2018-19 NCAA Basketball thread

[ImLawBoy]

First Texas Tech knocked out my Wolverines. Then Texas Tech lost the championship, costing me $30 (1/3 of the 3rd place prize i would have been tied for if they won). At least they managed to knock out Michigan State in between.

I haven't looked at ratings or anything, but I hope that all the naysayers talking about what a boring defensive rock fight the game was going to be didn't turn off too many viewers. That ended up being a wildly entertaining game, marred only by college basketball's terrible replay process bogging down the game at the end.

In offseason news, the draft declaration process is starting out poorly for Michigan. Everyone assumed that Charles Matthews would be gone (he had a year of eligibility left, but he's graduated and probably isn't going to do anything to improve his draft stock by staying another year), but I was surprised (although not shocked) that both Iggy Brazdeikis and Jordan Poole have declared and are hiring agents. That doesn't necessarily mean they're definitely gone under the new NCAA rules, but I think it's more likely than not. Iggy surprises me less since he was a 20 year old freshman, and any additional improvement he might get from a year of college development may be offset by being older. Poole was pretty inconsistent this year, and a really good junior year might have put him into the first round. As it is, most people I've read are putting Iggy and Poole in the second round. Matthews may or may not get drafted in the second round (great defender and athlete, but limited offensively), but he'll be able to play pro ball somewhere.

I'm all for college athletes getting paid, so best of luck to these guys. From a fan perspective I can't help but be bummed that we're likely losing our top three scorers, though.

[Isgrimnur]

The idea that Tech loses possession because the pinky touched the ball after the defender slapped the ball is ludicrous.

WaPo

That raised questions of whether replay was being used for what was arguably its originally intended function — to correct obvious errors in officiating with conclusive imagery — and whether it was fair, in this case, to the Red Raiders. As some noted, the replays also appeared to show that Moretti was fouled during the sequence, but that officiating decision was not eligible to be overturned.
...
“This is the problem with replay: [Virginia’s Kyle] Guy and Hunter fouled Moretti there if you put it in slo-mo,” Ryan Phillips of The Big Lead tweeted. “They can’t call that [with] replay, but they could take the ball from Moretti [because] of the ball being on his pinkie a millisecond too long.”

That last point was a theme among critics of the overturned call. Even if the ball did touch Moretti last, it did so by the barest of margins. To decide that was a more significant factor for possession than Hunter’s action in poking the ball away violated the spirit, if not the letter, of basketball law.

[ImLawBoy]

The idea that Tech loses possession because the pinky touched the ball after the defender slapped the ball is ludicrous.

I agree. It's crazy that we spend minutes during the ending of a thrilling game to review and overturn a call that everyone would have been fine with keeping. Dude knocked the ball out of bounds, and it should have been TT's ball - I don't care if a skin cell from the TT player was touching the ball last.

Michigan lost out on an opportunity to win a game against Purdue on a similar call a couple of years ago. I'm hoping that having it happen in a higher profile game might lead to meaningful change, but I'm not going to hold my breath.

[Isgrimnur]

I suppose that depends on the oversight committee.

[DOS=HIGH]

The idea that Tech loses possession because the pinky touched the ball after the defender slapped the ball is ludicrous.

WaPo

That raised questions of whether replay was being used for what was arguably its originally intended function — to correct obvious errors in officiating with conclusive imagery — and whether it was fair, in this case, to the Red Raiders. As some noted, the replays also appeared to show that Moretti was fouled during the sequence, but that officiating decision was not eligible to be overturned.
...
“This is the problem with replay: [Virginia’s Kyle] Guy and Hunter fouled Moretti there if you put it in slo-mo,” Ryan Phillips of The Big Lead tweeted. “They can’t call that [with] replay, but they could take the ball from Moretti [because] of the ball being on his pinkie a millisecond too long.”

That last point was a theme among critics of the overturned call. Even if the ball did touch Moretti last, it did so by the barest of margins. To decide that was a more significant factor for possession than Hunter’s action in poking the ball away violated the spirit, if not the letter, of basketball law.

I couldn't believe something wasn't said by the commentators and more isn't being made out of it after the fact. I don't have much of a problem with a foul not being called, but the amount of contact by the ball handler was ridiculous. I guess since NCAA basketball is an amateur sport it really doesn't matter I saw an NBA game last year where the possession was overturned in the defenders favor after he blatantly fouled the player to cause the ball to go out of play. The commentators were all over the absurdity of the reversal but that's the last I heard of it. It's pathetic that the League doesn't see this is a huge problem with the rule and will wait till it cost someone a playoff series.

[Pyperkub]

Beilein to the Cavs?

[ImLawBoy]

Seems confirmed. Dammit.

[Remus West]

Seems confirmed. Dammit.

Just saw this and let me just say NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO*gasp*OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

I wish him well but seriously, the Cavs? Ugh. Couldn't he have held out for a better team at the least?

[ImLawBoy]

I think part of the allure is rebuilding a team, and the Cavs are certainly in need of a rebuild.

It will be interesting to see what he does in the NBA and whether pros will react to him the way college kids do. Good luck to him, and I sincerely thank him for making Michigan basketball relevant again.

Dammit.

[ImLawBoy]

Seems that Juwan Howard is the front runner for the Michigan HC job. It would be interesting if he panned out. He's been interviewing for lots of NBA HC positions, and he appears to be very well respected as an assistant coach. I'm thinking he's probably not going to stick around for too long if he is hired. If he's successful he'll likely try to move to the NBA. If he's not successful he'll get canned.

[ImLawBoy]

[Pyperkub]

didn't he take money as a member of the Fab 5?

[ImLawBoy]

didn't he take money as a member of the Fab 5?

It does not appear so:

Although the Fab Five final four appearances were later vacated, [Juwan Howard] was not among the players called before the grand jury (as were Robert Traylor, Chris Webber, Jalen Rose, Maurice Taylor, and Louis Bullock).

[Pyperkub]

I did not know that. Kudos to him.

[ImLawBoy]

Interestingly, Michigan is now the only Division I school to have alumni as head coach for both football and men's basketball (and they both have the initials JH).

[Pyperkub]

Here it comes...

The NCAA expects at least six Division I men's basketball programs will receive notices of allegations for Level I violations, the most serious infractions under NCAA rules, as a result of the federal government's investigation into corruption in the sport....

...The schools that could receive notices of allegations were not identified.

Stan Wilcox, the NCAA's vice president of regulatory affairs, told CBS Sports on Wednesday at an athletic directors conference in Orlando, Florida, that two programs might receive notices of allegations by early July and that four more probably will receive them by the end of the summer.

[Pyperkub]

Kansas:

Kansas has been charged with lack of institutional control, three Level I violations in men’s basketball and there is a head coach responsibility charge against coach Bill Self, according to multiple sources. There also are allegations against football, sources added, although those are Level II violations.

[Ralph-Wiggum]

Kansas:

Kansas has been charged with lack of institutional control, three Level I violations in men’s basketball and there is a head coach responsibility charge against coach Bill Self, according to multiple sources. There also are allegations against football, sources added, although those are Level II violations.

[Scuzz]

Kansas:

Kansas has been charged with lack of institutional control, three Level I violations in men’s basketball and there is a head coach responsibility charge against coach Bill Self, according to multiple sources. There also are allegations against football, sources added, although those are Level II violations.

Whoever was doing it on the football side wasn't very good at it.

I saw this morning a quick blurb that Georgia Tech is also being hit with some violations.

[Isgrimnur]

And Avenatti's Blackmail of Nike may have been about this AAU team:

The AAU coach in question is, according to ESPN, Gary Franklin who ran Cal Supreme out of the Los Angeles area for years and was recently cut by Nike.

While no specific players or college programs are mentioned in the indictment, Cal Supreme’s website features a list of recent alums who are prominent current and former college players — Brandon Williams (Arizona), Deandre Ayton (Arizona), Bol Bol (Oregon), Tevian Jones (Illinois), Jordan Schakel, (SDSU), Ethan Thomas, (Oregon State), Brandon McCoy, (UNLV), Justice Sueing, (Cal), Johan Matthews, (USC), DeAnthony Melton, (USC) and Milan Acquaah (Washington State).

"A suit and tie doesn’t mask the fact that at its core this was an old-fashioned shakedown," U.S. Attorney Geoff Berman said.

NBC News

A federal judge on Thursday sentenced disgraced attorney Michael Avenatti to 2 1/2 years behind bars for his efforts to extort tens of millions of dollars from Nike.
...
Speaking through sobs, Avenatti said he was truly sorry for all the pain he has caused and that he betrayed his values, his profession and his family.

“I will never have the privilege of practicing law again, I am deeply humbled before you today. I have destroyed my career, my relationships and my life,” he told the court.

He's scheduled to surrender on Sept. 15 and will have to serve three years of supervised release after getting out of prison.
...
After a three-week trial, Avenatti was convicted in February last year of extortion, transmission of interstate communications with intent to extort, and wire fraud in connection to threats he made against sports equipment and apparel giant Nike.
...
Avenatti had threatened to ruin Nike’s reputation and crater its stock price unless it agreed to pay him and his client millions of dollars, prosecutors said.

He was caught on a recorded call, hurling expletives as he pressured Nike reps to pay him.
...
His legal problems still aren't done, as he's set to go on trial next year in federal court for allegedly defrauding Daniels out of hundreds of thousands of dollars she was owed for a book deal.

Avenatti also faces other federal fraud charges in Los Angeles. The attorney has pleaded not guilty to all charges.