Pac-10 Tournament hasn’t been kind to ASU

The Arizona State Sun Devils enter the 13th annual Pac-10 Tournament in Los Angeles knowing they need at least one win to bolster their resume in an attempt to catch the eye of committee members who will announce the NCAA Tournament field on Sunday.

But the Sun Devils haven’t had the best track record at the Pac-10 Tournament, which started in 1987 and took place for the next four years, before going on hiatus until 2002.

In fact, before last year’s run to the championship game, ASU was just 3-10 all-time in the Pac-10 Tournament, and two of those wins came in 1990, when the tourney was held on their home floor in Tempe. In the second incarnation of the tournament, the Sun Devils were 0-6 before last season.

This year, the Devils are the #2 seed, their highest ever in the Pac-10 Tournament. Their prior high seed was a #4, which happened twice–in 2003 when ASU was knocked off in their first game by Oregon, who went on to win the crown, and last year, when the Devils squandered a 15-point halftime lead in the championship game in a loss to USC.

The number two seed has done very well historically in the tournament, notching a 19-9 record overall, and three times has won the championship (Arizona in 1990 and 2002, and Washington in 2005).

Sun Devils trying to avoid another empty Selection Sunday feeling

Two years ago, Herb Sendek’s Arizona State Sun Devils gathered as a team to watch the NCAA Tournament field be announced.

The Sun Devils, despite losing their first round Pac-10 Tournament game to USC a few days earlier, were hopeful they’d get in to the field. They were 19-12, 9-9 in the Pac-10, and had improved their win total from the previous season by 11.

They’re name was never called. Instead, their arch-rival, the Arizona Wildcats, a team the Sun Devils had beaten twice during the regular season, and a team that had less regular season wins and a worse conference finish did get in to extend their streak of NCAA Tournament appearances to 24 in a row. ASU was left to play in the NIT, where they advanced to the quarterfinals before losing to Florida.

Many members of that 2008-08 Sun Devils’ squad pointed the finger at that first round loss to USC in the Pac-10 Tournament that kept Arizona State from dancing that year. “If we would have beat them, I think we would have been in”, then-junior Jeff Pendergraph said at the time.

When asked if a win over USC would have punched the Devils’ ticket, Coach Sendek said “Yes. I absolutely do. I think if we would have won one more game anywhere along the trail, it would have been very difficult to keep us out. I think we were one game away in a lot of different directions, winning one more game, having the cards fall another direction in a conference here or there. I think you can reasonably say we were one game away, here, there or somewhere else.”

Fast forward two seasons. The Sun Devils are 22-9, good enough for a 2nd place finish in what everyone around the country is calling a “down year” for the Pac-10. Yet, there’s a strangely familiar feeling for the team as they prepare for their first round Pac-10 Tournament game tonight against the Stanford Cardinal (13-17, 7-11) at Staples Center in Los Angeles. It’s the feeling that ASU needs to win this game against Stanford to get into “The Big Dance”.

“We’re not dumb,” senior point guard Derek Glasser said on Tuesday. “We hear things, we watch ESPN, we read newspapers, so we know what’s going on. I think guys are as focused as they’ve been all year and we’re really preparing as well as we have all year for this week coming up.”

More to the point, Glasser was asked how many wins the Sun Devils need this weekend to feel confident about earning a berth. “I think if we get to the championship, I think we’re for sure in,” he said. “With one win, I think we’re gonna be sitting there Sunday like we were sophomore year (2008) and hoping and praying. I know if we lose on Thursday, we’re not in.”

Junior guard Ty Abbott was very much aligned with Glasser’s thoughts. “We know we have to go to the Pac-10 Tournament and get wins,” he said earlier this week.

So, the journey starts tonight for the 2nd-seeded Sun Devils, playing a Stanford team that they swept during the regular season. In the teams’ first meeting in Tempe, Abbott caught fire for 29 points as ASU breezed to an 88-70 win, leading by as many as 37 points in the process. The 88 points by ASU were their highest offensive output of the Pac-10 season, and 2nd-most overall this season. The Devils scored 104 in a 39-point win against San Francisco in November.

Two weeks ago in Palo Alto, it was ASU senior big man Eric Boateng who inflicted the damage on the Cardinal, hitting all 11 of his field goal attempts and scoring a career-high 24 points in the Sun Devils’ 68-60 win.

Defensively, the Devils have to concern themselves once again with Landry Fields. The senior, who earlier this week was named to the All-Pac-10 First Team, has averaged 20.5 points per game vs. ASU this season. Fields led the conference in scoring at 22.2 points per game. But ASU can’t sleep on Jeremy Green, the sophomore guard who averaged 16.9 points per game to rank 6th in the conference. Green has not shot well against ASU this season, hitting just 25.7% (9 of 35) from the field.

Key for ASU will be getting Boateng involved early. His performance in Palo Alto was no accident. Once he established position inside, he was successful because of his strength advantage against Stanford bigs Jack Trotter and Andrew Zimmerman. In 6 career games against Stanford, Boateng is shooting 95% (19 of 20) from the floor.

STBNL 3/10/10 - All by myself…don’t wanna be

Yes, it’s true. Today’s STBNL is a one-man endeavor, and we all know that no good can come from one-man endeavors, right? No co-host, no problem. As they say in show business…and podcasting…the show (to be named later) must go on!

Segment 1 (0:00) - March Madness is here, with most of the conference tournaments underway around the country. I discuss the Pac-10 Tournament and ASU’s still dicey (according to most) chances to get into the NCAA Tourney for the 2nd straight year.

Segment 2 (21:41) - The Phoenix Coyotes are back on the ice tonight against the Vancouver Canucks, who are wrapping up a road trip that has lasted longer than some world concert tours. But that’s not the big story with the Coyotes. A Canadian newspaper is reporting that the NHL, who owns the team, is filing a lawsuit against Jerry Moyes, who ran the team into the ground used to run the team. Oh, and that Ice Edge group that was supposed to buy the team might be having trouble coming up with the capital to purchase them. Lovely.

Segment 3 (33:10) - LEFTOVERS! The warmed up leftovers include Derek Anderson making athlete history, Nomar hanging up his sox, a disgraced drug cheat is back in pro sports, the world gets what it really needs–another college bowl game, NFL prospects “dating” their sisters and the death of troubled actor Corey Haim.

STBNL 3/10/10 - All by myself…don’t wanna be

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East Valley transforms into youth baseball mecca for next two weeks

March in the Valley means baseball.

The Cactus League is in full swing, with 15 teams playing afternoon games every day. The highly ranked Arizona State Sun Devils are also an attraction, and play 21 games in town during the month of March.

But, the baseball action doesn’t end there. Triple Crown Sports is hosting the Triple Crown Spring Championships at various sites in the East Valley, featuring over 250 of the best youth baseball teams from around the country. The tournament got underway last weekend in Tempe, Mesa and Gilbert, and continues this weekend and next.

There are, of course, a number of teams from Arizona competing in the tournament, but squads from California, Nevada, Idaho, Utah, New Mexico, Wyoming and even as far east as Illinois are showing their wares in this year’s tournament.

It’s an opportunity for the teams participating and their families to enjoy the wonderful spring weather of Arizona, play top quality competition and soak in plenty of Cactus League action during their stay. Teams will be able to see Cactus League games with no scheduling conflict on the weekend of play for an attractive team entry price. This also allows teams to know their complete schedule before the weekend so they can plan and enjoy their baseball vacation in the desert.

Games are being played at Big League Dreams in Gilbert, as well as various sites in Tempe and Mesa.

For more information on the Triple Crown Spring Championships, visit triplecrownsports.com.

[Video] Sendek and the Devils head to L.A. for Pac-10 Tournament

A day after being named the Pac-10 Coach of the Year, Arizona State’s Herb Sendek held his weekly chat with local media in Tempe.

There’s a lot of questions up in the air as the 2nd-seeded Sun Devils prepare for their first round game Thursday night against 7th-seeded Stanford, a team they’ve already beaten twice this season.

Among those questions:

• How difficult is it to beat a team three times in one season?
• Does he expect the Cardinal to key on Eric Boateng, who burned Stanford for a career high 24 points just two weeks ago?
• Will beating Stanford and getting a 23rd win ensure the Sun Devils will make the NCAA Tournament?
• Has he ever coached in a conference tournament as wide open as this year’s Pac-10 affair?

Back on January 30, ASU led from start to finish against Stanford in their first meeting in Tempe, and built a 37-point margin at one point of the first half. The Cardinal fought back and got the lead down to 12 points with under four minutes to play, but ASU held on for an 88-70 win. Ty Abbott scored a season-high 29 points (22 in the first half) and made his first six three-point attempts–all in the first 10 minutes of the ball game.

Two weeks ago in Palo Alto, it Stanford’s Drew Shiller was the hot shooter early in the game. Shiller canned three treys and a layup as the Cardinal built an early 9-point bulge. But ASU fought back this time behind senior center Eric Boateng, who made all 11 of his field goal attempts, and finished with 24 points and 6 rebounds in ASU’s 68-60 win.

The Sun Devils and Cardinal take the court at Staples Center in Los Angeles on Thursday night at 7:10 p.m. Arizona time. The winner will take on the winner of the Washington-Oregon State game that follows on Thursday night.

ASU Head Coach Herb Sendek previews the Pac-10 Tournament

“The Predictalator” doesn’t paint pretty picture for D-Backs

The Arizona Diamondbacks had a forgettable season in 2009–winning only 70 games and finishing in last place in the National League West.

But to their credit, the D-Backs front office didn’t stand pat. The club went out and traded for starting pitchers Edwin Jackson and Ian Kennedy and signed free agents Adam LaRoche and Kelly Johnson to shore up their infield and relievers Bob Howry and Aaron Heilman to bolster their bullpen.

Plus, with the return of a (hopefully) healthy Brandon Webb and Conor Jackson, there is hope in the desert for the team under 2nd year manager A.J. Hinch.

But with computers and simulations so prevalent, why wait for the season to unfold to see how the Diamondbacks will do?

PredictionMachine.com offers up “The Predictalator”, what they claim to be the most advanced sports forecasting software in the world. “The Predictalator” played the upcoming 2010 MLB season 50,000 times and came up with this conclusion–4th place for the Diamondbacks.

In the 50,000 simulations, the Diamondbacks averaged 79.3 wins and 82.7 losses, and puts their probability of winning the division at a scant 6.1%.

On second thought, let’s wait for the season to unfold, shall we?

For more info on the Diamondbacks chances and the rest of “The Predictalator’s” findings for 2010, visit PredictionMachine.com.

Sereno Soccer Club stocking college rosters

If you’re a fan of college football, every February you’re aware of National Letter of Intent Day. That’s when high school football players from around the country pose for pictures, don college hats and sweatshirts, and put their John Hancocks on paper signifying where they’ll play their college football for the next four or five years.

It doesn’t get the same fan fare, but the same thing happens in soccer, and it’s becoming a much bigger deal in Arizona, a hot bed of talent for collegiate programs all over the country.

Sereno Soccer Club, one of the oldest and most successful youth soccer organizations in the Valley, held their annual College Signing Night at CATZ in Scottsdale. An astounding thirty players from Sereno’s 92 Boys and Girls teams (players born in 1992) inked their names to letters. Twenty-seven of them are headed to four-year institutions.

In all, 22 girls and 8 boys from Sereno are headed to college to play soccer and continue their education.

“Announcing college commitments and recognizing these players is a moment in which we can appreciate how much work on and off the field the Sereno coaching staff, players and parents committo in order fulfill their dreams of a college education as well as playing college soccer” noted Sereno Program Director Dave Simeone, who coaches 17 of the girls receiving scholarships on the Sereno 92 Girls White squad.

Sereno Soccer Club College Commitments

**- Indicates player is already enrolled and attending college

Don’t panic Cardinals fans!

The 2010 free agency period began as the clock struck midnight on Friday, and as far as departures go, things didn’t go well for the two-time NFC Western Division champion Arizona Cardinals.

Linebacker Karlos Dansby, in what was the worst kept secret in the world, signed an enormous deal with the Miami Dolphins. Dansby inked a 5-year $43 million deal with Miami on Friday. Dansby is guaranteed $22 million, and the new pact makes him the highest-paid inside linebacker in the National Football League. Yes, he’ll make more than Ray Lewis. More than Jonathan Vilma. More than Brian Urlacher. The funny thing is, especially for people who will call the Cardinals cheap for not re-signing Dansby, is that last season he was the 2nd-highest paid linebacker in the league, behind only Urlacher.

Antrel Rolle got an almost laughable deal from the New York Giants–a 5-year, $37 million deal that includes $15 million in guaranteed money. Not bad for a player who nearly played his way out of the league in his first couple of seasons at cornerback for the Cardinals.

Still, the Cardinals were willing to match any offer the Giants made to Rolle, who decided that New York (or New Jersey, I guess) felt like home. Rolle will be line up next to Kenny Phillips, a Giants safety, who, like Rolle, played his college ball at the University of Miami.

It didn’t take long for the Cardinals to find Rolle’s replacement, as they traded two draft picks to the New York Jets for safety Kerry Rhodes. Rhodes is a more affordable option at safety, and during his career, has produced more quarterback sacks, more interceptions, more forced fumbles, more fumble recoveries and has more tackles than Rolle. Both players were drafted in 2005 (Rolle went 8th overall, while Rhodes went 123rd).

And then on Friday afternoon, the Cardinals finally unloaded wide receiver Anquan Boldin to the Baltimore Ravens in exchange for two draft picks, a third rounder and a fourth rounder in April’s draft.

The consensus among fans that I’ve talked to is similar to Rob Schneider’s Townie character in the movie “The Waterboy”. When “Townie” finds out that Bobby Boucher won’t play in the Bourbon Bowl, and instead will sit at his supposedly ailing mother’s bedside, he blurts out “Oh no! We suck again!”

Call me crazy, but I’m not that worried–at least when it comes to these three departures.

Dansby is a solid linebacker, there’s no question about that. He’s a sure tackler, missing only 5 tackles all of 2009, according to ProFootballFocus.com. He’s led the Cardinals in tackles in each of the last two seasons. But is he worth $43 million? I don’t think so. There’s other inside linebackers available via free agency, and there’s plenty available in the draft, like Alabama’s Rolando McClain (who will likely be gone by the Cardinals’ first round pick), Florida’s Brandon Spikes, Micah Johnson of Kentucky and Iowa’s Pat Angerer.

Rolle is now the highest-paid safety in the history of the National Football League, yet when the season ended, he wasn’t even the Cardinals’ best safety. He is no doubt electric with the ball in his hands, but he only touched it 12 times last season. He’s a pretty good tackler, and as he showed in his days at corner, a sub-par cover man.

I’ve also heard the argument that the Cardinals are losing players from a defense that wasn’t very good in ‘09, especially in their two playoff games. Well, maybe that’s a good thing. The Cardinals were skewered for 90 points and nearly 900 yards in their two playoff games last season. And let’s not forget that the three most important players on the defensive side of the ball are still wearing red–defensive lineman Darnell Dockett, safety Adrian Wilson and cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie.

On the offensive side of the football, Boldin is now finally an ex-Cardinal after two full years of squabbles and rumors. Boldin, by virtue of his toughness on the football field, and his ability to run after the catch is probably my all-time favorite Cardinals player. But guess what? He won’t be missed that much either. The Cardinals still have the best receiver in football in Larry Fitzgerald, a second receiver in Steve Breaston who already has a 1,000-yard season to his credit, and Early Doucet, who really came on late in ‘09, especially in the playoff win over the Packers when he had 6 catches for 77 yards and 2 touchdowns.

With Kurt Warner also gone, Matt Leinart will take the reins of the offense, meaning the throw first, run later approach is history. The Cardinals offense will be run-oriented with Beanie Wells and Tim Hightower carrying the bulk of the load. Leinart will be asked to be a game manager, and still has weapons to throw to when the situation arises.

Can you imagine how difficult Boldin would be to deal with in 2010, when he wasn’t getting the ball thrown to him? Like it or not, he will be remembered as the player who bellyached to then-offensive coordinator Todd Haley about not being on the field during the Cardinals NFC winning drive against the Eagles in January ‘09. He’s the player who bolted off the field while his teammates were celebrating a franchise first in a torrential downpour of red and white confetti. Something tells me he wouldn’t be all that happy (again) here next year anyway–and the Cardinals were able to get two picks which will turn into players that will immediately help in 2010.

All three of these players were good Cardinals, and key cogs to Arizona making their first-ever trip to the Super Bowl after the 2008 season. But that was then.

It was time to move on, and the Cardinals were right to do so in all three cases.

One of these polls is not like the other…

…one of these rankings does not belong.

That’s certainly the case when it comes to Arizona State Baseball. Tim Esmay’s Sun Devils are 11 games into the 2010 season and they’ve yet to taste defeat. Even after a weekend of playing top notch competition in the 8th Annual Coca-Cola College Baseball Classic in Surprise.

Over the weekend, the Sun Devils outslugged a game Cal Poly squad 12-9, rallied to beat national powerhouse Oregon State 6-4, obliterated UC Riverside 16-2 and fought off the rain and Florida International 4-1 in 7 innings.

Of the five major Top 25 polls for college baseball, four of them are pretty much in line with ASU’s talent level, their results and the level of their competition so far this season.

Rivals.com has the Sun Devils ranked #6 in their latest poll released earlier on Monday. The Sun Devils are ranked 3rd in the latest USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll and the National College Baseball Writers of America Poll, while coming in at #2 in Collegiate Baseball’s Top 25.

And then there’s Baseball America. That fine publication has the Sun Devils ranked 11th in the nation. Huh?

I know, I know. It’s early in the season, and there’s a lot of baseball to be played before the College World Series in Omaha, but you have to wonder what is going through their heads?

College Baseball Top 25 Polls (as of March 8, 2010)

Baseball America
Collegiate Baseball
NCBWA
Rivals.com
USA Today/ESPN Coaches

Is the Sun Devils’ resume strong enough?

The Arizona State Sun Devils closed out the 2009-2010 regular season in style on Saturday, jumping out to a 13-0 lead and never trailing in a 56-46 win over the UCLA Bruins on Senior Day at Wells Fargo Arena.

The win was the 22nd of the season for Herb Sendek’s Sun Devils, and their 12th conference win, giving them sole possession of 2nd place in the Pac-10. Normally speaking 22 wins would get any Pac-10 team in the field of 65 of the NCAA Tournament. Not this year.

People all over Pitchfork Nation are asking the question, “have the Sun Devils done enough to earn their 2nd straight tournament bid?”

History says yes. Bracketologists say no.

Let’s start with the historical side of things. Since the Pac-10 expanded in 1978, adding Arizona State and that other institution located 90 minutes southeast of Tempe into the mix, a team has won at least 12 conference games 88 times. In 83 of those occasions (or 94.3% of the time), those teams received a bid to the Big Dance. Never has a team with at least 12 wins in the Pac-10 and 22 regular season wins been denied a chance to play for a national championship. Let me repeat…never.

Now let’s hear what the “bracketologists” have to say on the matter. Mark Schlabach of ESPN says the Sun Devils need to win at least 2 games at this week’s Pac-10 Tournament in Los Angeles to even have a chance to hear their name called on selection Sunday. Huh? So winning 67% of your games in a conference over a two-and-a-half month period isn’t enough because the conference is in a “down year”, but beating two of those same teams on a neutral court in a tournament designed primarily for money making purposes somehow bolsters the resume’?

Up until this morning, Joe Lunardi of ESPN didn’t have ASU in the field of 65, but apparently he got hit by a bolt of lightning on Monday, and currently has ASU in the Big Dance, as one of the last four teams into the tourney. And Lunardi’s the only one that has ASU in. My colleague, Greg Esposito’s Monday morning research showed that ASU is not in the current field of 65 in projections by CollegeRPI.com, Sporting News Today, ESPN Bubble Watch, SI.com Bubble Watch, and Fox Sports among others.

So now Pitchfork Nation has to be asking another question…”what did ASU do to piss off everyone with any insight on the NCAA Tournament?”

Yes, it’s a down year in the Pac-10. That’s not ASU’s fault. They played the teams on their schedule and beat 22 out of those 31 opponents. I realize ASU lacks a high RPI number. As of this morning, the Devils are #52 in the RPI Rankings. No it’s not sexy–but it’s still higher than the RPIs of UConn and Notre Dame!!!

In each of the last three NCAA Tournaments, the team with the lowest RPI to make the field came from the Pac-10. Last year, Arizona, with 19 regular season wins and an RPI of 62 got into the tournament. In 2008, the Oregon Ducks, who had 18 regular season wins got in with an RPI of 58. And in 2007, Stanford was 18-12 with a low RPI of 62 and was one of the 65 teams announced on selection Sunday.

By the way, all three of those teams, who would seemingly need wins in the Pac-10 Tournament to help their case, lost their opening games in Los Angeles.

I know each year is a different situation, but come on! Twenty-two wins and a 2nd place finish in a major conference has been good enough every other year. So why is it even a question this season?