By Andy Johnston For the AJC
Some folks say it’s parity. Others are beginning to worry that this is a down season for the ACC.
The ACC continues to be the top-rated conference in the Sagarin and Pomeroy rankings, but only Duke and Georgia Tech are ranked in the AP Top 25, and the Blue Devils might have knocked the Yellow Jackets out of next week’s poll with their 86-67 victory on Thursday night.
Every team has at least four losses, and Duke, which is considered the ACC’s best team, was crushed by Big East-power Georgetown on Sunday. One thing is for certain: The conference doesn’t have a dominant force like last season’s North Carolina team that won the national championship.
“It’s where we are now. It’s where this conference is at,” North Carolina State coach Sidney Lowe said. “Any given night, you don’t know who is going to win. One team can knock off a nationally ranked team and then play another team that’s not ranked and lose to them. One thing you do know is that this league has a lot of talented players. If those talented players decide they’re going to be better and they’re going to get after it, they’re going to win.”
The fall of North Carolina (13-9, 2-5 ACC) has corresponded with the rise of both Maryland (15-6, 5-2) and Virginia (14-6, 5-2), which are tied for second behind Duke (18-4, 6-2). The parity is evidenced by the fact that 22 of ACC’s 46 games have been decided by eight points or less, including 13 by fewer than four points.
The balance might lead to only six ACC teams making the NCAA tournament, but all 12 entered this week in the top 110 of the RPI.
“It’s become a night-in and night-out grinder,” Virginia coach Tony Bennett said. “It’s a challenge of every team to be at their best.”
Out of his shell
Freshman Jordan Williams is providing Maryland with an inside boost.
He posted his third double-double of the season in Maryland’s loss at Clemson on Sunday. The 6-foot-10 Williams then added 14 points in a win at Florida State on Thursday, reaching double-figures for the seventh time. His 13 rebounds Sunday were a career-high.
“[He provides] what we didn’t have last year, [which] is an inside presence,” Maryland coach Gary Williams said. “This year, when we’re playing well, we can throw the ball into Jordan and expect something good to happen.”
Possible return
Clemson guard Demontez Stitt has missed the past two games with a sprained foot, but coach Oliver Purnell hopes to have him back for Saturday’s game at Virginia Tech. Stitt had started 52 consecutive games before the injury.
On the ball
Malcolm Delaney, who scored 21 points in Virginia Tech’s 74-70 victory over North Carolina on Thursday, leads the ACC in scoring (19.8) and 20-point games (11).
N.C. State’s Julius Mays has made 20 consecutive free throws and is shooting 89.5 percent from the line (51-for-57).
Trevor Booker needs 19 rebounds to become the second player in Clemson history with 1,500 points and 1,000 rebounds. With 1,584 career points, he would join Notre Dame’s Luke Harangody and Texas’ Damion James as the only active players with 1,500 points and 1,000 rebounds.
Kyle Singler, playing with an injured right wrist, had career highs with 30 points and eight 3-pointers in Duke’s victory over Georgia Tech.
Must-see TV
Don’t sleep in, or you might miss Wake Forest’s game at Virginia, which begins at noon Saturday (WATL). On Wednesday, Duke plays at North Carolina at 9 p.m. (ESPN) in the first game of the season in that heated rivalry. They’ll also meet at Duke on March 6.
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By Jeff Haws For the AJC
There was a sense of relief in the way Georgia post Angel Robinson exhaled, following her team’s 49-46 overtime victory over No. 19 LSU on Thursday, snapping a three-game losing streak.
With the offense scoring a season-low 42 points in regulation, it could easily have gone the other way. It’s only the second time in coach Andy Landers‘ 987 games at Georgia that his team has won a game in which it scored fewer than 50 points.
As has happened so often this season for the Lady Bulldogs, defense carried the day.
After allowing 60 or more points in seven of the previous eight games, No. 14 Georgia (19-4, 6-4 SEC) emphatically reversed that trend. And after five of the previous six opponents shot better than 41 percent, the Tigers shot 27.3 percent — the third-lowest field-goal percentage for a Lady Bulldogs opponent this season.
Robinson said the defensive performance is a sign that the team is headed in the right direction.
“It’s taking one step; we’re not completely back where we want it,” Robinson said. “I’m glad we took one step. On Sunday [against South Carolina], we need to take another step.”
Ardossi honored
On Monday, Georgia Tech forward Brigitte Ardossi was named the ACC Player of the Week for her performance the previous week, when she averaged 22 points and 12 rebounds in home wins over Miami and Virginia Tech. She’s the first Yellow Jacket to earn this distinction since Chioma Nnamaka in February 2008.
Ardossi entered the season as a relatively unheralded player in the conference but has been Georgia Tech’s most consistent post presence and is playing her way into consideration for All-ACC honors.
In ACC play for the Yellow Jackets (18-5, 4-3 ACC), Ardossi entered Friday second in the league in scoring (18.9 points) and tied for first in rebounds per game (8.9). She also was eighth in free-throw percentage, leading the team at 83.6 percent.
Panthers’ struggles
Georgia State took two more losses this week, along with more blizzard conditions on a road trip through Virginia, making for another challenging trip back to Atlanta.
A 53-39 loss at Virginia Commonwealth and a 61-53 loss to Northeastern at home leaves the Panthers at 12-9 and 3-7 in Colonial Athletic Association play this season. That’s four losses in five games and seven out of nine since a win over UNC Wilmington on Jan. 3 moved the Panthers’ record to 10-2.
The bright point in the loss to Northeastern was Danyiell McKeller, who had career-highs in points (27) and steals (6). The senior is fourth in the CAA in scoring with a 19.3-point average and fourth in steals with 2.5 per game.
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Posted 2 days, 13 hours ago at 5:40 PM. Add a comment
Jim Jabir was my RA in college, Nazareth College of Rochester, in the early 80’s. I have known him since I was 17 years old. Jim truly cares for those around him more than he does himself. He is the epitome of “selflessness.” His ability to communicate with those around him, to get in touch with who they are and to connect with them is better than anyone I have been around. He is caring; he understands the total student-athlete experience and makes it a priority. He is genuine and real.
Graham Hays does an exceptional job of capturing “who” Jim is and what his relationship is with his players. As you read this one thing jumps off the page… the article is being written about him and all he talks about is his players, the university and how fortunate he is to be part of their existence. Humility. This isn’t just because Jim had a brush with death, it is who he has been since I met him in 1983.
There is no question that if Jim had stayed at Marquette they would be the “UConn” of the Big East as well. Jim has the plan and the process and Dayton is his vehicle. Enjoy this.
Five seasons after dealing with cardiac issues, coach has Dayton on brink of NCAAs
By Graham Hays ESPN.com
HANOVER, N.H. — Kendel Ross embodies just about everything Jim Jabir believed Dayton women’s basketball could be when the school gave the veteran coach a second chance seven years ago. But for any of those plans to come to fruition, Jabir first needed to receive a second chance at something far more substantial than a profession.
Tim G. Zechar/Icon SMI Jim Jabir hasn't taken a team to the NCAA tournament since 1995 (Marquette), but his Flyers are 17-5 overall and 5-2 in the A-10.
Dayton’s coach admits he’s harder on Ross, now a senior, than just about any player on a Flyers team that remains in control of its postseason fate despite a loss last weekend at Atlantic 10 leader Xavier. Coming out of Canada four seasons ago, Ross was, in Jabir’s words, “the first kid we shouldn’t have got that we got.” He expects excellence out of her, and her mistakes pain him more.
For lack of a more accessible comparison, she is Dayton’s Shane Battier. She does everything that shows up in the box score and half a dozen things that don’t. For better and occasionally worse when stubborn will meets stubborn will, she has a motor and a competitive streak that will not shut off. Tell her you need 15 rebounds in a game and the result is predictable.
“She’s gonna get you 15,” Jabir said. “It’s like clockwork; she’s going to do what you ask her to do. Or she’ll die trying. So it’s this great intensity, it’s this intangible — this will is tremendous. I mean, she’s got this will — and sometimes it works against her, but for the most part it’s been beneficial to us. And I tell her this all the time, too, I love her and I hate her. I mean, she’s so stubborn, you know what I mean? I literally love her and I hate her. There are days I want to kill her and days I can’t get enough of her.”
Continue Reading…
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Posted 2 days, 20 hours ago at 11:17 AM. Add a comment
Here are the links to the Arizona Men’s Basketball Newsletters: November through February.
A lot of good stuff… articles, sets, BOB’s.
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Posted 6 days, 1 hour ago at 5:47 AM. Add a comment
