Men's College Basketball 2003-2004 (NO SMACK)

And this is a bad thing?

Just kidding. Dickie V is annoying. He just spouts stuff off. One thing that sucks about being a Duke fan is that he loves Duke, thus pissing all non-Duke fans off. At least he's enthusiastic though. He could be a Duke homer in a monotone voice. That would really be annoying.

One thing I do like about Vitale is when he's in near tears or on the verge of a heart attack on Selection Sunday when mid majors don't get the seeds they deserve or not even an at-large berth. Cracks me up.

BTW, Livingston and Ewing won't be the best backcourt in history, obviously. They'll be good, but how good will he be as a freshman? And will he even be a starter at the beginning of the year or will Dockery start at PG? I can see a situation similiar to 2000-01 when James started at guard at the beginning of the year but Duhon eventually moved into his starting spot.

 

I don't believe in heaven or hell but I do wonder sometimes who would be calling college basketball games in hell - if it existed, of course.
It could be Vitale (with Brent Musburger doing PbP), but I'm guessing it would most likely be Billy Packer. He always finds something to bitch about, spouts nothing but cliches and refuses to give credit to UNC (<- not that I'm biased or anything).

 

I can't stand Packer. I agree with everything except giving UNC credit (not that I'm biased or anything either).

 

No way in hell Livingston's not starting next year. He's not going to Duke to sit on the bench. He'll only be there for one year, anyway. Dockery can start in 2005.

Wonder how the Illini fans are feeling today? I heard one of the prominent Illini web sites shut down after hearing the news.

P.S. Vitale sucks.

 

Billy Packer is the most loathable man in the world. And he loves Carolina, much more than his alma mater anyway.

 

he has been annoying me for the last 3 Final Fours.

And plus he called Hakim Warrick a freaking Ballerina.

 

i don't know about you but every time i see him i think about kermit

 

That's nicer than anything he's said about Dean Smith.

 

My choice for a three man broadcast team in hell would be Packer, Raferty, and Musburger. Every time I see Packer is one of the analysts I'm praying the SAP button works and I can't even speak Spanish.

I don't know how many of you get Big 12 action/announcers, but I'm a big fan of Chris Piper and John Sunvold. One of the two is usually calling the Big 12 game of the week.

Vitale can be grating at times, but he will give both teams (unlike Packer), and also individuals, credit when they deserve it. An example would be the KU-Texas game last year where Collison had 24 pts and 23 boards. Nick fouled out late in the game and Dickie V stood up and gave him a standing O when he left the game. He did the same thing for TJ Ford who had 25 pts and 10 assists.

 

Living in Champaign, people had high hopes. But it is the second big recruit they've lost(i'm a UConn Fan). But its not the end, still high hopes for this team and the future.

 

Went to the first Illinois exhibition game today...91-66 win over the Illinois All-Stars.

Illini did not look good in the first half, went into the locker room ahead 39-38 after blowing a 10-point lead. A lot of confusion on offense leading to turnovers, and they took some bad shots--not too surprising considering that they're still learning Weber's offense.

Second half they scored a few quick baskets and gradually pulled away...ran the offense better and also rebounded well.

Weber has a completely different sideline demeanor than Self...he is constantly shouting instructions to the players.

Highlights
---------
Dee Brown 26 points (5 threes) and 7 assists, including a no-look to Roger Powell for a late dunk.

Team shot 13-25 on three-pointers. 7-2 Nick Smith was 2-2.

Freshman Richard McBride played very well, hitting his shots and playing tough defense...Illinois really only has four guards so he will need to contribute.

After a poor start, came back to control the boards 40-26.

Sergio McClain got a nice hand when introduced as part of the All-Stars' starting lineup.

Lowlights
---------
Almost no post offense...they rarely got the ball inside, and didn't know what to do once they got there. Powell looked rather lost.

24 turnovers. Will take some time before they know where everyone is supposed to be.

Freshman Brian Randle showed some athleticism and grabbed some boards but fouled out in 18 minutes. The other freshman Warren Carter, who was a redshirt candidate, played 12 minutes but probably won't get much time this year.

Aaron Spears and Luther Head were did not play because they skipped a class...don't think it's too serious, but the Illini haven't had any discipline problems in recent years and hopefully it will stay that way.

Box Score:
http://fightingillini.ocsn.com/sports/m-baskbl/stats/110903aaa.html

 

God, that would suck.

 

that really does suck for him. When I was in school, during my freshman, sophomore, and Junior years I always loved going to the OSU - PSU tilt that was the last game of the regular season. The game was always a barnburner. And always fun to watch. and it was great way to spend a saturday afternoon. I wish him nothing but the best.

 

Uhh, I hope that's just a shot at Stu, since we haven't played at Cole since 2002.

We should be fine come ACC time. The rotation is going to be primarily freshmen and sophomores. Gilchrist is going to be key to the team this year. Last year he showed flashes of brilliance, especially driving to the basket. Kid has a sick handle. We're gonna depend on Jamar Smith, a senior juco, to produce. He can jump out of the building, and if he can improve the way that Wilcox and Randle have in their second year with Gary, he should be a force inside.

Our freshman class is strong, albeit far less hyped than others. Mike Jones, who won the McDonald's 3-point shootout, has a very real chance of breaking into the starting lineup, and I wouldn't be surprised if he challenges Deng and Chris Paul for ACC ROY honors this year. DJ is our most known, but he's probably the fourth or fifth choice at guard right now. The other freshman that should/could be a player is Ekene Ibekwe. He's rail thin and has an ugly release, but he's very effective and can sky. Don't be shocked to see some highlights of him swatting shots on Sportscenter. If Hassan Fofana can contribute this year, it'll be a big help. He's 6'10", 290, and can fill up the paint like nothing else. Just needs to get refined as his hands aren't the greatest right now.

I fully expect this team to have some growing pains this year, but as we saw last year with Syracuse, there's no reason a young team can't perform after adjusting to college ball.

 

a few things

#1. Carmelo Anthony wasn't a normal freshman
#2. Billy Edelin was a freshman in name only. He was brought in with the same recruiting class as Hakim Warrick.
#3. Gerry McNamara was a true freshman, but had the attitude of senior. Thats also pretty rare. Not too many freshman out there have the confidence that he had the instant he stepped on the court.


That Syracuse team was the exception not the rule. Plus they didn't HAVE any growing pains. They only lost 5 games all season while playing in one of the top 3 conferences in the country. I have a lot of respect for Gary Williams but this year will be unlike most of his squads in recent history. He doesn't have the star senior, and he doesn't have a guy like Steve Francis coming in.

 

Read this, too.

He had a raspy voice to start!

I was at the first game against the Cancer All-stars. The all-stars were pretty good actually.

Fuss-Cheatham may have lost his starting job.
#10 Tony Stockman looked real good. He had few turnovers, dished the ball well and scored well, even from the land o' plenty, three point land.

Fuss probably had more turnovers than assists and points. But, he comes to my place to eat, so I hope he does better.

The other thing that should be rather obvious to Buckeye fans is that we have a true baller in #0 J.J. Sullinger. He is going to be special. We rebounded, slashed, shot from downtown and all that...the cpmplete package. I am just glad he came back to Columbus.

The front court has to get tougher. Radinovic and Terence Dials have to be mean suckers.

The surprise of the night was Matt Sylvester. Good numbers, but we have to see this game to game and against better teams.

Then again, this was only one game.
All this may go out the window.

I used to play ball with Aaron Marshall from The Other Paper back in day and he wrote the article on the BB Bucks 2003-04. He is saying that the Bucks are under the radar. Middle of the Big Ten? Heck, look for at least a 3rd place finish, NCAA spot and then who knows.

I hope for a great season as I have season tix!

 

I think he's a real baller. Showed some flashes of brilliance last season. The kid has a real knack for crashing the offensive boards, too - he had some of the best highlight reel buckets from last season.

Ohio State is going to be a really good team this year, I think. The only reason they fell off last year were all the injuries, and resultant lack of depth. Now we've got five or six really good guards, and everybody looks to be over the nagging injuries from last season. We won't have to lean on one player (Darby) like we have in the past.

I just hope we draw Cinci in the NCAA Tourney, assuming we are as good as expected. Payback is a bitch, and we have a 40 year old chip to cash.

 

First Edition of Lunardi's Bracketology is out.

Overall its fine but this has me REALLY annoyed.

So, which team was it that blasted its way through 2 #1 seeds and a #2 seed? Which team beat the 5 best teams in the Big 12? And only one of them on their home court? Which team had The #3 draft pick in the NBA? Which team HAS the the next drafts top 5 pick in the NBA? Best team my ass. If I remember correctly Syracuse was winning that game by almost 20 at one point. And by around 14 at half time. If GMac doesn't hurt his shooting hand right before half time I don't think that game is even close. When he couldn't shoot it ended any Syracuse perimeter threat and messed up the balance that Syracuse's offense was based upon. Did Lunardi even WATCH the game? I like Kansas and think they are a great team, but everybody keeps saying that they were the best team in the Final four. Because of the way they beat Marquette...and because they beat a HIGHLY over-rated Duke team, and Arizona squad that forgot how to play defense.

 

Don't worry about Lunardi. As a St. Joe's fan he is required to hate every Big East team. I remember last year when it took half the year for Syracuse to finally get ranked in the 25 and when they finally did Lunardi had 'Cuse listed as one of his "Overrated" teams, along with Pitt and UConn. I emailed trying to figure out how he could call 'Cuse overrated when they weren't rated the whole year and when they finally beat Pitt(who were #2 at the time and if they beat'Cuse would have been #1) why did he call them overrated. I never recieved a response. My take is that since he is a St. Joe's alum, and therefore an A-10 fan, he has an inferiorty complex about the Big East.

 

Apoo, just take your title and be happy. It doesn't matter what Lunardi says. You won. You had a very good run through the tournament. There is no room for criticism from columnist, experts, etc. You proved to be the best team in the land at the end of the year. End of story.

Lunardi's argument about Kansas being able to beat team's if it were best of 7 is ridiculous. It's not best of 7, so it's a moot point. If it were a best of 7, Kansas might not even get out of their region because Duke and Arizona could have just as easily won a best of 7 series against the Jayhawks as the Jayhawks could have against them.

As far as Duke being highly over-rated, I don't agree with you (obviously being a Duke fan). Duke was only a 3 seed last year and had a good argument for being a 2 seed instead of Wake Forest (WF won the ACC regular season and split with Duke head to head, Duke won the ACC Tournament. But head to head matchups were like night and day. Duke hammered WF at home, WF needs 2 OT's and a handful of Duke players to foul out when Duke visited. Sorry to get off on a tangent though). Also, Duke was shipped out to Salt Lake City for their sub-regional, a pretty far distance for a 3 seed to travel in the new pod system. I think Duke, in the end, was probably seeded correctly. Sorry, end of rant.

 

Wrong link.



Punk

 

Wait till I get on Dukey-V.

Oh dear. I can hear the chants and songs already.