College Hoops Experiment, Take II
College Basketball January 16th. 2008, 4:02pm
Last week was moderately fun, except that everyone really loves North Carolina. Who can argue after that annihilation of NC State? Bloggers are already on bubble watch, so obviously we need to be watching more games. It seems as if there are two to three games on TV each night, so there’s no reason not to begin planning for March. This week’s teams up for debate: Georgetown, Vanderbilt, Connecticut, and Kansas.
Vanderbilt – Its lofty ranking is a joke, so sayeth one blogger. Here’s what we took away from the Kentucky loss – questionable coaching down the stretch (did they call any plays or run an offense in overtime?), good three-point shooting, no depth, a very skilled big-man, and a solid point guard. Not a dominating team by any stretch – if you shut down Foster, they’ll have problems scoring. Here’s the problem – if Vandy finishes 8-8 in SEC play, it actually will be an NCAA bubble team because of that horrid non-conference schedule. The good news, of course, is that the SEC is extremely weak this year.
Georgetown – Love them, but don’t like the close game at home against improved UConn, beaten badly on the road by Memphis, and losing at depleted Pitt. Anyone know what the problem is? Are they missing a leader, like Jeff Green was last year? The offense at times seems tentative and too reliant upon the three. Do they have a legit post threat besides Hibbert? Then again, on a neutral floor, are they really losing to Memphis or Pitt? More questions than answers, but still like these guys as one of the Top 6 teams in the country.
Connecticut - Next year’s Huskies will probably be the class of the Big East, depending on what the 7-footer Thabeet does. But with no seniors on the roster, an emerging backcourt, and guys like Stanley Robinson maturing, we must brace for the March return of the insufferable Jim Calhoun. Maybe even this year. The non-conference wins are a joke, and the two good teams they played (Gonzaga and Memphis) resulted in losses. (There’s one more shot at a quality OCC win No. 10 Indiana.) Let’s say the Big East can get eight into the dance. It’s probably too early for talk like this, but figure: Georgetown, Pitt, Marquette, Louisville (they’ll get it together), Notre Dame and West Virginia … that’s only six. Villanova has done nothing impressive yet, and Syracuse looks too young. NCAA tourney for UConn?
Kansas – Neutral floor, right now, best team in the country (mostly based on talent, not necessarily quality wins). But fear not, Bill Self will find a way to blow this in the postseason. Better up front than Memphis, and equally athletic; deeper up front than UNC, and with better guards.
23 Responses to “College Hoops Experiment, Take II”
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January 16th, 2008 at 4:06 PM
did you see kentucky-mississippi state last night? state’s big man had 10 blocks, three of which were blatant fouls. if refs aren’t calling hard contact like that come tourney time, the dogs can be dangerous.
January 16th, 2008 at 4:07 PM
Seth Davis loves UNC, good enough reason for me to think they will beat Kansas, plus Kansas chokes every March.
P.S. I know Roy Williams chokes all the time in March too, but I am choosing to ignore that to feed my biased opinion
January 16th, 2008 at 4:10 PM
Georgetown – most overrated team in the country. Roy Hibbert – most overrated player in the country. They;ve played two legit top 20 teams this year and were handled by both. They needed a lucky Hibbert three to beat a young UConn team (at home) who hasn’t beaten anyone. Any team who runs them full court will take them down (i.e Kansas, Tennessee, Memphis, UNC, etc). Without Jeff Green, they have no go-to guy.
January 16th, 2008 at 4:11 PM
never ever liked G town, why never a white guy to be found
thank god for doc rivers son
January 16th, 2008 at 4:13 PM
It wasn’t so much UNC’s dominance. It was NC State’s suckiness. (And this is coming from an NC State fan)
January 16th, 2008 at 4:16 PM
Ditto exactly what atlas said.
January 16th, 2008 at 4:21 PM
Your buddy Grant Wahl (who I enjoy) doesn’t include UNC in his Magic Eight this season: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/grant_wahl/01/16/the.bag/index.html?eref=T1
January 16th, 2008 at 4:25 PM
G-Town has had trouble slowing teams down to their pace. Memphis ran all over them and Ramon just kept dropping 3s on them for Pitt. If they get one more perimeter shooter going, G-Town will be fine come tournament time.
January 16th, 2008 at 4:29 PM
“Russell Westbrook just became the nation’s best sixth-man with his move out of the lineup (when was the last time a non-starter was an All-America candidate in college hoops?”
Love that line. Westbrook is the best player on UCLA’s roster. Seriously. Great link Butters
January 16th, 2008 at 4:30 PM
Vandy – Jokey. Everyone loves white people.
G’Town – Love me some Hibbert, but this team has FRAUD stamped on it. Not that it is their fault. Expectations were set way too high.
UCONN – Haven’t seen enough of them. Seems odd that they have been off the national radar.
KU – The best team in the country along with UNC and UCLA and Self is still taking heat for losing two first round games with Roy’s players and a bad system. Self does have 2 Elite 8s at KU and each time lost to a better team for the Final 4 (Ga. Tech and UCLA). He’s probably going to need at least 2 Final 4’s or a National Championship for folks to forget about it. Roy Williams had several bad early round tourney losses at KU.
January 16th, 2008 at 4:52 PM
Do I really need to follow College Hoops already? I still have a football season here, can I get a pass until the Giants lose? Thanks.
January 16th, 2008 at 4:57 PM
I believe that is the first time that Vanderbilt has been mentioned this season without a comment about the fact that A.J. Ogilvy is Austrailian. Pleasantly surprised.
January 16th, 2008 at 5:07 PM
Will Wisconsin be considered worthy of a blurb sometime soon…they’re playing some really good ball right now (took care of business in a big way last night in State College)
January 16th, 2008 at 5:17 PM
Hibbert looked slow and unathletic against Pitt (which I guess many bigs will against Blair and Young). But the fact that he didn’t seem like he could get offensive position should be a concern. Those guys both go around 6′6″
January 16th, 2008 at 5:27 PM
Hibbert has never been a great post scorer. He’s good, but he may be a passer than a scorer, which is why he fits their system.
Georgetown shot horrendous from 3, and one of their few makes was a half court heave as the halftime buzzer went off. On the flip side, Ronald Ramon remembered that the ball is supposed to go through the net, not off the orange thing that holds it up. That was the biggest difference in the two teams.
G’Town is still the best team in the Big East unless Marquette or Louisville say otherwise. Don’t sleep on the Ville. They’re only going to improve through the rest of the season.
January 16th, 2008 at 5:45 PM
Hibbert is Mutombo
January 16th, 2008 at 5:49 PM
G’town misses Green. I think they want Summers to step into that role but he’s too streaky for that.
Someone call me when UConn beats someone..anyone.
January 16th, 2008 at 5:49 PM
Wisconsin’s gonna sneak up on people this year. They’ll finish at least 3rd-maybe even second, if Michigan State can’t get their act together, and it pains me to say that. Bo Ryan’s a good coach.
January 16th, 2008 at 7:11 PM
@ Spartan Fan: I’d say they could even win the conference if everything falls right, although they and MSU and IU together are certainly the class of the league (IU fan here).
The Big 10 has less talent than several of the other big conferences, but probably better coaching than most, at least top to bottom. Maybe along with the Big East.
January 16th, 2008 at 9:29 PM
I’m sorry, but I can’t take Wisconsin seriously after watching them get downright embarrassed by Duke. Seems that Big 10 basketball teams have just as much trouble recruiting speed as the football teams do.
January 16th, 2008 at 11:26 PM
Here’s all you need to know come tounrey time, if the seeds shake out, the Final Four will be UNC, Kansas, UCLA, and Indiana. Old school tradition rears its head in 2008 my friends. UCLA over Kansas in the Title Game.
January 17th, 2008 at 8:26 AM
Go vols tonight against Vandy.
January 17th, 2008 at 11:26 AM
Kansas is likely the best team in the country… BUT, Bill Self runs the squad, so a trip to the Final 4 is in dire straits…
UConn is young. Not terribly impressed with their play so far. However, if they get it together, this could be a scary team to face in March.
Vandy is a nice story. They play an attractive brand of ball. Soft is the word that I think of when watching them. They won’t be fun to face in March as a likely 6 or 7 seed.
Georgetown is missing something. The IT factor just isn’t there. They don’t have someone like Green who scared teams into paying more attention to him than anyone else on the team. Hibbert is a nice player, but no lottery pick (are the Association’s GM’s reading this?). Again a scary March team because of the athleticism and style of ball. Thompson is showing that he is a better basketball coach than his father.