This Week In BasketBuffs - 12/19/11

LAST WEEK

The men's team was off last week, but a huge shout-out to our women's team who are now 9-0. By all accounts, it wasn't the prettiest game, but the women got it done and continue their undefeated season. They have two more non-conference games (the UTSA Holiday Classic in San Antonio tomorrow & Wednesday) before they start conference play with a 3 game road trip.

The women don't get the attention that they deserve, so hopefully we all can take a moment to give them some praise.

THIS WEEK


KenPom.com has CSU-Bakersfield as the 272nd best team and Texas Southern as the 319th best team in the nation. There's really nothing else that needs to be said about these games. We have to win them. Period. I have very little doubt, but because I'm officially a tinfoil hat wearer now, I'm convinced we can lose any game at this point.

For pure entertainment value, the CSU-B game could be kind of fun just because they like to run. Last year the team finished 47th in the nation in pace, but with a coaching change they've pulled the reins in a bit and are only 66th. The player to watch is Issiah Grayson. Their guard is shooting 51% from the field, and adding in 11 points and 5 assist per game. He has the #47 assist rate in the nation, but also is averaging 4 turnovers a game. So when he does complete his passes, they usually go for buckets, but it could be a big steal night for some of our guards. It will also be fun watching Rashad Savage go head to head with Dre in the rebounding battle. Also, did you know that CSU-B plays on a blue basketball court? You do now.

As for Texas Southern, they're bad but they fill what apparently is our yearly requirement of SWAC opponents. Last year, many thought TX Southern was the best team in the SWAC (the conference that KenPom ranked as the worst in Division 1 basketball -- behind "Independents") but they were upset in the conference tourney and had to settle for an NIT bid -- where they got run over by Corey Higgins, Alec Burks and the rest of the Buffs in the CEC. They're expected to be the best team in the SWAC again this year as well. Looking over their numbers, they're absolutely horrid on offense (330th in the nation in Offensive Efficiency) and not much better on defense (243rd). Now a lot of this can be attributed to their non-conference schedule which has included Michigan State, Baylor, Northwestern, Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Denver -- all of which are in the top 90 of KenPom's rankings, and all of which were on the road. They still have to play at Saint Louis and at Arkansas as well, so it's obvious that their AD hates them. They're a better team than their numbers indidcate, but there's still very little reason to believe that the Buffs shouldn't be able to take care of business. Watch for Dre to have a HUGE game on the glass as TX Southern might be the worst team in the nation at preventing offensive rebounds.



SEASON NUMBERS TO FOLLOW