Gopher Basketball
A question that you should say yes to
Once in your life
Maybe tonight I’ve got a question for you
The lyrics from the Old ’97s “Question” have been running through my mind all day today, as I decided to switch things up a bit and do a little bit different format for this week’s Ramble. Now, my questions are quite a bit different than what dreamy Rhett Miller had in mind when he penned the lyrics to this song, but I have more than one college basketball related question that have been bouncing around in my mind, so tonight I have several questions for you (along with a couple questions from the readers and the games of the week). Onto the Ramble. . .
The Golden Gophers
Which Gopher basketball player was before your time who you would have loved to have seen play, rather than just hear the stories?
Well, I basically became a Gopher fan at the age of 9, back in 1982 with the likes of Trent Tucker, Daryl Mitchell, Randy Breuer, Cookie Holmes and others. So there are several candidates for this designation-Mychal Thompson, Ray Williams, Kevin McHale, Mark Olberding, Jim Brewer, to name a few. The guy I’m going to go with though is “Sweet” Lou Hudson. From the little I know about Hudson, it sounds as if he was a sublime talent who played above the rim like few others have had the capability to do so with the Golden Gophers.
Although not a particular player, I also would have like to have been at Williams Arena in the Bill Musselman era when the Gophers had the elaborate Sweet Georgia Brown routine in warming up for the games, working the crowd into a frenzy (or so I hear/read).
What was the highlight of the Dan Monson era?
I know the highlights were few during the Monson era, but there were some moments that stand out. I know for many, there were some great moments early on when Monson was coach, but I was living deep in the heart of Wisconsin and had limited access to Golden Gophers hoops at the time. For many, the Vincent Grier breakout game versus Wisconsin will be ranked #1, but for me it is #2, largely because I was watching the game on my couch. My #1 game was when the Gophers took on Georgia and Michael Bauer hit that game winning three that bounced all over the rim as time ticked away to zero. After that shot fell through, it was pure pandemonium in the Barn and it ranks as the best sporting event I have caught live in my life.
The Big Ten
In my 25 years or so following the Big Ten, what was the best team I have seen (besides the ’97 Golden Gophers)?
Naturally, you would think I would select the ’87 Indiana Hoosiers, the ’89 Michigan Wolverines, or the 2000 Michigan State Spartans since these are the three teams which have won national championships from the Big Ten in that timespan. However, none of those teams hits the mark as the best team for me (and I realize this is pretty subjective-as a kid, I really hated Indiana, so I could never look at them with the objectivity I should have). Instead, it comes down to two teams from the Champaign-Urbana campus-the ’89 Illini and the ’05 Illini. That Illini team from ’05 was pure joy to watch from a basketball purist standpoint, the unselfishness and willingness to share the ball from Deron Williams, Dee Brown, Luther Head, James Augustine, and Roger Powell ranking among the best teams I’ve ever laid eyes on. Unfortunately, they fell just short against Carolina in the title game. But, I’m not going to pick this version of the Illini-instead I’m going with the ’89 model which was lead by Kendall Gill, Kenny Battle, Steve Bardo, Marcus Liberty, and Nick Anderson. They were an incredibly entertaining, fast breaking jolt of energy which amazingly enough, did not win the Big Ten that year (Indiana did) and got beat by another Big Ten team in the Final Four semi-final that year when red-hot Glen Rice lead Michigan past the Illini in a classic. Perhaps memory places this squad too high, but to me they were the best Big Ten team I’ve seen over my years.
The National Scene
Let’s say you were asked to pick the top 5 teams in men’s college basketball history. Which of these 6 teams would you eliminate-Kentucky, UNC, UCLA, Kansas, Duke, Indiana?
Well, let’s take a look at each of the candidates:
Kentucky-1926 wins, #1 all-time; 7 NCAA titles, most recent in ’98
UNC-1883 wins, #2 all-time; 4 NCAA titles, most recent in ’05
Kansas-1873 wins, #3 all-time; 2 NCAA titles, most recent in ’88
Duke-1796 wins, #4 all-time; 3 NCAA titles, most recent in ’01
Indiana-1589 wins, #9 all-time; 5 NCAA titles, most recent in ’87
UCLA-1581 wins, #11 all-time; 11 NCAA titles, most recent in ’95
Looking at this, immediately I keep Kentucky and UNC in my top five; although UCLA has the least amount of wins, they have the most titles by far, and may pass Indiana this season in the wins column (these numbers are from the end of ’06 season), so the Bruins make it three. So for two slots, we have three teams-Kansas, Duke, and Indiana. Seeing as how Indiana has the same number of titles that Kansas and Duke have combined, I’m compelled to add them to the mix, although it’s a tenous grip; it helps that they have the last undefeated season in D-1 ball and also that Bobby Knight won the majority of his record number games with the Hoosiers. So, it comes down to Duke and Kansas.
Separated by 77 wins and one title, it’s a bit of a toss-up. However, then I look at the year both programs began-Kansas in 1899, Duke in 1906 and I see a difference of seven years, so I lean slightly towards the Dukies. . .but then those seven years diminish somewhat because the most games Kansas ever played in those years previous to the Dukies playing was fifteen games. So. . .what does it come down to? It comes down to the Dukies recent run of success. Duke’s three NCAA titles have all occurred in the years since Kansas won their last title in ’88. To cover every angle, I even took a look at past NIT champions, back when the NIT meant something but neither program won a NIT title, so that doesn’t skew matters at all. So, sigh, the Dukies get slot #5-although if Kansas were to win their third NCAA title this year, they’d bounce the Dukies. . .and Indiana should probably start getting back to really being relevant on the national scene.
Do the accomplishments of NCAA champions prior to 1985 (when the NCAA’s were expanded to 64 teams) lose any of their luster because of less games needed to win the championship?
From 1939-50, there were eight teams in the NCAA tourney.
’51-52: sixteen teams
’53-74: twenty four teams
’75-78: thirty-two teams, ’75 was first time more than one conference team were eligible (2 per conference was limit)
’79: forty teams
’80-82: forty-eight teams
’83: 52 teams
’84: 53 teams
’85-present: 64 teams if you ignore play-in game
Up until 1950, teams had to win three games in the tournament to claim the NCAA title; from ’51-74, a team had to win four games to claim the title; ’75-84, five games (except for ’83 champ NC State, which won a play-in game); and from ’85 present, six games.
Now, I’ll immediately address the first argument; yes, for that sixth win from ’85 to present, most champions have laid claim to an easy victory over a 16, 15, or 14 seed. However, perhaps more significant than that win is that these future national champs were on an equal field as every other team in the tournament. While byes existed for the top ranked teams previous to ’84, the only champion I can think of that did not benefit from having that first game off was NC State. All other champs were well-rested for their first games versus their opposition.
The most significant development for the NCAA tournament was when they opened the gates to more than one team per conference in 1975; I believe this was in response to the supposed second best team from 1974, Maryland, not even making the tournament as they were defeated in a classic ACC championship final against the eventual national champion, NC State. In 1980, limits to the number of teams eligible per conference were eliminated.
Let’s take a look at NCAA champs since 1985 and see which teams would not have been eligible to win the title prior to 1975:
1985 Villanova
1988 Kansas
1989 Michigan
1997 Arizona
2002 Maryland
2003 Syracuse
2005 North Carolina
So, in the 22 years since the field expanded to 64 teams, seven teams who would not have been eligible back in 1974 have won the NCAA title. Almost 1/3 of these champs would not have had the opportunity to compete for the title.
Does this diminish at all the accomplishments of those NCAA champions from 1974 and previous? Certainly not. The regular season and the conference tournaments meant a lot more back then and demanded more of the “cream rising to the top”. A team such as the ’05 Tar Heels, who slacked off in the post-season conference tournament because they knew a #1 seed was assured, would be left as an underachieving disappointment. However, it does make for some interesting conjecture-would UCLA have strung together seven straight championships if they would have had to win six games rather than four, and perhaps against a great #2 team from the ACC or Big Ten? My guess is that the NCAA record books would look severely different from what we see today.
If I could start a college basketball program with a (relatively) young coach, who would I select?
Six names immediately come to mind-Ben Howland, Jamie Dixon, Billy Gillespie, Jay Wright, Billy Donovan, and Thad Matta. Howland is the oldest of the bunch at 50 and Matta’s the youngest at 40 (amazing to me-just by looks, I’d put his age right behind Howland’s). Among this crew, Donovan has a national title and another trip to a NCAA final game. Howland has one trip to a NCAA title game, and the rest have not yet advanced to a Final Four.
I have long been a huge fan of Howland, and Wright’s resurrection job at Villanova really impressed me last year. Gillespie has forced himself into the conversation after an amazing job at Texas A&M, Matta has made the scandal of Jim O’Brien a distant memory, and Dixon has elevated the Pitt program after Howland left, not an easy task.
I was forever a critic of Billy Donovan, until last year; I thought Lon Kruger paved a nice path for him in Gainesville, and I figured playing at a high profile campus in Florida made things even easier. As a really young coach in 2000, he took the Gators to the national championship game, amidst a swirl of rumors and contentions that Donovan wasn’t exactly clean (I forget what coach in the SEC, but I recall a veteran coach in the league more or less stating that Donovan’s recruiting tactics had to be dirty). That followed with years of early exits from the NCAA tournament, and I was making jokes last season in the Ramble how the Gators were very talented, but would have to overcome their head coach. Well, consider everything I said retracted. Donovan’s track record at age 42 is damn impressive and he could be staring at a second straight national championship. As impressive as all the other guys are, they don’t have the resume Donovan has, and he did all this while winning at a traditional football school, and a program that was hovering around the .500 mark in career wins before he came along.
Who’s the next Gonzaga?
In asking this question, I’m asking which mid-major basketball program will transcend that designation and become known as another basketball power. There are several candidates out there-Southern Illinois, Butler, Wichita State, UNLV, Air Force, Northern Iowa, UW-Milwaukee, to name a few. The team I’m going to select though is Nevada-and that’s largely contingent on their head coach Mark Fox sticking around (just as Gonzaga’s success was dependent on Mark Few staying on in Spokane). Nevada carries many of the same characteristics that Gonzaga possesses-close distance to the fertile basketball talent on the West Coast, a dominating presence in their conference, and a developing pipeline to the NBA (first Kirk Snyder, next Nick Fazekas, then Ramon Sessions and possibly Marcelius Kemp). Of course, Utah had an even better thing going just a few years ago and then Rick Majerus left-it’s always a tenous hold for the mid-major programs.
If you could take an All-American squad from each year, which team would come out on top?
This question actually spurred on the genesis of this week’s column. Let’s break it down and see who we have from each year:
Seniors
PG Aaron Brooks, Oregon
SG Morris Almond, Rice
SF Alando Tucker, Wisconsin
C Aaron Gray, Pitt
PF Nick Fazekas, Nevada
sixth man
PF-SF Jared Dudley, Boston College
Juniors
PG Taureen Green, Florida
SG Aaron Afflalo, UCLA
SF Corey Brewer, Florida
C Al Horford, Florida
PF Glen Davis, LSU
sixth man
SG Chris Lofton, Tennessee
Sophomores
PG Dominic James, Marquette
SG Chris Douglas-Roberts, Memphis
SF Maurice Williams, Arizona
C Richard Hendrix, Alabama
PF Tyler Hansborough, North Carolina
sixth man
PF Julian Wright, Kansas
Freshman
PG D.J. Augustin, Texas
SG Patrick Beverley, Arkansas
SF Kevin Durant, Texas
C Greg Oden, Ohio State
PF Brandan Wright, North Carolina
sixth man
SF Chase Budinger, Arizona
Now, you could quibble with some of these selections (where’s Joakim Noah? how bout the other UNC freshman? Augustin over Conley?), but I’m not here to quibble. Here’s what I see. . .
I think the sophomore class is the weakest going, which makes sense since much of that class knew the age requirements were coming for this year’s freshman class, so they elected early for the NBA draft. Also, the junior class is obviously heavy on Florida Gators-I easily could have included Noah on this team.
To me, I would love to see the matchup between the seniors and the freshman. The seniors all are having great seasons and have that veteran savvy-meanwhile the freshman have the top best talents in the college game in Durant and Oden. I think the senior backcourt would give them the edge though, and their sixth man Dudley would put them over the top.
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Alright. . .wow, it’s getting late, I’m going to take one question from the mailbag:
Which CBS announcing team would you most like to see come to the Barn next Sunday for Gopher/Buckeye tilt?
J Nantz
Monterrey, CA
Thanks for the question Jim, but I’m afraid I’m going to disappoint you-you wouldn’t be making the trip to Williams Arena if I had my druthers. I would go with your colleagues Verne Lundquist and Bill Raftery. I know there’s plenty out there who don’t enjoy Raftery’s schtick, but I love listening to the old Irishman. I love his corny jokes, his quick little quips, and his analysis of the game. I especially like him paired with Lundquist, who sounds like Santa Claus laughing at Raftery’s jokes.
If not those two, I’d take Gus Johnson and Len Elmore. Johnson could make Engen Nurumbi sound like an All-American, and Elmore always delivers a solid broadcast.
Picks of the Week
I’m going to go through these quite quickly also-my apologies for the rapid run-through.
Monday
Santa Clara vs. Gonzaga-Two top teams in WCC square off.
runner up
West Virginia vs. Georgetown
Tuesday
Southern Illinois vs. Missouri St-would be a good win for Mizzou State in NCAA bid
runner up
UNLV vs. San Diego State-SDSU attempts to knock off another top team at home after crushing Air Force last week
Wednesday
Indiana vs. Purdue-The Boilermakers try avenging their huge loss earlier in the season and advance their NCAA hopes against their biggest rivals
runner up
Duke vs. Boston College-I just want to see Duke lose five in a row-they have a great chance to do so against Dudley and his crew.
Thursday
USC vs. Arizona-The Wildcats try to continue their resurgence tonight
runner up
don’t bother-a bunch of dog match-ups tonight
Friday
Winthrop vs. Missouri State-thank goodness for the bracket busters.
Saturday
Southern Illinois vs. Butler-headline match-up of the bracket busters.
runner up
North Carolina vs. Boston College-showdown for top spot in ACC.
Sunday
Uggh, not a great day, lots of mediocre ACC action, with the best of the bunch:
Maryland vs. Clemson
Alright, I know I got a bit sloppy at the end tonight, but sometimes when you’re rambling, that’ll happen. Have a good week everyone, and here’s to David (Gophers) slaying two Goliaths (Sconny and the Buckeyes-yikes!)