BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: Connecticut @ DePaul

January 31, 2007


If ther season ended today Connecticut would find themselves at home for the Big East Toournament. Luckily for the scalpers in New York City and for the Huskies, the season does not end today and UConn has nine games left to pull themselves out of the bottom four.

One of the teams that they are looking to catch is the DePaul Blue Demons, who sit just ahead of UConn at 3-5 in the conference. Much like the Jim Calhoun, this is not the position that Jerry Wainwright expected to be in at the halfway mark of the Big East season. DePaul was picked by many, including myself, to be a team that could surprise with their talent and experience, instead, they continue to be maddening inconsistent and have not looked like they improved in any way from last season much at all.

Here are links to the pregame stories and previews found on the internet this morning:

UConn Men's Scouting Report (Norwich Times)
UConn Men an Image of a Decade Ago (Bristol Press)
Huskies Look to Avoid 5-Game Losing Streak (Hartford Courant)
Calhoun, Huskies Demand Effort (Danbury News Times)
No Guarantee Games Anymore for UConn (New Haven Register)
Win - or Loss - Could Put Huskies in Unique Position in Big East (Norwich Bulletin)
Heat is on for Pair in Big East (Connecticut Post)
Depaul's Problems Run Gamut (Daily Herald)
UConn in Same Boat at DePaul This Time (Chicago Sun-Times)


Click below for our brief preview and prediction on this game and don't forget to leave your prediction in the comments section.

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Something has to give tonight as Connecticut, with a four game losing strak, travels to Chicago to meet DePaul, who has a three game losing streak. Both teams have a laundry list of issues that have led to very inconsistent play this season. With Connecticut, a lot of the inconsistency was expected for a team with 8 freshmen and 5 sophomores, but their inability to put together any type of complete game has kept them from winning anything of substance. DePaul is not as inexperienced or young and their inconsistency has led them to some impressive wins, but downright bad losses.

Jom Calhoun no longer wants to hear about the UConn youth as the reason they are losing. They are 20 games into the season and they need to start playing like Big East basketball players, but he is not abondoning his players. He needs to find consistent backcourt play. AJ Price has struggled in running the team and making decisions while Jerome Dyson has been in a shooting slump since Big East play began. Price and Dyson have also been banged up for much of conference play, which has not helped. Doug Wiggins has been able to provide a spark, but seems to be more comfortable in spurts off the bench. Craig Austrie, their best shooter, has seemed to see his action cut drastically.

In the middle, hasheem Thabeet is a presence blocking shots, but he has been manhandled for the most part in Big East play on the baords and offensively. They need his rebounding and him to be a threat offensively. Jeff Adrien continues to bang away inside, but he can get bottled up as the Huskies continue to brick their way from the outside. Calhoun is looking for more consistency on the wing from Stanley Robinson and Marcus Johnson, especially from the offensive side of things.

DePaul has used 11 different players in the starting line-up with only senior Sammy Mejia starting every game. DePaul continues to get inconsistent play from the lead guard spot. Jabari Currie seems to be back as the flavor of the week at the position with Will Walker's time being drastically in the last three games and Cliff Clinkscales continues to be used as a last option among the three. Mejia is the player opponents game plan to stop and he finds little room to get free. Draelon Burns provides an offensive spark, but the Blue Demons need to find some sort of offense from Karron Clark or their post players in some form of consistent matter. Wilson Chandler is the other constant, but he has a total of 4 rebounds in their last two games. He needs to be more of a factor on both ends of the floor.

Tonight is a tough call. One thing is for certain, when Connecticut comes to down, they still have a target on their backs. Everyone knows the reputation of their program, coach and even the much-hyped young players, but this is a new role for their players, being the hunted at this level, and they are having trouble stopping runs once the momentum sides with their opponent. The oddsmakers have made DePaul a 4-pt favorite at home and the Pomeroy Computer has DePaul as a 1-pt winner. The Blue Demons are athletic enough to stick with Connecticut and should have just a little more shooting ability to get the win at home, but it could be a struggle for both.

NBE Blogger Prediction: DePaul 63 Connecticut 57

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BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: DePaul @ Georgetown

January 24, 2007


The Depaul Blue Demons continued to be consistently inconsistent by laying an egg offensively at home against Louisville over the weekend to even their conference record at 3-3. Georgetown swept a New Jersey swing last week defeating Rutgers on Wednesday and Seton Hall on friday to move to 3-2 in the conference.

Not much on the internet about tonight's game, the city of Chicago is gearing up for the Superbowl apparently:

Hoyas Look for Top Option (Washington Times)




Click below for our brief preview and prediction on this game and don't forget to leave your prediction in the comments section.

READ REST OF PREVIEW...CLICK "Read More" BELOW



If you can figure out this DePaul team then you are very special. With top talent like Wilson Chandler and Sammy Mejia and a solid supporting cast like Karron Clarke, Will Walker, Draelon Burns, etc., it is mystifying that this team would struggle to score at hime like they did against Louisville (50 pts) and Pittsburgh (49) pts, not to mention their 53-pt performance against St. John's to open conference play. Depaul is also a solid defensive team, but their ability to score the basketball comes and goes way too often. Part of the reason is the inconsistent play at point guard where they seem to run with Jabari Currie and Will Walker and turn to Cliff Clinkscales when all else fails. This has led to a very inconsistent team and that is obvious from their results.

If the Blue Demons are looking to crank up the offense, it is going to be very tough tonight against the stingy Georgetown Hoyas. Pittsburgh was the only Big East team to score more than 58 points against the Hoyas, who have only yielded more than 60 pts once since November 22nd besides their loss at Pittsburgh. Georgetown has struggled facing pressure and their thin backcourt can be vulnerable to physical and athletic guards. The Hoyas have a clear frontline advantage in size and ability with Roy Hibbert, Jeff Green and Dajuan Summers, but the disappointing season from Green who was widely expected to raise his game as a junior might be the biggest reason the Hoyas have fallen from a preseason top 10 ranking to outside the top 25. Now, they are trying to put their season back on track to gear up for a tough finish in the conference schedule.

The Hoyas are 7.5-pt favorites and an 8-pt predicted winner by Pomeroy. The Hoyas should be able to hold off the Blue Demons and get a win on their home floor.

NBE Blogger Prediction: Georgetown 67 DePaul 58

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BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: Louisville @ DePaul

January 20, 2007


A key game on the Big East schedule this weekend involves two former Conference USA rivals battling it out in the standings of the New Big East. Louisville travels to Chicago to meet DePaul Saturday afternoon as both teams fight to stay above .500 in the conference.

This is a key game for the Blue Demons, not only because it is home, but after this game three of their next four will come on the road against Georgetown, West Virginia and Syracuse with a home game in the middle with Connecticut. DePaul has been an inconsistent team all season, but their only home loss has come at the hands of Pittsburgh.

Click below for our brief preview and prediction on this game and don't forget to leave your prediction in the comments section.

READ REST OF PREVIEW...CLICK "Read More" BELOW






Louisville is coming off a 9-point home loss to Marquette on Monday night and now must rebound on the road against DePaul. The Cardinals have altered their line-up because of injuries and have gone with a much smaller and quicker look. Lately their line-up has consisted of three guards (Edgar Sosa, Jerry Smith and Brandon Jenkins) with a small forward (Terrence Williams) and David Padgett in the middle. Juan Palacios has been slowed by a series of injuries, but he is rounding back into shape and should be a key player in the match-up with DePaul. Both teams are a bit inexperiences and inconsistent at point guard. For DePaul, freshman Will Walker and sophomore Jabari Currie get most of the time there with Cliff Clinkscales seeing more action if both are unrpoductive in the game. Louisville is trying to make due with freshman Edgar Sosa running most of the action at the point guard spot, maybe not yet his true position. With the injury to Andre McGee, there options are limited.

At the off-guard spot, DePaul relies on senior Sammy Mejia, one of the better players in the conference, but he does have a habit of having quiet games at the wrong time for DePaul. Senior Brandon Jenkins is still rounding into shape from preseason leg injuries, but his experience and defensive ability will be key for the Cards in this game. Both teams have depth and the ability to play three guards with DePaul's Draelon Burns and Jerry Smith for Louisville.

The small forward has a pair of exciting athletes with Terrence Williams of Louisville and Karron Clarke of DePaul. Williams seems to be the thermometer for Louisville as when he is cold, so are the Cards. He is a tremendous athlete that can really get himself and the team on a role with a couple acrobatic plays and finishes. Clarke has similar athleticism but in too many games he is virtually invisible in the DePaul system. If they ever could find a way to unleash his talents, they would be a much tougher team to defend.

At the big forwars spot, two of the most talented players in the conference will go head to head. Wilson Chandler of DePaul is a mult-talented big man that can step outside, put the ball on the floor and rebound and block shots with anyone. Juan Palacios is not as long or quite as athletic as Chandler, and has not reached the level of consistent production that Chandler usually gives the Blue Demons. He seems to be Louisville's enigma because you know there is more there than we have seen. Injuries have definitely not helped his cause, however.

In the middle, neither team will get much in the way of true post offense. David Padgett of Louisville is probably a little more comfortable facing the basket to create his offense. He is a good passer out of the post, but he will have toruble with the size of the DePaul post defenders in Wesley Green and Keith Butler. However, neither Green nor Butler look to use their brawn very much offensively, both are likely to settle for the face-up jumper against other big men. There never seems to be much patience from DePaul in establishing any post game and a revolving door at the position which could include Loenzo Thompson or going smaller with Chandler at the '5' and Marcus Heard at the '4' also seems to happen from time to time.

Both teams are deeper than most of the other teams in the league, but it is not always productive depth. Louisville has some big names off the bench in Derrick Caracter and Earl Smith, but you never know from game to game if either will play for coach Pitino.

Depaul seems to have more experience and much more maturity to get a win at home. Louisville has not shown the ability to react to the adversity that all teams face on the road in order to get a win. last year they were 1-7 on the road in the conference and this season they do have a conference road win at South Florida, but this one will be much tougher as DePaul is tough defensively and has some weapons to score. The Louisville pressure on defense is my only hesitation with DePaul because the Blue Demon guards are prone to poor decisions and a tendency to settle for the long shot. With that in mind, Louisville keeps within striking distance but Mejia and Chandler should make too many plays in the end.

NBE Blogger Prediction: DePaul 68 Louisville 62

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BEYOND THE ARC: UPDATE ON MIKE BIZOUKAS

January 17, 2007


Last week, coach Michael Hackett of Munster HS was gracious enough to give us an update on Depaul commitment Mike Bizoukas, his starting point guard. Munster is off to a 10-2 start, losing their opener when Bizoukas was out with an injury. In all, Bizoukas missed three games, but is back and playing well. On the season he is averaging 16 PPG and 6 assists with a 2:1 assist to turnover ratio. He also adds in nearly 6 rebounds and shoots 81% from the foul line. He had a career high of 31 pts against sectional rival Lake Central.

Coach Hackett's praise of his senior point guard was very strong:

"Mike truly controls the game for us. Teams can't press us because of him, and they have a hard time guarding us in the half-court because of his ability to breakdown the defense and find the open man. His 2 to 1 assist to turnover ratio is outstanding because of how much the ball is in his hands and how much we rely
on him to create things for us on the offensive end of the floor. He is having
a terrific senior season, it is unfortunate that he had to miss 3 games, but he
is fine now. He has led us to one championship in our conference tournament,
and is on the verge of leading us to a conference league championship, with high hopes of leading us to a sectional championship down the road".

Mike Bizoukas certainly sounds just like what the doctor ordered for DePaul!


We'd like to thank Coach Hackett again for his contribution to our site in giving us a perspective on the play of the future Blue Demon. We wish Coach, Mike and the entire Munster HS program the best of luck in reaching their goals in 2007!

To track Munster HS and other Indiana HS programs, check out John Harrell's Indiana Boys Basketball site.

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BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: St. John's @ DePaul

January 16, 2007

In a rematch of the conference opener for both teams, won at Madison Square Garden by St. John's, DePaul looks for revenge in a game that still stings a little bit. Tonight they have the reeling Redstorm at home as St. John's looks to break their three game losing streak since their win over the Blue Demons.

I know New York City and Chicago are major league sports towns all the way, but doing a quick search this morning, I found VERY little interest in this game among any of their local newspapers.

Depaul is coming off a win at Rutgers where their athletic teams used a smothering defense to limit offensively-challeneger Rutgers to 37 points. St. John's is nearly as offensively defecient as RU, but the Redstorm does bring some solid athletes and a toughness on the defensive end that usually makes the game a bit closer.

DePaul will have the two best players on the floor in Sammy Mejia and Wilson Chandler, both will be looking to redeem themselves after the conference opening performance against SJU. They also have some depth in the frontcourt that does make them a formidable challenger in the Big East as the season goes and if one of their three potential point guards would finally take the reigns of this team, they might reach their potential.

St. John's, just a frustrating team to figure out, but maybe they just are not really good at all, again. They still struggle shooting the ball or playing defense inside. They have some athletes, but sometimes play some basketball that is tough to watch, especially when they have the ball. Not a very good recipe for success on the road.

The oddsmakers have made DePaul a 12-pt favorite and Pomeroy predicts the outcome in DePaul's favor by 13-pts. It should be as easy, but I think the Redstorm put up a fight tonight.

NBE Blogger Prediction: DePaul 67 St. John's 59

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BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: DEPAUL @ RUTGERS

January 13, 2007


DePaul hits the road on Saturday following a home loss on Wednesday night to Pittsburgh to face Rutgers, coming off a home loss at the hands of Syracuse on Wednesday as well. DePaul was not too happy with their performance on Wednesday and Wilson Chandler and Sammy Mejia will look to pick up their games a notch to try and get back to .500 in the conference.

Rutgers has had trouble scoring all season and once again they were poor from the field against the Orange on Wednesday. They will face and athletic and strong team in Depaul that will look to take them out of their offense once again. Rutgers will try to force turnovers and scrap to stay in the game, but Depaul just has too many offensive weapons for the Scarlet Knights.

NBE Blogger Prediction: DePaul 67 Rutgers 59

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BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: Pittsburgh @ DePaul

January 10, 2006



The consistently inconsistent DePaul Blue Demons return home to Allstate Arena tonight to host 7th-ranked Pittsburgh in a game televised by ESPN2. If you have not gotten a chance to see the Panthers this year, no need to worry, tonight they play on 'the deuce', Saturday night they host ESPN College Gameday at the Peterson Events Center when they meet Georgetown, next Tuesday they are on ESPN2 as part of College Spirit Week while hosting Connecticut and then next Sunday, CBS will televise their game nationally with Marquette, again at home. Prior to that stretch of high-profile home games, there is the matter of the DePaul Blue Demons on the road. It is a tough task to win in Chicago, just ask Kansas, as the Blue Demons are 7-0 at home this year.


Here are the pregame stories and rpeviews from around the internet:

Pitt Getting Back to Defense (Beaver County Times)
With Gray Inside and Hot 3-pt Shooters Outside, Pitt Hard to Stop (Post-Gazette)
Pitt Guards Key to Success (Tribune-Democrat)
DePaul Posses Lots of Confidence (Chicago Tribune)
Gray, Pitt, Threaten DePaul's Home Run (Chicago Sun-Times)
Depaul Star Mejia Almost Came to Pitt (Tribune-Review)


Click below for our brief preview and prediction on this game and don't forget to leave your prediction in the comments section.

READ REST OF PREVIEW...CLICK "Read More" BELOW





Pitt, projected as a 1-pt winner by Pomeroy, enters tonight's game currently as a 2-pt favorite with oddmakers. For those of you who love conspiracy theories...here is one for you:

As mentioned in our opener, ESPN and the Big East will be showcasing the Panthers quite a bit in the next couple weeks. ESPN is spending a lot of $$ on the Big East going forward, and with the conference getting the perception that it is down this year, the need for one team to step up is very evident. Pitt is a team that plays very unselfish and consistent, that means they will be in every game. They have a style of play that is helped very greatly by an officiating crew that calls the game loosely, so...don't be surprised to see a crew assigned to the game that lets the game flow and the players play...

Ha! Seriously, though...players win the game. Players need to make shots and step up and make stops on the defensive end. That will win the game. This has th emakings of a very interesting college basketball game. DePaul, for all their ups and downs the last season and a half continues to remain a very confident team in their own abilities. Sammy Mejia and Wilson Chandler is probably the best 1-2 punch in terms of talent in the Big East. They are the two leading scorers and rebounders on DePaul and both pose tough match-ups for Pittsburgh with their length and athletic ability. Mejia spends a lot of time with the ball in his hands, so that will make him tougher to guard for Pitt's Antonio Graves than Demetris Nichols of Syracuse, who was also dependent on his guards getting him the ball. That is good news for Mejia, because the Depaul point guard position has been a spot of inconsistency between Jabari Currie, Cliff Clinkscales and Will Walker. In the two Big East games, the trio has combined for just three made field goals (all in the loss at St. John's) and Clinkscales leads the team, along with Mejia, with 2.8 assists a game, despite playing under 13 minutes a game.

Like Pittsburgh, DePaul goes 9-deep in their rotation and they could even dig deeper with Lorenzo Thompson and Keith Butler to add some more size to lean on Aaron Gray inside. Gray has not been scoring much of late as defenses key on him, but the rest of the team has not slowed down, scoring 76 PPG in their last four and outscoring opponents by more than 21 points a game. Surprisingly to many, the Panthers are the Big East's leading 3-pt % shooting team in the conference. Ronald Ramon, Antonio Graves and Levance Fields have been making teams pay for sagging in on Gray. Fields has really stepped up his game over the last month, including exploding for a 24-pt game at Syracuse.

This is a tough game to call. DePaul will be fired up, but you never really know what your going to get when the Blue Demon's hit the floor, although they have been very solid at home this season with nice wins over Kansas, Wake Forest and California. Pitt has been on the road, winning at Auburn, Buffalo and Syracuse, while dropping a game at Wisconsin. Pitt seems to be improving on the defensive end and on the boards and picking up on more of the little things that have helped improve their play on the road in each new scenario.

It should be a tough game, unless one team is really hot or one is really cold, but I expect both teams to come out and play well, but Pitt's well will be just a little better because of Gray inside opening more opportunities for the rest of the team.


NBE Blogger Prediction: Pittsburgh 71 DePaul 67

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BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: DePaul @ Villanova

January 6, 2007


Neither coach, Jerry Wainwright of DePaul or Jay Wright of Villanova, was very happy with the offensive execution of their team in their Big East openers earlier this week. Wainwright was actually satisfied with his teams effort, but their shots did not fall in a loss to St. John's in Madison Square Garden. On the other hand, Jay Wright kept his team on the Coliseum floor to let him know he was not in favor of their approach to the game in their loss to West Virginia. Both teams should have a little extra bounce in their step when they meet in Philadelphia on Saturday.

I look for Villanova to come out sharper in all aspects of the game Saturday. Jay Wright was very displeased with his team's play and I am sure the point was continually driven home to his team on their return to Philly following Wednesday's loss. The Wildcats nearly came all the way back from a 22-point halftime defecit, but they dug themselves too big of a hole as WVU hit the key shots to hold them off.

Curtis Sumpter made a successful return to Big East action, scoring 21 pts against WVU and he will look to take advantage of a favorable match-up in this game to lead Villanova to victory. Look for Mike Nardi to rebound from a poor game as VU matches up well with DePaul's talent.

DePaul could not put the ball into the ocean if they were standing on one of the many piers in New York City on Wedensday. The were awful from 3-pt range and from the foul line, too. Sammy Mejia followed up his 40-point effort against Northwestern State with a clunker and the Blue Demons as a whole will be looking for redemption.

In this one, I think Villanova returns home and is in their comfort zone and earns their first win of the Big East season.

NBE Blogger Prediction: Villanova 69 DePaul 63

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BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: DePaul @ St. John's

January 3, 2006


It is only January 3rd and here is a game that both teams MUST have in order to get their seasons pointed in a healthy direction. DePaul has recovered from a slow start to win some good games, all of which have been at home. Now they travel to Madison Square garden for a game they should win. St. John's was supposed to be improved this year, but they have not been impressive in their pre-conference schedule, which included a double-digit loss to Hofstra at Madison Square Garden in their last game.

Here are some pre-game stories:


Storm Moves Due East (Daily News)
Storm Begins Big East Play (NY Post)
Conference Play Serves a Midseason Reprieve (Newsday)
Demons Turnaround Impresses Wainwright (Sun Times)
Demons Streak Into 2nd Big East Season (Chicago Tribune)

Sammy Mejia, along with other native New Yorkers Karron Clarke and Cliff Clinkscales, return to New York City to play in the Garden for the first time in Big East play. Last year they faces St. John's at Carnesecca Arena and failed to make the Big East tournament. Mejia should be coming off a confidence booster after scoring 40 pts, 27 inthe first half, as DePaul pulled away in the second half to demolish Northwestern State. The Blue Demons boast a talented duo in Mejia and Wilson Chandler that has the potential to be the the best pair in the conference. Mejia does it all for Jerry Wainwright's squad, leading them in scoring (16 PPG), rebounding (7/game), assists (2.9) and even turnovers. Chandler, the high-potential soph, chips in 15.7 PPG, 6.4 rebounds and a team high 1.5 blocks/game. The Blue Demons are still a little soft inside and are still looking for a consistent third scoring option to develop a mentality to step-up and assist their top two on a reliable basis.

St. John's is still a mystery to many observers as they can go through long stretches just looking BAD. Led by Lamont Hamilton (14 PPG and 8 rebounds) and JUCO transfer Avery Patterson (13.8 PPG and 38% 3-pt shooting), the Redstorm have had their share of awful games offensively. With Daryll Hill still struggling with injuries, they do not have that breakdown offensive threat from the perimeter. Eugene Lawrence runs the point, but turns it over too much for a point guard that does not score as much to make up for it. Anthony Mason has shown signs (11 PPG), but can be nowhere to be found for loing stretches as well.

I do think St. John's will put it together at times this year, but right now they are certainly struggling and have already seen Aaron Spears (suspended) and Derwin Kitchen (left school) sap some of their depth and the failure of Hill to round back into form has been detrimental to their chances. Right now, DePaul has the confidence and as a road favorite (3.5 in Vegas and projected 8-pt winner by Pomeroy), they should be too much for the Redstorm tonight.

NBE Blogger Prediction: DePaul 68 St. John's 62

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