December 31rd Pick and Rolls

• Brian Roberts put on quite a display Saturday night, scoring 31 points to lead Dayton to a surprisingly dominant win over Pitt. DeJuan Blair only played 18 minutes because of foul trouble. Roberts who averages 18 points per game, seems to enjoy playing against Big East competition, as he scored 28 points against Louisville in another defeat of a Big East team.

• Kansas State adds Dominique Sutton and Jamar Samuels, two of Michael Beasley’s high school teammates from Notre Dame Prep in Massachusetts to add some much needed depth . Sutton, a 6’4 guard and Samuels a 6’9 forward were just cleared academically by the NCAA this past week.

• Interesting article on Lance Stephenson, the top rated high school junior in the country. Stephenson, who attends Lincoln High—the school Stephon Marbury and Sebastian Telfair attended-- is having a documentary done on him this season and also has played in the professional division of the Rucker League for several years now.

• Memphis had a comfortable win over their third ranked opponent Saturday, beating Arizona 76-63. Freshman star Jerryd Bayless got hurt in practice Friday and didn’t play, which left the Wildcats very shorthanded. Chase Budinger did his best to keep it close with 20 points on 8-15 shooting but Memphis’ lead never got cut under seven in the second half. Interesting to note, Derrick Rose who had 12 points, five assists and six turnovers, has just a 1.20 assist to turnover ratio, with 48 assists and 40 turnovers. The Tigers have Gonzaga and Tennessee remaining on their non-conference schedule.

• Miami suffered their first loss of the season , despite Jack McClinton’s 30 points. Despite the loss, the Canes look to be in good shape for ACC play as they already have several solid wins, including beating St Johns, Providence, Mississippi State and Virginia Commonwealth.

• I don’t think it can get much worse for Kentucky. Losing at home to 7-8 San Diego, who isn’t even a good team in the WCC, is a bad sign for a team that hasn’t even begun SEC play.

• UNC beat writer Adam Lucas discusses the effect of Bobby Frasor’s ACL injury .

• Wisconsin beating Texas on the road without leading scorer Trevon Hughes could classify as possibly the biggest upset of the year. Brian Butch had 22 points and 11 rebounds and Dominic James continued his improved play for the Longhorns with 21 points and 15 rebounds.

• It seems that Rick Pitino will be receiving a big boost shortly with the return of David Padgett from a knee injury. Also Pitino’s website is mentioned in the article, the website has many interesting sections, including a listing of Pitino’s favorite restaurants.