Searching for Billy Edelin: FanPosts

Two Fouls and You're Out

2012-02-14T14:45:35Z

Two fouls and you’re out: it sounds like a rule you made up with your friends for whiffle and stickball games when you were younger. Unfortunately it is also a strategy that college basketball coaches have increasingly used to manage their team’s foul situation. The rule is pretty hard fast: a player with two fouls sits out the rest of the first half.

Coaches spend so much time trying to prevent their players from fouling out. Why is this? It is pretty simple, if a player fouls out they are not able to impact the game. However, if you sit a player for long stretches in the first half and then shuffle him in and out during the second half this also greatly diminishes the impact a player can have on a game. We have all seen and heard this before- a player picks up two fouls early in the first half, sits on the bench for the next 10 to 15 minutes and one of the key post game stories is about that player’s foul trouble. Not the rules of the game, but two fouls and a coach’s decision are what most often write these headlines.

We see it every weekend, probably the best example this last Saturday had to be Virginia’s Mike Scott (an under the radar All-American candidate player on an under the radar ranked team). Scott was off to a hot start in Saturday’s critical game against UNC, scoring 10 points in the first 10 minutes and helping Virginia take the early lead. Scott then picked up his second foul, went to the bench, didn’t score again until the second half and saw Virginia’s early momentum fade into a blowout loss. Benching Scott with after his second foul had a bigger impact on that game then his fouling out with 10 minutes left in the second half ever could. If anyone was watching the Syracuse-UConn game instead, it was UConn’s Alex Oriakhi who got two fouls in the first five minutes of the game and then disappeared.

I understand the protective tendencies of coaches. They want their best players available to play at crunch time at the end of the game. That makes total sense. But your team has to be in a close game at the end for any of that to matter. Coaches should not allow two fouls to a top player drastically change standard rotation and impact their game plan. Momentum is important in college basketball and so often our outside definition of “foul trouble” kills it.

It may sound stupid, but I would love to see the game where a coach doesn’t worry about the foul situation and lets a player foul out with 10 minutes to go. It would show a realization of two truths. First, the beginning 30 minutes of the game are more important than the last 10. Second, you don’t get any extra points for fouls that you don’t use at the end of a game.

The ACC is definitely not the league it used to be.....

2012-01-27T20:58:05Z

It does not seem that long ago the ACC was a dominant basketball league, with a numerous teams ranked in the top 25, dominant players at every position on the floor, and an intensity and excitement was evident every conference game. Phenomenal players of the past like David Thompson, Michael Jordan, Johnny Dawkins, Ralph Sampson, and James Worthy helped place a stamp on the ACC as a premier conference in men’s basketball. More recently, Christian Laetter, Tim Duncan, Juan Dixon, Shane Battier, help solidify the idea that the ACC has dominant talent and dominant teams. Within the past few years however, there has been a dramatic drop off in talent for ACC teams and decrease in the overall competitiveness of the league as a whole.

A great example of the ACC and its downfall can be seen by looking at the results of the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. From 1999-2008 the ACC was successful each of those years at winning the challenge including handily beating the Big Ten (by more than two games) four of those ten years. However the tide has turned, with the Big Ten beating the ACC the past three years. This season was the worst showing for the ACC, as they only won four of the twelve contests.

Even the current league standings show, the ACC is not the league it used to be:

Standings	Conference	Pct.	PF	PA	Overall	Pct.	PF	PA	Home	Away	Neutral	Last 10	Streak
Duke	5-1	.833	75.5	68.0	17-3	.850	80.2	68.8	10-1	4-1	3-1	8-2	W 1
Florida State	5-1	.833	74.5	65.0	14-6	.700	72.3	62.0	10-1	3-4	1-1	7-3	W 5
North Carolina	4-1	.800	73.8	65.8	17-3	.850	84.5	66.6	13-0	2-2	2-1	9-1	W 2
NC State	4-2	.667	72.5	67.5	15-6	.714	75.9	68.6	11-3	2-2	2-1	8-2	L 1
Virginia	3-2	.600	58.2	49.2	16-3	.842	64.4	50.1	10-1	4-1	2-1	8-2	W 1
Maryland	2-3	.400	67.2	70.2	12-7	.632	68.3	68.9	10-2	0-3	2-2	6-4	L 3
Miami	2-3	.400	64.0	65.0	11-7	.611	70.9	67.2	8-2	2-5	1-0	6-4	W 1
Clemson	2-3	.400	67.8	65.8	10-9	.526	64.8	59.7	7-4	2-4	1-1	5-5	W 1
Wake Forest	2-4	.333	59.7	70.5	11-9	.550	67.2	70.0	7-4	3-3	1-2	5-5	L 1
Boston College	2-4	.333	57.8	68.7	7-13	.350	60.6	68.4	6-6	0-4	1-3	4-6	L 3
Virginia Tech	1-4	.200	57.6	61.8	12-8	.600	67.7	60.5	8-4	3-4	1-0	5-5	L 1
Georgia Tech	1-5	.167	59.2	68.5	8-12	.400	62.4	62.5	4-6	3-4	1-2	2-8	L 4

There are currently only five teams with a winning record in conference and only two teams ranked in the ESPN/College Coaches poll (Duke is 6th and UNC is 8th). Seven teams have a scoring defense of 65ppg with Wake Forest leading the league in allowing opponents an average 70 points per game. It is very difficult to win basketball games giving up so many points a game unless you have a very productive offense. Sadly, only two teams (UNC and Duke) have shown the ability to have an offense to cover defensive shortcomings, as both teams average over 80 points per game. Even scarier, are some recent conference game scores:

FSU defeats UNC 90-57

NC State defeats Wake 76-40

Virginia defeats Georgia Tech 70-38

Virginia Tech defeat Virginia 47-45

As an ACC fan, I hope the conference will soon return to the dominant level of play of the past, earning back the respect of the men’s basketball fans and community. While this year definitely does not look promising for the league, hopefully the parity and intense competitive fire against conference foes will start to emerge next season, bringing the ACC back to the top of men’s basketball, where it belongs.

Shana White is a blog contributor for Gold Star Games.

Ed: No spam links, thx

Even the current league standings show, the ACC is not the league it used to be:

Standings	Conference	Pct.	PF	PA	Overall	Pct.	PF	PA	Home	Away	Neutral	Last 10	Streak
Duke	5-1	.833	75.5	68.0	17-3	.850	80.2	68.8	10-1	4-1	3-1	8-2	W 1
Florida State	5-1	.833	74.5	65.0	14-6	.700	72.3	62.0	10-1	3-4	1-1	7-3	W 5
North Carolina	4-1	.800	73.8	65.8	17-3	.850	84.5	66.6	13-0	2-2	2-1	9-1	W 2
NC State	4-2	.667	72.5	67.5	15-6	.714	75.9	68.6	11-3	2-2	2-1	8-2	L 1
Virginia	3-2	.600	58.2	49.2	16-3	.842	64.4	50.1	10-1	4-1	2-1	8-2	W 1
Maryland	2-3	.400	67.2	70.2	12-7	.632	68.3	68.9	10-2	0-3	2-2	6-4	L 3
Miami	2-3	.400	64.0	65.0	11-7	.611	70.9	67.2	8-2	2-5	1-0	6-4	W 1
Clemson	2-3	.400	67.8	65.8	10-9	.526	64.8	59.7	7-4	2-4	1-1	5-5	W 1
Wake Forest	2-4	.333	59.7	70.5	11-9	.550	67.2	70.0	7-4	3-3	1-2	5-5	L 1
Boston College	2-4	.333	57.8	68.7	7-13	.350	60.6	68.4	6-6	0-4	1-3	4-6	L 3
Virginia Tech	1-4	.200	57.6	61.8	12-8	.600	67.7	60.5	8-4	3-4	1-0	5-5	L 1
Georgia Tech	1-5	.167	59.2	68.5	8-12	.400	62.4	62.5	4-6	3-4	1-2	2-8	L 4

FSU defeats UNC 90-57

NC State defeats Wake 76-40

Virginia defeats Georgia Tech 70-38

Virginia Tech defeat Virginia 47-45

Shana White is a blog contributor for Gold Star Games.

Ed: No spam links, thx

My predictions for the upcoming season

2010-11-09T17:07:15Z

I have some thoughts on the upcoming season, as I am sure we all do. I wanted to jot them down somewhere and get some feedback and some other predictions as well. I hope this is an appropriate place for this.

1) Gonzaga makes the Final Four. I really think this is the year they get over the hump. With the inside trio of Sacre, Harris and Olynyk flanked by Steven Gray, Manny Arop and others, I think they have the full team to finally make it to the Final Four.

2) UNC falls short of expectations again and wins max one game in the NCAA tournament. This has all the makings of the 2007 Texas team. An unwordly freshman, flanked by some solid players who don't have what it takes to win in March.

3) Kansas State wins the Big 12, followed by Baylor. This does not seem to be much of a stretch, but some of our friends at Big 12 hoops are not quite ready to dethrone Kansas yet. Unless the NCAA makes a favorable ruling on Josh Selby, I think Kansas will finish 3rd in the Big 12.

4) Seton Hall makes the NCAA tournament, Northwestern does not, yet again.

5) One player to keep on eye on is Ari Stewart, from Wake Forest. While the team may struggle, Stewart and CJ Harris will be looked at as leaders of the young team. Stewart has a quick trigger and a nice outside shot. If he can improve his ability to penetrate, he could become a nice player.

So what are your predictions? Who is your one under the radar player to watch?

4) Seton Hall makes the NCAA tournament, Northwestern does not, yet again.

So what are your predictions? Who is your one under the radar player to watch?

I found Martynas Pocius

2010-08-30T22:44:09Z

Former Duke player Martynas Pocius is playing for Lithuania in the FIBA championships.

College basketball reference page here

Statsheet page here

He is not playing too bad for Lithuania so far, averaging 6.5 points and 2.5 rebounds. He currently plays for a club in Lithuania and will likely be representing them for years to come.

Other former college players include, but not limited to:

Denham Brown

Andy Rautins

Patty Mills

Nick Calathes

Matt Freije (!)

Kirk Penney (!!)

JP Batista

It's always interesting to see what former college players catch on in international competitions with their home country. Some great names in the list above, any I missed?

Former Duke player Martynas Pocius is playing for Lithuania in the FIBA championships.

College basketball reference page here

Statsheet page here

He is not playing too bad for Lithuania so far, averaging 6.5 points and 2.5 rebounds. He currently plays for a club in Lithuania and will likely be representing them for years to come.

Other former college players include, but not limited to:

Denham Brown

Andy Rautins

Patty Mills

Nick Calathes

Matt Freije (!)

Kirk Penney (!!)

JP Batista

It's always interesting to see what former college players catch on in international competitions with their home country. Some great names in the list above, any I missed?

Anyone interested in starting a Xavier Basketball Blog for SBNation?

2009-06-15T04:38:39Z

I read the site from time to time and I noticed that one of the editors was an XU alum and fan. I like a lot of the blogs on this site and I wanted to gauge any interest in starting a Xavier Basketball blog sort of like the Gonzaga one. I wanted to see what you guys thought regarding the difficulty getting one started on SBNation. Just wondering if there was any feasibility of this idea since I am a huge XU fan and really like the other blogs on SBnation.

Reasons why Tim Floyd stepped down:

2009-06-10T20:32:08Z

At my blog, SoCal Sports Hub.com, I recently wrote why USC Tim Floyd "resigned." Feel free to take a look. Here is the gist of what I had to say:

1. Floyd didn’t resign because he lacked enthusiasm

2. Floyd had "help" making the decision to resign

3. President Sample had a role in this

4. The Arizona fiasco built distrust, nothing more and nothing less

5. Let’s face it: USC isn’t getting a big name

6. With all that said, USC might even be getting an interim coach

7. Everybody, and I mean everybody, is leaving town

At my blog, SoCal Sports Hub.com, I recently wrote why USC Tim Floyd "resigned." Feel free to take a look. Here is the gist of what I had to say: 1. Floyd didn’t resign because he lacked enthusiasm 2. Floyd had "help" making the decision to resign 3. President Sample had a role in this 4. The Arizona fiasco built distrust, nothing more and nothing less 5. Let’s face it: USC isn’t getting a big name 6. With all that said, USC might even be getting an interim coach 7. Everybody, and I mean everybody, is leaving town

Carolina's role players will win out

2009-03-29T17:43:04Z

While I would love to see Blake Griffin absolutely destroy Tyler Hansbrough and the Sooners advance to Detroit, I don't think it is going to happen.

This game is being billed as Hansbrough vs. Griffin, but much-hyped games like this one tend to come down to each team's role players and not its stars, though Carolina does have another star that Oklahoma will have a tough time dealing with in Ty Lawson. Lawson now looks 100 percent healthy, and I wish Austin Johnson the best of luck in keeping up with him. When Lawson is rolling, so are the Heels, and boy are they rolling right now.

Wayne Ellington has emerged for the Tar Heels as a go-to shooter, and his production seems to improve every game. Against Gonzaga, for instance, he was 7-13 from the field with 19 points and seven rebounds -- solid numbers.

Danny Green, Ed Davis and Larry Drew II have also stepped up as of late.

Oklahoma, meanwhile, saw Tony Crocker go off for 28 points against Syracuse, but that's because the Orange devoted all of its attention to Griffin, leaving Crocker wide open to shoot threes. Johnson and freshman Willie Warren are good, but are not the same caliber of players as Green and Ellington.

The Tar Heels are more have better players, are more athletic across the board and have role players that will lead Carolina to Detroit.

While I would love to see Blake Griffin absolutely destroy Tyler Hansbrough and the Sooners advance to Detroit, I don't think it is going to happen.

Danny Green, Ed Davis and Larry Drew II have also stepped up as of late.

The Tar Heels are more have better players, are more athletic across the board and have role players that will lead Carolina to Detroit.

Curious Absence

2009-03-04T19:02:59Z

Although I bleed Crimson & Cream, I'm also a big Michigan State fan from my son's days there. Given their accomplishment last night, I was looking for their blog and found that they may be the most major of the big basketball schools without a blog at SBNation. I just thought that was off and wondered why that might be.

Michigan State fans are everywhere; you can find "Go Green" bumper stickers even in our part of the country.

College Basketball

2009-03-01T01:58:12Z

What’s up with college basketball this year? I mean does everyone see the same thing that I see? The quality of the game is way down this year. The only guys the game has worth sneezing about is Blake Griffin, Stephen Curry, Tyler Hansbrough maybe Gerald Henderson. I mean take a good look at the crop of players in the college game, not much to pick from. The NBA draft this year is going to be way down with a couple good picks and then everything else is a wash. Where is the buzz? It’s not like the old days when you would miss anything to watch the Duke verse North Caroline match up. The game to me for some reason doesn’t have the talent level that it uses to. They need to market the game better to get fans more interested because the players are not doing the job.

Villanova Best Recruiting Class in the Nation?

2009-02-16T01:57:39Z

Villanova has had great success with recruiting this year, as they have already signed on four players in the top 50 of the ESPNU 100. Let's look into their signings and what they bring to the table for the Wildcats next season.

1. Dominic Cheek, Shooting Guard

Cheek attends St. Anthony's high school in New Jersey. He is ranked as the fifth best shooting guard recruit and the fifteenth best recruit overall. St. Anthony's is one of the top basketball high schools in the nation so therefore Cheek has been forced to be a team player with so much talent around him. He needs to improve his dribble drive so he can better penetrate the basket. Cheek is a very good defender, using his quickness and athleticism to stay in front of opposing ball handlers.

2. Maalik Wayns, Point Guard

Wayns attends nearby Roman Catholic High School in Philadelphia. He is ranked as the third best point guard and number 20 overall. Wayns is a very good ball handler and passer, always looking to get his teammates involved in the game. He is a great leader on the court and plays with a lot of intensity. He will need to improve on his long range jumper.

3. Mouphtauo Yarou, Power Forward

Yarou attends Montrose Christian School in Maryland. He is ranked as the 10th best power forward and number 27 overall. Yarou has great size, at 6'9" and 240 pounds, that enables him to play strong around the basket. He is a great inside scorer and great rebounder. Yarou will need to get in better shape because he sometimes labors up and down the floor but his effort is there and usually he ends up where he is supposed to be.

4. Isaiah Armwood, Power Forward

Armwood plays alongside Yarou at Montrose Christian School. He is smaller than Yarou, at 6'8" and 195 pounds, but is faster and much better in transition. Armwood is an outstanding athlete who is a good rebound and can provide matchup nightmares for bigger and less athletic power forwards. He has a nice midrange jumper but will need to improve his shot from beyond the arc.

Name?

2009-02-12T16:41:25Z

The folks over on my site are wondering how you guys came up with the site name. Want to swing by and discuss? We're assuming you're Cuse guys (or gals as the case may be).

At this point I've said everything I wanted to say but I have to hit 75 words so let's hope this does it... Nope, I need to write a few more word. Wooooords. Wooooooords. More wooooords.

The folks over on my site are wondering how you guys came up with the site name. Want to swing by and discuss? We're assuming you're Cuse guys (or gals as the case may be).

At this point I've said everything I wanted to say but I have to hit 75 words so let's hope this does it... Nope, I need to write a few more word. Wooooords. Wooooooords. More wooooords.