2012-13 College Basketball Running Cordial Discussion

Is basketball acumen not a tangible-enough measure? Larry Brown runs laps around Bill Self in that regard.

 

I'm talking about results. I write all this as a pretty big fan of Brown's, but his sample size at Kansas is too small. He basically had one great team (1986) and one team that went on a great tournament run in 1988. He also wasn't too interested in recruiting. If he hadn't been close to Ed Manning from their ABA days he might never had even made a Final Four.

He also left KU unable to defend its title because of probation. Granted, they've changed the rules regarding some of the biggest violations and there's no way KU would get a tourney ban today, but it is still a mark against him.

When it comes to winning percentage and conference titles, Self has them all beat. He's been to Final Fours at roughly the same clip as Roy, but has a championship. Self, since getting all his own recruits in, has really been on an unbelievable roll up until the past week.

It's going to be interesting to see what happens tomorrow. The atmosphere at Allen Fieldhouse will be manic and deafening starting a couple of hours before tip, but if K-State gets off to a good start it might take the crowd out of it in a way that hasn't happened in more than a decade.

 

To take this thread on a bit of a Larry Brown tangent, I'm really intrigued about what he's doing at SMU. Jake mentioned recruiting -- well, he seems pretty interested in it now. He's got three supposedly big-time transfers sitting out this season and has signed a couple of very highly rated kids, including the nation's top JC big man.

The team he has this season has five nice players -- but only five. He has no bench at all. Several times SMU has raced out to a huge lead -- they led Southern Miss by 19, Houston by 12 in one game and 19 in the other -- and lost because their depth is nonexistent.

If those transfers and/or recruits turn out to be what they're cracked up to be, SMU could be really good next season -- but they'll be playing a pre-defection Big East schedule (the Catholic schools are all staying for '13-14, right?).

That's going to be an interesting team the next couple of years -- one way or the other.

 

How many years will he give Southern Methodist? I can't imagine him staying five. It must be a lot easier to get transfers than four-year recruits for that reason.

 

Self is the most successful coach at Kansas since Phog Allen (and quite honestly has a pretty good argument to go ahead of Allen). Brown is the best coach in Kansas history.

 

Self will tell you Larry Brown is the guy who taught him basketball.

 

I'm all for not letting making a marginal call at the end of a close game like Duke-BC was. But when a guy in perfect position to get an offensive rebound and an easy stickback gets undercut from behind at the knees and knocked to the court you have to blow your whistle and make a call.

Another Jim Burr-officiated classic.

 

So Duke ends up No. 1 again. Question is, will the voters give Gonzaga a little more run given that everyone except the Blue Devils above the Bulldogs in the poll busted?

 

Virginia bolsters its NCAA tournament hopes with a convincing win over Maryland in College Park. I know Juan Dixon isn't walking through that door, but the Terps are a decent team with (fading) NCAA hopes of their own. The Hoos still have an uphill battle to reach the Dance, particularly with only one healthy post player, but they're playing like a tournament team right now.

 

With ANY luck, BC, the ACC might get six into the tourney: the Triangle schools, Miami, Maryland and Virginia. There might be room for all six.

 

You think it would fool anybody if Tony put Anthony Gill in Mike Tobey's jersey?

UVa sure could use at least one win out of the games against Duke and Miami, but a victory at Miami doesn't seem too likely. The Cavs also can't afford any more head scratching losses. The crazy thing is Virginia one bucket-earlier-tonight away from second place in the ACC and we're talking about all the stuff it has to do just to make the tournament.

 

Doubt Tony Bennett's game is going to throw Jim Larranaga off enough to make Miami sway. Anyway, at the rate the Hurricanes are going, beating them won't alter things in the ACC. All it will do is prove that Goliath can get scratched up and bleed just a little. We'll see what Duke has for Miami in Cameron pretty soon.