It's underway. Discuss. I'm pumped as hell that Michigan State is #2. We have Adreian Payne as a new PF and Keith Appling as a new PG; in addition to all of our returning guys. Hell Yeah...to hell with the road to the Final Four, its time for the road to the Championship. First game's tonight baby!!
Looking forward to the start of the UConn season in a few minutes. They lost three of the top 4 players from last season in Thabeet, Price and Adrien. They are going to be playing more like one of their late 90's teams and going to sprint up the court at every chance. Think they will be a very good team at the end of the season when the young guys get some playing time. The trio of Kemba Walker, Stanley Robinson and Dyson should be exciting.
Texas should be one of the favorites to head back to the Final Four this year. They have a ridiculously talented and deep team this year. Rick Barnes will have his hands full figuring out lineups, but luckily has the luxury of having versatile players at every position. Damion James leads a talented group of returnees, including the mammoth Dexter Pittman down low, and multi-faceted Justin Mason on the wing. Avery Bradley has been (deservedly so) getting all the press so far for the incoming group of freshman, but the man to watch out for is Jordan Hamilton. He has a game similar to that of Paul Pierce, and should be an instant force for the Horns from game 1. He could easily lead the team in scoring, and be up there in the Big 12 ranks as well. Point guard will be a key position -- it was a hindrance to their success last year -- but Florida transfer Jai Lucas will be eligible in Dec and should be a steadying force running the team, while stroking it from behind the arc. If all things work out in Texas' favor -- the freshman acclimating to the college game, Lucas running the point, Barnes managing lineups, etc -- the Horns should definitely challenge Kansas for the conference championship, and set the stage for them to make a serious, deep run in the Tournament. Hook 'Em Horns!
I didn't see the game, but the score did not look very promising. I hope Uconn can pick it up. At the very least, a top 5 finish in the BE, 3/4 seed and sweet 16 run would be awesome. I suppose that is realistic.
Iowa basketball is a fucking embarrassment. One game in and I'd already be thrilled if this seasons low point had been just being the only conference win for Indiana. They lost by double digits at home to the University of Texas at San-Antonio. Their mascot is a roadrunner. They are, no shit, not even one of the 200 best teams in college basketball. http://www.kiva.net/~jsagarin/sports/cbsend.htm It's going to be a long winter.
Yeah, they're pretty impressive, up 2 with 20 seconds left at home against powerhouse Miami of Ohio. Maybe at Kentucky, Calipari can recruit some players who can actually make free throws.
Almost had a couple heart attacks last night with MSU and Kansas. State played like shit. Complete and utter shit for the first 10 minutes, then ever so slowly brought it up. Gonzaga has a pretty damn good team in my opinion, should be ranked soon. Even though they are young, they have great talent and their size compared to us was just amazing. It seemed that every one of their players towered over us by at least 3 inches. And that fucking 7' 5" guy? Holy hell!!
John Wall is a fucking MAN out there on the court for Kentucky -- I'm not sure he wouldn't be starting for more than half the NBA teams right now. Once all the freshman get fully acclimated to the college game, as well as truly understanding the intricasies of Coach Cal's dribble-drive offense, that team is going to be studly. Patrick Patterson is playing like a man possessed on the boards, as well. Wall and Bledsoe definitely need to cut down on their turnovers if they want to go far in March, but it is still early and that is to be expected from freshman. They have had some close games to start the season, and I for one don't think that's ultimately a bad thing. They may need to have a "bad loss" in order to grow as a team in the long run. They are definitely a threat in March.
Marquette following up their surprise against Xavier yesterday in the Old Spice Classic with a nice little take down of Michigan. I am really pumped about this as its supposed to be a rebuilding year and the injury bug has already bit early. The Big East is too stacked for them to even dream about contending, but I think they could surprise and sneak into the top half of the conference and the NCAAs which would be a tremendous year for a team that lost more points, rebounds, and assists than any other Big East team from last year. Also, these tourneys are a great way to show how worthless these preseason rankings are as a bunch of these "top 25" teams are turning out to be horrifically overrated.
Here at Minny, our teams have flip-flopped. Gopher puck is usually the dominant winter sport, with bouncey ball trailing a bit behind. Now things have changed with Tubby being here for a couple of years. The hockey team blows ass (losing 6-0 tonight) and round ball beats #10 Butler. That would have moved them up the ranks but the loss to Portland really hurts. Do I think they're a top 20 team? Maybe. My verdict is still out, but Tubby definitely has them playing as a team and not as individuals. Let's just hope the trouble with the law stops. Royce White, how much of an idiot are you? Stealing laptops in dorms? Honestly? Take the hood out of your for the next couple of years and you'll have a great Gopher career. Get your shit together. I think Paul Carter, Sampson, and Iverson have breakout years, as well as Damien Johnson. My prediction: top 4 in Big Ten.
Tubby is defintiely one of the top coaches in the country -- he's just a better fit with players labeled as "underdogs" in a sense. He's not one to go out and get multiple top-5 recruits on the nation. He finds guys to fit his program and his system. After Kentucky, Minnesota turned into a perfect fit for him. Low-mid expectations where he can get the most out of his "forgotten" recruits -- the perfect Tubby place. I, for one, hopes he does well.
Fck. Lost to unranked Florida. 22 turnovers, really? Won't be number two anymore after the updated rankings come out tomorrow.
The good news is that it looked like a fluke loss. It's early in the season so they definitely have time to clean their game up. I wonder where they put Florida after that win. Do they leap Michigan St (I doubt it) or are they still just going to be in the 20s? It's going to fun year for big ten basketball. 5 ranked teams and Wisconsin is looking like they could make a splash.
Rankings are out for this week. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/rankings Dropped only 7 spots to number 9. FL went up to 17 (I use the ESPN ranks). But yeah, like you said it's early as hell in the season and probably was just a fluke loss. Lets see how we do on Tuesday against UNC...should be an awesome game.
Dammit. Can't do sh't without size. We're freaking small compared to everyone else and it showed tonight. They shot over us all game long, and blocked our shots like they were nothing. Our speed was almost a non factor as UNC just came right back with the ball not hesitating at all. And the three's! Jebus, that was awful. Good thing we have 5 of the next 6 games as cakewalks, bring back some of our spark...
Kentucky is showing exactly why they're going to be so frustratingly good this year. When they are on, they are damn near unstoppable. But they'll go through these stretches of inconsistency due to immaturity while they continue to grow, and will let teams right back into games. They've started settling for jumpers and have stopped attacking the basket. Cousins becomes a non-factor and this gets to his head and affects his play on both ends. With all the jumpers going up, you can see the frustration on both Cousins and Patterson, who should be demanding the ball on the block. Kentucky is going to be a great team, but frustratingly so in the process. (as of now, with 2:00 min left in the game, they're leading UNC by 5. Let's see if they can hang on for the win...)
That was the first time I watched a Kentucky game from start to finish this year and all I can say is wow. John Wall is a fucking beast. Despite missing like 10 minutes or so with cramps and dehydration issues he still finished with 25 points and 6 steals. He had some amazing shots at the end of the game too where he just tore his defender apart.
I know John Wall is great, but people need to start giving Xavier Henry more press. He's getting similar numbers on a loaded veteran team. Henry's lights out from three. Watch out for this guy, he's a definite gem that KU's lucky to have gotten last minute.
Got a ticket to the MSU-UT game tomorrow while down here on leave. Can't wait to be the lone unruly fan who argues with all the UT pricks as their team hopefully doesn't lay the smack on my Spartans. Nonetheless, should be a great game to watch as they try to break our D and we try to do everything in our power to stop them. Size wise, we're pretty even, we may even have the advantage by a couple inches on their starters, but that won't stop them. We'll see if we can pull it off...