Soup to Nuts: Vol.1

By:  Shane McCarthy

The most current and official Big East Men’s Basketball POWER RANKINGS

But first, a brief explanation about the title: ‘Soup to Nuts’. 

Per Wikipedia - “Soup to nuts” is an American English idiom conveying the meaning of “from beginning to end”.  It is derived from the description of a full course dinner, in which courses progress from soup to a dessert of nuts.  But most of all I just really enjoy the phrase and didn’t want to slap the bland old title of ‘power rankings’ on my, well, power rankings.  And it just so happens to kind of make logical sense, considering I am ranking the teams from 1 (the beginning) to 15 (the end). 

But enough of that.  We are about four weeks into the season and I have seen enough from each team to issue the inaugural installment of Soup to Nuts.  Feel free to leave a comment, shoot me an email or hit me up on twitter (@shane_t_mac) if you so please.  

Twitter:  @shane_t_mac

Dieng Goes Down with a Broken Wrist

By:  Shane McCarthy

In the Cardinals second round matchup with Missouri in the Battle 4 Atlantis on Friday night, Gorgui Dieng absorbed a charge and took a spill to the floor. Instinctively and naturally, he braced his fall by putting his arms down to soften the blow with the hardwood. He ended up leaving the game for a brief period, but returned with his left wrist taped up. The next night, in the championship game against #5 Duke, the injury was deemed severe enough that Dieng had to sit on the bench in street clothes as his team fell in a closely contested battle with the Blue Devils.

Upon returning to Louisville on Sunday, it was determined that Dieng had actually broken his left wrist - the scaphoid bone to be exact. And as of this writing, there is no timetable for his return.

First and foremost you have to feel bad for Dieng. Last year he improved his game to the point that he became nationally recognized. But this was supposed to be his break out year. He has risen to become one of the most formidable centers in the country, causing the opposition to think twice about how they attacked and guarded the paint. Standing at 6 foot 11, he was finally understanding how to play the game and was becoming much more athletic, averaging a full two blocks per game. But now the Cards must move on without him, for a period of time anyway.

It looks as if Coach Pitino is going to go with the combination of Zach Price (6 foot 10 sophomore) and Stephan Van Treese (6 foot 9 junior) to fill in for Dieng. And freshman Montrezl Harrell (6 foot 8) has shown that he can hold his own in the paint at forward. On Saturday night against Duke the two (Price and Van Treese) combined for 12 points, 11 rebounds and one block. Very respectable. And even though the final outcome was a 76-71 loss, the game was encouraging. They went toe-to-toe with the #5 team in the country on a neutral court, without arguably their best defender, without a single practice to adjust, and almost came away with a victory.

Louisville is clearly a different team without Dieng on the court. But the combination of Price, Van Treese and Harrell to go along with Chane Behanan (who leads the team in rebounding with 8.5 per game) is still a strong front court. And that’s without mentioning the excellent back court and engine of this team in Peyton Siva, Wayne Blackshear, Luke Hancock and Russ Smith who is playing ‘russdiculous’ right now. They may not be looked at as the #2 team in the country today, but they will continue to roll out a tough lineup night after night and play stingy defense. But their odds of getting back to the Final Four will be greater if Dieng has a speedy recovery. For his sake and the team’s, Card fans will be hoping for the best, but they know Dieng’s injury won’t result in a lost season. There is too much talent on this roster to think that.

Twitter:  @shane_t_mac

Big East Teams in Feast Week Tournaments

By:  Shane McCarthy

Over the next four days there are a number of college basketball tournaments to take place.  Even though most of the country will be on a long weekend, it is difficult to fit college hoops in between eating, family gatherings, football, shopping, eating, more football and even more eating. 

But if you get a chance to fit some hoops in, there are some real good tournaments going down.  Here are the Big East teams that will be taking part:

Pittsburgh - NIT Season Tip-Off (Wednesday and Friday)
Tonights game is the marquee game:  Pittsburgh vs. #4 Michigan at the Garden.

Louisville - Battle 4 Atlantis (Thursday thru Saturday)
This is an eight team field with four top-25 teams.  The potential for high-caliber match-ups is probable.  A Louisville vs. Duke championship would draw a few eyes.

Cincinnati - Global Sports Classic (Friday and Saturday)
This is a four team tournament taking place in Vegas.  Cincinnati has yet to be tested, but a potential matchup with UNLV (a home game for the Rebels) would give them a feel for where they stand. 

There are plenty of other games spread throughout the weekend (including Marquette and DePaul playing in consolation games tonight), but these are all the tournament games to be played out. 

I'll be back on Monday with the first installment of the Big East power rankings, and will likely send a tweet here and there in the meantime. 

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Twitter:  @shane_t_mac

Georgetown goes toe-to-toe with #1, but falls in OT

By:  Shane McCarthy

There is no question that Georgetown is a very good team. They proved that the last two nights. The Hoyas obviously deserve to be ranked, and will be labeled with a number next Monday. And now that they rose to the occasion on two nationally televised games against two marquee opponents, everyone will be on the Hoyas bandwagon.

Georgetown was clearly better than #11 UCLA on Monday night. You could see that on both ends of the floor. Their patience combined with aggressiveness on the offensive-end kept UCLA frustrated, while their length and discipline on the defensive-end ultimately won them the game.

But on Tuesday night you could tell that Indiana was the better team on the court. Georgetown didn’t play any different than Monday night and they certainly didn’t play poorly, but you could tell why Indiana is the #1 ranked team. The Hoosiers were very sound defensively, locking down the interior and jamming up cutting lanes, forcing the Hoyas to take 26 3-point attempts. They took 14 the night before. Indiana was also crisp on the offensive-end. Georgetown’s defensive prowess was on display, but whenever the Hoosiers became desperate for a bucket, they cycled the ball to perfection to find a backdoor cut or a wide-open three.

Even though Georgetown hung around all game and held the lead for various parts of the contest, you could just tell that it wasn’t going to last. But it actually almost did, and that’s a compliment. Because this team is young and is quickly learning to play top-notch basketball. "This team can grow up; we can grow up a lot," coach John Thompson III said. "We had a lot of guys out there in situations that they've never been in before. We can get a lot better. A lot better."

Otto Porter gives the Hoyas an identity. In the previous two games he missed against Duquesne and Liberty, Georgetown looked very average. And let’s be honest, with the looming games they had coming up, it’s hard to focus what’s on the plate in front of you. But with Porter on the court, this team has an edge to them. An edge that makes everyone have a bounce in their step and that makes them a contender.

And in the end, the Hoyas took the #1 team to overtime on a neutral court on November 20^th. We are four months away from March. The Big East and the nation have been warned.

Twitter:  @shane_t_mac

Georgetown Spoils Shabazz Muhammad's Debut

By:  Shane McCarthy

Leading up to the contest between UCLA and Georgetown, it was all about the debut of Shabazz Muhammad for UCLA.  After being suspended for the first three games, the Bruins were finally going to get him on the court with the rest of their talented freshmen class.  There was very little talk about the game, not that it was a foregone conclusion that UCLA was going to win, but it certainly felt that way since their prized recruit was finally going to don a uniform.

Georgetown was in control of the game from the very start, getting off to a quick 10-2 lead.  Markel Starks was spectacular all night long.  He finished with a career high 23 points, but it was how he did it that made the Hoyas so effective.  He played with great energy, had a bounce in his step every possession, controlled the perimeter and most of all – played with confidence and made sound decisions. 

UCLA also had no answer for the combination of Otto Porter and Greg Whittington.  The two combined for 31 points and 16 rebounds.  The versatile combo will provide fits for defenses all year long.   Banging bodies down low and stepping out and dropping 3s, the all-around play-making ability of the two is impressive. 

But none of this would have mattered if Georgetown didn’t show up on the defensive end.  The 2-3 zone they sat in all night made UCLA uncomfortable.  Georgetown’s regular rotation featured players that measured in at 6-9, 6-8, 6-8, 6-8 and 6-2.  Too much length and athleticism for a young UCLA team to handle who has yet to play together.    

The 78-70 victory was the first time that Georgetown has ever beaten UCLA.  Now the Hoyas get a crack at the #1 team in the land tomorrow, Indiana, for the Legends Classic championship (to the dismay of many who wanted an Indiana vs. UCLA match-up).  Indiana struggles on the defensive end, but it will take an effort as good as if not better than tonight’s, to topple the Hoosiers.  

Twitter:  @shane_t_mac

UConn Cracks the AP Top-25 - Overreaction?

By:  Shane McCarthy

UConn did not receive a single vote for the preseason AP Top-25. They lost two players that ended up being lottery picks, three others transferred out of the program and their hall of fame head coach retired a month before the season. Now they play one game, beat a top-25 team and become the 23^rd best team in the nation?

I’ll be rooting for the Huskies all season and pulling for Kevin Ollie to get a long-term extension. Both would be great stories. But as of right now, cracking the AP Top-25 seems to be a bit of an overreaction. Here’s why:

• The game was played on a different continent in a different time zone. While both teams had to make the same trip and play under the same circumstances, who knows how travel and fatigue affected each.
Michigan St. went through long spurts of not playing defense whatsoever. UConn was getting both easy buckets in transition and wide-open looks at will.


When Michigan St. did get their act together on the defensive end, they shut down UConn with ease and quickly gained momentum. They seemingly closed a 20 point deficit at the end of the first half in about five minutes.


And it was UConn’s lack of size that made it easy to shut them down. No question they have some of the most talented guards in the country, but their lack of size is going to be a serious hindrance gong forward. You are not going to emerge victorious on most nights when getting out-rebounded 38-25.


And finally, this was the first game of the season for each team. Just as we shouldn’t overreact about UConn’s win, we shouldn’t overreact about Michigan St.’s loss. It’s a long season, let’s let them play a few games.

UConn is playing this season for themselves and their pride, as there is no post-season this year. But that’s the mentality all teams should have. One game at a time, all about the team. You can tell this team was fired up for their first game and wanted to get Coach Ollie his first win - which was great, and much deserved. And I don’t want to take anything away from them because Napier, Boatright and Calhoun looked great, but I’m just saying – let’s see a few games first.

Twitter:  @shane_t_mac

Were the Aircraft Carrier Games a Disappointment After all?

By:  Shane McCarthy

With the start of the college basketball season finally here, there was no doubt a lot of hype surrounding the three scheduled games to be played on aircraft carriers for the opening day of college basketball, especially given the overwhelming success of last year’s lone game.  Unfortunately, only 1 ½ of the games were played, as Mother Nature reminded everyone she is forever unpredictable and will always be undefeated. 

While fans of college basketball were unquestionably disappointed, this was not a lost cause by any means.  The point of these games is to honor our veterans and do something special for our active troops.  Even though the games weren’t able to be played, the players from each team were there for days leading up to the event to not only acclimate themselves to the foreign playing conditions, but to visit with the troops and volunteer in the community.  From the numerous live interviews conducted and other stories from similar events, you quickly understand how much these events mean to the service men and women. 

And even if these games were played, they’d be entertaining as they filled our craving for hoops, but they are no way to accurately determine the skill of each team.  There’s a reason why these games were scheduled to be played after dark - as looking into the sun doesn’t make for the most ideal playing conditions (as we saw in the Syracuse vs. San Diego St. game).  My guess is that playing conditions in Southern California would have been fine after the sun went down (the Cuse game was postponed due to rain), but on the east coast that meant a drop in the temperature and along with it, condensation on the floor.

Now given that two of the games were cancelled and the other was played under less than ideal conditions, there has been a strong call to do away with these games in the future.  But I don’t think that should be the case.  These games aren’t about the basketball being played; they are about honoring our service men and women and providing them with entertainment and somewhat of a distraction from their day-to-day duties.  A 'morale booster' of sorts is what was being used throughout the weekend.  And their commitment to honoring our country is why we get to live in freedom and have simple pleasures like college basketball.  The least we can do is give back in ways such as these events.  So maybe there should only be one game, and that one game should be played after dark in southern California, but I don’t think they should go away entirely.  They have their place, and those that serve our country will tell you that they should go on.  

Twitter:  @shane_t_mac