2014 NCAA Tournament

[tmh8286]

nope....worh reading the full article on how much money the win means to the league and how the NCAA allots the dollars....LINK

 

"One Southland school that will not be part of the distribution is outgoing member Oral Roberts. "Its right to sharing was forfeited once the announcement to leave the conference was made," Burnett confirmed."

So maybe we get a cut of the NDSU take?? We can always hope!!

Or are we a team without a home (for the time being)?

[dbl78]

nope....worh reading the full article on how much money the win means to the league and how the NCAA allots the dollars....LINK

 

"One Southland school that will not be part of the distribution is outgoing member Oral Roberts. "Its right to sharing was forfeited once the announcement to leave the conference was made," Burnett confirmed."

So what would have happened if ORU had gone to the dance and won a game - would we have been able to keep all the money? 

[Old Titan]

nope....worh reading the full article on how much money the win means to the league and how the NCAA allots the dollars....LINK

 

"One Southland school that will not be part of the distribution is outgoing member Oral Roberts. "Its right to sharing was forfeited once the announcement to leave the conference was made," Burnett confirmed."

 

One more reason I question the timing of the announcement to switch leagues:  why not wait until AFTER the athletic calendar ran out in May?  Did the Summit throw ORU under the bus by prematurely putting the info out there?

 

You can not convince me that Southland teams didn't play harder against ORU in conference play because of the announcment - they all wanted to give ORU a kick out the door.

 

At face value, it appears the timing of the announcement may have cost ORU their fair share of of this season's NCAA basketball dollars, though it should be noted (according to the article) that the payout from this year's windfall will be spread out over 5 years.  The announcement date of ORU going to the Summit League may not have had any bearing:  the Southland was going to stick it to ORU over the money no matter when the departure was anounced.

[ORUalum]

from the Tulsa World...ORU made the announcement...

 

 

 

Posted: Thursday, December 5, 2013 5:59 pm | Updated: 8:23 pm, Thu Dec 5, 2013.

BY JIMMIE TRAMEL, World Sports Writer

 

ORU announced in a news release that it is leaving the Southland Conference to return to a former conference home, The Summit League. The bolt from the blue was delivered in an email sent to media at 5:56 p.m. Thursday.

 

The Summit League issued a news release confirming the news that ORU is rejoining the league in all sports, effective July 1, 2104. That means the Golden Eagles will be a Summit League member during the 2014-15 academic year and it means their stay (two years) in the Southland Conference will be a brief one, even by conference realignment standards.

 

Mr. Carter's a lawyer.  i'm guessing they could not wait until after the athletic calander.  there was probably some type of clause that required 6 months notice for departure.

 

furthermore, as to the NDSU money, i see no reason ORU would share in any of that either as they were not a member of the Summit when NDSU won their game.

 

this situation puts a nice bow on the entire Southland experience....short of getting Kevi Luper to the NCAA it has been an utter complete failure ...there is no telling the true cost in revenue.

 

i understand correcting a mistake as soon as possible, but man does ORU look ridiculous.

 

ORU's athletic competitiveness is on the decline....it takes a reputation hit in the world of college athletics.....who gets held accountable for this mistake?

 

to this point nobody...

[tmh8286]

In Mike Carter's defense, we're really dealing here with an unintended consequence. How many NCAA Tournament wins has the Southland had in recent years? I didn't check, but I'm guessing not many.

In addition, new schools were added after WE joined that negated our primary benefit - reduced travel. The resulting RPI hit, and the lack of interest on the part of the conference to try to do anything about it, made the move back to the Summit, as awkward and uncomfortable as it feels to a lot of us fans, really look like the right thing to do. The Summit is striving to improve; the same cannot be said of the Southland, at least in basketball.

[tmh8286]

I LOVE this studio panel -

Charles Barkley

Kenny Smith

Clark Kellogg

Greg Gumbel

I love the personalities, the commentary, the experience, I don't think I've seen a group I've enjoyed as much as these. I've always loved Clark Kellogg as a studio commentator - thought he'd be great doing color in the games, but I didn't like him as well in that role. I've been surprised how much I've come to admire Charles Barkley, too. I rarely disagree with anything he has to say. Add to that his sense of humor that adds tremendously to the atmosphere of the discussions - he's tremendous!

What do you guys think?

[tmh8286]

Wichita State/Kentucky - early second half turnover by Kentucky - said inbounder stepped on the line. I watched it a dozen times in slow motion and I don't see it, not even close. However, he DID step onto the court before the inbounded ball reached the player he threw the ball to - is that illegal? Otherwise it had to be a bad call.

[Old Titan]

Wichita State/Kentucky - early second half turnover by Kentucky - said inbounder stepped on the line. I watched it a dozen times in slow motion and I don't see it, not even close. However, he DID step onto the court before the inbounded ball reached the player he threw the ball to - is that illegal? Otherwise it had to be a bad call.

 

If that's the play I think it was, he was called for running the baseline a bit to pass the ball inbounds. 

 

You can only do that after an opponent's made basket; otherwise you have to stay in the same spot out of bounds to inbound the ball.

 

Basically, he traveled...

[Old Titan]

I LOVE this studio panel -

Charles Barkley

Kenny Smith

Clark Kellogg

Greg Gumbel

I love the personalities, the commentary, the experience, I don't think I've seen a group I've enjoyed as much as these. I've always loved Clark Kellogg as a studio commentator - thought he'd be great doing color in the games, but I didn't like him as well in that role. I've been surprised how much I've come to admire Charles Barkley, too. I rarely disagree with anything he has to say. Add to that his sense of humor that adds tremendously to the atmosphere of the discussions - he's tremendous!

What do you guys think?

 

Barkley and Smith are better than they were their first year.  It was pretty obvious then that they had not done their homework on the college game or the teams involved in their maiden season.  It appears they have done a little more research this year.

 

Regardless, they are incredibly entertaining - I really like Kenny The Jet; he's fantastic.  He and Sir Charles are both WAY too quick for the glacial Greg Gumbel.  I think it's time for HIM to "Go Fishin'".  Ernie Johnson (of TNT's NBA broadcasts) is a LOT more experienced and simply better at bantering with those two, as the halftime of the UNC-Iowa State game is proving right now.

 

Also, Greg Anthony does a great job as a color man on the broadcasts.  Helps make up for the always schmaltzy Jim Nantz, who's only good point was complaining about the referee reviews over fractions of a second on the clock with 15 minutes left in the game.

[tmh8286]

You're exactly right, OT about the travel - when I think back about it, that was the signal from the ref. He signaled back and forth along the baseline, then a travel. It was the TV crew that said it was stepping on the line. I believe it was on an out of bounds play rather than after a basket, and the TV guys just got it wrong. Threw me a curve until you pointed that out.

[tmh8286]

Also, Greg Anthony does a great job as a color man on the broadcasts.  Helps make up for the always schmaltzy Jim Nantz, who's only good point was complaining about the referee reviews over fractions of a second on the clock with 15 minutes left in the game.

I originally had Anthony on the list, and since he wasn't in the studio I took him off again, but I agree - he's great on color. AND I'm going to blame Nantz (for no particular reason) on the missed stepping on the line call above.

[theeagleman5]

Barkley is really good on TV and just the same in person....TheEagleman  met him a couple of years ago at the restaurant that my wife manages in Newtown, PA and he was very gracious to anyone who recognized him.....of course, at 6-5 280 pounds he kinda stands out in a crowd......

[theeagleman5]

Looks like SFA is going down after giving UCLA a good fight for about 25 minutes....the Lumberjacks have nothing to be ashamed of but trail 73-53 with 2 minutes and change left....

[ORUalum]

the good thing about Gus Johnson's move to Fox is not having to listen to him call March Madness anymore....on the downside, he now ruins Big 12 football on Fox.

 

i wish Kevin Harlan could call every game.  he's definately my favorite basketball play-by-play guy.

'

[Old Titan]

I like Vern Lundquist, though his running buddy Bill Rafferty is the biggest East Coast homer in all of college basketball:  worse even than Digger Phelps or Dick Vitale.

 

Harlan is excellent, and I also have really enjoyed Steve Kerr and Reggie Miller doing color.  Doug Gottlieb, on the other hand, has been insufferable:  FAR too critical of the players and their actions; seems to forget these are college kids and not professionals.  

[ORUalum]

i saw Seth Davis give an interesting commentary when breaking down one of the games during the tournament.  he was talking about the increased use of ball screens trickling down from the NBA game.  he said the new rule changes with hand checking and block/charge have given an advantage to the offense and that when ran properly it is almost impossible to stop.  he said the coaches he talked to said we will see more and more zone defense in the college game to get offensive teams out of it.  i thought it was interesting because of ORU's philosphy of only wanting to run man-to-man.  i'll be curious to see if ORU implements more zone in the future.  there were some games that at times felt like a layup drill against the ORU man-to-man this year.

[Old Titan]

i saw Seth Davis give an interesting commentary when breaking down one of the games during the tournament.  he was talking about the increased use of ball screens trickling down from the NBA game.  he said the new rule changes with hand checking and block/charge have given an advantage to the offense and that when ran properly it is almost impossible to stop.  he said the coaches he talked to said we will see more and more zone defense in the college game to get offensive teams out of it.  i thought it was interesting because of ORU's philosphy of only wanting to run man-to-man.  i'll be curious to see if ORU implements more zone in the future.  there were some games that at times felt like a layup drill against the ORU man-to-man this year.

 

ORU's reluctance (failure?) to adapt defensively to the new rules this past season was painfully evident in a number of losses.

 

The real question is whether a lesson was learned from it.

[ORUalum]

unfortunately i could not find the clip, but here is a good article from a few years ago describing how tough it is to defend when run properly (and this is obviously before the rule changes). 

 

Full Article

 

The evolution

When Illinois coach Bruce Weber started his coaching career as an assistant at Western Kentucky and Purdue, hardly any college teams used the pick-and-roll as a central part of their offense.

 

Indiana coach Bob Knight’s motion offense and North Carolina coach Dean Smith’s fast-break offense were the standards. Screening was still used, but more in the confines of offensive movement as part of cuts.

 

Then Stockton found Malone and the Utah Jazz perfected the art of the two-man game. A generation of players started wanting to run the pick-and-roll. Even as the Jazz used it to reach success in the late 1980s and early 90s, the ball screen’s current incarnation didn’t evolve until the past decade.

 

A new group of NBA players had more ball handlers and big men who could shoot from the outside.

 

“It all basically comes down from the NBA,†Iona coach Tim Cluess said. “What you’re going to see in college basketball usually happens in the NBA several years earlier and it comes down from there.â€

 

Multiple coaches pointed to Butler as the place where the ball screen started in today’s college game. When Bo Ryan and Rob Jeter faced the Bulldogs, they discovered — to their frustration — a team that ran ball screens almost every possession.

 

Butler featured a good point guard in Thomas Jackson, post players who could make shots and roll to the basket. The change came in good guards who could shoot, including current Michigan assistant coach LaVall Jordan.

 

“All they did was ball screen, ball screen, ball screen,†Jeter said. “I can remember how hard it was to prepare for them because it was like ‘Okay, there’s going to be a ball screen every trip.’

 

“…I remember how odd it was.â€

 

How it works

What the ball screen does — and why it is attractive to so many coaches — is it shakes up defenses while offering offenses versatility.

When a good point guard, a critical component to ball screen success, takes the ball and goes at the screen, it forces a defense to make a decision.

• Does it help off shooters potentially leaving players open for a 3-pointer?

• Does it stop the ball handler with two men, leaving the screener open for a roll to the basket or alone outside for a mid-to-long range shot?

• Does it hedge on the screener and stay with the shooters, allowing the point guard to drive into the lane, where a team will have to potentially help later?

 

“There are so many options in that basic basketball play,†said Michigan point guard Darius Morris, “that it’s kind of hard to stop all of them at that time.â€

 

The ball screen forces defenses to choose where they want to recover.

 

“It’s tricky to defend,†Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said. “It isolates stuff, it inverts, it brings a big guy out. There has been more clinic discussions in the last three years in the off-season of topics of how to defend the ball screen.â€

 

Few have figured out a good way to stop everything that the ball screen offers.

 

Jeter estimated it is almost 60 percent of the Milwaukee offense. Cluess uses it 25 percent of the time. Michigan coach John Beilein said he has used it more this year than he has at any time in his career.

 

“What’s really been great for Darius is we’re setting good screens, but he’s got three shooters around, three shooters and a screener so the help factor is very difficult for people,†Beilein said. “Because you’re either going to stop Darius going to the lane and you might give up a three or you stay with the three’s and he can finish.â€

When teams have to recover, it often causes major problems. Another reason teams use it often is post players often get lost when trying to defend the screen.

 

This opens up the lane for the driving guard and if run successfully, results in an open basket. Marquette coach Buzz Williams said teams play zone more now as a way to hide poor ball-screen defenders. When teams play zone, it cuts off the roll, but it will leave teams vulnerable to a flash on the wing, an open shooter or a popping-out screener.

 

“We’ve tried to run some sets with it, run it through motion,†Purdue coach Matt Painter said. “But being unpredictable and giving different looks makes the defense have to make decisions and break down, and the more skill guys you can put out there really puts people in a bind.

“But I think everybody does some version of the ball screen in college basketball.â€