Week in Review - 12/14/09

 I really wish they hadn't got rid of Boof.  Why Keppel?  Why?


WHO WAS AWESOME

1.  Herb Pope.  You probably don't know who this is, but you should.  Pope was an absolute stud in high school, ranked as the #17 prospect in 2007 and Rivals had him as #23, but due to some slight "concerns" he ended up at New Mexico State.  Of course, those concerns were that he punched out his coach, got arrested for DUI, and was shot five times at a party.  After a good season at NMSU, coach Reggie Theus left to coach in the NBA, and Pope left as well, transferring to Seton Hall to be closer to his new daughter.  And what an addition to the Pirates he has been, averaging 15 and 13 without even a hint of trouble.  This week was particularly saucy, with Pope putting up 22 points and 15 rebounds in the Hall's win over UMass, and following it up with a 15 and 20 in their 134-107 whooping of VMI, who continues to never, ever play defense.  The Pirates are now 8-0, but don't have a signature win and don't really play anyone the rest of the way until we hit the Big East schedule.  They'll have to have a good run if they want to be playing in March.

2.  Craig Brackins.  Well it was pretty much inevitable that he would show up here at some point, so why not now after throwing up a 28 and 8 against Iowa with 3 assists, 4 blocks, and a steal with no turnovers and only one personal foul.  Also he shot 9-13 from the field.  Usually when a possible lottery pick goes back to school for another year he ends up hurting his draft stock (Hi Sam Bradford), but in this case Brackins has probably boosted it by proving he can play the small forward.  His scoring and rebounding are down a bit this year (from 20.2 and 9.5 to 18.2 and 7.6), but his turnovers are way down (from 2.3 to 1.0), his assists are way up (from 1.3 to 2.4) and - consider yourself terrified - he's added a three point shot.  Yep, that's right.  He's shooting 63% from three this year after a 4-5 performance in that Iowa game.  Mark my words, this guy is just biding his time in the pre-conference games and is just waiting to unleash hell all over people's heads.  NBADraft.net currently has him projected as the 18th overall pick next year.  That my friends is both a crime and a steal of Danny Granger proportions.  Remember when the Wolves took Rashad McCants over Danny Granger?  I was literally screaming at the TV.  Guess what's awesome?  I went to McCants's wikipedia page, and he's listed as "an american basketball player who is currently a free-agent" meaning he hasn't hooked on here or Europe or South America or New Zealand or anywhere.  Awesome.

3.  New Mexico.  It's time to start paying attention to the Lobos, who beat Texas A&M in Houston on Saturday to follow-up their win against San Diego earlier this season, pushing their record to 10-0.  The A&M win wasn't their only big win this season either.  They also beat Cal and won at the Pit at New Mexico State - never an easy rivalry game.  I haven't seen the Lobos play, but they have a couple of swingman-types who can light it up - Roman Martinez (averaging 17-6-2) and Darington Hobson (17-8-4) and senior point guard and former Iowa Stater Dairese Gary is having a nice season as well and the whole team lights it up from three (41% as a team).  Alford looks to have turned this program around and they have a nice path to an NCAA Tournament bid this year, which would be just their second since 1999.  Also this gives me a chance to use the "Nathen Garth" tag again, since Tubby's first ever signee who was then not signed ended up at New Mex and is averaging 6 points and 2 assists in 15 minutes per game for the Lobos.  Thrilling.

4.  Cincinnati/Xavier.  What a game.  This one had a little bit of everything, and if you missed the Musketeers' 83-79 double-OT victory over the Bearcats you missed a great one.  The benches cleared twice after flagrants, we had a double technical, Lance Stephenson of Cincy and Terrell Holloway of Xavier were both brilliant and both hit career-highs in points in their respective coming out parties.  Deonta Vaughn rebounded from a horrible shooting first half to hit a lot of clutch shots down the stretch, Jason Love battled his way to 19 rebounds against a very strong Cincy front-line, Ibrahima Thomas made his Bearcat debut and almost got tossed for trash-talking, and Cincy pissed away the game thanks to 10-22 free-throw shooting and a missed layup by Vaughn.  Great game, and even better for being within such an incredible rivalry.  Trust me boys, I told you this before and I'm telling you again, Cincinnati is absolutely a national title contender - both their losses are in overtime games and were very winnable.  A little more seasoning and this team is going to be a monster.  I got them at 200-1 two win the whole thing, and last I saw they were 75-1.  Jump on that number now, it's going to be 20-1 or worse by the time the tournament rolls around.  

5.  Chris Gaston.  You probably don't know anything about Fordham basketball and let's ok because hardly anybody does, but I do and pay attention because I'm about to drop some knowledge.  The Rams were just 3-25 last season, and 1-15 in conference play, and were every bit as terrible as that sounds.  They did, however, have one bright spot in freshman guard Jio Fontan, who averaged 15 points and 5 assists per game last season and made the conference's All-Freshman team.  After the season, however, Fontan decided that Fordham wasn't the place for him and he asked for his release - but, in a move I've never of before, Fordham declined to give it, meaning if Fontan transferred he would be ineligible to recieve a scholarship - so he was stuck.  So he came back and played in the team's first five games this season, averaging 15 points and 4 assists, but after the 1-4 start the coach was fired and Fontan once again put in his transfer papers - only this time the request was granted and he's on his way out.  I tell you this only to let you know just how much of a mess it is at Fordham right now, and so I can point out the ray of hope for the Rams - Chris Gaston.

He's a freshman who was actually a former high-school teammate of Fontan, and he started out this season well, averaging 15 points and 11 rebounds per game.  When Fontan left, instead of pouting about how the guy who basically convinced him to come to Fordham had quit on him, he put the team on his shoulders and has really stepped up his game, averaging 26 points and 13 rebounds per game, including a 32-15 on Saturday in a loss to St. Johns and 25-11 (and 5 assists) in a win over Stony Brook earlier this week.  That's right, a win.  I'm not really sure who the bad guy is here - Fontan for quitting twice or Fordham for not letting him go the first time, but I know Gaston is the good guy.  They won't be in any kind of postseason tournaments, not even the CBI, but maybe Fordham will somehow manage to be relevant in a year or two.


WHO SUCKED

1.  Pittsburgh Steelers.  Yikes.  The Steelers won the Super Bowl last year right?  Hold on, I have to look this up.  Yes, they did (also this year's Super Bowl is at Land Shark Stadium which is just awesome).  Not awesome would be the Steelers' performance this season and, even more specifically and relevant to the point of this entire post, on Thursday when they lost to the lowly Browns 13-6.  Not only did they lose embarrassingly, but they managed just six points against that crappy team despite not turning the ball over.  They just couldn't do anything.  A total of 216 yards for the game (that's total, passing + rushing).  This puts Pittsburgh on a five-game losing streak, and not just your typical five game losing streak - within it are losses to Kansas City and Oakland along with the Browns.  So basically the Steelers rolled into the easiest part of their schedule at 6-2, and are coming out 6-7 with little to no playoff hopes despite having basically the same team they had last year when they won the whole thing.  It's gotta suck to be a Steeler fan right now.  Ouch.

2.  Louisville.  Good god, what is going on over there?  Three weeks ago they lost to UNLV, and you were all like, "whoa that's weird" but no big whoop because they always seem to stumble and lose to an inferior team (like the Gophers last year).  Then two weeks ago they lost to Charlotte, and you were all like, "Wow, maybe Charlotte is way better than we thought and Louisville is worse."  Now, on Saturday they lost to Western Carolina and you are all like "these guys suck and stuff."  Let me repeat:  they lost to Western Carolina.  At Home.  By 8.  In a game that wasn't even that close.  Just as scary as the loss is the way they lost - a team and program known for playing stifling defense and having strong guard play let WCU shoot 51% and turned the ball over 20 times - 7 of them by Edgar Sosa, the biggest disappointment in terms of living up to his potential since Felipe Lopez.  This rebuilding at Louisville is looking like it's going to take longer than I thought.       

3.  Arizona.  I feel like I'm constantly highlighting these guys as being bad, but they constantly deserve it so I guess that's just how it goes.  They managed to go 1-2 this week, squeaking a win out against Louisiana Tech in between two embarrassing losses to Oklahoma and San Diego State, both games the Wildcats got blown out in.  Do you realize Arizona is now 4-5.  Arizona has a losing record this early in the season.  Crazy.  They have at least played a pretty good schedule, but there's no real point to scheduling tough if you're just going to lose every game.  They still have games left against BYU and NC State before they hit the Pac-10 season, and if they want a chance at making the dance for something like the 20th year in a row, they need to win both.  They also need their perimeter guys (Wise, Fogg, & Horne) to stop shooting like crap (42%, 39%, 43%).  Good news though - they have the entire week off so they can't end up on this list again unless the whole team quits or something.  Don't rule that out. 

4.  Boston College.  It's not common that a team from a BCS Conference goes 0-2 in a week when they aren't in some kind of tournament, but the Eagles managed to pull it off this week.  And it's not like they had a couple of road games tough opponents, they lost to Harvard and Rhode Island, both at home.  Oof.  I guess it shouldn't be that surprising considering this team lost to St. Joe's, but still - wow.  And they weren't even close games, either.  Harvard won by 7 after leading pretty much the entire game, and Rhode Island totally blew the doors off B.C. and ended up winning by eleven.  Suddenly Michigan's win over them isn't looking nearly as impressive.  Special thumbs up to Joe Trapani for shooting 1-7 from three in the game against Rhody.   

5.  UNLV.  I knew these guys were frauds, and that's why a line of Kansas State +2 was such an easy bet on Saturday.  Obviously it paid off or I wouldn't be cocking off here like I was Jimmy the Greek and you were some black dude, but the whole point is that UNLV is terrible.  That's probably too strong.  Let's say overrated.  Seriously, how the hell was UNLV ranked #17?  Because they were 7-0?  A couple of wins look like "name" wins, but these "name" schools aare awful this year - they beat Louisville and Arizona - who both sound impressive but are awful this season.  Their best win was actually over Nevada, who is ranked 74th by Pomeroy, and they don't have another top 100 win in the bunch.  Kansas State this weekend (#16) was by far their best opponent, and the Wildcats blew them rigth out of the water 95-80 in Vegas.  If, and it's a big if, UNLV does make the tournament thanks to a watered down Mountain West, I'll guarantee their first round exit.      


You know what else sucks?  Fucking welshers.  Let me tell you what I'm talking about.  Let's say I'm in a keeper league for fantasy football, and I make a trade offer to a guy in my league.  He counters with a slightly different offer.  I accept.  He backs out and says he's not trading.  What the hell is that crap?  He should have to spend a weekend in jail for something like that.  Insead he's just free to tromp around breaking people's hearts like he was Jennifer Love Hewitt in Heartbreakers.  Ain't right.

Fantasy College Basketball Update

Ok, I have some more details about this Fantasy College Basketball League I'm going to be in.  We are going to be using the six main conferences (Big Ten, Pac 10, SEC, ACC, Big 12, and Big East - suck it, A-10), and a few other teams (Butler, BYU, Creighton, Dayton, Gonzaga, Memphis, Nevada, Siena, Tulsa, and Xavier). 

Scoring is:

1 pt per point scored
2 pts per assist
1 pt per rebound
3 pts per steal
3 pts per block
-2 pts per turnover

And we start 2 centers, 4 forwards, and 4 guards, with a total roster size of 16, and weekly games (so if someobdy is playing 2 games in a week and someone else is only playing 1, you would play the 2 game guy).  We don't start until December 14th, but the draft is going to be taking place soon and it's a slow draft, like a pick or two per day kind of thing.

We roll some internet dice thing for draft pick, with highest going first, and with about half of the league (12 members) having rolled I'm sitting at 90 right now - currently the #1 pick.

I think the real key here is the 3 points per steal and per block.  It's easy to focus on the main three stats, and actually the only fantasy college preview I've found does just that, but that is a lot of points for playing defense. 

For example, last year Damian Johnson would have averaged 28 points per game, despite just 10 points and 4 rebounds per game.  A guy like Seton Hall's Jeremy Hazell, who was tenth nationally in scoring at 23 per game and is an early pick in this kind of thing, averaged only 31 points per game.  I'm guessing I could snag DJ ten or more rounds later than Hazell, depending of course on how much everyone else is paying attention - and that will be the key.

Like, Harangody and Brackins are kind of the top two guys, and last year they averaged 41 and 35 per game, but thanks to Cole Aldrich's three blocks per game, he averagd 36 - more than Brackins and would be the #2 player and that's if he doesn't improve.

Basically, those are the top three and I don't know if there's anybody else you could argue should be included, and if I end up with the #1 Harangody is the smart pick, Brackins is the fun pick, and Aldrich is the intriguing pick - I'd probably end up going Aldrich or Harangody, and would be much happier with Cole.

Any thoughts?  Sleepers?  Defensive guys I'm missing?

Weekend Review

Hi folks. Writing this one from L.A. here in the hotel. I thought it would suck but the first thing I find on the TV now that I'm in the room after dinner (grilled Swordfish, steamed vegetables, rice pilaf) is Varsity Blues, and I'm immediately put in a good mood at the sight of Ali Larter. Maybe this will be a good trip after all. Plus, my room has a fridge. Holla.


WHO WAS AWESOME

1. Ralph Sampson III. A truly dominating performance from the big guy against the Hoosiers, finishing with 13 points, 8 rebounds, and 6 blocked shots. With Colton Iverson in early foul trouble, again, the big man responsibilities all fell to Ralph, and he responded in a big way, playing well enough that Iverson was pretty much kept on the bench the whole second half. Sampson isn’t necessarily polished, as his one move on the low block seems to be that awkward hook that continues to always go in, but he plays the position very well. He’s a very good passer, both from the low block and in the high post, and seems to have a very good head for the game. He is also an excellent defender, as evidenced by those six blocks. His jump shot needs a little work, but I’m confident it’s in there somewhere. He should maybe just put that in his back pocket for now, however, and work on it in the off season to add as an additional weapon in his arsenal for future seasons. I’m beginning to think that the all-american in two years projections are a little conservative. I’m thinking more like three all-american seasons with two National Player of the Years thrown in, if he sticks around for that long. And never forget, he was the first one to sign with the Gophers, and started this landslide of talent that's now coming in.

2. Craig Brackins. No, not the linebacker who once played for the Jaguars, the power forward extraordinaire for the Cyclones. What this dude is doing in the wasteland of Ames I’ll never know, because he’s a stud, and he had an incredible game on Saturday against Kansas and your boyfriend Cole Aldrich. Brackins put up 42 points in a losing effort, as the Cyclones lost the game 82-67 in Ames, but learned a lot about themselves in the process, and really, that’s makes them the real winner here. Lest you think this was a Stephen Curry kind of 42 points, Brackins needed just 19 shots, going 11-19 and 3-5 from three. He was also 17-21 from the line, since the Jayhawks realized they couldn’t stop him so they just started hacking, and he grabbed 14 boards as well. The 42 points are the most this season by a player in the Big 12 (surpassing Brackins 38 against Houston earlier) and were one shy of the all-time Big 12 scoring record of 44 held by Michael Beasley from last season. None of this should be a surprise, since Brackins was a stud in high school and was the #20 recruit in the country as a freshman last season. I have no idea why he’s in Ames, especially since he’s from New Hampshire. Maybe he got sick of going to Lake Winnapasaukee. I blame that god damned Bob Wiley.

3. Butler. After last season, things were supposed to change. Last year, the Bulldogs were ranked in the top 10, made the sweet 16, and became the first Horizon League team to win 30 games. Butler was losing four of their top five players going into this year, including Butler poster boy AJ Graves, and the talk was it was Cleveland State’s conference now, and the Bulldogs would probably end up somewhere towards the top, but definitely not the way it was the previous year. Well, not so much. While Cleveland State continues to flounder at 4-5 in the Horizon, the Bulldogs are kicking ass. They currently sit at 18-1, and 9-0 in the conference, and already beat Cleveland State at their place earlier this year. The two teams chasing Butler in the Horizon are UW-Green Bay and UW-Milwaukee, who just so happen to be the two teams Butler beat this week, UWGB by 11 and UWM by 30. It looks like Butler is back to annoy the crap out of you once again.

4. Washington. At the beginning of the season, I was counting on the Huskies to contend with Arizona State and UCLA for the Pac-10 crown. They started out really slowly, losing 3 of their first 5 games including a loss to Portland, and were making me look like a jackass. Well, something has clicked since then, culminating this week where the Huskies beat UCLA on Saturday, following up a Thursday victory over USC to bring them to 6-1 and on top of the conference standings, a game up on the Bruins. They are a very good offensive team, and are interesting because they are in the bottom four in the country in three point attempts per field goal attempt. They don’t need to rely on the three, because they have size in Jon Brockman, a freaking behemoth, and Matt Amaning, and really gifted slashing, driving type guards in Isaiah “No Relation” Thomas, Justin Dentmon, and Quincy Pondexter. With Ryan Applby gone, the Huskies aren’t a very good three point shooting team and so don’t bother. And right now, it’s looking like they don’t need to.

5. UCONN. A Home win over #20 Villanova followed up by a road win at #19 Notre Dame? Yeah, that’s a pretty good week. I’m telling you man, look out for this UCONN team, they are absolutely for real. They are 6-1 against ranked teams, and will have plenty of more tests in the ridiculous Big East. They have balanced scoring (five players in double figures), and are great on offense (5th in offensive efficiency) and defense (27th). With Hasheem Thabeet and Jeff Adrien, they have a dominant front court, and with Jerome Dyson and A.J. Price they have the kind of backcourt that makes a big difference in March. They have a deep bench as well, with Craig Austrie and Kemba Walker who can go for twenty at any time. If Stanley Robinson can recover fully from his “leave of absence” to deal with academics, and he’s well on his way, look out. Hell, I think I just talked myself into this team as my national champion.


WHO SUCKED

1. Maryland. I don’t really know any way to not put this team here after losing to Duke by 41 on Saturday, the worst loss in the rivalries history. They managed to shoot just 28%, and were outrebounded 52-29. Luckily for me I got to watch the end of this game while at the gym, and thus got to see both Jin-Soo Kim, perhaps one of the worst players in NCAA history, and Steve Goins, a one-time Gopher recruit play for the Terrapins, a rare occurrence. I saw Kim get two of this three shot attempts blocked, and Goins kick the ball out of bounds. It was a delight. As a team, the Terrapins are just 2-3 in the ACC, and have been heading downhill fast after that unexpected win over Michigan State. Interestingly, Snacks’ guy Greivis Vasquez leads the Terps in points, rebounds, and assists, which I have to think doesn’t happen too often; although Ralph Sampson will probably end up doing it the next three years, if he sticks around that long.

2. Syracuse. For a normal team, losing to the #4 and #9 ranked teams in a week wouldn’t be so bad, but for a team with final four aspirations it kind of says something about your team when you get blown out by Pitt and can’t win at home against Louisville. They are both very, very good teams, but Syracuse wants to be on that same level and those two games pretty clearly tell you they aren’t, at least right now. The Orange’s big weakness right now is in their rebounding, they were killed by Pitt 37-24 on the boards and gave up 17 offensive rebounds to the Cardinals. Other than Onuaku, they don’t have any real size. Paul Harris plays bigger than his 6-4, but against bigger teams that height disadvantage hurts. Rick Jackson is 6-9 and can also help out, but he’s wildly inconsistent and disappears at times. It doesn’t help that Andy Rautins still sucks at shooting, going 1-6 from three in the Louisville game. I still think the Cuse have a shot at the final four, but they’re going to need Jackson to really step it up against teams with size.

3. Georgetown. Another Big East team, and a conference that good and that deep is always going to beat up on itself, but, like Syracuse, the Hoyas definitely took a step backwards this week. Georgetown lost earlier in the week at home to a good but unranked West Virginia team, and then followed that up by losing to Big East doormat Seton Hall on Sunday. That was the first win of the Big East season for Seton Hall, and was a pretty healthy upset for the Pirates, a game that Ken Pomeroy estimated the Pirates had only a 14% chance to win. They managed it despite a horrible shooting performance from their superstar, guard Jeremy Hazell, who is averaging 22.7 points per game but shot just 5-21 for the game, including 0-10 from three. The fact that the Hoyas lost despite limiting the Pirates best player has to be scary for G-Town fans. The Hoyas have a good chance to get healthy, with their next three games against Rutgers, St. Johns, and Rutgers again, but after that things get tough. I am not a big believer in this team.

4. Arkansas. It seems like every week the Razorbacks have found themselves in the Weekly Recap, sometimes on the good and sometimes on the bad. This time it's definitely bad, after losing to a bad Auburn team, and at home no less, by 22 to fall to 0-4 in the SEC. After beating both Texas and Oklahoma in the non-conference season, they looked like they might be the surprise team of the nation, but four losses in the SEC, all to ranked teams, leaves Arkansas looking like the crap everybody thought they were at the beginning of the season. One of the big issues has been the dropoff of Courtney Fortson, who looked like an absolute all-star earlier but has really struggled, averaging over 5 turnovers per game in the four SEC contests, including 8 against Florida and 6 against Auburn. I cannot imagine what it must be like to be an Arkansas fan. Wow, such a weird team.

5. Cal. Another team that nobody expected much out of who came out of the gate hard, the Golden Bears were on a roll, winning their first four games in the Pac 10 before dropping a game to Stanford. Then came this week, which didn't go so well, although with the two Oregon schools coming to Berkeley it should have been an easy week. Not so, as the Bears struggled and lost to a bad Oregon State team, and then barely pulled off the win against a winless in the conference Oregon Ducks team. The Bears had a win in hand, with a 12 point lead with just nine minutes remaining in the game, but then scored just three points after that as the Beavers came back to win 69-65. The Bears are still in good shape, and have a couple of awesome players in guards Jerome Randle and Patrick Christopher, but this is certainly not a good sign.