What’s Happened Since the Start?
by Matthew Moll
Three weeks after the tournament formerly known as the Preseason NIT the four teams that qualified to play at Madison Square Garden are a third of a way through their respective seasons and looking ahead to conference play. Two teams are poised to take over conference top spots while two others are looking to March as must-stops.
Drexel
Drexel’s promising 0-2 Thanksgiving weekend vaulted them into the national spotlight but did not lead to immediate fortune.
The Dragons were picked by many to finish seventh in the Colonial Athletic Association, and while coach Bruiser Flint does not believe in moral victories, Drexel competed throughout the Thanksgiving weekend and had a chance to win both contests.
The Dragons put on display the one-two punch of Bashir Mason and Dominick Mejia. In the 78-68 loss to Duke, the duo shined. Mason ran the team to precision, executing on fast breaks and hitting big shots. Mejia showed range and his ability to get to the basket against the Blue Devils although he was not wearing his own jersey. The North Carolina State transfer finished with 25, 14 of which came in the tightly contested first half.
Another half, and it was another story for the Dragons as they struggled on the perimeter and could not find a way to stop J.J. Redick. The Dragons did manage to lurk until the 7:40 mark, before Duke remained ahead by double digits until time expired. Drexel’s first effort to defeat a number one team in the nation was valiant, but not quite enough.
If the first game was disappointing, the second was a punch directly in the stomach. Again the Philadelphia team played a highly-ranked opponent basket for basket in the first half, leading 28-26 at intermission. The second half was closer, and with less than five minutes remaining Drexel was up 54-50 compliments of a Mason three. At that point, UCLA would make their comeback and Drexel would see their last field goal of the contest.
Two possessions swayed the outcome. With the game tied, Mason was unable to handle the Chaz Crawford inbounds pass, which set the stage for a foul on Drexel with .8 remaining. That led to a UCLA win as Jordan Farmar made the second free throw.
Mejia did not start because he was late for a meeting and ended up being a non-factor. Frank Elegar and Kenell Sanchez picked up the slack, finishing with 13 and 14 points respectively. Mason showed his resiliency hitting tough shots while having an off shooting night, and he emerged as the solidified battle tested leader of the Dragons.
“I’ve always said if he wanted to he could be the Most Valuable Player in our Conference,” Flint said of Mason. “His play actually made us much better than I thought we would be at this time.”
Drexel showed they can play with any team in the nation, but needed to do more to prove it to their coach.
“I’ve been harping on playing a little bit smarter,” said Flint of his team’s overall performance for the weekend. “I think not playing smart is the thing that cost us two games.”
Critics may have looked to pencil the Dragons in a shade better than seventh in the CAA after the long weekend at Madison Square Garden, but Drexel will still need to close out games, which would elude the Dragons over the next couple of weeks.
The day after the Preseason NIT the Dragons fell to cross town rivals Penn 68-60 dropping a third straight. Life would not improve for Drexel in the immediate future, as the Dragons would lose two more non-conference games to extend the losing streak to five.
The first of these non-conference tilts was a ten-point loss to St. Joseph’s, followed by a 62-50 head-scratcher to La Salle. Against St. Joe’s, Mejia disappeared in 17 minutes, and against La Salle he hit only on 4-12 field goals in 34 minutes of play.
Mejia reappeared once conference play started and so did Drexel to the win column. The Dragons started CAA play 2-0 with victories over James Madison and Old Dominion. Mejia scored 21 and 27 respectively in the wins aiding his team to a .500 record.
Mason has seen his point total plunge, but in the two conference wins he is averaging 7.5 assists, including 11 in the 61-42 win over ODU.
Now that conference play is entering serious mode, small schools like Drexel can no longer wait for a learning curve or time to jell, or the next test against a larger school. The next test decides conference seeding, which dictates tournament dreams.
If Flint is able to tame his Dragons and continue to excel through the conference season, the holiday week’s lessons were worth the punch.
UCLA
The Bruins escaped the Black Friday weekend with a split, barely besting the upset minded Dragons for third place.
But the weekend began with the Bruins having to claw back against the athletic and perimeter-proficient Memphis Tigers. In the first few minutes out of the MSG tunnel, the Bruins were still adjusting to the unseasonably mild New York weather and came out cold. The first half did not bode better for the Bruins as it progressed, falling behind by as many as 20 and having no answer for the Memphis front court.
Another half, another chance for the program that John Wooden built, which translated to another opportunity for the sophomore duo of Jordan Farmar and Aaron Afflalo to show how well the pair can play against one of the best teams in the nation.
UCLA was able to use the weapon they could not quell against Memphis to make it a game. Farmar and Afflalo combined for all seven of the Bruins’ three balls. But the effort would be for not as UCLA pulled to within six, but no closer in the 88-80 loss.
Farmar finished the game with 28 (23 in the second half) points and seven assists, while Afflalo finished with 14 points and six rebounds.
Farmar did not have a performance near his career high in the consolation game and Drexel was able to linger until the clock read 0.8 seconds. The L.A. native finished the contest going 1-10 from the field with eight assists and four turnovers.
UCLA was able to overcome an early nine-point deficient and a low scoring night from the team as a whole to sneak past Drexel, but show their resolve in the win. Farmar was fouled with less than a second remaining and the score knotted at 56. Farmar was sent to the line where he airballed one and nailed the next closing out the contest.
“I had to laugh about it,” Farmar said of the all-air shot. “It helped me relax and I knocked it down and we got out with a win.”
The Bruins have not looked back since the Tip-Off. Most notably UCLA posted quality wins over Nevada and the once undefeated Michigan Wolverines. Those who frequent the Pauley Pavilion know injuries have plagued the Bruins early this season, but UCLA continues to prevail and it only appears to be looking up.
Guard Josh Shipp is set to return to Ben Howland’s lineup after recovering from hip surgery and the once deplorable interior defense has come to life.
After the Preseason NIT Howland lamented his team’s ability to defend the frontcourt. “The big guys were a problem for us,” Howland said. “We will have to double more than we would like.”
But the Bruins were able to squelch the inside game of the recently rejuvenated Wolverines, particularly Courtney Sims. Sims was averaging 15 points per game before he was permitted only two field goal attempts and six points.
Overall the Bruins’ season has started off well. They are lead by two (soon to be three) young guards and have a backup who remind some of tournament legend Tyus Edney. The crude reality is that the Bruins are winning games they should win. In the only game where the Bruins were overmatched, the result was a loss. Outing an unchallenged Temple team, an upstart in Nevada, and a the long languishing Wolves may look better on paper than it does in the grand scheme, but all UCLA can do is play those who are on the schedule and so far the Bruins are the second-best team in the Pac-10. They meet Washington on January 14.
Memphis
Highly-touted players have left the Memphis program early for a wide spectrum of reasons (Sean Banks, DaJuan Wagner) or they never arrive (Amare Stoudemire, Kendrick Perkins). While top tier teams have left Conference USA, the recruits keep coming and now the Tigers appear to have a group that, at least for this season, will continue to compete.
The first half in New York the Tigers looked like Sinatra: Smooth. Real smooth. Freshman Shawne Williams, who finished the game with a season slash career-high 26, missed only three attempts from the field and was the team’s sparkplug. Forward Rodney Carney controlled the middle and hit on 2 of 5 from beyond the arch, extending the UCLA defense and pushing the Tigers’ lead to as many as 20.
Although the lead shrunk, Memphis held fast and did not relinquish the lead and advanced to the Preseason NIT finals, where they would give the consensus number-one team in the country a legitimate preview of a Final Four showdown.
Duke and Memphis played the best game of the Thanksgiving weekend, placing two of the best freshman classes in the country on the same court. This would also be a test for Memphis for the first time this season, trying to slow a one-two punch, namely that of Shelden Williams and POY candidate JJ Redick.
The Tigers did not get the same phenomenal offensive performance from Williams or Carney, but others found shots and the two handled difficult defensive assignments (Redick for Carney and Sean Dockery for Williams) to put them in position to have a chance to win at the end.
The first half ended 42-41 in favor of Duke and the second half would be nearly as tight. The NIT Season Tip-off came down to two plays which decided the game with less than 20 seconds left.
Shelden Williams’ put back off a missed lay-up nearly sealed the game, but Lee Melchionni was fouled after a Memphis misfire and he was unable to make either of his two free throws. The second was rebounded by Dockery who was fouled and closed the scoring at 70-67.
“The last two games were effort plays,” said Memphis coach John Calipari. “Their toughness just got to us.”
Memphis played Duke as tough as anyone has all season at that point and since. Redick was held scoreless in the second half and Dockery was quiet for most of the game before his timely shooting reappeared the game became Shelden William’s to win and Memphis’ to lose, Memphis came just short.
Since the loss to Duke, the Tigers have gone unbeaten in five games, winning by an average of 18.6 points.
The freshman conglomerate of Williams, Chris Douglas-Roberts, Antonio Anderson, and Kareem Cooper has combined for 43 points per game and are logging significant minutes through the win streak.
Although Memphis continues to climb in the national rankings, some of this early success can be attributed to big-name losses and small-time wins for the Tigers. The young Tigers sport a starting five of two sophomores and two freshmen. Right now they are winning games handily, but will host their most highly touted opponent since Duke on Jan. 6 when they battle Gonzaga.
Memphis may be the only bid for CUSA this year, but this one bid could be the third team in four years to reach the Final Four from the conference.
Duke
The Dukies of Durham have been ranked number-one since before the season started, and the nation understands why.
The NIT Season Tip-off final four Duke was a formable test for the Blue Devils as the ability to win close games and win without having perfect games from the entire cast were challenged.
In the win over Drexel, Mike Krzyewski’s team received its usual support from senior stalwarts J.J. Redick and Shelden Williams. Redick scored 31 and Williams added 20 and nine boards. Freshmen Greg Paulus, Josh McRoberts, Martynas Pocius each contributed in the win. Paulus had five assists, McRoberts went 5-for-6 from the field with six rebounds, and Pocius added seven points in relief for the Devils.
But the player who Coach K considers the best athlete on the team, DeMarcus Nelson, went down in the first half of the Drexel game with a fractured right ankle.
Duke still came out on top and did not let the loss of Nelson negatively impact the rest of the weekend. The Cameron Crazies took to Madison Square Garden and replicated an East Regional-like atmosphere as the two top-10 nationally ranked teams exchanged blows. At the end of the fight, Shelden Williams took home the hardware and Duke won the tournament for the second time in as many attempts. Williams went for 30 and eight while staying out of foul trouble and capitalizing on what the defense was giving him while they keyed on Redick. Although one of the stars was held in check, another out, and Dockery was cold, the Blue Devils would not be denied. Paulus again came up with huge assists (eight) and Dockery’s frosty shot turned lukewarm at an opportune time to help seal the tourney win.
The last time the Blue Devils won this invitational was in 2000. Later that season, the same team, led by a senior star and a trio of sophomores, went on to win the NCAA Championship. Senior leadership (2005’s Redick and Williams to 2001’s Shane Battier) and young talent (2005’s McRoberts, Nelson, and Paulus to 2001’s Jay Williams, Mike Dunleavy, Jr., and Carlos Boozer), the same coach and considerable early season W’s make for a compelling allusion and a temptation to flirt with fate.
But Coach K would not bite when asked about the similarities.
“No I don’t see any. That team had five or six future NBA players on it,” he reflected. “We had Jason Williams, Mike Dunleavy, Boozer, Chris Duhon. I think I might cry.”
Laughs supplanted the question, but come March if this team continues to produce the comparisons will be pressed.
As it is, the hits keep on coming for the consensus number-one team in the nation. Assembly Hall and a career night from Indiana’s Marco Killingsworth would not deny Duke’s run. A last-second heave by Dockery kept the unbeaten season in tact and gave the Devil’s a 1-0 ACC start. They pasted number-two Texas by 30 and most recently put up their first 100-spot on the season in shellacking Valpo 104-77.
The Blue Devils have a weaker ACC to face this season and have the combo of Redick and Williams setting pace. The only weakness of this team is the reliance on the two seniors, although they proved they can win when one is off, if both are off someone new will have a chance to enter Duke lore. Although he has expanded his scoring to off the dribble, Redick still must use his outside shot to set up the rest of his offense. Memphis showed he is containable, but Memphis also proved you cannot focus exclusively on Redick. For now, Redick is auditioning for Player of the Year and playing the part well.
Needless to say Duke is on a roll, and they are doing it with the veterans and with a bit of a youth movement. For now are the most unbeatable team in the country.
