I guess we won't hear from any TU fans until summer 2017. Our # 1 hoops guys kicked their butt in their house tonight.

Iowa and then UNC and OU within seconds of each other.

Just goes to show anyone can lose on a given night, and it makes our run here all the more impressive.

You have to figure Jay Bilas gets the prime game for the ESPN network games so he and Dan Schulman will be doing the Duke/UNC game. So does that mean we may get Dick Vitale?? Please tell me no. I don't want to have to watch on mute. Sean McDonough and Vitale?

68-65 Nova FTs win it down the stretch. Tom

Jenkins just doesn't seem to elevate like he used to and his 3pt shot seems to be suffering. Did anyone else think Hart looked like he has sick or something? He seemed completely out of sync a lot on both ends of the court tonight. Just wondering what others think?

Assuming hart stays and no transfers, who fills the spots of Arci and the Chef?

Does booth start?
How about the senior Reynolds?
What about "the best player in practice" paschal?
What about the top fresh? Spellman?
How about bridges?

Give the kid credit. One of the best defensive efforts of his career tonight. Was a pest out there.

Good shot of the Arch!!!! Back page....


Pumped 4 tonight,!!!!

Buckle in.....

Wilson, not Under Armour.

Everyone can relax now.

Anyone know a way around the Gogo inflight internet block on streaming video content? I'll be in the air to Vegas tonight. Thank you.

Driving down to game tonight for first time.

Any tips about parking? I remember leaving the game two years ago, the parking garage for LC looked like a mess to get out of. Plus, night classes might make it a little more congested.

Any help appreciated!

When was the last time there was a Big 5 game where one of the teams was the #1 ranked team in the nation?

(I do not know the answer but someone else probably does)

I was discussing next year's lineup with some guys at the game Saturday and heard Paschall's game being compared to everyone from JVP to Jenkins to Sumpter to Roosevelt Jones.

I watched the Fordham highlight video but would love to hear opinions from people who have actually seen him play.

Does he have the handle to create his own shot? Is he quick enough to guard a wing on the perimeter?

just wondering who will guard who tonight for us?
Enechionyia like to shoot the three does Bridges guard him
Bond = Jenkns
DeCosey =Hart
Brown= Arch
Who does DO guard?
Who does Brunson guard
I know I have Bridges on Enechionyia when he's in
Any thoughts they have some size which concerns me

Simple: the best players. Not most talented, not best career. The best players. Bradley and Tim Thomas for their one season would be included 2-5. Details why. No wrong answers, just my answers

Mine:
Foye, to me he was simply the best player I saw outside of Kerry.
Alvin, I think this comes down to Alvin and Timmy T. Alvin was not as talented but he was better in that season.
Timmy T: Lost is how good he was without really trying. Could have been a multiple NBA AS if he dedicated himself to hoops. Still had a really good career. IMO, far and way the most talented guy on this list.
Here is where I have trouble. What do you do with Michael Bradley. He was really freaking good in that one year. I tend to think of him as empty calories so I'm going with Scottie or Dante. I think Dante was better in 09 but Scottie's senior year was special. So I'm going with Scottie.

Others:
I wasn't a huge Nova fan during the Doug West years. I loved the fact he was from Altoona and married a girl from Wheeling, WV. At least I believe both those things to be true. I remember him both in college and the NBA. However, I didn't see him enough to give him a proper rating. So he's an incomplete for me.
Ray would also have to be the next guy for me. He was a great, great player. Lowry would be on my team if I"m playing a game but he wasn't as good as these guys individually when he left as a sophomore. He had no game beyond 12 feet. However, you could see the potential which he somehow exceeded at the next level.

I'm probably missing one or two but that's my list. Look forward to hearing from others. In particular, what do you do with Timmy T, Bradley and Doug West.

Nice publicity, proud of Hart. He's the man.

With crunch time in the regular season upon us, trying to catch a look at more teams, it's getting harder and harder to avoid ESPN and the stupid, inane $hit that they put on the news crawl at the bottom. Pretty clear that space is for sale now.

The Nationals aren't negotiating with Strasburg? Holy $hit! What news! No doubt whatsoever that Boras paid for that to run for 24 hours.

That is probably not as bad as the fact that they treated us to the "revelation" last week that the Lakers thought Cleveland was dumb enough to consider trading LeBron for Kobe Bryant 7 or 8 years ago. how much Kobe paid to have his ego stroked that way in front of the 12 people dumb enough to think that Kobe has had value like that any time in his career who knows.

All that said, glad we will get some exposure to the masses on Wednesday.

I'm on travel in DC and found out my hotel doesn't have ESPN2. I'm staying near the Navy Yard & ballpark. Can anyone recommend a bar in this area to watch the game?

TEMPLE

Kenpom #86 (#130 Offense / #62 Defense)

16 - 8

Big Wins: #27 Cincinnati (Home & Away), #23 UCONN (Home & Away), #19 SMU, #47 Tulsa

Losses: #7 UNC, #46 Butler, #40 Utah, @#33 Wisconsin, #36 St. Joes, #81 Houston, @#96 Memphis, @#191 East Carolina


This team has been up & down all year, but appears to be hitting its stride, having won five in a row. They are an upperclassman heavy team, with three seniors and a junior seeing the most minutes on the team.


How did they manage to beat Cincy, UCONN, and SMU while losing to all those awful teams too?

It helps when you shoot the lights out from 3pt.

SMU 14–29

UCONN 9-22

UCONN 7-18

Cincy 10-22

They have 3 guys that can really shoot it, while the rest can’t throw it in the ocean.


OFFENSE

Shot Distribution: 30% Rim / 32% Mid-Range / 38% Three


Kenpom #130
· Takes care of the ball (#3 in Turnovers)
· Not a great shooting team (# 276 in eFG%)
· Not getting to the line (#344 in free throw rate)
· Not a great 2pt shooting team, get a fairly high percentage of their points from 3pt land, where they are shooting 34%.
· Play at a slow tempo on offense, slower than Villanova and nearly as slow as Virginia.


DEFENSE

Shot Distribution: 35% Rim / 33% Mid-Range / 31% Three

Kenpom #62

· Keep the opponent off the foul line (#48 free throw rate)
· And keep opponents off the 3pt line as well (#38 lowest 3pt rate)
o Opponents are shooting only 30% against them (#16)
· They do not force turnovers (#263)
· They do not rebound well (#251)


THE STARS

Quenton DeCosey (6-5) Senior

Shot Distribution: 36% Rim / 32% Mid-Range / 32% Three

· Playing big minutes (84% of the game)
· Excellent at drawing fouls and getting to the foul line.
· And when he gets to the line he knocks down 81%
· Good rebounding guard
· Excellent shooter (41% from three) and is crazy good on the right side.


Jaylen Bond (6-8) Senior


Shot Distribution: 47% Rim / 51% Mid-Range / 12% Three

· Clearly not a shooter
· Shooting 24% on everything not at the rim.
· But converts 67% at the rim.
· Excellent rebounder (#69 Offensive / #317 Defensive)
· Horrendous foul shooter (39%)


Devin Coleman (6-2) Senior



Shot Distribution: 19% Rim / 25% Mid-Range / 55% Three

· Another sniper, shooting 40% from 3pt. Shot chart is oddly choppy.
· Does not want to go inside the arc, shooting only 25% mid-range, and rarely gets to the rim.
· Takes care of the ball (#14 turnovers)


Josh Brown (6-3) Junior


Shot Distribution: 21% Rim / 45% Mid-Range / 34% Three

· Most minutes on the team (plays 88% of the game)
· The point guard
· Shoots 31% from three
· Not getting to the rim or drawing fouls


Obi Enechionyia (6-8) Soph


Shot Distribution: 15% Rim / 35% Mid-Range / 50% Three

· Big man likes to shoot (and he’s good at it, especially from dead center)
· Shooting 37% from 3pt on high volume. 45% from Mid-Range. He’s got a face-up game.
· Not a great rebounder for his size
· Averaging 5 fouls per 40 min.
· Only thing close to a rim protector on this team, but his block rate is less than half of Ochefu’s for a comparison.
· Typically plays the PF with Jaylen Bond at the C.


Overall Temple is not a huge team, Ochefu should have a significant advantage down low. However their wings are all good size. The key to beating not losing to Temple is not allowing them to go off from three. They have three very capable shooters that must be accounted for and run off of the line. Against SMU, Cincy, and UCONN the trio of Coleman, Enechionyia and DeCosey shot 44% from three. Only DeCosey can take it to the rack, so get out and guard them.

This is not a great rebounding team, so get after them on the boards.


AROUND COLLEGE BB

· It was an excellent weekend for Villanova’s hopes to grab the #1 or #2 seed in the East Regional, with both Maryland and Virginia going down. Virginia has a tough remaining schedule, and Maryland has at Purdue and at Indiana remaining.

· I keep thinking Maryland is going to hit a wall when the huge minutes played by Trimble and Sulaimon catch up to them, but it hasn’t really happened.
- Three point shooting for the duo by month: Nov 44%, Dec 44%, Jan 36%, Feb 35%

· Josh Hart is holding steady at #6 in the KPOY standings. Buddy Hield is still #1 but is no longer lapping the field.


Here is Villanova’s Offensive and Defensive efficiency charted over the course of the season. I think it’s easier to process this stuff visually.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/crime/bs-md-ci-avon-barksdale-dies-20160216-story.html

Did Seth Greenberg really describe VU in this way during last night's UT/WVA game?

(note: I don't understand the comparison AT ALL)