Most Exciting Game

Slim pickings. Gonzaga v. Western Kentucky was dynamite though. Mendez-Valdez and Slaughter hit some tough shots but at the finish the defense was just scattered as all hell, allowing Demetri Goodson to essentially take a h-o-r-s-e shot for the win. Jeremy Pargo, the cat I thought was running the ball up the court there at the end, causing me to wrongly shout ‘freakin Pargo’, was feeling it a little in the second half. Pargo hasn’t played that good, well, all year.

Most Surprising Game

Purdue v. Washington. Purdue is about as interesting to watch play hoops as listening to Andy Rooney babble on about the history of erasable pens is. That saying about how offense wins games but defense wins championships could not better identify what Matt Painter is stressing with his Boilermakers.  They get after it. They have to, their offense is weak.  Although the second half defense they played against Washington was pitiful.  But for the most part I didn’t think JaJuan Johnson would be as Kevin Garnetty as he was. Johnson v. Thabeet will be something intriguing to watch for in the upcoming Sweet 16 matchup.

Best Individual Performance

I could argue that JaJuan’s 22 points, 6 boards, and 4 swats was the finest, or that Travis Walton’s (MSU) career high 18 points, 6′6 Terrence Williams’ 24 points and 15 boards, Sherron Collins’ 25 (11-19 fg), Nic Wise’s 21 (10-10 ft) and 8 feeds, Sam Young’s 32 points-8 boards and 3 rejections, Blake Griffin’s “quiet” 33 and 17, Ty Lawson’s 23 and 6 helpers, Matt Bouldin’s 20 points-8 boards and 6 feeds, Orlando Mendez-Valdez’s 25 and 7 assists, or Jon Scheyer’s heady save was the ultimate best.

But I won’t.

It’s Cole Aldrich.

The sophomore deserves the honor for his truly anti-Ostertag like TRIPLE-DOUBLE (13 points, 20 boards, and 10 blocks).

Would you like some Aldrich with that? (Image: Newscom)

Worst Moment

Buzz Williams acting like a mad man on drugs. Or more accurately, a mother ostrich.

You decide.

The runner-up Worst Moment would be the refs who repeatedly bent over to appease Blake Griffin on Saturday. I will leave it at that.

Game I Cared Most About

Well, besides the Michigan v. Oklahoma game, which was essentially taken over by the refs, I hoped Texas would punt Duke far far away. That didn’t happen, but Paulus only played two minutes and Singler made a really athletic play, so I guess that was refreshing enough to keep me from trolling on the Duke message boards for at least another night.

A Prediction For The Sweet 16

I will be glued to the T.V.

Post from: EveryJoe

Round 2 Wrap

Zag’s point guard Jeremy Pargo struggled a bit, scoring just 11 on 3-8 shooting.

Very recently I have noticed a lot of players under 5′9 who are seemingly doing great things for their respective programs. Or maybe I’m just now noticing smaller players as equally as I notice the giants when scanning through unfamiliar rosters and such.

Either way, these guys should be commended. All too often I hear people comment on how short a player is and whether or not they can be productive.

Usually there are factors being overlooked.

Quickness. Agility. Passion.

A quick yet smooth shooting stroke sure doesn’t hurt either.

To be continued…

Post from: EveryJoe

5′6 Dominguez lets em’ fly

Yesterday Dickie V. unveiled his pre-season top 40 teams for the upcoming college hoops campaign.

1. North Carolina. With Tyler Hansbrough, Ty Lawson, Wayne Ellington and Danny Green all returning, the Tar Heels are the clear-cut preseason numero uno.

2. Louisville. Rick Pitino’s squad is a legitimate Final Four contender. The addition of Samardo Samuels up front is a big plus.

3. Connecticut. Hasheem Thabeet will be a major force up front for Hall of Famer Jim Calhoun. Look for big things from A.J. Price in the backcourt.

4. UCLA. Coach Ben Howland is happy to have Darren Collison returning to the backcourt. The Bruins have one of the premier recruiting classes coming in.

5. Texas. A.J. Abrams and Damion James provide a solid 1-2 punch for the Longhorns. D.J. Augustin is gone, but this will still be a very dangerous team under Rick Barnes.

6. Notre Dame. Luke Harangody and Kyle McAlarney lead an experienced Irish team.

7. Michigan State. Tom Izzo will miss Drew Neitzel, but the Spartans will be among the best in the Big Ten.

8. Gonzaga. Watch out for Mark Few’s team. The return of Jeremy Pargo is a big plus.

9. Duke. The Blue Devils lost DeMarcus Nelson, but Kyle Singler, Greg Paulus, Gerald Henderson & Co. have something to prove.

10. Pittsburgh. DeJuan Blair will be tough to stop up front and the Panthers should enjoy another solid season.

11. Purdue. Matt Painter’s team sneaked up on a lot of people last season. With Robbie Hummel leading the way, the Boilermakers have high hopes.

12. Marquette. Tom Crean is gone, but Buzz Williams has the top-flight trio of Dominic James, Jerel McNeal and Wesley Matthews back.

13. Memphis. No Derrick Rose, no Chris Douglas-Roberts, no problem. John Calipari has a lot of talent returning plus several standout recruits.

14. Tennessee. Bruce Pearl will rely on Tyler Smith inside to key his SEC challenger.

15. Georgetown. Adding Greg Monroe up front will make this a team to keep an eye on in the rugged Big East.

16. Villanova. Jay Wright has his key players returning, led by Scottie Reynolds.

17. Florida. Billy Donovan’s Gators will return to the Big Dance, keyed by Nick Calathes.

18. Arizona State. James Harden will be one of the premier players in the Pac-10. The Sun Devils will go from surprise team to conference challenger.

19. Davidson. Stephen Curry will carry this team to another big season. Forget about the Cinderella tag this season.

20. Virginia Tech. Seth Greenberg’s team fell short of the Big Dance last season. That won’t be an issue this time around.

21. Miami-Florida. Jack McClinton is one of the best players that America has not heard enough about. Frank Haith does a fine job with the Hurricanes.

22. Wisconsin. Bo Ryan will always have the Badgers in the hunt in the Big Ten.

23. Arizona. The return of Chase Budinger makes Lute Olson very happy. If Brandon Jennings didn’t go to Europe, this would be a top-10 team.

24. Kentucky. When Patrick Patterson is healthy, watch out. Billy Gillispie’s club will be returning to prominence.

25. Kansas. Bill Self lost five players to the NBA draft. He has a young but talented team that should still make noise.

26. Syracuse. In a different league, the Orange would be a contender. In the Big East, it is so, so tough…

27. Oklahoma. I know people are talking about football down in Norman. Jeff Capel’s club, led by Blake Griffin, will give fans something else to cheer about.

28. West Virginia. Bob Huggins will have his team battling, scrapping and clawing again.

29. Wake Forest. This young team is talented. You will hear a lot about super sophs Jeff Teague and James Johnson.

30. Baylor. Scott Drew has rebuilt this program in a short time. Remember the name LaceDarius Dunn!

31. USC. Even without O.J. Mayo, the Trojans will be a tough team. Taj Gibson & Co. will not be an easy touch.

32. Clemson. Oliver Purnell lost a lot of senior talent, but K.C. Rivers is back.

33. St. Mary’s. As long as Mr. Mills comes back to school, this team will make noise in the WCC.

34. Alabama. If Mark Gottfried gets back a healthy Ronald Steele, the Tide can reverse last season’s misfortune.

35. UNLV. Lon Kruger has won 91 games in his four seasons with the Runnin’ Rebels.

36. Mississippi State. If Jamont Gordon had stayed in school, this team would be in the top 20.

37. UAB. Robert Vaden is back. He flirted with the NBA draft but withdrew before the deadline.

38. Ohio State. A lot will depend on the big diaper dandy, B.J. Mullens. Thad Matta is a flat-out winner, my friends.

39. San Diego. Last season was not a fluke … just ask Connecticut.

40. Xavier. Sean Miller’s team lost a lot of talent, but the newcomers will make a difference.

My college basketball forecasting self esteem took a serious nose dive when I saw the list and not only was Oklahoma absent from the top 25, but Gonzaga checked in at #8. It’s not like I haven’t had a couple Wilson Sandwich’s back in the day, and recently too, but to get disrespected on the interweb like this before it’s even October is sufficient enough reason to make me pitch my Dickie V bobblehead and T-shirt into the garbage. Does Dick not think enough of my analytical prowess to at least contact me and seek out my advice?

Oklahoma at #27?

I have the Sooners at #4. That’s quite a discrepancy. Quite a spread. Odd.

Apparently Dickie V forgot that OU is returning just about everybody from last year’s NCAA tourney team. Add freshman guard Willie Warren and some intriguing transfers to Blake Griffin’s squad and what do they get?

Shit.

Am I missing something here?

Dick, Gonzaga at #8?

What is that?

Come on, unless Blake Stepp still has some elgibility left or Matt Bouldin is actually Adam Morrison 2.0, this ranking is quite optimistic.

I mean, I like Jeremy Pargo and Austin Daye too, but what did Gonzaga do to warrant this type of Dickie V slobber?

And how in the name of Awesome diaper dandies did Duke not somehow still get the benefit of the doubt and get a position in front of the Zags?

I’m also surprised that he has refrained from nominating Kyle Singler for Player of the Year.

But this is just pre-season, take it for what it’s worth.

By November Duke will be top 5 material in Dick’s eyes.

And for the record, the Vitale bobblehead is not for sale.

Post from: EveryJoe

Dickie V BABY!

source

David Padgett Louisville

David Padgett put on a passing clinic, rebounding from two underwhelming performances to show NBA executives in attendance just what he can bring to the table as an extremely heady high-post center who makes everyone around him better. He finally played a bit more aggressively looking for ways to make his presence felt offensively, not just looking to pass the ball unselfishly on every possession like he did previously. He showed nice footwork in the post to go along with his crafty head-fakes and ability to finish with either hand. He often lacks the athleticism to finish many of the moves he creates for himself, but hopefully he will be able to improve on that as his body gets healthier. He’s a really interesting player who would be well served to develop a deadly jump-shot teams need to respect from 16 to 18 feet.

It’s too bad Padgett had such injury trouble in college because otherwise he would have been a likely first round pick. I wouldn’t be surprised if David eventually makes a roster, but it won’t be likely for a couple of years.

Othello Hunter Ohio St.

Othello Hunter again put his impressive physical tools in display, to the tune of 11 points and 14 rebounds (7 offensive) in 25 minutes. His length and athleticism allow him to make plays that other big men here aren’t capable of, and he’s made a strong case for himself to be drafted or get a long look in summer league/training camp. He still has a lot of upside to continue to improve.

Maybe he will prove me wrong and a team will draft him. He could just go on to have a 10+ year career in the NBA too. And maybe Kwame Brown will finally live up to all the hype?

Jeremy Pargo Gonzaga

Jeremy Pargo had a game-high 20 points (7-16 FG, 5-7 FT) to go along with 4 assists. Unfortunately, he also had 6 turnovers and missed three of his four 3-pointers. He pushed the ball up the floor extremely well, showed terrific explosiveness getting by his man and giving himself options in the half-court, and also flashed some glimpses of solid court-vision, but his poor decision making led to way too many turnovers, which has typically been his problem. Going back to school and improving his decision making skills looks like a very good option at this point.

Jeremy has shown up on a lot of draftexpress.com write ups. I hope he knows what his chances are. If not, look out D-League.

Robert Vaden UAB

Robert Vaden finished off the camp with another fairly solid performance, scoring 11 points in 21 minutes to go along with 3 assists and no turnovers. He’s really impressed with his ability to move off the ball, read screens and find open shots for himself, elevating sharply and creating separation from his defender and throwing the ball in the basket with machine like efficiency, despite his violent leg kicks. He’s really strong and has clearly worked on his body since the season ended, and did a much better job playing within the offense and setting up teammates than he did earlier in this camp. On the negative side, he’s not the most athletic or creative player you’ll find in terms of his ball-handling skills, favoring his right hand strongly and struggling to finish that at times around the rim. It appears that he’ll be returning to school, and it will be interesting to see what kind of year he has next season.

If Vaden were to stay in the draft, I would not be shocked. He’s already 23 and having already sat out a year because of a transfer, it would probably be wise just to throw his hat in the ring and if all else fails, just hope to get signed by some team’s summer league squad.

DraftExpress believed that Gary Forbes was the MVP of the camp. You would think his overall performance would catapult him into the first round, but apparently he will still be a 2nd round choice.

Regardless, he’s clearly the MVP of the pre-draft camp by a fairly large margin, and has helped his stock considerably from being projected as a late second round pick on our board. You would think that he’d have a chance to maybe get some looks in the late first based off what we’ve seen here at the pre-draft camp in years past, but most NBA people we spoke with did not agree with that. We will have to wait and see…

Hey, Gary sure made an impression on at least some of the teams. I’ll go out on a limb and say 1st round selection for Gary Forbes.

Post from: EveryJoe

Day 4 in Orlando

It’s time to make a turkey sandwich, grab the last few Christmas cookies and watch some college basketball!!!

Here are some tasty matchups to go along with your tasty Christmas leftovers…

Thursday December 27th – Nevada at #1 North Carolina – if you want to watch the #1 team in the nation in all their glory, check out the Tar Heels as they squash the Wolfpack at the Dean Dome.

Saturday December 29th - #19 Arizona at #2 Memphis – fresh off its impressive win over Georgetown, Memphis will play host to the #19 Wildcats. Arizona will have its hands full with Derrick Rose and the rest of the Tigers. #20 Gonzaga at #12 Tennessee – Chris Lofton and the Vols host Jeremy Pargo and the Zags in what should be a great game. Tennessee showed me a lot in their road victory at Xavier, which is not an easy place to play.

Post from: EveryJoe

Games to watch this week – 12/26