Beyond the Arc : A-10

Did Chris Wright just make the leap?

Mike Miller — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 14:42:00 GMT

Let’s play a little game.

Raise your hand if Evan Turner and Manny Harris were on your preseason All-America team (both turned in triple-doubles last week). Just a few?

Now, what about Da’Sean Butler (26 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists) and Greivis Vasquez (13 assists topped all players last weekend)? Hardly any?

OK then, what about Chris Wright? Did anyone foresee the 6-8 Dayton junior opening with such an efficient, impressive performance like he did against Creighton?

OK, I’ll be honest – Wright made our team, but Saturday’s 25-point, 8-rebound effort against an NCAA-caliber team like the Blue Jays surpassed what I expected. His 1.63 PPWS and 83.3 eFG% represents a monstrous leap from his inefficient sophomore season when he hoisted too many 3s. More importantly, he rose to the occasion when the Flyers needed it most in the second half.

"It's about just knowing what my best game is, knowing I'm not a 3-point shooter, someone that's handling the ball all the time — but doing what I do best," Wright said. "When you do what you're good at, you fit in your role on the team."

It’s the kind of game that’ll shoot Wright into college hoops stardom. Well, that and his dunks.

As the Sporting News’ Mike DeCourcy writes, Wright possesses extraordinary basketball skills. When he plays to his strengths – attacking the rim – and doesn’t force things, the Flyers could be awfully dangerous.

Follow me on Twitter (@BeyndArcMMiller) and get more college basketball news at NBCSports.com.

Billikens' bricks were an all-time worst

Mike Miller — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 14:35:00 GMT

This is when the writer’s strike really hurts. In less than two weeks, we’ve seen three new records for scoring futility. [Insert raunchy joke here.]

Where’s Judd Apatow when a guy needs him? Even if he can’t write a joke, he could probably make a shot for Rick Majerus. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

First, it was Pennsylvania setting a record for fewest points in a half (6) during a 60-30 loss to Florida Gulf Coast. The Quakers missed every shot in the first 13:15 of the first half, breaking Central Michigan’s record set two years ago against Miami (Ohio). Not since the advent of the shot clock had a team had such trouble scoring.

Nine days later, Savannah State to put on a real (ugly) show.

The Tigers, 12-18 last season, 2-28 the year before and winless in 2004-05, know something about not scoring. But an 85-25 loss to Kansas State was bad even for them.

Savannah State was outscored 48-4 in the second half, making just 1-of-23 field goal attempts. That’s a 4.3 shooting percentage. It got so bad, some K-State fans yelled “mercy bucket,” according to the AP story.

So how does it get any worse? When your opponent has as many blocked shots and steals combined as you do points – and you’re the team with the better record. That’s the truly amazing part in Saint Louis’ 46-20 loss to George Washington on Thursday.

Sure, the Billikens missed 23 consecutive shots. Yeah, they trailed 23-7 at halftime and set the modern record for fewest points in a game.

But this was the A-10 opener for both teams. Neither could’ve expected an outcome like this.

“Sometimes you miss,” Majerus said after the game. “We are a team that has some issues. That is why we are practicing (Friday). We did miss some good shots, yes. Anyone can look at us and see we don’t have height, we don’t have depth.”

Maybe, but this is the same team that beat Southern Illinois in mid-December. The Billikens (9-6) were considered to be part of the A-10 revival, thanks to Majerus’ coaching. The Colonials (4-6) hadn’t beaten a team ranked among the RPI’s top 200 teams all season.

To put it bluntly, this was like nothing we’ve ever seen before.

Consider:

Penn was 4-7, while was Florida Gulf Coast 3-9 entering their game. Both teams were capable of bad night, which is what the Quakers had.
K-State is an NCAA caliber team that played well at home and had an opponent struggle beyond what one would expect.
Even when Air Force held Colorado College (a D-III school) to six points last season, we could even expect a result like that because of the league differential.

The Billikens, meanwhile, put on a performance everyone would like to forget.

Their offensive efficiency for this game was 37.5 on 53 possessions. Their previous low this season was 61.4 in a 61-40 loss to Kent State. Their eFG% was 15.6, half of their previous low, also against Kent State. Both were also worse than Savannah State against K-State.

Ken Pomeroy could confirm this, but it looks like the Billikens put on one of the top five worst offensive displays in history.

The good news? Thank God for the shot clock.

North Carolina trailed Duke 7-0 at halftime during a 1979 loss (Dean Smith’s four corners offense never worked better.) Arkansas State once lost 75-6 to Kentucky in 1945, while Temple lost 11-6 to Tennessee in 1973.

11-6. That’s not even a good football game.

Surprise! The return of the A-10

Mike Miller — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 21:18:00 GMT

In a season where few teams have been actual surprises to start the year – Ole Miss, Miami (Fla.), Saint Mary’s, Drake, among the most notable – the most impressive group start has to be from the Atlantic 10, where the conference is off to its best start since St. Joseph’s stole the hoops spotlight in 2003-04.

Huh. Has Jameer Nelson really been in the NBA four years? Doesn’t seem that long ago when Nelson was leading St. Joe’s to a 30-2 season and just missing out on the Final Four. His Hawks and Xavier, which also reached the Elite Eight that season, helped make the A-10 one of that season’s big stars.

That hasn’t been the case for the A-10 the last few years.

The league was ranked 15^th, 11^th and 10^th in conference RPI the seasons following St. Joe’s run. Usually a multiple-bid conference, only George Washington and Xavier have made the NCAA Tournament the last three years, a reflection of poorer league play as others, like the Missouri Valley and the Mountain West, featured deeper and far better teams.

This year, the A-10, which has two ranked teams in this week’s AP poll in Dayton and Rhode Island, is just behind the MVC in conference RPI. A-10 teams have a .632 winning percentage against non-conference foes, the league’s best since 1997-98. More impressive are the teams the teams at the top. UMass and Xavier join Dayton and R.I. in the top 25 in RPI – tied with the Big 12 for most teams in the top 25.

(For those who quibble with the RPI – which has its problems, but is one of the main considerations when it comes to at-large bids for the NCAA Tournament, so you have to reference it – the A-10 isn’t as hot in pomeroy ratings or on bbstate.com. Only Xavier is in Pomeroy’s top 25; St. Joe’s and Xavier are ranked in bbstate’s top 25.)

Leading the way are Dayton – properly lauded by multiple pundits for their impressive win over Pittsburgh on Saturday – and Rhode Island.

And few saw starts like that coming.

The Flyers (11-1) are off to their best start since 1955-56, when they won their first 14. Wins against Pitt, Louisville and an underrated Miami (Ohio), with an All-American caliber player in Brian Roberts give them a good chance at a run in the Big Dance.

Rhode Island (13-1) has an even more historic start, its best since 1946-47. The Rams’ only loss is to B.C., and have beaten Providence, Syracuse. They’re not as impressive on paper as Dayton, but can’t be overlooked.

Both will be gunning for the A-10 title, but Xavier, UMass, St. Joe’s and even Duquense (8-3, its best start since 1979-80) could make that conference race interesting for once. And maybe even result in 3-5 bids in the NCAA Tournament.

Now that would be a pleasant surprise reward for a proud hoops league.