Gopher Basketball
* When I was doing my End of Season Awards, I was going to come up with the category “Chris Webber Team” which would be have consisted of best college players who the Gophers recruited but chose another college. However, I was stuck on just a few players (JP Batista-Gonzaga; CJ Watson-Tennessee; Kam Taylor-Wisky) who came to mind, not enough to complete a five person team. In watching the tournament, there were no standouts, glue guys, bit players who jumped into my consciousness as one-time Gopher recruits. In fact, the local players who were overlooked by Monson and company (Patrick O’Bryant, Eric Coleman, Ben Woodside) seem to be at least as impressive as the “ones who got away”. Perhaps I’m missing some names out there, but it seems to accentuate the point that recruiting and evaluation have been a weakness of Monson’s regime also.
Some Final Last Thoughts on the ’05-06 season. . .
* Although the Final Four games were pretty awful, sometimes it can be pretty enjoyable to watch a team playing at a very high level (the most distinctive memory for me in that regard was the ’90 UNLV Rebels beating Duke 103-73 in the championship game, which was a clinic on pressing defense and fast break basketball). I felt that Florida achieved that level-playing the game so well, in all facets, that it was a joy to watch, even if it rendered their games uncompetitive. I was high on this squad when watching them this season, but thought they were a year away-what a year this youthful squad had.
* When looking at Florida and UCLA, I saw both of these teams extensively this season and came away very impressed, but with the thought that they were perhaps a year away from serious contention for the Final Four and national championship. I think Florida might be hit hard by early entrance into the NBA draft, but I anticipate UCLA returning all their underclassmen (more on that later). Ben Howland should have that program among the top 10 pretty consistently for years to come.
* Mad props go out to Billy Donovan. I’ve been a pretty big critic of his-in fact, if memory serves me, when I first mentioned the Gators in the Ramble this year, I said something along the lines of “looks like it could be a very good team, if they overcome Donovan’s coaching”. Well, Coolhand’s cooking up the crow-not only did he do a masterful job of guiding the Gators through this tournament, but when you consider how green and inexperienced this team was at the beginning of the year and how he fashioned them into national champs, you cannot be anything except extremely impressed with Donovan.
* Think about the two breakout stars of this year’s tournament, Joakim Noah and Tyrus Thomas, and consider where they were a year ago. Certainly not on anyone’s radar as players to notice this season and currently they are ranked as the top two projected picks in the upcoming NBA draft. I don’t ever recall one player, much less two, ascending from nowhere like these two players have.
* Speaking of Noah, I know there’s a number of ‘Holers who aren’t a fan of his, but I enjoy watching him a lot, even if his histrionics can be a bit much. I don’t know if anyone else noticed this during the championship game against UCLA, but in the second half he was preparing to inbound the ball when I saw him wink and blow a kiss towards a seated cheerleader. You have to admire a guy who always has time for the ladies :).
* Last word on the Gators. . .as impressive as Noah was this tourney, I came away absolutely loving what Al Horford does for that team. His game isn’t as sexy as Noah’s, but his passes out of the double team, offensive rebounding, and bringing the ball up the court against the press really stood out to me. Big Baby and Thomas deservedly received a lot of attention for their dominating frontcourt play, but I think you can make a solid case for Noah/Horford as the best tandem of frontcourt players this year/tournament.
* About the tournament-before Final Four weekend, it was as unpredictable and exciting as we’ve ever seen. I think part of that was because of a subject I harped upon all season-the lack of dominating, alpha dog point guards on the scene this year. I’d like to point out that the national championship featured Taurean Green and Jordan Farmar as the point guards, two of the five best point guards this season (in my opinion, along with Dee Brown, Ronald Steele, and Marcus Williams). The college game will always be reliant upon solid guard play.
Some thoughts on the upcoming season, ’06-07. . .
* The new rule instituted by the NBA basically requiring players to play at least one year of college ball will be interesting. I heard Jay Bilas and Tim McCormick both state that we won’t see a situation where a team like George Mason return to the Final Four anytime soon, due in large part to this rule. I tend to think this rule will create even more parity throughout college basketball. While coaches at major conferences will be devoting much time to recruits who may have designs on a college campus being a brief way station and with little regard for the program. Carmelo Anthony is often sited as an example of what a one year wonder can do, but his impact has been an aberration; often times, these one and dones have not advanced the program-players such as Stephon Marbury, Eddie Griffin, Kris Humphries, Omar Cook are much more representative of the one year player. So while the big schools will be expected to pursue the best talent and procure the top players, the mid-major schools will be able to concentrate on the solid four year program players. I think we’ll see more and more teams like George Mason, Gonzaga, Wichita State, et al. creeping deep into the tournament. It wasn’t so long ago that Kevin Garnett’s entrance into the NBA from high school was viewed as an extraordinary event, and was soon turned mundane; I think the mid-major impact on the college tournament will soon follow a similar arc.
* By the time we set eyes on the college basketball scene again, there will be notable faces in new big places (Kelvin Sampson-Indiana; Mike Anderson-Mizzou; Greg McDermott-Iowa St.; Bobby Gonzalez-Seton Hall; Herb Sendek-Arizona St., to name a few). Jobs have yet to be filled at N.C. State and Oklahoma, which will likely cause more trickling down.
* It seems to me NC State is living in a dream world that demands being on the same level as UNC and Duke. Dan Monson’s apologists should look at what Herb Sendek had to face over the years while leading the Wolfpack-he provided a consistent winner, albeit never at the level of their closest neighbors in the ACC. Before Sendek came on board, the program was struggling and the success that Valvano brought to the Wolfpack was shrouded in questionable ethics. On the Jim Rome show yesterday, he addressed the rumors of NC State bringing John Calipari or Nate McMillan to Raleigh and dismissed the idea that a high profile coach would look upon the Wolfpack job as a plum position. I don’t know how Sendek’s style will translate to the Pac-10, but I think NC State will find themselves regretting their indifferent attitude towards him.
* This NCAA tournament showcased some wonderful shot blockers, with Noah and Thomas getting the most play, but perhaps the most impressive player in this vein was Boston College’s Shawn Williams. His block of Kyle Lowry’s shot to force overtime was jaw-dropping, and if he can keep out of trouble this summer, expect big things from him next season.
* For someone who loves the college game, I was very happy to see Tyler Hansborough say he was returning for his sophomore year. He’s my early pick for National POY next season.
* I’m not going to break down a top ten for next season, but I will make UCLA my preseason #1. When the fallout from the early entrants all comes down, I expect them to not be hit too hard among the top programs, plus they add a healthy Josh Shipp (who some say would have been the Bruins best player this season) and a McD’s All-American frontline player. Coming so close this year, and with that wonderful lock down defense, I think they’ll be ready to claim another national title for Pauley Pavillon.
* Teams who did not make the tournament this year who I think will be making some noise next season:
USC-Their backcourt is highly regarded, they have some top notch recruits coming in, and in his first season Tim Floyd notched some nice wins and should be positioning for an interesting battle for elite southern cal basketball talent with Ben Howland for years to come.
Virginia-Dave Leito started to rustle up this dormant program this season and in perusing his recruiting list, he’s bringing in a lot of players next season. It seems like the Cavaliers haven’t been a force since the days of Ralph Sampson, it would be quite an achievement for Leito to establish himself against his ACC neighbors to the south.
Georgia Tech-Adding two McD’s All-Americans to the young squad this year who seemed to be one point guard away from being a tournament team, I expect Paul Hewitt’s young team to step back into the upper half of the ACC and into the NCAA tournament as a real threat.
Penn St.-Yes, Penn State! I will go out on a limb and say they will finish in the upper half of the Big Ten next season. They are returning their two leading scorers in Claxton and Cornley and DeChellis made some nice strides in his third season. Seeing as how the Big Ten was so senior dominated this year, Penn St. and Wisconsin will be the only teams returning a majority of their contributing players, so the Nittany Lions could step into that vacuum. I don’t know if that will translate into a NCAA berth, but they’re definitely headed in the right direction.
Providence-Along the same lines as Penn St., Providence muddled through the deep Big East season with a young team this year and should benefit with the exodus of many seniors from the various squads in the Big East.
* Things to watch over the summer. . .
Where will the relevant coaching carousel stop? How many and of what quality will be the juco players the Gophers add? With a weak draft and no influx of high school seniors, will there be a mad rush by underclassmen to enter the NBA draft, in hopes of assuring a first round pick? Will Tubby Smith be lured to the NBA by the Bobcats, opening up one of the truly glamorous positions in college basketball? Will Kevin Payton’s shoulder be healed and will we see his game on display at the Pulley summer league?
* Before I sign off for the year, I do have to say this-I’m really going to miss this year’s version of the Villanova Wildcats. I know, I know, broken record, but they were a joy to watch and to see that four guard lineup clicking was a thing of beauty.
* I referenced Ralph Sampson earlier, and I can’t let the season end without referencing the sad, yet hilarious video where he was trying to dunk a basketball and ended up falling on his backside. I guess the knees have really gone on the 7’4″ giant. The Sampson video clip will rank for me with the “Larry Holmes kicked me and punched me” and the Mike Ditka falling at the podium at a roast with Jim McMahon hollering “Frazier goes down! Frazier goes down!” as the most hilarious sports clips (outside of the playing fields) over the past several years.
* And finally. . .a big thanks to all the posters who had so many kind words to say about the Sunday Night Ramble and for the Hole administrators who invited me to become a featured columnist. When I began doing the Ramble, it was collecting my loose thoughts for the entire week into one big clump. The positive reaction was a nice massaging of my ego, and unless a Ms. CoolHand comes along and puts the kibosh on such silliness, expect a return of the Ramble next season. In between now and then I plan on posting a few book reviews, perhaps a DVD review or two, and maybe the occasional summer Ramble.