College Basketball 2009

[heresrobin]

The college basketball season is upon us and I thought I would get a thread fired up. If people want to start separate threads for the Badgers/Golden Eagles/Panthers, etc., go right ahead or else we can discuss those teams here as well. I'd also like to encourage people to post their thoughts on games they see from non-Wisconsin based teams. I'd love to hear firsthand observations from folks who watch a lot of Pac-10 games or SEC games, and so on. In addition to UW/Marquette/UWM basketball, here are some things I'm sort of interested in this year:

 

1. Who's going to challenge North Carolina?

If you've read any magazines or looked at any sports websites, the NCAA championship is basically UNC's to lose right now. It's hard not to agree. They are insanely talented, experienced, and deep. Get ready for a year's worth of Psycho-T adulation - think JJ Redick's senior year times ten. Somebody please beat them.

 

2. The Big East is a ridiculously, amazing, silly tough conference this year.

Villanova made the Sweet 16 last year, return pretty much everybody, and most people have them pegged as the 6th-8th best team in the Big East. .500 or better in this conference should be an automatic ticket to the field of 64. The conference should consistently have 3 teams in the top 10 all year long.

 

3. Indiana basketball.

Good luck Tom. Yikes.

 

4. Stephen Curry.

This kid is just flat out a pleasure to watch. It's astounding how a skinny kid who doesn't play above or even at the rim can dominate a game. The Davidson Wildcats knocked off Gonzaga, the Big East champs (Georgetown), the Big Ten champs (Wisconsin), and probably should have beaten the eventual national champs (Kansas) in the tournament last year. They may have been the 5th best team in the land toward the end of last year. Replacing PG Jason Richards is going to be near impossible, but Curry makes it worth keeping an eye on this team.

 

5. This year's one-and-doners.

The general consensus is that USC's DeMar DeRozan and UCLA's Jrue Holiday are this year's biggest impact freshmen. I know there are some other ones but I don't follow recruiting all that closely so I'm looking forward to seeing some of these guys.

 

What are some things you're interested in following this year?

[JJHardy7]

1. Who's going to challenge North Carolina?

If you've read any magazines or looked at any sports websites, the NCAA championship is basically UNC's to lose right now. It's hard not to agree. They are insanely talented, experienced, and deep. Get ready for a year's worth of Psycho-T adulation - think JJ Redick's senior year times ten. Somebody please beat them.

 

Why please beat them? Their season is championship or bust and I find no reason to root against them. College basketball fans whine all the time about players leaving early and Tyler could potentially do some things that have never been done...why root against them? Favored teams rarely go all the way, but I want UNC to win it all and I hope Tyler gets drafted in the first round. I don't understand your 'adulation' comment. 4 time all-americans don't grow on trees...he busts his tail off and he deserves it.

 

I've talked to some friends in the NBA and we joke about AI (Allen Iverson) being on the same team as Tyler. 'We're talking about practice' and Tyler would set the tone for better or worse for the team. I don't have a team I follow every year, but I'm all for UNC running the table. I avoid knocking on good kids.

[heresrobin]

Good points JJHardy7 about guys sticking around. It's rare nowadays and it's nice to see. And yes, Hansbrough is a very hardworker and he deserves everything that he gets - when he graduates, it will conclude one of the most remarkable basketball careers in college history. You cannot argue with his stats. I agree with the adulation. I simply was trying to make some sort of lame comment about the college basketball media's love affair (and deservedly so) with Duke and North Carolina. No big deal. I have nothing against Hansbrough as a person. The only thing that sort of annoys me about his game is sometimes I think he just sort of throws himself at defenders down in the paint - he draws a ton of fouls though, so it works. By the end of this year, he has got to be the all-time leader in free throw attempts right?

 

Me cheering against North Carolina? Being a "small market" fan, I typically cheer against the heavy favorite. No good reason. It's not going to bug me one way or the other, but if I feel like taking a side, I go against the favorite. Does that make me a bad person? Absolutely. My comment of "Somebody beat them" was meant to be kind of jokey like me wanting the 18-0 Patriots to lose or the Yankees/Red Sox to lose. Honestly, I'm probably just jealous that the teams I root for don't have the talent or the recruits to be like North Carolina. Plus, two of my best friends are North Carolina fans, so I always have to listen to them go on and on about how great the Tarheels are - and I can't really say anything back so it's sort of irritating for me thus creating an inborn desire to root against UNC.

 

Tyler Hansbrough effectively defended by JJHardy7. Check. So you like the Tarheels this year...who else do you like?

[Marc Newfield of Dreams]

I don't know about the questions, but I just cracked open a beer and am watching Hoosiers right now while I wait for my laundry to dry. Doesn't get much better than that. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

[BuckyTuba]

My two teams are Wisconsin and North Carolina.

 

Wisconsin is my alma mater and I took part in 2 Big Ten Tournaments and 3 NCAA Tournaments in the band.

 

I now live in the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill triangle, so I have the choice of three local teams: Duke, UNC or NC State. I chose UNC because I really enjoyed Tyler Hansbrough play even before I moved down here. I'm really happy that he didn't go chasing the money after his Junior year. How can you argue against that... it's a great thing for college basketball.

 

My new lady-friend did her undergrad at Michigan and is doing her graduate work at Duke.... she likes Michigan Football and Duke Basketball, could it get any worse?

[trwi7]

she likes Michigan Football and Duke Basketball, could it get any worse?

Yes, if Michigan was good it would be worse.

[bullox]

Yes, if Michigan was good it would be worse.

If she didn't like sports at all it would be worse.

[fondybrewfan]

I have to admit Pyscho T is a pretty sweet nickname. I am a little worried about his injury issues to start the year, hopefully Roy just lets him rest against their early patsies so he is 100% for their real schedule.

 

I am not sure what to expect from UW this year. I think Landry is due for a breakout year. If they are going to be good Hughes has to become a more consistent shooter and passer. Krabby probably needs to look for his shot more as well. I am very worries about the #4-5 spot. Who is going to fill Stiemsma's and Butch's shoes. Practically none of the returning bigs got any time last year. I really hope Leuer picks it up this year. That Michigan game last year got my hopes up that he can be a star at UW.

[paul253]

I am excited to see how MU does. Ihave a feeling they'll do what they normally do and go like 14-2 nonconference and like 10-8 in confernce....obviously i didnt add up the games so i dont know if thats the right number, but you get the point. Tom Crean, i think his recruiting was very overated. He got Wade, who was a sleeper, and he got James and McNeal, who were good recruits, but everyone else was kinda eh. Matthews, Novak, and Diener, while all good recruits, were by no means bluechippers and were local guys. Plus, he complete inability to recruit a decent big man is going to kill them this year, especially with the loss of Mbakwe. Williams had an amazing class considering it was his first one, and I think their future looks bright.

 

While UNC looks like the team to beat this year, they looked that way too last year. Lasts years final four was one of the best in recent memories. Here's to an exciting season.

[valpocrewsader]

1. Who's going to challenge North Carolina?

Pretty sure they're going down December 20th.

 

I hope somehow they're a huge disappointment this year. I don't root for the Yankees in college basketball, either.

[JJHardy7]

I hope somehow they're a huge disappointment this year. I don't root for the Yankees in college basketball, either.

 

I guess I don't see the comparison. UNC has had some pretty average or down years before Roy Williams came to the team. I just think it's a school with a solid tradition and a pretty darn good coach. Those two things usually lead to success.

[paul253]

I have a hard time rooting against UNC. If you look at their last national championship team and compare it to this years, you see something in common. Really good, talented upperclassmen. Back then it was May, Felton, and McCants, this year its Hansborough, and those two guards whose names I'm forgetting at the moment. They do it the right way. I like seeing teams with a lot of upperclassmen winning, as opposed to a team that brings in one or two really good freshmen who you know will be gone in a year. I'm glad the NBA made that rule about having to wait a year after your class graduates, but I wish it would have been two years.

[danzig6767]

I am excited to see how MU does. Ihave a feeling they'll do what they normally do and go like 14-2 nonconference and like 10-8 in confernce....obviously i didnt add up the games so i dont know if thats the right number, but you get the point. Tom Crean, i think his recruiting was very overated. He got Wade, who was a sleeper, and he got James and McNeal, who were good recruits, but everyone else was kinda eh. Matthews, Novak, and Diener, while all good recruits, were by no means bluechippers and were local guys. Plus, he complete inability to recruit a decent big man is going to kill them this year, especially with the loss of Mbakwe. Williams had an amazing class considering it was his first one, and I think their future looks bright.

 

While UNC looks like the team to beat this year, they looked that way too last year. Lasts years final four was one of the best in recent memories. Here's to an exciting season.

More bad news on the injury front for Marquette

 

Freshman center Chris Otule broke his foot and will be out at least a month. This is on top of 6'7 Juco recruit Joseph Fulce being out until sometime in December with a stress fracture in his kneecap. Both are troubling because going into the season Marquette was already severly lacking in size, now Burke is the only big man on the roster ready to play and he's a very mediocre player. Granted, Otule/Fulce are first year players and wouldn't have been expected to be starters, but Fulce was supposedly a very good rebounder for his size and at least with Otule being 6'10, he could eat up some minutes in the paint.

 

Everyone already knows that Marquette has a very skilled and experienced trio in James/McNeal/Mathews, but the odds are that once Marquette starts facing quality teams in both the non-conference and Big East part of their schedule that have skilled big men, it could cause real problems trying to defend them and on the glass. It's a shame for James/McNeal/Mathews that Crean left the roster so lacking in size because those three are close to being as skilled a PG/SG/SF trio as there is in the country. If Marquette even had a few bigs that just could defend and rebound well, they'd be a legit threat to make a run in the NCAA Tournament.

 

As for Wisconsin, in Bo i trust. The Badgers lost Flowers and a couple of pretty good big men, but like Bo always does, i expect 20 plus wins and a top 3-4 finish in a not very strong Big Ten. I'm sure Buzz Williams at Marquette would love this year to have any of the five guys on the Badgers roster who stand 6'8 or taller, that doesn't even include Landry who plays bigger than his 6'7 height.

[fondybrewfan]

Badgers made it through a tough scare today. Landry played awesome and Krabby played pretty @$#%@*. Long Beach did make a ton of shots with a hand in thier face to make the game way to close. UW has a lot to work on but a win is a win. I thought Leuer and Nankavil played decent and Hughes played well at time and poorly at times. It looks like big man depth is almost non existent. I don't like the thought of Leuer playing the 5.

 

EDIT: Didn't really that was a bad word

[Rob]

LBSU is good. That was a quality win. We'll look back at the end of the year and see this as a quality win. Jordan Taylor is impressive-Frosh pg playing serious minutes in the first game-he's good.

[BoKnowsBall]

Duke almost lost today to Rhode Island= trailed the whole game until a usual Duke call put Kyle Singler on the line with 10 seconds left to give Duke their lead

[molitor fan]

I now live 3 miles from the Davidson campus and look forward to seeing Stephen Curry a few times this year....I think the season is going to be excellent, and as mentioned the Big East will be scary...I look for the Pac-10 to have a number of teams knocking each other off similarily, though Stanford might be down a notch this year.

[bork]

I was impressed with the way Hazel played for MU. He barely played last year, but he'll get plenty of chances this year. He shows some promise. And Burke has to play smarter. He can't be fouling out in 13 minutes.

 

It's amazing how things have changed in 4 years. They go from a team with 7 guys 6-7 and taller, but no guard once Deiner went down. Now they've got guards to spare, but no big men. Talk about terrible recruiting balance.

[fondybrewfan]

Duke almost lost today to Rhode Island= trailed the whole game until a usual Duke call put Kyle Singler on the line with 10 seconds left to give Duke their lead

I wanted them to lose so badly. I have an irrational hate for Duke but I can't seem to figure out how I came to hate them to much. I think it intensified with the media love fest for JJ Redick and Greg Paulus.

 

I don't think Duke has the talent to be Top Tier team this year. Brain Zoubek is just not any good. Scherer and Singler are 2 solid players but they shouldn't be anywhere near the ACC all conference picks.

[BoKnowsBall]

What is funny is that I am in the minority in that I liked JJ Redick but now that he is gone I don't like Duke anymore

[Brewtacular]

What is funny is that I am in the minority in that I liked JJ Redick but now that he is gone I don't like Duke anymore

Do you also like kicking babies?

[Mike Felder]

Duke almost lost today to Rhode Island= trailed the whole game until a usual Duke call put Kyle Singler on the line with 10 seconds left to give Duke their lead

I wanted them to lose so badly. I have an irrational hate for Duke but I can't seem to figure out how I came to hate them to much. I think it intensified with the media love fest for JJ Redick and Greg Paulus.

 

I don't think Duke has the talent to be Top Tier team this year. Brain Zoubek is just not any good. Scherer and Singler are 2 solid players but they shouldn't be anywhere near the ACC all conference picks.

Zoubek sucks. I'm really not sure why he was recruited to Duke in the first place. The game just seems to move too fast for him. Scheyer is a nice player, but if he's your second-best player, you're probably not going to the Final Four. I think Singler is better than you give him credit for. I was surprised to see how much he's bulked up since last year. I think he's really going to be a dangerous player, and fits the Ferry/Laettner/McLeod/Battier mold of Duke forwards who can hurt teams from inside and out. The problem is that he's going to have to play a ton of minutes every game. That really wore him down last year and I could see the same thing happening this year.

[BoKnowsBall]

I feel like Henderson has a lot of potential but so far has done pretty much squat in living up to it

[bjkrautk]

Badgers game is - thankfully - not close, so I'll mention this: I'm really liking Jim Jackson's color commentary during tonight's game. I don't know how long he's been doing TV work, but he's fairly smooth.

[Oldcity]

Sure looked like an awesome game between Davidson and Oklahoma. Absolutely huge games from Curry and Griffin.