Once upon a time, coach Bobby Gonzalez took an underdog Manhattan team to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament, where hey were national darlings and a Cinderella story. This year, the lowest seed to advance out of the first two rounds of the tourney is UCLA, and we would be hard pressed to describe them as a Cinderella in any way, shape or form … not with that school’s history. This year’s Sweet Sixteen is loaded with quality teams, from the
CHICAGO – If there was anything to be learned at the 2014 NBA Draft combine, it is that when discussing prospects, positions are somewhat blown out of proportion. Despite their size, a prospect must must become very well-rounded in order to reach true star status at the next level. “It’s not new to see guys playing multiple positions,” Tom Penn, an ESPN analyst, told the Wall Street Journal in 2012. “But we’ve never seen this many elite players play multiple positions at an elite
You’ve heard the saying: “The kids are alright.” Well, these kids are more than alright. As the NBA’s ever-evolving landscape of perimeter-oriented and multifaceted skill sets take the basketball world by storm on a nightly basis, the youth who aspire to compete against their heroes (in 2015 or beyond, thanks to the one-and-done rule) have keenly paid attention to the changes in the game and what they mean for their own personal development as players. SheridanHoops caught up with nine of the 24
As it often does, the NCAA Tournament provided a wild first weekend. Mercer saved Warren Buffett $1 billion, Dayton won the state of Ohio and reached the Sweet 16 for the first time in 30 years, Stanford sent Andrew Wiggins and Kansas packing, and the young Kentucky Wildcats ended Wichita State’s dream season. So out of the 32 second and third-round games won by the 16 teams still in contention for the national championship, what statistical trends and insights can we gain
The first weekend of the NCAA Tournament is pure mayhem; games begin and end simultaneously, buzzers sound from TV’s, iPads, iPhones, and computers, celebrations are loud … and defeat is inevitable for more than three-quarters of the field… Which brings us to these next four days of college basketball: Games are fewer than the week before, but the stakes continue to rise as the Sweet Sixteen turns into the Elite Eight, and, eventually the Final Four. [Read more…]
It was an exciting and historic first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament over the weekend, with the blue bloods of college basketball reaching the second week of the tourney along with surprise teams including LaSalle, Wichita State and No. 15 seed Florida Gulf Coast. But what did it really take for the teams to win two, and in LaSalle’s case, three, games last week? [Read more…]
After missing the NCAA Tournament in 2012, the Arizona Wildcats are back in 2013. Led by head coach Sean Miller, Arizona will be a No. 6 seed in the West Region. So what should you know about this Pac-12 power? 1. The Arizona Wildcats have made it to the Sweet Sixteen in each of their past two appearances. That includes a run to the Elite Eight in 2011. 2. Arizona has five wins against teams currently in the NCAA Tournament. That includes victories
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — Of the 2013 recruits on hand at the HoopHall Classic, the most high-profile players coming into the event were, without question, two 6-7 swingmen: Duke-bound Jabari Parker and the reclassified (2013) and uncommitted Andrew Wiggins. Parker and Wiggins, likely to be compared and contrasted for years and years to come, each showed why they could be competing for the opportunity to shake Adam Silver’s hand first at the 2014 NBA Draft. [Read more…]