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Godzilla vs. Conventional Wisdom

by Ken Pomeroy on Friday, December 29, 2006

Ken,

Road wins by mid major programs in preconference games are rare. Tonight, Albany made 0 free throws and won @ Utah. Given the home team often picks officials from their own conference that they have seen and will see several times, this is particularly amazing. I’m trying to find out how many times a team has WON while making 0 free throws. Certainly, a team can be overmatched and lose while making none, but Albany actually won.

Thank you,

Travis

PS> please check out my blog if you get a chance: http://abasketballseason.blogspot.com/

Anyone disappointed at the late update today should know that I have an excuse (in addition to some technical issues). I was at this game and left in utter shock. Not only did Albany win a road game with no made free throws, but the home crowd generally felt like their team got…

Some coal for your stocking

by Ken Pomeroy on Friday, December 22, 2006

Not a lot of activity on the e-mail front this week, so you’re stuck with a list of miscellaneous thoughts today.

- Luke Harangody’s line last night: 18 minutes, 10 points, 12 boards, and 4 assists. I know it was only against Army, but Harangody does this every game. EVERY GAME, people! This is exactly what the stats are for. Harangody’s game is ugly, you can’t pronounce his name, and in watching him you may be more likely to laugh than gasp, but all he does is produce. It’s a shame he’ll have to play behind Rob Kurz for his first two seasons. Through 11 games, Harangody hasn’t played more than 20 minutes and averages 11.9 ppg and 5.6 rpg. All of his per-minute stats, except for blocks, are better than the guy in front of him, who has fine rate stats himself. And yes, Harangody is now officially…

The Wichita State File

by Ken Pomeroy on Friday, December 15, 2006

In the spectrum of opinions on the legitimacy of mid-major hoops there are two extremes. At one end is the view that any time a mid-major beats a major, it was because the major underperformed for some reason. In other words, the mid-major gets under-credited. At the other end is the view that any time a mid-major beats a major, they have just become deserving of an at-large bid. Sane fans fall somewhere in between.

Which brings me to Wichita State. (Note: We know the MVC shouldn’t be held to mid-major status anymore, but as long we are beholden to Nantz and Packer on Selection Sunday, that will be the perception.) The general view of the Shockers seems to be tilted towards the latter end of the spectrum. They are being hailed as a legitimate top-ten team, and I’m not talking about the polls. I mean, some respected people…

Ratings Explanation Updated

by Ken Pomeroy on Monday, December 11, 2006

I’ve added a little more to this page, based on some of the e-mail I’ve received. I still have more planned…

The Readers Respond

by Ken Pomeroy on Friday, December 8, 2006

I think every Friday I’ll just answer e-mail. It’s getting really tough to respond to even the good e-mailers, so I’ll pick the best ones during the week to answer here. You’ll recall last week I posed the question as to how good you thought Air Force really was. San Diego State spoiled my polling experiment by falling to Western Michigan last weekend, allowing the Falcons to jump over them in both polls, including a full-fledged ranking in the coaches poll. (Don’t give the coaches too much credit - SDSU is still getting 17 voting points in their poll compared to 4 in the AP.)

Ken,

I think Air Force is somewhere in between a “Top 20 Team” and a MWC team “fighting for a 12 seed”. I think they’ll cruise through the rest of their OOC schedule finishing 12-1 and will end up losing 4 games…

Read more...

Individual Stats Are Up

by Ken Pomeroy on Monday, December 4, 2006

I cranked some individual stats yesterday and have posted them through Saturday’s games on the scouting reports. Keep in mind that these are about the only thing on the site that includes stats against non Division I teams. I don’t like it, but it’s the easiest way to do it.

While I’m at it, I have to call your attention to Nick Fazekas’ line so far. It doesn’t include yesterday’s 12 and 16 against Cal, which would have been even uglier offensively had Cal’s DeVon Hardin been able to keep himself from on the floor. But if Nevada could somehow get into the top 10, which is not completely far-fetched, and assuming Nick’s night against Cal was an aberration, might he get some national POY consideration? The guy can score and rebound with the best of them.

Read more...

Reader’s Forum: Is Air Force for Real?

by Ken Pomeroy on Friday, December 1, 2006

Predictions are up. Yes, they’re crazy, and not too meaningful right now. You really don’t have to e-mail me about it. I know Butler is not going 30-1. Check back in a couple weeks on this stuff.

Speaking of e-mail, let’s try a new feature. I give you something to think about for the weekend, and you send me e-mails about it. (I’ll do anything to get you to stop e-mailing me RPI questions.)

For today’s exercise, let’s compare the resumes of two teams…

Team A (7-1)
Noteworthy wins

Stanford by 34 (road)
Colorado by 38 (road)
Texas Tech by 14 (neutral)
Wake Forest by 36 (home)

Ugly wins

Long Beach State by 1 (neutral)

Losses

Duke by 15 (neutral)

Team B (8-0)
Noteworthy wins

Cal by 7 (home)

Ugly wins

Murray St. by 3 (neutral)
St. Mary’s by 1 (road)
Seattle Pacific by 3 (neutral)
Read more...

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Godzilla vs. Conventional Wisdom

by Ken Pomeroy on Friday, December 29, 2006

Some coal for your stocking

by Ken Pomeroy on Friday, December 22, 2006

The Wichita State File

by Ken Pomeroy on Friday, December 15, 2006

Ratings Explanation Updated

by Ken Pomeroy on Monday, December 11, 2006

The Readers Respond

by Ken Pomeroy on Friday, December 8, 2006

Individual Stats Are Up

by Ken Pomeroy on Monday, December 4, 2006

Reader’s Forum: Is Air Force for Real?

by Ken Pomeroy on Friday, December 1, 2006