TUESDAY’S TIP-INS

The Orlando Magic are struggling… big-time.

Last night they lost to the 76ers 74-69; Orlando’s losing streak is now at 4 games. Dwight Howard was 6-17 from the field, 5-13 from the free-throw line in the game.

This morning I heard Magic head coach Stan Van Gundy from his press conference after the game from last night.

“I wish I had your guys jobs right now. You get to coach after the fact. There’s been so many games where you’ve asked, ‘why’d ya stop going to Dwight’? You know, he wasn’t getting the ball enough. So now he gets the ball and goes 5 straight shots and he goes one-for-five and now you’re goin’, ‘you’re going to him too much’.”

The easiest thing in sports is to second-guess, everyone is undefeated.

People are quick to point out the problems with your team or the moves you didn’t make or should have made. But when you win, or do very well, you rarely hear it.

Viv Bernstein of the NY Times on UConn’s women’s squad with a win on the road in Durham over Duke.

“We think we are the best defensive team in the country,” Coach Geno Auriemma said after the Huskies held the Blue Devils to their lowest output and worst shooting performance of the season. “Kids buy into that. They are not an easy team to defend. I think they are harder to defend this year than they were last year. The effort was unbelievable tonight, for sure.”

Jerry Tipton of the Lexington Herald Leader on John Calipari and what he expects from the refs in terms of physical play.

“We don’t want it to be a rough-house, win-in-the-weight room game. That’s not how we play.”

Rick Carpiniello of Lower Hudson Journal News on Iona’s Tim Cluess and his 5 year extension. Watch the Gaels in the NCAA tournament.

“I think you’d have to believe that when you’re coming off a 25-win season and having another very good season in your first two years,” Cluess said Monday. “You have to realize that you bent that curve a little bit and got to a higher level a little bit quicker than most people would have expected.”

Pat Forde of Yahoo Sports with his ‘Forde Minutes’ around college basketball. Good stuff to help you get caught up…

Let’s get one thing straight; ESPN Sportscenter is in love with Blake Griffin and his dunks. I think he is an amazing athlete; but they are missing the boat in Bristol. Griffin has worked hard on his overall game including his footwork on the catch. There’s a reason why kids lack fundamentals; they watch Sportscenter and think it’s all about the dunk.

Trevor Booker plays for the Washington Wizards.

Quote of the Day: “There’s an awful lot of teams that don’t hold Connecticut to 61 points. There’s an awful lot of teams that don’t play Notre Dame or Connecticut or go to Kentucky. So we do. We get the fire. We want to be in the fire. We might have got burned a little bit today, but at the same time I thought we did some very good things.” -Joanne McCallie, Women’s coach, Duke University

Hoops135@hotmail.com

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MONDAY MORNING JUMPERS

Checked out some late night hoops Sunday with Cal-Stanford on Fox. Gus ‘Rise n Fire’ Johnson and Steve ‘Knockdown Jumper’ Kerr had the call. During one stretch of the game Kerr said he didn’t know how you gauge toughness. Didn’t he play with Michael and Mario Elie?

Dick Davey is an assistant coach at Stanford.

I love the Missouri Valley Conference. Watched Indiana State and Evansville last night. Excellent game. Larry Bird’s alma mater pulled out the victory in OT, 90-81. The Purple Aces mascot is very cool.  Speaking of the MVC, Ben Simons of Drake played 53 of 55 minutes Saturday night in a triple overtime win over Wichita State.

Tom Noie of the South Bend Tribune on the Fighting Irish beating UConn on the road. It’s ND’s third win in a row. To this point, Mike Brey is my Big East Coach of the Year.

“The last four minutes is winning time,” Jerian Grant said. “That’s the time when you have to make plays for your team in order to get big wins and that’s what I had to do.”

Nick Baumgardner of the Ann Arbor.com on the Wolverines loss to Ohio State. Michigan played the first 37 minutes of the game without a FTA.

Taylor Bern of the Las Vegas Sun on the Rebels being in the driver’s seat. I don’t like it when people say, ‘it was an ugly win‘. To me, that makes no sense. A win is a win!

“We know we always need to get better,” Dave Rice said, “but we found ways to win two important games and now we’re back fighting for a conference title again.”

The Sporting News on former Western Kentucky University head coach Ken McDonald says his relationship with athletic director was strained.

“I don’t want to act like I got a raw deal,” McDonald told the newspaper. “There’s a business part of this, which I completely understand. My focus on the disappointment is because of the talks that we had and everything that went on in the spring.”

Quote of the Day: “I came here to get a good education and to play basketball. Sitting out last year was tough; I’m not going to lie. But I have worked hard to get to where I am now, and I am determined — we all are — to finish strong.” -Jeff Jones, Rider University basketball player.

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Follow me on Twitter: @CoachFinamore

SUNDAY’S SCREEN -N- ROLL

Jeff Goodman of CBS Sportsline on Towson winning their first game of the season last night 66-61. The longest losing streak in the history of Div. I hoops is over at 41, as the Tigers beat UNC-Wilmington. It was the first career win at Towson for coach Pat Skerry, and the program’s first since a win at La Salle on Dec. 29, 2010

Mike Casazza of the Charleston Daily Mail on West Virginia’s loss to Syracuse Saturday afternoon. Was it goal-tending or not?

Gene Steratore — who has worked 17 college basketball and two NFL games this month — was the official under the basket while Karl Hess — working his 21st game in 28 days — was on the left sideline near the play. Neither hinted they might call goaltending, though the rule says the basket counts once the ball hits the backboard above the rim.

Jeff Faraudo of the Mercury News on top basketball recruiting classes don’t always live up to their top billing.

Mike Sorenson of the Deseret News on Jimmer’s return to Utah…had a chance at the end but came up short.

Bill Plaschke of the LA Times on USC basketball.

Saddled by injuries and past probation defections, the Trojans have won only a handful of games. Saddled with the high expectations of the Trojans nation, they’ve been watched by only a handful of fans.

One minute they are averaging 23 wins a season for three years under Tim Floyd, advancing past the first round of theNCAA tournament in two of those years. Then, three seasons later — poof — they are losing their first eight conference games, failing to score more than 50 points in five of them.

“We’re pinned,” Coach Kevin O’Neill acknowledged. “There’s no moves right now.”

Steve Gorten of the Sun-Sentinel on Miami’s Jim Larranaga, one of the good guys in the coaching business says he can coach until 2019. I bet he gets into TV someday. Has a great personality, excellent voice and has much hoops credibility.

“It just proves how much he loves the game and how much passion he has, how much he wants this school to become a great school,” freshman point guard Shane Larkin said with a smile. “I know Coach is very passionate, so I think he’ll definitely finish the deal, and if he can, he’ll sign another extension after that.”

Jacob May of the Arizona Daily Sun on NAU’s former men’s coach under investigation.

Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe on the Washington Wizards problems.

An NBA scout who watched the Wizards said they may be the most dysfunctional young team in the league. Management is hoping the coaching change has the most effect on Wall, who has been given the mantle of team leader although he’s just three years removed from high school.

“I think for us not playing hard every night, the record we have, that puts a tough decision on the coach,’’ John Wall said. “We didn’t go out there and play hard enough for him. Me and Flip had no problem. There were times when I got frustrated for not playing good. I talked to him [after the firing] and he told me the same thing – he said, ‘Just keep working hard’ – and I’m sorry that happened to him.’’

Moe ‘Better’ Harkless of St. John’s is a big time player! I tuned in to Duke and St. John’s yesterday and I was very impressed with Harkless who was clearly the best player on the floor.

Last night I was watching NC State and Virginia in an ACC match-up. A Wolfpack player had a break-away layup, all alone out in front of the field and just like that, the young man missed it. Lenny Elmore, the ESPN analyst said, ‘it’s fundamentals, the player didn’t put the ball on the backboard.” Great point Leonard!

Francisco Elson is now on the Washington Wizards.

Quote of the Day: ”This is not what we want USC basketball to be, but we think K.O. is doing all the right things to get this program turned around. Kevin has inherited a bad hand and we’re going to give him time.” -USC A.D. Pat Haden

Hoops135@hotmail.com

Follow me on Twitter: @CoachFinamore

SPORTSMANSHIP SATURDAY

Seth Davis of SI.com steps to the plate with his Louisville Slugger and hits a home run with his latest article on John Adams of the NCAA and his crackdown on sportsmanship on the court.  Over the years I have enjoyed Seth’s work both in print and in studio at CBS but to me he has always been a singles and doubles type hitter. I wish more guys (media) like him (sitting on a huge platform) would address issues behind the scenes in the game of basketball. I don’t care about scores, stats and slam dunks, give us the important stuff. Nice job Seth…

John Adams posted the memorandum on the NCAA men’s basketball officiating website. “In games I have attended, I have noticed minor unsporting indiscretions between opposing players go unnoticed by officiating crews and invariably, these unnoticed acts later turn into much bigger problems,” Adams wrote. “Quite simply, we are doing a poor job of enforcing Rule 10, Section 5, as written.”

Adams was referring to the passage in the basketball rulebook which governs the way referees should react to unsportsmanlike conduct. Sportsmanship was one of three main areas of emphasis as determined by the mens basketball rules committee last summer, but the sport has been sullied by several ugly incidents this season, most prominently a brawl between Cincinnati and Xavier in December that led to multiple player suspensions. That melee was ignited by trash talking between players and coaches.

In his memo, Adams specifically urged referees to enforce rules against taunting, profanity, and gestures like “waving off” an official after a call. He also reminded them that coaches should be immediately penalized if they leave the coach’s box to complain about a call. “These types of actions call for technical fouls. Call them!” Adams wrote. “Your coordinators and commissioners will support you.”

Tommy Braswell of the Post-Courier on Bobby Cremins taking a medical leave of absence.

Quote of the Day: “We were awful…three worst losses we’ve had since I’ve been here over a matter of five days. It’s tough to take.” Orlando Magic coach Stan Van Gundy on his team’s loss last night to Hornets.

Hoops135@hotmail.com

Follow me on Twitter: @CoachFinamore

FRIDAY’S FREE-THROWS

AP via the New York Times on the Boston Celtics come from behind victory over the Orlando Magic…they were down 27 at one point.

The Morning Sun Sports on a few women basketball players suspended for an altercation.

Luke Winn of SI.com on the Butler Bulldogs and their current situation.

Aaron Beard a sportswriter for the AP via Boston.com on the ‘free-agency’ in college basketball.

Yahoo College Basketball on  Mark Montgomery, first year head at NIU with the dismissal of one of their players.

Quote of the Day: “As a player, remember that the bench is not a prison but an extension of the first group. Concentrate on the quality of your play when you do get into the game. If you play 20 minutes, play the best 20 you can possibly play.” -Stan Albeck

Hoops135@hotmail.com

Follow me on Twitter: @CoachFinamore