NCAA Basketball Preview - SEC

While the Pac-10 has been down and gotten most of the press/talk about being the worst major conference in college ball lately, the SEC hasn't been far behind.  It's less notable because of Kentucky and Florida's success, but some of the traditional power teams have been way down, specifically LSU and Arkansas.


Things seem to be looking up however, with Vanderbilt looking very strong (they'd probably be ranked first in any other conference outside this and the ACC), Alabama looking strong, and LSU looking to be improved this year.  Also I'm really just writing this to push the pictures down so they aren't "above the fold" because somebody once requested I do that because otherwise they pull up my blog at work and BAM hot chick right in front.  So that's why I'm still typing. 

1.  KENTUCKY WILDCATS.  If you're sick of John Calipari and Kentucky, this isn't the year for you because this might be slimey Cal's best team ever.  He got a break with Terrence Jones and Doron Lamb opting to stay in school and brings in the #1 recruiting class in the country and maybe the best of his career with PF Anthony Davis (#2), SF Mike Gilchrist (#3), PG Marquis Teague (#5), and PF Kyle Wiltjer (#22).  Just those six together with filler would be a top 10 team, but Kentucky still has .  Is this the year Calipari finally puts it all together and walks away with the National Title?  Good god, I hope not.  That slime ball and Kentucky hoops in general can go to hell.

2.  VANDERBILT COMMODORES.  Vandy has a big chance to be really, really good this year.  Unfortunately they were really, really good last year too and still got bounced by Richmond in the first round - not unlike the previous year when they got bounced in the first by Murray State.  If they're going to make a run anytime soon this is the year to do it - they've got all five starters back and nine of their top ten scorers.  John Jenkins might be the best shooter in the league and has surpassed Jeffrey Taylor as the best player on this team - and Taylor still has a shot to be All-SEC First Team.  Their point guard led the SEC in assists, which makes sense giving those two guys he's dishing to, and they have a couple very solid post men including the sweet named Festus Ezeli.  They also bring in a good class highlighted by Dai-Jon Parker, one of the best recruits in Vandy history.  Seriously, they're loaded.  If they can't make a run with this group they might as well disband the hoops program and become the full-time nerd school they're destined to become.

3.  FLORIDA GATORS.  The good news is that the Gators are absolutely loaded at guard, and you need guards to win.  They return Erving Walker and Kenny Boynton, who were their top 2 scorers last year and add Rutgers transfer Mike Rosario, who led his team in scoring 2 years ago and was a big time recruit as a freshman, and freshman Bradley Beal, the #4 recruit in the nation.  So yeah, they're set in the back court.  The front court, however, is a big question mark because all three starters are gone.  Patric Young is still here, and he was a highly regarded center a year ago and played well as a back-up last season.  If they can figure out what to do with their big men or make a 3/4 guard offense work they are going to be a very, very dangerous team in March.

4.  ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE.  Essentially the inverse of Florida, the Tide are loaded in the paint but
 have serious question marks on the perimeter.  JaMychal Green might be the best interior player in the conference, and he returns as the #2 returning scorer among perimeter players and the #2 returning rebounder in the conference (both behind UK's Terrence Jones), and the man who'll be starting right next to him, Tony Mitchell, is #3 and #4.  On the perimeter there's talent, if not experience.  Travis Releford, the team's third leading scorer last year, is back and a couple of newcomers are top 30 recruits in Trevor Lacey and Levi Randolph.  Actually, now that I'm writing this I want to swap Bama and Florida here, but then my first sentence doesn't make any sense and I'd have to redo the whole thing.   

5.  MISSISSIPPI STATE BULLDOGS.  The Bulldogs will go as far as Renardo Sidney and Dee Bost's heads will take them.  Neither was the team's leading scorer last year (that was Ravern Johnson who is gone) but it's hard to argue they aren't the two most talented players.  Of course, Sidney is overweight, disappears and floats through games at times, and got in a well-publicized fight with a teammate last season, not to mention the mess of trouble he went through with the NCAA.  Bost missed the first 14 games last year after not withdrawing from the NBA draft in time and not keeping his academics in order.  All the NCAA trouble should be behind them, but Sidney is the type of guy who could score 30 and grab 15 boards in a game or just as easily score in single-figures and grab just a couple boards.  Not to mention that he gives the impression he's a bit of a ticking time bomb who could do something that would get him suspended again.  Awfully fun to watch though.

6.  LSU TIGERS.  It hasn't really felt right the last two season's with LSU at the bottom of the SEC, but things should be looking up this year.  Their top four scorers are back and they add in their first McDonald's All-American since 2005 in Johnny O'Bryant, a center who Rivals ranks as the 4th best at his position amongst all freshmen (#46 overall).  And what a nice coincidence, center is exactly what LSU needed most.  The perimeter is manned by sophomores Andre Stringer and Ralston Turner who were both top 150 recruits last year and both had successful first seasons, with Storm Warren (team's best rebounder) and Iowa State transfer Justin Hamilton joining O'Bryant on the inside (I didn't know players actually transferred OUT of Ames).  LSU won't be a great team and likely won't challenge for an NCAA Tournament bid, but they'll at least get themselves out of the cellar and moving in the right direction.

7.  ARKANSAS RAZORBACKS.  Despite bringing in what Rivals ranks as the #11 class in the country, John Pelphrey was fired after another subpar season by Arkansas.  Luckily new coach Mike Anderson was able to hold on to the class, and that's doubly good because leading scorer, noted sharpshooter, and horribly named Rotnei Clarke (who is white, fyi) transferred after the switch and third-leading scorer and leading rebounder Delvon Johnson has graduated.  It's basically going to be Marshawn Powell with a whole bunch of unproven guys, both older and the newcomers.  The two new guards (B.J. Young and Ky Madden) can both play either guard spot and were both top 30 type recruits, so they should thrive under Anderson.  Should be fun to watch, either way.

8.  TENNESSEE VOLUNTEERS.  I don't really like living in a world where Tennessee isn't a top tier SEC basketball team, but after Bruce Pearl tried to single-handedly destroy the program that looks like where we sit with five of the team's top six scorers from last year gone and one of their top recruits opted out and signed on with Louisville instead.  The lone big-time returner is guard Cameron Tatum who has been a bit of a disappointment thus far in his career, averaging around 7.5 points per game.  He's always been a 3rd or 4th option, but will have a chance to be the man this year.  There's plenty of other talent (why wouldn't there be since Pearl was a cheater) if not experience, with freshmen PG Chris Jones and SG Josh Richardson, sophomore SGs Jordan McRae and Trae Golden, junior center Kenny Hall and SF Jeronne Maymon, and senior PF Renaldo Woolridge all former top 100 recruits.  So really, these guys could finish anywhere from 4th to 12th and it wouldn't be a surprise.  With a good new coach in Cuonzo Martin I'm guessing they'll be ok.

 9.  OLE MISS REBELS.  The last four years had to be a bit disappointing for the Rebels (assuming anybody there cares about something besides football) because they had Chris Warren (not the RB) one of the best players in Ole Miss history and all they could muster was a couple of NIT Final Fours without a single NCAA berth.  Now Warren is gone along with his back court mate Zach Graham and they're combined 34 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists per game with them.  As you can imagine, this leaves a fairly gaping hole.  The good news is that Jelan Kendrick, formerly of the Memphis Tigers and was ranked the #15 best recruit in the country in 2010, is on board and becomes eligible after the first semester - he will immediately become Ole Miss's best player.  Assuming he manages to stay on the team (read this for a quick synopsis of this dude's mental issues) he and fellow NBA prospect Terrance Henry should at least keep Ole Miss competitive.

10.  AUBURN TIGERS.  Auburn was completely awful last season with losses to teams like Presbyterian, Asheville, Samford, Jacksonville, and Campbell and their leading scorer and rebounder from last season transferred to Missouri, but there isn't a complete lack of hope for the Tigers.  Kenny Gabriel is a double-figure scorer who is back, point guard Frankie Sullivan is returning from a season ending knee injury last year, while a couple of transfers (Varez Ward from Texas and Noel Johnson from Clemson) will likely immediately jump into the starting lineup.  They also add 6-10 center Willy Kouassi, the #66 freshman in the country and SG Cedrick McAfee (#145), so although they won't be in contention for an NCAA bid any time soon, at least there's a little bit of reason for hope.

11.  GEORGIA BULLDOGS.  No team was hit harder by early NBA entries than Georgia with Trey Thompkins and Travis Leslie taking off.  All those two were responsible for last season was 45% of the team's points, 44% of their rebounds, 30% of their assists, 38% of their steals, and 46% of their blocks, and took 42% of the team's shots.  So yes, there are some big shoes to fill here.  They do have 3rd leading scorer and starting PG Gerald Robinson back, so that will help, and stud recruit Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (#12 overall) will probably immediately start next to him, but besides Thompkins in the paint they also have to try to replace their top 2 other post men, and there's just nobody here to do it.

12.  SOUTH CAROLINA GAME COCKS.  So this team won 5 SEC games last year.  Their best player, Bruce Ellington, decided to play football and, although he is supposed to rejoin the team it won't happen until after football season and South Carolina is probably heading to a bowl.  Their second best player graduated, and their third best player decided to transfer to LaSalle who is terrible.  I'd say things are not looking super great.  You know how it seems like the Cocks either beat or put a scare into somebody good at home every year?  Yeah, don't expect that this year.  As the Gin Blossoms once said, "Don't expect too much from me and you might not be let down."


Other previews:
Big 12
ACC
Atlantic 10
Pac 12

SEC College Basketball 2010 Preview

There are good looking women in the SEC.

SEC EAST

1.  Florida Gators.  I'm not a huge fan of their guards, because I think both Erving Walker and Kenny Boynton can get a little too out of control and both have a tendency to shoot shots that they shan't be shooting, but there is not denying their talent and the Gators have a stellar front court.  Chandler Parsons is a Mike Miller clone sans the bad hair and with a slightly worse jump shot (and he single-handedly won me my fantasy college hoops league last year) and Alex Tyus and Vernon Macklin are very good as long as you don't count free throws.  In a down year for the SEC, the Gators are clearly the class of either division.

2.  Kentucky Wildcats.  In what I'm going to assume is about to become a tradition until Calipari is arrested for money laundering, Kentucky lost an assload of good players to the NBA but is reloading with an assload of talent.  It's almost a perfect job of recruiting, actually, because these guys are not only talented but cover all five positions:  You have PG Brandon Knight (Rivals #6 overall), SG Doron Lamb (#21), SF Stacey Poole (#33), PF Terrence Jones (#13), and C Enes Kanter (#3 overall).  Of course, the biggest question is if Kanter will end up eligible, because they aren't particularly strong on the interior without him, but this year will be plenty athletic and is near-perfectly built for the dribble-drive offense Calipari loves.  I'd consider this #2 prediction their downside.  Well, the actual downside was it turns out Cal has been cheating (NO WAY) and they kick everybody off the team or something.  That would probably be worse.

3.  Georgia Bulldogs.  Georgia may very well be on their way back to relevance, believe it or not.  Travis Leslie is an absolute stud, and what Rodney Williams should aspire to become, and they have the league's leading returning scorer and rebounder in power forward Trey Thompkins.  These guys should be two of the best players in the conference, but what makes this team really interesting are a couple of newcomers:  freshman forward Marcus Thornton and point guard transfer from Tennessee State Gerald Robinson.  Thornton could be a great one, with both size and athleticism, and Robinson is the kind of scoring point guard (averaged 15 and 18 points per game in his two years at TSU) who can end up making or breaking a team.  I consider these guys a solid sleeper this year.

4.  Tennessee Volunteers.  I don't exactly know how Bruce Pearl being a huge cheater is going to affect this team, but they're a bit of an enigma already so this doesn't help with the rubix cube here.  I've seen them ranked anywhere from 2nd to 4th in various previews, and with three major contributors and starters gone (four if you want to count Tyler Smith) the second place predictions seems awfully optimistic to me.  I guess it really depends on how good you think freshman point guard Tobias Harris can be (Rivals #7), and how much of an improvement Cameron Tatum and/or Scottie Hopson can make.  I think those three will be pretty studly, but they're all perimeter guys and the Vols are going to be weak on the interior.  Plus I wouldn't surprised if Pearl is dismissed/suspended/whatever and this whole thing collapses.

5.  Vanderbilt Commodores.  If Northwestern is the nerds of midwest, and Stanford is the nerds of the west coast, then Vanderbilt is the nerds of the southeast.  And for nerds, they've had a pretty good run of success lately, making the NCAA Tournament three of the last four years with a sweet16 appearance thrown in.  This looking like it's going to be a down year, however, with two double-digit scorers (center A.J. Ogilvy and point guard Jermaine Beal) lost to graduation, but they've built the kind of program at this point where they'll be back soon enough.  Sophomore Jeffery Taylor is one of the most athletically gifted players in the conference and should blossom with an increased role on offense, and classmate John Jenkins is a three-point marksman who hit nearly 50% of his threes last year on his way to averaging double-digit points per game.  And they're probably all really smart, too.  NERDS!!!

6.  South Carolina Gamecocks.  Remember Devan Downey? He and his 22 points per game have graduated.  Along with Dominique Archie (who only played five games last year due to injury) and his 14.4 ppg, Mike Holmes (who only played in seven before being kicked off the team) and his 9.4, and Brandin Raley-Ross and his 10.6.  So yes, they're losing a lot.  They still have a decent enough inside/outside combo in Ramon Galloway and Sam Muldrow, but let's just say if they were an NBA Jam combo they'd never get picked outside of South Carolina.  Coach Darrin Horn loves to play an uptempo style, but with just Galloway and Lakeem Jackson back with significant back court experience, he'll be relying on newcomers and although it's a good class, that's not generally a sign of success.  This isn't Kentucky.


SEC WEST

1.  Mississippi State Bulldogs.  It sucks that Jarvis Varnado graduated, because that guy was as fun to watch as anybody so pardon me if I'm weeping like a fat girl at a prom with no cake while I type this, but the Bulldogs have enough coming back to win their division and make the tournament, mostly because the defied the odds and went 2-0 against the NCAA fascists this offseason.  Dee Bost, last year's #3 scorer at 13.2 ppg, declared for the NBA draft, then pulled his name out after the deadline, and instead of following it's own rules they are letting him back to play another year after sitting out the first handful of games.  He'll be joined on the suspended bench to start the year by PF Renardo Sidney, last year's #16 ranked freshman by Rivals who sat out of all of last season during an NCAA investigation into something or other, but he'll be playing after a nine game timeout.  Add these two to Ravern Johnson, their leading returning scorer, and Miss State should be dancing this year.  With a big thanks to the NCAA for actually being reasonable, not exactly their strong suit.  It's probably in recognition of how much it sucks to lose Varnado.

2.  Mississippi Rebels.  Chris Warren is back, again (he's apparently under the Jess Settles plan), but he loses his two back court buddies (Eniel Polynice and Terrico White) who combined to give the Rebels one of the best three-man back courts in the country amongst teams who didn't make the NCAA tournament last year.  He won't be alone back there, however, because Ole Miss will welcome one of the best names in the country to the program in point guard Dundrecous Nelson (#89 Rivals), as well as Nick Williams, a transfer from Indiana who averaged nearly double-digit points in his year with the Hoosiers.  If the Rebs can get some help in the front court they could finally bust through the bubble and make their first NCAA Tournament since 2002.  Gotta be sick of being predicted to be a tournament team only to end up in the NIT, no?

3.  Arkansas Razorbacks.  Mike Pelphrey continues to grab good recruiting classes, but at the same time there seems to be sort of an undercurrent that things might not be all rosy, or maybe that's just the Courtney  Fortson affect.  And speaking of Fortson, I think I'm pretty glad he never ended up a Gopher, because it seems he may have been just as good at killing his team as he was at helping it.  In any case, Pelphrey has this program humming like a good ole fashioned jug band drinkin' moonshine while prepping for a coon hunt.  And if that sounded racist against southerners, it probably was.  I've been to Arkansas.

4.  Alabama Crimson Tide.  Mikhail Torrance was an absolute stud for the Tide last year.  Unfortunately, he's gone.  Fortunately, however, they still JaMychal Green, who is a beast on the block, and swingman Tony Mitchell, who had a very good freshman year and should only get better.  They also have a hell of a freshman point guard coming in with Trevor Releford, who may be the most important cog.  According to something I read, Tide coach Anthony Grant wants to run an uptempo offense, but didn't have the point guard to do it and went slow down instead (their tempo ranked #247 last year), and the hope is that Releford is the guy who can be turned loose.  It might work, and there's talent here, I just don't think it's enough, even in the SEC West.

5.  LSU Tigers.  Every year I keep waiting for LSU to get back to relevance, but every year it seems they're still stuck down at the bottom of the division - and this year won't change that.  Storm Warren is a solid guard, but the other stand-out returner, forward Bo Spencer, peaced out from the program after being declared academically ineligible (at LSU?  LOL).  With that they are very young and I'm not even sure they know what all they have since Warren is the only returning player who averaged more than 4.6 points per game last year.  There is some talent, with SG Aaron Dotson a Rivals top 150 player last year and a good class this year with three more Rivals top 150 types, so they might be on their way back to relevance, just not yet.

6.  Auburn Tigers.  Things were already going to be tough with four starters graduating (including your top three scorers), but the news got worse when Frankie Sullivan, the lone returning starter, ended up needed ACL surgery that will likely keep him out all year and the Tigers' two top recruits, Luke Cothron (Rivals #45) and Shawn Kemp, Jr. (#105) were both ruled academically eligible for the year (Cothron has since fled to UMass).  This leaves Auburn with Earnest Ross as their top returnee, a sophomore guard who averaged 2.8 points and 3 rebounds in 13 minutes per game last year.  In other words it's going to be a long year.  At least it will be warm.

Six Very Important Things this Morning 8.25.2010

Obviously the most important thing you should know this morning is that Baby Benny was discharged from the NICU and is currently crying his way around our house.  I won't dwell on that since it's not really what this blog is for and I already mentioned it (with picture) yesterday, but suffice it to say it's a huge relief to both myself and Mrs. W.  Anyway, on to your precious sports, and don't expect me to be back to a post every day quite yet either.  This is just a taste so you don't end up wandering away to other, far better, websites for your daily content.

1. It's now obvious the Twins have zero chance to win a playoff series.  Maybe if Morneau comes back they could have an outside chance to upset somebody, but now that they're playing a good team like the Rangers it's obvious they suck.  Runners and 1st and 3rd in a tie game with nobody out and you can't get a single run across?  Yeah, that might fly against the shitty teams like the Royals and Orioles and White Sox, but when you're playing somebody good you need to take advantage of that situation.  And how many games lately have the Twins given their opponents an extra out in an inning, whether due to an error, a misplay in the outfield, or an easy scoop at first base that isn't made?  Once again, plays you can get away with against the crap of the league, but when you're playing play-off caliber teams those little mistakes are going to lose the game for you every time.  I almost hope the White Sox catch them, because I can't handle another first round sweep, but I don't see any other way this thing is going down.

2.  Imagine how far he can hit a Scott Baker meatball.  Manny Ramirez hasn't been put on waivers yet, but the White Sox have gone ahead and announced they are going to put in a claim on him if he does.  So first the Dodgers have to decide to get rid of him in order to save $4.5 million, then he has to pass through every single NL team with nobody making a claim, and then get passed the majority of AL teams before the White Sox can grab him.  Then he'll have to approve of the deal, and then the two teams will have to agree upon compensation.  So yes, it's a long shot.  And thank god for that, because even though he's been hurt this year he's OPSed .903 this year, which is a better number than Joe Mauer, and can you imagine what he could do to a Baker, Blackburn, or Slowey meatball?  It would be like using an aluminum bat - somebody's gonna die.

3.  Serves him right.  Remember how I've been calling Trevor Mbakwe "Reign Man II" after Shawn Kemp?  Well, we kind of have a problem, because the real Shawn Kemp, Jr. (no word on how many of those there are, but I'd set the over/under at 2.5) is already called Reign Man II and is attending Auburn.  In a stroke of poetic justice and a blow against lazy nick-naming (come on, Reign Man II for his son?), Kemp has been ruled academically ineligible (along with another top recruit, Luke Cothran).  Kemp, a 6-9 center who is ranked as the #105 incoming freshman by Rivals and #14 center, chose Auburn over a couple of other southeast schools, but his lack of good offers leads me to speculate he was a qualification risk from the get go, but Auburn was willing to take a gamble (as a program like that should) - no surprise to anybody who followed the real Shawn Kemp way too closely.  No word on how many offspring the kid has either, but I'm guessing it's more than 1.


4.  You don't see this every day.  The Phillies/Astros game last night ended up going 16 innings, with the Astros winning 4-2, and some interesting things happened.  After Ryan Howard got tossed by the Ump (who was doing him a favor since he was 0-7 with 5 strikeouts), the Phillies needed to bring Roy Oswalt in to play left field since they were out of position players.  The Astros also had to use starter Wandy Rodriguez as a pinch hitter, and losing Philly pitcher David Herndon had to pitch three innings and hit because they were out of players.  I don't know.  I don't really have anything else to add.  Just seemed kind of weird.  In retrospect, I probably should have written about Strasburg to the DL again, but that's just depressing.    

5.  Apparently Johnny Damon isn't a Boston fan.  Johnny Damon, current Detroit Tiger, was placed on waivers and then claimed by the Red Sox.  This would give Damon a chance to return to the city where he reached cult hero status before ripping out their hearts by signing with the hated Yankees.  This also would have given Damon an opportunity to play for a team with a playoff shot, however fleeting, rather than be on a Detroit team that is going nowhere this year, and since he has just a one-year contract he would be a free agent next year either way.  Also since he has a no trade clause, he'd have to approve the deal.  No brainer, right?  Apparently, but the way you'd think since Damon has blocked the move, and will remain a Tiger.  I don't know how somebody could more clearly express that they hate the Red Sox and/or Boston, short of farting in a boston baked bean can while pissing on John Adams grave and then faxing it to Mark Wahlberg in a box with an "I heart NY" logo on it.

6.  So much for all that contract dispute speculation.  There was a lot of talk that Sidney Rice missing practices was more because he wanted a new contract rather than him having an actual serious hip injury.  Either all of that was wrong or Sidney Rice is insanely committed to the bit, because he had hip surgery on Monday which will keep him out until mid-seasonish.  Losing a pro bowl receiver is quite the blow to the team's Super Bowl chances, especially with questions surrounding Percy Harvin, but a plan is in place to fill the hole with Javon Walker.  Yes, the same Javon Walker who was shot at as a Bronco, was beaten to unconsciousness in Vegas, and has caught a total of 51 passes in the last three seasons.  Yuck.  I don't know about you, but I generally live by three rules:
1.  Never get involved in a land war in Asia.
2.  Never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line.
2.  Never play cards against someone whose first name is a place
3.  Headcase wideouts are only worth it when they're young and talented.  Or at least talented.

One last thing you should know is that today (the 25th) is Mrs. W and I's anniversary, and we've now been officially married for 10 years.  Wow.  That is a long time.  For perspective, in the year 2000 the playstation 2 launched, but only in Tokyo.  Also the Elian Gonzalez thing happened, Kazahiro Sasaki won the AL rookie of the year (good call), and the John Rocker thing went down.  It was a long time ago.  Thanks for having such bad taste, for so long, Mrs. W. 

NCAA Basketball Preview: The SEC

I have no idea what happened to the SEC.  This used to be a really, really good conference, but seems to have slipped since the Florida back-to-back championship teams and is now pretty much the worst of the major conferences.  Things are looking to turn, however, as there are a couple of big-time contenders here now and the conference as a whole looks like it is getting a whole lot better.  I also hate that they split out their conference into East and West divisions.  Unnecessary and annoying.  In protest, I will be listing them as a whole, not breaking it down by division.  Take that Robert E. Lee!

1.  Kentucky.  Well I for one can't wait to see this John Wall character.  You can't read anything about Kentucky or even the NCAA basketball season as a whole without him being mentioned.  The comparison I see a lot is "a better Derrick Rose" which like, whoa.  He's on everybody's award winner predictions lists, anywhere from the SEC Player of the Year all the way up to National Player of the Year, and he hasn't played a minute yet.  There's plenty of talent around him, that's for sure.  Patrick Patterson is insanely good, and for some strange reason is still in college rather than the NBA, and that recruiting class Calipari paid to come to Lexington is out of this world.  Other than Wall, who is #1 on the Rivals 150, they also got PF DeMarcus Cousins (#2), C Daniel Orton (#22), PG Eric Bledsoe (#23) who I desperately wanted to become a Gopher, and G Jon Hood (#55).  Holy god.  The talent is there, anything less than a final four appearance is going to be a disappointment (this assumes the eligibility issues with Wall are resolved and he ends up playing.) 


2.  Mississippi State.  I love Jarvis Varnado.  Love him.  I had a chance to watch him in a game a couple of years ago as a sophomore, and fell in love with his defense - he averaged 4.7 blocks per game last year to lead the nation and, barring injury, will almost certainly become the all-time leader in blocked shots in NCAA history.  But it gets better.  After being a defensive force his first two seasons, before last year he worked on his offensive game, developed some low-post moves, and increased his scoring from 8ppg as a sophomore to 13 per game last year.  Even more, I read this offseason he's worked tirelessly on adding a mid-range jumper.  Based on his ability to improve year over year, I can't wait to see his new offensive game, and he could be gunning for All-American status.  All this from a guy who already has a triple-double in his career and several other near misses.  The Bulldogs are hurt a bit by recruit Renardo Sidney (Rivals #16) being ruled ineligible, but there is a lot here surrounding Varnado.  The Final Four might be aiming a bit too high, but you can expect MSU to be a major contender. 

3.  Tennessee.  Despite losing a bunch of players last year, the Vols were a bit of a disappointment last year, finishing up an uneven season with five losses by 3 points or less, including their loss to Oklahoma State in the NCAA Tournament.  The good news is that everybody is back, and they add two key pieces in PF Kenny Hall (Rivals #74) who will help shore up the inside game, and juco PG Melvin Goins (#62 Juco), who can help at point guard - a weakness last year, especially in SEC play.  Another issue that needs to be fixed is the three-point shot, once a huge weapon for Tennessee it proved to be an achilles' heel last year - the Vols shot just 31.5% behind the line, worst in the SEC and 286th in the country.  The hope is that sophomores Cameron Tatum and Scotty Hopson, now with a year of college hoops under their belts, can improve, and that might end up being the difference between an average team and a great team.


4.  Vanderbilt.  I've managed to pretty much completely avoid Vanderbilt for years, except for when Derrick Byars was there, that guy was a freakin' stud. I wonder what he's up to, hold on.  Let's see, bounced around a few different NBA teams without ever sticking, and ended up playing the last couple of seasons in Germany and France before hooking on with the Bakersfield Jam in the D-League last year.  He averaged 18 points per game for them and made the all-star team, was invited to Bulls training camp this year, made the team and is on the opening night roster.  Sweet.  Oh, and all the magazines and previews and everything say Vandy is going to be really good this year.  I do know they have a beast down low whose name I can't remember.

5.  Arkansas.  I've been following Courtney Fortson closely since the Gophers were after him, and I still can't decide if I wish he was here or not - even with the current PG situation.  On the one hand, his stats are amazing - 14.5 points/5.9 assists/5.5 rebounds - incredible for a 5-11 freshman, and he notched a triple-double in just his seventh ever game, and nearly had two more against Oklahoma and LSU, not exactly horrible teams.  On the other hand, his turnovers are wildly high (4.4 per game) including a game where he turned the ball over 10 times in 29 minutes, he's not a very good shooter (31% from three, 60% from the line), and he once went 7-27 from the floor in a game.  All in all, the dude is wildly talented, and assuming he reigns in his game and continues to improve with age, he's going to be a star - so yes, I do wish he was a Gopher.  There is plenty of other talent back, including three other double digit scorers, and a very good recruiting class, so the Razorbacks should be in the NCAA hunt.  Of course, after their huge nonconference wins over top ten teams Oklahoma and Texas last year we thought that too, before they inexplicably went 2-14 in the SEC.  Well, not that inexplicable.  They had more turnovers than assists last year.  That's not good, FYI.


6.  Ole Miss.  This team is loaded on the perimeter.  If you haven't had a chance to watch Chris Warren play, I highly recommend you look for them on tv.  Warren is a driving force and is nearly unstoppable with the ball, but he got hurt last year and only played in 11 games, dooming the Rebels to a season that ended after the SEC tournament.  That shouldn't happen this year, assuming nobody gets hurt.  With all the injuries last year, Terrico White was thurst into a starring role and he thrived, winning SEC Freshman of the Year honors.  Assuming they get decent play from the front court, these guys are going to put a ton of points on the board.  It's if they can stop anybody that's in question - they were the worst defensive team in the SEC last season.

7.  South Carolina.  It turns out this conference is even deeper than I thought, because the Gamecocks feel like a team that should be much higher than 7th in their conference.  Two of their three big guns are back, and guard Devan Downey has the look of a player who will contend for the SEC Player of the Year.  He can score (37 against Baylor last year), but also turns the ball over way too much (8 TOs to 0 assists in that same game and just a 1.3 Ast/TO ratio).  If he can control the ball it will go a long way towards getting South Carolina back in the NCAA tournament.  Also I can never, ever, like this team since they stole Georgia Tech's "Lethal Weapon 3" nickname, when it was obvious to anyone that they were just a bunch of gunners and a total mirage - a belief completely vindicated when they went down as a #2 seed.  Karma, baby.  Karma.


8.  Florida.  I suppose losing your whole team after back-to-back national championships usually entails a rebuilding process, but it seems that it's not going all that well for the Gators.  Not that it's Billy Donovan's fault, since he's been hit by players leaving the program early the past couple seasons (Speights, Calathes, Lucas).  Even so, it doesn't feel quite right having Florida this low, and it wouldn't surprise me at all to see them in the NCAA tournament, especially if Kenny Boynton (Rivals #12) is as good as advertised.  He will pretty much have to be, because although Florida has some nice talent in their frontcourt - including transfer Vernon Macklin from Georgetown - the backcourt really needs some help.  Outside of Boynton, point man Erving Walker, who had a pretty good freshman year last season, is about all they have.

9.  Alabama.  I'm sort of thinking I have Alabama too low here, they could easily finish as high as fifth, but since I've already typed this out and the control key on my keyboard doesn't work, I don't feel like cutting and pasting.  Although he's not the team's leading returning scorer, sophomore JaMychal Green might be the key for the Tide this season.  He was a stud recruit last season (Rivals #21), and had a very good freshman campaign (10pts, 8 rebs, 2 blks per game), which included six double-doubles.  If he continues to improve and can become the offensive focal point it will go a long way towards a good season for the Tide.  Among a big and talented group of newcomers is Shawn Kemp, one of I assume several sons of THAT Shawn Kemp, one of my favorite NBA players of all-time.  (NOTE:  I am finding conflicting information, some sources say he is signed with Alabama, others say he has reopened his recruitment which seems weird since the season starts in like two weeks so I don't know what is going on except that there has been a hole in my soul since Kemp retired and it would be nice to have another Shawn Kemp to take his place). 

10.  LSU.  The Tigers had an excellent season last year, making it to the second round of the NCAA tournament, but the team has been gutted by graduation, and now they will return just two guys who averaged more than 2 points or 8 minutes per game last year.  Those two are pretty good - Bo Spencer is an excellent shooter and Tasmin Mitchell is absolutely one of the best inside/outside players in the country and will be in the NBA next season - but there isn't much else here.  A small recruiting class leaves the Tigers thin and inexperienced, and although Mitchell will be fun to watch, I don't see a whole lot else fun happening in the bayou this season.  They'll be back at the top soon enough - next year's recruiting class is a top 20 type of class already - but not this year.


11.  Auburn.  Remember last year, how Auburn won 10 conference games but still couldn't get an NCAA tournament bid because they went 10-4 through a non-conference schedule that would make Glen Mason blush?  Yeah, most of the good players from that team are gone.  Their leading scorer and assist man is back in DeWayne Reed, and he'll have a couple of guys to dish to on the wing who love to bomb the long ball in Tay Waller and Frankie Sullivan, but looking down low is going to be an issue.  Coach Jeff Lebo brings in a gaggle of 3-star players, three of them with good size, and will need one of them to play well or have one of the nondescript veterans step up.  They are still set up as a team that could get hot on the right night and knock off a much better team thanks to their shooters, but they aren't getting anywhere near the NCAA tournament.

12.  Georgia.  How bad is it for the Bulldogs right now?  CollegeHoops.Net does a preview of their top 144 teams every year, and this year Georgia failed to make the list [Gophers = #18].  Teams on the list include Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Jackson State, South Carolina State, and Iowa.  They're worse than Iowa - ouch.  Two minor reasons for optimism - new coach Mark Fox, who had a lot of success at Nevada, and sophomore forward Trey Thompkins, a top 30 recurit last year who had an excellent first year for the Dawgs.  My new favorite player though might be their center Albert Jackson, who played more than 19 minutes per game last year despite his incredible 1-to-5.2 assist to turnover ratio, thanks to his season total of eleven.  The next Yinka Dare, perhaps?



Other Previews
Conference USA
Atlantic 10 
Mountain West 
Atlantic Coast 
Big Twelve
Big East

Hello My Friends

Yep, traveling once again, and once again I'm in the great state of New Jersey. Since I have nothing better to do, let me fill you on some of my random, no doubt profound, thoughts.

- I'd like to start with a little story from the airport this morning. After I cleared security and was putting my shoes back on - with little to no foot odor - some other doofus gets through and walks up to his two friends. One of these said friends, an even bigger doofus - with bluetooth headset - says to doofus #1, "so you cleared waivers" and then looked around for a laugh. His friends ignored him. He said it again. Still nothing. Then he goes, "Hey Tommy. Tommy. Hey Tommy. Hey. Hey Tommy" like a little kid. When "Tommy" finally said, "what?", he goes, "So you cleared waivers, huh?" and his friends looked at him like a retard (I tried to pay attention, he didn't actually seem special in any identifiable way.) It was awesome. Yet, strangely familiar.

- Pretty good flight though. I got upgraded to first class (again) and accidentally got a little drunk (I ordered a screwdriver and two cranberry & vodkas, and each time they would bring me a glass with ice and full of the juice, and then a little airplane sized bottle of Skyy vodka. I thought the juice was just juice, but instead of that, it was actually an already mixed drink which I didn't figure out until the end. So I had six drinks instead of three. Still trying to figure out of this was a positive or a negative. The real good news is that I had an empty row for myself. There's nothing worse than having some guy start talking to you. One time I was reading a book on Quantum Physics, and the guy started telling me that he was a science teacher in Utah (ALERT! ALERT!) and then told me that what he really loves about science is how it shows how God really loves building blocks and how everything is ordered. I asked him how he reconciles that belief with Quantum Theory and the inherent randomness at the level, and he started telling me about how an atom is made up of protons, neutrons, and electrons. Hi. I'm reading a Quantum Theory book. I'm pretty sure I get it. At that point I just pulled the same move that Snake pulled when I gave him the upgrade on our way home from Chicago when some guy started talking soccer with him - smile and put on the headphones.

- Speaking of God, there are a shitload of God stations on the radio out here. I was trying to find something to listen to and found at least four or five, including one that wanted us all to know, "The economy will never recover as long as abortion is legal." I'm pretty sure that would only make things worse, but since that is an issue I have no wish to delve into in this forum, instead I will just say that stridently religious people are loony tunes.

- Enough of that garbage. I'm much more interested in what the holy hell is going on with Joe Mauer's back. Since this apparently isn't related to his December 22nd kidney surgery, we'll ignore that for now. The most recent update I can find is from March 18th, and its says that although Mauer is experiencing back pain that won't allow him to play, it's "not a surgical issue." So, like, I don't get it. It seems nobody really knows what's going on, but it seems that letting your all-star, two-time batting champion and most important player on the team just linger is not a major issue. The only diagnosis I've found is that he has an inflamed sacroiliac joint in his lower back. What's that you ask? It's lower back pain. Yep, that's it. You know what the treatment is? Ice and Ibuprofen. The real Jesus resurrected from the dead, but the baby Jesus sits out two months with a backache. Maybe it's time for a new nickname. All I know is if Wendell the black running back can keep playing with a busted up knee after a simple shot of the Bud Kilmer juice, Mauer has no excuse for missing months upon months of baseball. Can't he just DH?

- Speaking of injuries, it looks like Ty Lawson is the latest one to pull the Tiger Woods aka the Michael Jordan, and overplay his injury/illness when things aren't going well only to be miraculously cured if things go his way. One of the lead stories on ESPN right now is that Lawson will play for the Heels on Friday against Gonzaga. Really? Well I'd god damned hope so. He just played 31 minutes on Saturday in a win against LSU, and although there was a shot of him on the sidelines with his shoe off whining like he was Joe Mauer, you better believe when he was in there running around his shots were somehow miraculously falling and when he found the trampoline in the floor like they used to have in rock and jock and managed to dunk, he was jumping around celebrating like a slave who made it to the north. Old....Man.....River...(dammit I can't find the actual clip, but if you can it's hilarious). What was my point? Oh yeah, you watch on Friday. If things are going well for him and the Heels, he'll be fine. But if he's missing shots or turning it over, look out for the waterworks - just like Tiger in the US Open.

- Ok, my co-worker just called and she just arrived, so I have to go meet her in the hotel bar for a drink. While I'm gone, I want you to ponder this: "That Travis Busch, he do be hustlin'"

- Back. Some assface in the bar is a dick. I asked them to change the channel from some stupid Primetime show called "What would you do" to the NIT game, and before the bartender gets any further than the guide, dickhead guy is like, "Aw man, you're changing it? We was watching that" and yes he said was. So they don't change it. Keep in mind it's a show about how people react to situations, and yet there was no volume or subtitles. So I watch this dink the whole time I'm in bar, ignoring my co-worker but I'm pretty sure I didn't miss anything - and he doesn't look at the tv the whole time. Not even once. He was too busy making googly-eyes at his boyfriend. So I missed Penn State knocking off Florida. I'm sure it was thrilling.

- I got it. The baby Tracy McGrady. That dude is hurt constantly, and I'm pretty sure I read somewhere half the time it's because he's just being a whiner. Perfect for Mauer.

- Well, well, it looks like America's boyfriend who is really a douche but America is too close to see it but all America's real friends (me) can see he's a douche and no matter what we do America won't break up with him, Stephen Curry, blew it once again. This time in the prestigious NIT. The Currys lost to St. Mary's, with Curry going for 26 points, 9 rebounds, and 5 assists. And once again, that's all you'll hear about. Nobody will mention the 11-27 shooting or the six turnovers, it's all about the fantasy stats. I'm not going to rehash it for the millionth time, because obviously America won't listen, but go here and scroll down to the Davidson section and re-read up on his stats versus good teams. I'll wait, it's the first entry in the WHO SUCKED section. I seriously hope he doesn't turn pro so I can watch this trainwreck of a relationship again. He'll suck against good teams and just when America is starting to question their love, he'll go off and have a huge night against Furman and it'll be first love all over again. Great guy, America, you sure can pick winners. Curry and Favre. Really top notch. You're dead to me.

- Speaking of the NIT and meltdowns, which I think is where I started that whole Curry thing but I can't remember for sure, Auburn just completely blew it against Baylor. Baylor was up like 7 with 2 minutes left, and thanks to a few three pointers and a couple of forced turnovers, they got the ball back down one with 16 seconds left because Baylor is a bunch of idiots who refused to make the NCAA tournament despite having the talent to win the whole thing. So they get fouled, need one to tie and two to take the lead with 9 seconds left. Miss both. Lose.

- I want to quick mention a book I'm highly recommending, When March went Mad by Seth Davis of CBS and SI fame. The good people over at Press Box Publicity were kind enough to send me an early review copy of the book, and in all seriousness I loved it. I finished it up on the way to Chicago, and plan to have a review next week. It chronicles the 1978-1979 college basketball season following Magic Johnson and the Spartans and Larry Bird and Indiana State, climaxing with their championship matchup that changed college basketball. It also does a great job of following the peripheral players and coaches as well. If you liked the John Feinstein college basketball books (Season on the Brink, The Last Amateurs, a March to Madness) or like basketball in general, pick it up. Full review coming next week.

- - Oh crap, here's something awesome. I just saw that America's boyfriends little brother, Seth Curry, is transferring from Liberty. I don't know why, and nobody knows where yet, but I can only hope he goes to a big school so he can be exposed for the fraud that his whole family (except Dell) is. Seth led all freshmen this year by averaging 20.2 points per game, but I'd assume it's because Dell taught his kids to just shoot constantly - hopefully none of them is a crip or a blood. I did check the stats just to be sure, and he shot 42% from the floor and 35% from three with a 1-1 Assist/Turnover ratio, so it's pretty much more of the same. Plus, does anybody really like anybody named Seth? I mean, really?

- I think that's pretty much it for tonight. Hasta Manana.

Weekend Review

Since I can’t possibly write about the stupid Gophers stupid basketball team right now, I’m just going to skip it. I hope they lose in the first round and end up going to the NIT. A team that finished the season out the way they did not only doesn’t deserve to go to the NCAA tournament, but also would most likely get absolutely embarrassed. I would hate to lose Royce and/or Rodney after seeing the Gophers get beat by 40 against like, Boston College in the first round. Ugh. Let’s just move on before I jump out a window.

WHO WAS AWESOME

1. The Netherlands. I’m not going to sit here and pretend to be some fancy scientist who actually knows where the Netherlands are, but I know a pretty huge baseball win when I see one, and the they picked one up this weekend by beating the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic. The Dutch, which is what you call people from the Netherlands, which is also called Holland (really, three names?), are not exactly a baseball powerhouse, with just Sidney Ponson as a recognizable name and just one other major league player (pitcher Rick VandenHurk, who didn’t even play in the game).

It didn’t matter on Saturday though, as Ponson started and pitched ok, giving up two runs in four innings, but then four relievers with zero big league experience – including Twins minor leaguer Alexander Smit who has pitched in 131 games and never risen above A ball and is the most experienced of the group in terms of the minors – shut down a lineup that included Hanley Ramirez, David Ortiz, Robinson Cano, Miguel Tejada, Jose Reyes, and Willy Aybar amongst several other big leaguers. With The Netherlands able to scratch out three unearned runs off Edinson Volquez in the first thanks to Ramirez’s throwing error, they held on for an improbable 3-2 victory, the biggest in the country’s history.

Bert Blyleven was the team’s pitching coach, so I’m assuming this win was all about him, and it’s very likely we’ll be hearing him bring it up over and over and over again on Twins’ broadcasts this season. But that’s ok, because it’s a huge win for the country, and they should be ecstatic. Plus it gives me an excuse to post those broads up above.

2. USA. If I'm talking World Baseball Classic, I can't possibly not talk about the US in their quest to redeem themselves after their 8th place finish in 2006. They are sitting at 2-0 after squeaking by Canada 6-5 on Saturday and following it up with a 15-6 crushing of Venezuela yesterday. Considering Canada and Venezuela are two of the top contenders this year, this is a very good start. The hero so far has probably been Three-True-Outcomes all star Adam Dunn, who in the two games is 3-4 with 4 walks, 3 rbi, 5 runs scored, and 2 homeruns. The team also isn't missing Joe Mauer much, as catchers Brian McCann and my guy Chris Iannetta have combined to hit 3-5 with 3 walks, 2 runs scored and 7 rbi. USA has already guaranteed their advancement to the second round starting Saturday, but still plays the winner of Canada and Italy on Wednesday. As for bad news, Chipper Jones had to leave yesterday's game with strain in his side, although I don't know how bad of news that really is since he's 0-7 with five strikeouts so far.

3. Texas A&M. In a year when most bubble teams seem to be doing everything they can to NOT get into the tournament, Gophers included, it’s nice to see a team like the Aggies actually take care of business. They went 2-0 this week to push their Big 12 record to 9-7 and a fourth place finish, and set themselves up to get a nice conference tournament victory with a matchup against Texas Tech. A&M has now won six in a row, none more impressive than Saturday’s 96-86 thrashing of #15 Missouri in a game that wasn’t even that close.

The Aggies have a very nice balance, with five players scoring between 9 and 14 points per game and have experienced guards. With their resume they might already be in, and a win over Tex Tech in the conference tournament would all but guarantee it, and they could upset somebody once they get there.

4. Auburn. So here’s a team that is so far off the radar I don’t think anybody has noticed them, but suddenly they have played their way into the NCAA conversation. The Tigers won a good SEC road game over Alabama earlier in the week, and then followed it up with a win over SEC top dog LSU 69-53 on Saturday. Auburn has won 8 of its last 9 games, and finished SEC play with a record of 10-6, good enough for second place in the SEC West. The RPI is awful (#72), thanks to a horrendous strength of schedule (non-conf SOS #202), and there is a lack of quality wins (outside the LSU win and a win over Tennessee there’s nothing here) so the Tigers still have a lot of work to do. Auburn has a pretty potent offense, and as weak as the SEC is this year they could easily win a couple of games. With 20+ overall wins, a 10-6 SEC record, and an appearance in the SEC tourney semifinals they might be pretty tough to keep out.

5. Radford, Cornell, Morehead State, East Tennessee State, and Northern Iowa. Welcome to the dance boys, welcome to the dance. Most well known for Gopher fans is probably Cornell, who got here winning the Ivy League’s regular season championship by three games over Yale. Cornell tested themselves this year, playing not only the Gophers, but Syracuse, Siena, and St Joe’s as well. Just one problem – they didn’t beat anybody, and also lost to Indiana. The Big Red will probably be a fourteen or fifteen seed, and have little chance of scoring an upset.

The best chance to get an upset out of this group is from Northern Iowa, who will probably be in the 13 range. I thought the Panthers weren’t very good and wouldn’t get through the Missouri Valley tournament, but they surprised me and outlasted a very good Illinois State team in overtime in the championship – the same Illinois State team that beat Creighton in the quarterfinal. I still don’t think they can pull any kind of upset (they lost to Marquette by 30 and Iowa by 20) but they have a better chance than any of the other teams that have advanced, who will all be 15 seeds at best with a shot at a play-in game.


WHO SUCKED (other than the Gophers)

1. Penn State. As awesome as their win over Illinois was on Thursday, the Nittany Lions completely undid that by dropping a game to Iowa on Saturday. It took double overtime for the Hawkeyes to kill the Penn State dreams, which tells me it was a tough game but which also tells me Penn State had chances to win and couldn’t get the job done.

They allowed Iowa to shoot 47% while they shot just 38% themselves, and were outrebounded 39-25. Looking at those numbers, they were pretty lucky to even be close to winning this game. Pringle and Battle had their shooting touch desert them once again, going just a combined 3-16 from three point land in this one.

It seems unthinkable that a team could go 10-8 in the Big Ten and not get into the big dance, but that’s what happens when you have such a soft non-conference schedule – particularly when you lose to the only two things resembling real teams (Rhode Island and Temple) on it. PSU’s non-conference strength of schedule is #303, and the best NC win they picked up was #118 Mount St. Mary’s, one of only two RPI top 200 teams they beat in the NC. Read that again. Save the MSM’s game and Sacred Heart at #180, they didn’t beat another team in the top 200 until Big Ten play. All that results in an RPI of 59, and when your fellow conference bubble teams have RPIs of 30 (Wisconsin), 32 (Minnesota), and 45 (Michigan) and have more marquee NC wins, you aren’t looking too good.

2. Maryland. Probably the poster child for bubble teams destroying themselves, the Terrapins have likely doomed themselves to the NIT with an 0-2 week. They lost a home game to Wake Forest that would have greatly helped their bubble chances, and then put their own nail in their own coffin by losing to ACC bottom dweller Virginia. The highly overrated Greivis Vasquez didn’t help, shooting a Stephen Curry-like 15-44 in the two games, including 3-14 from three. Vazquez started getting way too much press after his triple-double in the Terps’ upset of North Carolina, but if you look at the numbers he shoots just 43% from the floor and 32% from three, and turns it over almost three times a game. Even so, Maryland’s problems aren’t really his fault, since he has pretty much zero help. Although it’s probably due to those god awful yellow jerseys they’ve started wearing.

3. Cincinnati. Much like Maryland, the Bearcats managed to completely sabotage any hopes they had of getting into the tournament this week by losing to two bottom feeders in the league. They lost to South Florida on Wednesday 70-59 which probably knocked them off the bubble, but just in case there was any doubt they went ahead and removed it by losing at home to Seton Hall, 67-63. Their record in the conference dropped to 8-10, and with only a win over UNLV to point to in the non-conference season and an RPI of 63, they’ll need to win the Big East tournament to get in.

There is reason for optimism in Cincy, however, as the team played above their projections this year and are losing nothing except a walk-on going into next season (assuming Deonta Vaughn doesn’t do something stupid and try to go pro). Vaughn is their leading scorer and one of the top returning guards in the Big East. Junior Mike Williams (a transfer from Texas) gives Vaughn a nice inside compliment to his outside game. Freshman Yancy Gates was the #22 prospect on Rivals Top 150 and lived up to it, averaging 11 points and 6 rebounds per game this year. And the Bearcasts will get another talent infusion when two redshirt freshmen, point guard Cashmere Wright (the #82 prospect) and 7-1 center John Riek (the #13 center) start playing next season.

4. Davidson. Uh oh, looks like we’re going to have a big dance without it’s precious Cinderella, and I’m guessing there are a lot of “objective analysts” crying themselves to sleep after Davidson lost in the semifinals of the SoCon tournament 59-52 to Charleston. I wish I could say I was surprised, but Stephen Curry’s continual struggles this season against good teams (well documented here) I’m not. And, to continue the pattern, Curry struggled once again against a good team, not to take anything away from Charleston who did a great job. Super Stephen hit just 5 of 18 shots, including just 2-11 from three and put up just 3 assists to go with 3 turnovers. Granted, the rest of the team didn’t fare much better as they shot just 31% overall, but then again they aren’t supposed to – they haven’t been anointed the chosen one by ESPN and every other media type. Good luck in the NIT Curry, I’m sure you’ll rip right through it – at least the first few rounds while you get easy matchups.

5. Scarface. Yes, the movie. I hadn't seen it before and we watched this weekend and holy crap, how the hell does this movie continue to show up on Greatest Movies Ever lists? I'm guessing it's like a Citizen Kane kind of thing, where the movie was so groundbreaking at the time that even though it doesn't hold up anymore movie snobs continue to sing it's praises because of it's relevance when it was released.

First of all, at two hours and fifty minutes it's WAY too long. The only movies that were any good that are that long are the Lord of the Rings movies, and that's because I'm a retard for that kind of thing and I loved the books. Secondly, it's just plain boring. You wouldn't think a movie about a drug lord that involved chainsawing someones head off would be boring, but yet, here we are. I think the fact that this is the favorite movie of the rap/hip-hop culture backs up my point that it sucks. Take your three hours and rent two good movies instead. I'd rather spend three hours watching the Gophers.

COLLEGE HOOPS PREVIEW: The SEC

Fear not, there is still time for me to do all the previews I had planned, and we continue today with the SEC, a conference, I'm sad to say, which looks like it will be down, down, down this season. Honestly, after Tennessee there really isn't a very good in the bunch, but I'll be brave and take a look anyway.

1. Tennessee
I was big on them last year, and still believe they are the clear class of the conference despite heavy loses including Chris Lofton, JaJuan Smith, and Ramar Smith (kicked off the team due to "substance abuse.") Plenty remains, especially former Hawkeye Tyler Smith and 6-7 guard JP Prince. I love Prince's game, and think with most of the guard scoring gone he can kick up his game and really step forward this year. Freshman Scottie Hopson (#5 on Rivals Top 150) is supposed to be out of this world, though I'm hoping for a nice Dennis Hopson flat top. Their only weakness is in the front court, where just Tyler Smith and Wayne Chism are worth mentioning, and undersized. A handful of talented freshmen could help.

2. LSU
Three years ago in the final four, and then two years of crap, but the Tigers look to be on the rise again. The biggest reasons for optimism are returning guard and leading SEC scorer Marcus Thornton, who broke 35 points three times last season, and the return of injured forward Tasmin Mitchell, who missed all but three games last year with an injury. Add in solid guards Garrett Temple and Terry Martin and underrated center Chris Johnson, who looked very good in a game I saw last year but I don't remember who against, and LSU looks to be the best of the rest.

3. Florida
The Gators are a lot of people's picks to win the SEC, but I'm not quite buying it - although I think they'll be in the NCAA bid hunt. Nick Calathes is an excellent all around player (he reminds me a lot of Mike Miller), but there just isn't much else here that really impresses me. Jai Lucas and Walter Hodge are good guards, but Hodge is kind of blah and Lucas needs a lot of work. There isn't much in the paint, and even though they have two highly touted prospects coming in Eloy Vargas (#26) and Kenny Kadji (#27), it sounds like they both need more muscle and could get pushed around. Look for sleeper freshman forward Allan Chaney to make a big impact.

4. Mississippi
Remember how Ole Miss was on fire at the beginning of last season and looked like they were on their way to a huge year, but then tanked towards the end and finished up by missing the NCAA tournament? That probably sucked for them. They'll probably be a bubble team again this year, led by super sophomore point guard Chris Warren (not the old Seattle RB) and a pair of swingman types in Eniel Polynice (Olden's son?) and David Huertas. Warren is a stud and the other two guards can score, but there is essentially no front court presence whatsoever. 6-9 Freshman Terrence Henry (#65 Rivals) is going to have to contribute immediately for the Rebels to have success this year.

5. Kentucky
Patrick Patterson is an absolute beast, assuming he's all healed up from the ankle injury that kept him out at the end of last season, but Kentucky has a lot to replace. The loss of guards Ramel Bradley and Joe Crawford not only takes away a lot of points (33.8 ppg between them) but also leaves the Cats without an established ball handler. Junior Michael Porter will get a chance, but he's more the back up type. It could fall on a couple of wing players, freshmen DeAndre Liggins (#28) and transfer Kevin Galloway to take on a more point foward type of roll. Maybe we can trade them Kevin Payton.

6. Alabama
At this point it's a crapshoot between a mess of teams, and Alabama comes first alphabetically so I guess the Crimson Tide is my pick for fifth. The have a decent returning player in small forward Alonzo Gee, although looking at his game log it's easy to see why magazines call him "mercurial" and "enigmatic." He scored 32 against Florida and 27 against Tennessee last season, but then 1 against Arkansas and 4 against Ole Miss with just 2 and 3 shot attempts. Wacko. If Ronald Steele is recovered from major knee surgeries and is back to his old form, and freshman Jamychal Green (#21) is as good as advertised they'll be decent. Otherwise they'll suck.

7. Vanderbilt
Still an awesome home floor, but the Commodores come crashing back to earth a bit this year following two very good seasons with the loss of three starters, including Shan Foster, SEC Player of the Year. There is hope for the future, however, as Vandy snagged four top 100 players this season, and have former PJS favorite Festus Ezeli coming off his redshirt season. Their ability to play right away, along with the continued development of center A.J. Ogilvy (think Aaron Gray from Pitt) will determine their success.

8. Mississippi State
I was a big fan of this team last year, and they didn't disappoint by getting to the Sweet 16, but there is a lot gone, and I mean a lot. Three double digits scorers (Ben Hansbrough - 10.5, Jamont Gordon - 17.2, Charles Gordon - 17.4) are going to be tough to replace, but at least they have defensive machine and triple double getter guy Jarvis Varnado back. Varnado led the nation in blocks with 4.6 per game, and recorded a triple double in points, rebounds, and blocks against Kentucky in a game I watched in a Dallas bar with 10/12/10, and came close on two other occasions (9/9/10 and 8/7/10). Watching a guy like that makes me long for the days of what I hoped Antoine Broxsie would be. There's not much else here, though I guess the boringly named Barry Stewart is ok.

9. South Carolina
Remember when Dave Odom was a hot coach at Wake Forest? He probably should have capitalized on that fame and gotten some big money, because after sucking for a bunch of years with no Tim Duncan, Randolph Childress, or Rusty LaRue he was canned and a new coach is installed at SC who I've never heard of. Much like most of his players. Ok, I know Devan Downey is a terror at point guard from his days at Cincinnati, and Zam Frederick can score form his days at Georgia Tech. I don't know any other Gamecocks because they have always been a boring team who sucked and it was hilarious when they're totally overrated ripoff of Lethal Weapon 3 lost to Coppin State that year they were a #2 seed.

10. Auburn
This program just can't seem to get going, and the little bit of optimism will probably be crushed by the first weekend of SEC play. They have a good core coming back, but this is the same group that hasn't as much as made the NIT in their time together. Returning guards Raheem Barrett, Quantez Robertson, and Dewayne Reed are a nice perimeter grouping, and help take the defensive focus off top player Korvotney Barber, the teams leading scorer who missed most of last season due to injury. He's just 6-7, and is the sole contributing big man in the lineup. Add to that the best two incoming players for the Tigers are guards, and you are looking at a huge ole mess, whose upside is probably the NIT bubble.

11. Georgia
Is this still the Jim Harrick effect? When are these guys going to be good again? Yes, they made the tournament last year, but that was because of their miracle run in the SEC tournament, not because of any sustained success (they were 4-12 in conference last year). Additionally, they have basically nobody back from that squad, and not a whole lot in the pipeline. Right now I'm wondering how I don't have these guys ranked dead last.

12. Arkansas
Oh yeah, this is why. The Razorbacks were the most disappointing team for me last season, falling well short of expectations due in part to a lackluster performance from potential superstar Patrick Beverly. Well, they won't have to worry about that this season, because Beverly was kicked off the team for undisclosed reasons and has chosen to play in Europe this season. And he's not the only subtraction, as Arkansas lost essentially the whole team to graduation. The Razorbacks return just 10.6 points and 5.9 rebounds per game from last season, so the whole lineup is wide open. Good news for familiar name Courtney Fortson, the headliner of a not terrible class for Arkansas. Fortson is #50 on the Rivals Top 150, and is joined by three other incoming players on the list. Add in JuCo Montrell McDonald (#20 JuCo player) and redshirter Michael Sanchez (#111 last season) and there is hope for the future. But absolutely none for this season.

The Most Boring Team Ever

- Remember how I thought Auburn might be good this year? Well, they lost their leading scorer to injury, but watching this West Virginia/Auburn game, it wouldn't matter. They are just horrible. So far it seems like their offensive consists of two options: 1. Throw the ball out of bounds or 2. throw the ball to the other team. Yuck.

- What's with all the love for Vanderbilt? Not only are the ranked #23 right now, but the announcer in this WVU/Auburn game just said they were his sleeper team for the SEC this year - What the hell? Is it because they're 8-0? This team needed triple overtime to beat Southern Alabama at home. They beat a crappy Wake Forest team at home by 3, and that one was down to the wire. They've beaten some mediocre teams at home and that's it. The beat Georgia Tech, but Tech is also 3-4 and might lose to Georgia State tonight. Trust me, Vandy is not that good. I'm betting against them the rest of the year.

- Wow. Allen Iverson has 49 points through three quarters on 17-23 shooting. I can't decide if I should keep watching him or go over to the Gonzaga/Wash St game. The Lakers are doubling him every time he has the ball passed midcourt right now. And if you're wondering, that 49 is the highest individual total in an entire GAME this season.

- This Gonzaga vs. Wash St game is two of my least favorite programs ever. Gonzaga, because every year they're a top 40 type team, who plays in a crappy conference so they never get exposed, and then gets "upset" in the tournament and the nation mourns the poor little team that could. And Wash State because I hate teams that play that slow down Princeton style crap and Derrick Low looks like girl.

- The announcer just said Low is one of the best guards you've never heard of. Seriously? If Wash St and little girl Low got any more press the last two years, they'd be called Duke.

- And now Mark Few has been called one of the best coaches in the HISTORY of college basketball. This is truly a lovefest by these two clowns. No wonder they're on ESPNU.

- Kenyon Martin is still in the NBA? (I'm flipping. AI has cooled, but we have OVER 221 in this game)

- Low kind of looks like a caveman too. He's like a female cave man. And not the hot kind with the big rack and fur bikini. More like the ugly kind with the stupid pony tail and jay leno jaw. And stupid.

- It's 11-8 WSU, and I'm starting to think it was really stupid to pick Gonzaga here. WSU's stupid Princeton crap has a place, and against a not-very-athletic team with a mediocre coach like Gonzaga, it's probably going to work. Dammit.

- I don't know how this happens, but Long Beach is beating Loy-Marymount by 20 right now. Loyola Marymount must be the worst team in history. They probably couldn't even beat Iowa.

- The NBA really sucks. Only in the NBA can two teams combine to score 176 points in three quarters, only need to score a total of 45 more to cover an over, and end up only getting 42. Dumb. I hate the NBA and I hate all of you.

- WSU leads 28-19 at half in what is a pretty boring game. I predict WSU kills a whole bunch of teams this year, loses to UCLA and USC twice each and once each to Arizona and Oregon, and then gets beat in the NCAA tournament in one of the first two rounds, as soon as they face an athletic ACC or SEC team.

- Gonzaga: 8-30 at half. I will say that yes, WSU plays some very tough defense, but that's embarrassing.

- WSU has a guy named Aron Baynes who is basically just Jeff Hagen if Hagen had better footwork, some actual offensive moves, a better touch on his shot, could make free throws, and was an above average defender.

- There are nine white guys on the floor right now. Well, eight white guys and a cavewoman.

- The worst "best player on his team" in the country has to be Gonzaga's Matt Bouldin. Zero points on 0-8 shooting. If you're a goto guy, you have to at least get to the line if things aren't falling.

- They just called Low the "Pride of Hawaii." I don't know, I'd have to go with El Sid. And we've got ourselves a bar burner here, WSU 45, Gonzaga 43 with 3:32 to go. Both teams kind of suck.

- WSU wins 51-47, and have clearly established themselves as the most boring team in the country. Since they're boring, and I'm sure reading this was boring, here's a video of a little girl getting hit in the face with a soccer ball.


Little Girl Vs Soccer Ball - Watch more free videos