Marquette, what have you done??
You had a double-digit lead against a team that had lost 24 consecutive Big East games. You let most of that lead slip away, but still led by one with 8.4 seconds left, and had two free throws coming.
But you missed them both.
And then you allowed Mike Stovall to hit the game-winner with less than a second left. DePaul, a team that fired their coach less than two weeks ago and hadn't won a conference game since March 6, 2008, beat you! Wha' happened?
Marquette is in rebuilding mode, no doubt. But this is a team that beat Michigan by 14, lost to West Virginia on a last-second basket, lost to Villanova by just two points on two separate occasions, and beat Georgetown. So yes, they're rebuilding, but we're not talking about NBC's nighttime programming schedule here; they've got some solid pieces in place.
But they're now at 2-4 in the Big East, down there with Seton Hall, South Florida, Rutgers, and the rest of the Big East's least.
And how about the CCA? Oops, I mean ACC. The conference is so upside-down I mixed up the name. Granted, it's early, but you've got Virginia (3-0) and Maryland (2-1) leading the way, while North Carolina--ranked #6 in the nation preseason--is 1-3 after three straight losses, and Duke is just 3-2 after a loss to NC State.
In summary, it's time to get into college basketball. After all, the regular season is more than half over (it's true), just three NFL games remain, and spring training baseball is over a month away.
Showing posts with label Marquette. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Marquette. Show all posts
Friday, January 22, 2010
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Who's the tall dude?
Congratulations to my friends Mike Bragg and Katie Elwood, who have always been a great couple and are now a great married couple. They also have amazing families whom I've been glad to get to know over the last few years. Saturday's ceremony and reception were wonderful, and I had to let my readers know that I met NBA player Steve Novak on the dance floor (no, I didn't dance with him, we just happened to be standing on the dance floor).
Since a few of my closest high school friends went to Marquette, I've followed the Golden Eagles ever since college, and therefore remember well the season that Novak, Dwyane Wade, Travis Diener et al advanced to the Final Four. Novak, who is listed at 6'10" but is probably more like 6'8", attended the wedding because he's married to one of Katie's high school friends. He may be the tallest person I've ever met face-to-face (or should I say face-to-chest), and though I only chatted with him for a minute, he seemed like a very nice guy.
As he is currently a Clipper (after playing two seasons with the Rockets), I told him to enjoy playing with presumptive first overall draft pick Blake Griffin, but he informed me that he's a free agent and may land elsewhere for the upcoming season. Novak is a sharp-shooting guard who has a .419 career three-point shooting percentage (for perspective, that would be the sixth-best percentage all-time if he had enough to qualify). I hope he finds a home he's happy with, and I appreciated him being kind to a dorky fan kissing up to him at a wedding reception.
Somewhere, Nolan Ryan is smiling
It's fitting that on the same day I read Sports Illustrated's story about Harvey Haddix's masterful 1959 performance in which he pitched 12 perfect innings before losing 1-0 in the 13th inning, I also saw this story about Texas's 25-inning victory over Boston College in
the NCAA regionals, a game that saw Texas pitcher Austin Wood throw 12.1 innings of no-hit ball and 13 innings total, including 169 pitches. The game took seven hours, three minutes to complete, and the 25 innings set a new NCAA record.I say Nolan Ryan is smiling because he is against the concept of pitch counts and once threw 259 pitches in a game in 1974. How much has the nature of starting pitching changed in recent years? According to Wikipedia, there were 195 instances of 125+ pitch counts in 1996, whereas there were just 14 in 2007.
Samardzija watch
Jeff had his best outing of the year on Saturday, pitching seven innings, allowing two runs and hitting a home run himself. He's now 2-1 with a 4.04 ERA.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Big East is a Beast, but DePaul is the Least
How ridiculous is the Big East? The conference seems to feature two or three can't-miss match-ups every week. Five of the nation's top ten teams reside in the Big East (Pitt, UConn, Louisville, Marquette, Villanova), and three others have been ranked this season (Notre Dame, Georgetown, Syracuse).
Some historical perspective from the New York Times:
"In 2006, the Big East set an NCAA tournament record by ushering eight teams into March Madness. In 2008, the conference tied its own mark with another eight-team showing. The latest edition of Joe Lunardi’s Bracketology at ESPN.com has seven Big East teams making the tournament this season. We could still have a record this year, though, as Georgetown, Cincinnati and Providence could also squeeze in."
Georgetown hurt their chances with a 76-58 loss to Louisville tonight, but could still sneak in by winning their final three games. The fact that an 8-10 team could potentially dance speaks volumes about the conference. Here's one way to look at it: The Big Ten, which is no slouch of a conference (and also has seven teams Marching to Madness according to Lunardi), has its 11 teams averaging 17.1 total wins this season. The top 13 teams in the Big East average 18.8 wins.
Here are some Big East games that have taken place in the last three weeks:
1 Connecticut vs. 7 Louisville
16 Villanova vs. 20 Syracuse
13 Villanova vs. 12 Marquette
1 Connecticut vs. 22 Syracuse
Notre Dame vs. 7 Louisville (ND ranked as high as 7 this year)
4 Pittsburgh vs. 1 Connecticut
11 Marquette vs. Georgetown (ranked as high as 9 this year)
14 Villanova vs. 25 Syracuse
6 Louisville vs. Georgetown
This Wednesday, (2) UConn will visit (10) Marquette, and then Marquette has to visit (6) Louisville this weekend.
The point: the Big East is a freakin' gauntlet this season. Teams like Connecticut and Pittsburgh (and Louisville, and Marquette, and Villanova ...) will be very well prepared for the madness coming next month, as they have faced top teams week in and week out since early January. It would not be surprising to see three or four Big East teams in the Elite Eight, and even two or three in the Final Four. Of course, anyone can get hot in March, but the Big East teams have the advantage of having faced the heat all season.
One last point: What the hell is DePaul doing in this conference? Other than losing, that is. The Blue Demons have to be feeling quite blue about their 0-14 conference record. But they don't just lose, they lose like only a team that is completely and utterly over matched in every conference game they play can lose: by an average of 17.6 points per game.
DePaul went from Conference USA to the Big East in 2005 when the Big East invited them, Cincinnati, Louisville, Marquette and South Florida to join their ranks in response to having lost three football teams. But DePaul doesn't even have a football team, and they apparently don't have a basketball team either. This invitation was clearly like when you're having a party and there's that guy at work who has no friends and is way too proud of his Star Trek Convention Trivia Championship and he always has just a little bit of drool on his chin but you have to invite him because he's going to find out about it anyways, but I'll tell him it's just a little get-together and it's no big deal if he can't make it and please God let him be busy that night. But no, DePaul's schedule was completely free that night and he can't wait to come and he'll bring his Star Trek: Insurrection DVD because it's the one where the crew discovers a cloaked Federation ship that contains a gigantic holodeck and it's going to be the greatest night ever and have you seen it yet? You haven't seen it? Do you think everyone else has seen it? I'll come over early and get it all set up.
So now DePaul gets the crap beaten out of it every year, having won a total of 20 conference games in their four years in the Big East. This year's fourth and fifth place teams (Louisville and Villanova) have combined for 22 wins THIS SEASON. With 16 teams, the Big East is more like the Huge East, and should think about downsizing.
But more importantly, it's also incredibly strong from top to middle, and it should be exciting to see how the teams fare come tournament time.
Some historical perspective from the New York Times:
"In 2006, the Big East set an NCAA tournament record by ushering eight teams into March Madness. In 2008, the conference tied its own mark with another eight-team showing. The latest edition of Joe Lunardi’s Bracketology at ESPN.com has seven Big East teams making the tournament this season. We could still have a record this year, though, as Georgetown, Cincinnati and Providence could also squeeze in."
Georgetown hurt their chances with a 76-58 loss to Louisville tonight, but could still sneak in by winning their final three games. The fact that an 8-10 team could potentially dance speaks volumes about the conference. Here's one way to look at it: The Big Ten, which is no slouch of a conference (and also has seven teams Marching to Madness according to Lunardi), has its 11 teams averaging 17.1 total wins this season. The top 13 teams in the Big East average 18.8 wins.
Here are some Big East games that have taken place in the last three weeks:
1 Connecticut vs. 7 Louisville
16 Villanova vs. 20 Syracuse
13 Villanova vs. 12 Marquette
1 Connecticut vs. 22 Syracuse
Notre Dame vs. 7 Louisville (ND ranked as high as 7 this year)
4 Pittsburgh vs. 1 Connecticut
11 Marquette vs. Georgetown (ranked as high as 9 this year)
14 Villanova vs. 25 Syracuse
6 Louisville vs. Georgetown
This Wednesday, (2) UConn will visit (10) Marquette, and then Marquette has to visit (6) Louisville this weekend.
The point: the Big East is a freakin' gauntlet this season. Teams like Connecticut and Pittsburgh (and Louisville, and Marquette, and Villanova ...) will be very well prepared for the madness coming next month, as they have faced top teams week in and week out since early January. It would not be surprising to see three or four Big East teams in the Elite Eight, and even two or three in the Final Four. Of course, anyone can get hot in March, but the Big East teams have the advantage of having faced the heat all season.
One last point: What the hell is DePaul doing in this conference? Other than losing, that is. The Blue Demons have to be feeling quite blue about their 0-14 conference record. But they don't just lose, they lose like only a team that is completely and utterly over matched in every conference game they play can lose: by an average of 17.6 points per game.
DePaul went from Conference USA to the Big East in 2005 when the Big East invited them, Cincinnati, Louisville, Marquette and South Florida to join their ranks in response to having lost three football teams. But DePaul doesn't even have a football team, and they apparently don't have a basketball team either. This invitation was clearly like when you're having a party and there's that guy at work who has no friends and is way too proud of his Star Trek Convention Trivia Championship and he always has just a little bit of drool on his chin but you have to invite him because he's going to find out about it anyways, but I'll tell him it's just a little get-together and it's no big deal if he can't make it and please God let him be busy that night. But no, DePaul's schedule was completely free that night and he can't wait to come and he'll bring his Star Trek: Insurrection DVD because it's the one where the crew discovers a cloaked Federation ship that contains a gigantic holodeck and it's going to be the greatest night ever and have you seen it yet? You haven't seen it? Do you think everyone else has seen it? I'll come over early and get it all set up.
So now DePaul gets the crap beaten out of it every year, having won a total of 20 conference games in their four years in the Big East. This year's fourth and fifth place teams (Louisville and Villanova) have combined for 22 wins THIS SEASON. With 16 teams, the Big East is more like the Huge East, and should think about downsizing.
But more importantly, it's also incredibly strong from top to middle, and it should be exciting to see how the teams fare come tournament time.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
A Look Back
The Titan women took care of business, winning 67-45 over the Big Blue. A win at home against Wheaton this Saturday at 2 pm would clinch the regular season conference championship. Of course, the women have loftier goals in mind, as most 21-0 teams would.
If you'll recall, I suggested yesterday that Villanova would beat Marquette, while the Bulls would down the Pistons. Read on:
Villanova shot a ridiculous 58 percent from the field, and laced Marquette 102-84. The victory pulls them within one game of the Golden Eagles and two games of conference leader Connecticut (10-1), and leaves Marquette with back-to-back Big East losses after winning their first nine league games.
The Bulls stayed hot, staging an exciting comeback to beat the Pistons. The Bulls trailed by as many as 15, and by 10 with about 3:30 left, but ended the game on a 17-2 run to win 107-102. Which means three things:
1) the Pistons have lost five straight at the United Center
2) the Bulls are actually playing pretty well of late
3) I am a sports genius
Plus it means I won my free bet on centsports
If you'll recall, I suggested yesterday that Villanova would beat Marquette, while the Bulls would down the Pistons. Read on:
Villanova shot a ridiculous 58 percent from the field, and laced Marquette 102-84. The victory pulls them within one game of the Golden Eagles and two games of conference leader Connecticut (10-1), and leaves Marquette with back-to-back Big East losses after winning their first nine league games.
The Bulls stayed hot, staging an exciting comeback to beat the Pistons. The Bulls trailed by as many as 15, and by 10 with about 3:30 left, but ended the game on a 17-2 run to win 107-102. Which means three things:
1) the Pistons have lost five straight at the United Center
2) the Bulls are actually playing pretty well of late
3) I am a sports genius
Plus it means I won my free bet on centsports
Monday, February 9, 2009
A Look Ahead
Two of the Big East's six ranked teams go head-to-head as Marquette visits Villanova (6:30 CST on ESPN2). To me, this is one of the better mascot match ups you'd want to see: a wildcat vs. a golden eagle. Cats like to eat birds, so it's an inherently good pairing, and here you've basically got a crazy-ass super-charged cat against a rather intimidating bird with an 8-foot wingspan. Think about it ... see? Tough to say what would happen. You might jump to the conclusion that the wildcat would win, but keep in mind that cats often struggle against speedy opponents because they have a tendency to lose focus and start plotting evil deeds, fantasizing about inflicting large-scale suffering upon all humankind. Because they're evil.
On the court, Marquette dropped a stunner to South Florida on Friday, the Bulls' first ever win against a top 10 team. Villanova has won 5 in a row, and is 11-1 at home. I think the one-point loss in Florida might still be messing with the Golden Eagles' heads, and 'Nova's been on a roll. The cats get the upper hand in this one.
On the NBA side, the Bulls finally return home to face the Pistons (7:30 on Comcast SportsNet). The Bulls looked to have gained a spark during their road trip, beating the Clippers, Sacramento, Phoenix and New Orleans, and losing to Dallas by one in overtime. The Bulls are about as predictable as Power Ball numbers, but I think they'll take down the Pistons, if for no other reason than because the Bulls are actually favored, and it would be rude of them to ruin such a special occasion.
I don't think I--wait, let me think ... nope, I've never predicted a sports game incorrectly, so find a bookie and go make some money!
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