January game thread

[Atlanta Hawk Fan]

First, UK doesn't need 54 points to win. Patrick Patterson is their best player overall. Meeks is the best scorer and a very good player. Between the two of them, you have one of the best inside-outside tandems in the country. What UK needs is more from the rest of the team and they have some talented guys who should be good role players in Liggins, Stevenson, Miller, Harrelson, etc.

As far as the SEC, it is clearly down but please don't try to pretend like they can't compete with other conferences.


Arkansas beat #4 Oklahoma
Arkansas beat #7 Texas
Tennessee beat #13 Georgetown
#18 UL had to get a lucky 3pt shot to beat UK on a night when UK turned the ball over like crazy and UL was hot from 3pt range

SEC teams have beaten ACC teams, Big East teams, Big 12 teams, etc.

They are down and as a conference clearly aren't in the conversation with a conference like the Big East but aren't exactly in the shut it down category as Georgetown, Oklahoma, etc. will tell you.

It's a 2 way street though now isn't it?

Kentucky lost to VMI
Georgia lost to Loyola Chicago and Texas A&M CC
South Carolina lost to Charleston
Vanderbilt lost to UIC
Alabama lost to Mercer
Auburn lost to Mercer
Arkansas lost to Missouri State
LSU lost by 30 at Utah
Ole Miss lost by 33 at New Mexico
Mississippi State lost to San Diego

Really only Tennessee and Florida don't have inexcusable losses. But Florida's played just one ranked team and Tennessee let a man score 54 points on their home floor. Honestly, the Mountain West is a superior conference to the SEC, as evidenced by Utah hammering LSU and New Mexico manhandling Ole Miss. BYU and UNLV could most definitely win the SEC. The days of Pitino and Nolan Richardson and Dale Brown are long gone. I'm sure the league will eventually, and quickly, regroup. But right now it's just a subpar basketball conference.

Sooo basically you agree with everything I said? The SEC is really down this year. We agree there.

No one disputes that the SEC, even as down as it is, still has beat some of the best the Big 12 and Big East have to offer, right? Don't be a fan of Texas, Georgetown, or Oklahoma or any team those guys have beat and try to claim the SEC is irrelevant.

[Atlanta Hawk Fan]

Not for nothing, but Tennessee has given up, I believe, 4 career highs this season, I believe 3 of which were 40+ and 1 that was 30+.

That is not taken anything away from the incredible performance by Meeks, but more so to look at how terrible their perimeter defense and closeout and switches are.

Agreed. Still beat Georgetown, though.

[Polynice4Pippen]

Sooo basically you agree with everything I said? The SEC is really down this year. We agree there.

No one disputes that the SEC, even as down as it is, still has beat some of the best the Big 12 and Big East have to offer, right? Don't be a fan of Texas, Georgetown, or Oklahoma or any team those guys have beat and try to claim the SEC is irrelevant.

That's fine. But as the facts indicate, it's no more relevant than the Atlantic 10 or Mountain West.

[Polynice4Pippen]

Craig Robinson FTW. Oregon State sweeps through the Bay area with wins at Cal and Stanford. Now that's serious right there. What a week for the guy. Congrats to my fellow Chicagoan.

[jman3134]

Huge win for Seton Hall today. They played aggressive defense throughout and deserved the victory despite going 2-4 from the line before the final close out. (giving Georgetown three opportunities to take the lead or tie) If only they had some depth in the frontcourt, they wouldn't be half bad.

[studcrackers]

well the weather here in stillwater's getting bad, ice on the roads and all. they've decided to let everyone in the game for free (though i already had a ticket) but the atmosphere should be amazing especially w/POTY front runner blake griffin coming to town. im excited to see him even though i know we have 0 size on our team and are constantly in foul trouble. but if we can control the tempo and not play a half court game i feel we have a shot since the games in our building

[jman3134]

A couple of big games tonight. Hopefully, Nova can pull the upset against Pitt on a magical night. (the last game before the Spectrum gets torn down) Also, Duke/Wake is poised to be a classic.

[Wade2k6]

Well, Jman called it, Nova upsets Pitt and it was a great game @ Wake. Doesn't get much better then those kind of games.

[Quincy8Douby]

and to top it off... UNC and FSU are neck and neck right now...

EDIT: WOW! LAWSON BUZZER BEATER!!

[jman3134]

Great game against Pitt.....pitt just couldn't hit shots and Blair really made some stupid fouls. The refs called tic tac fouls the entire game for both sides. But, I would say it was a solid victory for Nova. Could be their ticket to the dance. I think the Big East is looking at 10 minimum teams in right now.

Too bad I missed the Duke vs. Wake and UNC contest.

[Polynice4Pippen]

How about Northern Iowa, 9-1 now in the Valley with a big win over Illinois State. They have a full 2 game lead in conference now.