Friday, September 5, 2008

Schedule Highlights - 9/5/08

Welcome to the University of Denver men’s basketball as-yet-to-be-named blog. We are hoping the blogs provide DU fans with an inside look as the Denver basketball team grows into the perennial contender that all of us are looking for. If you have suggestions on a name for this blog, or if you ever have any questions about the Pioneers, please direct them my way at michael.kennedy@du.edu. Now for the second installment:
We got the schedule out last week, and I am really looking forward to a great season. Denver’s roster is young. Incredibly young may be a better way to put it. The Pioneers are the youngest team in the Sun Belt Conference and among the youngest in the nation. When the ball is tipped for the first game of the season at Northern Iowa on Nov. 15, the average age of Denver’s 13 players is going to be 18.9 years old. Not a single player on this team was alive when Indiana’s Keith Smart hit his buzzer beater against Syracuse to give Bob Knight his final national championship in 1987. However, this year’s schedule is ideal for a young team that has to grow up quickly. Six of DU’s first seven games are on the road, which should toughen up the players for a stretch of five-straight games at Magness Arena in December, as well as conference play.  Here are some highlights from the first half of the 2008-09 Denver men’s basketball home schedule.
Without a doubt, I’m most excited about the home Sun Belt Conference schedule, and two games in particular. Both Western Kentucky and South Alabama are making their way to Magness Arena this season, so mark your calendars for Jan. 24 (WKU) and Jan. 29 (USA). Western Kentucky was 29-7 and won the SBC title last year, while South Alabama went 26-7 and earned an at-large bid to the Big Dance. During last year’s NCAA Tournament, the Jaguars fell in the first round to a very good Butler team. The Hilltoppers shocked everyone outside of our conference by beating Drake and San Diego before getting edged by Final Four-bound UCLA in the Sweet 16. I say everyone outside our conference, because we got to see just how good Western Kentucky was last season. Of course, that did not stop us from jumping out of our seats when Ty Rogers hit the three-pointer as time expired in the first round game to sneak past Drake. It was the best shot I’ve seen in the Tournament in the past several years, even if it was upstaged by Kansas guard Mario Chalmers in the NCAA title game.
Other games to note on this year’s home schedule include the always popular regional games. The Pioneers host Northern Colorado in the season’s first game at Magness Arena on Nov. 26, a great way to kick off the Thanksgiving weekend. Colorado State makes the trip down I-25 on Dec. 20 for a Saturday night matchup. Like DU, both of those schools hired talented head coaches in the past couple of years, and they could be in great shape to turn their programs into winners. UNC lured Tad Boyle back to his hometown of Greeley in 2006 after he served as an assistant at Oregon, Tennessee, Jacksonville State and Wichita State. He helped turn around the Gamecocks and Shockers, including a Sweet 16 appearance in 2006. Tim Miles went to CSU after stints at Mayville State, Southwest Minnesota State and North Dakota State. Underestimate Miles if you’d like. I suspect Marquette and Wisconsin did when they scheduled the Bison in 2006-07. Miles and his team, an independent program, traveled to Wisconsin and beat the No. 8 Golden Eagles and No. 13 Badgers on their home courts. Those were just two wins during Miles’ 20-8 season. Don’t let last year’s struggles fool you. Those teams are getting better, and I think people around this state are going to start noticing some great college basketball all along the Front Range.
Circle that South Dakota State game (Dec. 13) on your calendar. When the Pioneers went to Brookings last season, DU led by two with 90 seconds remaining. The Jackrabbits hit a three with 1:13 to play, and let’s just say SDSU hit 5-of-6 free throws in the final minute to win by four. I’m pretty sure that game left a pretty bitter taste in the mouths of everyone wearing Crimson and Gold that night.
Three days later (Dec. 16), the Pioneers get a home rematch with Florida Atlantic in the SBC opener. The teams met last year in Boca Raton, but the Republican Presidential debates were on Florida Atlantic’s campus, so the game was pushed a few miles away to Lynn University. The good guys fell 70-68 in overtime of one of the most exciting games of the year. Anyone who heard Mitch Hyder, the radio voice of the Pioneers, that night might have an idea of how much fun that game was to watch. I have not heard whether the maintenance crew at Lynn has fixed the hole in the wall, created when Hyder’s chair flew out from under him at the sight of Denver nailing a game-tying three-pointer at the buzzer. The Owls have only been in the Sun Belt for two years, but in their two games against DU the average winning margin has been 3.5 with the home team taking each game.
News and Notes:
 Fans are going to notice a slightly new look on the court this season. The NCAA has extended the men’s three-point line to 20 feet, 9 inches. The line had been a foot closer at 19 feet, 9 inches for 20 years, since the NCAA introduced the three-pointer in 1986-87. That line will remain on the court for the women’s games.


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