kappy96 Posted February 24, 2013 Share Posted February 24, 2013 More pub coming our way... http://insider.espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/8980340/louisville-kansas-five-teams-getting-hto-right-time-ncb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MusicCityBilliken Posted February 24, 2013 Share Posted February 24, 2013 Why don't tell who they are since many of us don't subscribe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billikenfan05 Posted February 24, 2013 Share Posted February 24, 2013 That's soooo much work though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slufan13 Posted February 24, 2013 Share Posted February 24, 2013 The most coveted and elusive quality sought by any college basketball team is peaking at the right time. You'll be hearing that phrase often, because with March five days away, now is certainly "the right time." True, in 2010-11, Connecticut won a national championship despite stumbling late in the regular season, but we've already ascertained that Huskies team was the exception to the rule. For your standard team with high hopes, it turns out that winning in February is indeed a good thing. Certainly, teams such as Indiana, Georgetown and Gonzaga are peaking at the right time, and it's no coincidence that I've offered my thoughts on the Hoosiers, Hoyas and Bulldogswithin the past few days. But Tom Crean, John Thompson III and Mark Few don't have a monopoly on peaking by any means, so here are five more teams to add to the list. Consider them high achievers with good timing. Louisville Cardinals A lot of people were very quick to hop off the Cardinals' bandwagon when Rick Pitino's team lost three in a row in January. Then, when I sounded the all-clear and encouraged everyone to hop back on, Louisville promptly went out and lost again (though it did take 65 minutes for them to do so). Now I'm back, yet again, to sell you on the merits of a team looking up at Georgetown in the Big East standings, and tied for second along with Syracuse and Marquette. Hear me out. With four games left in the conference season, the Cardinals have outscored their league opponents by 0.16 points per possession, tops in the Big East. Say, that number sounds familiar. Where have I heard it before? Oh, yes -- last season, Syracuse outscored the league by the same margin on its way to a 17-1 record and a No. 1 seed. That was one of the best teams the league has produced in the past four seasons, and everyone recognized that fact at the time. Well, this Louisville group is just as good even if very few people realize it. Pitino's defense is as strong as it was last season (in other words, amazingly tough), and the offense is vastly improved. In Big East play, the Cardinals have rebounded 39 percent of their misses, the best such figure in the conference. (Gorgui Dieng and Chane Behananhave had a lot to do with that.) Louisville is currently projected as a No. 3 seed by Joe Lunardi, but there's a fair chance the Cardinals will actually be the best team in their region come March. Kansas Jayhawks Speaking of bandwagons and three-game losing streaks, the Jayhawks have reeled off four wins in a row since dropping consecutive games to Oklahoma State, TCU (yes, that really happened) and Oklahoma earlier this month. KU is now tied for first with Kansas State, as Bill Self's team attempts to win what would be an incredible ninth consecutive Big 12 regular-season title. The Jayhawks face a tall task in their next game, taking on Iowa State in Ames, where the Cyclones have won 22 in a row. But say this for KU: The Jayhawks enter that game with momentum. During this four-game win streak, Kansas has made 51 percent of its 2s, 14 percentage points better than what its past four opponents can claim. Ben McLemore might be the best pure scorer Self has ever had, and Jeff Withey is dominating the paint defensively yet again (while rather quietly assuming a larger role on offense). True, KU's offense currently ranks a not terribly impressive No. 5 in the league in Big 12 play; however, this defense is superb and getting better, allowing just 0.82 points per possession over the past four games. California Golden Bears Before his Oregon team faced California last week, Dana Altman branded the Bears as "the hot team in the conference." Prophetic words. Cal beat the Ducks in Eugene 48-46, and Mike Montgomery's team is currently riding a five-game win streak. In the Bears' case, peaking at the right time means putting themselves in contention for an at-large bid. Lunardi has Cal in the tourney right now, and the Bears will play their last three regular-season games in Berkeley. Montgomery can claim the best interior defense in the conference, one that's limited league opponents to 43 percent shooting inside the arc. He can also boast about a pretty good featured scorer in the person of Allen Crabbe, who got this win streak started with a 31-point outburst (on just 15 shots) against Arizona. For a "down" league, putting no fewer than six teams into the NCAA tournament seems more than respectable, and the Pac-12 may yet pull that off. If so, it will be because the Bears have done their part. Saint Louis Billikens This season's Atlantic 10 race was supposed to be all about the league's new arrivals, Butler and Virginia Commonwealth. As if to disprove that speculation emphatically, Saint Louis beat both teams in the span of just three days, posting a 76-62 win against the Rams at home and a 65-61 victory over the Bulldogs in Indianapolis. The Billikens haven't lost a game since Jan. 19, and Jim Crews' team has sole possession of first place in the A-10 at 10-2. Saint Louis will finally crack the polls this week and deservedly so, but let's make sure we're praising this team accurately. I've seen the term "poor man's Wisconsin" attached to Crews' men, and it's true they rank No. 1 in the A-10 in defense (holding conference opponents to 0.92 points per trip) while also excelling at taking care of the ball (giving it away on just 16 percent of their possessions in-conference). But that's where the eerie Badgers-Billikens parallels end. Bo Ryan's team has struggled on offense this season while playing at a slow tempo. Conversely, SLU has been outstanding on offense while playing at the A-10's "normal" pace. Saint Louis will continue to be underestimated on offense simply because Crews' balanced rotation offers no "star" to latch onto and promote. But Cody Ellis, Jordair Jett, Dwayne Evans and Mike McCall all do their bit, and as a team, the Billikens hit their 2s and get to the line. This is a very good team that will almost certainly be under-seeded next month. Memphis Tigers As a final farewell to the league they've dominated for so long, the Tigers are, you guessed it, dominating Conference USA one last time. Next season, Josh Pastner's team will make the jump to the Big East, and Memphis is definitely leaving on a high note. At 13-0 in C-USA action, there's a good chance the Tigers will run the table, though road games at UCF and UTEP do remain. Whether or not Memphis posts a perfect conference record, Joe Jackson, Adonis Thomasand company project to be a tough out in the NCAA tournament. Dating back to the John Calipari years, good defense is just expected from this program, and this season's Tigers certainly meet that test. What you may not realize unless you've been watching Pastner's men chew up Southern Miss, however, is that these guys are also the Creighton of C-USA, draining shots from both sides of the arc. And D.J. Stephens may be making the leap from statistical oddity to genuine star before our eyes. On paper, the 6-foot-5 senior's leading the nation in offensive efficiency as a never-shoot role player. But now he's starting to shoot, scoring 30 points over his past two games. Like his team, which hasn't lost since Dec. 15, Stephens is definitely peaking at the right time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bills10 Posted February 24, 2013 Share Posted February 24, 2013 Any mention of us being a giant slayer this year? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MusicCityBilliken Posted February 24, 2013 Share Posted February 24, 2013 Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slu72 Posted February 24, 2013 Share Posted February 24, 2013 Ditto on the thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basketbill Posted February 24, 2013 Share Posted February 24, 2013 Any mention of us being a giant slayer this year? But the problem is we are becoming a Giant..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kappy96 Posted February 25, 2013 Author Share Posted February 25, 2013 Why don't tell who they are since many of us don't subscribe. Sorry about that...didn't realize it was an insider article. I just gave myself 5 lashes (one for each Bills loss) for the negligent message board etiquette. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobby Metzinger Posted February 25, 2013 Share Posted February 25, 2013 with the Wisconsin references... We all know who came to us from Wisconsin, right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deutschkind Posted February 25, 2013 Share Posted February 25, 2013 with the Wisconsin references... We all know who came to us from Wisconsin, right? Me? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeSmetBilliken Posted February 25, 2013 Share Posted February 25, 2013 with the Wisconsin references... We all know who came to us from Wisconsin, right? Tanner Bronson? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianstl Posted February 25, 2013 Share Posted February 25, 2013 Saint Louis BillikensSaint Louis will finally crack the polls this week and deservedly so, but let's make sure we're praising this team accurately. I've seen the term "poor man's Wisconsin" attached to Crews' men, and it's true they rank No. 1 in the A-10 in defense (holding conference opponents to 0.92 points per trip) while also excelling at taking care of the ball (giving it away on just 16 percent of their possessions in-conference). But that's where the eerie Badgers-Billikens parallels end. Bo Ryan's team has struggled on offense this season while playing at a slow tempo. Conversely, SLU has been outstanding on offense while playing at the A-10's "normal" pace. Saint Louis will continue to be underestimated on offense simply because Crews' balanced rotation offers no "star" to latch onto and promote. But Cody Ellis, Jordair Jett, Dwayne Evans and Mike McCall all do their bit, and as a team, the Billikens hit their 2s and get to the line. This is a very good team that will almost certainly be under-seeded next month. If people want to look for Jim Crews' stamp on this team, this is it. How well they are playing offense at a "normal" pace is shocking compared to last year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Box and Won Posted February 25, 2013 Share Posted February 25, 2013 Tanner Bronson? KWAMAIN FREAKING MITCHELL?? (and Drew Diener) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianstl Posted February 25, 2013 Share Posted February 25, 2013 KWAMAIN FREAKING MITCHELL??(and Drew Diener) Rick Majerus? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeSmetBilliken Posted February 25, 2013 Share Posted February 25, 2013 KWAMAIN FREAKING MITCHELL?? (and Drew Diener) I was going with people from the University of Wisconsin. Otherwise, I'd have gone with Majerus or Mitchell. Anyway, I think Metz was suggesting Soderberg. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RUBillsFan Posted February 25, 2013 Share Posted February 25, 2013 NBSSports blog CollegebasketballTalk.com has the Bills as their team of the week: http://collegebasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/02/25/team-of-the-week-st-louis-billikens/ This is the 3rd time this season they have had the Bills as the team of the week (2/25, 2/4, and 1/7) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billikenfan05 Posted February 25, 2013 Share Posted February 25, 2013 Jake Barnett Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quality Is Job 1 Posted February 26, 2013 Share Posted February 26, 2013 Lisa Stone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobby Metzinger Posted February 26, 2013 Share Posted February 26, 2013 You guys are good... I laughed my way through this entire thread. DeSmet - you got it, bud. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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