Friday Fillibusters

Wow, what a long week, am I right?  I could pretty easily not go back to work for a month and I wouldn't miss it - other than the money that is.  As such, I am going to go ahead and knock back a couple few Coors Lights and type random thoughts as they enter my brain.  If you're looking for a preview of St. Joseph's, scroll to the post underneath this one, genius.

-  We'll start with the Twins here, and how guys I wanted them to pick up are just flying off the board.  Iwamura was traded to the Pirates, Polanco signed with the Phillies, Figgins with the Mariners, Scutaro with the Red Sox, J.J. Putz with the White Sox, and Rich Harden with the Rangers.  That's almost my entire list of people I was interested in.  Who's left?

Adrian Beltre is still out there, and still someone I'd love to see land with the Twins, but that's looking less and less likely.  It was just reported today that the Red Sox, after shipping off Mike Lowell (someone I wouldn't have minded the Twins getting depending on how much of that contract the Sox were paying) have decided to move their intentions to Beltre.  It was also reported that Beltre has asked for a 5 year, $65 million contract.  At that price I'd be pissed if the Twins signed him, and we all know there's not way they would so let's just move on.

A name I've heard a lot on the radio recently is Mark DeRosa, another 3b who I would like to see signed, but once again it seems his asking price is fairly ridiculous - 3 years, $27 million.  It's been reported that Billy Smith has said the team has "substantial funds" to put together the roster for next year, but this, like Beltre, isn't a good spend (would you rather get the 35-year old DeRosa or the 31-year old Figgins?).

Orlando Hudson is still available and is probably my first choice to play 2b right now, although Felipe Lopez would probalby be cheaper.  Kevin Kouzmanoff is almost certain to be traded by the Padres and would be a good addition to the squad, but it seems San Diego wants more than just Glen Perkins.  Now, if that "more" is like, Aaron Hicks they should tell the Pads to go screw.  But if it's something more like "Bobby Keppel" (who apparently was more valuable than Bonser - seriously WTF?) or some low-level dingleberry whose upside is playing for the St. Paul Saints, just toss him in and do it and get it over with already.  I'm still convinced Melvin Mora ends up here.  

-  Seriously, nice job keeping Keppel over Boof.  I can't even remotely come close to wrapping my head around that one.  Just weird.

-  Had a chance to watch a decent chunk of the Dayton/Old Dominion game tonight (thank you internet + knowing where to look) and let me tell you something - Dayton is awful.  Just awful.  They have squeeked by ODU, George Mason, Miami (OHIO), and Towson this year.  The only good player on the whole team is Chris Wright, who is actually a beast.  Like, literally, a beast.  He's built like Ving Rhames and plays like a slightly less athletic Blake Griffin.  Consider me very impressed with him, but super unimpressed by the team.  Kind of like Fergie.  Super impressed by the body, disgusted by the face.  That's Dayton.  Dayton = Fergie.  

-  FUN FACTS:  Dayton's last first round NBA pick was way back in 1979 - Jim Paxson, despite Negele Knight having a fantastic 1990 season - 22.8 points and 6.8 assists per game.  Also back in the very early 80s when DePaul was a dominant program (seriously, it happened) they had a 49-game home winning streak.  It was broken on January 10, 1981 on a steal and layup at the buzzer by Old Dominion.

-  Speaking of those FUN FACTS, I owe you one on St. Joseph's, don't I?  Well, Jameer Nelson ended his career as the Hawks all-time leader in points, assists, and steals, won the A-10 Rookie of the Year, the A-10 Player of the Year, and the National Player of the Year, and started every one of the 125 games he played in his career.  There's a reason I referred to it as "Jameer Nelson U" in my preview.


-  And I don't think I gave one for Morgan State either.  But did you know that the best player in Morgan State history, Marvin Webster, played from 1971-1975 and is still the team's all-time leader in points and rebounds, holds the single-season record for points and rebounds, and once grabbed 32 boards in one game.  He also has perhaps the best nickname of all-time, "The Human Eraser."

-  Have I mentioned how much I love the College Basketball Encyclopedia?

-  I ended up having to make a few changes to the final Fantasy College Hoops roster, including the heart-breaking and devasting decision to cut Ralph Sampson loose.  I think I'm just a year early.  He'll probably end up in consistent double-double territory by the end of the year, and then explode his junior season for the first of two Big Ten Player of the Year Awards.  Anyway, here's the final (probably) roster with the season starting on Monday:

G Jordan Crawford, Xavier
G Deonta Vaughn, Cincinnati
G Nic Wise, Arizona
G Chris Warren, Ole Miss
G Mikhail Torrance, Alabama
G Ronald Moore, Siena
G/F Tyler Smith, Tennessee
G/F Edwin Ubiles, Siena
F Luke Harangody, Notre Dame
F Jon Leuer, Wisconsin
F Damian Johnson, Minnesota
F Draymond Green, Michigan State
F Jamelle Horn, Arizona
F/C JaJuan Johnson, Purdue
F/C Derrick Favors, Georgia Tech
C Kenny Lawson, Creighton

Seems like a championship to me.

-  I wonder where Raymar Morgan would have been drafted if he had come out after his sophomore year (if he would have been drafted at all).  He's certainly been in free-fall mode since, absolutely refusing to build off that excellent sophomore year.  I can't remember what happened to him.  Did he get mono or something like that?  AIDS?  I don't remember.  And do you think the chicks call him Ray-Ray?

-  I love how Tiger is taking an "indefinite leave" from golf in order to fix his marriage.  Yeah, this will last all the way until the Masters.  No chance in hell he's going to miss a major - no chance in hell.  If Elin hasn't taken him back, or at least comitted to making it work and giving him "permission" to go play he's just going to go play.  No chance his misses a major.  If he has to, he'll just play the "addiction" card and get out of jail free.  You know, like every celebrity who has ever been in trouble for anything.  Sex addict, alcoholic, drug addict, gambleholic - it doesn't matter, just play the "disease" card and you're fine.  He probalby should have just pulled that shit right off the bat.  But - again - no way he misses a major.

-  Lastly, according to this article filled with a lot of mindless speculation and opinions reported as fact, it seems the Big Ten will be pushing for a twelfth team soon (apparently so it can be known as the Big Twelve, part II).  I don't know who it would be, but it seems clear it won't be Notre Dame since they've turned them down for like, 100 years.  Maybe a MAC team.  That would make sense.  Or what about a Missouri Valley team if their football team is ready to jump to D-IA?  Northern Iowa actually makes a ton of sense here since their basketball/football programs are probably most ready.  Although who am I kidding?  This decision, if we're pretending it's actually going to happen, will be made with football and football only in mind, so maybe Ohio?  I think best case (outside Northern Iowa) would be Temple, but I don't see them leaving the A-10.  In any case, this is really pointless and stupid.  Like your face.

Gophers vs. Michigan State Preview

Aside from the fact that game is at 11am on a Wednesday, everything about this game excites me. The first ranked Gopher team in a very long time, undefeated, about to begin Big Ten play against Big Ten Giant and #10 team in the country Michigan State. This will go a long, long way towards telling fans what this year's Gopher squad is all about. Was the Louisville game a fluke? Did they catch an overrated Cardinals team at the wrong time? It's possible. The Gophers played a hell of a game, but it's tough to tell just what this Louisville team is all about. The players on the roster and the coach say they should be a giant, as does the blowout win against UAB Saturday, like the team that was ranked #9 when the Gophers played them. But that loss to Western Kentucky still lingers and shows the Cards can put up an unexplained stinker. I'm inclined to believe Louisville is a very good team, and the Gophers have come together quicker than anyone could have anticipated and belong on that level - Wednesday will tell us more.

The Spartans have a similar, yet more forgivable, blemish on their record with their loss at home to Maryland (although Maryland ranks 37th at KenPom, WKU 147th). I'm not paying much attention to their blowout loss to North Carolina, because how can you possibly evaluate anyone playing that juggernaut? That said, those two losses and no real big wins would have left me thinking Sparty was ripe for the picking, but a couple of weekends ago, the same day the Gophers beat Louisville, the Spartans grabbed a really nice victory, beating #5 Texas on the road 67-63.

The teams rank similarly, with the Spartans #42 and the Gophers #49, and are similar in a lot of ways. In terms of offensive efficiency, the Gophers rank 27th, the Spartans 28th. In defensive efficiency, the Gophers are 84th, the Spartans 69th. Neither team turns the ball over much, although the Gophers rank 2nd in blocked shot percentage on defense and 12th in steal percentage, and the Spartan offense is mediocre on both counts. The biggest statistical edge I could find either way is the Spartans' offensive rebounding prowess going against the Gophers weakness in allowing offensive rebounds. The Gophers are 268th in offensive rebounding allowed percentage, while the Spartans are 35th in grabbing offensive rebounds. Although the silver lining here is that an undersized Texas team held the Spartans to just 9 offensive boards in their game, the Gophers have more size than the Longhorns to bang with MSU.

This seems like as good a place as any to look at the Spartan personnel, and just like last year the main guy the Gophers need to worry about is Raymar Morgan, taking another big step forward this year and averaging a career high 15.3 points per game, including a 29 point outburst against Oklahoma State. Texas was able to completely neutralize him using quick players, and held him to just 8 points (on 3-3 shooting) and managed to turn him over 6 times. I'm confident DJ will be able to handle him.

The next four leaders in minutes played for the Spartans are all guards, which again plays into the Gophers strengths. Al Nolen will have his hands full with lightning quick Kalin Lucas, second on the team in scoring with 11 points per game and averaging an incredible 6.5 assists to 1.0 turnovers ratio; although I think Lucas will have his hands full with Nolen too. Travis Walton starts in the backcourt with Lucas, and he can handle the point duties as well. Don't expect a lot of turnovers from the Spartans, but the guards need to at least keep them out of a good rhythm.

The other two big scoring guards are two sophomores, 6-3 Chris Allen (10.2 ppg) and 6-4 Durrell Summers (9.4). These are the kind of guys who worry me, because I'm not sure who guards them. Westbrook can handle one or the other, probably Allen, but I'm worried if Summers gets a chance to dismantle Hoffarber he won't be shy about it. Could be an excellent opportunity for Paul Carter to shine here.

One wild card is 6-10 senior center Goran Suton, who has always been kind of ho-hum but since returning from an injury a few weeks ago has been on fire, scoring 18 and 16 in his last two games while shooting 7-8 and 7-9 in the two games. Based on the job the Gophers did against a far superior Samardo Samuels, I'm not too worried about him, but it's someone to keep an eye on.

Last thing to watch is with super freshmen Delvon Roe hurt and likely to miss the game, his minutes will flow over to perpetual disappointment Marquise Gray. Since coming to MSU after being the 21st ranked player on the Rivals 150 for 2004, Gray hasn't even come close to living up to his potential, never averaging more than 7 points per game. The thing is, that potential is still there, and he is shooting 70% this year in his 14 minutes per game. Although it's not overly likely, I can see Gray getting overlooked with all the other scorers to worry about and ending up with Travis Busch on him all game or something.

Overall, these two teams match up pretty well together. I think the biggest key to the game comes down to Al Nolen vs. Kalin Lucas. Both can distribute (#2 and #3 in assists in the Big Ten), neither turns it over (1.0 per game for Lucas, 1.5 for Nolen), both can play defense (Nolen first in steals, Lucas 14th), and both pretty much key their team on both ends. After watching Nolen the last couple of weeks, how could I possibly not believe? Gophers 66, Spartans 60.

I also plan to do some kind of Big Ten preview before the game tomorrow. It may end up being nothing more than a list, but you should be grateful I give you anything. There are kids in Africa without the internet who don't get to read DWG at all.