Feb. 17th Studs N' Duds

Duds

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DeannaFerris.com’s Stud’s & Dud’s
Posted on February 17, 2011 by Deanna Ferris


Duds


1.) St.Mary’s

~ranked 23rd in the nation

~lost to one of the worst teams in basketball San Diego

~terrible conference lost

~3 point shooting on their part was a joke, like the crowd said “OVERRATED”

2.) Seth Curry

~ Seth, you have to learn to stop shooting, especially when you are in a horrible cold streak. We all understand you were trying to find your touch but the shots you were taking could have cost your team the game if the game was close. Lear to be a point guard and not trying to be Larry Bird (or Steph Curry).

3.) McMorris

Can’t stand you. How does that loss to Kansas State taste?

1.) Jacob Pullen

Career High 38 points (5-6 from deep) and had a chance to go for 40 points when KState had the ball with the clock winding down, but opted to just enjoy the victory over Kansas instead. Awww poor McMorris. Tissue?

2.) Nolan Smith

Dominated the entire game (as usual). Drove the middle of the lane easily and even snuck in a shimmy after one “and-1″ play. He had 22 points. He was solely looking for his jumper and deep stroke in the 1st half but in the 2nd handled the adjustment to to isolations and new scheme by Duke perfectly.

3.) Kemba Walker

Good to hear about you again. It’s been a while. Kemba has been quieted in recent weeks but had a nice bounce back game with 31 points and highlight plays that reminded many of Kobe Bryant.

Do you remember

So I am in an intense twitter conversation Lol about of course, NCAA hoops. It made me think about my pics for last year, it was a very good year! So my question to U is who were your best pics? Who were you surprised about? What was one of the biggest upsets you may have picked in your bracket? Who did you have to win? And of course anything else you would like to add. Last year I managed to throw a curveball in the mix and had the infamous upset of Butler over Syracuse! Why did I pick it? Well, after watching Butler beat up on Siena, I then decided this team has a spark and I'm on board. Its the little things that help me make my decisions! :)

Bonkers in anticipation for brackets

Filling out your NCAA bracket, my friends, is no easy task. When you become as obsessed with it as I have, the idea of March "madness" is very true. I don't normally have my NCAA bracket figured out this early (nobody could) and this weekend of tough loses for top rankers and huge upsets is prime example WHY!! The top four ranked teams managed to lose opening up the door for Duke to reclaim the number 1 spot after a huge win over Georgia Tech. The Big East had done what they normally do, beat the snot out of one another. UCONN after coming off of a huge win loses to Louisville who just came off a big loss....????? Really??? Pitt lost to St. Johns who has finally claimed a spot in the top 25 rankings as #25. These guys don't mess around on their home court. They use it as the advantage it should be. Notre Dame was upset by West Virginia and Villanova was nearly taken down by Depaul....I mean I can't even describe to you how these things happen. I have to wonder why these unknown factors in the hoops world are making such a mess of the toppers. Its great I hope its a preview for what is to come in March. Other notable loses are Nebraska over Texas. Nebraska just barely squeaked by Oklahoma and Texas was thought to be the best team besides Ohio St...ooo that's right OSU ALSO was taken down by Purdue. I love the insanity!!! So right now the top 4 ranked teams are #1 Duke #2 Kansas #3 OSU #4 San Diego St (---this team still only has 1 loss to everyone else's 2 (at least) I would watch out for them when it comes to tournament time. I don't know to much about them in general, I do know they were in the tournament last year and were beat by Bruce Pearl's Tenn team. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if the rankings were to change again significantly before March "Madness" kicks off. It is to be expected. Dangerous teams to note besides San Diego St. I feel are St. John's and Wisconsin. Teams I thought were lethal were Pitt and OSU...hmm yeah even Texas but I'm not sure about the durability they will have in the long run. Big East teams always draw a lot of bids in the tournament but guys and gals look back on these losses and remember how hard they are playing now! It does make a difference for when they go to the tournament, they wipe each other out in the regualr season and haven't got much more to give otherwise. Kansas just had a player suspended indefinitely, think about that as well..I need to research that more who he is what he brought to the table ect, ect...more to come as we get close!

Siena breezes by Maine

Saturday night Albany, Times Union Center- Maine and Siena go at it. Siena has not had an easy season. We fans have been blessed to see a Siena team win big games and head into NCAA tournament games. This year we just like seeing Siena win, period. Hopes for an NCAA berth, well most likely is just a hope and wish. Against Maine, Siena, well they looked good. I liked the matchup between Siena's Brookins and Maine's Singleton. This Singleton was quick! Very hard to guard. He could come up with a steal and make it down and under the basket before anyone, even his teammates realized what just happened. For Brookins I believe this may have been why he was so quiet in the first half. Matchups changed in the second half (big men on littles) and Brookins had some sweet 3s that got the crowd going. Siena played with a lot of patience which led to more baskets. They led by 10+ points in the second but Maine switched from full court press to a half court trap and it was working in their favor. They managed to cut Siena's lead to 6. Luckily Siena was able to hang on and Maine showed frustration in an unsportsman like fashion. Rossiter endured a cheap hit to the face by Maine's #15 Barnes bringing a loud range of Boooo's echoing through the arena. The officiating froze the game up. At one point it was said that "that ref needs to swallow his whistle for a minute." The final score Siena 71 Maine 60.

Nascar- Daytona 500 brings unexpected winner

Daytona 500- Trevor Bayne in his second Sprint Cup race career start manages to get the win in the Daytona 500. Bayne just turned 20 years old, what a way to celebrate a birthday! The win was so unexpected he was unaware how to get to victory lane! Bayne said he knew how to walk over but never expected to have to drive over. In lap 29 things got very messy and many seasoned veterans were knocked out early. Luckily for Bayne, his car seemed to blow through the trouble and watch the rest from the rear view. Of course it was the 10th anniversary of the death of Dale Sr. and the favorite to win was Dale jr. He however wrecked in the last few laps of the race finishing in 24th. Bayne was lucky to get the win. Carl Edwards was right behind him in the last seconds of the race and attempted a pass, but it was to late and Bayne went home with the win. Its a great story and amazing win for Bayne.

duke vs unc rivalry week

Its rivalry week baby and what better game to watch than Duke vs UNC. They are the biggest rivals in college hoops. I was afraid of writing this blog due to the deplorable start courteously brought by Duke. UNC ran the floor in the first half. They were able to penetrate into the lanes and get easy buckets in the paint. Not only that but if they hadn't hit the bucket the first time, the offensive stepped up for the rebound and gave the team another shot which they usually capitalized on. Duke only had about 10 points in the paint the first half! They couldn't commit to any shots at all and UNC's John Henson, the long armed man, was blocking shots like nobodies business. Duke tried to go for the 3 point shot and normally are very successful with it, however they were only 4-13 to start. Nolan Smith kept Duke in the game as best as he could. Kyle Singler had a small run at the end of the first half but honestly, I forgot he was playing because he really didn't do to much. Duke had 9 turnovers in the first half. Offensively they were getting the rebound after missed shots, or UNC was just getting there that much quicker, I mean UNC dominated and made it seem like they were the 5th ranked team in the nation. UNC led by 14 points going into halftime. Duke had lots of work ahead of them.
By the second half I thought both of the team's coaches were going to collapse. They were "playing" just as hard as the players. A huge factor in Duke's comeback was first off the 8-0 run they made in the first few minutes of the second half but also Seth Curry really stepped up his game. In the Duke spotlight we are used to hearing the names Plumlee, Smith, and Singler but tonight it was Curry. A young athlete making his mark in a huge rivalry game. At one point, he ran the floor with three back to back shots. Nolan Smith was on the way for a career high as well. With 3:48 to go Duke led by 6. UNC wouldn't go away. Duke was able to hang on and broke UNC's 5 game winning streak. Nolan Smith did in fact have a career high game with 34 points. That is huge for him and he clearly has grown as an athlete. Probably in contention for being the best player in the ACC. Duke wins 79-73!!!!!!!!!!

Becoming a Duke fan

This may seem so trivial but I just thought I'd share a bit about myself. My father is certainly the culprit for my obsession with college hoops. I remember when I was young, he would fill out my sister's and my brackets for us year after year. At first we would pick teams out of a hat. When we got a little older he would call out the names of the teams and we would pick whichever team sounded "cool." The team that was always cool to me, was Duke. My father, grandfather, sister, and I had gone to a resturant for dinner. Now I was about 5 or 6 and a seafood fanatic. I believe I got sick on the seafood (or car sick I was 5 what do I know) so the car ride home was less than pleasant for my father due to the fact I got sick all over the place. So my father cleaned me up and tucked me in. When I was settled in her rubbed my tummy and asked "Deanna, hunny you ok?" My response, "Yea Dad, Duke won!" So needless to say that has stuck with me ever since. Cute story, thought I would share! :)