Article on Al and thoughts
http://www.wral.com/sports/blogpost/1202396/Some thoughts from last nights Vtech-NC game. First of all, North Carolina has not figured it out. Their rotation appears to have no flow to it and they rely mostly on players making plays rather than strategy and execution. They have limited on court leadership and I doubt all their young talent will carry them too far unless Wayne Ellington shows more consistency. When he is missing, NC does not appear to make the adjustments.
Ty Lawson is super quick. His and Brandon Wright's development should fuel them next year.
With Vtech up one and 15 secinds left, NC fouled Markus Salies, a 47% free throw shooter. Wht would Seth Grennburg have a role player that can not shoot in the game at crunch time.
Deron Washington is the best athlete I have seen this year.
When did the word 'schadenfreude' go mainstream? Pat Forde has it in his column.
I have a new drinking game for people. You have to take a sip every time an announcer refers to Tyler Hansbrough as 'strong'. I think most of us would be passed out by halftime.
BC's next 2 games are tournament basketball. Not necessarily because its Duke and North Carolina but because BC is no longer under the radar and they are going to get the Devils and Heels best shots. Duke is fighting for its life and NC will be ready to go after last night's loss. These games will prepare BC well for the games afterwards and possibly the NCAA tournment when they will be under the radar again.
Last I heard Duke has 4 or 5 McDonald's All-Americans. I would think Duke would be a little better with that kind of young talent.
MAC Football
Should be played during the week after January through February. I would absolutely have Central Michigan vs Akron on in the background. Buffalo should be on all the time too with all the snow they get. Couple of whiteout games would be good entertainment.
BC's loss last night to BU is status quo of course. I did not see any of the game but heard BC was dominant and yet came away with nothing. Maybe hockey should have a scoring system like boxing to assess how a team has controlled the puck, how many faceoffs it has won and how many shots on goal they get. Come up with an equation saying the score should have been 5-2 and compare that to the actual outcome.
Football Recruiting
BC recruited two run-pass QB’s in Chris Johnson and Dominique Davis. Neither had high Division 1 offers. BC may have taken flyers on both these kids based on their potential. If one of then works out then BC has found something. Davis is 6’4 and 185 from Florida and was going to Middle Tennessee St. Instead he finds himself with a full ride to a world class city as BC came in late in the process. Both QB’s would not have committed under O’Brien.
The steal of the class may be Dan Mulrooney a 6’1’ speedster from Connecticut. Committed early to BC and no one knew of him till his senior year.
The two big name recruits were OL John Elliott and DL Corey Eason. Both could have gone almost anywhere. Elliott hails from NY and Eason from Mansfield, MA
The known prospect that I think will become all-ACC is OL Nick Schepis from Ohio. Just get a good feeling about him from reading his quotes.
BC also landed OL Anthony Castonzo. He has only 260 pounds on his 6’7” frame and is already on campus majoring in biochemistry. He wants to go into cancer research after football. Guy sounds like a nut.
BC also got one of the nation’s top kickers in Billy Bennett who committed early and never wavered.
In summation, this is a typical BC class. A couple of real good players but mostly guys that are BC guys. A BC guy is someone who views BC not just for football but for academics and that will work hard and will not have off the field issues. Jags only wants guys who want to be here and who realize what the school has to offer. He pulled some offers from kids after they said they were committed to BC but continued to sniff around with other programs.
In this, Jags is a departure from O’Brien. O’Brien always looked at the negatives instead of accentuating the positives. He wanted to be in a college town and now has his wish. He wants 60,000 people in their seats for Akron – he has it. A big fan base is not and never will be BC’s calling card. BC will keep its academic standards and now has a coach that uses this as a selling point! The jury is out on his coaching ability but he appeared to be a closer on the recruiting trail.
Bball thoughts
Arizona is one team that you don’t want to play come March. They have the talent to compete with anybody but lack the leadership and tough physical play that all teams need to compete consistently. But on any given night they have the ability to explode. Unless they improve they could be that 8 seed that a number 1 does not want to see.
As Sean McDonough stated, Kevin Durant is must see TV. What’s scary is that his freaky athleticism and long arms are combined with a high basketball IQ. He knows the game and has worked in depth on one-on-one moves with his back facing the basket from near the 3 point line.
I learn something every time I listen to Rick Majerus. He does not have a voice that projects itself so listeners may not pay too much attention but his comments on nuances of every aspect of the game are fascinating.
What’s bad for Duke is that Paulus has been shooting better and they are still losing. I do think this Duke ream will be a tougher out come NCAA time though. They are improving but just can not get the consistency throughout the game for the win. They also receive everyone’s best shot and they do not have the talent to win a lot of these games now.
Wouldn’t it be great if Uconn did not make the Big East tournament.
Not sure why BC is a 4 seed in the Bracketology projections. The Duquesne and Vermont losses are just awful.
Why is the name Sean have so many different ways to spell it? Shawn. Shaun.
Best part about Duke this year. Looking at Jon Scheyer’s Mom for the next 4 years.
Stanford has another pair of 7 foot twins. Haven’t they eclipsed their NCAA quota for a 5 year period?
I have flipped on the TV to see that Northwestern is on at least once a week out here. I know I am in Big 10 country but I think I could name one player for them in the last 10 years.
I got an email saying this’ Oregon re-worked their schedule to move the game at Arizona to a Thursday night for an ESPN broadcast. FINALLY the conference figured out a way to get Pac 10 v. Pac 10 matchup on ESPN (I honestly can't think of another one in recent history)’ – EXACTLY – bout time.
I will personally take Al Skinner to the Capital Grille (or restaurant of preference) once a year as long as he remains coach.
Tyrese Rice has to enter the discussion for 1st team all ACC. He is the only ballhandler on the conference’s first place team and is scoring at a great rate with few turnovers and does not take many ill-advised shots.
Still can’t believe Tommy Amaker has not been let go. They have not been to the tourney since 1998 and Amaker has been there since 2001. If Billy Gillespie can turn around Texas A&M anything is possible.
Bob Huggins has also made Kansas St. real respectable in a short time. Think Cincinnati has any regrets for letting him go?
How long will Calipari stay at Memphis? Conference USA is a joke.
Wright St. actually leads Butler in the Horizon League.
Yale lost to Cornell 60-59 to knock them out of first in the Ivy.
More Dudley
Love this quote.
"He's different," said Virginia Tech senior guard Jamon Gordon. "He ain't no 2. He ain't no 3. He ain't no 4. He's just a basketball player. Basketball players can beat athletes any time."
I want to watch Dudley work the refs and players throughout the game. Here is another one.
'He even worked over Virginia Tech's trash-talking Deron Washington, who told Dudley he was incapable of guarding him. When Washington retreated to the Hokies' bench during a second-half timeout, the quick-witted Dudley shot back, "You guys need to be more worried about guarding me."'
I think its etched in stone that Dudley will be a coach someday. He does not have foot quickness but he will end up on someone's NBA roster.
Troubling quote
Jared Dudley is a very measured individual. He thinks through most everything he does and says. This quote has to be based on something that he has heard or observed...From the Boston Herald.
“When Craig (Smith) left, I always wanted to be in a position to take over the game, and now I’m starting to shoot better,” said Dudley. “I worked hard over the summer, and I didn’t want anything to get in the way. Not all of the suspensions, or if coach Skinner ever resigned, would affect the way I was playing.”
MSNBC Article
OK, I can see not giving Jags props but O'Brien better than Saban and Davis? So, a guy who never went to a BCS bowl vs guys who won national titles?
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16895923/
