College BBall Roundup 12/13 - Weekend Mop Up

[Mano]

Notable games and goings on: (Alright, big review here, covering Fri through today. Meant to get this out last night, but fell asleep watching football)

Next UConn game: Sun. Dec. 20th vs UMass-Lowell @ 4pm

Next 5 UConn games:
-Wed. Dec. 23rd vs CCSU 12:30pm
-Tue. Dec. 29th at Texas 9pm
-Sat. Jan. 2nd at Tulane 7:30pm
-Tue. Jan. 5th vs Temple 8pm
-Sat. Jan. 9th vs Memphis 7pm

UConn in the NBA: In a 35 point loss to the Cavs Bazz registered a measly 3 pts, 5 ast in 19 min. on Friday. In a pair of wins over the weekend, Drum had 18/16/4 against the 76ers and 8/11 against the Pacers the next night (He's gotta have the inside track to the C spot for the East All-Stars, I'm sure Gasol will get his usual votes but it should be his spot). Kemba had one of his best games of the season with 33/6/5 as the Hornets trounced the Grizz on Friday, Lamb chipped in with 10/4. Then in a followup loss to the Celtics he had an off shooting night and went for 16/6/4, Lamb had 9/3.

Future UConn opponents: Georgetown beat UNC-Wilmington 87-82 (That's some shaky sh it right there Hoyas)

Former UConn opponents: #6 Maryland beat Maryland-Eastern Shore 77-56 (Stone w/12/6), #20 Gonzaga lost to UCLA 71-66 (Ali was scoreless in 5 min. Perkins had 10 pts, 5 rbs), Michigan beat Delaware St. 80-33, Sacred Heart lost to Lafayette 90-86 (Well that's just going to completely submarine our OOC RPI, thanks a lot SHU), Furman lost to Gardner-Webb 73-53, Maine lost to BC 91-60, EXCuse lost to St. John's 84-72 (Can Boeheim just retire now, I don't think they'll completely slide into oblivion but I'd like to see them try), UNH lost to Colgate 75-59

Top 25 Action: #1 MSU beat Florida 58-52, #2 KU beat Oregon St. 82-67, #3 UNC lost to Texas 84-82 (Hopefully a big butterfly effect win for us when we beat UT. Don't know how telling it is about his adjustment so far but Tevin Mack barely played in what was a close game throughout), #4 ISU beat Ark-Pine Bluff 78-64, #5 UK beat ASU 72-58 (Briscoe with 9 pts), #7 Sooners beat Oral Roberts 96-73 (Hield with a high yield of 30 pts), #9 Nova beat La Salle 76-47, #11 Purdue beat Youngstown St. 95-64, #13 Arizona beat Mizzou 88-52, #14 WVU beat Louisiana-Monroe 100-58, #15 PC beat Bryant 74-67 (Toughed out a win minus Dunn), #18 Butler beat Tenn 94-86, #22 Louisville beat Eastern Michigan 86-53, #24 Oregon lost to Boise St. 74-72 (Dorsey still out), #25 Utah lost to Wichita St. 67-50

Our AAC Chum(s): #23 Cincinnati #12 Xavier 65-55, UCF beat Fl Atlantic 75-61, Memphis beat Manhatten 89-57, Houston beat LSU in OT 105-98 (Simmons was a stat-stuffer 13/14/5/3/2, not really a go-to scorer yet though, only took 7 shots), USF lost to NC St. 65-46 (AMA w/11/14), Temple lost to St. Joe's in OT 66-65, Tulsa beat Missouri St. 70-61

P5 Winners: Pitt, TCU, Penn St., Illinois, Ole Miss (Wonder where Marshall Henderson is these days?), Cal, Texas A&M beat K St., Washington, Indiana, Colorado, Arkansas, Ok St beat Minny, Stanford, Northwestern, Bama beat Clemson, Washington St., Pitt, USC (Boatwright with 17 pts), Va Tech (Clarke with 11 pts, 6 rbs, 4 ast), FSU (XRM with 7 pts, 11 ast), Notre Dame, Nebraska beat URI (Jared Terrell with 8 pts, 5 rbs, 4 ast. Iverson with 15/8)

P5 Upsets: Auburn lost to Middle Tennessee 88-81 in OT, Rutgers lost to George Washington 83-49 (I just shake my head and cry a little every time I consider their situation and ours. GW is gonna ruin some brackets come March me thinks), Miss St. lost to UMKC 72-67 (Malik Newman with an inefficient 18/4, he would've looked great in a Husky Uni. I'll always hate the Bulldogs because of '95-'96)

Other News & Notes: Marquette beat interstate rival Wisconsin 57-55 (Traci Carter was a big fat zero in 13 min, o pts, 4 to's. It'll be interesting to see if Ellenson sticks around past this year), Derrick Jones with 12/4 as UNLV won, Nych Smith had 9 pts, 4 ast in a Fordham win (Hardnett DNP)

 

[huskyharry]

Thanks...but there is nothing measly about five assists in 19 minutes!

 

[Mano]

Thanks...but there is nothing measly about five assists in 19 minutes!

No, you're right, 5 assists is nothing to sneeze at. I'm generally bullish about Shabazz as a player and think of him as being at least capable of becoming a solid back up point. But he needs to start grabbing that bull by its horns and start to torch teams with what should be his strengths of shooting and playmaking. If he has any hope of cutting into Payton's minutes it'll be doing that, because it'll never be on the defensive end of the ball where he can pass him. So, with that said, even if it's garbage minutes in a blowout I want him to show out and not turtle under the pressure.

 

[Matrim55]

No, you're right, 5 assists is nothing to sneeze at. I'm generally bullish about Shabazz as a player and think of him as being at least capable of becoming a solid back up point. But he needs to start grabbing that bull by its horns and start to torch teams with what should be his strengths of shooting and playmaking. If he has any hope of cutting into Payton's minutes it'll be doing that, because it'll never be on the defensive end of the ball where he can pass him. So, with that said, even if it's garbage minutes in a blowout I want him to show out and not turtle under the pressure.

Shabazz isn't going to cut into Payton's minutes. Since the lineup change Orlando has been really good, and they'll stick with their current rotation.

The good news about Shabazz's season is that he's cut his turnover rate tremendously, from over 17% to just a tick above 12%, and done so while boosting his usage rate and keeping his assist rate steady at 28%. That's crucial for a backup point guard - Skiles (or any coach) wants to know that he can run the offense without duck**ng it up. Right now Shabazz is doing that, and hasn't been a sieve defensively.

The problem is that he's not shooting worth a damn. 36% from the floor, 31% from 3, and even under 70%.

Obviously that's a little bit shocking, but the fact that Skiles keeps giving him minutes tells me they believe he'll come around. Once he does - if he gets up to something like 43%, 38%, 82% splits - he'll be an excellent backup PG in the league for a long time, sort of a cross between JJ Barea and Aaron Brooks.

 

[Mano]

Shabazz isn't going to cut into Payton's minutes. Since the lineup change Orlando has been really good, and they'll stick with their current rotation.

The good news about Shabazz's season is that he's cut his turnover rate tremendously, from over 17% to just a tick above 12%, and done so while boosting his usage rate and keeping his assist rate steady at 28%. That's crucial for a backup point guard - Skiles (or any coach) wants to know that he can run the offense without duck**ng it up. Right now Shabazz is doing that, and hasn't been a sieve defensively.

The problem is that he's not shooting worth a damn. 36% from the floor, 31% from 3, and even under 70%.

Obviously that's a little bit shocking, but the fact that Skiles keeps giving him minutes tells me they believe he'll come around. Once he does - if he gets up to something like 43%, 38%, 82% splits - he'll be an excellent backup PG in the league for a long time, sort of a cross between JJ Barea and Aaron Brooks.

The shooting no question needs to be improved and if it does, that's where I see him stealing minutes from Payton. Close games down the stretch are where you need guys on the floor that can create and finish. Not exactly Payton's strength. Bazz and Oladipo, or Fournier and Harris, could be some potent lineups if he could just find that touch.

 

[80shusky]

Notable games and goings on: (Alright, big review here, covering Fri through today. Meant to get this out last night, but fell asleep watching football)

Next UConn game: Sun. Dec. 20th vs UMass-Lowell @ 4pm

Next 5 UConn games:
-Wed. Dec. 23rd vs CCSU 12:30pm
-Tue. Dec. 29th at Texas 9pm
-Sat. Jan. 2nd at Tulane 7:30pm
-Tue. Jan. 5th vs Temple 8pm
-Sat. Jan. 9th vs Memphis 7pm

UConn in the NBA: In a 35 point loss to the Cavs Bazz registered a measly 3 pts, 5 ast in 19 min. on Friday. In a pair of wins over the weekend, Drum had 18/16/4 against the 76ers and 8/11 against the Pacers the next night (He's gotta have the inside track to the C spot for the East All-Stars, I'm sure Gasol will get his usual votes but it should be his spot). Kemba had one of his best games of the season with 33/6/5 as the Hornets trounced the Grizz on Friday, Lamb chipped in with 10/4. Then in a followup loss to the Celtics he had an off shooting night and went for 16/6/4, Lamb had 9/3.

Future UConn opponents: Georgetown beat UNC-Wilmington 87-82 (That's some shaky sh it right there Hoyas)

Former UConn opponents: #6 Maryland beat Maryland-Eastern Shore 77-56 (Stone w/12/6), #20 Gonzaga lost to UCLA 71-66 (Ali was scoreless in 5 min. Perkins had 10 pts, 5 rbs), Michigan beat Delaware St. 80-33, Sacred Heart lost to Lafayette 90-86 (Well that's just going to completely submarine our OOC RPI, thanks a lot SHU), Furman lost to Gardner-Webb 73-53, Maine lost to BC 91-60, EXCuse lost to St. John's 84-72 (Can Boeheim just retire now, I don't think they'll completely slide into oblivion but I'd like to see them try), UNH lost to Colgate 75-59

Top 25 Action: #1 MSU beat Florida 58-52, #2 KU beat Oregon St. 82-67, #3 UNC lost to Texas 84-82 (Hopefully a big butterfly effect win for us when we beat UT. Don't know how telling it is about his adjustment so far but Tevin Mack barely played in what was a close game throughout), #4 ISU beat Ark-Pine Bluff 78-64, #5 UK beat ASU 72-58 (Briscoe with 9 pts), #7 Sooners beat Oral Roberts 96-73 (Hield with a high yield of 30 pts), #9 Nova beat La Salle 76-47, #11 Purdue beat Youngstown St. 95-64, #13 Arizona beat Mizzou 88-52, #14 WVU beat Louisiana-Monroe 100-58, #15 PC beat Bryant 74-67 (Toughed out a win minus Dunn), #18 Butler beat Tenn 94-86, #22 Louisville beat Eastern Michigan 86-53, #24 Oregon lost to Boise St. 74-72 (Dorsey still out), #25 Utah lost to Wichita St. 67-50

Our AAC Chum(s): #23 Cincinnati #12 Xavier 65-55, UCF beat Fl Atlantic 75-61, Memphis beat Manhatten 89-57, Houston beat LSU in OT 105-98 (Simmons was a stat-stuffer 13/14/5/3/2, not really a go-to scorer yet though, only took 7 shots), USF lost to NC St. 65-46 (AMA w/11/14), Temple lost to St. Joe's in OT 66-65, Tulsa beat Missouri St. 70-61

P5 Winners: Pitt, TCU, Penn St., Illinois, Ole Miss (Wonder where Marshall Henderson is these days?), Cal, Texas A&M beat K St., Washington, Indiana, Colorado, Arkansas, Ok St beat Minny, Stanford, Northwestern, Bama beat Clemson, Washington St., Pitt, USC (Boatwright with 17 pts), Va Tech (Clarke with 11 pts, 6 rbs, 4 ast), FSU (XRM with 7 pts, 11 ast), Notre Dame, Nebraska beat URI (Jared Terrell with 8 pts, 5 rbs, 4 ast. Iverson with 15/8)

P5 Upsets: Auburn lost to Middle Tennessee 88-81 in OT, Rutgers lost to George Washington 83-49 (I just shake my head and cry a little every time I consider their situation and ours. GW is gonna ruin some brackets come March me thinks), Miss St. lost to UMKC 72-67 (Malik Newman with an inefficient 18/4, he would've looked great in a Husky Uni. I'll always hate the Bulldogs because of '95-'96)

Other News & Notes: Marquette beat interstate rival Wisconsin 57-55 (Traci Carter was a big fat zero in 13 min, o pts, 4 to's. It'll be interesting to see if Ellenson sticks around past this year), Derrick Jones with 12/4 as UNLV won, Nych Smith had 9 pts, 4 ast in a Fordham win (Hardnett DNP)

Great post thank you.