Bleacher Report - On the Bubble

Ranking the 10 Most Creative Coaches in College Basketball

C.J. Moore — Fri, 24 May 2013 18:55:02 -0400

College basketball is full of copycats and coaches so conservative that falling back on defense to prevent fast breaks instead of hitting the offensive glass has actually become a thing.

Yawn.

Give me the coaches who think outside the box. Give me the innovators. Give me the risk-takers.

These 10 coaches have won a lot of games with legitimate creativity.

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Which College Basketball Stars Have Ideal Skill Sets for the NBA?

C.J. Moore — Fri, 24 May 2013 16:57:17 -0400

Harrison Barnes made Golden State look really smart during the playoffs and made a few NBA general managers bang their heads against a wall.

Barnes was a really good college player, but he underwhelmed because the expectations were for him to be a superstar at North Carolina. He was a preseason All-American as a freshman, yet he never really dominated the college game. You felt like he should be better, but the college setup wasn't ideal for him.

In a more spread-out game in the NBA, Barnes is thriving. Golden State got a guy who could end up an All-Star with the seventh pick in what at this point is looking like a relatively weak draft.

Sometimes players end up better suited for the NBA than the college game. Sometimes it can come down to having one elite skill that NBA coaches figure out how to utilize.

Looking up and down the draft board this year, these are 10 players who fit a particular role in the NBA. In five years, I'll probably look back on this list and wish it was easier to erase things on the Internet. (Cut to David Kahn nodding.)

Note: All advanced stats used in this piece, unless otherwise noted, come from KenPom.com.

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Is Realignment Good or Bad for College Basketball?

C.J. Moore — Wed, 22 May 2013 20:47:47 -0400

If conference realignment has had you confused and in a tizzy the last few years, just wait until next season. It's mostly over; now we just have to learn who is where.

A quick rundown of some of the big basketball-related changes:

Syracuse, Pittsburgh and Notre Dame are off to the ACC.
Louisville gets to play one season in something called the American Athletic Conference with the likes of Houston and Central Florida before also jetting to the ACC.
Creighton, a school in Omaha (still in the middle of the country last I checked), and Butler (also very much in the Midwest), now play in what is the Big East, only it's not that Big East that you know but a new one.
Memphis and Temple are in the league that (as of now) they're calling the American Athletic Conference, which includes Connecticut and Cincinnati.

It’s like someone decided to mix up the alphabet without any rhyme or reason, mostly just so we could relearn it and get angry in process.

(A big thank you to Chris Dobbertean over at Blogging the Bracket for putting together this handy list of the changes. It’s actually something you can follow.)

The question that was rarely (if ever) asked during all this mess: Do any of these changes make sense for basketball?

The answer is frustrating for basketball fans. No. The motivating factors behind conference realignment have been well-documented: football and money.

Geography, rivalries and history, the realigners simply don’t care about you.

Syracuse and Georgetown, that rivalry was fun, but there’s no need for it. The Border War between Kansas and Missouri, a lot of hatred there, but let’s leave those battles to the message boards. The backyard brawl between Pittsburgh and West Virginia, it made sense for those two to be in the same conference, but not as much sense as West Virginia traveling to Lubbock, Texas every year!

I live in Kansas City, and when Missouri left for the SEC, I had a lot of MU fans tell me that they were happy about the move. It made sense for their school. They needed stability.

I can understand the fear that realignment caused. If Missouri had been patient, the school would have been just fine in the Big 12. Some of those fans have even admitted to me since that they wish they would have stuck around. But I understand what felt like an impending implosion of the Big 12—thanks Dan Beebe—motivated MU to be proactive.

Proactive is a nice way of explaining the motivation for athletic directors and conference commissioners. At least it sounds a lot better than “money grab.”

What has been refreshing in the last year is that some moves are finally being made because of basketball; anything the Atlantic 10 does, for instance.

The new Big East is a basketball league and every acquisition was made because of basketball. But it would not have been necessary for those schools to join forces if the old Big East had been able to stick together.

And that’s what the basketball coaches in that league would have preferred. Ask Jim Boeheim, whose team ended up just fine in the ACC, what he thinks of all the movement, and his answer would still probably be the same as it was last November (via Syracuse.com):

Maybe they should just have a draft. Each conference just draft teams because it doesn’t make any sense who they’re getting anyway. So they might as well just have a draft, except then they’d have to make a decision and they probably wouldn’t be able to figure that out.

… It’s like I said, If these guys were running the United States in Colonial times, Brazil and Argentina would be states. Because they have something we need.

It’s hopefully finished now, as Dennis Dodd from CBSSports.com explained in this piece last month. The ACC joined the Big Ten, Big 12 and Pac-12 by its members agreeing to a grant of rights, meaning you leave now and you cost yourself a lot of money. There might be a few moves here and there, but for the power conferences, it should be at a standstill.

Everyone’s needs have finally been met. Everyone is going to get paid. But everyone was going to eventually get paid whether teams realigned.

Was speeding up the process really worth it? Not for college basketball.

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Ranking the 10 Best NCAA Basketball Backcourts for 2013-14 Season

C.J. Moore — Wed, 22 May 2013 14:28:29 -0400

Last season was the year of the guards.

The best backcourt in the country, Michigan’s Trey Burke and Tim Hardaway Jr., carried their team to the national championship game. You could argue the second-best backcourt ended up winning the national title.

So if you’re trying to predict what will happen in 2014, it’s a good idea to take a look at the backcourts. These are the best 10.

All advanced stats used in this piece come from KenPom.com (subscription needed).

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10 College Basketball Teams Most Likely to Overachieve in 2013-14 Season

C.J. Moore — Tue, 21 May 2013 23:37:43 -0400

Every year there are a handful of teams that make those of us who make preseason polls look really dumb.

So in an effort to allow ourselves the ability to say “we told you so,” this is a prediction of those teams that we shouldn’t be overlooking.

You’ll notice a trend. Most of these programs are coached by men who have made a career of turning preseason rankings into confetti.

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10 College Basketball Teams Loaded with Experienced Players for 2013-14 Season

C.J. Moore — Mon, 20 May 2013 20:46:51 -0400

One senior started in the national championship game in 2013. The year before, Kentucky won the title with one senior in its rotation, and KU’s Tyshawn Taylor was the only senior to start in the title game.

The one-and-done rule has changed the way some champions are built, but given the option, coaches still want some experience. Talented experience is even better.

Kentucky’s baby burger boys will be the story in the preseason, but by March, we’ll hear plenty about the guys who have prolonged their stay.

The mid-majors who crash the party are typically chock-full of them. A few contenders among the big boys also have a good share of upperclassmen next season.

Here are 10 long-toothed rosters to keep an eye on.

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Best Landing Spots for Top NCAA Basketball Seniors Looking to Transfer

C.J. Moore — Mon, 20 May 2013 14:37:16 -0400

College basketball’s free agent market is in full swing right now. Have a hole in your roster and need an immediate impact player? No problem. There’s probably a senior transfer out there available for a quick fix.

The rule that allows seniors to transfer and not sit out if they earn their undergrad degree first has some high-profile players on the market. These are the best available and where they could land.

Tarik Black, former Memphis power forward

Considering: Oregon, Duke and Kansas (according to Zagsblog.com)

Where Black Fits: All three teams have a need for an experienced big man.

This one season for Black is like a tryout for the NBA, as he’s always been an intriguing prospect who hasn’t quite proven himself. The main reason to consider Kansas would be Bill Self’s ability to develop big men.

The drawback at KU is competition. Bill Self has plenty of talent in the frontcourt, but it’s all pretty green. Perry Ellis is a lock to start at the 4 spot, and Black would have to compete with incoming freshman Joel Embiid and sophomore-to-be Jamari Traylor for the other starting spot.

According to Gary Parrish of CBSSports.com, Kansas could be in the lead.

If it’s guaranteed playing time that Black wants, the better options would be Duke or Oregon.

Black would likely be the starter next to transfer Rodney Hood at Duke. Mike Krzyzewski returns two post players who were part of the rotation last year—Josh Hairston and Amile Jefferson—and both are probably better suited coming off the bench.

The school that would guarantee Black the most playing time is Oregon, where Dana Altman has already begun rebuilding his frontcourt with UNLV transfer Mike Moser.

Altman had success last year with Arsalan Kazemi, another one-and-done transfer big man. That shows that he's more than willing to put Moser and Black in his starting lineup right away. The Ducks return a talented backcourt, but they didn’t have much coming back up front.

Considering the impact Black could make, Oregon seems to make the most sense. But if he's looking for one solid year of development at a big man-friendly program, Kansas is a solid choice.

Antonio Barton, former Memphis guard

Considering: Maryland and Tennessee (according to the Baltimore Sun)

Where Barton Fits: Both schools were bubble teams last season that need a guard because of their own guys transferring out.

At Maryland, Barton would compete with incoming freshman point guard Roddy Peters, who is ranked as the 10th-best point guard in the 2013 class by Rivals.com.

At Tennessee, Barton could take the place of starting point guard Trae Golden, whose unexpected transfer is on the fishy side if this report by Jimmy Hyams of the "Sports Animal" in Knoxville is the reason why Golden departed.

Both teams have some intriguing talent on their roster, but the Vols could be the team that’s one player away from making some noise in their league. Tennessee returns three all-league guys in Jordan McRae, Jarnell Stokes and Jeronne Maymon. Maymon had to sit out last season because of a knee injury.

Since Golden’s transfer kind of came out of nowhere, the best spot for Barton to guarantee himself playing time and the chance to play for a contender is at Tennessee.

Michael Dixon, Missouri

Considering: East Carolina, Baylor, Colorado and Loyola Marymount (according to Jason King of ESPN.com)

Where Dixon Fits: It’s not a given that Dixon would be allowed to play right away.

Dixon missed last season after he was kicked off the team when an MU student accused him of rape, which, as recently reported by the Columbia Tribune, the police decided not to press charges.

According to King:

Dixon, who has one year of eligibility remaining, has yet to complete his undergraduate coursework. But he's still hoping to receive a waiver from the NCAA that would allow him to play immediately at his new school.

If Dixon wants to go to a team where he can be the star and put up a lot of points, East Carolina and Loyola Marymount make sense. ECU graduates its two leading scorers. Loyola Marymount went 1-15 in the WCC last year.

What makes more sense for Dixon if he wants to be back in the spotlight is to go to Baylor or Colorado.

The Buffs already have a talented backcourt with Spencer Dinwiddie and Askia Booker. Dixon could start alongside those two, moving Dinwiddie to the 3 spot, and allowing the Buffs to play fast, which is the pace best-suited for all three guards.

Dixon can also play point guard, and that’s where he could fit in at Baylor. Scott Drew has a lot of talent returning, but his team will be unproven at point guard. Dixon could fill that role or slide over to the 2 if JUCO transfer point guard Kenny Cherry turns out to be a talent similar to Pierre Jackson, who was also a JUCO transfer.

Drew has a lot to sell, but it could be wise for Dixon to stay away from the Big 12—opposing fan bases are plenty familiar with his story. Colorado seems like a good fit.

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