POSTERIZED: Deville Smith goes both ways

I spent a good chunk of time watching, re-watching and analyzing this dunk. I could not decide whether or not the following dunk was POSTERIZED-worthy.

Sure, it's a good dunk.

Is it a spectacular dunk?

No, it is most certainly not.

But then I remembered that Deville Smith is only 5-foot-11 AND right-handed.



Yeah, that's kinda impressive.

I'm 6-foot-3 and at my athletic peak, struggled to dunk a full-sized basketball with my strong hand. But then again, that's probably why Smith is playing for a top-25 D-1 team, and I, well, write about it.

But poor Deniz Kilicli. This is his third appearance on #POSTERIZED this year, and he's been on the receiving end twice.

(H/T Brandon Marcello)


But was it as good as these?

Terrence Jones, Kentucky vs. North Carolina, 12/3
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Georgetown, 12/1
Anthony Marshall, UNLV vs. UNC, 11/26
Michael Kidd-Glichrist, Kentucky vs. Portland, 11/26/11 (DotY Candidate)
Markel Brown, Oklahoma State vs. Virginia Tech, 11/25
Rodney Williams, Minnesota vs. DePaul, 11/24
Thomas Robinson, Kansas vs. Duke, 11/23
Stan Okoye, VMI vs. Ohio State, 11/23
Kyisean Reed, Utah State vs. Southern Utah, 11/19
Ra'Shad James, Iona vs. Western Michigan, 11/18
Alandise Harris, Houston vs. Arkansas, 11/18
Sam Thompson, Ohio State vs. Jackson State, 11/18
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Wichita State, 11/18
Eric Griffin, Campbell vs. North Carolina A&T, 11/18 (DotY Candidate)
Olek Czyz, Nevada vs. Pacific, 11/17
Chris Watson, Pikeville vs. Mountain State, 11/16
Ray Willis, North Carolina Central vs. Wagner, 11/16
Mike James, Lamar vs. Ohio, 11/15 (DotY Candidate)
Quincy Acy, Baylor vs. San Diego State, 11/15
Deniz Kilicli, West Virginia vs. Kent State, 11/15
Chris Evans, Kent State vs. West Virginia, 11/15
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Oakland, 11/14
Isaiah Brown, East Tennessee State vs. Virginia Tech, 11/12
Michael Lyons, Air Force vs. Army, 11/11
Dezmine Wells, Xavier vs. Morgan State, 11/11
Jeremy Lamb, UConn vs. Columbia, 11/11 (DotY Candidate)
Andre Drummond, UConn vs. CW Post, 11/4
Moe Harkless, St. John's vs. CW Post, 10/26



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Mississippi State rides for the SEC

This post can also be found at Beyond the Arc.

NEW YORK - Within the first week of the college basketball season, we saw three of the SEC's top five teams lose.

Mississippi State and Vanderbilt were dropped at home by Akron and Cleveland State, respectively. Florida went on the road and ran into the buzzsaw known as the Ohio State Buckeyes. The initial reaction was, naturally, that the SEC is once again down this season.

Don't worry. I won't hold it against you if you did. I jumped to the same conclusion. After the way that the SEC has struggled over recent seasons, it made too much sense.

Dig a little deeper, however, and the answer isn't so simple.


Vanderbilt is playing without Festus Ezeli, whose knee injury essentially extended the six game suspension he is currently serving through December. During their loss to Cleveland State, John Jenkins injured his ankle, and while he kept playing, it was bad enough that he didn't suit up against Bucknell. I've been as harsh on Vandy as anyone, but even I can admit that judging them too harshly before they play at 100% is a bit unfair.

Florida's loss to Ohio State is about as far from a bad loss as you can get. Road games are difficult regardless of opponent. Hanging within seven of a top three team on their home court in mid-November is a promising performance.

Which brings us to Mississippi State. The Bulldogs completed their run to the Coaches vs. Cancer Championship with a 67-57 win over Arizona on Friday night, all but erasing the doubts created by the memories of that loss to Akron.

But for the second straight night, this was more than simply a win for Mississippi State. The Bulldogs never trailed Arizona. Hell, the score was only tied once, at 23. The Bulldogs jumped out to leads of 7-0 and 21-11, over-powering the Wildcats on the interior. Arizona did battle back to tie the game and only trailed by one at the half, but the Bulldogs once again got off to a quick start in the second half. Arizona wasn't blown out by any means -- the lead didn't hit double digits for the half -- but it never felt like Mississippi State ever lost control of the game.

"I am proud of our team," Mississippi State head coach Rick Stansbury said after the game. "And I am proud from this standpoint: I think when the game was on the line in the second half, we survived. ... Our team dug in defensively and the stats back it up. We held them to eight field goals in the second half and we had a plus-nine rebound margin. Those are winning plays."

Arnett Moultrie led the way, finishing with 19 points (on 8-9 shooting), 10 boards and the Tournament's Most Outstanding Player award. Moultrie isn't always going to be a big scorer like this, but the threat of having two big men capable of putting up 20 points and 10 boards is part of what makes Mississippi State so dangerous.

The other part of what makes the Bulldogs dangerous is there back court, and not simply Dee Bost. Stansbury's star senior shot just 3-12 from the field, finishing with eight points and six assists to along with three turnovers. And while Stansbury will disagree with my assessment of how Bost played -- he called me out during the press conference, saying that the effort and leadership that Bost played with is what they need from him -- the bottom line is that the Bulldog's best scorer wasn't scoring well.

And Mississippi State still won.

A big part of that was due to the play of DeVille Smith, a diminutive freshman point guard. For the second straight night, Smith came into the game and created a spark. Smith, who was the third-leading scorer for the Bulldogs during their trip to Europe, had seven points and a pair of assists, scoring six points and handing out an assist in a five minute stretch of the second half in which the Bulldogs pushed the lead from one to nine.

"[Being a spark plug] is something that coach wants me to do, but its also something that I want to do. I'll do whatever it takes to win the game," Smith said.

Smith isn't the only role player that stepped up for the Bulldogs. Wendell Lewis had six points and seven boards off the bench. Rodney Hood had nine points and hit a couple of big jumpers. Brian Bryant add six points and helped keep Arizona's slew of perimeter players in check.

"We have a lot of different guys on different nights," Stansbury said. "We have people on different nights who can step up and do big things for us."
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Its time to accept Renardo Sidney for what he is: mediocre

NEW YORK - Mississippi State doesn't need Renardo Sidney to be a good basketball team.

They can make the NCAA Tournament team with their most talented player filling a role. They don't need Sidney to be an all-american -- or even an all-league -- caliber player to compete with anyone in the SEC, save Kentucky. They don't need their 6'11", 290 lb big man to utilize his quick feet, soft shooting touch and powerful body on the block to win games; they only need him to be 6'11", 290 lb.

The Bulldogs proved as much on Thursday night at the Garden.

Mississippi State hit five threes and forced six turnovers in the first 10 minutes as they opened up a 31-9 lead on Texas A&M. The Aggies made a push at the end of the first half, cutting the lead to nine, but they were never able to get closer than eight down the stretch. When it was all said and done, Mississippi State earned a trip to tomorrow's Coaches vs. Cancer final on the heels of a 69-60 win over the No. 18 Aggies, one that wasn't as close as the final margin indicates.

The game was never in doubt, meaning that its fair to say Mississippi State beat the pants off of a top 20 team.


Sidney's line? Three points on 0-8 shooting from the field, five boards, a block (on the first possession of the game) and three fouls in 22 minutes.

"I thought he played with pretty good effort," Mississippi State head coach Rick Stansbury said of Sidney after the game. "What he didn't do was finish some shots. He's going to finish those shots. He goes 0-8, but only two of those shots were out of the paint."

"I'm not concerned about him finishing shots. Its the last thing on that check list."

He's got a point. Sidney missed five or six point blank shots, one of which was a put-back dunk. Lazy or not, out of shape or with the endurance of a Kenyan marathoner, Sidney is not going to miss those shots too often. It was just one of those nights. That should give you an idea of the kind of performance that the Bulldogs had tonight.

But where Stansbury errs is when he says Sidney played with pretty good effort. Sidney lolly-gagged up and down the court. He looked allergic to contact, content to stand on the weak side of the floor offensively and simply become a space-eater defensively. The fact that performance is considered a "pretty good effort" for Sidney should provide a glimpse into why he is a non-existent entity on NBA Draft boards.

"If I can get him to play hard," Stansbury said after the game when asked about what he needs from Sidney. "[Tonight] he didn't give up much in transition, he was playing with pretty good effort on ball screens, and one of the best things I liked? Late in that basketball game there's a loose ball and he dove on the floor right in front of our bench. That's what I need from him."

But how often is Stansbury going to get that out of Sidney? Every other game? Every other week?

At this point, Sidney is a known quantity. Instead of talking about his potential if this, that and the third happens, its time to accept the fact that he will never reach the level of superstardom he experienced at a 15 year old on the AAU circuit. Sidney is a role-player, plain and simple. For whatever reason, he just doesn't have the desire to be a great player. Maybe he doesn't like basketball. Maybe he's burned out on the public attention. As of today, Sidney's approach to basketball can best be described as apathetic.

But apathy on the part of Sidney is acceptable as long as he isn't a trouble-maker. If he is able to keep the peace in the Mississippi State locker room, the Bulldogs are going to be just fine this year.

Dee Bost is a terrific point guard, and while he tends to get a bit out of control -- ill-advised shots, difficult passes, too many turnovers -- he's a go-to player and a guy that is capable of scoring and creating shots for his teammates. Arnett Moultrie is a rebounding and shot-blocking presence that has shown to be an improving, albeit inconsistent, scorer on the block. Freshman slasher Rodney Hood has emerged as a secondary scoring option on the perimeter, freshman point guard Deville Smith is an exciting penetrator that allows Bost to spend time playing off the ball and Brian Bryant is a do-it-all glue guy.

There are plenty of pieces on this roster, enough that it isn't necessary for Sidney to be in a featured role.

Mississippi State fans are allowed to be disappointed and frustrated by Sidney, however. I don't blame them; he's frustrating for me as well.

Because if Sidney ever decided that basketball, that this team's success, was a priority for him, the Bulldogs would have a much, much higher ceiling than they do today. A top five finish in the SEC and an NCAA Tournament bid should be expected for this group with the current version of Sidney; winning a tournament game would make the season a success.

How good would they be if Sidney played to his potential? Would a second-place finish in the SEC be out of the question? Could that group make a run to the Elite 8?

That's a question we'll likely never get an answer to, which means that it is a question we need to stop asking.
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Thursday's Shootaround: Our first upset of the year

This post can also be found at Beyond the Arc.

No. 16 Arizona 67, Duquesne 59: Josiah Turner showed up late for a shootaround Wednesday afternoon, and that gave Jordin Mayes the start over him. That decision would end up being a blessing in disguise for Arizona, as Mayes scored 16 of his 19 points in the second half and sparked a late 12-0 run that gave Arizona a 61-48 lead. The Wildcats would go on to win 67-59, but the lead certainly wasn't safe; Arizona had one stretch where they turned the ball over on four straight possessions while trying to put the game away.

In fact, Arizona finished the game with 21 turnovers, the most they've had in a game since February of 2010. And that's where there conundrum of Jordin Mayes comes into play. For the second straight game, Mayes provided Arizona with the spark they needed to blow the game open; on Monday, he scored eight straight points to give the Wildcats control against Valparaiso. The problem? Mayes isn't a pure point guard. After Wednesday's game, Mayes now has one assist and three turnovers in Arizona's first two games. Last season, he averaged just 1.2 apg despite playing 14.3 mpg.


He may be the best option at the point right now. Josiah Turner has loads of talent, but he has even more learning -- and maturing -- to do before he gets to the point that he can maximize that talent. Decision-making is not Turner's strong suit. (Seriously, how do you show up late to the shootaround for the second game of the season?) Nick Johnson is talented and can be a playmaker, but he's not a point guard. Kyle Fogg is the leader for this team, but he, too, is not a point guard. Mayes is the best option, but if Turner is able to put it all together this year, it will be interesting to see what, exactly, Sean Miller does with his back court rotation.


St. John's 78, Lehigh 73: You would have thought that the surprising return of Steve Lavin, who is still recovering from treatment for prostate cancer, would be enough of an emotional boost to get St. John's to come out on all cylinders on Wednesday night. Instead, it was Lehigh that had the hot hand early, knocking down their first five three pointers and eventually surging to a 32-16 lead. But like they did on Monday night, the Johnnies used a pressuring defense to create turnovers and get opportunities in the full court, where their athleticism took over. A 12-0 run cut the lead to 60-58 with five minutes left before God'sgift Achiuwa gave the Johnnies the lead for good with a running hook with under two minutes remaining.

Achiuwa finished with 21 points and eight boards -- going 6-6 from the field and 9-9 from the free throw line -- and Nurideen Lindsay and Moe Harkless both chipped in with 15 points.

This win was a good sign for St. John's. Lehigh is not a bad basketball team. They have one of the best mid-major players in the country in CJ McCollum and came out completely unphased by St. John's pressure. The Johnnies were able to regroup, made a comeback and then made enough plays in crunch time to win the game. No one -- not even the most die hard St. John's fan -- should truly expect this team to contest for an NCAA Tournament bid this season. I don't care is this game was at home and against an over-matched opponent, seeing such a young team rally from 14 points down and win a game when they didn't play well for 30 minutes is a good sign.


Akron 68, Mississippi State 58: I touched on Renardo Sidney here, but there is more to this loss than just The Big Enigma.

Arnett Moultrie grabbed 15 rebounds (seven offensive), which was nice, but he shot 2-13 from the floor, many of which were shots around the rim. Granted, a lot of that can be attributed to the defensive presence of Akron's Zeke Marshall, but that shooting percentage is still a problem. Dee Bost also had a tough game. He finished with 13 points, he was just 2-9 from the floor and 1-6 from three, he had four of Mississippi State's 19 turnovers and he played far too quickly for a guy that is a point guard on a team with a terrific front line. And all you have to do is search Rick Stansbury on twitter to get a feel for his coaching job.

But the biggest thing you should take away from this game? Akron's pretty good, bro! They played very well defensively, forcing Mississippi State into some ugly offensive possessions. They not only forced turnovers, they created 'pick six' turnovers -- jumping passing lanes and making open court steals that led directly to easy buckets at the other end. Zeke Marshall made things very difficult in the lane before he fouled out, Alex Abreu was a terror defensively (six steals), Quincy Diggs scored 19 points and made a lot of plays in transition and Nikola Cvetinovic made a lot of little plays that don't show up in the score book.

Akron is a well-coached, experienced team coming off of a trip to the NCAA Tournament. This loss is not a good sign for Mississippi State, but its also not as bad as it looks on paper.


No. 19 Texas A&M 81, Liberty 59: This game was over early. Despite playing without head coach Billy Kennedy, who was recently diagnosed with Parkinson's, the Aggies were stifling defensively early on, holding the Flames to just 14 first half points. They shot 65.4% from the floor for the game and cruised to the win. Ray Turner was great, scoring 20 points on 9-11 shooting while Elston Turner and David Loubeau chipped in with 16 and 14, respectively. The best news? The Aggies were this impressive despite getting only 10 minutes from Khris Middleton, who left the game with a hamstring injury and is currently day-to-day.
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Renardo Sidney still doesn't care about basketball

Renardo Sidney is a frustrating player to watch.

I think its fair to say that he may actually be the most frustrating player in the country to watch.

I understand now why everyone -- from agents to runners to the shoe companies to the people that write about high schoolers -- was so enamored with this kid. You can see it in glimpses. He's probably a good 30 pounds over weight, but he's nimble and he's coordinated. He's quick on his feet. It makes you salivate thinking about the kind of mobility and athleticism he would have if he dropped the baby weight.


Its not just his physical tools, either. He understands how to make a rim-run in transition, sealing his defender under the basket. He can move without the ball and knows how to operate in the pick-and-roll. He has some moves with his back-to-the-basket. For a power forward, there really isn't much that Sidney isn't able to do.

The problem is how long he is able to do it for. Three minutes into Mississippi State's 68-58 loss to Akron, Sidney made a terrific rim-run, sprinting the length of the floor and sealing Zeke Marshall, a seven-footer currently on the NBA radar, for what would have been an easy lay-up had he been given the entry pass. That sprint, however, gassed Sidney. He barely made it back to the other end to play defense and, after the Bulldogs got a stop, he didn't come within 25 feet of the rim on MSU's ensuing possession.

And therein lies the problem.

There was some significant discussion on twitter during the game about whether or not we are too quick in judging Sidney two games into the season. Matt Norlander wrote a post of his own on it after the game. While I don't disagree per se, I think its quite obvious just how little actual work Sidney did on his conditioning this offseason. He may have dropped some pounds and streamlined his body a bit, but looking better for the beach doesn't mean you got yourself into shape to play basketball at the SEC level.

Sidney's conditioning is so bad that Rick Stansbury hasn't used him -- his most talented player -- in crunch time of Mississippi State's first two games. On Wednesday, Marshall fouled out of the game with 3:17 left on the clock, and Stansbury left Sidney sitting on his bench despite being down 62-56 at the time.

Stansbury said after the game that he left Sidney on the bench because the big fella would have been a defensive liability against a smaller lineup. Well, Sidney was also a defensive liability when Akron had their starters on the floor. Its just another symptom for what truly ails Sindey -- apathy. He just doesn't seem to care.

If he does care, he will get himself into shape. If he does care, he won't be ok with sitting on the sidelines while his team's games are won and lost. If he does care, getting outplayed by mid-major big men will be an issue.

There is still time for Sidney to change the direction this season is heading in.

But 80 minutes in, the new Renardo Sidney doens't appear to be any different than the old Renardo Sidney.
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11/7 Monday's Pregame Beat: And so it begins...

Tonight is the night.

While Marathon Madness is still a week away and the marquee games and teams won't be suiting up for a few more days, tonight we have actual college basketball games that actually count on actual records actually happening. Actually.

What's more interesting is that all three of the games taking place tonight have interesting plot lines behind them. I'm sure I'm not the only one that will be watching the early games of the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic with a keen eye on a few things.


7:00 pm: William & Mary @ St. John's: We all know the plight of St. John's by now. They have a second-year head coach currently battling cancer, which means that assistant coach Mike Dunlap will be coaching the team tonight. That team that Dunlap is in charge of will be short-handed as well. Not only is the roster made up of, essentially, all newcomers and walk-ons, but 1/3 of the Johnnie's vaunted recruiting class was ruled ineligible by the NCAA's Clearinghouse.

So the question becomes just how good are these newcomers? Will this be a team that's capable of competing in the Big East this year? Moe Harkless has looked good in their exhibitions, and guys like Nurideen Lindsay -- who has one of the most compelling back-stories of anyone in college hoops -- and God's Gift Achiuwa should provide some veteran stability. (Well, as much veteran stability as a JuCo transfer can offer).

I'm actually going to predict that the Tribe knocks off the Johnnies tonight. William & Mary has a talented back court -- led by Quinn McDowell, a potentiall CAA Player of the Year -- and runs a system that is difficult to prepare for. Think John Beilein's system cross-bread with your typical Princeton-style offense. The Tribe finished just 4-14 in the CAA last season, but they were a young team that lost a number of close games and really came on strong late in the year.


8:00 pm: Eastern Kentucky @ Mississippi State: I don't need to explain why this game is so intriguing, do I? I mean, its the first time that Renardo Sidney -- a new and improved Renardo Sidney, if you are to believe Rick Stansbury -- will be taking the court since spending the summer working out with John Lucas. Remember, Sidney was forced to make a second trip back to Houston to work out with Lucas while the Bulldogs went on their tour through Europe.

What makes the condition that Sidney is in, both physically and mentally, so important is that the Bulldogs actually have a chance to be pretty good this year. Arnett Moultrie has the ability to average 12 points and eight boards and, ideally, would form one of the top three front lines in the SEC with Sidney. Combine those two with the criminally underrated Dee Bost running the point, and Stansbury has what should -- I repeat, should, with insane amounts of emphasis -- be a tournament team.


9:00 pm: Valpo @ No. 16 Arizona: This is also an incredibly interesting matchup. Arizona has quite a bit of hype heading into this season. They have a loaded recruiting class and return a number of key pieces from last season. But they are also heading into the year with a very young team that will be without Derrick Williams, Momo Jones and, at least until his gunshot would heals, Kevin Parrom.

Those vaunted expectations -- the top 20 rankings, the Pac-12 championship predictions -- looked silly last week when Arizona lost to Seattle Pacific in an exhibition game. I will be looking for two things as they take the floor tonight: 1) Will Josiah Turner and/or Jordin Mayes provide the Wildcats with a steadying force at the point and 2) Will anyone -- Angelo Chol, Sidiki Johnson, Kryrl Natyazkho, Jesse Perry -- be able to provide a scoring, rebounding and/or defensive presence in the paint?
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Renardo Sidney is actually finishing conditioning drills now

Usually, media day quotes are worthless.

Its coaches and players giving typical coach-speak and player-speak. They are quotes that feed the starving masses of hoops fans looking for filler to read about their team. Its nothing but the kind of cliches you expect to hear at the start of every season -- "I really like this team" or "I think we're better than all the so-called experts do" or "we determine our own future". You've all seen them, you know what I'm referring to.

But every once in a while you get something juicy. Cue Rick Stansbury. Clearly, the hot-topic heading into Mississippi State's media day was Renardo Sidney, and Stansbury had a couple of enlightening quotes about Sidney's conditioning and teamwork. Like, for example, the fact that Sidney is finishing conditioning drills for the first time in his career.


"That doesn't mean he was winning every race," said Stansbury, "but he made it through it. For him, that's a step in the right direction. We've just got to keep stepping the right way and not step back."

Stansbury also lauded the fact that Sidney is finally being a "good teammate" by saying "We haven't had any blow ups."

"Call it maturity, call it whatever you want to call it," Stansbury said. "That's what we want. I don't care what you call it. Thats what we expect and need from him."

Think about that for a second. Stansbury is calling it a step in the right direction that Sidney is finally able to finish conditioning drills and that, in mid-October, he hasn't gotten into it with a teammate or a head coach. What does that say about Sidney, the kind of teammate he was and the kind of effort he gave last season? Its not exactly high praise.

But, as Stansbury said, it is a step in the right direction. It is a good sign that Sidney is apparently starting to accept the fact that he has to work on his game and work on his body if he wants to make a career out of basketball. That he is starting to get along with his teammates may be even better news.

If you've forgotten, Sidney spent the summer working out with John Lucas down in Houston. He was supposed to return to Mississippi to travel with the Bulldogs on their trip to Europe, but Stansbury made the decision to send Sidney back to Houston for more face time with Lucas. This summer was Stansbury's last chance at getting through to him. After all of the embarrassment that Sidney has put the Mississippi State program through over the past two years, he no longer has a margin of error. He no longer has room to make a mistake. By sending Sidney back to Houston and banning him from the trip to Europe, Stansbury was trying to send the message that anything less than full and complete dedication to the team and to bettering himself as a person and a player would not be tolerated.

It looks like Stansbury may finally be starting to get through to Sidney. There is a long, long way to go this season and there is no guarantee that Sidney doesn't regress.

But at least the season is starting on a positive note. You can't ask for anything other than that.
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So it was Rick Stansbury's choice to send Renardo Sidney back to Houston?

It appears that, as we speculated back in July, Renardo Sidney's decision not to travel with his Mississippi State on their European tour was not actually his decision.

It was Rick Stansbury's. Check out the quotes Brandon Marcello of the Clarion-Ledger got from Rick Stansbury:

"Let's make sure to get this clear: it was not his decision to go to Houston," Stansbury said. "Everybody understand that. I made that decision, nobody else made that decision. I made the decision, OK? That’s where that is and, again, would I have liked for him to have been on the trip? I would have and it would have been good, but there are some things he had to handle that he hadn’t handled. Since then, he has."

"He fulfilled some obligations he had to have for the team," Stansbury said. "And he did that. So, we'll see if he keeps progressing. We all want to hope and believe he can."

If you've forgotten, Sidney returned to Houston to train -- both mentally and physically -- with John Lucas instead of hopping the pond with his teammates. Lucas, who has a history of substance abuse, has a reputation for being able to straighten out athletes that are trending in the wrong direction. The fact that Sidney made the effort -- whether forced or not -- to train with Lucas is a good sign; that he was in a place where that decision had to be made is not.

Honestly, there isn't much to say about the situation that I didn't write here or here other than this -- Stansbury now has some insurance in the form of Arnett Moultrie.

Moultrie, a transfer from UTEP that sat out last season, dominated during Mississippi State's trip through Europe, averaging almost 17 points and 12 boards. Granted, the competition wasn't exactly up to the level of the SEC, but the performance -- and the numbers (9.8 ppg and 6.7 rpg) he averaged as a sophomore at UTEP -- are enough that Stansbury can feel more comfortable if the worst-case scenario were to arise with Sidney.

Stansbury has a lot riding on Sidney's success -- his reputation, the reputation of his program and his university, his team's success, possibly his job. That's why he risked team chemistry by sending Sidney to better himself as an individual.

Stansbury will still be in trouble if the bottom falls out, but with Moultrie, the ground doesn't look quite as far away.
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Rick Stansbury is hoping John Lucas gets through to Renardo Sidney

By now, you've probably heard the latest twist in the saga that is the career of Renardo Sidney.

The talented-but-mercurial Mississippi State junior will not be traveling with the Bulldogs on their trip to Europe in August. There are conflicting reports out there, but whether or not you believe that Rick Stansbury is keeping Sidney stateside or Sidney made the decision on is own is moot. The bottom line is that instead of taking a chemistry-building trip to Europe with his teammates Sidney is going to remain in Houston, working out with John Lucas.

Before I go any further, the statements.


"Renardo Sidney has returned to Houston, Texas, to continue working out with John Lucas,” Stansbury said in a statement. “He will not accompany the team to Europe next month, but he is expected back on campus for the start of the fall semester in mid-August."

"Everybody has their own opinion but I'm doing what I have to do," Sidney told The Clarion-Ledger. "There's nothing else going on. They can say what they want to say but, like I said, I know what I have to do basketball-wise. I wasn't ready to go and I felt like I really wasn't in shape. I wanted to come back down here and get some more work."

From an individual's perspective, its difficult to criticize Sidney for returning to Houston to workout with Lucas.

Lucas has a reputation for being a guy that helps get troubled talents back on the path to greatness. At this point in his career, Sidney is the epitome of a troubled talent. Between the season and a half he missed due to his acceptance of illegal benefits while in high school to the suspensions he received for fighting last season, from his continuing battle with weight issues and his lack of conditioning, Sidney has a long way to go to learn how to be a functioning member of a basketball team.

The program that Lucas runs is not easy, and the fact that Sidney wants to return should be a good sign for him as a person. He wants to be better. He wants to be able to capitalize on the gifts that he was blessed with.

Sidney, who worked out with Lucas in May and June before attending summer classes in July, is expected to return to the Starkville campus on August 14th. Stansbury "expects" him to be a member of the Bulldog team in the fall. If Sidney feels that it is in his personal best interest to avoid a trip overseas and to continue to learn from Lucas, than he shouldn't be criticized for it. He's trying to get better, and he's already shown some improvement. He lost 23 pounds in May and June.

The question I want answered is how long Stansbury is going to put up with Sidney.

While its commendable that Sidney is putting in the effort to get in shape and better his work habits, missing this trip makes it abundantly clear just how little he cares about the MSU basketball team. The Bulldog's success next season doesn't matter to him. He's not working out because he wants to win an SEC title, he's working out because he wants to be able to play in the NBA and make NBA money.

You see, for all his issues and off-the-court problems, Sidney is an untapped gold-mine of potential. If it ever clicked for him, Sidney would be a dominating force in the SEC. He has enough talent to be worthy of a lottery pick. That kid of player doesn't come along too often, especially when you coach at Mississippi State.

Maybe, for Stansbury, this trip back to Houston is a last ditch effort to turn Sidney around. Stansbury has invested so much time and so much energy into creating the perception that bringing Sidney into his program was a good idea that he can't turn-around. He's pot-committed. He needs this to work out well.

He needs Renardo Sidney to dominate.

He needs to be able to say to the fans and the boosters and the athletic department that it worked out; that he took a risk on a kid that no one else wanted and helped change that kid's life while landing himself a star player.

Stansbury needs this saga to have a storybook ending, and he's hoping that John Lucas will be the answer.
Continue reading...

Don't hold your breath that Renardo Sidney will be in shape

Last week, it was Jared Sullinger.

Reports started to leak out of the Lebron James Skills Academy that the hefty Buckeye was cutting some of the baby fat he had last season. There was some dissent around the blogosphere as to whether or not this was a good idea. Sullinger was an all-american last season with the extra weight, and the size of his behind was a large reason he was so effective in the post.

This week, its Renardo Sidney who is reportedly shedding the pounds.

He's been down in Houston for the summer, working out with John Lucas, a man that specializes in helping kids with baggage. Sidney spoke with reporters yesterday, telling them that he has lost 23 pounds from the 320 that he played at last season and that he still has more than 20 to go.



Don't get your hopes up, Mississippi State fans.

We've heard this before. We've been down this road. We've heard Sidney say that he is getting in shape during the offseason. That didn't turn out too well last year, when he struggled to get up and down the court once he finally got eligible.

Look, I'm rooting for Sidney. I don't want to see him fail. I can honestly say that I am rooting for every kid around the country that plays hoops to find personal success and happiness, both on and off the court. The same is true for Sidney. The kid is a product -- and in some ways a victim -- of the AAU culture and summer camp basketball. He's a mega-talent that has never learned how to tap into his ability.

It would be a great story if he could bounce back from the issues that have plagued him since his family decided to move from Mississippi to Southern California, but I'm not expecting anything. We've heard he's changed his ways before with no results, why should we be excited that Sidney is talking a good game again this offseason?

In other words, I'll believe he's getting in shape and taking basketball seriously when I see it.
Continue reading...

Is Utah State's 2-for-1 deal with Mississippi State a result of the WAC's collapse?

When the topic of prominent programs outside of the BCS conferences comes up, the conversation usually involves Butler, Gonzaga, Xavier, Memphis, and/or BYU.

One name that never pops up?

Utah State.

The Aggies probably deserve more credit than they get nationally. In the past 12 seasons, the Aggies have gone to eight NCAA Tournaments and four NIT's, they've won seven conference regular season titles and finished second in three other seasons, and they've won six conference tournament titles. The Aggies have not won fewer than 23 games during that stretch, notching an overall record of 309-90 (.774 win percentage). More impressive, however, is their 193-13 mark at home during Morrill's tenure.


If we're talking regular season dominance, there aren't many programs that can match the Aggies. The problem? They are completely devoid of postseason success on a national scale. Of the eight NCAA Tournaments and four NIT's that Utah State has been to the past 12 years, only once have the Aggies advanced out of the first round. That was in the 2001 NCAA Tournament, when 12th-seeded Utah State knocked off Ohio State in the opening round before losing to UCLA.

Its not necessarily unexpected, however. Despite their success from November to February, the Aggies have only once been seeded higher than 12th in their eight tournament trips, and that was in 2009 when they earned an 11 seed.

The issue is in their scheduling. That home court dominance -- which is fueled by one of, if not the best student section in college basketball -- makes high-major teams that rarely travel to play mid-majors terrified of playing in Logan. And Morrill has been steadfast in his proclamations of traveling to play a non-conference game only if the Aggies get a home game in return.

Its possible, however, that Morrill may be changing his stance on non-conference games.

First, he took his team to DC to take on Georgetown back in December with no promise of a return game. And now, according to Tony Jones of the Salt Lake Tribune, Morrill has signed on for a 2-for-1 with Mississippi State. The Aggies will travel to Starkville to play this coming season, followed by a year off before the Bulldogs return the favor by playing in The Spectrum.

Its an interesting move for Morrill to make. For starters, it gives the Aggies a much tougher non-conference schedule than they have had in recent years. In addition to the game at Mississippi State, USU plays BYU at home, Wichita State on the road, likely road dates against Long Beach State and Weber State, and a potential matchup against Kent State in the final of the Gossner Tournament hosted in Logan. This will also be a much younger Utah State team than we are used to seeing. They graduated six of the seven players from last season's rotation.

If Morrill is fed up with losing in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, then scheduling games like this is the way to try and ensure a higher seed. Its also a risk. Winning road games will increase a team's RPI and earn a higher seed, but winning on the road isn't easy. Losing those games would hurt the Aggies more than winning against a lesser opponent at home.

Its more likely that Morrill is hedging his bet. USU plays in the WAC, a league that has gotten the worst of conference realignment. Boise State is heading to the Mountain West for the 2011-2012 season while Fresno State and Nevada will be gone by 2012-2013. In their place, the WAC has added Denver, Texas-San Antonio, Seattle, and Texas State. Boise State, Fresno State, and Nevada aren't exactly competing for Final Fours, but they are significantly better than the four newcomers to the league.

Utah State has earned two at-large bids to the NCAA Tournament in recent years, but that didn't come without dominating their league during the regular season, blowing away a weak non-conference schedule, and a stress-filled Selection Sunday.

If Morrill wants to continue to put his program in a position to get into the NCAA Tournament without winning the automatic bid, he's going to have to start taking some bigger risks in non-conference play.
Continue reading...

Mississippi State back in the news for off-the-court stuff. Again.

In case you missed it, last night Mississippi State had yet another embarrassing public display of their lack of team unity.

After the Bulldogs lost 75-61 to Alabama, Ravern Johnson had a mild twitter meltdown. Brad Locke, who covers the Mississippi State beat for the NEMS Daily Journal, was all over this when the ... tw-it went down:

Senior guard Ravern Johnson was vanilla in his postgame interview, but he unloaded on coach Rick Stansbury on his Twitter page not long after, eschewing proper punctuation during his mini-rant.

"Starting to see why people Transfer," Johnson wrote, "you can play the minutes but not getting your talents shown because u watching someone else wit the ball the whole game shooters need to move not watch why other coaches get that do not make sense to me."

Guard Twany Beckham and forward Elgin Bailey both transferred in early January.

Oh, and if that wasn't enough, Renardo Sidney retweeted the post.

Sidney and Johnson have both since taken down their twitter pages and Rick Stansbury has banned his team from tweeting.

But is it too little too late?

If you thought Mississippi State had any chance to turn their season around after the holiday brawl that Sidney and Bailey participated in on ESPN, that is probably headed -- if not already -- out the window.

The bigger question is how long Stansbury will last in Starkville. All it takes is a fan base, some boosters, or an AD to get fed up with the negative portrayal of the University the past three months. Remember, all this happened immediately after the news broke that Cecil Newton tried to sell his son to the Bulldogs football team.

Its one thing to win while making headlines for off-the-court issues.

Its another story to create negative publicity and lose. That yields far less job security.
Continue reading...

As expected, Renardo Sidney and Dee Bost don't change Mississippi State

Renardo Sidney made his triumphant return to the Mississippi State basketball team on Saturday afternoon.

Just two weeks after an ugly brawl in the stands of the Lahaina Civic Center during the Diamond Head Classic -- a fight that was caught by ESPN's cameras -- Sidney was back in uniform for the Bulldogs.

So how did he do?

Ehh. I've seen better.

Sidney finished the game with two points on 1-8 shooting from the field. He also committed five turnovers and, since he is still out of shape, allowed JaMychal Green to score 14 of his 16 points in the second half as Alabama turned a 27-26 halftime lead into a 75-57 win in the SEC opener for both teams.

Saturday's game also marked the debut of Dee Bost, the MSU point guard that declared for the draft last season only to pull his name back out after the deadline had passed. Bost played a bit better than Sidney, finishing with 14 points and five assists, although his 5-16 shooting performance and three turnovers were less than promising.

All told, Stansbury lost by 18 at home to an Alabama team that isn't expected to contend for anything beyond a .500 record in SEC play with his team at full strength. I'm sure Stansbury saw it going much differently in his head when he decided to take on Sidney and rework his entire season around the return of his two "stars".

Who wants to bet that Stansbury is regretting the personnel decisions he's made the past two years?

At this point, I'll refer you back to what I wrote here.
Continue reading...

The B.I.A.H Not-Top-10 Rankings

Every week, writers, publications, media outlets and bloggers issue their Top-25 rankings for the week. A majority of the time, everybody has virtually same opinion of all the teams.

If you want to find this week's top-25 rankings, you've come to the wrong place. Here you will find our rankings for the 10 worst team performances in the NCAA. This list isn't just home to the winless mid-major bottom-feeders. No, here you will find the biggest underachievers, slumpers and teams in a funk, the worst weekly performers, and the teams that just plain suck. Now there will be teams on this list that are better than teams not on this list. But come on people, we are trying to be creative, just work with us.

The B.I.A.H Not-Top-10 Rankings

1. Mississippi State
Record: 8-6
Evidence: On the brink of anarchy


This is a no-brainer. If they had done things correctly, MSU probably could have gotten Sidney vs. Bailey on the televised portion of UFC 125:Resolution. Seriously, things could not be worse in Starkville if they tried. Rick Stansbury has decided to keep the biggest headcase in college basketball yet remove a senior co-captain from the program. The Fightin' Bulldogs have lost four of their last five, and while the SEC West is abysmal, things don't look good at all.


2. Butler
Record: 10-5
Evidence: 24-point loss to UW-Milwaukee

The loss to UW-Milwaukee was their first in five games, but there is no reason the back-to-back Horizon League champs should be losing to a middle-of-the-pack team by 24. What's worse is the marquee match-up this weekend between first-place Cleveland State and the Bulldogs has lost some of it's luster. This game was going to be a possible preview of the conference championship, but now it looks like Cleveland State is in a league of it's own, despite not even playing Butler yet. If Butler wants to make it back to the NCAA tournament, they will probably have to do it by getting an at-large bid, and I don't see that happening.


3. UMass
Record: 8-5
Evidence: Patheticism (if that's a word)

Where to start, where to start? Well, first, it's entirely possible that UMass is the worst team in the A-10. Look past their eight wins and look directly at their five losses. A five-point loss to Boston College (who has lost to Harvard and Yale), a 12-point loss to Maine, a 25-point loss to Seton Hall, a six-point loss to UCF (their only "good" loss), and get this, a 29-POINT LOSS TO CENTRAL CONNECTICUT STATE. I feel sick just writing that. I don't care if they have eight wins. UMass is ranked 266th in FG% and doesn't have a single good win.


4. Memphis
Record: 11-3
Evidence: "They are who we thought they were"

Well, "they are who I thought they were". I never believed Memphis was a top-25 team. All you had to do was look at their results after five games. They would blow out the "little sisters of the poor" but would struggle to put away BCS-conference bottom-feeders like Miami and LSU. Once they faced real competition (see: Georgetown, Kansas, Tennessee) it became apparent that this team was nothing more then a couple of freak athletes.


Hell, they even struggled to put away middling mid-majors like Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Tennessee State. In the past week, Josh Pastner recieved his first technical foul of the season and the Tigers got into a slight tussle with Tennessee State. Throw in the Jelan kendrick dismissal and Angel Garcia's departure and things look real ugly for the Tigers, especially considering how good C-USA is looking this year.


5.Georgetown
Record: 12-3
Evidence: Struggling "Run-DMV", Decline of "Big-man U."

It pains me to do this, it really does, but there is no denying that the Hoyas are struggling as of late. It seems like not too long ago people were pegging them as favorites to win the Big East. But even after watching their first game of the season against ODU, it was evident that this team will live by the three and die by the three, and in more than just one way.


If the Hoyas have the hot-hand, they are tough to beat, but when teams play suffocating defense and don't allow the Hoyas to get open looks (see Temple, Notre Dame, St. John's) the Hoyas are very beatable. The "Run-DMV" trio of Austin Freeman, Chris Wright and Jason Clark has been mediocre at best in the past couple of games. They need all three of them to have big games in order to stay competitive in the Big East. Plus the Hoyas frontcourt is pretty bad. Julian Vaughn can't stay out of foul trouble, and while Henry Simms has improved, he is still nowhere near being a Big-East caliber big-man. If they don't get things going soon, we could see them crash-and-burn just like they did two years ago.


6. West Coast Point Guards
Evidence: Drug arrests, injuries and transfers

It has been a tough week for point guards out west. First we had Washington State's Reggie Moore getting arrested for a marijuana possesion charge he got in December. Then California freshman guard Gary Franklin decided he wanted to transfer after seeing his minutes diminish, and finally, Washington's Abdul Gaddy, the conference's leader in assist-to-turnover ratio tore his ACl and will be out for the season. If I was a guard out west, I'd stay home for the rest of the week.


7. Georgia Tech
Record: 7-6
Evidence: Another bad ACC team

The bottom-half of the ACC might as well be called the SEC West. Georgia Tech is making their case for being one of the worst BCS-conference teams in the country. It's hard to be worse than Wake Forest, but the Yellow Jackets are certainly making a case for themselves. We all know about their early-season loss to Kennesaw State, but Tech also has losses to a not-so-good Siena team as well as Charlotte. In the Charlotte game, they blew a 16-point first-half lead and eventually lost in overtime to a much inferior squad. Methinks Paul Hewitt is on his last legs down in Hot-lanta.


8. Florida State
Record: 11-4
Evidence: Losses to Butler and Auburn

As we mentioned earlier, Butler is not in a good place right now. Yet Florida State still found a way to lose to them. Yes, FSU did follow it up with a win against Baylor, but you have to be blind to not see that Baylor was overrated. But the big blow to the Seminoles came earlier this week when they lost to Auburn, who is arguably the worst team in any BCS-conference. Did I mention that the Seminoles have virtually no offense whatsoever? The ACC might be bad, but if you can't score points, winning games will be tough, even if your conference is crappy.


9. Mt. St. Marys
Record: 4-12
Evidence: Ineptitude, 9-game losing streak, scored 34-points against Virginia Tech

I had a chance to watch a practice at The Mount earlier in the fall, and it honestly looked like an intramural squad. The Mountaineers went nine games without finding a W, and during the stretch had games in which they scored 53, 42, 47, and 34 points. That's terrible regardless of the quality of your team.


10. Toledo
Record: 3-11
Evidence: One quality win and a bunch of ugly, smelly losses

The Rockets didn't get a win til damn-near Christmas, and they still needed an extra session to defeat Valparasio. Their other wins are against Florida Gulf Coast and some school called Indiana Northwest. But what's worse is that they have scored under 50-points five times this season, including a 41-point output against a sub-par Alabama squad. In that game, Toledo went scoreless for seven minutes to start the second half and wound up losing by more than their total output, 83-41. Continue reading...

12/27 - College Hoops Week in Review: I hope you all enjoyed your holidays

Game of the Week: Missouri 75, Illinois 64

Missouri is the most exciting team in the country to watch this season. Not just because they play a hectic, up and down style -- its called the "Fastest 40 Minutes in Basketball" for a reason -- but because every game they play seems to come down to the wire. This is already this third time this season that we have used a game that the Tiger's have played in as Game of the Week.

Wednesday night's matchup was no different. Illinois jumped out to a 10 point lead early in the first half, but a 17-2 run by Mizzou that spanned the two halves gave the tigers a 35-29 lead early in the second half. Illinois answered with a 12-2 run of their own, and it was on. Both teams made big shot after big shot. It was like a boxing match between two fighters with glass jaws but not all that much skill. Illinois and Mizzou were both landing haymaker after haymaker, waiting for the other team to drop.

Eventually, Missouri took a 62-58 lead when Brandon Paul missed two free throws with 48 seconds left. Michael Dixon tracked the ball down, but it was stolen from him in the back court by Mike Davis, setting up an exciting sequence (jump to the 1:30 mark, and don't mind the music in the back ground):



The intentional foul called on Tisdale may have cost Illinois the game, but it was the correct call. Two handed shoves in the back of a player moving at full speed are dangerous, and they are the precise reason that the intentional foul was added to the rulebook.

That sequence is the perfect example of Missouri basketball. A potentially momentum changing three is made off of a turnover, cutting Mizzou's lead to one with 44 seconds left. Most teams hold the ball for one shot in that situation. Missouri threw an inbounds pass to Marcus Denmon, who was already heading up the floor. He took one dribble and passed ahead to Laurence Bowers, who was wide open on a wing. Layup, foul, six point possession, game over.

It deserves to be noted: UAB 68, VCU 65

In a battle of anagrams, VCU took a 19 point with just 13 minutes left in the game. UAB was able to whittle that down to nine at one point, but eventually UAB took a 65-53 lead with just 5:08 left in the game. That's when Jamarr Sanders took over. He hit a three to cut the lead to nine, but neither team scored until Sanders scored four points -- one of two free throws and then a three -- when he picked up a steal on back-to-back possessions, cutting the lead to 65-60 with 1:30 left. After Aaron Johnson picked up a steal, he hit one of two free throws. UAB grabbed the rebound off of the miss and the ball ended up in Sanders' hands. He buried another three, and the lead was now just 65-64 with 1:15 left. VCU had possession, but they turned the ball over again, and with just 10 seconds left in the game, Sanders drove, drew a foul, and hit both free throws to take the lead 66-65. Two more Johnson free throws sealed the win.

All told, Sanders had 12 of his 29 points in the final five minutes. UAB had not been closer than nine points since the 14:50 mark of the first half. That's not quite Jay Williams-vs.-Maryland territory, but Sanders' performance was quite impressive nonetheless.

Player of the Week: Klay Thompson, Washington State

I know that Washington State was beaten pretty handily by Butler in the final of the Diamond Head Classic, but that does nothing to diminish the week that Thompson had. In the three games in Hawaii, he averaged 26.3 ppg, including 31 in the loss to Butler that kept things close. He was 25-46 from the floor and 13-25 from three. It was, without a doubt, an impressive performance, and Thompson's play this week is a huge reason why Wazzu's name is being tossed around as a potential top 25 team and a sleeper in the Pac-10.


What makes this performance by Thompson so impressive is not that he shot the ball well. We've known that Thompson was a good shooter. That is no secret. But, like we said after the win over Gonzaga, Thompson has become an all-around player. He's jumping passing lanes. He's creating for his teammates. Most importantly, however, he's been able to put the ball on the floor and attack the rim while handling physical, one-on-one defense much better than last year. Thompson started out the 2009-2010 season on fire, but once Pac-10 play came around his numbers dropped considerably. He likely will not find defense as physical as Butler's in the Pac-10 this season. He had 31 against Butler and kept the Cougars in the game despite subpar performances from Reggie Moore, DeAngelo Casto, and Faisal Aden.

The All-they-were-good-too team:

• G: Darius Morris, Michigan: Granted, it came against Bryant, but Morris had 26 points and 12 assists in his only game of the week. It was the fifth time he's reached double figure assists and his fourth double-double of the season. Morris is now averaging 15.3 ppg and 7.5 apg on the season.
• G: Jio Fontan, USC: Fontan averaged 17.0 ppg, 4.0 apg, and 3.5 spg while leading the Trojans to a 2-0 week, including a win at Tennessee, to bounce back from a tough loss to Kansas in Fontan's debut.
• G: Doron Lamb, Kentucky: Lamb had 32 points on 11-12 shooting (7-8 from three) as he set the Kentucky freshman scoring record, previously held by Jamal Mashburn, in a win over Winthrop.
  
• F: Travis Franklin, Colorado State: Franklin led the Rams to a win in the Cancun Governer's Cup by averaging 22.3 ppg, 6.0 rpg, and 2.0 spg, including a 25-point, 9-rebound performance against Gary Flowers and Southern Miss in the final.
• F: Justin Harper, Richmond: Harper averaged 20.5 ppg and 8.0 rpg, leading the Spiders in scoring in both games, as Richmond knocked off UNC-Greensboro and Seton Hall. Harper had 24 points and hit six three against the Hall.
• Bench: Jimmer Fredette, BYU; Justin Hurtt, Tulsa; Chris Singleton, Florida State; Matt Howard, Butler
  

Team of the Week: Butler Bulldogs

Butler may have given life to their chances of earning an at-large bid this season with a win in the Diamond Head Classic out in Hawaii. With wins over Florida State and Washington State, as well as Utah, Butler landed themselves two quality victories against teams that will likely be in the tournament come March. Without much in the way of a resume booster from here on out, the Bulldogs are going to want to win the Horizon Tournament to be safe, but the resume is not what was important coming out of this week.


What's important is that Butler looked like the Butler we expected to see all season long. Matt Howard has really grown as a player in his four season with the Bulldogs. He's now knocking down threes, he's putting the ball on the floor and hitting mid-range shots and fadeaways. He's still a terrific rebounder. He averaged 18.7 ppg and 8.7 rpg this week, upping his averages to 18.1 ppg and 8.2 rpg on the season. Shelvin Mack broke out of his slump this week, scoring 17 points on FSU and 20 on WSU. Andrew Smith looks like he is going to be a force on the block in the Horizon this year. Chase Stigall and Zack Hahn are both knocking down jumpers now. Ronald Nored and Shawn Vanzant are just as pesky and athletic as they were last season. I'm not usually a big believer in the eye test, but this team passed with flying colors this week.


A disappointing week: I don't have an explanation for it.

The only reason I can think of is that teams that aren't as good as they think they are were distracted by the end of the finals and the start of the holiday season.

Regardless, it seemed like every time I looked at the college basketball scoreboard this week, another team had a disappointing performance.

We'll start with the obvious -- Renardo Sidney, Elgin Bailey, and Mississippi State. What else is there to say? These two embarrassed their team and their program and managed to get themselves sent home early from a Christmas trip to Hawaii for fighting in the stands. The Bulldogs are a mess this season.

Then there was Jacob Pullen and Curtis Kelly, who managed to get themselves suspended for accepting discounts on clothing from a department store. The act itself isn't all that terrible -- the fact that these two are NCAA athletes is the only reason anyone is frowning upon them taking advantage of a hook-up -- but it is just another example of the lack of leadership within the Kansas State program. The Wildcats lost to UNLV on Tuesday due to a lack of talent. It wasn't, however, a lack of effort, as Kansas State, for the first time all season, looked like the Kansas State I expected -- scrappy defense, aggressive to the offensive glass, win with floor burns. Now can they do the same with Pullen in the lineup?

Tennessee may have had their season saved with a jumper from Scotty Hopson against Belmont. Tennessee had lost to USC by one point earlier in the week, their third straight loss, before the Bruins came back to take a late lead on the Vols. Hopson hit a runner with 5.7 seconds left, however, and gave the Vols a win. Right now, the Vol's problem is execution in close games. Their last three games have been decided by one point. Two of them are losses, and both of those games Tennessee had a shot to win the game late. The Vols have three games -- against Tennessee-Martin, the College of Charleston, and Memphis -- to get this thing figured out before Bruce Pearl's eight game suspension kicks in.

How about Virginia Tech's season? They have struggled all year long to find the rhythm many of us expected them to have, and over the holiday break news leaked that Dorenzo Hudson will miss the rest of the season with an injury to his foot. Seton Hall is in the exact same boat, as Jeremy Hazell -- who may be out for the season with a wrist injury -- was shot in an attempted robbery over the holiday break.

All told, 18 teams from the BCS conferences lost to team from outside the BCS conferences. Eight of those upsets occurred on Wednesday night. Don't forget, this was a week when there were essentially no games played on Saturday and Sunday. Usually, there are upwards of 175 games played on the weekend. And those struggles? They don't even count games like UCLA beating UC Irvine by one, or Arizona State losing to North Carolina A&T by 11 in the second half, or Minnesota struggling to knock off South Dakota State.

Matchups of the Week:

• 12/27 - 8:30 pm: UConn @ Pitt
• 12/28 - 7:00 pm: Minnesota @ Wisconsin
• 12/29 - 7:00 pm: Georgetown @ Notre Dame
• 12/29 - 7:00 pm: George Mason @ Dayton
• 12/29 - 7:00 pm: Wofford @ VCU
• 12/29 - 9:00 pm: Marquette @ Vanderbilt
• 12/29 - 11:00 pm: Washington @ USC
• 12/29 - 11:00 pm: Washington State @ UCLA
• 12/30 - 7:00 pm: Temple @ Villanova
• 12/30 - 8:00 pm: Old Dominion @ Missouri
• 12/31 - 12:00 pm: Louisville @ Kentucky
• 12/31 - 12:00 pm: Northwestern @ Purdue
• 12/31 - 4:00 pm: Minnesota @ Michigan State
• 12/31 - 4:00 pm: Xavier @ Florida
• 12/31 - 10:00 pm: Oklahoma State @ Gonzaga
• 1/1 - 11:00 am: West Virginia @ Marquette
• 1/1 - 2:00 pm: New Mexico @ Dayton
• 1/2 - 6:00 pm: Wisconsin @ Illinois
  
• 1/1 - 3:30 pm: Notre Dame @ Syracuse
  

Continue reading...

Washington State's performance against Mississippi State needs to be taken in context

Washington State is legit.

I feel comfortable saying that after the second half whooping they put on Mississippi State yesterday afternoon.

Wazzu went into the break down 40-39 and, with both Klay Thompson and Faisal Aden getting hot, went on a 36-9 run to open the second half.

There are not many one-two scoring punches in the country as potent as Thompson and Aden. Thompson came into this season with the reputation of being a shooter, but he's slowly developing into more of a scorer. What I mean is that he's much better attacking the rim off the dribble, reading screens, and using his ball fake to get into the lane. He's also defending, rebounding, and passing as well as he ever has.

When you throw Aden, a sharp-shooting JuCo transfer that averages 16.9 ppg off the bench, and Reggie Moore out there as well, Wazzu may just have the best perimeter attack on the West Coast. DeAngelo Casto and Marcus Capers anchor what is an underrated front line.

So like I said, this team is legit.

But I also believed this team was going to compete with Washington for the Pac-10 title prior to yesterday.

Because I do not think that Mississippi State is any good.

Look, a large part of their problem right now has to be due to exhaustion. They played five games in five days starting Dec. 11th. Four days after that stretch was finished, they went to the Bahamas to get clobbered by Virginia Tech. Now, they are in Hawaii getting clobbered by Washington State. And to top it off, the guy that this hectic schedule was put together for -- Renardo Sidney, who is finally eligible to play -- showed how thankful he was by getting himself suspended just one game for arguing and fighting with teammates.

Sidney's already proven that, until he gets himself into shape, he is not the answer that Rick Stansbury is looking far.

Dee Bost will provide reinforcements when he becomes eligible to play before the SEC season starts.

But right now, Bost's addition will be like using a band-aid on a sliced artery.
Continue reading...

Five teams hope to get their questions answered in the Diamond Head Classic

The best part about the early season tournaments is that they allow us to get a feel for some of the best teams in the country against real competition.

For these five participants in the Diamond Head Classic, which kicks off at 3:00 pm this afternoon, the Christmas version of the Maui Invitational is a chance to answer some legitimate concerns:

Baylor: The Bears lost to Gonzaga on Saturday in their first loss away from Waco, TX, this season. It also happens to be the only game that Baylor has played away from Waco as well as their only game against real competition unless you consider Arizona State to be real competition. We know about the talent on this team -- from LaceDarius Dunn's golden jump shot to the length of guys like Perry Jones and Quincy Acy -- but if Baylor is truly going to be a contender for things like the Big XII title and the Final Four, they need to prove that they can win away from home.

Butler: The Bulldogs, much like last season, have plenty of doubters in regards to their ability to play against high-major competition. That's what happens when Gordon Hayward graduates and your team struggles against the only three tournament teams on your schedule. We know about how good Shelvin Mack and Matt Howard are, and some of Brad Steven's younger guys have played better in recent weeks. But this is still a team that needs to prove it can hang with the big boys. They should have an opportunity to do just that should they get by Utah in the first round.

Florida State: Florida State could very well be the bet defensive team in the country this season. They have size, they have length, they are athletic, and they have Chris Singleton, who is the best defender in the country. But the Noles can't score. I don't mean they have trouble scoring, I mean that when their offense looks the way that Kansas State's has the last two games, Florida State has played well. Personally, I'll be looking to see how Deividas Dulkys performs this week. He's the Noles second leading scorer right now and could end up being the missing piece.

Mississippi State: The questions the Bulldog's have are not going to be answered this week. Dee Bost doesn't return until the New Year. Renardo Sidney, who has been suspended for today's game against Washington State, is enough of a head case that his true impact on this team will not be known for some time. The question we are all waiting to find out is if this is truly a team that can compete for the top spot in the SEC West (which isn't saying much) and potentially a tournament berth. Don't expect any answers this week.

Washington State: Are the Cougars for real this year? Klay Thompson certainly is, as he has seemingly improved his all-around game to become more than strictly a jump shooter. But what about Faisal Aden? Can he keep this scoring rate up? Is Reggie Moore healthy? Will DeAngelo Casto ever develop into his potential? Does Wazzu really have some front court depth this season? This is an intriguing team, and should they beat Mississippi State today, they will be playing three games in four days against tournament caliber competition. Personally, I'm excited to finally try and get a read on this team.



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Renardo Sidney cramps, has "a lot of fatigue" in his debut

Renardo Sidney officially began his career as a Mississippi State Bulldog last night.

Well, maybe not quite officially. You see, Sidney became eligible to play at the end of the first semester this season. Thanks to a bit of tricky scheduling by Rick Stansbury -- which included four games in four days, spanning Dec. 11th to Dec. 14th -- the Bulldogs have already played all nine of the games that Sidney was suspended for.

So he will be playing in Saturday's game against Virginia Tech in Puerto Rico.


But since Sidney has been at Mississippi State for a year and a half now without seeing a single second of action in a real, live game, Stansbury scheduled a scrimmage last night -- which, technically, would make it five games in five days -- against Belhaven.

The Bulldogs won 101-76.

More importantly, Sidney had 10 points and 6 boards in 15 minutes.

That doesn't mean he had a promising start to his college basketball career.

This quote from Rick Stansbury from Gary Parrish's blog is worrisome:

"Renardo had a lot of fatigue," Mississippi State coach Rick Stansbury said after the Bulldogs' 101-76 win over Belhaven. "He will have to get in better shape if we are going to use him a lot."

As is this from the AP's write-up of the game:

By his own admission, Sidney is still out of shape. He's been doing P90X workout routines with coach Rick Stansbury over the past few weeks to try and shed some unwanted weight, but still tips the scales at about 275 pounds—10 pounds above his target weight.

Look, I don't want to rip the kid too much here. Sidney's always had weight issues, and going through what he went through and being forced to sit out for a year and a half is not exactly the best way for a kid with conditioning issues to stay in shape.

There is also a reason that people use the term "game-shape". As many wind sprints as you run, as much as you practice, playing in a real game is different. A game is going to be more physical and more emotionally and mentally taxing than any practice. I would have been shocked to see Sidney come in and look like the kid that was a top ten player in his high school class at one time.

Generally the problems you run into when you aren't in game shape is that your timing is off, the ball feels heavy on your jump shot, and you struggle to get your legs under you. Is that the issue here? From the Clarion Ledger:

"I was cramping real bad. It's just a poor game decision, of not hydrating real well. I've got to do better and hydrate and eat more bananas."

I'm not going to speculate on Sidney's condition.

I've done enough.

We'll all find out Saturday.
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Renardo Sidney still wants to be 6'3"

Mississippi State held their Maroon and White scrimmage on Saturday, and as you would probably guess, all eyes were on big man Renardo Sidney.

Most came away relatively unimpressed. Sitting out for a year didn't seem to have anything to do with it, either. Let me explain. This line is from a February, 2009, entry into Sidney's recruiting profile on ESPN.com:

To read the rest of this post, go to Beyond the Arc.
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2010-2011 Season Preview Top 50 Countdown: Nos. 40-36

Over the coming weeks, we will be counting down our Top 50 teams in the country. Teams 26-50 will be posted in groups of five, while we will count backwards from No. 25 to the No. 1 team in the country.

For a complete listing of our season previews, click here.

To browse through the rest of our Top 50 Countdown, click here.


40. Old Dominion

• Last Season: 27-9, 15-3 (CAA)
  


• Head Coach: Blaine Taylor
  


• Key Losses: Gerald Lee, Marsharee Neely
  


• New Additions: Dimitri Batten, Richard Ross
  


• Projected Lineup:


• G: Darius James, Sr.
  
• G: Kent Bazemore, Jr.
  
• F: Ben Finney, Sr.
  
• F: Keyon Carter, Sr.
  
• C: Frank Hassell, Sr.
  
• Bench: Trian Iliadis, Jr.; Dimitri Batten, Fr.; Richard Ross, Fr.; Chris Cooper, Jr.; Marquel de Lancey, Jr.
  

• Outlook: You knew what you were going to get when you played the Monarchs last year -- a big, physical team that wins by beating you up defensively and on the glass. With six of their eight rotational players returning, its tough to envision ODU being much different this season. Obviously, the big change is going to be on the offensive end, where they won't be able to rely on the talents of Gerald Lee. While his presence in the post will obviously be missed, ODU brings back five guys that averaged between 7.0 ppg and 9.2 ppg. On a team that is built around teamwork and executing sets, I don't envision this being a huge problem. Up front, 6'5" Ben Finney and 6'9" Frank Hassell, the team's two most rugged players, are both back. Keyon Carter, a part-time starter last season, should slide into the starting spot vacated by Lee, while Chris Cooper, Nick Wright, and freshmen Richard Ross and Anton Larsen should provide more than enough depth. The back court could be the key to how good this team ends up being. Junior Kent Bazemore could be primed for a break out season. A versatile 6'5" wing, Bazemore led the team in steals and assists while averaging 8.4 ppg. He was also the team's shut down defender. Senior Darius James looks capable of becoming a reliable starting point guard, while freshman Dimitri Batten was a three-star recruit and should have an immediate impact. ODU will once against bang and scrap their way to the top of the CAA, and could even compete for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
  

39. Marquette

• Last Season: 22-12, 11-7 (Big East)
  


• Head Coach: Buzz Williams
  


• Key Losses: Lazar Hayward, David Cubillan, Mo Acker
  


• New Additions: Vander Blue, Reggie Smith, Jamail Jones, Jae Crowder, Davante Gardner
  


• Projected Lineup:


• G: Junior Cadougan, So.
  
• G: Darius Johnson-Odon, Jr.
  
• G: Vander Blue, Fr.
  
• F: Jae Crowder, Jr.
  
• F: Jimmy Butler, Sr.
  
• Bench: Chris Otule, So.; Joseph Fulce, Sr.; Jamail Jones, Fr.; Dwight Buycks, Sr.; Reggie Smith, Fr.

• Outlook: Don't be surprised if you see predictions that the Golden Eagles will be down next season. Yes, they lost Lazar Hayward. Yes, Mo Acker and David Cubillan graduated. But, as we should come to expect from the Golden Eagles these days, Marquette may just have the best back court in the conference come season's end. Darius Johnson-Odom is one of the best shooters in the country, and this season will have more of an opportunity to showcase his all-around game. I'm one of many expecting a big year out of DJO. Joining him will be Junior Cadougan, a bulldog at the point and should be much improved now that he is healthy, and Vander Blue, a consensus top 40 recruit that is athletic, attacks the rim, and plays a tough, aggressive brand of basketball. Marquette's backcourt also returns the streaky Dwight Buycks and adds freshman Reggie Smith. The Golden Eagles are going to be thin up front again as well. Jimmy Butler should continue to develop and become one of the better forwards in the Big East. If he can improve his perimeter stroke, he should be able to fill in the void left by Lazar Hayward. Jae Crowder, the national JuCo player of the year, is another guy cut from that same cloth that should be an immediate impact player for Buzz Williams. Freshman Jamail Smith, who is more of a wing, will see some time at the forward spot as well. Chris Otule, who is back from a broken foot, and Joseph Fulce round out the front court rotation. Marquette isn't loaded with upperclassmen, but this is a team with a lot of experience, especially when it comes to close games. They didn't lose by double figures until the semis of the Big East Tournament, and should once again personify the scrappiness of their head coach.
  

38. Arizona

• Last Season: 16-15, 10-8
  


• Head Coach: Sean Miller
  


• Key Losses: Nic Wise
  


• New Additions: Daniel Bejarano, Jordin Mayes, Jesse Perry
  


• Projected Lineup:


• G: MoMo Jones, So.
  
• G: Kyle Fogg, Jr.
  
• F: Solomon Hill, So.
  
• F: Jamelle Horne, Sr.
  
• F: Derrick Williams, So.
  
• Bench: Brendan Lavender, Jr.; Kevin Parrom, So.; Kryrl Natyazhko, So.; Daniel Bejarano, Fr.; Jordin Mayes, Fr.
  

• Outlook: In a wide open Pac-10, the Wildcats certainly have the talent necessary to make a run at the league title even with the loss of Nic Wise. The problem is that the majority of that talent is going to be freshmen and sophomores. Derrick Williams should be one of the best sophomores in the country, and will be even more productive as his post game develops. Senior Jamelle Horne isn't the brightest, but he does have some talent and his ability to spread the floor will help create space for Williams inside. Solomon Hill, Kryrl Natyazhko, and Kevin Parrom are all sophomores, and their development this season will go a long way towards determining how good Arizona will be this season. Perhaps the most pressure, however, is going to fall on Lamont "MoMo" Jones. Arizona is known as Point Guard U for good reason, and MoMo is the one that will be taking the reins this season. MoMo showed some promise as a scorer last season, but he will be counted on to be a leader and a distributor this year. Joining him in the back court will be junior Kyle Fogg, who has proven to be a solid scorer and shooter, along with junior Brandon Lavender and freshmen Daniel Bejarano and Jordin Mayes. The Pac-10 is difficult to predict, Arizona even more so with their youth. This team could put it all together and make a run to the league title, or they could suffer from inexperience and finish below .500 in the league. Neither would surprise me, but the former seems much more likely than the latter.
  

37. UNLV

• Last Season: 25-9, 11-5 (MWC)
  


• Head Coach: Lon Kruger
  


• Key Losses: Darris Santee, Matt Shaw
  


• New Additions: Carlos Lopez, Quintrell Thomas, Karam Mashour
  


• Projected Lineup:


• G: Oscar Bellfield, Jr.
  
• G: Tre'Von Willis, Sr.
  
• G: Chace Stanback, Jr.
  
• F: Derrick Jasper, Jr.
  
• F: Quintrell Thomas, So.
  
• Bench: Anthony Marshall, So.; Justin Hawkins, So.; Brice Massamba, Jr.; Karam Mashour, Fr.; Carlos Lopez, Fr.
  

• Outlook:UNLV's season was seemingly in jeopardy over the summer when Tre'Von Willis was accused of assaulting and choking a woman at an off-campus apartment. But last month, Willis plead out to reduced charges and got handed a one (non-exhibition) game suspension, meaning that UNLV's leading scorer -- and the most dangerous offensive weapon in the MWC not named Jimmer -- will play for Lon Kruger this season. Willis was far and away the best scorer on the UNLV roster last season, but that doesn't mean there isn't talent here. Chace Stanback should be counted on to develop a more predominant scoring role, while point guard Oscar Bellfield and wing Derrick Jasper -- who should be fully healthy -- are both talented enough to improve on their numbers from a year ago. Don't be surprised if sophomore Anthony Marshall has a big year, while freshman Karam Mashour should also see some minutes. With the notable exception of Kendall Wallace, who tore his acl, the Rebel's entire back court returns. The issue for UNLV will be in the front court. Darris Santee graduates and Matt Shaw was kicked out of the program. Brice Massamba does return, and redshirt freshman Carlos Lopez will be eligible. The key, however, may end up being Kansas transfer Quintrell Thomas, who gets eligible this year. Thomas was a top 100 power forward out of St. Patrick in New Jersey, and should provide the Rebels with some much needed muscle inside. Even without Willis, this is a team that plays a similar style to last season, spreading the floor and allowing their talented perimeter players to make things happen.

36. Mississippi State

• Last Season: 24-12, 9-7 (SEC)
  


• Head Coach: Rick Stansbury
  


• Key Losses: Jarvis Varnado, Phil Turner, Barry Stewart, Romero Osby
  


• New Additions: Renardo Sidney, Shaun Smith, Jalen Steele, Brian Bryant
  


• Projected Lineup:


• G: Dee Bost, Jr.
  
• G: Riley Benock, Sr.
  
• F: Ravern Johnson, Sr.
• F: Kodi Augustus, Jr.
  
• C: Renardo Sidney, Fr.
  
• Bench: Shaun Smith, Fr.; Wendell Lewis, So.; John Riek, So.; Twany Beckham, So.
  

• Outlook: The Bulldogs have a real chance at being a tournament team this year, as the 2010-2011 roster listed on their is talented. The problem? There are major question marks regarding three valuable pieces. Point guard Dee Bost will not be eligible until the start of SEC play (although its an easy argument that Rick Stansbury caught a huge break with Bost even being allowed to play this season). Renardo Sidney has already sat out an entire season, and still has nine games to sit out this season, which is not a good thing for someone that has struggled with weight problems in the past. John Riek was, at one time, considered the best recruit in the country, but after numerous knee surgeries he is a shell of his former self. Having said all that, Bost is one of the most talented point guards in the SEC, and if he can improve decision-making he is an all-conference caliber player. Word out of Starkville is that Sidney has, in fact, dedicated himself to getting in shape, and if so he will be a serious weapon for the Bulldogs. There some help as well. Ravern Johnson is a lanky, 6'7" wing with a deadly jump shot. Kodi Augustus is a live-bodied power forward that can be a weapon when his head is in the game. Rick Stansbury is going to have to develop a bench, which is easier said than done, but playing nine games without Sidney and the entirety of the non-conference schedule without Bost will force some of Stansbury's inexperienced guys to play a larger role. And when you consider the massive road trip this team takes in December -- Virginia Tech in the Bahamas on the 18th, the Diamond Head Classic in Honolulu the 22nd-25th, and St. Mary's in Vegas the 29th -- this team should be tested come SEC play. The NCAA Tournament is a very real possibility.
  

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