Keep your eyes on Josh Pastner the coach of Memphis. He may be a real power in a couple of years. Hopefully we can get him back to Arizona some day. He got his BS, MS and PHD in 5 years while playing basketball at Arizona. He sleeps like 2 hours a night and studies game film while he sleeps:-)
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You said it brother! i LIKED WHAT jOSH pASTNER DID...DANGIT. I liked what
Josh Pastner did by going for the jugular at the end and having his hot shooter take the three at the end of the game.
He could have tried for the tie, or let his team coast to a loss against the #1 team in the country. Instead they go
for the win, and the shot bounces off the back iron. Better than hitting the front iron or dropping like an air ball.
Showed a little gas in the tank, and he takes a 50-50 shot at BEATING the number 1 team with a team that by all
rights should have been a huge work in progress. Don't think it doesn't give me alot of satisfaction to see Calipari
under-achieve even after taking all of the 2009 Memphis draft class with him to UK. Haha, then Pastner brings in
yet another top draft class to Memphis and fields a team good enough to beat KU. Maybe it was Pastner's recruiting
power that was putting Cal at the top every year? Still you can't take anything from Cal's ability to close the deal
at the end. But F Cal! UK can have his soiled a$$. Talk about Teflon Dons. has TWO final four appearances vacated
and still comes out smelling like a rose.
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I am not surprised at any team getting out with a squeaker this early in the season.
Sure it can spoil a good run for a team that is looking for perfection,
But getting into the season after endless practice can be a little like me
heading for the bathroom for a shower every morning at 5:30 with one eye open, navigating by feel.
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Thanks for the heads-up. I don't know him, so will pay attention. One thing for sure - he won't have to go far to be a better citizen than that scumbag Calipari. Hopefully this Pastner will get a chance to coach without Calipari's legacy coming back to bite him inna @$$ with an NCAA penalty.
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Take a look at Josh's first recruiting class:

http://scouthoops.scout.com/a.z?s=75...id=440&yr=2010

Not bad for a first year head coach.
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With 3:30 left, 'Nova/GMU is a one-point game. Maybe you guys should put this up online.
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Well, Villanova pretty much could not hit a three all game - until the last half-minute, when they hit 2 in quick succession to steal a win from George Mason 69-68. And this is the #5 team in the nation, and the class of the Big Mouth Conference? Gimme a break.
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Hopefully the game against Memphis was a wakeup call for the young Jayhawks at least they have a few in a row here before the run up against UCLA in December.
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The Bruins have very little this season when it comes to athletes, so I'd not sweat it too much. Hey, UCLA's already lost to Cal State Fullerton!
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Only three of the evening games last night held much interest, as the others were the anticipated blowouts. The one "upset", if you can call it that, was Syracuse spanking #13 California 95-73, but as weak as the Pac-10 appears early this season it is not too big a shocker. More of a shock was the final in the #4 Kentucky/Sam Houston State game - 102 to 92. Whereas in their games against Morehead State and Miami (OH), where the question was why did the Wildcats score so little, the question here is how could they let Sam Houston score so much? Though the contest was not as close as the score, this has to be disturbing to UK faithful. Also, Roy Williams is doubtless upset at the sloppy end-game play his team has shown, for although #6 UNC defeated #15 Ohio State 77-73, this was a game that was not nearly this tight until the end, when some late turnovers and missed free-throws, coupled with OSU finally hitting some treys (4 in the final 2 minutes), cut what had been a safe double-digit lead down to a slim two with 11 ticks left. Hey, I started out by saying my Heels are young, and this will be a steep learning curve for them - which gets steeper come December. Well, we'll see if they learned any lessons, when they grip the orange against The Orange in MSG tonight.

Other games this evening:

# 2 Mich. St. vs. Toledo
# 7 Purdue vs. South Dakota St.
# 10 Tenn. vs. East Carolina
# 13 Cal vs. Ohio St. - the consolation game in The Garden
# 14 Washington vs. San Jose St.
# 16 Michigan vs. Houston Baptist
# 22 Clemson vs. N.C. Greensboro
# 25 Maryland vs. New Hampshire
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Didn't Syracuse lose to a D2 school in exhibition? That's what caught my eye on them beating Cal.

Either Sam Houston was shooting lights out or they are going to surprise a few people this year.
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The 'Cuse lost to their local D2 rival, the Le Moyne Dolphins, back on Nov. 3 by a 82-79 score. And as for Sam Houston St., they shot 18 of 38 from deep, which in practical terms turns that 47% into 71%. Guard Corey Allmond alone hit 11 treys, which set a new record in Rupp.
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Big ACC and UNC fan here. Go heels!
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The kids told Boeheim they wanted to play man-to-man defense the whole game and he let them to prove a point. Needless to say, after the game Boeheim said that wouldn't happen again as they will go back to his usual, legendary, zone d.
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So you're saying that Boeheim lost to the Dolphins on porpoise? :-)
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# 21 Ga. Tech trails George Mason early down in San Juan, but it is early, so . . . . Updates to follow.
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The Ramblin' Wreck takes a 27-19 lead into halftime against GM - and The Cars are on my radio. :-)
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Looks like Tech finally woke up - with 15 minutes left, it's now 43-26.
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Well, George tried to make a game of it, but George-yah Tek holds on for a 70-62 victory.
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The big game last night was the "upset" of #6 UNC by the unranked Syracuse Orangemen in MSG, with a final of 87-71. The Tar Heels took a slim lead into halftime, but missed their first 13 shots of the second and turned the ball over 6 times to boot. Meanwhile the Orange could not miss, going 10 of 14 from inside and out, and went on a 22-1 run to put the game out of reach. Carolina did close to 68-60 with 7 minutes left, yet that was as close as they could get. This loss was no shock to either Roy Williams or to me - with 6 of their 9 key players either freshmen or sophmores, the Heels have not yet jelled as a team. Hopefully this spanking will focus them, and they will jell soon - come December, things really start to get rough.

Other scores of big games include:

# 2 Mich. St. 75 - Toledo 62 = A good win, but not impressive.
# 5 Villanova 71 - # 18 Dayton 65 = A good win, period.
# 7 Purdue 74 - South Dakota St. 63 = Meh.
# 10 Tenn. 105 - East Carolina 66 = Meh, but for different reasons.
# 15 Ohio St. 76 - # 13 California 70 = I'd be more impressed were Cal not 2-2, thus perhaps over-rated.
# 14 Washington 80 - San Jose St. 70 = Meh number three.
# 22 Clemson 89 - N.C. Greensboro 67 = Meh'k that four.
# 25 Maryland 82 - New Hampshire 55 = About what you'd expect, really.

Today's top games include:

# 4 Kentucky vs. Rider = Already underway, and tied very very early.
# 9 Duke vs. Radford
# 11 Butler vs. Evansville
# 17 Oklahoma vs. Virginia Commonwealth
# 19 Georgetown vs. Savannah St. = Also underway, and close after 6 1/2.
# 20 Louisville vs. East Tennessee St.
# 23 Illinois vs. Presbyterian

Why not tune in for a few minutes today? College ball does NOT start in March!
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