Daily Skinny (Aug. 19)-Memory Lane, 2010 recruiting rankings, a brief look at Butler

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coolhandgopher

coolhandgopher

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Some pretty interesting stuff today. . .

Call it a puff piece, but I really enjoyed this article from Sports Illustrated on the 25 Things We Miss in Hoops. While it doesn’t focus entirely on college hoops (and honestly, does anyone miss the Houston Comets?), a great amount is given to our favorite sport. Glad to see Al McGuire at the number one spot:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/specials/remember-when/basketball/25things.html?eref=T1

Max Preps’ released an early 2010 recruiting rankings and what it tells us is that our Big Ten opponents are going to be formidable moving forward; Ohio State (#1), Illinois (#4), Purdue (#6) and Michigan State (#8) all crack the top ten. It’s also nice to see Maryland recruiting well; not because I’m a Terrapins fan, but because if Gary Williams does well, it should eliminate the one suitor of Tubby Smith that Gopher fans are told they should worry about.
http://www.maxpreps.com/news/23cq64...mas-lead-mattas-latest-haul-at-ohio-state.htm

Well, at least Cory Joseph will have plenty of talent to distribute the ball to on his “high school” team. Honestly, isn’t this Findlay Prep team getting a bit ridiculous?
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/highschool/news/story?id=4407971

Have you heard of Gordon Hayward? I hadn’t before the summer began, but as it turns out the Butler forward may be the best player on the court when the Gophers face the Bulldogs on Thanksgiving. This snippet tells us a win against Butler won’t be easy but it would be impressive:
http://community.foxsports.com/goodmanonfox/blog/2009/08/18/haywards_busy_summer_pacific_changes_
 

Cool,

I loved the top 25 Things We Miss In Hoops. Here are some things that I miss.

1. Defunct conferences like the Southwestern Conference (Texas, A&M, Baylor, Rice, Arkansas, etc.), and the Metro Conference (Louisville, Memphis, South Carolina, etc.)

2. The Independent Schools - Marquette, Notre Dame, DePaul, Dayton

3. The Buffalo Braves (now the LA Clippers via San Diego)

4. Lloyd later to become World B. Free

5. Red on Roundball - this was a halftime show on CBS during the 70's with Red Auerbach giving instructional tips featuring current NBA players.

6. The CBS theme songs - I liked their theme songs better than NBC

7. The Washington Bullets mascot - "Tiny" the dachshund who ran around the court pulling a wagon with a miniature cannon

8. The Philadelphia Spectrum PA Announcer - I think his name was Zeke Barkowski? I can still hear him announce Julius Errrrrrrrrving.

9. Arenas without luxury boxes or suites
 


Million,

Thanks for the name. I thought there was a "Z" in there somewhere.
 

One Thing I Miss

The freshman games - until 1973, all HS recruits played on frosh teams before moving up to varsity as sophomores.
 


I'll give you a few more things I miss:

The Runnin' Rebs of UNLV lead by Jerry Tarkanian. Larry Johnson, Stacey (Plasticman) Augmon, Greg Anthony, and Anderson Hunt were so fun to watch, and Moses Scurry was so fun to listen to (his loud scream after every rebound)

The Big Ten sidelines of the '80s. Bobby the General, Lou the 'Do, Jud Heathcote, Gene Keady, Dr. Tom Davis, Clem the Gem, Bill Frieder. . .some wonderful coaches, interesting personalities, and some intriguing feuds (Knight vs. Henson was the most public, if I recall)

The Metro Conference, which included Louisville, Memphis, UAB, and quite a few other teams that are foggy in my memory right now.

The celebrity dunk contest that was shown on Sunday afternoon college basketball games on ABC. I recall Mike Conley Sr., the Olympic triple jump champ, doing a sick dunk during one of those showcases.

Early round NCAA games on ESPN. Back when they weren't the evil empire, ESPN broadcast the opening round games and it seemed so much more fun than watching it on CBS.

Getting a note from my Mom to get out of school to watch the Gophers play in the tourney. Thanks Mom :).

The Big East Conference back when Patrick Ewing, Pearl Washington, Chris Mullin, Ed Pickney, Sherman Douglas, Dikembe Mutombo, Derrick Coleman, Michael Adams, and others battled for years amongst each other.

I'm sure there's more, but off the top of my head, those things I miss. . .
 

When it comes to former Gophers, a guy I really miss is Ray Williams, who seems to be totally forgotten now. He was the most spectacular Gopher I've ever seen -- he made a play in a practice that is still one of the most awesome plays I've witnessed in any sport. Mychal Thompson threw a long outlet pass out-of-bounds, it appeared, but Williams soared up to grap it with one hand and threw it down on the dead run. It was like Mychal was testing him -- he would never throw that wild of pass in an actual game.

As a senior, Ray Williams averaged 7.5 rebounds, 6.1 assists and 18.0 points (19.9 as a junior) on a 24-3 team -- and he had some nagging injuries that pulled those numbers down. Nobody in Gopher history can match all 3 of those averages.
 

MillionMoves said:
When it comes to former Gophers, a guy I really miss is Ray Williams, who seems to be totally forgotten now. He was the most spectacular Gopher I've ever seen -- he made a play in a practice that is still one of the most awesome plays I've witnessed in any sport. Mychal Thompson threw a long outlet pass out-of-bounds, it appeared, but Williams soared up to grap it with one hand and threw it down on the dead run. It was like Mychal was testing him -- he would never throw that wild of pass in an actual game.

As a senior, Ray Williams averaged 7.5 rebounds, 6.1 assists and 18.0 points (19.9 as a junior) on a 24-3 team -- and he had some nagging injuries that pulled those numbers down. Nobody in Gopher history can match all 3 of those averages.
Click to expand...
I remember Jim Dutcher (his coach) saying later that Ray was the most exiting player he ever coached. Dutcher said that when Ray had the ball, you knew something was going to happen .... and most of the time it was even something good.

(BTW, He picked George Garvin, at Eastern Michigan, over Mykal Thompson as the best player he ever coached.)
 

Mikie S said:
(BTW, He picked George Garvin, at Eastern Michigan, over Mykal Thompson as the best player he ever coached.)
Click to expand...

LMAO... I didn't know he did. Perhaps, it was an assessment immersed in diplomacy. :)
 



I think we have decent match-up with Butler. Their big guns are Matt Howard (PF), Gordon Hayward (a tall, proficient 3pt shooter playing 2 and 3), and Shelvin Mack (guard). We pose superior athleticism and depth to Howard, especially if we have Mbwake, and Hayward. Mack could be a match-up problem, but his last season stats show that he was inconsistent from perimeter. If DJ can contain Hayward, we have a good chance of beating them by applying pressure on the ball and devise a way to go uptempo, it seems. We can play tight perimeter defense as they don't appear to have great penetration capabilities. I guess more knowledgeable ppl can break down the match-up, but I am positive about the game though only based on the last year stats.

Butler info: http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/clubhouse?teamId=2086
 

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