Thursday, February 14, 2008

Around the Country

This week's Sports Illustrated (with Dale Earnhardt Jr. on the cover) has a pretty good article on Memphis' dribble-drive motion offense. John Calipari borrowed it from a guy named Vance Walberg and has used it to great success since 2003. His two 33-4 seasons in '06 and '07 have led to an unbeaten run at #1 this year. It's a fun offense to watch and I would love to see Notre Dame adopt some of its techniques, but clearly Memphis has a much different roster than the Irish. You need a lot of penetrators, while ND boasts only one starter (Tory Jackson) with a great first step. Still a fun read if you're interested in the X's and O's of college hoops.

Last night, Brian Butch ended Indiana's terrible day with a game winning three for Wisconsin over the Hoosiers. #13 Xavier barely survived a scare at Charlotte and Pat Knight picked up his first win as unranked Texas Tech upset #22 Kansas State. The #15 Drake Bulldogs dropped a road contest to Southern Illinois, snapping a 21 game winning streak. It will be interesting to see how that team performs in the tournament. They have steamrolled most of their schedule, but have only played three top 50 opponents in 22 games.

Only Rutgers and West Virginia on the Big East slate tonight. #24 Pitt at #25 Marquette tomorrow. We will see how the Panthers fare in their final game before coming to the Joyce next Thursday.

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