Kentucky displays killer instinct in route of LSU

There are numerous amateur and professional writers online that cover Kentucky basketball in one form or another.  This is a well known fact.  When the Cats win big like they did today at LSU–a 74-50 pummel of the Tigers–the feel good articles will surely be written.  Some writers will focus on Terrence Jones’ outstanding resurgence, a 27 point and 9 rebound effort.  Many will note LSU point guard Anthony Hickey and his struggles throughout (because he is a former Kentucky Mr. Basketball).  And many more will note the ridiculous and dangerous flagrant foul LSU forward Malcolm White committed on Kentucky star Anthony Davis.

All of these storylines are relevant and capture the imagination of the game, but to me they are not the top stories.

What I will remember most, undoubtedly, are the back-to-back 3 pointers by UK’s Marquis Teague and Darius Miller late in the first half.

Kentucky started fast with two 3 pointers to take a 6-0 lead.  They built the lead to 22-10 with 8:26 remaining in the first half.  From there LSU started chipping into the lead.  The chipped and chipped so well they eventually cut the UK lead to just 25-24 with 3:19 remaining.  The LSU crowd was at fever pitch.  The Tigers energy level was through the roof.  At this point, the way this UK team has played in first halves, I worried.  Not that they would lose the game.  But I worried that they would lose the lead.  I worried that they would miss a few shots in a row and would go into the half tied, something like that.  In other words I didn’t expect a killer instinct.

But I saw just that in those two shots.  I saw Teague drill that first one to silence the crowd, giving the Cats a 28-24 cushion.

After another LSU bucket–and another resurgent act of bedlam from the LSU faithful–I saw senior Darius Miller calmly rise from the wing and bury another 3 pointer for a 31-26 lead.

I texted one of my favorite texts of the year to a family member: Killer Instinct.

They’ve shown the “will to win” time and time again in the waning moments of tight games all year but until the back-t0-back 3 pointers by Teague and Miller I had yet to be overwhelmed with the feeling of a killer instinct developing in this team.

The cats would eventually tack on four more points before the half to take a 35-26 halftime lead.  The dagger 3 pointers spurred a nearly double digit lead at the half, and effectively ended and silenced the Tigers attempt to take the lead and build fervor in the stands.

It wasn’t just the fact that they hit back-to-back 3′s.  It was the way in which they hit them.  It wasn’t at the end of the shotclock after nervous offense.  Miller, in particular, rose confidently and just bullied the ball thru the hoop.  I loved his reaction.  I saw in this moment a team building a tougher mentality.

This team will have a lot to prove in the coming weeks as they continue to defend their #1 ranking and they start to finally play the better teams in the league (Florida, Vanderbilt and Mississippi State).  Until today, I was sure they would have a couple of losses.  Now, I don’t know.  They may very well still end up with two or three losses in league play but the Cats took a major step forward today.  They went on the road, took on a packed house, and punched the Tigers squarely in the face when LSU put forth their absolute best effort.

Most importantly, they didn’t wait till the end of the game to do it.

 

 

 

 

 

Who are Kentucky’s best two players?

Last week my good friend A-Train asked me what has to be the most impossible question to answer: Who are Kentucky’s two best players?

We’re talking Anthony Davis.  We’re talking Michael Kidd-Gilchrist.  We’re talking Doron Lamb.

Who are Kentucky’s best two players?

Why these kinds of tortuous questions are even dreamed up I’ll never know, but being the game-nerd I so love to be, I started thinking.  I took the bait not because I wanted to nitpick one of those three players games to the point it would seem I was “bashing” the one left out.  Not a chance.  Homie don’t play that.  Destructive criticism is not my game.  Instead, I looked at the question as an opportunity to think who this team could possibly live without if they had to try and win the NCAA Tournament this year without one of them.  Who could they best forge on without and still make a deep tourney run??  That would lead me to the one they could most live without.  Maybe.

On any given night this year Lamb, Davis or Gilchrist has played a starring role.  The accolades seem to rotate.  There’s the back-to-back 24 and 26 point outbursts by Lamb against Chattanooga and Samford, respectively.  ”Big game” Kidd-Gilchrist has vaulted into NPOY discussions for inspired play against North Carolina, Indiana and Louisville–the latter of which Kidd-Gilchrist had about 75 rebounds.  And Davis is only leading the nation in blocked shots per game.  Ho hum.

I’m writing this blog post because I’ve passed this question on to my Kentucky-loving family.  I tested the waters.  Including myself and A-Train I have input from five people.

The answers are not the same.

The aunt said the two best players are Kidd-Gilchrist and Lamb.  So did the mom.  So did A-Train.

The stepfather said Davis and Kidd-Gilchrist.

Me?  I took Davis and Lamb.

How ridiculous does it look that I just left Kidd-Gilchrist off a best player on your team list??!

I cannot fully speak for the logic behind the other choices–they never went into great detail–but I can speak for myself.  First of all I love Doron Lamb.  He’s about 680 miles behind Mashburn on my all-time favorite UK player list, but that’s still 1,400 miles ahead of most everyone else.  I love Lamb’s game.  I love his confidence.  He is so difficult to guard because he has so many moves.  He’s shooting 46% from three (even though he’s in a mini-slump right now), 48% from the field and he’s a pretty decent option as a part-time point guard.  That’s an impressive resume.  I feel as though if you had to make a deep run in the tournament without a lethal scorer and shooter it would just be impossible to go far.  If Lamb is out for 40 minutes against North Carolina, who is Kentucky’s perimeter threat?  Wiltjer?  Beckham?  Miller can hit them but he doesn’t make an opposing team tremble.  See what I mean?  How do you replace that constant offensive presence from behind the arc??

I went with Davis because I have eyeballs.  Eyeballs and ears.  The eyeballs see ridiculous things.  The ears hear the sound of a basketball ricocheting off a cheerleader’s megaphone following a Davis rejection.  Blocks per game.  National leader.  He threatens to block every shot an opposing team takes.  In a frantic finish–the kind that often takes place in the NCAA Tournament–I want the nation’s rejection leader on the court.  Just like he was against North Carolina.

So in this exercise I basically found out a little more about myself.  I found that I don’t want to see my team without a true perimeter threat in the NCAA Tournament.  I found that if I can take a guy that opponents fear around the basket, I’ll take him too.

Apparently I’ll take those two over the high-motor, relentless jack-of-all-trades leader that Kidd-Gilchrist has proven to be.  I may not always choose this route though.  The concept that Darius Miller could come in and play the same position as Kidd-Gilchrist helps me make this decision.  He may not play it at the level of Kidd-Gilchrist, but on this year’s team, I’ll take those chances over the alternatives.

Plus, Kidd-Gilchrist would still make a hell of a leader on the sidelines.

All-Time Kentucky teams (with a twist)

Online yesterday I saw this thread on the Cats Illustrated message boards and, as usual, I thought participating in this would be a lot of fun.  Kudos to trueblue#1 for a neat idea.

The challenge is this: create an All-time best Kentucky Starting 5 while only being able to take one player from each of Kentucky’s previous five coaches.  Those coaches include John Calapari, Billy Gillispie, Tubby Smith, Rick Pitino, and Eddie Sutton.  Any player you choose simply had to play at least one season under that coach.  If a player played for two different coaches such as Patrick Patterson (Gillispie and Calipari), you could use him for either coach.

Finally, we had to set a concept for our picks.  Are we building this team based on the premonition that this starting 5 will compete against other great teams around the world?  Or are we building our starting 5 based largely on career achievements?  You may take a guy like Rajon Rondo with the former, but Wayne Turner for the latter.  That kind of thing.  To clear any confusion A-Train and I agreed to build two different teams based on both criterions.  First, we’ll post our all-time starting five that we would put up against anyone, and take some time to discuss our logic.  Lastly, we’ll briefly note our all-time starting 5 based on a great career coupled with the idea that these guys are all-time greats partly because of their heart and soul, and their pride in wearing the blue and white uniform.

Sawdog’s All-Time Kentucky Starting 5 (from the last five UK coaches):

PG   Rajon Rondo  (Smith)
SG   Jodie Meeks  (Gillispie)
SF   Jamal Mashburn  (Pitino)
PF   Kenny Walker  (Sutton)
C     Anthony Davis  (Calipari)

When you play a game like this you have to first ask yourself “who would I take from the short two year stint of Billy Gillispie?”  Well, it’s either Jodie Meeks or Patrick Patterson.  I hate leaving Pat off my list, but with Kenny Walker available from the Sutton years it becomes a little less painful.  I considered what it would be like to take Tony Delk as my SG and go with Patterson instead of Walker, but that would mean leaving off my favorite UK player of all time Jamal Mashburn (who, like Delk, played for Pitino).  I couldn’t dream of doing that.  Mashburn was a terrifying college player.  Mashburn shot 3′s with the skill and confidence of Delk or Meeks, but was 6’8 and 240 lbs.  You weren’t going to block him.  Ever.  But it was his presence on offense–the ability to pass and shoot equally well–that made him a first team All-American and my no brainer for Small Forward on my starting 5.  So once I knew Mashburn, Meeks and Walker were my core I looked for point guard and center.  And I had to choose those two positions from the Tubby Smith and John Calipari eras.  The center position was easy.  Anthony Davis.  You may argue he’s not developed enough, or he’s not a multi-skilled threat, but it doesn’t matter.  Basketball is as much defense as it is offense, and Davis is a freakish athletic talent with uncanny shot-blocking skills and patience.  He is literally a threat on every possession to block a weakside shot attempt.  He and Walker form a kind of skinny frontline, but Walker played with the aggression of a bigger man while Davis can give pounds away due to his ridiculous length.  That left point guard from the Tubby Smith era, and luckily this was one of the bright spot positions during his tenure.  I could go with Wayne Turner or Rajon Rondo.  I went with Rondo.  I had a deadeye shooter in Meeks in my backcourt, so I went with the guy who was super fast with the basketball and incredible on defense.  He doesn’t have to shoot well for us to win.  Not with Mashburn’s all around arsenal and the firepower of Meeks.  I like the look of this starting 5 a lot.

Sawdog’s All-Time Kentucky Starting 5 (great play coupled with embodying the UK uniform):

PG  Wayne Turner   (Smith)
SG  Rex Chapman   (Sutton)
SF  Jamal Mashburn   (Pitino)
PF  Patrick Patterson   (Gillispie)
C   Josh Harrellson   (Calipari)

Update: The Anthony Davis Block Party

Kentucky’s Anthony Davis entered last night’s contest vs Lamar as the nation’s second best shot blocker with 4.3 blocks per game.  Against Lamar he recorded 6 more blocks, vaulting him this morning into 1st in the NCAA’s with an average of 4.5 blocks per game.  On the season the freshman has now blocked a whopping 58 shots in 13 games!

A completely healthy year from the Kentucky big man will likely see him shatter the school record for blocks in a season, currently shared by Melvin Turpin and Andre Riddick “The Rejector” in the 1982-1983 and 1993-1994 seasons, respectively.  Their record stands at 83.  With 58 Davis is already well on his way to the throne.

The bigger picture is this: how far up the Kentucky career blocks list can Davis climb in just one year?  If he manages to keep his current pace through conference play he’ll crack the top 10.  He really truly is in contention to be in the Top Ten Career Blocks list at Kentucky after just one year. 

With his 58th block last night against Lamar here is who Anthony Davis passed on the UK career blocks list:

Jamal Mashburn (3 years, 53 blocks)
LeRon Ellis (2 years, 53 blocks)
Marvin Stone (3 years, 57 blocks)

Davis is now ranked 30th all-time in UK career blocks.

Keeping track of this is going to be fun.

 

 

SEC Mock Draft Results and Discussion

Two nights ago myself, 49ways and special contributor A-Train Snarlyes got together for a Mock Draft. SEC Edition. We were itching to preview the SEC basketball season (action begins on January 7th) for all those great SEC fans out there.

In essence we act as general managers that draft our own “perfect teams” from current SEC basketball players. Nothing to it. Our rules are pretty simple. Snake draft format and the draft order was randomly selected. Five rounds and each team must fill out a traditional roster of one PG, SG, SF, PF and Center. Some flexibility is allowed should one of us want a 3 guard lineup, etc. In addition, after the players are chosen, we select an SEC coach to coach the team. The idea is that these teams will play each other the day of the draft and that any player chosen is assumed to be at full health.

49ways won the random draw and had the #1 pick, followed by A-Train, and finally Sawdog. Here were the round-by-round results (with class, height and weight) with some discussion to follow:

Round 1
1. Anthony Davis, Kentucky (Freshman, 6’10, 220) (49ways)
2. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Kentucky (Freshman, 6’7, 232) (A-Train)
3. Doron Lamb, Kentucky (Sophomore, 6’4, 210) (Sawdog)

Round 2
4. Arnett Moultrie, Mississippi State (Junior, 6’11, 230) (Sawdog)
5. John Jenkins, Vanderbilt (Junior, 6’4, 215) (A-Train)
6. Kenny Boynton, Florida (Junior, 6’2, 183) (49ways)

Round 3
7. Dee Bost, Mississippi State (Senior, 6’2, 176) (49ways)
8. Patric Young, Florida (Sophomore, 6’9, 245) (A-Train)
9. Jeffrey Taylor, Vanderbilt (Senior, 6’7, 225) (Sawdog)

Round 4
10. Erving Walker, Florida (Senior, 5’8, 171) (Sawdog)
11. JaMychal Green, Alabama (Senior, 6’8, 240) (A-Train)
12. Tony Mitchell, Alabama (Junior, 6’6, 220) (49ways)

Round 5
13. Justin Hamilton, LSU (Junior, 6’11, 260) (49ways)
14. Marquis Teague, Kentucky (Freshman, 6’2, 189) (A-Train)
15. Festus Ezeli, Vanderbilt (Senior, 6’11, 255) (Sawdog)

Head Coach
Sawdog: Billy Donovan, Florida
A-Train: John Calapari, Kentucky
49ways: Anthony Grant, Alabama

Summary:

49ways                               A-Train                                               Sawdog

PG Dee Bost                      PG Marquis Teague                        PG Erving Walker
SG Kenny Boynton        SG John Jenkins                              SG Doron Lamb
SF Tony Mitchell            SF Michael Kidd-Gilchrist           SF Jeffrey Taylor
PF Justin Hamilton       PF Patric Young                              PF Arnett Moultrie
C Anthony Davis             C Jamychal Green                          C Festus Ezili

Sawdog Discussion

Why Doron Lamb with your first round pick?
The only player I know I would have taken ahead of Doron is Anthony Davis. So I feel like you can easily make a case that Doron was worthy of the second pick overall in this draft. Lamb is having an incredible season thus far. He is 6th in the conference in scoring (16.1 ppg), but first in 3-point field goal percentage at 50% (by a healthy margin). But it’s so much more than 3-point shooting. He’s a lethal scorer. While John Jenkins of Vanderbilt is considered a “deadeye shooter” the reality is his 3 point field goal percentage is lower than Lamb’s, and most importantly, his offensive arsenal and ability to score from anywhere on the court is not nearly as complete as Lamb’s. That’s what makes Lamb so dangerous. He has nearly perfected dribbling to his left along the baseline with a short 8 foot floater. Ditto on the floaters in the lane. He can take you off the dribble, he can drain the mid-range shots. He can absolutely do it all on offense. To top it off he’s been excellent as a part-time point guard in pressure situations this year so I can move him to the point when necessary. While all of that is extraordinary, perhaps his best trait of all is his fearlessness. He’s an ice-cold assassin, the perfect mentality to have for any shooting guard. I am very happy having Doron on my team.

Are you surprised it was a Kentucky sweep in the first round?
Not really. I assumed Davis’ rare skill set would see him go first, and Kidd-Gilchrist has won over a lot of people with his consistency and level of effort in all areas of the game. And I just made my case for Doron, so in short, not really.

SEC Mock Draft: 2011/2012 Edition

We’ll be doing a mock draft of current SEC players this evening using Live Chat.  But only making our picks.  Later, in a blog, we’ll discuss our rationales for our choices

Link

Gametracker: Alabama’s Tony Mitchell

Last month I watched Alabama’s uber-athletic Tony Mitchell play some very impressive above-the-rim basketball.  But I only caught at best half of his minutes.  Some of his eye-popping play is bringing me back tonight for my first gametracker of the season.  I want to delve deeper into his game.  Does he dive like a madman for loose balls?  Just how quick is he?  How about that defensive rebounding technique?  Gametracker will answer these questions.

The Oklahoma State Cowboys visit the Yellowhammer State (Yes, Alabama!) for a Big 12/SEC matchup tonight.  Tip is in just one hour so it’s time for me to start prepping…

1st Half

19:40–Crashes weakside for offensive rebound, nice move, not to be. Careless here…could have easily been over the back
19:30–Guarding 6’7 OSU star freshman LeBryan Nash. Man to man.
18:50–Assist. Dribble drive, kickout, teammate drains 3.
18:40–Def Rebound.
18:20–Face up, drains jumper from 18 feet
17:40–Passes out of double team, teammate misses. Nice pass and correct decision.
17:00–No effort to get around defender for offensive rebound
16:40–Def rebound. Taps to himself.
16:30–Alabama up 10-2
16:10–There for transition oop, bad pass to him
16:00–Nice D to force bad shot
15:30–Looks a bit tired
15:20–Wide open 3 off screen and he drains it. Swish. Slight hitch in shot…Bama up 16-2. 5 pts for Mitchell
15:00–Can’t connect on a second oop try, misses one handed dunk. Doable oop this time. His bad.
14:30–No effort to crash board with perfect opportunity. Second time teammate drains a 3 while Mitchell wathces and doesn’t advance towards basket.
14:10–Timeout 14:08 left. Bama up 19-4
14:00–Def Rebound
13:40–transition layup. Teammates attempted 3rd oop pass, no success. Caught it instead, turned around and layed it in.
12:30–Drained a 3 (swish) right after whistle blown and play stopped
12:00–Good block out, but ball caroms away
11:50–Releford hurt, and JyMichael Green did not start and will not play. Will Mitchell step up with Releford being treated??
11:00–Banks in leaner off glass. Sweet.
10:50–Almost has PG presence on court. Doesn’t rush. Confident.
10:30–Drains 18 foot jumper from baseline. 11 pts now.
9:50–Fouls guy coming thru lane. So far I’m seeing “average” defender. Mitchell comes out after foul. Refs switch foul now to teammate, but Mitchell already on bench thinking it was his second. Oh well, more rest before under 8:00 TO. Bama up 27-12 when he leaves.
8:02–Mitchell returns
7:40–Def Rebound
7:30–Misses 3 ball
7:00–Bad effort blocking out. LeBryan Nash outplays him and scores.
6:30–blocked on short shot attempt
6:10–Doesn’t crash boards. (Wonder if he’s asked to stay back??)
5:40–Nash abuses him on step back jumper. Nash in rhythm now.
5:00–Def rebound
4:30–tips def rebound, good effort, out of bounds, bama ball
3:50–Ran floor excellent and HARD. Couldn’t receive good pass from pg.
3:30–Good heady defensive play, deflects ball
3:00–on weakside just watching action…
2:40–Slow to help defense, dunked on in lane
2:20–sets his 90th (not really) pick on offense around top of key
2:10–Doesn’t try to fight arond guy for off board
1:30–Stands around top of key a lot early in posessions
1:20–misses 10 foot floater, hard off back rim
1:00–Plays good passing lane D, and nice effort to block help D shot even though he didn’t get it
0:50–misses 6 foot floater in lane
0:30–Def reb. Nice. Fought for it.
0:00–Bama up 40-22. Mitchell 11 pts, 5-10 FG’s, 7 rebounds.

Mid-Season Q&A Session

As we near the mid-season point in college basketball (or at least the transition point), I’d like to take a moment and pose some questions for Sawdog.  I think he has been able to watch a few more games than me as I’ve been wrapping up another semester of school.  From what I’ve seen, the playing field in college basketball seems a bit more leveled.  Perhaps Creighton or Murray State wants to be the next Gonzaga or Butler?  I like the way this season has played out so far, and I just want to go ahead and make a bold prediction:  Missouri will be the next champion!

Here are eight questions that I pose to Sawdog:

1. In your eyes, which team has surprised you the most?

I’m most impressed with Missouri.  Any time there’s a coaching change you would expect a little bit of struggle implementing a new system, but under first year coach Frank Haith (yes, the old Miami FL coach) Missouri has cranked it up!  It’s hard not to get excited thinking about how special this Mizzou club can be.  They have what looks like elite guard play and their early season chemistry seems to be special.  Look out!

2. In your eyes, which team has disappointed you the most?

I’m not crazy about being too hard on teams early in the year…too many more weeks for improvement…but in the spirit of the question I’ll pick Memphis.  At 5-3 Memphis has gone from preseason #9 to unranked in the ESPN/USA Today poll.  They have an elite scorer in Will Barton, and with other highly touted recruiting classes filling the roster they are underachieving a bit.  Yes, their losses are to good teams like Michigan, @ Georgetown and Murray State…but if you want to be elite just go out and beat those teams.  A close win over what has turned out to be a putrid Tennessee team is also uninspiring.

3. Who is your mid-season choice for Player of the Year?

I can’t go against Jared Sullinger.  He’s missed two games but so what, it’s early.  He’s a great leader on a great team, and they probably don’t lost @ Kansas with him in the lineup.  He’ll dominate here again shortly.

4. Who is your mid-season choice for Coach of the Year?

Well I know who it isn’t–Cincinnati head coach Mick Cronin!  I’ll go with first year Murray State head coach Steve Prohm. He was a very popular pick by the local community–serving as an assistant for many years–and he’s off to a great 11-0 start, a #24 national ranking, and wins @ Memphis and @ Western Kentucky.  It’s nice to see highly regarded guys with a track record of excellent character succeed at a high level.

5. What is your assessment of the CBSSports contributors Dream Teams, and who would be your starting five, top reserves, and coaches?

CBSSports hit on something that we here at College Courtside fully endorse–nerdtastic pretend games where you can assemble dream teams.  Instead of spending a ton of time discussing my thoughts on their entire teams, I’ll just note a quick pro and con to each of their teams.

Parrish:  I’m a big fan of the Mike Rosario bench pick.  That kid comes in and drains shots.  Jeremy Lamb has to be in my starting lineup.  None of this come in and provide offense off the bench stuff.  For a non-Kentucky player, J Lamb is my guy.

Goodman:  If you want a great team on the floor no way I have both Kidd-Gilchrist and Barnes on the same roster, with Barnes starting.  Kidd-Gilchrist already beat him head to head (I know Barnes fills a certain catch and shoot role for Goodman, but in the bigger picture one player, Gilchrist, has an “it” factor and the other doesn’t).  Also, Yancy Gates??  I’m not a fan of cancer.  The Scott Machado pick is great.

Norlander:  Anthony Davis is an alien, and I happen to agree with him being on the court.  Denmon is a monster…glad to see Norlander fit him on the roster over the more popular teammate Phil Pressey.  I’m not crazy about him having Thomas Robinson as his “wing” player.  He’s going with a big lineup but I prefer a crazy do it all freak out there on the wing creating insane matchup problems.

Borzello:  I’m a fan of the John Henson pick, representing North Carolina.  Matchup problems off the bench.  I’m not crazy about Perry Jones….seems like a lack of focus and intensity at times…so I think he could have done a little better there.

As I’m sure these CBS gentlemen will tell you there are certain players you know you want right off the bat.  Then it’s a matter of figuring out exactly which position they will play, what style offense you want to run and then figure out how to stay within the rules (only one player from any team can be on your roster).  Jared Sullinger is on my team.  I know that. So starting with that strategy here is my starting 5 dream team:

PG  Tu Holloway, Xavier  Point guard was my toughest position to settle on.  Even though Kendall Marshall has improved his shooting this year, it’s still not dangerous, and I like a scoring point guard, one that has the ability to pass or shoot with equal danger in the final minutes of a game.  Jordan Taylor has had a small dropoff so far this year compared to last year, and since we’re in the moment here, I was looking for something a little more.  The fact that Taylor is just 6’1 (I thought he was taller!) opened the door to consider others.  Enter Holloway.  Aside from his idiotic behavior against Cincy last week, he has proven to be a solid scorer and a big time competitor.  I’ll take his handle and clutch play in the final minutes of a tight game.

SG  Marcus Denmon, Missouri  Have you watched this guy play?  Not only is he a great outside shooter but he can really get up at the rim in a hurry.  Very athletic, very dangerous beyond the arc.  His shooting percentages from the field, 3 point line and free throw line are outstanding and that’s all I want him to do–shoot the hell out of the basketball to keep the defense from collapsing on Sullinger in the paint.  He’ll do that.  I’m salivating at the thought of him in my fast break offense.

SF  Jeremy Lamb, Connecticut  This was the other guy I had to have in my lineup.  Forget bench.  I want this dude flying all over the place on offense.  I used some discretion here–some would argue he has to be a shooting guard–but I moved the 6’5 Lamb to my SF spot with the understanding that he’ll have to play a little longer than that against bigger opponents (Kidd-Gilchrist, for example).  Thankfully his freakish long arms allow him to play taller than 6’5 so I’m not worried.  Lamb is so smooth on offense and in transition.  I have no doubt I just made my team a lot better.  Love this guy.  I considered Kidd-Gilchrist here b/c he’s such a warrior but I could only have one Kentucky player on my roster…

PF  Jared Sullinger, Ohio State  No-brainer.  Great leader, great rebounder, great low post scorer.  He’ll draw double teams and wreak havoc

C  Anthony Davis, Kentucky  Tremendous instincts on defense, already a formidable shot blocker.  Shows great poise on his shot block timing.  He plays 19 feet above the rim.  Just throw it up and dunk it.  He will absolutely devour the weakside when Sullinger is demanding quadruple teams (drama alert) in the post.  With Davis I have the shot block presence to frustrate the hell out of your already frustrated team.

Top Reserves:

Kendall Marshall, North Carolina  Steady the ship if Holloway goes “Cincinnati” on us.  Perfect sub for that, and he’s not a prima donna so he’ll handle this role like a man.

Kris Joseph, Syracuse  49ways taught me long ago the importance of having do-it-all freakish athletes on the wing.  You can’t have too many of them, so I’ll take the 6’7 Joseph for just that role.

Thomas Robinson, Kansas  He’s a warrior and a beast.  I’ll take him.

I’ll take John Calapari as my coach.  I considered Coach K as anybody would, but I agree with Borzello here: take the guy who has proven recently to take unreal talent and get them to be unselfish.  Calapari is motivated right now too, he has a lot to prove while also being in his coaching prime.  With my selections I have ensured Calapari a team that can really be dangerous in half-court and full-court basketball.  Holloway taking an outlet pass from Sullinger, with Lamb, Davis and Denmon flying up the court?  Oh my God!  A deadly Denmon 3?  Lamb taking the chest pass from Holloway on the fly and flying towards the rim?  Davis trailing and thunderdunking one home?  This is my dream team.

6. Do you think the punishment for the Cincinnati-Xavier melee was appropriate?

Good Lord no.  Cincinnati’s coach vowed to consider removing players from his roster in his post-game speech, and the outcome is 6 missed games, only one of which against a league opponent??  Why were Xavier starters in in the waning seconds, when Xavier had about a 20 point lead???  If you’re the coach you know this is your rival, emotions are high…take your starters out and prevent them from doing exactly what they ended up doing–showboating their victory on the court.  I thought this was a disaster from the player and coach perspective.  Six games is a joke.

7. Do you think expanding the Field of 68 to 96 or 128 teams would be good for the game?

I just love the way it is now.  But money will dictate what happens.  If it will be a profitable success the powers that be will make it happen regardless of what any of us think.  Truth.  And Seth Greenberg will rejoice.

8. Give me your round-up with Kentucky basketball up to this point.

They’re sitting pretty.  They have typical Calapari-coached camaraderie, and two outstanding leaders in Darius Miller and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist.  They’ll be fine.  They lost to Indiana in what had to be Assembly Hall’s most insane crowd since Bob Knight hit an innocent victim with a chair.  Point guard Marquis Teague is already trending upward after a very rough start.  We already know Davis is going to have ridiculous blocked shots, and Kidd-Gilchrist is going to play every posession like it’s the last one of his life.  It’s up to Teague to reach his potential and for Terrence Jones to decide he likes playing basketball on a nightly basis.

The harsh reality of national interest in college basketball

If you’re like me you watched North Carolina play Kentucky on Saturday and came away with a feeling that you had just witnessed one of the true great non-conference, non-tournament basketball games in recent memory.  For forty minutes the Tarheels and Wildcats lived up to an incredible pre-season hype.  The first half of play saw North Carolina perform nearly flawless offensive execution, which included a heatseeking display of torrid three-point shooting that helped Carolina to a nine point lead nearing halftime.  The younger wildcats scrapped and clawed to within five points by intermission, leaving myself (and perhaps others) with the feeling that Kentucky was pretty darn lucky to be down only five considering the Tarheels hot shooting.  Kentucky immediately cut into the five point halftime deficit in the opening minutes of the second half, only to see North Carolina consistently–as was noted during live play by commentator Clark Kellogg–counterpunch the Wildcats efforts by stretching the lead back out to a couple of baskets.  I could be wrong, but I believe that neither team had a lead larger than five points in the second half.  Kentucky finally grasped control of the game when North Carolina entered a six minute stretch where they struggled to score (beginning around the 10:00 mark or so) while Kentucky shooting guard Doron Lamb hit two clutch 3 pointers, the second of which gave UK their largest second half lead at 69-64.  As you know, the game tightened down the stretch, culminating in a riveting final minute that saw Reggie Bullock of UNC drain a corner 3 ball in transition following a sloppy UK turnover.  Bullock’s three cut the lead to one and ensured a nailbiting finish.  Kentucky freshman point guard Marquis Teague missed the front end of a one-and-one, and with a Carolina rebound the Tarheels had the last shot to win the game.  An unbelievable contest would end in incredible fashion, with UK freshman Anthony Davis blocking a nearly unblockable shot by 6’11″ John Henson to secure the victory.  The game was so good it inspired tremendous praise from college basketball writers.  Consider the following heaps of praise:

“With all due respect to the other 342 Division I fan bases out there, who wouldn’t want to see this one again” (in reference to a potential NCAA tournament matchup).  If it never happens, though, at least college basketball fans will always have Saturday’s game etched into their memories.”   –Jason King, ESPN

“It (the game) lived up to the talent, and all the hype that accompanied it–no game this season has been played at such a high level and with such entertainment value to boot.”  –Eamonn Brennan, ESPN

“It’s not every day they play in such a frenetic, close, classic game more worthy of April’s opening weekend than a nonconference tune-up in early December.”  –Robbi Pickeral, ESPN

“The calendar said December 3, but it felt like March. Actually, it felt like April. And if the basketball gods are kind, that’s when North Carolina and Kentucky will meet again.”  –Seth Davis, SI.com

“Both teams played well, showing why they’re ranked in the top five and why the arena was jammed with NBA scouts and general managers. Neither team buckled when the other hit it with runs.”  –Pat Forde, Yahoo Sports

There are many more excerpts to be taken from various writers caught up in the awesome scene played out in Rupp Arena on Saturday, but you get the point.  This was as good as it gets when it comes to two elite teams squaring off in December.  One would think that a matchup with arguably the two greatest college basketball programs of all-time, Kentucky and North Carolina, clearly producing a memorable outcome of the ages would warrant some national attention on Monday, particularly the radio airwaves full of sports jock talk.  At least I would expect some coverage.  Wouldn’t you??  So I went to bed on Sunday night excited about some sports talk the next day covering the big game.

If you don’t listen to ESPN Radio much, here is what you typically deal with on a daily (weekday) basis.  You have three popular national shows throughout the day.  Between 6 and 10 am you get “Mike and Mike in the Morning,” hosted by Mike Greenburg and former NFLer Mike Golic.  As a longtime listener of this show I can tell you two things in general: 1.) they are like an old married couple and 2.) they really like NFL football.  I have no qualms with NFL football, but being a college sports fan first I typically look forward to the late morning/afternoon coverage on ESPN Radio.  At 10 am the polarizing Colin Cowherd takes the airwaves until 1 pm.  His show is considered to be a bit more controversial, coming closer to whatever “shock talk” is than what you get from Mike and Mike.  I happen to love Cowherd’s show, and he tends to mix more college discussion in than Mike and Mike.  Finally from 1 to 4 pm you get The Scott Van Pelt show, where you can hear the popular Sportscenter anchorman’s opinions along with his permanent sidekick Ryan Russillo.  Van Pelt is a Maryland graduate with a shameless passion for college football, and an almost kid-like fun interest in college basketball, so it is this show that I tend to enjoy most for its college sports coverage.  I realize the coverage of sports changes appropriately depending on the seasons (for instance, all three shows will discuss college basketball at length during the NCAA Tournament in March) but pound for pound that is how I would describe each show’s general priorities of sports action.

I turned my dial to ESPN 760 at about 7:30 this morning taking that general mentality of each show into mind.  That meant that I thought maybe Mike and Mike might get to college basketball in their last hour, knowing that they would talk about Tim Tebow, the Cowboys and other NFL action for most of their show.  I understood that NFL playoff races are in full swing, and that appropriate coverage would be set aside for this.  But I also felt that a thrilling contest ending in fantastic fashion that had the college basketball world celebrating (especially a game highly anticipated and between traditional powers like Kentucky and North Carolina) would generate at least a quick 5 minute discussion.  Nope.  Fear not though, I told myself, because Cowherd and Van Pelt are still to come.

Nope and Nope.

Ten straight hours of me listening to ESPN Radio, waiting patiently throughout the day knowing that college sports coverage generally increases as the day progessess and……yeah, no.  Nothing.  Not even Scott Van Pelt, a huge college supporter, made time for it.

This of course brings me to my point and my humbling conclusion.  Two college basketball powers can play in December, long before the NCAA Tournament begins, and produce a game that EXCEEDS its incredible hype, only to see the national radio media completely look the other way in favor of football.  As I said, I understand the situation….NFL deserves the majority of discussion, as well as college football, considering the BCS rankings and bowl pairings, including the national championship game, were announced.  That’s a big morning that requires a ton of commentary with various guests.  I get it.  But in ten hours of coverage not one time was the game between UNC and Kentucky mentioned.  Not even in passing.  Not even a “Wow, great game on Saturday in college basketball, wish we had time to discuss it more but…”  Not even that.  It didn’t even show up as a dust particle on the radar.

The perspective I’m trying to share is this: If December in basketball is to September in football (meaning these are the months when each sport’s season are just underway) we would still be inundated with NFL football talk in September by these same radio shows.  But the same early season coverage is virtually unimportant in basketball.  It was a bold reminder that NFL (and college to a lesser extent) is king in this land.  And no matter how compelling a college basketball game is in December it’s going to get buried under the latest developments in football.

Maybe I should stick to television.  Both “Around the Horn” and “PTI,” two afternoon ESPN sports shows, discussed the basketball game.

It only took me 12 hours to find it.

 

The 10 Greatest College 3 Point Shots

This week Eamonn Brennan of ESPN revealed his “Top 3 Point Shots in NCAA History.” I thought he made a good list, but I wasn’t totally crazy about the decision to include some player’s career achievements on a “top shots” list. The career choices took away some thunder from what could have been 10 amazing individual shots–which there have been plenty of in the 25 years since the 3 point shot was introduced to college basketball. My countdown of the greatest college 3 pointers below is similar to Brennan’s, but I of course added individual great shots where Brennan may have included a career. My list is ranked not only on significance of the shot (Was it a game-winner? Was it just a regular season contest?) but also considers the difficulty of the shot itself and, in at least one case, some homerism towards my favorite team. Deal with it. It’s a silly list. So without further ado I give you my take on the 10 greatest 3 point shots of the past 25 years.

10. Randolph Childress vs North Carolina: It took me a couple of minutes of brainstorming to remember this 3 ball from Wake Forest guard Randolph Childress during the 1995 ACC Tournament Championship against North Carolina. But once you remember it–even if you forget it for 120 seconds–it’s truly one of the great 3′s in the game’s history. He not only completely breaks the ankles of North Carolina guard Jeff McInnis on a tremendous crossover, but then breaks his own concentration while setting his feet to shoot just so he can taunt McInnis with a ridiculing gesture. As the announcer said this is a moment of playground basketball in a heated college basketball game. You can’t miss that after the taunt and he didn’t–he drained it. Beautiful trash talk in a huge contest on a grand stage.

u

9. Tayshaun Prince vs North Carolina: “Tayshaun, hittin it DEEEP!!” Of a billion basketball games I’ve witnessed I’ve never seen a player before or since start a game with 5 straight 3 pointers on five consecutive posessions. It’s the 5th and final 3 that makes this list. As a close friend once said “nobody ever hits their heat check.” Tayshaun did.