Friday, January 31, 2025

1940s Dartmouth (Ivy) Outlasts 2020 Vermont (AE)

In our first game in well over a week, Dartmouth won one for the old guys and took a bit if an Northeast title as they claimed a 62-55 win over perennial American East champ Vermont from 2020.

Dick McGuire, the 7-time NBA All-Star, NCAA coaching champ and part of the only brother Hall of Fame duo with Marquette's Al McGuire led the way with a game-high 21 points.

 The game was dead even most of the way until several steals by D. McGuire and his fellow future NBA backcourt mate George Munroe keyed a 14-0 run after Vermont led 43-42 with just over 10 minutes to play.

Anthony Lamb led Vermont with 20 points, but the real story if the game was Dartmouth just not letting the normally sharp shooting Vermont get off 3-pointers - amazingly hitting only two for the game.

Dartmouth is the only of our 358 teams that actually is not just players from one team, as they made four straight Elite 8s including two national runner-up seasons from 1941-44. We pulled players from different years because they had so few stats.

Marines Lionel Baxter and Thomas Killick were among many players who would be training for war during some stretches of the season and back on the court for others to form a truly unique team that now advances to the Elite 8 of the non-power conference champs.





Tuesday, January 28, 2025

1992 All-American cards in Game

Nice when your Duke 1992 Value Add Basketball team has 3 All-Americans in the starting five as all-Americans. As we reported on CBS Sports, this is one of only 5 times a school has made five straight Elite 8s. Below we paste their cards as well as those if Shaq and Florida State's Doug Edwards from the list.

I actually believe current Duke coach Jon Scheyer was even better than any of the awesome 1992 Duke trio, but he had an eye injury and at the end of his college career and did not go onto the NBA. 

At first I thought the voters had missed Jason Kidd, but then realized he actually played for Cal the next season. It was the second time in a few days I was wrong about Jason, as I let down my trivial pursuit team this weekend by forgetting he was the oldest point guard to win an NBA title. As noted on his card below, he is the 36th greatest in NBA history. I believe I blocked it out of my memory because his Dallas Mavericks beat Marquette's Dwyane Wade in 2011 when he was 38. Thats ok, Wade won his 2nd and 3rd title the next two years!









Wednesday, January 22, 2025

Indiana 76 Wins Big Ten Rock Fight Over Fab Five, 55-46

After being stunned in the Sweet 16 in the first tournament of our initial 96 great teams, the undefeated 1976 Indiana team is heading to the Elite 8 of the championship of all 354 teams. Michigan was noted in this story as one of only 25 teams to ever go to three straight Elite 8s.

The game set a Value Add Basketball Game record with 50 turnovers forced in the lowest scoring game ever, a 55-46 win. If Michigan's Jimmy King had not heaved up a 3-pointer at the buzzer, it would have been our first game ever with fewer than 100 points scored between both teams. The next 2 lowest scoring games were:

106 points - 2017 Gonzaga over 1945 DePaul, 55-51
107 points - 1965 UTEP (Texas Western) over 1971 Marquette, 54-53

The MVP of the game in a losing effort was Juwan Howard who jad game highs in points (13), rebounds (10), steals (3) and drew five fouls on the Hoosiers star center Kent Benson.

However the two top super stars shut each other down at power forward, as Scott May (4 points, 8 rebounds) and Chris Webber (6,9) contained each other after both had dominated all other opponents.

Here is the scoresheet then preview of the game.






While Indiana 1976 enters our all-time Sweet 16 team as one of only seven schools to win an NCAA title to cap an undefeated season, they are not one of the schools to ever make it to the Elite 8 at least three years in a row. Their all-time Sweet 16 opponents - the Fab 5 from 1993 Michigan - is. Ranking the only 25 teams to accomplish the feat bases on the subsequent wins in those years in the Elite 8, we rank the Fab 5 as the 13th greatest ever with two runs to the title game (2-1 each year) and then being eliminated in the Elite 8 the year after Chris Webber left.

Our latest CBS247 piece appears here, noting that surprisingly if UConn makes at least the Elite 8 this season they would be the first Big East team to make it to that level three years in a row. Since they are 6-0 with in the Elite 8 with the title runs the last two years, we would rank them with as the 7th greatest team on this list if they made it to the Elite 8, rank them tied for 5th on this list if they made the Final 4, and we'd move them up to 4th all time if they were runner up or won the title.

In that case, the would be behind only three teams that made it to the Elite 8 five times in a row, each going 10-3 in those five years, and of course all are behind UCLA, which made it 10 years in a row and won eight titles those years to go 26-2 in Elite 8 games.

 
Rnk  3 Straight Elite 8s                 Seasons                 Elite 8 Wins    Losses
1UCLA Bruins1967-76 (10)262
2Duke Blue Devils1988-92 (5)103
3Cincinnati Bearcats1959-63 (5)103
 Connecticut Huskiesif champs91
 Connecticut Huskiesif Runner-up81
4Kentucky Wildcats1995-1999 (5)83
5San Francisco Dons1955-5771
 Connecticut Huskiesif make Elite 471
6Ohio State Buckeyes1960-6272
 Connecticut Huskiesif make Elite 861
7Michigan State Spartans1999-200152
8North Carolina Tarheels1981-8352
9California Golden Bears1957-60 (4)53
10Houston Cougars1982-8454
11North Carolina Tarheels2007-0942
12UNLV Runnin' Rebels1989-9142
13Michigan Wolverines1992-9443
14North Carolina Tarheels1967-6943
15UCLA Bruins2006-0843
16Dartmouth Big Green1941-44 (4)44
17Kentucky Wildcats1956-5832
18Kansas Jayhawks2002-0433
19Michigan Wolverines1964-6633
20Ohio State Buckeyes1944-4633
21Memphis Tigers2006-0823
22Kansas Jayhawks2016-1813
23Santa Clara Broncos1952-5413
24Florida Gators2011-14 (4)14
25Wyoming Cowboys1947-4903

Big South's Winthrop Advances; Next UP Fab 5 vs. Knight's Undefeated Indiana

 The first Big South team to ever win an NCAA Game, Winthrop 2007, dominated inside to pull ahead late for an 87-68 win over future NBA players Nate Wolters and Summit champ South Dakota State 2012.

Three Winthrop players who rotated at power forward and center combined for 58 points and to help dominate the boards 37-22.

We will rotate back to the NCAA all-time next, with the Fab 5s Michigan taking on the last undefeated - Bobby Knight's 1976 Indiana.







Monday, January 20, 2025

All-Time Sweet 16 NIT & NCAA After Russell's 5-pt Play

Bill Russell's 1956 San Francisco team lead UNLV 1991 just 60-56 midway through the second half. But Russell drew a 5th foul on Larry Johnson, and the West Coast Conference all-time champs went on a 26-2 run including Russell recording our first ever individual 5-point play. Russell drew a foul but missed the free throw, then accomplished the rare feat of grabbing his own miss, scored and was fouled again and this time hit the free throw for the 5-point play.

San Francisco won 86-66 over the Mountain West Conference UNLV to advance and play Bill Walton's No. 1 ranked UCLA 1972 in the all-time Value Add Basketball Game Sweet 16. Here is the All-Time Sweet 16, followed by the All-Time NIT game that pits 20 champs of non-power conferences. Notes on the rest of the preliminary rounds in both tournaments appear below the two brackets:



Each time we play an all-time NCAA game we preview it with an all-time NIT game between two non-power conference champs, and in this one it was all-time great big man Kenneth Faried's Morehead State eliminating Damian Lilliard's Weber State, the all-time Ohio Valley great over the all time Big Sky great, 94-60 to advance and play the #1 NIT seed Northern Iowa.

Other couplings including:

NCAA WKU Stuns Nova 86-81 OT, NIT NC Wilmington 93, Fairleigh Dickinson 77

Donte DiVincenzo scored 21 points and held the great Clem Haskins 3 and Villanova had a 60-49 led with just 11 possessions (less than seven minutes) to play. Then Haskins took over for an 86-81 win to face 1975 UCLA in the Sweet 16, while UNC Wilmington's Devontae Cacok beat Fairleigh Dickinson to now face 2019 Wofford in the NIT Sweet 16.

NCAA - 2001 Duke 70, 1970 Jacksonville 67; NIT - TX Southern 82, Niagara 65

Our all-time SWAC champ Texas Southern hammered the all-time MAAC champ Niagara, despite 27 points from the fourth greatest scorer in history Calvin Murphy (33.0 points per game for career) and will now face  another all-time great player in Bob Cousy as our Patriot League all-time great with the1950 Holy Cross team.. 

In that NCAA game, ASun champ (in the NCAA with the 10 power conference champs since they were the highest ranked team in the other 21 conferences) Jacksonville's Artis Gilmore dominated for a 57-51 lead with just 11.possessions before Duke's Jay Williams led them back to advance and face Kansas 1997.

1976 Indiana Advances with Best Ever 78-40 Over 1963 ChampsJMU Edges Norfolk State 62-60 as Virginia Schools Face Off as MEAC and Sun Belt All-Time Champs

Indiana used the greatest turnover margin was the biggest in any of our 300+ games, 33-15. Scott May led Indiana with 22 points.

Update - JMU advances 62-60: 2024 James Madison University pulled out a back-and-forth game with 2012 Norfolk State by 62-60. While future NBA player Kyle O'Quinn dominated the early and helped Norfolk State stop JMU on seven straight possessions to take a 45-44 lead but JMU pulled it off in the end.


OVC's Morehead over Big Sky's Weber, Bill Russell's SF beats UNLV

 With the greatest big man champ Bill Russell waiting of San Francisco 1956 waiting to play UNLV 1991 in our next all-time NCAA game, Morehead State's Kenneth Faried out together a Russell-like 27-point, 20-rebound, 8-block performance to beat Damian Lilliard's Weber State 94-80.

It was an NIT win for the best current Ohio Valley Conference against the best ever Big Sky team in our game. Murray State is no longer in the OVC, and in 2011 Morehead State beat them out for the title, then stunned Louisville in the NCAA. They advance to the Sweet 16 of non-power conference all-time champs.

We will add the result of the game between UNLV and San Fran to determine the 16th and final spot in the all-time NCAA tournament here when it is complete after the real football championship.

Bill Russell dominated and we will post the all-time Sweet 16 next - the scoresheet is below.




Saturday, January 18, 2025

NCAA WKU Stuns Nova 86-81 OT, NIT NC Wilmington 93, Fairleigh Dickinson 77

 Donte DiVincenzo scored 21 points and held the great Clem Haskins 3 and Villanova had a 60-49 led with just 11 possessions (less than seven minutes) to play. Then Haskins took over, drew fouls on DiVincenzo until he fouled out, and hit a 2-pointer and a 3-pointer to force a 70-70 tie. Western Kentucky's 1966 team then dominated overtime for an 86-81 update.

Nova was a 7-point favorite, but WKU did show potential in 1966, destroying both Dayton and #6 Louisville in the NCAA, and only losing by one point to #9 Michigan in Big Ten country to just miss a potential run. The loss to Michigan was on the worst call in NCAA history as WKU won a jump ball and before they could stretch their lead, a foul was called on the player as he won the jump ball to let Michigan go to the other hit and hit the winning free throws.

We have 16 more games left to determine our all-time champion. We also have 16 games left to determine our all-time small conference champ after UNC Wilmington 2017 easily defeated Fairleigh Dickinson 93-77.

This game actually had two of the most interesting cards. FDU's Mensah Peterson had a 1-19 free thros made card, meaning he would make free throws 95% of the time, only missing on a 20. I checked his season stats because if a player has fewer than 50 free throws attempted I cap them at 1-17. However, he went 54 of 58 on the season so keeps the 1-9 card.

Meanwhile UNC Wilmington's Devontae Cacok is the only card of all 258 teams that only misses a shot on three numbers - 18-20. On 1-17 he either scores or is fouled. He does not take that many shots, and in this game only scored 8 points before fouling out, but the card looks legit as he is a rare small conference player still enjoying an NBA career years later.

Here are notes on the players in both games.

We have one more game in each tournament to get down to our all-time Sweet 16. 

Pos    W. Kentucky 1966       NBA? 86-81 OT Win                              HtActual Season Starts
1-PGDwight Smith  6'516.1 Pts, 9.9 Reb
2-SGClem HaskinsNBA3 pts when down 49-60, finished 15 pts6'320.4 Pts, 10.0 Reb
3-SFWayne ChapmanNBA 6'613.3 Pts, 4.3 Reb
4-PFGreg SmithNBAFouled out, 10 rebounds6'59.5 Pts, 10.3 Reb
5-CSteve Cunningham 28 pts, 13 reb6'515.1 Pts, 7.4 Reb
PosBench   Actual Season Starts
1-PGMike Fawcett  5'102.1 Pts, 0.6 Reb
2-SGButch Kaufman  5'104.0 Pts, 1.0 Reb
3-SFNorm Weaver  6'52.9 Pts, 1.7 Reb
4-PFPearl Hicks  6'72.3 Pts, 3.0 Reb
5-CJack Butler  6'51.8 Pts, 1.8 Reb
      
PosVillanova 2018 Both teams 18 turnoversHtActual Season Starts
1-PGJalen BrunsonNBA15 pts6'318.9 Pts, 3.1 Reb, 4.6 Ast
2-SGDonte DiVincenzoNBA21 pts, but fouled out guading Haskins6'513.4 Pts, 4.8 Reb, 3.5 Ast
3-SFMikal BridgesNBA 6'717.7 Pts, 5.3 Reb, 1.9 Ast
4-PFEric PaschallNBAFouled out6'810.6 Pts, 5.3 Reb, 2.2 Ast
5-COmari SpellmanNBA 6'910.9 Pts, 8.0 Reb, 0.8 Ast
PosBench   Actual Season Starts
1-PGPhil Booth  6'310.0 Pts, 3.2 Reb, 2.9 Ast
2-SGJermaine SamuelsNBA 6'71.1 Pts, 1.2 Reb, 0.3 Ast
3-SFPeyton Heck  5'110.0 Pts, 0.2 Reb, 0.0 Ast
4-PFCollin GillespieNBA 6'34.3 Pts, 1.3 Reb, 1.1 Ast
5-CDhamir Cosby-Roundtree  6'93.1 Pts, 2.4 Reb, 0.1 Ast
      
PosFairleigh Dickinson 2005 Lost 77-93HtActual Season Starts
1-PGTamien Trent  6'015.7 Pts, 3.9 Reb, 5.5 Ast
2-SGMensah Peterson 4 of 4 FT on 1-19, season 54 of 586'27.4 Pts, 3.4 Reb, 2.5 Ast
3-SFChad Timberlake 16 pts6'413.1 Pts, 3.8 Reb, 2.4 Ast
4-PFAndrea Crosariol  7'07.7 Pts, 5.2 Reb, 0.9 Ast
5-CGordon Klaiber 21 pts, 8 reb6'916.0 Pts, 7.9 Reb, 1.6 Ast
PosBench   Actual Season Starts
1-PGBernell Murray  5'92.1 Pts, 1.4 Reb, 1.0 Ast
2-SGGadi Buch  6'63.1 Pts, 1.4 Reb, 0.6 Ast
3-SFMichael Peeples  6'73.1 Pts, 2.4 Reb, 0.5 Ast
4-PFAndre Harris  6'87.0 Pts, 3.8 Reb, 0.5 Ast
      
PosUNC Wilmington 2017 Amazing 10 three-pointers 1st 3 playersHtActual Season Starts
1-PGDenzel Ingram 4 threes, 19 pts6'014.6 Pts, 2.2 Reb, 5.4 Ast
2-SGAmbrose Mosley 3 threes, 15 pts6'28.2 Pts, 2.9 Reb, 1.2 Ast
3-SFChris Flemmings 3 threes, 19 pts6'515.8 Pts, 5.6 Reb, 2.2 Ast
4-PFC.J. Bryce  6'517.4 Pts, 5.4 Reb, 3.0 Ast
5-CDevontae CacokNBAonly card in game score or fouled 1-176'712.3 Pts, 9.8 Reb, 0.4 Ast
PosBench won turnovers 13-6 Actual Season Starts
1-PGJordon Talley  6'07.6 Pts, 1.7 Reb, 2.6 Ast
2-SGJaQuel Richmond  6'14.6 Pts, 1.2 Reb, 1.1 Ast
3-SFJaylen Fornes  6'33.1 Pts, 1.0 Reb, 0.6 Ast
4-PFMarcus Bryan  6'72.2 Pts, 2.7 Reb, 0.2 Ast
5-CChuck Ogbodo  6'91.5 Pts, 2.0 Reb, 0.1 Ast

NCAA - 2001 Duke 70, 1970 Jacksonville 67; NIT - TX Southern 82, Niagra 65

Jacksonville   OEff  Duke  OEff    Number of Possessions Breakdown                            
200.91200.91First 22 Possessions each to 20-20 starting tie
351.25291.04Possession 47 to 19 (28 possessions)
120.55211.00Possessions 18 to 1 (22 Jax possessions, 21 for Duke)
670.96701.01Possessions 70 for Jax, 69 for Duke

Possession and Efficiency: Duke 2001 was just more consistent to overcome the surge from Jacksonville 1970 through most of the game. As the table indicates, when teams start the game tied 20-20 we are treating this as 22 possessions already played, 11 by each player on the game, for a slightly below average 0.91 points per trip down the court. Jacksonville plays at a high pace that requires 3 more possessions than a normal game, so instead of starting at possession 44 the game starts at 47, and from the start until their were 19 possessions left, they won 35-29 to average 1.25 points per trip. However, from that point on Jay Williams disrupted the play at point guard to help Duke win possession 18 to 1 by a score of 21-12 to sneak out with a 70-67 win. Note that this was actually 22 possessions for Jacksonville and 21 for Duke because every time there is a foul or a fast break off a steal in the last nine possessions an extra possession is added on that possession, so four extra possessions, and then when a team is winning at the end we do not have them take their last shot, so Duke had one fewer possession.

 With 19 NCAA games to determine our all-time champ and 19 NIT games to determine our small conference champ, we paired one game of each in the Value Add Basketball Game.

Our all-time SWAC champ Texas Southern hammered the all-time MAAC champ Niagra, despite 27 points from the fourth greatest scorer in history Calvin Murphy (33.0 points per game for career).

The all-time ASun champ was put in the NCAA tournament with the 10 power conference champs since they had the best rating of the 21 other conferences. One of the great centers of all-time, one of two starting 7-footers on the team, dominated for a 57-51 lead with just 11.possessions left and Carlos Boozer and Casey Sanders having fouled out guarding Gilmore.

However one of the most popular players in the games all-time great PG Jay Williams led perhaps the greatest comebacks to win 70-67.

Duke had scored only one of seven possessions to trail 57-51. They key stretch then occurred, when they scored on five straight possessions capped bya  3-pointer by Battier to cut it to 61-60, followed by a steal and free throw by Jay Williams for Duke's first tie since 20-20 at 61-61. Williams then had another steal and hit a 3-pointer himself on the break to give Duke their first lead 64-61.

The back-to-back games featured two 1970 teams with all-time great players, with Artis Gilmore averaging the 4th most rebounds per game at almost 23 per game, and Murphy averaging the 4th most points per game at 33.

NCAA All-Time Greatest of 258 All-Time Teams


NIT- 20 Non-Power Conference Champs



The two games score sheets are:




Here are the line-ups and notes for both games:

 
Texas Southern 2013Won 82-65 vs NiagraHtStartSeason StatsNBA?
Ray Penn 5'91-PG12.2 Pts, 2.4 Reb, 5.7 Ast 
Omar Strong 5'92-SG17.0 Pts, 3.4 Reb, 2.1 Ast 
Madarious Gibbs 6'13-SF6.5 Pts, 3.7 Reb, 2.9 Ast 
Fred Sturdivant22 pts, 11 reb MVP6'74-PF11.1 Pts, 8.2 Reb, 0.6 Ast 
Aaron Clayborn13 reb6'65-C7.6 Pts, 5.4 Reb, 0.7 Ast 
 Game HighlightsHtBenchSeason StatsNBA?
Dexter Ellington 6'11-PG2.3 Pts, 1.8 Reb, 1.0 Ast 
Lawrence Johnson-Danner 6'42-SG8.5 Pts, 3.0 Reb, 1.0 Ast 
Kyrie Sutton 6'93-SF5.1 Pts, 4.3 Reb, 0.2 Ast 
   4-PF  
Niagara 1970Game HighlightsHtStartSeason Stats 
Calvin Murphy27 pts5'91-PG29.4 Pts, 3.6 RebNBA
Wayne Jones 6'42-SG9.5 Pts, 8.1 Reb 
Steve Schafer 6'53-SF11.2 Pts, 8.5 Reb 
Marshall Wingate 6'54-PF11.3 Pts, 4.1 Reb 
Bob Churchwell 6'65-C9.9 Pts, 10.4 Reb 
 Game HighlightsHtBenchSeason StatsNBA?
Mike Brown 5'101-PG6.8 Pts, 1.4 Reb 
Mike Samuel 6'32-SG8.8 Pts, 4.7 Reb 
Joe Adomanis 6'63-SF0.8 Pts, 0.9 Reb 
Orlander Harrison 6'54-PF0.4 Pts, 0.7 Reb 
Paul Thornton 6'25-C1.2 Pts, 0.3 Reb 
      
Jacksonville 1970Lost 67-70 to DukeHtStartSeason Stats 
Vaughn Wedeking 5'101-PG13.7 Pts, 1.9 Reb, 4.4 Ast 
Greg Nelson 6'62-SG10.6 Pts, 6.3 Reb, 0.8 Ast 
Rex Morgan 6'53-SF18.2 Pts, 6.4 Reb, 9.0 AstNBA
Pembrook Burrows 7'04-PF10.8 Pts, 7.3 Reb, 1.9 Ast 
Artis Gilmore20 pts, 14 reb, 12 fouls drawn7'25-C26.5 Pts, 22.2 Reb, 1.8 AstNBA
 Game HighlightsHtBenchSeason StatsNBA?
Rusty Baldwin 5'101-PG2.3 Pts, 0.3 Reb, 1.7 Ast 
Chip Dublin13 pt off bench6'02-SG8.3 Pts, 3.2 Reb, 3.4 Ast 
Mike Blevins 6'53-SF3.4 Pts, 1.3 Reb, 1.0 Ast 
Rod McIntyre 6'104-PF6.5 Pts, 4.0 Reb, 1.0 Ast 
Dan Hawkins 6'55-C2.1 Pts, 0.6 Reb, 0.6 Ast 
      
Duke 2001Game HighlightsHtStartSeason StatsNBA?
Jay Williams4 steals6'21-PG21.6 Pts, 3.3 Reb, 6.1 AstNBA
Nate James19 pts6'62-SG12.3 Pts, 5.2 Reb, 1.1 Ast 
Shane Battier15 pts, GW 3-pointer6'83-SF19.9 Pts, 7.3 Reb, 1.8 AstNBA
Mike Dunleavy 6'94-PF12.6 Pts, 5.7 Reb, 2.6 AstNBA
Carlos BoozerFouled out guarding Gilmore6'95-C13.3 Pts, 6.5 Reb, 1.3 AstNBA
 Game HighlightsHtBenchSeason StatsNBA?
Chris Duhon 6'11-PG7.2 Pts, 3.2 Reb, 4.5 AstNBA
Matt Christensen 6'102-SG1.6 Pts, 2.3 Reb, 0.1 Ast 
Nick Horvath 6'103-SF2.8 Pts, 2.3 Reb, 0.5 Ast 
Casey SandersFouled out guarding Gilmore6'114-PF2.5 Pts, 1.8 Reb, 0.2 Ast 
Andre Sweet 6'65-C4.1 Pts, 2.6 Reb, 0.6 Ast

Thursday, January 16, 2025

1976 Indiana Advances with Best Ever 78-40 Over 1963 Champs

 Four years ago in the tournament of our first 96 great teams, the last undefeated team, 1976 Indiana, seemed a sure fire all-time Final 4 team after three straight double digit wins. Then they were stunned as a 12-point favorite in the Elite 8, 70-68 by Draymond Green's 2009 Michigan State.

This was our first game since then - as we bring back the best teams from our four tournaments over the years, and to say Indiana advanced to the all-time Sweet 16 is an understatement.

 1. Indiana won 78-40 against the 1963 champs, Loyola-Chicago.

2. The Loyola reserves play the first 8 possessions, and they were outscored 13-0.

3. Loyola's great Jerry Harkness led the all-time champs with 9 points. Every Indiana starter had double digits.

4. The turnover margin was the biggest in any of our 300+ games, 33-15.

5. The dunk chart showed almost the ultimate margin for Indiana, with Indiana's 51-61 dunk range and Loyola's +0 the dunk chart resulted in a 51-65 range for automatic dunks. Loyola's no dunks (51-50) and Indiana's unbelievable -14 defense, the chart gave Loyola a 51-64 stop range, meaning on those rolls if the defense is a 1-4 or higher defensive rebound, while if 1-3 or lower it is a turnover.

The way we calculate this is the best win ever in our google sheet of scores is that 1975 Indiana beat 1963 Loyola 80-42, so a +38 for win margin. The winning team always gets +5 so that's +43. Loyola's team rating was +4 so that is added to make it a +47 performance, the best performance of any team in the 300+ Value Add games by 6 points. Three other games were a +41, as we show in the top 10 table at the bottom of the blog. 1975 UCLA beat 2012 Kentucky 83-62, while 2019 UVa beat 2002 Maryland 97-64 and finally 2021 Houston beat 2023 Princeton 102-50.





Loyola-Chicago 1963Today Pts, other stats NBA?   Ht      Season Stats
John Egan2 5'1013.7 Pts, 3.6 Reb
Jerry Harkness9, 6 stlsNBA6'221.4 Pts, 7.6 Reb
Ron Miller6 6'213.3 Pts, 5.4 Reb
Vic Rouse5 6'613.5 Pts, 12.1 Reb
Les Hunter8, 4 blksNBA6'717.0 Pts, 11.4 Reb
Dan Connaughton2 6'11.9 Pts, 1.1 Reb
Rich Rochelle2 6'101.5 Pts, 1.4 Reb
Jim Reardon2 6'42.2 Pts, 2.1 Reb
Chuck Wood2 6'31.9 Pts, 1.9 Reb
Billy Smith2 6'57.7 Pts, 5.5 Reb
     
Indiana 1976  HeightSummary
Quinn Buckner12NBA6'38.9 Pts, 2.8 Reb, 4.2 Ast
Bob Wilkerson12, 6 StlsNBA6'67.8 Pts, 4.9 Reb, 5.3 Ast
Tom Abernethy13, 9 rebsNBA6'710.0 Pts, 5.3 Reb, 2.0 Ast
Scott May22, 7 rebs, 6 stlsNBA6'723.5 Pts, 7.7 Reb, 2.1 Ast
Kent Benson11,5 blksNBA6'1017.3 Pts, 8.8 Reb, 1.6 Ast
Jim Wisman2 6'22.5 Pts, 0.8 Reb, 2.2 Ast
Jim Crews2 6'53.3 Pts, 0.7 Reb, 1.4 Ast
Mark Haymore2 6'81.8 Pts, 2.2 Reb, 0.3 Ast
Rich Valavicius2 6'52.4 Pts, 1.8 Reb, 0.3 Ast
Bob Bender2 6'22.1 Pts, 0.8 Reb, 0.8 Ast

Here are the most impressive wins of all our Value Add Basketball Games. The math is similar to kenpom except we add 5 points for the winner and subtract 5 from the loser. We actually only award a maximum +25 for a game, but if we did not cap the game these would be the most impressive showings.

So 1975 Indiana beat 1963 Loyola 80-42, so a +38 for win margin. The winning team always gets +5 so that's +43. Loyola's team rating was +4 so that is added to make it a +47 performance, the best performance of any team in the 300+ Value Add games by 6 points. Three other games were a +41, as we show in the top 10 table at the bottom of the blog. 1975 UCLA beat 2012 Kentucky 83-62, while 2019 UVa beat 2002 Maryland 97-64 and finally 2021 Houston beat 2023 Princeton 102-50. 


BestTeamYearscoreallowMarginWinOpp RatRatingOpponentOpp Year
1Indiana19768042385447Loyola-Chicago1963
2UCLA197583622151541Kentucky2012
3Virginia20199764335341Maryland2002
4Houston202110250525-1641Princeton2023
5Duke20108957325037Wake Forest2005
6Kansas20088352315036St. Joe's2004
7Gonzaga20178148335-335UCLA2006
8Villanova201810672345-534Creighton2020
9DePaul198086711551333UCLA1967
10Houston19688057235533Kansas1957

Wednesday, January 15, 2025

JMU Edges Norfolk State 62-60 as Virginia Schools Face Off as MEAC and Sun Belt All-Time Champs

Update - JMU advances 62-60: 2024 James Madison University pulled out a back-and-forth game with 2012 Norfolk State by 62-60. While future NBA player Kyle O'Quinn dominated the early and helped Norfolk State stop JMU on seven straight possessions to take a 45-44 lead. Luckily for JMU, T.J. Bickerstaff is an even stronger rebounder than O'Quinn, thought his Stamina is lower. That meant that while O'Quinn's Offensive Rebound 1-8 and defensive rebound 1-9 won on either side of the count against O'Quinn's also very impressive 1-8 on both. Since ties go to the offense, all "high in game" readings on the rebound chart when to Bickerstaff.  This was the difference in the game as he grabbed an offensive rebound with 53 seconds (2 possessions) left and put it in for a 61-60 lead. After Norfolk State missed, they had to "foul or turnover" pressure to create an extra possession and get the ball back, and they fouled Bickerstaff who hit one free throw, then grabbed the defensive rebound at the other game to make it four straight stops to end the defensive struggle and advance with a 62-60 win. The defenses were very tough, with the game-high point being only 13 for Norfolk State's  Marcos Tamares and JMU's Xavier Brown, as shown in the photo of the scoresheet.

Our first NIT game features two Virginia teams that had an outstanding regular season and then pulled off huge upsets in the tournament. These teams come from non-Power Conferences but have made their mark in college basketball.

Norfolk State made history in 2012 when they won the MEAC championship. That same season, they faced a tough Marquette team in the opening round of the tournament. I was at that game, sitting alongside an NBA team official to scout Norfolk State’s Kyle O’Quinn and Marquette’s Jae Crowder, both of whom went on to have successful NBA careers. Ironically, Norfolk State got a second chance against #11 Marquette in a Christmas tournament, where they narrowly lost 57-59. They later went on to win the MEAC and, as a 15-seed, pulled off one of the biggest upsets in NCAA tournament history by stunning 2-seed Missouri.

James Madison University had just moved up from the CAA to the Sun Belt when they added football in 2023, making a big splash in both sports. They kicked off their 2024 season with a thrilling 79-76 win over Michigan State. The team rose as high as 18th in the AP poll, won the Sun Belt Championship, and then, as a 12-seed, shocked 5-seed Wisconsin with a 72-61 win in the opening round of the NCAA tournament.

The champions from the other 11 conferences are among the 20 teams in our all-time NCAA tournament.

Here are the stats and Value Add Basketball Game cards for the players on each team.






Pos     Norfolk St. - 2012 MEAC   Ht      Season Stats (today's numbers in bold)                      
1-PGJamel Fuentes6'43.1 Pts, 2.6 Reb, 2.9 Ast
2-SGChris McEachin6'612.8 Pts, 2.9 Reb, 1.2 Ast
3-SFPendarvis Williams6'611.9 Pts, 3.8 Reb, 2.5 Ast
4-PFMarcos Tamares6'77.1 Pts, 2.6 Reb, 0.6 Ast - today 13 points
5-CKyle O'Quinn6'1015.9 Pts, 10.3 Reb, 1.4 Ast
1-PGQuasim Pugh5'112.8 Pts, 1.3 Reb, 1.3 Ast - today 12 pts, 11 reb,5 blks
2-SGBrandon Wheeless6'45.1 Pts, 2.4 Reb, 0.4 Ast
3-SFRodney McCauley6'53.5 Pts, 2.6 Reb, 1.4 Ast
4-PFA.J. Rogers6'72.4 Pts, 1.4 Reb, 0.2 Ast
5-CRob Johnson6'86.1 Pts, 3.2 Reb, 0.4 Ast
PosJMU - 2024 Sun Belt HtSeason Stats
1-PGXavier Brown6'26.3 Pts, 2.6 Reb, 2.0 Ast - today 13 pts,3 steals
2-SGNoah Freidel6'411.9 Pts, 5.3 Reb, 1.7 Ast
3-SFTerrence Edwards6'617.2 Pts, 4.4 Reb, 3.4 Ast
4-PFJulien Wooden6'89.9 Pts, 3.2 Reb, 1.2 Ast
5-CT.J. Bickerstaff6'913.3 Pts, 8.4 Reb, 1.7 Ast - today 11 pts, 9 reb, game win
1-PGMichael Green5'117.3 Pts, 1.3 Reb, 3.3 Ast
2-SGBryant Randleman6'41.6 Pts, 0.6 Reb, 0.8 Ast
3-SFQuincy Allen6'73.8 Pts, 1.4 Reb, 0.0 Ast
4-PFRaekwon Horton6'66.9 Pts, 4.3 Reb, 1.0 Ast
5-CJaylen Carey6'87.0 Pts, 4.3 Reb, 0.8 Ast

Tuesday, January 14, 2025

SEC Rules! 1978 KY Survives 1996 KY to win All-Time SEC; As 2025 SEC Challenges for Best Ever

The Value Add Basketball Game all-time SEC championship game was a thriller, with the all-time great 1978 point guard Kyle Macy preventing one steal with a great pass with 3:58 to go to set up a 3-pointer that gave the 1978 Kentucky team a 79-73 lead over Rick Pitino's high pressure 1996 Kentucky team that sent 9 of 10 players to the NBA. A "12" roll would have been a steal for the 1978 squad, except that in the last five minutes the list of all-time great point guards including Macy nullify a steal or turnover on a roll of 12, 14, 16, 42, 44 or 46. Kentucky 1979 only allowed 9 turnovers the entire game.

(if you only need links to the scoresheet and teams, click here. If you do not know how to play the game and want the instructions as well, click on Value Add Basketball Game )

Macy later capped off his 22-point outing with a steal and dunk to make it 85-75 with 1:30 to play - and then we almost witnessed the greatest comeback in our games history. Tony Delk hit  a free throw in the final minute to cut it to 85-78, missed the second free throw. Antoine Walker grabbed the offensive rebound and fired back out to Delk, who drained a 3-pointer and was fouled again, hitting that free throw for a 5-point play to gut it to 85-82. The 1996 squad scored again to make it 85-84 after a steal, but could not get it back for one last shot to give the title to the 1978 quad despite the closing 9-0 run.

The 2012 Kentucky squad also made our 20-team all-time tournament, which is shown below.

We played the game after posting the story below on if the SEC in 2105 is the greatest conference in the history of college basketball. Click here for this story on CBS 247 Sports.






Kentucky 2012 will also make the all-time great tournament and face the 2008 champs from Kansas in their first round game. The best team to date in the 11 big conferences are in this tournament, while the 20 champs from smaller conferences are all in our NIT tournament.


Pos     Kentucky 1978      Pts3pt2ptFTAttRebStlBlkFlHt,nba?Actual Season
1-PGKyle Macy2225661402nba,6'312.7 Pts, 4.5 Reb
2-SGTruman Claytor5110012026'115.5 Pts, 5.8 Reb
3-SFJack Givens1917224214nba,6'56.1 Pts, 3.2 Reb
4-PFJames Lee4020020016'511.4 Pts, 5.9 Reb
5-CRick Robey1916456032nba,6'1129.0 Pts, 15.5 Reb
1-PGJay Shidler2010010016'12.9 Pts, 0.8 Reb
2-SGDwane Casey2010010016'21.9 Pts, 0.8 Reb
3-SFLaVon Williams2010010016'74.7 Pts, 2.8 Reb
4-PFChuck Aleksinas511001001nba,6'114.6 Pts, 3.4 Reb
5-CMike Phillips5013430026'101.4 Pts, 1.9 Reb
 Turnovers 9856261517218417  
             
PosKentucky 1996Pts3pt2ptFTAttRebStlBlkFlHt,nba?Actual Season
1-PGDerek Anderson511001104nba,6'59.4 Pts, 3.4 Reb, 2.4 Ast
2-SGWalter McCarty2227222201nba,6'1011.3 Pts, 5.7 Reb, 2.6 Ast
3-SFTony Delk1834123001nba,6'117.8 Pts, 4.2 Reb, 1.8 Ast
4-PFAntoine Walker1205238001nba,6'815.2 Pts, 8.4 Reb, 2.9 Ast
5-CMark Pope903338025nba,6'107.6 Pts, 5.2 Reb, 1.0 Ast
1-PGAnthony Epps6022210016'26.7 Pts, 3.1 Reb, 4.9 Ast
2-SGWayne Turner402001003nba,6'24.5 Pts, 1.5 Reb, 1.6 Ast
3-SFJeff Sheppard402003101nba,6'35.5 Pts, 2.1 Reb, 1.9 Ast
4-PFRon Mercer201001001nba,6'78.0 Pts, 2.9 Reb, 1.4 Ast
5-CNazr Mohammed201001001nba,6'102.3 Pts, 1.5 Reb, 0.2 Ast
 Turnovers 16846281012293219 

Monday, January 13, 2025

Player Cards for 10 New Conference Champs - Bracket for NIT Tourney of 20 Conference Champs

After the champions of our 10 major conferences and the top team of the other 21 confernces (ASun top team Jacksonville) were named to our all-time NCAA Value Add Basketball Game tournament, we decided to set up an all-time NIT for the best team in the other 20 conferences. We list them in order of how they are ranked and with the conference they are winning in the column by their best player. We use this ranking for the seeding on the bracket below.

Since 10 of these teams were just created so that every conference had one team in the game, we also posted those team teams below so you can use them even prior to links to each team being posted in the instructions. 

Champions of the 20 Other Conferences
 
Rnk    Teams                           Yr           Star                              Conf        W  L   Rat
87Northern Iowa2015Seth TuttleMVC110
104Holy Cross1950Bob Cousy #39Pat11-1.4
109Detroit Mercy1960Dave DeBusschereHorz01-1.8
114Wofford2019Fletcher MageeSC00-2
125Seattle1958Elgin Baylor #23WAC01-2.8
142Bowling Green1963Nate ThurmondMAC01-4.3
143Dartmouth1944Dick McGuireIvy01-4.3
156Winthrop2007Craig BradshawBSth00-5
196South Dakota St.2012Nate WoltersSum00-8
197Vermont2020Anthony LambAE00-8
221Utah St.2003Desmond PenigarBW00-10
224Stephen f austin2016Thomas WalkupSlnd01-10.3
226UNC Wilmington2003Devontae CacokCAA00-11
234James Madison2024Terrence EdwardsSB01-12.5
242Niagara1970Calvin MurphyMAAC01-14.5
249Morehead St.2011Kenneth FariedOVC00-17
252Weber St.2010Damian Lillard #68Bsky01-19
254Texas Southern2013Fred SturdivantSWAC00-19
255Norfolk St.2012Kyle O'QuinnMEAC00-20
257Fairleigh Dickinson2005Gordon KlaiberNEC00-23