Dave Sez

The Week To Be - 1/30 - 2/5/2006

After this week's games, all of the ACC teams will be at or just the middle of their conference schedule. Things are still a bit murky in the middle, but a few clear strata are developing. Duke is by itself in the top-tier. NC State, UNC and BC form the second tier. Maryland might have been in that group, but I need to see how they play without Chris McCray. The middle is filled with Miami, FSU, Clemson, Maryland and Virginia. Wake, Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech are in that bottom group, but all have shown the ability to rise up. I wouldn't be surprised if the basement team wins four games this year.

01/31/06 Georgia Tech @ Virginia Tech - Blacksburg, Va. RSN/ XM 191 7:00 PM
Can the Hokies capitalize on their shocking win at Wake Forest on Saturday? I honestly don't know. It will depend in part on whether Coleman Collins is back. One thing is for certain - given the way these two teams play, this one won't be pretty.

01/31/06 Wake Forest @ Miami - Coral Gables, FL RSN/ XM 192 9:00 PM
Do the Demon Deacons have any residual pride from the Chris Paul years? If so, I haven't seen it yet and Miami might be a tough place to find it. Their trio of guards (and do NOT call them Lethal Weapon 3 - that's a disgrace) should give Wake's young backcourt fits. I think the Deacon slide will continue.

02/01/06 Virginia @ NC State - Raleigh, N.C. RSN/ XM 192 7:00 PM
I keep doubting the Cavs and they keep surprising me. I don't see any good reason why they should win this game, but State always seems capable of a stinker. Given how poorly they played last week against Seton Hall though, I think the Pack will be focused and their spread offense will expose Virginia's inexperience.

02/01/06 Clemson @ Florida State - Tallahassee, FL XM 191 7:00 PM
How do you predict a game like this? These teams seem capable of anything. Both are in the very rare territory of having NCAA bids still a possibility this late in the season. Although they don't have much of a home court advantage, I'll go with the Seminoles and their surprising #30 Pomeroy rating.

02/01/06 Duke @ Boston College - Chestnut Hill, Mass. ESPN/ XM 193 9:00 PM
Now this should be a great game! The BC fans were calling for Duke late in their narrow win over Georgia Tech. They have the horses to beat Duke, no doubt. Set your TiVo for this one!

02/02/06 North Carolina @ Maryland - College Park, Md. ESPN/ XM191 7:00 PM
Another good game! I love the effort that Tyler Hansbrough gives North Carolina. The whole team seems to feed off him (most of the time, that is. Rayshawn Terry often appears to be more interested in checking out the ladies in the crowd than in actually playing.). Maryland should be able to force enough pressure to create a lot of turnovers. The question is whether they can turn those around into points.

02/04/06 Florida State @ Duke - Durham, N.C. RSN/ XM 192 12:00 PM
The Noles have played pretty well this season, but I don't know that I'll ever be able to predict them to win in Cameron. Duke could win this one by a ton.

02/04/06 Wake Forest @ Virginia - Charlottesville, VA RJ*/ XM 193 1:30 PM
Hmmmm. One team has two blue chip, proven ACC talents but no heart at all. One team has one blue-chip talent and a bunch of pick-up players but tons of heart. For the sake of what's right about sports, UVA should win this game. At some point though, I think Wake will wake up.

02/04/06 Miami @ Georgia Tech - Atlanta, Ga. RJ*/ XM 191 1:30 PM
I think the Jackets will take this one. They just seem due.

02/04/06 Clemson @ North Carolina - Chapel Hill, NC RJ/ XM 192 4:00 PM
Is this the year that Clemson finally ends their perfectly imperfect record in Chapel Hill?

No.

02/04/06 Boston College @ Virginia Tech - Blacksburg, Va. XM 191 7:00 PM
This wasn't even a good game when it was a Big East matchup. This has a slight hint of upset to it though. Don't be shocked.

02/05/06 Maryland @ NC State - Raleigh, N.C. FSN/ XM 191 2:00 PM
Big week for Maryland - UNC at home and on the road against State. The program is clinging tightly to the memories of the Dixon/Blake/Baxter years. They see themselves as an elite program, but they need to consistently win games like this over the conference upstarts if they want to make that vision a reality. Me, I think the ties to those great teams were completely broken last year and that Gary Williams has already missed his window of opportunity to take Maryland to that Syracuse, Michigan State, Arizona level. It's still a very good program, but just not quite national elite. Still, they could win this game.

But they won't. State will be focused against the Turtles and will slowly take them apart with their passing.

The Week That Was - 1/23 - 1/29/2006

All in all, it wasn't a very good week for the ACC. After Duke's loss to Georgetown, the conference's three intraconference tilts seemed like great opportunities to shore up the overall conference rating. Unfortunately, that advantage was not taken, as the ACC went just 1-2 in those three games. And one of the losses was bad. You know which one I'm talking about. More below.

01/24/06 Florida State 75, Wake Forest 68 Winston-Salem, NC
Florida State wins road ACC games about as often Nigel Dixon missed a meal - rarely. Fortunately for the Seminoles, Wake Forest is in a giving mood this season. Despite having two players who should be first team all-conference performers, the Deacons are now officially the worst team in the ACC. The numbers may not show it just yet, but it's true. I'll piss on them some more below, as this was actually Wake's best game of the week.

01/24/06 Virginia 71, Miami 51 Charlottesville, Va.
With this win, Virginia moved to 4-2 in the ACC, the most shocking conference standing I've seen in years. The Cavaliers won four games all last season, and that was with Elton Brown, Devin Smith, Gary Forbes and Donte Minter still on the team. Four wins for the whole ACC season would have been monumentally successful for this meager collection of talent. But Dave Leitao has done a great job of getting these players to buy into a no-frills system. They play solid defense, they grab rebounds and they try to minimize mistakes. Sounds pretty simple, but after the Gillen years, it's a strange sight to see fundamentals in Charlottesville.

Virginia is guaranteed to finish at no worse than .500 through the first half of the ACC season. They may still finish with only four or five ACC wins, but even so, the season has already been a success.

01/25/06 Maryland 86, Georgia Tech 74 Atlanta, Ga.
The Duke Basketball Report previewed this game by digging up an old Dean Smith quote about being scared of teams in the first game after they lose a star player. Dean was right, teams very often do play better (at first) after losing a key player. They band together and overcome. It rarely lasts, but it can be very powerful for a game or two.

Of course, even without Chris McCray, Maryland is a better team than Georgia Tech right now.

01/25/06 Seton Hall 83, NC State 65 Raleigh, N.C.
If Clemson hadn't lost to Elon - at home - this would probably be the worst ACC loss of the year. It's not that Seton Hall is that bad - they've come a long way since losing to Duke by 473 points - it's that State played so poorly in this one. It looked like they just didn't care or didn't think they'd have to play hard at all. The Hall certainly played well, very well in fact, but that wasn't the whole story. What has State fans in a tizzy is that the Pack showed a bunch of the same problems that have plagued them in recent years - problems that seemed to have finally gone away - disorganized offense, long dry-spells, poor defensive rebounding, etc.

Add it all up though, and it doesn't really amount to much. It was one game and while I hate losing to Big East teams, nonconference games just don't count as much. State still has a very good chance to be something like a 3 or 4 seed in the NCAA tournament, possibly even a 2.

01/25/06 Boston College 81, North Carolina 74 Chapel Hill, N.C.
Don't look now, but Boston College is finally becoming the team we all thought they'd be. Carolina didn't play poorly in losing at home; they just lost to a better team. BC's 0-3 ACC start is officially old news.

01/26/06 Duke 80, Virginia Tech 67 Blacksburg, Va.
Solid rebound game for Duke. Did anyone think they wouldn't come out focused in this one? Sometimes the best thing for a very good team on a hot streak is to get beat. It helps the coaches get their messages through. It helps point out the key weaknesses. How else could Coach K convince Greg Paulus that he needs to take better care of the ball? If being aggressive and careless never costs him a loss, K's words might fall on deaf ears. Losing gets everyone's attention.

I already covered the other story from this game.

01/28/06 North Carolina 86, Arizona 69 Chapel Hill, N.C.
Now that was a nice effort from the young Tar Heels! After back-to-back losses to the Big East, the ACC needed a win over another major conference. And after three losses in four games, the Heels needed a win, period. Arizona is not a great team, but they are talented and athletic. The Heels just methodically put the game away early in the second half and held it. Very nice.

01/28/06 Temple 91, Maryland 85 Philadelphia, Pa.
Remember what I said about the euphoria following the loss of a key player? It's ephemeral. I guess Maryland already lost that lovin' feeling. Temple is better than in recent years, but Maryland really could have used that road win. I mean, Temple had a game less than two weeks ago where they scored 34 points. 34! J.J. Redick would be a two-point favorite by himself.

But like State's loss to Seton Hall, this one is of only limited damage. Maryland is still sitting at 4-2 in the ACC and in decent shape for an NCAA bid. They can't afford too many more upsets though.

01/28/06 Virginia Tech 76, Wake Forest 70 Winston-Salem, NC
Virginia Tech came into this game 0-6 in the ACC. Starting center Coleman Collins was absent, caring for his father. Starting forward Deron Washington was suspended. Reserve Shawn Harris was at his grandmother's funeral. The game was in Winston-Salem.

And yet, Virginia Tech won.

In fairness to Wake, Justin Gray didn't play either. But should that have mattered? Shouldn't Wake have felt like they absolutely had to win that game? The Deacons are done.

I've been ignoring the popular Internet rumor that Skip Prosser is going to leave after the season to take the Cincinnati job. After that game though, I'm thinking it's more likely. Prosser can't be happy right now. He can't be. Maybe he'll want a change of scenery. If the whole rumor is true, Wake would get West Virginia coach John Beilein and exiled coach Bob Huggins would take over in Morgantown. If it all happens that way, it might not be too bad for Wake. Beilein's a hell of a coach.

(Update: evidently Gregg Doyel is thinking the same thing.)

01/28/06 Duke 82, Virginia 63 Durham, N.C.
I hope to get an article out about what J.J. Redick did in this game. The simple way to describe is to say that he took 13 shots and scored 40 points. Incredible. Really, really incredible. Like most non-Duke fans, I find Redick slightly annoying and the constant fawning over his game nauseating. But on the flip side, there's one thing that always grabs me in sports and that's win an athlete actually lives up to and even exceeds outrageous expectations. That's why I like watching Tiger Woods. That's why I like watching LeBron James. Those guys had no way to live up to the hype and yet they did. J.J.'s doing the same thing right now. When I watch Duke play, I find myself secretly hoping that Redick will get hot and I'll something special. Just don't tell anyone.

01/29/06 NC State 94, Clemson 85 (2OT) Clemson, SC
Since when did Clemson students start doing Wake Forest's trademark jumping up and down thing while humming to that techno song? I mean, they are doing the exact same thing! Show some originality, Tiger fans. Show some pride.

Of course, with Wake on the serious decline, maybe it's a good time to beat them up and take their stuff.

For this game, Clemson blew it like they've blown some other games this year - with missed free throws. It was an important win for NC State, but they got very lucky. Clemson missed key free throws in the last seconds of both regulation and the first overtime.

01/29/06 Miami 84, Florida State 78 (OT) Tallahassee, Fla.
A nice rebound game for the Hurricanes after being spanked in Charlottesville. Both FSU and Miami have gotten themselves into legitimate bubble consideration at this point, so this game was pretty important for each. The loss doesn't cripple the Seminoles, but I think they are going to need to steal another road win, which would be their third this season. Florida State winning three road ACC games in one year is something like the fourth plague in Revelations, isn't it?

01/29/06 Boston College 66, Georgia Tech 64 Chestnut Hill, Mass.
There I go bragging about how BC had gotten their game on track and were rolling and then they very nearly were upset by what is likely the worst team in the ACC. In fairness to the Eagles, while they are a very good team, they are not terribly athletic and Georgia Tech is. Tech isn't necessarily good, but they can run and jump.

In the end, while they nearly blew it, BC held on and that's all that counts. With their fourth straight win, the Eagles moved from last place to fourth place in the ACC. I expect that they'll finish in either second or third.

And now for the updated standings:

Shelden The Friendly Landlord

You know Shelden Williams' reputation. He's the best interior defender in the country. He is Duke's all-time blocked shots leader. He was the national Defensive Player of the Year last season. He is The Landlord.

It's just a fact - the man is a great defensive player.

Or is it a fact? It's been said so many times by so many different people, that everyone just accepts it now. The problem is, I've had a nagging feeling since last year that it just isn't true. Sure, he blocks a lot of shots and he grabs a lot of rebounds. He certainly is a good defensive player, but why is it that so many players seem to have good games against him?

I started wondering this last year late in the season when there was a debate about who was the best big man in the ACC. At the time, Shelden was the general choice, but by the end of the season the argument swung unequivocally to Sean May. All season though, one argument against Shelden was that both May and Eric Williams had had big games against the Landlord.

Then this season, a few more big guys had monster efforts against Duke. First, Marco Killingsworth made a national name for himself after abusing Duke for 34 and 10 in the ACC - Big Ten Challenge. Later, it was NC State's Cedric Simmons having his breakout game in Cameron - 28 points, nine rebounds, seven blocked shots and three steals.

How is it that these guys all went off against the best defensive player in the country? Some folks say it's because of Duke's defensive philosophy. The idea is that because Williams is so strong underneath, they don't double-team the post and leave him by himself. This way, they can cut down on threes. That's fine, but if he were really the best defensive player in the country, shouldn't he be able to guard guys by himself? It sure seems like guys are having big games against him.

To test my theory that he's overrated, I looked back at the past two seasons. I found all games where Duke played against a top-notch big man. I checked that guy's point and rebound totals and compared them to his season averages (this is where Ken Pomeroy points out that to be really fair, I should account for tempo. Well, I'm not quite the stats God that he is, so I'm sticking with game totals.). I found that so far this year, Shelden has played six games against five different top-flight big men. Of those six games, three times the opponent exceeded his season average in rebounds. He was held below his average only once. In four of those games, he exceeded his average points. Again, only one time in six tries did Shelden hold his man below his scoring average.

The table below shows the matchups from this season. I bolded the above-average productions and colored the below-average productions red.

From the 2005-06 season:

Looking back at last year, when he won Defensive Player of the Year honors, Shelden did even worse. Six times in eight games, his opponent exceeded his season average in rebounds. Not once did Williams hold his man below his rebound average.

Seven times in eight tries, his man exceeded his season average in points. Only one time all year did Shelden keep a man below his season scoring average.

And of course, there were a few monster efforts in there that should be noted. Sean May posted 23 and 18 in his first game against Shelden and then his historic 26 and 24(!!) in their second meeting. In Duke's loss to Michigan State in the Sweet Sixteen, Paul Davis put up 20 and 12 against the Landlord.

Here are the full numbers from the 2004-05 season:

So, what does this all mean?

To me, it says that while Shelden Williams is a terrific defender most of the time, he has a hard time matching up against guys of similar size, strength and skill. He dominates the lesser players, but can't pick on guys his own size, to use the old cliche. That's probably not a good sign for his NBA aspirations.

Keep this in mind the next time you hear Billy Packer or Dick Vitale going on and on about the Landlord and when you read later this year about how he won his second consecutive Defensive Player of the Year award (because he will).

Tough Time For Coleman Collins

If you watched the Duke-Virginia Tech basketball game last night, you probably heard the story. Hokie center Coleman Collins' dad is very suffering from lung cancer and has become very ill. Evidently he is not expected to make it through the weekend. Collins' brother was at the game and the two of them were going to drive down to Atlanta afterward to be with their father. Seth Greenberg has said that Collins can stay down there as long as he needs to. Basketball can wait.

The Duke Basketball Report has a nice piece on this story, along with a good idea - send an email to Collins via the Virginia Tech athletic department. I don't know how much help a bunch of emails from strangers can be when you lose a parent, but it certainly can't hurt. Everyone likes to know that others support them.

Turkey Stomp

Clogging, a old dancing style where you rhythmically stomp your feet, is a revered Appalachian tradition. At Virginia Tech, a school nestled in the Blue Ridge mountains, it seems that the tradition is alive and well.

Just last month, Hokie quarterback Marcus Vick made national news with his stomp of Louisville All-American Elvis Dumerville. While Vick's stomp wasn't terribly rhythmic, it did manage to excite quite a few people in and out of the greater Blacksburg area. Sadly for folk dance aficionados, Vick was kicked out of school shortly after his clogging routine, so we'll have to wait until he surfaces in the NFL or on CNN to see what new moves he's added to his repertoire.

But don't fret! The stomping tradition isn't dead yet. Marcus Vick may be gone, but his memory lingers, thanks in no small part to Virginia Tech basketball player Deron Washington. In tonight's nationally televised game against Duke, Washington performed a mini-jig on the ugly mug of Duke forward Lee Melchionni while Melchionni was threateningly lying prone with his arms held outstretched. Unlike young Ron New Mexico, Washington made some effort to make his stomp seem accidental, but alas, no one fell for it. Washington was ejected by the refs who apparently are unaware or unappreciative of the region's grand folk history.

The Week To Be - 1/23 - 1/29/2006

First, a quick look at the standings to give the schedule some perspective:

01/24/06 Florida State @ Wake Forest Winston-Salem, NC RSN/ XM 191 7:00 PM
This could be a litmus test for how Wake Forest's season is going to finish. Clearly things haven't gone according to plan so far. FSU has been surprisingly game this year. If Wake loses this one at home to fall to 1-5, they might not even make the NIT this year.

01/24/06 Miami @ Virginia Charlottesville, Va. ESPNU/ XM 192 9:00 PM
Virginia's strength is their guards. Miami's strength is their guards. Miami's are better. On top of that, I don't think UVA shoots well enough to bust Miami's zone. The Hurricanes should take this one.

01/25/06 Maryland @ Georgia Tech Atlanta, Ga. ESPN/ XM 191 7:00 PM
Maryland has had a lot of off-court drama. Georgia Tech has had a lot of on-court drama. If the Terps want to lay claim to being a top-tier ACC team this year, they need to win games like this one. I don't know for sure what will happen, but I do know that Gary Williams likes it when his back's against the wall.

01/25/06 Seton Hall @ NC State Raleigh, N.C. ESPN-C/ XM 192 7:00 PM
The ACC's chance for a small bit of revenge for last weekend's big upset. In recent years, State has sucked against non-conference foes, but this year has been different. I think the smart Pack team will methodically take the Pirates apart.

01/25/06 Boston College @ North Carolina Chapel Hill, N.C. RJ/ XM 193 9:00 PM
Boston College still considers itself at worst the ACC's second best team. At 2-3, they need a signature win to prove it. They need a signature win to show that they belong in the ACC. This is a good chance. Carolina is wobbling a bit, but a win over the Eagles would put them right back on track.

01/26/06 Duke @ Virginia Tech Blacksburg, Va. ESPN/ XM 191 7:00 PM
Can the 0-5 Hokies get their first win against the 5-0 Blue Devils? Oddly enough, I think they can!

But they won't.

01/28/06 Arizona @ North Carolina Chapel Hill, N.C. CBS /XM 191 1:00 PM
This is a very interesting intersectional matchup. Arizona is not quite the juggernaut of some years, but then I guess Carolina isn't either. I think Zona's big, experienced guards are going to cause some fits. I'd love to see the Heels get this win though.

01/28/06 Maryland @ Temple Philadelphia, Pa. ESPN2 /XM 192 2:00 PM
Temple's always a tough game, especially in Philly. This is a tricky game for the erratic Terrapins.

01/28/06 Virginia Tech @ Wake Forest Winston-Salem, NC RJ /XM 193 3:00 PM
Is it just me, or does every Wake game seem big right now? Once again, this is a must win.

01/28/06 Virginia @ Duke Durham, N.C. ESPN /XM 191 7:00 PM
The Cavaliers have been frisky this year - a nice story. But this one could get ugly. Very ugly.

01/29/06 NC State @ Clemson Clemson, SC RJ /XM 191 1:30 PM
Hmmm. This one smells like an upset to me. The Wolfpack better be careful.

01/29/06 Miami @ Florida State Tallahassee, Fla. RJ /XM 192 4:00 PM
I'm just not used to this new ACC yet.

01/29/06 Georgia Tech @ Boston College Chestnut Hill, Mass. FSN /XM 193 5:30 PM
I don't think Tech has a chance in this one. I think they have some good, young talent, but BC is too tough and too experienced up front.

The Real Reason Duke Lost

You want to know the real reason why Duke lost?

Georgetown wanted it more? Shelden Williams had a bad game? Poor point guard play? Sun spots?

Nope.

Karma.

Karma killed their perfect season.

"Karma," you ask?

Yep. Karma turned it's angry face toward Duke the second that Coach Mike Krzyzewski said this about the prospects of going undefeated, "Are they going to go undefeated? Are they going to do this? We’re starting Lee Melchionni and Sean Dockery."

Ouch. Karma doesn't let you insult your own players like that and get away unscathed.

p.s. Dockery was a McDonald's All-American and Melchionni was an honorable mention selection.

Terrapin Trouble

I missed posting last week when Maryland's Travis Garrison was arrested and charged with assault and a sex offense. It was a significant story, but I just didn't get to it early enough, so I let it go. For the record, Garrison was suspended for one game for the assault. More on that in a moment.

Yesterday, Maryland's leading scorer, Chris McCray was made academically inelligible for the rest of the year. McCray is a season so just like that, his career is over.

It's interesting to me to contrast the handling of the two situations. Now, I understand that there are clear rules about academic standing and Garrison hasn't been convicted of any crimes, but still. According to Gary Williams' Garrison's suspension was actually because he violated team rules by being out at a bar, not because he was charged with a sex crime. Oddly enough, McCray was also at that bar (instead of studying, obviously), but wasn't suspended.

Back to McCray - what an idiot. It's not like he didn't know by now. I mean, he's a senior! I give credit to Maryland for not bending the rules to make him just barely eligible. Sure, it would be great if all athletes were great students, but that's not realistic. What is important is to not bend the rules for them. Help them as much as is ethical, but if they still fail, make them pay. I hope he learns his lesson.

It's a big blow to the team though, as McCray is their most steady player.

The Week That Was 1/16 - 1/22/06

01/17/06 Boston College 63, Holy Cross 53 Worcester, Mass.
Yawn.

01/18/06 Duke 81, NC State 68 Durham, N.C.
Great effort by NC State in this one. It was really a fun game to watch as both teams really went at it. The final margin is not at all indicative of how close the game was. State's Cedric Simmons really had a breakout game with 28 points, nine rebounds, seven blocks and three steals.

Notice how many big men are having huge games against Shelden Williams this year? I've actually been planning on article on this for a few weeks now, but haven't gotten around to it. Meanwhile, the evidence mounts.

01/18/06 Miami 62, Clemson 38 Miami, FL
No, that's not a typo. Clemson scored 38 points. 38! That's just embarrassing.

On the flip side, Miami really seems to have figured out that they should be good. With the win, they moved up to 3-1 in the ACC, good for second place.

01/18/06 Wake Forest 86, Georgia Tech 71 Winston-Salem, N.C.
I told you Wake would win this one! They had to. And while Georgia Tech has a good collection of players (I think), they haven't really gelled into a team yet. You are never quite sure what you're going to get with them. I guess you could say the same for Wake, but considering how critical this game was and since it was at home, they had to win it.

01/19/06 Virginia 72, North Carolina 68 Charlottesville, Va.
Holy crap. Did you watch this game? Not only was the end result surprising, but the way that UVA went about winning defied all expectations. The Cavs are not the most athletic team in the world, but somehow they managed to block 12 Tar Heel shots. That's just one of those things that happens in sports some times that makes no sense. I can feel pretty confident in saying that Virginia won't block 12 shots in one game again this year.

What they did do that teams will surely replicate is beat the crap out of Tyler Hansbrough. Whenever he got the ball, he was swarmed and he didn't show that he was very adept at passing out of the double team. If teams can cut him off, Carolina needs to show that they can consistently hit their outside shots, something they haven't done very well this year. On the other end of the court, Virginia attacked with their three guards (Singletary, Reynolds and Bannister) and exposed Carolina's weak exterior defense.

Expect to see a lot more of that game-plan against UNC.

01/21/06 Clemson 73, Georgia Tech 63 Atlanta, GA
What a turnaround for Clemson. Just a few days after crapping the laundry hamper in Miami, the Tigers got off the mat and won a road game. Maybe Oliver Purnell is getting some traction down there. Not only was it a rare road win for Clemson, but they had to come back in the second half to do it.

Of course, instead of praising Clemson, maybe I should cast a wary eye on that Yellow Jacket team. They turned the ball over 27 times in the loss, and that was even with the Tigers playing a lot of zone defense. You think Paul Hewitt misses Jarrett Jack?

01/21/06 Georgetown 87, Duke 84 Washington, D.C.
The big upset! Georgetown did exactly what teams need to do against Duke, spread them out and attack them with more athletic players. Duke is not a terribly quick team. If you can do that and if you can get a sub-par game out of one of the Blue Devil All-Americans, you can beat them. JJ Redick was incredible yet again, but Shelden Williams scored just four points. Even worse for Duke was the play of Greg Paulus. He was awful in the second half. He never seemed to know when to speed up or to slow down and he threw passes all over the court. The box score shows him with only four turnovers, but don't believe that for a second.

If Duke is going to make a deep NCAA run, they are going to need much better point guard play. I think Coach K needs to use Sean Dockery more to spell Paulus. Dockery isn't spectacular but he's learned over his career how to make better decisions (remember, he too was once an out-of-control point guard). Maybe the loss will help Paulus learn how to play. With all the wins, he never really had to pay the price for his poor decisions.

01/21/06 NC State 92, Wake Forest 82 Raleigh, N.C.
A very solid win for NC State. This team is so poised. Wake opened a 13-point lead in the first half, but the balanced Wolfpack took it in stride. They chipped it down to 5 before the half and then went on to roll in the second. In this game Cedric Simmons didn't really do much, but the other guys picked it up, particularly Cam Bennerman, who had a career high of 26 points.

For Wake, they have the same problem they've had for several years now - they don't play defense. When NC State scores 92 points on you, you aren't trying. The Pack is a very good offensive team, but they aren't an up-tempo team.

01/21/06 Maryland 81, Virginia Tech 72 College Park, Md.
This one pretty much followed the script. Maryland was at home and needed the win. The Hokies needed the win (any win!), but College Park's not an easy place to win. With the loss, VT is now 0-5 in the ACC and in deep, deep trouble. Before the season, they were a solid bet for an NCAA bid, but now it looks like it might be a struggle to make the NIT. Welcome to the big time.

01/21/06 Boston College 65, Miami 61 Coral Gables, Fla.
Unfortunately for Miami, just as they are figuring things out, so is Boston College. And Boston College is better. For the Eagles, the road win makes up for the home loss to NC State. They are back on track for at least 8-8 in the ACC, which would get them in the tourney. It's very likely that they'll do much better than that.

BTW, what do you think the TV ratings were for this game in the cities of Miami and Boston? Does anyone care?

01/22/06 North Carolina 81, Florida State 80 Tallahassee, Fla.
Whew! The Tar Heels were on the verge of big, BIG trouble. A loss in this game would have been their third in a row and their next three games are BC, Arizona and at Maryland. A six-game skid was extremely likely, especially considering the fragile psyches of freshmen. But now they got a road win and more importantly, found a way to overcome their troubles. The answer to the problems I listed above in the Virginia game write-up? Wes Miller! He is the one Heel who can really shoot from outside and he made FSU pay for collapsing on Hansbrough by hitting six three-pointers. Now, Miller isn't going to do that very often, but if he can just hit one or two per game, the threat could be enough to keep the offense moving along. That little extra space created by defenders staying out on him should give all the other guys enough room to create their shots. We'll see.

For FSU, I don't know what to say. I'd like to think that Leonard Hamilton is a good coach, but at some point I need to see them win consistently and beat top conference team. With their current record they still have an excellent shot at an NCAA bid and that could be huge for the program.

p.s.. How about those Steelers?!! Like millions, I jumped on the bandwagon way back in the 70s when they were the best and coolest team going. This is only the second Super Bowl of my adult life and I really think they have a good shot this time. I felt really good before I watched Seattle take Carolina apart. That made me a bit apprehensive. Still, I like their chances.

p.p.s.. Man, 81 points for Kobe. He may not be the greatest guy in the world, but you can't deny his talent and ability. 81! Even if you're hogging the ball and taking every shot, how many NBA players could score 81? How many in the history of the game? My friend Jackie Chiles at the Airing Of Grievances is feeling pretty cocky right about now.

p.p.p.s. Congrats to the Duke women who spanked #1 Tennessee last night. Let's see, that's two #1 vs. #2 matchups for Duke this year, one for the men and one for the women, and they've won both by blowout. Impressive.

Eleven - 6 - Extra Points And Field Goals

In what should be the final Eleven (this year), the Great Bobby P pulls the curtain back on one of the most common, but overlooked plays in football - the kick for points. Nowhere else will you read a technical football article that includes references to both Shakespeare and Hoosiers! Enjoy.

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"A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!"

I open this second-to-last installment with a quote from Richard IIIfor several reasons. The first of these is that I have been much like the stooped, lustful, grasping regent over the last several weeks. Dave offered me a simple task, a periodic column on the X's and O's of football. It seemed simple enough, but I warned him early on that my schedule is often hectic, so that I had doubts about my reliability. Well-founded doubts, obviously. I've been about as reliable as coke-fiend. This was for no malicious intent, although from Dave's angle, that doesn't really matter. He was hoping for columns that he didn't get. He even added a well timed prod or two to get me going, which alas, missed their mark. Sorry Dave. If we do this next season, assuming you would have me back, I promise a better effort. [Ed: Come on man, its a blog, not the New York Times. No worries.]

The second reason I selected the quote above is that it seems at times of our greatest need, the simplest things can be the hardest to come by. There is no simpler play in football than the field goal/extra point. This simplicity though, is countered by the fact that every single time the kicking unit is on the field, points are there to be had. The game is played to score more points than the other team, so it's only common sense that teams would spend plenty of time on plays in which you score points, correct?

If only the world was that simple.

Fact is, many, many, many teams at the college level (and sometimes even at the pro) take these simple plays for granted, which translates to poor technique and lost points. As you well know, lost points are costly. So herein, I will discuss the simple extra point, compare different formations, discuss fakes, and what to do when things go wrong. If this seems overly simple to you, and something of no consequence, then I say you can never again complain when a kick by your team is blocked or a snap is fumbled.

We'll start with the basic kicking formation:

Alignment rules:

C: Over the ball (duh)

TE's, T's, and G's: Nothing can get inside you, so you obviously take a tight split. No more 4" from the outside leg of the guy inside of you. You do want to have a slightly wider base than normal, but not so wide that you are easily knocked backwards.

W's: at a 45 degree tilt, with the toes of the inside leg no more than six inches behind the outside foot of the TE

H: If playing outside on the grass, you let the kicker pick his spot, but make sure its at least seven yards deep from the line of scrimmage (LOS). I prefer seven and a half, as the half yard can mean the world when it comes to getting the kick blocked at the LOS. When you kneel down, the first rule is to keep your knee facing the LOS on the ground and have your back knee up. This is a point of contention with some coaches. They feel that if you have the LOS knee up, you can use it as a stop for your arm when placing the ball for the kick, thus being able to return it right where the kicker wanted it. These coaches never held. When the LOS knee is up, all it takes is an over exuberant block attempt by a defender to blow out your knee and tear the piss out of your groin. Not a good thing. Keep the front knee down and the back one out of the kicker's way. The toes on the down leg should be curled underneath you so if you have to spring up to catch a bad snap, you can do it that much quicker.

K: Wherever he wants to be. But he should take as few steps as possible for the kick. Getting the ball out as quickly as possible is the key.

Now for the assignments:

The snap - This is the most widely screwed up aspect of the play, and it should be the simplest. There should never be a snap count, as it just gives the rush something to key on. Instead, there is a simple progression to ensure the ball isn't snapped until all are ready. First, the holder should count the squad and make sure there are eleven guys on the field, and then make sure everyone is where they should be. Then he places himself at the spot where the kicker wants the ball placed. He lets the kicker get positioned, and then verbally asks him if he's ready. Once the kicker gives his assent, the holder first raises his arm closest to the LOS, while keeping the fingers of the other hand right on the spot where the ball is to be placed. When he is ready for the snap, he raises the other hand. Once the holder has both hands up, the center snaps the ball as soon as he is ready, and no earlier. Two things that often get screwed up are that some teams will snap the ball when the holder's down hand is still down. Stupid, stupid, stupid. How can you expect him to grab a wild snap if he's not perfectly ready to catch the ball? The second thing is that centers will want to snap the ball as soon as that hand comes up. Again - stupid, stupid,stupid. I used to love seeing teams that would do this on film because I knew I had a chance to block a kick in the next game. As a rusher, all I had to watch was the holder's down hand and know that I could go as soon as he lifted it. Looked like Dwight Freeney coming off the edge, man.

The reason that progression is important to follow is that it ensures the ball isn't snapped until all are ready, and it doesn't allow the defense to anticipate the snap.

After the snap

C: You have one responsibility a crisp snap. Nothing else. The rest of the line will do the blocking, you just need to snap the ball and then take up space.

G's, T's, and TE's: At the snap, they all quickly pick up their inside leg (which is no more than 4" outside the outside leg of the man inside them) and quickly plant it over and in front of the outside leg of the man inside of them. At the same time, they should punch with their hands and try to establish contact with the defense as far from the kick as possible without moving forward. They have three rules to follow. 1) No man slips between you and the man inside of you. Your efforts are to the inside. 2) Do not give ground under any circumstances. 3) Any defender who tries to jump to block the kick should be short of breath when he comes back down - meaning, you punch them in the stomach. It sounds dirty, but it's something everybody teaches. Make that guy think twice about exposing his ribs.

W: At the snap he takes a quick jab step with his inside leg to seal off the gap between him and the TE. The outside leg should not move under any circumstances. He has the same rules as the line, but it is crucial that no one can slip between him and the TE. He should make himself as wide as possible (we liked to have long-armed players here) and make sure to get a hand and shove on any player that tries to go outside of him. If he positions himself properly, doesn't move that outside foot, and can get a hand on him, it should take the outside rusher too long to get to the kick to block it.

H: Simple - get the ball down. Worry less about the laces than getting the ball right where the kicker wants it and positioned how he wants it. When placing the ball, you should always use the LOS side hand to hold the top of the ball, and the kicker side hand to position it. That way, if you don't pull the positioning/spinhand out of the way in time, the kicker can still kick the ball (and your hand) and hopefully make it. Do it the other way around and you block the kicker's kick before it leaves his foot. Don't be that guy. Also it should go without saying, but don't be the guy that flinches and pulls his hand at the last minute. I used to hold the point with the first knuckle of my index and second finger, and stare right through them at a point on the ground until the kick was well away. That way I was always sure of my hold.

K: Kickers do what kickers do. Just don't pull a Grammatica.

That's the basics of getting a kick off, so let's look at some variations in the formation:

The most commonly-seen variation of the normal formation is the unbalanced double wing. Sounds tricky, but it's not:

The thought behind this formation is that by staggering the wings on the one side (the side of the kicking leg) you create enough depth that it would be impossible to go around the edge and block the kick. Conversely, on the other side, it makes the distance that the edge rusher has to go farther, thus making the protection stronger on both sides. Theoretically, that is. I've never been a big fan of this one, as in my eyes it's susceptible to pressure at the wings. It gives the defense space to build up a head of steam and possibly drive the wing back into the kick, or drive him up field letting a man slip inside. It does, however give you a little more creative license when it comes to fakes.

The other alternative formation I'll discuss is the classic swinging gate. Yeah, yeah, people hear swinging gate and they start thinking of short gold shorts and Indiana basketball. Well this is one version of the football edition:

Looks crazy, right? I agree, but here's why teams will do it. First off, if a team hasn't prepared for it, you can surprise them into a time-out or an easy two-point conversion. Just looking at this, the eligible receivers are all over the place (the outside TE, both W's, the C, H, and K are all eligible receivers).Secondly, if the kicker is an athlete, they spread the defense out like this they can snap the ball right too him and he can follow the C and H into the end zone. Thirdly, if the defense is significantly out-numbered on the left, the center can throw the ball sideways to the W who has six blockers in front of him. I've seen teams run the option with the holder and the kicker. 'Ive even seen the center throw the ball left to the W, who in turn dumps a little pass to a wide open TE. The whole idea is surprise and outnumbering the defense. What usually happens though, is that the defense is ready, and before the play clock expires, everybody trots back to a normal position and the ball is snapped. So again, why do it? Well when a defense is running around deciding who has whom, they can't really set up a block, can they? It's a gimmicky play, but one that works.

Now, let's look back at the original formation and talk about fakes, and what to do when everything goes wrong.

Fakes:

This is the simplest, and can be effective if you have a good, strong runner in the Wing, and a TE who can seal the edge. At the snap the wing runs behind the LOS and once receiving the ball, looks for a seam to dive into. The holder catches the snap and then flips the ball to the Wing. The right Wing has to try and force his man up field, or failing that, help the TE seal the edge. My alma mater used this behind the line flip to beat our rivals in OT two years ago.

OK, this looks complex, but it's not really. The left Wing takes a similar route that he took on the previous one, but his time, rather than flip the ball to him, the H runs an option to the left with the kicker. If nobody picks him up, he sprints for the pylon, if he gets pressure, he immediately flips the ball to the kicker who can either run it or dump the ball over the top to the TE.

In this one, the holder does a little bit of the Charlie Brown and pulls the ball before the kick. It's imperative that he does an actual roll-out so he gets enough depth to get around the corner. By that I mean that when he picks up the ball, he turns his back to the LOS by turning his head to his left shoulder and reversing around. He has to get out of there quick, as no one on the outside is being blocked, but they will be working inside to get to the expected kick. The kicker also has to sell the kick to make the play work. The Wing on the left is the only player who has a specific spot that he sits, and that is right under the left corner of the upright. He's the safety valve if everyone is covered, and the holder is taught to turn and throw the ball at a target just below that corner of the goal post. In the case of a bad or fumbled snap on any kicking occasion, the holder will shout "Fire!" as loud as he can, and everyone who hears will execute this same play. It doesn't always work, but through practice, your Wings and TE's should be able to hear the call and get out into their routes. (Note of trivia - my little brother (a WR) threw a TD off a botched snap in a high school game eighteen hours before I did the same thing in a college game. Bizzare.)

Now you probably know more than you ever thought you would about one of the simplest plays in football. But like I said, points are the name of the game, so these plays should be taken very seriously. They are easy to execute, as long as the unit works together, but as always, it takes eleven to get the job done.

- Bob Pentland

Eleven Archives
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Eleven - 1 - Introduction
Eleven - 2 - The Zone Blitz
Eleven - 3 - The Cover Two
Eleven - 4 - Zone Blocking
Eleven - 5 - The Bootleg
Eleven - 6 - Extra Points And Field Goals

21 Points In 75 Seconds!

Gee, just what Duke needs, a shooting guard who can hit threes in bunches.

Jon Scheyer, who will be a freshman at Duke next year, scored 21 points in a 75-second span of a loss the other night. Incredible. He had two steals, hit five threes and six free throws before fouling out.

Think Maryland is nervous?

I've Angered Him

You might recall that I mentioned that I was on AOL's Internet radio show the other day. On my segment, I talked about Duke and how I thought they were unlikely to go undefeated.

Well, if this is an accurate depiction (scroll down), my words angered the mighty Mike Krzyzewski. He looks pissed, doesn't he?

The Week To Be - 11/16 - 11/22/2006

01/17/06 Holy Cross @ Boston College Worcester, Mass.
Bill Simmons' alma mater is going to face an angry BC squad.

01/18/06 NC State @ Duke Durham, N.C. ESPN 7:00 PM
Duke's first loss? Could be. State didn't play at Duke last year, so for a lot of their players, it's their first visit to Cameron. Should be a good game between what are currently the two best ACC teams.

01/18/06 Clemson @ Miami Miami, FL 7:30 PM
Set your TiVo!!!! Oh, whoops. Somehow they forgot to put this one on TV.

01/18/06 Georgia Tech @ Wake Forest Winston-Salem, N.C. RJ 9:00 PM
If Wake doesn't win this one, their season will officially be in the toilet. I'd bet the mortgage that the Deacons pull this one out.

01/19/06 North Carolina @ Virginia Charlottesville, Va. ESPN 7:00 PM
Another upset possibility? I would have said no chance a couple of weeks ago, but UVA has two conference wins already and Carolina struggled to stop Miami's guards. All Virginia has is guards. Well, guards and Jason Cain's mustache. Don't sleep on that mustache.

01/21/06 Clemson @ Georgia Tech Atlanta, GA RSN 12:00 PM
I'm not sure who will win this game, but you better believe it'll have some athletic plays and a lot of turnovers.

01/21/06 Duke @ Georgetown Washington, D.C. CBS 1:30 PM
The Hoyas appear to be tough this year. It's been a while. Not tough enough though. They're gonna get waxed, especially if Duke gets upset by State.

01/21/06 Wake Forest @ NC State Raleigh, N.C. RJ 4:00 PM
Can Wake get revenge for State knocking them out of the ACC tourney last year? Not unless they figure out who their point guard is and start playing better defense.

01/21/06 Virginia Tech @ Maryland College Park, Md. RJ 8:00 PM
Could the Hokies fall to 0-5 in the ACC? Yes. Yes, they can. 0-6 actually, because their next game is home against Duke who won't take them lightly this time.

Actually, I wouldn't be shocked if Virginia Tech beats Maryland in this game. The Terps are turnover prone and the Hokies put a lot of pressure on the ball.

01/21/06 Boston College @ Miami Coral Gables, Fla. RJ 8:00 PM
Now THIS is a classic ACC matchup!

01/22/06 North Carolina @ Florida State Tallahassee, Fla. FSN 6:30 PM
Florida State is quietly having a good year. A win against the Tar Heels would get them some attention.

Doherty Gets It (Sort Of)

The N&O has a nice little catch-up piece on the job Matt Doherty is doing this year at Florida Atlantic. It sounds like he's doing a nice job of rehabbing his career and image. The Owls (shouldn't he be coaching at a school named the Eagles?) are 6-1 in league play after going 10-17 overall last year.

There are some interesting quotes from his players as well - "I wish I had been around him for four years. He's [also] funny, has personality, charisma. He's the first coach I've been able to laugh and joke with. He's pretty cool."

And another - "But he does joke, and there's open communication. You can tell him what's on your mind. I like it a lot."

Wow, sounds a lot different from his Carolina days, huh? I guess he's learned a lot from his experiences and become a better coach and person, right?

Well, yeah. Sorta. While clearly recognizing that he needed to change, and therefore tacitly admitting that he was flawed, he still continues to blame everyone else for what went down in Chapel Hill.

Here are some of Doh's quotes about his UNC debacle - "I walked away with $300,000; that's a small amount with three years left. That's a lesson I learned."

He also added that he isn't much different from Roy Williams in conducting practice. Hmm. Let's see, you alienated nearly the entire team leading many to say they were going to transfer, you coached the Heels to their worst record ever and you were fired after only three seasons. Roy Williams took your same players (granted, it was an extremely talented group) and won the national championship after already establishing himself as a tier-one coach at Kansas. Yeah, sounds about the same. I'm not sure Doherty still gets that coaching isn't just running drills and teaching defense. Psychology is just as important and to properly teach, you need to understand and communicate with your players.

It sounds to me like Matt Doherty still has some learning to do.

The Dean Dome Turns 20

I guess I'm old. I can clearly remember when the Dean E Smith Student Activity Center, aka The Dean Dome, opened. I wasn't even that young - I was in high school.

And now that building is turning 20 and is considered "middle-aged."

As far as basketball arenas go, the Dean Dome is a pretty good one. It doesn't have nearly the charm or energy of Cameron or Allen Fieldhouse at Kansas, but it is still a great place to watch the game. With all of the cushy seats and staid old fans, it can feel a little stuffy, but all those banners (they are everywhere - for league championships, national championships, honored jerseys, retired numbers, etc.) and all of that baby blue reminds you that you are somewhere special. I like to hear that there are no plans on replacing the building and that they think it can last for decades to come. There's nothing like history to make a building feel really special.

The Week That Was 1/9 - 1/15/2006

01/10/06 North Carolina 64, Virginia Tech 61 Blacksburg, Va.
Huge win for Carolina on the road, despite 25 turnovers. At this point, Roy Williams has to be on the short list for national coach of the year. That he can get a team with so many freshman to maintain their composure on the road against such an aggressive defense is really impressive.

I was very impressed with the Hokie defense, but their offense is poor. Basically, they pass around until one of their guards decides to dribble to the rim. It looks like they spend all of their practice time on defense.

01/10/06 Georgia Tech 85, Centenary 69 Shreveport, La.
A game scheduled for the benefit of Louisiana native Theodis Tarver. Tarver celebrated the homecoming by forgetting to study and becoming academically ineligible. What a homecoming!

01/10/06 NC State 78, Boston College 60 Chestnut Hill, Mass.
Huge bounce-back win for the Wolfpack after their loss in Chapel Hill over the weekend. The Pack thoroughly pounded the Eagles who actually appeared to quit in the final minutes. I thought Billy Packer was going to have an aneurysm watching the normally staid State offense spring free for several wide-open dunks and layups against the dejected BC "defense."

Remember way back a month ago when BC was supposed to be good?

01/11/06 Clemson 74, Wake Forest 73 Clemson, SC
When Clemson lost at Virginia, I assumed that their early-season success was a standard Clemson mirage. Beat up on some directional schools and community colleges to get to 10-1 before the ACC season and then slump to a final record of 13-17. But then this. Maybe it's Wake who was the mirage.

01/11/06 Florida State 87, Virginia 82 Charlottesville, Va.
Damn, the Cavs came pretty close. I thought the home win over Clemson would be their one for the year. Sean Singletary had 27 in the loss and is a straight-up stud.

01/11/06 Duke 76, Maryland 52 Durham, N.C.
Not this year. Duke made the Terps look bad. 29 turnovers and 20% shooting bad.

01/14/06 Miami 81, North Carolina 70 Chapel Hill, N.C.
Well, well, well. I guess this Carolina team isn't perfect after all. And maybe Frank Haith isn't the retard I was beginning to think he was. I mean, how does a team with Guillermo Diaz, probably the most dynamic scorer in the league not named J.J., Robert Hite, Anthony Harris and Anthony King get to be only 9-6? Does anyone doubt that Mike Krzyzewski or Roy Williams would have that team in the top ten?

01/14/06 NC State 87, Georgia Tech 78 Raleigh, N.C.
It's a little weird - this State team is just taking care of business this year. I like this squad a lot. Before the season, I strongly suspected they'd be better than last year; a perfect Ewing Theory case study. It looks like I was right. They are the second best team in the conference right now.

01/14/06 Duke 87, Clemson 77 Clemson, SC
Everyone talked about how many free throws the Tigers missed, but quietly J.J. Redick missed four free throws in this one. He missed those four gimmes and only hit two three-pointers, yet he scored 34 points. That's why he's a no-question All-American this year.

By the way, if you haven't noticed, Oliver Purnell has quietly changed Clemson's team makeup. After years of fielding beefy Rick Barnes-inspired teams, Purnell has the Tigers playing fast, athletic ball. Their two guards Cliff Hammonds and Vernon Hamilton really get after you and force a lot of turnovers. On the inside, Akin Akingbala, Sam Perry and Steve Allen are blocking a lot of shots. It's kind of weird.

01/14/06 Boston College 90, Florida State 87 Chestnut Hill, Mass.
Well, our new friends from the north won't get shutout this season after all!

01/15/06 Virginia 54, Virginia Tech 49 Blacksburg, Va.
Holy crap, Virginia won a road conference game!! Did I say that Roy Williams was doing the best coaching job in the conference?

BTW, remember the feel-good story about how the former Big East teams were doing so well in the ACC and that it would only get better once BC showed up? That story's not playing so well this season, is it?

01/15/06 Maryland 90, Wake Forest 86 College Park, MD
And Maryland finally gets off the schneid. I stopped watching this one when the Terps got up 15 in the second half, because Wake didn't appear to really have their hearts in it. I guess I was wrong, because they got the lead down to two late, but couldn't quite get over the hump. Now Wake is sitting at 0-3 in the conference despite having two All-America candidates. I guess losing your two point guards and two best defensive frontline players really does hurt your team, huh? Still, this team should be better than they are. Prosser needs to find a combination or two that works and just stick with it.

Bob Gibbons' Top 250 Seniors

The News & Observer has a very handy list up - Bob Gibbons' Top 250 Seniors. You don't normally see a list quite so long, so this is a nice feature. Of course, you have to wonder just how accurate it is after the top 50 or so.

The ACC players:

A couple of quick thoughts:
- Gee, from looking at the top of that list, which teams do you think are going to dominate the ACC in coming years?
- Where's Georgia Tech going to fit all of those guys on an already-young team?
- Boston College better realize that you need to recruit to hang in the ACC.
- Solomon Tat is a really cool name.

Catching Up With Barry Jacobs

Like I've mentioned elsewhere, I got way behind in my reading over the break. Since I don't think anyone should miss Barry Jacob's unique statistical articles on the DBR, I'm going to catch up with all of them right here.

Here is Barry on:
Offensive Improvements

Low Scoring

Good Defensive Field-Goal Percentages

Season-Opening Win Streaks

Declining Three-Point Accuracy

Tarnished Glory

I have to admit that I've been looking forward to the release of Glory Road, the movie about Texas Western's 1966 national championship win over Kentucky. I've read a lot about the game over the years and it seems like a fascinating subject - a team with five black starters knocking off lily-white power Kentucky and their racist coach. Legend has it that that game led to a change in philosophy in Kentucky's (and other southern schools') recruiting.

Unfortunately, I didn't realize that the movie was being produced Jerry Bruckheimer. Great. That's like hiring Robin Williams to MC a Holocaust conference.

Well, from the sound of things Bruckheimer did as expected and screwed the whole thing up.

From what I've read, he got the following things wrong:

• He ignored the fact that several other teams with black players had won college championships.
• He ignored the fact that many of the top NBA players were black at that time.
• The movie has Don Haskins coaching a high school girls team the year before he wins the title. Nice. Not only is that preposterous, but it completely removes all credit that Haskins deserves for actually recruiting those players and building that team.
• The movie grossly overstates the attitudes about the game at the time. According to many involved (including John Thompson), it wasn't really until years later that anyone made a big deal about the racial makeup of the teams.
• The movie's final graphic says that the win was the greatest upset in college basketball history, despite the fact that Texas Western had lost only one game all year and was ranked #3.

Sad, really. The story is a great one and could stand on its own, but Mr. Aliens And Explosions couldn't stand for that. Why let the facts get in the way?

BTW, Caulton Tudor has an interesting article up today about how it was very nearly Lilly-white Duke and not Kentucky in that game. The Wildcats beat the Blue Devils by only four points in the semis despite Duke being largely without their best player, Bob Verga.

I wonder how history would look back on that game if it hadn't involved Kentucky's notoriously racist coach Adolph Rupp? Of course, Bruckheimer could have just changed that too.

Shelden Vs. J.J.

Ken Pomeroy has a thing for Shelden Williams. But that's OK.

In a post from a couple of weeks ago (I'm still catching up from the holidays), Ken compares Shelden's numbers to teammate J.J. Redick's and wonders why J.J. is the one being hailed as the national player of the year. As always, Ken makes some excellent points. It's not clear to me at all that Redick is more valuable to his team than Williams is. Like Ken points out, Shelden's defense is light years ahead of J.J.'s.

My one beef with the article though is that he suggests that Shelden's offensive production is pretty near to J.J.'s. Now, I agree that the statistics suggest that and I know that Mr. Pomeroy knows much more about stats than I do, but I think this is one case where the numbers lie, or at least deceive.

In classical basketball theory, a good big man makes it easier for perimeter players to score. When they catch the ball inside, the defense collapses, allowing open shots for the other players. In most cases, that's how things work, but not for Duke. Not this year. There is no question that every defense Duke faces focuses the bulk of their attention on stopping, or at least slowing, J.J. Redick. As he runs around, everyone follows him - if not with their legs, then with their eyes. No one leaves Redick to help out.

That constant attention, and the fact that Redick is never content to just stand around and let his man rest, opens the floor for everyone else, including Shelden Williams. Williams gets easier shots because of J.J.

On top of that, because of their relative roles on the team, Shelden almost never has to produce offense for others. He gets himself in position and if he has an advantage, he gets the ball. You'll almost never see Williams create his own shot. Redick, on the other hand, not only runs around off of screens, but he frequently has the ball in his hand. He probes at the defense, constantly using the threat of his own shot to make the defense respond to him, after which he often makes a pass to an open teammate.

Those efforts don't show up in box score (other than assists, I suppose), so they won't be reflected in Ken's analysis.

In the end, he may well be right that the difference between Williams' and Redick's defense is greater than the gap between their offense, but stats won't tell that whole story.

Dave Sez On The Radio

You can subtract 3 minutes from my allotted 15 minutes of fame.

I just had a brief appearance on AOL's Sports Bloggers Live Internet radio broadcast. They had me on to talk a little about Duke and to discuss how likely it is that they'll go through the ACC and possibly the whole season undefeated. Not to give away the secret, but the answer is NO. Duke is good, very good even, but they aren't undefeated good. Sure, there's a chance they could make it through the ACC unscathed, but I'd put the likelihood at about 10%. Duke is too reliant on two scorers and they aren't very athletic, particularly with DeMarcus Nelson out. If an athletic team can put pressure on them, Duke will turn the ball over and can be had (unless Redick is having one of his unstoppable games).

I believe you'll be able to download today's show once it finishes so that you can hear my melodic voice. You know I'll be doing that!

BTW, thanks to my fellow Wash U alumnus Yoni Cohen of Yoco Hoops fame for sending the AOL guys my way.

Update: Here is a handy link to my segment on the show. I was pleased to hear that my voice isn't quite as high as Bill Simmons'.

Vick Arrested Again!

If he keeps this up, I'm going to have to change the name of this site to "Dave Sez Things About Marcus Vick."

Just days after polishing off his resume for Dumbest College Athlete Ever, Marcus Vick decided to go for some extra credit. He was arrested yet again today and charged with three counts of brandishing a firearm for pointing a gun at a 17-year-old kid last night.

This has got to be some sort of athlete malfeasance record, doesn't it?

Updated to add awesome photoshop courtesy of Sports Frog poster SLaird22.

More On Marcus

I never would have guessed that I'd have back-to-back posts on Marcus Vick, but here I am.

This is a very interesting look at the whole Marcus Vick Stomp from the view of Will Stewart, the General Manager and Managing Editor at TechSideline.com (the top Hokie website).

The article starts off sort of explaining away the stomp - it's a violent game played by young men, etc. Then, it moves on to pointing out how other players have done worse things. Next is the admitted surprise at how much controversy the incident has produced, both inside and outside the Tech world.

Finally, after all of that, he gets around to sort of sighing in resignation. He admits that the play didn't shock him largely because he's become accustom to Virginia Tech football players getting in trouble over the years. In his eyes, Frank Beamer's one flaw is that he's been too lenient on past transgressors, leading to an environment that allows and tacitly supports bad behavior.

It really is a good read. It's well written, and as he admits at the end, it's not the direction he intended the piece to go. Maybe just writing about it for