Philly's Palestra comes alive with marquee hoops matchup
Tom Izzo made it into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in September. He'll make it to the Palestra on Saturday. One would think the second trip is almost as important to him as the first.
Tom Izzo made it into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in September. He'll make it to the Palestra on Saturday. One would think the second trip is almost as important to him as the first.
"This is going to be thrilling for me," the veteran Michigan State coach said of his game at the legendary West Philadelphia landmark against Penn State. "I don't know about the team. The Palestra doesn't mean as much to players as it does to me. It's one of the meccas of college basketball."
Nittany Lions coach Patrick Chambers, who has six players on his roster from Philadelphia or the surrounding area, got the Big Ten - and Izzo - to agree to play a conference game in the 90-year-old gym. The game has been sold out since September, promising an amazing atmosphere.
"I think it's going to be awesome," said Chambers, the former Philadelphia University star and Villanova assistant. "I think it's going to bring us back in time a little bit. I think people are going to remember this experience wrapped around this day, not just the game."
The Nittany Lions (9-7, 1-2 Big Ten) are led in scoring by junior Shep Garner (13.1 points per game), one of four players from Roman Catholic. The Spartans (11-5, 3-0) have one of the nation's best freshmen in 6-7 guard Miles Bridges, who has just returned from an ankle injury.
And wasn't it nice to hear ESPN's Scott Van Pelt wax poetic about the Palestra in a commentary Thursday night on his show.
"Ask anyone who knows the game, who's played the game or coached the game, even those who have visited the Palestra, and I'll bet you get a unanimous response," he said. "I did the other day asking players and coaches what they thought about the place, and everyone used the exact same word in response: Love."
Coach K's rocky exit
Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski underwent successful surgery Friday to have a fragment of a herniated disk removed from his lower back and will miss four weeks. But two days before, critics were on his back for reinstating 6-foot-5 junior guard Grayson Allen from his "indefinite" suspension after just one game.
Allen, a preseason all-American, was suspended for tripping a player from Elon in a Dec. 21 game. However, Krzyzewski brought him back for Wednesday night's game against Georgia Tech, saying, "there are things behind the scenes that we are doing, and I think it's appropriate what we've done."
One of the coach's critics was one of his former players, Jay Williams, who said on Twitter he "adamantly" disagreed with Krzyzewski on the suspension, and took the ACC to task for not handing down a penalty, which he said should have been three games.
The walk-off victory
Anyone who watched the end of Kansas' win Tuesday night over Kansas State had to be thinking the same thing: Am I dreaming?
The Jayhawks' Svi Mykhailiuk drove the length of the court, but somehow forgot to keep dribbling and took an extra step or two before depositing the winning layup just before the buzzer. Twitter was ablaze; some folks called it a "true walkoff" win.
Even Kansas coach Bill Self had to admit, which he did on Thursday's Big 12 coaches teleconference, that Mykhailiuk should have been whistled for traveling.
"I watched the game, so I saw the play and, you know, it looked like he took extra steps, there's no question about that, so I don't disagree with anybody from a K-State perspective being upset with that," he said. "The game could have easily gone [to] overtime."
What's with Indiana?
Fans of Indiana had high expectations for the season after the Hoosiers opened with a win over Kansas and later knocked off North Carolina. But back-to-back Big Ten losses - at home - have raised much concern.
In fact, the Indianapolis Star reported that in those home losses to Nebraska and Wisconsin, Indiana led for less than 13 minutes. Hoosiers coach Tom Crean is looking for answers.
"The only thing that will set me off with them is if I ever have to remotely worry about somebody's attitude or energy," he said. "But I don't anticipate that with them. They're a hard-working group. They're a resilient group."
Expatriate of the week
It was a good week for former St. Joseph's Prep star Steve Vasturia. Notre Dame's senior guard knocked down a three-point basket with 2.5 seconds left in overtime to give the Fighting Irish a 78-77 win at Pittsburgh last Saturday. Then he scored a career-high 24 points, including an off-balance shot in the lane with 19 seconds remaining, in a 77-70 win Wednesday over No. 9 Louisville. Vasturia is second on the team in scoring with a 15.1-point average and is shooting 48.7 percent from the floor, 44.1 percent from three-point range and 93.3 percent on free throws.
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