NEW YORK – Some notes and a look back at the 2K Sports Classic:
The Classic was captured by Alabama in a convincing 77-55 win over Villanova. Alabama squeaked by Oregon State in the semis while Villanova came back late to defeat Purdue in overtime. Oregon State exited Madison Square Garden with third place, defeating Purdue in the consolation. For junior forward Devon Collier it was a nice showing on his “homecoming”. The 6-8 Collier hails from the Bronx and played his high school ball at St. Anthony’s for Hall of Famer Bob Hurley. Collier does not start, but true to the coaching adage “it is more important who finishes”, Collier is on the floor at crunch time.
Collier led all scorers with 21 points, hauling down six rebounds in the loss to Alabama. Not surprising, he had a feeling of mixed emotions.
“It was great to be back home because my family got to see me in person,” he said after the semifinal. “I wanted to win this game a lot because we don’t have a chance to play on the East coast too much…It was just a tough loss. We just can’t turn the ball over and have a slow start.”
Collier was another big factor, a game high 31 points with 14 rebounds (5 offensive) in the 66-58 consolation win over Purdue. By Oregon State coach Craig Robinson’s count, Collier had upwards of 50 family and friends on hand for the Classic. They had to be pleased with his performance and the Beavers coming back to defeat Purdue.
Turnovers: A problem anytime, especially early season when practice time has been at a premium. Robinson was upset with his team’s 20 turnovers against Alabama. In a one possession game turning the ball over at that rate is severely detrimental. Especially when you are not forcing the opposition to do the same on their end. The following chart shows the Oregon State turnover rate (percentage of possessions ending in TOs).
| Game 1 | Game 2 | |
| Oregon State | 30 | 26 |
| Opposition | 13 | 17 |
Game one is the Alabama game and game 2 against Purdue. You can see both times the turnover rate was on the astronomical level for the Oregon State offense. The cutoff is a 20% rate. That number or over is unacceptable for an offense, a goal for defense. On both occasions the offense turned it over too much, the defense did not force enough.
A plus for the Beavers was the offensive boards. On both nights they enjoyed an edge in the offensive rebounding percentage area.
Villanova looked finished, trailing by three possessions with a minute left against Purdue in the semis. Jay Wright’s club forced overtime and pulled out a literally knock ‘em down affair.
Alabama could take some solace, following that football loss to Texas A & M, with the 2K title. Still, that “Aggie” hangover was one, almost too tough to get over.
The Crimson Tide did it largely on defense. Both opponents, Oregon State (94) and Villanova (87), were limited to under 100 offensive efficiency, an excellent mark. With offensive options as guards Trevor Releford (game high 25 points in the championship game), Trevor Lacey and Rodney Cooper, Anthony Grant has some excellent options on the offensive end.
Turnovers part two: In Georgia Tech’s 76-72 win over Marquette in a women’s contest, the losing team was guilty of 37, yes 37, turnovers. In a fast paced 90 possession pace, Marquette’s TO rate was 41%. Amazing they stayed that close with four over every 10 possessions coming up empty due to the dreaded TO.
It is early, but the Seton Hall win over Rhode Island featured two teams that will be a bit better than expected, Seton Hall especially. While URI is picked very low in the A-10, they could be problematic on “that given night”. Just ask Ohio State.
Villanova was limited to 55 points by Alabama and their offensive efficiency was noted previously. The Wildcats also struggled defensively in that game. They allowed Alabama an effective field goal percentage (which gives more weight to three pointers made) of 67%, largely on the basis of ‘Bama’s 9-of-15 from three point land.
The 2K Sports Classic was sponsored by the 2K video games. The focus was on NBA 2K 13. An enjoyable and very realistic. Except none of the players complain about salary, PT or touches.
