Arizona at 4? I figured they would end up at 5 or 6. But, preseason rankings are bollocks anyway. I think it was 2 or 3 years ago, Arizona wasn't ranked in the preseason and was #1 within 3 or 4 weeks. I agree with Lucid, though. Arizona has a good shot at the final four. They are going to be very athletic this year. Usually, when Lute has that type of team, they go far. Mustafa Shakur Salim Stoudamire Hassan Adams Andre Iguodala Channing Frye I can't imagine a five more athletic than this one, including UCONN. But, the U of A is not too deep. Frye must stay out of foul trouble. appooOnU, I think it is potential + Lute = #4.
Re: Arizona at 4? Potential indeed. Iguodala provided massive athletecism but very little else last season. At times he did well so maybe he'll break out this year. Stoudamire has to be the leading scorer on the squad, and Shakur can't have a rookie year. I think everybody is assuming that every freshman can do what Melo did last season though. I forget what that Wisconsin player's name was CIM. But he was the dude who had the playground game. He was lightning quick and the only baller in college who can take it to the hole better than him is Keith Langford at Kansas.
I think the rankings are pretty fair as far as preseason rankings go. There are some questions about teams that we haven't talked as much about: Mizzou: Can they cope with all the off season crap? Florida: Drjerer needs to live up to the hype. Kentucky: Tubby will still have them play good D, but I think they lost a lot when Bogans graduated. Texas: Life without T.J. Could be rough for the Horns. Gonzaga: They'll good, just how good is the question. If they play up to the potential they showed versus Arizona in the 2nd round last year, they could be a legit Final Four threat. Pitt and Marquette: Life without their respective All-American guards that helped rebuild each program leads to many questions. Maryland: Arguably the biggest loss to a any team in the nation is the graduation of Steve Blake. I hated this kid for 4 years at MD because he was so good and so annoying. He ran the team so very well and he is going to be very tough for Gary to replace. Just some quick thoughts.
I went to an intrasquad scrimmage today at McKale. Here's some of my observations: Salim Stoudamire is, by far, the best player on this team. He scored at will. As usual, his J is sick. He made a couple of loooonngg range shots. Andre Iguodala, amid speculation of early entry to the NBA (yes, I'm as puzzled as all of you), looked OK. He has definitely bulked up. I would say 15-20 pounds. He had moments, but he seemed to drift in and out of the game. Hassan Adams is great around the basket and not too great away from it. The local paper said yesterday that he might get a shot at power forward. Hmm, he's the same height as Adrian Dantley, too. Channing Frye is an excellent offensive player. But, I am still concerned about his penchant for picking up stupid fouls. The person I wanted to watch the most, Mustafa Shakur, might just have the ugliest J in the history of basketball. As he jumps, the ball is about at chin level. Then, as he rises, he moves the ball to a normal shooting position and releases. It almost looks as if he is shooting on the way down. The thing is, he made almost all of his shots. I still see a lot of teams laying off him, a la TJ Ford, and daring him to shoot. If the U of A can force an uptempo game, he will excel. Chris Rodgers, a mediocre shooter, shoots way too much. There's one other guy I wanted to mention. He's a walk-on from Texas, I believe. His name is Beau Muhlbach. He's about 6'4-6'5 and he has got some skills. He's got a real nice J, he's quick, and he can jump. Oh yeah, he's white. I think he will get some minutes this year. Overall, I feel the same as I did before. Depth will be an issue, bit they still are a threat.
Re: Re: Arizona at 4? [ b]I think everybody is assuming that every freshman can do what Melo did last season though. [/b] I don't know about everyone else, but I have no illusions there. 'Melo is in a different stratosphere than Shakur. Anyway, this will be Salim's team. P.S. Dammit, how do you quote one line of a post?
Mizzou: Good question. Florida: Florida vs. Arizona in one of the Coaches vs. Whatever Classic games. Will be a good early indicator for both teams. Kentucky: Agreed. Bogans was their man. Texas: Texas won't be as good this year, but watch out next year. They have a killer recruiting class. Gonzaga: Should have beaten Arizona last year. Good players, good coach, they're gonna be very dangerous. NNCRed, do they show Zags games live in Idaho? Pitt and Marquette: Pitt also lost their coach. I think Marquette will have a bigger drop off, though. Maryland: Though I never rated Blake (he got ABUSED by Jason Gardner when they played Arizona), he will be a big loss. How well have they recruited? I'm also interested in seeing Duke. They lost their best player (IMO) Dahntay Jones. Is Duhon finally going to have the year everybody expects from him? Can Redick keep shooting like that if teams gear up to stop him? Also, it's always interesting to see Duke's freshman class. Luol Deng is supposed to be the truth. Looking forward to watching him play.
Maryland has some good recruits. It's probably a gift that they are in the top 25 at all though. They could surpise and playing in the ACC they will learn pretty quickly how hard it is to play in hostile environments. The most popular of the kids is D.J. Strawberry, although him and his dad are not that close. He can play some ball though... Some of the Sophomores are going to look pretty good too... Not quite ready to get all excited yet as it's still a bit early...
D.J. Strawberry? What position does he play? Really interested in seeing him play! I wonder if Dad is still married to Miles Simon's sister? P.S. Thanks for the info, and good luck.
We get a pretty decent number of Gonzaga games out here on Fox Sports Northwest. Gonzaga has Stepp, Turiaf, Skinner, Violette (a Boise kid), Bankhead, and Fox all returning from last years team and all saw minutes. Freshman Adam Morrison is supposed to be for real and he went for 29 points in 29 minutes on 11-16 shooting in an exhibition game. Also, Errol Knight is coming off a redshirt year after transferring from Washington will help out. Last guard to transfer to Gonzaga from UW as a sophomore was Dan Dickau, and we know how well that worked. As far as Duke goes, they'll be good, but could be great if Duhon has his head out of his ass. Shavlik Randolph supposedly bulked up which will help his inside game. Look for Shelden Williams, Randolph, Deng, and Nick Horvath to control the middle with most of the work coming from Williams. If teams try to key in on Redick it will just open the floor up to all of Duke's other weapons. And don't forget about Daniel Ewing. The ACC Tournament was his arrival party last year when he was MVP. He is damn good player that often gets overlooked because he's a relatively quiet kid and isn't a standout physically either. BTW, he was the 2 guard in high school with TJ Ford at the point. Talk about scary.
Livingston will pick his school this week. I think Illinois are the front-runners right now. I was at the Orange and Blue scrimage last night, Livingston was in the house. Good showing by the fans, i'm sure he gets that everywhere he goes. The hometown feel of champaign i think will win livingston over
I was reading on the message boards at dukebasketballreport.com and evidently Livingston won't announce today, but he will this week, most likely Tuesday. Also, Livingston went to the Illini's intrasquad scrimmage over the weekend. Right now I say it's 45-45 between Duke and Illinois with Arizona coming in with the other 10%.
What's up with this, Narmec? Not good. Just shows that the NCAA is depriving these kids of being able to even feed themselves (please note the sarcasm). http://wildcat.arizona.edu/papers/97/50/01_1.html
I can't see a coach like Lute Olsen letting him go with a slap on the wrist. Robbery is Robbery, whether its expensive stuff at the jewelry store or candy bars from the convenient store in the Student Commons. Question: doesn't his scholorship get him free board? A regular Penn state student buys meal points (good for any food item in any store On-Campus) before the semester starts. Usually you get a plan thats good enoguh for a semester. And I think atheletes get the regular plan for free. Isn't that how it works at UofA?
The kid that everybody will have to shut down is John Gilchrist. Sophomore Point Guard. Kid can flat out bring it. He can shoot, dish, and D-up. ColeFieldhizzouse will be jumpin this year. Boo-Yah! [/Stuart Scott voice]
Uneffingbelievable. Sometimes I wonder what the hell is going on in these guys' minds. I guess now that he doesn't live with Luke, he can't afford a candy bar. Idiot. apooOnU, it's the same at the U of A. You get a sort of credit card and you use it through the semester. It'll be interesting to see how it plays out. I can't imagine him getting expelled, but he's gonna be suspended for sure. I can't recall right now, but it seems to me another player in Lute's tenure got caught stealing (no, not that Kansas BS). If I remember, I'll post it. P.S. An already thin front line becomes emaciated. Great.
Gonzaga also has two other freshman that will contribute this year: Derek Ravio (true) and Sean Mallon (redshirt). Both were heavily recruited by big schools, and both showed well in the Zags exhibition game this weekend. The Zags game vs. Missourri will be shown live nationwide on CBS on 12/13. Will be a great game.
great, now we gotta listen to Vitale next season go nuts about the next Jay Williams and how he is the greatest gaurd ever and combined with Daniel Ewing will make up the best backcourt in college basketball history
Carolina's David Noel out 6 to 8 weeks with torn thumb ligament. http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaab/news?slug=ap-ncarolina-noel&prov=ap&type=lgns We'll miss Noel's athleticism, but this is why we have Rashad McCants, Jackie Manuel, Jawad Williams, Melvin Scott and Rayshawn Terry.