tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52669150489783298622024-03-08T05:30:49.243-08:00The Great Leap BackwardMK-Ultrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12824010014207235803noreply@blogger.comBlogger62125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5266915048978329862.post-84776237048010246832010-11-16T02:23:00.000-08:002010-11-16T02:24:28.793-08:0030-ish Hours of College Hoops, Part 1Too much basketball for things like editing, paragraphs, complete sentences or even coherent thoughts. But as we get to know these teams and players who will inhabit our brains for the next several months, I've certainly got some thoughts on what's going down. So here are at least some of them, on a game-by-game basis.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Hampton @ Wake Forest</span><br />--The new ESPNU open for college basketball is horrible. Just some bad local public access looking stuff. <br />--There are some pieces here for the Deacs, but the lack of a PG will kill this team. <br />--Walker is a great shotblocker, but his offensive game lags far behind. <br />--I suppose Clark is the best option at point for Wake, but he isn’t meant to be there. Harris has got to be the go-to scorer for the Deacs, and I think he is better off the ball. He's probably better than Clark at the point (though neither is good), but he is needed more as a scorer than as a distributor.<br />--Neither team can make a FT to save their lives. <br />--Wake 63-56, survive a scare from Hampton. <br />--Pellum probably gunned the Pirates out of the game (6/22 FGA), but Funches was fun to watch. <br />--McKie is something else, 21pts, 8 rebs. <br />--No Deac w/ more than 2 assists, 3 w/ more than 2 TOs. 19 total TOs for Wake.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Siena @ Minnesota</span><br />--My goodness, what a start to this game, nobody missing. We’re on pace for like a 150-130 game after 4min. After 8min, Siena’s pace has slowed to just 125pts, shooting 77% from field. <br />--Jackson has 14 in the first 8 min, and the amazing thing is that a lot of those were on Nolen, a first-rate defensive guard. <br />--Jackson is spectacular. <br />--Minnesota big run to close the half, 17-7, get back within a point. <br />--I think this Minnesota could be a team that has many different leading scorers/go-to guys, depending on the night. <br />--Siena scores 25 in first 8 min, then 24 in the next 26. <br />--Minnesota is for real: excellent athleticism, excellent rebounders, balanced defense all around, shooters, ballhandlers, and all this w/o Joseph. <br />--Rossiter at least three travels on the night, Siena with a ton of turnovers. <br />--This maybe isn’t as talented a Siena team as we’ve seen the past 2-3 years, but there are some serious parts here (Jackson, Rossiter, Brookins, Anosike, Griffin, Wignot) and they should be near the top of the MAAC. <br />--Brookins comes out of nowhere down the stretch to catch fire, but too much of a drought in the middle of the game. <br />--Minnesota 76-69 final. <br />--Jackson 29, Brookins 12 for the Saints, but 24 TOs for the team. <br />--Minnesota balanced scoring: Hoffarber 16, Sampson 13, Hollins 12, Mbakwe 10 plus 11 rebounds. <br />--Minn 30 FTs, Siena 15.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Pepperdine @ UCLA</span><br />--In the first half I’m having flashback to last year’s CSUF/UCLA abortion. UCLA still struggling against the zone, the point guard situation still isn’t excellent, but they’re a more talented team this year. <br />--And Jerime Anderson still sucks. <br />--KeionBell is not meant to play point. He’s not good at it, and it limits his effectiveness in the offense and turns the team into little more than a series of 1-on-1 moves. --Nelson’s block at the start of the 2nd half is beautiful. <br />--Josh Smith is disturbingly earthbound. <br />--UCLA big run at end of first/start of second.<br />--Howland with his run-breaking timeouts back for another season. <br />--Final UCLA 79-69, score closer than the game, Bruins impressive in 2nd half. <br />--26-2 run for Bruins wrapped around halftime is the difference, but maybe the biggest story is the ankle injury to Lee early in the game that kept him out of the final 34 minutes and will keep him out of Tuesday’s NIT Quarterfinal matchup with Pacific. <br />--Bell 24 unimpressive points, just two assists. <br />--Nelson 20/11, Honeycutt 16, Smith/Jones 13. <br />--UCLA 21 assists, 13 TO. Pepp 18 TO, 10 assists.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><br />Miami @ Memphis</span><br />--I know Kendrick is a very good player, but Pastner definitely had the luxury to let him leave. This team has plenty of talent at the guard spot. <br />--Unbelievably entertaining albeit sloppy back-and-forth first half. <br />--Aside from Johnson, Hurricanes don’t have much offensive punch in frontcourt. Kirk and his nice midrange jumper may earn a spot in the starting lineup. <br />--Dequan Jones has just never added anything beyond his athleticism. My notes on this kid from his freshman year are just filled with exclamation points. Now he just bores me.<br />--Miami is definitely at its best when it works inside out (or more to the point, just inside). Johnson is incredibly efficient, especially when fresh. <br />--Memphis is an immature team with some absolutely terrible body language at times: players sagging their shoulders, rolling their eyes, at both ref calls and poor plays by teammates. This does not immediately look like a team with great chemistry. <br />--Miami guards definitely settled down for a stretch, played under control and they got right back into it, and then in the last minute or two, both Grant and Scott have terribly out of control plays. <br />--After the first time seeing these incarnations of these teams play, I’m not sure how good either of these teams are. They’ll both get better, but they both certainly need to get better. <br />--Final score 72-68 Memphis. <br />--Jackson 17, Carmouche 13, Witherspoon 12, Antonio Barton 10. <br />--Scott 20, Grant 18, (a combined 10/27 and eight turnovers for those two), Johnson 12 points, 12 rebounds. <br />--5 assists for Miami on 20 field goals, Memphis 10 assists on 19 field goals. <br />--Teams a combined 7/41 from beyond the arc.<br />--Entertaining, but sloppy.MK-Ultrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12824010014207235803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5266915048978329862.post-12377737308240371142010-09-13T15:14:00.000-07:002010-09-13T15:15:47.763-07:00The Debacle that is UCLA Football - and Thoughts on Week 2Here’s the state of the UCLA program: Pac-10 opener, season home opener, Saturday night of “Monster Weekend,” the team is coming off a tough road loss, and could use some home cooking in their place. But, the opening shot of the Rose Bowl for ESPN’s coverage makes it painfully obvious that they are trying to pick out the areas of the stadium where there are actually people in the stands while trying to crop out the huge swaths of un-fannied seats. Yeah, the Rose Bowl is a big place, but if there is really no chance for a UCLA team to even come close to filling that place on a semi-regular basis, it just looks awful to see a major college football team with a fanbase that is so uninspired, that two-thirds of the stadium is empty on a big Saturday night.<br /><br />Of course, then you watch the Bruin offense, and the uninspired state of the Bruin fanbase (a pretty passive fanbase even in the best of times) makes a lot more sense. Wow, are they awful. The offensive line has been the question mark for the past couple of years, but really they aren’t half bad. But Kevin Prince is simply terrible, the receivers aren’t any better (especially when the only potential playmakers at the receiver spot – guys like Randall Carroll and Josh Smith – sit behind possession receivers like Taylor Embree and Nelson Rosario – you know, possession receivers that don’t catch the ball all that well – and those potential playmakers too often seem to make plays for the other team – see Carroll’s fumble on a fancy-nancy end-around in the second quarter) and the offensive geniuses behind this whole thing (head coach Rick Neuheisel and offensive coordinator Norm Chow) can’t stay focused on what little success they do have long enough to make it work. The Bruins averaged 4.6 yards per rush against Stanford and their two most effective runners, sophomore Jonathan Franklin and freshman Malcolm Jones were even better than that, 6.6 ypc and 7.4 ypc respectively, and given that one of the big reasons the Bruins made their highly publicized addition of the Pistol formation in the offseason was to aid their running game, you’d think that maybe they’d stick with that a bit, especially when it is working and even more especially when the passing game is so obviously not working. Run first, use the run to set up the infrequent pass, and get a little more creative getting playmakers the ball when you do decide to pass the ball – screens and short passes to Smith and Carroll would be a place to start.<br /><br />And, really, Bruin fans are at a point right now where for the first time in the Neuheisel era, impatience is starting to shine through; the honeymoon period is certainly over. There is some talent here, but the team lacks discipline and the team clearly has conditioning problems. Their defense was gassed in the first quarter on Saturday night – sure, it was at the end of a 14 play drive, and the UCLA offense did nothing to give the defense a rest at all, but the Bruins front seven defensively was just getting dominated in the trenches. Throw in the inability to smoothly substitute defensively without drawing a penalty, or offensive linemen jumping early in key moments, or repeated terrible decisions by the quarterback. UCLA football at present is characterized by unforced errors on the offensive side and getting overpowered on the defensive side. <br /><br />So, the bright side? Well, I gotta reach for this, but Franklin and Jones are a pretty excellent duo in the backfield and the offensive line, while still not great, is light years better than where they were two years ago. There is upside at the receiver position, but at some point they have to starting catching balls that hit them on the hands and start making some plays. Defensively, there is plenty of talent, but it seems like these guys didn’t put in the work in the offseason to get stronger. And it is too late for that now. Hopefully some of the youngsters (Keenan Graham, Owamagbe Odighizuwa and Cassius Marsh) will earn increased reps over the course of the season, but the fact is that if the offense can give the defense a rest every now and then, the defense, while not as good as the last couple of years, has the potential to be a decent side. <br /><br />The bad side? It’s going to get worse before it gets any better. I can’t imagine holding Houston to any less than half-a-hundred, and then Texas gets their crack at breaking this piñata wide open before they get something of a winnable game with a home game against Washington State. Bruins fans – you may want to check out that Cougar game. The way your team is playing right now, that’s about the only chance at a W on your remaining home slate.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Elsewhere: </span><br />Monster Saturday – I didn’t expect Penn State would be able to play with Alabama, so that one didn’t come as any surprise, but Oklahoma owning Florida State caught me off-guard. I expected that to be the game of the big three (Bama/PSU, OSU/Miami, FSU/Okla) that would have been the most competitive, but Oklahoma owned the line of scrimmage and all their playmakers made plays while Christian Ponder and Florida State stayed in bed. The Miami/Ohio State game turned out to be the best of those three, and it even wasn’t much to get excited about. Jacory Harris made too many mistakes (although none of his four INTs were too egregious on their own, although the four-pack taken as a whole stunk) and that Buckeye team is serious.<br /><br />The best games of the weekend weren’t the big headliners, but the secondary games: Michigan/Notre Dame and Georgia/South Carolina in particular. Denard Robinson vaulted himself to the top of the Heisman list and cooled Rich Rodriguez’s seat a bit, while in Columbia, Steve Spurrier has got himself a ballclub. Freshman running back Marcus Lattimore is the real deal – a big strong back who knows how to finish his runs, always moving forward, the type of back who will rarely lose yards – the receivers are serious playmakers, a strong offensive line, a couple great bookend defensive ends with stellar corners to boot. The question for this team throughout the year will be quarterback Stephen Garcia. If he can continue to make plays, this Gamecock squad has a chance at a date in the SEC championship game and some serious BCS aspirations.<br /><br />A couple strategic questions that really bugged me this weekend. First, in that Mississippi State/Auburn game on Thursday night, if you’re the Bulldogs and you’re committed to running a two-quarterback system, why wouldn’t you choose which QB you’re going to put in there more strategically? Junior Chris Relf is a big athletic QB who can make plays with his feet but is not terrifically accurate with his passes. Redshirt freshman Tyler Russell is more of a pure pocket passer. The situation: you’re down three, just over two minutes left, you’ve got the ball on your own 20. You’ve gotta go somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 yards to have a chance to send the game to OT, and along the way, you’ve got some situations where you face 3&10 or 3&14 or 4&10. In those particular situations, which QB of the two you are committed to playing gives you a better chance to succeed, the running QB or the pocket passer? Everywhere else on the field, a head coach will substitute players based on the situation, but for some reason Dan Mullen couldn’t find a way to get Russell on the field for those plays? Even if you’re interested in having Relf on the field on such a drive due to his experience, you have to consider his weaknesses and pull the guy on clear passing downs like the ones mentioned above.<br /><br />Next, West Virginia/Marshall. You know the story, Marshall has the ball 1st and goal, ready to go in and push their improbable lead to 28-6 in the 4th quarter and to effectively seal the game. Marshall has had some success running the ball with sophomore running backs Martin Ward and Andre Booker, but head coach Doc Holliday for some reason puts in freshman Tron Martinez, a kid who hasn’t even played in the first three quarters. Martinez has a little bit of success, gets a couple carries, get a pass catch out of the backfield, picks up a first down. But then, on first and goal, fumbles, West Virginia recovers and instead of 28-6 Marshall, or even 24-6 with a field goal, momentum shifts and the Mountaineers come back to tie and eventually win in overtime. Certainly Martinez can’t fumble there, but at the same time, I just don’t understand why he is in the game there. If you go up 28-6 and the game is effectively over, then you can get some time for youngsters like this, but in that type of intrastate rivalry game, a win that would have been a huge win for the program and the community, you gotta finish the deal.MK-Ultrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12824010014207235803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5266915048978329862.post-61364962716766028142010-04-21T19:20:00.000-07:002010-04-21T19:21:33.458-07:00Basketball JunkieI'll be moving all of my basketball-related posts to a new site, <a href="http://basketball-junkie.weebly.com/">located here</a>. Still posting about other sports and other stuff here though.MK-Ultrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12824010014207235803noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5266915048978329862.post-84301596676951862602010-04-16T21:03:00.000-07:002010-04-16T21:05:48.782-07:00Florida State - a way too early 2010-11 previewOne big question looms over the short-term future of the Seminole basketball program, and at this early date, the answer isn’t yet known: will seven-foot-one center <span style="font-weight:bold;">Solomon Alabi</span> be returning to Tallahassee for his senior season, or will he be lured by the promise of NBA millions as a likely first-round draft pick? If Alabi returns, the ‘Noles will have the potential to challenge for an ACC title; if he goes, while still a talented squad, FSU’s hopes diminish greatly.<br /><br />With Alabi, the Seminoles will return four of their five starters from a team that finished third in the ACC and made life on the offensive end miserable for their opponents. With Alabi manning the middle and long, athletic and versatile forward <span style="font-weight:bold;">Chris Singleton</span> alongside, the ‘Noles have the ability to dissuade opponents from exploring the middle of the defense. They’ll need to replace <span style="font-weight:bold;">Ryan Reid</span> at the four-spot, but have plenty of contenders to do so, including junior <span style="font-weight:bold;">Xavier Gibson</span>, sophomore <span style="font-weight:bold;">Terrence Shannon</span>, incoming freshman <span style="font-weight:bold;">Okaro White</span>, or one of two JuCo transfers: <span style="font-weight:bold;">Bernard James</span> or <span style="font-weight:bold;">Jonathan Kreft</span>, a player who originally committed to FSU in 2006 before having his scholarship revoked following some trouble with the law.<br /><br />In the backcourt, <span style="font-weight:bold;">Derwin Kitchen</span> started all of FSU’s games in 09-10, and could do the same next season, but former McDonald’s All-American <span style="font-weight:bold;">Michael Snaer</span> came on down the stretch of his freshman season and could move into the starting position at the two-guard. Snaer and Kitchen did get a few starts together in the backcourt, but neither is a true point and ideally for head coach <span style="font-weight:bold;">Leonard Hamilton</span>, someone else will step up and take hold of the point guard position. While <span style="font-weight:bold;">Deividas Dulkys</span> ran the point some for the ‘Noles last year, it is likely that incoming freshman <span style="font-weight:bold;">Ian Miller</span> will have every chance to win the position. Senior <span style="font-weight:bold;">Jordan DeMercy</span> will provide depth at the two and the three while junior point <span style="font-weight:bold;">Luke Loucks</span> will also get some time in the backcourt.<br /><br />For the Seminoles to really become a national power, they’ll need to improve their offensive game, and there are a number of things that need to happen on that front: someone will have to take the reins at point, one of the wings (Snaer, Kitchen, DeMercy or Singleton) will have to accept more of the scoring load, and Alabi will need to return and add a go-to post move. Any one of those things will improve the team; all of those things will have the ‘Noles, already a stout defensive team, making big waves in March.MK-Ultrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12824010014207235803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5266915048978329862.post-57175926198825755472010-04-15T21:55:00.000-07:002010-04-15T21:59:59.725-07:00Duke - a way to early 2010-11 preview<meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 12"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 12"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5CDrew%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><link rel="themeData" href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5CDrew%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_themedata.thmx"><link rel="colorSchemeMapping" href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5CDrew%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_colorschememapping.xml"><!--[if gte mso 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mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:";" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">Mike Krzyzewski</span> is back on top of the college basketball world, having done it his way, building a program step-by-step with character guys who generally stick around for the majority of their eligibility. So, what to do for an encore? Introducing freshman point guard <span style="font-weight: bold;">Kyrie Irving</span>, one of the nation’s top recruits and a guy who could head the NBA after one year. While Irving will be ready to step right in for departed point guard <span style="font-weight: bold;">Jon Scheyer</span>, there is still one big unanswered question for the Blue Devils as of April 15: will wing <span style="font-weight: bold;">Kyle Singler</span> return for his senior season? If so, expect Duke to be a strong favorite to win the ACC again. But, even if Singler is to head to the next level, this Duke team will still have firepower. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Nolan Smith</span> will return for his senior season and start alongside Irving in the backcourt. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Seth Curry</span> (Steph’s little brother) joins the team as a sophomore transfer from Liberty (where he led all freshman in the country in scoring two seasons back with 20.2 a game) and could give the Devils either depth in the backcourt or a third-guard, if coach K decides to go that way. Add in <span style="font-weight: bold;">Andre Dawkins</span> returning for his second season and incoming freshman point <span style="font-weight: bold;">Tyler Thornton</span> and the Devils will not be hurting in the backcourt. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:";" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:";" >
<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:";" >However, regardless of Singler’s decision, the Blue Devils will need some of their talented frontcourt players to take the next step and improve their consistency. Brothers <span style="font-weight: bold;">Miles and Mason Plumlee</span> (a junior and a sophomore, respectively) have shown flashes of the type of talent that made them highly sought-after recruits, but need to be able to bring that type of game for more than just a few bursts here and there, and with <span style="font-weight: bold;">Greg Zoubek</span>’s Duke career over, they’ll be counted on to provide most of the minutes in the middle. Former McDonald’s All-American <span style="font-weight: bold;">Ryan Kelly</span> will also be called on to provide some help up front, but despite his six-foot-ten frame, he is more of a perimeter player and will need to add more strength and toughness to compete in the paint in the ACC. Freshman forward <span style="font-weight: bold;">Josh Hairston</span> will likely also need to contribute for the Devils up front, but he is also more of a skilled forward than a grinder.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:";" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:";" >
<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:";" >What put Duke over the top in 2010 was its ability to create points by hitting the offensive glass, and in order for the Devils to replicate that kind of success in March, they’ll need to get some serious improvement from their front court players. But given the talent and upside of those players, that is far from out of the question.<o:p></o:p></span></p> MK-Ultrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12824010014207235803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5266915048978329862.post-60868231179212875402010-04-15T19:14:00.001-07:002010-04-15T19:25:30.863-07:00Clemson – a far too early 2010-11 previewLike other programs around the ACC, the big story in Clemson this offseason is new leadership. Head coach <span style="font-weight: bold;">Oliver Purnell</span> bolted for DePaul at the end of the season in a surprise move, leaving Clemson scrambling for a new coach, which they just filled with <span style="font-weight: bold;">Brad Brownell</span>, formerly of Wright State and before that UNC Wilmington. The coaching change has left some of the roster in question, with sophomore forward <span style="font-weight: bold;">Devin Booker</span> and <span style="font-weight: bold;">Noel Johnson</span> reportedly considering their options and incoming freshman wing <span style="font-weight: bold;">Marcus Thornton</span> (the 2010 Mr. Basketball from the state of Georgia) reportedly asking the school for a release from his letter of intent. The first order of business for Brownell will be to find out the status of those three players, all very talented pieces on this Tiger team, but perhaps pieces that won’t necessarily fit in well with the style of basketball that Brownell has historically run. Under Purnell, the Tigers were a high-tempo team, pressing defensively and getting out on the break on offense. On the other hand, Brownell’s team have historically controlled tempo, played tight man defense and gotten most of their offense in the half-court. Of course, even as good as the best of the Wright State or UNC Wilmington teams were, they never had a collection of athletes like Booker, Johnson, Thornton and the like, so while it is unlikely that the Tigers will continue to play the type of ball they did under Purnell, they may not turn into Wright State overnight.<br /><br />Beyond the three question marks mentioned above, the Tigers aren’t exactly hurting for talent. Regardless of what happens to Booker, Johnson and Thornton, senior <span style="font-weight: bold;">Demontez Stitt</span> will start at the point and senior <span style="font-weight: bold;">Jerai Grant</span> will start up front somewhere. If all goes well, sophomore <span style="font-weight: bold;">Milton Jennings</span> will start alongside Grant, and then one of Booker, Johnson and Thornton will complete the Tiger front line while the other two provide depth, with junior <span style="font-weight: bold;">Tanner Smith</span> likely manning the two-guard spot. If Brownell can get all three of the question marks to return, the Tigers will have plenty of athletic depth, but even if only one of them remains, this isn’t a Clemson team that is going to immediately sink in the ACC standings. Junior <span style="font-weight: bold;">Andre Young</span> will likely back up Stitt, junior <span style="font-weight: bold;">Brian Narcisse</span> will provide some depth, and plenty of energy, up front, and sophomore <span style="font-weight: bold;">Donte Hill</span> may also get some time in the backcourt. Seven-foot-one junior center <span style="font-weight: bold;">Catalin Baciu </span>is in intriguing prospect up front, but he’ll need to add some strength to be a legitimate contributor in the ACC.<br /><br />Clemson can still be in the conversation for one of the 65 tournament spots this season, but it is going to be interesting to see how Brownell imprints his style on a roster full of players who have gotten used to the Purnell way. Brownell may be an upgrade over Purnell in the long run, but the Tigers could suffer some short-term setbacks if their players chafe at the tightened reins.<br /><br />**Update 4/15**<br />As expected, <span style="font-weight: bold;">Marcus Thornton </span>has asked for and received a release from his letter of intent and has opened back up his recruitment. It is possible he will follow <span style="font-weight: bold;">Oliver Purnell </span>to DePaul, Memphis has jumped into the discussion, and schools like Kentucky, Florida and Georgia Tech are interested as well.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Devin Booker</span> and <span style="font-weight: bold;">Noel Johnson </span>have not yet announced their decisions regarding possibly transferring out of the program.MK-Ultrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12824010014207235803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5266915048978329862.post-17752030661115510212010-04-15T19:08:00.000-07:002010-04-15T19:24:14.142-07:00Boston College - a far too early 2010-11 preview<meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 12"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 12"><link rel="File-List" 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mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family:arial;"><span style="">The big story this offseason for the Eagles is the head coaching change: <b>Al Skinner</b> out, former Cornell head coach <b>Steve Donahue</b> in. And, clearly, along with the change in personnel at the top will come a change in style, as Skinner’s defense-first system goes away and Donahue’s Princeton-style offense takes over. The transition will take time as Donahue will be forced to play with mostly the players that Skinner leaves behind, but there is some talent there, with four players who averaged double-figures returning (seniors <b>Joe Trapani, Rakim Sanders</b> and <b>Corey Raji</b> and junior guard <b>Reggie Jackson</b>). Trapani and his three-point ability may fit in nicely with Donahue’s style, and Jackson is a talented offensive player who can play in several different styles, but Donahue will have to get improvement from others on the roster to contend for a NCAA tournament bid (and, for the record, in these posts, I am going to assume that the size of the tournament does not increase this offseason, perhaps a sketchy assumption). Returning point guard <b>Biko Paris</b> will need to improve his ball control, cutting the turnovers and getting the Eagles into some more effective offense, all of which will enable Jackson to play off the ball more at his natural position, the two. Senior big guy <b>Josh Southern</b> is going to have to play up to his talent to give the Eagles a legitimate interior threat. Raji and Sanders may not be natural fits for Donahue’s offense, but they are both athletic wings, with Raji capable of playing bigger than his six-foot-five frame on the interior and Sanders capable of knocking down threes or scoring off of his athleticism. Juniors <b>Evan Ravenel</b> and <b>Dallas Elmore</b> along with senior <b>Courtney Dunn</b> will provide depth along the frontline as will incoming freshmen <b>Kevin Noreen</b> and <b>Papa Samba Ndao</b>. Incoming freshman <b>Brady Heslip</b> could backup Paris at the point.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <u4:p></u4:p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style=""><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <u4:p></u4:p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="">
<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="">There is some talent on this Eagle team, but already some around the program are looking towards 2011-12, when Donahue will have six open scholarships with which to begin to mold this team and this program in keeping with his vision.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <u4:p></u4:p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style=""><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <u4:p></u4:p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="">
<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="">**Update: 4/15/10**<o:p></o:p></span></p> <u4:p></u4:p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="">As can be expected when coaching changes are made, personnel changes. <b>Rakim Sanders</b> has announced his intentions to transfer out of the BC program, a blow to a program in transition. It will be interesting to see if this is an isolated incident or if this is the beginning of Donahue remaking the program in his image, but I suspect Donahue would have rather had Sanders stick around for his senior season, as he is clearly a talented player. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <u4:p></u4:p>MK-Ultrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12824010014207235803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5266915048978329862.post-38900322885943442932010-04-15T19:06:00.000-07:002010-04-15T19:08:36.169-07:00College Basketball 2010-11As a hoops junkie, it's never too early to start thinking about the next basketball season, and so, a week or so after the 09-10 season ended, I'll start putting up some previews of next year's landscape, and hopefully one a day for the next seven months or so as a way of whiling away the time, starting with the ACC.MK-Ultrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12824010014207235803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5266915048978329862.post-26275099583691365412010-04-10T17:00:00.000-07:002010-04-10T17:27:46.883-07:00Champions League Quarters - 2nd LegsIn both of Manchester United's matches against Bayern Munich in this quarterfinal round, they got out to fast starts, getting a Wayne Rooney goal in the second minute in the first leg, then on Wednesday getting a third-minute goal from Gibson and seventh-minute goal by Nani to give Man U the 3-2 aggregate lead. Still later in the first half, a second Nani goal gave Man U the first three goals in the match and a two goal aggregate lead.<br /><br />Of the three goals, the first goal by Nani was the most spectacular. It began with a beautiful diagonal pass from just inside midfield by Wayne Rooney (who was playing with an ankle injury suffered in the first leg) to Valencia, who after settling into a one-on-one matchup with his defender, played a beautiful accurate cross into the box to Nani who had freed himself. Nani let the ball pass through his legs then redirected the ball with his back leg for the goal.<br /><br />The first goal for Manchester came when the Bayern keeper Butt made a poor attempt on a strike by Gibson from just outside the box, then the third goal came on a familiar combination when Nani made a great move to get free following a throw-in and again found Nani on a cross that was promptly slammed in for his second goal.<br /><br />However, with Man U now having a goal to spare, they let their guard down, and just two minutes later took advantage of some sloppy, lazy defense and snuck a ball past the keeper Van Der Sar on a bit of a broken play, giving Bayern some confidence heading into the half and leaving them just a goal back of tying the aggregate score and allowing them to advance based on away goals.<br /><br />What's more, Man U's Rooney took a shot to the ankle in the 21st minute and played the rest of the half with a noticeable lack of mobility. Rooney would play through the 55th minute, before getting pulled for a sub.<br /><br />More bad news came for the United side when midfielder Rafael got redcarded after a tackle about seven minutes into the second half, leaving them down a man with just a goal to spare.<br /><br />However, that goal advantage disappeared in the 71st minute when Bayern's Franck Ribary lifted a beautiful corner kick into the box that found Robben just waiting for it. He timed the ball perfectly and drilled the ball into the far low corner of the net, tying up the aggregate score, which was all Bayern needed to advance. The final 20 minutes or so Bayern controlled, (not without a few solid runs by Man U), and they advance to face the winner of Bordeaux and Lyon, a game that I hope to watch tomorrow at some point.<br /><br />Elsewhere in the quarterfinals, Barcelona finished off Arsenal behind an amazing four-goal performance by Messi, regarded as one of the handful of best players in the world. He showed why on Tuesday, proving himself a dangerous weapon, an aggressive player with a quick shot that he can get off without a lot of space. While Arsenal scored first on a goal by Bendtner on a breakaway that was perhaps poorly played by Theo Walcott (nevertheless, a huge spark for Arsenal throughout this round), Messi began his onslaught in the 21st minute when he grabbed a loose ball that occurred after his pass was broken up and slammed it home. In the 37th minute, he scored a similar goal of a loose ball (on a play that was begun by Messi near midfield on a pass to a cutting Avidal), and just before the break he made it a first-half hat-trick with a little chip over a charging keeper that began when he had broken up a Arsenal pass at midfield. Messi even had a chance for a fourth goal in the first half, but actually misplayed a ball on a breakway, hitting a dribble a little fat and allowing the keeper the chance to cover it up. Messi added a fourth goal late in the game on a play that highlighted his persistence, even with the game firmly in hand.<br /><br />With the win, Barcelona will advance to the semis to face Inter Milan, who traveled to Moscow and finished off CSKA, highlighted by a free kick by Sneijder early in the game that went right under a CSKA wall and past a blinded keeper.<br /><br />Some other random thoughts: Champions League semifinal without an EPL participant. I'm not entirely sure, but I think this is a fairly rare occurence.<br /><br />When Rooney left the pitch on Wednesday, the broadcast showed a sign that said: "Wayne Rooney: the white Pele". Now, I clearly haven't watched a ton of Rooney, and while I think he is a tough player and certainly skilled, I think that sign is frankly ridiculous.<br /><br />Players I found myself drawn to in these three games: Bayern's Ribary continues to be a favorite, Man U's young guns like Valencia and Nani, and I like Van Der Sar as a keeper, and, of course, Messi, who was amazing in the second leg.MK-Ultrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12824010014207235803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5266915048978329862.post-6381971272152453832010-04-08T19:01:00.000-07:002010-04-08T19:23:54.886-07:00All-Murawa Team, College Basketball 2009-2010 EditionWith the an excellent college basketball season and one of the most exciting Tournaments in history squarely in our rearview mirror now, it’s time to take a look back at the season, hand out some awards and recognize some of the players that made this season a memorable one.<br /><br />To start with, we’ll dive right in with our best players in the nation. While other organizations hand out their All-American awards based on the strength of a player during the regular season, we’ll take the entire season, including post-season play into account.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />All-Murawa Player of the Year</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Evan Turner</span>, Jr, Ohio State<br /><br />Evan Turner takes down Player of the Year despite missing a stretch of games in December following his scary fall after a dunk that fractured his back. However, after being clearly the best player in the nation prior to the injury, Turner was able to return to form ahead of schedule and lead his Buckeyes to a Big Ten championship.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">All-Murawa Coach of the Year</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Brad Stevens</span>, Butler<br /><br />Stevens clearly won his award on the basis of his team’s post-season run (and his brilliant job during that run), squeaking past guys like Mike Krzyzewski and Jim Boeheim to earn my award.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">All-Murawa Team, First Team </span><br />G <span style="font-weight: bold;">Da’Sean Butler</span>, Sr, West Virginia<br />G <span style="font-weight: bold;">Jon Scheyer</span>, Sr, Duke<br />G <span style="font-weight: bold;">Evan Turner</span>, Jr, Ohio State<br />F <span style="font-weight: bold;">Wesley Johnson</span>, So, Syracuse<br />C <span style="font-weight: bold;">DeMarcus Cousins</span>, Fr, Kentucky<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Second Team </span><br />G <span style="font-weight: bold;">James Anderson</span>, Jr, Oklahoma State<br />G <span style="font-weight: bold;">Greivis Vasquez</span>, Sr, Maryland<br />G <span style="font-weight: bold;">John Wall</span>, Fr, Kentucky<br />F <span style="font-weight: bold;">Quincy Pondexter</span>, Sr, Washington<br />F <span style="font-weight: bold;">Ekpe Udoh</span>, Jr, Baylor<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Third Team</span><br />G <span style="font-weight: bold;">Jordan Crawford</span>, So, Xavier<br />G <span style="font-weight: bold;">Jacob Pullen</span>, Jr, Kansas State<br />G <span style="font-weight: bold;">Scottie Reynolds</span>, Sr, Villanova<br />F <span style="font-weight: bold;">Gordon Hayward</span>, So, Butler<br />F <span style="font-weight: bold;">Darington Hobson</span>, Jr, New Mexico<br /><br />For some reason Wall was being mentioned in the same breath as Turner in regards to player of the year consideration. In my estimation, Wall wasn’t even the best player on his team, and was at best the fourth best guard in the nation; I could find no way to put Wall ahead of any of the guards that made my first team.<br /><br />Scheyer was perhaps the most efficient point guard in the country, running a potent Duke offensive to near-perfection, handing out assists while taking care of the ball and maintaining his ability to knock down threes with the slimmest bit of space, and even adding some slippery moves in the teeth of the defense.<br /><br />Butler, meanwhile was perhaps the nation’s most clutch player, time and again knocking down game winners despite entire buildings understanding that he would have the ball in his hand. His career ended in heartbreak, as he lay on the floor in Lucas Oil Stadium with a serious knee injury and a looming semifinal loss, but Butler was not only a great player for the Mountaineers, he was a great leader, a great student and a great citizen.<br /><br />Johnson was on target for this type of honor since his play in the Coaches vs. Cancer tournament in Madison Square Garden in mid-November. His play dropped off slightly down the stretch of the regular season due in part to a wrist injury, but he picked things back up in March to finish a great season in Syracuse.<br /><br />While it was Wall that got much of the press for Kentucky, it was Cousins who was their most unstoppable force. The best per-40-minute rebounder in the country, an active quick offensive post-player and a solid defensive force, Cousins was clearly the best big man in the country in his one season at this level.<br /><br />Other people whose post-season play changed their positions on (or even off) of this team:<br />Reynolds – clearly swooned down the stretch, a tough end to an otherwise stellar career in Philly.<br />Hayward – went from an honorable mention type guy to one who was seriously considered for a second-team spot.<br />Pullen – along with teammate Denis Clemente, Pullen was somewhere in this neighborhood all season long, but his play in the tournament definitely solidified his place on this team. If this were Bracketology, Clemente would likely be the first name listed under the “First Four Out” header.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">All-Defensive Team, First Team</span><br />G <span style="font-weight: bold;">Jermaine Dixon</span>, Sr, Pitt<br />G <span style="font-weight: bold;">Venoy Overton</span>, Jr, Washington<br />F <span style="font-weight: bold;">Ekpe Udoh</span>, Jr, Baylor<br />C <span style="font-weight: bold;">Jarvis Varnado</span>, Sr, Mississippi State<br />C <span style="font-weight: bold;">Hassan Whiteside</span>, Fr, Marshall<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Second Team</span><br />G <span style="font-weight: bold;">Ronald Nored</span>, So, Butler<br />G <span style="font-weight: bold;">J.P. Prince</span>, Sr, Tennessee<br />F <span style="font-weight: bold;">Devin Ebanks</span>, So, West Virginia<br />F <span style="font-weight: bold;">Kawhi Leonard</span>, Fr, San Diego State<br />C <span style="font-weight: bold;">Cole Aldrich</span>, Jr, Kansas<br /><br />The highlight of this team may be the trio of shotblocking big men on the first team, impressive enough to relegate an All-American type center like Aldrich to the second team. If Whiteside were to remain in school for four years (increasingly unlikely, as he may not even see a sophomore season), he would put up Varnado-like numbers in the blocks column.<br /><br />Dixon, Overton, Nored and Prince proved to be versatile man defenders that could lock up with just about anybody in the country, and Leonard is a rising star who does a ton of things well, but it is his ability to defend inside and out, bigger guys and smaller guys, that earns the freshman his spot on this list.<br /><br />Ebanks did not play his best basketball on either end of the court in the Mountaineers season-ending loss to Kentucky, but he was a tough presence both in the WVU defense with the ability to take on players from point guards to power forwards, and even man the point when Bob Huggins switched to zone.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">All-Freshman Team, First Team</span><br />G <span style="font-weight: bold;">Eric Bledsoe</span>, Kentucky<br />G <span style="font-weight: bold;">John Wall</span>, Kentucky<br />F <span style="font-weight: bold;">Xavier Henry</span>, Kansas<br />F <span style="font-weight: bold;">Kawhi Leonard</span>, San Diego State<br />C <span style="font-weight: bold;">DeMarcus Cousins</span>, Kentucky<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Second Team</span><br />G <span style="font-weight: bold;">Avery Bradley</span>, Texas<br />G <span style="font-weight: bold;">Derek Needhman</span>, Fairfield<br />F <span style="font-weight: bold;">Derrick Williams</span>, Arizona<br />F <span style="font-weight: bold;">Elias Harris</span>, Gonzaga<br />C <span style="font-weight: bold;">Derrick Favors</span>, Georgia Tech<br /><br />Clearly John Calipari does the recruiting thing very well. Three Wildcats man our first team, with Cousins and Wall also earning spots on our national teams. Bledsoe was excellent as well, despite the natural point guard playing somewhat out of place next to Wall in the backcourt.<br /><br />Henry and Leonard perhaps represent opposite ends of the forward spectrum, with Henry a smooth offensive wing while Leonard was a tough, grind-it-out rebounder and defender.<br /><br />Prior to the season, Favors was right there with Wall and Cousins as the best recruits in the nation, and while Favors did average 12 points, eight rebounds and two blocks per game, he never really lived up to expectations in his first (and perhaps only?) year in Atlanta.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">All-Glue Team, First Team</span><br />G <span style="font-weight: bold;">Chris Kramer</span>, Sr, Purdue<br />G <span style="font-weight: bold;">D.J. Gay</span>, Jr, San Diego State<br />G <span style="font-weight: bold;">Joe Mazulla</span>, Jr, West Virginia<br />F <span style="font-weight: bold;">Willie Veasley</span>, Sr, Butler<br />F <span style="font-weight: bold;">Draymond Green</span>, So, Michigan State<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Second Team</span><br />G <span style="font-weight: bold;">Eric Hayes</span>, Sr, Maryland<br />G <span style="font-weight: bold;">Ronald Nored</span>, So, Butler<br />G <span style="font-weight: bold;">Keiton Page</span>, So, Oklahoma State<br />F <span style="font-weight: bold;">Dominique Sutton</span>, Jr Kansas State<br />F <span style="font-weight: bold;">Cam Thoroughman</span>, Jr, West Virginia<br /><br />This group of guys may not always put up impressive numbers, but they are each indispensible to their team’s success.<br /><br />Kramer was the tough, strong man defender, capable of grabbing rebounds, running the offense for a possession or two, and even taking over during crunch time like he did against Texas A&M in the tournament.<br /><br />The diminutive Gay had less than impressive numbers throughout the season for the Aztecs, but anytime a big play was called for, he was there ready to step up.<br /><br />Mazulla played much of the season one-armed, unable to effectively use his right arm due to a shoulder injury, he even shot free throws left-handed, but still gutted it out on both ends of the floor for his Mounties.<br /><br />Veasley is just a six-foot-three do-everything guy for the Bulldogs. At various times this season, he guarded guys like Clemson’s power forward Trevor Booker, Kansas State guard Jacob Pullen, even Minnesota’s seven-footer Ralph Sampson III.<br /><br />And Green, Michigan State’s sixth-man did a bit of everything for Izzo, running some point-forward in the absence of injured point-guard Kalin Lucas, grabbing rebounds, defending in the post, and even becoming their go-to offensive player when the season was on the line.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Onions Squad</span> – Big shots by the bushel, often causing the other team to cry<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Da’Sean Butler</span>, Sr, West Virginia<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Ali Farokmanesh</span>, Sr, Northern Iowa<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Jacob Pullen</span>, Jr, Kansas State<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Jordan Crawford</span>, So, Xavier<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Austin Freeman</span>, Jr, Georgetown<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Chandler Parsons</span>, Jr, Florida<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Devan Downey</span>, Sr, South Carolina<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Andy Rautins</span>, Sr, Syracuse<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Evan Turner</span>, Jr, Ohio State<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Quincy Pondexter</span>, Sr , Washington<br /><br />The only thing that needs to be said about these guys is that if your team is playing against one of them, and you’re up a couple points late, don’t get comfortable. Some guys hit big winners every now and then; these guys make a career out of it.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">All-Non-BCS Team, First Team</span><br />G <span style="font-weight: bold;">Kevin Anderson</span>, Jr Richmond<br />G <span style="font-weight: bold;">Jordan Crawford</span>, So, Xavier<br />G <span style="font-weight: bold;">Jimmer Fredette</span>, Jr, BYU<br />F <span style="font-weight: bold;">Gordon Hayward</span>, So, Butler<br />F <span style="font-weight: bold;">Darington Hobson</span>, Jr, New Mexico<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Second Team</span><br />G <span style="font-weight: bold;">Aubrey Coleman</span>, Sr, Houston<br />G <span style="font-weight: bold;">Randy Culpepper</span>, Jr, UTEP<br />F <span style="font-weight: bold;">Elias Harris</span>, Fr, Gonzaga<br />F <span style="font-weight: bold;">Adam Koch</span>, Sr, Northern Iowa<br />C <span style="font-weight: bold;">Omar Samhan</span>, Sr, St. Mary’s<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Third Team</span><br />G <span style="font-weight: bold;">Shelvin Mack</span>, So Butler<br />G <span style="font-weight: bold;">Jared Quayle</span>, Sr, Utah State<br />G <span style="font-weight: bold;">Randy Wittman</span>, Sr, Cornell<br />F <span style="font-weight: bold;">Edwin Ubiles</span>, Sr, Siena<br />C <span style="font-weight: bold;">Derrick Caracter</span>, Jr, UTEP<br /><br />Since some of these players’ programs don’t particularly like the “Mid-Major” label, we’ll just call these the non-BCS awards. Why make a special category just for these guys? Well, really, these schools and these players are to me what makes college basketball so special. Sure, guys like John Wall and Evan Turner and Wesley Johnson are fun to watch, but to me, it is even more fun to watch a guy like Adam Koch or Kevin Anderson or Darington Hobson, guys who were passed over for one reason or another by the “big boys”, lead their teams on a charge against the Goliaths of the world. And in a year like this one, when one of their own made it all the way to the last second of the last game with that slingshot still firing at the giants, we definitely need to recognize these types of guys from some of the smaller schools that make college basketball what it is.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Most Improved</span><br />G <span style="font-weight: bold;">Ashton Gibbs</span>, So, Pitt<br />G <span style="font-weight: bold;">Scoop Jardine</span>, So, Syracuse<br />F <span style="font-weight: bold;">Ekpe Udoh</span>, Jr, Baylor<br />C <span style="font-weight: bold;">Derrick Caracter</span>, Jr, UTEP<br />C <span style="font-weight: bold;">Greg Zoubek</span>, Sr, Duke<br /><br />Zoubek’s the man here. For three years he was little more than the big pudgy guy that Coach K would bring off the bench to pick up a few fouls when his regulars needed a break for a few minutes. This year, he turned into a major factor for the National Champion, a guy without whom Duke would likely have been left for dead far short of Indianapolis. He turned into a monster rebounder, especially on the offensive end, and excellent passer out of the post (again, especially off of those offensive rebounds) and a solid interior defender. Zoubek’s senior season was a good summary of everything that is good about college basketball.<br /><br />Jardine bounced back from last year’s redshirt season due to an injury to become one of the Orange’s “seven starters” system as Syracuse took home the regular season Big East title.<br /><br />Pitt needed some young guys to step up to replace the production of ex-Panthers like LeVance Fields and without missing a beat Gibbs did just that, jumping from averaging just four points in ten minutes a game last season to almost 16 ppg in over 34 minutes.<br /><br />Udoh took advantage of his year off after transferring from Michigan and took his game to a whole new level in Waco, keeping all of the devastating shotblocking and defensive ability he had displayed previously and adding a seriously skilled and fluid offensive game.<br /><br />And Caracter reappeared on the basketball landscape after seemingly burning all of his bridges in his first tour of duty under Rick Pitino in Louisville. Caracter brought all of the talent that he had shown since his high schools days to El Paso, and left the attitude behind, giving head coach Tony Barbee plenty of production and minimal headaches.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Senior Class Awards</span> – seniors who did not make any of the above teams, who we nevertheless want to give some props to for great careers, just to be able to write their names again one last time.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Kwadzo Ahelegbe</span>, G, Northern Iowa<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Bilal Benn</span>, F, Niagara<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Eric Boateng</span>, C, Arizona State<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Trevor Booker</span>, F, Clemson<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Matt Bouldin</span>, G, Gonzaga<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Jamal Boykin</span>, F, California<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Ryan Brooks</span>, G, Temple<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Tweeny Carter</span>, G, Baylor<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Wayne Chism</span>, F, Tennessee<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Patrick Christopher</span>, G, California<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sherron Collins</span>, G, Kansas<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Bryan Davis</span>, F, Texas A&M<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Kelvin Davis</span>, G, San Diego State<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Jerome Dyson</span>, G, Connecticut<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Landry Fields</span>, F, Stanford<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Derek Glasser</span>, G, Arizona State<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Luke Harangody</span>, F, Notre Dame<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Lazar Hayward</span>, F, Marquette<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Trevon Hughes</span>, G, Wisconsin<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Matt Janning</span>, F, Northeastern<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Anthony Johnson</span>, G, Montana<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Jerome Jordan</span>, C, Tulsa<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Gerald Lee</span>, F, Old Dominion<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Tyrone Lewis</span>, G Niagara<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Jason Love</span>, C, Xavier<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Roman Martinez, </span>F, New Mexico<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Tasmin Mitchell</span>, F, LSU<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Jerome Randle</span>, G, California<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Theo Robertson</span>, F, California<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Stanley Robinson</span>, F, Connecticut<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Derrick Roland</span>, G, Texas A&M<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Donald Sloan</span>, G, Texas A&M<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Ishmael Smith</span>, G, Wake Forest<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">JT Tiller</span>, G, Missouri<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Nic Wise</span>, G, Arizona<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The NBA Can Wait Team </span><br /><br />Even before seeing Da’Sean Butler lying on the floor at the Final Four with a busted knee, I wouldn’t really begrudge a guy if he chose to leave school early to pursue a job playing basketball elsewhere. That being said, it does make me sad to see some of these guys go, knowing that with the little I watch the NBA, I will likely never see them play again once their gone. And so, I’ve got a team of players who I’d like to see stick around for another year (or two… or three), either because they could really use some more time before they go to the next level, or because I just really want to see them some more.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Solomon Alabi</span>, So, C, Florida State<br />Alabi could leave now and perhaps even get picked in the lottery. Being 7-foot-1 will do that for you, but he could really use some more time to work on his offensive game, otherwise he’ll go sit on an NBA bench for a few years, never improve and turn into Kelvin Cato or something.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Eric Bledsoe</span>, Fr, G, Kentucky<br />John Wall is gone, that is a given. But I’d sure like to see Bledsoe play a year at the point before heading to the NBA, and it likely would help his draft stock as well. Consider this one a tie between what is good for the player and what is good for the basketball fan. But, he’s probably gone anyway.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Avery Bradley</span>, Fr, G, Texas<br />A defender beyond his years, a great athlete, and a guy who will likely be a first round pick if he leaves this year. But come back for a year, entertain us all, and work on your offensive game and perhaps you start working your way up near the lottery.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Devin Ebanks</span>, So, F, West Virginia<br />Long, super-athletic, stellar defender, offensively skilled. You just need a little more polish offensively before you’re ready to go.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Derrick Favors</span>, Fr, C, Georgia Tech<br />With all the hype that preceded Favors into the ACC, I just want to see this guy put together one all-conference type season before he heads off into the sunset. Probably a pipe-dream, however, as he is a near-lock to be a high-lottery guy.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Jimmer Fredette</span>, Jr, G, BYU<br />Okay, Fredette’s on this list for purely selfish reasons. We all got cheated out of watching him in the New Mexico/BYU game for the MWC regular season championship due to illness, and I want to see one fully healthy season out of this guy to see what kind of amazing things he can do.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Elias Harris</span>, Fr, F, Gonzaga<br />Another purely selfish one here. I want to see what this guy can do once he learns the game a bit. He could be the best thing ever to go through Spokane, and as of today, it looks like Harris will be around for at least another year.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Manny Harris</span>, Jr, G, Michigan<br />A terribly disappointing season in Ann Arbor, and given that Harris’ draft stock ain’t exactly sky high, it wouldn’t hurt anybody to have him return to school, improve his game and maybe get his Wolverines back into the tournament. But, he and his agent that he is hiring obviously have different ideas.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Darington Hobson</span>, Jr, F, New Mexico<br />Tough one. His draft stock may be as high as it ever gets, but imagine is this guy developed a consistent outside shot.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Patrick Patterson</span>, Jr, F, Kentucky<br />Much like Bledsoe, I just want to see what Patterson can do out of the shadow of Wall/Cousins. However, it seems doubtful that we’ll get that chance.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Greg Monroe</span>, So, C, Georgetown<br />Purely selfish again. Monroe can leave and immediately be a lottery pick, and likely a high-lottery pick. That said, I’d sure love to see him play just a little bit more, and he is so far teasing us with that possibility. If he returns for his junior year, the Hoyas have to be considered a Final Four favorite.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Evan Turner</span>, Jr, G, Ohio State<br />Turner is as gone as the rotary telephone. Doesn’t mean I wouldn’t like to see him lead a Buckeye charge to the Final Four as a senior. But I’m sure that back injury will have something to say about his decision.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Willie Warren</span>, So, G<br />Things weren’t pretty in Norman this season; things have gotten far uglier since the season ended, with reports of players being paid and with anyone with any talent heading for the hills. But Warren was terrible this season (although he likely would have been a first-round pick if he left after last season). The NBA would like to see that he has some little bit of maturity to go along with his loads of talent, and I would like to see him live up to his expectations at the college level. Go ahead. Stick around.MK-Ultrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12824010014207235803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5266915048978329862.post-52581036646865346842010-04-06T23:43:00.000-07:002010-04-07T00:01:04.289-07:00Barcelona @ Arsenal - Part ITaking a look at last week's first leg of the UEFA Quarters, when I know the second leg was played today. I'll be running behind throughout this little project, it seems, but I don't mind.<br /><br />This game was a heavyweight fight between two teams who I take it are somewhat equally respected and both legitimate contenders for the title here. My impression of this game (and I could be completely wrong, who knows) is that Barcelona is the more veteran, more confident team and that Arsenal, while very good and talented have something to prove before they are considered quite at Barcelona's level.<br /><br />And the opening beared that out as Barcelona dominated the first half, keeping offensive pressure on almost throughout (something like nine shots with six on goal in the first 15 minutes), but despite their control of the pace of the game managed just a 0-0 tie going into the break. Arsenal goalkeeper Manuel Almunia had several spectacular saves in the first half, but erred at the very beginning of the second half on a long pass down to Barcelona forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic who lofted it softly over the keeper who was caught in no man's land between defending the goal and attacking the offender. <br /><br />Arsenal responded a bit with a header on goal a few minutes later, but Barcelona extended their lead when a beautifully played ball found a cutting Ibrahimovic for another goal over the pressing Arsenal defenders. <br /><br />But, when Arsenal subbed Theo Walcott about midway through the second half, he immediately provided a spark, getting a couple runs at the goalie, the second of which resulted in the first Arsenal goal of the night, in the 69th minute. <br /><br />With Arsenal continuing to press down one goal in their home leg, they finally got another prime chance when Fabregas was fouled on a scrap for a ball in the box. The penalty was a marginal call, but resulted in a free kick for Fabregas who knocked it home easily to tie up the match. In the meantime, Barcelona defender Puyol was redcarded and Fabregas, sometime between pulling the ball out of the net and getting to the sideline with it, fell down in a heap and spent the rest of the match limping severely, rendering it more or less a ten-on-ten matchup. (Fabregas had received his second yellow card in two games earlier in the match, eliminating him from the second leg of the round regardless of the injury. Barcelona defender Pique had also been double-yellowed out of the next leg). <br /><br />In the end, both teams were pleased enough to settle on the 2-2 tie, setting up a second leg in which Arsenal will need to pull out a win to advance. <br /><br />Other notes from a novice:<br /><br />Thierry Henry - I am familiar with from his play with France in international competition, but I found out tonight that he is the all-time leading goal scorer in Arsenal history, and this was his first game back there. The Arsenal crowd gave him a warm ovation, until he touched the ball, at least. <br /><br />Fabregas - The opposite of Henry; he started at Barcelona and plays with Arsenal now. He'll get no chance for an ovation from his old team's fans as he will not be eligible to play in the second leg due to his two yellows.<br /><br />Eboue - I like this guy, good speedy midfielder who can make plays offensively with his speed and disrupt the other team defensively.<br /><br />Nasri - Perhaps my favorite Arsenal player at first glance, a creative player in space.MK-Ultrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12824010014207235803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5266915048978329862.post-71011680120451627782010-04-04T23:16:00.000-07:002010-04-04T23:17:25.053-07:00UEFA Champion's League Quarterfinals - IISo, tonight I took my next look at one of the first-leg games from the UEFA Champion’s League Quarterfinals, and it was something else: Manchester United at Bayern Munich. <br /><br />I haven’t seen all that many soccer games in my life, and I’ve little strong memories of the games I have seen, but those qualifications aside, this was without a doubt one of the better soccer games I’ve come across.<br /><br />A little summary: Man U takes a very early lead with a goal by Wayne Rooney in the 2nd minute when Bayern defender DiMichaelis makes a couple horrible decisions in the first series of plays, first tackling a Bayern forward on a ball that was headed out of bounds, setting up a free kick from the corner, then slipping and losing Rooney right in front of the goal, allowing Rooney to tap in an easy goal right out of the gates. This would be a them that would be replayed time and again through the first half: Rooney making solid plays, DiMichaelis make poor plays.<br /><br />For the rest of the first half, and then some, Bayern was on the attack, with Franck Ribery and Hamit Alintop leading their offensive charge. Alintop had a big shot on goal in the 58th minute and Ivan Olic had another shot on the short corner in the 71st minute, but it wasn’t until the 77th minute when Ribery got the equalizer on a freekick (caused by a handball/yellow card) that was deflected off Rooney and found its way into the goal without the keeper (Van der Sar) having any chance. <br /><br />Just a few minutes later, Man U had a header off of a corner hit the goal bar. Then, in the first minute of extra time, Bayern’s Gomez had a chance on goal, but Van der Sar made an excellent save. However, not a minute later, Gomez again had another chance on some transition offense. Gomez got tackled in the box on a play that likely should have drawn a kick, but the ref swallowed his whistle, and it was a good thing for the Munich squad, as Olic appeared out of nowhere, gained control of the ball in the midst of four Man U defenders and slammed home the game winner in the waning seconds of penalty time.<br /><br />All in all, a spectacular game: great opening sequence, great closing sequence and amazing flow and pace to the game in between with dozens upon dozens of spectacular athletic plays in between. <br /><br />I thought a little bit about why I’m interested in soccer during the middle of this game, and decided that the common denominator between the sports that I love (basketball and football) are great athletes making profoundly athletic displays in the midst of games based on teamwork and strategy. Those criteria would define my dislike for baseball and predict my love of soccer. In this game alone, for instance, the type of plays that Olic (to name just one hero) was making down the stretch after having played 90 grueling minutes, were spectacular. Soccer definitely fits right in there on the good side of the equation of teams sports that I love.MK-Ultrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12824010014207235803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5266915048978329862.post-26466858836288508572010-04-03T00:42:00.000-07:002010-04-03T00:50:15.206-07:00Soccer - 2010<meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 12"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 12"><link style="font-family: arial;" rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5CDrew%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><link style="font-family: arial;" rel="themeData" href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5CDrew%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_themedata.thmx"><link style="font-family: arial;" rel="colorSchemeMapping" href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5CDrew%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_colorschememapping.xml"><!--[if 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mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} .MsoPapDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; margin-bottom:10.0pt; line-height:115%;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:.5in .5in .5in .5in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style> <![endif]--><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:courier new;font-size:100%;" >I’m pretty much a soccer novice. And, for the record, I live in the United States, grew up calling it soccer, and that’s what I’ll continue to call it here, even if football is much better applied to this sport than that other sport they play over here.
<br />
<br />Anyway, as I was saying, I am a soccer novice. I “played” for a year or two when I was a kid (assuming we use very generous definitions of the term “played”), played some pick up games here and there back when I was in more reasonable physical condition, and have watched two World Cup tournaments somewhat extensively (1994 and 2006) and some other World Cup games here and there in 1998 and 2002, and maybe even 1990, now that I think about it. And frankly, while basketball is my first love and American football (weird having to use that modifier) a close second, I really like watching soccer. The thing is, it is not often that I am going to forgo watching either basketball or football in favor of soccer, so that leaves a huge chunk of soccer that has no chance of ever being watched by me. I’ve wanted to follow an entire English Premier League season from start to finish, but found that I would have to pretty much ignore American winter sports in order to get that done, and that realization pretty much killed that aspiration. Anyway, that would mostly explain why the only soccer I’ve ever watched extensively is the World Cup, played in the summer when the only American sport for competition is baseball (which ranks somewhere behind competitive grass-growing and professional paint-drying on the list of my top seven thousand spectator sports). </span><p style="font-family: arial;font-family:courier new;" class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="font-family: arial;font-family:courier new;" class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size:100%;">
<br /></span></p><p style="font-family: arial;font-family:courier new;" class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size:100%;">Which brings me to 2010. I’m a college hoops junkie, the season is winding down (just three games left), and I find myself more and more disinterested in the NBA. I’ve definitely watched less NBA this season (I doubt I’ve watched more than 12 total minutes worth of game time of all NBA games this season) than anytime since I was six or seven years old. Couple that with the fact that I’ve been greatly looking forward to this World Cup since 2002, and here I am, in early April, getting ready to go all-in with soccer for a few months.</span></p> <p style="font-family: arial;font-family:courier new;" class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="font-family: arial;font-family:courier new;" class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size:100%;">
<br /></span></p><p style="font-family: arial;font-family:courier new;" class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size:100%;">And, to warm it all up, I happen to come across the UEFA Champions League quarterfinal round (and, again, I’m a soccer novice, so while I get that this is a tournament between elite soccer clubs in different leagues in Europe, beyond that I’m still in the middle of trying to figure out the significance of this tournament– I understand winners here qualify for some other tournament of some kind – and who all gets to play in this tournament, let alone some of the simple mechanics of the tournament; it’s all very alien to an American sports fan) just in time to serve as a great transition from the NCAA basketball world that I’ve been living in for the better part of five months and a warmup for the World Cup that I have been looking forward to for several years.</span></p> <p style="font-family: arial;font-family:courier new;" class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="font-family: arial;font-family:courier new;" class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size:100%;">
<br /></span></p><p style="font-family: arial;font-family:courier new;" class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size:100%;">Anyway, my plan is this: watch a match a day (so long as there are matches to watch, and perhaps minus this Saturday and Monday – the days for the semifinals and finals of the NCAA Basketball Tournament) and write up a little bit about my impressions (and I mean “little bit” as I don’t know how meaningful my impressions will be, given my aforementioned novicicity). For me it will serve as a fun little project and a nudge towards watching the games with as much interest as possible. For whoever may happen to read this, we’ll see if this is anything more than a waste of time. </span></p> <p style="font-family: arial;font-family:courier new;" class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="font-family: arial;font-family:courier new;" class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size:100%;">
<br /></span></p><p style="font-family: arial;font-family:courier new;" class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size:100%;">One caveat: I am a complete and utter devotee of the time-shifting capabilities of DVRs, and specifically my TiVo. As a result, while the first leg of the quarterfinal round of the Champions League ended yesterday, I just watched my first match tonight. Given that I don’t really have a lot of discussions with a lot of people about soccer matches, I don’t think my tendency towards watching games/matches at my own pace will really be a huge issue in this endeavor.</span></p> <p style="font-family: arial;font-family:courier new;" class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="font-family: arial;font-family:courier new;" class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size:100%;">
<br /></span></p><p style="font-family: arial;font-family:courier new;" class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size:100%;">So, with that preamble complete, onto the game I watched tonight (and, again, if I haven’t made myself abundantly clear: me=soccer novice, must remember that always, so, for instance, if I get some of the jargon wrong or seem super-obvious or even things that seem as clear as the name of the team I am watching is wrong, forgive me or better yet, correct me): Inter Milan vs. CSKA Moscow. Quite simply, Moscow is very lucky to be heading back home only down one goal. The CSKA keeper Akinfeev (not to mention one defender who made his own stellar save) played a huge part in the second half, making several saves as Milan took over what had been a fairly even game in the first half. Most of the game post-half was played on the Moscow side of the field, with Inter having several corner-kick chances and multiple shots on goal. Moscow seemed to struggle with simple possession in the second half, while Milan players like Eto’o, Maicon, and Milito (who had the sole goal in the match, on a quick little stroke in a tight space between CSKA defenders) kept the pressure on offensively.</span></p> <p style="font-family: arial;font-family:courier new;" class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="font-family: arial;font-family:courier new;" class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size:100%;">
<br /></span></p><p style="font-family: arial;font-family:courier new;" class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size:100%;">It is my understanding that it is something of a surprise for CSKA to even be alive at this point, and frankly it was surprising that they were able to stay just a goal back of Inter, as the Milan squad seemed to have far better ballhandling skills and athleticism than the Russian squad. And, still, the Muscovites go back home with a fighting chance to advance.</span></p> <p style="font-family: arial;font-family:courier new;" class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="font-family: arial;font-family:courier new;" class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size:100%;">
<br /></span></p><p style="font-family: arial;font-family:courier new;" class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size:100%;">Some other quick impressions: </span></p> <p style="font-family: arial;font-family:courier new;" class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="font-family: arial;font-family:courier new;" class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size:100%;">
<br /></span></p><p style="font-family: arial;font-family:courier new;" class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size:100%;">After the Milan goal, that place went crazy, rush of fans from their “seats” in the stands to the front of the section behind the goal. Very cool. </span></p> <p style="font-family: arial;font-family:courier new;" class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="font-family: arial;font-family:courier new;" class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size:100%;">
<br /></span></p><p style="font-family: arial;font-family:courier new;" class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size:100%;">Not a huge fan of the current state of the offsides call. Seems like inside the goalbox offsides should be legal, or at least the defenders shouldn’t be able to jump forward and draw the offensive player offsides. I know, very American of me to suggest changes to a sport that seems to be doing just fine as is, but for what its worth, I think American basketball should allow players to take a ball right off the rim like in international play. </span></p> <p style="font-family: arial;font-family:courier new;" class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="font-family: arial;font-family:courier new;" class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size:100%;">
<br /></span></p><p style="font-family: arial;font-family:courier new;" class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size:100%;">I love the idea of the team with the ball intentionally kicking the ball out of bounds when there is an injured player. But, in practice, when a guy writhes in faux-pain for the exact length of time that it takes to get the opposition to clock the ball and then gets back up ready to play, allowing the rest of his teammates to fall back into formation in the interim, that seems like a waste of time. And, again, since I am suggesting changes to a sport I am merely a novice at, I will also admit that in basketball, the onslaught of stoppages (whether timeouts or intentional fouls) at the end of games is obscene and can kill a lot of the momentum of the game.</span></p> <p style="font-family: arial;font-family:courier new;" class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="font-family: arial;font-family:courier new;" class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size:100%;">
<br /></span></p><p style="font-family: arial;font-family:courier new;" class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size:100%;">That’s all for now, hope to watch either Munich vs. Man U or Arsenal vs. Barcelona tomorrow, or maybe Sunday.</span></p> MK-Ultrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12824010014207235803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5266915048978329862.post-8347765752872446082010-03-26T14:49:00.000-07:002010-03-26T17:30:04.413-07:00College Basketball 2009-2010, By the NumbersWhen it comes to wrapping up a college basketball season, I have a hard time doing an All-American team, because, for one, it just seems hard to narrow down four and a half months of basketball to just five names (or even ten or 15 if I add a second or third team – although, I’ll probably do that too). Instead, what I’ll do here today is take all 37 possible uniform numbers (only digits zero through five are possible uniform numbers in NCAA basketball, to aid referees in calling fouls and the foulers) and pick one player for each number.<br /><br />Note that I am not always going to pick just the best player here. My own prejudices and likes/dislikes will factor in here, plus I want to be able to pick a guy that I will most remember from this season. And, in the case of a tie, a senior will get the nod, although I think you’ll find this team heavily weighted towards juniors. Anyway, without further delay, here it is:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">00 – Rick Jackson, Jr, Syracuse</span> – compared to his frontcourt mates, Jackson gets the least pub, but as the Orange push on towards Indianapolis, he has been a key contributor all year long.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">0 – Jacob Pullen, Jr, Kansas State</span> – fear the beard, Pullen and his backcourt partner Denis Clemente have been a fearsome duo for all opponents all year long.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">1 – Da’Sean Butler, Sr, West Virginia</span> – a strong number, with guys like Darington Hobson, Scottie Reynolds, Al-Farouq Aminu and Andy Rautins all throwing their name in the ring, but it is Butler with his numerous clutch plays that takes down the #1 jersey for the 09-10 season.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">2 – Landry Fields, Sr, Stanford</span> – awful tough to leave behind guys like Devan Downey, Ryan Brooks and, perhaps most egregiously, Nolan Smith, but Fields was a do-everything guy for a bad Cardinal team this year.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">3 – Randy Culpepper, Jr, UTEP</span> – Culpepper led the Miners to the regular season Conference USA title and was just an exciting blur in doing so. He takes home this award over guys like Devin Ebanks, Trevon Hughes, Manny Harris and Jerome Randle.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">4 – Wesley Johnson, Jr, Syracuse</span> – the transfer from Iowa State dropped jaws early in the season in front of a Madison Square Garden crowd, and was perhaps the most vital component in the Orange’s stellar season.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">5 – Ali Farokmanesh, Sr, Northern Iowa</span> – okay, without a doubt, a week ago this probably would have gone to Damion James, or even Kevin Jones. Maybe Deonta Vaughn. And even after Farokmanesh hit the game winner in the first round against UNLV, he probably was only going to be in the “also-considered” category here. But that “no-no-no-YES!” three against Kansas sealed the deal, and then some.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">10 – Greg Monroe, So, Georgetown</span> – when I watched the Hoyas play Temple way back in November, I got so frustrated watching a major talent like Monroe repeatedly defer to teammates and fail to take control down the stretch (even though he did hit the game winner on a jump hook in the lane). But, to Monroe’s credit, even though the Hoyas went out in disappointing and surprising fashion in the Tournament, it was not due to any timidity on Monroe’s part.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">11 – John Wall, Fr, Kentucky</span> – Wall has been the most electric player all season long. He may not have been the best (and in fact, some would say that he was the most over-rated), but he has certainly been must-see TV.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">12 – Aubrey Coleman, Sr, Houston </span>– a tough battle at #12, with Kyle Singler and Ashton Gibbs coming up short, when the leading scorer in Division I led his team through four days on the Conference USA tournament to steal a bid with the tournament championship.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">13 – Ekpe Udoh, Jr, Baylor</span> – the transfer from Michigan gave the perimeter-oriented Bears a legitimate and versatile inside threat, transforming them from a bubble-type team at best to a threat in March.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">14 – Kevin Anderson, Jr, Richmond</span> – Anderson was such a solid, do-everything guy for the Spiders this season, getting to the hoop, knocking down outside shots, running the offense, playing great defense and stepping up to make the big play time after time in clutch situations.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">15 – Austin Freeman, Jr, Georgetown</span> – this was one of the toughest decisions at any number. Guys like DeMarcus Cousins, Donald Sloan, Kawhi Leonard and Matt Bouldin, however, wound up getting left behind to give this to Freeman. While Freeman was diagnosed with diabetes in February, he continued to make big, clutch plays for the Hoyas, leading furious second-half comebacks on more than one occasion. But the game I’ll remember from Freeman came in early January when he scored 28 points in the second half to come back from a 15-point deficit against Connecticut and save the Hoyas from losing back-to-back games. Not that his 24-point second half outburst at Louisville to bring the Hoyas back from a six-point halftime deficit after having already lost consecutive games was anything too shabby either. I can just say I’m very much looking forward to getting to watch this guy play as a senior.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">20 – Dominique Jones, Jr, South Florida</span> – if you never saw Jones play for South Florida, just look at the list of guys he beat out at this number and you might get some idea how good he is: Gordon Hayward, Quincy Pondexter, Elias Harris and Jordan Williams just to name four. Jones was the leading scorer in the Big East and is probably more likely to be playing for a Bulls team in Chicago next season than a Bulls team in Tampa.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">21 – Evan Turner, Jr, Ohio State</span> – Turner is my pick for best player in the land, so anyone else that wears that #21 uniform is fighting for second place. Sorry Greivis Vasquez.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">22 – Marcus Morris, So, Kansas</span> – sometimes there is just a number that doesn’t have as many great numbers as others. Perhaps there is a more deserving candidate than the better of the Morris twins, but I couldn’t find one.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">23 – James Anderson, Jr, Oklahoma State</span> – Anderson was just a deadly scorer, capable of creating points off the dribble or on a catch-and-shoot, on an offensive stickback or off a post move.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">24 – LaceDarius Dunn, Jr, Baylor</span> – I would guess that Dunn’s game would drive a coach up the wall from time to time, as he is known to put up a bad shot on a fairly regular basis, and he can definitely fall in love with his jumper, but in Scott Drew’s offense Dunn is a streaky offensive weapon who can light up the scoreboard like few others. Eric Bledsoe? You’ll have to settle for runner-up at the 24 spot.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">25 – JaJuan Johnson, Jr, Purdue </span>– Johnson’s offensive game has improved every year, but this year he began to add more strength to his silky-smooth post play. Siena’s point Ronald Moore is a close runner-up at this spot.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">30 – Jon Scheyer, Sr, Duke</span> – Scheyer took over the point guard spot for Coach K about halfway through last season, and he has never looked back, running the offense smoothly and getting the rest of Duke’s weapons involved while still being able to get his when necessary.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">31 – Gani Lawal, Jr, Georgia Tech</span> – just an amazing physical specimen, big, long arms, major-league hops, skills with both hands and the ability to run the floor like a guard. How did these Yellow Jackets finish under .500 in a weak ACC?<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">32 – Jimmer Fredette, Jr, BYU</span> – I had an awful hard time leaving Lazar Hayward on the sideline, not to mention Jarvis Varnado, but Fredette was a fun, explosive offensive player playing for a fun, explosive offense. Although I still feel ripped off that Fredette was sick for the second half of the showdown with New Mexico for the MWC regular season title.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">33 – E’Twaun Moore, Jr, Purdue</span> – Moore combined with our #25 on this list to keep the Boilermakers alive after the season-ending injury to Robbie Hummel, combining a seemingly effortless offensive game with tough perimeter defense, although fellow juniors Tre’Von Willis and Jon Diebler are at least in the conversation somewhere here.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">34 – Adam Koch, Sr, Northern Iowa </span>– the MVC Player of the Year and a versatile offensive big man for the Panthers, one of three UNI seniors on this list.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">35 – Trevor Booker, Sr, Clemson</span> – it seems like Booker has been at Clemson forever, and he has certainly provided plenty of “WOW” moments over his time as a Tiger: spectacular dunks, ferocious blocks and plenty of skill packed into a 6-foot-7 and 215 pound frame.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">40 – Kelvin Davis, Sr, San Diego State</span> – not the best player in an Aztec uniform, maybe not even the leader on the squad despite being the only senior, but SDSU only lost once when he was in the starting lineup (their opening round Tournament loss to Tennessee), and the inspiration others took from his recovery from Hodgkin’s Lymphoma was reason enough for his inclusion at this spot.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">41 – Anthony Jones, So, Baylor</span> – for some reason, kids in college generally aren’t big on the numbers in the 40s and 50s. There are certainly exceptions, but I’m not finding a ton of great players at this number, so the nod goes to Jones and his exciting athleticism and upside.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">42 – Tai Wesley, Jr, Utah State</span> – a crafty veteran around the hoop, Wesley is just one on a handful of excellent Aggie juniors who should make USU a tough out next year too. Guys like Jamelle Horne, Ivan Aska and L.D. Williams come up a little short here.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">43 – Tony Easley, Sr, Murray State</span> – one of two veteran leaders for the Racers (the one who didn’t get his 15 minutes for hitting a game winning buzzer beater in the Tournament), Easley was a beast in the paint in the OVC this season. He sneaks it out at #43 over Portland’s Luke Sikma.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">44 – Luke Harangody, Sr, Notre Dame</span> – while Harangody’s ended with a poor performance in an opening-round Tournament loss to Old Dominion, leaving ‘Gody without a Tournament win in his career, he still had four productive years of great stats and will be a presence not easily replaced around South Bend.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">45 – Tweeny Carter, Sr, Baylor</span> – the tie goes to the senior, and Kansas’ junior Cole Aldrich gets left behind here. Carter teams with Dunn (our # 24) to give the Bears a prolific backcourt, and does a great job of keeping an offense that could easily careen out of control on the tracks.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">50 – Omar Samhan, Sr, St. Mary’s </span>– Samhan went from little more than a warm body four years ago to one of the best post-players in the country in his senior year, and is in the midst of pushing his Gael team through a March NCAA Tournament run.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">51 – David Foster, So, Utah </span>– Foster is a 7-foot-3 gangly behemoth in the middle for the Utes. While his offensive game is still a work in progress (and that is a kind estimation), he controls the paint on the defensive end and blocked about four shots a game this season.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">52 – Terrell Holloway, So, Xavier</span> – Holloway took a big step forward this season for the Musketeers, improving from an inconsistent freshman to a rock-solid presence in an excellent XU backcourt.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">53 – Jordan Egleseder, Sr, Northern Iowa</span> – Eglseder doesn’t look like much more than a fairly immobile 7-foot-1 mountain in the middle for the Panthers, but he has developed a pretty skilled offensive game and is a key cog in UNI’s Tournament run.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">54 – Matt Howard,Jr, Butler </span>– Howard earns this one by a hair over Kentucky’s Patrick Patterson due to the vital role he plays in the Bulldogs offense. As the only true interior player on an undersized Butler team, Howard has a vast responsibility, but always seems to take care of business.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">55 – Jordan Crawford, So, Xavier </span>– part of me wanted to go with a senior and give this one to Duke’s Brian Zoubek, who’s improved physical presence in the middle for the Blue Devils is probably most responsible for their emergence as a legit national championship contender. But Crawford is such a fun player to watch, whether it be bombing from deep or gliding to the hole and finishing with a twisting, turning, swooping scoop shot. Along with Holloway (our #52), Crawford gives the Muskies one of the handful of best backcourts in the country, and if he can withstand the lures of the NBA draft for another year, Xavier may be knocking on the door of the Final Four again next year.<br /><br /><br />Oh, and while I'm on numbers, I've got another one:<br /><br />65 - NCAA Tournament teams - it's fine the way it is. 64 would likely be better, but that horse done left the barn already. 68 is acceptable, but let's not screw up a great thing.MK-Ultrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12824010014207235803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5266915048978329862.post-70225694177284684002010-01-05T12:15:00.000-08:002010-01-05T12:17:13.128-08:00All-Murawa Awards, NFL EditionWith the NFL season wrapping up, its time to hand out some of the least sought-after awards of the NFL season, the All-Murawa awards. While most will have no idea that they won these awards (thus saving me the trouble of having to get the trophies engraved and the prize money sent out), they are no less prestigious. Well, actually, on second thought, they probably are significantly less prestigious, by definition, but we can just gloss over that and get to handing these things out anyway.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Most Outstanding Player: Chris Johnson, RB, Tennessee</span> – 2006 yards rushing, a new NFL record of 2509 total yards from scrimmage, 16 touchdowns. It’s hard to argue with those numbers. But perhaps the most impressive feat was rushing for 134 yards in week 17 against a Seattle defense stacking eight, nine and sometimes even ten guys in the box.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Most Valuable Player: Drew Brees, QB, New Orleans</span> – led his Saints to a 13-3 record while posting the highest QB rating in the league (109.6), the most TD passes in the league (34, compared to only 11 INTs), averaged over 8.5 yards per pass attempt, and threw for an average of over 290 yards a game. Yup. That’ll work.<br /><br />While the above may seem both repetitive and contradictory, we here at the All-Murawa team like to award both, the first to the best player in the league on any team, and the second to the best player in the league on a good team. While some years, this could be the same player (and frankly, Brees could have won both, and Peyton Manning and Philip Rivers got some consideration for both as well), Johnson was the most dominant player in the league on an average (at best) team, while Brees led his team through a strong season to a first-round playoff bye.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Defensive Player of the Year: Darrelle Revis, CB, New York Jets</span> – The Jets had the best defense in the league this year, allowed the fewest yards per game and allowed the fewest points, and part of the reason for their success was their ability to put Revis on an island against the other team’s best receiver and allow the rest of the players to forget about that section of the field. He wound up with six interceptions, and an NFL-leading 37 passes defended, while continually shutting down his man.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Rookie of the Year: Brian Cushing, LB, Houston</span> – Cushing was fifth in the league in tackles and added five sacks and four interceptions, becoming an instantaneous leader for the Texan defense.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">All-NFL Team</span> – nevermind the fact that both my offense and defense feature 12 players on each team. They’re good enough that they don’t need all 11, but deserve 12.<br /><br />New Orleans, Philadelphia and the Jets all wound up with three players on the first team (and each added a player on the second team). Indy and Minnesota wound up with four players on the two teams combined.<br /><br />And, to make up for leaving the following players off of this list, I’ll mention Peyton Manning, Larry Fitzgerald, and Kris Dielman as the three players I had the hardest time omitting.<br /><br />Anyway, without further ado, here is two teams worth of my All-NFL team.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">All-NFL First Team</span><br />QB Drew Brees, New Orleans<br />RB Chris Johnson, Tennessee<br />RB Ray Rice, Baltimore<br />FB Leonard Weaver, Philadelphia<br />WR Andre Johnson, Houston<br />WR Reggie Wayne, Indianapolis<br />TE Dallas Clark, Indianapolis<br />C Nick Mangold, New York Jets<br />G Ryan Lilja, Indianapolis<br />G Jahri Evans, New Orleans<br />T Ryan Clady, Denver<br />T Michael Roos, Tennessee<br /><br />DT Jay Ratliff, Dallas<br />DT Haloti Ngata, Baltimore<br />DE Jared Allen, Minnesota<br />DE Trent Cole, Philadelphia<br />ILB Patrick Willis, San Francisco<br />ILB David Harris, New York Jets<br />OLB Elvis Dumervil, Denver<br />OLB Brian Cushing, Houston<br />CB Charles Woodson, Green Bay<br />CB Darrelle Revis, New York Jets<br />SS Adrian Wilson, Arizona<br />FS Darren Sharper, New Orleans<br /><br />K Sebastian Janikowski, Oakland<br />P Shane Lechler, Oakland<br />KR DeSean Jackson, Philadelphia<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">All-NFL Second Team</span><br />QB Philip Rivers, San Diego<br />RB Adrian Peterson, Minnesota<br />RB Steven Jackson, St. Louis<br />FB Ahmard Hall, Tennessee<br />WR Wes Welker, New England<br />WR Randy Moss, New England<br />TE Antonio Gates, San Diego<br />C Ryan Kalil, Carolina<br />G Steve Hutchinson, Minnesota<br />G Alan Faneca, New York Jets<br />T Jake Long, Miami<br />T Jon Stinchcomb, New Orleans<br /><br />DT Kevin Williams, Minnesota<br />DT Jonathan Babineaux, Atlanta<br />DE Dwight Freeney, Indianapolis<br />DE Julius Peppers, Carolina<br />ILB Jon Beason, Carolina<br />ILB James Laurinaitis, St. Louis<br />OLB DeMarcus Ware, Dallas<br />OLB Clay Matthews, Green Bay<br />CB Leon Hall, Cincinnati<br />CB Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, Arizona<br />SS Brian Dawkins, Denver<br />FS Antoine Bethea, Indianapolis<br /><br />K David Akers, Philadelphia<br />P Andy Lee, San Francisco<br />KR Josh Cribbs, ClevelandMK-Ultrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12824010014207235803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5266915048978329862.post-10437814805060300922009-12-29T05:19:00.001-08:002009-12-29T06:04:16.014-08:00"The U"I've been very much enjoying ESPN's "30 For 30" series so far, in which 30 different directors take a shot at documenting a major sports story over the 30 years of ESPN's existence. There was Kirk Fraser's take on the death of Len Bias, which transported me back to 11 years old and having one of my childhood heroes throw his life away. There was Mike Tollin's documentary on the life and death of the USFL, casting an evil eye on Donald Trump. Barry Levinson took a story that I knew quite a bit about and shed a new light on it as he chronicled the Baltimore Colt marching band and the departure of the Colts from Baltimore. Throw in shows on the Wayne Gretzky trade, the Ali/Holmes fight and the life and times of Jimmy the Greek and these are some compelling documentaries on sports.<br /><br />Which brings me to the most recent film, "The U" by Billy Corben about the University of Miami's football program. Now, without a doubt, this is a great topic for this series: a team rising from irrelevance to become the best college football program in the nation during the 80s and beyond, but not without its share of controversy. Unfortunately, Corben's thesis for this film appeared to be something along the lines of "Miami was a very good football team, so that gives them a complete pass everywhere else." Part of the reason that "The U" was such a great topic for a documentary was the fact that there were two very distinct sides to this story: the amazing success the 'Canes had on the football field and the abysmal way in which they acted while gaining such success. But, while Corben certainly went so far as to admit that there was some controversy surrounding the 'Canes, he went out of his way to avoid voicing some of those concerns in a coherent way, instead focusing on the 'Canes players and coaches and apologists making excuses. <br /><br />It wasn't the Miami players fault that there was a long litany of legal problems in the program, but it was certainly Sports Illustrated's fault for publishing a sidebar about it. Racists!<br /><br />It wasn't Jimmy Johnson's fault that they ran up the score on overmatched opponents, it was the fault of the opposing team for failing to stop them. And 'Canes players dancing over fallen opponents? That's just kids having fun.<br /><br />The Miami-cheap-shot-fueled onfield brawls? Certainly not the 'Canes fault. But the university president being concerned that this painted the university in a bad light? What a stooge that guy was. Didn't he know how much money the football team was generating? Money forgives all sins, right?<br /><br />According to Steve Walsh, Miami dominated Penn State in every facet of the game in the '87 Fiesta Bowl. (Wait for it, wait for it.) Except for turnovers. Hey, I got one more for you Steve. Um, the score. (Somewhere around this point I briefly considered the idea that Corben was a genius in the field of satire, spending a couple hours making fun of Miami while pretending to fawn over them. I threw that idea away a couple seconds later.)<br /><br />Who cares that Miami players were being paid in violation of NCAA regulations? Those rules were dumb anyway. Besides, Bennie Blades had a kid at the time! And if they hadn't been getting paid, they would have been forced to go out and steal car stereos and sell drugs in order to survive. Oh. Wait. They did that too. <br /><br />And, as Randal Hill took pains to point out (albeit with tongue firmly in cheek), it wasn't his fault that he ran up the Cotton Bowl tunnel after scoring a TD and came back with imaginary guns ablazing. It was everybody else's fault but his. (Note that for some reason, the Miami AD called this something like the most egregious offense one of his players ever committed, a truly disgusting act. Maybe it's just me, but I saw like 15 things over the course of the two hours that were far, far worse than this.)<br /><br />Don't get me wrong, if the entire documentary had been anti-Miami, focusing on all the controversy while just glossing over the successes, it would have been just as bad, but this film could have been so much more. Credit Corben for at least mentioning the dark side, but it would have nice to hear a perspective on the story from someone other than Miami players, coaches, writers and supporters.<br /><br />One last complaint, perhaps minor compared to the above. At some point in the film, (and it might have been on a bumper coming back in from a commercial break) Corben says something like "Beano Cook once called Miami football the greatest dynasty since Julius Caesar." Which, if you know Beano is just a great line and admittedly overstatement. No problem with that. But then Corben follows it up by saying: "And he was right." Well, no. No, he wasn't right. Miami was the best college football team from the early 80s to the early 90s. In no way do their accomplishments compare with those of Caesar (which is such an obvious thing that I'm not even going to follow that comparison and bring in other world leaders into the conversation), let alone the Lakers or Celtics or Canadiens or Bruins or Yankees or... The Hurricanes were dominant, won four national championships in nine years and were clearly the most successful program in college football for a decade or so. Leave it at that. There is no need to take a great line like Beano's and take it seriously.<br /><br />All in all, I still enjoyed the film and would still recommend it, but compared to earlier episodes in this series, this was clearly subpar.MK-Ultrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12824010014207235803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5266915048978329862.post-78403613251850556662009-12-10T18:58:00.000-08:002009-12-10T19:00:41.093-08:002009 College Football All-American TeamWith the season all but over, it is time for the annual meaningless game of putting together All-American teams. I know, we’ve got the Army/Navy game still to go to wrap up the regular season – and I’m certainly interested in the game (go Middies! Get the Bruins in a bowl game!) – but frankly, none of the players in the game are on my radar as far as All-Americans go (nothing against Ricky Dobbs, who is fun to watch), so here goes nothing.<br /><br />I actually put a lot of time into coming up with this list, and I’m fairly happy with it, with the possible exception of my choices for center (I really wasn’t in love with any of the candidates) and the disturbing realization that I put three Bruins on the squad (well, two and a half - kickers don’t really count) and only one Trojan. Also, I think C.J. Spiller probably deserves one of the RB slots on the second team, but given that I had already put him on the first team as a kick returner, and given that I really wanted to put Ryan Matthews and Dion Lewis on the team, I felt okay leaving him off despite the fact that he is on my (imaginary) Heisman ballot.<br /><br />Speaking of the Heisman, I gotta say this: if either Tim Tebow or Colt McCoy wins the Heisman this year, that award is dead to me. Both have been great college quarterbacks and have had great careers, but there just ain’t a chance that either has been the most outstanding college football player this year. My picks: 1) Toby Gerhart, 2) Ndamakong Suh, 3) C.J. Spiller. I had a hard time deciding between Gerhart and Suh for the first spot, but I’ll admit I let the Heisman’s overall bias towards players who touch the ball get to me and gave Gerhart the nod. I also had a hard time with picking Spiller over Mark Ingram for the third slot, but gave it to Spiller as a result of Ingram’s weak game against Auburn and Spiller’s monster of a game in the ACC Championship. Nevermind the fact that I ignored Spiller’s much weaker game the same weekend against South Carolina or the fact that Ingram pummeled that same South Carolina defense to the tune of 246 yards; the imaginary ballot has been imaginarily submitted.<br /><br />On to the All-American’s listed below, some highlights:<br /><br />Alabama leads the list with four players on the first team (okay, three and a half, kickers don’t count), plus another three on the second team (okay, two, since Javier Arenas makes it as both a corner and a kick returner). And, while I’m mentioning Arenas, I’ll also mention that perhaps the hardest pick I made was choosing Perrish Cox over Arenas for the second corner spot on the first team. <br /><br />Texas is a deserving opponent in the BCS Championship game, but I could only find room for two Longhorns on my team.<br /><br />Florida is right there with three on the first team and another one on the second team, and I’ve got four Iowa Hawkeyes on my second team defense to go along with first-teamer Brian Bulaga. <br /><br />And, again, on the UCLA front: two and a half Bruins on my second team? That can’t be right. Although I try to avoid being biased here, I’m a Bruin fan at heart, so I’ll throw out an honorable mention to, say, Marvin Austin of North Carolina as a guy who might have made it in place of Brian Price, and Chad Jones of LSU as a possible replacement for Rahim Moore. Although I stand by the fact that Price and Moore are deserving of their spots. As to Kai Forbath? Who really cares? He’s just a kicker.<br /><br />Anyway, without further ado, here’s my 2009 College Football All-American Team: <br /><br />First Team<br /><br />QB Kellen Moore, So, Boise State<br />RB Mark Ingram, So, Alabama<br />RB Toby Gerhart, Sr, Stanford<br />WR Mardy Gilyard, Sr, Cincinnati<br />WR Golden Tate, Jr, Notre Dame<br />TE Aaron Hernandez, Sr, Florida<br />C Chris Hall, Sr, Texas<br />G Mike Johnson, Sr, Alabama<br />G Sergio Render, Sr, Virginia Tech<br />T Brian Bulaga, Jr, Iowa<br />T Russell Okung, Sr, Oklahoma State<br /><br />DT Ndamakong Suh, Sr, Nebraska<br />DT Gerald McCoy, Jr, Oklahoma<br />DE Jerry Hughes, Sr, TCU<br />DE Greg Romeus, Jr, Pitt<br />LB Bruce Carter, Jr, North Carolina<br />LB Rolando McClain, Sr, Alabama<br />LB Brandon Spikes, Sr, Florida<br />CB Joe Haden, Jr, Florida<br />CB Perrish Cox, Sr, Oklahoma State<br />SS Erik Berry, Jr, Tennessee<br />FS Earl Thomas, So, Texas<br /><br />K Leigh Tiffin, Sr, Alabama<br />P Zoltan Mesko, Sr, Michigan<br />KR C.J. Spiller, Sr, Clemson<br /><br />Second Team<br /><br />QB Case Keenum, Jr, Houston<br />RB Ryan Matthews, Jr, Fresno State<br />RB Dion Lewis, Fr, Pitt<br />WR A.J. Green, So, Georgia<br />WR Titus Young, Jr, Boise State<br />TE Anthony McCoy, Sr, USC<br />C Maurkice Pouncey, Jr, Florida<br />G Brandon Carter, Sr, Texas Tech<br />G Cord Howard, Sr, Georgia Tech<br />T Anthony Davis, Jr, Rutgers<br />T Ciron Black, Sr, LSU<br /><br />DT Terrance Cody, Sr, Alabama<br />DT Brian Price, Jr, UCLA<br />DE Brandon Graham, Sr, Michigan<br />DE Adrian Clayborn, Jr Iowa<br />LB Sean Weatherspoon, Sr, Missouri<br />LB Pat Angerer, Sr, Iowa<br />LB Keaton Kristick, Sr, Oregon State<br />CB Amari Spievey, Jr, Iowa<br />CB Javier Arenas, Sr, Alabama<br />SS Tyler Sash, So, Iowa<br />FS Rahim Moore, So, UCLA<br /><br />K Kai Forbath, Jr, UCLA<br />P Drew Butler, So, Georgia<br />KR Javier Arenas, Sr, AlabamaMK-Ultrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12824010014207235803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5266915048978329862.post-58285178594916813632009-12-01T22:12:00.000-08:002009-12-01T22:14:26.563-08:002009 76 Classic RoundupYear three of the 76 Classic featured the strongest field in the brief history of the tournament, and arguably the strongest field of any of the early season tournaments this season, boasting four ranked teams plus a couple of mid-majors who figure to be right in the thick of things in their conference. The tournament, which was played in front of a somewhat sparse crowd at the Anaheim Convention Center, was captured by West Virginia, who dominated upset-minded Portland in the final Sunday night. While the season has only just begun, and there is a lot to shake out between now and Selection Sunday, we did get to find out a little about what to expect from these teams over the coming months.<br /><br />Before I get into a breakdown of each team’s weekend, here is my all-tournament team:<br /><br />Da’Sean Butler, Sr, West Virginia<br />T.J. Campbell, Sr, Portland<br />B.J. Holmes, Jr, Texas A&M<br />Shelvin Mack, Soph, Butler<br />T.J. Robinson, Soph, Long Beach State<br /><br />1. West Virginia wrapped blowout wins over Long Beach State and Portland around a tough battle with Texas A&M to capture the 76 Classic title. Behind strong performances by senior Da’Sean Butler, who averaged almost 19 points per game over the tournament, including a spectacular 26 in the final, and sophomore Kevin Jones (13 ppg over the tournament), the Mountaineers looked long, athletic and deep. Sophomore Devin Ebanks made his season debut for Coach Bob Huggins in the second game of the tournament, after sitting out the first three games of the season due to “personal reasons.” Ebanks looked especially strong in the A&M game, tallying 14 points and grabbing nine rebounds to help the Mountaineers advance. If there is a concern for West Virginia at this point, it may be on the glass, as they were outrebounded by Texas A&M, the opponent that was similar in terms of athleticism and size. However, the Mountaineers have to be pretty pleased with their play over the weekend, routinely going ten men deep on their bench and getting good production out of everyone. West Virginia certainly looks to have the makings of a strong contender for the Big East title.<br /><br />2. Portland was the surprise of the tournament, advancing to the final upon the strength of an opening round demolition of UCLA and a semifinal that they almost let slip away against Minnesota. Senior point guard T.J. Campbell was huge in the semi for the Pilots, scoring 23 (including four three-pointers) en route to the upset. While Portland ran into a buzzsaw in the finals, this weekend has to be considered a huge success for the Pilots, with the win over Minnesota giving them a signature win upon which to hang their hat. They’ll have a chance to add another key win this week when they visit Washington. While Portland didn’t have the athletes to hang with West Virginia in the final, they are a well-coached team who can cause problems for quality opponents with their ability to knock down open threes (Campbell and junior guard Jared Stohl each had nine threes over the tournament) and to get opposing offenses out of sync with their 2-3 zone, which was instrumental in their two victories this weekend. While they may not have the athletes that Gonzaga has, they could cause the Zags problems with their style of play.<br /><br />3. Texas A&M came into this tournament as a bit of an afterthought. Most of the pre-tourney talk centered around the ranked teams (Butler, Minnesota, West Virginia and Clemson) or struggling UCLA, or even the two upset-minded teams (Long Beach State and Portland. But the Aggies came out of this weekend with wins over two of the ranked teams (despite their best efforts to give Minnesota third place – missing their last nine free throws and 12 of their last 15) and a strong showing against the eventual champion. Senior guards Derrick Roland and Ronald Sloan impressed with their athleticism and all-around games, and senior forward Bryan Davis was impressive defending the post and hitting the glass, but it was diminutive junior B.J. Holmes who was the spark for the Aggies, knocking down threes, playing tough man defense and taking several charges throughout the tournament. While A&M probably doesn’t have the depth or size to challenge Texas or Kansas for Big 12 supremacy, they look to be a solid tournament team and an upper-division finisher in the Big 12.<br /><br />4. Minnesota got their tournament off to a good start with a win over Butler in a game played at a very high level. The Golden Gophers got strong play from senior forward Damian Johnson (18 points, four assists, four steals, three rebounds, a block and a three, all on seven-of-eight shooting), sophomore center Colton Iverson (13 points, 11 rebounds, two blocks) and sophomore point guard Devoe Joseph (14 points, three rebounds, three assists, two threes) and significant contributions from a deep bench. However, the rest of the tournament had to be disappointing for Tubby Smith’s squad as they dropped two tough games to close the tournament. Against Portland, they never really figured out the Pilot zone, shooting only 33% from the field for the game, and in the third place game, fell behind in the first half (during which neither senior guard Lawrence Westbrook nor junior guard Al Nolen played due to disciplinary reasons), and were never able to get all the way back, despite Texas A&M’s best efforts to let them back in. Nevertheless, the Gophers look to have a deep and talented team that should be improved over last season. Iverson and fellow sophomore center Ralph Sampson III seem to have a better grasp of what is expected of them and Johnson has stepped forward as a team leader. Throw in a tough backcourt trio of Nolen, Westbrook and Joseph and the Gophers look to be a well-rounded squad, even with the future of currently suspended recruits Trevor Mbakwe and Royce White still in doubt.<br /><br />5. Clemson walks away from Anaheim with a 2-1 record for the weekend, and they have to be feeling better about themselves than they did after a first-round struggle against Texas A&M and perhaps more of a battle than they expected from Long Beach State. Clemson struggled at times over the tournament with their half-court offense and got uneven performances from several players up and down their roster. Head coach Oliver Purnell even left junior forward Jerai Grant (a starter in Clemson’s first-round game) on the bench for the entirety of their second game. But, in the end, the Tigers showed great determination in battling back against Butler and pulling out a tight win in a game where they were down double figures in the second half. While Clemson still lacks a traditional low-post threat (despite senior forward Trevor Booker’s impressive abilities), and is prone to bog down in the half-court offense, their speed and athleticism can still give opponents trouble and they look to be a solid middle-of-the-pack ACC team with legitimate NCAA tournament hopes.<br /><br />6. Butler has to be licking their wounds a little after a disappointing one-point loss in the Consolation Final, leaving Anaheim with only a tight victory over a bad UCLA team. The Bulldogs relinquished a double-digit second half lead against Clemson, despite strong performances from sophomore guard Shelvin Mack (15 points, eight rebounds, four assists) and sophomore forward Gordon Hayward (20 points and 12 rebounds). And really, it was Butler’s perimeter defense (usually a strength) that let them down, allowing Clemson’s Demontez Stitt and Andre Young to combine for 31 points, 23 of which came in the second half. Junior forward Matt Howard seemed to be in foul trouble the entire tournament, yet still managed to scrape together 13 points per game over the tournament. It was Mack, however, who shone most brightly for the Bulldogs, averaging 19 ppg over the tournament on a combination of perimeter shots and penetration. While Butler will most certainly be the team to beat in the Horizon, Coach Brad Stevens has to be somewhat concerned that his team left a good-looking win over Clemson on the table. However, Butler will have more chances to score quality non-conference wins (games against Georgetown, Ohio State and Xavier remain) before Horizon play begins. <br /><br />7. Long Beach State winds up leaving the tournament with a 1-2 record, and yet they still have to be feeling pretty good about themselves. Despite getting blown off the court by eventual champion West Virginia on Thanksgiving, the 49ers rebounded to give Clemson all it could handle in their second game, before handling the dominant Southern California program, UCLA, pretty easily on Sunday. The 49ers had some problems with West Virginia’s length (much like everyone in the tournament did), but they have enough size and athleticism to more than matchup to the Big West standards. They’ll need it before they ever reach conference play though, with trips to Texas, Kentucky and Duke all looming. Sophomore forward T.J. Robinson was the big man for the Niners in Anaheim with games of 25 points and 15 rebounds against Clemson and 25 points and 13 rebounds against UCLA, but sophomore point guard Casper Ware, junior guard Greg Plater and senior guard Stephan Gilling also made strong contributions.<br /><br />8. UCLA came into this tournament having bounced back somewhat from their opening game loss to Cal State Fullerton with wins over Cal State Bakersfield and Pepperdine. But while the Bruins gave a strong effort in their second round loss to Butler, the whole weekend was a shocking disappointment. While it is no secret that UCLA is way down this year, the extent to which they are down was made stunningly apparent with huge and unimpressive losses to Portland and Long Beach State sandwiched around a solid performance against Butler (a game in which they made it interesting in the second half, despite being down as much as 14 early in the game). There is a lack of talent in Westwood, especially in the backcourt, and while Ben Howland will eventually get things going in the right direction, the rest of this season could devolve into a mere exploration of the younger players on this team, to see if guys like freshmen Reeves Nelson, Brendan Lane, Mike Moser and sophomore J’mison Morgan are going to be capable of contributing to future teams. And, again, it cannot be understated just how bad the Bruins looked: lack of coherent offensive structure, no talent able to improvise outside of the offense, and perhaps most disturbing, limited effort defensively. The whole program, from head coach on down to the last player off the bench, had to be embarrassed by their performance.MK-Ultrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12824010014207235803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5266915048978329862.post-35602584517821306182009-11-20T18:20:00.000-08:002009-12-01T22:15:46.227-08:00ESPN's College Hoops MarathonNow, I’m no long distance runner by any stretch of the imagination, but I know this much: if you’re gonna run a marathon, you gotta work up to it. You don’t just take, say, seven months off and then one day decide to wake up and run a marathon. And, if you do, I’m guessing you’re gonna be hurting pretty bad about halfway through that thing. Yeah, you may get a second wind. Maybe even a third. Either way, you are going to be wrecked the day after.<br /><br />Well, after taking seven months off from college hoops, I took a bit of a chance to watch some rather uninteresting games last week, and all of a sudden ESPN springs 24 (more like 30 or 32 or something, I dunno, I still haven’t even recovered enough to begin counting by twos coherently) straight hours of some pretty darn good college hoops on me. And, given that I had a day off and all those games and a desire to get acquainted with some of the squads who are going to be renting some space between my ears for the next few months, I dove (apparently this is the point where I am going to leave the marathon metaphor behind) right in.<br /><br />Now, ESPN’s marathon officially started with the UCLA/CS Fullerton game, but there were three pre-season NIT games prior to that to dig into a bit, so I’ll include those here. I got home from work at about 8pm, had some dinner with the ol’ lady, watched a episode of Mad Men, and by the time I was done, I already had three full games sitting on the TiVo waiting to be watched, so I poured myself a Rum and Coke (I would need some caffeine, and a little liquor never hurt anything) and got down to business. Here’s what I learned from watching these games: <br /><br />Game 1: Coastal Carolina @ Duke<br />--Luckily for my hopes of finishing this marathon, these first few games weren’t all that compelling. And, I’ll make no bones about the fact that I never meant to watch every minute of all of these games (and good god, if anyone did, they are insane). Record ‘em, watch enough of the first half to get a feel for the teams (10 min or so), jump ahead a bit, if the game is still close watch some more. Skip ahead until early in the 2nd half and watch the remainder of the game, or at least until the game is no longer competitive. <br />--That being said, I was interested to get a good first look at Duke, and they looked good. There isn’t a true point on the team, but there is a ton of size and there is plenty of skill. I had looked at this roster over the summer and thought that they would struggle due to their lack of backcourt depth, but one look (even against an overmatched Coastal Carolina squad) at the way Coach K is going to play this made me reconsider those thoughts. Scheyer is capable of playing most of the minutes at the point, certainly Smith (who did not play in this game due to suspension) can cover the remaining minutes, and Singler and Dawkins are capable of aiding in bringing the ball up and initiating the offense. The Devils may still run into trouble against high-pressure defensive teams like Clemson, but Duke will be right in the thick of things in the ACC.<br /><br />Game 2: Colgate @ Connecticut <br />--Dyson will have to be the go-to guy offensively for the Huskies, and either Robinson or Walker will have to step up to be the secondary offensive option on this team. And, to this point, neither has shown the ability to be a consistent offensive threat in the half-court, despite their obvious talents. It will be interesting to see if either can develop their game over the course of the season. <br />--While Dyson will need to be the go-to guy, it remains to be seen if he has the instincts necessary to be that guy.<br /><br />Game 3: Texas State @ Arizona State<br />--The obvious question for the Sun Devils is who can replace James Harden. Easy answer: no one can completely replace him. Harder answer: freshman James Lockett certainly showed flashes of the ability to created offense (in many of the same ways Harden did) in the half-court. But. He is still a freshman and still makes you painfully aware of that from time to time throughout the game. It is going to be fun to see him progress over the season and over his career.<br /><br />Game 4: Cal State Fullerton @ UCLA<br />--So, by now I’m moving along, passed by Rum and Cokes onto some scotch and finally beer. And I needed plenty of it for this game. Good god. My eyes still haven’t fully recovered from watching this mess of a game. And, let’s be clear here. I mean no disrespect to Fullerton who played well and will likely make some noise in the Big West, but turning to the Bruins for a second, how can a team who repeatedly hauls in top-rated recruiting classes, regardless of the early defections to the NBA be this bad? In the interest of giving a guy who has taken three of his last four teams to the Final Four the well-deserved benefit of the doubt, I will give Ben Howland a bit of a pass here. I’ll also throw in a bit of an excuse for him as well, given that he has had a large amount of injuries in the early part of this season, and that coupled with a very young team means that these guys haven’t had much of a chance to build up a rapport with each other (not that any of that explains the ineptitude of seniors Roll, Dragovic and Keefe in this game). But, that being said, Howland won’t get a pass for long around Westwood, and in order to avoid any uncomfortable questions, he might want to find a way to get some kind of offense going, even if that means stepping outside of his comfort zone on that end of the floor.<br /><br />Now, after watching UCLA finally succumb after two overtimes (it’s not bad enough they made me watch 40 minutes of that damn thing, I had to watch two extra periods), I decided it was time to get some sleep and in the hopes that by the time I awoke in the morning my eyes would have stopped bleeding. Unfortunately, and in hindsight, that UCLA performance is just something you can’t unsee. My father’s generation had the horrors of war to keep them up at night, I have the UCLA offense.<br /><br />Game 5: San Diego State @ Saint Mary’s<br />--After a good night’s sleep, I wake up somewhat refreshed (even those I still get a nervous twitch and feel the urge to hide under the couch any time the images of the previous night come back to me), and at least a couple of hours behind schedule. In this season of Thanksgiving, it only seems right to be very grateful for my TiVo. I started watching this game somewhere around 9:30 am, 10 or so hours behind schedule with a full lineup of enticing games in front of me. It was time to get to work.<br />--By the time that UCLA game finally ended and ESPN switched over to Moraga, this game was already a blowout with Saint Mary’s up 20 or so behind Mickey McConnell’s multiple threes early in the game. I wound up only watching enough of this to get a feel for both teams, and certainly San Diego State did improve in the second half (not coincidentally matching up pretty well with about the time the Aztecs began to get consistent effort from their entire five), but the game never really got interesting. <br />--I’m one of those who, while respecting the job Steve Fisher has done in building the program in San Diego, believes the guy is not a very good X’s-and-O’s coach. San Diego State over the past four years or so has been one of the more talented mid-major programs in the country, and all they have to show for it is three NIT appearances and a flame-out in the first round three years back against Indiana, in a game where they were easily the better team for about 37 minutes or so. Once again, this Aztec team has oodles of talent, but it will be interesting to see if Fisher can get the talent to perform.<br /><br />Game 6: Northern Colorado @ Hawaii<br />--For my money, this was easily the least promising game on the schedule, two programs that weren’t really on my radar. In the end, however, this turned out to be a fairly interesting game with Northern Colorado building up a big lead only to have Hawaii make a run at the end. <br />--Hawaii seems to have trouble at point, with their options being Dwain Williams (who wants to pound the ball into the ground for 20 seconds and then hoist a 3) and Jeremy Lay (who is capable of getting into the lane and dishing, but is far too prone to taking abysmally bad shots, even if he can make them). In the end, there’s probably not enough talent on the Rainbow Warrior roster to matter.<br />--Northern Colorado, on the other hand, could potentially make some noise in the Big West this season. Led by Yohosh Bonner, they’ve got some strong guards and enough serviceable interior players to give themselves a shooting chance come March.<br /><br />Game 7: Monmouth @ Saint Peter’s<br />--6AM on the east coast, middle of night my time, but I’m watching it over a late breakfast (bacon and eggs, if you must know).<br />--Monmouth never seemed to get anybody beyond sophomore post Travis Taylor to wake up in this game and struggled their way to 34 points for the game. Obviously, they’ll need to improve to be able to compete this season, but there are some good parts there. James Hett is a scrappy point. Ed Waite is an athletic freshman frontcourt player. Justin Sofman can knock down some shots. And Whitney Coleman is a talented guard who is still working his way back into playing shape after missing last season with an ACL injury.<br />--Saint Peter’s plays tough man-to-man defense (strongly displayed here) and has some talent in the frontcourt (Ryan Bacon and Jeron Belin) to pair with solid point Nick Leon.<br /><br />Game 8: Drexel @ Niagara<br />--An 8AM game is a little more reasonable, but the first half seemed a little sluggish still. Things definitely picked up in the second in a very entertaining game between two solid mid-majors. Drexel made a couple strong runs in the second half, including a finishing flurry to get back within 3 at the end, but Niagara hung on down the stretch,<br />--Niagara is a fun team to watch. Not a whole lot of size, but a ton of skilled perimeter players and undersized interior competitors. <br />--Drexel guards have some excellent potential but need to shore up their decision-making in order for the Dragons to compete in the Colonial. But, if the guards can get there, they are surrounded by enough talent in the frontcourt and some depth of the bench, to make a real run at the postseason.<br /><br />Game 9: Clemson @ Liberty<br />--Give credit to Clemson for going to Liberty. Give them even more credit for utterly destroying them. The SMC/SDSU game was previously the most one-sided of the marathon, but this game put that one to shame. Clemson led 17-1 before Liberty scored their first basket, and 42-19 at the half. <br />--Clemson lost some key players in the offseason, but this freshman class brings a lot to the table. It is going to be interesting to see Clemson in the 76 Classic next week to see what they can do against quality competition, but this looks to be a strong Tiger team that may have the best chance of a deep March run of any of the recent Clemson teams. Or will this just be another Oliver Purnell team that looks great in November and December but falls back when it is time to buy a new calendar.<br /><br />Game 10: Northeastern @ Siena<br />--I gotta say, ESPN sure picked some nice mid-major games to show off during this marathon. SMC/SDSU, Monmouth/St. Pete, Drexel/Niagara and this one all were interesting matchups on paper, and a couple of those, including this one, even turned out to be interesting on the court.<br />--This was a game of runs, with Northeastern off to a strong start in the first half and Siena making their big push at the start of the second. Northeastern made another run at the end to tighten things up, but overall the whole game was very entertaining.<br />--Neither of these teams has a lot of depth, both with really only six players they can count on at this point. Hopefully both coaches will have some chances to develop their bench a little before conference play.<br />--Ryan Rossiter is significantly improved. Not too long ago he was thrown out there with little more requested of him than to work hard. Well, clearly he has continued working hard over the offseasons and added a bit of a mid-range jumper (with occasional range out to the 3-point line), something of a face-up game and the strength necessary to be an effective rebounder.<br /><br />Game 11: Arkansas Little-Rock @ Tulsa<br />--By this time, the morning had turned into late afternoon/early evening, and what had started as an enjoyable run through the college basketball landscape had turned into a grueling day. And I think that’s only mile-marker 14 we just passed. Eyes starting to burn, back starting to ache, eyelids starting to sag. Time to pump back up with a little jaunt on the exercise bike while I take in Jerome Jordan and Ben Uzoh.<br />--Little Rock kept this a tight game for about the first 10 minutes, but they really had no answer for Jerome Jordan, who has improved steadily over his career.<br />--Apparently Doug Wojcik wants to give Ben Uzoh some run at the point, since he suspects that to be the position Uzoh will play if he gets to the next level. My suggestion to Wojcik would worry about what is best for this team, a team that is certainly capable of winning the Conference USA title, instead of worrying about the pro prospects of one of his players. Uzoh is a very nice player, but this team runs most effectively when freshman Donte Medder is running the point and Uzoh is manning the wing. Perhaps Uzoh will have to take over the point when Medder is on the bench, but he should not be the starter at the point. I suspect that as the season goes on, Wojcik will go in this direction, especially as he becomes more comfortable with Medder.<br /><br />Game 12: Temple @ Georgetown<br />--Continue pounding away on the exercise bike through the first half here, but I think the exertion combined with the ineptitude of both teams offensively here leads to some pretty severe flashbacks to the UCLA game. I think some calming is needed to quiet the demons, and since I’m clean out of black-tar heroin today, alcohol will have to suffice. 200 cc’s of scotch, stat!<br />--I still believe Greg Monroe to be one of the most astounding combinations of athletic talent and size in the game of college basketball today. What I’ve got to figure out now is if he either has no instincts for the game or if John Thompson III’s offense stifles his abilities. So far, I’m leaning towards the first option. Until he proves otherwise, I’ll assume Monroe doesn’t have the killer instinct and that guards Austin Freeman and Chris Wright aren’t good enough to provide him with easy opportunities. <br />--JT3’s situation is similar to Howland’s in a way. Neither is very far removed from some pretty remarkable success, and yet there have got to be some serious questions about the long term feasibility of their offensive choices to maintain their respective programs among the country’s elite. I don’t want to ask those questions too loudly this early in the season out of respect for what both of these coaches have done, but should their respective teams fail to show significant improvement (especially on the offensive side of the ball) before the semester ends, you can expect those whispers to turn into roars.<br />--Neither team was even remotely impressive in this game, but Temple probably feels a bit better about this game than Georgetown, despite the loss. I don’t think Temple is often going to go 3-23 from 3-point land or 6-13 from the charity stripe, and if they improve those areas, this is the type of game the Owls win by 10. <br /><br />Game 13: Binghamton @ Pittsburgh<br />--Binghamton’s program has gone to hell over the last month or so, and there just wasn’t enough talent left in the cupboard to give the Bearcats a chance to keep this close.<br />--I can’t say enough good things about Jamie Dixon and the direction he has taken this program in since Ben Howland left. Despite losing DeJuan Blair and Sam Young and Lavance Fields to graduation, I fully expect Pittsburgh’s name to be called on CBS somewhere in the 3pm PST hour on Selection Sunday. Further, given the young talent on this squad, the Panthers have an even brighter future ahead of them in the next couple of years.<br /><br />Game 14: Charlotte @ Duke<br />--At this point, I’m behind schedule. I took a little break to grab some dinner with the ol’ lady and it’s 9pm and I’ve got at least 4 more games I want to take a look at before bed, so I’m in need of a blowout so I can write off the second half of one of these games and get back near schedule. And, while I suspected that might be the case here, I suspected that Charlotte would be able to keep in touch for 10 or 15 minutes. Not so much. About five minutes in here, I gave up and moved on to greener pastures. Hopefully I can catch the 49ers somewhere else down the line, because I learned absolutely nothing new about them in the few minutes I gave them today.<br /><br />Game 15: Arkansas @ Louisville<br />--At first glance, I thought this might be another game where I could duck out a little early, given the number of players missing from the Razorback roster due to suspension, but they impressed me with their fire and hung tough for almost 30 entertaining minutes before the Cardinals put away the overmatched Arkansas squad.<br />--Arkansas had plenty of talent out on the floor. Rotnei Clarke is a three to shoot from the minute he steps off the bus, Michael Washington is a skilled, athletic post-player, and there are some other pieces lying around, but this team can’t really be a threat to the big boys until and unless Fortson, Welsh and Britt return.<br />--I’m not sure Louisville has a consistent go-to guy yet, especially in the half court game. Worst case scenario is that the Cardinals devolve into a live-by-the-three/die-by-the-three team. <br /><br />Game 16: Gonzaga @ Michigan State<br />--Here it is: the first honest-to-goodness great game of this marathon, and the first great game of the college basketball season. <br />--And a little note to Tom Izzo and Mark Few: hey, maybe you guys could make this happen every year? You both consistently field great college basketball teams. You make your fans, alumni and boosters proud of the way you run your programs. You may not be obvious natural rivals, but you sure put on a good show. Make this happen.<br />--I think everybody assumed that this would be a down year for the Zags. Pargo, Daye, Heytvelt, Downs, all gone. Prognosticators started picking St. Mary’s and Portland to finish ahead of the perennial WCC champions. Then Gonzaga had to ruin it all by showing up and playing a game. Robert Sacre and Elias Harris were both revelations, showing not only good athleticism, but good command of basketball fundamentals. Stephen Gray and Matt Bouldin both helped run the offense smoothly, even if the supposed next Zag point, Demetri Goodson, was largely invisible. There are still some potential weaknesses on this team, lack of depth being foremost among them, but until further notice, the Zags need to be the favorite in the WCC.<br />--All that on the losing team requires that I say something about the victors. About the only real revelation about the Spartans was the play of widebody freshman Derrick Nix, who looks to be an immediate serious contributor on this glass and defensively. Elsewhere, what more needs to be said? There is tons of talent at every position and more where that came from off the bench.<br /><br />Game 17: Memphis @ Kansas<br />--After the previous game, and with the clock winding past the 1am hour, and with my state of inebriation increasing by the game, I suppose I didn’t get as good of a look at this game as it maybe deserved, a rematch of one of the classic Finals of all-time, a look at a title-contender and a chance to see what Josh Pastner has planned for the Tigers. <br />--I like Eliot Williams a lot. I like Eliot Williams as a point guard a lot less. Unfortunately for the Tigers, there don’t seem to be a ton of candidates stepping up to take over that role from him, and I suspect the battle to get good point play will be an ongoing theme in the Memphis season. Ideally, Willie Kemp would be that guy, allowing Williams to slide over and play the attacking wing, but we’ll see how this shakes out over the season.<br />--Bill Self certainly has a lot of toys to play with, and I suspect that there will be nights throughout the season where Xavier Henry or Tyshawn Taylor or either of the Morrises or other players will step up and have big games, but when all is said and done, KU is going to lean on Collins and Aldrich to provide the majority of the offense, and they will likely have very good success doing so.<br /><br />At this point, it was bed time, and me still a mile short of the finish line. But no matter, I would finish out the marathon come hell or high water the next night, and that I did.<br /><br />Game 18: TCU @ Arizona<br />--The final game of a true marathon of college basketball, taking up three nights and one whole day of my life, was a very tough loss by TCU, who led by 8 with under 4 minutes remaining, and thanks to a couple really bad turnovers, could not hold on and win.<br />--The story of the game for Arizona State was senior center Eric Boateng who showed a drive and ability that had been decidedly absent in the rest of his college career. He showed excellent rebounding, vastly improved footwork, coherent post moves and a desire to have the ball in his hands when the game counted. It’s only one game, but if that continues, the Sun Devils will be in business.<br /><br />Of course, that little marathon is only part of a bigger, more satisfying marathon that is the entire college basketball season. After finishing the TCU/Arizona game, I moved on to Butler/Northwestern, Utah/Utah State and UNLV/Nevada, and more from there, and next week alone will be a brutal (yet fun) journey through several different pre-season tournaments that make up, for my money, the 6th best week of college basketball (you know, after the three weeks of the tournament, and the two weeks of conference tournaments – and really, Thanksgiving week may give one or both of those conference tournament weeks a run for their money).<br /><br />Now, back to the bottle again, as I just had another flash of James Keefe firing a pass off the back of a teammate.MK-Ultrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12824010014207235803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5266915048978329862.post-21159947167117408732009-11-14T18:32:00.001-08:002009-11-14T18:57:20.832-08:00Iowa/Ohio StateI've posted twice already this season on Iowa, so I figure on the heels of their make-or-break game against Ohio State today, I need to weigh in. <br /><br />To begin, let me be clear with my relationship to Iowa football and this team specifically. If there is one team that I root for above all others in college sports, it is UCLA. But, I was born in Toledo, Ohio and spent a chunk of my life there, and still have some roots there. Generally speaking, if Ohio State is playing anyone but UCLA in any sport, I am rooting for Ohio State. But, for some reason I fell for this year's version of the Iowa Hawkeyes. Some combination of the uphill struggles they faced all season, with key injuries at key times all over the roster, and the way they handled those struggles put me squarely behind the Hawkeyes in the handful of times I watched them this year. And so, today, without every really making a decision that I was going to do so, I found myself rooting against the Buckeyes and for the Hawkeyes. Hard.<br /><br />With junior quarterback Ricky Stanzi injured in a key play early in last week's loss to Northwestern (a play call that I severely question, even if Stanzi didn't get hurt on the play - how exactly do you call a naked rollout to the side of an All-American-type defensive end while trying to throw out of your own end zone?), the reigns of the Iowa offense fell to redshirt freshman James Vandernberg, who, frankly, looked completely unable to handle the pressure of the situation last week. How would he be able to handle it playing in the Horseshoe instead of in front of a friendly home crowd? How could he handle it playing against a strong Ohio State defense instead of a more forgiving Northwestern defense?<br /><br />Add to that problem, the fact that freshman running back (about their only quality healthy back in the last two weeks) Brandon Wegher fell ill before this game and would be held out the entire game, leaving the rushing load to fall to redshirt freshman Adam Robinson, just back from an ankle injury that had held him out of the previous two weeks. The Hawkeyes didn't figure to have a chance.<br /><br />And, yet, they hung in there. Robinson gutted out a strong performance and kept the Ohio State defense from being able to pin their ears back and attack the quarterback. Vandenberg played well beyond his years and experience (despite a couple INTs), and were it not for a few dropped balls, may have led his squad to a win and a Rose Bowl bid. In fact, some time around the 5:03 mark of the 4th quarter, when Vanderberg threw one of his few mistakes of the game, a duck into double coverage that was somehow tipped up and brought down by senior tight end Tony Moeaki, it seemed like Iowa might be destined to win this game. <br /><br />However, Ohio State's defense was able to regain control in the overtime period, holding Iowa without a score on their possession, and an Ohio State field goal clinched the win and the BCS bowl spot.<br /><br />And yet, when I look back on this college football season, the Iowa Hawkeyes will be one of my earliest and favorite memories. They overcame key injuries from the start of training camp through November games. They made the most of a somewhat limited roster, getting huge contributions from freshmen like Vandenberg, Robinson, Wegher, and guard Riley Reiff all the way up to seniors like Tony Moeaki, Pat Angerer and Dace Richardson.<br /><br />While there are a couple of guys who could potentially flirt with leaving early for the NFL draft (Derrell Johnson-Koulianos, Adrian Clayborn and Amari Spievey), there will be enough talent and experience on this team to once again make a run at the Big Ten title next season. And, maybe next season, they won't have to fight the injury bug quite so much.<br /><br />Hats off to the 2009 Iowa Hawkeyes, quite frankly, a far more enjoyable team to root for than perennial overdog and unimaginative Ohio State.MK-Ultrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12824010014207235803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5266915048978329862.post-65317968290598860222009-11-12T22:08:00.000-08:002009-11-13T12:49:39.517-08:00College Basketball: November 12, 2009Just one game tonight, and it was a decent game for a half. Looking forward to Bradley/BYU tomorrow night, which to me is the first matchup of relatively equal teams of the season. Stanford at San Diego is also a decent game tomorrow, but I don't believe that's on TV anywhere. Also, on Saturday, two excellent mid-major matchups, also not on TV (that I've found at least): Creighton at Dayton and Davidson at Butler.<br /><br />Anyway, brief thoughts on tonight's game:<br /><br />James Madison @ Ohio State<br />--I probably already knew this, but the Buckeyes are a well-rounded team: good ballhandling, good rebounding, good defensively, and very exciting offensively. If this team runs into trouble this year, it will be at the expense of their interior players. As much as I like Dallas Lauderdale, beyond him the only real quality depth inside is senior Kyle Madsen, who is just serviceable. Ohio State can hide this some with their commitment to getting out on the break, but once they get into grind-it-out games on wintry nights in Big Ten conference play, their interior could get exposed.<br />--James Madison has some nice perimeter athletes, especially in freshman Darren White and sophomore Julius Wells. Unfortunately for them, their one real true point guard, sophomore Devon Moore, tore up an ACL and is out for the season. If they can hide that deficiency, they can compete in the CAA.MK-Ultrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12824010014207235803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5266915048978329862.post-3425179254884247452009-11-11T22:47:00.001-08:002009-11-11T23:13:42.105-08:00College Basketball: November 11, 2009The overriding theme of what I learned on night two of the 09/10 College Basketball season is that I am ready for some more evenly matched teams to play. While it was nice to begin to get reacquainted with some of the teams on opening night a few nights back, this second night was more or less drudgery to get through. At least Detroit kept things interesting in Berkeley up until the start of the second half, but all in all, another snoozer of a night in college hoops. <br /><br />That being said, I did watch all three games tonight and gleaned a bit from each.<br /><br />1) Robert Morris @ Syracuse<br />--Syracuse lost Eric Devendorf and Paul Harris early to the NBA draft in the offseason (although I suppose that phrase "to the NBA draft" is overly kind to those players, given that they never got so much as a sniff from NBA teams), and while that leaves the Orange with some uncertainty at the start of the season, it may well turn out to be the classic case of addition by subtraction. While this will not be a deep Syracuse by any stretch, this seems to be a more coherent unit than we have seen in past years. <br /><br />--Robert Morris got dominated inside. Too small of a sample size to determine if that is due to the strength of the Syracuse big guys or the weakness of the Robert Morris players, but the fact remains. Early guess? Strong Orange frontcourt, and the Colonials should be fine when they match up with teams in their own relative talent range.<br /><br />2) North Carolina Central @ North Carolina<br />--I'll admit I couldn't bring myself to be overly interested in this game, beyond the first 6-8 minutes or so while Central kept things tight. I'm very interested to see UNC play OSU next week in order to get a good glimpse at this young Tar Heel team against some quality competition.<br /><br />--Could the freshman guards on UNC (Strickland and McDonald) be the keys to the season for the Tar Heel? In early looks this week, both look to be capable scorers who could improve drastically over the season. However, both are inconsistent this early in the season.<br /><br />3) Detroit @ California<br />--I'll get this out of the way early: do the announcers really need to say Bak Bak every time that guy touches the ball? I thought there were chickens loose in Haas Pavilion. Perhaps you could just use one of the Baks? (And this reminds me: my god there was some bad announcing tonight and even Monday. Perhaps I'm spoiled having grown up listening to Chick Hearn announce basketball games, but please, if the game is going on, tell me about what is happening, even if I am watching it. I'm not particularly familiar with North Carolina Central or Detroit, even if I do have their names and numbers nearby. Don't make me look down at my notes to figure out who just shot that ball or who just made that steal. You're the freaking announcer, you tell me. Now, things will get slightly better as the season goes on, but at the same time, once I have to start listening to Vitale again, things will get worse. Can't wait for that point in the season when I am watching games between two teams who I know well and can just watch the game with the sound off and not feel like I am missing any information that the announcers should, even if they don't, provide).<br /><br />--Okay, with my first rant of the new season out of the way, onto the game. I'll start with Detroit, since this will be one of a very few (if not the only time) I see them this year. I like that Woody Payne kid. That guy has got to be your starting point guard Coach McCallum. Sure, he doesn't provide an outside threat, but he is a pest defensively and runs the show nicely offensively.<br /><br />--Cal has athletic wings and if they get into a run and gun game, they will be tough. However, if teams are able to slow things down against the Bears, it looks like they will be a live-by-the-three/die-by-the-three half-court offense. That is not the way championship teams are made. That being said, I may just buy another TiVo and set it up right now to record the two Washington/Cal games this season. Those will be fun.MK-Ultrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12824010014207235803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5266915048978329862.post-2970349048808462562009-11-10T00:08:00.000-08:002010-01-05T12:19:56.865-08:00College Basketball: Opening Night 09/10Hi. My name is Andrew. And I'm a college hoops junkie.<br /><br />I know I'm a junkie, because I know that tonight is the start of the college basketball season and I have actually been looking forward (for weeks even) to such luminous matchups as Florida International at North Carolina, Alcorn State at Ohio State, Albany at Syracuse and Murray State at Cal. Games only a junkie could love.<br /><br />And yet, I rushed home from work, made myself a quick dinner, poured a beer (okay, three) and took in bits and pieces of those four games. I watched the first three games on that list as long as they were competitive (longer than expected in the UNC, not long at all in the OSU game, and just about as much as expected in the Syracuse game), then thoroughly enjoyed the nightcap as Murray State kept within striking distance throughout against the Golden Bears. <br /><br />One thing I like to do after watching a game is to figure out what exactly I learned from the game, even if (or maybe especially if) it can be summed up in a sentence or two. And so, without further waste of pixels, my first edition of What I Learned, College Basketball 09/10:<br /><br />1) FIU @ UNC<br />--The question for the Tar Heels this season is where they are going to get their scoring from. If there are two minutes left and the game is tied, who is going to be their go-to guy. That question was not answered tonight, and likely will not be answered until the visit Madison Square Garden for the final of the CBE Classic "tournament" they began tonight. <br />--Larry Drew II is considered a question mark in replacing Ty Lawson. I've counted him as a capable replacement, and he is off to a good start.<br />--Powerful front line for the Tar Heels, but are there any consistent offensive threats there? Davis looks a little clumsy with the ball, and Thompson lacks explosiveness, but there is a long season ahead for them to improve and show themselves worthy.<br /><br />2) Alcorn State @ Ohio State<br />--Having Evan Turner run the point for the Buckeyes seems somewhat risky, but given that the team features several good ballhandlers on the perimeter, the plan could work even if Turner is not a prototypical point. Turner showed tonight that he was able to initiate offense when necessary, without allowing those duties to take away from his aggressiveness and athleticism.<br /><br />3) Albany @ Syracuse<br />--LeMoyne was an aberration. This is a good Syracuse team. Good. Not great. Wesley Johnson is able to take up some of the slack for the offensive production that has moved on, Jackson and Onuaku provide a strong inside punch and Kris Joseph looked excellent off the bench.<br />--The combination of freshman starting point guard Brandon Triche and junior backup point Scoop Jardine will not match the output of departed point Jonny Flynn, but they form a solid duo at the point. <br />--Andy Rautins turned an ankle at some point tonight. I didn't see if he returned or not. Hope he's okay.<br /><br />4) Murray State @ Cal<br />--Far and away, the best game of the night.<br />--Murray State is going to make some waves in the OVC. Good forwards in strong small forward Danero Thomas and the effective, athletic sophomore Ivan Aska, coupled with some playmakers in the backcourt (junior B.J. Jenkins, freshman Isaiah Canaan). <br />--Cal is going to need consistent production from senior Jamal Boykin and JuCo transfer Markuri Sanders-Frison. Boykin looked very good tonight.<br />--Cal’s good, and there are a lot of things I like about them (strength at the wing like Robertson and Christopher, guts in Gutierrez and flash and dash in Randle), but I don’t think they are strong enough inside, nor good enough defensively to be a real contender in March.MK-Ultrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12824010014207235803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5266915048978329862.post-14645033100044267622009-10-31T12:55:00.000-07:002009-10-31T13:33:13.218-07:00What is with Iowa?They are 9-0. They are #4 in the BCS. They just beat Indiana by 18. And, somewhat coincidentally, they also just got whooped up and down the field for 3+ quarters against Indiana, generally looking like crap in doing so.<br /><br />Up to this point, every time I have watched Iowa I have been impressed. Their defensive line has been very strong, if not overpowering, against teams like Michigan State, Penn State, Michigan and Wisconsin. Junior quarterback Ricky Stanzi has been unexceptional, but effective enough to win games. They have played smart football and they have played Iowa football, grinding games out in somewhat unattractive fashion.<br /><br />How then to explain what happened today? For three quarters, it seemed the referees, the Indiana players and the football gods were all conspiring to keep Iowa in the game no matter how badly they played, and Iowa kept trying to turn down every chance they got. After Iowa fell behind 14-0 early in the game, Stanzi came alive near the end of the second quarter, completing three straight passes to get the Hawkeyes in scoring position inside the 10, from where freshman running back Brandon Wegher finished the drive. Their defense then responded with a strong stand to force Indiana to punt with under a minute left in the half, allowing Iowa to feel incredibly fortunate about the prospects of going into the locker room only down a touchdown after being whooped for 30 minutes. So what happens on that punt? Junior Amari Spievey unwisely fields the ball inside the 10 and then proceeds to dance and spin seemingly unaware that he had the ball in his hands 90 yards away from anywhere productive with the clock running down, and the ball winds up on the ground and eventually in the hands of a Hooiser. Two plays later, Indiana is taking a 21-7 lead into the half instead of a 14-7 lead.<br /><br />Things get worse for Iowa early in the second half as Stanzi throws his second and third interception of the day (and he's not done yet, folks), with his third INT leaving the Hoosier with a first and goal at the four. However, two plays later on 3rd and goal, Hawkeye sophomore strong safety Tyler Sash grabs ahold of a wildly batted ball and sprints the remaining 86 yards for a Hawkeye touchdown for at least a 10-point swing. Instead of the Hoosiers potentially taking a 24-7 lead with a chip shot field goal, Iowa is back within a TD at 21-14.<br /><br />But, Indiana doesn't flinch and their junior quarterback Ben Chappell hits a big play to sophomore wide receiver Damario Belcher to put the Hoosiers in scoring position, and then a couple plays later Chappell hits junior wide receiver Terrance Turner for a pretty apparent touchdown in the corner of the end zone. The call was ruled a TD on the field, and replays seemed to confirm that Turner dragged his foot in the end zone with possession of the ball. However, the refs and football gods got together again to give Iowa a boost and overruled the call, and the Indiana team joined in the charity as they then proceeded to miss a chip-shot field goal.<br /><br />But Iowa and Stanzi were having none of it. "We will not take your charity," they shouted, as Stanzi proceeded to throw his fourth INT of the day, leaving Indiana with the ball at the Iowa 25. The Hoosiers couldn't take full advantage of the field position, but were able to add a FG, putting them up 24-14. <br /><br />And Stanzi wasn't quite done yet, throwing his fifth INT on the next drive.<br /><br />And then, the clock ran out on the third quarter, and there must have been a buzzer or a bell or maybe some AM radio was played on the PA system, because Iowa rolled over, turned off the alarm clock and got the hell out of bed. <br /><br />In the 4th quarter, Indiana amassed 32 yards, and Chappell threw two INTs. Iowa, meanwhile, scored touchdowns on successive offensive plays of 92 yards (Stanzi to sophomore Marvin McNutt) and 66 yards (Stanzi to junior Derrell Johnson-Koulianos), and then added two more touchdowns on long grind-it-out Iowa-type drives to turn the final score into a yawner, 42-24.<br /><br />Now, give credit to the Hawkeyes for being able to beat a team they should have beaten on a day when they didn't play their best, but this was a really perplexing game to watch. For the better part of three and a half quarters, Iowa was out there throwing the ball around like they were Air Coryell or something, almost ignoring Wegher for most of the game, even while Stanzi flailed in the wind. And, even more perplexing, the Iowa defensive line that has looked so extraordinary against other Big Ten offensive lines (and certainly more highly regarded offensive lines as well) was utterly ineffective for much of the day against the Hoosier offensive line.<br /><br />Iowa still remains on track for a battle against the Buckeyes in Columbus for the Big Ten title in a couple weeks, but given the way they played today, questions that were previously thought answered about the Hawkeyes are back in play again.MK-Ultrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12824010014207235803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5266915048978329862.post-80305717383094925072009-10-26T22:26:00.000-07:002009-10-26T22:29:13.588-07:00MWC 2009-10 College Basketball Preview<span style="font-weight:bold;">MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Predicted Order of Finish:</span><br /> <br />1. BYU 12-4<br />2. UNLV 11-5<br />3. San Diego State 10-6<br />4. Utah 10-6<br />5. New Mexico 9-7<br />6. TCU 7-9<br />7. Wyoming 6-10<br />8. Colorado State 5-11<br />9. Air Force 2-14<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><br />All-Conference Team:</span><br /> <br />G: Jimmer Fredette, Jr, BYU (16.2ppg, 4.0 apg)<br />G: Carlon Brown, Jr, Utah (9.3 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 3.3 apg)<br />F: Afam Muojeke, Soph, Wyoming (13.8 ppg, 5.3 rpg)<br />F: Jonathan Tavernari, Sr, BYU (15.7 ppg, 7.2 rpg)<br />C: Zvonko Buljan, Sr, TCU (12.3 ppg, 7.8 rpg)<br /> <br />6th Man: Billy White, Sr, San Diego State (8.8 ppg, 3.8 rpg)<br /> <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Impact Newcomer:</span> Derrick Jasper, Jr, UNLV<br /> <br /> <span style="font-weight:bold;"><br />What You Need to Know:</span><br /> <br />The Mountain West Conference is consistently one of the top high mid-major conferences in the country. In just over a decade in existence, the MWC has only failed to finish among the top 10 conferences in terms of RPI just once (2005-06), and only once in the conference’s history has it failed to advance more than one team to the NCAA tournament (2000-01). Six of its nine member schools feature campuses above 4,000 feet in elevation, and that, coupled with some small, raucous arenas, make MWC arenas a tough place for visiting teams to play. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">New look league:</span> Only five of last year’s top 20 scorers in the conference, and only one of last year’s top ten in minutes played, return. Last year, the Mountain West Conference was dominated by veterans, but despite their absence, coaches around the league have plenty of incoming talent to get excited about. For every Luke Nevill, Lee Cummard, Wink Adams, Kyle Spain or Brandon Ewing that has moved on, a Derrick Jasper, Malcolm Thomas, Kawhi Leonard, Shawn Glover or JayDee Luster has arrived.<br /><br />As a result, every team in this league has questions that will need to be answered between now and March. Who can BYU get to step in and take up the slack that the graduation of Lee Cummard leaves? Can gigantic sophomore David Foster fill the hole in the paint for Utah left by Luke Nevill? Can UNLV get enough production from its front court to help their strong backcourt? Can Steve Fisher’s San Diego State squad not underachieve for once? Is New Mexico’s Phillip McDonald ready to become a star in this league?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Stability remains:</span> While there has been a lot of turnover in terms of players in the MWC, the guys patrolling the sidelines will look remarkably similar. In an era of seemingly rampant coaching turnover, the MWC boasts nine returning coaches, three of whom (UNLV’s Lon Krueger, San Diego State’s Fisher and New Mexico’s Steve Alford) have more than 350 career wins. <br /><br />BYU fans should feel particularly pleased to see their head coach, Dave Rose, return. Rose was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer just after the end of last season, but has been fortunate enough to have received a clean bill of health following treatment and surgery in the offseason.<br /><br />Non-conference boost: One area where the conference has gone downhill recently has been in the strength of its collective non-conference schedule. In the early 00’s, the MWC was consistently in the top 10 conferences in terms of non-conference schedule strength, but have slid to the point where their non-conference schedule strength the past three years has been out of the top 20. It would appear, however, that the conference has made a concerted effort to improve those numbers this year. In addition to the inaugural MWC/MVC Challenge (which will give MWC teams a chance to compete against a mid-major conference of similar historical strength), you’ll find tough games against both major conferences and respected mid-major programs littering the schedules. From tough roadies against national powers like Arizona, LSU and UCLA to sneaky matchups against other mid-majors like Utah State, St. Mary’s and Oral Roberts, the MWC has gone a long way towards beefing up their early-season schedules.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Predicted Champion: </span> BYU (NCAA Seed: #9)<br /><br />BYU brings back the most experience to a league that will be sorely lacking in that area this season. Senior forward Jonathan Tavernari and junior guard Jimmer Fredette each finished in the top 10 in scoring in the conference last season, and each can be expected to increase their output a bit this season to make up for the loss of all-MWC forward Lee Cummard. Junior Jackson Emery joins Fredette in the backcourt and provides strong defense and a capable three-point stroke. Up front, the Cougars hope for solid contributions from senior Chris Miles and sophomore James Anderson. Miles is an offensive-minded post player, who can struggle a bit defensively against stronger players, while Anderson is a good defensive complement. Throw in some athletic players off the bench and a couple strong recruits and the Cougars look like the most solid of the teams at the top of the conference. The goal for BYU, however, will be to advance out of the first round of the NCAA Tournament, something they have failed to do in the lifetime of the MWC.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><br />Top Contenders:<span style="font-weight:bold;"></span></span><br /><br />UNLV (NCAA Seed: #11)<br />Like the rest of the conference, the story of 2009-10 begins for the Rebels with what does not return. With Wink Adams, Rene Rougeau and a couple members of the supporting cast moving on, the Rebels will need a bit of a makeover to contend in the MWC. Luckily for Lon Krueger, UNLV returns two starting guards (junior Tre’Von Willis and sophomore Oscar Bellfield) and gets an influx of talent in the way of three talented transfers and a strong incoming class. The most heralded of the newcomers is Kentucky-transfer Derrick Jasper, a spectacular athlete who struggled at times with injuries in Lexington. Krueger envisions Jasper as a do-everything athlete, capable of ball-handling, strong defense, outside shooting and penetration. The question mark for the Runnin’ Rebels will be frontcourt, although help arrives there as well. UCLA transfer Chace Stanback will help some, but won’t provide a lot of muscle up front. Freshman Carlos Lopez could provide some of that muscle, but will take some time to develop. In the meantime, the Rebels will have to count on senior Darris Santee and sophomore Brice Massamba to do the dirty work while the backcourt provides the scoring punch. <br /><br />San Diego State (NIT)<br />The Aztecs lost as much (or more) as anybody in the conference this offseason. Gone are such standbys as Kyle Spain, Lorenzo Wade, Richie Williams and more. However, instead of worrying about his empty cup, coach Steve Fisher has filled it up again. Freshman wing Kawhi Leonard, the most anticipated freshman recruit in the conference, and three talented Division I transfers (Malcolm Thomas and Tyrone Shelley from Pepperdine and Brian Carwell from Illinois) will give the Aztecs a much-needed infusion of talent. Couple those newcomers with returnees like junior guard D.J. Gay, junior forward Billy White, sophomore forward Tim Shelton and senior forward Mehdi Cheriet and the Aztecs cup is nearly overflowing with talent. White, in particular, is a guy that the coaching staff is excited about. He is long, athletic and skilled, and will likely be the go-to guy offensively, providing him with the opportunity to go from a talented player to a difference maker. However, given the perception that San Diego State has underachieved the past few seasons, the Aztecs will have to prove themselves capable of playing at a high caliber before being considered a championship contender.<br /><br />Utah (NIT)<br />Replacing conference player of the year and defensive player of the year Luke Nevill will be no easy task for the Utes, but at least they’ve got the guy with the size to do it in 7’3” sophomore David Foster. Whether Foster is ready to play at this level after having been out of basketball for a couple of years (he was away on a Mormon mission last year), is another question entirely. Even if Foster is ready, he needn’t be counted on to score a lot, as the Utes return two strong guards in junior Carlon Brown and senior Luke Drca. Both players are big versatile guards, capable of running the offense, scoring and defending. Brown will need to improve his outside shot to take his game to the next level, but he is an explosive talent. Senior forward Kim Tillie provides experience and versatility along the front line, capable of defending a variety of players and rebounding the ball effectively. However, for Jim Boylen’s squad to challenge for a conference title, they will need to get contributions from elsewhere on the roster, with long, bouncy freshman wing Shawn Glover perhaps being the most likely candidate.<br /><br />New Mexico (NIT)<br />Last year the Lobos finished in a three-way tie for the regular season title in the MWC, but were still left on the outside looking in when the NCAA tournament pairings were announced. To make matters worse for Steve Alford’s program, the three leading scorers on last year’s squad were all seniors who have moved on. The bright side, however, is that some intriguing talent remains. There are two returning starters in junior point guard Dairese Gary and senior wing Roman Martinez, both of whom expect to play an increased role this season. But the X-factor for the Lobos is sophomore guard Phillip McDonald, last year’s big recruit for Alford. McDonald will need to step up his game and provide a big scoring punch for the offense, a role he is capable of filling. Depth for the Lobos will come from a handful of returnees who got limited playing time last season and a pretty strong four-man recruiting class. If McDonald does rise to the occasion and Alford is able to coax some quality minutes out of his newcomers, the Lobos are more than capable of challenging for an NCAA tournament berth.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Top 10 RPI Boosters:</span><br /> <br />11/16 San Diego State @ St. Mary’s (11pm PST, ESPN) – an intriguing early season matchup during ESPN’s 24-Hour hoops marathon that can be a good barometer for both teams.<br />11/28 Louisville @ UNLV (1pm PST, Vs) – rematch of last year’s Rebel upset of Louisville at Freedom Hall. <br />12/2 Cal @ New Mexico (6pm PST, CBSC) – the Pit hosts Pac-10 favorite Bears. <br />12/2 UNLV @ Arizona (6pm PST, FSN-Arizona) – one of three big MWC matchups with the Wildcats.<br />12/9 Michigan @ Utah (6pt PST, CBSC) – the Utes have a brutal non-conference schedule (including hosting Oklahoma and travelling to LSU), but this may be their best chance for an upset.<br />12/12 New Mexico vs. Texas A&M (in Houston, 3pm PST) – not a home game for the Aggies, but a tough roadie nonetheless for the Lobos.<br />12/12 Kansas State vs. UNLV (@ Orleans Arena, Las Vegas, 4pm PST) – Lon Krueger hosts his old school in his new home town in an interesting clash between quick backcourts.<br />12/19 Creighton @ New Mexico (6pm PST, The MTN) – perhaps the best matchup in a strong inaugural edition of the MWC/MVC Challenge.<br />12/28 BYU @ Arizona (6pm PST, Fox College Sports) – tough holiday trip for the Cougs into McKale.<br />1/1 Dayton @ New Mexico (6pm PST, The MTN/CBSC)– the Flyers will have their work cut out for them with a New Year’s visit to the Pit.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Key Conference Games:</span> <br /><br />1/6 UNLV @ BYU (7pm PST, The MTN) – conference opener for both teams<br />1/27 BYU @ New Mexico (7pm PST, The MTN) – after a Saturday game in San Diego, BYU has to travel to the Pit on a Wednesday night.<br />2/17 UNLV @ Utah (7pm PST, The MTN) – the second of back-to-back tough roadies for the Rebels, where a slip-up could be easy.<br />2/24 San Diego State @ BYU (6pm PST, CBSC) – on the verge of March, the Aztec newcomers have had plenty of time to gel. This will be a test of their tournament readiness. <br />3/3 BYU @ Utah (6pm PST, CBSC) – the Holy War, the second to last conference game for each team<br /> <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Digging Deeper:</span><br /><br /> As mentioned earlier, six of nine MWC member schools have campuses above 4,000 feet in elevation, with Wyoming’s campus at 7,220 feet the highest campus in Division I. And, the MWC has ranked in the top seven conferences nationally in terms of attendance in each of its first 10 years. Combine the two and you wind up with a strong homecourt advantage for MWC teams. Last season, the MWC was 108-40 (.729) in all home games and 59-16 (.786) in home games against non-conference opponents.<br /> <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Final Thoughts: </span> <br /> <br />All things considered, the MWC will be a fun conference to watch this season, giving you everything you watch college basketball for. While many of the stars in the conference are gone, you’ll have the opportunity to watch new stars emerge and to see new combinations gel. While it is unlikely that one of these teams will improve to the point of being a major threat deep in March (not that there aren’t five teams that could, with a little luck and expedited cohesion, get to the second week of the Big Dance), this will be the year that MWC coaches will be laying the groundwork for the future. As with any venture relying on youth and inexperience, there will be growing pains along the way, but given the experience and skill of the head coaches in the league, expect to see quite a few MWC teams playing at a high level throughout the season.MK-Ultrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12824010014207235803noreply@blogger.com0