Running 2011-12 College Basketball thread

Also, listened to Baylor radio team today touting what was just the second pre-tip sellout in program history. The Bears delivered for those fans, too, beating Texas.

 

Looked full on TV. Maybe they didn't show the upper reaches. Nice win, Pretty good hoops in Colorado this year, with CU and DU also being solid clubs.

 

Sam Mills...Sam Mills...where are you?

Just yanking your chain...I was impressed with your Pack tonight. There are a few athletes in Raleigh. And if Scott Wood hits anything at all, that's a win for your boys.

 

But they didn't close the deal. This is supposedly the difference between Mark Gottfried and Sidney Lowe.

They jacked up careless shot after brick after brick in Chapel Hill, then couldn't close the deal against Virginia.

Don't get me wrong ... I fully understand the Cavaliers did a lot of things right. They're playing Tony's style of ball, and it looks like Craig Littlepage got this hire right. No surprise ... anyone who could make people pay attention to basketball in Pullman was doing something right.

Gottfried can recruit, he's saying the right things to the media and perhaps I'm being exceedingly difficult on him in such a short period of time. But this team doesn't show much composure, they're still making entirely too many mistakes, and for a team that doesn't have a lot of perimeter threats, they're not using the one major weapon they have from beyond the arc.

The athletes are pretty decent, C.J. Leslie is showing signs of getting it and Lorenzo Brown is better than expected in his adjustment to point guard. But underutilizing Scott Wood has already bitten them in the butt and will continue to do so until further notice.

Hats off, Big Circus. Barring something strange, your bunch looks like it can get a first-round bye in the ACC Tournament along with Duke, Chapel Hill and Florida State. The rest of the league looks like a train wreck ... Seth Greenberg will be left at the altar on Selection Sunday, Maryland is adjusting to Mark Turgeon, there's too much youth in Chestnut Hill (why do I get the feeling DeFilippo will regret firing Al Skinner), Clemson is a mess, Georgia Tech isn't any better and Jim Larranaga is discovering how much work Frank Haith did and why he didn't hesitate to take the Mizzou job. And Wake Forest? Jeff Bzdelik is probably wondering why he left Boulder.

 

What are people's thoughts on the Jones III kid from Baylor?

Frankly, I was not overly impressed. Sure he will score points and rebound, but he just seems a step slow. Hard to put my finger on, but he just did not seem quick with the ball. A player like Durant was always lightning quick with decisions and moves, and I am just not getting that feeling from Jones.

 

At the beginning, I thought the Pack was going to run away with the game. UVa had no answer inside for Howell and Leslie, although they were getting away with some clear-outs. But NCSU just seemed so much more energetic inside.

Each team's last offensive play-call was terrible. For the Hoos, you've got potentially the best player in the league, and not only does he not touch the ball, he doesn't seem to know what the play is. And you run an isolation for Sammy Zeglinski, who until last night was mired in a horrendous slump.

For NCSU, a ball screen at the top of the key? Bennett's defense can stop that in its sleep. They did exactly what they've done all year long - get the guard off his line and make him take a bad shot.

I'm still not sure the Hoos are the fourth-best team in the ACC, although NCSU was likely the main competition and UVa now owns that tiebreaker. I think Miami could make a move. UVa misses Assane Sene an awful lot, especially on the defensive end, and he won't be back until the ACC tournament, if then.

The rest of the league, though, is a muddled mess. (I'm still not sold on Florida State - they'll be good for a few stinkers down the stretch.) It's absolutely BREAKING MY HEART that the Hokies seemed destined for another year out of the dance. I think you're right about Al Skinner, although I think Donahue will do well there if he gets time. And I don't think Jeff Bzdelik is the one regretting the move to Winston - I imagine Ron Wellman has some serious buyer's remorse.

 

I'm startin to think it's Kentucky against the field. A GM type told me there are at least six, maybe seven future NBA players on their roster and at least three lottery picks, maybe a couple more.

Their bigs are probably the best they've had in Cal's years there as a combo when you consider that both are considered to be top-half-of-the-first-round draft picks. I may be overstating their talent because Kentucky obviously has a long and distinguished history and I'm hardly a UK historian. But when you add that Kidd-Gilchrist is also a lottery pick and Lamb and Teague are first rounders, that's a Wow. Miller's also a draft pick and I bet there are some NBA players on their bench who are not getting major minutes yet.

 

Yeah Kentucky may be so talented, even Cal can't fuck them up.

 

Been here before.

Maybe, but more likely, given their inexperience, they'll go into brainlock for a sustained period when it means most in a key game.

Not to mention the everlovin' free-throw adventures of Cal's kids.

 

They're a 70 percent FT shooting team this year, which ain't horrible. They were bad yesterday though.

The thing about this team is they had some guys come back because of the lockout. They'll have a bit more experience on their side.

 

Understood . . . but been there before, with Cal. He pretends it doesn't matter. He's full of it.
Mature people with the right aptitude practice free throws, and make them. We'll see.

 

Right here ... possibility is too ripe for the team to brain-lock or miss free throws. Because, as Cal will continue to tell us, they don't really matter. As it happens again and again and again.