After missing the NCAA tournament last season following consecutive national runner-up finishes in 2010 and 2011, Butler looks to rebound this year. The Bulldogs with have to do so in a much tougher conference, though; they have departed the Horizon League and joined the Atlantic 10. This is a plus for local fans of coach Brad Stevens and his crew; Butler will play in Richmond on March 2 against fellow A-10 rookie VCU.

Back to Marquette for a minute: in the loss to Butler, two local players, junior Davante Gardner (Suffolk / King’s Fork) and freshman Jamal Ferguson (Norfolk / Maury) saw action for the Golden Eagles. Ferguson played only a single minute, but Gardner made the most of his 16 minutes off the bench, filling the box score with 12 points, 7 rebounds (5 offensive), and a blocked shot (also, 4 personal fouls). Gardner and Ferguson are doing the 757 proud: Ferguson has appeared in all four games for the 3-1 Eagles, and Gardner is the team’s leading scorer and rebounder despite not starting a single game.

Local fans who want to catch a Marquette game in person are in luck; the Eagles play Georgetown at the Verizon Center in D.C. on February 11. Road trip!

Game number four, a 108-88 road loss to the Thunder, included the following lowlight for Mr. Valanciunas:

 

 
How do you say “posterized” in Lithuanian?

KB hams it up on Media Day. AP photo courtesy of The Basketball Jones.

Rejoice! Basketball is back!

The NBA opened its regular season on Tuesday night, with lots of big national stories right away, but two relatively low-profile teams, the Golden State Warriors and the Orlando Magic, may be of most interest to local fans.

Orlando opened its season last night with a surprising 102-89 home victory over the Denver Nuggets. Although Glen “Big Baby” Davis and J.J. Redick led the way for the Magic, the big news here is that Kyle O’Quinn of Norfolk State made his NBA debut, becoming the fourth NSU Spartan to play in the league. Although O’Quinn played just three minutes, he filled up the box score with a field goal attempt, a personal foul, a defensive rebound, and a turnover.

Out west, the Golden State Warriors have started their season 1-1, opening with a road win over the Suns, and then returning home for a loss to the Memphis Grizzlies. ODU alum Kent Bazemore has made the Warriors’ 15-man roster, but has been inactive for each of the first two games. The Warriors play on the road against the Clippers tonight; Bazemore may be activated in place of Kareem Rush, who was scheduled for an MRI today following a gruesome knee injury in the game against the Grizzlies. (Click here to see the injury, if you’re so inclined. If not, watch the clip anyway and stop it after the sick reverse dunk by Rudy Gay.)

Stay tuned to follow as we await Bazemore’s debut and O’Quinn’s first NBA points.

Basketball is back!

Melo may want to rethink his new jersey number (unlucky 13?), but his choice of footwear is beyond reproach. (Also, high marks for not taking himself too seriously).

Mr. Westbrook: goodwill ambassador for the United States or international purveyor of viciousness?

(Tip of the cap to Chris Ryan at Grantland.)

Your move, Brockness.

(Tip of the cap to Fox Sports Southwest.)

All in a day’s work for an NBA player.

ODU’s Kent Bazemore has landed in the NBA with the Golden State Warriors. Photo by Preston Gannaway, courtesy of pilotonline.com.

Although he was not selected in the NBA draft, Kent Bazemore of Old Dominion has signed a two-year contract with the Golden State Warriors. While some of Bazemore’s money is guaranteed by the contract, a roster spot is not. Should he make the team and appear in an NBA game this season, Bazemore would be the first ODU alum to do so since Cal Bowdler suited up for the Atlanta Hawks in his final NBA game on April 17, 2002 (an 89-81 loss to the Celtics – Bowdler scored two points and grabbed two rebounds).

(Incidentally, ODU fans will be sad to learn that Bowdler will no longer be the color commentator on Monarchs radio broadcasts; he has returned to Atlanta for a front office job with the Hawks.)

Writing for Yahoo!, Austin Chang has a thorough account of Bazemore’s success for the Warriors in the NBA summer league. Chang (who knows waaaay more about the Warriors than I do) predicts that Bazemore stands a fair chance to make the team but would not likely see much game action as a rookie.

Even if Bazemore makes the Warriors roster, Chang expects him to spend some time in the D-League this season. Interestingly, the Warriors are in the process of moving their D-League affiliate from Bismarck, North Dakota to Santa Cruz, California. I’m sure that Bismarck is a lovely place in the winter, but I am equally sure that a person could do worse than to find himself in Santa Cruz:

Before you start to feel sorry for Mr. Bazemore, remember that into every life a little rain must fall: Bazemore’s trademark number 24 is not available with Golden State, as the number is retired for Hall of Famer Dick Rick Barry. (Tip of the cap to @JazzMangat, who pointed this out to Bazemore on Twitter.)

ODU and Monarch fans will sorely miss Kent Bazemore, but here’s hoping he’ll do them proud as the ninth Monarch to wear an NBA jersey.

Following a recent meeting of the NBA Board of Governors, the league announced that small advertising patches on player jerseys could be approved for the 2013-2014 season. The NBA projects that such jersey advertising could bring $100 million in annual revenue. (That’s a lot of money for 6 1/4 square inches of ad space.)

Full frontal advertising, as in professional soccer, may be on the horizon for the NBA. Photo courtesy of Kevin Love (via Instagram).

Let me take this opportunity to renew my pledge of allegiance to the NBA franchise bold enough to wear its love for the world’s finest hazelnut spread on its sleeve; conversely, the team that sells out to this decidedly inferior choice can be sure to expect a ration of scorn from It Goes to XI. (From everyone, really, except choosy moms.)

On Friday, Around the Horns featured a video on rising (redshirt) senior David Hinton, who began his VCU career as a walk-on but appeared in 22 games for the Rams last season.

As a general proposition, It Goes to XI supports the hometown ODU Monarchs, but make no mistake: game recognize (shoe) game, even when it comes from Richmond. Forward to the 3:10 mark to see why Hinton may become a favorite on the blog in the upcoming season:

Check out the adoring look on his face when Hinton says that the Jordan XI (in the original colorway) “changed the sneaker game … forever.” Yes sir, this blog is named after that shoe for a reason.

Skip ahead to the 4:15 mark for a cameo by the new Hyperdunk London 2012, in the ridiculous Brazil colorway.

Well played, Mr. Hinton, well played.