Gray Matter
by Ken Pomeroy on Tuesday, February 13, 2007
[Note: I have no ftp service today, so there will be no updates to the stats/ratings pages.]
Q: How much is a star player actually worth to his team?
A: To be revealed later this week. But based on the data I have, I found it interesting when Jamie Dixon went to the coaches playbook and pulled Aaron Gray after he picked up his 4th foul against Louisville last night. Sure, Pitt was down by 15 to Louisville, and the game was slipping away anyway. But there was just over 14 minutes remaining, and at that moment, Jamie Dixon conceded a loss.
Subject: Georgetown
Ken,
This team is on a run…..just watched them embarrass WVU…..what’s your take on these boys running the table in the Big East? They host Pittsburgh on the 24th I believe to avenge an earlier loss….I just don’t see anyone in the nation stopping their offense,…
Should Charlie Burgess Have Saved the Ball?
by Ken Pomeroy on Friday, February 9, 2007
For those that missed it on Tuesday night, Texas Tech suffered a heartbreaking loss to Nebraska. After the Red Raiders played flawless defense on the final possession of the game, a rebound on a Marcus Perry missed 3-pointer headed for the sideline. Tech’s Charlie Burgess leapt out of bounds for it, attempted to call timeout in mid-air, realized that doesn’t work any more and then saved the ball in bounds.
Actually, he didn’t save it - replays showed he planted a foot out of bounds before releasing the ball - but play continued and Nebraska’s Charles Richardson grabbed the ball and after a dribble, drained a 20-footer to beat the buzzer and give the Huskers a 61-59 win.
Now I’ve always heard you don’t save the ball blindly onto your own end of the court, and I’ve always disagreed with it. The choice is to eat the ball…
Comings and Goings in the Tempo-Free World
by Ken Pomeroy on Thursday, February 8, 2007
There’s a perfect storm brewing in the tempo-free world. UNC, one of the 10 fastest teams in the land may well have the best defense in the game, and Georgetown one of the 10 slowest, might have the best offense in the country.
I’ve talked about the Tar Heels enough, but how about Georgetown? They provide a deadly combination of shooting (ranking 3rd) and offensive rebounding (10th). It’s Princeton on steroids. Georgetown’s offensive rebounding won’t get the pub it deserves (except for the Friday a while back where they outrebounded Seton Hall 17-7 on the Hoyas’ offensive end.) because they don’t miss many shots and don’t take as many as most teams. Offensive rebounding opportunities are probably rarer for Georgetown than any other team in the land, but they are a significant factor in their success. They can turn the ball over regularly (and do!) and still pummel opponents with…
Rulebook Rewind: 1974
by Ken Pomeroy on Wednesday, February 7, 2007
The year was 1974. Teams were averaging an inefficient 75 points per game (six more than today) without a 3-point shot or shot clock. The next season would see the NCAA Tournament allow multiple teams from the same conference for the first time. It many ways it was different era for basketball, but in many ways it was no different from today.
The 1974 edition of the NCAA Official Basketball Rules begins with “Committee Action for 1973-74” which lays out rule changes for that season. The section begins, “The popularity and healthy condition of the game of basketball resulted in the the fewest significant changes for 1973-74 that the history of the game has seen.” And the changes that follow are mundane. Rules buffs may be interested to know that the correctable error rules in the book today were firmed up in this edition.
The most interesting things are in…
The Pac-Tenors Respond
by Ken Pomeroy on Tuesday, February 6, 2007
Ken,
I enjoyed reading your recent post comparing the Pac-10 and the ACC in terms of the number of wins again Top 30 opponents (as measured by your index). You found that the ACC and Pac-10 had 13 and 5 wins, respectively. While you mention the ACC had more opportunities for wins, you didn’t mention exactly how many more opportunities. So I did some calculations:
ACC: 12 teams with 22 total games against Top 30 teams (as of Feb. 1) with 13 wins (59% winning percentage)
Pac-10: 10 teams with 8 total games against Top 30 teams (as of Feb. 1) with 5 wins (62.5% winning percentage).Thus, while I think it is fair to point out that the Pac-10 has not played as many Top 30 teams (and perhaps subjecting the conference to a “soft non-conference schedule” criticism), I don’t think it is fair to use the…
Hurricane Dicta
by Ken Pomeroy on Friday, February 2, 2007
On this eve of Super Bowl Weekend involving Da Bears, it’s appropriate to acknowledge that we all have a little Dicta inside of ourselves. Big Ten Wonk reminded me of one my own dicta a while back, and I decided to create a complete list of the the others right here. If you’re ever wondering why things are so darn messed up around here, let this be your reference guide. These are my core hoops beliefs and philosophies.
Don’t confuse achievement with performance. If I somehow happened to become a coach, I would totally write this on the chalkboard after a close win over a lousy team. Future achievement can be better predicted by past performance than past achievement. How to measure performance is the tricky part, but I know it goes deeper than recording W’s and L’s, or even looking at who a team beat and lost to.…
Pac-10/ACC Challenge
by Ken Pomeroy on Thursday, February 1, 2007
I’ve been getting a lot of e-mail about my statements that the Pac-10 is overrated. I’d like to present some food for thought on the matter. Let’s look at the Pac-10’s wins over top 30 teams from outside the conference. I will selfishly use my ratings as the gospel here.
UCLA over Kentucky (N)
UCLA over Georgia Tech (N)
UCLA over Texas A&M (h)
Oregon over Georgetown (A)
Arizona over Memphis (H)Now the ACC…
UNC over Ohio State (H)
UNC over Kentucky (H)
UNC over Arizona (A)
BC over Michigan State (H)
Duke over Air Force (N)
Duke over Indiana (H)
Duke over Georgetown (H)
Virginia over Arizona (H)
Clemson over Georgia (H)
Florida State over Florida (H)
Maryland over Michigan State (N)
Georgia Tech over Memphis (N)
Georgia Tech over Georgia…