A Post from South America

I go away for a few days and Anthony Mason Jr is out for the season? Good grief.

This blog will be on hiatus until around December 9th while my wife and I drink and eat our way through Brazil and Argentina, eating more steak than humans should handle. Posting will catch up upon our return!

Around the Big East: DePaul, Seton Hall, Rutgers, and Previews

While the New York Jets have new signee Ty Law in the fold and former KR/CB Justin Miller out on the street, oil prices are dropping like it’s hot, and while people buy guns in fear of Barack Obama’s administration taking their guns away (why wouldn’t he just take assault weapons?)… I’ve been enjoying 90210’s silliness and most of all Jessica Stroup, who plays Erin Silver on the show. Even though she was in the Hills Have Eyes 2. And if you haven’t been able to see Friday Night Lights… it’s been good, but I don’t see where they get a fourth season out of the show. Now, on to basketball…

Last weekend DePaul had their exhibition game against Division II Lewis University. Lindsey Willhite covered the game for the Daily Herald blog and caught some things that I did as well from the game (which I attended:

– Dar Tucker didn’t stop yapping. But he was an absolute destroyer on the court. Efficient. Sharp. Strong on defense.

– Matija Poscic didn’t look bad.

– Devin Hill rebounded well, even if he was pretty sloppy on offense,

Otherwise, I think I watched an awful team. The flow was mediocre, and they couldn’t get the ball to Mac Koshwal. Mike Bizoukas hustled, but his man got open (and looked quicker than him); Kelly’s defense was solid, and was close enough to his man to actually swipe at the ball, unlike Bizoukas.

I liked Krys Faber’s energy, and he seems like a funny guy, making a "Thriller" move in response to the pep band playing the song. And Lewis got some decent shots off that didn’t fall in the first half. The Blue Demons didn’t get into any kind of flow to finish them off, and the Lewis team stuck with them, relatively, until the end.

Some coach or athletic department fellow was telling some recruit who was sitting near me behind the DePaul bench, "well, we have a young team…" That is NOT a good sign, and not a good selling point for a recruit.

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Seton Hall: Adam Zagoria reports that Michael Glover is no longer enrolled at Seton Hall and has a transcript of his interview on Seton Hall’s radio station, which is very interesting, touching on Gonzalez’ recruiting style (JUCOs and academic casualties to try and build the team faster) and the team’s standing in the conference.

South Florida: Meanwhile, holy crap in a crapper, South Florida got Gus Gilchrist eligible for December! More people than just Josh Barr are surprised by this. Finally, the Gilchrist/ Terelle Woody package deal has paid off for the player, who will be an impact forward in the Big East. I think his addition alone tightens up the race at the bottom, where I predict DePaul and Seton Hall will be firmly ensconced. Along with possibly St. John’s.

At Rutgers, Mike Rosario was efficient, and Corey Chandler was in street clothes for personal issues; JR Inman and Jaron Griffin are already suspended for an undisclosed amount of time. The freshmen’s time is now.

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The Cracked Sidewalks blog has an excellent pair of posts on the value and use of tempo free-stats and the four factors concept.

The Big East Basketball Report has a roundup of exhibition games.

Luke Winn has a college basketball preseason tournament guide. I’ll only be watching one, as I will be out of town for a couple of weeks and away from computer.

SLAM magazine has a Big East preview. Like everyone else, they don’t have much to say about St. John’s.

BigEast.org (the official site of the conference) also has a preview.

College Basketball is Officially Back.

Houston and Georgia DirectionalSouthern are playing at Cameron Indoor right now in the Coaches vs Cancer tournament.

Start singing – it’s the most wonderful time… of the year….

Go and Vote or Terry Tate will get you

If you haven’t already.

Terry Tate speaks to Sarah Palin about the magazines she reads:

Last Week in the East Coast Bias

Election 2008 is almost over. Fatigue has set in (though I don’t know why people think that elections will get any better, easier, or less pervasive). The site, this f$%king election has a typographic list of the buzzwords from the last year and a half of campaigning – including the great DMX interview. Some Republicans are claiming liberal media bias from the blogs to the New York Times. Meanwhile, Chicago’s going crazy over the Grant Park gathering where Obama will speak tomorrow night.

Or, if you wish to stop thinking of politics, you can watch CSI: Miami and laugh at how bad the show is. I did find one of my favorite former All My Children stars, Eva LaRue, making money as a cast member on the show. Yes, sometimes I was home when I was in high school and All My Children was on… it happens. I’m not (that) ashamed.

* The Pheel-Deez won the World Series. Eben provides some of his illustration to commemorate that most unlikely of happenings – a Philadelphia championship, and the Phillies at that. There’s also a picture of the Broad Street celebration and the requisite naked guy with fire.

* A look at the first two months (November, December)of St. John’s schedule, from the lowest of Division I to 3 of the 4 ACC teams that the Red Storm will likely face. And some notes from the New York Post, including an expectation from coach Norm Roberts that the team will be around .500 this year.

* Manhattan Coach Barry Rohrssen and Iona coach Kevin Willard discussed a Big-Five style tournament for New York’s more prominent teams at the Mid-Atlantic’s (MAAC) media day. This blog took a look at what teams could be in it and why the Big East coaches might be reluctant to enter such a deal.

* Rick Pitino had a “don’t sleep on St. John’s” quote from Big East Media Day. Then again, I guess St. John’s was so bad last year, “not sleeping” might mean that they are actually a viable team that will make some squads sweat. Doesn’t mean they’re in line for a winning season or anything, just means they’ll be pesky, like they were 2 years ago.

* An apology for ripping on Lute Olsen (not that he’s reading this blog, and cares what I think), once it came to light that the former Arizona coach is suffering from depression.

* The schools in Athens, Georgia closed for the annual Cocktail Party game vs. Florida in Jacksonville… the Georgia Bulldogs got smacked. I bet the schoolteachers who played hooky really wonder if that was worth it.