Thoughts before tonight's Vandy/Saint Mary's Game

Before I get started, for a really good basketball breakdown of tonight's matchup, please visit Vanderbilt Sports Line or the Official Vandy Athletic Site.

Tonight will be the first meeting between the two schools. The Gaels seem to have rebounded well from the loss of premier guard Patrick Mills. SMC opened with two blowout wins over questionable opponents New Mexico State and San Diego State. In his first time in the starting five, redshirt Aussie senior Ben Allen finished with a near triple double. He went for 17/10/9 against NMSU and was named WCC player of the week. The Gaels received a couple votes in the latest ESPN/USA Today Coaches poll. Vandy is sitting 28th/29th in the two respective polls.

If you are trying to watch the game, good luck. You can click here and watch if for about $8. Not a bad price, but I'll just listen for free on 104.5 the Zone.

Vandy scheduled this game to play a quality opponent on their way to Maui. I linked to a blog post by ESPN's Andy Katz that spelled out the importance of this game for Saint Mary's. Vandy can lose this game and still have ample opportunity to impress the NCAA tournament committee. The Gales have much more urgency tonight. After the Vandy game, the only other chance at a signature non-conference win for the Gales is at Oregon or making a run at the Diamond Head Classic in Hawaii. They'll play Gonzaga twice (maybe 3 if they meet in the WCC tournament), but that's about it. SMC finished last season at 27-6, but that was only good for a NIT bid. Vandy should be good enough this year, that a win tonight might make the difference for them in March. I know its super early to be thinking of March, but mid-majors have to make the most out of every chance they have. Don't be surprised if a motivated team/crowd is too much for the 'Dores to handle.

If Vandy easily handles the Gaels tonight, we know we're on the verge of something special this season. If we fly to Maui with a loss, we have a quick chance to rebound against Cincinnati. Surprisingly to me, Vegas has the Gaels as 5-point favorite! To be realistic, this is a win-win game for Vanderbilt. Even with a loss, you can blame it on a great team and a 10:30 Central start time.

My non-expert pick: Gaels win a close one: 83-80-
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Daily Links

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Barca Blog with a short interview with hyped freshman John Jenkins

Encouraging quote from Jenkins about his role on the team:

“I’m not called upon to score as many points as I did in high school. I'm just trying to play the game and do whatever the team needs me to do, I’ll do whether it’s scoring, rebounding, or taking charges. I’ll do all the dirty work. Whatever it takes to win."

Excellent Vandy-St. Mary's preview at Vandy Sports Line

Register through Vandy Official site for 2 free tickets to UK-Vandy

Thanksgiving Tournament for Vandy Women's team is 100% free for all fans

Bryan Mullen on the UT/Vandy Football game
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SEC Basketball Recap - 11/18/09

A few of the story lines from this week in the SEC.

Tennessee barley escaped UNC-Asheville on Tuesday night. UT only managed a 75-point margin of victory. Geez, I don't care if your playing a high school team. 75 points is incredible. The Vols are 2-0 and ranked 10th in the AP poll.

Kentucky on the other hand barley did escape with a victory. Freshmen sensation John Wall hit a last-second shot to help the Wildcats slip by Miami of Ohio 72-20. The Wildcats will get another test on Saturday, as Rider comes to town confident after handling Mississippit State earlier this week.

LSU is off to a fast 3-0 start, with a solid victory over Western Kentucky in the NIT tipoff. Things get really interesting next week, as the Tigers travel to Storrs to face UConn. Connecticut is 12th in the country and will be a good measuring stick for the SEC.

Georiga suffered a seeminly horible loss to Wofford. However, Wofford only lost by 3 at Pittsburgh, so it might not be as bad as it looks. The Bulldogs have a very winnable game against UAB and then two cupcakes. Don't judge this team too quickly.

Overall, the SEC is 17-5 to start the season.
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SI.com - Maui Invitational Preview

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Luke Winn of SI.com wrote a brief preview of 10 holiday tournaments, including the Maui Invitational. A couple things that jumped out to me.
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"The Invitational doesn't have its traditional blockbuster field, and a solid-but-not-spectacular Gonzaga team is the de facto headliner. But the fivesome of Arizona, Cincinnati, Maryland, Vanderbilt and Wisconsin contains at least one surprise team for '09-10 -- I'm just not sure yet which team it is."

I think that sums things up pretty well. You could easily be watching 4 teams that will advance beyond the Sweet 16.

The fun thing for 'Dores fans is his championship prediction.

The Pick: Vanderbilt over Maryland

"The 'Dores should be a bit farther along than anyone else in Maui, given that they were able to take a five-game tour of Australia in August. And whereas the Terps struggle from beyond the arc, in Beal, Jenkins and Brad Tinsley, Vandy has a backcourt that all should shoot better than 40 percent from beyond the arc."

Other than the fact that Maryland and Vandy would play in the 2nd round, I'm exciting about this. As a Vandy fan, you take what you can. Who cares if the writer didn't look at the tourney bracket? At least he giving Vandy some attention.
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Daily Links

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Box Score and AP Recap on ESPN.com

Jeff Lockridge of the Tennessean describes the physical nature of the game

David Rutz of InsideVandy.com described the 'Dores as sluggish, but too talented to lose

Andy Katz of ESPN.com talk about Vandy's next opponent - Saint Mary's (Scroll to 6:32 update)

From last week: Commodores sign guard Kyle Fuller, center Josh Henderson, and forward Rod Odom
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Vanderbilt Commodores 95, Lipscomb Bisons 73 – 11/16/09

Everybody can agree that early season polls really don’t mean anything. That is, unless your favorite team is a part of one. After one week, Vanderbilt was ranked in the top 30 in the coaches and media poll. With local radio debating whether this team is Coach Stallings’ best ever, and ESPN’s Doug Gottlieb picking Vandy as his national sleeper, I wanted to see this team take care of business in its home debut.

According to CBS Sportsline, Lipscomb had been picked second in the league's preseason media poll. The league's coaches took it a step farther, picking the school to win the conference tournament and automatic NCAA tournament bid. Earlier this week, preseason SEC media darling Mississippi State suffered an unexpected loss to Rider. Lipscomb could easily play the role of spoiler and quickly dash the hype surrounding the ‘Dores.

Winning by 22, Vanderbilt officially declared themselves ready for the challenge. Lipscomb trailed by only 7 at halftime, but the game never seemed to be in jeopardy. The Bisons seemed to be a well coached team, but had no answer for the hot shooting of the Commodores. Vandy shot 64% in the 2^nd half to end any hopes of an upset.

Here are a few quick thoughts about the 5 Commodores that stood out to me:

Jeffrey Taylor

Unfortunately we may only be seeing this kid in a Vandy uniform for two more years. He’s becoming a true NBA prospect and tonight was clear indication why. Taylor went for 20/7 and made it look effortless. He’s athletic, graceful, and explosive. Easily the best player on the court. He’ll make opposing teams stay on their heels defensively and should really open things up on the perimeter.

Jermaine Beal

Beal instantly led the team into action tonight. An article in the Tennessean said that Stallings was counting on Beal to establish himself and become the face of this team. Tonight, he scored 12 of his 17 in the 1^st half and helped Vandy get out of the gates quickly. It’s never a bad thing to have a senior leader running the point.

A.J. Ogilvy

I know he’s the guy with all the potential. The problem is that every time I watch him play, the same words come into my mind: Slow, Lumbering, Clumsy, and Lethargic. Don’t get me wrong, I really like him. He just always seems to bring the ball down and get stripped, commit silly fouls, or make uncoordinated looking moves to the basket. Ogilvy didn’t start tonight, with the AP story citing a concussion that he suffered a few months ago. He had 13 points and 9 rebounds, so I guess I shouldn’t be complaining.

John Jenkins

After averaging over 42 points a game in high school, I was extremely excited to see what Jenkins was all about. You could tell that the rest of the crowd felt the same way. I think the biggest ovation of the night was when Jenkins hit his first 3. Jenkins scored 7 points, playing only 16 minutes. The thing that struck me the most was his patience. For a player that routinely scored 50 last season, he seemed very content and stayed within the bounds of the offense. Nothing seemed forced and nothing appeared to be selfish. I’m sure he wanted to start out better than his 1-5 3pt shooting, but his impressive reverse layup will be all that fans remember from his debut.

Brad Tinsley

The ‘Dores started both Tinsley and Beal, which seemed to work out perfectly. Tinsley scored 10 points in a team-high 30 minutes. As a fan, you feel safe when the ball is in his hands. I’m not sure how to explain in any better than that. He shot the ball well (80%) and made a number of effective drives to the basket. He was only credited with 3 assists, but it felt like he created many more opportunities than that.

Photos from InsideVandy.com

On Friday the team has a tough road game against Saint Mary’s, followed by a trip to Hawaii for the Maui Invitational. In the tournament, Vanderbilt will need to go through Cincinnati and Maryland to reach the championship game. There, they would likely face Gonzaga or Arizona. Either way, the trip gives the ‘Dores a great chance to gain national respect.