1. Tyreke Evans, Sacramento Kings
The Kings had the fourth pick in the draft and decided to pick Evans. He’s not a bad player but if they wanted a point guard, Rubio made a lot of sense. Curry also probably would have helped more.

Tyreke Evans - Sacramento Kings (Image: Zuma Press)

2. Jonny Flynn, Minnesota Timberwolves
After picking Rubio at 5, the Timberwolves turned around and took Flynn at 6. Back to back point guards? That doesn’t make much sense, especially when both point guards are small.

3. Darren Collison, New Orleans Hornets
The Hornets went the ultimate safe route at 21. Collison, at the very best, will be a backup point guard. He’s probably more of a third point guard.

4. Rodrigue Beaubois, Dallas Mavericks
Beabois is talented but there’s no way he’s a first round talent. He needs to learn the point guard position and there’s no guarantee that he’ll ever be able to do that.

5. Christian Eyenga, Cleveland Cavaliers
The Cavaliers need help next year. If they don’t win it all, LeBron James could lead for a bigger market. In the first round, the Cavs decide to go with a prospect who needs two or three years? That didn’t make much sense.

Post from: EveryJoe

Worst Picks in the 2009 NBA Draft

North Carolina was the consensus number one pick at the beginning of the season and held it for the first seven weeks of the season. The Tar Heels (27-3) lost that ranking eight weeks ago after an upset loss to Boston College.

And after a nice win over 79-71 win against Duke yesterday to sweep the season series, and with last week’s number one Connecticut’s 70-60 lost to Pittsburgh, the Tar Heels find themselves back where they started.

The win gave North Carolina its 17th Atlantic Coast Conference regular season title. If UNC win the ACC tournament, which starts this week, it will be the number one team going into the Big Dance no matter what happens in the other conference tournaments.

No one really checked in or out of this week’s ESPN/USA Today Top 25 for the first time since the second week of the regular season. Brigham Young (24-6) managed to sneak in at No. 25 in the Associated Press Top 25 replacing Illinois. I think it’s safe to say that everyone ranked in the top 25 will get an invite to the Big Dance.

But it going to be a bumpy ride for many of the top teams. North Carolina, No. 3 UConn, No. 6 Oklahoma, No. 9 Duke, No. 15 UCLA, and No. 21 Marquette, all have suffered an injury or two to a top player this season.

The latest on the “Oh no” list is UCLA’s Darren Collison. Collison, a Preseason All-American, bruised his tailbone in the Bruins’ win against Oregon on Saturday. Collison says that nothing is broken after x-rays, but if you’re a Bruins fan, it does make you very concerned.

A mighty congratulations to the Washington Huskies. The No. 13 Huskies (24-7) won its first regular season conference title since 1953.

I dare anyone reading this to prove to me that you were alive in 1953.

“Championship Week,” another one of those cute terms make up by the fine folks at ESPN, continues tonight with a handful of teams trying to punch their ticket to the Big Dance.

No. 12 Gonzaga (27-5) plays unranked St. Mary’s (25-5) for the West Coast Conference title tonight. Gonzaga’s in no matter what, but I think that St. Mary’s should get an at-large invite even if it loses. The Gaels were 18-1 and ranked in the top 25 until they lost guard Patrick Mills to a broken hand in a 69-62 loss to Gonzaga on Jan. 29.

Charleston (26-7) plays Chattanooga (17-16) for the Southern Conference championship. George Mason (22-9) faces Virginia Commonwealth (23-9) for the Colonia Athletic Association title, and Niagara (26-7) meets Siena (25-7) for the Metro Athletic Association Conference championship.

Could there be a team more on the bubble right now than Davidson?

The Wildcats, (26-7) last season’s Big Dance darlings that were a shot away from the Final Four, lost to Charleston in the semifinals of the Southern Conference tournament yesterday 59-52. Davidson did play a very tough schedule this season that included Oklahoma, West Virginia, No. 24 Purdue, No. 9 Duke, winning only one of those games (68-65 against West Virginia).

It seems like everyone in the country likes this team and all-star junior guard Stephen Curry. The winner of the Charleston vs. Chattanooga gets in, but where does that leave Davidson? Will the Wildcats sneak in because of their tough scheduled, star power and body of work from last season?

Not only do the losses to the above mentioned top 25 teams hurt, but three losses in a weak conference hurt even more.

I say that the 26-7 record and regular season title should be enough to the Wildcats an at-large invite. Especially when you consider some of the slobs that will get in with sub-par records, because they had a good run and won their conference tournaments.

Already in:
Cornell, Ivy League
East Tennessee State, Atlantic Sun Conference
Morehead State, Ohio Valley Conference
Northern Iowa, Missouri Valley Conference
Radford, Big South Conference

Here are the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today Top 25 polls.

AP Top 25
1. North Carolina (35) 27-3, 1,734
2. Pittsburgh (33) 28-3, 1,731
3. Connecticut 27-3, 1,592
4. Memphis (2) 28-3, 1,544
5. Louisville (1) 25-5, 1,513
6. Oklahoma 27-4, 1,399
7. Michigan State 25-5, 1,349
8. Wake Forest 24-5, 1,246
9. Duke 25-6, 1,237
10. Villanova 25-6, 1,108
11. Kansas 25-6, 1,038
12. Gonzaga 25-5, 978
13. Washington 24-7, 910
14. Missouri 25-6, 779
15. UCLA 24-7, 752
16. Butler 26-4, 536
17. Clemson 23-7, 528
18. Syracuse 23-8, 518
19. Xavier 24-6, 465
20. LSU 25-6, 461
21. Marquette 23-8, 453
22. Florida State 23-8, 333
23. Arizona State 22-8, 199
24. Purdue 22-9, 169
25. Brigham Young 24-6, 158

Others Receiving Votes
Illinois 131, Texas A&M 63, Saint Mary’s 56, Utah 21, West Virginia 17, Auburn 9, Dayton 7, Utah State 6, Virginia Commonwealth 6, Weber State 5, Creighton 4, Northern Iowa 3, Siena 3, Oklahoma State 3, Penn State 2, New Mexico 2, California 2, Texas 2, American University 1, Ohio State 1, Tennessee 1.

ESPN/USA Today Poll
1. North Carolina (23) 27-3, 767
2. Pittsburgh (5) 28-3, 740
3. Memphis (3) 28-3, 702
4. Connecticut 27-3, 679
5. Louisville 25-5, 659
6. Michigan State 25-5, 608
7. Oklahoma 27-4, 592
8. Duke 25-6, 545
9. Wake Forest 24-5, 532
10. Washington 24-7, 466
11. Kansas 25-6, 444
12. Gonzaga 25-5, 426
13. Villanova 25-6, 410
14. UCLA 24-7, 369
15. Missouri 25-6, 327
16. LSU 25-6, 274
17. Butler 26-4, 251
18. Clemson 23-7, 223
19. Xavier 24-6, 196
20. Syracuse 23-8, 182
21. Marquette 23-8, 157
22. Florida State 23-8, 135
23. Arizona State 22-8, 133
24. Purdue 22-9, 68
25. Illinois 23-8, 57

Others Receiving Votes
Saint Mary’s 43, Brigham Young 30, Utah State 23, Dayton 11, California 9, Utah 7, Boston College 3, Texas 3, Texas A&M 2, Siena 1, Weber State 1.

Post from: EveryJoe

Division I Rankings for March 9, 2009

The fourth ranked Bruins were shown up by the Michigan Wolverines 55-52 in the semifinals of the 2K Sports Classic benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer at Madison Square Garden in New York City a few minutes ago.

Junior forward DeShawn Sims led all scorers with 18 points for Michigan and teammate Manny Harris was held to just 15.

Darren Collison and freshman Jrue Holiday had 13 points each for UCLA. Collison missed a three-pointer with five seconds to go that sealed the win for the Wolverines.

Michigan will play Duke for the championship game tomorrow night. UCLA faces Southern Illinois, an 83-58 loser to Duke in the other semifinal, in the third place game.

That means Ryan Pravato gets to write the preview for those games. I’m going to bed.

Post from: EveryJoe

We Now Have Our Second Upset Of The Season

The Bruins are ranked fourth in the nation in both the ESPN/Coaches and Associated Press polls, while Michigan is unranked.

UCLA is being touted for having the best recruiting class in the nation, lead by McDonald’s All-American Jrue Holiday.

But don’t let the youth fool you. The Bruins are also a solid veteran team led by Preseason All-American Darren Collison, Josh Shipp, James Keefe and Alfred Aboya.

UCLA reached the semis by defeating Prairie View A&M 82-58 and Miami (Ohio) 64-59.

So far the Wolverines and second year coach John Beillein are doing a pretty good job in rebuilding a program that longs for its glory days of being one of the elite in the nations. Michigan Tech 77-55 and in a 76-56 win against Northeastern.

Sophomore guard Manny Harris has All-American, or at least All-Big 10 (plus one) written all over him. In the two wins he has averaged 28 points a game.

But two good games does not make a season. This will be the first real test of the season for the Wolverines against a UCLA team that is favored by 12 points.

The winner will play the winner of 10th ranked Duke/Southern Illinois game in the other semifinal tonight. The championship and consolation games are scheduled for Friday night.

All games will be shown on ESPN2.

Post from: EveryJoe

Game of the Day: UCLA vs. Michigan

First his North Carolina Tar Heels were named preseason number one in both the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today Coaches polls.

Now the All-Everything forward from North Carolina was named to the Associated Press Preseason All-American team for a record third straight year – and this time he is the unanimous pick. Hansbrough is also the returning national Player of the Year.

UCLA guard Darren Collison, Davidson guard Stephen Curry, Notre Dame forward Luke Harangody and Oklahoma forward Blake Griffin make up the rest of the team. Collison was also named preseason All-American last year.

Post from: EveryJoe

More Honors for UNC’s Tyler Hansbrough

1st team:

Guard: Darren Collison

Guard: Stephen Curry

Forward: Blake Griffin

Forward: Luke Harangody

Forward: Tyler Hansbrough

My only beef with this team is at the top.

Darren Collison is an overrated defensive player. Sure, Darren is adequate enough, but could Darren slow down Ty Lawson or Jonny Flynn? Tyrese Rice?

Would Tyreke Evans dominate Collison like Derrick Rose did?

Offensively there’s not much to critique. Not many point guards can shoot the trey as well as Collison did last season. Nor can they break down a defense as well as he did either.

But, don’t let me fool you.

He automatically makes this young UCLA squad top 10 caliber.

Darren has the intangibles.

So hopefully for UCLA fans, team success outweighs individual success.

Right, Mario?

Second and third teams can be found here

Post from: EveryJoe

One Man’s Preseason All-Americans

Collison and Shipp should keep this team in the top 15 all year. Roll, Keefe and Aboya will be heavily relied upon as well.

Bruins Nation could not be happier!

Now all the focus is on forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute. Will he stay in the draft? Decision time is creeping up on him and dozens of other college underclassmen. The deadline to withdraw from the draft is June 16, 5pm.

Moute will be back. Borderline first rounder as of now. I just don’t see him making the leap.

UCLA fans will get to see Shipp do more of this

and this

Post from: EveryJoe

Holy Shipp!

PF Tyler Hansbrough – North Carolina
C Roy Hibbert – Georgetown
G Chris Lofton – Tennessee
G Drew Neitzel – Michigan State
G Darren Collison – UCLA

What blows my mind is that Hansbrough was not a unanimous selection to the team – one AP voter didn’t vote for him on the 1st team. Whoever that voter is should have his AP credentials and voting privileges revoked immediately. Hansbrough will be the Player of the Year, in my opinion, and very well could lead North Carolina to the championship this season.

Post from: EveryJoe

AP Pre-season All-American team announced

Howland led the Bruins to a 30-6 record (15-3 in the Pac-10) last season, and he brings back a squad that many basketball analysts have pegged as the odds-on favorite to win the title this season. Guards Darren Collison, Josh Shipp, forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute and center Kevin Love definitely have the talent to take UCLA to the promised land and give Howland his first championship ring.

Post from: EveryJoe

Bruins coach Howland inks 7-year deal