November 2000 CBB Plays

November 15 Sheet

California (+7) at Texas - 5:00pm - ESPN2 
Could not resist a play here when the line went to +7 this morning. The Bears had a solid opening game win over a very good Mississippi State team. They did need overtime to put the Bulldogs away, but the game would have never been as close if not for MSU's Antonio Jackson's uncanny 8 3-pointers, all of which seemed to come at crucial points in the game. As I mentioned last time, this Bears team has really come together off the court during the offseason and each player now has a defined roll on the court as opposed to last year when coach Ben Braun changed starting lineups 11 times. Cal was one of the youngest teams in the country last year with only one upperclassmen and five freshman seeing significant action. That will pay dividends this year as everyone is back. Because of their youth they were really a crap shoot on the road last year, but solid road play is a focal point this year and is crucial for their NCAA tournament hopes. This is a quality team that can score points in so many different ways as 7 players scored 7 points or more on Monday. They are also balanced being able to score both inside and out. Cal senior forward Sean Lampley tweaked an ankle near the end of the Miss State game and is listed as probable tonight.  He is a warrior and I am sure he will be out there fighting. With senior guard Darren Kelly currently ineligible, the Longhorns have 4 new starters on the floor right now. The lone returning starter, junior Chris Owens scored 28 points in round 1 vs Navy but is not the type of player who can carry the team vs a quality opponent. Texas may be a solid team later in the year, but tonight they will have their hands full. Take the points. California  1 UNIT

November 16 Sheet

Air Force (+8) vs Houston - BCA Classic - Winston Salem, NC - 3:30pm Pacific After 16 years of the classy but generally unsuccessful Reggie Minton era, the Falcons bring in new head coach Joe Scott this season. Scott is a former player and assistant for 7 years at Princeton under the likes of Pete Carril and Bill Carmody (now at Northwestern). Scott has already made major changes both on and off the court and there is reportedly a buzz around campus about this basketball season for the first time since anyone can              remember. He has immediately installed the Princeton style of play and it showed as the team had 20 lay-ups and 13 three pointers in recent exhibition win. Air Force returns a solid trio of players in senior G/F Jarvis Croff (17.3ppg last year), sophomore F Tom          Bellairs (MWC all freshman team, led conference in rebounding, 9.4rpg last year), and promising sophomore point guard Vernard Jenkins. Now after those three the talent level  is supposed to drop off, but here is one thing that really caught my attention. Freshman forward Robert Todd, an all state selection from Florida, led the team in both scoring (22) and rebounding (12) and was the only player to play all 45 minutes in the teams overtime exhibition win. He reportedly is a very impressive newcomer. Another freshman 6-9, 210 pound Josh Wallace is getting the start at center and coach Scott "expects big things from him." Scott has clearly stated that he was pleasantly surprised of the talent level here and is amazed how quickly the team has learned the new system. If they could beat anybody with less talent at Princeton, he feels he can beat anybody here, and he is instilling that confidence in his team. The only down note of this play is that above mentioned forward Bellairs has missed significant practice time with a stress fracture in his foot, will not start, and is listed as questionable for this tournament. However, Houston suffered by far a more severe blow last week when they lost their leading scorer from last year and projected team leader, sophomore big man George Williams (calf injury, out 4-6 weeks).  With Williams out, Gee Gervin graduated, and Kenny Younger ineligible until December, the Cougars are now without three double digit scorers from last season. The Clyde Drexler experiment did not work out and this team is clearly in a rebuilding phase. Outside of highly touted freshman forward Alton Ford, this team will not have very much talent or experience on the floor tonight. Air Force's Princeton style of play is liable to give them fits. This line has already dropped from 9.5 to 8 while writing this, so I will shut up now and get this sent out. Houston has no business giving this many points on a neutral floor. Take the points. Air Force  1 UNIT

November 19 Sheet

Georgia (+3.5) at Minnesota - 1:00pm Pacific
The Bulldogs should be fired up for this game for a number of reasons. Firstly, they lost a one point heartbreaker to the Gophers in Athens last season in a game that they led by double digits most of the way.  Secondly, they are desperate for wins after losing 13 of 15 to end last year, much a part of injuries and playing a difficult schedule. Lastly, they are coming off an embarrassing season opening loss to Georgia State on Friday night. As disappointing of a loss that it was, it was not as big of an upset as it appears. GSU features Georgetown transfer Shenard Long who was a double digit scorer for the Hoyas along with transfers from LSU, Georgia Tech, and Alabama. Lefty Driesel's team also features two touted JC recruits and is being hailed as the finest team in school history. I like this Georgia team and I believe they have a talent advantage here. They return 4 starters and all top 5 scorers from a year ago.  F/C Antony Evans (3rd team) and guard D.A. Layne (1st team) are preseason all conference picks.  Layne was second in the SEC in scoring and first in made 3-pointers last year. He is coming off a horrible opening game in which he shot just 1-for-8 and scored 4 points. Look for him to play better today. He will be joined in the backcourt this year by two newcomers. Freshman Rashad Wright, a much needed true point guard, has earned that starting role and Ezra Williams, a consensus top 50 recruit in 1999 that failed to qualify last year will start at the wing. Williams shot 9-for-14 for a team high 23 points in his debut! Senior forward Shon Coleman (12.4ppg last year) completes the starting lineup. The Bulldogs still have 7-1 senior Robb Dryden who was injury plagued last year, but attended the Pete Newell big man camp over the summer and hopes for a big year to improve his NBA stock, and 6-5 senior Adrian Jones who averaged 7.8ppg as a starter last year. In addition to the probation stemming from the Clem Haskins era, Minnesota was dealt a few blows in the offseason as 6-11 center Kyle Sanden and more recently senior guard Mitch Ohnstad left the team. I am questioning their chemistry and readiness for this game. Their best player, senior guard Terrance Simmons as recently as last week had pain in his foot and missed the teams 2nd exhibition game as well as a significant amount of preseason practices. He played in the season opener, but it is unlikely that he is 100% right now. Leading returning scorer Dusty Rychart had to sit out the season opener due to a one game suspension. Touted JC transfer Tavarus Bennett (broken sternum) missed significant practice and both exhibition games. He played limited minutes in the opener. Kerwin Fleming, another JC transfer, is slowed by a hamstring injury. The Gophers are not very good to begin with and trailed UNC Greensboro by as many as 8 points in the first half before pulling away. I do like Dan Monsoon as a head coach and I know the Gophers can be tough to beat at home. However, it is unlikely that this game will have the atmosphere of a midseason Big 10 game, and it is going to be some time before the Gophers gel. Take the points and expect a straight up win for the Bulldogs. Georgia  1 UNIT

Novemer 20 Sheet

UNLV (+10.5) vs Illinois - 8:30pm Pacific - Maui Invitational
I am a fan of Rebels coach Bill Bayno and I am high on this UNLV team. Their only key loss from last years 23-8 team is point guard Mark Dickel and as good as he was (led the nation in assists), I feel his loss will be overcome. Touted freshman point guard Lafonte Johnson has reportedly taken over the spot admirably. The Rebels also caught a break when local product Javon Banks walked on to the team prior to the season. Banks started 8 games at point guard for Texas Tech two years ago and played JC ball last year. He brings much needed experience and depth to the point guard position and gives the Rebels a solid 8 man rotation. The other 4 starting players I feel can compete with anyone. Senior center Kaspars Kambala (18 points, 14 rebounds in opener) is a genuine all-American candidate and is poised for a big year. Dalron Johnson (15 points in opener) is an immensely talented sophomore forward that reminds me a lot of ex-Cincinnati forward DerMarr Johnson who was taken in the first round of the NBA draft last year. He is that good.  Senior scoring guard Trevor Diggs (18 points in opener) averaged 15.1ppg last year, is quick, and a solid defender. The final starting spot goes to another senior, Danny Brotherson. Brotherson (8.1ppg last year) is a hard nosed hustling type that does all of the important little things. He reportedly has improved his shooting touch over the summer. Senior forward Dotson and JC transfer Lewis provide bench support. The Rebels appeared to be clicking on all cylinders in their impressive 81-60 season opening win over Northern Arizona 3 days ago. As good as Illinois looks on paper, and as good as new ex-Tulsa coach Bill Self is, one would think it is going to take some time before both the players and coaches get used to each other. Star guard Corey Bradford is still recovering from an injury and is less than 100%. It appeared in their opener vs Maine that they were still very unsettled in their rotation, and several players were getting more minutes than they are used to even early in the game when the score was close. Illinois seems like the perfect candidate to come to Hawaii and not play to their potential. They were 12-1 straight up at home last year but only 10-9 on the road and on neutral courts. They should not be giving double digits here to a dangerous UNLV team. The late start time should also favor the westward Rebels as they often start their home games at 9:00pm Pacific. UNLV comes in to this game very focused with last years criticized NCAA at-large berth and eventual first round blow out loss to Tulsa still on their minds. They will get another shot at Bill Self tonight and will be the more business minded team. Take the points.  UNLV  1 UNIT

November 22 Sheet

Indiana vs Temple (-2) - 4:00pm Pacific - NIT Semifinals - New York
The Owls are already 3-0 and posted a high quality road win last Friday at Memphis. The Owls overcame a 9 point half-time deficit while holding Memphis to just 28% shooting in the second half and spoiled the much anticipated coaching debut of John Calipari. Tournment games in NY like this should not even phase this Temple team as they are used to playing incredibly tough schedules in recent years. Although they did lose point guard Pepe Sanchez from last year, his backups saw plenty of action during his injury woes and are more than ready to take over. New starting point guard Lynn Greer has played every minute of all 3 games this season and has just two turnovers while averaging 15.7 points per game, 4.6 assists per game, and 4.3 steals per game! Junior center Kevin Lyde is now the feature frontcourt guy and he has responded strongly by averaging a double double (13.0ppg, 10.7rpg) through three games. Senior Quincy Wadley (11.7ppg) is still in the mix as well. Late freshman addition David Hawkins has been impressive on both ends and logged a surprising 34 minutes in the Memphis game, scoring 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting. Sophomores Alex Wesby and Ronald Blackshear (ineligible last year) have also looked good. Five different players have scored in double figures already and five different players have hit at least one 3-pointer so their is adequate scoring punch to go along with the always tough Temple matchup zone. Indiana lost no less than 5 senior contributors from last years team, including 3 starters, and team leader A.J. Guyton. Guyton did not get  the credit he deserved, he bailed out the Hoosiers on many occasions and is not immediately replaceable. The only key returnee from last year is center Kirk Haston. He is joined by highly touted freshman Jared Jeffries, but so far Jeffries has not looked like the type of player needed for Indiana to compete at its usual level. This is an extremely young team with no seniors on the roster and 5 of the top 6 leading scorers being either freshman or sophomores. So far Indiana has only played twice, both times at home, so this will be the first road game for a young team and new coach. In their last game, they trailed South Alabama for most of the way before squeaking out a win late. The game was much closer than the final 8 point margin indicates. Sophomore guard Hornsby (11.5 minutes per game, 5.0 points per game) is questionable tonight with a foot injury. I used to always want to go against Indiana, but I would be concerned with the Bobby Knight factor. With that now gone, I find no problems with going against the Hoosiers here. Owls with too much talent, experience, and savvy for Hoosiers. Temple  1 UNIT

November 24 Sheet

Ohio State vs Florida State (+7.5) - 6:30pm Pacific - Alaska Shootout
Before Florida State's season opener last week vs Florida, it was noted by announcers how much head coach Steve Robinson liked this years squad. He called them his most unselfish team in his 5 years here. They came out and played like it with 17 of their 27 field goals being assisted. After the game Robinson stated that he really liked what he saw from the team, and I must concur. They have an entirely new look from last year, they have increased their athleticism, and I believe they are a much improved team despite losing their top two scorers from last season. The starting backcourt consists of two seniors and both are solid. Lighting quick point guard Delvon Arrington is now a 4 year starter and second in the nation in career assists coming into the season. His leadership ability will be key here. Scoring guard Adrian Crawford is back after missing 15 games last year with a knee injury. Crawford is an outstanding long range shooter and at 6-5 can get his shot off  without being wide open. Starting at one forward is junior Antwuan Dixon who who is improved and experienced having played in all 29 games last season. The other starting forward is budding 6-7 freshman star Michael Joiner who had an outstanding debut leading the team with 18 points on 7-of-8 shooting. Joiner is considered Robinson's top recruit ever and he really looked the part. Starting at center is massive 6-10, 350 pound sophomore Nigel "Big Jelly" Dixon. In his first game as a starter, Dixon broke broke or neared career highs in minutes played, rebounds, points, assists, and blocks! Dixon can be a real force down low and once he gets his hands on it down there, forget about it. Off the bench comes more good looking players, most notable were freshman G/F Andrew Wilson (8 points in opener), JC All-American transfer guard Monte Cummings (6 points in opener), and 7 footer David Anderson who saw significant playing time last year after transferring from BYU. Ten different players in all saw action vs Florida and every one of them scored. The Seminoles were able to keep it close with the very talented #11 ranked Gators for most of the way making several runs at the lead in the process. The teams new energy level is bolstered further by the addition of three new assistant coaches this year. Ohio State comes into this season without three team leaders from last year.  Backcourt stars Scoonie Penn (2nd on team in scoring, 1st in assists, 4th in rebounds) and Michael Redd (1st on team in scoring, 1st in rebounding) are gone. It takes years to replace this type of backcourt. Also gone is forward George Reese (3rd on team in scoring, 2nd in rebounds). That is the teams top three scorers from a year ago and all will be sorely missed. The Buckeyes have some remaining talent and have brought in a few notable newcomers but nothing that will enable them to compete anywhere close to the level of the past two seasons. Jim O'Brien did foresee this and did not schedule a single road game (outside of this tournament) until the start of Big 10 conference play in January. The Buckeyes were not very impressive in their opening win over Yale. They had more turnovers (13) than field goals (10) in the first half. Only two players scored in double figures and only seven players played double digit minutes despite the weak opponent. I can tell you that O'Brien is clueless right now as to what his rotation will be like and even the schools athletic website could not name the Buckeyes expected starting lineup for this game without using an "or". I really feel that the Seminoles are coming off a much better than looked performance and are very underrated right now.   Meanwhile, I have no problems going against Ohio State in this spot. The 2000-2001 version of the Buckeyes have no business giving an ACC team 7.5 points on a neutral floor. FSU went 2-1 last year in the Rainbow Classic and I expect them to have success in this early season tournament as well. Take the points.  Florida State  2 UNITS                 

November 25 Sheet

New Mexico State at Washington (-3.5) - 2:00pm Pacific
The Huskies are having to replace 3 starters from last year but many of the returning players saw extensive playing time last year both from off the bench and as part-time starters.  Nine letter winners in all return including five seniors.  However, the main reason for optimism here are two local product freshman guards that some are calling the best backcourt here in 25 years.  Their names are C.J. Massengale and Curtin Allen.  They have not even won starting jobs yet but have been impressive with both their athletic ability and mental toughness.  Four seniors and a junior make up the starting lineup and depth will never be an issue as 9 players saw double digit minutes in the opener.  They lost their opener 73-61 to UTEP four days ago.  We have lots of info to share in regard to that game.  Firstly, the Miners feature a 1st team JC All-American transfer guard in Eugene Costello that Miner fans are calling the best guard in the country.  He victimized the Huskies for 26 points.  The Miners also have WAC preseason player of the year forward Brandon Wolfram who chipped in 21 points.  Those two are a potent combo and are going to give lots of teams trouble this year.  Secondly, the game was played at Key Arena, home of the Supersonics, which has served as the Huskies home court for the last year and a half.  No one has liked it there, fans and players included and the team finished 5-10 there after going 49-9 the previous 4 years at their on-campus home at Hec Ed Pavilion.  Today is the grand opening of a newly refurbished Hec Ed and fans and players are anxiously anticipating it.  Their will be pre-game and half-time festivities with arena dedications and the likes.  In the season opener, Washington came out tentative and out of sync as they only scored 8 points in the first 12 minutes of the game.  They eventually fell behind 26-to-11 at one point.  The starting senior backcourt of Michael Johnson and Bryan Brown shot a dismal 2-for-14 from the field for the game.  Johnson also shot just 2-for-7 from the free throw line including misses on two front ends of 1-and-1's.  He also had 5 untimely turnovers.  Well thought of head coach Bob Bender also noted his team having mental lapses by not getting back in transition defense.  With so much room for improvement it was quite a feat for the Huskies to rally and only trail by 2 points with 3:43 left before finally succumbing.  Bender promises big improvement second game out and has made starting the game fast a focal point.  Senior forward Will Perkins was a bright spot registering a double double with 15 points and 10 rebounds.  6-10 junior center Marlon Shelton also reportedly looked very good and Bender expects a big game for him vs NMSU who does not have a player on its roster taller than 6-8.  Husky starting center David Dixon is a huge 6-11, 290 and could cause serious matchup problems as well even though Shelton got most of the minutes in the opener.  Not only are the Aggies undersized but they lack quality depth down low and foul trouble could be a major problem for them.  This will be NMSU's 4th road game in 8 days.  They are 1-2 so far with two 15 point losses to St. Bonaventure and San Diego State.  Their only win was over St. Mary's, CA.  They flew home for Thanksgiving following the SDSU game on Tuesday night and then flew back to Washington on Friday.  It is unlikely that they were able to get in much quality practice time and it appears that they need some badly.  They have already tried three different point guards and have gone with freshman Dennis Trammel the most in last two games.  Trammel suffered a broken left wrist in October and did not even start practicing until a week before the season.  NMSU coach Lou Henson openly admitted that he is not yet ready to play the point but will play anyway.  The reason for the gaping hole at point guard is the graduation of two year starter, team leader, and leading scorer Billy Keys who will be difficult to replace.  Things got worse when his backup last year, sophomore Dennis Desmond, decided to leave the team not long after classes began.  JC transfer forward James Felder was also expected to be a contributor this year but is currently out with an ACL injury.  There will definitely be a sense of urgency for Washington here.  In addition to christening their new arena and trying to avoid an 0-2 start, the Huskies will be looking to avenge a narrow overtime loss at NMSU last year in which they blew a 14 point second half lead.  Pac-10 Huskies will find a way to beat Sun Belt Aggies and cover the small number here.  Washington  1 UNIT

November 28 Sheet

LSU at Houston (+3.5) - 5:00pm Pacific
We were successful going against the Cougars to start the season but the circumstances are much more in their favor tonight.  Houston comes in to this game at 2-2 having played three times away from home already.  They played their first two games (a loss to Air Force and a win over Mt St Mary's) on a neutral floor and without sophomore forward George Williams.  Williams is the teams leading returning scorer and rebounder from last year and clearly established himself as the team leader in the preseason but suffered an injury just days prior to the season opener.  He returned in their third game at Rice and the Cougars actually led 34-25 at half-time.  Amazingly, they were outscored 40-11 in the second half for a misleading 20 point loss.  Williams looked sluggish in his first game back, was hampered with foul trouble and only scored 4 points.  Four days later, the Cougars finally played their first home game and easily beat SW Texas St.  Williams looked his normal self this time with 20 points and 8 rebounds.  Under new coach Ray McCallum (formerly 7 straight winning seasons at Ball St) the Cougars are showing positive signs.  They are only allowing opponents to shoot 38.4% and score 58.8 points per game so far.  They also have averaged an outstanding +14 rebounding margin.  LSU is a team that is badly lacking inside size and depth right now.  The Tigers lost stalwarts Stromile Swift and Jabari Smith to the NBA and then lost projected starting center Bridgewater to a knee injury at the beginning of the month.  Because of probation, they only could sign a limited number of new recruits so there really is no help.  They are basically starting three guards and two forwards with the tallest player Brian Bashara at 6-8 being mostly a perimeter oriented player.  The Tigers have only played twice so far.  Both of their games were at home versus weak opposition and they still only have a +1.5 rebounding margin.  Now they will go on the road for the first time this year, and on a non-conference opponents home floor for the first time since February of 1999 and face a front line with all three starters 6-8 or taller.  In addition to the above mentioned 6-8, 215 Williams, the Cougars feature 6-9, 265 McDonalds All-American freshman Alton Ford (9.5ppg, 5.8rpg) and 6-8, 235 JC transfer Patrick Okafor (11.3ppg, 12.3rpg).  Senior wing Chad Hendrick provides solid scoring punch (13.3ppg) and returning starter Bernard Smith does a solid job of handling the point.  JC transfer guard Dominic Smith is providing a nice spark off the bench.  This is a big measuring stick game at home vs a big name opponent for new coach McCallum and Houston.  Meanwhile, LSU could already have their minds on exams as they will not play again until December 9.  Expect Cougars to get a mild upset here.  Houston  1 UNIT

November 29 Sheet

Maryland (-4) vs Wisconsin - 6:00pm Pacific - Milwaukee, WI
I almost could not sleep last night with Maryland at +1 on the offshore overnight line.  I was hoping the line would not move this much but still think the Terps are a solid play here.  Gary Williams is a special kind of coach and I really believe this is a special kind of team.  Maryland returns everyone from a 25-10 team last year and added two solid newcomers in transfer G/F Byron Mouton (formerly leading scorer at Tulane) and 6-10 freshman Chris Wilcox (top 25 national recruit).  This team has all of the ingredients, talent, size, shooting, leadership, depth, quickness, experience, teamwork, you name it.  Maryland has not played since last week at the Maui Invitational where they lost their last two games to Illinois and Dayton.  I have been preaching all year that strange things happen in these early season tournaments.  They lost to Illinois in the second round and the Illini are clearly a very good team, having taken #1 Duke to the wire last night.  Even stranger things happen in the consolation rounds and that is where the Terps lost to Dayton in the final day of the tourney.  The losses are sure to serve the team well as Gary Williams is certain to have his teams attention now.  One main focal point in practice this week has been rebounding and you can expect major improvement in that aspect tonight.  One key here is that this game will be played at the Bradley Center, home of the Bucks, and not at the Badgers on-campus arena.  Wisconsin has not looked good early on in a loss to Tennessee and a narrow win over Northern Illinois.  The rules committee and officials are out to get the Badgers after many feel they rough played their way into the final four last year, which has influenced the tight calls that officials have been making early in the season.  This clearly has a negative impact on the Badgers chances.  Wisconsin so far is only going about 7 deep with the suspensions of starting forward Maurice Linton and reserve guard Travon Davis.  Head coach Dick Bennett publicly criticized his teams attitude following last game.  They only lost two players from last year, (Duany & Bryant) but they were their two best 3-point shooters and the Badgers rely heavily on perimeter shooting.  Through two games they are only 14-for-43 from behind the arc.  After tonight, it is unlikely that we will be able to find much value in playing Maryland for the rest of the season.  Terps rebound with solid performance, win and cover.  Maryland  1 UNIT