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October 02, 2010
Discuss
NCAA Prepares to Clamp Down on Ne’er Do-Wells
Ably filling her role as ESPN’s designated legitimate sportswriter, here’s a must-read on proposed major changes in hoops recruiting from Dana O’Neil. The consciences of many coaches will be reassured by the impending NCAA rules, aimed square at the underbelly of payola recruitment as conducted through summer league coaches, assorted hangers-on, and various ne...
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October 28, 2009
Buzz Bissinger and the NBA Age Limit
Basketball juices are beginning to salivate in earnest. Buzz Bissinger revisits the NBA Age Limit:
The N.B.A. should abolish its age limit. Raising the limit flew in the face of statistics showing that drafted high school players were relatively successful on and off the court.
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October 27, 2009
Loose Balls: Final Four
The Lima Connection
When Travis Walton laces up his sneaks for the biggest game of his life this afternoon against UConn, he should consider looking south, to Findlay, Ohio, for some inspiration. Led by legendary head coach Ron Niekamp and DII Player of the Year, Josh Bostic, the University of Findlay (37-0) secured its first Division II National Championship last week in Springfield...
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April 04, 2009
One Down, One to Go
Another town and one more show. Congratulations to the Nittany Lions team and Coach Ed DeChellis. The game Tuesday against Notre Dame was a masterpiece in defensive strategy and execution. In the win last night, DeChellis throttled down the offense to adjust to the Baylor zone. It was Big Ten basketball at its best- good crisp passes, patience, clock management, and strategic...
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April 02, 2009
The Tweener Factory: State College, PA
His label is tweener, a term used to separate five-star meat from two- and three-star gristle. Bowling Green, Cleveland State, Wright State, Butler and Penn State. These are the schools that ponied up a scholarship to Jamelle Cornley. Ohio State, ten minutes from Cornley’s home on the North Side of Columbus, passed on its Mr. Basketball signing instead a forgettable 6′...
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April 02, 2009
A Beautiful Spartan Effort
Wow. What a great game. Wow. My head’s still reeling from Michigan State’s 64-52 dismantling of Louisville. The pride of Lima, Ohio, Travis Walton’s blue collar effort on Terrence Williams was textbook. The confidence of Durrell Summers to nail big shot after shot in the second half. Goran Suton continuing his inspired NCAA run with passes, rebounds and...
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March 29, 2009
Let Them Be Heard: Lions Roar
The Penn State’s made a deep run in the NIT, advancing to NYC and the Final Four where Mike Brey’s group of underachievers await. While Ed DeChellis was duly recognized for the success of his Nittany Lions during the regular season when he was named Big 10 Coach of the Year, the work he’s doing in the NIT postseason merits attention. With 25 wins, a Penn State...
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March 26, 2009
Beware the Mid-Major
The six power conferences (Big East, ACC, Big Ten, Big Twelve, SEC, and Pac10) control the NCAA Tournament with an iron fist. Those who follow one of the majors rejoice in getting as many teams from their respective conferences into the Tournament as possible. But there’s no doubt, the Mid-Majors and other Non-BCS conferences conferences are greatly underrepresented, generally...
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March 21, 2009
Buckeyes Blow It
The disappointment emanating from Dayton is palpable. Before a partisan crowd, Ohio State played without purpose and without assertiveness. They built a quiet 11 point lead but couldn’t hang onto it. They were pummeled on the boards as a rail thin player from Staten Island named Ryan Rossiter outplayed BJ Mullens. With a three point lead and seconds left in the first OT...
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March 21, 2009
An Attitudinal Shift
Get aggressive out there. Ohio State, take it to Siena. Michigan State, gel now and roll over Robert Morris. Wisconsin, shock the pundits and give Florida State the hammer. Led by three coaches with fire in their bellies, we expect these teams to follow Michigan’s lead and play hard, smart, and tough and hopefully win.
The First of Manny
Highlight of Day One on the Big...
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March 20, 2009
Save It For A Rainy Day
March delivers seven Big Ten teams to the doorstep of NCAA Tournament. By most measures, all but two of these teams (Michigan State and Wisconsin) are in the toddler stages of rebuilding projects. Purdue and Illinois are led by sophomores; Ohio State, on account of successive defections of talent to the NBA, is young; Minnesota and Michigan are being built in the mold of Tubby...
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March 17, 2009
Show Me No Surprise
The first round play of the Big Ten Tournament offered no headlines to compete with various upsets in other conference tournaments. The teams that were expected to win in the first round games won. In each case, the winners put the finishing touches on their NCAA Tournament resumes while the losers skated into the off-season or into the NIT.
Minny Holds Off the Wildcats
In the...
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March 13, 2009
With Honors
On the heels of the last week’s All-Hoopraker teams, our editorial board concocted another excuse to drink a few pints on Sunday night as we devoted the better part of three transcendent hours at a tiny, crowded table in our favorite temple of triglycerides to debate, gerrymander and tabulate the 2008-2009 individual honors: defensive player of the year, Conference player of...
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March 09, 2009
With Honors: All-Hoopraker Edition
As is our tradition, Hoopraker’s editorial board spent the better part of two hours this afternoon sequestered at the corner table on the second floor of The Spotted Pig in New York’s West Village. The board, brows furrowed, ear drums processing the magic of James Honeyman Scott’s guitar, and hearts pounding against the bacon fat and Old Speckled Hen Ale, had a serious...
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March 06, 2009
Illinois Loses Its Touch: Penn State Shines
With a season sweep of the Illini, Penn State substantially boosted its resume for an NCAA invite. Unlike the much maligned 38 to 33 game in Champaign two weeks ago, Illinois maintained a thin thread of control throughout this game. But perhaps foreshadowing trouble in March, the demons that plagued them in recent seasons returned in the game’s final three minutes: missed...
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March 06, 2009
Northwestern Wildcats Get Historic
The Northwestern Wildcats are perhaps the hottest team in the Conference right now as they won their fourth straight last nite beating Purdue on their home court 64 to 61. This string of victories include home wins against OSU and Iowa, and road wins against Indiana and the Boilermakers. The Boilermakers had control of the first half but, in the face of strong Northwestern defensive...
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March 05, 2009
Jake Kelly For Governor
Iowa let another close game slip through its Midwestern fingers in Carver-Hawkeye last night, falling 60-58 to Thad Matta’s five-star laden Buckeyes. The game featured another strong performance from the Talented Mr. Turner, a shooting clinic from former-West Virgina/John Beilein recruit Devan Bawinkel, and several more in a season of questionable calls (or no-calls) by Hightower...
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March 04, 2009
Princeton Offense Yields Points
The Big Ten’s John Beilein and Bill Carmody are proponents of the Princeton Offense, sometimes confused by the likes of Jay Bilas with a slowdown game. This week, the Wildcats and Wolverines both put up some pretty impressive offensive numbers, 75 and 87, respectively . The Michigan/Purdue game last night was a joy to watch as both teams played good defense, but also put...
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February 27, 2009
Zebras on Cialis: Redux
This season we’ve been impaled by the presence of referees perhaps more than any season in recent memory. That’s not a good thing. Ideally, players, coaches and fans prefer not knowing the referees are even on the court. Too often the referees who frequent Big Ten arenas take center stage, showing up players and coaches alike. The erstwhile Ed Hightower, Ted Valentine...
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February 24, 2009
The Role of Seniors
Understandably much focus is being placed on the Big Ten Conference’s strong sophomore class. As of February 22, the top three scorers are sophomores- Battle (17.3), Harris (17.2), and Turner (17.2). Four seniors are in the top 15 scorers- NU’s Moore (14.9), Cornley (14.6), Landry (12.8), and Pringle (12.7). Seniors generally have worked hard to hone their skills...
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February 22, 2009
March Madness Begins in a Week
The tight conference race continues as Michigan State falters at Purdue, Illinois stumbles against Penn State on their own court, and Ohio State loses to Northwestern in Evanston. Purdue is growing stronger by the week; Penn State seems to be back on track, and Northwestern wins a close one. We are in the final three weeks of perhaps the best Big Ten conference race in recent memory...
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February 22, 2009
Cats Lose Again & Bo’s Back
On Sunday, the Cats simply could not find a way to pull out a win over Michigan. The game was close the entire 45 minutes- yes, it was an overtime. Again, Michigan put the clamps on Moore and held him well below his shooting average of 15 points per game. Coble lead the Cats, but he missed a lot of shots early in the game that normally for him would have been made. In Madison...
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February 17, 2009
Race to Finish Begins
Push Through the Tape
Anyone who has run a marathon knows that a long race requires rigorous preparation including diet, conditioning, mental toughness, and tactical smarts. The Big Ten Conference race is at the 20 mile mark in marathon terms and all of the preparatory steps begin to pay dividends for those teams that have conducted a ocmprehensive plan for the entire race.
The...
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February 15, 2009
Saturday Post Up: Two Games, Three Wins
This weekend, four Big Ten teams play for their post-season lives. In a season marked by what will be commonplace for the foreseeable future, a brutally competitive Conference with no easy wins, the margin for error is now nil for Penn State, Michigan and Northwestern and getting slim for Minnesota.
The Game of Their Season
Tubby Smith takes his Gophers (19-5, 7-5) into State College...
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February 14, 2009
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