Well, the basketball season is now in full swing. Here's some teams to look out for:
Duke: If they don't win the national championship this year they will consider it a bad year. Yes, the team that you love to hate in f'ing loaded. They return two All-Americans in J.J. Redick and Sheldon Williams. Many consider Redick the most hated player since Christian Laetner.
Texas: Most pre-season polls list them as the #2 team in the nation. A talented backcourt, P.J. Tucker and Daniel Gibson, will likely carry them into March with plenty of steam.
Michigan State: They have a couple of early season losses to good teams, but the Spartans have plenty of talent. Gaurds Maurice Ager and Shannon Brown can light it up. Paul Davis is your traditional Big Ten center: big, white, slow and solid as a rock. Look for MSU to head into the tourney with a middle teir seed and make a run for the Final Four.
Louisville: Most pre-season polls have them listed just outside the top 10, but I think they will exceed expectations. They return NBA prospects Taquan Dean and Juan Palacios, and they brought in 2 touted transfers. Pittino should thrive in the rugged Big East. Look for UConn and the Cardinals to face off for the conference championship in a few months.
Ohio State: Call me a homer, but I think the Bucks will do much better than expected this year. Dials is a top notch college center and Motta always has them ready to play. They will probably make it to the Sweet Sixteen and bow out soon thereafter. But next year, with 7 foot Oden, OSU will be a force to be reckoned with. I mean, the kid already has his own website for Christ's sake...
In high school hoops, Ohio's top team is Canton McKinley. They've got two 6-6 swingman and one of them is headed for Michigan State.
North College Hill in Cinci is also loaded. Their 3rd best player is a 6-11 junior and a top 50 prospect. Their two best players, O.J. Mayo and Bill Walker (pictured above) are also juniors. They tranferred to the public high school as freshmen. Both were born in Huntington, West Virgina, less than a month apart. Sports Illustrated has a great article on NCH in this week's issue, here's a link to part of the story.
Are these straight from High School to the NBA type guys? Did the NBA pass an age limit - I remember talk about it, but not how it all resolved.. it seems like it's been all dress code all the time. What's NC supposed to do this year?
ReplyDeleteYeah, the NBA passed the age limit rule. Players have to play at least 1 year of college or European ball before they can declare themselves elible for the draft. There has also been talk of a developmental league for the kids who can't make it into college. As for NC, their game at Kentucky this Saturday will be a good one. Anyone want to drive down for the day and see if we could scalp tickets?
ReplyDeleteGreat Post! Over the years its been harder and harder for me to follow sports in depth. Now with football fading away I can turn my attention to basketball. Also its been a while since I've activly watched OSU basketball so its nice to see them comming around.
ReplyDeleteAs for the developmental leauge... it exists... check out their logo (NBA D-league). The Austin Toros just picked up Marcus Fizer (Go Bulls!). I think they've even had a reality series on ESPN called "The D-League" or something.
That Kentucky-NC game souds sweet, I could be conviced... depending on my hangover... what time is the game start?
That D-league is interesting, the coach for the Philly 66er's looked like a poor man's Larry Brown. Anyways, UK/UNC game starts at 1pm. I think the drive is just about an hour from Cinci. I'm sure the Heels have some frosh ballers after their entire team (almost) went pro last year.
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