College Basketball

[chionophile]

After their 0-28 season (in '05) followed by 1-26 the following year I thought everybody knew who Savannah St. was. Probably the worst team in Div 1 in the past 5 years.

Ah, I see. Good thing we crushed them then; in retrospect, that could have been very depressing if it was closer game. Not as impressive anymore, but hey, that's okay. I still love seeing the us win. And yeah, the Badgers are very much a team. We had two guys with matching double-doubles (12 pts, 10 rebs), one with 21 points and a handful of assists and such, and a fourth with 10 pts and 8 rebs (not that anyone really cares about our stats...).

We have as good a chance at winning the B10 as anyone at this point.

[RedEyedGhost]

We have as good a chance at winning the B10 as anyone at this point.

and better than most. I think - worst case - you guys come in 3rd.

[aeu]

Traffic? Sounds similar to some other responses I read from UCLA fans when the subject was raised. I've never liked it when fans filed out of games early, I can understand maybe the last two minutes when the game is decided. Eight minutes left in the second half is too early, IMO. Ah well, there's always going to be people who aren't as die hard.

What can I say, that's LA for you. I've been to NBA games where it's mid 4th quarter, pretty good game, score is tied and people just get up and leave.

After hiring a coach like Thuggins, it's not surprising that Kansas State was willing to accept to accept some of his shady ethics. Desperation drives people to do rash and regrettable things. Some of the blame can be put on Kansas State, but I put most of that mess on the back of that greasy coach Huggins. Is that coach still with Kansas State or did he follow Huggins?

Agreed, Huggins is the real culprit, he was the one who bought Beasley by employing his guy as an assistant coach. But Kansas State apperantly negotiated with the Beasley camp to promote him to associate head coach (with a pay raise IIRC) after Huggins left, so that Beasley would stay. Embarrassing all around.

That's great you guys are doing well without Collison. Will he be back for the Maryland game? I've heard he is only supposed to miss the two he's already sat for. Has anything changed there?

I heard he was running at full strength and is ready to go (and could have played in the previous games as well if they were important, they just didn't want to risk it this early in the season)

[Rhom]

I'll be happy with an E8 again, but I want and expect so much more this year (I expect more nearly every year though).

Several years ago, someone asked me what it takes to be successful at Kentucky. I told him you need to hit the following benchmarks:

SEC title every year (you can mess up occaisionally and be okay)

Elite 8 every year (again the occasional Sweet 16 is acceptable)

Final Four every 4-5 years (each recruiting class should have a real shot of playing in at least one)

National Championship once a decade

It may sound unreasonable, but it really is what we expect out of our team.

[Guest]

Several years ago, someone asked me what it takes to be successful at Kentucky. I told him you need to hit the following benchmarks:

SEC title every year (you can mess up occaisionally and be okay)

Elite 8 every year (again the occasional Sweet 16 is acceptable)

Final Four every 4-5 years (each recruiting class should have a real shot of playing in at least one)

National Championship once a decade

It may sound unreasonable, but it really is what we expect out of our team.

While these sound like lofty goals, at UK, you may be justified. I heard some ESPN experts discussing last year the top 5 programs (or maybe they were calling it, the top 5 jobs in college hoops) and they named Duke, UNC, KU, UK, and UCLA. It would be hard for me to argue with that top 5, however, I think these things are pretty fluid

Who's to say that Louisville in a couple of years won't be an unreal program? Or Georgetown? Or maybe USC? And it would be hard to leave Florida out of the discussion at this point. Still, UK should rise again.

[aeu]

I heard he was running at full strength and is ready to go (and could have played in the previous games as well if they were important, they just didn't want to risk it this early in the season)

Collison is out for another 10 days. Just yesterday Howland was saying he was practicing with no problem. This whole thing is making me very very nervous.

[Rhom]

Duke looked awfully good against Princeton last night. Ditto to UCLA over Maryland.

[Robert's Last Bastard]

I didn't know people watched college basketball until the regular college football season was over. You learn something new every day. I'll see you guys in a couple of weeks.

[The Wedge]

How 'bout the mighty big 12 this week?

Iowa St lost @ Bradley

Oklahoma State lost @ North Texas

Texas Tech lost @ Sam Houston St.

and the only respectable loss

Oklahoma lost to Memphis in the CVC

Man, how about some respect for the MVC.

Bradley beat Iowa State in an ISU hosted tournament in Des Moines last year, too. It's not like they are pulling wins out of their asses against "power conferences." Plus, Bradley has a fantastic home court advantage at Carver Arena in Peoria. That place can rock with the best of them when 10,000 pile in.

Granted, Iowa State ain't been much since Coach What's-his-name was fired for going to that frat party.

[/my MVC inferiority complex]

[Guest]

Duke looked awfully good against Princeton last night. Ditto to UCLA over Maryland.

As did my Oregon boys Love and Singler.

Duke is hard for me to figure out. I think they'll be much improved this year but not first tier team. But I could be wrong. If Paulus continues to show improvement in his shot, that could be big.

Did anyone see Gerald Henderson's dunk where his head was almost touching the rim? Damn...Been a while since Duke had a guy who threw down Grant Hill style.

[Albert]

My thogughts on the big conferences and a few others...

big 10 is the most underrated basketball conf. ever. Everyone talks about how theere boring but anyone who knows basketball appreciates the nuances, defensive intensity, and griity play the b10 brings.

b12 shoukld be a lot better for being such a big conf. Kansas will have many great teams but will never make a final 4 w/ Self coaching. A & M will falter w/o Gillespie.

p10 is defintely the class of college bask. this year. I wish Wazzu would have another good year but they wont sneak up on anyone this year and finish in the bottm half. UCLA should be a beast.

Bigeast gives p10 a run for their money just on sheer # of teams. Lotsa good basketball. Gtown is my pick to win the hole thing. WV will surprise.

ACC has 2 awesome teams and lotsa ok temas. UNC should be great but I think Duke will be the best when all is said and done. They have 10 guys who can play and play as one.

SEC is very weak this year. Tennessee is the most overrated team in the nation. They will falter w/o Bradshaw. Florida will surprise.

Davidson is the best small school. Stephen Curry is the best player in college basketabll.Gonzaga should be good once agian w/ Heytvelt back and Bouldin.

[Guest]

Davidson is the best small school. Stephen Curry is the best player in college basketabll.Gonzaga should be good once agian w/ Heytvelt back and Bouldin.

Heytvelt is out 4-6 weeks with something foot related and it sounds like they're worried about how it could become something worse. But their freshman Austin Daye is probably the best frosh ever at Gonzaga.

[Albert]

plus Mark Few is a great coach.

[Rhom]

Didn't even realize it till I heard it on ESPN radio a bit ago... but the first "big" match up of the year is tonight.

#1 UCLA vs #11 Michigan State

Could be a good game if Izzo gets his kids to play. They've looked lackadaisical in some games, but they have the talent to make a run. I think UCLA wins this one by 10-15.

big 10 is the most underrated basketball conf. ever. Everyone talks about how theere boring but anyone who knows basketball appreciates the nuances, defensive intensity, and griity play the b10 brings.

Which is why I think Tubby will be a great fit for Minnesota.

[Guest]

I am not at all sold on Michigan State but maybe I'll be proven wrong. Even if they get UCLA tonight, Collison is still not healthy. The Bruins are going to be wicked-good when he gets back.

Padgett could be out for the year for Louisville. That poor guy just can't stay healthy. I don't think it's going to hurt the Cardinals too much though. They are deep. Williams is a solid all-around player. they still have Palacios to look ridiculous down low.

Earl Clark is a guy they're expecting big things from and he had a great game the other night. If Caracter can get ove his "character" issues, they'll be a force this year. And they will return everyone next year except Palacios, plus bringing in Samuals (ESPN #3) and possibly Evans (ESPN #2).

I'm an Oregon fan, but I'm going to bow down to Pitino in the hopes that he shows me favor after conquering the world.

[Rhom]

If I had to pick a college coach to build around, it'd definitely be Pitino. Trust me... when Pitino left the Celtics, I was pulling hard for Tubby to take the Atlanta Hawks job that year so Pitino could come back suitably humbled. UofL is insanely lucky that they now have an amazing college coach without having to worry about NBA teams coming after him every off-season.

I only saw it on the bottom line, but it looks like Oregon had a rough way to go last night.

UCLA/MSU was a heckuva ball game. When Izzo's boys had them down early though, I really didn't figure they had the "oomph" to finish the job for some reason.

Marquette/Duke out in Maui looks to be a good upcoming game.

Kentucky starts up their season after two weeks off tonight against Liberty... I'm hoping we can put together a better effort than our last trip out in front of the home crowd. I can only say that I am dreading Psycho T and the Tarheels coming to Rupp on the first... followed immediately thereafter by a trip to Indiana. Things could get bumpy around the bluegrass in the coming weeks.

[HokieStone]

Davidson is the best small school. Stephen Curry is the best player in college basketabll.

There's a lot of angst from Virginia Tech fans that we didn't land Curry, as his father Dell is an alumni, and one of Tech's most famous basketballers (not that we have many). Apparently Stephen really wanted to come to Tech, but we only offered him a chance to walk-on and earn a scholarship later. We're kicking ourselves now, but we were the only "major" school to even offer him that much(and probably that was because of his dad), so it's not like we're the only one to miss out.

[Guest]

I only saw it on the bottom line, but it looks like Oregon had a rough way to go last night.

Yes, we did have a rough night at St. Mary's. One of our top players, Bryce Taylor, was out with a bruised shoulder but it's still a bad loss. That's actually the school Ernie Kent used to coach at and mess around with girls in the basketball offices.

Bruins had a nice win, faced adversity and came back. Once they get Collison and Roll back, they're going to be really tough. Westbrook is a great backup PG, but he can play some off guard too.

Anyone seeing these dunks by Gerald Henderson for Duke? Damn, this guy can get up.

[Rhom]

I'm not sold on Duke at number 10 just yet... they certainly have the talent, but this is the same team that limped through last year.

[Guest]

I'm not sold on Duke at number 10 just yet... they certainly have the talent, but this is the same team that limped through last year.

I am actually sold on Duke being pretty legit. I am not a Duke fan in any way. But they have three freshman who are contributing a lot so they are deeper than last year's team. I think henderson is developing into a really good player and Paulus continues to improve as an outside shooter which is a big help to them.