February 21st

Joel’s Monday Mailbag

Each Monday, Joel Welser will be bringing you his Monday Mailbag.  If you have a question which you'd like Joel to answer, email jwelser_chn@ameritech.net.  He’ll post and answer as many questions as possible.  Please include your first name and home state when contacting Joel. 

One question each week is chosen as the "Question of the Week", and is answered by a few CHN staffers.  At the end of each Monday Mailbag, Joel presents his "Team of the Week" and his "Thoughts of the Week."  Visit the Mailbag Archive for past installments.

Joel,

Blatant moving and illegal screens are going uncalled across college basketball, which was part of John Chaney’s ungluing last week.  His approach, in drawing attention to this flagrant disregard of the rules, and his subsequent self-suspension, may have been 'pathetically correct', but I still like the fact that he did it. Now, when are they going to start calling the three second rule, or better yet, who's going to do what, to draw attention to that?  Your best guess?

From Dan,

Madison, Wisconsin

That one game self-suspension has been turned into a whopping three game suspension, or the rest of the regular season as the school puts it.  ‘Pathetically correct’ is a good way to express the situation.  The attempted end in no way justifies the means in this case, but maybe something good will come out of it.  I wouldn’t be surprised if we see the referees have some of the issues you mentioned as calls they are supposed to look out for in the coming seasons. 

This year they are supposedly cracking down on the ‘carrying’ call.  Occasionally in the game of basketball you have to dribble, you can’t just palm the ball and dribble every now and then.  That call has been seen occasionally this year, even if it is just a token call to keep it reasonable.  I reckon most even get a warning before the ref actually blows the whistle.  I suspect we will see illegal screens next year (and Chaney very well may be fired for it) and I hope the three second call soon as well.  Anybody’s guess on who will do something about that is as good as mine.  It’ll probably be a head referee type who says ‘You know, the three second rule has turned into the eight second rule…maybe we should at least make it the five second rule again before it gets more ridiculous than it already is.’

By the way, I noticed one three second call this weekend, but I really wasn’t paying attention.

Joel,

With the recent losing streak of Kansas and some perplexing poor performances, how will this affect the Jayhawks heading into the conference tournament?

From Aaron,

Kentucky

The win over Okie State should get the Jayhawks back on track.  It will at least prove to the fans that this isn’t a team that they should be worried about as much as they have been after the three game skid.  Lose three games in a row, for a grand total of a whopping four losses and the team is still poised for a #1 seed in the tourney.  The confidence level should be fine at Kansas for the Big 12 conference tournament, but those three losses also gave everybody else in the conference the confidence to beat KU.  Iowa State isn’t going to fear the Jayhawks on a neutral court, that is for sure.

Question of the Week

 - The question of the week is answered by multiple CHN staffers -

Joel,

Can teams like Pacific and Vermont really make the Sweet Sixteen this March?

From Jimmy,

Missouri

Kristi Chartrand - Kansas

Out the mid-major teams I’ve seen play I believe Pacific and Wisconsin-Milwaukee have the best chance to make some noise in the NCAA tournament. Pacific has what it takes to make a Nevada-like run this year.  There’s a reason the Tigers are off to the best start in school history. I enjoy watching Christian Maraker play the game his versatility is such an asset to this team. He can do it all. Guillaume Yango provides the muscle on the interior while David Doubley and Marko Mihailovic are very capable on the perimeter. I’ve come away impressed all 4 times I’ve seen them play this year. Like most mid-major teams they’re experienced and talented. The naysayers question the lack of a QUALITY win but you can only beat who’s on your schedule, and Pacific has beaten all but 2. Remember, the Tigers gave Kansas all they could handle in Lawrence earlier this year before losing by 11. Pacific will have a hard time sneaking up on people since they are a top 25 team right now.

Wisconsin-Milwaukee is my other choice. Bruce Pearl’s team has won 15 of their last 16 games and are now the Horizon League Champs for a 2^nd straight year. The first time I saw the Panthers play this season their offense was woeful at Wisconsin, but the other 3 times I was impressed with their play on both sides of the ball. Offensively, Ed McCants is a star. He’s that Kirk Snyder-like player who can give any teams fits. If they don’t come away with the conference tourney title they will still be considered a bubble team. But remember, Butler got an at-large berth with the same conference record the Panthers have.

Jon Teitel - Ivy League

Yes: with an undefeated record over the past 2 months, Big West Conference regular season champion Pacific will enter March with as much confidence as any team in the nation.  Another huge factor is experience, as the Tigers’ 9-man rotation features 7 seniors (including all 5 starters) and 2 juniors.  Many teams have cold shooting spells against higher-seeded teams, but that should not be a problem for Pacific: while they do not have a specific go-to guy, their top 4 scorers all shoot over 48% from the field and over 73% from the free throw line.  After upsetting Providence in the first round of last year’s NCAA Tournament, Pacific is hungry to get back to go farther this time around.  A couple of numbers to look for: 12 (no Big West team has won an NCAA Tournament game as lower than a #12 seed) and 81-73 (amazingly, the final scores of both the first and second-round Tournament games the last time that a Big West team made it to the Sweet 16, which was #12 seed New Mexico State in 1992).

No: I am more concerned with Vermont making the field of 64 then making the Sweet 16.  They are certainly the favorite to win the automatic bid from the America East Conference, but Boston University and Northeastern are hot on their heels.  The Catamounts have a huge advantage after clinching the #1 seed for the conference tournament: they will host the conference championship game at Patrick Gym (where they are undefeated this season) on March 12^th if they are still alive.  Taylor Coppenrath and T.J. Sorrentine are one of the best scoring duos in the country, and they both shoot over 75% from the free throw line.  However, it has been a total team effort this year, as Vermont leads the conference in scoring margin, three-point field goals made, rebounding, and assist/turnover ratio.  Vermont will not have any jitters in March, as they have been to the Tournament each of the past 2 years, and played in tough environments earlier this season in road games at Kansas and at North Carolina.  None of the last 8 NCAA Tournaments has seen an America East team come within single digits of a first-round upset, so the Sweet 16 is quite a lofty goal, but if there’s one player special enough to carry a team on his back, it is Coppenrath.

Low/mid-majors who have a prayer of making the Sweet 16: Southern Illinois (four of six losses by six points or less, five players who average over a steal/game, and five starters who shoot over 70% from the free throw line), Winthrop (3 of their 5 losses have been on the road at Arkansas, South Carolina, and Oregon, but they have a better shot next year as they return all of their top 9 scorers), and Wisconsin-Milwaukee (2 of their 5 losses have been on the road at Wisconsin and at Kansas, their 3 other losses were all by single digits, and nine of their top 10 players are seniors).

Low/mid-majors who do not have a prayer of making the Sweet 16: Coppin State (12-4 conference record places them in good position, but 0-9 non-conference record does not give them much postseason hope), Davidson (despite a 16-0 conference record, and two players scoring over 10 points/game off the bench, they were not competitive against most of their major non-conference opponents this year), and Old Dominion (after winning 18 of their first 20 games, they lost 3 of their next 9, but might be a force next year since they only lose one player to graduation).

Joel Welser - Mailbag

They can.  Will they?  Probably not.  But will I still have a team like Pacific, ODU, Vermont, Saint Mary’s or Wisconsin-Milwaukee (if they all even make the big dance) in the Sweet Sixteen when I’m filling out the brackets?  I am crazy enough to do such a thing.  I’d have to say Pacific has the best chance, but as always, it depends on the draw.  The #1 and #2 seeds need to be careful facing Pacific in the second round after so little time to prepare.  Christian Maraker, David Doubley and Guillaume Yango are a dynamic trio that average nearly 40 points per game.  They can sneak up on higher ranked team especially with less than two days to prepare for the Tigers heading into the second game of the NCAA Tournament.  As a former Big Wester, I’ve followed Pacific pretty closely this year and they keep getting the job done.  If they can manage a #6 seed (although I think that is very unlikely), that’d be huge for their chances to getting into the Sweet Sixteen.  Most of who should be #1’s and #2’s are just be too athletic for the Tigers to keep up with. 

Have a question?  Email Joel at jwelser_chn@ameritech.net, and please include your first name and home state. We’ll post and answer as many as possible.  All questions may be published or edited unless requested otherwise.

Joel’s Team of the Week

Texas A&M Aggies

The Aggies were sliding and coming up on the schedule this week were two of the hottest teams in the conference, Iowa State and Texas Tech.  Luckily for A&M, these two games were in College Station.  After trailing by one at the break, a 17-0 run in the second half put the game away for the Aggies against Iowa State, who went on to win 75-59.  Antoine Wright led the squad with 21 points.  Freshman Joseph Jones added 17 and seven boards.  Fresh off their win against Texas, Bobby Knight and company headed over to face A&M.  Again it was another big second half run that would propel the Aggies to victory.  And yet again Billy Gillespie’s squad was down one at the half.  A 31-6 run put away the Red Raiders as A&M went on to win 85-63.  Wright led the team with 29 points and Jones added 16 and grabbed seven boards.

Joel’s Thoughts of the Week

The UCLA / Notre Dame game seemed like an odd late February match-up a while ago, but it turned out to be a great potential bubble buster.  The Irish never showed up though.  Good news for the Pac 10 getting three teams, bad news for the Big East getting eight.

Kudos

-Alan Anderson…for perfection.  The Michigan State senior shot 10-10 from the floor and 7-7 from the free throw line, racking up a career high 28 points against Wisconsin.

 -Gene Keady…for making his final home game close enough so I wouldn’t be tempted to watch a different game.  Purdue blew a 14 point lead to lose to the Gophers 59-57.  Not the way most wanted to see Gene leave the friendly confines of Mackey Arena, but Minnesota really needed that win.

 -Penn…for clinching the first berth to the NCAA Tournament and doing it the right way.

 For Shame

-Dayton…for managing to lose to GW when the worst thing that should have happened was overtime.  Kudos to Carl Elliot though for a great steal and an amazing last second three.

-Michigan…for having seven turnovers and one shot attempt to start out the game against Northwestern.  It took over eight minutes for the Wolverines to make a field goal and end an opening 24-2 Wildcat run.

-Bowling Green…for shattering the backboard at Miami (OH) in the pre-game warm-ups and messing up my listening and viewing Sunday schedule.  And of course they didn’t hook it up properly, so after starting the game an hour late, there was another delay in the first half.  BG did win the game 57-56, so a little kudos for beating a good Miami squad.

Have a question?  Email Joel at jwelser_chn@ameritech.net, and please include your first name and home state. We’ll post and answer as many as possible.  All questions may be published or edited unless requested otherwise.