Gopher Basketball
Roy Williams should feel vindicated after this national championship and the questions about his abilities should stop. Unlike 2005, every one of these Tar Heels were players he recruited and he was able to combine the wealth of talent at his disposal into a cohesive unit. He may not be the best X and O’s guy out there, but I don’t know that anyone can match him in recruiting and he currently has the best program going in the nation, and #2 is a distance away. As for the players. . .you may not like Tyler Hansbrough, but I think it’s inarguable that he was a great college player and his immense work ethic was finally rewarded in a national championship his senior year. When I gave my initial thoughts on the title game, I misspoke on Ty Lawson and Wayne Ellington. I said they may arguably be the top point guard and best backcourt in the nation; I was wrong, there is no argument. Lawson was dominant and played at a level that shamed the point guards matched up against him. And Ellington. . .he has operated in the shadows of Hansbrough and Lawson these last three years, but he was this tournament’s Stephon Curry, with a slightly better supporting cast. Danny Green, Deon Thompson, Ed Davis were all were extremely impressive also.
It’s likely that 4/5 of this starting lineup will be leaving (I would think Thompson will return) with the possibility of Davis leaving for the NBA too. Don’t fret for UNC though-in addition to Marcus Ginyard returning from his injury redshirt year, Roy is bringing four McDonald’s All Americans onto the roster. Go ahead and hate the Tar Heels, but you should also admire them while doing so.
“¢ I alluded to it last week and it has been discussed on the board this week, but Michigan State did a wonderful job of recruiting in back to back years with their sophomore (Kalin Lucas, Chris Allen, and Durrell Summers) and freshman classes (Devlon Roe, Draymond Green, Korie Lucious). I was questioning why Izzo was playing Lucious against Kansas and Louisville, but the shakiness displayed in those two games was replaced by a icy veined gunner against UConn. The great thing from a Michigan State perspective is that none of these guys, save Lucas, appears to be an early entrant candidate. I would assume Lucas sticks around at least another year, as he has some things to work on, but Marcus Taylor told me never to assume things.
“¢ Biggest winners of the week? Besides Carolina, it has to be the Big 12 conference. Within the past week, five of their fine coaches were rumored to be headed towards jobs at Kentucky, Virginia, Georgia, and Memphis. Mike Anderson, Rick Barnes, Jeff Capel, Scott Drew, and Travis Ford all have remained (with a couple a bit richer), which should solidify the increasing quality of play in the Big 12.
“¢ Anyone who thought Villanova might win the national championship would have known better had they referenced the history books. A quick check, going back to 1980 show that only six coaches won the national championship in their first trip to the Final Four-Jim Valvano, Rollie Massimino, Steve Fisher, Jim Harrick, Jim Calhoun, and Tubby Smith. Interestingly enough, only Calhoun among that group has brought a team back to the Final Four after their initial winning campaign (although we all know Tubby will join him).
“¢ He may have been the Big East 6th man of the year, he may have a great back story (see last week’s Ramble), but Corey Fisher played as poor of a floor game as any point guard I’ve seen on the Final Four stage in a long, long time. Jay Wright might advise Fisher to work on reining in some of the recklessness in his game this offseason.
“¢ One wonders if UConn will be the next traditional powerhouse program to fall on hard times, following in the recent footsteps of Indiana and Arizona. I think it depends on two factors-how damaging the recent recruiting misdeeds are judged by the NCAA and how long Jim Calhoun sticks around. Calhoun had a rough year (physically and from public criticism) and he turns 67 in about a month. From a distance, I would assume that the combative Calhoun will not let his career end this way, but for a man who has fought cancer twice within this decade, the energy for another fight may not be there. If Calhoun retires, the possibility for a free fall for the Huskies looms large-Calhoun’s coaching tree is underwhelming (Karl Hobbs of George Washington has been the most successful) and the Big East is not a conference which allows for programs to rebuild easily.
“¢ It’s pretty much assumed Hasheem Thabeet will be a top 5 pick in the next NBA draft, but if I’m a NBA general manager I wasn’t too excited to see him on his back a minimum of six times in the game against Michigan State (I counted four times in the first half alone). Yes the Spartans are a physical bunch, but I would expect the NBA to be a tad more bruising.
“¢ Speaking of UConn, has anyone else noticed that through the years when things start to go south for the Huskies they possess some of the worst, most disengaged body language you’ve seen? It showed up in the second half against Michigan State and it reminded me of another UConn team that got upset in the Elite Eight by George Mason a few years ago.
“¢ Which conference will stake a claim to the best in the nation next season? It’s too early to say with all the potential for early entrants to the NBA still looming, but I think it’ll be a battle of the Midwest, lead by the two heavyweights of the respective conferences, Michigan State and Kansas, both of whom are likely strong candidates for next year’s NCAA title. As Pewterschmidt pointed out last week the Big East was extremely senior heavy this season, the SEC is not ready to rise again yet, nor is the Pac 10, and the ACC will likely be hit heavily be early entrants. Along with Michigan State and Kansas, NCAA tournament quality teams should be fielded by Purdue, Missouri, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Ohio State, Texas, Michigan, Oklahoma State, Illinois, and Baylor.
“¢ Thoughts on Calipari, part 1: Enough words have been spilled on John Calipari’s hire already, so I’m not going to go too in-depth, but I feel the need to share a few-the first, Kentucky has invited a feces squall (thank you thesaurus.com!) onto their campus with the hiring of Calipari. Consider ESPN, if you would. They enjoy boiling down respective sports into dominant storylines. Yankees-Red Sox, Carolina-Duke, Terrell Owens and the Cowboys, Barry Bonds and steroids, etc. They aren’t the only ones who revel in this, but they are the undisputed sports information king-and the marriage of Kentucky and Slick Cal will make Pavlov’s dog look like the model of self-control compared to the ESPN executives. Storied program with a sometimes sordid past and a fan base that defines hyper-fanatical hires a slick looking, fast talking head coach surrounded by whispers of impropriety throughout his career? The only question is who fills the Ed Werder role-Andy Katz? Pat Forde? Doug Gottlieb? Regardless, I do believe the fishbowl that is Kentucky basketball will invite scrutiny on a national level never seen in college basketball before. Slick Cal might not be any dirtier than the majority of coaches operating today, could even be cleaner than many, but I doubt the national media will indulge in taking the time to flesh out those nuanced questions. The storyline is just too easy and too perfect for ESPN and their ilk to exploit. Enjoy your honeymoon while it lasts Kentucky.
“¢ Thoughts on Calipari, part 2: That all being said, I am moving on the needle towards ecstatic with Kentucky’s hiring of Calipari. Not because I have any affection for Kentucky (none whatsoever) nor Calipari, but I just think this will be a fascinating marriage. I also was overjoyed to see Bruce Pearl reject the Memphis overtures and re-up with Tennessee. This means we’ll get to see these two major egos that dislike one another immensely match their teams against each other at least twice a year in conference play. The verbal sparring between the two coaches promises to be enticing entertainment.
“¢ Thoughts on Calipari, part 3: When Calipari was still technically the coach of Memphis and mulling over the Kentucky offer at his favorite doughnut shop, he made a comment that in retrospect may have betrayed his intentions while providing some kindling for an already heated rivalry. Calipari commented that there were five jobs anyone had to consider when offered in college basketball-Kentucky, Kansas, Duke, North Carolina, and UCLA. Notice a program missing? While Indiana has fallen upon some hard times, they stand behind only UCLA and Kentucky in national titles with five, the coach that leads D-1 basketball in all-time wins won the majority of those games at Indiana, and they claim a fan base as devoted as Kentucky’s or anyone else in the nation. As Tom Crean brings the Hoosiers back to prominence, I expect this rivalry to regain some fervor.
“¢ Remember Billy Donovan before leading the Florida Gators to back to back national titles? He had gained the reputation of great recruiter and an underachiever in March with early tournament exits year after year. The national championships seemingly removed that label, but you know, the upcoming season will be interesting for Billy D. Just three years removed from the national titles, the tolerance for NIT appearances will likely have dissipated. The quality of coaching appears to be flowing upwards in the SEC east, conspicuously at Kentucky, the job Donovan turned down at least once. And while one of the top prep prizes in the nation is coming on board in point guard Kenny Boynton and Florida also welcomes Georgetown transfer Vernon Macklin into the fold, he’s at risk of losing his top player to the NBA draft. I’m thinking that Donovan is really hoping that Nick Calathes decides to bring his 6’6″ multi-skilled presence back to Gainesville for his junior season.
“¢ Before this recruiting season is done, Bill Self might want to send John Calipari a fruit basket. Here’s why-Xavier Henry is the top ranked shooting guard in the nation and son of former Kansas Jayhawk Carl Henry. Memphis and Kansas were engaged in a battle for Henry’s services, with Memphis coming out on top, aided by the extension of a scholarship to Xavier’s 23 year old brother, C.J., who was a prep basketball star but elected to sign with the Yankees out of high school. With Calipari’s exit to Memphis and both Henrys looking to leave Memphis, Kansas very well could be the landing spot for the duo. The Jayhawks were pretty good with two feature players this year-if Sherron Collins and Cole Aldrich indeed return to Lawrence and they can add Henry to go along with a recruiting class already featuring two top 25 preps, they are on the very top of the short list for national championship contenders next season.
“¢ The other benefit of Xavier Henry coming on board is the Jayhawks can avoid taking their chances with Lance Stephenson. I have yet to read anything positive about this kid’s demeanor or willingness to be a team player and he would seem to be a big risk to bring onto a veteran team with championship aspirations. Stephenson was all set to commit to Kansas at the McDonald’s All American game, but postponed that announcement when it coincided with Calipari arriving at Kentucky.
“¢ Strange development with the Sean Miller to Arizona story. Usually when you hear about coaches sleeping on it and changing their minds, it means they’ve decided to stay put. Perhaps Miller’s tired of the four-way chili or perhaps he realizes that Jamie Dixon isn’t leaving anytime soon from that Pittsburgh job. This may sound ludicrous (particularly if you are an Arizona fan), but I think he might be leaving the better job in exiting Xavier to head to Arizona. Yes, the Wildcats have a wonderful history over the last 25 years, but Xavier’s program is chugging along to the extent where you’re almost surprised if they’re not in the Sweet 16. Following a legend is never easy, he’s stepping into a Pac 10 where UCLA and USC are rejuvenated and locking down the top talent in So Cal, and as Holy Man stated earlier, you have to recruit nationally when Tucson is your home base. If Miller succeeds, I think it’ll be a damn fine job of coaching, a tougher job that many will entertain.
“¢ For regular readers of the Ramble, you may wonder if I have an unhealthy fixation with the Pitt Panthers, and I very well may. But consider this-next season Pitt welcomes their first McDonald’s All American onto campus (Dante Taylor) since 1987. I’m amazed at the consistently strong performance that Pitt has maintained without elite recruits during the Ben Howland and Jamie Dixon years.
“¢ Keep an eye on John Wall’s recruitment-if he ends up with Calipari at Kentucky, it could be an awfully long year for Coach K and Duke basketball fans. It sounds likely that Gerald Henderson is headed to the NBA, which would remove the one player from the Blue Devils roster who can create his own shot. The incoming recruits are both McDonald’s All Americans (imagine that), but they don’t seem likely to either create offense or provide low post muscle (Duke’s biggest needs). Coach K may have to out-Calipari Calipari in wooing Wall to have any semblance of a legitimate contender next season.
“¢ It might have been buried in the small print, but Texas got some great news for next season with Dexter Pittman passing on the NBA draft. There’s no doubt that Pittman should have come back, but you can write a pretty thick book on basketball players who declared for the draft too early. In watching Pittman against the Gophers, I was stunned-I remember the rotund Pittman who got sporadic minutes as a freshman and sophomore. Replacing that guy was a built force who abused our freshman bigs down low. Pittman really came on in the second half of this season and you would think an offseason of improved conditioning and further development of his skills could mean great things for the Longhorns next season, as they welcome transfer Jai Lucas and two top 10 prep talents onto campus.
“¢ When the Big 12 conference schedule is announced for next season, take your Sharpie and circle the Missouri-Oklahoma State contest. They will only face each other once in the regular season and it promises to be a helter skelter affair, as both these teams put on impressive showings in the NCAA tournament and return many key players to their respective teams.
“¢ For those assuming that Tubby Smith will hand over the keys of the Gopher program to Saul Smith when he retires as Gophers head coach, you might want to look at how that’s working out at other universities. Tony Bennett did a wonderful job at Washington State after his father retired, but the same cannot be said for the heirs of Eddie Sutton (son Sean, forced out at Oklahoma State after two seasons) and Bobby Knight (Texas Tech fans are already anticipating Billy Gillispie’s arrival in Lubbock after next season, speculating that Pat Knight will be relieved of his coaching duties after two and a half seasons). A rapid wracking of my brain can think of one other similar scenario from the early “˜80s when DePaul’s Ray Meyer begat son Joey and DePaul’s presence on the national landscape has never recovered.
Way Too Early Final Four Predictions Next Season, Thought of at 11:38 p.m. on Title Night
1. Kansas
2. Michigan State
3. Texas
4. Kentucky
Correction on C.J. Henry-he was not given a scholarship by Memphis, rather he is a non-scholarship player whose college costs are provided by the Yankees per his contract agreement