Path to the Hall of Fame (v2)

[randy]

Rank (Media/Coaches): NR/NR; RPI: #40

We're in the Midwest (Detroit)

1st round matchup:
(7) Clemson vs (10) La Salle

Teams in the Midwest Regionals

• (1) #1 St. John's - 8 Final Fours
• (2) #3 Houston - 2 National Titles, 7 Final Fours
• (3) #8 Arizona - 3 National Titles, 8 Final Fours
• (4) #13 Southern Illinois - 4 Final Fours
• (5) #22 New Mexico - 3 National Titles, 12 Final Fours
• (6) #25 Pepperdine - 3 Final Fours
• (7) Clemson
• (8) LSU - 2 National Titles, 7 Final Fours
• (9) Brigham Young - 1 Final Four
• (10) La Salle
• (11) Marshall - 2 Final Fours
• (12) Play-In
• (13) Boston
• (14) George Mason
• (15) New Mexico St
• (16) East Tennessee St

Other Ranked Teams

East

• (1) #2 Kansas St
• (2) #11 Georgia Tech
• (3) #9 Oklahoma
• (4) #20 Duke
• (5) #6 UNLV
• (6) #18 Temple

South

• (1) #5 Louisville
• (2) #12 Georgetown
• (3) #7 Xavier
• (4) #16 Kansas
• (5) #24 Connecticut

West

• (1) #4 Iowa
• (2) #14 Indiana
• (3) #19 North Carolina St
• (4) #21 UCLA
• (5) #17 Memphis

On Probation

• #10 Georgia
• #15 Auburn
• #23 North Carolina

ACC teams appearing on post-season tournaments

NCAA

• East: (15) Delaware St vs (2) #11 Georgia Tech
• East: (13) Idaho St vs (4) #20 Duke
• Midwest: (10) La Salle vs (7) Clemson
• South: (11) Toledo vs (6) Virginia
• West: (14) Jacksonville St vs (3) #19 North Carolina St

[randy]

Mar 16, 2008: (10) La Salle (18-10, 11-5) vs (7) Clemson (20-9, 10-8)

Scouting Report

1. Primary defense: M2M
2. Offense focus: Balanced
3. Key players:
   
   • Sr SG Melvin Hymes (17.6 ppg, All-Conf)
   • Fr C Andre Eddins (11.3 ppg, 5.0 rpg)
4. Strengths:
   
   • Perimeter offense: 71.4 ppg (#42), 39.9% 3PT (#18)
5. Weaknesses:
   
   • Ball Handling: 15.0 topg (#232)
   • Rebounding: 31.4 rpg (#111)
6. How they got here:
   
   • Finished 2nd Atlantic 10; Lost Conference Tournament Quarter Finals

Strategies

1. Use m2m defense; switch a taller player (SF Frank DeWitt) on Hymes

Start of 1st half

LASAL is 6-6 FG. Down 8-13, 14:53. We started playing better on the defensive end. SG Matt Stuart shot 2 triples off the bench. Up 23-19, 6:24. Our season's top scorer SG Cory Mastern is scoreless, but a lot of other players have stepped up. Halftime, Up 43-34.

Key stats / Notes (Halftime)

• FG shooting: LASAL 43%, CLEM 58%
• Lead would have been larger if not for the 7 FTs we missed in the 1st half.

Start of 2nd half

We stepped up our defense further, forcing several turn overs on LASAL, and we are beginning to blow this game wide open. Up 59-43, 12:52. If we are not running on the break, we're burying our long distance shots on our half court offense. I'll pull out my key players in a while. Up 74-50, 7:35. Outstanding shooting display by SG Matt Stuart.


Final Score: La Salle - 65, Clemson - 84


Box Scores
[INDENT]Stuart 21, 3, 1, 7-13 3PT (*)
Dickel 19, 4, 0
Mastern 10, 1, 4, 2 stls
Hunter 9, 1, 1
Weston 7, 3, 0, 2 stls
Harvey 6, 5, 2, 3 stls
Howard 5, 4, 5, 2 stls, 6 tos
DeWitt 5, 4, 2, 2 stls
J Lewis 2, 4, 2
Walker 0, 1, 1, 4 tos
Anderson 0, 1, 0
Lee 0, 1, 0
M Lewis 0, 0, 0
[/INDENT]
Stats Comparison
[INDENT]FG: 54-44%
REB: +9
TO: -5
Pts in paint: +20
2nd chance: Even
Fast break: +18 (22-4)
[/INDENT]
Notes

• LASAL had 19 turn overs, and we simply took advantage and scored a ton of fast break baskets

[randy]

Mar 16, 2008: (7) Clemson (21-9, 10-8) vs (2) #3 Houston (29-6, 18-0)

Scouting Report

1. Primary defense: M2M
2. Offense focus: Balanced (slow)
3. Key players:
   
   • Sr C Tommie Holmes (10.4 ppg, 9.3 rpg, 2.2 bpg, 53% FG, Conf DPOY, 2-time All Conf, #20 class rank)
   • Fr PF Selwyn Knight (10.8 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 54% FG, #33 class rank)
   • Sr SF Derrick Hamilton (11.8 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 2-time All Conf, #34 class rank)
   • So SG Geoff Hucks (12.3 ppg, Conf FOY, #38 class rank)
   • So PG Brad Zimmerman (8.9 ppg, 3.7 apg, 44% 3PT, #48 class rank)
4. Strengths:
   
   • Defense: 55.0 opp ppg (#5), 38.6% opp FG (#7), 31.8% opp 3PT (#41), 7.7 spg (#20), 4.7 bpg (#6), 17.6 opp topg (#6)
   • Rebounding: 32.7 rpg (#57)
5. Weaknesses:
   
   • Offense: 67.6 ppg (#141), 45.4% FG (#88), 32.0% 3PT (#280)
6. How they got here:
   
   • Finished 1st Conference USA; Lost Conference Tournament Finals
   • (Round 64) Def New Mexico St, 73-43 (Hamilton 23 pts, 8 rebs; NMST: 4-21 3PT)

Strategies

1. Houston arguably has the best defensive starting unit in the country. Their offense is not too shabby either, but we'll take our chances and force them to shoot from the outside. This is a tough match up for us, and we need to bring our A-game to beat Houston

Start of 1st half

Very difficult to get good shots over HOU's defense. Down 2-8, 14:59. SG Cory Mastern (8 pts) has kept us in this low-scoring game. Up 15-14, 8:52. Mastern's 3rd 3pt shot of the game has given us a 7 pt lead, and we have some momentum going. Up 23-16, 4:50. We're doing a good job ono ur perimeter defense, until HOU hit back-to-back 3s before the end of the 1st half. Halftime, Up 27-24.

Key stats / Notes (Halftime)

• FG shooting: CLEM 42%, HOU 31%
• Turnovers: CLEM 8, HOU 6
• Those two 3pt shots by HOU at the end of the 1st half we huge, and how that affects the final result of this game remains to be seen. We also hit only 1-5 FT

Start of 2nd half

HOU's offense sizzling at the start of the 2nd half, going 5-5 FG. Down 33-35, 15:50. I told the team during the huddle not to lose their focus, as this game is far from over; we should not let HOU extend their run. The players responded with a 10-2 run, with a 3pt shot each from PG John Lewis and SG Cory Mastern (20 pts). HOU also got into penalty early. Up 43-37, 11:47.

PF Mills Walker scored 6 straight pts; Walker has 8 huge pts off the bench. Teams exchanging baskets. Up 53-45, 7:19. HOU has cut our lead to 6 twice, but each time after, we answered with a couple of FTs. Up 57-49, 4:47.

Another miss by HOU. PG Chris Hunter splis his FTs. Up 9. A rare 3pt shot by HOU (only their 4th triple of the game), but that was a huge basket. Down 6. Hunter (10 pts) answers with a jumper from the right corner. Up 8. HOU powered their way inside and scores. Up 6. We go PF Mills Walker who is having a big game, and he got fouled. Double bonus, 2 FTs for Walker. Walker hits both; he is 6-6 FTs today. Up 62-54, 3:11.

HOU missed and we get the rebound. Timeout. Up 62-54, 2:56.

I told the players that we need to continue to be aggressive, and go to the line. We'll go heavy inside. We can't get an inside basket, so we kick out to SG Cory Mastern who drills a long 2! Mastern with 22 pts today. Up 64-54, 2:29.

We got called for a foul on their jumpr shooter. 2 FTs for HOU. Split. Up 64-55, 2:01. We go inside by HOU with a block shot, and they get the ball back. HOU missed their 1st shot, but got the off rebound. Their 2nd attempt is good. Timeout. Up 64-57, 1:10.

We'll slow down a bit. HOU immediately foul. PG Chris Hunter hits both FTs. Up 66-57, 1:09. We'll press and go m2m to chew up some clock. HOU hits another 3, and then they foul again. Up 6. Hunter sinks both FTs again. Up 68-60, 0:47.

We get a steal and HOU with another foul. PG Chris Hunter continued to hit clutch FTs and we go up by 10. That should do it.

A big win and we advance to the Sweet 16!


Final Score: Clemson - 75, Houston - 60


Box Scores
[INDENT]Mastern 22, 5, 1
Hunter 21, 1, 6, 3 blks, 13-14 FT (*)
Walker 10, 2, 0
Dickel 9, 3, 0
DeWitt 4, 3, 0
J Lewis 3, 0, 0
Weston 2, 4, 1
Harvey 2, 4, 0
Howard 2, 2, 3
Stuart 0, 1, 0
[/INDENT]
Stats Comparison
[INDENT]FG: 48-42%
REB: -3
TO: -2
Pts in paint: -4
2nd chance: -2
Fast break: -6
[/INDENT]
Notes

• We executed our game plan on defense, and HOU shot poorly from the perimeter. After shooting on 1-5 FT in the 1st half, we did a better job going 21-23 FT in the 2nd half.

[randy]

Mar 23, 2008: (3) #8 Arizona (26-7, 16-2) vs (7) Clemson (22-9, 10-8)

Scouting Report

1. Primary defense: M2M
2. Offense focus: Outside (fast)
3. Key players:
   
   • Sr PF Waitari Harrell (16.0 ppg, 9.0 rpg, 53% FG, 3-time All Conf, #12 class rank)
   • Jr C Perry Smith (11.7 ppg, 7.1 rpg, #32 class rank)
   • So SF Michael Stinson (10.7 ppg, 3.4 rpg)
4. Strengths:
   
   • Defense: 40.3% opp FG (#28), 4.6 bpg (#9), 16.1 opp topg (#48)
   • Rebounding: 33.9 rpg (#32)
5. Weaknesses:
   
   • Shooting: 44.7% FG (#135), 31.3% 3PT (#297), 70.0% FT (#250)
6. How they got here:
   
   • Finished 1st Pac 12; Won Conference Tournament
   • (Round 64) Def George Mason, 85-72 (Harrell 20 pts, 10 rebs; ARIZ +22 2nd chance pts)
   • (Round 32) Def Pepperdine, 83-75 (Stinson 18 pts; ARIZ 48% FG)

Strategies

1. Arizona may not have a stingy defense that other title contenders have, but their philosophy is "try to outscore us if you can". Even though Arizona does not shoot high percentage, they like to get up and down the court to create more scoring opportunities.
2. Defense and turn overs will be crucial to this game, but I feel that rebounding may be the difference maker. We'll pack up the lane with our 2-3 zone, and control the defensive boards
3. We'll go with a more balanced focus offense; our outside shooters have to be on target today

Start of 1st half

Got off to a slow shooting start, and we went down by as many as 9. Our 4 turn overs is the bigger issue. Down 5-11, 14:11. We're losing the battle on the boards, and that has contributed to our deficit. We'll get the ball to the hole more often, and try to take advantage of ARIZ's penalty. Down 13-22, 7:43. ARIZ is the team that has shown more urgency on defense, and the scoreline clearly tells that story. Halftime, Down 27-38.

Key stats / Notes (Halftime)

• Turnovers: ARIZ 4, CLEM 12
• Fast break pts: ARIZ 9, CLEM 0
• ARIZ also with 4 blks and 5 stls
• We'll shift to m2m defense in the 2nd half, and press all the time.

Start of 2nd half

ARIZ has shown their superior skills even further, against our m2m defense. We'll try 1-2-2 zone this time, as our last resort. Down 36-50, 14:24. We have slowed down ARIZ's offense a little bit, but we can't score also on our end. Down 41-57, 7:58.

ARIZ always had an answer on every little run that we are tying to start. Down 50-65, 3:53. We'll hurry up on offense, 4-guard lineup, and shoot more 3s. Closest we got was 12.


Final Score: Arizona - 72, Clemson - 56


Box Scores
[INDENT]Hunter 15, 3, 2
Mastern 15, 1, 2, 6 tos
Dickel 9, 7, 0
Weston 7, 1, 0
Stuart 6, 1, 0
Harvey 2, 6, 2, 2 stls
Walker 2, 2, 1
DeWitt 0, 6, 1
Howard 0, 1, 0
J Lewis 0, 0, 0
[/INDENT]
Stats Comparison
[INDENT]FG: 35-55%
REB: -5 (+6 off)
TO: +3
Pts in paint: -14
2nd chance: -3
Fast break: -3
[/INDENT]
Notes

• Limiting ARIZ to 72 pts may have been enough to beat them, but their defense stepped up today, and we got completely beaten by their superior athleticism. ARIZ's PF Waitari Harrell didn't have to score a lot (14 pts, 12 rebs, 4 blks), but he dominated the game with his defense and energy

[randy]

Final 4

• #2 Kansas St def #8 Arizona, 59-52
• #17 Memphis def Villanova, 76-49

Championship

• #2 Kansas St def #17 Memphis, 49-47
• Kansas St wins their 2nd national title; it was a long wait, as their 1st title was 63 years ago (1945)

[randy]

ACC 2nd Team All-Conference

• Jr SG Cory Mastern

[randy]

Legend (Conference Rank, National Rank)

Points

1. SG Cory Mastern, 15.5 (#6)
2. C Dan Dickel, 10.8
3. PG Chris Hunter, 9.7

Rebounds

1. C Dan Dickel, 6.2 (#9)
2. PF Mike Harvey, 4.8

Assists

1. PG Chris Hunter, 4.5 (#2)
2. SG Cory Mastern, 3.0

Steals

1. SG Cory Mastern, 1.5 (#5)

Blocks

1. PG Chris Hunter, 0.6

Turn overs

1. SG Cory Mastern, 3.3 (#3)
2. PG Chris Hunter, 2.9

3PT Made

1. SG Cory Mastern, 83 (#5)
2. SG Matt Stuart, 49

FG% (min 50 FGAs)

1. PF Mills Walker, 60.2%
2. PF Mike Harvey, 56.9%

FT% (min 20 FTAs)

1. PF Mills Walker, 86.5%
2. SF Frank DeWitt, 85.4%

[randy]

Legend (Conference Rank, National Rank), +/- from last season

Offense

• PTS, 70.8 (#1, #52), +0.1
• AST, 15.4 (#3, #53), -0.2
• FG, 46.0% (#2, #58), -0.2%
• 3P, 40.6% (#1, #11), +0.8%
• FT%, 72.2% (#6, #153), +0.1%
• TO, 14.7 (#7, #198), +0.8

Rebounding

• REB, 31.8 (#6, #86), -2.2

Defense

• Opp PTS, 64.5 (#4, #101), -0.7
• Opp FG, 43.2% (#7, #93), +1.5%
• Opp 3P, 35.0% (#10, #209), -2.1%
• Opp TO, 14.0 (#7, #214), +1.2
• STL, 5.6 (#8, #229), +0.4
• BLK, 2.1 (#8, #187), +0.8

[randy]

1. PF Mike Harvey
   
   • GPA: 3.2
   • 5-yr Senior
   • 116 GP (115 GS), 25.2 mpg, 6.7 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 1.1 apg, 52% FG, 68% FT, 4 double doubles
   • Post Season: 7 GP, 5.9 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 1.7 apg, 1.1 spg, 38% FG, 52% FT
   • Awards
     
     • Player of the Game: 3
   
   
2. SG DJ Howard
   
   • GPA: 4.0
   • 5-yr Senior
   • 103 GP, 14.0 mpg, 4.7 ppg, 1.5 rpg, 1.8 apg, 41% FG, 89% FT, 39% 3PT
   • Post Season: 6 GP, 2.5 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 2.8 apg, 33% FG, 23% 3PT
   • Awards
     
     • Player of the Game: 1
   
   
3. SF Antonio Anderson
   
   • GPA: 2.9
   • 4-yr Senior
   • 13 GP, 1.8 mpg
   • Post Season: 1 GP
   
   

[randy]

Starters

• 1: So PG Chris Hunter, 6-2, 4.5/5.0 (*)
• 2: Sr SG Cory Mastern, 6-2, 4.0/5.0
• 3: So SF Frank DeWitt, 6-8, 2.0/4.0
• 4: Jr C Dan Dickel, 6-9, 3.0/4.0
• 5: Jr(R) Abe Weston, 6-11, 2.0/3.0

Bench

• 1/2/3: So SG Jonathan Ballinger, 6-1, 4.0/4.0
• 3/4: So(R) PF Tommy Davis, 6-6, 1.5/3.5
• 1/2/3: Sr(R) SG Matt Stuart, 6-5, 2.5/3.5
• 1/2: Jr John Lewis, 6-3, 2.0/4.0
• 4/5: Fr C Wesley Hickman, 6-9, 1.0/2.5

Walk-ons

• 1/2: Jr PG Jason Lee, 6-4, 1.5/1.5
• 3/4: Jr SF Michael Lewis, 6-7, 2.5/2.5
• 2/3: So SF Steven Durham, 6-5, 2.0/2.0

Transfers (ineligible to play this season)

• 4/5: Jr PF Adam McLean, 6-8, 3.0/3.0

Redshirts (ineligible to play this season)

• 2: Fr SG Brett Holmes, 6-1, 0.5/0.5

(*) Norton candidate