:: SportsVids Blog ::

wayde — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 22:14:23 +0000

THE WEEKLY 5-COUNT

By Chris Datres

1 I don’t want to pat myself on the back but…ok, I’ll pat myself on the back. For the first time in memory, I correctly picked all eight remaining combatants in the NCAA Tournament. And while I wasn’t able to nail the entire Final Four, I’ll hang my hat on the underdog pick of Michigan State. I’ll start my weekend recap with that game. Going in, I thought Michigan State could beat Louisville if they made the Cardinals play a much slower game. Mission accomplished. Sparty held the Cards to 52 points, their second-lowest output of the season. MSU held Terrence Williams to a measly 5 points and only allowed the Cards to attempt 47 shots. That’s defense at its finest in East Lansing. As a result, there will be a huge green wave making the 90-mile trip to Detroit this weekend for the festivities. And yet, Sparty nearly didn’t make it out of the regional semifinal game alive. Sherron Collins and Cole Aldrich ate up the Spartans for 31 minutes much like they did in their wins over Dayton and North Dakota State. Finally, MSU got back to playing their brand of basketball and were able to shut down KU’s two-headed monster in the final nine minutes, allowing them to combine for six points. If Michigan State continues their success for just one more game, I might have to send a little pool winnings donation to the S Club.

2 I’m not sure there’s much more to say about the dominance of North Carolina in this tournament. They’ve looked four teams in the eye and turned out their lights in impressive fashion all four times. The NCAA Tournament is often determined by who has the best point guard and Carolina’s Ty Lawson has run miles ahead of the competition. In three tournament games, Lawson has 61 points, 20 assists, and 2 turnovers. That’s pretty good for someone playing on a toe so hurt that he had to sit out an ACC Tournament loss and the first round demolition of Radford. When he’s back in the game, it takes the pressure off of guys like Danny Green and Wayne Ellington and allows them to freely run within their offense.

3 As good as North Carolina has been going through this tournament, I still think the team playing the best is UCONN. They toyed with Purdue in the first 29 minutes before finally spacing out to a 12-point win. On Saturday, they used many of the lessons they learned from playing against Louisville and attacked Missouri’s press to the tune of a 13-2 initial lead. However, Missouri gamely fought back and even took the lead at one point in the second half. But Kemba Walker, the man replacing the injured Jerome Dyson, stepped up in a big way, scoring 12 points in the final 13 minutes to allow UCONN to break a 50-50 tie and walk away with a 7-point victory. When Dyson went out, there was much concern in Husky country about who would step up to fill the void. A.J. Price filled it perfectly in the first two rounds and Walker took over in the regional final. They look like a pretty sure bet to make it to Monday night against Carolina but more on that shortly.

4 And then there was the best game of the tournament thus far. Pitt and Villanova traded jabs back and forth throughout the 40 minutes on Saturday night like it was an old 15-round heavyweight on scrambled HBO in the 1980’s. They say that familiarity breeds contempt and these teams knew more than they cared to about each other. That led to a game which Verne Lundquist called “a cousin” of the epic Duke-Kentucky game in Philly in 1992. He should know since he called that game as well. Pitt had this game on and they let it get away from them. Up by 4 with 2:56 left, they had the ball and Nova was on their heels. Another basket would have pushed the lead to 6 or even 7 and I believe the Wildcats would have called it a night mentally. Instead, Jermaine Dixon committed two bonehead mistakes. The first, he crossed halfcourt against the Nova press and immediately picked up his dribble. When he got swarmed by the defense, he coughed up the ball, leading to a Dwayne Anderson layup. Had it just been that mental mistake, it may not have been so bad. Instead, Dixon compounds his gaffe by committing a weak foul on Anderson who then went to the line to complete the 3-point play, cutting the lead to 1. On the next possession, Sam Young turned the ball over and Corey Fisher scored on a backdoor layup at the other end to give Nova the lead again. So within 45 seconds, Pitt went from being up 4 with the ball to being down 1 and now the emotional lift was on the Wildcats’ side. That momentum shift culminated with Nova getting that 3-point lead in the last 20 seconds. And then they went brain dead. In an end-of-game fouling situation, the offense just has to get the ball inbounds. And since Villanova was 21 of 22 from the line at that point, it was a pretty good bet they were going to increase the lead from the line. Instead, Reggie Redding heaves a home run pass that Dante Cunningham can’t track down and that leads to Levance Fields getting to the line to tie the game. OK, so this game’s going to overtime, right? Well, Pitt committed the mortal defensive sin that cost them their season. When there’s five seconds left and the other team has to go the length of the court, the inbounds pass has to force the offense to go AWAY from their basket. Instead, they play IN FRONT of Scottie Reynolds and allow him to run free to catch the outlet pass. That left two Pitt players in the frontcourt to stop his drive. And that’s where the next mistake was made. For whatever reason, DeJuan Blair was at the top of the key instead of back in the lane, and that allowed Reynolds to sprint right past him. The one thing coaches always tell a guard in an end-of-game situation is to go to the basket because defenses will shy away, not wanting to commit a foul. Sure enough, Reynolds kept going and Gilbert Brown put his arms up in a meek attempt to block his path. Reynolds got the shot to fall and sent Nova to Detroit. It was an absolutely pitiful final 3 minutes out of a Pitt team that I thought was more disciplined than that.

5 Saturday night’s first game is UCONN-Michigan State. Jim Calhoun is already playing the ‘us against the world’ card with his team in practice this week. They’ll likely have to deal with 50,000 fans in Sparty’s corner. Adversity is nothing new for the Huskies in the last month. They’ve played without their starting 2-guard, played a first-round game without their coach, and have weathered all the talk about the potential recruiting violations within the athletic department. All they’ve done is play good basketball. As long as they keep playing their tempo of basketball, I can’t really see them losing to Michigan State. But, MSU beat Louisville because they slowed the game down and made the Cards play a grind-it-out style that isn’t found anywhere in the Big East. If they can pull Thabeet away from the basket on pick-and-roll plays, it might open up some lanes for Kalin Lucas to penetrate. Offensively, Ibok and Green won’t be able to do anything against Thabeet and Jeff Adrien. But they could badger them into foul trouble and that would be the best thing possible for MSU’s chances. I picked Michigan State to win this particular game with UCONN when the brackets came out and I’m going to stick with it. But the only way that Sparty can make me look like a genius is if they can succeed at slowing down the pace and limiting the turnovers against a feisty UCONN defense. In game 2, I don’t see any way that Carolina loses to Villanova. That’s not to sound arrogant in thinking that it’ll be a total blowout but I think NC sees this as an appetizer to the dinner that has been there’s for the taking since they lost to Kansas in last year’s semifinal. Villanova doesn’t really have a matchup against Tyler Hansbrough down low and I don’t know if anyone can hang with Lawson defensively. On the offensive end, Nova can level the playing field if Reynolds and Clark and Stokes and Anderson knock down their 3-pointers. But really, can they match the output that the Tarheels are sure to put up at the offensive end? I don’t see it happening and it will set up a rematch of two teams who faced off in this same venue earlier in the season with NC winning big.

BONUS
Let me speak for a minute on the firing last week of Kentucky coach Billy Gillispie. First off, my mother is a huge Kentucky fan so I have a bit of an idea of how that fanbase’s mentality works. This is a group who disliked Tubby Smith despite the fact that he got the Cats a championship in his first year. It was always one complaint after another. It was Tubby’s fault that the Cats allowed Dwyane Wade to go for a triple-double in 2003 to knock them out of a trip to the Final Four. It was somehow Tubby’s fault that they couldn’t beat Michigan State in regional final games in 1999 and 2005. Tubby finally got the right offer and bolted that nuthouse for Minnesota two years ago. In basketball terms, you have to be crazy to leave Kentucky for Minnesota. So UK hired Billy Gillispie who parlayed a great run with Texas A&M in the 2007 tournament to get that job. It didn’t take long for the UK faithful to turn on him. Kentucky struggled to an 18-11 regular season mark in ‘07-’08 and followed that with a loss to lowly Georgia in the SEC Tournament and a first-round exit against Marquette in the Big Dance. This year, they thought it might be different but somehow the Cats turned a 16-4 start into an NIT berth. If you miss the NCAA Tournament at Kentucky, you’re going to have to deal with some incensed people. There were plenty of reports that Gillispie wasn’t the most hospitable person off the court which is unfortunately, a big problem at a big-time school like Kentucky. But then, he also has to deal with 25,000 coaches in the stands at Rupp Arena every night not to mention the millions across the state who think they know what’s best for the team. As a result, the fans have once again received their wish and Gillispie is gone. Many thought that they’d finally land Florida coach Billy Donovan, who spurned them two years ago. But Donovan is smart enough to stay put and not deal with that psychiatric ward in Lexington. John Calipari, on the other hand, craves the challenge of stepping up to Kentucky. To me, this marriage is perfect. Calipari has a history of bringing in one-and-done players who have zero interest in the education a college provides. All Kentucky and their fans care about is the bottom line - wins and losses. And yes, Calipari was able to keep the NCAA’s nose out of his business in Memphis. He must have learned from the mistakes that were made at UMASS that caused the vacation of their 1996 Final Four appearance. But when you combine his recruiting production with the delusional mindset of the UK boosters, I wouldn’t be surprised if the NCAA isn’t summoned to Lexington within five years.

THE WEEKLY 5-COUNT

wayde — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 04:56:58 +0000

THE WEEKLY 5-COUNT

By Chris Datres

1 49 games are in the books and as we hit the Sweet 16 on Thursday night, the favorites have pretty much taken over the party. Only Arizona and Purdue are from outside the original top 16 seeds. Despite my attempts, I haven’t been able to see all 49 games, partly because I was in Philadelphia for the first two rounds. I’m not showing any bias because I was at those games but I think the most impressive team that I saw over the first two rounds was Connecticut. From the start of their demolition of Chattanooga to the buzzer of their annihilation of an equally-overmatched Texas A&M team, the Huskies looked like the team that they were up until Jerome Dyson got hurt at the beginning of February. Purdue and whoever might face UCONN in the future will be well-advised to make sure Jeff Adrien doesn’t get any looks around the free throw line. He lived there in the two subregional games. As for A.J. Price, it’s been a night-and-day difference to last year’s tournament experience when he left their first round loss with a torn ACL. He’s scored 47 points in the two games, which is an abnormally high amount for a point guard, but he’s been finding a lot of wide-open looks from behind the arc in UCONN’s halfcourt sets.

2 Other random things that sparked my interest throughout the first two rounds - Wake Forest and Clemson flamed out pretty quickly. Clemson’s was pretty expected since they have a tendency to do that every year. Wake’s, on the other hand, was a bit of a surprise. But judging by Cleveland State’s style of play, I’m not totally shocked. The key to beating Wake was unearthed by Duke when they went up-tempo in the final 6 minutes of their loss to them in January. Wake had a big lead but kept playing fast and nearly blew the game. Obviously, Wake’s defense wasn’t fast enough to contain the Vikings. Marquette’s coach Buzz Williams lost a lot of points in my book for his actions in the last five seconds of their loss to Missouri. He complained rather loudly and made slight contact with an official while trying to get a one-in-a-million foul call on a leaning 3-point prayer while down by 4. I was going to give him the benefit of the doubt until I read his postgame press comments and he said that he was complaining about the clock situation and also wanted his team to realize what the time-and-score situation was. Sorry, coach, but that’s garbage. I admire the self-control of the official for not making an example of him by giving him a technical. No matter how you slice it, Villanova had an unfair homecourt advantage playing their first two games at the Wachovia Center. Normally, they play four games a year there. This year, they knew that they wouldn’t get to play there in the NCAA Tournament if they played there that many times. So they scheduled three games there and one at the old Spectrum. What I don’t get is why the NCAA let them play there and made Kansas and Missouri, also 3-seeds, travel to Minneapolis and Boise, respectively, when Kansas City was a whole lot closer. That brings me to another complaint about the “pod system” that was adopted a couple years ago. How absurd is it that Florida State and Wisconsin played a game in the EAST Regional in Boise, Idaho. The only thing Boise is east of is Portland, which hosted a SOUTH Regional game between Illinois and Western Kentucky. Come on, NCAA, let’s give up this “pod system” and go back to the way it used to be when eight teams showed up at a site and the two surviving teams would face each other in the regional semifinal.

3 In my Selection Sunday preview, I got 62 of the 65 teams correct but my seeding was way off. The three teams I had in were Davidson, Creighton, and St. Mary’s. So sue me, I like the little guy. I would have replaced Minnesota, Michigan, and Arizona. As it turned out, Michigan and Arizona certainly showed good reason to be included in the field. So to make up for my poor pre-tournament prognostications, I’ve predicted 12 of the sweet 16 teams (Temple, Wake, West Virginia, and Washington spoiling my bid) and still have all 8 intact. My Final Four is Michigan State, UCONN, Pitt, and Carolina with NC beating MSU in a rematch of the blowout at Ford Field earlier in the season.

4 Thursday’s games are UCONN-Purdue, Duke-Villanova, Pitt-Xavier, and Memphis-Missouri. I’m not sure if Purdue is going to know what hit them when they get done with this game. The Boilers have the potential to muck it up a little bit on defense and maybe get a couple of Huskies in foul trouble. But in the end, UCONN is just too big for them and right now, they’re playing the best of anybody. Duke-Villanova has the potential to be an overtime game. I’ve thought all along that Duke would get taken out by a team that shows any balance with their inside and outside games. Had Dexter Pittman not gotten into foul trouble for Texas, I think the Horns would have picked off Duke. Villanova certainly brings that balance to this game. Whatever Jay Wright said to them at halftime of the American game has resonated because they haven’t missed a beat in the 60 minutes since then. I like Nova in a close one. Pitt hasn’t been all that impressive in their two wins thus far. But each time, DeJuan Blair has bailed them out with a timely basket on a putback or Sam Young has rung up a crucial 3-pointer. I see the Xavier game as being a tight one as well but I don’t think the Musketeers have an answer for Blair inside. However, I do think they could get him in foul trouble and that would spell problems for Pitt. I like Pitt…but just barely. As for Memphis-Missouri, I’ve got Mizzou in the upset and here’s why - I think Memphis hasn’t seen a pressure defense all season and Missouri has the personnel that could give Memphis fits bringing the ball up and could force them into some bad shot selections. But one key for Missouri will be to not fall into the same trap they did on Sunday against Marquette and let a big lead get away from them.

5 Friday’s games are Louisville-Arizona, Kansas-Michigan State, Carolina-Gonzaga, and Syracuse-Oklahoma. The only way I can see Arizona’s miraculous run continuing is if Terrence Williams and Earl Clark get some sort of illness and are significantly hampered. Nic Wise has carried the Wildcats through the first two games but I really can’t see how they’re going to handle Louisville’s full-court game. But it’s been a great run for the Cats under interim coach Russ Pennell, who at this time last year was finishing his season as the Arizona State radio analyst. Kansas-Michigan State is an intriguing rematch of a 13-point Spartans win in January. Cole Aldrich is coming off the first triple-double in the Tournament since Dwayne Wade did it in 2003. Sherron Collins has averaged 28.5 points in the Jayhawks’ two tournament victories. So who do you think Spartans coach Tom Izzo will sic his big defensive dogs on? Don’t put it past Izzo and company to turn this into a grudge match that barely gets into the 60’s. In that light, I like the Spartans here. Gonzaga’s only chance against Carolina is if Josh Heytveldt can get Tyler Hansbrough in foul trouble early and if Jeremy Pargo can stay with Ty Lawson on defense. Carolina may be the favorite in this tournament but don’t overlook the amount of talent the Zags have. If they can lock up the Tarheels defensively, they might just return to the Elite Eight for the first time since 1999. As for Syracuse-Oklahoma, I’m not so sure this game is going to get the attention that it deserves. Syracuse’s 2-3 zone totally confused Arizona State on Sunday and if you don’t gameplan for it well enough, you won’t find the spots to attack. Essentially, guard play will be the key in this game as Syracuse boasts three guys in Rautins, Flynn, and Devendorf who can hit the 3 and create a lot on the offensive end. I like Oklahoma to slide through in this game but the Griffin brothers are going to have to negate Syracuse’s rebounding potential.

Got any questions or comments? Feel free to e-mail me at gopens24@aol.com. Who knows, maybe I’ll include your “mailbag” comment in a future 5-Count.

THE WEEKLY 5-COUNT

wayde — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 00:30:09 +0000

THE WEEKLY 5-COUNT

By Chris Datres

I’m going to get away from the “rule of five” this week since this column is going to be all about my selection of teams for the 2009 NCAA Tournament. But it would be a crime if any college basketball column didn’t start with reaction to Thursday night’s epic 6-overtime marathon between Syracuse and Connecticut. For 70 minutes, both teams slugged it out like it was a 15-round prizefight squared. In the end, you hate to see someone have to lose the game but in my opinion, the right team won that game. Syracuse essentially plays just seven guys on their roster. The rest of the bench consists of walk-ons and practice players. Two of those walk-ons had to play valuable minutes in the final two overtimes. Both of those players acted like they had been part of the rotation all season. Connecticut missed 18 free throws in the game, three straight late in the third overtime that would have put the game to bed. Syracuse, who is notorious for missing free throws at crucial times, sunk 40 of 51 free throws. Connecticut had the ball last in three of the five overtime periods and decided to settle for long jumpers instead of taking it to the basket and trying to draw a foul. And wow, did the game ever change when Hasheem Thabeet fouled out in the fifth overtime. That opened the door for Syracuse to penetrate at will against the UCONN defense, knowing that the brick wall/fly swatter wouldn’t be there to send shots back. One would think that after such a grueling game and not getting back to the hotel until 3am, Syracuse would have nothing for the next night’s game against West Virginia. Uh, wrong. They came out and smacked the Mountaineers in the mouth with 6 3-pointers in the first half in racing out to a 7-point halftime lead. Then they weathered numerous Mountaineer comebacks as well as another overtime to move on to the championship. In the final, they gave it all they could but could only muster 30% from the field in the second half and succumbed to tired legs as they lost to Louisville. Meanwhile, UCONN might have cost themselves a #1 seed which was all but engraved for them just a week ago. More on that…right now.

Since 2002, I’ve sat here the night before Selection Sunday and picked who I think should get in. The last three years, I’ve assigned seeds to them. I’ve never been perfect but in the years I’ve done the seeding, I’ve gotten 40% right on the number and another 45% within one seed of their actual number. This year, choosing the field is probably the toughest it has ever been because outside of maybe six really good teams, the rest is a big blob. That should equal a lot of fun when picking the bracket on Wednesday.

1 seeds - North Carolina, Pitt, Louisville, Memphis
2 seeds - UCONN, Michigan State, Duke, Kansas
3 seeds - Missouri, Oklahoma, Wake Forest, Villanova
4 seeds - Xavier, Washington, UCLA, Gonzaga
5 seeds - Clemson, Syracuse, Illinois, LSU
6 seeds - West Virginia, Purdue, Texas, Florida State
7 seeds - Arizona State, USC, Ohio State, Tennessee
8 seeds - Butler, BYU, Texas A&M, Marquette
9 seeds - Dayton, Oklahoma State, Utah, California
10 seeds - Wisconsin, Northern Iowa, Temple, Boston College
11 seeds - Davidson, Creighton, Maryland, Minnesota/Mississippi State*
12 seeds - Western Kentucky, VCU, Utah State, St. Mary’s
13 seeds - Cornell, Siena, Akron, Cleveland State
14 seeds - Morgan State, American, Southland Champion (Stephen F. Austin), Chattanooga
15 seeds - Portland State, Radford, East Tennessee State, Robert Morris
16 seeds - Alabama State, Morehead State, Binghamton, North Dakota State, CS-Northridge

** If Mississippi State wins the SEC today, they will take out Minnesota in this spot

Now, the method behind my madness. When I first put all the teams on paper, I came up with 57 locks and 8 open spots with 26 teams to fill those spots. I’ve felt the SEC has been a weak conference all year. Therefore, I gave no love to Florida, Auburn, Kentucky, and South Carolina. In the Big Ten, it was very difficult to choose between Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Penn State. Despite having the worst overall record of the four, Wisconsin finished with the best record against the 3 opponents. Amazingly, Michigan and Arizona were the exact same team - same record, same conference record, same record against the top 25 in the RPI, and same record against the top 50 in the RPI. I didn’t like either team so neither got the nod. As for my picks of Davidson and St. Mary’s, the reason was this - Davidson lost 2 games directly because they didn’t have a healthy Stephen Curry. If they had him for those 2 games and they won them, I think they’d have gotten in on their own merit even with a semifinal conference tournament loss. As for St. Mary’s, this team was a juggernaut when Patty Mills was in the lineup. But as soon as he went out with the broken hand in the first half of the first game against Gonzaga, they became a different team. When he got back, they only had three games to gel again. The committee takes these things into consideration. As for the #1 seeds, Memphis is a top seed, no doubt. You can’t go through the conference like they have and beaten the non-con teams that they have and not deserve a #1 seed. Due to UCONN’s slide and the fact that they’ve lost to Pitt twice this year, they lose out to Louisville, who won the regular season and Big East Tournament championships. If you’re wondering about Penn State, they just didn’t beat anyone of note outside the Big Ten. Next time, they need to schedule a little bit tougher. Playing the likes of NJIT, Hartford, and Towson just won’t cut it. We’ll see how many of these I’ll get right and how many I’ll get within one seed but I feel pretty confident that I’ll get 64 of the 65. You know the committee doesn’t like mid-majors all that much so either Davidson or St. Mary’s likely won’t make the big field.

I’ll be back Tuesday with a little breakdown of each region and give you a couple of pointers on picking a successful bracket.

Got any questions or comments? Feel free to e-mail me at gopens24@aol.com. Who knows, maybe I’ll include your “mailbag” comment in a future 5-Count

THE WEEKLY 5-COUNT

wayde — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 05:34:00 +0000

THE WEEKLY 5-COUNT

By Chris Datres

1 Last week, I lamented the fact that it seemed no one wanted the #1 ranking. That now pales in comparison to this week where nobody seems to want to cement themselves for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. In the last four days alone, Providence, South Carolina, Georgetown, Notre Dame, Cincinnati, Florida, Kentucky, Miami, Maryland, and Utah coughed up opportunities to make themselves look really good. Keep in mind that the NCAA will have to put 65 teams into this tournament so one or two of the aforementioned teams may still get into the draw but they’re not making life easy. On another branch of the same topic, I understand that all the talking heads need something to babble about but with nine days still to go until Selection Sunday, it’s pointless to try to predict the future. Anyone could go on a hot streak and get to the championship game of their conference tournament. Big favorites in the smaller conferences (Memphis, Butler, Gonzaga, for example) could get upset, thus closing the door to an at-large bid. And we all know that everyone needs to win. It’s a pretty obvious statement. So please, just stop it. Let’s not start speculating until next Thursday or Friday when we start getting some resolutions. By the way, I’ll be playing the role of selection committee on the morning of Selection Sunday. I’ve had a decent record the last four years that I’ve done it, admittedly, though, not as good as Joe Lunardi (a.k.a. Joe Lunatic) of ESPN.com who I’m convinced gets inside information so he gets all the teams correct.

2 It’s time for some awards since the regular season is pretty much complete. With apologies to Stephen Curry, Jodie Meeks, Sherron Collins, Patty Mills, A.J. Price, and Eric Maynor, the best guard in the country is North Carolina’s Ty Lawson. He is the fastest person I’ve seen with the ball in his hands…anywhere. All he’s done in his Tarheel career is lead them to a 93-13 record in his three years there, including a Final Four appearance last year. His expert navigation of Roy Williams’s fast-breaking system has benefitted Tyler Hansbrough, Wayne Ellington, and Danny Green. That’s the key to a great point guard - he makes his teammates better. Lawson makes the clutch shots (see Florida State buzzer beater) and he uses his quickness at the defensive end to harass his opponents into 2.1 steals per game. There’s no one else I want handling my offense, especially in crunch time. Unfortunately, he doesn’t get as much press because the scribes are in love with Hansbrough and have been for four years. But if Lawson has to miss any appreciable amount of time, the Tarheels offense would be irrevocably broken.

3 The battle for best big man is a little bit tougher. Hansbrough certainly gets a lot of attention but I think Carolina could survive without him. I extolled the virtues of Oklahoma’s Blake Griffin last week but even with him in the lineup, they got plastered on the road at Missouri (so much for the Tigers not having an answer for him at the defensive end). And for all of his blocks and dunks, I’m really not all that impressed with UCONN’s Hasheem Thabeet. At some point, he’ll polish his offensive skills and he’ll make a lot of money in the NBA because of his “upside”, but as a college player, an experienced big man will take him out of the game every time. And the person I think is the best big man this year is Pitt’s DeJuan Blair. Blair grew up just a half-mile from Pitt’s campus in the Schenley neighborhood. He’s averaging 15 points and 12 boards per game, which includes seven games of over 20 points with over 15 boards. And if he’s out for any stretch of time, Pitt suffers. The Panthers have lost three games this season. In two of those, Blair fouled out. In those three losses, he averaged just 11 points per game. He also poses a huge matchup problem. Marquette had no answer for him on Wednesday night. He ate up Thabeet in Pitt’s win over UCONN two weeks ago. And I think he’ll eat up Thabeet again on Sunday. For all of the success in the last ten years of Pitt basketball, they have never advanced past the Sweet 16. I’d love to see Blair face off with Griffin or Hansbrough somewhere down the line. I think he’d get the better of those matchups.

4 The last three weeks, I’ve spotlighted teams who are a bit under-the-radar and may cause some problems should they get into the NCAA Tournament. And wouldn’t you know it, as soon as I call attention to them, they go in the tank. VMI lost two straight to drop in the Big South standings and will now have to win the tournament on Radford’s home floor if they want to get in. Siena ran into a purple brick wall in Niagara, yielding 100 points in a loss to the Purple Eagles. That won’t bode well if those two face off again in the MAAC title game. Utah State pretty much killed any chance of an at-large bid when they lost on the road to Nevada on Saturday. And it’s not good news with the conference tournament being played on Nevada’s home floor either. Stew Morrill’s crew had better sweep that tourney. So this week, I’m going to shine the light on a team who could get knocked out of their conference tournament as early as Saturday. The Virginia Commonwealth Rams have a history in the Big Dance, knocking off Duke in the first round a couple of years ago. Led by red-hot young coach Anthony Grant (who’s rumored for just about every open job right now), the Rams play an up-tempo style quarterbacked by senior point guard Eric Maynor, who made the shot to beat the Dukies in 2007. Inside, they’ve resurrected an HBO series to clean up the glass. Larry Sanders grabs 8 rebounds per game and gobbles up a couple blocks per night at the defensive end. VCU’s problem is that they don’t have any marquee wins outside a tepid Colonial Athletic Association. Remember, this is the same conference that gave the world George Mason. Unfortunately, the CAA isn’t sneaking up on anyone anymore, thus VCU was beaten in four of five “big games” outside the conference. Given the right matchup, they could spring a repeat of their 2007 upset but it would have to be a team that plays slow and doesn’t like to be sped up, like a Big Ten team.

5 Not to go off on a mini-rant here but I’m getting sick and tired of watching games and seeing players get away with more traveling violations than the executives in the automobile industry. I admit that now that I’ve been a high school official for four years, I watch games a little bit differently and I’ve seen too many missed walk calls. College basketball has quickly become the NBA in the sense that the officials either let it go or are just too blind to see it.

BONUS
Here’s the last 3-point viewer’s guide of the year since I don’t recommend watching NIT games and I don’t need to tell you where to find the NCAA Tournament games.
UCONN at Pitt (Saturday, Noon, CBS): Don’t look now but if Louisville gets hot and sweeps through the Big East Tournament, the loser of this game might get their #1 seed snatched away.
Duke at North Carolina (Sunday, 4pm, CBS): It’s senior day at Chapel Hill and they’re honoring Tyler Hansbrough. How long will that standing ovation last? Five minutes? Ten? I really don’t see any way that the Dukies spring the road upset here.
Pick a game (Thursday, all day, about 7 different networks): If you have some extra leave time to burn, use it here and on Friday. The Big East, ACC, Conference USA, SEC, Big Ten, Pac 10, Mountain West, Big XII, and Atlantic Ten will be playing all day beginning at noon and going until about 2am (there’s a guaranteed overtime game in the Pac 10, you know it). Call Domino’s, stock up on the beer, and sack out all day on the couch with the remote and maybe two or three TV’s.

Got any questions or comments? Feel free to e-mail me at gopens24@aol.com. Who knows, maybe I’ll include your “mailbag” comment in a future 5-Count.

THE WEEKLY 5-COUNT

wayde — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 23:45:20 +0000

THE WEEKLY 5-COUNT

By Chris Datres

1 I’m going to start this week with the loneliest number. Apparently, nobody wants to be saddled with the number to the left of their name this year. Carolina, UCONN, Pitt, and Oklahoma have had chances to hold on to it and they cough it away. Fortunately, college basketball is a sport that decides its champion on the court instead of through some fraudulent computer program. So basically, the rankings are just for the media and sports information people to get excited about. They mean absolutely nothing. However, if this continues to be a trend as we move into the Big Dance, I’ll be studying those 8-9 seeds pretty closely to see if any of them can pull a second-round upset.

2 The dreaded I-word reared its ugly head to two teams this week. Oklahoma’s stud big man, Blake Griffin, got knocked woozy early in the Sooners game against Texas Saturday night. He missed that game along with Monday’s game against Kansas. Not surprisingly, OU lost both games. It’s unknown when Griffin will return but based on these two results, it’s pretty obvious that the Sooners are not 1-seed material if he’s not out there. Wednesday night, Marquette lost their point guard, Dominic James to a broken foot which will cost him the rest of the season. It’s funny to say this but I think Marquette will be just fine without James. Hear me out. I’ve seen a few Marquette games this year and in every one of them, I’ve watched James and wondered what is going through his head with his shot selection. He might be the point guard, but he isn’t exactly the best decision-maker out there. And amazingly, he’s only a 46% free throw shooter. Marquette will have to get by a little bit more with their defense but as long as they don’t get into a track meet with someone in which they need to score points, they’ll do okay.

3 I touched on Memphis last week and I’m going to go further in-depth on them now. After Thursday’s win over UAB, they’ve won 19 in a row overall and 55 in a row in Conference USA. Granted, C-USA doesn’t have the most competitive of teams but anytime you can go through nearly three full seasons undefeated, it’s an amazing feat. So what might be the blueprint to beating the Tigers? Last year, I thought that if a team could wall off the lane to stop penetration and force them to become jump shooters, they’d stand a better chance. That’s not the case this year. I believe a team like UAB is the formula for success - quick, athletic defenders who also play physical and a couple of dead-eye shooters. The problem for the Blazers on Thursday night was that one of their dead-eye shooters was firing blanks. Robert Vaden went 0-for-17 from the field. This is a guy who averages 18.5 points per game and he couldn’t find the ocean while standing on the pier. As a result, Memphis could be looking at a #1 seed if it wins its remaining 3 regular season games and the C-USA Tournament. Considering the personnel that the Tigers lost last year, this should earn John Calipari some votes for national coach of the year.

4 Looking across the landscape of the country, I’m running out of under-the-radar teams that might show up in the 10-thru-13 seed line that could be a first-round upset winner. ESPN’s concocted Bracketbusters event was held last weekend and it didn’t flush out too much. Utah State is currently 26-3 but because they play in the WAC and because they haven’t really beaten anyone of note outside the conference, they’ll probably show up in the tournament as a double-digit seed. But don’t sleep on them just because they don’t play a Murderer’s Row schedule. Stew Morrill’s squad has been to the Tournament five times this decade and this year, they’re led by 6-9, 240-pound senior bruiser Gary Wilkinson, who is averaging 17 points per game. But where they’re lacking is on the boards. They aren’t in the top-100 nationally and got beat hard off the boards in their 11-point loss to St. Mary’s last Saturday. As usual, my recommendation will be based on their matchup in the first round if they get there.

5 It felt like a trip in the Wayback Machine on Saturday when I flipped on the Carolina-Maryland game and saw the Terps wearing gold jerseys. For a long time, they went with gold as a predominant color at home until Gary Williams got to town. Seeing those jerseys reminded me of Len Bias swooping across the lane with his huge wingspan and laying one in or snatching one off the glass. Something must have worked because the Terps rode Greivis Vasquez’s triple-double to an overtime win. Unfortunately, they couldn’t sustain it Wednesday night as they lost to Duke. Maryland currently sits at 17-10 and Williams has been receiving some heat from the DC-area press about his recruiting practices and his not being able to land the top talent. Let’s not forget that he won the 2002 National Championship with a group that wasn’t too heralded when they came out of high school.

BONUS Here’s your 3-point play viewer’s guide for the next seven days: Marquette at Louisville (Sunday, Noon, CBS): This isn’t the type of game that the Eagles can hide James’s injury as the Cardinals will go full-court for all 40 minutes. Don’t count Louisville out of the #1 seed talk because if they can sweep their way to a Big East Tournament title, they might snatch it. Missouri at Kansas (Sunday, 2pm, CBS): Mike Anderson has his Tigers as the quietest top-10 team this season has seen. But if you haven’t seen them, you’ve got to check them out in this game. They’re a high-octane team that employs the old Nolan Richardson 40 Minutes of Hell defense. They captured the last meeting with the hated Jayhawks on a last-second shot. Oklahoma at Missouri (Wednesday, 9pm, ESPN): You think this is a big week for the Tigers? Should they beat the Jayhawks and then top the Sooners, they’ll likely sew up the #1 seed for the Big XII Tournament. I’m not sure you could have found more than 10 people outside of Columbia that thought that was possible. This could also be the return of Blake Griffin to the OU lineup and I can tell you that Missouri doesn’t have an answer for him on the defensive end if Griffin is 100 percent healthy.

Got any questions or comments? Feel free to e-mail me at gopens24@aol.com. Who knows, maybe I’ll include your “mailbag” comment in a future 5-Count.

THE WEEKLY 5-COUNT

wayde — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 22:18:35 +0000

THE WEEKLY 5-COUNT

By Chris Datres

1 The game of the week was Monday’s Pitt-UCONN tussle in Hartford. Round one went to the Panthers as Dejuan Blair overpowered fellow big man Haseem Thabeet in Pitt’s 8-point victory. I thought going in that whichever player stayed out of foul trouble would have the advantage. Check goes to Blair in that department. But what really struck me was something that I had thought before but was cemented by something ESPN analyst Jay Bilas said during the game - unless it’s a dunk or a free throw, Thabeet struggles to score. Blair did a great job of not allowing him to get to the basket. He would allow Thabeet to catch the ball in the post but wouldn’t let him get any closer. Thabeet’s an excellent talent when it comes to blocking shots and changing things on the defensive end but he still has a long way to go before he can be really considered an offensive threat and I think a game like Monday’s may have exposed him when it comes to making it to the NBA level. These two teams will go at it again in Pittsburgh on March 7 in the last game before the Big East Tournament.

2 A team that has been very easily forgotten this year is the Memphis Tigers. They lost three key players from their championship game run last year and endured a couple of growing pains going into this year. But since coach John Calipari inserted star freshman Tyreke Evans at the point, the Tigers haven’t lost. At this point they have a 17-game winning streak on top of a 53-game conference winning streak. Two of those wins have come on the road at Gonzaga and at Tennessee. You might want to reacquaint yourself with the Tigers before filling out your bracket. I was skeptical of them as well until they took out the Zags and the Vols.

3 Penn State defeated Illinois in a regulation Big Ten game on Wednesday night by the score of 38-33. Let that sink in for a minute. Two high-classed Division I teams combined for less than 2 points per minute. That leads me to the bigger picture - there are a lot of fraudulent teams in college basketball this year. The top 6 or 7 teams are pretty well-known at this point. But when the committee meets in Indianapolis in four weeks, they are going to be hard-pressed to differentiate between those on the 3rd seed line and the 7th seed line, there’s that much parity out there. The worst part about it is you’re going to have 7 teams of the caliber of a Penn State, BYU, Mississippi State, Arizona, Kansas State, Miami, and Providence fighting for the last 3 spots in the field. They’re all the same team so what makes one team better than the other and/or more deserving of getting into the field? As much fun as it might be, I don’t envy the committee’s job to pick and seed the field.

4 Since I’m out west for golf work this week, I figured I should probably mention something about the Pac-10. I got the chance to attend the Washington-UCLA game Thursday night at Pauley Pavilion. First off, the UCLA cheerleaders and dance team are by far the most attractive group in all of college sports. As for the game itself, the officials certainly let both teams play, calling just 8 fouls in the first half. UCLA ended up winning the game by 9 on the strength of a balanced scoring effort - all five starters finished in double figures. That win puts UCLA in a second-place tie just one game behind UW. When you project the future earnings of these two teams in the tournament, I think it’s very possible that both can make it to the Sweet 16, given the matchups. Washington’s biggest problem on Thursday night was some poor interior defense. And not to go off on a rant, but Washington was just 4 of 10 from the foul line, including two misses with just under a minute to go while down 5. As for Pauley Pavilion itself, it’s not going to blow you away. It’s a classic-type arena that cheapens itself a bit by having a large gap between the basket and the endzone seating. They’re planning on refurbishing the arena in a couple of years to upgrade it and it’s certainly due. But if you’re a big college hoops fan like me, Pauley is definitely a place you have to get to simply to see the banners and if you’re lucky, a glimpse of Coach Wooden himself.

5 This week’s under-the-radar team to look out for if they show up in the bracket is Siena. Seasoned veterans of NCAA Tournament pools shouldn’t see Siena’s inclusion as much of a surprise considering they pasted Vanderbilt in the first round of last year’s tournament (I got it wrong). This year’s edition of the Saints is 15-1 in the MAAC and 21-6 overall. Not a bad record but unfortunately, they’re likely going to have to win their conference to get into the Dance because they couldn’t pick off any of the “name” teams on their schedule (Tennessee, Oklahoma State, Wichita State, Pitt, Kansas). They’re led by senior guard Kenny Hasbrouck outside and junior swingman Edwin Ubiles. I watched this team play in Orlando in November when they lost to Wichita State. When Hasbrouck has his game rolling, they are a difficult team to take down. But if the opponent can shut down Hasbrouck as Wichita did (6-14 FG, 7-7 FT, 20 points, but 12 of those came in the last 2 minutes when Siena was trying to mount a huge comeback), then it neutralizes the Saints. Siena has a big home game Saturday against Northern Iowa. If they can win that one, it may sway the committee to let them into the tournament should they stumble in the MAAC Tournament.

BONUS
3 Games you can’t miss between now and next Friday:
Butler at Davidson (Saturday, Noon, ESPN): The marquee game of the Bracketbusters weekend may be tarnished because of Davidson guard Stephen Curry’s ankle injury. He didn’t play on Wednesday night and the Wildcats were peppered by The Citadel. As for Butler, they’re coming off a stunning loss to Milwaukee on Wednesday. Both of these teams’ chances of an at-large bid may have ended with their losses on Wednesday. However, those hopes will be completely dashed for the loser of this matchup.

Wake Forest at Duke (Sunday, 7:45, FSN): Revenge is a dish best served cold and the Cameron Crazies will have no problem providing the deep freeze. Wake nearly blew a 10-point lead in the last 4 minutes at home in the first meeting, escaping on a well-executed inbounds play with three seconds left. The Dukies are on a bit of a skid right now having lost to Carolina and BC. Right now there’s a logjam at 7-4 in the ACC so the importance of that high seed in the ACC Tournament is up for grabs here.

Kansas at Oklahoma (Monday, 9:00, ESPN): Barring a loss to Texas on Saturday night (always possible), the Sooners will be the new #1 team in the country. If Kansas had a little bit more seasoning on their frontline, they might stand a chance but there hasn’t been anyone that has been able to matchup with the Griffin boys down low. KU might have a slight advantage at the guard matchup between Sherron Collins and Willie Warren but Collins is going to have to act like an upperclassmen and not get so sped up when dealing with the Sooners defense.

Got any questions or comments? Feel free to e-mail me at gopens24@aol.com. Who knows, maybe I’ll include your “mailbag” comment in a future 5-Count.

2009 NFC North Draft Analysis

wayde — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 23:29:10 +0000

NFC North

Chicago Bears

Needs: WR, DE, T, CB
Analysis: Devin Hester took the next step towards becoming more of a polished receiver. However, someone to line up next to him is needed. The quarterback position has finally taken a step towards being settled. Kyle Orton showed that he can play in this league. He just has to learn to be more consistent. Pass defense is where the most help is needed. The Bears were once one of the most feared defense’s in the league. In 2008 the run defense was 5th overall in the league. However, the pass defense was 30th, scoring defense was 16th and the overall defense was 21st. The addition of Rod Marinelli as the defensive lines coach should help improve the pass rush. Defensive end should get the first look over wide receiver. There are some good options at receiver that can probably be found in the second round.
1st Round Possibilities: Everette Brown DE (Florida State), Tyson Jackson DE (LSU), Percy Harvin WR (Florida), Jeremy Maclin WR (Missouri), Vontae Davis CB (Illinois)

Detroit Lions

Needs: QB, LB, ,DE, CB, WR, G
Analysis: Where to begin on this one. The quarterback’s were tied for the third most interceptions in the league with 19. The offensive line gave up the second most sacks in the NFL with 52. Offensive tackle is a possible first round target, but Jeff Backus and Gosder Cherilus from a serviceable tackle duo. More help is needed from the interior lineman, as well as the running backs and tight ends. The Defense gave up an NFL worst 404.4 yard per game. They were 27th in pass defense and 32nd in run defense. The pass defense caught an NFL low 4 interceptions. All of this led to an 0-16 record. The best option would be to trade the top overall pick and try and stockpile picks to address many needs. At least they have 2 first round picks due to the Roy Williams trade.
1st Round (1st Pick) Possibilities: Matthew Stafford QB (Georgia), Matt Sanchez QB (USC), Andre Smith T (Alabama), Aaron Curry OLB (Wake Forest)
1st Round (2nd Pick) Possibilities: James Laurinaitis ILB (Ohio State), Michael Oher T (Ole Miss), Vontae Davis CB (Illinois), Clint Sintim OLB (Virginia), Josh Freeman QB (Kansas State)

Green Bay Packers

Needs: DT, DE, T, CB
Analysis: One year after missing the Super Bowl by one game, the Packers finished 2008 with a 6-10 record. The most recognizable piece missing from the NFC runner up team was Brett Favre. The piece missing that hurt the team most was a lack of quality play from the defensive line. They finished 26th against the rush and 25th in sacks. A couple of potential free agents on the defensive line and possible legal troubles for another, it is time to begin injecting youth along the line to play with the youth at linebacker. That leads to another need on the defense. Charles Woodson and Al Harris are getting a little long in the tooth. Bringing in some youth to learn under the tutelage of these two should be addressed early and maybe more than once.
1st Round Possibilities: B.J. Raji DT (Boston College), Peria Jerry DT (Ole Miss), Aaron Maybin DE (Penn State), Brian Orapko DE (Texas), Everette Brown DE (Florida State), Malcolm Jenkins CB (Ohio State)

Minnesota Vikings

Needs: QB, CB, WR, T
Analysis: Of the teams that are in need of a quarterback, this is the team that should make the most aggressive move towards getting Matt Cassel’s services. They are strong on run defense. Passing defense needs to be improved, but with teams not having the ability to run against the Vikings, the passing numbers are going to be higher. The receiving corps may not scare many teams, but until you get an accurate passer, you won’t know what you have. With running backs the caliber of Adrian Peterson and Chester Taylor, deep threat Bernard Berrian, inconsistent but talented Sidney Rice and Bobby Wade with good hands, the most logical move would be to add the man behind center to bring it all together.
1st Round Possibilities: Mark Sanchez QB (USC), Josh Freeman QB (Kansas State), Vontae Davis CB (Illinois), D.J. Moore CB (Vanderbilt)

By Shane Smith

Blog Information Courtesy of: Pro Football Weekly, Todd McShay ESPN, Mel Kiper ESPN, Sporting News War Room

THE WEEKLY 5-COUNT

elaine — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 22:28:10 +0000

THE WEEKLY 5-COUNT

By Chris Datres

As this is the first time your eyes have come across some of my words, let me give you a quick background of what you’ll be reading over the next few weeks. I’m currently a producer at Golf Channel but before that, spent 5 years working at ESPN, most of that with the college basketball division. I played ball in high school and am now currently an official. So I’ve seen just about every side of the game there is to see, though I wouldn’t mind a cheerleader’s point of view once or twice. This blog will be pretty simple. As the title indicates, it’ll be a list of five impressions from the week and a bonus look-ahead to the next week. Once the season reaches the conference tournament stage, my work level will go up a little bit more. So without further ado, here’s the ball. Try and get it in-bounds in the time you have.

1 Wednesday night’s North Carolina-Duke game once again lived up to the hype that normally accompanies it. The first half was played at a NBA-like pace which should have suited North Carolina perfectly, given their high-caliber firepower. Yet Duke led by 9 at the half. In the second half, Carolina did something they normally don’t do as well and that’s play defense. This is a team that gave up over 90 points to Maryland a couple of weeks ago, but they locked down Duke’s outside shooting and gave up just 31 points in the second half. Two things stood out from this game. First, Carolina guard Ty Lawson can’t be stopped when he wants to get to the basket. He reminds me a lot of Chris Paul, now, in the way he slithers between defenders and somehow gets the ball all the way to the hoop. Secondly, Duke is perilously moving toward the same demise they met last year. They got smoked by West Virginia in last year’s second round because they had no inside presence and shot 38% from the field. With the way Coach K runs that offense now - up-tempo with constant penetration and kick-outs, any team that can force them inside the 3-point line and turn the game into an inside brawl should find success. Wake Forest, Miami, and Clemson have found ways to do it in the last three weeks. Carolina succeeded in doing it in the second half Wednesday night.

2 Speaking of Wake Forest, their stock has certainly plummeted since beating Duke at the buzzer on January 28th. At the time, the win took them to 17-1, and they were beginning to look like a shoo-in to be a #2 seed or better. Since that win, they’ve dropped 3 of 4. I’ve noticed something very disturbing in the games that I’ve watched of theirs since that Duke game. Wake only has 3 seniors on their roster, though only one really sees appreciable playing time (Harvey Hale). Therefore, it’s a team of youngsters. They’re a very talented team and Jeff Teague is probably the second-best point guard in the ACC behind Ty Lawson. But in the game against Duke, they had a 10-point lead with 4:00 left but played like they were down 10. In their buzzer-beating loss to Georgia Tech, they had a 6-point lead with just over a minute to play but again played like they were behind. Point guards are the lifeblood to any successful team, and when they begin to show their inexperience in big spots, a team can collapse. Wake still has the potential to be a team to make a run at Detroit but only if Teague realizes the situation and guides his team through it.

3 There’s a lot of things that drive me crazy when I’m watching a basketball game, whether it be when I’m officiating a high school game or watching a college game. Usually, my pet peeves in a high school game revolve around coaches who are better refs than they are coaches. But in the college game, my biggest pet peeve is teams that can’t make free throws. It’s 15 feet with nobody in your face, and you practice it every day, or at least you should. What is so difficult about this shot? So far this season, two teams have each lost a pair of games directly because they couldn’t make free throws. Kansas blew a lead against Syracuse in November and then blew another lead against Missouri on Monday night because of untimely free throw misses. Florida lost on the road to South Carolina because of missed free throws and bad free throw defense and then on Tuesday night lost to Kentucky when Nick Calathes missed 3 free throws with :00.6 left that would have tied the game. Just last night, Temple nearly blew an 11-point lead in the final minute to St. Joe’s when they went 7 of 18 from the line down the stretch, and Gonzaga had to weather a 3-point prayer at the buzzer because Jeremy Pargo and Matt Bouldin clanked game-icing free throw opportunities. If you don’t think it’s a valid argument, just ask Memphis about shooting 12 of 19 from the line in a national championship game that they lost in overtime.

4 The word out that Connecticut may lose guard Jerome Dyson to a lateral meniscus tear in his knee for the rest of the season is a huge blow to their national title hopes. Not only is Dyson the second-leading scorer on this team, but he’s also the motor that drives the UCONN offense. Sure, Jeff Adrien and Haseem Thabeet are the headliners, but Dyson as well as point guard A.J. Price (remember, he blew his knee out in their first round loss to San Diego in last year’s tournament) were the penetrators and distributors. This will put a huge bullseye on Price, Kemba Walker, and Craig Austrie to pick up Dyson’s slack.

5 Each week between now and the tournament, I’m going to give you one below-the-radar team likely to be a 11-14 seed that could be a first round upset special. I’ll begin this feature with the VMI Keydets. VMI is known for their up-tempo, pressing style that averages 95.8 points per game. The 20-4 Keydets are led by twins Chavis and Travis Holmes, who were featured in a recent Sports Illustrated article. They’ve already taken out Kentucky at Rupp Arena which used to be an impossible thing to do but is now becoming a yearly tradition (see Gardner-Webb last year) and that high-octane output could give a 4 or 5 seed like an overhyped ACC or Big Ten team (Illinois, Clemson come to mind) huge fits. Keep them in mind if they make it into the bracket. Right now, they are tied with Radford at the top of the Big South standings and will likely have to withstand a battle with Liberty in the conference tournament. Liberty is led by Seth Curry, younger brother of Davidson superstar Stephen Curry.

BONUS
3 games between now and next Friday that you CAN’T miss:
Georgetown at Syracuse (Saturday, Noon, ESPN) - Both teams have taken it on the chin in the last month. Syracuse has lost 6 of their last 8 while Georgetown has dropped 6 of their last 7 and fallen completely off the college hoops map. It’s hard to say which team needs this game more, but a Georgetown road win in the Carrier Dome could go a long way to turning around a season that had a lot of promise just 6 weeks ago.
Pitt at UCONN (Monday, 7:00, ESPN) - With Marquette having dropped two conference games in a row, this game re-assumes its rightful place as the conference game of the year. How will the Huskies respond in their first big game without Jerome Dyson? Who will win the battle down low between Dejuan Blair and Haseem Thabeet? I think the answer to that last question will be whoever stays out of foul trouble.
Washington at UCLA (Thursday, 11:00, FSN) - UCLA may really need this game to get back on track should it lose to Arizona on Saturday. Washington should be coming in here on a high since they have a relatively easy game against Oregon, the worst team in the Pac-10. Washington has been flying under the radar in conference all year, and this could send a real message. UCLA has won their last 4 home games by an average of 22.8 points.

Got any questions or comments? Feel free to e-mail me at gopens24@aol.com. Who knows, maybe I’ll include your “mailbag” comment in a future 5-Count.

College Football Letter of Intent Madness

wayde — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 00:24:07 +0000

There is always a buzz in the air around this time of year. Do you know what it is? If you haven’t guessed, it’s College Football Subdivision National Signing Day. It just passed yesterday on February 4, 2009, and seems to get bigger every year because of the media exposure and the internet age. It seems to capture the attention of American sports fans more than ever. Now there are high school football all-star games played right after the bowl games end in early January. The two most prestigious and well-known are the Army All-American Bowl and The UnderArmour All-American Bowl. The hype for these games gets taken up a notch each year, if that’s even possible? After these games are played, the recruiting season is in full throttle and keeps building until the climax, National Signing Day. I’ll admit, I am one of these recruiting junkies that contributes to the madness by checking Scout and Rivals.com. The recruiting starts right after National Signing Day ends and continues until signing day, 2010.

Well, I am going to list some of the top blue chip prospects that just made their decisions in the last week or two to sign with a university. These are athletes that didn’t verbally commit to a school or are de-commitments from a school. It seems as though the popularity and publicity of these blue chippers trumps the others. It’s not that they are better than the other student athletes, but it’s because they haven’t made their decision yet and it’s the most recent news. Right here, right now, the Americans mentality these days, they don’t want to hear the old recruiting news. If one of these top 100 players, according to opinion, has a good game in one of these all-star games, look out, their stock is going to sky rocket like Tajh Boyd and Bryce Brown did this year. Enough already, here is my list. Over the next week or so, I will give my class rankings, breakdown, and analysis.

Pos Name School
RB Bryce Brown Wichita (KS) East
Finalists: Miami, Oregon, Auburn, USC, Tennessee, Kansas State
Committed: Undecided until March, was verbally committed to Miami until January

LB Manti Te’o Honolulu (HI) Punahou
Finalists: Notre Dame, UCLA, USC
Committed: Notre Dame

LB Jelani Jenkins Olney (MD) Good Counsel
Finalists: Boston College, Florida, Illinois, Notre Dame, Penn State, USC
Committed: Florida

RB Trent Richardson Pensacola (FL) Escambia
Finalists: Alabama, Florida, LSU, Tennessee
Committed: Alabama

WR Rueben Randle Bastrop (LA)
Finalists: Alabama, Auburn, LSU, Oklahoma
Committed: LSU

WR Marlon Brown Memphis (TN) Harding
Finalists: Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Ohio State, Tennessee
Committed: Georgia

LB Vontaze Burfict Corona (CA) Centennial
Finalists: Arizona State, USC
Committed: Arizona State

TE Orson Charles Tampa (FL) Plant
Finalists: Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Tennessee, USC
Committed: Undecided

WR Pat Patterson Macon (MS) Noxubee
Finalists: Alabama, Mississippi, Southern Miss, Tennessee
Committed: Mississippi

CB Dre Kirkpatrick Gadsden (AL)
Finalists: Alabama, Florida, Texas
Committed: Alabama

CB Greg Reid Valdosta (GA) Lowndes
Finalists: Alabama, Auburn, Florida State, Georgia
Committed: Florida State

DE Sam Montgomery Greenwood (SC)
Finalists: LSU, Michigan, North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee
Committed: LSU

OL Marcus Hall Cleveland (OH) Glenville
Finalists: Miami, Michigan, Ohio State, Tennessee
Committed: Ohio State

S Jawanza Starling Tallahassee (FL) Lincoln
Finalists: Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Notre Dame, USC
Committed: USC

LB Jarvis Jones Columbus (GA) Carver
Finalists: Florida, Georgia, LSU, Texas, USC
Committed: USC

S Byron Moore Harbor City (CA) Narbonne
Finalists: Colorado, Notre Dame, USC
Committed: USC

RB David Oku Oklahoma City (OK) Albert
Finalists: Auburn, Syracuse, Tennessee
Committed: Undecided

OL Xavier Su’a-Filo Provo (UT) Timpview
Finalists: BYU, LSU, UCLA, USC, Utah
Committed: UCLA

WR Justin Brown Wilmington (DE) Concord
Finalists: Iowa, Penn State, Rutgers
Committed: Penn State

OL Pete White Washington (DC) St. Johns
Finalists: Maryland, Miami, Tennessee
Committed: Maryland

S Darren Myles Atlanta (GA) Carver
Finalists: Alabama, LSU, Ohio State, Purdue, Tennessee
Committed: Tennessee

WR Randall Carroll Los Angeles (CA) Cathedral
Finalists: Arizona State, California, Oklahoma, UCLA, USC
Committed: UCLA

LB Barkevious Mingo West Monroe (LA)
Finalists: Alabama, Arkansas, Michigan, LSU
Committed: LSU

CB Janzen Jackson Lake Charles (LA) Barbe
Finalists: Alabama, LSU, Tennessee
Committed: Tennessee

LB Tana Patrick Stevenson (AL) N Jackson
Finalists: Alabama, Auburn, Tennessee, USC
Committed: Alabama

CB Denard Robinson Deerfield Beach (FL)
Finalists: Florida, Georgia, Kansas State, Michigan, UCF
Committed: Michigan

WR Je’Ron Stokes Philadelphia (PA) N’east
Finalists: Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, Tennessee
Committed: Michigan

OL Brandon Moore Montgomery (AL) Carver
Finalists: Alabama, Florida
Committed: Alabama

QB Raymond Cotton Fort Meade (MD)
Finalists: Kansas State, Mississippi, Southern Miss
Committed: Mississippi

CB Marsalis Teague Paris (TN) Henry County
Finalists: Alabama, Florida, Tennessee
Committed: Tennessee

DE James Boyd Los Angeles (CA) Jordan
Finalists: Oregon State, USC, Washington
Committed: USC

WR Alshon Jeffrey St Matthews (SC) Calhoun
Finalists: South Carolina, Tennessee, USC
Committed: South Carolina

WR Devon Flournoy Van Nuys (CA) B’ham
Finalists: UCLA, USC
Committed: USC

DT Kwame Geathers Georgetown (SC) Carvers
Finalists: Central Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee
Committed: Undecided

WR Kendall Kelly Gadsden (AL)
Finalists: Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, LSU, Tennessee
Committed: Alabama

OL Morgan Moses Richmond (VA) M’brook
Finalists: Alabama, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia
Committed: Virginia

RB Eddie Lacy Geismar (LA) Dutchtown
Finalists: Alabama, Tennessee
Committed: Alabama

WR Adam Hall Tucson (AZ) Palo Verde
Finalists: Arizona, California, Oregon
Committed: Arizona

DT Terrence Coleman Mobile (AL) Williamson
Finalists: Auburn, Arkansas, Southern Miss
Committed: Auburn

QB Tajh Boyd Hampton (VA) Phoebus
Finalists: Clemson, Ohio State, Oregon
Committed: Clemson

DE Lanford Collins Stafford (VA) Brooke Point
Finalists: Virginia Tech, Penn State, Boston College
Committed: Virginia Tech

CB Jayron Hosley Delray Beach (FL) Atlantic
Finalists: Virginia Tech, South Florida, Clemson, Louisville, Michigan
Committed: Virginia Tech

by Wayde in Sports

2009 NFC East Draft Analysis

wayde — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 10:31:39 +0000

NFC East

Dallas Cowboys

Needs: DT, DE, ILB, OLB, S
Analysis: Dallas does not have a first round pick due to the Roy Williams deal done midseason last year. The offseason in Dallas will yet again prove to be interesting. Will T.O. be back? Will Pacman be back? What about some of the other players as well? I’m guessing yes to T.O., no to Pacman, and no to Tank Johnson. Marcus Spears should be resigned. Roy Williams (SS) probably won‘t. As long as T.O. is brought back, the defense must be the priority. With a training camp under his belt, Roy Williams and Tony Romo should have improved chemistry.
2nd Round Possibilities: Jason Phillips ILB (TCU), Cody Brown OLB (Connecticut), Clint Sintim ILB, (Virginia), Sen’Derrick Marks DT (Auburn), Kevin Ellison S (USC)

New York Giants

Needs: WR, T, DT, RB
Analysis: The question remains whether Plaxico Burress will return next year as well as questions regarding RB position. Will the Giants be able to retain Brandon Jacobs, Derrick Ward and/or Ahmad Bradshaw? All are due to hit the free agency market. Brandon Jacobs will return, and they will do everything they can to bring back Derrick Ward as well. Ahmad Bradshaw will most likely be the odd man out although the Giants can replace him later in the draft. With the Giants picking late in the 1st round, DT may be another position addressed later in the draft. Depth at the T position is another need. Looking for a future starter at left and right tackle should be a need addressed in the first two rounds.
1st Round Possibilities: Hakeem Nicks WR (North Carolina), Derrick Williams WR (Penn State), Eben Britton T (Arizona), Michael Oher T (Ole Miss), Fili Moala DT (USC), Peria Jerry DT (Ole Miss)

Philadelphia Eagles

Needs: T, G, RB, TE, OLB
Analysis: With Jon Runyan and William Thomas both eligible for free agency, the Eagles must address the offensive line. I believe that at least one, possibly both T’s will be offered extensions for the short term. There will still be a need to address the future as well as depth. The jury is still out on Winston Justice, Max Jean-Gilles has been off and on, and L.J. Smith will certainly not be brought back. At linebacker, Akeem Jordan has played well, but he may be better in the reserve roll. They do have the luxury of having two first round picks, but you never know what Andy Reid will do come draft day.
1st Round Possibilities: Travis Beckum TE (Wisconsin), Brandon Pettigrew TE (Oklahoma State), William Moore S (Missouri), Emanuel Cook S (South Carolina), Michael Oher T (Ole Miss)

Washington Redskins

Needs: DE, DT, OLB, T, G
Analysis: Washington has kept more of its draft picks over the last couple of years and is beginning to build through the draft. Although with Dan Snyder at the helm, there is no telling if they will use the picks or trade them away for more high profile players in the twilight of their careers. Youth is needed along the lines, especially the defensive line and on the outside of the offensive line. Chris Samuels and Jon Jansen give the Redskins good bookend tackles, but depth and future replacements are needed. They need to get more pressure on the QB from the front seven. Washington finished with 24 sacks (3rd least in the league).
1st Round Possibilities: Brian Orapko DE (Texas), B.J. Raji DT (Boston College), Brian Cushing OLB (USC), Everette Brown DE (Florida St.), Michael Johnson DE (Georgia Tech), Larry English DE (Northern Illinois)

By Shane Smith

Blog Information Courtesy of: Pro Football Weekly, Todd McShay ESPN, Mel Kiper ESPN, Sporting News War Room