11 Nov14 - Meet The New Boss*

Volume XVI, No. 2 - 11 Nov 14 - [] Top 25 Ballot

Meet The New Boss*

The first week of the season doesn't really offer a lot to analyze, so it's always a stretch to try to read much into the few results that there are. With the mismatch routs, the best thing to see is the emergence of new stars (either improved players from last year or newcomers altogether); with the few hefty meetings, the thing to look for is whether a team has shored up its weaknesses from last year (or whether it's the same old story.)
     With North Carolina, the New Boss is the same as the Old Boss. With the same starting lineup from last year, the Tar Heels struggled to pull away from a completely rebuilt Michigan State team, 67-55, at the CARRIER CLASSIC on the deck of the U.S.S. Carl Vinson. The lane is still too crowded with trees cTyler Zeller and cJohn Henson and (all-shoot/no-pass) fHarrison Barnes; pKendall Marshall is still all-pass/no-shot; and gDexter Strickland is still not enough of anything to be of much use. The same lineup as last year isn't what makes them the #1 team for this year; it's the promise of fixing those flaws with new blood. It's way early, but fJames Michael McAdoo seems more forward than 'tweener, so the savior is going to have to be gP.J. Hairston. The good news is that Roy Williams proved last year that he wasn't afraid to make a bold adjustment in favor of a freshman in order to improve the team. It worked last year when he inserted pMarshall into the lineup (and gLarry Drew II quit the team and transferred); and it may take the same boldness again this year to insert gHairston over gStrickland. Until that happens (and there's enough outside shooting and ball movement to unclog the lane), the full potential of this team won't be realized.

Belmont nearly ruined the party for Duke and Mike Krzyzewski (and CITE>ESPN), falling just short of a huge upset, 76-@77, at Cameron Indoor Stadium. The follow-up (@96-55) rout of (still reclassifying) {Presbyterian} was the 902nd career win for Coach K, tying Bob Knight for the all-time record. (Tuesday's CHAMPIONS CLASSIC matchup with the aforementioned MichSt Spartans [as part of the TIP-OFF MARATHON] is still on track to be the record-breaking game.) For the long term, the Blue Devils will have their hands full keeping up with the Tar Heels behind just the young backcourt of gSeth Curry and GC gAustin Rivers (16p each vs the BU Bruins) and all those fM.Plumlees up front.

Renovations to Pauley Pavilion have UCLA playing all of its home games this year either at the L.A. Sports Arena or the Honda Center in Anaheim. So far so bad. Despite a frontcourt most would envy (fReeves Nelson and twin transfers [ex-UNC] fDavid Wear and fTravis Wear), the UCLA Bruins were humbled "at home" by Loyola Marymount, @58-69. (And the LMU Lions are no world-beaters, mind you -- they lost next time out at home to Middle Tennessee, @51-58.)
     Vanderbilt looked pretty good holding off a solid Oregon team [last year's CBI champ], @78-64, behind its dynamic duo, gJohn Jenkins(24p) and xJeffery Taylor(21p11r4a). But then, Cleveland State came to Nashville and led wire-to-wire on the road, handling the Commodores, 71-@58. The Vikings are a prime example of the "Year After" Rule, having lost only 40p20r-man xNorris Cole from last year's conference tri-champ. But it's really even more than that, though, because they've welcomed back former star bD'Aundray Brown(18p8r), who missed last year with a medical redshirt. (Coupled with Butler's 77-@80(OT) stumble at state-rival Evansville, a shift of power in the Horizon may be well on the way this season.)

CSU's win over Vandy was technically just a "WarmUp" game in the LEGENDS CLASSIC. The pre-set semifinals still slate Vanderbilt vs N.C. State on Saturday in East Rutherford (opposite Texas-Oregon State) while Cleveland State is relegated to the pre-set consolation round-robin Friday week at Rhode Island (along with Hofstra and Boston University).
     And it's the same for Akron, which won at Mississippi State, 68-@58, in the "WarmUp" round of COACHES VS CANCER. MissSt still gets to face Texas A&M on Thursday in New York (opposite St. John's and Arizona) while the UofA Zips go to Valparaiso (along with Duquesne).
     (The "Rich Stay Rich" while the "Poor Stay Poor" with this kind of guaranteed strength-of-schedule arrangement [and guaranteed RPI advantage come tournament selection time] that makes you want to ... Occupy something!)

Pittsburgh has found a new star in 5-11 pTravis Woodall -- (25p10a6r and 17p10a7r in two games, @89-56 over Albany and @86-78 over Rider). Likewise, pMark Lyons(22p6a7r stepped it up for Xavier (@74-63 over Morgan State) while pTu Holloway sits out an NCAA suspension. Transfer (ex-Rutgers) gMike Rosario(19p) is already fitting in nicely at Florida (@99-59 over Jackson State). pEric Atkins(27p6a) starred for Notre Dame (@80-67 over Mississippi Valley State) in the absence of tTim Abromaitis (NCAA suspension). bDominic Cheek(27p6r) and cMouphtaou Yarou(24p10r) were both much improved in Villanova's @106-70 win over Monmouth.

It's one of the busiest weeks of the season with many Thanksgiving tournaments getting into the thick of things -- (not to mention ESPN's 24-hour TIP-OFF MARATHON [overnight Monday and all day Tuesday]).
     Ohio State and Florida meet once again in the GS-A SHOOTOUT feature game on Tuesday (but both teams start the year less intimading than last year). The new CHAMPIONS CLASSIC (Kentucky, Kansas, Duke, Michigan State) will feature the same four teams in a double-header format for the next 3 years (New York City this year, Chicago next year, Atlanta the year after) -- Tuesday's edition features the expected coronation of coach Mike Krzyzewski as the new all-time leader in career wins. Louisville's visit to Butler (Saturday) has lost some of its luster (but, then again, last year's UofL rout of BU wasn't much of a predictor of their postseason fortunes.) The PUERTO RICO TIP-OFF semis and finals on Friday and Sunday (hopefully Temple-Purdue, and then -Alabama) should be top notch. The COACHES VS CANCER semis and finals on Thursday and Friday aren't bad (Texas A&M-Mississippi State, @St. John's-Arizona). CHARLESTON's semis and finals, also Friday and Sunday, don't hold as much hype (at best VCU-Georgia Tech vs LSU/Tulsa). Belmont gets another shot at an upset, visiting Memphis (Tuesday) in another MAUI WarmUp. Marquette doesn't figure to have any trouble in PARADISE (against Mississippi, Virginia, Drexel) from Friday through Monday week.

The rest of the schedule is either early round WarmUp or round-robin mismatches (LAS VEGAS-THANKSGIVING INVITATIONAL [North Carolina, UNLV], HALL OF FAME [Kentucky], NIT TIP-OFF [Syracuse], PHILLY [Pittsburgh], GS-B INVITATIONAL [Louisville], CHICAGO [Wisconsin], MAUI [Duke, Michigan, Memphis, UCLA], CBE [Notre Dame, Missouri, California], LEGENDS [Vanderbilt, Texas], SOUTHWEST [Arkansas], HOOSIER [Butler, Indiana], SPARTAN [Michigan State], SOUTHWEST [Arkansas], CANCUN-THANKSGIVING [Illinois], GS-D CLASSIC [Cincinnati, Marshall], GS-E/DALE HOWARD [Iowa, Creighton] and SOUTH PADRE [Providence, Northern Iowa]
  or consolation round makework games MAUI (Belmont, at Middle Tennessee) and COACHES VS CANCER (Duequesne, at Valparaiso).

Lots to pick from. Choose your viewing time wisely.

-- Ron

Key games this week:

Monday:

@Temple-@Penn(PhiladelphiaPA)(BIG5)(/PALESTRA/), (TUE_12Aet):@Gonzaga-WashingtonSt(WA)(TIPOFF_MARATHON), @Alabama-Oakland, @FloridaSt-CFlorida(FL), @UNLV-Nevada(NV), (TUE_2Aet):@StMarys-NoIowa(TIPOFF_MARATHON), (TUE_4Aet):@Hawaii-CalStNorthridge(TIPOFF_MARATHON), @LoyolaMD-CoppinSt(BaltimoreMD),
WV CLASSIC RndRob3/3 @ SeattleWA
-(@Washington-Portland, GeorgiaSt-FLAtlantic),

Monday-Wednesday; Saturday-Sunday; Wednesday week:

HALL OF FAME TIP-OFF 2x4 on-campus, @ Uncasville CT
-(A: @Kentucky, @PennSt, Radford, LongIsland;
  B: @SFlorida, @OldDominion, Marist, Vermont),

Monday-Tuesday; Friday-Monday week:

PARADISE JAM WarmUp on-campus; 1st,2nd/Qtrs @ StThomasVI
-(Marquette-Winthrop, Mississippi-Drake, Virginia-TCU, Drexel-Norfolk),

Monday-Wednesday; Saturday,Monday week; Friday-Sunday week:

LEGENDS CLASSIC WarmUp on-campus, 3rd/Semis @ EastRutherfordNJ; 2nd/Cons @ KingstonRI @LewisburgPA
-(A: @Texas, @OregonSt;
  B: @Vanderbilt, @NCState;
  A Cons: ClevelandSt, @RhodeIsland, Hofstra, BostonU;
  B Cons: MoreheadSt, Princeton, @Bucknell, {WAlabama}),

Monday-Thursday; Monday-Tuesday week; Monday-Wednesday week:

CBE CLASSIC WarmUp on-campus, 3rd/Semis @ KansasCityMO; 2nd/Cons @BowlingGreenOH @MaconGA
-(A: @NotreDame, @Missouri;
  B: @California, @Georgia;
  A Cons: GeoWashington, Detroit, AustinPeay, @BowlingGreen;
  B Cons: Niagara, SDState, @Mercer, SamHoustonSt),

Monday-Tuesday; Saturday-Sunday; Monday-Wednesday week:

MAUI INVITATIONAL WarmUp on-campus; 2nd/Cons @ MurfreesboroTN; 2nd/Qtrs @ LahainaHI
-(Duke-Tennessee, Michigan-Memphis, Kansas-Georgetown, UCLA-@{{Chaminade}};
  Cons: Belmont-Towson, @MidTennessee-UNCGreesboro),

Monday-Sunday; Tuesday-Wednesday week:

CANCUN-THANKSGIVING CHALLENGE 2x4 on-campus, @ Cancun MEXICO
-(A: @Illinois, @Richmond, Lipscomb, {SIUEdwardsville};
  B: @Rutgers, @IllinoisSt, Hampton, SacredHeart),

Monday-Wednesday; Monday-Tuesday week, Wednesday,Friday week:

NIT SEASON TIP-OFF 16s @SyracuseNY @StillwaterOK @StanfordCA @BlacksburgVA, Semis @ NewYorkNY/MSG/, Cons TBD:
-(@SyracuseNY: @Syracuse-Manhattan(NY), Brown-@Albany;
  @StillwaterOK: @OklahomaSt-ARPineBluff(TIPOFF_MARATHON),   @OralRoberts-TXSanAntonio;
  @BlacksburgVA: @VirginiaTech-Monmouth, @GeoMason-FLInternational;
  @StanfordCA: @Stanford-FresnoSt(CA), ColoradoSt-SMU),

Monday-Friday week:

GS-E/DALE HOWARD CLASSIC RndRob on-campus, @ DesMoineIA
-(Iowa, Creighton, Campbell, ChicagoSt, NCA&T),

Monday-Saturday week:

SOUTHWEST CLASSIC RndRob on-campus
-(Arkansas, Houston, Oakland, GramblingSt, UTValley),

Tuesday:

@Villanova-LaSalle(PhiladelphiaPA)(BIG5),
CHAMPIONS CLASSIC DblHdr @ NewYorkNY/MSG/
-(@Kentucky-Kansas(TIPOFF_MARATHON), Duke-MichiganSt(TIPOFF_MARATHON)),
ESPN TIP-OFF MARATHON
- (12Aet):@Gonzaga-WashingtonSt(WA),
- (2Aet):@StMarys-NoIowa,
- (4Aet):@Hawaii-CalStNorthridge,
- (6Aet):@Rider-Drexel,
- (8Aet):@ColofCharleston-MoreheadSt,
- (10Aet):@WVirginia-KentSt,
- (12Net):@Memphis-Belmont(MAUI_INVITAITONAL),
- (2Pet):@Baylor-SanDiegoSt,
- (4Pet):@Texas-RhodeIsland(LEGENDS_CLASSIC),
- (6Pet):@VirginiaTech-GeoMason/FLInternational(NIT_TIP.OFF),
- (7Pet):Duke-MichiganSt(CHAMPIONS_CLASSIC@NewYorkNY/MSG/),
- (4/7?Pet):@Syracuse-Brown/@Albany(NY)(NIT_TIP.OFF),
- (8Pet):@OhioSt-Florida(GS.A_SHOOTOUT),
- (8Pet):@OklahomaSt-ARPineBluff(NIT_TIP.OFF),
- (9Pet):@Kentucky-Kansas(CHAMPIONS_CLASSIC@NewYorkNY/MSG/),
- (10Pet):@California-AustinPeay(CBE_CLASSIC),
- (11Pet):@Stanford-ColoradoSt/SMU(NIT_TIP.OFF),

Tuesday-Friday week:

GS-A SHOOTOUT RndRob on-campus
-(OhioSt, Florida, WrightSt, NFlorida, JacksonSt),

Tuesday-Friday week:

GS-B INVITATIONAL RndRob on-campus
-(Louisville, TNMartin, OhioU, ArkansasSt, Lamar),

Tuesday-Friday week:

GS-D CLASSIC RndRob on-campus
-(Cincinnati, Marshall, AlabamaSt, JacksonvilleSt, NorthwesternSt),

Tuesday-Sunday week:

HOOSIER INVITATIONAL RndRob on-campus, @ ChattanoogaTN
-(Butler, Indiana, @Chattanooga, GardnerWebb, SavannahSt),

Tuesday-Sunday week:

SPARTAN INVITATIONAL RndRob(4) on-campus
-(MichiganSt, Milwaukee, EaMichigan, ARLittleRock, TexasSo, IUPUI),

Wednesday:

@Pittsburgh-LongBeachSt,

Thursday:

@MDBaltimoreCo-LoyolaMD(BaltimoreMD),

Thursday-Friday, Friday-Sunday:

COACHES VS CANCER CLASSIC 3rd/Semis @ NewYorkNY/MSG/, Cons @ValparaisoIN LynchburgVA
-(Semis: TexasA&M-MississippiSt, @StJohns-Arizona;
  A Cons: Duquesne, @Valparaiso, Akron, {UDistrictOfColumbia}, {INKokomo};
  B Cons: William&Mary, EaKentucky, Lehigh, @Liberty),

Thursday-Friday,Sunday:

PUERTO RICO TIP-OFF Qtrs @ SanJuanPR
-(Temple-WeMichigan, Purdue-Iona, Alabama-Maryland, Colorado-WichitaSt),
CHARLESTON CLASSIC Qtrs @ CharlestonSC
-(VCU-SetonHall, LSU-Northwestern, GeorgiaTech-StJosephs, Tulsa-WeKentucky),

Thursday-Sunday week; Tue 10 Jan;

PHILLY CLASSIC RndRob on-campus
-(Pittsburgh, LaSalle, Penn, Rider, RobertMorris),

Thursday-Tuesday week; Friday-Saturday week;

SOUTH PADRE ISLAND INVITATIONAL 2x4 on-campus @SouthPadreIslandTX
-(A: Providence, Rice, FloridaA&M, Southern;
  B: IowaSt, NoIowa, WeCarolina, NoColorado),

Friday:

@Duke-Davidson(NC),

Friday-Tuesday week, Friday-Saturday week:

LAS VEGAS-THANKSGIVING INVITATIONAL 2x4 on-campus, @ LasVegasNV/ORLEANS/
-(A: NCarolina, SCarolina, TennesseeSt, MSValleySt;
  B: @UNLV, USC, MorganSt, CalPolySLO),
CHICAGO INVITATIONAL CHALLENGE 2x4 on-campus, @ HoffmanEstatesIL
-(A: Wisconsin, @Bradley, MOKansasCity, Wofford;
  B: BYU, Nevada, Longwood, PrairieViewA&M),

Friday-Sunday week:

UTPA INVITATIONAL RndRob on-campus, @ EdinburgTX
-(Toledo, @TXPanAmerican, SCUpstate, @TexasSt, {VictoryU}),

Saturday:

Louisville-@Butler(BG), @FLAtlantic-GeoMason, @OralRoberts-AustinPeay.

* - ["-- Same as the Old Boss." -- The Who]

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Top 25 - 11 Nov 14 - [] Column

1. North Carolina (2-0)
2. Ohio State (1-0)
3. Kentucky (1-0)
4. Connecticut (1-0)
5. Pittsburgh (2-0)
6. Syracuse (1-0)
7. Xavier (1-0)
8. Florida (1-0)
9. Louisville (2-0)
10. Wisconsin (1-0)
11. Duke (1-0)
12. Notre Dame (1-0)
13. Michigan
14. Temple
15. Purdue (1-0)
16. Missouri (1-0)
17. Gonzaga (1-0)
18. Villanova (1-0)
19. Memphis
20. Texas (1-0)
21. Cleveland State (1-0)
22. Vanderbilt (1-1)
23. Marquette (1-0)
24. Kansas (1-0)
25. California (2-0)

Honorable Mention:

Loyola Marymount (1-1), Evansville (1-0).