SB Nation - Virginia Military Keydets

The Shotgun/Throwdown: Monday (12/14/09) Edition

WVUIE97 — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 14:28:15 -0000

Welcome, By-Godders, to the Shotgun/Throwdown, WVU's best place for sports links, information and a few fun distractions. Today we're being brought to you by Staropramen beer, in honor of today's Miss Throwdown.

Both the men and women took care of business over the weekend. The same can't be said for some of our high profile Big East brethren. It's finals week, so I expect the news to be a bit slow, but we'll see. Any tips, suggestions and requests are greatly appreciated. It starts after the jump...

What You May Have Missed:

Gold and Blue Report for Monday - WVMETRONEWS.COM

Men's Soccer: BIG EAST Announces Partnership - MSNsportsNET.Com
"The BIG EAST and Red Bull New York will join forces with a three-year partnership for the Conference’s men’s soccer championship to be held at the new state-of-the-art Red Bull Arena through the 2012 tournament."

Disloyalty and sports go hand in hand - Times West Virginian
Bob asked Huggs what he thinks about the Kelly situation.

College bowl payouts don't always add up - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Mark Ingram's Heisman fills void at Alabama - Stewart Mandel - SI.com
I still think the kid from Stanford deserved it.

News of Note (FB):

Bill Stewart: Ready To Go - WVMETRONEWS.COM
Video link

West Virginia's Stewart satisfied with 9-3 record - PPG

WVU fine as second fiddle in Gator Bowl - Times West Virginian
Hertzel Column

Flippin' on the 'Noles - Charleston Gazette

Steady Improvement - MSNsportsNET.Com

Gator Bowl Bigger Than It Appears - Intelligencer / Wheeling News-Register

Some Florida State athletes helped by 'learning disability' diagnosis - ESPN

News of Note (BB):

Mountaineers Now 7-0 - MSNsportsNET.Com
The men secured a 69-43 win Saturday night.

WVU men upend Coppin State - Times West Virginian

Jones picking up the slack - Charleston Gazette

Copin' with Coppin - Charleston Gazette

Butler getting it done - Register-Herald
Mickey's Column

WVU's Mazzulla hopes grad school leads to coaching career - Charleston Daily Mail

Joe Mazzulla - WVIllustrated.com
Weekend Coliseum schedule: Saturday - run down the carpet, Sunday - pick up the diploma. Well done!!!! Congratulations!!!

Early Lead Lifts West Virginia - MSNsportsNET.Com
The women cruised to a 74-43 win over Longwood.

Recruiting:

'Eers in on Another Dywer (Fla.) Prospect - EerSports

Around the League (and Beyond):

Temple upsets No. 3 Villanova, 75-65 - SI.com

Xavier rallies in first-ever double overtime Crosstown Shootout to beat Cincinnati - Cincinnati Enquirer

Kelly's home vandalized - FanNation
...imagine that.

Houston's Kevin Sumlin declines interview for University of Cincinnati job - Cincinnati Enquirer

Jackson, Hazell lead Seton Hall past VMI 134-107 - SI.com

I don't wanna talk about it tonight - Card Chronicle
At least they have BB, right? Right?...oh, sorry.

Catamounts are caterwauling - Courier-Journal
Another head-scratching loss at Freedom Hall on Saturday, 91-83...to Western Carolina?!?!?!

Turnovers a problem for Pitt - PPG
...but they still won...damn

Bulls upset by Central Michigan, 59-56 - Tampa Tribune

Terrier-orized: No. 7 Syracuse 75, St. Francis 51 - Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician

Lets The Transferring Continue - Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician

Video of Interest:

Several Mountaineer Basketball and Football players (among many others) graduated yesterday. Congratulations!!! Thanks to WVIllustrated.

Video of (Dis)Interest:

The Germans have developed great taste in song selection.

College Tradition Gallery of the Week:

Somebody tried to stop this from happening? Can we bring back the firing squad?

via coedmagazine.files.wordpress.com

Miss Throwdown:

Today's Miss Throwdown is a former Victoria's Secret Angel and can be seen in the recent G.I. Joe movie as Cover Girl. Another beauty from the Czech Republic, here's Karolína Kurková.

via i296.photobucket.com

Staropramen image via pic.51windows.net

BtB 2009-10 Big South Preview

Chris Dobbertean — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 02:39:42 -0000

It was a relatively quiet offseason in the Big South. High Point and Liberty were the only two schools to change coaches. Scott Cherry replaced the fired Bart Lundy as the head coach of the Panthers, while former Colorado State head coach Dale Layer (who was actually working as a Marquette assistant) replaced another former Ram head coach, Ritchie McKay, as the leader of the Flames.

The other big news of the offseason is the decision of several promising youngsters to try their luck out of the league. The most famous case is that of Seth Curry, who left Liberty for the big time, Duke. Brolin Floyd also left, though he has yet to decide on a destination. Steadman Short left High Point for Marshall. Omar Carter, formerly of Charleston Southern, will suit up for Appalachian State next year. Tovi Bailey also left the Bucs and will play at Division II Lander. And that's just a start, as several other key performers went looking for greener pastures this offseason.

The Big South teams has several incoming transfers eligible this season. More on them and their impacts on their new teams after the jump.

Let's first take a look at what last season's Big South standings looked like.

Big South Conference Standings

(updated 3.24.2009 at 12:08 AM EDT)

	Conf		Overall
	W	L	W	L
Radford Highlanders	15	3	21	12
Virginia Military Keydets	13	5	24	8
Liberty Flames	12	6	23	12
UNC-Asheville Bulldogs	10	8	15	16
Gardner-Webb Bulldogs	9	9	13	17
Winthrop Eagles	9	9	11	19
Coastal Carolina Chanticleers	5	13	11	20
Charleston Southern Buccaneers	4	14	9	20
High Point Panthers	4	14	9	21

Now, here are my picks for the 2009-10 Big South campaign, presented in reverse order.

Presbyterian (last NCAA: None) The Blue Hose didn't fare too badly in 2009-08, their first season playing a Big South schedule. However, they'll be hard-pressed to repeat their 9-9 league record this time around. With an eye on gaining the automatic bid in their first season of eligibility in 2011-12, head coach Gregg Nibert is going to redshirt his core players this season. Center Al'Lonzo Coleman and guards Josh Johnson and Pierre Miller will sit and come back next season with two years of eligibility left. In the meantime, the Blue Hose will be the youngest team in the league, so expect them to take their fair share of lumps.

Liberty (last NCAA: 2004) The Flames did a nice job last year, winning 23 games overall and acting as a factor in the conference race. However, the coach of that team and three starters are gone, as Curry and Floyd transferred and F Anthony Smith (17.6 ppg, 6.5 rpg) graduated. Dale Layer's team is now woefully short on experience. 6-4 guard Kyle Ohman is the leading returning scorer (13.9 ppg), but no other returnee averaged more than 6.9 ppg. The Flames' two 6-9 forwards, Tyler Baker and Austin Smith will be expected to boost their output, and Layer will also lean heavily on his crop newcomers, led by 6-2 guard Evan Gordon, brother of LA Clipper Eric.

Charleston Southern (last NCAA: 1997) The Buccaneers looked like they were going to be a serious contender for their second-ever NCAA bid. That was until Bailey and Carter decided to leave. The good news for CSU is that Jamarco Warren (17.8 ppg, 2.8 apg) is back to run the show and that forward Kelvin Martin is due to improve on his averages of 9 points and 7 boards per game as he returns from a knee injury. 6-10 C Billy Blackmon also returns after breaking his forearm early last season. However, the transfers will really affect the depth of Barclay Radebaugh's squad.

VMI (last NCAA: 1977) The big question in Lexington, VA this year is can Duggar Baucom's system be just as effective when three key pieces move on. The Keydets will be without the Holmes twins, Chavis and Travis, who averaged more than 41 points combined, and Willie Bell who accounted for nearly 9 points and 6 boards a game. Guards Austin Kenon (16.3 ppg) and Keith Gabriel (13 ppg) are back, so they'll continue to do their part. How well last year's bench players and newcomers Joe Carr, a 6-2 guard, and Stan Okoye, a 6-5 swingman, fit into their new roles in Baucom's offense will dictate whether the Keydets can rise above this prediction.

High Point (last NCAA: None) The Panthers actually return four starters, but losing Steadman leaves a substantial hole in the frontcourt. 6-7 junior forward Jourdan Morris could be an adequate replacement as he averaged nearly 7 points and 3 rebounds per contest. 6-11 C Cruz Daniels will have to improve his offense this season. Last year, he averaged nearly 8 points a game, to go along with 8 boards. The backcourt is in good shape, however, as double digit scorers Nick Barbour and Eugene Harris return and sophomore PG David Singleton (4.8 apg) is back to run the offense.

Winthrop (last NCAA: 2008) The Eagles, dynasty of the Big South, thanks to 7 NCAA appearances in this decade, fell hard last season. The 9-9 Big South record wasn't too bad, but recording only 2 wins in 12 non-conference games hurt. It's miraculous that the Eagles managed to win as many games as they did, as no one averaged in double figures in scoring. 6-7 F/C Charles Corbin was the team's leading scorer, averaging 9.5 points a game to go along with almost 6 rebounds. Randy Peele's team will have to find some scoring punch, otherwise they will sink further down the standings. 6-9 F Matt Morgan, a transfer from St. Bonaventure, should be a helpful addition.

Gardner-Webb (last NCAA: None) Rick Scruggs' backcourt could be among the best in this league, if they improve their scoring output. If they do, the Bulldogs should improve on the 9-9 mark earned in their inaugural Big South campaign. Point guard Grayson Flittner (14.5 ppg, 3.8 apg) is a contender for Big South Player of the Year, and his numbers should improve as he suffered from knee issues throughout last season. However, with the graduation of 14 point per game performer Aaron Linn, no returnee other than Flittner cracked double digits last season, though C Auryn MacMillan should increase his production this year. Last year, he averaged only 9.4 ppg while shooting over 61 percent from the floor last year, Flittner's backcourt-mate, Jonathan Moore should also improve on his average of 9.1 ppg in Linn's absence.

UNC Asheville (last NCAA: 2003) The Bulldogs were young last year, but very competitive, winning 10 games in the league. With that year of experience, Eddie Biedenbach's squad should be ready to challenge for a conference title. Senior G Sean Smith (10.8 ppg) will provide leadership, and he'll team with sophomore G Matt Dickey (10.9 ppg) to provide a consistent perimeter threat. Junior F John Williams will provide inside scoring and rebounding (12.9 ppg, 6.6 ppg). while sophomore PG J.P. Primm (9 ppg, 4.5 apg) will run the offense.

Coastal Carolina (last NCAA: 1993) Cliff Ellis has all five starters back, as 6-5 F Joe Harris (15.2 ppg, 11.4 rpg) decided to stick around for his senior year. That means the Chanticleers are the team best equipped to challenge Radford for the league crown. Ellis also gains the services of South Carolina transfer Chad Gray, a 6-7 forward, who will join Harris and 10 point/6 rebound man Anthony Breeze in what could be one of the more formidable frontcourts in the league. The Chants' growth as a team may depend on how well the backcourt of Dexter Moore (7.2 ppg), Mario Edwards (9 ppg), and swingman Logan Johnson (6.9 ppg) builds on some solid performances at the end of last season.

Radford (last NCAA: 2009) The Highlanders already had a frontcourt that is the envy of most teams at this level of Division I, and they likely will be even better down low this year. You already know about 6-11 Art Parakhouski, who averaged better than 16 points and 11 boards last season. You may also have heard of PF Joey Lynch-Flohr, who scored 14 while grabbing almost 6 a contest. Now, you can add Binghamton transfer Lazar Trifunovic (and don't you think he's glad to have left that mess), a 6-8 forward who will likely step right in and contribute for Radford. The Highlanders will likely miss G Kenny Thomas (14.7 ppg, 5.8 ppg) and 6-5 Chris McEachin, who averaged almost 9 points a game in a reserve role left school over the summer (HT to e-mailer Tom Raschke for alerting me to this). He would have slid in beside Amir Johnson (9.6 ppg, 5.2 apg) to form a pretty good backcourt tandem. Now RU has a bit of a hole. In this league, when you can put together as impressive a frontcourt as Brad Greenberg has, you might only need a passable backcourt to cut down the nets in March. (And in selecting Johnson for my preseason All-Big South team, I think they could be really good back there.)

So, thanks to their prospects inside, the Highlanders are my preseason pick to repeat in the Big South. You'll see them in my 2009-10 Final Preseason Bracket on November 9. To wrap up this preview, here is my preseason All-Big South team, featuring the best returning players from last season.

Preseason All-Big South Team

Player of the Year: Artsiom Parakhouski, 6-11 C, Sr. (Radford)

Remainder of the Team
Grayson Flittner, 6-0 G, Sr. (Gardner-Webb)
Joseph Harris, 6-5 F, Sr. (Coastal Carolina)
Amir Johnson, 5-9 G, Sr. (Radford)
Joey Lynch-Flohr, 6-8 F, Sr. (Radford)

Poll

Who is your pick to win the Big South this season? (Note that Presbyterian is not an option as they are ineligible for the postseason.)

Charleston Southern

1 votes

Coastal Carolina

0 votes

Gardner-Webb

1 votes

High Point

0 votes

Liberty

1 votes

Radford

6 votes

UNC Asheville

1 votes

VMI

3 votes

Winthrop

0 votes

13 votes | Poll has closed

Now the Nerves Start - Recapping Saturday's Action

Chris Dobbertean — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 15:07:46 -0000

Even though my evening/life was ruined by this news, (Seriously, first the Cubs sign Milton Bradley, now this? It's a good thing the Leafs didn't beat the Rangers to Sean Avery on waivers.) it's March, so all is right with the world.

Well, all is right for certain fanbases. For others, the next week is going to be extremely nerve-racking.

For starters, let's congratulate the three teams who will appear in bold in Tuesday's bracket, thanks to their conference championship wins last night. (As always, score recaps are from Basketball State.)

Radford became the second team in after they defeated VMI, 108-94, in the Big South final. The Highlanders beat the Keydets at their own game. The Highlanders have a balanced attack and the Belarussian Behemoth, C Artsiom Parakhouski.
East Tennessee State took their first Atlantic Sun championship and first NCAA bid since 2004 (when they were in the SoCon) by easily beating regular-season champ, Jacksonville, 85-68. Watch out for the Bucs, who have three guys who can really put up points, guards Kevin Tiggs (21.5 ppg) and Courtney Pigram (17.6 ppg) and forward Mike Smith (15.5 ppg).
In the game of the night, Morehead State defeated Austin Peay State, 67-65 in double OT, to win the Ohio Valley crown. I finally got to see the highlights on ESPNews when I got back from Richmond. Unbelievable! All-OVC first-teamers Leon Buchanan and Kenneth Faried (also the first-ever OVC Def. POY) are players to watch on the Eagles.

In Richmond, things went according to plan in the first three games, though all three higher seeds (VCU, Old Dominion. and George Mason) got real games. The Monarchs game with Hofstra going right to the buzzer. The fourth game, however, saw 11 seed Towson win their second straight game, 58-54 over third-seeded Northeastern. VCU faces ODU and GMU takes on Towson in the semifinals this afternoon.

While all that excitement was going on, there were a ton of resume-related games I was tracking on the BracketBerry.

Creighton's at-large candidacy is very much on life support, as Illinois State demolished them by 24 in the Bizarro Valley semifinals. Osiris Eldridge had 21, including 4 treys and at least one SportsCenter-worthy dunk. The Redbirds face Northern Iowa today at 2 EDT (CBS) for the Valley crown.
Maryland's case took a major hit, after the Terps fell at Virginia, 68-63. Are wins over North Carolina and Michigan State going to be enough? It depends on how many games the Terps can win in the ACC tournament and who the opponents are.
Think Penn State is safe? Maybe not, now that they lost to Iowa, 75-67 in double OT.
Rhode Island may have put themselves out with a 72-71 headscratcher at the hands of UMass.
Florida helped their case and pretty much doomed Kentucky to the NIT with their 60-53 win.
Michigan got by Minnesota,. 67-64 win, meaning all three teams in the Big Ten bubble round-robin finished 1-1.
Texas A&M got a nice bookend win by beating Missouri, 96-86.
Miami won at NC State, 72-64, to finish at 7-9 in the ACC. If Maryland's on the bubble still, the Canes have to go back on it too.
Speaking of bubble newcomers, Auburn beat LSU, 69-53. The Bayou Bengals had a chance to finish 15-1 in the SEC, but are 13-3 after two straight losses. The Tigers, meanwhile, are 10-6 in the league. However, they went 8-2 against the weaker SEC West and 2-4 against the somewhat stronger East.
Dayton recovered nicely from their loss to Xavier Thursday, defeating Duquesne, 74-61.

Good news for bubble teams everywhere, Davidson, Siena, and Butler all won in their conference tournaments yesterday. The Bulldogs face Cleveland State at Hinkle Tuesday night for the Horizon championship.

The Mountain West has tri-champions this morning. BYU will be the one seed, Utah the two, and New Mexico the three. San Diego State defeated UNLV, 57-46, at the Thomas & Mack Center, and the two meet again in the quarterfinals on Thursday. The Runnin' Rebels are now 9-7 in the league. Earlier wins over Arizona and Louisville will give the Committee a lot to discuss next week.

Speaking of the Cardinals, Louisville laid claim to a one seed by beating West Virginia, 62-59. That win gave the Cardinals the outright Big East title. Pitt did the same with a 70-60 win over UConn that gives them the two seed in the Big East tournament. The Huskies will be seeded third. Memphis is also in the running. The Tigers closed out another regular season of C-USA perfection with a 74-47 win over Tulane. And don't count out Oklahoma, 82-78 winners over Oklahoma State.

It's just about time to head down to Richmond for the CAA semis. I apologize for not being all that responsive to e-mail yesterday evening, as my phone was dying at the end of the quadrupleheader. Today should be better in that respect. Updates to my site links and blogroll are forthcoming, probably tomorrow, as it's likely I won't be making the trip down to Richmond for the final.

But that just means I'll get to have a game or open thread here for the first time.

Happy hoops viewing!

Today...it starts

SFBE.NF — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 14:09:14 -0000

As far as we're concerned, March Madness starts today at Noon EST. No more BS or talk about what's to come. We're living it as ot now. There's a great slate of games today and tomorrow, and one bid leagues start punching tickets to the big dance.

Noon: Pittsburgh vs Connecticut - The best part of today? The best game is at high noon. Really, just bragging rights up for grabs here and a possible preview of the Big East finals at MSG (but aren't we treated to that every season?)
Noon: Georgia Tech vs Boston College Raycom - BC should be in, but a loss wouldn't help
Noon: NC St vs Miami (FL) - Miami is roaming around the realm of a 12 seed, I'd be weary.
2pm: Missouri vs Texas A&M - Missouri can amazingly win the Big 12 regular season crown today. The Aggies could really help their chances by preventing that today.
2pm: Penn St vs Iowa Big Ten Network - Here's to hoping Talor Battle & Co. don't come down from their natural high. This could be a fun team to wach in the Big Dance.
2pm: Kentucky vs Florida CBS - Kentucky is now out, according to Joe Lunardi. Much like Penn St., we'd love to see them get in simply at the prospect of Jodie Meeks going off on a national stage.
3:30pm: Oklahoma St vs Oklahoma ABC - Since Blake Griffin's quasi concussion, the Sooners are 1-3. Seeding could be at stake here, as this team should be a lock for a #1 seed, but now it's in doubt.
4pm Texas vs Kansas CBS - The Jayhawks are in position for they're 5th consecutive Big 12 regular season title. An amazing coaching job done by Bill Self this year
9pm West Virginia vs Louisville ESPN - These are the types of games Louisville loses, and West Virginia wins. Look for the Mountaineers to really come out playing hard. They always seem to surprise us.

Tickets punched:

Atlantic Sun Conference: #2 East Tennessee State vs. #1 Jacksonville
Big South Conference: #2 VMI vs #1 Radford
Ohio Valley: #4 Morehead State vs #2 Austin Peay

We'll be here all day.

VMI @ UK analysis: The morning comes with a voice of amber

Truzenzuzex — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 16:46:09 -0000

I woke up this morning and noticed that Armageddon had not showed up, and the Four Horsemen were still sleeping in their respective corners of Hell. A significant part of me was disappointed, because it means I have to go through this day reading tons of schadenfreude from Kentucky haters about last night's loss. That's the part of this that is, as a fan (and particularly a UK blogger), just about intolerable. It makes me want to do something really emotional and destructive, like go on some kind of ethics-challenged rant or start breaking toasters.

But when you are a self-acknowledged adult (and trust me, at my age, adulthood is definitely assumed), you don't do those things. Right now, embracing the hate doesn't seem to be an option, so we'll have to settle for introspection and analysis. Not very satisfying, I know, but it is what we have. In fact, other than abject, volcanic rage, it is pretty much all we have that has any remote relationship with the word "theraputic."

First, I want to enter a disclaimer. Whenever you bemoan a loss and criticize the play of your team, there comes with that an implicit suggestion that your opponent had less to do with the outcome than you did. That's unfair -- VMI left their hearts, souls and much of their flesh on the floor of Rupp Arena, and they won this game by being the better team in the context of that contest. So to any Keydet fans who might read this, please do not take it as disparaging your valiant team and noble victory. I acknowledge both, wholeheartedly and without any reservations.

So now for the analysis part. Why did we lose this game?

The Herald-Leader reports thus:

UK Coach Billy Gillispie dismissed the suggestion that his team got caught up in VMI's style. He unwittingly seconded Holmes' thought.

"They outfought us," he said. "They got all the loose balls and outhustled us."

Does the coach really believe this? I mean, it is true that the Keydets out-hustled Kentucky, but does he really believe we didn't get caught up in their game plan? I can't imagine that he does, but this article says so outright. I have news for coach Gillispie -- if you think that we didn't get caught up in VMI's style, you are mistaken, sir, and I say that with the conviction of a man who knows basketball and is confident that the evidence of his eyes was not a mirage of the uninitiated.

From my pre-game analysis, please note the following statistics:

3-point shooting last year (with the leading scorer in the nation): 32.2%
3 point shooting last night: 45.2%

It doesn't take a Naval nuclear reactor operator to see that if the Keydets shot their normal 3-point percentage, they would have scored four less 3-point baskets, and the result would have been a UK victory. In fact, even if they shot 35% from 3, UK would have won. It also goes without saying that if UK had made a reasonable percentage of the 16 three-point shots they took, say 35% or so, UK would have won. So what it took, in effect, for the Keydets to win, even absent every other factor, was an extraordinary 3-point percentage and an unusually low 3-point percentage by their opponent.

Note in my pre-game analysis that I warned that the Keydets were senior-dominated, exactly like Gardener-Webb last year, and now we have a similar result. Seniors matter. We have one senior who never got into the game. They started four.

So where did the Wildcats go wrong? To me, this is so profoundly easy and obvious, it really scares me. VMI did not employ any players inside the paint. Instead, they essentially played us with five wing players, all of whom could shoot from the perimeter. When you have that scenario, there are really two ways you can go:

Play similar-sized players of equal quickness;
Play a soft man-to-man defense at the larger positions.

What you cannot do is exactly what Gillispie's charges did -- follow the dribbler instead of trusting your help. The reason is that the size mismatch on the perimeter is a serious disadvantage for the larger team. You have to guard every position, and players like Patterson and Stevenson can't face-guard their opponent, and to their credit, they didn't try. But Kentucky's wing players did, just as they are taught, and as a result got beat off the dribble. When that happened, the bigger players rotated to help, but that usually resulted in either a kick- out three or ball reversal leading to a three. That was a failure of execution which I will now explain.

When the offensive player in a scheme like VMI's gets the ball and makes a dribble-drive against a close defender, he is usually going to get past, because there is no interior clutter to force him to change direction or slow down. That forces help-side rotation, but that help has to come from a long way away to meet the driving offensive player at the basket. The player who got beat off the dribble has to rotate to cover his help defender's man to prevent a kick-out three. That didn't happen. What did happen is that the beaten defender followed his man to the basket along with the help defender and tried to force a turnover, which resulted in either a kick out to the help defender's now unguarded man, which led to an open three right there, or ball rotation which created an open three, or a foul.

The other thing that can happen when you rotate properly is that the offensive player can pull up for an open jump shot, which seems bad except that the Keydets refused to shoot that shot when they had it. They were coached to accept only two successful offensive outcomes -- a layup or an open three point shot, with the latter preferred.

Offensively, the Wildcats tried to score too many points in the open floor, which resulted in 25 turnovers. That number looks ridiculous, but when you look at the number of possessions (92), it works out only to .27 turnovers/possession. That would be the same as an 18-turnover game last year -- not good, but only 2 above our average for the season, and this is way early in the season. Make no mistake, the turnovers hurt, but UK should have been able to overcome that statistic in isolation.

But the biggest thing Kentucky did by running up and down and failing to force VMI to defend the half-court is to take one of our most potent offensive weapons, Patrick Patterson, completely out of the basketball game. Patterson had a ridiculously low 4 field goal attempts. Folks, when you have a workhorse like him playing against a team who has no hope whatever of defending him effectively, getting him only 4 shots (of which he made 3) is basketball malpractice. It is unacceptable to the point of incompetence.

In the end, there is nothing badly broken with Kentucky. This debacle was either:

A complete failure of the coaching staff to prepare the team, which is a coaching failure, or;
A complete rejection of the coaching plan by the players along with flawed execution, which is a failure of coaching leadership.

Either way, this one is on the coaches. They'd better do much better against the Tarheels, or I am going to be very displeased, and expect to have a lot of company.

Virginia Military Institute @ Kentucky: Stats, facts, and analysis

Truzenzuzex — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 23:29:14 -0000

The Keydets of Virginia Military Institute (VMI) march into Lexington on Friday for a tilt with the Kentucky Wildcats in Rupp Arena at 7:00 PM. This represents the official launch of the 2008-09 season and the first game on the schedule that counts. Obviously, VMI is a relatively weaker team designed to help Kentucky round out their form before mixing it up with the big boys, but we have had bad experiences with so-called "easy" games before (the most famous of which will go unnamed and unmentioned here).

Here is a little background on VMI:

Location: Lexington, Virginia
Enrollment: 1400
Mascot/Colors: Keydets/Red, Yellow and White
All-time record: 754-1344 (36%)
UK was the last Keydet NCAA tournament opponent in 1976-1977, a Kentucky victory
Head coach: Duggar Baucom
Conference Affiliation: Big South
Returning 4 starters and 9 lettermen from last year's 5th place Big South team

A look at the Keydets

Impressive facts

The VMI Keydets are one of the highest-scoring teams in college basketball, and averaged over 100 points per game in the 2006-07 season. Over the past two seasons, the Keydets have scored in triple digits on 25 separate occasions. The Keydets have lead the nation the last two years in 3-point shots made. Defensively, the Keydets have led the nation for the last two seasons.

The bottom line is, the Keydets play basketball at a relentless pace. To give you an idea of how relentless, their adjusted pace numbers from Kenpom.com for the 06-07 and 07-08 are 90.9 and 79.7 respectively. Compare that to Kentucky's numbers of 67.6 and 65.5. If UK continues to run the floor like they have for the two most recent exhibition games, this could turn into an amazing track meet where any score is possible.

A few more items of interest from the VMI Media Guide -- Record last year when:

Leading at the half -- 10-3
Opponent shoots less than 50% -- 11-3
Scoring 90 or more -- 11-2
Scoring less than 80 -- 0-6
Scoring less than 90 -- 3-13

Statistically speaking

We are going to look at last years stat comparison. It isn't all that valid this year, particularly since Kentucky is such a different type of team. The Keydets, however, return mostly intact from last year, and I think the stats comparison from last year will illustrate a few things. Statistics courtesy of StatSheet.com:

	Kentucy Wildcats		VMI Keydets		Comments
School Information
Conference	SEC		Big South
State	KY		VA
Founded	1865		1839
School Type	Public		Public
Enrollment	26545		1400
Rankings
Conf Standing	2		5
AP Rank	0		0
RPI	0.57		0.43
RPI Rank	57		274		No comparison in comp last year.
SOS	0.57		0.44
SOS Rank	19		321
Wins & Losses
Overall	18-13	(58.1%)	14-15	(48.3%)	None of this is particularly relevant this year.
Home	14-4	(77.8%)	8-6	(57.1%)
Away	4-6	(40.0%)	6-7	(46.2%)
Neutral	0-3	(0.0%)	0-2	(0.0%)
Conference	12-4	(75.0%)	6-8	(42.9%)
Top 25	2-5	(28.6%)	0-0	(0.0%)
Blowout (> 19)	5-1	(83.3%)	6-2	(75.0%)
Close (< 6)	6-4	(60.0%)	4-5	(44.4%)
Overtime	1-2	(33.3%)	1-3	(25.0%)
NCAA Tourney	0-1	(0.0%)	0-0	(0.0%)
Scoring		Nat. Rnk		Nat. Rnk
Points	2124	195	2649	28	VMI can really score.
Points Per Game	68.5	180	91.3	1	Yikes!
Shooting		Nat. Rnk		Nat. Rnk
FG Made	735	205	945	23
FG Att	1566	293	2125	17
FG Pct	46.9	40	44.5	142	These guys don't mind missing a lot.
FT Made	472	125	423	196
FT Att	644	173	611	204
FT Pct	73.3	51	69.2	163	Not as good as you would expect.
3pt FG Made	182	246	336	4	Wow. Now, UK has had trouble with mad bomber teams before this one. This will really tell if UK has improved their 3-pt. Defense
3pt FG Att	493	294	1045	1
3pt FG Pct	36.9	91	32.2	280
Rebounds		Nat. Rnk		Nat. Rnk
Rebounds	1107	248	1238	124	Lots of rebounds available for this team.
Reb Per Game	35.7	252	42.7	19	Really good offensive rebounding.
Off Rebs	301	281	433	41
Off Rebs Per Game	9.7	281	14.9	11
Def Rebs	737	166	683	236
Def Rebs Per Game	23.8	117	23.6	135
Assists, Steals, & Blocks		Nat. Rnk		Nat. Rnk
Assists	395	212	518	40	Good passing team, but lots of shots.
Assists Per Game	12.7	202	17.9	5	Good passing team, but lots of shots.
Steals	206	184	369	1	Best stealing team in the nation last year.
Steals Per Game	6.6	171	12.7	1	Best stealing team in the nation last year.
Blocks	149	47	77	260	Short guys can't block shots.
Blocks Per Game	4.8	35	2.7	227	Short guys can't block shots.
Turnovers & Fouls		Nat. Rnk		Nat. Rnk
Turnovers	490	91	463	153
TO Per Game	15.8	72	16	65
Fouls	584	178	521	298	Wow. Lots and lots of fouls for both teams.
Fouls Per Game	18.8	149	18	206	Another hack-a-thon?

Players

The Keydets return four starters, but the one player who did leave is two-time Division I leading scorer Reggie Williams, who averaged 27.8 points/9.7 rebounds per game for the Keydets last year. I think that might ... matter a bit, don't you?

Anyway, here are the main guys expected to see time against the Wildcats.

Player	YR	P	GP	GS	FG%	3FG%	FT%	Per Game Averages
Player	YR	P	GP	GS	FG%	3FG%	FT%	MIN	PTS	REB	AST	TO	STL	BLK	Comments
C. Holmes	Jr	G	29	27	44.4	36	70.9	30.9	18.3	4.3	2.5	2.1	2.4	0.4	All-Big South
T. Holmes	Jr	G	29	15	41	27	77.3	27.5	15.6	5.9	2.8	2.7	2.2	0.6	Leading Rebounder
W. Bell	Jr	F	28	22	54.5	41.4	67.1	26.4	8.2	5.8	1.8	2	1.6	0.6
A. Lonon	So	G	28	27	51.1	18.2	64.9	22.8	4.2	1.4	3.5	2.5	2.1	0	Assist leader
C. Josey	So	G	27	9	45.9	21.4	43.8	10.6	1.6	2.8	0.4	0.9	0.2	0

Returning Starter

In addition, the Keydets return sophomore guard Austin Kenon, who averaged 12.3 points last year. All other returners averaged in single digits. The Keydets also have five new freshman players, some of whom had impressive high-school careers, including Michael Sparks from Lexington Tates Creek. An interesting side note is that Sparks surpassed Darrin Horn of South Carolina (nee Western Kentucky) as the leading scorer in Tates Creek history, so this kid is liable to be good.

The tallest player the Keydets have on the roster is 7'0"/245# center Stephen Sargent, who was red shirted last year. I don't know if he will be in the starting lineup for the UK game or not. The Keydets have a couple of other players who are in the 6'6-6'7 range, but generally they are a smaller team than Kentucky.

Analysis

This team, in many ways, is the ideal warm-up for North Carolina -- very high possession team, constant pressure defense, very up-tempo. The Keydets are kind of like a North Carolina team on fast-forward, and their constant 3-point shooting will provide all kinds of opportunities for the Wildcats to prove how well they have mastered defending the 3-point shot.

Lest you think this is just a run-and-gun team, take note of their assists last year. VMI averaged almost 18 assists, and are a very unselfish team. What they are not is a particularly skilled team other than at shooting the 3, and they don't shoot a good percentage from there. For example, Liberty, who Kentucky beat convincingly, wiped out the Keydets 103-88. The Keydets later got revenge, but this team is not really as dangerous in reality as they appear on paper, although they are more athletic than you might think. VMI plays the kind of style that will provide an interesting test for the Wildcats and should provide an entertaining game for the fans. If Kentucky can hold them under 60 points, it will reflect very well on UK's defensive intensity.

VMI really tested Winthrop, which was a pretty good team last year, early in the season. So this style can produce some drama, even though Winthrop throttled them in the return engagement. The rebounding statistics look more impressive than they are, because VMI plays at such a high pace, there are more rebounds available.

In the final analysis, there is really no reason why Kentucky should not handle the Keydets easily. The 'Cats are much longer, more athletic and skilled. The Keydets will give us trouble with their three-point shooting and fast-paced style, and with Kentucky's deeper roster, there will be no more attempts to really slow down games other than to generally manage the pace to keep the defensive intensity high. The transition from a very deliberate style to a more up-tempo style looked easy against the much weaker Division II teams we faced, but the Keydets are used to playing nothing but this style and Kentucky must be mindful of the pace and stick to their knitting on defense.

There should be little the Keydets can do to stop Kentucky from scoring on offense other than using ball pressure to create turnovers. Alas, the 'Cats have proven susceptible to turnovers again early this year, and you can bet the Keydets will not be unaware of this tendency. Patterson, Stevenson, Harrellson and even Carter should be too much for the Keydets inside, and that figures to be where UK goes to get most of thier work done against VMI. There are also likely to be a high number of fouls called in this game as both teams tend to foul liberally.

In the end, this is a game which could be a blowout or one of those games where the Big Blue Faithful are wringing their hands, much like the OBU game. Hopefully, Billy Gillispie will have the Wildcats much more prepared for this one, and we'll see a return of the impressive play we saw against Missouri-St. Louis.