Polls: Tennessee took the top spot back from Florida after they beat South Carolina and the Gators fell to Arkansas on Saturday. One-loss Temple is now No. 3.
Awards:
Horizon League Player of the Week: PF #42 Justin Mansell, 6'9" sophomore, Loyola-Chicago (23.5 ppg, 16 rpg, 4 bpg)
Horizon League Freshman of the Week: PG #11 Rashun Cooper, 6'1" freshman, Illinois-Chicago (11 ppg, 4 apg) Rashun’s second time winning. Must have been a slow week.
National Player of the Week: SF #33 Matt Henderson, 6'8" junior, UNC-Greensboro (32 ppg, 14 rpg)
National Freshman of the Week: SF Billy Harris, 6'8" freshman, Drexel (24 ppg, 12 rpg)
News: Big loss for Butler — SG DeLawn Mydra tore his ACL now, of all times.
Game 28 Report
Illinois-Chicago (15-12, 7-7) at Loyola-Chicago (9-18, 5-9)
Thursday, February 27, 2003
The Ramblers lost starting point guard Dante Caskill a few weeks ago, so they're without by far their best ball handler. So what did we do? Press, of course. On our end, our first two shots were blocked, but we got one back for a bucket. After that, we gave up four consecutive baskets before a flagrant foul on Cooper sent him to the bench for a couple minutes to chill. Four and a half minutes in and we’re down 11-2. Three more minutes went by, and we’d already committed six turnovers and had four shots blocked. Also we’re trailing 16-6. Let's not go into the paint for a while.
Jefferson came off the bench and got us six points to help us get closer lest this game get away from us in the first 10 minutes. We got it to 23-17 with eight minutes to go in the half, but the Ramblers went to their bench and didn’t miss a beat, extending the lead back out to 12 points. In a new development for us, it was our free-throw shooting that kept us in it, and Jefferson hit a 3-pointer to end the half, though we still trailed, 36-29.
Jefferson led us with nine points. The Ramblers’ Justin Mansell blocked five shots in the first half. Chris Paulding had nine to lead them.
The second half started, and it seemed evident that Miller didn’t quite have his legs back after his injury layoff. Nathan Clay lit him up for nine points to start the second half, and he tired quickly. We’d managed to pull within 44-40, but Clay’s run continued and the Ramblers pushed the advantage back to nine. I’m getting the feeling this won’t be our night, but there’s still plenty of time.
Jefferson kept us in it almost by himself, hitting two threes in less than a minute, and a Jones putback got us to 66-59 with seven minutes left. But Cooper committed another flagrant foul, clearly frustrated that nobody can stop the red-hot Clay. With 1:51 left, it was 80-69, and we only made one shot after that. 87-72 loss.
Clay was the difference, scoring 16 points in the second half to finish with a game-high 24. Paulding added 18. Jefferson came off the bench to lead us with a career-high 23, but our starters were dismal.
Game 29 Report
Illinois-Chicago (15-13, 7-8) at Butler (16-12, 10-5)
Saturday, March 1, 2003
The Bulldogs lost at home to Montana State on Wednesday. They can’t be happy. And unhappy Bulldogs can’t possibly make us happy. Here’s the setup: a win gives the Bulldogs the regular-season conference title, while a loss may hand it to Wisconsin-Green Bay. The best we can do is finish tied for fourth with Wright State. And considering they beat us by 33 on our court…
…then we probably shouldn’t have been too surprised that they made their first three shots and that Cooper got called for two quick and questionable fouls. Two and a half minutes go by and he’s already on the bench. Four minutes later, Miller picked up his second foul, and we ditched the zone we’d put in just for this game — it wasn’t working (Butler was shooting 75% at this point), and we’d just lost our starting backcourt to fouls. We were trailing 18-12 at this point in the game, and had taken more jumpers than usual as part of Mills's "keep the ball outside and away from Ichaki unless absolutely necessary" strategy.
After switching to our usual help defense, Butler hit a cold spell and Ichaki started picking up fouls. He had three at the nine-minute mark of the first half and went to the bench. We brought Cooper and Jones back in and tied the game at 23 with 9:40 left in the first half on a 15-footer by Muhammad. From there it was nip-and-tuck for a while, as we were able to stay within striking distance, but couldn’t quite grab the lead.
Cooper got his third foul on an even worse call than the first two with four minutes left in the half. Butler took advantage of his absence to pull away a little, leading by eight at one point. Correa hit a three late in the half, and we went into the locker room down 45-40.
Correa led us with nine points at the break. Marlon Jackson (Mydra’s replacement in the starting lineup) had a game-high 10 for Butler. Ichiaki only played eight minutes in the first half with the three fouls. Cooper and Williams have three fouls for us, though. 13 to 4 was the foul call advantage. Hideous.
We somewhat reluctantly started the second half with our starters, since the bench guys needed a break. Mills also changed things up, telling the guys to attack the post. “Make Gabriel work,” he said. “Make him play you instead of the ball.”
Eventually, it worked as Cooper drew a fourth foul on Ichaki after three and a half minutes, sending him back to the bench. But Jerome Betts came back down and hit a three-pointer to stretch Butler’s lead to 53-45. We got it to 53-49 before both teams turned into masons, throwing up brick after brick after brick. Our bench players would be the ones to bring us back, as two Fields free throws cut the lead to 59-58 with 9:12 to play. To this point, we had not committed a foul in the entire second half.
Ichaki’s replacement, freshman Craig Raymond, doesn’t have his presumed mentor’s defensive skills. But he can score a little, and he’d been keeping things up for the Bulldogs on the offensive end, along with Betts and Jackson. But if you can’t hold on to the basketball, it doesn’t matter, and a Muhammad steal led to a Jefferson jumper which gave us our first lead at 60-59 with 8:49 to go!
With 7:42 left, we were finally whistled for a foul. Jones, White, and Williams returned to the floor with a three-point lead to protect. Butler’s Gerald Williams hit a three over Jones to tie it, but Jones came back with a runner to break the tie. Damon Williams picked up his fourth foul with five minutes left, and he went to the bench as Cooper and Miller returned. Damon re-entered the game with 3:46 left and with us up 70-69 — at the same time that Ichaki did.
A key play occurred with 3:03 left when Cooper was fouled by Betts — it was the Bulldogs’ seventh team foul, putting us in the bonus situation. Cooper sunk both shots to give us a 73-71 lead. Ichaki hit a running bank shot with just under a minute left to give the Bulldogs a 76-75 lead, but a White dunk put us back on top. We milked the clock on our next possession, but Cooper lost the ball out of bounds.
Twenty seconds left, Butler’s ball, they’re down by one. We had three fouls to give, and we gave all three, putting Betts on the line. He made both shots, and they’re up one with 15 seconds to go. We called time.
Now, we wanted to stay away from Ichaki, because a blocked or otherwise altered shot at this point could end the game. The ball ended up in Miller’s hands…
…and he missed. 78-77 loss in the finale; Butler wins the regular season title.
White led us with 16 points. Correa led the valiant bench troops with 12, while Cooper added 11. Butler’s Betts led all scorers with 20 and added nine assists. Jackson contributed 16 points to their win. This game wouldn’t have been close at all if Ichaki hadn’t been in foul trouble all day. Butler really missed him on the glass; we outrebounded them 39-18.
What does it mean?
Basically that the rest of us are playing for second.
Wednesday, March 31, 2004
Wednesday, March 24, 2004
Kick Out The Suits, Kick In The Jams
If we learn nothing else from this year's NCAA Tournament, we've learned this: We now know what was holding Vanderbilt sports back all these years.
THE VANDERBILT ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT.
Cripes.
I've come to the decision that Gonzaga just doesn't play well as a favorite. I don't know what causes it or what it means.
I'm feeling quite foolish right now for ripping on Alabama.
UAB, not UIC. Clearly, I went the wrong way there. Great ending sequence, though: not too many fouls, just guys going out and making shots. Gotta love it.
Now, to the Thread aPa/tSC Yahoo! pool I'm doing. Matt and Charlie are tied for the lead. I'm in a five-way tie for seventh with Chris, Nate, Wade and Max. It's a USFLaPa reunion! My St. Louis region is in ruins (and, I imagine, so are most everyone's). Chris actually didn't have Kentucky going to the Final Four... of course, he did have Gonzaga and Stanford.
THE VANDERBILT ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT.
Cripes.
I've come to the decision that Gonzaga just doesn't play well as a favorite. I don't know what causes it or what it means.
I'm feeling quite foolish right now for ripping on Alabama.
UAB, not UIC. Clearly, I went the wrong way there. Great ending sequence, though: not too many fouls, just guys going out and making shots. Gotta love it.
Now, to the Thread aPa/tSC Yahoo! pool I'm doing. Matt and Charlie are tied for the lead. I'm in a five-way tie for seventh with Chris, Nate, Wade and Max. It's a USFLaPa reunion! My St. Louis region is in ruins (and, I imagine, so are most everyone's). Chris actually didn't have Kentucky going to the Final Four... of course, he did have Gonzaga and Stanford.
Saturday, March 20, 2004
One Out Of Two Ain't Bad
"I know I said it last year, but Arizona's way overdue for another first-weekend meltdown."
DING DING DING DING DING DING! The young Wildcats were ripe to be picked off.
"And don't sleep on the real Illinois-Chicago. The Flames start five seniors and guards Martell Bailey and Cedric Banks have been teammates for seven years, going back to high school."
Good God, I apologize.
DING DING DING DING DING DING! The young Wildcats were ripe to be picked off.
"And don't sleep on the real Illinois-Chicago. The Flames start five seniors and guards Martell Bailey and Cedric Banks have been teammates for seven years, going back to high school."
Good God, I apologize.
Thursday, March 18, 2004
Big Ol' Lot Of Stuff
Bracket Advice
And if you don't know what I'm talking about, just skip to the next thing. I mean really.
Wanna know why No. 12 seeds beat No. 5 seeds? Your general 12 is either a borderline big-conference team that may have had an up-and-down season or some injuries or something (Prime example: Missouri in 2002) or it's a mid-major that won 25-26 games and knocked off some middle-of-the-pack big-conference teams along the way.
SEC teams not named Kentucky have been overrated recently (Alabama in 2002 may be the worst 2-seed ever).
We're about to find out whether or not the rule was "Don't bet the house on Kansas" or "Don't bet the house on Roy Williams." And don't sleep on the real Illinois-Chicago. The Flames start five seniors and guards Martell Bailey and Cedric Banks have been teammates for seven years, going back to high school.
I'd pay good money to see Louisville-Xavier. If I HAD it. (More on this later.)
I know I said it last year, but Arizona's way overdue for another first-weekend meltdown.
On the flip side, get off the Saint Joseph's bandwagon at your own peril.
Terrell Owens Is An Eagle
Well this is just lovely.
Apparently Owens and the players' union had a stronger case than we all thought, and rumblings started occuring Monday night that the arbitrator might rule in his favor. We'll never actually know, of course, unless somebody asks the guy.
One of the ironies here is that the Ravens arguably needed him more than the Eagles did.
On the one hand, yes, he's worlds better than anyone they had, his talent's exactly what they needed, and they practically stole him.
On the other hand, the first pass he shortarms or drops or the first tantrum he throws, forget it. The fans will hang him. Philly sports fans have two rules: Don't have an ego, and don't make it look too easy. Remember, Ricky Watters never got over "For who? For what?"
MTV's "Real World" Pulls Out Of Philadelphia
MTV producers gave up on Philadelphia as the site of its 15th season after a lengthy dispute with city labor unions.
This was doomed from the start, really. They'd already recast the, er, cast (I guess they came up with too many people of substance), and you're not going to get away with using non-union labor in Philly. It just doesn't work that way.
And beyond that, MTV stopped trying with that show about seven years ago. The debacle that was Miami started it (although Scott Christ correctly says that Sarah was five years ahead of her time). Then Stephen punched out Irene in Seattle and didn't get booted (and didn't Irene end up going nuts? I forget) and that was pretty much it.
There's actually an OUTCRY about this. The Philadelphia Daily News set up an online petition to try to get the show to come back. And what's this crap about people being upset because RW would've promoted the city? Has anyone ever commented about the city when talking about Real World? Anyone? Like Mayor Street said, "I don't think it's the end of the world."
I've Also GOT To Get Out Of This STATE
Nothing is certain but death and getting hosed by the State of New Jersey at tax time.
I read somewhere that we're #2 per capita in the amount we're taxed and dead last in the amount per capita we get back, so I shouldn't have been as optimistic as I was.
But I wasn't prepared to owe the federal government $76. Not after owing the state $83 last year.
The "good" news? This year I'm getting $90 from the state.
Bastards.
And if you don't know what I'm talking about, just skip to the next thing. I mean really.
Wanna know why No. 12 seeds beat No. 5 seeds? Your general 12 is either a borderline big-conference team that may have had an up-and-down season or some injuries or something (Prime example: Missouri in 2002) or it's a mid-major that won 25-26 games and knocked off some middle-of-the-pack big-conference teams along the way.
SEC teams not named Kentucky have been overrated recently (Alabama in 2002 may be the worst 2-seed ever).
We're about to find out whether or not the rule was "Don't bet the house on Kansas" or "Don't bet the house on Roy Williams." And don't sleep on the real Illinois-Chicago. The Flames start five seniors and guards Martell Bailey and Cedric Banks have been teammates for seven years, going back to high school.
I'd pay good money to see Louisville-Xavier. If I HAD it. (More on this later.)
I know I said it last year, but Arizona's way overdue for another first-weekend meltdown.
On the flip side, get off the Saint Joseph's bandwagon at your own peril.
Terrell Owens Is An Eagle
Well this is just lovely.
Apparently Owens and the players' union had a stronger case than we all thought, and rumblings started occuring Monday night that the arbitrator might rule in his favor. We'll never actually know, of course, unless somebody asks the guy.
One of the ironies here is that the Ravens arguably needed him more than the Eagles did.
On the one hand, yes, he's worlds better than anyone they had, his talent's exactly what they needed, and they practically stole him.
On the other hand, the first pass he shortarms or drops or the first tantrum he throws, forget it. The fans will hang him. Philly sports fans have two rules: Don't have an ego, and don't make it look too easy. Remember, Ricky Watters never got over "For who? For what?"
MTV's "Real World" Pulls Out Of Philadelphia
MTV producers gave up on Philadelphia as the site of its 15th season after a lengthy dispute with city labor unions.
This was doomed from the start, really. They'd already recast the, er, cast (I guess they came up with too many people of substance), and you're not going to get away with using non-union labor in Philly. It just doesn't work that way.
And beyond that, MTV stopped trying with that show about seven years ago. The debacle that was Miami started it (although Scott Christ correctly says that Sarah was five years ahead of her time). Then Stephen punched out Irene in Seattle and didn't get booted (and didn't Irene end up going nuts? I forget) and that was pretty much it.
There's actually an OUTCRY about this. The Philadelphia Daily News set up an online petition to try to get the show to come back. And what's this crap about people being upset because RW would've promoted the city? Has anyone ever commented about the city when talking about Real World? Anyone? Like Mayor Street said, "I don't think it's the end of the world."
I've Also GOT To Get Out Of This STATE
Nothing is certain but death and getting hosed by the State of New Jersey at tax time.
I read somewhere that we're #2 per capita in the amount we're taxed and dead last in the amount per capita we get back, so I shouldn't have been as optimistic as I was.
But I wasn't prepared to owe the federal government $76. Not after owing the state $83 last year.
The "good" news? This year I'm getting $90 from the state.
Bastards.
Wednesday, March 17, 2004
I Have GOT To Get Out Of This Business
Report Sees Bleak Trend in U.S. News Media
Mon Mar 15, 7:29 AM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Most U.S. news media are experiencing a steady decline in their audiences and are significantly cutting their investment in staff and resources, according to a report issued on Monday.
The study on the state of the U.S. news media by the Project for Excellence in Journalism, which is affiliated with Columbia University's graduate journalism school, found only ethnic, alternative and online media were flourishing.
"Trust in journalism has been declining for a generation," said project director Tom Rosenstiel. "This study suggests one reason is that news media are locked in a vicious cycle. As audiences fragment, newsrooms are cut back, which further erodes public trust."
Circulation of English-language daily newspapers has dropped 11 percent since 1990; network news ratings are down 34 percent since 1994; late night local TV news viewership fell 16 percent lower since 1997 and cable news viewership has been flat since late 2001.
On the positive side, Spanish-language newspaper circulation nearly quadrupled over the past 13 years and advertising revenues were up sevenfold.
The report cataloged a striking decline in the number of journalists employed in American newsrooms. There were one third fewer network correspondents than in 1985; 2,200 fewer people at newspapers than in 1990; and the number of full-time radio newsroom employees fell by 44 percent from 1994 to 2001.
Only 5 percent of stories on cable news contained new information, the report found. Most were simply rehashes of the same facts. There was also less fact checking than in the past and less policing of journalistic standards.
Quality news and information were more available than ever before, but so was the trivial, the one-sided and the false.
Consumers with the time and patience to distinguish between many different sources of news might be better informed, but many were likely to find news outlets that echoed their own view of the world without providing alternative viewpoints.
Technology was driving many of the changes.
"Journalism is in the midst of an epochal transformation, as momentous probably as the invention of the telegraph or television," the report said.
Mon Mar 15, 7:29 AM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Most U.S. news media are experiencing a steady decline in their audiences and are significantly cutting their investment in staff and resources, according to a report issued on Monday.
The study on the state of the U.S. news media by the Project for Excellence in Journalism, which is affiliated with Columbia University's graduate journalism school, found only ethnic, alternative and online media were flourishing.
"Trust in journalism has been declining for a generation," said project director Tom Rosenstiel. "This study suggests one reason is that news media are locked in a vicious cycle. As audiences fragment, newsrooms are cut back, which further erodes public trust."
Circulation of English-language daily newspapers has dropped 11 percent since 1990; network news ratings are down 34 percent since 1994; late night local TV news viewership fell 16 percent lower since 1997 and cable news viewership has been flat since late 2001.
On the positive side, Spanish-language newspaper circulation nearly quadrupled over the past 13 years and advertising revenues were up sevenfold.
The report cataloged a striking decline in the number of journalists employed in American newsrooms. There were one third fewer network correspondents than in 1985; 2,200 fewer people at newspapers than in 1990; and the number of full-time radio newsroom employees fell by 44 percent from 1994 to 2001.
Only 5 percent of stories on cable news contained new information, the report found. Most were simply rehashes of the same facts. There was also less fact checking than in the past and less policing of journalistic standards.
Quality news and information were more available than ever before, but so was the trivial, the one-sided and the false.
Consumers with the time and patience to distinguish between many different sources of news might be better informed, but many were likely to find news outlets that echoed their own view of the world without providing alternative viewpoints.
Technology was driving many of the changes.
"Journalism is in the midst of an epochal transformation, as momentous probably as the invention of the telegraph or television," the report said.
Saturday, March 13, 2004
As If Their World Series Odds Couldn't Get WORSE
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=816&e=2&u=/ap/20040312/ap_on_sp_ba_ne/bba_fenway_park_hot_dogs
Church Nixes Good Friday Fenway Hot Dogs
Fri Mar 12,12:35 PM ET
Add Strange News - AP to My Yahoo!
BOSTON - Opening Day ticket holders at Boston's Fenway Park this year who are Catholic face a dilemma: the Boston Archdiocese said since the afternoon game against the Toronto Blue Jays (news) falls on Good Friday, they must refrain from eating meat, including hot dogs, sausages and pepperoni pizza.
"We're already getting all kinds of requests for dispensation to eat meat," said the Rev. Christopher J. Coyne, a spokesman for the archdiocese. However Coyne said that after a meeting to discuss the requests, Boston church leaders decided a baseball game was too weak an excuse to duck the no-meat rule.
"I would hope it was just an oversight when they were doing the schedule," Coyne told the Boston Herald. "I think it's very insensitive to the huge number of people who are Christians and fans."
In 1995 and 2000, Cardinal Bernard F. Law, then the head of the archdiocese, allowed local Catholics to eat meat when St. Patrick's Day fell on a Friday during Lent.
Church Nixes Good Friday Fenway Hot Dogs
Fri Mar 12,12:35 PM ET
Add Strange News - AP to My Yahoo!
BOSTON - Opening Day ticket holders at Boston's Fenway Park this year who are Catholic face a dilemma: the Boston Archdiocese said since the afternoon game against the Toronto Blue Jays (news) falls on Good Friday, they must refrain from eating meat, including hot dogs, sausages and pepperoni pizza.
"We're already getting all kinds of requests for dispensation to eat meat," said the Rev. Christopher J. Coyne, a spokesman for the archdiocese. However Coyne said that after a meeting to discuss the requests, Boston church leaders decided a baseball game was too weak an excuse to duck the no-meat rule.
"I would hope it was just an oversight when they were doing the schedule," Coyne told the Boston Herald. "I think it's very insensitive to the huge number of people who are Christians and fans."
In 1995 and 2000, Cardinal Bernard F. Law, then the head of the archdiocese, allowed local Catholics to eat meat when St. Patrick's Day fell on a Friday during Lent.
Monday, March 8, 2004
Illinois-Chicago Diary (Week 15)
News: Clyde’s back! He’s fully recovered and rehabbed after hernia surgery. We’ll see if he’s up for starting during practice this week.
Polls: Florida’s back on top after Tennessee lost to Georgia, 75-64 on Wednesday. Josh Clay had 23 and 21 in the win.
Awards:
Horizon League Player of the Week: SF #0 Paris LaRue, 6’6” junior, Detroit (31 ppg, 11.5 rpg) Had 36 in a 10-point loss to Youngstown State Saturday.
Horizon League Freshman of the Week: SF #24 Andy Hayes, 6’4” freshman, Wright State (21 ppg)
National Player of the Week: SG #3 Marcus Spann, 6’3” senior, Monmouth (36 ppg, 5 apg, 7 rpg)
National Freshman of the Week: SF #5 Brett Gates, 6’9” freshman, St. John’s (20 ppg, 15.5 rpg, 4.5 bpg)
Game 26 Report
Wisconsin-Green Bay (13-12, 9-4) at Illinois-Chicago (13-12, 5-7)
Thursday, February 20, 2003
Six weeks ago they beat us by one point in overtime in a game I felt we should have won.
Horizon League Freshman of the Year is a two-horse race at this point between Wright State’s Andy Hayes (who we’ll see again on Sunday) and this man:
PG #12 Chris Merton (6’3”, 176, freshman, Central HS, Flint, Mich.)
10.2 ppg, 6.9 apg (4th in conference)
We held him down in our first meeting; limiting him to two points and three assists in 19 minutes. He spent a lot of the game in foul trouble, also.
Game time, and we decided not to start Clyde. This may have been a mistake, as Correa couldn’t contain the Phoenix’s Dan Gresham early, as he scored seven of WGB’s first 10 points. Down 10-5 and four and a half minutes into the game, Miller emerged from the bench to a nice ovation and replaced Cooper, who’d picked up two quick and questionable fouls. Miller came in and hit his first shot, earning another nice hand from the fans.
We were getting a scrappy effort early on, but the Phoenix were too smooth for us to catch up with, shooting well over 60 percent in the early going. That soon changed, as a Jefferson three-pointer closed their lead to 18-16, then neither team made a shot for well over three minutes. We took the lead on two free throws by Jefferson, and the Phoenix promptly called time.
With 3:30 left in the half, we were up 28-25 after James Smith had halved the lead with a three. One of Miller’s unsung qualities is his ballhandling, and he’s another guy we can use at the point in dire situations. He made some great passes near the end of the half, and Muhammad’s turnaround jumper off the glass gave us a 37-31 lead at halftime.
Miller had six points and five assists off the bench. Danny Jones was our high man with seven. For the Phoenix, Gresham cooled off after a hot start and went into the locker room with nine. We only had three turnovers, also, which is phenomenal.
After a couple minutes went by in the second half, we switched to a 2-1-2 because it’s less embarrassing than seeing guys make three-pointers directly in our faces. We stayed in front thanks to our interior players’ work on the boards, and led 49-43 with 12:30 left to play. But a putback by Melvin Dearman (I’m fairly certain all of his points from the floor have come on putbacks) and a three by Gresham cut the lead to one. They went ahead briefly before a Fields basket put us back on top, then another Gresham trey tied the score at 53 with eight minutes left.
We pulled away on the strength of Cooper and Jefferson’s offense, leading 66-59 at one point, but let them back in on the weakness of Jefferson’s defense. With 2:11 left, we got a stoppage and Miller replaced Jefferson. A risk for his first game back in over two months? Coach Mills didn’t think so. Would it pay off?
The Phoenix got a basket from Nate Trent to make the score 66-65, us. We bled the clock but couldn’t get a good shot, and they had three fouls to give and only used one. So it’s their ball, down one, with 27 seconds left. We also had fouls to give, and their free throw shooting’s been horrific tonight (3 for 8), so we thought about fouling.
But didn’t.
Instead, we went to a straight-up man-to-man and turned up the pressure, figuring we could force them into a bad shot.
The resulting turnover was just as good.
Two fouls got us to the line and Cooper sank both shots with 16 seconds left.
The key now? DON’T LET GRESHAM SHOOT. Make him give up the ball, since he’s the one who turned it over on their last possession. Inexplicably, the ball ended up going inside to Josh Smith, who Williams happily fouled. He made both free throws, 68-67, game over, we win. What an odd ending. But hey, we got our payback. (Not to mention our point.)
White ended up our leading scorer with 13 of the least publicized points you’ll ever see. Jefferson added 11, while Jones and Correa had 10 each. Miller had six points, six rebounds and four assists in 23 minutes off the bench. He’ll return to the starting lineup Sunday. Gresham led all scorers with 22, while Dearman had 15 and 11 rebounds.
Game 27 Report
Wright St. (12-14, 8-5) at Illinois-Chicago (14-12, 6-7)
Sunday, February 23, 2003
As promised, Miller was in the starting lineup today. It was an especially sloppy start for the Raiders, who committed four turnovers in the first two minutes. The first points came 1:56 in when Cooper made two free throws. We think they may have been confused by us starting in a 3-2 zone. Miller made the first shot from the floor three minutes in. It would be two and a half more minutes before reserve Mike Jenkins made the first shot from the floor for the Raiders.
The Raiders pulled into a tie, then took a 13-11 lead on a three by Lloyd Petteway. After that… a whole lot of nothing. Well, not completely. But there was a stretch where neither team could keep the ball long enough to take a shot, let alone make one. We eventually went on an 11-2 run late in the half, and ended the half up 30-21.
Cooper had 11 points and was the only player who seemed to have his shot in the first half. Our 3-2 zone play forced Wright St. to shoot 1-for-10 from behind the arc. Colin Jefferson led the Raiders with seven points.
Everyone must have gotten their legs during the break, as both teams came out trading baskets to start the second half. But eight minutes into the half, both White and Williams were on the bench with four fouls, and the Raiders’ big men were keeping them in the game. Coach Mills switched to a help defense to tighten things up inside. It worked, but the Raiders went to the jump shot and were successful, closing the margin to 43-41 with 10:17 to play. Time out.
Muhammad ended the run with a hook shot, and we pushed the lead back to seven. It got to 11 with 3:37 left, and the Raiders were unable to make enough shots to get closer. It ended at the free throw line, and we picked that time to start making the shots. In what was out lowest-scoring win of the year, we prevailed, 63-51.
Cooper led all scorers with 17 points. Miller added 11 (7 of 9 from the line), while Williams had 11 rebounds. Petteway had a team-high 13 for the Raiders. Leading scorer Andy Hayes: Two. Another key was Paul Marvel’s seven turnovers to six assists. It was a big win, as with one week to go in the conference schedule, we have a chance to finish second, and a winning conference record plus a good run in the conference tournament could get us an ACT bid… or an NCT spot if the Butler Bulldogs are kidnapped or something.
Polls: Florida’s back on top after Tennessee lost to Georgia, 75-64 on Wednesday. Josh Clay had 23 and 21 in the win.
Awards:
Horizon League Player of the Week: SF #0 Paris LaRue, 6’6” junior, Detroit (31 ppg, 11.5 rpg) Had 36 in a 10-point loss to Youngstown State Saturday.
Horizon League Freshman of the Week: SF #24 Andy Hayes, 6’4” freshman, Wright State (21 ppg)
National Player of the Week: SG #3 Marcus Spann, 6’3” senior, Monmouth (36 ppg, 5 apg, 7 rpg)
National Freshman of the Week: SF #5 Brett Gates, 6’9” freshman, St. John’s (20 ppg, 15.5 rpg, 4.5 bpg)
Game 26 Report
Wisconsin-Green Bay (13-12, 9-4) at Illinois-Chicago (13-12, 5-7)
Thursday, February 20, 2003
Six weeks ago they beat us by one point in overtime in a game I felt we should have won.
Horizon League Freshman of the Year is a two-horse race at this point between Wright State’s Andy Hayes (who we’ll see again on Sunday) and this man:
PG #12 Chris Merton (6’3”, 176, freshman, Central HS, Flint, Mich.)
10.2 ppg, 6.9 apg (4th in conference)
We held him down in our first meeting; limiting him to two points and three assists in 19 minutes. He spent a lot of the game in foul trouble, also.
Game time, and we decided not to start Clyde. This may have been a mistake, as Correa couldn’t contain the Phoenix’s Dan Gresham early, as he scored seven of WGB’s first 10 points. Down 10-5 and four and a half minutes into the game, Miller emerged from the bench to a nice ovation and replaced Cooper, who’d picked up two quick and questionable fouls. Miller came in and hit his first shot, earning another nice hand from the fans.
We were getting a scrappy effort early on, but the Phoenix were too smooth for us to catch up with, shooting well over 60 percent in the early going. That soon changed, as a Jefferson three-pointer closed their lead to 18-16, then neither team made a shot for well over three minutes. We took the lead on two free throws by Jefferson, and the Phoenix promptly called time.
With 3:30 left in the half, we were up 28-25 after James Smith had halved the lead with a three. One of Miller’s unsung qualities is his ballhandling, and he’s another guy we can use at the point in dire situations. He made some great passes near the end of the half, and Muhammad’s turnaround jumper off the glass gave us a 37-31 lead at halftime.
Miller had six points and five assists off the bench. Danny Jones was our high man with seven. For the Phoenix, Gresham cooled off after a hot start and went into the locker room with nine. We only had three turnovers, also, which is phenomenal.
After a couple minutes went by in the second half, we switched to a 2-1-2 because it’s less embarrassing than seeing guys make three-pointers directly in our faces. We stayed in front thanks to our interior players’ work on the boards, and led 49-43 with 12:30 left to play. But a putback by Melvin Dearman (I’m fairly certain all of his points from the floor have come on putbacks) and a three by Gresham cut the lead to one. They went ahead briefly before a Fields basket put us back on top, then another Gresham trey tied the score at 53 with eight minutes left.
We pulled away on the strength of Cooper and Jefferson’s offense, leading 66-59 at one point, but let them back in on the weakness of Jefferson’s defense. With 2:11 left, we got a stoppage and Miller replaced Jefferson. A risk for his first game back in over two months? Coach Mills didn’t think so. Would it pay off?
The Phoenix got a basket from Nate Trent to make the score 66-65, us. We bled the clock but couldn’t get a good shot, and they had three fouls to give and only used one. So it’s their ball, down one, with 27 seconds left. We also had fouls to give, and their free throw shooting’s been horrific tonight (3 for 8), so we thought about fouling.
But didn’t.
Instead, we went to a straight-up man-to-man and turned up the pressure, figuring we could force them into a bad shot.
The resulting turnover was just as good.
Two fouls got us to the line and Cooper sank both shots with 16 seconds left.
The key now? DON’T LET GRESHAM SHOOT. Make him give up the ball, since he’s the one who turned it over on their last possession. Inexplicably, the ball ended up going inside to Josh Smith, who Williams happily fouled. He made both free throws, 68-67, game over, we win. What an odd ending. But hey, we got our payback. (Not to mention our point.)
White ended up our leading scorer with 13 of the least publicized points you’ll ever see. Jefferson added 11, while Jones and Correa had 10 each. Miller had six points, six rebounds and four assists in 23 minutes off the bench. He’ll return to the starting lineup Sunday. Gresham led all scorers with 22, while Dearman had 15 and 11 rebounds.
Game 27 Report
Wright St. (12-14, 8-5) at Illinois-Chicago (14-12, 6-7)
Sunday, February 23, 2003
As promised, Miller was in the starting lineup today. It was an especially sloppy start for the Raiders, who committed four turnovers in the first two minutes. The first points came 1:56 in when Cooper made two free throws. We think they may have been confused by us starting in a 3-2 zone. Miller made the first shot from the floor three minutes in. It would be two and a half more minutes before reserve Mike Jenkins made the first shot from the floor for the Raiders.
The Raiders pulled into a tie, then took a 13-11 lead on a three by Lloyd Petteway. After that… a whole lot of nothing. Well, not completely. But there was a stretch where neither team could keep the ball long enough to take a shot, let alone make one. We eventually went on an 11-2 run late in the half, and ended the half up 30-21.
Cooper had 11 points and was the only player who seemed to have his shot in the first half. Our 3-2 zone play forced Wright St. to shoot 1-for-10 from behind the arc. Colin Jefferson led the Raiders with seven points.
Everyone must have gotten their legs during the break, as both teams came out trading baskets to start the second half. But eight minutes into the half, both White and Williams were on the bench with four fouls, and the Raiders’ big men were keeping them in the game. Coach Mills switched to a help defense to tighten things up inside. It worked, but the Raiders went to the jump shot and were successful, closing the margin to 43-41 with 10:17 to play. Time out.
Muhammad ended the run with a hook shot, and we pushed the lead back to seven. It got to 11 with 3:37 left, and the Raiders were unable to make enough shots to get closer. It ended at the free throw line, and we picked that time to start making the shots. In what was out lowest-scoring win of the year, we prevailed, 63-51.
Cooper led all scorers with 17 points. Miller added 11 (7 of 9 from the line), while Williams had 11 rebounds. Petteway had a team-high 13 for the Raiders. Leading scorer Andy Hayes: Two. Another key was Paul Marvel’s seven turnovers to six assists. It was a big win, as with one week to go in the conference schedule, we have a chance to finish second, and a winning conference record plus a good run in the conference tournament could get us an ACT bid… or an NCT spot if the Butler Bulldogs are kidnapped or something.
Thursday, March 4, 2004
The Ad Game
This was going to go with the last post but I decided it deserved its own.
Current commercials I dig:
- the new American Express ad with Tiger Woods as Carl Spackler from Caddyshack
- the truck ad with the one guy singing along to Shania Twain's "Feel Like A Woman"
- the new Nike commercial with Randy Johnson bowling, Lance Armstrong boxing, etc.
- the Scottish parade Sierra Mist ad that premiered at the Super Bowl ("That's just wrong, Dad."~~~~)
I've not yet seen the Chef Boyardee ad Easy wrote about but I imagine I'd be suitably frightened.
And I guess it's cheaper to just buy one national TV advertisement than a bunch of regional ones. When I worked in Trenton, Sonic ads would show up in the local spots. The closest Sonic to Jersey is in Virginia Beach. Virginia Beach! I also thought I saw a Carl's Jr. ad last week. You know where the closest Carl's Jr. to here is? OKLAHOMA.
Current commercials I dig:
- the new American Express ad with Tiger Woods as Carl Spackler from Caddyshack
- the truck ad with the one guy singing along to Shania Twain's "Feel Like A Woman"
- the new Nike commercial with Randy Johnson bowling, Lance Armstrong boxing, etc.
- the Scottish parade Sierra Mist ad that premiered at the Super Bowl ("That's just wrong, Dad."~~~~)
I've not yet seen the Chef Boyardee ad Easy wrote about but I imagine I'd be suitably frightened.
And I guess it's cheaper to just buy one national TV advertisement than a bunch of regional ones. When I worked in Trenton, Sonic ads would show up in the local spots. The closest Sonic to Jersey is in Virginia Beach. Virginia Beach! I also thought I saw a Carl's Jr. ad last week. You know where the closest Carl's Jr. to here is? OKLAHOMA.
Wednesday, March 3, 2004
All Manner Of Things
- We got The Freak? That's... weird. I'm not against it, but I don't quite get it, either.
- I haven't really been able to take the Oscars seriously since the unforgivable travesty that was Titanic over L.A. Confidential in 1998.
- Jennifer Garner is one of the very few women I find more attractive with her hair up.
- When exactly did French bread become a "baguette"? Did I miss this? It's very disturbing.
- It happened about four years too late, but the New York Rangers are finally blowing up that sorry excuse for a team.
- "Chappelle's Show" is the funniest thing on television. I will NOT argue about this.
- the Squared Circle is open for biz-NASS. Woo. And even though I hate the match I wrote, I want to think that it at least did its job.
- Julia Stiles also looks better with short hair.
- Fucking right I'm a doctor.
- I haven't really been able to take the Oscars seriously since the unforgivable travesty that was Titanic over L.A. Confidential in 1998.
- Jennifer Garner is one of the very few women I find more attractive with her hair up.
- When exactly did French bread become a "baguette"? Did I miss this? It's very disturbing.
- It happened about four years too late, but the New York Rangers are finally blowing up that sorry excuse for a team.
- "Chappelle's Show" is the funniest thing on television. I will NOT argue about this.
- the Squared Circle is open for biz-NASS. Woo. And even though I hate the match I wrote, I want to think that it at least did its job.
- Julia Stiles also looks better with short hair.
- Fucking right I'm a doctor.
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