A Fan’s Impassioned Plea for Dicky V

 

John Biever/SI

Dear ESPN,

It’s Tournament time.  I’ve been waiting a whole year for these next three weeks.  To find out which schools were invited to the Big Dance, and which ones saw their bubble burst.  To root again for the team I’ve loved since childhood, the North Carolina Tar Heels, to bring home another national championship.  To pick that 14 over 3 upset but lose my office pool to a guy who can’t tell his Washington Huskies from his Connecticut Huskies.  To see the clock strike midnight on Duke.  I’ve waited a whole year for an entire country to fall in love with an unknown college kid, like Bryce Drew in 1998 or Stephen Curry a decade later.  For David, like George Mason in 2006, to slay Goliath after Goliath on its way to an improbable Final Four run.  For history to be made.  For “One Shining Moment.”  For a whole year, I’ve waited to watch reality TV in its finest form – an event that provides so much drama, so much exhilaration that not even the best Hollywood writers could script out a better story.  To see the tears flowing down the faces of heartbroken players, wanting to give them a pat on the back, especially to those realizing they may never experience the unique excitement March Madness provides, ever again.  But more importantly I’ve waited a whole year to watch pure, unbridled joy, personified in the form of jubilant student-athletes who just pulled an upset for the ages or won a thrilling, unforgettable game, wishing I could feel what they were feeling for just once in my life.

But there’s one thing I’ve been waiting for my whole life.  Ask any fan, casual or diehard, who the voice of the game is and you’ll hear only one answer – Dick Vitale.  And, because of his contract with you, I won’t be hearing him call any tournament games.  None of us will.  He never has.  But the man lives and breathes college basketball.  Love him or hate him, he is college basketball.  No one loves the game more than Dicky V and I dare anyone to show me someone who does.  His passion is unrivaled and we’re reminded of it every time he puts on a mic.  At 69 years old, however, his time as an announcer may be near its end.  His voice fails him from time-to-time and just last year, he missed a few months to have surgery on his vocal chords.  But I can’t imagine an NCAA Tournament without Dick Vitale, yet I’ve never experienced one with him.  I’m not alone when I say I want every dipsy doo dunkaroo and super scintillating sensational moment in March to come with a heavy dose of “It’s Awesome baby with a capital A!”  And the only one that can make that happen is you ESPN.  So can’t you just loan him to CBS for a couple weeks, the way you loan them Jay Bilas and Bill Raftery?  CBS wants it, the players want it, the coaches want it, and most importantly, the fans want it.  So please, do us all a favor and do the right thing before it’s too late.

Sincerely,

David Im, college basketball fan since 1990

Game for the Ages

Watching Syracuse/UConn go into the 6th overtime right now.  Ridiculous.  Want to sleep so bad………………..

The Top Pro Factories Since 1995

Peep out the original publication of the article here.

As March Madness draws near and future NBA hopefuls hit the hardwood, putting it all on the line for that one shining moment, it’s an opportune time to see which colleges have most effectively churned out players ready to make the jump to the League.

The best pro factories combine a winning tradition with preparation for the NBA game. Programs such as Duke and UCLA have been able to get their players nabbed high on draft day, and as a result, have elevated their profile and ability to recruit new talent. There’s no telling how much Michael Jordan has done for the Tar Heels.

But it’s not just about the numbers. The Minnesota Golden Gophers have sent nine (!) players to the pros since 1995, including six first-rounders, with none worth a mention beside Bobby Jackson. And Jackson isn’t exactly a franchise centerpiece. Likewise, Stanford had eight of their players called by David Stern, but only Josh Childress (now playing in Greece) and rookie Brook Lopez averaged double-digit points in the NBA.

While we acknowledge that many of today’s top NBA players came straight from high school, David Stern effectively put an end to that factory with his infamous age-limit rule. So preps-to-pros, along with international players, were not looked at for the purposes of this article. For the purposes of brevity and to focus on the current generation of NBA players, we’ve decided to only go as far back as 1995.

ARIZONA WILDCATS

Number of players sent to the NBA: 20

Number of first-round picks: 8

Stud: Gilbert Arenas

Other notables: Mike Bibby, Andre Iguodala, Richard Jefferson, Jason Terry

Hardly an impact: A.J. Bramlett, Miles Simon, Loren Woods

Arizona may have the best NBA representation of any school, but its future is a little murky. With Lute Olson, one of the best recruiters in history, forced to retire, the Arizona program is in disarray. Olson hadn’t coached since 2007, as he’s been battling various health issues while also in the midst of a nasty divorce. His leave of absence, combined with the NBA’s age-limit (and maybe a little test called the SATs), led to No. 1 prospect and likely 2009 lottery pick Brandon Jennings’s decision to play in Europe in lieu of Arizona. A recruiting mess involving four-star prospect Emmanuel Negedu (now at Tennessee), uncertainty surrounding the head coaching position, and now possible recruiting violations have left the Wildcats with zero commitments in the coming years. So while the future of this factory (despite boasting likely top-five pick Jordan Hill) hangs in the balance, it’ll be up to the stars from Olson’s Golden Era (Arenas, Bibby, Jefferson, Terry) to keep Arizona relevant in the basketball world. This is one school, however, that could eventually be bumped off the list.

CONNECTICUT HUSKIES

Number of players sent to the NBA: 15

Number of first-round picks: 11

Stud: Ray Allen

Other notables: Caron Butler, Rudy Gay, Ben Gordon, Richard Hamilton, Emeka Okafor

Hardly an impact: Khalid El-Amin, Donny Marshall

Looking at all the players that UConn has recently sent to the NBA, a case can be made that the best pro factory lies in Storrs, Conn. Of the eight Huskies drafted since 2003, all were first-round picks and only two (Josh Boone and Marcus Williams) fell out of the lottery selections. With the exception of Hilton Armstrong, the other five lottery picks (Butler, Gay, Gordon, Okafor, and Charlie Villanueva) are averaging double-digit points and are emerging stars in the NBA. Butler already is an All-Star. And of course you have Rip and Allen, two of the bigger superstars in the league and both NBA champions. Now with Hasheem Thabeet a lock for the lottery this year, current freshman Kemba Walker looking like a future first-rounder, and incoming freshman Alex Oriakhi a possible one-and-done candidate, Jim Calhoun is keeping this factory chugging along. The question is, how much longer will he be head coach?

DUKE BLUE DEVILS

Number of players sent to the NBA: 19

Number of first-round picks: 13

Stud: Elton Brand

Other notables: Shane Battier, Carlos Boozer, Luol Deng, Mike Dunleavy, Corey Maggette

Hardly an impact: William Avery, Josh McRoberts, Jay Williams

The Dukies lead the way with 13 first-round picks since 1995. Elton Brand, a former No. 1 overall pick, is their biggest star and opened the path for future Blue Devil underclassmen to declare early for the draft (which didn’t exactly make Coach Mike Krzyzewski or this rather busty student very happy). Brand has signed two contracts worth over $160 million but he’s hardly the school’s only star. Carlos Boozer has made a nice career for himself (even though he screwed over a blind man) and Shane Battier is, according to the New York Times, the No-Stats All-Star. I am convinced Jay Williams would have been a perennial All-Star, but unfortunately, one bad decision derailed his whole career and now he’s been relegated to providing mediocre college basketball analysis for ESPN.

GEORGIA TECH YELLOW JACKETS

Number of players sent to the NBA: 15

Number of first-round picks: 9

Stud: Chris Bosh

Other notables: Travis Best, Matt Harpring, Stephon Marbury

Hardly an impact: Drew Barry, Alvin Jones

Perhaps the one school that looks like it doesn’t belong here is Georgia Tech. They’ve never won a national championship and have made only two Final Fours in its school’s history. But they’ve had more first-rounders since 1995 than Indiana and Georgetown, including lottery picks (both No. 4 overall) in the vaunted drafts of 1996 and 2003, the only school who can lay claim to such a distinction. Paul Hewitt might be the king of recruiting one-and-dones as he’s sent three freshmen to the pros since 2003 with a fourth likely on the way in 2010 after the recently committed Derrick Favors spends his expected one-year in Atlanta.

KANSAS JAYHAWKS

Number of players sent to the NBA: 18

Number of first-round picks: 12

Stud: Paul Pierce

Other notables: Nick Collison, Drew Gooden, Raef Lafrentz, Greg Ostertag

Hardly an impact: Ryan Robertson, Keith Langford, Billy Thomas

The University of Kansas can certainly make a case as the most storied program in college basketball history. They are the third-winningest program in NCAA history, count James Naismith, Phog Allen, Larry Brown, and Roy Williams as head coaches, have won three national championships, and just wrapped up their ninth Big 12 title in the conference’s 13-year history. It’s no wonder they’re on this list. Paul Pierce is by far the most accomplished player from KU in the last 14 years. His play last year in leading the Boston Celtics to an NBA title elevated his status to another level. Though Coach Williams is responsible for Pierce and most of the Jayhawk NBAers, the program has not missed a beat under Bill Self, who has already won a national championship (something Ol’ Roy never did at Kansas) and sent several Jayhawks to the League with more on the way.

KENTUCKY WILDCATS

Number of players sent to the NBA: 20

Number of first-round picks: 10

Stud: Antoine Walker

Other notables: Jamaal Magloire, Tayshaun Prince, Rajon Rondo

Hardly an impact: Gerald Fitch, Reggie Hanson, Wayne Turner

The winningest program in NCAA history. Seven national titles, 17-straight NCAA Tournament appearances, and 13 Final Fours. Do Rick Pitino and Adolph Rupp ring any bells? But college success doesn’t always translate into NBA success. Their list of NBA players don’t exactly strike fear in you. Their most decorated alumni is Antoine Walker, who might be more famous for his shimmy-shake dance after big baskets than anything else (I still can’t believe he has a ring). Tayshaun Prince is a former All-Star and Rajon Rondo looks to be one in the future, but they’ve been blessed with being on stacked (i.e. championship) teams. I doubt they’d be as good as they are today if they were playing for the Los Angeles Clippers.

NORTH CAROLINA TAR HEELS

Number of players sent to the NBA: 17

Number of first-round picks: 11

Stud: Vince Carter

Other notables: Raymond Felton, Antawn Jamison, Jerry Stackhouse, Rasheed Wallace

Hardly an impact: Joseph Forte, Sean May, Kevin Salvadori

Michael Jordan. His name alone is enough to validate any school as a pro factory. Count him as one of your alum, and you’ll have the best recruits in the nation lining up to play for you (and they do). Luckily for the Tar Heels, no other school can say the greatest NBA player of all time ever played for them. As a result, UNC has the best core of players to come from college since 1995. The 1995 draft gave us Stackhouse and Wallace while Jamison and Vinsanity came out in 1998. All four boast multiple All-Star appearances and are icons in their own way. But the new millennium has not been kind to North Carolina — no Tar Heel drafted after 1998 has been named an All-Star. But with Roy Williams and his run ‘n gun system back home in Chapel Hill, UNC looks to reclaim its status as the preeminent pro factory. He’s already brought in ten McDonald’s All-Americans since he took over the program in 2003 with four more coming in the fall. The crown jewel of that class? 6′ 10″ forward John Henson whom draftexpress.com is already listing as a top-five pick in 2010.

UCLA BRUINS

Number of players sent to the NBA: 22

Number of first-round picks: 8

Stud: Baron Davis

Other notables: Jason Kapono, Kevin Love, Earl Watson, Russell Westbrook

Hardly an impact: J.R. Henderson, Charles O’Bannon, Ed O’Bannon

Ask any Bruin student and they’ll tell you the C in UCLA stands for championship;  a total of 11, including seven straight from 1967 to 1973. But that was a long time ago and we’re only going back to 1995. Still, UCLA has only missed the Big Dance twice in the last 14 years and made the last three Final Fours. You don’t achieve this kind of success without talent and the Bruins have sent a whopping 22 players to the NBA in that span, the most of any school. Unfortunately, the only player of those 22 that has made any kind of impact in the pros is Baron Davis, and he’s probably best known for being an injury-prone point guard on the verge of blowing his vast potential and talent. But with Ben Howland now at the helm, it looks like he’s combining quality with quantity as he’s already sent five of his players to the NBA, with Kevin Love and Russell Westbrook looking like future All-Stars. His defense-first mantra does not seem like it’d be very appealing to kids with NBA dreams, but it’s working for UCLA; they had the #1 recruiting class in 2008 and have a top-10 class in this year.

Big Ten Tournament Preview

Big Ten Tournament Predictions:

Courtesy: bigten.cstv.com

March Madness has finally come!  The Big Ten Tournament is set to kick off on Thursday, March 12.  The BTT bracket was not determined until the last day of conference play — a fitting finale for the Big Ten which has seen the most parity from top to bottom in recent memory.   Michigan State won the Big Ten by a convincing four games but just two games separate seeds two through seven.  The Spartans won the regular season title outright with its win over Illinois in Champaign last weekend, but the Fighting Illini surprisingly clinched the #2 seed as Purdue lost to MSU and Penn State blew its finale to Iowa.

Day 1 Predictions:

Andy King/AP Photo

#8 Minnesota vs. #9 Northwestern: A very important game for both teams.  Minnesota is looking to improve its seed for the NCAA Tournament and cannot afford a loss to the 17-win Wildcats (just outside the RPI Top 50), who are looking for at least two more wins for an outside shot at the Dance.  This game will be a low scoring affair that will come down to whomever can execute better against a hard-nosed defense.  The Gophers’ Colton Iverson and Ralph Sampson III lack athleticism but provide a large height advantage and a stellar inside presence.  Northwestern will need a strong showing from freshman Luka Mirkovic, who is developing nicely into a solid Big Ten center, to neutralize the Gophers’ big men.  Each team needs their stars to play well — Minnesota’s Damian Johnson can completely dominate games at times and point guard Al Nolen has had a very inconsistent season.  Northwestern, on the other hand, will need a good shooting effort from Kevin Coble and needs sophomore point guard Michael Thompson to penetrate the defense.  In the end, Tubbytown’s execution prevails over the Wildcats, who will see themselves missing the NCAA Tournament for over the 100th year in a row.  Pick: Minnesota 58, Northwestern 51. X-Factor: Damian Johnson.

Said Alsalah/The Michigan Dailty

#7 Michigan vs. #10 Iowa: Has there been a more Jekyll and Hyde team in the nation than the Wolverines?  John Beilein’s program has seen a quicker turnaround than anyone had imagined and perhaps the basketball team could be of inspiration to their football team.  However, Michigan’s season has been plagued by inconsistencies as they’ve had wins over Duke and UCLA, been swept by Ohio State and Wisconsin and have split the season series with Iowa, Illinois, Purdue and Penn State.  The Hawkeyes have been abysmal this season, unable to get into any sort of rhythm at all.  If the Wolverines can play their style of basketball, with the inside/outside games of DeShawn Sims and Manny Harris, supported by three point shooters Zack Novak and Laval Lucas-Perry, this game is theirs for the taking.  At this point, neither team is an NCAA Tournament team.  Michigan needs a much more focused Manny Harris to make it to the Big Dance.  Pick: Michigan 76, Iowa 62. X-Factor: Manny Harris.

Carolyn Kaster/AP Photo

#6 Penn State vs. #11 Indiana: Penn State capped off a historic season (first season ever winning ten conference games, first time ever winning at the Breslin Center) with a 2OT loss against Iowa where they looked flat after an emotional buzzer-beating win at home against Illinois.  The key to this game for Penn State is taking and preserving an early lead so they do not wear out their stars Talor Battle and Jamelle Cornley.  Indiana has been brutal this season but have given several teams a run for their money, including a close game against Michigan State last weekend. They sport a pair of freshmen guards who have exceeded expectations in Verdell Jones III and Matt Roth. What the Nittany Lions do not want to do, however, is play another double overtime game and have Cornley play 46 minutes on a shoulder he injured a week ago.  Pick: Penn State 66, Indiana 52.  X-Factor: Stanley Pringle.

Robert K. O’Donnell/AP Photo

Tournament Champions: Michigan State will be the favorite entering the Big Ten Tournament but they have never been much of a strong BTT team. This year will not be any easier with plenty of strong defensive teams on their side of the bracket, testing their offensive execution and discipline. Wisconsin will come out strong against MSU — just like they did a few weeks ago when they stormed out to a six-point halftime lead at the Breslin Center.  Wisconsin will have their hands full containing Kalin Lucas and Goran Suton, but timely baskets by Joe Krabbenhoft and Marcus Landry down the stretch will help the Badgers stave off the Spartans. Raymar Morgan seems to be in a funk ever since returning from his injury and playing against a stiff and unforgiving Wisconsin defense won’t do him any favors. Illinois, on the other hand, seems to have really lucked out by landing the #2 seed.  The bracket looks quite favorable to the Illini who will face the winner of the Michigan-Iowa game in their first game and the winner of the Purdue-PSU/Indiana game in their second before advancing to the tournament finals.  The Fighting Illini boast three emerging sophomore starters in Demetri McCamey, Mike Davis, and Mike Tisdale.  These guys almost tasted the Big Ten Tournament Championship last year, losing in the finals to Wisconsin, and will go for it all this year. A well-balanced offensive attack (1st in the nation in assists per field goal) led by the three sophomores, all averaging double-figures in points, combined with the leadership and defensive intensity of guards Trent Meacham (9.9 ppg) and Chester Frazier (Big Ten leader in assists) will allow Illinois to impose their will against opposing teams.  A second-round clash with Purdue would be in Illinois’ favor as the Fighting Illini seem to have the Boilermakers’ number, as they’ve carved up Coach Matt Painter’s defense in both their matchups this season.  A third date with PSU is slightly less appealing, but they looked very good in Happy Valley last week, discounting Talor Battle’s buzzer-beating circus shot.  An Illinois championship in the Big Ten Tournament would be an appropriate finish to their surprisingly successful season and representative of an even-keel balance of strong NCAA tournament bound teams upsetting each other in a wild finish to the regular season. Pick: Illinois takes the Big Ten Tournament over Wisconsin, 54-48.

Biggest Surprise: Wisconsin.  The Badgers kicked off conference play with a surprisingly slow start (including a six-game losing streak, their longest ever under Coach Bo Ryan) but have since recovered, winning seven of their last nine games.  Many of their conference losses have come by the slimmest of margins.  Wisconsin possesses the smothering defense and efficient offense that teams hate to play against in postseason basketball.  Despite losing a handful of seniors, Coach Ryan has rebounded his team nicely with forwards Marcus Landry, Joe Krabbenhoft and speedy point guard Trevon Hughes.  The Badgers have caught fire just in time for postseason play and they will force their opponents into playing disciplined basketball.  Wisconsin beat Ohio State earlier this season, forcing 19 Buckeye turnovers and they will be looking to repeat the defensive performance.  The Badgers are the darkhorse in this tournament — look for them to suffocate Evan Turner and the Buckeyes this Friday and upset Michigan State in the semi-finals.

Biggest Disappointment: Big Ten offense.  The Big Ten’s strength lies in playing grinding, wear-you-down defense and executing their offensive set to win games.  Offensively challenged games such as Penn State’s 38-33 yawner over Illinois earlier this season had fans snoring during the conferences’s 9PM games and many times the low-scoring has been the result of missed open jumpshots rather than good defense.  The Big Ten’s best offensive players are Lucas, Turner and Battle, each of whom have been completely shut down for long stretches in games if not for entire game on several occasions this season.   However, we have seen glimpses of offensive explosions this season from each of these players during crunch time when it counts.  Hopefully we’ll see some great scoring during the Big Ten and NCAA Tournaments to silence the conference’s critics.

Duane Burleson/AP Photo

All-Tournament Team: Evan Turner, Talor Battle, Chester Frazier, Kalin Lucas, Marcus Landry

Honorable Mentions: Damian Johnson, Demetri McCamey, JaJuan Johnson, Joe Krabbenhoft, Lewis Jackson

Tournament MVP: Chester Frazier. Illinois’ senior point guard has shown tremendous progress since his freshman season and has become the heart and soul of a quickly maturing Illinois team.  He has shut numerous star players down on defense this season and led the Big Ten in assists.  He’s the only Illinois starter outside of Trent Meacham’s 9.9 points per game to not average double figures in points but leads the league in assists and seems to produce huge baskets at the most opportune moments.  Look for Frazier to have a big tournament for the Illini.

Big Ten NCAA Selections: Michigan State, Illinois, Purdue, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Penn State, Ohio State, (Michigan)

Final Thoughts: All the Big Ten Teams minus Ohio State will see at least one big victory in the BTT before the Big Dance and despite the grueling nature of the BTT schedule, those wins will pay large dividends for the teams when it matters.  Wisconsin proves time and time again that they are a force to reckoned with in the postseason and the BTT will be a great medium for them to showcase their ability and as a result, will upgrade their seed in the NCAA Tournament.  The Spartans’ earlier than expected exit from the BTT will drop their NCAA seed a bit lower — to where they belong as they are slightly overrated on many brackets.  The media’s love affair with Purdue should probably come to an end after their early exit and they should see themselves fall to about a seventh seed in the NCAA Tournament.  Illinois’ BTT win will bolster them up to a 4-seed or even maybe a 3-seed (Illinois’ team this year reminds me a lot of Purdue’s team last year.  Tons of potential in their young talent that will return the following season and trick analysts all over the country to pick them as darkhorse favorites to win the Big Ten, just like Purdue this year.  Purdue hasn’t done anything spectacular all season long and they’ve lingered around the top 25 the entire year).  I think Minnesota may be a great candidate to upset a high seed early in the NCAA tournament.  Tubby Smith always has his teams ready to play with the best teams in the nation (see: Louisville) and the Gophers can change the tempo and play both the fast and slow games.  Michigan is in a must-win situation in the first round of the BTT as they are on the outside looking in on the NCAA Tournament bubble.  They may have one of the strongest nonconference resumes of the bubble teams but a .500 conference record may not be enough to get them over the hump with the selection committee.

Take His Scholarship Away

In last night’s Houston/Arizona game, Cougars’ guard Aubrey Coleman was ejected for clearly intentionally stepping on Chase Budinger’s face.  It obviously goes without saying that that’s something you just don’t do.  But what makes it worse is that he seemed totally unapologetic for what he did and was even smiling and high-fiving teammates as he was leaving the floor.  There’s no room in sports for things like that or really, guys like him.  I’m sure he’ll be receiving a visit from karma some time in the future and we’ll see if he’s laughing then.

RIP Kay Yow

Longtime NC State women’s basketball coach Kay Yow died on Saturday.  Now, I know who she was and that she was battling breast cancer for a long time, but I didn’t quite realize the impact she had not on the game of basketball, but on people.  As I was browsing through articles and watching television pieces reflecting on her life, it became apparent she was a major inspiration to everyone around her, peers and players alike.  Listening to people like Pat Summitt, Mike Krzyzewski, and Dick Vitale speak so glowingly about her made me say, “Wow.”  But what got to me more was reading and listening to former players talk about how she positively impacted their lives.  Because…isn’t that the point of a coach?  Being a mentor and positive influence in young people’s lives?  Sure, they get paid millions of dollars to win games and bring some exposure to the school, but ultimately I would hope they’d want to make a lasting impact on their players and help them become better people off the court.  And that’s what Coach Yow did.

Before Coach Yow’s passing, she and Nike teamed up to create the Think Pink collection which includes a pink version of the Hyperdunks and of the Blue Chips (check them out below).  It will be available on February 1st and all proceeds will benefit the Kay Yow Breast Cancer Fund.  If sneakers aren’t your thing but you want to know how to help cure this disease, visit The National Breast Cancer Foundation to see what you can do.  And to read more about Kay Yow’s passing, click here.

What’s Wrong With UNC? Part II

In my last post I talked about UNC’s struggles on the defensive end but that’s nothing ground-breaking.  Those problems have been well-documented and well-addressed by the media.  But there are some other qualities I think the Tar Heels lack in that may cause them to come up short in their national championship run.

I expect this scene again in 2009.

In today’s game, I think it’s extremely important every team have a legitimate high-level NBA prospect (with the key words being high-level) who plays an integral role in the gameplan.  Personally I think the best NBA prospect on the roster right now is freshman stud Ed Davis. But like another diaper dandy on one of UNC’s loaded squads (Marvin Williams in 2005), Davis does not start.  He still plays 20 minutes/game but is still very raw (especially on the offensive end) and could use some more strength.  Okay a lot more strength.  Davis will be a superstar maybe as early as next year but right now he’s too raw and there are too many other talents on this team for him to play a huge role on the team.

This may surprise some, but I believe the next-best prospect on this team is Danny Green. You might be thinking, “Woah slow down there.  What about the ultra-quick Ty Lawson? Or the sharpshooter Wayne Ellington? Or the likely FOUR TIME ALL-AMERICAN Tyler Hansbrough?“  I would say of those three, Lawson has the POTENTIAL to be a high-level player in the NBA but he has to do a few things to reach that point and I’ll get into that later.  Now Green is a multi-talented player who does everything pretty well but, and this is no slight to Danny as he is one of my all-time favorite Heels, his game doesn’t exactly scream lottery pick to me.  And on this team, he might be your third or fourth option on offense.  Now I love this team.  I love everyone on this team, what they bring to the table, and think they have as good a makeup as you can get in college basketball but what they are missing is that one player who makes NBA scouts drool (but they will have one next year with John Henson.)

The next big quality I see lacking in this team is emotion and a vocal leader.  I don’t want to say this team doesn’t have leadership because I’m not with them in the locker room or in practice and they do have one of the top coaches in college basketball history, but watching their games, it’s evident they do not have that one guy who represents their team or who the other players look to for energy.  You don’t see Hansbrough, Lawson, or Ellington really getting in the faces of their teammates whether they took a big charge or committed a stupid foul.  You also don’t really see anyone yelling at the crowd, urging them to make some noise and get behind the team.  I’d like to see more energy like when Lawson hit that huge shot against Duke his freshman year and screamed into the camera.  Again, I think Danny Green and possibly Lawson could end up being the emotional leaders for this team come March and April.

Who is the Rashad McCants of the 2009 Heels?

Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

The last thing I don’t see in this team is that one guy who can take over a game and carry his team on his back.  Rashad McCants was that guy for them in 2005.  I’ve seen Hansbrough and Ellington do it a few times over the course of their careers but if you asked anyone who this guy would be on UNC, there wouldn’t be a consensus pick.  Some die-hards might be yelling that Hansbrough is the guy but his game is predicated on out-working everybody and it’s tough for any post player to be this guy.  It would be awesome to see Wayne, Ty, or Danny grow into this role.

Finally, here’s my two cents on (mostly) everyone on the team and how they’re helping and hurting the team.  And for the record, they all need to improve their defense (though I am under the impression that every basketball player from little league to the pros needs to improve their defense) so I won’t even mention that.

Might’ve been a travel.

Tyler Hansbrough - I gotta start with UNC’s All-Time Scoring Leader. His success is well-documented and he has deserved every accolade that has come his way.  He’s improved his outside shooting (though he’s looking to shoot that jumper too much now, see terrible decision to take the 3 against Wake) and is still working hard in the paint.  He’s not a great defender though and NEEDS to look to pass more.  Hard to argue against his production so far but I think he could be even more effective if he passed out of doubles more.

Ty Lawson - People argue that Lawson is the most important player on North Carolina…and I agree.  Point guards are usually the most important player on any team, especially on Roy Williams teams (see loss to Santa Clara in 2005 when Raymond Felton was suspended).  But I always thought he was overrated by people.  It’s clear he is a supreme talent and he’s improved different aspects of his game since his time in Chapel Hill, but he still needs to improve more.  The two negatives that stand out to me are that he gets blocked WAY too much on his drives and to make that matter even worse, he drives to score way too much instead of driving to dish.  Him and Ellington make up probably the most blocked backcourt in college (maybe history).  Lawson needs to watch some tape of Chris Paul to learn to take contact AND finish.  I don’t doubt Lawson’s ability.  He is certainly strong enough and athletic enough to do so; he just needs to change his mindset.

Wayne Ellington - Sharpshooter extraordinaire…just not this year so far.  He hasn’t scored more than 17 points this year but I have seen improvements in his defense, athleticism, and overall game so I am pretty encouraged by his progress.  Shooting is his best talent so I’m not really worried about his shot.  And maybe those two late 3′s he made against Wake will get him back on track.  The thing with Wayne is that I think he has evolved into more than just a shooter as he’s been taking it to the hoop more this year, but when he drives, he is pretty much set on trying to score…which makes him the second half of the most blocked backcourt in college.  He needs to learn to adjust when he’s driving or try some more pull up jumpers Paul Pierce style.  He certainly has the ability to make that shot.

Danny Green - Green could arguably be the most important player on the team, or at least the guy who brings the whole team together.  He does everything.  Scores, rebounds, steals, blocks, shoots 3′s.  You name it, he does it.  He single-handedly kept UNC in the Wake game.  He is a tad inconsistent but I can’t really complain about the guy.  Like I said, I think his wide array of talents make him a good pro prospect and also could potentially turn him into a go-to guy down the stretch.

Deon Thompson - Here’s another guy who has come a long way since his freshman year.  He has almost perfected that little turnaround 10-footer but he still has a lot of room to grow.  He is not a great rebounder for someone his size and also commits too many stupid fouls.  He (and Hansbrough) love to go for the steal when he’s out on the perimeter and also get caught in bad positions on the screen and roll, leading to the fouls.  Inconsistent probably defines his game moreso than anyone else on this team.

Ed Davis - An absolute (skinny) beast in the middle.  Reminds me a bit of Brandan Wright though Wright was a bit more polished on the offensive end.  As Davis fills out his frame, develops some post moves, and becomes a better individual defender, he’ll become an absolute stud for the Heels.  But right now, he provides that shot-blocking and rebounding presence they lost when Wright turned pro.

Larry Drew II - A serviceable backup to Lawson right now, Drew reminds me of Quentin Thomas…but when Thomas was a junior.  Drew seems hesitant to shoot and when he does it’s easy to see why that’s the case.  Kind of weird for someone who won the three-point contest at one of the high school all-star games.  He is a pretty decent playmaker and a solid defender even though he’s only a freshman.

Marcus Ginyard - Not much to say about him until he gets healthy.  The Heels miss him though.

Bobby Frasor - I feel bad for this kid.  He was an All-American out of high school and the starting point guard as a freshman.  Then Lawson came on and he was relegated to the bench and didn’t complain.  Then he tears his ACL last year in the middle of the season and probably played too many games to get a medical redshirt.  Now a role player, he’s been getting ripped on the UNC boards for not hitting his shots and not being as effective as he was before.  I still see him playing hard every minute he’s out on the floor and that’s all I can ask from the kid.

William Graves - The most improved player from last year.  Good things seem to happen when he’s on the court and he’s deserved every minute he’s played this year.  He’s improved his shooting touch (though his numbers won’t show it) and he’s shown a penchant for hitting the boards.  Like any young player, he makes his fair share of mistakes but it’s encouraging to see the strides he has made.

Tyler Zeller - His injury was unfortunate but we’ll see what he can do next year.

Like I’ve said before, despite what I may think is wrong with the Tar Heels, I still fully expect them to get better from these losses and win the national championship.  They may not be the “greatest college basketball team in history” like a lot of us expected them to be but no other team comes close to their talent despite these bumps in the road.  Tyler Hansbrough will get the title he came back for and all will be well in Chapel Hill when it’s all said and done.

What’s Wrong With UNC? Part I

Disclaimer: I am a huge UNC fan and I don’t hide it when I write here.  Like any fan, my views may seem too biased at times and too critical at times but hey, that’s what makes sports fandom what it is right?  And I also FULLY expect the Tar Heels to win the national championship this year.

After Ty Lawson, Wayne Ellington, Danny Green, and reigning National Player of the Year Tyler Hansbrough all announced their intentions to return to the University of North Carolina, the Tar Heels were by far the favorites to win it all in 2009.  They returned pretty much everyone from a Final Four team (okay…that did get blown out by the eventual National Champion Kansas Jayhawks) and were bringing in three McDonald’s All-Americans. But after storming out of the gates to a 13-0 start (winning every game by double digits), the Tar Heels stumbled, losing 2 of their next 3 including a stunning loss to Boston College at the Dean Dome.

So what happened?

This was a team that many were speculating could be the greatest team in college basketball history; one that could be the first to go undefeated since the 1976 Indiana Hoosiers. This seemed like a possible reality after impressive wins over Kentucky, Notre Dame, and of course the 35-point thrashing over Michigan State. But if you watched the four games after the MSU game, we all should’ve seen a loss was coming.

Times were good after this game.

Ask any analyst or Tar Heel fan what UNC’s biggest weakness is and they’ll all agree it’s defense.  The Tar Heels give up far too many open jump shots (especially three-pointers in the corner) and don’t do a good job of defending the screen and roll.  Look at the game against 2-6 Oral Roberts. (Yeah that’s right.  2-6.)  The Golden Eagles shot 45% in that game including 10-25 (40%) from long distance and scored 50 points in the second half.  Those are numbers the “greatest team in college basketball history” shouldn’t be giving up to any team, especially one that is 2-6.  Then in a game against Evansville (who?) where they were favored by 30.5, UNC ended winning by only 18 and again gave up 45 points to the Aces in the second half (they only scored 47 points total in their last game against Northern Iowa).  UNC won their next two games against Valparaiso and Rutgers by 22 points each (lost them both against the spread though) but still were poor defensively allowing 46% and 48% shooting respectively, in those games.

Not a guy UNC fans want to play anymore

Doug Benc/Getty Images

Another thing those games had in common was that the Tar Heels were consistently burned by the other team’s primary scoring guard.  Robert Jarvis (ORU), Shy Ely (UE), Michael Rogers (VU), and Mike Rosario (RU) shot a combined 34-70 (48.5%) from the field (14-34 3-PT 41.1%) for 91 points (22.8 ppg).  Now ultimately those teams lost because of a lack of talent but now you take BC (more talent than any of those teams and a conference foe) and Wake Forest (a legitimate possible 1 or 2 seed in the NCAA Tourney, great athleticism and talent, and a conference foe) who also have elite scoring guards in Tyrese Rice and Jeff Teague and you have a recipe for disaster if you are a UNC fan.  And look what happened.  Rice and Teague scored a combined 59 points against the Tar Heels and had just enough help around them to complete the upsets.  (I’m not saying I expected UNC to lose to BC but then again look at last year’s game.  BC should’ve won it and Rice exploded for 46 points.)

Now it’s obvious (a healthy) Marcus Ginyard improves their defense as he has long been UNC’s shut-down defender but one guy will not fix their problems, especially seeing as how they’ve been around since last year.  Aside from Ginyard, the Tar Heels don’t have any great individual defenders and their team defense is below average at best and it looks like Coach Roy Williams is gonna have to take down those rims in the gym and focus solely on defense (maybe for the next few weeks).

One thing UNC does do well on the defensive end, however, is forcing turnovers and more importantly, scoring off of these turnovers.  But what are they going to do when the other team doesn’t turn the ball over like against BC and Wake?  That’s why the Heels can’t rely on only their transition offense if they want to win the championship.

I would say defense is the only “flaw” UNC has but there are some other qualities that are lacking in this team that could possibly derail their national championship hopes yet gain.  I’ll have those as well as a player-by-player run down in my next post.

Orange Crushed

In the best ending of the college basketball season so far, the Cleveland State Vikings absolutely stunned the Syracuse Orange as senior guard Cedric Jackson sank a 60-FOOTER as time expired.  That’s right.  A 60-footer.  I guess this makes up for when they lost a couple weeks ago to Ball St. on a buzzer beater.

Click here to read about the game.

Questionable Coaching

Much ado was made about Loyola College coach Jimmy Patsos’s decision to stick with a triangle-and-two defense in which not one, but TWO players shadowed Davidson star Stephen Curry.  Bob McKillop, Davidson’s head coach, had this to say about it:

“I thought when we had reached a point of 15 points, 18 points that he was going to say, ‘OK, there’s no need to continue this. We’re not going to leave Bryant Barr open anymore. We’re not going to leave Will Archambault and Lovedale open anymore. It just seemed puzzling to me why he continued to stay in it.”

And I have to agree.  My 3-year old cousin can figure out if a certain strategy isn’t working, then maybe you should try a different strategy.  This is clearly beyond Patsos’ comprehension as he employed the triangle-and-two until the end of the game.  What Patsos did comprehend, however, was that his school had no shot at beating the Wildcats (which is ridiculous because we’ve all seen bigger upsets in college basketball) and he’d rather try to keep Curry scoreless instead of trying to win the game.  And he said as much in a post-gamge quote:

“We had to play against an NBA player tonight. Anybody else ever hold him scoreless? I’m a history major. They’re going to remember that we held him scoreless or we lost by 30?”

Who says that?  I mean, to be honest, no one would’ve remembered either and the only reason anyone will remember this game is because of his terrible coaching.  I would like to know what was going on his players’ heads.  Curry said “they weren’t very conversational about it” and I don’t blame them.  They were probably either too confused or too embarassed by the whole thing.  Their coach put his players in a tough spot and if I were them, I’d have a tough time not only listening to him, but trusting him as well.  He clearly has no faith in his squad, an agenda of his own, and his ego is so big it would make Kristie Alley jealous.

“I know the fans are mad at me, but I had to roll the dice as far as a coach goes. I’m not some rookie coach. I won a national title as a top assistant coach to Gary Williams. For 13 years I spent on Tobacco Road. I coached a couple of No. 1 picks in the draft.”

I mean really, no one cares if you’re a “rookie” coach or not.  Matter of fact, that makes this whole situation even worse.  He thinks so highly of himself and says he’s so experienced but still managed to embarass himself and his program.  And last time I checked, Tobacco Road was in North Carolina, not in Maryland.

REUTERS/John Gress

But how about Steph Curry.  I was a fan of his before but this whole deal has made me an even bigger one.  He unselfishly volunteered to just stand in the corner and let his teammates win the game for them.

“I think in the second huddle he said, ‘Coach, I’ll just stand in the corner and keep two guys with me and we’ll play 4-on-3,”’ McKillop said. “And that’s basically what he did.”

That’s a pretty big act for a kid who was leading the nation in scoring and used to putting up about 20 shots per game.  He showed a lot more class and maturity than the horrible excuse of a coach he was going up against.  For what it’s worth Steph, if you ever read this, you’ll always have my support man.

Mr. Patsos, however, does not.  I feel terrible for his players and think they deserve a better coach and mentor.  Loyola should look for a guy to replace Patsos because apparently they guy just doesn’t get it.