Courtside Conversations - March 2016

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March 2016

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MARCH MADNESS

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Drafted: Drafted: Ben Simmons Simmons Ben WRITTEN BY: MARK BRUTY @markbruty

onversatons Courtside It will come as little or no surprise to most hoop heads, but Ben Simmons will hire an agent and declare for the 2016 NBA Draft. Simmons has already been linked to LeBron James’ sports agency although nothing has been confirmed at this early stage.

After a one and done campaign with the LSU Tigers, Simmons will now head to the NBA where he figures to be one of – if not THE – first players taken on draft night. Heading into his collegiate campaign, many scouts and pundits had Simmons as the clear #1 pick, but after an indifferent season with LSU (19-14 record), players such as Duke’s Brandon Ingram have certainly closed the gap and given NBA GM’s something to think about.

Simmons’ Tiger squad were often too easily beaten and finished the season in a pretty lacklustre state – declining an NIT invitation and being blown out by Texas A&M in the semifinals of the SEC tournament. Ben was also the focus of headlines for the wrong reasons as he was forced to sit for academic reasons and is ineligible for the revered Wooden Award for failing to meet the academic requirements of the award criteria.

Now, on the floor, Simmons was a flat out machine – averaging a double-double in his freshman campaign with 19.2pp & 11.8rpg while dishing out 4.8apg. He regularly showcased his athleticism and all around talent while dazzling crowds and suitors with his high basketball IQ and ability to pass the basketball and make the right plays. In some games, you found yourself watching in awe and disbelief as he made the impossible not only seem possible – but easy.

After taking the college scene by storm, many started making the natural comparison to LeBron James.

Simmons is a similar size (6’10”) and has the all-around game that is comparable to James. However, for all his talent, he hasn’t taken over games and has been often criticised for his “back seat” approach to games.

With the NBA Draft to take place on June 23rd, the real work starts now. Simmons will be getting himself ready for a multitude of workouts in the lead up to the NBA Draft not just to solidify his draft status but to also get himself ready to make an impact at the next level.

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NCAA TOP 25 The field is wide open this year and the winner is anybody’s guess, as well we are being treated to a good pool of talent that should make for an extremely entertaining NCAA Tournament.

Teams records that made it into the Tournament are to be heavily scrutinised over the coming days and weeks as we dive into the first rounds and evetually the Sweet 16 and Final Four. The records are one thing but if a team hasn’t had their wins against the ranked opponents then they are possibly seeing an early exit in March.

There are a number of teams that are expected to make the Sweet 16 and only a sleect few expected to make the Final Four. These teams are proven throughout the regular season but should not be considered locks.

Unlike past years there is not clear cut team (Kansas would say otherwise) and strengths and weaknesses have been exposed over and over again throughout the regular season.

As the regular season and conference chamionship games wrap up, here is a glimpse of some of the top picks in peoples brackets to win the title.

As we know upsets can happen and this year there could very well be a few, this is the madness of March and its only just beginning.

22.1%

17.3% NORTH CAROLINA

KANSAS

19.5% MICHIGAN STATE

5.4% KENTUCKY

6.3% OKLAHOMA

4.2% VIRGINIA

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#1

KANSAS

The Jayhawks start of our college Top 25, and for the last couple of years it’s been hard to keep them out. Kansas are notorious for their recruiting and have a great collection of seniors to lead this team.

Expectations being that they would come out on top of their conference, and with only 4 losses on the season it seems likely that they will grab themselves another Big 12 title. They currently boast an 11 game win streak and are 14-3 against top 50 ranked opponents.

Whilst they are not invincible heading into March, they have shown that they can battle with the other big ranked teams giving us some great games already this season, one that sticks out was the 3 OT thriller agianst Oklahoma.

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#2

MICHIGAN STaTe

The Spartans began their season on a 13 game winning streak, including Kansas amongst those wins.

Recently, they have rounded out the rest of their schedule on a 6 game winning streak.

They possess a possible player of the year candidate in Denzel Valentine and have a history of making it to the tournament as this year will mark head coach Tom Izzo’s 19th tournament appearance.

You really can’t count this team out, they have the best overall record in the Big 10 and actually have a win against Indiana who was the winner of this conference.

Beware of the green machine in March.

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#3

VILLANOVA

Villanova was actually sitting in the number 1 spot recently but were beaten in an inner conference ame with Xavier.

Regardless, like most of the top ranked teams, the Wildcats will win the Big East conference and with only 2 losses at the end of 2015 and the others in the new year with 1 loss coming after a 9 game wining streak.

Villanova have proved to handle the other teams in their conference with most of their wins resulting in a double digit final margin. They head into March with 3 of the top 100 ranked players and a record of 3 straight Big East titles in the 3 years that the conference has been formed.

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#4

VIRGINIA

The defensive power that is the Cavaliers have made a strong case this season as a team to watch.

In a tough ACC conference the team got off to a good start after their 2 game with an 11 game win streak including wins against Villanova, Ohio State and West Viginia.

The Cavs also have an ACC player of the year in Malcolm Brogdon who is on of colleges elite players this year but has not been as reveered as some other players.

This mixture of great defense and a top player who can score at will might just let the Cavaliers go deep into March.

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#5

XAVIER

Xavier battled Villanova for the top spot in the Big East and in the end they were just nudged out - but only just.

Xavier display a very similar story to Villanova, unlike the Wildcats however they came out of the gate on a 12 game winning streak. The Muskateers did slightly better agianst top 50 ranked opponenets by going 8-2.

The seperation however is the 4 losses to Villanova’s 2 losses against their Big East opponents. They really could be interchangable at this point, however Xavier’s #5 ranking is the highest in school history and they have never made a Final Four.

Maybe this is the season that Xavier makes a push for a late appearance in March?

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#6

Oklahoma

Oklahoma is just one of the teams that make up a tough Big 12 conference. The top 6 teams in the conference have all got 20+ wins overall this season. Oklahoma may also posess the best college basketball player this year in Buddy Hield who is this years Big 12 player of the year.

After a 12 game winning streak, Oklahoma gave fans a thriller against #1 Kansas, and have proved since then even in a loss that this team can hang with any of the top teams at any point in the game.

And they are experienced, so much so that the starting five have 444 games of starting experience. Experience may be an understatement when we talk about that many games together.

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#7

North Carolina

Back into the ACC and UNC are the winners of the conference after beating their rival Duke in the final game of tehir regular season.

In a tough ACC, the Tarheels managed to have a nice 14-4 record within their conference.

They had some great wins against Miami, Duke, Florida State, Syracuse and Clemson to name a few.

UNC also boast 2 of the top 50 players in Brice Johnson and Marcus Paige who, in the win against Duke, can gain a huge confidence boost heading into March.

On the other hand, for a top 10 seed they have a poor record against top 50 ranked teams, possibly affecting their chances has they head deeper into March.

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#8

oregon

In the Pac-12, Oregon are out in front of the pack with a 14-4 conference record and ended their season on a strong 6 game win streak.

Being the best in their conference has been something that the fighting ducks haven’t seen since 2002. They also have a coach who is a repeating Coach of the Year and is the first Pac-12 coach to do so.

The ducks also have a Pac-12 player of the year candidate in Dillion Brooks, a crafty swingman who helps his teammates but at any point can create his own shot making him quite lethal.

The Ducks are making a big statement this season.

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#9

west virginia

West Virginia just edged out Oklahoma for the 2nd spot in the Big 12 by gaining an extra win in the conference, however Oklahoma has a better overall record.

This has been the Mountaineers crux all season long, being overshadowed by the more telvised teams of the Big 12. If however, WVU can have a good conference tournament and get to the championship game, it would be their first win since they took the Big East championship back in 2010.

WVU have a great player in Jaysean Paige who has been an offensive beast for the Mountaineers all season, but will this be enough to get them past the teams clouding the respect WVU deserve?

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#10

INDIANa

If it hadn’t been mentioned already, the Big 10 is not an easy conference to win. However, this year Indiana have found a way to take the #1 seed and in a convincing fashion.

Indiana closed out their regular season with 5 solid wins in a row including games against Iowa and Maryland. This marks Indiana’s 22nd regular season conference championship and they do this with a departing senoir in Yogi Ferrel who throughout his Hoosier career has now led the school in Assists all-time.

Indiana had a rough time against Duke this year as their most embarrassing loss, however they have turned it around and stunned many of the doubters form the start of this season.

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#11

MIAMI

Miami rivaled UNC for the top spot in the ACC but could not lock it down as they fell to Virginia Tech in their last regular season game.

Miami have had some notable wins during their season defeating teams like Syracuse, Florida State, Virginia, Duke and Louisville.

It will be interesting to see if Miami can bounce back after losing out on being a top seed in the ACC, if they can win the upcoming tournament they would put themselves in a good position to go deeper into March as a higher seed.

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#12

UTah

After 2 tough losses against Oregon and Oregon State, the Utes fought back against the schedule by grinding out 7 straight wins, one win coming against a ranked Arizona team.

Unofrutnately Utah’s 5 losses agianst teams in their conference were just enough to keep them from taking the Pac-12 conference championship.

All is not lost for the Utes, they have a weapon in a great offensive and defensive player in Jakob Poeltl who took this years Pac-12 player of the year award.

Utah’s finish as the second seed in the Pac-12 is their best finish yet, luckily they will not have to face some of their tougher losses this year during the conference tournament, but they should not take that for granted.

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#13

Purdue

Purdue have had a solid season this year in the Big 10 as they finished on a 26-8 record picking up 2 key wins against Maryland and Michigan State later towards the season.

Purdue is a team with size, and they’ll be damned if they don’t use it. They have a high percentage on the inside and its not hard to understand why with their big man A.J. Hammons who has come into his own throughout the season giving Purdue a great chance going into the Big-10 championship.

Something about going inside in college just works for alot of teams if you’ve got it. Perhaps we see the Boilermakers exercise this style of play deep into March?

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#14

Louisville

It’s been a rough year for the Cardinals after being handed a sanction form the NCAA after an investigation into how the school was recruiting its basketball players.

Because of this Louisville will not take part in this years college basketball post-season. However, the team did finish with a 23-8 record and finishing 4th over in the ACC with a 13-6 conference record.

This good but bad season actually ranks as one of the best along with SMU (also banned this year) as 2 of the best teams since the 1992 UNLV team to be banned from the NCAA tournament with very good winning records.

So while the Cards won alot this year, they ultimately lost it all after it was said and done.

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#15

Arizona

Arizona had a great start to their season by only losing one game in 2015.

As the new year started however, the Wildcats stayed strong but dropped a few games in losing by 6 points or less in 6 out of their 7 losses.

Last year’s Pac-12 tournament championship featured Arizona and Oregon. The Wildcats dominated and ultimately got their first Pac-12 title for Arizona since 2002.

They have proven they can hang with almost anybody in college and always put up their best effort. If any team wants to beat the Wildcats its “A” game or game over.

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#16

Kentucky

It’s been an up and down year for the Big Blue Nation in 2015-2016 but they still come out on top as they finish 26-8 and go into the NCAA torunament with a SEC championship.

Look at the Wildcats an you’ll see a team that is offensively talented with a great point guard in Tyler Ulis, strong guard in Jamal Murray and some good complimetary players in Isiah Briscoe and Alex Poythress.

Defense however is the Wildcats let down in some parts, ranked 70th they have to find a way to stay disciplined and make better decisions which should allow their offense to shine.

You can bet you’ll see Kentucky in March, but if they don’t make the adjustments, how far in March will they really go?

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#17

Texas A&M

Texas A&M are at the top of the SEC but share the spot with an always tough Kentucky team.

The Aggies opened their SEC season with 7 straight wins getting them to No. 5 in the national rankings.

They would soon see that five straight SEC losses isn’t going to get you in a position to be seeded well going into March.

It seems that the Aggies are taking the constant conversations that sorround them in talks that Kentucky has them in the SEC, however the season match up will tell you otherwise, after the Aggies took the OT win over the Wildcats.

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#18

maryland

The Terps finished in the 4th spot of the the Big 10 conference this year boasting a good 25-8 overall record with a .500 conference record.

The Terps are a gritty team and can play with almost any team, they had a bit of trouble however against some some of their ranked match ups.

They close out this season with a pretty ugly loss to the Big 10’s #1 ranked Indiana. The lose did not effect Marylands seeding as much but is a wake-up call to the team and how they must perform in their conference tournament.

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#19

Duke

Duke had a good start to their season and ended up 5th in the ACC standings.

They lost alot of their games towards the end of the season as they began to go against ranked teams. Although it is wroth mentioning the 3 game streatch of wins they racked up against North Carolina, Virginia and Louisville.

They also lost one of better players in Amil Jefferson, Duke then faced an issue of a depleted bench with little depth that they could turn to to stay in games.

They do possess 2 of colleges best players in a young freshman Brandon Ingram and a savvy and scoring point guard in Grayson Allen but will it be enough for Duke to make it further in the tournament?

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#20

Iowa

Iowa were really making some noise in the Big 10 this year, they looked to be validating their deep tournament run when they got the #2 Michigan State and Purdue twice in the regular season.

With a respectable 5 losses by mid February, things were not so bad for the Hawkeyes. That was until they went on a downward spiral and lost their final 5 of 7.

Is this a lack of effort? A loss of focus? Either way the Hawkeyes need to address this if they plan on making it further into March.

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#21

Iowa State

The Cyclones finished 5th in the Big 12 this year. A team that had some big wins against Ohklahoma, Kansas and West Virginia.

They’ve had huge play from their star big in Georges Niang who has been the offensive stability that the Cyclones need in a tough conference.

Iowa State has proved to be a problem for most teams in the Big 12, which should give them a tonne of confidence going into the Big 12 championship and also as they make it into the NCAA tournament.

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#22

BAylor

The Bears ended up 5th in the Big 12 this year ending out the season with a respectable 21-8.

Baylors offense is something to be wary of and its definitely something that a team that lacked the scorers to match would find themselves in trouble.

Most of Baylors offensive onslaught is proof in majority of their final game scores, it was rare that a game went under 60 points and most were in the 70+ range.

Baylor however aren’t so good on the other end, as one of the worst ranked defenses in college basketball, its definitely something that is to watch out for as they try to survive in the tournament.

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#23

TEXAS

The Longhorns are holding on in a tough Big 12, but don’t look away too quickly. Texas have got some good wins with a nice list of North Carolina, Iowa State, West Virginia x2, Oklahoma and Baylor.

Yeah Texas is nothing to play with this year, this will mark their 17th appearance in the NCAA tournament in their last 18 seasons.

They do however, play against themselves sometimes, which for any team can be the difference between raw talent and mentally losing a game.

Texas should take their big wins and use it a motivation to make a big statement in the NCAA tournament, we’ll have to wait and see.

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#24

California

At 21-9 overall and 12-6 in the Pac-12, the Bears have won 7 of their last 8 games.

As a result, the Bears sit at #23 in the top 25 with wins in the regular season against Oregon, Arizona and Utah.

A big milestone for Cal as this marks the first time they’ve cracked the top 25 since 2003. More records came Cal’s way with a huge record of 18-0 at home this season.

California’s defense is a large part of what they do, their stats speak for themselves. They’ve got a great 2pt FG% defense, in fact they lead the Pac-12. Can the Bears convert this to the tournament?

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#25

SMU

I mentioned Louisville earlier in this top 25, but again SMU will join them as a team that did great and had a winning season but will be out of the NCAA tournament this year due to infractions.

Academic Fraud has added to the NCAA leading 10th infraction at SMU. A huge red flag for the school who have had a good year with a great point guard talent in Nic Moore.

Although they cracked the top 25 and landed the #2 seed in the American conference. SMU will not see the tournament this year and have lost alot more than a chance at the National Championship game at this point.

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THE WINNE

AAC Champion

big 12 Champion

ACC Champion

big west Champion

America east Champion

colonial Champion

Atlantic 10 Champion

Conference USA Champion

Atlantic sun Champion

Horizon Champion

big east Champion

IVy league Champion

big sky Champion

maac Champion

big south Champion

MAC Champion

big 10 Champion

MEAC Champion

ERS CIRCLE Missouri Valley Champion

summit Champion

Mountain west Champion

Sun belt Champion

northeast Champion

swac Champion

ohio valley Champion

wac Champion

PAc-12 Champion

west coast Champion

patriot Champion

The full list of conference champions for the college regular season and conference tournaments.

sec Champion

Where these teams will end up is anyones guess and as college has proved time and time again, the NCAA tournament brings a high level of unpredictability.

southern Champion

We also must be aware that some conferences are tougher than others, therefore the championship may be seen as more valuable given the amount of talented teams within that conference.

southland Champion

Either way these are the 2015-2016 winners and should be celebrated as such.

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APG: 7.6 RPG: 7.6 SPG: 1.0 Big 10 Player of the Year

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PPG: 17.0 FG%: .431 APG: 7.1 RPG: 3.1 SPG: 1.4 SEC Player of the Year

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PPG: 24.2 FG%: .439 APG: 9.3 RPG: 4.1 SPG: 2.0 Horizon Player of the Year

PPG: 21.6 FG%: .464 APG: 3.6 RPG: 4.6 SPG: 1.3

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PPG: 25.0 FG%: .496 APG: 2.1 RPG: 5.6 SPG: 1.2 TSN and BIG 12 Player of the Year

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PPG: 17.6 FG%: .649 APG: 1.9 RPG: 9.2 SPG: 0.6 PAC-12 Player of the Year

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APG: 4.8 RPG: 11.8 SPG: 2.0

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PPG: 19.2

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APG: 6.3 RPG: 5.4 SPG: 2.5 BIG EAST Player of the Year

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FG%: .445 APG: 2.0 RPG: 6.9 SPG: 1.1

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PPG: 18.5 FG%: .468 APG: 2.9 RPG: 4.0 SPG: 0.9 ACC Player of the Year

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