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Post by larrytitan on Nov 19, 2023 19:35:15 GMT -5
Bill Cartwright vs Mark Aguirre
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Post by motorcitysam on Nov 20, 2023 10:39:05 GMT -5
Bill Cartwright vs Mark Aguirre Yeah, and Bill Cartwright came out ahead this time. It was an entertaining first half.
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Post by motorcitysam on Nov 20, 2023 11:22:20 GMT -5
Friday I attended the opening games of the Cactus Division of the Arizona Tip Off MTE. It was a double header, with a nice match up between San Francisco and Grand Canyon in the opener, followed by South Carolina vs DePaul(!) in the night cap. The event is taking place at the Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona. The format includes two divisions: The Desert Division, consisting of Fort Wayne, VMI, Northern Arizona, and South Dakota; and the Cactus Division, consisting of the teams I saw last night. San Francisco vs Grand Canyon was basically a match up between two solid mid major teams. Both had their moments, but the play was poor on both sides down the stretch. The 'Lopes beat the Dons 76-72 in a game that featured a duel between GCU guards Rashon Harrison (24 points) & Tyon Grant-Foster (28 points) and Dons guards Marcus Williams (20) & Mike Sharvajamts (16) points. At one point Harrison and Williams were trading buckets on successive trips down the floor. Williams scoring early in the second half gave San Francisco the lead by six, but late in the game Williams got cold and basically shot his team out of the game. San Francisco doesn't play as well as the did under coach Todd Golden (now at Florida). They do more standing around and a lot more one on one. While this game wasn't technically a home game for GCU, their fans took over Desert Diamond Arena, drowning out everyone else's fans. Their mascot (a guy in an antelope costume named Thunder) made his rounds among all of the fan bases, and posed for pictures. As soon as GCU gets a new coach, I'll probably become a fan, but their coach now is Bryce Drew, and there is too much Detroit vs Valpo history for me to root for him. For now, I admire the way their University supports their program and the strides they are making to become more relevant on the national scene. I was excited for the second game, which was the first time I had watched DePaul in person in several years. They came in at 1-2 while South Carolina was 3-0 and the favorite. South Carolina won by 5, but I saw some positives in the Blue Demons. They play HARD and support each other. They run a good offense, with lots of ball and player movement, and they get good shots in their sets. The problem with DePaul, however, is talent. They just don't have enough good players to consistently win. They missed so many of those good shots (short jumpers and lay ups) that they got while running their offense. DePaul has players who would be good rotation guys and depth on a good team, but on DePaul they are in starting roles and not capable of making a difference regularly on that level. They are maybe three good players away not being pretty good. To the Blue Demons credit, they didn't give up when trailing by 14 and fought back hard to put the game in doubt until the end. I was yelling for them the entire way. Tomorrow (Sunday) I'll be back for the third place game (San Francisco/DePaul) and the Catctus Division Championship (GCU/South Carolina). The games yesterday were a mixed bag. DePaul fell to San Francisco in a battle of Catholics, 70-54. It was an entertaining first half, 33-30 at the break, but the Blue Demons faded in the second. To be fair, I should note that DePaul has played the entire season without two projected starters, both sidelined for health reasons. The second game was a blast, with South Carolina beating the de-facto home team, Grand Canyon, by a score of 75-68. BJ Mack scored 27 for the Gamecocks. Grand Canyon was actually favored by 4.5 over SEC team South Carolina. I sat near, and spoke with, the father of one of the Gamecock players, and that guy was loud an animated. He made UP and I look like a couple of amateurs when it comes to getting on the refs. Of the four games I watched over the weekend, only one had the result I wanted. But, hey, it's college basketball, so I had a good time. I'll look forward to seeing the match ups for next season.
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Post by motorcitysam on Dec 15, 2023 15:20:30 GMT -5
Schedule for the Colangelo Classic tomorrow (all times Mountain):
12:00 PM Washington State (8-1) vs Santa Clara (7-4)
2:30 PM UC Santa Barbara (5-3) vs Loyola Marymount (6-4)
5:00 PM Saint Mary's (5-5) vs UNLV (4-4)
7:30 PM Portland (6-5) vs Grand Canyon (8-1)
It's got to help Grand Canyon recruiting to play in these type of big events. The place won't be packed, but the Footprint Center is an NBA arena, and the GCU fans will take it over and make it feel like a home game for the 'lopes. It would be a good time to have some recruits in for a visit.
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Post by rbj on Dec 15, 2023 18:56:53 GMT -5
I had a conversation with Jerry Colangelo in the lobby of the Ren Cen Marriott in 2009. Very friendly and to my surprise he knew a lot about Detroit basketball history including UofD.
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Post by udballer on Dec 15, 2023 19:36:24 GMT -5
I had a conversation with Jerry Colangelo in the lobby of the Ren Cen Marriott in 2009. Very friendly and to my surprise he knew a lot about Detroit basketball history including UofD. We should hire Jerry Colangelo. He still alive and kicking? 😁
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Post by rbj on Dec 15, 2023 21:34:37 GMT -5
I had a conversation with Jerry Colangelo in the lobby of the Ren Cen Marriott in 2009. Very friendly and to my surprise he knew a lot about Detroit basketball history including UofD. We should hire Jerry Colangelo. He still alive and kicking? 😁 He's still here.
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Post by motorcitysam on Dec 16, 2023 18:08:10 GMT -5
I had a conversation with Jerry Colangelo in the lobby of the Ren Cen Marriott in 2009. Very friendly and to my surprise he knew a lot about Detroit basketball history including UofD. He is a basketball junkie, for real.
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Post by motorcitysam on Dec 16, 2023 18:28:07 GMT -5
Two down, two to go at the Footprint Center (home of the Phoenix Suns) in downtown Phoenix.
Santa Clara 69, Washington State 61. Competitive game. WSU did their PAC12 duty and offered up a candidate for MMWOTD.
UC Santa Barbara 68, Loyola Marymount 59. UCB took an early lead and held off Detroit's next opponent.
Next up, UNLV takes on Saint Mary's. I am wearing a UNLV t-shirt and already someone pointed at it and said, "Tark the Shark!"
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Post by motorcitysam on Dec 16, 2023 19:31:08 GMT -5
This game is a rock fight. 7:43 left in the first half and it's 10-8 SMC. 😖
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Post by larrytitan on Dec 16, 2023 19:41:09 GMT -5
I had to look it up. St Mary’s ahead 15-11. Vegas 3-22 Fg 13%
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Post by motorcitysam on Dec 16, 2023 19:50:13 GMT -5
I had to look it up. St Mary’s ahead 15-11. Vegas 3-22 Fg 13% Larry, I just said to the guy sitting next to me, "This game is making my eyes bleed." Check out the free throw numbers. 😵💫
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Post by motorcitysam on Dec 16, 2023 20:35:28 GMT -5
I can't believe this UNLV team beat Creighton.
40-29 Saint Mary's at the under 8 timeout.
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Post by motorcitysam on Dec 16, 2023 21:25:40 GMT -5
Double overtime.
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Post by motorcitysam on Dec 16, 2023 21:37:41 GMT -5
Saint Mary's wins on a layup at the buzzer, 69-67.
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