On the first five days of conference tourneys, the Buffet gave to me…
NOTHING.
Call it a kitchen fire. Health department shutdown. We’d like to blame understaffing, but when has the Buffet not been understaffed? In an amazing turn of events, the Buffet’s Editor has a 50-60 hour a week job and publishes the Buffet with consistent regularity – then, leaves that job, has less hours and suddenly the Buffet is empty.
WELL NO MORE. With apologies to LL Cool J – we will call it a come back even though we've been here for years … so…
ON THE FIFTH DAY OF CONFERENCE TOURNEYS, THE BUFFET GAVE TO ME…
Several auto-bidders, The Rise & Fall of Osiris, The Last Sighting of Stephen Curry, A Lengthy Waiting Line…, and a bunch of spoiled brats in the AmEast…
Championship is set – And we’re calling this the D.J. Rivera Revenge Tour. Backstory, you ask? Ok, here goes – Rivera and Phil Martelli did not get along, so after last year (a semester of which he spent academically ineligible), Rivera transferred to Binghamton, he petitioned the NCAA for a Hardship waiver, saying his academic issues & issues with Coach Martelli were the result of an incident that took place in his life in the summer before and contributed to his need to transfer and start fresh. The NCAA, in a rare show of compassion and sense, bought in, waiving the 1-year penalty normally required of a transfer. Well, when he turned out to be incredibly talented and lead the AmEast in scoring, other AmEast schools didn’t feel so cool about the decision, and expressed their displeasure by not only failing to rightfully vote Rivera as AmEast Player of the Year, but not even including him on the Conference First Team (again, despite being the league’s leading scorer) – said the league commissioner:
““It wasn’t a protest toward the kid at all,” said Patrick Nero, the America East commissioner.
“It was a protest toward the N.C.A.A. in allowing him to be eligible. It’s unfortunate, I don’t think it’s right. It’s unfair to the young man. He didn’t do anything wrong.””
an improbable run by UMBC that began with a pair of OT wins knocking out the #2 and #3 seeds – UMBC winning 79-75 in OT over Boston U and
Meanwhile, business as usual for Binghamton, after Hartford won the play-in game over Maine 65-56, the Bearcats took out the Whalers (really the Hawks) 73-65, and then out-lasted New Hampshire, thanks to a closing second steal and dunk by DJ Rivera ending the first season UNH has shown a pulse in years…
Who’s Hot? Darryl Proctor has found the magic of a year ago, it was his 33 points (2 of which forced overtime) that helped UMBC overcome an 8 point deficit with 3:13 left (Boston U scored 1 point in that last 3:13 and only 9 overall from that point on and overtime). Justin Fry had 19 against BU, and automatic Buffet favorite, Chauncey Gilliam, had 16 of his own. In the semis, Jay Greene, a 13 point scorer held to just 2 in the quarters, had 29 points and 6 assists, while Darryl Proctor chipped in 15 and 8 rebounds.
The two-headed Binghamton monster got started early against Hartford, as Malik Avlin used 15/18 FT shooting to help him to 29 points, Emanuel Maybin added 21, and a double-double for DJ Rivera (12 pts, 11 rebs) against Hartford. Then Am East scoring champ (curiously left off the All America East first team), DJ Rivera had 26 points and 8 rebounds, while Emanuel Mayben helped himself to 19 points of his own
Championship game preview coming March 14th … the Revenge tour continues.
For those conferences who have not started, finished, or are starting tonight – A comprehensive in the Waiting Line… will be presented following publishing of this lengthy 6 days of Conference Tourneys.
Atlantic Sun.
Put them in the
Put them in the Southern … Qualify for NCAA Tournament (remember us
Put them in the Atlantic Sun …
QUALIFY FOR NCAA TOURNAMENT
East Tennessee State is back, and the legend of Timmy Smith (and the back to back seasons of last second shots barely missing a chance to knock off an overrated BCS conference school) rides again.
The team is paced by a pair of guards – Mike Smith, a 6’6” Junior; a former Atlantic Sun POY, 6’1 senior Guard Courtney Pigram – and leading scorer, 6’4 Sr. forward, Kevin Tiggs.
Tiggs leads the Bucs with 21.5 points and 4.8 rebounds; Pigram averaging 17.6 pts, 3.4 rebounds and 4.2 assists, while Smith with a bright Atlantic Sun future ahead of him, puts in 15.5 points and 7.7 rebounds.
6’7 Sr forward Greg Hamlin (5 pts, 5 rebs) and 6’8 freshman forward Isiah Brown 4.7 pts, 4.5 rebs) round out the starters, while the bench pretty much consists of 6’4 sophomore Tommy Hubbard (4.1 pts, 4.6 rebs, 90% FT shooter) and no one else -- Micah Williams (4.5 pts, 2.1 rebs) will get 10-14 minutes per game, and Jarvis Jones (3.4 pts) & Seth Coy (2.9 pts, 2 rebs) will fight for their 10, but they aren’t the focus of the Murray Bartow’s rotation.
How Did they Get Here?
On the strength of a 53-43 second half, Kevin Tiggs 37 points, Mike Smith’s 19-11 double-double, and Courtney Pigram putting up 15 and handing out 5 assists, ETSU cruised to a first round win over Stetson 90-76
In a demon-exorcism worthy of a Ouiji board, East Tenessee used an 8-0 run to start the second half, to make a 5 point halftime game ina 13 point game that never turned around – and became semi-cruise of a win 88-74, behind 30 points for Courtney Pigram, the 13th of which put him over 2,000 (just the second player in Atlantic Sun history to do so), Kevin Tiggs added 21, Mike Smith had 19 – and Tommy Hubbard added 11 off the bench, avenging last year’s crushing Atlantic Sun championship game lost that saw ETSU blow a late 10-point lead, get called for a questionable technical and then watch Belmont nearly, but not quite, knock off Duke.
And then, in the final, ETSU did away with the competitive first half, going up 43-28 at halftime over top-seeded Jacksonville, the Dolphins were seeking their first NCAA tourney appearance since 1986. Tournament MOP Kevin Tiggs had 21 points, and Mike Smith added his 2nd double-double of the tournament, dropping in 22 pts/12 rebounds – and the point spread allowed Micah Williams to 20 extended minutes, and he added 16 pts.
Atlantic Sun All-Conference Team
James Florence, Jr G, Mercer
Adnan Hodzic, Soph C Lipscomb
Alex Renfore, Sr Guard, Belmont, 2008-09 Atlantic Sun Player of the Year
Ben Smith, Jr. Guard,
Kevin Tiggs, Sr F,
Cliff Warren,
Season Trends/Outlook: ETSU has the look and feel of a 16 seed, a 14 point loss @Temple, a 13 point loss @Bradley, but they beat Southern Conference finalist
Atlantic 10
Please see separate preview produced by Dan Smith, avid Buffet reader.
Big East
Conference tourney began today, with a couple of upsets (St. John's ending G'Town's slim hopes, and Cincy continuing their late season crash to DePaul (DePaul's first BE win of the season)
Big Sky
Semi-finals are tonight, review of those games, preview of the championship, and what has happened to date, coming tomorrow.
Big South
"Patience, Highlander. You have done well. But it'll take time. You are generations being born and dying. You are at one with all living things. Each man's thoughts and dreams are yours to know. You have power beyond imagination. Use it well, my friend."
Oh Radford, Christopher Lambert would be so proud, the Highlanders, whose regular season conference win total was just 2 less than they had put together the last THREE
years combined …
Say it with me, it’s fun to do: Artsiom Parakhouski! Artsiom Parakhouski! ART-SI-UM!
His Highlanders had a breeze of conference tournament, an Artsiom got them started putting in 24 points and 8 rebounds in an 82-58 cruising win over the Highs of High Points (Kenny Thomas added 19, and Amir Johnson came within an assist of a triple-double with 10 points, 11 rebounds and 9 assists) … this game snapped what had been a 6 game losing streak for Radford in the Big South tourney, and got RU in their first Big South semi in 6 years, and marked the first time in those same 6 years that High Point failed to reach the semis of the conference tournament at least.
2 days later, back in the Dedmon Center in Radford, Virginia – Kenny Thomas had 35 points and 5 rebounds, Artsiom kept the scoring light but had 13 rebounds and 5 blocks, and Joey Lynch-Flohr added 14 & 7, Amir Stat Sheet Johnson had 8 points, 4 rebounds, and 8 assists as Reid Augst’s UNC-Asheville Bulldogs were disposed of, 94-86.
Then, in a typical VMI shootout, ARTSIOM! Had 26 points, 18 rebounds, 3 blocks and dominated his way to a Highlander 108-94 win and a tournament mvp. As is to be expected in a regulation game where the winning team scores 108 points, a lot of people chipped in – Kenny Thomas had 15 points, 6 assists, and 10 rebounds, Stat Sheet Johnson had 16 points and 7 rebounds and 3 steals, and Joey Lynch-Flohr added 17 and 11. There were even some bench sightings – Chris McEachin had 18, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals and 5 blocks in his best Amir Johnson impression, and Eric Hall even added 10 of his own.
Who are they:
Starting 5:
ARTSIOM! Averaging a double-double, the name you love to mispronounce, Artsiom Parakhouski, the 6’11 inch Jr Center from
Amir Stat Sheet Johnson, 5’9 Jr G – 9.6 pts, 4.7 rebs, 5.3 assists, 1.4 steals, and a lot of reckless turnovers.
Kenny Thomas, 6’3 Sr Guard, 14.8 pts, 4.8 rebs, 2.2 assists, 1.3 steals
Joey Lynch-Flohr, 6’8, Jr. F/C, 13.7 pts, 5.8 rebs
Philip Martin, 6’6, Jr. F: 4.3 pts, 3.0 rebs, 1.4 blks
Off the bench:
Chris McEachin, 6’5 Soph G: 8.8 pts, 2.8 rebs, 2 ats, 1.3 steals
Eric Hall, 6’8 Sr. F, 4.6 pts, 4.4 rebounds, 1.4 blks
Season Trends/Prospects: The Buffet is biased, it favors college coaches who observe Yom Kippur. Brad Greenberg does, his brother Virginia Tech coach Seth Greenberg does, and now Brad Greenberg will also be observing the NCAA tournament. Radford, filled with underclassmen too a long time to find their footing, losing 9 of their first 10 games against Div 1 opponents.
The, led by a big powerful man in the middle from Minsk, and overcoming, the dismissal of the 4th leading scorer, Martell McDuffy, in early January, they quickly learned that this year’s Big South more closely resembled non-D1 schools than D1 schools.
As for potential tourney team interactions: Radford lost to Patriot reg season champion 83-69; lost at Virginia Tech by 13, and at Clemson by 16.
They way they dominated their conference, I see a 15 seed in Radford’s future, but a quick and potential demoralizing exit – especially if a quick and athletic team with big guards is their opponent.
Big 12
Conference tourney begins March 11.
Big 10
Conference tourney preview begins March 11
Big West
Conference tourney beging March 11
Colonial
Seriously, who doesn’t love Eric Maynor? All he does is knock out Evil Empires, and somehow 15 years later (or so it seems), and then he says things like this before last night’s CAA Final:
“My coach, everything he tells me I listen," Maynor said of coach Anthony Grant. "I try to do everything he tells me to do. At shootaround today he told me, 'Hey, at the beginning, feels things out, get your teammates involved, make the game easier for them and stuff will open up for you.' And as I'm out there doing it, I'm saying to myself, 'Yeah, he's right.'”
Now, he’s requalifying for the tournament, and doing so with relative ease –
A 61-52 opener round win versus Georgia State, powered by a 29-12 run over a 13-minute period that put VCU up for good and for comfort, was led by Maynor 18 points, and 11 came from Bradford Burgess and Brandon Rozzell chipped in 12 – A quiet night scoring for Larry Sanders, with 8 points, but helped out with 6 rebounds and 3 blocked shots.
Proving that the bitter rivalry days of Isaiah Hunter, Alex Loughton, Arnaud Dahi & Drew Williamson are gone, the Rams got 23 points, 4 rebs and 4 assists from Maynor, 12 and 14 from Larry Sanders (and not much else quite frankily) as they slept-walked their way to an 8 point win.
Finally, in the freest money this side of the Siena Saints (more on them later), VCU turned a -4 pre-game line into a 30-19 halftime lead and then a 71-50 CAA championship, Conference Tournament MVP Eric Maynor had 25 points to go with 3 rebounds, 2 steals and 8 assists and making Garry Shandling proud, Larry Sanders had a near triple-double the hard way: 18 pts, 20 rebounds and 7 blocks.
Season Treands/Outlook: Honestly, no slight to the CAA or VCU, as every Buffet reader knows our love for the small school – but how is Anthony Grant not coaching in a BCS Conference. You mean to tell me that we really needed to hire the 15th coach from Coach K’s coaching tree to fail. Couldn’t Stanford have just asked
Even if they didn’t seem to do so with regularity in the regular season – 6 point loss at Waiting Line… member Rhode Island, followed up by a 12 pt win over MWC co-champ New Mexico, an 11 point loss to Oklahoma, and a 5-point loss to then not nearly as putrid Vanderbilt … VCU seems like a 12 seed, but depending on how conference tourneys go, they could shift down to a 13, or all the way up to a 10/11 … they will more than likely make life miserable for someone, if not win a game or two.
Conference
Conference tourney preview begins March 11.
Horizon League
So, how do you respond to being picked to finish 6th in your conference? How about winning the conference regular season title by 2 games, beating handily, in their building, the Atlantic 10 champions?
Promoted Assistant Brad Stevens lost a lot of players from last year (a group who hit the Sweet 16 in 2007 and lost in OT in the second round to #2 Tennessee a year ago) – All graduating were: Julian Betko, Pete Campbell, A.J. Graves, Mike Green, and Drew Streicher … but developing came Matt Howard and to the program came Mr. Gordon Hayward & Mr. Shelvin Mack, to give Matt Howard, Willie Veasley and Zach Hahn some company… and the next result was far exceeding expectations.
On the flip-side, Cleveland St coming off a 21-13 season, where they reached the Horizon Finals and had a sweet hyphenated star (J’Nathan Bullock) were picked to win the Horizon, as season that began with a close home loss to Butler, a win at Syracuse, but then a serious stumble to start the Horizon league season, because a disappointing mirror-image 12-6, that can all be erased tonight on the strength of J’Nathan & Friends berth in the Horizon League finals.
How they got here:
The top seed always has an easier go in the HL, beginning their play in the semis, and Butler’s semi against Wright State stayed tight through out, but thanks to 24 points and 6 rebounds from Matt Howard, 11 from Zach Hahn off the bench, and limiting a Vaughn Duggins-less Raider team to contested shot after contested shot, Butler advanced to tonight’s final 62-57
Trailing 59-50 with 5:00 minutes to go, it seemed as though the Vikings’ disappointing season was going adios right away … a 13-3 run over 3 minutes, later, and CSU had a 66-55 win Norris Cole had 26 points during a rare off-night from J’Nathan, and Cedric Jackson filled in admirably with 13 points and 8 rebounds (J’Nathan had a 2-10 night, but added 7 rebounds).
The storied Horizon careers of Mike Shachther and Ryan Tilema saw their curtains drop, as a 6-point halftime deficit was erased on the strength of a 40-28 Viking second half – powered by Norris Cole’s continued elevation as go-to-guy (23 more points), Cedric Jackson’s 14-8, and J’Nathan Bullock’s 16 points and 8 rebounds.
Previous meetings:
12/4/08: 7 points were scored in 19 seconds (amazing considering only 98 were scored in 40) – including a 3pointer by Zach Hahn with 1 second left to give Butler a 50-48 win … as the score might suggest, Butler’s leading scorer in this game had 9. Yes, 9. Meaning the game winning basket by Zach Hahn immediately gave him 1/3 total scored by
After using a 12-0 run to erase a late 10-point deficit, the shots stopped falling for
Outlook: Just imagine, in two games, Gordon Hawyard barely has double-digits against Cleveland St, and now he’s a seasoned 1st year, he is primed for a big game – but then again, Cleveland St is loaded and playing like the team we thought they’d be ….
Buffet Prediction:
Horizon League All-League First Team
Matt Howard,
J’Nathan Bullock,
Ryan Tillema,
Gordon
Josh Mayo, UIC, Senior Guard
All-League Second Team
Cedric Jackson,
Todd Brown,
Tone Boyl Milwaukee Jr. G
Urule Igbavboa Valparaiso, Sr. F
Ivy League.
Cornell was 2009’s first NCAA tourney team (unless you count Duke, which we all know got their invitation at Midnight Madness simply because they are “Duke” and people get all frothy for Coach K & his gold medal).
Who Do I Need To Know:
2007-08 Ivy League Player of the Year, Louis Dale (5’11 Jr G) is back, although, he has ceded go-to status to junior forward Ryan Wittman (6’6, 215 lb Jr. F). Wittman averaging 18.5 points, 3.6 rebounds, 2.7 assists per game – while Dale adds 13.5, 4.3 rebounds and 3.6 assists.
Jeff Foote, a rare 7-footer out of the Ivy (7’0, 245 lb Sr C), gives them 12 and 7, 2.1 blocks, and even 2.3 assists.
Geoff Reeves (6’4, 180 lb Jr G – 9.1 points, 2.0 rebounds, 42% 3pt shooter, 95% FT shooter) &
Alex Tyler (6’7, 235 Jr. F-C – 6.7 pts, 4.6 rebs) round out the starting five, with Chris Wroblewski (6’0 freshman guard, 6.7 pts, 2.6 assists, 1.57 A/TO ratio) and Brian Keefer (6’7 Sr. F – 3.8 points, 2.9 rebounds) providing the depth.
(Let’s see, the reigning Ivy POY is just a junior, the likely 2009 POY is a junior), the starting point guard is a junior, as is the starting power forward, then the first man off the bench is a freshman point guard who can take care of the ball – anyone else ready to lock in Cornell’s tournament bid in 2010 as the Buffet is?)
Season Trends: We all know the most important feature of the Buffet is predicting the tournament, celebrating the smaller conferences, and preparing for free money distrubtion in Vegas, with that in mind, here’s what you need to know regarding Cornell’s season versus tournament/major conference teams:
To say Cornell struggled against non-conference teams/potential tournament qualifiers is an understatement. They lost by 18 at Siena, 17 at Minnesota, even by 15 at Indiana – I’m pretty sure the Fraternity IM championship team in Bloomington could stay within 15 of the Hoosiers right now.
Prospects: Likely 15 seed – with one year’s tourney experience, and some size on the front court, Cornell is not going to be a quick pushover, but their non-conference efforts suggest a similar fate to their 77-53 loss to Stanford and the Slow-pez Twins last year.
MAAC
Oh When the Saints!... Go Marching In!
Kenny Hasbrouck? Goood.
Edwin Ubiles? Goood!
Ronald Moore? Goood!
Alex Franklin? Goood!
The
Who Are they:
Any reader of the Buffet knows these names, Ubiles, Hasbrouck, Moore, Rossiter, Franklin…
Kenny Hasbrouck, 6’3 Sr. G, 14.8 pts, 3.2 rebs, 2.9 assists, 2.0 steals
Edwin Ubiles, 6’6 Jr. G-F, 14.6 pts, 4.8 rebs, 2.2 assists, 1.4 steals, 1.0 blocks
Ronald Moore, 5’11 Jr. G, 8.8 pts, 3.5 rebs, 6.3 assists, 1.5, 2.8 assist/TO
Alex Franklin, 6’5 Jr. F, 13.6 pts, 7.3 rebs, 1.3 steals
Ryan Rossiter, 6’9 Soph F, 10.0 rebs, 7.8 rebs, 1.2 steals, 1.9 blocks
Off-the-bench
Clarence Jackson, 6’3 Soph G, 8.3 pts.
Josh Duell, 6’7 Sr. F, 11.7 pts, 2.3 rebs
Owen Wignot, 6’6 Fr. F, 10.5 pts, 2.3 rebs, 1.7 assists
Season Trends/Prospects: Came out of the gates strong this season, beat
Likely a 12 seed, can you say prime candidate for the ol’ 5/12 upset?
Mid-American Conference
Wally? Gary Trent? Dan Majerle?
5 comments:
And don't forget that York Suburban plays Strath Haven tonight in the PIAA class AAA boys' basketball octavofinals.
D3 Sweet 16 preview coming later in the week.
On to the quarters!
York Suburban 59
Strath Haven 45
For the first time in school history, the Trojans (26-3) move on to the final eight of the class AAA state tournament.
It was the fifth straight time a YS opponent scored under 50 points. Notice that I did not type that the Trojans have "held" five straight opponents under 50; when there's no shot clock, and you run a spread offense with lots of back-door cuts, the other team scoring isn't necessarily a function of the defense. Nevertheless, Suburban did harass Calvin Newell, a six-foot guard averaging 29.7 points per game and allegedly being recruited by (i.e., "has attracted notice from; either way, he's apparently a likely D1 player, but perhaps not a Big Leaster) ex'Cuse is in the House, to almost ten points below that average, on 7-22 shooting, and Strath Haven as a team to just 35 points through the first 30:24 of the 32-minute game, leading by as much as 22 before Strath Haven outscored them by 8 in those last 96 seconds.
Suburban tips off against District II champ Crestwood (24-5) Friday night at a time and place to be announced.
By the way, when will we see D. Smith's A-10 preview? And who do we know in the Ohio Valley who's lamer than D. Smith's friend who bailed at the last minute on their planned trip to Hinkle Fieldhouse tonight?
What would Florida look like this year with Anthony Grant? Can't argue with Donovan's two titles and three Final Fours, but it's feast or famine down there.
Mike Anderson may be headed home to Alabama.
Avillo--
I'm rewriting the preview in advance of today's first round and will e-mail to Schwartzie later today.
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