Wednesday, December 9, 2009

News On The Horizon 12/08/2009

ATB: Don’t You EVER Give Up…--Rush The Court

# #13 Georgetown 72, #20 Butler 65. Georgetown got 25 points and 14 rebounds from Greg Monroe as the Hoyas dominated Butler on the inside, outrebounding the Bulldogs 43-30. Perhaps Monroe’s biggest impact came on the defensive end, as he helped force Matt Howard into one of the worst games of his career as he finished 1-9 from the floor while looking intimidated in the post before fouling out. Georgetown jumped out to a 52-35 second-half lead, which Butler couldn’t bounce back from. Austin Freeman was 4-5 from deep in adding 18 points for the Hoyas, who picked up a must-needed statement win. Butler, who got 24 and 8 boards from Gordon Hayward, is not the top 10 team that many predicted they would be during the preseason right now, but this is still an impressive win nonetheless. For Butler to be in position to earn an at-large bid should it come to that, they are now probably going to have to beat both Ohio State and Xavier in coming weeks.
...
Marquette 71, Milwaukee 51. Marquette bounced back from their loss to NC State with their 37th consecutive win in this series (second-longest active streak) behind Jimmy Butler’s 19/5. Lazar Hayward also chipped in 13/4 in the easy win for the Golden Eagles.

--The Big Lead


RTC Live: Jimmy V Classic--Rush The Court
Morning 5IVE--Rush The Court

Has Butler painted itself into a corner by losing nearly every one of its marquee games thus far this season? Gary Parrish, Jeff Goodman and Luke Winn believe so, and we’re inclined to agree with them. Horizon League POY Matt Howard has ok numbers, but he’s averaging a ridiculous FOUR fouls per game, including five DQs so far this season, which is 25% more than his career average of 3.2 FPG, so he really needs to get that under control.

Tuesday's Pregame Beat--Ballin' is a Habit

7:oo pm: Georgetown vs. Butler: We finally get a chance to see how good Georgetown is. The Hoyas come in largely untested except for a slugfest with a very mediocre Temple team. The Hoyas top five is talented, but they have no bench to speak of. They are don't have much size inside. Butler, on the other hand, is very good, but they struggled out in Anaheim, going 1-2. Gordon Hayward and Shelvin Mack are both playing well this season, but Matt Howard has yet to find a groove. Expect Howard to have a big day against a relatively weak Georgetown frontline.

Wednesday's Shootaround: Georgetown and Indiana win in MSG--Ballin' is a Habit

Georgetown 72, Butler 65: G'Town got 25 and 14 from Greg Monroe as he absolutely shut down Matt Howard, who finshed 1-9 from the floor. Austin Freeman added 18 in the win, while Gordon Hayward went for 24 points and 8 boards in the loss. The question that remains is did Butler just cost themselves a chance to be an NCAA Tournament team? It is getting dangerously close to that point. The Bulldogs are now 0-3 against top 25 teams with just one more chance to pick up a win ... and it is against the Evan Turner-less Buckeyes. With Xavier struggling as well, it realy looks like Butler will head into conference play with a win at Northwestern as their best out of conference win.

But why is Butler struggling so much?

For starters, Matt Howard is struggling, especially on the defensive end. He is averaging 4.0 fouls per game, has fouled out five times, and has played just one game with less that three fouls, which is why he is barely averaging 24 mpg. But even with Howard on the court, Butler doesn't have much size of length up front. Hayward is 6'9", but he rarely plays on the interior defensively, and is rarely effective when he does. Willie Veasley, who is all of 6'3", usually ends up playing the majority of minutes at the four spot, meaning that Butler is almost always going to have a disadvantage on the inside.

Howard's struggles carry over to the offensive end as well. Butler has no post presence without Howard, and when he is struggling (or not on the floor), it means that Butler becomes way too reliant on the three and the (over) penetration of their guards. Howard is the most important player on this team, and he must pick up his play if Butler plans on making it to the tournament.

A bit of a underwhelming showcase in MSG tonight--College Hoops Journal
Around the Top 25: No. 15 Georgetown 72, No. 22 Butler 65--College Hoops Journal
Georgetown up to the task, and ranking--Washington Post
Butler squanders opportunity against ranked opponent--The Indy Star
New York blog 2: Bulldogs in the Garden--Indy Star Butler Insider
New York blog 3: Get better, not bitter--Indy Star Butler Insider
GEORGETOWN 72, BUTLER 65--THE unOFFICIAL BUTLER BULLDOGS MEN'S BASKETBALL PAGE
Georgetown Beats Bulldogs In Jimmy V Classic--ButlerSports.com

No Shortage of Great Sporting Events Over Holiday Break--The Cauldron

No Worries At 2-4: Women's Basketball Can Right Ship--The Cauldron

Titans fall at Calihan--The Detroit Free Press
Detroit Mercy regresses with loss to Tennessee St.--The Detroit News
Women's Basketball Set For Wednesday Home Match-Up Against BGSU--detroittitans.com

Titans' Buzzer Beater Falls Short--detroittitans.com

Holiday Gift Ideas from Chicago College Basketball--ChicagoNow.com

UIC Flames Holiday Pack - $65.00

You could just get a Flames fleece blanket, but why stop there? The holiday pack may look like expensive, but look what you get: 4 premium lower level seats, the fleece blanket and a holiday card. This is the gift that inspired this post. You also get to pick which game the four tickets are to. Personally, I'd recommend buying them quick because the best deals are Dec. 16 against Oregon State, Jan. 15 against Loyola or Jan. 23 against Butler. All offer to some great reasons to watch. Maybe by January the Flames will have finally heated up on offense. Buy it now.

LoyolaGift.jpg

Loyola University Chicago Banner - $32.00

The history of Loyola is great and the present might eventually catch up, so why not celebrate it with this very nice banner. While I'm sort of jealous that I can't find the blanket that Kyle Whelliston mentions in this Mid-Majority post the banner is a nice substitute. The banner is 1.5'x3' so you're going to need some space for it. Personally, I think a great idea would be to buy the banner and then if the Ramblers make a tournament this year buy a patch for it and sew it on. You'll have an excellent keepsake from an unexpected occurrence. The other Loyola gift I would totally buy? A DVD of the intro video at the Gentile Center. Now there's a great combination of the new and the old. Since you can't have that, get the banner. Buy it now.


Women's Basketball Having a Block Party This Season--uicflames.com

Ramblers Look To Stay Perfect At Home, Host San Francisco Saturday--LoyolaRamblers.com


Men's basketball: Point guards key to UWGB-UW showdown--Green Bay Press Gazette
Green Bay Set for Home Clash with No. 20 Wisconsin--uwgbathletics.com

Marquette defeats Wisconsin-Milwaukee 71-51--Daily Herald
Ties that bind--Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Koonce finds comfort all across the state--Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Sloppy but satisfying--Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Awww... Snap!! Loyola Takes over the Cell, Downs Milwaukee 69-64 (Foggy Horizon as Cross-Town UWM-MU Battle Looms)--Milwaukee Panther Tracks
Live Blog - Milwaukee at Marquette--Panther Blog Zone
This is a Rivalry?--SportsBubbler.com
UWM - UIC Game Notes--SportsBubbler.com
Turnovers Hurt Panthers In Loss At Marquette--uwmpanthers.com

Panthers Shoot For 2-2 Road Trip At UNI--uwmpanthers.com

Where he belongs--The Post-Tribune
Purdue won't take new-look Crusaders lightly--The Post-Tribune
Crusaders travel to No. 5 Purdue for third game against top-five opponent this season--The NWI Times
Wrapping up Butler--The VU Beat
Blast from the past--The VU Beat
Adams’ 18 Not Enough as Valpo Falls at #15 Pittsburgh--valpoathletics.com

Adams hits 18, but VU falls to Pitt Pittsburgh--The Post-Tribune
No. 15-ranked Pittsburgh cruises over VU women--The NWI Times

Raiders hold on to beat Toledo--Dayton Daily News
Was Toledo's rally reminiscent of Northeastern game?--Dayton Daily News
Raiders sneak by Toledo--Mark Katz's Blog
Raiders shoot down Rockets--RaiderRoundball.com
Raiders Hold On For 66-56 Win at Toledo--wsuraiders.com

OFF TO A SLOW START--Youngstown Vindicator
2009-10 Women's Basketball Promotional Schedule--ysusports.com

2009-10 Men's Basketball Promotional Schedule--ysusports.com

Men's Basketball Scoreboard - Dec. 8--The Horizon League
So How Does This Loyola "Thing" Happen?--Horizon League Network
My Perfect Team--Horizon League Network

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