Happy St. Patty’s Day to everyone out there! I figured today would be the perfect day to post my first assessment of this year’s Tournament field, and for three reasons: (1) because people will be drunk enough to actually read what I am about to write, (2) because when I don’t get enough comments I can blame it on you people being too drunk to type, and (3) because if any of what you’re about to read turns out to be completely wrong, I can blame it on myself being drunk. Which I’m not, or am I… Read More »
E’TWAUN MOORE, Purdue, SG, Jr.
The Boilermakers don’t need to look hard for motivation. Pretty much everybody wrote them off when star forward Robbie Hummel went down with a season-ending knee injury in late-February, and the remaining stragglers signed Purdue’s death certificate after Minnesota ran through them in the Big Ten tournament. If anybody is going to cover for Hummel’s absence, it’s Moore (16.6 ppg). Read More »
It’s Championship Week in college basketball, otherwise known as the week of tournaments before THE Tournament. And honestly, it seems this year people only really care about two conference tourneys: the Big East and the Big 12 … and maybe the ACC based on history and hype.
This week we’ll be previewing those anticipated conference tournaments. But for now I’m doing the Pac-10, because that’s the one I know best, because I don’t want the Left Coast to get overlooked again, and, well, because I can. Read More »
With a 74-72 double overtime loss to UNLV last night – setting its record at 3-3 – it’s an understatement to say that Arizona is not run by flash and big names this year. With Lute Olson thrice removed and the Encinitas Enigma, (coined by yours truly; shirt orders to my Twitter…) Chase Budinger, and Jordan “Coach’s Decision” Hill both gone to the pros, the ‘Cats aren’t the national draw they once were. Add into the mix a Pac-10 conference that is seeing its lowest production in years and an influx of untested youth, and you have a recipe for bland, mistake-riddled basketball. In a region dominated largely by guard play, most of the attention has surrounded Cal’s Jerome Randle and Washington’s Isaiah Thomas – and deservedly so.
Someone forgot to relay the message to ‘Zona’s Nic Wise. Read More »
As much as I applauded Brandon Jennings for thinking outside the box, taking a risk and playing pro ball in Europe before coming to the NBA, the Pac-10 fan in me was kind of hating that I wouldn’t get to see “Young Money” rip it up for a year at Arizona.
The 12th-seeded ‘Zona squad that made an unexpected run to the Sweet Sixteen last spring would have been a national title contender with Jennings distributing the rock to Jordan Hill, Chase Budinger and Nic Wise. He might have been reason enough for Lute Olson not to retire. Read More »
If you haven’t heard, this is supposed to be a down year for the Pac-10.
Over the summer the conference lost James Harden, Jordan Hill, DeMar DeRozan, Jrue Holiday, Darren Collison, Taj Gibson, Jeff Pendergraph, Jon Brockman and Chase Budinger to the NBA Draft. Going back to 2008, the Pac-10 also lost O.J. Mayo, Kevin Love, Russell Westbrook, the Lopez twins, Jerryd Bayless and Ryan Anderson, all of whom would still been in school today had they not gone pro early. Read More »
Is it possible the West is actually stronger than we all thought? No surprise that the Lakers, Nuggets, Spurs and Blazers have been solid, but not a lot of people expected Houston, Dallas and Phoenix to play so well coming out of the gate … The Suns are arguably the best team in the entire League right now, with Steve Nash putting himself in the mix for a third MVP and doing that thing where he makes fringe NBA players look like All-Stars. Last night Nash added to the resume, putting up 21 points and 20 assists in a come-from-behind win at Philly … Read More »
That’s right, the start of the college hoops season is just one week away and you know what that means: it’s time to unleash the mother effing fury! For the past seven months, I’ve been bottling up a vicious mixture of excitement and rage, just waiting for the moment to release my emotions onto the rest of the world. Well that time has come. Your boy Matty D is back to give you a look at the top teams in the country and to separate the champs from the chumps. Read More »
