Friday, August 24, 2007

Hoops Schedule Items

The schedule.

As a supplement to SFN's analysis, here are some tempo-free tidbits about our OOC opponents, including potential Old Spice Classic foes:
'06-'07          PomRk     Pace(Rk)     OffEff(Rk)      DefEff(Rk)
Michigan State 15 61.6 (317) 114.1 (38) 87.6 (14)
Villanova 19 66.5 (172) 114.2 (36) 89.1 (18)
Kansas State 50 66.5 (174) 110.2 (71) 91.1 (32)
Davidson 74 72.7 (12) 109.8 (76) 96.2 (83)
Seton Hall 81 71.2 (33) 109.3 (80) 97.6 (107)
South Carolina 102 62.3 (309) 109.5 (78) 101.3 (138)
Cincinnati 113 65.7 (207) 103.7 (138) 97.2 (98)
Penn State 119 63.8 (284) 109.2 (81) 102.9 (170)
William & Mary 184 63.4 (295) 100.9 (177) 104.6 (200)
New Orleans 233 65.9 (202) 104.3 (128) 114.9 (332)
WCU 246 68.8 (87) 97.4 (227) 109.4 (267)
Rider 255 68.7 (90) 98.1 (217) 110.8 (294)
SC State 295 65.1 (225) 92.5 (285) 109.4 (268)
ECU 297 64.6 (250) 89.9 (305) 106.7 (228)
Presbyterian N/A N/A N/A N/A
NC Central N/A N/A N/A N/A
(Stats courtesy Ken Pomeroy.)

Notes:

-- We'll breeze past all of the teams listed below Penn State; those schools are so bad that what they're adding/returning is irrelevant. [/duh]

-- Michigan State looks to me like the best team in the Big Ten this season. They solve that TO% problem of theirs and they're going to be an elite team. They might be regardless. Like everybody in the B10, the Spartans were slow as molasses last year, and that plays to our advantage as the road dogs.

-- Kansas State loses Cartier Martin's efficient play, but with Bill Walker, Michael Beasley and other talented newcomers ready to contribute, I don't think they're gonna be too worried about it.

-- Only four schools allowed more points per possession than New Orleans did in 2007. Guard Bo McCalebb did just about everything offensively for UNO, leading the nation in possession usage and finishing second in %shots.

-- Cincinnati's Jamual Warren shot 39.4% in 2007. When is it a good time to stop shooting threes? When you are 9-60 (15%), that's when. You'll want to catch this one, as the Black Hole of Suck (which returns largely intact) is not to be missed.

-- The tallest player among Seton Hall's regulars last year was 6-7 (and he graduated). They were murdered by the Big East slate--utterly outclassed on the defensive glass and shot to death inside the arc. They also hacked the ever living Christ out of everyone. The only way they managed to piece together a decent defense was with quick hands--they forced a lot of turnovers. Unless they found a couple kick ass tall people, we should pulverize them with our front court just like the BE did. HULK SMASH!!!! GRRRR!!!

-- Rider's Jason Thompson compiled some impressive numbers in the MAAC. Like McCalebb, he's a one-man show.

-- What's this "field goal defense" people keep talking about?

-- East Carolina's offense was a special kind of awful last year. Odds that a Wolfpack player gets hit by a bottle/battery/bottle full of batteries when we're up 20 in the last two minutes: say, 3/1. So glad we're making this trip.