At the conclusion of an earlier post (Room of Stink), I made the assertion that Chicago State’s sweet shooting point guard David Holston would be the next Earl Boykins. No explanation supporting my opinion was given, until now.
The fact that both put up monstrous numbers in their DI basketball careers is impressive. In a perfect world, Holston could easily be compared to Allen Iverson or Jameer Nelson. But those guys didn’t come from little known schools like Chicago State and Eastern Michigan and certainly didn’t get the notoriety or lack thereof, either.
Both players are …read more

As seen on Rush the Court.
From Yours Truly:
Summit League 08/09
Predicted Order of Finish:
North Dakota State Bison (19-10, 13-5)
Oral Roberts Golden Eagles (20-10, 13-5)
Oakland Golden Grizzlies (18-13, 12-6)
IPFW Mastodons (16-13, 11-7)
IUPUI Jaguars (16-15, 9-9)
UMKC Kangaroos (14-17, 8-10)
Centenary College Gentlemen (11-19, 8-10)
South Dakota State Jackrabbits (13-18, 7-11)
Western Illinois Fighting Leathernecks (9-20, 6-12)
Southern Utah Thunderbirds (6-23, 3-15)
What you need to know.
22 out of 31- Conference RPI ranking for the Summit League in each of the last two seasons.
Oregon, Marquette, Oklahoma St., Kansas, Texas Tech, Utah- Casualties at the hands …read more

UNC- The preseason favorite better not get too big for their britches. Roy Williams better have his guys, every one of them, ready to go no matter who the opponent. UNC will learn quickly that there’s a fat million dollar check safety pinned to their collective jerseys. Tar Heelites must hope that Hansbrough isn’t the only player who gets the memo. The Messiah can only do so much.
Key Player- Wayne Ellington. Sure, he can stroke it from just about any area code, but he is lacking elsewhere. You know that when Tyler Hansbrough …read more

As 2009 approaches, any number of monumental events could occur that might just change the world as we know it.
-Osama bin Laden is found in a posh cave somewhere (then promptly shot in the face).
-An African American is inaugurated in as President of the United States for the first time ever.
-It’s the economy, stupid.
-Providence College makes the NCAA tourney for the first time since, like… the Croshere-Shammgod days.
This dude the other shammgod, the hack from Talk Practice, would love nothing more than to see Providence dancing in March. Screw terrorism, liberalism, and the economy, the other shammgod wants …read more

The *Notre Dame Fighting Irish basketball squad, for a while anyway, is the immediate athletic focus for the school, especially with their realistic aspirations to make it to Detroit for the Final Four this April. Going into this season they carry a 37 game home winning streak, good for second best in the country.
They return four out of the top five scorers. The team is senior laden and coached by one of the most underrated coaches in college basketball, Mike Brey.
Notre Dame Basketball is a big deal.
A few reasons why they are …read more

The Sooners come into the season as under-the-radar as you can get while having one of the most talented players in the country on the roster. While Blake Griffin is now a widely known force, soon the country will discover just how good freshman guard Willie Warren is. A 6’4 combo guard, Willie will be expected to play on the wing as well as man the point, no small wonder even for the most polished guard signee the Sooners have ever had. Willie will in no way, shape, or form be handed anything right away.
In …read more

The Spartans are again wickedly athletic, versatile, deep and, yep, a likely good tease as well.
Losing Drew Neitzel won’t be as catastrophic for the Spartans as it would be for quite a few other quality teams in the country. Izzo had some depth to work with last year and that allowed fellow guard Kalin Lucas, now a sophomore, to really gain a wealth of experience. As one of the fastest players in the country, Kalin often does not need anyone to accompany him on a fast break. He’s an up tempo player of the A grade variety. …read more

In July I reckoned that because of the Augustin departure, the Longhorns would be invariably forced to spread the offensive touches around a bit, at least more so than they had to last season, possibly making this group a well rounded offensive juggernaut.
They won’t be so jump shot laden and an important reason why will be the added role of Damion James. Damion will take and make his share of 3’s, but he can pile up the buckets in a variety of ways. He hits the offensive glass with a vengeance and his athleticism allows him to finish …read more

Promising that I would release my selections…
#1
Without the unparalleled presence of Tyler Hansbrough, this year’s UNC squad might just have fallen into the trap of entitlement.

Newscom
The players could easily look around and see that every one of the starters is back… plus the sixth man, notice that turnover machine Quentin Thomas graduated, feel comfort in Roy Williams’s oversight of each drill, meeting and walk through and really, habitually, know there’s a couple mindboggling good recruits fattening the depth even more in the interior and perimeter; so it’s all good.
Then the complacency sets in and ‘flip the …read more

Let’s backtrack a little and look back on the picks, predictions, prognostications—ah whatever—that I have laid out here so eloquently in the collegefastbreak domain somewhat recently.
In no particular order and in no particular feeling of confidence either:
**** Scoff at it, just get mad at it UofA fans. Your team will lay an egg this year but totally get hot and win the NIT.
^ Addition by subtraction in Texas—ludicrous to say maybe, but D.J. and A.J. were beguiling wonders on the court that irrevocably held back the Longhorns from placing more impactful punches against stronger fighters.
$ The …read more