NCAA Hoops Today

Free from Coach DraKula, Elliott Williams flourishes

2009-11-19T18:46:00.000-08:00

If you needed any further evidence that Coach K is a DraKula that drains the life energy out of his players, look at how well Elliott Williams is doing at Memphis, a brand new team with a 19yo head-coach! One more player, free from the energy-drain of Coach DraKula is able to succeed in his post-Duke-transfer career.

And the Memphis performance today may have some Tigers fans questioning the coaching skills of Calipari. If a 19yo head-coach-kid is able to almost beat #1 Kansas, what was Calipari doing with a lot better players? :)

Hot action right now!

2009-11-17T17:46:00.001-08:00

Run to your local cable or satellite box, or sports bar, or open up ESPN360.com! Hofstra is beating UConn with seven minutes left in the game. And yes, the game is played at UConn - Calhoun is not gonna play a road game at Hofstra!

There's plenty of other exciting games that started or are starting, Arkansas vs Louisville, Gonzaga and Michigan State trying to repeat the excitement of the Ammo-Maui game of a few years ago. Crazy as it may be, there's even a rivalry game going on, the battle of New Mexico and New Mexico State.

And of course the big game of the night with Dookie Vitale calling the Calipari-less Memphis Tigers versus the Kansas Jay-Championship Stealers.

And a great game to watch on replay, Cal State Fullerton (yes, one of the schools Jim Rome used to use in his "academic" takes) managed to beat UCLA at Pauly in double overtime.

Regular readers of this crazy blog may recall how we pin-pointed how bad of a match Ben Howland was for UCLA and Pac-10, but because he was winning very few people complained. But his luck is over, the bubble has burst, and the Lavin super-talented recruits are gone :)

ESPN360.com is a must have for the college hoops fan

2009-11-17T17:37:00.001-08:00

If your current ISP has an agreement with ESPN, you have free access to ESPN360.com from your home computer and home network. It is easy to find out, just go to espn360.com and you will know whether you have access.

On top of that, they have a feature where you can create an account there, and when you login with that account, you can also watch games when you are away from home, and the ISP you are using on the road (hotel, school, office, cafe, etc) does not have espn360 access. Of course it still needs to have enough bandwidth to broadcast the video!

There are boatloads of games there, more than you can get with a regular cable subscription for sure, and you can also watch replays of recent games.

Another big plus is that you can move forward and backward in the game, just move the game-marker using your mouse to the desired spot in the game's timeline. It's sort of like having a DVR.

One negative however is that ESPN360.com does NOT show the half-time show of the live TV broadcast, but shows canned segments from previous ESPN featurettes, such as John Wooten, the return of Isiah Thomas, Izzo talking to Andy Katz and such. So if you are watching a replay, be sure to use the marker and move ahead in the coverage!

You cannot jump over commercials once they start, but they are usually very short.

If you are a hardcore hoops fan, it may be worth it to consider switching ISPs if they offer similar plans and your current ISP does not offer ESPN360.

The ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia is out!

2009-11-17T17:30:00.000-08:00

If you are the book type, rejoice! The ESPN College Hoops Encyclopedia is out and shipping from Amazon for around $33 with free shipping and handling. This is probably longer than "War and Peace", at 1200+ pages!

AT&T U-Verse DVR tempting for Hoops fans

2009-09-08T12:17:00.000-07:00

If you are the gadget-type who like to plan ahead their gadget-powered college hoops season, please keep in mind that the new AT&T U-Verse video service that is making its way across the country is offering a much better DVR for college hoops fanatics: It can record FOUR programs at ONCE. So if UNC and Duke and Kentucky are playing at the same time, no problem! You can watch them all!

Also nice is that for an extra $7 a month, you can get DVR-players that feed off the main U-Verse DVR and can watch those games from different rooms. So if roommate A is a Dookie, he watches the Dooke game in his room. Roommate B watches the Kentucky game in his room, and roommate C throws a UNC watching party in the living room.

With more cable systems dropping analog channels and breaking your current recording situation (eg VHS records or DVRs with analog tuners), you will need to replace them.

Of course there's also online watching, but if you are a hardcore fan and want to save and analyze the games later on, you probably want to save them on disk or tape, since other than the NCAA tournament games, college hoops games are still not available for purchase :(

If you can't beat them, wear their t-shirts instead!

2009-09-07T12:15:00.000-07:00

Nike and USC had a little bit of an "oops!" moment, when the accidentally designed a UCLA-color-themed shirt for ...USC. That's right, UCLA-colors on USC-branded gear! Don't believe me? Check them out at Lost Angeles.

The Rick Pitino scandal

2009-08-12T23:22:00.000-07:00

We take a break from summer break with a comment on the news of Pitino's affair with a lady somewhere out there. It looks like Pitino didn't eat enough humble pie in the NBA, so he is getting another freshly re-heated pie in 2009.

That's what it is, but at the same time, the reactions and overreactions to these are as usual over the top. People screw up all the time. He was a basketball coach, not a priest. He's certainly not the only coach with "indiscretions" and it's not like there is a long line of them waiting to "confess" to their adoring fans.

It's really a personal life type of thing, but of course it will be tabloid fodder and scandal-du-jour material.

Some reactions:
* A Sea of Blue
* The Quad (NYT)
* The big story at the LCJ

Live-blogging the 2009 NBA Draft

2009-06-25T14:31:00.001-07:00

The big trade has hit the world of basketball! The Philosopher-Diesel, Shaquille O'Neal has been traded to play with LeBron James with the Cleveland Cavaliers! This is the big news of the day, which, no doubt with dominate and affect the NBA Draft. As we speak, the PTI power-duo is discussing this.

We will be live-blogging the NBA Draft in the next few hours so please stay tuned!

Live Blogging the 2009 NBA Draft (latest updates first)

It looks like the TarHeels have done better than expected so far! And so did the PitinoVille players with T-Will and Earl Clark into the lottery.

The haters are now eating their words! Tyler Hansro, getting yelled "overrated" by the NYC crowd, is picked at #13 by the Larry Bird Pacers.

The European version of Pistol Pete (maybe) is the fifth pick and he goes to the TimberGophers who are picking next as well.

And the Sacto Queens get a Calipari recruit, Tyreke is #4!

Getting picked #1 by the Clippers? Do it still sting? Is it still a career-ending omen?

Apparently David Stern likes to get boo'ed, he kept repeating the LA Lakers :)

7:30pm eastern time! It is about to get started! Of course we all know who is going to be the #1 pick, so the big question really is for the #2 spot!

Vince Carter to Orlando. Is that how you go for finalist to Champion? Because the last time they made the finals, it didn't exactly turn out well the years after!

Jay Bilas to appear on Pardon the Interruption discussing the NBA Draft in the next five minutes!

20% off Adidas with exclusive coupon!

2009-06-25T14:29:00.001-07:00

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NBA Draft 2009: IN or OUT?

2009-06-10T00:20:00.000-07:00

With the NBA Draft just two weeks away, ESPN's super-guru Chad Ford has just updated his NBA Draft page (as of early Tuesday morning) with who is in and who is out. It still needs a few more "returns" to come in before it is FROZEN for the NBA draft, but it can help you get a pretty good idea so far.

Some college teams and college basketball coaches are certainly going to cry, but others are smiling because they are getting some of their promising young players back!

The thieves of the 2008 championship are certainly smiling, both Sharron Collins and Cole Aldrich are returning!

Tim Floyd is out of USC (again!)

2009-06-10T00:13:00.000-07:00

The Coaching Carousel took a not-so-unexpected spin when Tim Floyd bolted (or was pushed out) of USC - breaking news of the story, both in text and in video on espn.com.

As many had predicted, "touching" OJ Mayo would have caused them troubles, and it looks like the $1000 rumors are indeed directly linked to the OJ Mayo recruiting.

You can watch the 7-minute video at the aforementioned website, with the one and only Andy Katz talking to the studio guy over the phone.

And this brings up the question, who is going to want to be the next USC coach after this mess, with players bolting out, the NCAA investigators drooling, and things like that.

One year worth of Sports Illustrated for $20 (limited time offer)

2009-05-04T11:26:00.000-07:00

Amazon is currently running a Gold-Box promotion where you can get a one-year subscription to SI (Sports Illustrated) for $20 with free shipping. The deal is in your Amazon Gold-box, you have to check there or add the magazine to your shopping cart to see this price.

However, please note this is a very limited time promotion, the $20 price is good only until 5pm eastern (2pm pacific) today, Monday May 4, 2009!

Their regular annual subscription price is $39 per year.

Coach K confesses he is a socialist dictator!

2009-05-01T21:53:00.001-07:00

Yes, basketball fans, it took Stephen T. Colbert, DFA, to get Coach K, aka the Ratzilla, to confess to the world that he is a socialist dictator! That's right, he confessed to that! The only exception, Coach-K said, was when he was coaching the 2008 Olympics Team. Other than that, he is a socialist dictator.

But don't take my word for it, watch the interview for yourself! It's only six minutes long.

Also of interest is how Ratzilla answers the question about letting babies play in the NBA. His only concern was "when do we start recruiting?" and he seemed eager to be in the delivery room to start recruiting newborns!

Coach K has been able to fool many people with his mumbo-jumbo, but Colbert has EXPOSED him for the RAT that he is ;-)

Whatever you do, you must watch the interview!

Games of the year: Cleveland State at Syracuse (Monday)

2009-04-20T08:12:00.000-07:00

ESPN Classic has started a new series where they are showing some of the best games of the 2008-2009 season at the 9pm eastern (6pm pacific) time slot on Monday nights. Last week they showed Davidson at Oklahoma in the pre-season NIT semi-finals. This Monday they will be showing Cleveland State's dramatic game at the Carrier Dome against Syracuse. So be sure to set your timers, alarms, calendars, VCRs and DVRs since this game was not (as far as I recall) broadcast on ESPN or ESPN2 when it originally aired.

Early Top 25 for 2009-2010 by Andy Katz

2009-04-15T00:25:00.000-07:00

It's amazing how time flies. It's already time for 2009-2010 pre-season Top 25s! With just 11 days before the deadline for NBA Draft entries, Andy Katz takes a stab at an early 2009-2010 Top 25, and the team at #1 may (or may not) surprise you.

You will also find (as it is usually the case), the two National Championship teams high in the rankings, but Andy has a couple of surprises up his sleeve further down the list.

Probably another list would be due on April 27, at least when we know who is NOT entering the NBA draft, and of course when the dust settles recruiting-wise for the next season, after all the dominos fall, both coaching-wise and commitment-wise.

Isiah Thomas press conference tomorrow on ESPN-News

2009-04-15T00:19:00.000-07:00

ESPN News will be carrying live the Florida International press conference tomorrow (Wednesday April 15, tax day) that introduces the former Indiana and Pistons great as their next men's college basketball coach.

After a failed career as an NBA head coach and executive, Isiah wants to get a fresh start at a program where there is potential, but there is no pressure, bright lights or expectations. In other words, just like Mike Jarvis and Rollie, he is going where coaches go to relax, or retire or escape the "microscope".

Tape-delayed tidbits from the Final Four

2009-04-13T11:21:00.001-07:00

These are some things that we forgot to mention during the Final Four :-)

Tom Izzo
Izzo's game plan to tire out the Tar Heels back-fired because of the way the TarHeels jumped to a 20-point lead. From there on, the slugfest was actually in favor of UNC, and that took the legs off the Michigan State players who needed them a lot more than the TarHeels because they had to score 20 points more than UNC in the second half.

And yes, Izzo should have called at least two time-outs earlier on in the first half to stem the tide. Even a high-school coach knows that! Ben Howland and Pete Gillan would have used up all of their timeouts before the first TV timeout :)

North Carolina
It is really amazing, that after soooo many years of college hoops only thirteen coaches have won multiple national championships. Only 13! And one of them is "dum' ol'roy". This is amazing, just thirteen! Of course Wooden ate up a whole decade on his own :)

Soft this, soft that, but this UNC wine-and-cheese team managed to do something historic: Win the most crowded road game in the history of college hoops, facing a hostile crowd of over 60,000. I do not believe anyone played in front of a bigger hostile-road crowd?

So while they were "wine and cheese" during the regular season, they got an injection of toughness from the Felton/McCants/May team of 2005 and may have actually played a little bit better on average. With the exception of the Lawson-toe-v*g*na-LSU game issues, when Lawson was warmed up and ready to go, it was Tar Heels all the way!

What did Draymond Green say?
In one of the interviews Izzo mentioned that Green said something to the team, that was so good and mature and profound that it surprised him. We forgot to google it, and by now it may be too late.

What was it?

Star vs Role player
I'm glad Bob "Guitar Hero" Knight brought this up a couple of times. It is extremely frustrating to see analyst after analyst use the stupid and divisive categorization of players into "stars" and "role players". This is just stupid.

Pigeon-holing players like that is for small minds and idiots who can't seem to understand anything that is not binary.

It's one thing to get this gibberish from play-by-play guys and TV anchors who are usually clueless anyway, but TV analysts, most of whom are former coaches and players, should know better!

So, Bob, please, the next time someone says something stupid like that, please stop them and yell at them live on TV!

Tell them, Bob! Tell them!

Wooden recites poetry in Gatorade commercial

2009-04-11T08:03:00.000-07:00

You have to hand it to John Wooden. Almost 100 years old and he is reciting poetry in the latest Gatorade "G" TV commercial. It is amazing that a man close to 100 years ago has the mental clarity that most people never had even in their prime.

If you want to live long, read every single book and word he wrote and follow it! Because it worked!

Best of 2008-2009 on ESPN Classic every Monday

2009-04-10T11:21:00.000-07:00

ESPN Classic is launching a nice new series, they will be showing some of the best games of the 2008-2009 college basketball season every Monday at 9pm eastern (6pm pacific). Each game will be edited accordingly to fit into a 2-hour slot. Some of the games planned include the Cleveland State at Syracuse (April 20), and things like that. Check local listings or espn.com for more details.

It's always funny to watch clueless reporters debate college hoops

2009-04-07T21:55:00.000-07:00

It's really fun to watch clueless reporters and sports generalists debate "college hoops" topics on TV and radio. People with barely basic knowledge of college hoops making big statements, and usually being off-center by a lot.

I'm talking about shows like Around the Horn, Cold Pizza, Sportscenter anchors, and people like that.

The first coaches show of the 2009-2010 season

2009-04-07T17:50:00.000-07:00

Yes, basketball fans, it didn't take John Calipari long to fire the first shot in the 2009-2010 season. The first coaches show has aired and you can watch it on Fox College Sports nationally. It is an introductory episode, "Meet Coach Cal", with Rob Bromley of the Big Blue Sports Network.

I was shocked that Calipari did not appear in every segment of the show, and his answers were relatively short (perhaps edited for time?).

He did address some further issues, like what type of practices he is going to run, getting a house near campus to build a "family atmosphere" with the team, and things like that.

With Josh Pastner (the child-prodigy-player-coach) gone, it will be interesting to see how the dynamics may change for the Memphis "in-play recruits", and also Calipari's own recruiting strategy. Although, we should point out Pastner was only at Memphis for one year, a Lute Olson era refugee from Arizona.

A historic run?

2009-04-07T16:25:00.001-07:00

The noon eastern Sportscenter had a very revealing statistic as to where this year's North Carolina team ranks among other March Madness greats. They calculated the point differential in the six games of the tourney, and the top three teams are:

1. Kentucky of 1996, the Pitino Camelot team, the team that "ruined" the Kentucky job for all other coaches, +129
2. North Carolina of 2009, +121
3. UNLV of 1990, Tark the Shark, +112

Wow!

Collectors:: North Carolina championship basketball

2009-04-07T10:06:00.000-07:00

eBay power-seller Champions-on-Display has just started offering a collector's edition of the 2009 North Carolina TarHeels championship basketball, brand new in a retail display box. This is a great gift or collector's item or something to showcase in your home, office, dorm room, car, or anywhere else you have enough space to put a basketball in a box :)

The price is $30 and this includes free standard UPS Ground shipping and handling. The ball is made by Rawlings. You can order as many as you like at this price.

TAR! ... HEELS!
TAR! ... HEELS!

Take that Coach K! Since "dumb Ol'Roy" returned to UNC, he has had TWO national championships, one Final Four and one Elite 8, and if the ball went their way, they could have easily have had FOUR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS.

So it is now CLEAR that Roy Williams and North Carolina are the UNDISPUTED #1 program in college basketball right now. Bar NONE! No one is even remotely close. Their record the last three years was 101-14. That is an amazing record. Some of the greatest NBA teams in history have had more losses than that!

"The Gary" beat them both!

2009-04-07T09:38:00.000-07:00

Take that Gary Williams haters! "The Gary" managed to beat both teams playing for the national championship this year. Now if only "The Gary" could figure out how to beat Morgan State and Virginia ;-) Actually, if you look Maryland's losses, they do have some "quality" losses.

Viva the Gary! Here's to two victories over Duke every year :-)

MLB Extra Innings free preview at Comcast

2009-04-07T08:19:00.000-07:00

Comcast is offering a free preview of the MLB Extra Innings package from April 6 to April 12. The preview is totally free, but you need to have a cable box that is capable of receiving those channels. These depends on how the cable system is setup in your area. In many areas, these channels are available on digital cable only, so you would need a digital cable box in order to watch the free preview on TV.

We have not checked other cable providers, although usually the free previews are initiated by the sports package across the board, instead of the cable provider.

This free preview is no coincidence, it marks the start of the baseball season and tries to get fans hooked back into baseball, and once they get a full week of games from around the country, they hope that fans are going to want even more and subscribe for the annual package deal.