Gopher Basketball
Gophers Hoops
* I’ll recycle a line that I used in a post earlier this week-if Gophers hoops cannot be found anywhere on the tube, do they exist? Certainly doesn’t seem so, in the sense of what is garnering the public’s attention. When Monson was fired, I was a proponent of going the mid-major route and getting a solid up and coming program builder rather than going for a big name (except for Flip Saunders). Whether it’s Saunders, Rick Majerus, Bob Knight , or some other known quantity, I think such a coach would put the program back on the TV screens. It’s apparent that Joel Maturi cannot do much in this regard.
* Brandon Smith, you might want to seriously assess matters and work on some New Year’s resolutions. You’re about to give up a tremendous opportunity for an education that you were fortunate wasn’t pulled from you when you quit your high school basketball team your senior year.
* I’m afraid the saga of Smith might be one the Gopher program feels for some time, as if he decides to leave the team, I don’t have much confidence he will leave in good academic standing. That cannot help the team’s academic progress.
Big Ten
* Now that Dan Monson is surveying the stock market for potato investments, Tommy Amaker can step into the breach as Big Ten coach under the most pressure. Michigan lost to an underwhelming Georgetown team at home by sixteen points on Saturday afternoon and he did so with a starting lineup of four seniors and one junior. We often bemoaned the lack of an identity or mental toughness from our Gophers during the Monson era, and watching the Wolverines play, I see the same qualities, or lack thereof. I heard during Saturday’s game that Amaker’s contract is through 2011. . .it will be interesting to see if Michigan eats that contract or not, and tries another stab at getting back to being a player on the national scene again.
* No matter your feelings about Michigan’s Fab Five from back in the day (I was a fan at the time, I must admit), as you watch young teams struggle to come together as cohesive units today, you have to come away impressed with what they accomplished as freshman and sophomores. To counter the argument, yes, they never did claim the Big Ten title during their two years together, never won anything for that matter, but they did advance to the national championship game both seasons, at a time when every other elite squad were comprised of veterans-today, it seems that every major conference team is pretty young, save for the Florida Gators. As I watch the occasional struggles of Kansas, Georgia Tech, and Ohio State, I am often reminded of the Fab Five and how they revolutionized college hoops.
* I’m getting to this a bit late, but in case you haven’t heard, Bruce Weber has gotten a verbal commitment from high school freshman Jereme Richmond who a Illinois prep columnist touts as one of the top five prep talents in Illinois, regardless of class. One wonders if Kelvin Sampson has begun sniffing around Richmond yet. If you haven’t heard, Sampson poached high school senior Eric Gordon from an Illini commitment this fall. Let’s hope the Indiana-Illinois game on January 23rd is a national broadcast, I’d guess the atmosphere could be just a bit tense.
National Scene
* So far this season, I’ve thrown roses at the feet of the SEC, ACC, and Missouri Valley Conference. I’ve stated the Big 12 is the most intriguing conference of them all. But it took Billy Packer of all people to make me realize that the Pac-10 is the best conference as of right now. This was reaffirmed by watching a full slate of Pac 10 games yesterday afternoon. So, you can accuse me of having Midwest (Pig’s Eye Lake) coast bias in overlooking the Pac 10. They’re quite the formidable collection though-UCLA could be the best team in the nation, Arizona looks like they could be a Final Four team , Washington State looks to be very tough to beat after an impressive trip down to Los Angeles (a heartbreaking loss against UCLA followed by a gritty, tough win against USC), USC seems to be pretty formidable with the mid-season eligibility of Gabe Pruitt, Oregon is a very interesting team, and Washington has what looks to be a NBA front line. As RPI Guy pointed out earlier this week, the only weak teams seem to be Oregon State and Arizona State, with the Bay Area teams Stanford and California pretty solid squads too. When you watch these teams play, they don’t remind you of the athletic, skilled teams, but perhaps a bit soft from the ’80s and ’90s that ultimately folded against tough teams-UCLA, Washington State, and USC all play suffocating defense. The Pac-10 could produce six NCAA teams this year, which is quite impressive for a ten team league.
* Speaking of Oregon, an interesting subplot seems to be developing. The assumption was made that Ernie Kent would be joining Monson and others in seeking employment after this season, but that was before the Ducks reeled off a 12-0 start to the season. As just stated, they’re playing in a very difficult league and I don’t know how their four guard lineup that includes 5’6″ freshman Tajuan Porter will hold up in conference play, but what does the Oregon athletic director do if Kent leads them to 20+ wins and a NCAA berth? Whispers about Mike Montgomery coming to Eugene have been pretty audible, but would a successful season by Kent buy him an extension? Would Montgomery begin looking elsewhere? Was he visiting Wadena with his wife over the holidays and thinking to himself, ‘this wouldn’t be too bad’? Cause for my money, if it was realistic that Montgomery would come to the “U” he’s the best, most qualified candidate out there with the fewest amount of questions surrounding him, except I have assumed his interest in coming to Minnesota is non-existant.
* Washington looks to be one of those teams that has a great frontcourt (freshman forward Quincy Pondexter, sophomore power forward Jon Brockman, and freshman center Spencer Hawes, who’s starting to put up huge numbers) with a suspect backcourt. Georgetown seems to be suffering the same fate with Roy Hibbert and Jeff Green. The old axiom that guards rule college basketball seem to doom these teams, who have been up and down before conference play begins, which is never a good thing.
* Staying out west, here’s my most likely candidate for mid-major coach to cash in and move up to a high major job at the end of the season-Nevada’s Mark Fox. Fox’s Nevada squad is very good, but lead by seniors Nick Fazekas and Kyle Shiloh and juniors Ramon Sessions and Marcellus Kemp. It’s tough to imagine that Fox will ever be in a better position than at the end of this season, but we once were saying the same things about Mark Few-perhaps Fox will try to establish a similar legacy as Few is doing.
* If there is one player on the college scene who I would recommend for you to watch this season, you may be surprised, but it would be Boston College’s Sean Williams blocking shots for the Eagles. They are having a puzzling, inconsistent season, but Williams is incredible defending the glass. Even though they lost to Duquesne (yes, the same team that suffered from having several team members shot in the off-season), Williams had a triple double with 19 pts, 10 rebounds, and 13 blocked shots. He’s averaging over 6 blocks per game, and not just doing it against the dregs of D-1-10 blocks against Providence, 7 blocks against Kansas, 7 blocks against Maryland. He’s an artist when it comes to defending the hoop, maybe the best I’ve seen.
* When Rick Pitino took the helm at Louisville, was there anyone out there who didn’t assume that he would vault them to the top of the conference and national standings and be perennial contenders for the national championship? These past couple seasons have been pretty stunning to witness, as it seems that Pitino on the college sidelines was about as sure a thing as there is out there. I’m not shovelling dirt on him, but I am quite surprised the Cardinals have struggled like they have-I’m guessing there are quite a few Louisville fans wondering the same thing.
* Time to take a question from the mailbag:
Dr.Cool,
After 2 months of your astute observations, which four teams would you say we are most likely to see in Atlanta, and why?
Dan & Bill from Moscow
First off, I’m just glad you guys didn’t ask me if Brokeback Mountain 2 is being green-lit. Onto your question, and it’s actually a pretty easy one for me at this point in time, cause I think there are four teams that are head and shoulders above the rest of the nation as we head into conference play.
UCLA-The Bruins are incredibly skilled and play lockdown defense. They’ve been to the title game and have that experience to draw upon. They have players who can create their own shots and break down defenses in Aaron Affalo, Josh Shipp, and Darren Collison. A deserving #1.
Florida-The defending champs served notice against Ohio State that they still need to be reckoned with. The post combination of Joakim Noah and Al Horford can only be matched by a handful of teams, and none of those teams have a point guard as experienced and talented as Tauren Green. Throw Corey Brewer, Lee Humphrey and a talented bench into the fray along with their experience and I’d be surprised if they’re not in the Final Four.
North Carolina-I don’t think there’s a more talented group of players in the nation, as this team goes eleven deep and runs, runs, and runs some more. They might be able to match up on the frontline with Florida and they have an incredibly talented backcourt lead by Tyson Lawson and Wayne Ellington. I am a bit concerned about their youth, but I think they should be pretty overwhelming and confident by the time we step into March.
Ohio State-Even with the blowout at Florida, I think this team will be among your Final Four teams, with Greg Oden increasingly gaining strength and the other Buckeyes adjusting to play with their massive center. A relatively weak Big 10 should allow the Buckeyes to gain confidence and continuity heading into March.
Other prime contenders: Oklahoma State (I like this team a lot), Wisconsin, Arizona, Kansas, Alabama, and sleeper candidate Marquette.
* I don’t know if anyone else caught the Duke-Kent State the week before Christmas, but if you did, it was so pleasant-Len Elmore was the color commentator rather than Dick Vitale and while he praised the Blue Devils, he also gave an honest critique of the team and its players and acknowledged they had things they needed to work on. At times it was comical, as Elmore was matched up with Mike Patrick, another Duke sycophant who is used to Vitale by his side for these games. Elmore would not play into the overly effusive praise that Patrick was lauding upon the Dukies, such as Patrick’s comment that Josh McRoberts can be “scary good”. Anyway, it was very refreshing and made watching a Duke game actually palatable.
* Last Ramble I plugged Gary Parrish from cbs sportsline, this week I’m going to recommend reading Grant Wahl’s column at si.com. His weekly column is always very insightful and he also gives some movie reviews on non mainstream choices that are intriguing.
Odds and Sods
* As I’ve been working on the Ramble, I’ve jumped over to the board and discovered that Grinnin’ Glen Mason has been relieved of his duties. I’m no Masonite, but can someone explain this timing? Did anything occur Friday night that wasn’t apparent over the past several years? I’m sure glad they extended his contract last year, so limited athletic money can be spent on buying him out, potentially buying out another contract, and doing all this while also searching for a Gophers basketball head coach. As stated, I’m no fan of Mason, but I’m really nervous about how this operation has been approaching the high profile coaching positions the past couple years. They must be operating under the assumption that the new football stadium has opened up the budget to make big changes. I sure hope they are right, if they don’t step right in their next two hirings, it could set back the basketball and football, and ultimately the entire athletic department for years to come.
* I just hope Ziggy Wilf is not asked to be part of the search committee for the new coach in either sport. Sure was a good thing they rushed out to get Brad Childress last year, isn’t it? It’s been as bad a Vikings season on-field that I can recall heading back to ’83 and I expect Chilly to be back next year. My first really bad vibe towards Chilly came during training camp, when there was a Vikings preview show on FSN after a Twins game and he was being interviewed. One of the questions was how his family was adjusting to life in Minnesota and he could not recall where his son was attending college (Normandale CC, he finally came out with). It was a small moment that made me wonder about this guy’s ability to communicate. Evidently, it was an indication to be concerned.
* Alright, enough football talk. . .here’s another non-basketball book recommendation. For Minnesota Twins fans or generally just interested in Minnesota sports or baseball, I recently finished Cool of the Evening by Jim Thielman. It is an overview of the 1965 Minnesota Twins season and delves into the various players, coaches, and environment in which the season played out. It was fascinating reading for me, as it’s so hard to find books like this on teams that play outside of New York, Boston, or Chicago. Thielman is a former AP columnist whose writing style I enjoy a lot, and as stated, put the 1965 season into a good context in what else was occurring in Minnesota that year (for instance, I never knew that at this point in time, St. Paul followed daylight savings time, but Minneapolis did not). I found the book at a used bookstore earlier this fall, and was quite surprised to come across it-it was originally released when I was working at a bookstore, but I never saw it grace our shelves. There aren’t any cheap copies through amazon, but you can go directly to the website kirkhouse.com and find the book under “baseball”.
* My recommended ITunes download for the week is Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings’ “How Long Do I Have to Wait for You?”. While scrolling through the celebrity playlists I found this song recommended by TV on the Radio and it immediately made me think I missed out on one of the great soul singers from the ’70s who emerged from the South. However, the song is from her second album which was released in 2005. Doing a little research, I found out she’s from Augusta, Georgia, the same hometown as James Brown, so there’s a little symmetry for you with the “Godfather of Soul” passing away this week. You can also catch a performance of this song from an appearance on Conan O’Brien’s show by going to her website.
* Okay, I better start cleaning myself up for the New Year. Hope you all have a safe night out there, and here’s to a great 2007!