Mutombo, Gtown Get Revenge on Duke 35 Years Later - Go to Final 4

 

Dikembe Mutombo helped the Hoyas to an early lead, then after a bunch of lead changes Alonzo Mourning - the second half if the greatest shot blocking duo - took over for a 79-74 win over Duke's 2015 national champs. Click here for Hawks pictured tweet.

The win avenges these Hoyas for the upset win by Duke to keep them out of the actual 1989 Final 4. The win is fitting after the finger wagging Mutombo who went onto be such an inspirational human off the court, passed away September 30, leading to tears and choked off interviews with many who knew him.

The Hoyas will advance to play a Big East rival semifinal against the 2023 champs from UConn. The 2022 champs from Kansas are in the other semifinal, but they will be underdogs against the Fab 5 from Michigan's 1993 team. As shown in the box score at the bottom of the blog, Mourning had 24 points and 10 rebounds after Mourning had 8 early points. The Hoyas defense forced 18 turnovers to only 11 forced by Duke. The Hoyas also pounded it inside with only two 3-pointers to six for Duke.

Rankings of Final 4

• UConn moved up from 11th to 10th in our all-time rankings with their Elite 8 win, so Georgetown will still be the underdog as their win moved them up from 33rd to 26th all-time.
• Meanwhile Kansas moved up only slightly from 49th to 45th all-time, making them the underdog against Michigan that moved up from 35th to 23rd to pass Georgetown by a couple of spots.

Of the 234 all-time great teams in the Value Add Basketball Game, these Final Four teams and the champs of our two previous all-time great tournaments are the only six undefeated teams after 301 total games between the teams.

This third batch of teams included teams from 2022 - 2024 - after the first 160 teams were created. After initially allowing no more than one team per school in each century in the first batch of 96 teams (Bill Walton's UCLA beat Michael Jordan's UNC for the title), we had some leeway in our next 64 teams (Paul Pierce Kansas won title).

Separate from these 301 games we also played the 2020 tournament cancelled by COVID, and Creighton beat Duke for that title. That year I was at the last NCAA game and watching Creighton in Madison Square Garden until the game was cancelled at halftime after the NBA canceled their season. 

Pos	Georgetown 1989	Pts	3pt	2pt	FT	Att	Reb	Stl	Blk	Fl	Ht	Season Stats
1-PG	Charles Smith	13	1	4	2	2	7	3	0	1	6'1	18.7 Pts, 3.6 Reb, 5.1 Ast
2-SG	Dwayne Bryant	6	0	3	0	0	4	2	0	1	6'2	7.2 Pts, 2.6 Reb, 3.4 Ast
3-SF	Jaren Jackson	8	0	3	2	2	1	0	0	2	6'4	12.3 Pts, 5.2 Reb, 1.8 Ast
4-PF	Mark Tillmon	5	1	1	0	0	6	0	0	3	6'2	8.3 Pts, 2.3 Reb, 1.1 Ast
5-C	Alonzo Mourning	24	0	9	6	9	10	0	6	3	6'10	13.1 Pts, 7.3 Reb, 0.7 Ast
1-PG	Bobby Winston	6	0	3	0	0	2	0	0	3	6'5	5.0 Pts, 3.1 Reb, 3.0 Ast
2-SG	Ronnie Thompson	2	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	2	6'4	1.7 Pts, 0.4 Reb, 0.6 Ast
3-SF	John Turner	7	0	3	1	2	5	1	2	1	6'8	6.6 Pts, 6.2 Reb, 0.9 Ast
5-C	Dikembe Mutombo	8	0	4	0	0	3	0	0	1	7'2	3.9 Pts, 3.3 Reb, 0.2 Ast
	Turnovers 11	79	2	27	11	15	36	6	8	16
Pos	Duke 2015	Pts	3pt	2pt	FT	Att	Reb	Stl	Blk	Fl	Ht	Season Stats
1-PG	Tyus Jones	15	2	4	1	1	3	3	1	2	6'1	11.8 Pts, 3.5 Reb, 5.6 Ast
2-SG	Quinn Cook	12	1	3	3	4	3	0	0	3	6'2	15.3 Pts, 3.4 Reb, 2.6 Ast
3-SF	Justise Winslow	10	1	2	3	3	9	1	2	3	6'6	12.6 Pts, 6.5 Reb, 2.1 Ast
4-PF	Jahlil Okafor	13	0	6	1	2	8	1	2	2	6'11	17.3 Pts, 8.5 Reb, 1.3 Ast
5-C	Amile Jefferson	8	0	3	2	2	6	1	2	5	6'9	6.1 Pts, 5.8 Reb, 0.8 Ast
1-PG	Matt Jones	9	1	2	2	2	2	0	0	3	6'5	6.0 Pts, 2.3 Reb, 1.0 Ast
2-SG	Marshall Plumlee	2	0	1	0	0	2	0	0	1	7'0	2.2 Pts, 2.4 Reb, 0.3 Ast
3-SF	Semi Ojeleye	5	1	1	0	0	2	0	0	1	6'8	3.0 Pts, 2.3 Reb, 0.2 Ast
	Turnovers 18	74	6	22	12	14	35	6	7	20

Winslow Leads Duke Past Houston to Face Edey v. Mutombo-Mourning

 This was the Sweet 16 game we most looked forward to, because Houston 2021 was so impressive in their 102-50 win over 2023 Princeton in their opener, that the shot up from our preseason 70th to 35th in our rankings - making them a 4th seed and getting them a bye in this tournament. This team started the current five season streak Houston has going of years in which they've been in the top 6 in the AP poll and held opponents to less than 60 points per game - and this was the Final 4 team during this streak.

Duke 2015 was just the opposite - starting as the 44th ranked team in the preseason but then barely beating Tyler Kolek's Marquette and the 2014 Nebraska team to drop down to a lower seed for the tournament. However, once in the tournament and with the low seeding, they destroyed Miami 2023 look more like the team that just took over late as Justise Winslow bloomed late to run all the way to the 2015 title after Wisconsin upset what many thought was the greatest Kentucky team until that point.

Therefore this was on of those games where the worst seed was the favorite, because we rank this Duke team a +3, meaning three points better than the average all-time great team in the game - but rank Houston as a +0 - meaning exactly average in the game. That's about how it ended up with a 74-70 Duke win to advance.

However, out of the gates Houston did what they do every year - dominating the offensive boards. This is the first time we ever recall a team grabbing the first 9 rebounds of the game as they shot to a 28-21 lead after grabbing 7 offensive rebounds and 2 defensive rebounds to none for Duke. However, Winslow was not yet in the game, so he came in and steadied it with 15 points and 12 rebounds and as a result Duke only lost the rebound battle 39-44.

 

Duke 2015	Game Highlights	NBA?	Ht	Summary
Tyus Jones	16 pts	nba	6'1	11.8 Pts, 3.5 Reb, 5.6 Ast
Quinn Cook	6-7 free throws (90% season)	nba	6'2	15.3 Pts, 3.4 Reb, 2.6 Ast
Justise Winslow	15 pts, 12 reb	nba	6'6	12.6 Pts, 6.5 Reb, 2.1 Ast
Jahlil Okafor	18 pts, 10 reb	nba	6'11	17.3 Pts, 8.5 Reb, 1.3 Ast
Amile Jefferson		nba	6'9	6.1 Pts, 5.8 Reb, 0.8 Ast
Rasheed Sulaimon			6'5	7.5 Pts, 2.0 Reb, 1.8 Ast
Matt Jones			6'5	6.0 Pts, 2.3 Reb, 1.0 Ast
Grayson Allen	DNP (dominant next season)	nba	6'4	4.4 Pts, 1.0 Reb, 0.4 Ast
Marshall Plumlee		nba	7'0	2.2 Pts, 2.4 Reb, 0.3 Ast
Semi Ojeleye		nba	6'8	3.0 Pts, 2.3 Reb, 0.2 Ast
Houston 2021	Game Highlights		Ht	Summary
Marcus Sasser		nba	6'1	13.7 Pts, 2.6 Reb, 2.2 Ast
Dejon Jarreau	16 pts, 2 blocked shots	nba	6'5	10.6 Pts, 5.4 Reb, 4.3 Ast
Quentin Grimes	15 pts, 10 reb	nba	6'5	17.8 Pts, 5.7 Reb, 2.0 Ast
Justin Gorham	15 pts, 14 reb		6'7	8.4 Pts, 8.6 Reb, 1.2 Ast
Brison Gresham			6'8	3.0 Pts, 3.0 Reb, 0.3 Ast
Jamal Shead		nba	6'1	3.3 Pts, 1.1 Reb, 1.5 Ast
Tramon Mark			6'5	7.8 Pts, 3.0 Reb, 1.7 Ast
Fabian White			6'8	6.2 Pts, 4.1 Reb, 0.8 Ast
Reggie Chaney			6'8	4.7 Pts, 2.8 Reb, 0.5 Ast
J'Wan Roberts			6'7	1.9 Pts, 3.8 Reb, 0.3 Ast
Team Stats	Duke listed 1st, then Houston 2nd
Points	74-70 Duke win
Rebounds	39-44 Houston edge (started 0-9)
Free Throws	14-21 to 8-12
Steals	6-5 Duke edge
Turnovers	10-9 Duke 1 more but very low both
Blocked Shots	4-7 Houston edge
Fouls Committed	16-21 Five more fouls called on Hou

This round has more higher seeds than any other round we've played in our three tournaments, as only two to four of the Elite 8 will be a top 8 seed. The 2023 UConn was the 1-seed and barely survived by closing out their Sweet 16 game on an unprecedented 17-0 run. Western Kentucky's 1966 team is also in the Elite 8 as the 3-seed. The other two still alive are the 6-seed Fab 5 from Michigan in 1993 who will need to beat Tennessee 2023 to advance and meet Western Kentucky, and in the ultimate battle of big men, Purdue's Zach Edey will face the 1989 Georgetown's Alonzo Mourning and the one and only, late great, Dikembe Mutombo to see who faces Duke 2015 in the Elite 8.

 

Mourning, Mutombo Hold ASU Scoreless for 1st 14 Possessions to Advance

 The greatest shock blocking duo in college basketball history help James Harden's 2009 Arizona State squad scoreless their first 14 possessions, and with 11 minutes to go in the game were still flirting with the best defensive game in our history with a 45-28 lead.

The 12-seed Georgetown Hoyas let up a little and Hardin finished with 14 points, but the Hoyas advance to our Sweet 16 65-54.

This freshman 1989 season Alonzo Mourning blocked an incredible 5.0 blocked shots a game and helped the team to a 1-seed and Elite 8 - the first of two times he accomplished all 3 of those things.

Even his teammate the great Dikembe Mutombo couldn't quite match that feat, averaging 4.1 and 4.7 blocks in his top two seasons en route to making the finger wag famous.

In addition to the two legendary shot blockers, the Hoyas featured three other future NBA players in Jaren Jackson, Charles Smith and John Turner. The only NBA-bound teammate Hardin had was Jeff Ayres.

The game took 32 minutes to play. The Hoyas next play Zach Edey and the 2024 Purdue team, the #5 seed.,

The Hoyas Advance.

College Hoops 4th Best Conference History - Current Big East (Original BE Could Have Been Best)

The domination in our game of Villanova team that dominated the title game in 2018 for one of two titles in there years and the two UConn teams that won titles in a six year stretch is no surprise.

The biggest surprise in our first 188 all-time great games has been DePaul's 1980 squad, which stunned Kareem and UCLA in route to a 3-0 record. We assume they will end up coming down to earth, but for right now they have helped the top six teams in the Big East to a 17-7 mark and the ranking as the 4th best conference in our game so far.

Add Patrick Ewing's 1984 Georgetown team, and you can remember how the actual 1980s Big East that launched ESPN legitimately challenges the ACC for title of the top conference in the country.

You may ask why Marquette merits four teams in the game is simple - I went there and am completely biased and even wrote a book on Marquette basketball once. Obviously a great program, but so far all four teams rank slightly below average of the all-time great teams. However, most of us would argue the actual all-time great team out of Marquette was Jim Chones squad in the early 70s that went 49-1 with only a last second loss to Ohio State in the tournament, and then loss Chones to the ABA before No. 2 Marquette could make a run at the UCLA dynasty. Of course none of team Marquette teams ranked from 8 to 10 were actually in the Big East - the 2011 team led by Jimmy Butler and Jae Crowder and was in the Big East.

The Creighton 2020 team actually won our 2020 tournament we decided to play after Covid cancelled the actual tournament. They beat Duke for the title, but their six wins in that tournament did not include games against any teams in the All-Time great team.  

Rnk	Great Team	Year	Key Player	W	L	Pts	Allow	Rate
	Top 6 Big East teams			17	7	73.1	68.2	4.7
1	Villanova	2018	Mikal Bridges	7	2	79.4	70.3	10.8
2	Connecticut	2004	Ben Gordon	4	2	73.5	64.0	7.0
3	DePaul	1980	Mark Aguirre	3	0	80.3	67.7	5.6
4	Connecticut	1999	Richard Hamilton	0	1	60.0	64.0	4.0
5	Seton Hall	1989	John Morton	1	1	78.0	78.0	0.5
6	Georgetown	1984	Patrick Ewing	2	1	67.3	65.3	0.4
7	Georgetown	2007	Roy Hibbert	1	2	76.7	75.3	-1.4
8	Marquette	1971	Jim Chones	1	1	68.0	69.0	-1.8
9	Marquette	2003	Dwyane Wade	2	2	73.3	74.0	-2.4
10	Marquette	1977	Butch Lee	1	1	66.0	61.5	-2.8
11	St. John's	1985	Chris Mullin	0	1	75.0	76.0	-2.8
12	DePaul	1945	George Mikan	0	1	51.0	55.0	-5.2
13	Marquette	2011	Jimmy Butler	0	1	82.0	87.0	-7.0
14	Villanova	1985	Ed Pinckney	0	1	65.0	72.0	-9.2
15	Creighton	2014	Doug McDermott	0	3	66.3	80.0	-9.7
16	Creighton	2020	Ty-Shon Alexander	0	1	72.0	106.0	-10.2
17	Butler	2010	Gordon Hayward	0	3	54.7	76.3	-13.0

We invented the Value Add Basketball Game, and since then have grown it to to 135 teams of all-time great teams and players. We have played 188 games to date, and 63,000 unique visitors have clicked on the game. 

Seven current conferences have at least six all-time great teams in the game. We decided to rank those conferences based on the average rating of their top six teams so far in our games against other teams.

Click on the game to play yourself - it contains everything you need to play the Value Add Basketball game, which lets you pit any of 136 great all-time college teams against each other. To pick your two teams it is best to click on this Google doc and print the pages of the teams you want (each team is one page). I track my games on this google sheet, but play your own for free!

Big East Conference Top 15 Men’s Basketball Players To Date

 For Immediate Release

John Pudner, 404.606.3163, johnp@takebackaction.org

Big East Conference Top 15 Men’s Basketball Players To Date

“Value Add Basketball is happy to provide the early list of the conference’s top 15 men’s  basketball players based on proven analytics used by NBA teams for draft prep,as well as writers at Sports Illustrated, ESPN, NBC Sports, Fox Sports,” said John Pudner, the inventor of the system.”

“Villanova’s Collin Gillespie is the 10th best player in the country and leads a list of an impressive 10 Big East players in the top 100 in the country. This may explain why even though the Big 12 and Big East are the top two ranked teams at www.kenpom.com, in the early season challenges the Big East split 5-5 with the Big 12 and for the first time beat the Big Ten to establish how strong the conference is this year.

“The Big East is an experienced lead with two of the best defender in the country with defending co-Big East Defender of the Year Posh Alexander of St. John’s ranking as both the second best defender and second best player in the conference. The top defender in the conference is Marquette’s Darryl Morsell, who was the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year with Maryland last year.”

“The only sure fire NBA player in the conference is Georgetown’s freshman Aminu Mohammed, though seven other players have at least a 40 percent of making the NBA, Marquette’s Justin Lewis may join them after torching UConn double teams with Morsell out to increase his chances of making the NBA to 21%.”

You can click on this google doc with information on all 4,000+ players prior to it being posted on www.valueaddbasketball.com. You can also click here for the top 100 players in the country.

Information includes each player’s chance of making the NBA, his Value Add Rating for how many points he impacts a typical game (roughly 10 points is All-American level). The key to the table is: Rank = the player's conference ranking, Value Add = how many points he improves his team over a replacement player, Class = if he is in his 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th and final year of eligibility, Ht = his height, AdjD = how many points he takes away from opponents, and NBA = his percent chance of making the NBA.

Feel free to use any information contained in these statements as wanted, and email (johnp@takebackaction.org), or text/call 404.606.3163 for any questions or additional quotes from John Pudner.

Rank	BE	Team	Value Add	Class	Ht	AdjD	NBA
1	Collin Gillespie	Villanova	9.06	Sr	6'3"	-1.74	5%
2	Posh Alexander	St. John's	7.89	So	6'0	-4.2	24%
3	Javon Freeman-Liberty	DePaul	7.47	Sr	6'4"	-2.92	1%
4	Ryan Kalkbrenner	Creighton	7.22	So	7'1"	-1.78	1%
5	RJ Cole	Connecticut	6.89	Sr	6'1"	-1.49	1%
6	Jack Nunge	Xavier	6.88	Jr	7'0	-2.55	1%
7	Justin Moore	Villanova	6.71	Jr	6'4"	-2.04	48%
8	Colby Jones	Xavier	6.65	So	6'6"	-2.39	1%
9	Darryl Morsell	Marquette	6.59	Sr	6'5"	-4.5	44%
10	Ryan Hawkins	Creighton	6.47	Sr	6'7"	-1.59	1%
11	Julian Champagnie	St. John's	6.25	Jr	6'8"	-2.3	46%
12	Jared Rhoden	Seton Hall	6.02	Sr	6'6"	-2.49	45%
13	Isaiah Whaley	Connecticut	5.63	Sr	6'9"	-4.6	1%
14	David Jones	DePaul	5.59	So	6'6"	-2.68	1%
15	Nate Johnson	Xavier	5.52	Sr	6'4"	-0.71	1%
NBA	Andre Jackson	Connecticut	4.62	So	6'6"	-3.45	43%
NBA	Justin Lewis	Marquette	4.86	Fr	6'7"	-2.38	21%
NBA	Jermaine Samuels	Villanova	4.52	Sr	6'7"	-2.04	20%
NBA	Paul Scruggs	Xavier	2.66	Sr	6'5"	-1.95	29%
NBA	Aminu Mohammed	Georgetown	3.61	Fr	6'5"	-1.88	81%
NBA	Adama Sanogo	Connecticut	2.45	So	6'9"	-1.25	42%
NBA	Jordan Hawkins	Connecticut	1.28	Fr	6'5"	-0.57	42%