As everybody knows, KU is based in Lawrence, Kansas.
Lawrence. Remember that word.
If you don’t want to watch the whole clip from one of the best films ever, fast forward to the 2:50 mark:
“Lawrence?!?!?! Only faggots and sailors are named Lawrence!”
“I said CHOKE YOURSELF!”
As far as KU… DePaul? Really? This isn’t some parallel universe where Paris Hilton and Britney Spears win Nobel Peace Prizes and George W is nothing more than Ryan Seacrest’s stand-in?
Bill… watch your back. First Bucknell, then Bradley, then Oral Bob, then DePaul. The natives are getting restless…
Also to Bill Self - please Please PLEASE keep your job. Mark Turgeon wants to stay at Wichita State. Please try to win at least half of the games in which you’re heavily favored.
On to the notebook.
THINGS WE LEARNED THIS WEEKEND IN COLLEGE BASKETBALL:
1. North Carolina might be for real… but there’s no way that Tyler Hansbrough is going to live up to his hype. Don’t get me wrong – I like the kid. He’s a hard-nosed player. Solid. Helps his team in every way possible, and gets a ton of media attention.
But so did Eric Montross. Anybody heard from him lately?
By the way - from this day forward, Roy Williams will be referred to as “Deputy Dawg” on RFS.com. Tell me I’m wrong – especially if you’ve heard him speak.
***RFS SPECIAL NOTE*** - RFS his ownself attended Roy Williams’ basketball camps and is a fan of the guy, particularly the Roy Williams that laid down an s-bomb after losing the national championship to Syracuse.
For those who don’t know the story - Bonnie Bernstein interviewed him after the tough loss. Rumors were swirling about the vacant North Carolina job. I winced as soon as she asked “I have to ask you about Carolina”, and hoped that Roy wouldn’t be his usual “sweet as sugar”, down-home self. His response?
————————————————- “The guy in your ear that told you that you had to ask that question … as a journalist, that’s fine … but as a human being, that’s not very nice … and I’ve got to think that in tough times that people should be more sensitive. I don’t give a SHIT about Carolina right now. I’ve got 13 kids in that locker room that I love.”
————————————————-
I think I actually stood up and applauded. Don’t get me wrong – I would almost certainly drink Bonnie Bernstein’s bath water, but she and CBS deserved that.
2. Minnesota can’t handle the press, or Arizona State is the second coming of Paul Westhead’s Loyola Marymount squads - Minnesota destroyed Arizona State for the entire second half, to the point where ASU was forced to press in a last-ditch effort.
And when I say press… it was a full-court, match-up, deny-if-you-can, trap-if-possible press. We’re not talking about Nolan Richardson, 40 Minutes of Hell, hide-the-women-and-children pressing.
Minny turns the ball over 800 times, looks like a junior high team facing full court pressure for the first time, and barely hangs on to win by 3. Maybe it’s just me, but I think D-1 guards facing full court pressure should know that you have to make an aggressive move to get open – push, trip, whatever. Just get open. The 5 second count is the hammer of the defense, and Minny let ASU smack them upside the head with it in the Barn.
Bottom Line – Minnesota bad, Arizona State worse.
3. LSU isn’t as good as everybody thinks – Tulane scared them. I’m liking Texas A&M and Texas’ chances in the next couple of weeks.
4. Pound for pound, Rick Barnes might be the worst coach in the country - Year after year, we hear about UT’s Mickey D’s All-Americans. Clearly, they have always been athletically superior to nearly every team they’ve played.
Yet they continue to persist in playing a 2-3 zone and jacking 3’s early in the offense.
Don’t get me wrong - I want to pull for Texas. Great school, great athletes. But when I apply the same criteria that makes me think that college basketball is the best sport out there… I have to consider Texas unwatchable. See my previous posts for a more detailed explanation.
The bottom line - a piss-poor coaching job. The only thing that could possibly get me to enjoy watching them play would be if somehow ESPN managed to put thought bubbles above the players heads so I can see exactly which NBA paycheck each player is thinking about.
5. Kansas State ain’t what we thought - Maybe they get on a roll once Bill Walker gets on board, but they are BAD. It just goes to show that the mystique and power is with the school, not with the coach. I like Huggy Bear, but Coach K would struggle with this team.
6. Wichita State is the real deal - In the interest of full disclosure, I am a complete homer for this program. I’ve maintained my objectivity to this point, but in the last three weekends they’ve gone on the road and beaten (1) Final 4 team George Mason in their house - on the day they raised the Final 4 banner, no less, (2) Final 4 and #6 LSU in Baton Rouge, and (3) #14 Syracuse in the Carrier Dome.
Bottom line - if the polls don’t have (1) Wichita State in the top 10, and (2) Wichita State ranked above Kansas… the polls are a joke. I understand the concept that the polls reflect a mix of a given team’s results and potential. But at this point… there is NOBODY that can convince me that 10 teams have a better resume than the Shocks.
Up your ass, Billy Packer… parity has arrived.
7. Georgetown can play - they controlled most of the game against Duke. They didn’t cover, but that was a fluke.
8. Pickstravaganza #1 - I expected to do better, but as we all know… the spread has no friends. 10-8-2 against the spread, +1 on units.
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