Sports Poets Society

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/2014-15-ncaa-basketball-preview-the-big-east-villanova-wildcats-georgetown-hoyas-xavier-butler-creighton-marquette/ November 7, 2014 by Mark Titus Hey, speaking of 2010 McDonald’s All-Americans with weight problems … Before I offer my thoughts, let’s check in with the Georgetown fans to see how they felt about year one of the Joshua Smith Experience: [georgetownfingers...]. Yep, pretty much what I expected. What makes Smith so frustrating is that he’s so freaking good . Well, he’s good at being immovable , catching the ball, and putting it into the basket . Outside of that, he can be a huge liability. He’s an awful defender (especially at hedging on ball screens), he doesn’t rebound as well as he should, it takes him half the shot clock to get down the floor, he’s almost always in foul trouble , and he doesn’t have the stamina to play for more than half of the game . But holy smokes: When Smith has it going, he’s unstoppable . That’s ...

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/2014-15-ncaa-basketball-preview-the-big-east-villanova-wildcats-georgetown-hoyas-xavier-butler-creighton-marquette/ November 7, 2014 by Mark Titus Halfway through last season, I thought JayVaughn Pinkston might have a shot to be named Big East Player of the Year over Doug McDermott . McBuckets had the national POY award locked up almost as soon as the season started. But, I wondered, what if Villanova dominated Creighton both times they faced each other (they didn’t), and what if Pinkston maintained his pace of 18 points and seven boards per game in Big East play (he didn’t)? Pinkston eventually wound up on the all-conference second team when his scoring numbers dipped over the second half of the season, and my hypothetical ended up looking ridiculous. But back in January, I swear you could’ve said, “ JayVaughn Pinkston is better than Doug McDermott ” and I wouldn’t have necessarily laughed you out of the room. So what happened to Pinkston? Well, n...

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/2014-15-ncaa-basketball-preview-the-big-east-villanova-wildcats-georgetown-hoyas-xavier-butler-creighton-marquette/ November 7, 2014 by Mark Titus Smith-Rivera was named the Big East Preseason Player of the Year , so he isn’t exactly an unknown in the world of college basketball. But if you ask a college hoops fan who doesn’t follow the Big East closely to name someone from last year’s Georgetown team, and then you remind them that Otto Porter wasn’t on that team , my guess is that their answer would be either Markel Starks or Joshua Smith . Starks, after all, was the senior point guard who was first-team all-conference last season , and Smith was … well, we’ll get to Smith in a bit. In the meantime, check out this blind player comparison from last season:                    PPG     RPG      St/gm     TO/g...

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/2014-15-ncaa-basketball-preview-the-big-east-villanova-wildcats-georgetown-hoyas-xavier-butler-creighton-marquette/ by Mark Titus November 7, 2014 There’s a fair chance that none of the Big East players in the 2015 NBA draft class will ever play a meaningful pro minute . That’s insane. I’ve held out hope that the Big East would get its mojo back after conference realignment. I mean, it ’s still called the Big East and DePaul is still at the bottom of the standings, so it can’t be that different, right? Well, yes, it can be. There are no noteworthy NBA prospects in the Big East. That is the world we live in. Dave Gavitt is rolling in his grave. If any Big East player this year has a chance to carve out an NBA career, it’s Darrun Hilliard . Before we explain why he has a shot, let’s start with the bad side of Hilliard’s scouting report. Even though he was Villanova’s second-leading scorer and was named the conference’s co-most improved playe...

New York Times Published: March 12, 1987 Gary McLain , a starting guard on Villanova's 1985 national collegiate championship team, said he used cocaine during the Final Four tournament in Lexington, Ky., that season and was high when the team visited the White House for a reception.  McLain, 23 years old, from Hempstead, L.I., told of his drug dependency and subsequent rehabilitation in a first-person story for the March 16 issue of Sports Illustrated magazine. McLain wrote the story with Jeffrey Marx, a reporter with The Lexington Herald-Leader . ''I had played well on coke, I had played bad on it,'' McLain said. ''It didn't seem to matter. So I did about a quarter gram of blow before the national semifinal in the bathroom of room 135 of the Ramada Inn, about three miles from Rupp Arena. In the locker room I was all quiet and subdued. Everybody was saying, 'You all right? You all right?' I said, 'Yeah, I'm with it.' B...

Villanova honors outstanding former players, coaches, and others by retiring their numbers or jerseys. For those honored, a replica jersey is hung in the rafters of the Pavilion. Uniform numbers of retired jerseys remain in circulation, while retired numbers are no longer used.  Paul Arizin's #11 is the only retired number.  As of 2011, 19 have been honored with a retired number or jersey, including 14 players, four coaches, and longtime trainer Jake Nevin. The honorees include: Al Severance, Coach. Jack Kraft, Coach. Rollie Massimino, Coach (1973–92). Jersey retired in 2005. #1 Jake Nevin, longtime trainer. Jersey retired in 1984. #2 Randy Foye (2003–06). Jersey retired in 2011. #11 Paul Arizin (1947–50). Number retired in 1994. #14 Larry Hennessy #14 Hubie White (1959–62). Jersey retired in 2001. #24 Wali Jones (1961–64). Jersey retired in 1995. #24 Tom Ingelsby (1970–73). Jersey retired in 2006. #25 Bill Melchionni (1963–66). Jersey retire...