Monthly Archives: February 2015

Big West Conference – A Tidal Wave 10 Years-in-the-Making

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Like life, like the stock market, like your grades in high school, college basketball is cyclical.  The ebb and flow is so well-orchestrated.  In hindsight, you wonder why you couldn’t have predicted the ups and downs.

One year after the Atlantic 10 got six teams in the tournament, one of the conference’s best players (Briante Weber of VCU) tore a ligament in his knee and is done for the season.  The league would be hard-pressed to get three teams in the NCAA Tournament.  Those bids have to go somewhere.

Enter the Big West.
https://twitter.com/BigWestMBB/status/562659568430227456

This March will be the 25 year anniversary of the then-Big West UNLV Runnin’ Rebels winning the NCAA Championship by defeating Duke.

Fast forward to the last decade.

The Big West Conference has not enjoyed a team winning a tournament game since 2005. Eighth-seeded Pacific beat Pittsburgh round one and 14-seed Utah State made the tournament after a conference championship.  Neither program is in the Big West after conference realignment.

Pacific got beat by Boston College in 2006 then bolted to the West Coast Conference.

In 2007 UC Davis joined the conference.  That year, twelve-seeded Long Beach State was embarrassed 121-86 by Tennessee in the NCAA Tournament.

Cal State Nothridge got clobbered by Memphis in a 15-2 pairing in 2009.  Cal Full State Fullerton didn’t do much better in 2008 to Wisconsin in a 14-3 matchup.

In 2010, UC Santa Barbara lost to Evan Turner’s Ohio State team.  In 2011, UC Santa Barbara lost by 28 points to Florida.  The Gators moved on to the Elite 8.

In 2012, Long Beach State was a vogue pick to upset 5-seed New Mexico.  Casper Ware’s 49ers did not strike gold against future pros Tony Snell and Alex Kirk.  New Mexico lost to Louisville, which would lose to the eventual champion Kentucky Wildcats

In 2013, Pacific was beat by 29 against Miami in the 15-2 seed game.  Pacific is no longer in the Big West.  Miami made it to the Sweet 16.

In 2014, Cal Poly got demolished by Wichita State.  Cal Poly was a 7 seed in its own conference tournament, sneaking into the NCAA tournament with a 14-20 overall record.  Sure, they earned it by winning their league championship.  But the Shockers were accustomed to playing that season with a target on their back and would not spoil their undefeated campaign with that 16-1 matchup.
https://twitter.com/WichitaStateMBB/status/436165335989776386

But today I see a well-matured conference after a decade of these spankings.

UC Davis is fourth overall in the nation in field goal percentage.  Corey Hawkins (son of former NBA All Star Hershey Hawkins) is a senior sharpshooter and 7th overall in the nation in scoring average.

UC Irvine won six straight to finish January.  It also beat fellow-bubble tournament team Green Bay in a non-conference championship game in Las Vegas.

You could say Long Beach State has underperformed as it finishes January with a .500 record.  Mike Caffey is 58th in the nation in scoring average.  Tyler Lamb is a player with a higher ceiling than what he has played up to.  And coach Dan Monson maybe getting too comfortable, after reports of his profiting from lopsided out-of-conference scheduling.  If he’s reading this, he’d probably think “damned if you do, damned if you don’t (schedule tough out-of-conference).”  However, the reality is that a coach cannot comfortably preside over .500 record in this 2015 age when he’s been in the position since 2007.  Long Beach State could win its conference tournament, and be a very dangerous team playing with momentum as a 15 seed.  (End 49ers rant).
https://twitter.com/michaelares1/status/561582363029667840

Hawaii is interesting.  They are the Big West version of Arkansas or VCU.  They don’t want to play half-court offense because they’d rather confuse you in the full court.  They have one of the nation’s worst analytics when it comes to assists.  But the Rainbow Warriors have their “share” of quality wins.  Hawaii has beat Pittsburgh, Colorado and Nebraska this season.  They took the Wichita State Shockers to overtime.  This is currently the fourth place team in the Big West Conference.  Stefan Jankovic, a Missouri transfer with Wally Szczerbiak-type skills is just now starting to find his voice in the NCAA concerto.

UC Santa Barbara has a sleeping giant in Alan Williams.  The 6’8″ 265 lbs. senior came into the Gauchos season with a reputation as an NBA prospect and one of the nation’s leading rebounders.  He has struggled with injury this season.  When healthy, his Gauchos only lost by 10 points to the Kansas Jayhawks at Allen Fieldhouse.  That’s more than K-State and Iowa State can say this season.  Stay with me, UCSB is currently in 5th place in the Big West.

UC Riverside is where I feel the falloff finally happens.  Although, Jaylen Bland has hit 67 3-pointers in 21 games.  As us New York lottery players would say, “hey, you never know.”

I’m telling you now (February 4th).  This traditionally awesome baseball conference could throw a wicked curve ball into your bracket come March.

College Basketball’s All Tight End Team

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The football season is officially over.  Gronk and the Patriots got the job done.  And, if you’re a sports fan who is returning to the enjoyment of college basketball, allow me to make the transition easy for you.  Here are my top 5 college basketball players who should get a tryout someday at an NFL combine.

1) Rico Gathers – Baylor Bears
Gathers averages an unbelievable 12 rebounds per game, including 5.5 of those being offensive rebounds.  Imagine those aggressive hands on the receiving end of a two yard slant to either win or lose a Super Bowl!
https://twitter.com/bychrisjohnson/status/560178936127447040
2) Brian Bennett – Cal Poly
Standing at just 6′ 5″, Bennett plays like a true center because of his physical nature.  (He wears number 34).

3) J.J. O’Brien – San Diego State
O’Brien has terrific hands as he does it all for the Aztecs.  At 6′ 7″ and 220 pounds he could be an enticing option for NFL offenses.  He also has a lot of endurance, playing every game this season and averaging 31.5 minutes per.
https://twitter.com/ESPNCBB/status/534848198670426112
4) Thomas Gipson – Kansas State
It should be no surprise that another Big 12 guy makes the list.  Gipson has been described as a below-the-rim player, which actually is a credit to his fantastic footwork.  I could see the 6’7″ 265 pound Wildcat working the sidelines on a route.  The eye test shows that he looks like a football player.  If not a tight end, perhaps teams could have a spot for him on the defensive line.

5) Cinmeon Bowers – Auburn Tigers
His Twitter name is 6 FOOT 7 GORILLA.  Need I say more?

College basketball world reacts to Briante Weber’s season-ending injury

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When I thought of VCU, I thought of the wiry Briante Weber leading that full-court pressure which captures the nation’s attention around this time every year.  Weber is the key irritant in coach Shaka Smart’s “Havoc” style.  Seeing his deceptively wide wingspan and his headband soaking up all the sweat of his hustle was a frightening sight for opposing teams.

Saturday VCU fans saw a frightening sight for their beloved leader.

Weber was just 12 steals short of the all-time NCAA record before a tear of an ACL/MCL that ended his collegiate career.

https://twitter.com/ESPNCBB/status/561735449476366337

On this Super Bowl Sunday, the college basketball landscape is reacting to this harrowing tragedy.   Media members in Richmond, Virginia are tweeting how pleasurable it was to cover Weber’s career.  This from cartoonist “RVA Coffee Stain” on Sunday morning:

Of course, players nationwide are sending condolences for a senior season cut short.  The VCU Rams were ranked 14th in the nation and riding a twelve game winning streak before they lost to Richmond on Saturday.  Georgetown preseason Player of the Year D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera tweeted his thoughts on Weber’s place in NCAA hoops history:

Georgetown Guard D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera one of many in college basketball sending thoughts to Briante Weber after his season-ending injury.

Georgetown Guard D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera one of many in college basketball sending thoughts to Briante Weber after his season-ending injury.

From a strictly basketball perspective, this opens the already-wide-open A10 conference even more.  The Rams of Virginia Commonwealth are in first place.  Worthy threats Rhode Island, Dayton and George Washington universities follow closely after in the standings.  Rhode Island has one of the best scorers in the conference with E.C. Matthews.  Dayton dismissed two players but its remaining seven are playing lights-out.  You’ll remember that the Dayton Flyers made the Elite Eight last year.

And, my personal favorite in this conference are the George Washington Colonials.  Point guard Joe McDonald plays a well-rounded game that reminds me of long-time Philadelphia 76er Eric Snow.  GW has an international flair and plays its own brand of lockdown defense.

Do not also discount the team that beat VCU on Saturday.  Teams like Richmond, even UMASS and Davidson are not out of the conversation when you consider a conference tournament sleeper.

After his injury, Weber stood on the sidelines in crutches, itching to get on the floor and rooting his teammates on.  As history shows us, this turn of events can go one of two ways for the VCU Rams.  It could be an injury that the Rams can’t recover from.  But I believe this will be the definitive rallying cry.  The Rams will play their horns off the way Weber would if he were on the floor.  Yes, Weber is a huge basketball loss.  However, watch out for the younger players who get minutes they normally wouldn’t.  They’ll be playing inspired basketball!