A frustrating thing about relying on counting stats to assess a player’s value is that it’s impossible to count things that don’t happen. Yes, perhaps you can watch enough of a player to tell if he is good at not doing bad things, but realistically it is tough. How many people watch a player score […]

I tweeted it on Sunday but it’s worth repeating this morning: There’s a strong case that the suddenly offensive-minded Florida State Seminoles are the favorite to get the one-seed for the ACC tournament. FSU is tied with North Carolina at 7-1 in conference play and Duke is a game behind at 6-2 in what is […]

BYU beat Gonzaga 83-73 in an 82-possession game Thursday night. I was there. This is what I saw. Saint Mary’s thanks you, Noah Hartsock BYU forward Noah Hartsock’s 24 and 14 effort helped pin a second loss to Gonzaga’s conference record, and that combined with the Gaels’ surprisingly narrow home win over San Diego Thursday […]

I’m puzzled at the reaction to the closing moments of the Missouri/Texas game on Monday night, a game in which the Tigers won 67-66. For my taste, Missouri head coach Frank Haith is getting a little too much credit for the events of the final possession. For example, the reaction on twitter has almost universally […]

Saint Mary’s beat BYU 80-66 in a 71-possession game Saturday night. I was there. This is what I saw. Randy Bennett’s track record on defending the three-point line is incredible. For eight consecutive seasons, Saint Mary’s has finished in the top ten in three-point attempt defense. They’re on their way to a ninth consecutive season. […]

Ken, I was at the UNLV-UNM game [Saturday] and saw something I’ve never seen before.  A UNLV big man takes an elbow to the face on defense which results in a flagrant 1 foul.  He has to be removed from the game.  UNLV puts in guard Kendall Wallace who hits both the free throws and […]

Wyoming hosts San Diego State tonight (if the Aztecs make it to Laramie) and it got me to wondering about the importance of altitude. The Aztecs won at New Mexico last week, and while observers were impressed with the win in the Lobos’ building, nobody really mentioned that they had to overcome the thin air […]

UNLV beat New Mexico 80-63 in a 64-possession game Saturday night. I was there. This is what I saw. Mike Moser is great offensive rebounder considering his shot selection. I don’t think there’s a useful position descriptor for UNLV’s Mike Moser. Whatever you want to call him, he was a busy man on Saturday night, […]

It’s time to release the first leaderboard of the nation’s premier statistical individual award. For those new to these parts, the kenpom.com Player of the Year is based solely on statistical data. It’s safe to say that “player of the year” means different things to different people. But I’ve tried to define in the way […]