Pac-10 Basketball Thread 2005-6

[Dback Jon]

This is the place for all 2005-6 Pac-10 basketball talk, for items that do not warrant individual threads. Feel free to continue to start game threads as desired.

 

[Dback Jon]

Standings as of 1-3

Team Conf. All
W L W L
Arizona 2 0 9 3
California 2 0 8 3
Oregon 1 0 7 6
Washington 1 1 12 1
UCLA 1 1 11 2
USC 1 1 10 3
Washington State 1 1 8 3
Oregon State 0 1 7 5
Arizona State 0 2 6 5
Stanford 0 2 4 6

 

[Brian in Mesa]

Pac-10 basketball

 

[Dback Jon]

This weeks games:

Arizona: UCLA, USC
ASU: USC, UCLA
Cal: Oregon, OSU
Oregon: @Cal, @Stanford
OSU: @Stanford, @Cal
Stanford: OSU, Oregon
UCLA: @Arizona, @ASU
USC: @ASU, @Arizona
UW: Washington State
WSU: @UW

 

[Dback Jon]

Pac-10 basketball

Now - to figure out how to merge threads.....

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

Can we get some RPI or Sagarin updates with the standings? They're arguably just as if not more important come March. Gracias.

 

[Russ Smith]

Is it too late for me to complain that Adams should have been suspended, and that Thursday night is a great time for that suspension?

 

[Dback Jon]

Here's Sagarin

12 Arizona = 88.38
18 Washington = 85.55
27 UCLA = 84.46
64 Washington State = 81.03
74 California = 80.28
120 Southern California = 76.53
137 Oregon = 75.09
146 Oregon State = 74.44
159 Arizona State = 73.58
200 Stanford = 70.68

Top 10 Conferences

1 BIG TEN = 83.26
2 ATLANTIC COAST = 82.38
3 BIG EAST = 81.75
4 SOUTHEASTERN = 81.66
5 MISSOURI VALLEY = 80.71
6 BIG 12 = 80.67
7 PACIFIC-10 = 78.75
8 ATLANTIC 10 = 76.81
9 MOUNTAIN WEST = 76.12
10 COLONIAL = 75.36

 

[Dback Jon]

Top 65 Sagarin

# Team Rating Wins Losses
1 Duke 97.97 13 0
2 Villanova 97.66 9 0
3 Connecticut 95.13 11 0
4 Florida 91.94 12 0
5 Memphis 91.54 11 2
6 Illinois 90.99 14 0
7 Texas 90.54 11 2
8 Ohio State 89.68 10 0
9 Colorado 88.97 9 1
10 Indiana 88.73 8 2
11 Pittsburgh 88.61 11 0
12 Arizona 88.38 9 3
13 Gonzaga 86.91 10 3
14 Missouri State 86.7 9 2
15 Cincinnati 86.53 10 2
16 NC State 86.43 11 1
17 Maryland 85.73 9 2
18 Washington 85.55 12 1
19 Xavier-Ohio 85.13 7 2
20 Boston College 85 9 2
21 Michigan 84.98 10 1
22 Tennessee 84.91 8 1
23 Wisconsin 84.73 10 2
24 Michigan State 84.71 11 2
25 Iowa 84.69 11 3
26 Bucknell 84.56 8 3
27 UCLA 84.46 11 2
28 Colorado State 84.44 9 2
29 Saint Joseph's 84.34 5 4
30 Arkansas 84.33 11 2
31 North Carolina 84.13 7 2
32 Bradley 83.98 8 3
33 Northern Iowa 83.95 10 2
34 Kentucky 83.88 9 3
35 Florida State 83.5 9 1
36 Wichita State 83.49 10 3
37 Syracuse 83.26 11 2
38 Iowa State 83.21 9 3
39 Texas A&M 83.05 10 0
40 Wis.-Milwaukee 83.03 8 3
41 Nevada 82.91 9 2
42 Air Force 82.9 10 1
43 Kansas State 82.89 9 2
44 Vanderbilt 82.76 9 1
45 UAB 82.75 9 3
46 Iona 82.52 7 2
47 Georgetown 82.37 8 2
48 Pennsylvania 82.29 4 4
49 Houston 82.23 6 3
50 George Washington 82.05 8 1
51 Wake Forest 82.02 10 2
52 Auburn 81.99 7 3
53 George Mason 81.96 8 4
54 Butler 81.87 8 5
55 Winthrop 81.76 4 3
56 Temple 81.72 6 4
57 Notre Dame 81.58 9 2
58 Southern Illinois 81.55 9 2
59 Louisville 81.55 11 1
60 Oklahoma State 81.53 9 4
61 Utah State 81.46 7 3
62 Clemson 81.41 10 2
63 Creighton 81.32 7 4
64 Washington State 81.03 8 3
65 LSU 81.02 6 4

 

[Dback Jon]

Standings as of 1-6

Pacific-10 Conference Standings
Conf All
California 3-0 9-3
UCLA (17) 2-1 12-2
USC 2-1 11-3
Arizona (21) 2-1 9-4
Washington (10) 1-1 12-1
Washington St. 1-1 8-3
Oregon 1-1 7-7
Stanford 1-2 5-6
Oregon St. 0-2 7-6
Arizona St. 0-3 6-6

 

[Dback Jon]

Standings as of 1-9

Pacific-10 Conference Standings
Conf All
UCLA (17) 3-1 13-2
Arizona (21) 3-1 10-4
California 3-1 9-4
Washington St. 2-1 9-3
USC 2-2 11-4
Stanford 2-2 6-6
Washington (10) 1-2 12-2
Oregon St. 1-2 8-6
Oregon 1-2 7-8
Arizona St. 0-4 6-7
Other Conferences

 

[Dback Jon]

Pacific-10 Conference Standings
Team Conf All
UCLA (11) 4-1 14-2
California 3-1 9-4
Arizona (24) 3-2 10-5
Washington (13) 2-2 13-2
Washington St. 2-2 9-4
Oregon St. 2-2 9-6
Oregon 2-2 8-8
Stanford 2-2 6-6
USC 2-3 11-5
Arizona St. 0-5 6-8

 

[Dback Jon]

As of 1-22-2006

Pacific-10 Conference Standings
Team Conf All
Washington (10) 5-2 16-2
UCLA (18) 5-2 15-4
Arizona 5-3 12-6
California 4-3 10-6
Stanford 4-3 8-7
Oregon 4-3 10-9
USC 3-4 12-6
Oregon St. 3-4 10-8
Washington St. 2-5 9-7
Arizona St. 1-7 7-10

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

Stanford's coming on. And here's an article about Oregon's Ernie Kent who looks like he'll be joining Rob Evans' in the unemployment line in a few weeks.

Sunday, January 29, 2006
The Oregonian
Canzano: Moos' ways could stunt

UO ambition

I would like to think the University of Oregon's athletic department realized on Saturday that McArthur Court has become the unfulfilled basketball capital of the country.

But I'm not so sure because here was athletic director Bill Moos sounding like the head of the Ernie Kent Preservation Society when he said on Friday, "Ernie's my man. I hired him."

Moos also said: "Coach Kent has my wholehearted support. And I think we're due. We're due to get back. We had the near-win at Stanford. Then, the good Arizona week. Then, the Washington State game. Then, we didn't expect to get beat that badly at Washington, and we were right in there with UCLA."

Why is this beginning to sound more and more like a gambler chasing his losses than an athletic director who is going to be charged at season's end with doing what needs to be done?

Let's see. In recent seasons, Kent has surrounded himself with sycophants, taken too long to develop the most talented recruiting class in school history, been out-coached on a nightly basis, lost the respect of his players and foolishly put himself above the program.

Knowing that average U.S. life expectancy is around 75 years, Ducks fans don't deserve to waste another season when Kent's teams haven't won an NCAA Tournament game since reaching the Elite Eight in 2002 and are 22-23 in their past 45 Pacific-10 Conference games.

Oregon lost Saturday to USC 84-78 . And even if the Ducks (10-11, 4-5) had managed to pull out the win at home, the victory would have amounted to phantom success for a program that is unwatchable on offense.

Moos is the boss. Kent's future is his hands. And Moos' early position on Kent has to leave boosters feeling flat when they consider what kind of program Oregon could be, and that Moos hopes the new basketball arena will open in 2009.

After the numbing late-December back-to-back losses to the University of Portland and Portland State, the Ducks called a players-only meeting at a player's apartment. Kent's son Jordan, who was preparing for the Holiday Bowl with the football team, said he was not invited nor later told what was discussed.

"If there was something I needed to hear, or that pertained to me, I figure they would have shared it with me," Jordan Kent said.

In that meeting, multiple players said the team decided to play for itself. And as much as you relish their zest and admire their ambition, Ernie Kent shouldn't be provided a $190,000 base salary, hefty incentives and a membership to the Eugene Country Club (as his contract stipulates) for standing around waving his arms, being ignored.

Right now, with players and recruits, Kent has no street cred. That explains why power forward Ivan Johnson felt comfortable enough to raise one hand toward Kent's face in a "talk to the hand" gesture earlier this season that still makes some teammates giggle.

The Ducks will tell you they feel for sophomore Malik Hairston, who chose Oregon over Kansas. And they sympathize with Bryce Taylor who has settled into a particularly cold corner of Kent's doghouse. And also, point guard Aaron Brooks, who came to Eugene to run the floor only to have Kent scrap the offense halfway through his junior season.

Also, there is forward Maarty Leunen, 19, who was asked to take cortisone and novocaine injections Jan. 18 in his injured right ankle. According to people close to the situation, Leunen was so conflicted about taking the shots that he called his mother at 7:30 p.m. from the university training room.

"You don't question Ernie's judgment by yourself," one of Leunen's teammates said.

During the call, Marjie Leunen instructed her son to hold off until she could consult a physician. Then Maarty got off the phone and took the injections, which tells you something about what it's like to be stranded in this program, even with a lifeline.

Kent said the injections were Leunen's decision.

"I consult with, and listen to my trainers and team doctors when it comes to those things," he said. "That was Maarty's decision all the way. He wanted to take the shots."

But the substitutions are undeniably Kent's work. And 24 hours after the shots, in a move that reeked of desperation, Kent inserted Leunen and played him one minute in Oregon's 52-50 victory over Washington State.

Trail Blazers trainer Jay Jensen said, "I'm not going to say it's wrong to put him back in there so soon, but cortisone is a healing agent. The point of taking the injection is to help heal the injury, which means you ideally want to follow a cortisone injection with a few days of rest."

Two nights later, against Washington, Leunen played 16 minutes on the bad ankle, looked stiff and unable to jump, and didn't attempt a shot. And, after the loss, Kent attributed Leunen's ineffective play on a "lack of conditioning."

Tell me, how can boosters and fans believe in the ambition of the Oregon athletic department, and the new basketball arena, if the athletic director is having trouble seeing what everyone else sees so clearly?

Remember, Oregon's last NCAA appearance in 2003 ended with Utah coach Rick Majerus, armed with a Hawaiian shirt and a battered lineup, eliminating Kent's Ducks, which were playing with two future NBA lottery picks.

Oregon shouldn't be reduced to a regionally competitive program by its athletic director.

The university standards at Oregon need to be higher than Moos' "we should be in the postseason four of every five years." In part, because Moos accepts the National Invitation Tournament as a success when the rest of us look at it as the national college basketball booby prize.

"Ernie's won conference championships and he's won tournament championships in his time here," Moos said.

But the coach now finds himself woefully overmatched in a conference that has improved its coaching ranks by hiring Dick Bennett (WSU), Ben Howland (UCLA), and Tim Floyd (USC). Meanwhile Kent has lost valuable assistants such as Greg Graham and Oregon State's Jay John and, in a predictable development, Kent asked assistant Fred Litzenberger to clean out his desk last summer. Ex-players say Litzenberger was a valuable buffer between the players and Kent, who has trouble developing healthy relationships with his players.

Kent has lost his team. He's lost the attention of the state's top high school recruits, Kevin Love and Kyle Singler. Yet even with all of this, Kent doesn't appear to be losing Moos.

And that may be the most troubling development yet.

 

[Arizona's Finest]

Great article Mao.....

I would say the future of Pac-10 basketball is UCLA, UA, and UW....

The other spots are either not big enough (OSU, WSU) or currently dont have the right coaches in place...

But as a Cats fan, both those programs scare me as i think the coaches and the talent in those areas is a pause for concern.....

 

[Mr. Boldin]

As Ben Hansen has said USC is on the way back up. I agree with him all the way to the bank that is paying Tim Floyd.

Give Floyd 2 more years and he will have a very solid team that will be contending for the Pac-10. Too bad USC couldnt get Robert Swift in, they would be an upset waiting to happen with him.

The future is bright with the emergence of Washington.

Arizona, Washington, Stanford, UCLA are going to give this conference a boost. I just hope USC and Oregon can get back on track.

 

[Russ Smith]

As I posted this offseason, Kent was in major trouble, it's really surprising they let him coach the season. The team does not like the guy, he's a screamer. they went to an assistant coach and asked him to intervene with Kent and calm down a bit, and Kent fired the assistant, and then announced he'd retired. 2 weeks later, he took another job, coach Litz was his nickname.

the offseason rumors were numerous but basically Kent had an extramarital affair, got caught, he was in Mexico with his mistress when he was supposed to be recruiting. The school investigated and found no financial fraud, ie he didn't bill his love trip to Oregon. The woman is the daughter of the owner of a local tv station, he's a prominent Duck booster, very embarassing, Phil Knight of NIKE was not amused. Without Knight's endorsement, nobody can coach at Oregon.

I honestly expected him to be fired then, supposedly there were negotiations, but obviously they let him return. They have talent, and it's too bad but they're being squandered badly. I read the same article Mao linked, when players are literally saying they don't listen to what the coach says, that's time to either can all the players, or can the coach.

Floyd is a terrific coach the question I have with him is will he be able to do at USC what he did at Iowa State? There he existed on transfers, juco's and borderline students that nobody else could get in. USC is NOT picky, they will take kids most pac 10 schools won't touch for grades, and Floyd has already loaded up on transfers and juco's, but can you build a program in the pac 10 that way? The key is how well he recruits in LA, and he has a lot of competition with UCLA, UA, Stanford, Cal. UW hasn't really hit LA much of yet but Romar is a better recruiter than coach. Floyd can coach, he's really improved USC quickly, but he's a bit of a renegade coach, the kind you wonder about getting a school in NCAA trouble.

 

[Dback Jon]

As of 1-30-2006

Team Conf All
UCLA (14) 7-2 17-4
California 6-3 12-6
Arizona 6-3 13-7
Stanford 6-3 10-7
Washington (16) 5-4 16-4
USC 5-4 14-6
Oregon 4-5 10-11
Oregon St. 3-6 10-10
Washington St. 2-7 9-9
Arizona St. 1-8 7-11

 

[Dback Jon]

As of 2-3-2006

Pacific-10 Conf All
UCLA (14) 8-2 18-4
California 7-3 13-6
Stanford 7-3 11-7
USC 6-4 15-6
Arizona 6-4 13-8
Washington (16) 5-4 16-4
Oregon 4-6 10-12
Oregon St. 3-7 10-11
Washington St. 2-7 9-9
Arizona St. 1-9 7-12

 

[Dback Jon]

Pacific-10 Conf All
UCLA (13) 10-3 20-5
California 9-3 15-6
Stanford 8-4 12-9
Arizona 8-5 15-9
Washington (21) 7-5 18-5
USC 6-7 15-9
Oregon 5-8 11-14
Washington St. 4-8 11-10
Oregon St. 3-10 10-14
Arizona St. 3-10 9-13

 

[Russ Smith]

Tough loss for UCLA Saturday, if they'd just hit their FT's and not turned it over as much they would have won even with Farmar and Afflalo shut down. Aboya came up huge, that's the kid we've been waiting for everyone said he was the best freshman but he had 2 offseason knee surgeries. Hopefull this is a sign he's ready to contribute regularly.