Texas-Tennessee officials, BC, Ohio State/Florida

1. One of my pet peeves with basketball refs are those who allow one team to dictate their style of officiating. I thought that was the case in Tennessee's 111-105 overtime win over Texas.

Tennessee's frantic, pressing, physical style is designed to rattle the opposition, forcing them into quick shots and turnovers. Particularly at home, and particularly against a young team (like Texas), they don't need any help with that. But the referees did play a part in it, allowing excessive contact from Vols players -- presumably because that's their "style." I'm all for "letting them play," but only if it doesn't give one team an advantage over the other. Texas shouldn't be punished for being less physical than their opponent.

The must frustrating play for me was Kevin Durant's fourth foul, which kept him out of action for several minutes while Tennessee came storming back from a 15-point halftime deficit. Tennessee's Wayne Chism was guarding Durant on the perimeter, and was applying a pretty obvious handcheck. The official let it go, however, blowing the whistle only when Durant drove to the basket and gave Chism an ever-so-subtle push (which the Tennessee freshman embellished by flopping backwards).

I'd prefer that the handcheck be called in that situation. If it isn't, however, you have to let Durant's bump go as well. Texas was having a hard enough time with Tennessee's pressure and the rabid Vols crowd -- they shouldn't have to deal with officials who adapted to Tennessee's playing style and allowed more contact than they should have.

2. Boston College's flex offense is too crowded. Against a man-to-man defense, they are the rare college team -- I don't think I've seen another, in fact -- that plays inside the three point line.

The Eagles run some interesting, intricate motion involving screens and subtle cuts, but the result of the way they are set up -- four guys standing right outside the key -- minimizes the effectiveness of the offense. On Saturday, Kansas always had four defenders in the paint, so help was never farther away than the width of the key. BC runs a nice play to free someone for an elbow jumper, but it's easier to guard because so many defenders are within just a few feet of each other. There's little room for entry passes or penetration, as well.

I know Al Skinner has had success with this offense in past years, so I have to think that the absence of a real low-post presence -- like Craig Smith -- is what's hurting the Eagles this year. The offense seems to produce tough shots in cramped spaces, and besides Jared Dudley, they don't seem to have anyone comfortable operating in all that traffic.

3. First real poor performance from a young Ohio State team this year. They actually got some good looks from the perimeter at the start of the game, and simply couldn't knock them down. Once Florida switched to a 2-3 zone, the Buckeyes seemed lost, often taking 15 seconds -- and occasionally longer -- to get any movement from their offense. Mike Conley Jr.'s penetration was the only bright spot.

After a quick 9-0 run to start the second half that tied the score, Ohio State pretty much imploded. Offensively, the Buckeyes were hurt by Greg Oden's conditioning, which still isn't where it should be as the big freshman continues to recover from his time off the court due to a wrist injury. Once Florida started to extend the lead, Ohio State panicked a bit, jacking three-pointers as though a single shot from behind the arc would immediately put them back in the game. A play with about 7:30 minutes left and the Buckeyes trailing by double digits summed it up: Conley wasted his man was his first step and had a clear path to the basket for a layup, but as soon as he had his shoulders past his defender, he turned and kicked it to a teammate for a difficult three-pointer.

Defensively, as Billy Packer mentioned on the CBS broadcast, they struggled to defend a simple pick-and-pop play, and got hammered on the boards. In the end, they surrendered something like 70 percent shooting from the field in the second half.

For Florida, it was as good a performance as their dismantling of UCLA in last year's title game.

The Gators will always do well against perimeter-oriented teams, because with Al Horford, Joakim Noah, and Chris Richard, they're extremely big for a college team. That trio wore Oden down, and Ohio State didn't have any reinforcements in the post.

(And 1) Two things I was disappointed in today.

1)The fact that Kevin Durant didn't get a shot in overtime until 1:20 remained in the extra period, and Tennessee had already jumped out to a two-possession lead. I'm actually not sure he had a "dangerous" touch -- a touch where he was in the frontcourt with a reasonable chance to score -- until that time, either. He's the best player on the court. He needs to be the go-to guy in that situation.

2)Boston College's energy. The Eagles were terrible on transition defense, and were often two steps slow to the ball on the glass.

Wisconsin/Pitt, Greg Oden, A Tale of Two Contenders

1. Whenever I think I have this game figured out, I see something that makes me scratch my head. Today, it was a pair of coaching moves made in Wisconsin's win over Pittsburgh.

With just under 17 minutes to play and nursing a ten-or-so-point lead, Badger coach Bo Ryan substituted for his two studs in the post, Alando Tucker and Brian Butch. Tucker and Butch had shredded Pitt in the first half with 20 points each, and Butch had continued his strong play with five early points in the second half. Butch did look tired, but it seemed like an odd time to put your big guns on the bench. A six-point run either way at that juncture could really change the texture of the game.

Pitt should have been in position to make such a run, with Tucker and Butch on the pine. The very next possession, however, Panther coach Jamie Dixon countered by ordering a 2-3 zone. Right idea, wrong time. Pitt didn't have anyone who could contain Tucker or Butch, and were in foul trouble, so a zone makes sense, but to switch to it as soon as those two went to the bench was curious. Wisconsin was playing a more perimeter-oriented lineup, and it seemed like Dixon played right into their hands.

Wisco's Kammron Taylor -- who had missed all five of his shots in the first half -- responded quickly with a three-point play and then a three-point shot. Butch and Tucker came back in, but Taylor was rolling, scoring another and-one against the man-to-man and then draining another triple against the zone.

2. As good as Greg Oden has been -- and make no mistake, he's been very, very good -- his full impact hasn't been felt. Not by Valparaiso, against who Oden scored 14 points, grabbed 10 boards, and blocked five shots in 22 minutes in his debut. Not by Cleveland State, against whom Oden hit all eight of his shots. And not by the Cincinnati Bearcats, who were on the business end of a workman-like 14-point, 10-rebound, five-block performance.

Ohio State played its first seven games without Oden, winning the first six comfortably and then surprising me, at least, by hanging with North Carolina in Chapel Hill. The Buckeyes have a number of perimeter-oriented stars, and those players are still getting used to playing with the big fella. He's underused on the offensive end. Once he gets more involved, we'll see an even more dangerous Ohio State team.

Suffice it to say, I'm looking forward to next Saturday's showdown with Florida.

3. Back on November 29, before Greg Oden came back from a wrist injury, Ohio State and North Carolina met in as offensive-minded a basketball game that you're going to see at the major college level. The final score was 98-89, Tar Heels, and I'm not sure I've ever seen that much talent on the floor at the same time at the college level.

Both teams played on Saturday, and both again put up impressive point totals. Carolina beat UNC-Asheville 93-62, while Ohio State crushed Cincinnati 72-50 in a game that wasn't anywhere near that close (Cincy trailed by 34 points before going on a 20-8 run over the final six minutes).

I didn't see the Carolina game, but the wire story I read said that Heels coach Roy Williams was unhappy with his team's offensive performance. Yes, after a performance in which his team scored 93 points -- including 56 in the first half -- Williams was concerned about offense. I fully recognize that you can put up 93 points without executing particularly well, but if I were Coach Williams, I might concern myself with the 39 first-half points they conceded to Asheville.

It's not that UNC's defense was necessarily that bad, but contrast it with Ohio State's (whose game I did see). The Buckeyes held the Bearcats -- who beat top-25 Xavier earlier in the week and are clearly a tougher opponent than Asheville -- without a field goal for almost ten minutes to close the first half. They conceded just 14 points in the first 20 minutes, holding Cincy to 19 percent shooting. For the game, the Bearcats shot just 26 percent.

The point is that a high-octane offense doesn't have to come at the expense of defense, despite what Williams seems to think. Ohio State played tough on both ends of the court and still found plenty of possessions to score points. UNC's Williams is preoccupied by offense -- I don't remember a single one of his teams at Kansas or Carolina who were outstanding defensively. Two years ago, the Heels were talented enough offensively to beat all comers and win the national title. However, they didn't have to face anyone who was capable of keeping up with them in the scoring column. Ohio State has already shown they can do that this year. Should the two teams meet again, I'd have to give the Buckeyes the edge -- because of their defense.

Boston College, Texas A&M, Georgia Tech

1. With losses to Providence and Vermont, Boston College has dropped a bit below the radar. But with recent wins over Michigan State and, on Sunday, Maryland, the Eagles have shown that they should remain a part of the national conversation.

Maryland coach Gary Williams called Jared Dudley the best player in the ACC, and that was before the BC senior lit his team up for 20 points. Dudley is a matchup nightmare; a rugged player inside with great instincts for rebound and scoring in the post, but too quick to be guarded by someone bigger.

BC also has Tyrese Rice, a confident lead guard with a sweet stroke who really took it to Maryland in the first half tonight. And they have the enigmatic Sean Williams, the best shotblocker we've seen in quite a while in college basketball.

With a number of solid role players to boot, the Eagles are clearly the conference's most rugged team, and that's a quality that should go a little farther in this year's ACC than it would in most years. With the notable exception of North Carolina, the league is not full of the highly-polished offensive teams that we've gotten used to. It won't be mistaken for the Big East or Big Ten, but there's so much youth on so many teams (think Duke, Georgia Tech, Maryland) that the fundamental, smashmouth basketball that BC plays will be effective against the talented, but inconsistent, competition.

2. Joseph Jones is one of the best big men in the country. You would think, then, that his team would get him the ball when playing the top-ranked team in the nation.

But Texas A&M didn't against UCLA on Saturday. The Aggies star took just 11 shots, making five and finishing with 11 points, in a 65-62 loss. Many of those attempts came off offensive rebound, as Jones collected seven caroms off the O-glass.

It's particularly puzzling given that the Bruins are very strong defensively on the perimeter, but are rather thin and inexperienced in the post. Jones should have gotten the better of Lorenzo Mata all night. And when Mata fouled out with about three and a half minutes to go, A&M really should have focused on Jones. But the only shot Jones got the rest of the way came down three with under a shot clock to go in the game -- 20 feet away from the basket.

Acie Law IV is a tremendous talent on the perimeter, and I'm not saying that he should never take 20 shots in a game, like he did against UCLA. But the circumstances of that game dictated that the ball should go inside to Jones, and Law and coach Billy Gillispie share in the blame for the failure to do so.

3. Georgia Tech has a truly remarkable group of athletes; a bunch of players who can run and jump as well or better than anyone else in the country. To take advantage of their superior athleticism, they play a frantic, up-and-down style. That brand of basketball is what allowed them to turn a 13-point first half deficit into a five-point lead early in the second against Vanderbilt on Saturday.

However, the Yellowjackets are also very young, and young players are prone to making bad decisions and playing out of control. Putting young players into a system where chaos is pretty much the order of the day can be dangerous, as the style that is designed to rush the opponent into turnovers and forced shots can carry over to when they are on offense. That danger was evident in the latter part of the second half, when Vandy came back to take an 11-point lead, hanging on to win 73-64.

During that stretch, the Jackets committed several silly turnovers, and squandered at least as many possessions with difficult shots. Several times down the floor, Tech threw just one pass, with the recipient doing one of three things: traveling due to being over-anxious to make a move and get a shot; jacking up a tough three-pointer; or pounding the ball towards the basket and taking a difficult two-point shot.

I think GT can be effective in this up-tempo style, but coach Paul Hewitt will need to find a way to get through to his kids that it works because it forces turnovers and bad shots, and that committing turnovers and taking bad shots yourself cancels out that effect.

Russell Carter, Jermareo Davidson, Notre Dame

1. Russell Carter was some kind of on fire tonight, huh? Twenty-seven points on 9-of-17, including 6-of-12 from deep. He deserves a lot of credit for Notre Dame's 99-85 win over top-five Alabama.

Mike Brey had better watch Carter carefully, though. Some of the shots he took were downright ridiculous, given the situation in which he took them. Turnaround threes, a stepback early in the shotclock, etc. It's the same sort of thing he did on Sunday in the win over Maryland. Against the Terps, with the Irish struggling offensively, Carter went into "do-it-myself" mode. On multiple occasions, he tried to beat his defender off the dribble, failed, went up from 15 feet anyway, and hung in the air to wait for the defender to land before putting up a nearly impossible shot.

The only real difference on Thursday night was that he made many of the bad shots he took.

I can understand why Carter is looking more for his offense this year, as he is one of only four or five players whose names I recognized when I looked at the Irish roster for the first time. However...

2 . Carter has a surprising amount of help this year. In their last two outings, they've shown remarkable ability to score in bunches. They appeared to be no threat to Maryland over the weekend, trailing by seven midway through the second half and just generally foundering on offense. But Carter went to the bench, the Irish tied the score, then went ahead on eight straight points from McAlarney.

Tonight, they scored something like 20 points in the final six minutes of the first half, and continued that offensive prowess through much of the second half. When Alabama cut it to three late after a couple poor decisions by the Irish against the Crimson Tide fullcourt pressure, Notre Dame got a handful of buckets in quick succession, icing the game.

With the way the Irish shoot -- off the top of my head, McAlarney, Carter, Colin Falls, Rob Kurz, and Luke Zeller are all dangerous on the perimeter -- there's no reason for someone to dominate the ball the way Carter was dangerously close to doing. The team was clearly better without him on the floor over the weekend, and while that wasn't the case tonight, that had more to do with him having a hot hand than a cool head. Hopefully, he won't let this performance convince him that he needs to be taking even more shots.

3. Jermareo Davidson probably has the nicest set of post moves I've seen this year. As Jay Bilas mentioned, Davidson's best shot is the turnaround over his right shoulder, on which he uses the board extremely well. I also liked his baby hook, and he even showed an up and under (he blew the shot, but the move was fundamentally sound).

It's odd, too, because Davidson isn't built like a traditional low post operator, despite his old school arsenal of moves. He's 6'10", but weighs just 220 pounds, a lithe, rangy 220. He looks like one of the perimeter-oriented bigs that are so prevalent these days, but his game is decidely post-oriented -- although he can step out and hit a jumper. He lives up to his end of the bargain on the glass and on D, as well.

(And 1) Caught Oak Hill Academy vs. Norcross tonight in a high school 1 vs. 2 matchup. A lot of big-time recruits on the court, and all impressed. But for those of you who do follow high school hooops, keep an eye on Norcross point guard Taariq Muhammad. A sophomore surely playing on the biggest stage of his career, he came out confidently, getting to the bucket and finding open teammates.

He didn't end up with a huge game, and he certainly wasn't close to the best player on the court. But he's a guy who I wouldn't be surprised to see among the class of 2009's best lead guards by the time he's done.

Sean Sutton, Paul Harris, Chase Budinger

1. It's hard to argue with a guy who has now won his first ten games as head coach, but I thought Oklahoma State's Sean Sutton made what could have been a critical error down the stretch in tonight's game versus Syracuse. The Cowboys had lost most of a comfortable, double-digit lead over the last few minutes, and the Orange pulled to within one with about 45 seconds left. Most of the damage had been done because OSU failed to take the air out of the ball, and through it all, Sutton never called timeout to calm his kids down.

On this possession, Syracuse applied its full court-pressure, but Oklahoma State broke it, leaving themselves with a 3-on-2 break. Now Sutton called time, stopping play when his team had a decided advantage. It was the right idea, but implemented too late.

JamesOn Curry hit a three from the top of the key on the possession, so the timeout didn't cost them the game. But it might have. What better opportunity was Sutton hoping to get than a 3-on-2?

2. Paul Harris didn't have a spectacular night, but I loved the way he took control of the game late. It wasn't quite enough to pull out a win for the Orange, but Harris came alive in the final minutes, going strong to the basket, scoring, and drawing fouls.

Syracuse is a veteran team, but their trio of senior starters -- Terrence Roberts, Darryl Watkins, and Demetris Nichols -- has to be one of the most enigmatic and ultimately disappointing classes in school history. Conventional wisdom would suggest that they should lead the team, but being the go-to guy would clearly be beneficial for Harris' future, and thus, the future of the program. And with a talented but unreliable group of veterans, Jim Boeheim has to be thinking that his team might even be better of this year relying on Harris and sophomore Eric Devendorf (whose illness kept him on the bench for most of the night) in the clutch.

3. I've seen enough of Chase Budinger to not only have drank the Kool-Aid on his inevitable stardom in the college game, but to also feel very good about his prospects at the next level.

Any discussion of Budinger ends up talking about his athleticism, which is clearly of a pro caliber. He moves like a great athlete, smoothly gliding across the floor, never appearing out of control or even that he's trying very hard, but always beating his man. His leaping ability is also above average.

Offensively, he has a great stroke from the outside, with a solid mid-range game that includes shooting fadeaways and shooting on the move. He can put it on the deck and finish with both hands. He also moves without the ball exceptionally well, displaying a "feel" for the game that you cannot teach.

That "feel" also serves him well on the defensive end, where he gets the most criticism. He's certainly athletic enough to guard anybody on the court, so it may very well just be an effort thing -- young guys with talent like his often come to college having never worried too much about defense. Or it could be that he's always relied on his athleticism to get by on the defensive end of the court, and against stronger competition is learning that he'll need to work on defensive fundamentals.

What he does have, however, is an exceptional ability to read the opposing team's offense. On one Louisville possession, he actually anticipated a no-look pass even before the Cardinals player threw it; ESPN play-by-play man Dan Shulman actually exclaimed what a great pass it was, right before Budinger stepped in front of the intended recipient and picked it off.

I don't think Budinger will always struggle to D up his man, but even if he does, his team defense -- a much bigger deal in the NBA than in college -- will serve him very well in the Association.

(And 1) Say what you want about Jim Valvano's corruption as a coach, but I'd be remiss if I didn't mention hs fantastic speech at the ESPY awards just months before he died. The pageantry of the Jimmy V Classic can be a little much, but that speech, which they replay every year between games, always gives me goosebumps. If anyone has a link to it on YouTube or some other site (a 30-second search didn't turn up anything), post it in the comments.

UPDATE: so, you can't post in the comments without having a Blogger account. Lame. Anyway, both my sister and friend David provided me with some links to the Jimmy V speech. Thanks, guys:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePXlkqkFH6s

USC/Kansas

Nice little ball game tonight.

1. Kansas' bench won this game for them. The Jayhawks' two offensive stars, Brandon Rush and Julian Wright, combined to make just seven of 26 shots from the field, and Darrell Arthur was hampered by foul trouble much of the night. But a couple of less-heralded players stepped in and picked up the slack. Junior forward Darnell Jackson reached double figures for the fifth time this season with 11 points, and freshman guard Sherron Collins chipped in with 11 of his own. Rush and Mario Chalmers led KU with with 13 each, but on a night when their big guns by and large struggled, they still pulled out a victory. We knew Kansas had a lot of talent, but Jackson and Collins were not the guys we expected to hear much from. It makes you wonder a little, actually, how Kansas could have lost to such inferior opponents as Oral Roberts and DePaul; with that much depth, you'd think that they'd find some combination of players that would have worked.

2. Tim Floyd is rebuilding well at Southern Cal. The Trojans went into Allen Fieldhouse and hung with the Jayhawks, despite lacking a true point guard and facing one of the nation's best defensive backcourts. Lodrick Stewart has a very nice shooting stroke, and freshmen Daniel Hackett and Taj Gibson both showed mature mid-range games. Nick Young, the Pac-10's leading returning scorer from last year, struggled tonight, but he's obviously a proven talent.

The team's bigs -- Abdoulaye N'Diaye and RouSean Cromwell -- disappointed, combining for just four points and three rebounds before both fouling out.

Of course, the best is yet to come for USC, as O.J. Mayo, one of the top-ranked players in the 07 high school class, arrives on campus next year along with Davon Jefferson, another prize prospect. Stewart will be gone, but assuming Young comes back, the additions of Mayo and Jefferson will be more than enough to replace his production, and Mayo will be able to handle the point guard duties if need be.

But this isn't bad for a squad that is essentially bridging the gap until Mayo gets there. Gabe Pruitt will become eligible for the second semester, and this Trojan team could challenge Washington and Oregon for third place in the conference.

3. I won't harp on the refereeing too much in this space, but tonight was a picture-perfect example of the idea that it doesn't matter how closely or loosely you call a game, but you must do it consistently. The first half was physical -- not dirty, but a fair amount of banging and grabbing -- and the refs let much of it go. In the second half, they started making those calls, and USC was shooting one-and-one within the first five minutes.

If you want to keep the game free of "ugly" play, you need to nip it in the bud from the beginning. You can't expect players to adjust to two different styles of officiating.

(And 1) I attended all three games of the BB&T Classic this past Sunday. For my brief recaps of Bucknell-George Mason and Notre Dame-Maryland (with an emphasis on the DC-area teams), go here: http://www.dcist.com/archives/2006/12/04/bbt_post_in_pro.php#comments. DCist is a community blog in the Washington area (where I live), and I write about local college basketball for them. I'll use this space to link there as the season progresses.

Kentucky/UNC, Illinois, Warren Carter, Duke

1. Kentucky may not have gotten out of Chapel Hill with a win, but the Wildcats did provide the blueprint for beating the runnin', gunnin' Tar Heels.

Ohio State showed Wednesday night that you can't go up and down with UNC and expect to win, and Tubby Smith was obviously paying attention. Kentucky is known for its frantic tempo, but Smith instructed his players to take the air out of the ball, using his timeouts to calm his team down after an unnecessarily quick shot or two. Defensively, he went to a zone for much of the game, causing the Tar Heels to either be more patient or take bad shots.

All credit to Randolph Morris, too, who hit 10 of 11 shots and helped keep Tyler Hansbrough quiet. As evidenced by Kentucky today and Gonzaga last week, the way to minimize Hansbrough's effectiveness is to surround him inside. For all of his speed and work ethic, he doesn't get off the ground quickly; he has to gather himself after catching the ball, before going up. When's he's against larger players, like Morris, that results in a much tougher shot. He also doesn't seem to have learned the virtues of kicking the ball back out to the perimeter.

2. Man for man, there's no way Illinois, playing without Brian Randle and Jamar Smith, should've been able to keep their game with Arizona close. But they did, and the way they did is the reason that Illinois -- even in something of a down year -- will always be competitive: Bruce Weber teams will defend, defend, defend, every time out.

Arizona played good offensive basketball for the 30 minutes, but not before the Illini jumped out to a 35-19 lead. The advantage Illinois earned in those first ten minutes allowed them to stick close despite the absense of their two best players and mounting foul trouble. They couldn't quite hang on, but if not for their first-half defense, they would've been blown out of the water.

By the way, Illinois' Warren Carter has caught my eye this week. He had an outstanding first half against Maryland before an injury slowed him down (he finished with 13 points and 11 boards), and came back with 24 points and 10 rebounds today. In each of those two games, six of his rebounds came on the offensive end. It's rare for someone with his shooting stroke to have that kind of knack for offensive rebounding. Either that, or it's rare for someone with his knack for offensive rebounding to have that kind of shot. Whichever it is, one this clear: Carter is an up-and-comer.

3. Last time we saw Duke, they were hanging on to beat an overmatched Indiana team at home. During that game, and during the first half of tonight's against Georgetown -- when the Hoyas were backdooring their way through the Devil defense en route to a 34-27 halftime lead -- it was easy to tell that Duke's confidence was very low. If you didn't notice it yourself, then you had Dick Vitale pointing it out for you, over and over and over again.

You can bet Coach K noticed it. After his players gutted out a nine-point win in which they held the Hoyas to just 18 points -- none of them on backdoor cuts -- in the second half, he made a point to incite the crowd into a hearty ovation for the players on the floor. Rarely will you see that kind of display from him, particularly this early in the season. But he knows how fragile this team is, and how they need every bit of confidence that they can get.

So have the Devils turned the corner? We won't know for a little while, but tonight was definitely a step in the right direction. Josh McRoberts kept the team afloat in the first half, and Greg Paulus broke out of his funk to score all 13 of his points in the final 20 minutes. I was critical of both players in this space after the IU game, and I'm sure I wasn't the only one with harsh words for the star sophomores. They responded tonight.

There's still a ways to go, however. Duke's offense is still shaky. Like Illinois, they will rely on their defense this year more than they have had to in recent years. They need a lot more production out of their freshmen, in addition to improved performance from their upperclassmen, in order to compete with other national heavyweights.