ForumsWith the always enjoyable 5:30 AM flight to Newark on tap for Saturday morning, the Trap hits the holiday season in full stride. As the lull surrounding Christmas stills the hoops action for the next two days, except for tomorrow’s Diamond Head Classic final games, here are the this week’s topics to talk about.
1. A Spike(r) In Performance. The Cornell mojo apparently isn’t limited to Ithaca. When longtime head coach Jim Crews was removed as Army coach shortly before the start of the season, what promised to be one of West Point’s best teams in many years appeared to be in shambles. Enter Cornell assistant Zach Spiker. Instead of crumbling, the Cadets have thrived to this point. Heading into the Day Santa Works, the program that gave Bob Knight and Coach K their starts in college coaching sits at 9-2. With the Patriot League appearing to be wide open, it would not be out of the realm of possibility for Spiker’s initial season to be capped off with a league tournament title and trip to the NCAA Tournament. Not a bad way to start a career.
2. Shock To The System. Gregg Marshall arrived at Wichita State with a glowing resume forged by building the Winthrop program from essentially scratch. His first two season were marred by injuries, inexperience, and inconsistency. Rumblings about his ability to get the Shockers to the top of the always competitive Missouri Valley began to surface. Those rumblings are being quieted in ‘09-’10. Marshall’s squad, which recently dealt Texas Tech their first loss of the season, sits at 11-1 as Christmas arrives. Had Clevin Hannah been available for WSU’s close loss to Pitt in Kansas City, there’s a good chance the Children of the Wheat would have a goose egg going in the loss column at this point. Marshall should have his club in the race for the Valley title and a spot in the Big Dance come March.
3. Proving Ground. Marshall’s predecessor at Wichita State, Mark Turgeon, is facing a defining moment in his tenure at Texas A&M. There are many, this writer being one of them, who are of the opinion that Turgeon has simply ridden the wave of Billy Gillispie’s resurrection of the Aggie program to two NCAA berths. The tragic loss of Derrick Roland to a broken leg gives the former Kansas point guard an opprtunity to change that perception. If Turgeon is able to navigate the ridiculously tough Big 12 and earn a third consecutive trip to the tournament, he will have put his own stamp on the program in College Station. Having an experienced nucleus will make that task easier, but by no means will it be simple.
4. Went Down To The Crossroads. The great Arn Anderson is fond of saying ,”Adversity introduces a man to himself.” If that’s the case, the University of Tennessee basketball program has spent the last five days getting to know themselves. Saturday’s putrid performance against USC, coupled with a buch of nondescript wins against a roster of pathetic tomato cans, has intensified the heat on this senior laden group. From the botched possession at the end of the Purdue loss to the annihilation they suffered on the boards in Los Angeles, this team’s faults are being analyzed with microscopic scrutiny. The road gets tougher from here. There are no more Asheville’s or A&T’s in front of Bruce Pearl’s club. Given the schedule they face the next six weeks or so, things can go one of two ways. They can commit to playing defense and rebounding, which will make this team an SEC title contender. The other option is more of the languid, uninspired play that has characterized the campaign to this point. If that’s the path they take, the season will be all but over by Valentine’s Day.
5. It’s The Same Old Song. Florida rolled out to an 8-0 start, highlighted by wins over Florida State and Michigan State. The bandwagon was filling up. The two year absence from the NCAA Tournament was forgotten and people began to wonder if the Gators might displace Tennessee as Kentucky’s main competition in the SEC East. All of that hype failed to take into account an essential truth. Florida is still a physically weak, mentally soft team that lacks the defensive mindset and overall tenacity required to overcome their propensity for falling in love with the three point shot and becoming disjointed offensively. Can Billy Donovan right the ship and get this team back to the main tournament in March? Yes. Are they capable fo being a factor once they get there? Absolutely not. Donnell Harvey or Al Horford are not walking through that door.
6. A Little Good News. This season marks the 20th anniversary of the tragic on court death of Hank Gathers and the inspired run to the Elite Eight by his teammates that followed. The last two decades have not been kind to the Loyola Marymount program. Coaches have come and gone. Losing has been the only constant thread. Last year, former UNLV head coach Bill Bayno arrived and assembled a solid recruiting class, added a couple of heralded transfers, and energized a fan base beaten down by constant defeat. Alas, the stress of the job took a terrible toll on Bayno’s health and he resigned. Max Good took over a team stunned by the loss of their coach and ravaged with injuries. The Lions limped to the finish line in ‘08-’09. Now, things appear to be turning around. Despite a 6-7 record, LMU has road wins over USC and Notre Dame, a home win over Long beach State, and has been competitve in ech contest. The top of the WCC is beginning to look far more vulnerable than initially thought. That might just give Good’s guys the opportunity to write a story worthy of the legacy of Gathers and the ‘89-’90 team.
Until next week, stay classy, Volnation.
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