There is expectation and there is production, and for the members of this week's Ten for Tuesday, never the twain shall meet.
There are also excuses. Michigan? Many excuses. UNLV? No excuse.
This week, the 10 biggest disappointments in college basketball.
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| This season, Rutgers and Seton Hall are going arm-in-arm on the road to nowhere. (AP) |
2. N.C. State: The Wolfpack (14-10, 4-7) are symbolic of the ACC as a whole -- lots of windup, not so much delivery. After three consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances and with ACC player of the year Julius Hodge among three starters back, N.C. State was in everyone's preseason Top 25. Even after winning Sunday at Georgia Tech, the Wolfpack are tied for eighth place in the ACC, with losses to Virginia Tech, Miami, Florida State and Virginia -- the latter two at home. Tony Bethel's illness was costly, but N.C. State is going to the NIT because it hasn't received the production it expected from veterans Levi Watkins, Ilian Evtimov and Engin Atsur.
2a. Georgia Tech: One year removed from the NCAA Championship Game, the Jackets (14-8, 5-6) could be headed to the NIT. That loss Sunday to N.C. State, with B.J. Elder back on the court, was brutal. The Jackets were a top 10 team before Elder's hamstring injury. They're running out of time to prove they're an NCAA Tournament team now that he's back.
3. Michigan: Tommy Amaker's annual victory total at Michigan has risen from 11 to 17 to 23. There will be no jump this season, his fourth, but Amaker gets a free pass from anyone with any sense, plus us here at SportsLine.com. Considering the unsurpassable combination of injuries and off-court issues, Michigan (12-13, 3-8) has had no chance. That doesn't change the fact that the Wolverines were a preseason Top 25 team who won't qualify for the 2005 NIT tournament -- one year after winning it.
4. Florida State: Talented enough to beat Wake Forest, Florida and Minnesota, yet maddening enough to lose to Florida International, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Clemson, the Seminoles (11-13, 3-8) are another NIT outsider after beginning this season with an NCAA Tournament buzz. Frontcourt veterans Alexander Johnson and Anthony Richardson have been less productive than a year ago, and newcomers Diego Romero, Jason Rich and Isaiah Swann haven't been good as advertised.
5. Pepperdine: As expected, another West Coast Conference team will join Gonzaga in the NCAA Tournament. Unexpectedly, the Waves won't be that other team. Pepperdine (14-12, 4-7), which beat Wisconsin but lost to East Carolina and Troy, lost 15-point scorer Terrance Johnson to academics in the preseason. After a handful of injuries, the Waves finally crashed when center Jesse Pinegar, their top 3-point shooter (46.5 percent), went out with a dislocated ankle. Pepperdine lost seven of its next eight.
6. Rice: Rice was supposed to make its NCAA Tournament return after a 35-year absence. The Owls returned four starters from last season's 22-11 team, including potential WAC player of the year Michael Harris, but it's not going to happen. And it's hard to say why. Rice (13-8, 7-5) shoots well from the floor (48.2 percent) and foul line (70.4 percent), has a plus turnover-to-assist ratio and rebounding margin, and has gotten big seasons from Harris and Jason McKrieth. But the Owls have lost four WAC games by five or fewer points and were blown out by 29 at UTEP. It has been an NIT season, which is better than Rice does most years -- but not good enough for this one.
7. Ian Crosswhite: Even with All-American Luke Jackson gone to the NBA, the Ducks were supposed to be OK thanks to a great freshman class and the return of three starters that included Crosswhite, a 7-0 junior who averaged 12.5 points and shot 56.2 percent last season. Instead the Ducks (12-9, 4-8) are trying to hang onto NIT eligibility, and Crosswhite is a big reason for the dropoff. His scoring is down to 8.4 ppg, his shooting is down to 45.7 percent, and his playing time is down to nil. He has been dismissed from the team for an undisclosed violation of athletic department policy.
7a. Chris Taft: Taft hasn't deteriorated to the Crosswhite level, but he broke dangerous ground Saturday against Notre Dame when he was benched for the final 11 minutes, 40 seconds of Pittsburgh's narrow victory. The 6-10 center's scoring is up from his freshman season -- from 10.9 to 13.5 ppg -- but his rebounding and blocked shots are roughly static, and his assist-turnover figures have plummeted from 45-and-45 as a freshman to 14-and-34 as a sophomore. "Disappointing" is a relative term, but you can bet Pittsburgh is disappointed with Taft's sophomore season. NBA scouts must be, too.
8. UNLV: Lon Kruger was a hot commodity after last season but chose this vacancy because of the chance to win big, fast. UNLV (11-11, 3-6) has better talent than its sixth-place standing in the downtrodden Mountain West Conference. Forget improving -- none of UNLV's big three has even matched his production of a year ago. In points and either assists or rebounds, the numbers are down for seniors Odartey Blankson, Romel Beck and Jerel Blassingame.
9. Mustafa Shakur: Shakur is the starting point guard for No. 12 Arizona. He's averaging nine points, 4.8 assists and four rebounds. And if you think all of that means he hasn't been a disappointment, you don't know this sport as well as you think. Shakur was earmarked for a breakthrough season after spending last summer with the U.S. under-21 team that won a gold medal in Halifax, Canada, but if anything he has taken a step backward. His scoring is down a little bit from his freshman season (from 9.4), and his shooting accuracy is down a great deal (from 51.9 percent to 42.2). His assists are up slightly (from 4.5), but not as much as they should be with last season's assist leader, Andre Iguodala, gone to the NBA.
10. Providence: The Friars weren't going to be as good as last season. But they weren't supposed to be as bad as this. After winning 20 games and reaching the NCAA Tournament, and with All-American Ryan Gomes among three returning starters, Providence (11-13, 1-9) was the last Big East team to post a conference victory this season. Losing senior center Marcus Douthit to graduation and junior forward Rob Sanders to indifference hurt the Friars more than anyone expected. Sophomore guard Dwight Brewington emerged as a future star, but his rise in production wasn't enough to offset Providence's interior defensive deficiency. And Brewington might be done for the season after hurting his ankle last week.
