Goodbye, John Wall. Goodbye, DeMarcus Cousins. Later, Daniel Orton. Seeya, Eric Blesdoe. Good fucking luck, Calipari. But in all reality, he'll pull in more super recruits...
I'm gonna keep up my rave about Michigan State. We only lost an inconsistent Raymar Morgan and a bench rider Isaiah Dahlman. I'm expecting us to be a powerhouse next year just as long as all our injuries get treated. Plus we have a pretty monster recruit class with these two leading the way: 5 star Adreian Payne, a beastly Center; and 4 star Kieth Appling, a kick ass shooter all around. But damn, we're still a small ass team, our tallest guys are Sherman and Payne, both at 6'10"!! We'll see what next season has in store.
In the "it's never too early" fashion, Andy Katz went ahead and ranked the next season's top 20. I for one am more than willing to let Purdue take that number one spot. I think in every ranking that comes out until next year we'll see some variation of Duke, Butler, MSU, Villanova, and Purdue in the top five. <a class="postlink" href="http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/columns/story?columnist=katz_andy&id=5060752" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/columns/s ... id=5060752</a> Nonetheless, Butler is so happy to have a winner they went ahead and signed Brad Stevens to a 12 year deal (<a class="postlink" href="http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketballnation/post/_/id/10446/butler-rewards-brad-stevens-with-12-year-deal" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketba ... -year-deal</a>). Let's hope the Charlie Weiss curse takes effect and they don't actually win anything now that he's staying through the next dozen years.
Katz has Illinois as 24. Lunardi has them as a 14th seed: http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/bracket?id=5071629 Sweet.
Kyle Singler returning to Duke for his senior season While the losses of Scheyer and Zoubek/Thomas are tremendous and cannot be understated, Singler coming back is huge and should poise the Blue Devils to be the preseason #1 and an early favorite to make a run at a repeat. They have a stellar recruiting class coming in, headlined by PG Kyrie Irving (a Jason Williams clone). Also, Seth Curry will be eligible after averaging 20 a game at Liberty before transferring to Durham. The continued development of the Plumlees and Andre Dawkins will be huge, but with Singler and Nolan Smith leading the way, along with the aforementioned players, the future looks bright for the defending National Champions in '11.
Thank God that the NCAA came to their senses. Going to 68 teams with 4 play in games instead of 96 teams. Also, they didn't sell the rights to ESPN. I think I am happiest about this. Because now I will NEVER have to listen to Dick Vitale do the the Final Four.
Good Bye John Wooden. No one will ever win 7 in a row again. Fuck it is hard just to repeat. RIP <a class="postlink" href="http://sports.espn.go.com/los-angeles/news/story?id=5253601" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://sports.espn.go.com/los-angeles/n ... id=5253601</a>
He has to go down as one of the greatest motivational speakers as well. You couldn't listen to the man talk and not just have positive emotions running through you. Words can't describe how much he'll be missed. I know somewhere, Coach Wooden is holding his program ready to inspire someone....
QUOTES: A coach is someone who can give correction without causing resentment. John Wooden Ability is a poor man's wealth. John Wooden Adversity is the state in which man mostly easily becomes acquainted with himself, being especially free of admirers then. John Wooden Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are. John Wooden Be prepared and be honest. John Wooden Consider the rights of others before your own feelings, and the feelings of others before your own rights. John Wooden Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do. John Wooden Don't let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do. John Wooden Don't measure yourself by what you have accomplished, but by what you should have accomplished with your ability. John Wooden Failure is not fatal, but failure to change might be. John Wooden I'd rather have a lot of talent and a little experience than a lot of experience and a little talent. John Wooden If you don't have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over? John Wooden If you're not making mistakes, then you're not doing anything. I'm positive that a doer makes mistakes. John Wooden It isn't what you do, but how you do it. John Wooden It's not so important who starts the game but who finishes it. John Wooden It's the little details that are vital. Little things make big things happen. John Wooden It's what you learn after you know it all that counts. John Wooden Never mistake activity for achievement. John Wooden Success comes from knowing that you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming. John Wooden Success is never final, failure is never fatal. It's courage that counts. John Wooden Success is peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best you are capable of becoming. John Wooden Talent is God given. Be humble. Fame is man-given. Be grateful. Conceit is self-given. Be careful. John Wooden The main ingredient of stardom is the rest of the team. John Wooden The worst thing about new books is that they keep us from reading the old ones. John Wooden Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out. John Wooden What you are as a person is far more important that what you are as a basketball player. John Wooden Winning takes talent, to repeat takes character. John Wooden You can't let praise or criticism get to you. It's a weakness to get caught up in either one. John Wooden You can't live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you. John Wooden
No. He's been propositioned by many an NBA franchise and has turned them down. The only draw to the Cav's is James. He has so much invested in Mich St, and everyone, literally everyone who is a part of MSU, loves him. I give Izzo maybe a 2% chance that he leaves MSU to hit up Cleveland.
Dude, you are delusional if you give it such a small chance. There were rumors that the players were resigned to seeing him go, Izzo being described as "torn", a six-mill / year salary... I realize that you are a Sparty fan, but I'd be wayyyy more concerned if I were you. Shit, he's in Cleveland right now.
Yes, the 2% idea is ludicrous. But...to what degree is this contingent upon James? Tom Izzo is already a rich man. And he's turned down the NBA and lucrative deals before. Why now? I have to assume that the reason is a shot at coaching James.
Fine, 2% is pretty crazy, I just have incredibly high hopes that he stays with us and not go to the Cavs. Two things stop him right now, one being the fact that our team this coming year is gonna be fucking awesome...like championship awesome, at least final four for sure. And his reputation and attachment to the city and University is almost unparalleled. I believe the main reason he might take the job if Lebron stays is Lebron himself, which is why that's his main clutch. The money is almost not an issue since we pay him a ridiculous amount as it is plus all the bonus's he's gotten in the past 10 years. He has a chance to coach one of the, if not the best player in the NBA right now...BUT his program and his teaching style is all about the team and what the team can do. He has never, ever taught players to play selfishly, which is what I believe James and the Cav's are about since he can gets like 40 pts per game..but I haven't really paid much attn to their playing style, so yeah.
Leave it to the Wolvie to try and dissuade your spirit. I knew all along that he'd be staying. All I did was refresh ESPN every thirty seconds, pick out my nose hairs, never leave the house, blog about why he should go, contribute to the <a class="postlink" href="http://www.weloveizzo.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">www.weloveizzo.com</a> website, cry myself to sleep at night, snap at people, replay tournament games online, burn my final four t-shirts, and rock back and forth in my room going, "I could have done more... I could have done more..." I was just curious though, is Obama addressing the nation tonight? Thank God he's staying. Thank God he decided. Now I can go on with my life.
TMZ is reporting that the NCAA is aggresively investigating Kentucky over 4 players (2 just drafted and 2 still on team). Apparently at least has had an agent since high school. Boy, I can't believe a John Calipari coached team would have this happen. What a jackass.