Follow a College team thread

Paully D

I'm very happy with Kansas Jayhawks. This should be good

GoldFour4

Delighted with Duke always a great programme !

theboss80

From USA Today last month for 2012 Final Four Odds

North Carolina: 7/2
Kentucky: 13/2
Duke: 8/1
Louisville: 8/1
Ohio State: 8/1
Syracuse: 12/1
Texas: 15/1
Florida: 18/1
Memphis: 20/1
Pittsburgh: 20/1
UCLA: 20/1
Connecticut: 25/1
Arizona: 35/1
Baylor: 35/1
Butler: 35/1
Kansas State: 50/1
Texas A&M: 50/1

padraig_f

Let's go (Arizona) Wildcats!

Reading the wikipedia page, it's the Alma Mater of Bulls legends Steve Kerr and Jud Buechler (also Gilbert Arenas, Jason Terry and this year's #2 pick Derrick Williams).

I like some of the gameday traditions:

• While the opposing team's players are being introduced, the band and students will turn their backs to the court. As each player's name is announced, they will yell "Sucks!" In the interest of sportsmanship, though, the Athletic Department is attempting to phase this tradition out.
• During the first four minutes of each half, or until the first media timeout, the band and students have several chants.
  - Every time an opposing player dribbles, the yell is "Boing!"
  - Every time they pass, the yell is "Pass!"
  - Every time they try to shoot, the yell is "Brick!"

They won the NCAA championship once, in 1997, and reached the Elite Eight last year, going down 65-63 to eventual winners UConn.

WHIP IT!

Sea Devils wrote: »

Okay since it looks like the random system is fine for most people, thought I may as well do the draw now. Good luck everyone .

Peteb2 | Louisville| Cardinals
Junior D| Memphis | Tigers
cactus mac88| Texas| Longhorns
Paully D| Kansas | Jayhawks
#15| Sryacuse| Orangemen
UCD AFC | Baylor | Bears
Sea Devils | Butler| Bulldogs
Carcharodon | Connecticut | Huskies
slick89 | North Carolina | Tarheels
For Fork Sake | Kentucky | Wildcats
mikemac| Xavier| Musketeers
padraig f | Arizona | Wildcats
malachyscot| Duke | Blue Devils
moneyman| Ohio State | Buckeyes
theboss80| Pittsburgh | Panthers
WHIP IT! | Wisconsin | Badgers
Dare 2 defy | Florida | Gators

HAHHAHA! - Who in the namajayyyysus are the Wisconsin Badgers???

No fear - we're gonna win it all this year!

WHIP IT!

padraig_f wrote: »

Let's go (Arizona) Wildcats!

Reading the wikipedia page, it's the Alma Mater of Bulls legends Steve Kerr and Jud Buechler (also Gilbert Arenas, Jason Terry and this year's #2 pick Derrick Williams).

I like some of the gameday traditions:

• While the opposing team's players are being introduced, the band and students will turn their backs to the court. As each player's name is announced, they will yell "Sucks!" In the interest of sportsmanship, though, the Athletic Department is attempting to phase this tradition out.
• During the first four minutes of each half, or until the first media timeout, the band and students have several chants.
  - Every time an opposing player dribbles, the yell is "Boing!"
  - Every time they pass, the yell is "Pass!"
  - Every time they try to shoot, the yell is "Brick!"

They won the NCAA championship once, in 1997, and reached the Elite Eight last year, going down 65-63 to eventual winners UConn.

HaHa - brilliant! Hope they don't phase it out, I'd love to go to one them games, be great craic!

For Forks Sake

Kentucky eh?

Here's your first prediction: All of this seasons starting 5 will be in next years draft.

moneyman

For Forks Sake wrote: »

Kentucky eh?

Here's your first prediction: All of this seasons starting 5 will be in next years draft.

Not exactly going out on a limb there

Jones, Gilchrist, Lamb, Teague and Davis are all big time prospects. Wouldn't be surprised to see Davis be a top 2 pick next year, with all or most of the others going in the first round, with a chance for all (with the possible exception of Lamb, who might not be NBA ready after next year, although has the talent) to go in the lottery.


It's between Kentucky and NC. I've liked Kentucky the last few years. NC have a strong group of freshmen coming in to add to Barnes, Marshall and Henson.

WHIP IT!

You're both dreaming lads - it's all about the Badgers this year. The lads are a shoo-in, a shoo-in I tells ya!

Carcharodon

The Huskies, not bad, I presume then that its womens basketball we will be following yes

brian93

No worries if I've joined this too late, but I'd be interested if there is still space. I like the look of Kentucky, especially with Anthony Davis, and I like Perry Jones & Baylor, mainly cos they're a smaller school

Sea Devils

brian93 wrote: »

No worries if I've joined this too late, but I'd be interested if there is still space. I like the look of Kentucky, especially with Anthony Davis, and I like Perry Jones & Baylor, mainly cos they're a smaller school

You're now a Washington Huskies fan.

D2D

Hmmm, the Gators. This'll be interesting:cool:

For Forks Sake

moneyman wrote: »

Not exactly going out on a limb there

I'm a genius I tells ya

moneyman

For Forks Sake wrote: »

I'm a genius I tells ya

Sure so am I, for some reason I had it in my head that Lamb is with Kentucky - just remembered he's a Uconn player. Don't know how I managed that! There is a Lamb that plays for Kentucky, but the one I was talking about was Jeremy, who is a much better prospect.


BTW, brain93, you got a very interesting team in the Huskies, if for no other reason than Tony Wroten, a 6'4'' freshman PG. He could easily be the first pick in next years draft if he has a good year. He's a freak athlete, crazy handles, excellent passer and scorer. He'll definitely be a high lottery pick.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9w8BOO7ZT4

Wroten is number 1 on the greens. You can see his speed and handles here. He shakes John Wall a couple times in it.

UCD AFC

Baylor is in Texas, right?

Sea Devils

UCD AFC wrote: »

Baylor is in Texas, right?

Yep

brian93

moneyman wrote: »

BTW, brain93, you got a very interesting team in the Huskies, if for no other reason than Tony Wroten, a 6'4'' freshman PG. He could easily be the first pick in next years draft if he has a good year. He's a freak athlete, crazy handles, excellent passer and scorer. He'll definitely be a high lottery pick.

My name hasn't been mispelled as Brain since my cousin did it on my 7th birthday

Wroten played on the USA team last year that won the u17 world championship. He's not a McAdoo or a Beal, but he's good alright. He also lead the tournament in steals, 3.5 per game, over something like 8 games! He's my ray of hope since little Isaiah is gone, and the other 2 top scorers were seniors last year, Jones I think, and the English guy with the double-bar name. Looking forward to next season, I've always wanted to get into college ball, and one bright idea later, tadaaa!

moneyman

brian93 wrote: »

My name hasn't been mispelled as Brain since my cousin did it on my 7th birthday

Wroten played on the USA team last year that won the u17 world championship. He's not a McAdoo or a Beal, but he's good alright. He also lead the tournament in steals, 3.5 per game, over something like 8 games! He's my ray of hope since little Isaiah is gone, and the other 2 top scorers were seniors last year, Jones I think, and the English guy with the double-bar name. Looking forward to next season, I've always wanted to get into college ball, and one bright idea later, tadaaa!

Typo, sorry about that :pac:

I'd have Wroten ranked higher than McAdoo and Beal at this point. McAdoo is talented but a little undersized for PF and isn't a prolific rebounder. He's a good athlete and skilled though, so he should be a good player. Don't know a whole lot about Beal except that he's way undersized for SG and doesn't have the PG skills (at least yet) to be a PG. Great shooter though. I'd take Wroten at this point. Players with his combination of size, athleticism and skill level are hard to come by.

Sea Devils

While we're on the subject of prospects I was reading about Andre Drummond the other day. He'll be the #1 pick in the 2013 draft, or #1 next year if the new CBA allows it. The scary part is that a good chunk of those videos are at all-star camps against the best HS players in the country. 6'11", 250lbs, incredibly fluid, and only 17 years old. According to DraftExpress, he's also a great passer, but can fall in love with playing on the perimeter instead of using his size to destroy people.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaytqTQq0l8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-79yUG1Lp4

Guys his size with that level of athleticism and coordination don't come around very often. Can't wait to watch him at UConn

WHIP IT!

Sea Devils wrote: »

While we're on the subject of prospects I was reading about Andre Drummond the other day. He'll be the #1 pick in the 2013 draft, or #1 next year if the new CBA allows it. The scary part is that a good chunk of those videos are at all-star camps against the best HS players in the country. 6'11", 250lbs, incredibly fluid, and only 17 years old.


Guys his size with that level of athleticism and coordination don't come around very often. Can't wait to watch him at UConn

Kid is awesome, no doubt... but he won't always be playing against guys he's towering over the way he seemed to be in those videos... also, does anyone else feel that kinda slow-release jump-shot of his is a shot-blocker's wet dream, the way he holds the ball so low in front of his face like that?

Awesome vid though, thanks for posting...

Sea Devils

WHIP IT! wrote: »

Kid is awesome, no doubt... but he won't always be playing against guys he's towering over the way he seemed to be in those videos... also, does anyone else feel that kinda slow-release jump-shot of his is a shot-blocker's wet dream, the way he holds the ball so low in front of his face like that?

Awesome vid though, thanks for posting...

EDIT: Ugh posted the same thing twice for some reason.

WHIP IT!

Sea Devils wrote: »

From what I've read another one of his weaknesses is that he tends to fall in love with playing on the perimeter instead of using his size to destroy people. Fortunately these are all fixable things though.

Yep, he sure seems to have all the tools... reminds me a bit of Durrant.

brian93

WHIP IT! wrote: »

Yep, he sure seems to have all the tools... reminds me a bit of Durrant.

He's very similar I think to Anthony Davis, the Kentucky freshman. Size, skill and athleticism!

Sea Devils

Isiah Austin and Shabazz Muhammad are some other top notch bigs well worth watching for the future. Either way the next two drafts are gonna be a tremendous talent infusion for the NBA.

moneyman

Drummond is a big prospect but not too much known about him so far. Watch out for Nerlens Noel in a couple years. He's big, athletic and skilled. And he's a beast defensively. Averaged over 10 blocks a game and he's not even a senior. Probably a number one pick in a few years.

Will be very interesting to see Drummond, a lot of good young players to be seen in college next year!

padraig_f

College basketball season begins in earnest this weekend, I've updated my sig with my adopted team. Don't know a whole lot about them yet but they lost their best two players last year, with forward Derrick Williams going 2nd in the draft, and point-guard Lamont Jones transferring closer to home.

The bottom line is between the loss of Williams and Jones, the Wildcats are losing 38.1% of the scoring, 28.3% of their rebounding, 25.3% of their assists and the best two players on a team that made it to the Elite Eight.

They have some highly ranked freshmen coming in, including guard Nick Johnson, nephew of Celtics' great Dennis Johnson. It must say a lot about the depth of talent and coach Sean Miller that, after losing players of that calibre, they're still ranked #16 in the nation.

Don't know a lot about college basketball in general, couple of links I found useful:

Grantland: NCAA All-America 1st and 2nd team
Really looks like North Carolina are the team to watch. Also the Austin Rivers at Duke situation looks interesting.

ESPN: The games you can't miss this season
Will try and catch some of the UNC-Michigan State game tomorrow, if only because I've never seen a basketball game take place on a battleship before!

North Carolina, Michigan State Set to Face Off Aboard Navy Warship

theboss80

PITT 89 - 56 ALBANY



Ashton Gibbs 21pts (Pre Season Big East Player of the Year)
Travon Woodall 25ts 10 As. (5/7 3pts)

Report

Woodall's previous career-high was 19 points against Wichita State two years ago as a freshman. He's spent much of the last two seasons trying to get the ball to his more heralded teammates.

Carcharodon

Lamb leads No. 4 UConn to 70-57 win over Columbia as Huskies begin title defense

Lamb scored a career-high 30 points, and Napier added 21 as No. 4 Connecticut began defense of its national title with a 70-57 victory over Columbia.

For Forks Sake

Anthony Davis' big debut leads Kentucky in easy opener


Kentucky Beats Marist By 50

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Terrence Jones said he worked hard to show he was a leader on the court this season for Kentucky. He's the reason the second-ranked Wildcats will have less free time off it.

Jones, a sophomore, came off the bench for eight points in Kentucky's 108-58 season-opening win over Marist on Friday night after the university said he was involved as a passenger in an early morning car accident.

Coach John Calipari said earlier in the day that he would institute a curfew for the Wildcats.

"I felt I was doing a great example on the court. I still believe that way," said Jones, who like the rest of his teammates will be forced to be back in their rooms at 11 p.m. on weekdays and midnight on weekends. "I take blame for being out that late, but I mean, it's just something that happened to cause all that."

Anthony Davis had 23 points and 10 rebounds to join Jones and Sam Bowie as the only freshmen in Kentucky history with 20-10 games in their debuts.

Davis attacked the rim in the opener, finishing 10 of 13 with eight dunks as Kentucky shrugged off a slow start with a dominant second half that turned a single-digit lead into a 50-point blowout in their first game of the Basketball Hall of Fame Tip-Off tournament.

Fellow freshman Michael Kidd-Gilchrist had 15 points, seven rebounds, two blocks and two steals in his Rupp Arena debut.

"If Michael wasn't out there and Anthony wasn't out there, we're down at half," Calipari said.

Kentucky's next stop is New York City, where the Wildcats will face No. 13 Kansas in the State Farm Champions Classic on Tuesday before heading to Uncasville, Conn., for two more games as part of this early season tournament.

"I really think we'll be fine," Calipari said. "I just don't know if we're ready to play a team like Kansas."

After Kentucky took a 45-36 lead in the first half, Doron Lamb found Jones under the basket for a slam as the Wildcats scored the first six points of the second half. Davis had consecutive slams as the Wildcats pulled away with a 21-2 run that made it 72-42 with 12 minutes left. Kentucky's biggest lead was the final margin.

Jones had 25 points and 12 rebounds in his debut last season and Kentucky went on to the Final Four, losing in the national semifinals to Connecticut. Bowie established the first such performance in 1979.

"For me to be in that category is just awesome," Davis said. "Terrence and Sam, they're great players and I'm just glad to be in that category with them."

Jones returned for his sophomore season and the Wildcats have another impressive freshman class that includes Davis, Kidd-Gilchrist, Marquis Teague and Kyle Wiltjer. Teague had 16 points, Lamb had 15 and Wiltjer added 14 for the Wildcats.

Calipari said early Friday that Jones, the Southeastern Conference preseason player of the year, and teammate Stacey Poole had been involved in a car accident, but neither was seriously hurt.

"He'll be fine. He made a mistake. I don't throw kids under the bus," Calipari said.

The Wildcats won their first two exhibition games by a combined 124 points, but Marist kept it close thorough the first half. Isaiah Morton scored 13 points and Dorvell Carter finished with 12 for Marist.

"I thought we had a good game plan, spread them out," Marist coach Chuck Martin said. "But they are the No. 2 team in the country."

Martin, who was on Calipari's staff from Memphis from 2006-08, has gone 7-56 over his last two seasons. But Carter's 3-pointer gave the Red Foxes an 18-17 lead before Jones entered the game.

Kentucky built a 32-23 lead, but Adam Kemp's floater cut Kentucky's lead to 38-34 before the Wildcats went on a 7-0 run capped when Jones hit a 3, then grabbed an offensive rebound on the next possession and dunked over Manny Thomas.

Morton hit a jumper that made it 45-36 at the half, cutting Kentucky's lead single digits for the final time.

"We played with them in the first half," Carter said. "The only thing we can learn is always come out and play hard the whole 40 minutes."