General NCAA Basketball Thread 2009/2010

[Rock Chalk]

Since everyone seems to be putting up a general "sports" thread. Im going to start my second favorite sport early enough so Im the thread starter.

Run down, for those who haven't caught up.

John Calipari of the Memphis Tigers gets his 2nd Final Four appearance vacated. Quits Memphis to join Kentucky Basketball then weasels all the recruits he recruited at Memphis to follow him like a true weasel does. Kentucky, this decade, had become a laughingstock. Now they will return to prominence briefly until they too are under investigation just like the last two teams Calipari coached at. Favored to win the SEC< they will have stiff competition from their arch-rivals in Tennessee and Billy Donovan may have finally rebounded from the departure of his back to back championship roster from 3 years ago.

The Big East or "Beast" as it was colloquially called last year, looks pretty crappy this year with a ton of talent graduating or leaving. UConn looks to be the strongest of a weak crop of teams though.

The ACC reloaded. Like the Big East they lost a ton of talent, unlike the Big East, they just reloaded their rosters. Duke, UNC, Wake, Georgia Tech, Maryland all will have formidable teams. UNC still the favorite in the conference but Duke will most definitely push them harder this year and watch out for the Yellow Jackets.

The Pac 10 looks to take the 2008/2009 version of the SEC's spot as worst of the Major conferences. Washington is the best in the conference but UCLA is still down, Arizona may be on the rise though but the rest of the conference is still struggling to get and keep recruits.

The Big 10 will be a difficult conference this season. Big 10 basketball is about as exciting as watching paint dry but they have some powerful teams that can really shut down the opposition defensively. Michigan State is head of the pack here, returning most of their starters from their NCAA runner up squad and adding a couple of pieces in the offseason.

The Big XII however is probably the deepest conference in the nation this year. They were fortunate in that most of their NBA ready players returned conference wide and only had a few star seniors in the conference. Notable losses were Blake Griffin, AJ Abrams and Byron Eaton (OU, UT and OSU respectively) but the power teams pretty much just reloaded with 7 conference teams with top 25 recruiting classes. KU leads the pack likely being the unanimous pre-season #1 team in the country returning every contributor from last year AND adding a stellar recruiting class. UT has the best recruiting class in the country (I dont count Kentucky's, that was Memphis' class that Calipari weaseled away when he quit on the program) and IMO, the #1 freshman in Avery Bradley. With a bevy of NBA talent in the conference, Big XII matchups are likely to have 3-6 NBA players in nearly every game. Even the lesser squads in the conference in Colorado and Iowa State have some superstars (Cory Higgins and Craig Brackins respectively).

Unlike last year however, the field seems more wide open. While KU opens as #1, they are not like UNC last year where they were so far ahead of everyone else that it wasn't even close. KU may be the most experienced, deepest and talented team in the country but there are about 6 or 7 other teams that are not very far behind and since College basketball actually has a playoff system, it should make for a much more entertaining year.

My Pre-Season Top 10
1) Kansas
2) Villanova
3) Michigan State
4) Texas
5) UConn
6) Purdue
7) North Carolina
8) Duke
9) Washington
10) Kentucky

[Hercules Rockefeller]

Originally Posted by Rock Chalk

John Calipari of the Memphis Tigers gets his 2nd Final Four appearance vacated. Quits Memphis to join Kentucky Basketball then weasels all the recruits he recruited at Memphis to follow him like a true weasel does. Kentucky, this decade, had become a laughingstock. Now they will return to prominence briefly until they too are under investigation just like the last two teams Calipari coached at. Favored to win the SEC< they will have stiff competition from their arch-rivals in Tennessee and Billy Donovan may have finally rebounded from the departure of his back to back championship roster from 3 years ago.

Yeah, he weaseled all those recruits to follow him to Lexington. Maybe it's because they committed to Cal and not Memphis? This isn't college football where guys commit to the school. Despite what you're wishing about Kentucky's laughing stock status, the school itself still has draw. Add Cal to the mix and the issue becomes how many 5*s can they take, now how many can they get? I realize you refuse to acknowledge the recruiting class, but they're still going to play in Lexington, so get used to it.

And they will not have stiff competition from Tennessee. Seriously dude, keep dreaming if think Kentucky's anywhere but #2 behind Kansas in the initial preseason poll.

Just think if Kansas somehow wins it this year, they'll be halfway to Kentucky's total.

[Rock Chalk]

Originally Posted by Hercules Rockefeller

Yeah, he weaseled all those recruits to follow him to Lexington. Maybe it's because they committed to Cal and not Memphis? This isn't college football where guys commit to the school. Despite what you're wishing about Kentucky's laughing stock status, the school itself still has draw. Add Cal to the mix and the issue becomes how many 5*s can they take, now how many can they get? I realize you refuse to acknowledge the recruiting class, but they're still going to play in Lexington, so get used to it.

And they will not have stiff competition from Tennessee. Seriously dude, keep dreaming if think Kentucky's anywhere but #2 behind Kansas in the initial preseason poll.

Just think if Kansas somehow wins it this year, they'll be halfway to Kentucky's total.

Look, they lost Meeks, their best player. Patterson has not proven anything against good competition. Collectively the entire team has ZERO tournament experience, unless you count the NIT.

ANd by weasel the players away from Memphis I mean that it is an unspoken rule among coaches with integrity to NOT take players with them when they leave, even recruits. When Roy Williams went back home to UNC he did not take Wayne Simien with him. A couple of recruits left but he did not take them with him (Padgett I think went to Louisville, thats the only one I can remember off hand though). In fact, I cant remember a coach EVER doing what Calipari did.

They were a laughingstock this decade. I never said they didn't have draw, any blue blood in College basketball, good or bad, is going to have draw. And Kentucky is most certainly a blue blood. UCLA is down but they still have draw. UNC has been down, hell they had a losing record this decade but their fans still showed up and sold the place out. But they were a laughingstock and no where near a title since Tubby's first year. The Gillespie era, short lived as it was and most of Tubby's era put them on a downward slide. Calipari will turn it around only to get them on probation. If it walks like a duck, it quacks like a duck, its probably a duck and everywhere Cal has coached, that school has been in trouble.

They have about 7 good players, not deep enough for a long tourney run, and they have about 4 one and done's and if you think Calipari is going to be able to juggle those ego's you are sorely mistaken. HE could do it with one, maybe two, he proved that with Rose (and CDR though he was not a one and done) and the following year with Evans, but he is not going to be able to keep all those blue chippers happy.

They have a new system installing, with a new coach and an entirely new bunch of players that have to learn to play together well. I watch the **** out of college basketball and what Cal has is not a recipe for success 99 times out of 100. They are NOT the second best team in the nation when 4 of their starting five have never played in college before and there is 0 NCAA tournament experience on the roster.

[Rock Chalk]

UNC goes down to the Cuse.

KU and MSU squeek by solid but not great Memphis and Gonzaga teams.

UK gets miracle comeback down by 18 to Miami (OH). Sam Houston State drops 92 on them, showing that UK is far from a finished product.

Nova gets scare from George Mason.

Cal loses back to back games against lower ranked teams in Cuse and Ohio State.

Cuse - unranked (ESPN poll) wins back to back games against Ohio State (15) and UNC(6).

Georgetown narrowly escapes a game Temple squad at home.

I think what we have seen in the first week and a half shows us that no one is dominant like UNC was last year and that this year should be a better tourney for you underdog lovers.

[RhymesayersDU]

Great games out of the gate. All these close games have been ridiculous. Wall's game winner that other night was great.

[oubronco]

the cream of the crop always seems to rise to the top about 3-4 weeks into the season

[SnowGoose77]

It was great seeing the Cuse take down North Carolina. I've been an Orange fan since the early eighties. Growing up I couldn't get enough of the Big East back then. Lot's of good players and teams. I figured Flynn would leave but losing Harris and Devandorf (?) also hurt. Wesley Johnson looks great so far. I have a hard time getting into college ball like I used to but I catch the Cuse and the old time Big East teams as much as possible.

[chickennob2]

How about that Memphis squad, huh? Severely overmatchd in the talent department with only 8 scholarship players and we stick with KU down to the final shot based purely on hustle and defensive effort. Under Cal, everybody hated us. And understandably so. But how can you not love Josh Pastner? The kid is going to be one hell of a coach. And going from the greasy slimy scum that was calipari to this bunch of hard working overacheivers under the ball of energy that is Paz, you've got to admit that you're rooting for Memphis a little bit too.

[ghwk]

Off to watch St. Mary's and Vanderbilt in about 10 mins. Should be fun!

[houghtam]

.

[Rock Chalk]

Originally Posted by houghtam

.

Sparty falls to Florida in one heck of a game.

UCLA gets SMACKED by Portland by 27 in Anaheim, meanwhile Portland is currently up by 10 against #16 Minnesota.

Duke ends its drought against UConn despite being outscored 21-10 down the stretch. They had too big of a lead for UConn to overcome.

West Virginia and Huggie Bear's boys take down the Aggies in another pretty damn good game.

#15 Michigan goes down to Marquette who is unranked despite having a pretty solid squad returning from last years sweet 16 club.

It's a shame that college basketball's non-conference season gets no love. Most of the best games all year take place in this part of the season and some of the biggest upsets happen here. It's impossible to compete with the NFL stretch run and College Football's bowl race though.

[houghtam]

You're right, it is a shame, but it's because they're always so early in the season, and the tourney (conference and NCAA) is all anyone pays attention to.

As a Spartan fan, I've grown accustomed to these early season losses, because Izzo has proven time and again that they are more than willing to sacrifice 2-4 losses early in the season (when it really doesn't matter) to toughen the team up for the tourney.

Doesn't make it any less fun to watch, though.

The NFL is the only sport I enjoy more than college basketball.

[Rock Chalk]

Originally Posted by houghtam

You're right, it is a shame, but it's because they're always so early in the season, and the tourney (conference and NCAA) is all anyone pays attention to.

As a Spartan fan, I've grown accustomed to these early season losses, because Izzo has proven time and again that they are more than willing to sacrifice 2-4 losses early in the season (when it really doesn't matter) to toughen the team up for the tourney.

Doesn't make it any less fun to watch, though.

The NFL is the only sport I enjoy more than college basketball.

Naw, by the time conference play gets about mid-season, the Superbowl is done and the conference races start heating up.

They don't matter so much, unless you are UCLA or Oklahoma was some terrible losses early on. OU was supposed to still be good this year with Willie Warren but they are 2-3 and really look like the worst team in teh Big XII this year. Early losses usually can't hurt you unless they are bad ones. Losing to Cal State Fullerton is a bad loss. UCLA might not make the tourney. That's how bad they look right now.

[Rocket 7]

Lobos play #25 Cal tonight. Hope we get this one.

[Doggcow]

No mention of WSU and probably the Nations leading scorer... No bias here guys!

[houghtam]

Big game tonight, folks.

Go green.

Go white.

[SoCalBronco]

National Champion North Carolina knocks off Michigan State yet again, 89-82.

[Ray Finkle]

Go George Mason!



wait, I guess I am a few years late......

[spdirty]

YES YES YES YES YES!!!!!!!!!!!! Huge win tonight by CU over San Francisco!

That gives us almost wins against Gonzaga and Arizona,and wins over Arkansas pine bluff, Coppin State, Texas southern, Chaminade, and San Francisco. Just rackin up the quality wins this year.!

[RhymesayersDU]

Headed to The Pit here in Albuquerque tomorrow night for California/UNM. I loosely follow the UNM men's hoops team, I really like that they've scheduled some legit teams this year. Cal recently dropped out of the Top 25, but during the preseason were ranked as high as 12 I think. Also on the schedule is Texas A&M and I believe Dayton? Both Top 25 teams as well. I also think BYU and/or UNLV either cracked the top 25 or are close to doing so.

[houghtam]

Originally Posted by SoCalBronco

National Champion North Carolina knocks off Michigan State yet again, 89-82.

Blech.

The way to beat a team that's bigger than you is not to throw up shots and hope they go in. You wear them down by running the ball, and either score quick off the break or run your offense down to the last second once you get down the court. You force them into foul trouble. You basically play Big Ten basketball.

I was very discouraged by what I saw tonight.

However, Izzo's Izzo. He'll use this game as a learning experience, and State will hopefully go deep into the tourney yet again.

What Izzo's said before rings true though, we'll never be able to get top flight talent in East Lansing if we can't hang with the big dogs in big games like this. If we can get to 4 Final Fours in the last 10 years with A to A- talent, it would be scary to see what we could do with A to A+ talent.

[Rock Chalk]

Man, the Purdue/Wake and MSU/UNC games were a good lineup last night. Wake gave Purdue fits for most of that game and Izzo just cant beat ole Roy.

[TonyR]

Originally Posted by houghtam

What Izzo's said before rings true though, we'll never be able to get top flight talent in East Lansing if we can't hang with the big dogs in big games like this.

"I've said all along we're not where those guys are yet, and I think it's evident," Izzo said. "It's OK to lose to them, but it's the first time we've really competed in the last three games. So maybe that's a start in the right direction, but you've got to win games too. Our program's not where theirs is, but our program's not where there's moral victories for being close. Some guys have to step up. I was really disappointed in a couple of guys' performance."

[cousinal11]

Originally Posted by houghtam

Blech.

The way to beat a team that's bigger than you is not to throw up shots and hope they go in. You wear them down by running the ball, and either score quick off the break or run your offense down to the last second once you get down the court. You force them into foul trouble. You basically play Big Ten basketball.
I was very discouraged by what I saw tonight.

However, Izzo's Izzo. He'll use this game as a learning experience, and State will hopefully go deep into the tourney yet again.

What Izzo's said before rings true though, we'll never be able to get top flight talent in East Lansing if we can't hang with the big dogs in big games like this. If we can get to 4 Final Fours in the last 10 years with A to A- talent, it would be scary to see what we could do with A to A+ talent.

Despite the bigs, you still can't outrun Carolina.

[houghtam]

Originally Posted by cousinal11

Despite the bigs, you still can't outrun Carolina.

Most teams probably not, but Michigan State did pretty well running up and down the court last night. They're no slouch, and when it's all said and done, they'll probably end up in the Final Four again. They weren't patient last night, though. They tried to make opportunities when there weren't any.

You can run on NC, you just have to have the patience and the smarts to know when to push it to the hoop or to stop and set up the half-court O.