Gopher Basketball
Golden Gopher Basketball
* I’m going to go with the old adage-if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all. Let’s move on.
The Big Ten
* I have said more than once that I thought Jamar Butler would be a great leader to the young Buckeyes this season and be the underrated element that could lead the Buckeyes to great heights. However, as the Buckeyes have ebbed a bit in their performance, it seems a large part of that is due to Butler’s struggles meshing with his new teammates. Perhaps he is either uncomfortable or unhappy ceding the point guard duties to Mike Conley, but he needs to get right for the Buckeyes to reach their vast potential.
* Marcus Landry only averages about 5 points and 3 rebounds per game, but with Alando Tucker and Kam Taylor’s eligibility coming to an end after this season, I anticipate Landry becoming the driving force for the Badgers starting next year. I think the correlation between Landry’s ineligiblity last year and the Badgers slide in the second half was very strong, as Landry has an all-around game and athleticism that can really stand out. He could be a key factor for the Badgers once the tournament begins.
* It has been assumed for some time that the Big Ten has two legitimate teams on the national scene with Wisconsin and Ohio State. I think Indiana needs to be added to that mix, as their play continues to impress. Kelvin Sampson’s ethics can be questioned, but his ability to instill toughness and defense cannot, and he’s made his veteran Hoosiers buy into his system.
* Michigan, Michigan, Michigan. . .I can already hear the cries of the pundits (lead by Vitale) when the Wolverines are left out of the tournament despite a gaudy record. On Saturday, they pummeled Purdue at home, a week after losing to the Boilermakers by double digits in West Lafayette. I can see Tommy Amaker’s squad finishing the Big Ten season at 10-6, winning most every game at home and beating the patsies on the road (they only play Sconny once this season, on the road). Combined with their 12-3 non-conference record, at first appearance, they’ll look pretty good-but on further examination you’ll see pastings put upon them by UCLA, Georgetown, Purdue, and (I’m going to assume) Ohio State, Wisconsin, and Indiana. They’ve started the Big Ten 4-1, but they have two games on the road this week versus Wisconsin and Indiana. If they come within ten against either squad, I’ll be suprised.
* If your memory is good, you may recall my soothsaying towards the end of last season in stating that Penn State may be a sleeper team in the Big Ten this year, with an outside chance of gaining a spot in the tourney. I hope your memory isn’t good. The Nittany Lions are once again awful, and they may offer the last, best chance for the Gophers to gain another Big Ten win when they visit Williams Arena this Saturday.
The National Scene
* The pub given to this year’s freshman class has been considerable and well-deserved, with Greg Oden and Kevin Durant garnering the most attention. But within this great class, there’s a story that hasn’t gotten its due, and will have a greater impact long-term than Oden, Durant, Chase Budinger, Brandan Wright and others who may look to the NBA very soon. That is the incredibly deep point guard class comprised of freshman. Let me give you ten names: Texas’ D.J. Augustin, Georgia Tech’s Javaris Crittendon, UNC’s Ty Lawson, Ohio State’s Mike Conley, Jr., Villanova’s Scottie Reynolds, Seton Hall’s Eugene Harvey, Tennessee’s Ramar Smith, Kansas’ Sherron Collins, Cincinnati’s Deonta Vaughn, and Maryland’s Greveis Vasquez. These ten point guards are vital players of their team’s rotation, some leading teams ranked in the top 25, the others keying their teams in major conferences. Let me give you ten other names: Baylor’s Demond Carter, Wake Forest’s Ismael Smith, Louisville’s Edgar Sosa and Jerry Smith, Oregon’s Tajuan Porter, Memphis’ Willie Kemp, Kentucky’s Derrick Jasper, Purdue’s Chris Kramer, Indiana’s Armon Bassett, and Notre Dame’s Tory Jackson. These players are also getting major minutes for their teams, perhaps not to the level of the first group of 10, but contributing positively to their teams.
That is twenty freshman point guards at major conference teams I have just ticked off-the number is astounding. Granted, some of these guys will early-entry for the NBA draft after this year or next, but over the course of the next three to four years I think we’re going to see some stellar college basketball teams lead by many of the players I just listed. When you think of college basketball, point guard is the key position; also keep in mind, college bb gurus often state that the biggest growth for players is between their freshman and sophomore seasons; also keep in mind, I just mined the major conferences and just the players putting up significant minutes and numbers this season. I would surmise that by 2010 there will be a few senior point guards from the Missouri Valley or West Coast Conference or elsewhere that will be providing sublime point guard play. (And if had to take one? Well, at this moment it would be Texas’ Augustin who forms quite a tandem with Durant in Austin-but a strong argument could persuade me for Lawson, Conley, Reynolds, or Collins.)
* A couple Rambles back, I sent out a recommendation to tune into any Boston College games you possibly could, so you could watch one of the most natural shot blockers I have ever seen in Sean Williams. Well, I hope you moved fast on that recommendation, because Williams got kicked off the BC squad this week, after yet another transgression in a long line of transgressions. Now it’s just a matter of seeing which NBA franchise latches onto this bad seed (I’ll take the Trail Blazers in the pool). Speaking of idiotic behavior, Louisville freshman center Derrick Caracter who was just coming off a suspension from Rick Pitino was not brought along to play against DePaul.
* In the midst of so many great games, this tidbit got lost in the shuffle. The Big 12 and Pac 10 agreed to set up a preseason matchup much like the ACC-Big 10 challenge. Of course, the leagues are looking at this to give themselves more exposure and better RPI’s, which should only benefit college basketball fans. A couple of the headliners next season will be Texas at UCLA and Texas A&M visiting Arizona.
* No matter your feelings towards North Carolina or Roy Williams, you have to admit that the thought of the Tar Heels trotting out a ten deep lineup comprised of gazelles is an intimidating prospect for any squad lining up against them. Roy seems to have rejected the premise that you only want seven or eight good players so as to not create dissent. Still, I’m curious how the young Tar Heels might match up against a rugged defensive team such as Texas A&M.
* Speaking of which, can the Aggies get some national TV attention? On Saturday night, while the Tar Heels were blowing out Georgia Tech, A&M was dismantling Oklahoma State, limiting the Cowboys to 49 points. This was the second occasion this season where A&M was facing another top 10 team (previously versus LSU) and they were not nationally broadcast. They deserve airtime.
* So, it’s Tuesday night and I feel a bad cold approaching. I’m watching Texas play at Oklahoma State, and although it’s a compelling game in a great arena, I force myself to get to bed midway through the second half, telling myself that the young Longhorns will surely wilt towards the end and OK State will pull away by ten points or so. I wake up the next morning to discover the game went to triple overtime, that Durant and Mario Boggans went wild, and I still felt like crud. Lesson learned-never choose your health over a good college basketball game. Damn cold.
* Yes, Arizona has lost three straight in Pac-10 play, the first time this has occurred since Lute Olson’s first season in Tucson. Should they be worried? Seeing as how they have come against Oregon (this year’s Villanova) and on the road at USC and UCLA, I don’t think the Zona faithful should overreact. However, the Wildcats basically have five players who contribute consistently. In the rugged Pac-10, that could lead to trouble.
* Perhaps his game winning shot against Georgia yesterday will get Ronald Steele on track and he can begin leading his potent Alabama teammates towards the upper echelon of college basketball. Steele was the consensus pre-season All-American at point guard, but he has been limited by nagging injuries and the Crimson Tide have been wildly inconsistent (twenty point losses to both Arkansas and Vanderbilt lately). If Steele gets right, they have as good a makeup as any team in the nation-two legitimate studs on the low blocks (Jamereo Davidson and Richard Hendrix), athletic wings who can score (Alonzo Gee and Mykal Riley) and well, an All-American point guard. Watch out for the Tide.
* Two V teams-Vandy and Villanova-made strong moves this past week to be included in the fray for the final 64. Vanderbilt is 3-1 in their past three games, having defeated Tennessee and Alabama at home and Kentucky on the road in that stretch. Meanwhile, Nova is being keyed by their freshman point guard Reynolds, defeating both Notre Dame and Texas this week. The win versus the Longhorns was particularly impressive, as the Wildcats were without their senior leader Curtis Sumpter for the game, and Shane Clark was able to do what no one has been able to do in containing Kevin Durant, limiting him to just 12 shots for the game.
* With Marquette’s win at Pittsburgh on Sunday, they have won on the road against Connecticut, Louisville, and Pitt consecutively. Even though he had an uneven game, at the end Dominic James was burying two clutch free throws to win the game in OT. No point guard is having a better year than Oregon’s Aaron Brooks, but if you asked me who I wanted at the point, I’d be hard pressed to pick someone other than James.
* Perhaps I’m taking on the qualities of a broken record on this, but to reiterate-there are going to be some legitimately good teams left out of this year’s Big Dance. The NIT might actually provide some quality competition this season.
* I’m not for sure that anyone else caught this game a couple weeks ago, but if you were watching St. John’s play, you couldn’t miss Anthony Mason Jr. leading the Red Storm. Yes, the son of the former Knick and Hornets player whose barber would shave messages into his head and the same man who feuded with coaches and police officers in the early ’90s. I was amazed that one of Mase’s progenies was old enough to be playing college ball, but I then figured Mason, Sr. may have sired his namesake at age 14 or something-nope, a little internet research revealed that the older Mason was the ripe age of 21 when young Mason was born. This was just another case of me really feeling my age-seemed just like yesterday that I was watching Mason, Sr. thug up the NBA.
* Bruce Pearl and the rest of Tennessee Volunteer fans are holding their collective breath over the status of Chris Lofton, who had to be carried off early into yesterday’s game against South Carolina due to an injured right ankle. He’s out indefinitely and x-rays are going to be performed Monday. Without an effective Lofton, there’s no way they can work their way through the brutal SEC schedule to a NCAA berth.
* Does anyone else think that Jay Bilas goes home and watches tape after tape of Joe Buck? He seems intent on cornering the smug, know-it-all role in college basketball commentating. I used to be neutral towards Bilas, but this season in particular he seems to be particularly strident in his viewpoints, unwilling to consider other p.o.v.’s.
Games of the Week
Monday
Oklahoma vs. Oklahoma St.-Although there’s many games on the schedule, there’s not too many attractive ones-but this intrastate rivalry game should be interesting in Gallagher-Iba Arena. The Sooners could enter bubble talk with a win versus the Cowboys here.
runner-up:Connecticut vs. Louisville-Two traditional powers not used to clinging to NCAA hopes meet up at Freedom Hall.
Tuesday
Indiana vs. Illinois-Several intriguing match-ups on the calendar tonight, but this game has the best back story. Kelvin Sampson plays his first game at Assembly Hall as Indiana coach, on the heels of swiping top Illini recruit Eric Gordon. The environment promises to be tense.
runner-up-Northern Iowa vs. Southern Illinois-This might actually be the best game played in Illinois this night. In the MVC dogfight, Northern Iowa will try to gain a little separation from the pack in Carbondale.
Wednesday
Texas A&M vs. Texas Tech-Another night of intriguing matchups is lead by this game which promises to be a defensive struggle. A&M tries to maintain their perfect record in the Big 12 on the Red Raiders’ home court.
runner-up-Vanderbilt vs. LSU-Vandy tries to continue its great run against the enigmatic Bayou Bengals. LSU has been vulnerable on their home court this seaon.
Thursday
Clemson vs. Duke-The Tigers got taken apart by the UNC buzzsaw at Chapel Hill last week, but they could go a long ways towards second place in the ACC and a high seed in the tourney by beating the Dukies in Cameron.
runner-up-USC vs. Stanford-Lost in the great season the Pac 10 has been having is the emergence of Stanford as the potential sixth team from the conference to earn a NCAA berth. To do so, they need to win games like this at home.
Friday
Check out your local high school teams or treat your significant other to a night away from college basketball.
Saturday
North Carolina vs. Arizona-No one wants to face the Tar Heels after a three game slide in conference, but this is what faces Lute Olson. Perhaps the last significant non-conference game before the tournament, it should be an amazing display of great basketball talents.
runner-up-Oregon vs. Washington State-When the season began, I’m certain no one thought this game in Pullman would garner any notice-but two of the more surprising teams on the national scene take each other on in a key Pac 10 matchup.
second runner-up-VCU vs. Drexel. I couldn’t resist throwing this game into the mix, I’m not for sure how many bids the Colonial Athletic Association will get, but it will likely include one of these teams, if not both. VCU takes its undefeated conference record to Drexel.
Sunday
Virginia Tech vs. Georgia Tech-Va Tech has slayed Duke and UNC this season, but have stumbled against lesser opponents. I anticipate both of these teams being close to the bubble come March, and a win here for either could be significant on their resume.
runner-up-Tennessee vs. Kentucky-This is a hard game to judge with Chris Lofton’s status uncertain, but if he’s healthy, it should be a nice matchup between two teams contending for a NCAA berth. If nothing else, we’ll likely be treated to plenty of airtime for Ashley Judd.
Odds and Sods
* Before last Wednesday night’s game, my girlfriend and I visited Pizza Luce for the first time, seeing as how they’ve recently opened a spot in St. Paul. I have to say, I was pretty underwhelmed. The buzz around this place has been persistent since I’ve moved to the Twin Cities, so my anticipation was high. Granted, we did not order one of their signature pizzas, opting instead for pasta dishes which were quite bland. We took the leap in our minds that if we found the sauce on the pasta to be bland, it would likely hold true for the pizzas. I assume much of their buzz has to do with their unique pizzas, but I likely won’t travel back to indulge.
* While visiting Milwaukee last weekend, we went with some friends to watch Notes on a Scandal, starring Judi Dench and Cate Blanchett. If you’re looking for a movie where Blanchett acts like a ninny, a scene where Dench is soaking in a bathtub (no bubbles), and an unsettling lesbian subplot, this is the movie for you!
* Alright Gopher and college basketball fans-endure our program, know it can only go up, and enjoy the rest of the fabulous action out there. Until next Sunday. . .