Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Boomer’s Basketball “Full-Court” Press

I’ll use a stock market metaphor for my basketball recap this week. Buy into the Ohio State Buckeyes Mens hoops and SELL SELL SELL the Cleveland Cavs stock. Lets first start off with the new Top 25 in College Basketball (as of January 23rd)

ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll
RK
TEAM
RECORD
PTS
1
Kentucky (31)
19-1
775
2
18-1
725
3
17-3
687
4
20-1
686
5
16-3
660
6
16-3
571
7
17-2
569
8
16-3
565
9
20-0
502
10
16-3
498
11
16-4
453
12
17-2
403
13
15-4
396
14
18-2
343
15
18-3
337
16
16-4
236
17
16-4
230
18
16-4
213
19
14-5
203
20
19-2
193
21
15-3
171
22
15-5
165
23
16-2
99
24
14-4
80
25
15-5
49
25
16-5
49

 Others receiving votes: Florida State 41, Gonzaga 34, West Virginia 33, Wichita State 29, Middle Tennessee 28, Vanderbilt 20, Nevada 12, Illinois 6, Cincinnati 4, Southern Miss 3, UCF 3, Iowa State 2, Dayton 1, New Mexico 1

Now, I know the poll/rankings in CBB are somewhat meaningless (for some people), with the Top 25 not evening being half of the teams that represent the NCAA Tournament come March. However, with losses by Syracuse, Baylor, and Duke, Ohio State jumped up 3 spots to number #3 in the current ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll. Murray State now the only undefeated team in the land, sits at #9 at 20-0. Some intriguing games this week here’s a link for you all to check out the Top 25/NCAA Division 1 games for the rest of the week: http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/schedule

#3 Ohio State Buckeyes 17-3 (5-2 in the Big Ten)

Things would be a lot less stressful on Ohio State fans, if the Buckeyes could play/win the way they did on Saturday night the rest of the season. The Buckeyes playing their only game of the week went out to Lincoln, NE and put a whooping on the new guys of the Big Ten (1st year in the conference) Nebraska Cornhuskers, 79 to 45. Not a single Buckeye starter played more then 29 minutes in this game, allowing for the All-American bench, to tally some minutes. The Buckeyes had three in double figures with William Buford leading all-scores (15) and Deshaun Thomas and Jared Sullinger chipping in 14 a piece. The Buckeyes also find themselves on top of the Big Ten Standing with Michigan State and Michigan (5-2). The Buckeyes finish up the month of January with two home games, Wednesday night vs. Penn State and on CBS Sunday afternoon vs. Michigan. The Buckeyes by this time next week should be sitting at 19-3, with a make or break month of February ahead of them.

Now, lets talk some NBA hoops:

EASTERN CONFERENCE
EasternWLPCTGBCONFDIVHOMEROADL 10STREAK
Chicago11630.8420.010-13-08-08-39-1W 4
Indiana21140.7333.09-32-15-06-47-3W 2
Atlanta31350.7222.511-44-18-15-48-2W 2
Philadelphia41250.7063.08-21-18-14-47-3W 1
Orlando51150.6883.56-33-06-25-37-3L 1
Miami61150.6883.57-23-16-25-36-4L 1
Boston7790.4387.57-52-15-52-44-6W 2
Cleveland8690.4008.04-51-22-34-63-7L 3
Milwaukee6100.3758.54-31-04-22-84-6L 1
New York6100.3758.55-42-13-63-44-6L 6
New Jersey5130.27810.53-91-12-53-83-7L 1
Toronto4130.23511.03-91-32-52-81-9L 8
Detroit4140.22211.53-81-53-61-82-8L 1
Charlotte3140.17612.02-130-62-61-81-9L 4
Washington2150.11813.01-120-22-80-72-8L 3
WESTERN CONFERENCE
WesternWLPCTGBCONFDIVHOMEROADL 10STREAK
Oklahoma City11430.8240.09-21-17-17-29-1W 2
Denver21250.7062.05-51-26-26-37-3W 4
L.A. Clippers3950.6433.55-42-08-21-37-3W 1
Memphis41060.6253.57-53-16-24-47-3W 7
Utah51050.6673.06-52-18-22-38-2W 1
San Antonio61170.6113.510-54-29-12-65-5W 1
Dallas71170.6113.57-62-17-24-58-2W 3
Houston81070.5884.06-63-27-13-68-2W 7
Portland1070.5884.07-42-07-13-65-5W 1
L.A. Lakers1080.5564.58-42-29-21-66-4L 3
Minnesota7100.4127.05-40-24-63-45-5L 2
Phoenix6100.3757.53-61-13-43-64-6L 1
Sacramento6120.3338.53-81-04-32-93-7L 2
Golden State5110.3138.50-60-33-62-53-7L 3
New Orleans3140.17611.02-130-61-92-51-9L 8


Cleveland Cavaliers (6-9)

Well, so much for that wishful thinking, after a surprising start to the season, the Cavs dropped three straight games last week. After losing a home game to the Golden State Warriors last Tuesday, the Cavs got embarrassed in losses vs. the Rose-less Bulls (114-75), the franchises worst home defeat and the following night down in Atlanta, the Hawks flew by the Cavs 121 to 94. Now, I’m not saying the season is over for the Cavs (#avoidingthat26gamelosingstreak), but it was pretty disappointing to read about those two lopsided defeats. On top of that, it doesn’t look to get any easier for the Cleveland hoopsters as they have four games this upcoming week. Starting tonight at Miami vs. the Heat, then have home games vs. the NY Knicks Wednesday night, and on Friday night facing the NJ Nets. It’s critical for the Cavs to win those two home games against two teams behind them in the Eastern Conference. The Cavs finish up the week on Sunday, with a game up in Boston vs. the Celtics. I still believe the Cavs can hang around this season and make a run for the 7th or 8th spot in the East, in which they currently are hanging onto the 8th seed as of last night.

I leave you all with a short clip, welcoming back to Cleveland, the pride and face of the Cavs for so many years, “Big Z” Zydrunas Ilgauskas, who as of last week accepted the Assistant GM position with the Cavaliers. Welcome Back, Big Z.