, Forward

Darshawn McClellan, Freshman, Forward

Alan Metcalfe, Senior, Forward

Why They Can Surprise:

Usually a team will shoot a good percentage from behind the arc, but not take many three-pointers. Or they will hit a slew of three-pointers, but shoot a poor percentage. Vanderbilt takes a lot and they make a lot. In fact, the Commodores and Valparaiso are the only two teams that rank in the top 20 in both categories. And Vanderbilt can thank Shan Foster and Alex Gordon for that stat. Foster hits nearly four long balls per game at a 44.9 percent clip. Gordon will not knock down quite as many, but his shooting is almost as efficient as Foster.

It is not just because they are good shooters that they hit the long ball so consistently; it is because they get open looks. Freshman center A.J. Ogilvy has quickly become a dominating big man in the SEC. With his presence under the basket, the opposition is torn between collapsing in the paint or defending the long ball. Either way, Vandy will score.

Why They Can Disappoint:

The team’s rebounding is better than last year thanks to Ogilvy, but it is still not very good. The Commodores will get outrebounded by most teams with a decent rebounder or two. In the team’s four regular season losses, Vandy was outrebounded by an average of 11.5 per game. Quite a few of those rebounds they gave up were on their defensive end and letting a team get that many easy second chance buckets is not good. Ross Neltner does a decent job beside Ogilvy on the glass, but Coach Kevin Stallings could use the bench players like Alan Metcalfe, Darshawn McClellan and Andre Walker to grab some rebounds. McClellan, a freshman, has definitely proven he can be effective on the boards, but he can be a liability in other areas.

Who To Watch:

As a freshman last season Jermaine Beal showed some promise as the backup point guard. However, he has exceeded most expectations once he took over the starting position for the 2007-2008 campaign. The 6-3 DeSoto, Texas product has a lot of quality scorers to distribute the ball to, so his 4.7 assists per game may not be that surprising. However, he only turns the ball over 1.6 times per game. For a team that likes to run and scores over 80 points per game, that is very impressive for a first year starter.

- More 2008 NCAA Tournament Coverage

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Wednesday Report Card: Foster Threes, UNM's Blown Chance..

Shawn Siegel — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 09:04:13 -0800

A - Northwestern

Before February 19th, Northwestern had lost all 14 of its Big Ten games by at least 10 points. But a close hard-fought 2 point loss on the 19th at Iowa gave NW hope heading into a big home showdown with Indiana. Another hard-fought 3-point loss to the Hoosiers carried over into the Wildcats first Big Ten win in over a year, a 62-60 victory over Michigan. In what has been another forgettable season for the program, at least there's hope for next year.. as the Cats top three players (Coble, Moore, and Thompson) all return.

B - Shan Foster

Back when Foster was in high school, I had reservations about his awkward release. Writing at the 2003 ABCD Camp, I wrote, "although his outside shot isn’t the prettiest, it will go in so long as he’s squared to the hoop and has ample time to lock and load." Foster still has that same weird knuckle-ball of a shot.. but they seem to keep going down as the senior's hitting on 46% of his threes. At home he's even more deadly from long range, and is now a huge reason why Vandy upset the #1 team in the country. After losing 4 of 5 game sin January, Vandy's hot start looked like a fluke.. but they've suddenly won 7 in a row to look legit again. Should be interesting to see how they fare in the Tournament.

C - Missouri State

This is basically the end of an era at Missouri State. Last night's home game was the last at the JQH Student Center.. and probably Barry Hinson's last ever chance to coach in Springfield. After another disappointing, non-NCAA Tournament season, you have to figure Hinson will be let go in the off-season. But despite a season full of mediocrity, at least Hinson and the Bears found some glory last night, beating the 20th ranked Bulldogs of Drake.

D - Tennessee

Losing at Vandy isn't that shocking.. but what bothered me was how poorly they played down the stretch. From a game-management standpoint, it was pretty horrendous. Fouling when you shouldn't foul, not fouling when you should, driving to the basket when you need a three, the ball in the wrong person's hands, etc, etc. It wasn't even like Vandy was lights out down the stretch, missing some FT's, a bonehead foul of their own, but the Vols wasted whatever openings they had.

F - New Mexico

The Lobos blew a huge opportunity last night.. falling to BYU in OT at home. UNM had won six straight games, moved into the Top 50 RPI, was getting respect nationally.. and finally had a home game against one of the MWC's top teams. But despite taking a 58-50 lead with under 6 minutes to go.. the Lobos squandered the lead.. and perhaps their season. The fact remains UNM doesn't have a Top 50 all year, which is simply inexcusable for an at-large team.

The Daily Report Card tells you all you need to know about the day in college hoops. From good to bad and bad to worse, I'll be laying down the law.

Previous Best / Worst

February 25th - The Bubble / Villanova

February 21st - Tony Lee / Oregon State

February 20th - Hasheem Thabeet / Aaron Bruce

February 19th - Josh Duncan / Tim Welsh

February 18th - Wake Forest / NJIT

February 15th - Oral Roberts / Big Ten Predictions

February 13th - Mike Green / Ed Donato

February 11th - Charron Fisher / Tim Morris

February 8th - Big West / Virginia

February 6th - Chris Lofton / Dick Vitale

February 5th - Bob Knight / Josh Heytvelt

February 4th - New York Giants / Washington State

February 1st - Nevada / Penn

Three Stars of the Day: Foster, Moore, Williams

Shawn Siegel — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 04:30:54 -0800

Three Stars of The Day

We handpick the best performances of the day, whether it be stat lines that make you drool, or clutch performances. Either way, its our way of showing the love:

Shan Foster - Vanderbilt

Getting hot from behind the arc, Foster hit 6 threes, scored 32 points, and led Vandy to a win over #1 Tennessee

Craig Moore - Northwestern

The Wildcats finally won their first Big Ten game behind Moore's 25 points

Reggie Williams - VMI

Had 34 points and 12 boards as the Keydets pulled off a close road win at Liberty

Other Top Performers

Jeff Adrien - UCONN - Had a double-double with 27 & 11.. but it was against lowly Rutgers

Byron Eaton - Oklahoma State - Hit the game-winning shot with under 2 seconds to go as OSU won another road game

Trent Plaisted - BYU - Led his team with 23 points and at the game-winning FT's that put BYU ahead of UNM in OT

Previous Stars of the Day

February 25th - DJ Augustin, Texas

February 20th - OJ Mayo, USC

February 19th - Blake Griffin, Oklahoma

February 18th - John Bryant, Santa Clara

February 17th - Johnson/Teague, Wake Forest

February 15th - Tyrese Rice, Boston College

February 12th - J'Nathan Bullock, Cleveland State

February 10th - Tyler Hansbrough, UNC

February 9th - Hasheem Thabeet, UCONN

February 7th - Ronald Ramon, Pittsburgh

February 6th - Michael Beasley, Kansas State

February 4th - Todd Golden, Saint Mary's

February 3rd - Tyler Hansbrough, UNC

January 30th - Chase Budinger, Arizona

January 29th - Beasley/Walker, Kansas State

January 28th - Chris Godzinski, Wofford

January 27th - DeMarcus Nelson, Duke

January 26th - Hackett/Lewis/Mayo, USC

January 24th - Jerryd Bayless, Arizona

January 22nd - Patrick Patterson, Kentucky

January 21st - DJ Augustin, Texas

January 20th - Dezmon Harris, Weber State

January 19th - James Gist, Maryland

January 18th - Abbott/Harden, Arizona State

January 17th - Dionte Christmas, Temple

January 14th - Roy Hibbert, Georgetown

January 11th - Lester Hudson, Tennessee-Martin

January 9th - DJ White, Indiana

January 8th - Lester Hudson, Tennessee-Martin

January 7th - Wayne Ellington, UNC

January 6th - Shan Foster, Vanderbilt

January 5th - Damon Huffman, Brown

January 4th - Luke Harangody, Notre Dame

January 3rd - Damon Huffman, Brown

January 2nd - Martin Zeno, Texas Tech

November/December Star of the Day Archive

Team of the Day: Vanderbilt

Raphielle Johnson — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 23:15:52 -0800

Vanderbilt 24-4 (9-4 SEC) Computer numbers (coutesy of kenpom.com): RPI 10, SOS 53 Tennessee went into Memorial Gym with the number one ranking, and like five other top-ranked teams throughout history left Nashville with a loss. Shan Foster, known for his outside touch, led the Commodores with 32 points but also did a good job of varying his offensive game and even attempted eleven free throws. Jermaine Beal (17) and Alex Gordon (11)also reached double figures, helping to offset the twenty-five posted by Tennessee's Chris Lofton and foul trouble encountered by A.J. Ogilvy. And even though Tennessee didn't go into their press full throttle until the second half, turning the ball over just seven times is another reason why Vandy won the game. Wins in their final three games (two on the road: Arkansas and Alabama) will help their seeding immensely, especially when you realize that they haven't beaten a conference foe of consequence on the road this year. On the clock: Rhode Island. After dropping three key home games last week, the Rams can ill afford to lose at struggling George Washington on Wednesday. A team that looked to be a lock a few weeks ago needs to go on a serious run at this point.